Book II. LAYING OUT FARM LANDS. 621 



3880. For entrance lodges there are many elegant designs by Gandy, Robertson, 

 Papworth, and others : some simple and modern, and others in imitation of the elder 

 styles of building. 



3881 . A very simple entrance lodge of one story (Jig. 481 , ) may contain a kitchen (a), 

 parlor and bed-room opening into it (J), pantry (c), and closet (d). Towards the road 

 there may either be a bow projection or porch. Detached, in the garden and concealed 

 by trees and shrubs, may be the usual appendages to comfortable cottages. 



SuBSECT. 3. Of laying out the Farm Lands, 



3882. In arranging farm lands the principal consideration is the size and shape of the 

 fields, and the next access to them and to the farmery by proper roads. 



3883. With respect to roads, sometimes a farm is situated on both sides of a highway ; 

 in which case all the fields may be made to open into it, either directly or through an in- 

 tervening field. Here no private road is wanting, excepting a few yards to reach the 

 farmery. But when, as is most generally the case, the lands are situated at a distance 

 from a great road, and approached by a lane or bye -road, then from that bye-road a pri- 

 vate road is required to the farmery, and a lane or lanes from it so contrived as to touch 

 at most of the fields of the farm. In wet and clayey soils, these lanes must be formed of 

 durable materials ; but in dry soils, provided attention be paid to fill in the cart ruts 

 as they are formed (by the leading out of dung, or home of corn,) by small stones, 

 gravel, or even earth, the lane may remain green ; and being fed with sheep or 

 cattle will not be altogether lost. It is essentially necessary to make a piece of road at 

 the gate of every enclosure, being the spot which is most frequently in use. Without this 

 precaution, it often becomes a mire where corn is thrown down and spoiled in har- 

 vest, or if it is attempted to avoid the mire, the gate-posts and neighboring fence are often 

 damaged. {Communications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 251.) 



3884. With good private roads a farmer will perform his operations at much less expense, 

 the labor of the horses will be much easier ; a greater quantity or weight of grain and 

 other articles may be more expeditiously carried over them ; manure can be more easily 

 conveyed to the fields ; the harvest can be carried on more rapidly ; and wear and 

 tear of every description will be greatly reduced. {Code of Agriculture , p. 158.) 



3885. The form and size of fields have too often been determined without much regard 

 to the size of the farm, the exposure and the equability of the soil. This is the more to be 

 regretted in the case of live fences, which ought to endure for a long course of years, and 

 which cannot be eradicated without considerable expense. In The Code of Agriculture it 

 is observed, that " when a whole farm is divided into fields of various sizes, it is difficult 

 to form a plan, so as to suit a regular rotation of crops, or to keep very accurate accounts. 

 Whereas, by having the fields in general of a large size, the whole strength of a farm, and 

 the whole attention of the farmer is directed to one point; while an emulation is excited 

 among the ploughmen, when they are thus placed in circumstances which admit their 

 work to be compared. Some small fields are certainly convenient on any farm, for 

 grazing and other purposes, to be afterwards explained. On elevated situations also, 

 the shelter derived from small enclosures is of use. 



3886. A number of small enclosures, irregularly shaped, surrounded with trees or high 

 hedges in corn farms, and more especially in corn lands situated in a flat country, where 

 shelter is unnecessary, is exceedingly injurious to the farmer. Besides the original expense 

 of making the enclosures, the injury done to the crops of grain, produced by the want of 

 a free circulation of air, and the harbor afforded to numbers of small birds; the very site 

 of numerous hedges, with their attendant ditches, and the uncultivated slips of land on both 

 sides of them, consume a much larger proportion of arable land than is commonly imagined. 

 Hedges, especially if accompanied by rows of trees, greatly exhaust the ground of its 

 fertility, nourish weeds, the seeds of which may be widely disseminated, and, by the ex- 

 clusion of air, the harvesting of the crop is carried on more slowly. Even upon meadow 

 land, small enclosures, encircled by hedges, are injurious, as they prevent the circulation 

 of air for making or drying the hay. Small enclosures, with high hedges and trees, are 

 also extremely injurious to the roads, in their neighborhood. 



3887. With fields of a considerable size less ground is wasted, and fewer fences are to 

 uphold. The crops of grain, being more exposed to wind, can be harvested earlier, and 

 it suffers less from damp seasons. Small enclosures in pasture are more productive in 

 winter, being better sheltered ; but in summer the larger and more open the enclosures 

 are the better; for in hot weather both cattle and sheep always resort to the most airy 

 places. It is easier also, when they are in pasture, to obtain a supply of water in large 

 fields than in small ones : indeed fields are sometimes so small, that it is very difficult to 

 procure an adequate supply of water, even in winter. But the conclusive argument in 

 favor of large arable fields is this, that where fields are small, much time and labor are 

 wasted by short turnings ; and it is now ascertained, " that if fields are of a regular 

 shape, and the ridges of a proper length, five ploughs may do as much work as six 



