FAN. 



FAFRVf. 



fluence on corn which is cultivated immedi- 

 ately after them is, that they do not extract the 

 alkalies of the soil, and only a very small 

 quantity of phosphates." 



FAN, FANNER. See WINNOWING MACHINE. 



FAR (Sax. peop). In horsemanship, a term 

 used to denote a horse's right side ; thus the 

 far foot, far shoulder, &c. is the right foot, 

 right shoulder, <fcc. 



FARCY. In farriery, a disease of the ab- 

 sorbents affecting the skin and its blood-vessels, 

 by which, when inveterate, their coats intlame 

 and are so thickened that they become like so 

 many cords. Farcy is intimately connected 

 with" -landers, and they will frequently run 

 into each other. The treatment varies with 

 the form it assumes. In the button, or bud 

 farcy, in which indolent boils appear, a mild 

 dose of physic should be first administered. 

 The buds should then be carefully examined, 

 and, if any of them have broken, the budding 

 iron, of a dull red heat, should be applied to 

 them, and the buds all opened as soon as they 

 appear to contain matter, and afterwards 

 washnl with a lotion composed of a drachm 

 of corrosive sublimate, dissolved in an ounce 

 of rectified spirit. Daily exercise and green 

 food are also essential to the animal's recovery. 



FARCY, WATER. See DROPST. 



FARDING-BAG. The first stomach of a 

 cow, or any other ruminant animal. It is a 

 mere receptacle for receiving and retaining 

 the green food, until the animal has time to 

 repose and chew the cud. 



I'.MIINA (Lat./ur, corn, of which it is made). 

 Meal or flour obtained by grinding and sifting 

 wheat and other seeds, or by pulverizing and 

 preparing edible roots, &c.; hence the term 

 farinaceous food. 



FARM. A portion of ground cultivated for 

 the purpose of profit. There are different 

 kinds of farms. Where the principal part of 

 the land is under the plough, they are termed 

 arable farms; but where the fattening of cattle 

 or other live-stock is more immediately the 

 object, they are distinguished by the title of 

 grazing farms ; where the chief intention is 

 tiie obtaining different animal products, such 

 as milk, butter, and cheese, they are denomi- 

 nated dairy farms; and where the two systems 

 of arable and grass management can be com- 

 bined, they are called convertible farms. As 

 manure must be had in order to render farms 

 of any kind productive, the last may probably, 

 in general, be considered as the most advan- 

 tageous. Besides these, in districts where hay 

 is the principal produce, there are hay or grass 

 farms, and there are also what are denominated 

 breeding or cattle farms. 



The old writers on husbandry, who lived in 

 warm countries, where the heat and moisture 

 of the air had sensible and frequently very 

 dangerous effects on the health of the inhabit- 

 ants, were very particular in their directions 

 for the choice of farms or estates, and of the 

 spots whereon houses should be built, so as to 

 avoid the inconveniences arising from the 

 Climate, or from the quality or situation of the 

 ground. The Romans had generally pleasure 

 as well as profit in view, when they bought ' 

 and stocked a farm ; and therefore they laid it i 



down as a rule, that no degree of fertility 

 should tempt a man to purchase in an unhealthy 

 country, nor the pleasantest situations in a 

 barren one. " Buy not too hastily," said Cato, 

 " but view again and again the purchase you 

 intend to make ; for, if it be a good one, the 

 oftener you see it the better it will please you. 

 Examine how the neighbouring inhabitants 

 fare. Let the country it lies in be a good one ; 

 the ways to and from it good; and the air tem- 

 perate. Let your land, if you can choose your 

 situation, be at the foot of a hill, facing the 

 south, in a healthy place where a sufficiency 

 of labourers, of cattle, and of water may be 

 had. Let it be near a flourishing town, the 

 sea, or a navigable river; or bordering upon a 

 good and well-frequented road. Let the build- 

 ings upon your ground be strong and sub- 

 stantial. Do not rashly condemn the methods 

 of others. It is best to purchase from a good 

 husbandman and a good improver." 



Besides the healthfulness of the situation, 

 three other things should be particularly at- 

 tended to in the choice of a farm or estate ; 

 these are, the air, the water, and the soil. The 

 air should be pure and temperate, the \vat*>r 

 wholesome and easily come at, and the soil 

 fertile; and the farm should be at a reasonable 

 distance from good markets, both for the sale 

 of the produce and the purchase of manure. 

 See FARM 13i i I.IUM.S. 



The ancients were particularly attentive to 

 the quality of their water, and to the ease of 

 coming at it. They advised bringing into the 

 farm-houses the water of such springs as never 

 dried up; or, if there was no such spring 

 within the farm, to bring running water as near 

 to it as possible; or to dig for well-water, not 

 of a bitter or brackish taste. If neither of 

 these was to be found, they directed large 

 cisterns to be provided for men, and ponds for 

 collecting and retaining rain-water for cattle. 

 They esteemed that running water to be best 

 for drinking which had its source in a hill ; 

 spring or well-water from a rising ground was 

 deemed the next best ; well-water in the bottom 

 of a valley was held to be suspicious ; and 

 marshy or fenny water, which creeps slowly 

 on, was by them rightly regarded as the worst 

 of all. 



The nature of the soil of a farm may be as- 

 certained either by analysis (see ANALYSTS), 

 by observation of the weeds which flourish 

 upon it (see BOTANT and WEEDS), and of the 

 trees growing in the hedge rows (see PLANTA- 

 TIONS). In England the elm and the oak are 

 commonly tenants of good soils ; the birch, 

 the holly, and the ash indicate those which are 

 poor. And again, the productiveness of a soil 

 may be estimated from the degree of its attrac- 

 tion -for the insensible moisture of the atmo- 

 sphere ; by the substratum on which it rests 

 (see GEOLOGY); and by its inclination. There 

 are many other circumstances, also, which the 

 farmer in search of a farm should regard, 

 most of which he will find treated of in this 

 work under the heads APPRAISEMENT, AGREE* 

 MENT, CUSTOMS OF COUNTIES, CAPITAL re- 

 quired, RAIN, LEASE, &c, Let him also closely 

 examine the state of the buildings, the mode 

 in which the farm has been cultivated, and the 



451 



