BOOK THE EIGHTH. 



ON FAKM OFFICES AND IMPLEMENTS OS 1 HUSBANDRY. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE FARM HOUSE. 



THE farm-house should be designed so as to be at once a fitting 

 residence for the tenant, and a convenient office for carrying out 

 the business of the farm. It has become more than ever necessary 

 that economy should be exercised in the construction, and in the size, 

 because the landlord cannot expect so great a return in rent as 

 formerly, and can thus afford to lay out less ; and as the profit from 

 working the land is proportionately smaller, the tenant cannot spend 

 so much in furnishing or in keeping up his home as when the returns 

 were greater. At the same time, when a man puts a considerable 

 amount of capital into a farm he is entitled to as good a home as men 

 following other pursuits involving equal capital. 



As a matter of business in the letting of farms, it has been found 

 on many estates a good outlay to build houses of perhaps rather more 

 extensive size than the returns from the farm would warrant, for an 

 attractive home gives an air of prosperity to the farm, and it is only 

 natural to be proud of a good home. Some land agents appreciating 

 this, have successfully carried out a system of building a better class 

 of house on poor land farms than on the more productive, on the 

 principle that a good farm will let itself, while the attraction of a good 

 house with pleasant surroundings is necessary to induce men to take the 

 less productive. It has been estimated that one year's rental would be 

 nearly sufficient for the cost of the dwelling-house, but this would hardly 

 meet the requirements of the times, unless little attention were paid to 

 durability, and it is not good policy to build for short duration such a 

 necessary adjunct to the farm as the house. Rents have fallen so much 

 that old figures do not apply, and it must remain a matter of business 

 calculation with the landlord as to what he can afford to lay out, whilst 

 he has to bear in mind that every attraction has to be offered in order to 

 induce a new tenant to take a farm. But extravagance in style is not 

 warranted, and a neat, comfortable, and fairly commodious house is all 

 that should be attempted. The kind of house depends so much on 



