On the Erection of Farm Houses and Offices. 1 1 3 



though this water does not absolutely appear. Disease is frequent- 

 ly engendered from those causes, and great care ought to be taken in 

 laying the foundations of buildings upon a dry bed. 



Ground level or floor line, The line of the thresholds is frequent- 

 ly fixed too low. The surface level of the ground is usually taken 

 as the floor line of the buildings, and that without consideration, or if 

 thought of at all, the pitiful saving in the expense of foundation, is 

 put in competition with uncomfortable and unwholesome lodgings 

 for man and beast, mouldy provender, and rotten wood-work. It 

 is more proper to step up, than to step down, from the yards into the 

 buildings. 



Ground Floors. The ground floors of buildings should be made 

 thoroughly dry, whether they are paved, boarded, or laid with clay. 

 The natural soil should be removed, and the space filled up with other 

 substances. Thus, if the natural soil is even dry sand, it is neces- 

 sary to remove it at least a foot deep, and replace it with clay. 

 Where soil and subsoil remain in buildings unbroken, they absorb wet 

 like a sponge, and damp floors are the natural consequence. 



Walls. When walls of farm-buildings are composed of chalk or 

 stone, it is necessary to see that they are worked solid, not only with 

 a view to insure their stability, but to prevent harbours for rats and 

 mice. The cross walls should if possible be carried up at the same time 

 with the outer walls, so as to strengthen the building. Barn walls 

 are apt to fracture at the corners : abutments of solid masonry placed 

 on good foundations should therefore be carried up inside of the 

 angles at the same time with the walls, and worked into them. That 

 precaution effectually prevents angle fractures in barn walls, and is 

 alike applicable to many other farm -buildings. Air holes in barn 

 walls are of no real use, and in some respects lead to much injury. 

 They weaken the buildings, they admit damp to the corn in the 

 bags in hazy weather, and they are thoroughfares for vermin. Those 

 air holes are intended to dry corn when housed in a damp state. But 

 damp corn invariably becomes mouldy between brick or stone walls, 

 and is not at all improved by the air holes. 



Roofs. The roofs of farm-buildings are seldom well constructed. 

 They are generally composed of home grown timber felled indiscrimi- 

 nately at all seasons of the year, improperly treated after it is felled, 

 and cut up and converted without due consideration. The most pre- 

 valent errors in construction are, the scantlings of the timber cut 

 too small ; the cross or tye beam too weak, and not firmly attach- 

 ed to the wall plates ; the pitch of the roofs too flat ; the rafters 

 too long and too weak, unsupported by purlins ; the purlins too 

 weak, and too long bearings, and not well braced or strutted up ; and 

 the principals weakened by the purlins being mortised into them. 



Doors and Windows. Outer doors and window frames should be 

 made of the most durable timber, such as oak, sweet chestnut, and 

 locust acacia. Home-grown fir may be used for inner-doors and 

 door-jambs, and all inside work, but the boarding of outer-doors and 

 windows should be of Baltic red wood deals. 



Covering. Farm-buildings are frequently covered with tiles. 

 Flat tiles are a heavy covering, requiring strong timbers in the roof 



