FARM ACCOUNTS. 



FARM BUILDINGS. 



course of cropping which the out-going tenant 

 has followed. This last inquiry is one very 

 material point to be carefully and accurately 

 ascertained. 



The number of farms in the United Kingdom 

 is estimated to be about 2,000,000, and the 



In England and Wales it is calculated that 

 there are 



. barley and rye. 



. oats, beans, and peas. 



clover, rye, grass, <fec. 

 . roots and cabbages by 



the plough. 

 . fallows. 



hop grounds. 



pleasure grounds. 

 . depastured by cattle. 

 . hedge rows, copses, and 

 woods. 



waysandwater-courses. 

 - common andwaste lands. 



1,250,000 

 3,200,000 

 1,200,000 

 1,200,000 



2,100,000 



47,000 



18.000 



17.300^000 



1,200,000 



1,300,000 

 5,0 % 29,000 



FARM ACCOUNTS. The necessity and 

 utility of correct and detailed particulars of all 

 matters concerning the farm, have already been 

 spoken of under the head BOOK-KEEPING. Let 

 any farmer make the experiment, and he will 

 find it both interesting and useful, to know 

 from year to year the actual products of his 

 farm. Let every thing, therefore, which can 

 be measured and weighed, be so tested; and 

 let that which cannot be brought to an exact 

 standard he estimated, as if he himself were 

 about to sell or to purchase it. Let him like- 

 wise, as near as possible, measure the ground 

 which he plants, the quantity of seed which he 

 uses, and the manure which he applies. The 

 Ip.bour of doing this is nothing compared with 

 the satisfaction of having done it, and the 

 benefits which must arrive from it. Conjec- 

 ture, in these cases, is perfectly wild and un- 

 certain varying often, with different indivi- 

 duals, almost 100 per cent. Exactness enables 

 a man to form conclusions which may most 

 essentially, and in innumerable ways, avail to 

 his advantage. It is that alone which can give 

 any value to his experience ; it is that which 

 will make his experience the sure basis of 

 improvement ; it will put it in his power to 

 give safe counsel to his friends; and it is the 

 only ground on which he can securely place 

 confidence in himself. 



FARM BUILDINGS. In the construction 

 of farm buildings, the first thing to be regarded 

 is the convenience of their situation; and to this 

 end must be considered the best shelter, feeding 

 and watering of live-stock; the carriage of the 

 crop, and of manure, and the preservation of 

 the produce. To combine all these advan- 

 452 



tages together is rarely attainable; the object 

 with the practical farmer is to obtain as many 

 of them as possible. The improved economi- 

 j cal construction of farm buildings some years 

 since engaged the attention of the Highland 

 , Society in Scotland, and from their report 

 (Trans, vol. ii. p. 365), the reader who wishes 

 for working plans will derive abundant infor- 

 mation. The committee say, very justly, "one 

 of the most common errors in these designs is 

 the crowding the buildings together, under the 

 idea of giving them greater compactness, and 

 the not sufficiently extending the shelter sheds 

 for the feeding of cattle. This is a fault so 

 universal that it is only on the larger class of 

 breeding and feeding farms in the border coun- 

 ties of England and Scotland that experience 

 has taught builders fully to avoid it. In giving 

 designs of the outhouses of a farm, little more 

 can be done than to give general useful ex- 

 amples. Although a certain similarity must 

 exist in the form and arrangement of the parts 

 of all such buildings, yet these must be modi' 

 fied according to the circumstances of the farm 

 itself, the nature of the soil, the situation with 

 regard to markets, and the particular kind of 

 management to be pursued. No one rule that 

 can be given is of general application, and the 

 judgment of the architect must be shown, in 

 adapting the size, form, and arrangements of 

 the buildings to the nature of the farm, and the 

 wants of the occupier. While every suitable 

 accommodation should be afforded to the te- 

 nant, it is the province of the architect to take 

 care that the heavy cost of such buildings be 

 not unnecessarily enhanced, either by erecting 

 buildings that are useless, or by giving unne- 

 cessary dimensions to such as are requisite. 

 It may be particularly remarked that the giving 

 unnecessary breadth to the buildings adds 

 materially to the expense, by increasing the 

 dimensions of the timbers, and adding to the 

 size of the roofs. At the same time care must 

 be taken that in the cow-houses and stables 

 the animals shall not be cramped from the 

 want of necessary room. In general, it may 

 be said that the most convenient arrangement 

 of the outhouses of a farm is in the form of a 

 rectangle, the side to the south being open, and 

 the farm-house being placed at some conve- 

 nient distance in front of it. And again, the 

 most approved mode of keeping and feeding 

 the larger and finer kinds of cattle is in small 

 sheds with open yards attached, each capable 

 of holding two animals. It is recommended 

 that the water-course from the stables, cow- 

 houses, and yards should be carried off by 

 causewayed open channels to a pond or tank 

 near to the buildings. This mode of convey- 

 ing away and receiving the urine is conceived 

 to be better in ordinary cases than sewers be- 

 low ground, which, even when executed in the 

 best manner, will be subject to be choked up 

 from want of necessary attention to cleaning ; 

 and such sewers become nurseries for rats, 

 notwithstanding every precaution that can be 

 taken. Should the situation of the buildings 

 incline to the north, conduits can be made 

 through the north range below the floors, at 

 proper places, for discharging the liquids. 

 "For watering cattle, if a stream cannot be 



