Book IV. FARMERIES. 46fS 



Chap. III. Sec. III. The aspect, or principal front of the house, ami that siile of the farm-yard which 

 is least sheltered by buildings, should generally face the south. " As the wind lately blows from the 

 south-east, and as our most constant and most violent winds are from the south-west, it would seem that 

 one point to the east of south will generally be the best aspect." The north-east corner being the coldest, 

 is the best for the dairy. Open cattle-sheds should face the sun. The farmhouse should be at a little 

 distance southward from the middle of the south side of the farm-yard. The living room and the 

 master's bedroom should look into the farm-yard for the sake of looking after the servants, and seeing 

 that no accident happens to the live stock. The rule for the distance of the dwelling-house from the 

 south wall of the farm-yard, is the length of the house's shadow at noon on the shortest day. " In the 

 latitude of London, the length of shadows on a horizontal plane when the sun is in the meridian, on 

 the shortest day, is about equal to 3§ times the height of objects. On the 23d of November and lyth of 

 January, they are equal to three times the height. The back of a farmhouse in front of the yard 

 ought not, therefore, to be placed much nearer to the north side of the farm-yard, than four times 

 the height of the house." It is essentially necessary for the health of the inhabitants, that the house 

 should be separated from the farm-yard, which is generally covered with dung, by an open, naked, and 

 dry court-yard ; since nothing is more injurious to health than putrid effluvia of every kind : besides, 

 bad smells, it is well known, " lessen the products of butter dairies, by preventing a complete separation 

 of the cream from the milk." Hog and poultry houses should be near the kitchen and the brewhouse, 

 but not so near as to offend by their smell. The barn and threshing-machine should in general be 

 placed on the north side of the yard ; the granary over the straw-room ; the stables, cowhouses, and 

 cart-sheds, on the east and west ; and the open sheds on the north side, so as to face the south. 



2922. The form and proportion of farm buildings are ably treated of by the same author. The more a 

 building deviates from a square, the more will it require to enclose a given area. The area of a building 

 twenty feet square, is four times as large as that of one ten feet square, and it only requires twice the 

 length of wall to surround it. Hence large-roomed houses cost less proportional expense than small- 

 roomed ones. "Utility, durability, and economy, are best obtained by adhering strictly to simplicity of 

 form, and building with good materials. Let the buildings be quadrangular, as nearly square as other 

 circumstances will allow, and roofed at one span. Avoid lead gutters, and such projections as bow 

 windows, dormar windows, &c. These are not only expensive to construct and keep in repair, but are 

 often the cause of much damage to other parts by the overflowing of water, particularly after snow. 

 The increase of the size of farm-houses is not required to be in the same ratio as the extent of the 

 farms ; that is, the dwelling-house for a small farm must be proportionably larger, and consequently 

 will cost more, in proportion, than one for a large farm. The cost of cattle-sheds, cow-houses, and 

 stables, will be nearlv in the same ratio as the sizes of the farms, provided the lands be of the same 

 quality, and in like situations." One window will generally be found sufficient for every room in a farm- 

 house; unless where two would admit oflooking over a greater part of the farm: every window ought to be 

 made to open at top and bottom, for the purpose of ventilation ; and the top ought to be as near the 

 ceiling as possible for that purpose, and because the upper half of a window always admits most light. 

 All rooms should be high, because the floor and ceiling cost the same, whether the walls are high or low. 

 In all new buildings, bedrooms, in addition to the chimney for the fire, should have a small flue, say six 

 inches square, carried up from the top of the room in any convenient situation, for the purpose of 

 ventilation; cellars, and even stables and cowhouses, should be ventilated in this way. This has been 

 done by many gentlemen in their stables, because, as our author remarks, " the health of servants is 

 often less attended to than the health of cattle." Farmers and their families frequently suffer in their 

 health, without knowing the reason, from the pernicious effluvia of the following articles : — " Oil, oil 

 colours, impure wool, sweaty saddles, soap, tallow, fat, fresh meat whether raw or dressed, wet clothes, 

 and other wet articles ; by foul linen, washing, drying, and ironing ; by the fumes from charcoal fires, 

 which are extremely pernicious, and frequently fatal ; by green plants and flowers, however fragrant; 

 and by saffron and hops; which last articles, Dr. Wallich says, have also sometimes proved fatal." 

 The floors of all dwelling-houses ought to be raised above the surface, not less than eighteen inches 

 on a damp soil, nor nine inches on the driest. No external walls to dwelling-houses should be less than 

 a brick and a half in thickness, unless cemented on the outside, or built with Roman cement 



2923. The conveniences of farmhouses and detached offices are arranged by Waistell 



under seven classes as follows :— 



2924. 1st Class. Back kitchen, bacon-room, bakehouse, brewhouse, cider-house, kitchen, and wnshhonsc. 

 Two rooms generally serve for all these purposes in farmhouses of the smallest size; but the bakehouse 

 and the brewhouse should always be in attached buildings, as the vapour arising from both baking and 

 brewing is very injurious to health. Bacon is best kept in a closet with a draft through it. 



2925. 2d Class. Cellar, potato-place, carrot-store, &c. When under the kitchen they should be arched 

 over ; when sunk only a few steps, the walls should be built hollow, and a bank of earth raised 

 against them. 



2926. 3d Class. Chambers or bedrooms. Such as are in the roof should be lighted from the gables, 

 dormars being expensive. The men-servants' bedroom ought not to be up the same stairs as the 

 bedrooms for the family. 



2927. 4th Class. Cheese-press house, cheese-room, dairy, dairy -scullery, and shed. These ought all to 

 be connected. " A milk-room, sunk three feet within the ground, and a sloping bank raised against its 

 walls externally, to the height of three feet, with the earth dug out of it, will be found nearly as cool in 

 summer and warm in winter as a cellar, but more convenient to occupy, as four or five steps to descend 

 into it will be sufficient." The milk-house should never be used as a pantry, because the smells incident 

 to the latter prevents the cream from rising. A rill of water through a dairy carries heat to it in winter, 

 and from it in summer. 



292S. 5th Class. Parlour, counting-house, pantry, and store-room. If the two latter apartments are 

 attached, instead of being within the house, so much the better, on account of the pernicious effluvia 

 which proceed from them. . 



2929 6th Class. Court-yard, chaise-house, privy, ash-pit, and tool-house. A tank may be built in the 

 court-yard for the hogwash, and it ought to have oak covers, like the water-tank. The cesspool of the 

 privy ought to be lined with Roman cement, and its walls ought either to be hollow, or of double 

 thickness. " When a drain is required, it should have a trap ; from the underside of the seat, a trunk 

 or flue should be constructed to carrv off", above the roof, any smell that may arise : if, however, the 

 cesspool be airtight, so that no air may'be admitted below the seat, which always ought to have a cover, 

 the air would then be stagnant, and the smell not likely to ascend. The tool-house may also, in some- 

 cases, serve for the cheese-press house, and also for dry pigs' food." 



2930. 7th Class. Coal-house, fuel-house, wood-house, and wood or coal yard. In some places the wood 

 is stacked and thatched. 



2931. The out-nffces of farm buildings are arranged by the same author in eleven 

 classes, as follows : — 



2932. 1st Class. Barn, straw-room, and threshing-machine. A comparatively small ham will suffice 

 where there is a threshing-machine Parallelogram barns (fig. 4400, and barns with porches {Jig. 

 441.), are much more expensive in proportion to their capacity than square barns {Jig. 44-.) Un the 

 same principle, as we have already mentioned, if all the buildings of the farmery were arranged under 

 one roof, the same accommodations would be obtained at much less expense ; but among other disadvan- 



