1S28 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AGRICULTURE. si -m .. china 



work embracing so extended a view of agriculture as the present volume. In that work. Including the 

 Supplement to It published in 1843, we nave not only given ■ great variety of tin- very best plans for 



farmeries, or farm-houses, which have been executed in Britain within these few years ; but we have 

 given detailed plans, sections, and specifications Of all the component buildings of alarm-yard, and of their 

 littin i^s up, fixtures, and furniture. 



8214 '2816. Stables in Sweden have the floors laid with perforated planks, so that no wet will lodge on 



them, and no litter is allowed. The same thing was practised in llarley's dairy. The Swedes attribute 

 the soundness of their horses' feet to their stab!.' Boors. ( Brit. /■'• If., N. S., vol. iv. p. 405.) 



8215 2810. Doors, which are likely to meet with obstructions on opening inwards, or themselves be- 

 coming obstructions to things passing outwards, should be mounted on crooks and bands, so as to open 

 and throw back against the wall, or what is better, into a recess in it protected by a lintel. The door may 

 be held in its place in the recess by a bolt. (Book of the Farm, vol. I. p. 118.) 



8216 2847. Barn floors, to be proof against the ascent of rats from beneath, should be formed of 



wood, or covered over with asphalte, which is found to be proof against every kind of vermin, and also to 

 b.'.ir the action of the flail. " The sleepers upon which the floor is laid, should rest upon stone and lime 

 building, raised two feet from the ground, close to the barn wall ; and the mortar and stones must be 

 packed close to the upper edge of the sleepers, up to the deals of the floor. According to the width of the 

 barn, the sleepers should rest also upon one or two supports of stones, so hewn as to permit no footing 

 to any vermin ; and which will support the middle of the floor. By this contrivance, the space from the 

 floor to the ground is made too deep to permit any small animal standing on its hind legs and gnawing 

 the floor, while dogs or cats can easily pass under it." (Quart. Jour. Agr., vol. iii. p. 995.) 



v>l7 2856. Ha>/ barns are little used in Scotland, notwithstanding the moisture of the climate com- 

 pared with that of England. In making meadow or natural hay, they have lately been found of great 

 advantage in Scotland ; where meadow hay of the same degree of dryness that would rot if put into a 

 rick, will keep perfectly if put in a hay shed. This arises probably from an increased evaporating sur- 

 face, and the hay being put in loosely. Were landlords sufficiently alive to the value of the hay barn, 

 one would be built on every steading in districts where meadow hay is made. (Trans. 11. S., vol. xiv. 



p. 697.) 



8218 2876. Labourers' cottages. Having entered on this subject at length in our Encyclopedia of 



Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture, and there given numerous plans, accompanied by descriptions, 

 specifications, estimates, and critical remarks, we shall not here repeat any thing which has appeared in 

 that work. Nevertheless, as the improvement of the dwellings of country labourers is what we have most 

 at heart, next to the education of their offspring, we cannot let pass this opportunity, without contribut- 

 ing something farther to the subject ; we shall, therefore, give one article, entitled the beau ideal of an 

 English labourer's cottage, by a most benevolent and enlightened clergyman, who adopts the signature 

 of Selim ; and another on building cottages with mud walls, by a professional man, Mr. Wilds ot Hert- 

 ford. This gentleman, having been in North America, is deeply impressed with the importance of this 

 kind of knowledge to emigrants, who, at present, too frequently build their houses of wood, and conse- 

 quently, sooner or later, suffer from accidents by fire, or, what is almost as bad, live in continual fear of 

 doing so. To these we shall add the design of a stone-walled agricultural labourer's cottage, recently 

 built, along with a number of others of the same kind, on the estate of William Laurence, Esq., in 

 Gloucestershire. 



