404 THE HANDBOOK FOR PRACTICAL FARMERS 



ally speaking, the presence of farm work would cause them to be 

 neglected. A small 3^ard bordered with flowering shrubs, cov- 

 ered with a smooth verdant sward and containing a few shade 

 trees with one or tv^o evergreens for protection against cold 

 winds and to give a touch of verdure in winter, is appropriate, 

 attractive and easily kept in order. 



As every farmhouse should have a bathroom, so in its location 

 consideration should alwaj^s be had for the convenient and safe 

 disposal of sewage. 



When farmers make their homes so comfortable and attractive 

 that they will wish to live their own lives in them, instead of 

 moving to the country town as soon as they can afford it, the 

 problem of how to keep the boys and girls on the farm will be 

 well advanced towards solution. 



The farm buildings should preferably be to the rear of the 

 dwelling, though sometimes convenience requires that they be 

 placed to the side. 



The ideal location for the farm buildings would be to have 

 them grouped about a yard open to the south, on well-drained, 

 level, or slightly sloping ground; protected on the north and 

 west, except in very warm climates, by higher ground, woods, or 

 even a row of evergreen trees. 



If possible the farm buildings should be located north or west 

 of the dwelling also. 



It is very difficult to keep a barnyard so clean that warm, moist 

 winds blowdng from it toward the residence will not carry with 

 them unpleasant odors, unless the barnyard is at an inconvenient 

 distance from the dwelling. 



Good drainage of the ground under and adjacent to all farm 

 buildings is a prime necessity, under no circumstance to be over- 

 looked. If the location best suited from other reasons is not 

 naturally dry, it must be made so by artificial means. 



In the type of barn known as the bank barn, common through- 

 out rolling or hilly sections, it not infrequently happens that the 

 basement, being more or less in an excavation at the foot of a 

 hill, is kept damp by seepage moisture which penetrates the walls 

 and floors even though they are constructed of hydraulic cement. 

 It is best to have no earth in contact with the basement walls, 

 but, if that is thought desirable for the sake of warmth, then if 

 the hillside tends to be at all spring}^, a tile drain with protected 

 outlets should be laid at the bottom of the foundation wall, and 

 a foot space between the wall and the earth bank should be filled 

 in with fine gravel or coal ashes. In addition, all water from the 



