654 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK vin. 



cottages," circumstances of locality, soil, climate, &c., bringing into 

 play various modifications ; but it is one which, upon the whole, will be 

 found to facilitate the economical and regular working of a farmstead. 

 Thus straw, being a very bulky material, will require much labour to 

 carry it from point to point ; but being placed centrally it can be distri- 

 buted to the stock houses which are placed right and left of it, and as 

 near to it as possible ; it is also near to the long range of cattle-boxes 

 on the south side of the range, and to the hammel and the cattle-courts 

 in the central space in q (fig. 191). Then again, the stable on the one 

 side, and the cow-house on the other, are in close proximity to the hay- 

 house, milk-house, and food stores ; whilst the dairy-rooms are near 

 the cow-house ; the implement- stores and cart-shed near the workshops ; 

 the turnip-stores are placed at points convenient to the places in which 

 are housed the stock which use them ; and finally, by having the 

 manure-pits and tanks at the ends near the outside of the east and west 

 ranges, the dung, &c., from the stable and cow- and calf-houses can be 

 led to them at once. A more convenient place for these, if space could 

 be obtained, would be points near to the hammels and the cattle-courts 

 in the spaces p q in fig. 191 ; they would there serve the stables and 

 cow- and calf-houses as well as the southern range of cattle-boxes. 



Of the apartments of the homestead which may either form an 

 integral part of the main building, or be completely isolated from 

 them, those of the dairy are the most important. As to these we now 

 offer a few remarks, premising that they will also be applicable to the 

 special or representative plan of a dairy-farm which we shall presently 

 give. The dairy apartments of a homestead, whether the latter be on the 

 mixed husbandry system now under consideration, or on the special 

 dairy-farm system subsequently described, require to be constructed 

 and fitted up with the most scrupulous care ; for of all the substances or 

 materials which have to be dealt with on the farm, there is none which 

 is so liable to "go wrong " as milk, whilst no produce of the farm 

 demands so much cleanliness and purity as the butter and the cheese 

 made from it. Much useful information is contained ifi Mr. Richard 

 Henderson's paper on "Dairy Buildings," in the Transactions of the 

 Highland and Agricultural Society (5th series, vol. xi., 1899, p. 39). 



The dairy apartments proper are, first, those connected with the 

 storing of the milk for the production of cream for churning purposes ; 

 second, the roomfor churning and cheese-making; third, the roomforthe 

 ripening and the storing of the cheese ; and fourth, the washing-house 

 in which the water is boiled and used for cleansing the various vessels 

 and utensils. Let us glance briefly at the essentials to be considered 

 in the construction and fittings of the milk-room. As regards aspect, the 

 only admissible one for the windows is due north, or at least north- 

 east: dairy milk-rooms, therefore, in which windows are placed all 

 round, are wrongly constructed. The next point as regards the win- 

 dows is, that they be all double-framed, with a space left between the 

 frames. The outer frame should be guarded or shielded outside with 

 a framework filled in with fine wire gauze, in order to keep out the flies 

 and insects, and also to let in the fresh air ; this framework should of 