8219. The beau ideal of an English labourer's cottage. The leading feature in the exterior of a 

 labourer's cottage should be a picturesque simplicity, which is a sort of medium between superfluous 

 decoration and unmeaning plainness. This appears to be the only character of which a cottage is suscep- 

 tible ; for, as plainness is uninteresting, so it offends our sense of propriety to see a building of this descrip- 

 tion bedecked with costly fantastic ornaments, which are evidently unsuited to the simple unrefined 

 habits of humble life. But a picturesque simplicity is seldom the pervading character of modern orna- 

 mental cottages. They are often decorated with turrets and battlements in the castellated style of Gothic, 

 or in the monastic style, with elaborate painted windows, crosses, and pinnacles ; nay, instances have 

 occured where the two styles have been united in the ornaments of a cottage dwelling. It cannot be 

 denied, that a picturesque effect is produced by this mode of embellishment ; all I contend for is, that 

 such ornaments are altogether unsuited to a dwelling of the lowest order. Should it be objected, that, if 

 we reject this mode of decoration, we must have recourse to ruin and decay to produce a picturesque 

 effect ; I answer, that as much of this effect as we may require may be produced, I think, by irregu- 

 larity of form and outline ; and irregularity is, in fact, the only effect aimed at by the use of Gothic 

 ornaments. But as my object would be only a picturesque simplicity, I should discard useless and incon- 

 venient irregularity. In so small a building as a cottage, a slight irregularity would be sufficient to give 

 it a picturesque character, and the simplest embellishments would give it an ornamental effect ; and 

 this, I conceive, is all we require to produce what I understand by picturesque simplicity. Though 1 

 am an advocate for simplicity, however, in cottage architecture, 1 would in some measure sacrifice even 

 simplicity to the picturesque ; because the beauty of a neighbourhood frequently depends upon the style 

 of the labourers' dwellings. These are the prevailing buildings in all rural scenery. They are occa- 

 sionally so placed and associated with surrounding objects, that they present the most striking features in 

 the landscape ; and the effect of particular scenes is not unfrequently produced by the forms and situ- 

 ations of the cottages. Hence, a picturesque exterior is one of the chief requisites in an ornamental 

 cottage ; but it should be a simple pleasing style of picturesque, which does not interfere with internal 

 comfort and convenience ; produced by slight irregularity of form, and by unobtrusive and appropriate 

 ornaments. I am not at all disposed to sacrifice internal comfort to outward effect. I think a pic- 

 turesque exterior may always be united with a comfortable interior ; and I now proceed to give the 

 description of a cottage in which I shall endeavour to exemplify the union above alluded to. 



8220. Site of the cottage. As the comfort of the inmates and the general effect of a building depend 

 materially on its site, the situation of a cottage is the first thing connected with it that requires consider- 

 ation. A general rule for the situation of a cottage is, that it should be properly supplied with water ; be 

 dry, airy, and sheltered ; and admit of a sufficient allotment of garden ground adjoining the house. And 

 I am an advocate for rather a scattered village, because, among other advantages, it atlbrds an opportu- 

 nity of erecting the cottages in proper situations. A damp situation is the principal thing to be avoided. 

 It is a nuisance in all cases ; but especially to a labouring man, who cannot afford to spend any thing in 

 draining, or much in fuel ; whose health is his only source of wealth, and to whom it is necessary, both 

 for health and comfort, that he should have a dry home to come to, after long exposure and severe ex- 

 ertion in the open air. Besides being dry, the site of a cottage should be airy and sheltered. Every 

 dwelling should have a proper circulation of air around it, or it cannot be dry ; and a cottage should be 

 sheltered, that it may be warmed with less expense of fuel : the shelter should be so placed, however, as 

 not to interfere with a full exposure to the sun. We w ill, therefore, suppose our cottage placed on a 

 gentle eminence in the neighbourhood of other dwellings ; and sheltered, in part, by higher ground at a 

 distance, by a wood, or by groups of trees, and in part by its own orchard and outbuildings; some of 

 these so placed as to appear above the roof, but leaving it fully open to the south. The situation would 

 be more desirable if a stream of water happened to run near, or if it adjoined a common, or a public 

 road ; and it would thus possess the advantages of dryness, shelter, and cheerfulness, besides others which 

 are of consequence to the general effect of the binding to be erected upon it. 



8221. Style of the cottage. Having fixed upon the site of the cottage, the next thing to be considered 

 is, in what style is the building to be erected ; for even a cottage, 1 think, should present some appear- 

 ance of architectural style. I have already contended that the Gothic is inappropriate to a dwelling of 



