FARM BUILDIN-GS AND EQUIPMENT. 



219 



FARM BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 



General Principles of Farm Building Location 



To begin with, the home site should 

 ■be selected so that any part of the 

 farm can be reached without any diffi- 

 culty or great inconvenience. Many 

 times, in order to avoid small incon- 

 veniences, the ibuildings are located 

 so that part of the -fields are more or 

 less inaccessible, or so far away that 

 much time is wasted in going to and 

 from the fields at busy times of the 

 year. 



When an approximate location has 

 been decided upon, place the house in 

 the best place available. Try to obtain 

 the most attractive view possible, and 

 (build the house so that the view may 

 be advantageously used. The house 

 is by far the most important of farm 

 buildings, though to observe many 

 farms, one would think the exact op- 

 posite to l>e true. At least half of his 

 life the farmer spends in his house, 

 and his wife spends much the greater 

 part of her time there. The farmer's 

 wife is entitled to have a well-'built 

 and well-located workshop, in which 

 she manages and contrives to make 

 and keep a happy home, so essential to 

 true success. 



If the drainage of the home site is 

 not perfect, this must be attended to, 

 so that good sanitation may be ob- 

 tained. Plenty of good air and quick 

 drainage of soil are essential. This 

 can be secured by a location on a fair- 

 ly dry soil, slightly elevated. Of 

 course, any protection against cold 

 north winds should be taken advant- 

 age of, but it is a question whether a 

 windbreak on the west is desirable; 

 cool and refreshing winds should not 

 be deflected during the heated season. 



The house should not be located too 

 near the highway, nor is it necessary 

 to have the front of the house toward 

 the highway. Unless because of some 

 special condition the distance between 

 highway and house should not be less 

 than 200 feet, and if the most desir- 

 able location for the house be twice 

 or thrice that distance, perhaps so 

 much the better. A park-like entrance 

 drive, the road end of which should 

 be in plain view from the house, should 

 be laid out up to the house-yard gate 

 in a graceful curve; it should be bor- 

 dered by trees, vrhich should be so 



arranged as net to interfere with the 

 view. The barn should be located so 

 the prevailing winds will not carry 

 the stable odors toward the house, and 

 the general slope of the land should be 

 from the house toward the barn, 

 rather than the opposite. The bam 

 and any adjacent pens should not be 

 placed in near proximity to the drive, 

 but should preferably be reached by a 

 branch of the main drive. If it is 

 necessary and can be so arranged, 

 another drive should be provided 

 which will not pass near the house, to 

 be used for hauling, etc. The exact 

 position and arrangement of other 

 buildings will be governed by their 

 use; for economy and convenience 

 they should be few and rather com- 

 pact, though not so close as to in- 

 crease fire risk. Pens, sheds, and 

 stacks should occupy inconspicuous 

 positions. 



Machine Shed. 



The width of the building governs 

 to a large extent the method of roof 

 framing. Machine sheds adapt them- 

 selves readily to certain widths, 18 

 feet and 26 feet being perhaps the 

 widths that can be most economically 

 utilized. The floor plans following il- 

 lustrate possible arrangements of ma- 

 chines within the buildings. If only an 

 18-foot width iz used for the structure, 

 the rafters themselves, with perhaps 

 a collar beam or cross tie, are suffi- 

 cient to support the roof. If a great- 

 er width is employed, a simple truss, 

 like the one in figure 56, must be 

 built up, and placed at intervals of 

 9 or 10 feet. Ofttimes the collar 

 beams and cross ties are .used to sup- 

 port poles, lumber, and odds and ends 

 that accumulate, and the weight of 

 these things will give the roof a ten- 

 dency to rack or sag. If the intention 

 is to use the collar beams and ties for 

 this purpose, the framing should be 

 made extra strong to resist the addi- 

 tional strain. 



The floor of the shed should not be 

 very high, and the approaches to the 

 door should be quite gradual, for other- 

 wise it will be very difficult to run 

 some of the heavier machines into the 

 shed. Some builders advocate the use 



