CHAPTER VI 

 ARRANGEMENT OF A FARMSTEAD 



A farmhouse and its yard may not be planned as a residence alone, as is the 

 case of the other properties so far discussed. A farm is a home and a business 

 combined. It is therefore seldom possible to think of and to plan the activities 

 of the home life as separate from the work of the farm. The farmhouse should 

 be centrally located on the farm, whether immediately on a public road or back 

 within the farm lands; and about the house as a center should be grouped the 

 farm work-buildings, the yards for fowls and the paddocks for stock, thfe vege- 

 table gardens, the- small orchards, and, in fact, all things that require close care, 

 whether they relate to the farm produce or to the home supply. The live- 

 stock paddocks and the most-used areas on the farm will have to be near the 

 house to be convenient. Can farmsteads, then, be planned to be practical and 

 convenient, and still be attractive as homes? 



An orderly arrangement of buildings and areas is always the most convenient 

 one, and this arrangement is in itself good looking and most easily kept neat. 

 The farm buildings usually represent an even larger valuation than the farmer's 

 house, and therefore it is good business policy to keep them in repair. A compact 

 group of well-kept farm buildings in close proximity to the house may be very 

 attractive. For the sake of the outlook from the house it is better to have the 

 paddocks on the far sides of the barns; but to give paddocks the protection de- 

 sirable for them, and also to place them out of sight from the house, and to the 

 leaward, that unpleasant odors may cause no annoyance, may require more re- 

 arrangement of house and barns than is possible if these buildings are already 

 established. Practical and convenient plans for farm buildings and their ad- 

 jacent areas will unquestionably derive some degree of attractiveness from their 

 orderly arrangement; but for any farm there is usually possible more than one 

 practical arrangement, one which is both practical and which will present a good 

 appearance both from the house and from the road. 



The importance of careful planning in any project or business is usually con- 

 sidered necessary for the achievement of satisfactory profits; and the orderliness 

 generally accompanying successful farming or other well-organized enterprises, 

 has, no doubt, likewise been observed. But from the point of view of the home 

 itself, the possibility of pleasant . living conditions should not be disregarded. 

 Attractive settings for home life are important in the country as well as in the city, 

 and the opportunities in the country are greater. When one lives long amid 

 pleasant surroundings, he realizes the value of their influence, and becomes con- 

 vinced that such inspiration is needed for his work and for his rest. In the home, 

 it would seem, should start the real development of the country. Home life 

 must be wholesome, full of opportunity, and attractive, in order to sustain inter- 

 est and make successful a business enterprise in the country. Outward signs in 

 villages and on farms in a large measure indicate whether thriving and contented 

 conditions exist in the life of the families and of the community. Well-cultivated 

 farm lands always look well, but the yards about the farmhouses require some 



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