862 Journal of the Department of Agricultdre. 



PLAN OF A SMALL FARM DAIRY. 



By W. S, H. Cleghorne, B.Sc, A.M.I.Mech.E., Lecturer in 

 Eng-ineering", School of Agriculture, Potchefstroom. 



The accompanying plan is of a small farm dairy, suitable for the 

 farmer who sells milk or cream or makes butter. Such a dairy should 

 be situated conveniently near to the cow-byre ; indeed it is often 

 built against the byre as a lean-to or otherwise. In the drawings, a 

 separate building has been shown. 



If more room is desired than shown in the drawings, the milk- 

 room and the washroom might each be made 10 feet wide, in place of 

 8 feet. 



The building should preferably be placed so that the milkroom 

 is at the cool side with regard to the sun, existing shade, etc., the 

 position of the cow-byre also being taken into consideration. 



Whenever possible the building should be on high ground with 

 good natural drainage. In accordance with the Dairy Industry Act, 

 1918, the dairy should not be less than 150 feet from any piggery, 

 manure heap, or offensive stagnant watei-. 



The walls of the building are of stone, 18 inches thick, and the 

 eaves overhang 2 feet (horizontally) beyond the walls, for the sake of 

 coolness. Immediately under the eaves an air-brick ventilator is 

 built into the outer wall of each apartment, i.e. eight ventilators in 

 all. The rooms are ceiled and louvered openings are provided at each 

 end of the corrugated iron roof. As an alternative to stone, brick 

 walls might be adopted, hollow or cavity walls l)eing erected in order 

 to make the building as cool as possible. The following methods of 

 heat insulation may also be mentioned : — 



(1) If the building is near the coast a thick layer of dry seaweed 



should be laid on sheets of paper on the top of the ceiling, 

 i.e. between ceiling and roof. 



(2) If the building- is distant from the coast the place of the 



seaweed may be taken by a layer of wood charcoal 6 inches 

 thick. 



The use of thatch for the roof, instead of corrugated iron, would 

 also make for coolness. With the same end in view, the windows are 

 set high up in the walls. Should it be necessary to shade any window 

 this may be done by louvered shutters outside or blue blinds inside. 



The floors are of granolithic and slope towards the gutter, which 

 discharges through the wall in the corner of the boiler-room, either 

 into the drainage system from the byre, into a french drain, or on to 

 the veld outside. In the latter case the drainage should be led away 

 in an open channel of concrete or hard bri-^ks plastered with cement 

 mortar. As shown in the elevations, the gutter is merely a shallow 

 depression in the floor. In laying the floor, 6 inches of hard-core, 

 i.e. stones about the size of a quarter brick, is put down and well 

 rammed. On the top of this a 3-inch layer of 1 : 2:4 concrete is 

 deposited, and this is covered by the granolithic, consisting of (1) a 

 layer about f inch thick, consisting of one part cement to one part 



