418 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



other new farm structures are added, which make practicable a general 

 consideration of the entire building scheme. Material improvement can 

 often be made in a farmstead by a readjustment as new buildings are 

 put up, though the best results are obtained where things are planned 

 right from the start. 



In selecting a site for the house, good drainage is the first requisite. 

 A south or east slope is generally to be preferred while a north slope 

 is undesirable. In its location give the house greatest prominence. 

 The farmstead first of all provides a home and the residence should 

 stand out as the central and most conspicuous feature of the picture. 

 To place the barn and other buildings in front of the house is to reverse 

 the logical order of things. Locate the house back far enough from the 

 high way to afford privacy and give a good stretch of lawn in front, 

 and yet not so far back as to suggest a spirit of exclusion, nor with a 



An Attrartivo Entrance Way to the Farmstead 



lawn so large that it cannot be properly cared for. Most city dooryards 

 Are too small while many of those in the country are so large that it 

 is impracticable to give them lawn treatment. 



The location and grouping of the general farm buildings is a per- 

 plexing problem and each place presents its own peculiar conditions 

 and difficulties. The most common mistakes occur in the location of 

 buildings as to convenience. The corn crib should be located near the 

 particular feeding-place that will call for the bulk of its supply and the 

 toolshed where the implements can be taken up or dropped enroute to 

 or from the field. In this connection the importance of providing enough 

 shed room for the tools and general equipment needs emphasis. The 

 promiscuous scattering of machinery about the barnyard always gives 

 a place an air of carelessness and nefflect and detracts much from its 

 appearance, while the weathering of the machinery causes a serious 



