COUNTRY MANSIONS. oC)l 



and lined with boards in those parts where tlie harness is to be hung, 

 and should have a fireplace or stove, with ample means of ventilation and 

 lighting; as damp is destructive to harness. 



426. The (/room's or coachman's room is very properly placed over, or 

 adjoining to, the stable for the horses ; because the latter are liable to various 

 kinds of accidents in the night-time. There should be a stove (one of 

 Arnott's, for example) in the stable sleeping-room, for use during the most 

 severe weather of winter ; because such rooms are, in general, close under 

 the roof, and liable to be very cold ; but, by a little arrangement, it might be 

 so contrived that the flue from the fireplace of the harness- room might give 

 ail the heat to the coachman's bed-room that was requisite ; and, indeed, 

 when the harness-room is placed, as it ought to be, between the stable and 

 the coach-house, with doors communicating with each, all that is necessary is 

 to place the coachman's room over it. By opening the door of this room, 

 which must necessarily be placed near the stoves, the heated air of the har- 

 ness-room may be admitted to ascend to it at pleasure. 



427. ITie farm. — Every one is aware that farming by a proprietor or an 

 amateur is, for the most part, attended by loss in a pecuniary point of view, 

 and that money would be saved by letting the lands to a professional farmer, 

 and purchasing corn, straw, and such other farm produce as might be 

 required- for the carriage and saddle-horses of the proprietor. Farming, 

 however, is a great source of recreation and interest to a resident in the 

 country; and without some knowledge of the practices of the art in the 

 district where a country gentleman resides, it will be difficult for him to keep 

 up a proper degree of social intercourse with his neighbours. Farming and 

 the weather, are topics which every countryman can discuss, from the 

 humblest labourer to the most wealthy proprietor. If there are any excep- 

 tions, such persons must be out of the pale of general country society. Since, 

 then, every person living in the country must, of necessity, take some 

 interest in farming, it would seem worth while for those who can afford to do 

 so, and have an opportunity, to increase that interest by farming themselves. 

 If we inquire into the habits of our greatest landed proprietors, while they 

 reside in the country, we shall find that a considerable portion of the time of 

 each individual is devoted to the inspection of his farm, and to giving direc- 

 tions to his bailiff, hearing a relation of his market transactions, and auditing 

 his accounts. When a landed proprietor has left his country residence to 

 reside in town, or is gone on a visit to some distant part of the country or 

 abroad, the weekly receipt of his bailiff's journal (of which there are regular 

 printed forms, on separate sheets, to be sent by post, and which, when bound 

 at the end of the year, form a volume) constitutes no inconsiderable part of 

 his enjoyment. During the late war, accounts of this kind, not only from 

 bailiffs, but from head gardeners, foresters, and land -stewards, were trans- 

 mitted to such of the heads of families as held commissions in the army, 

 even while they were on the field of action ; and answers and directions 

 were regularly returned by the greatest generals. 



428. Pleasures of farming. — To a citizen who has altogether retired from 

 a commercial or manufacturing concern, the cares of a farm must form an 

 agreeable contrast to those of the counting-house, and will amuse and recreate, 

 without fatiguing ; for no mistake can be greater, than to suppose that there 



