68 THE FAT OF THE LAND 



machinery we should ever need. I have a horror 

 of the economy that leaves good tools to sky and 

 clouds without protection. This sketch would 

 not be worked out for a long time, as few of the 

 buildings were needed at once. It was made for 

 the sake of having a general design to be carried 

 out when required ; and the water and sewer 

 system had been built with reference to it. 



I told Nelson that a barn to shelter the horses 

 was the first thing to build, after the house for 

 the men, and that I saw no reason why two or 

 even three buildings should not be in process of 

 construction at the same time. He said there 

 would be no difficulty in managing that if he 

 could get the men and I could get the money. 

 I promised to do my part, and we went into 

 details. 



I wanted a horse barn for ten horses, with 

 shed room for eight wagons in front and a small 

 stable yard in the rear ; also a sunken manure 

 vat, ten feet by twenty, with cement walls and 

 floor, the vat to be four feet deep, two feet in 

 the ground and two feet above it. A vat like 

 this has been built near each stable where stock 

 is kept, and I find them perfectly satisfactory. 

 They save the liquid manure, and thus add fifty 

 per cent to the value of the whole. Open sheds 

 protect from sun and rain, and they are emptied 

 as often as is necessary, regardless of season, for 

 I believe that the fields can care for manure bet- 

 ter than a compost heap. 



