68 THE FAT OF THE LAND 
machinery we should ever need. I havea horror 
of the economy that leaves good tools to sky and 
clouds without protection. This sketch would 
not be worked out for a long time, as few of the 
buildings were needed at once. It was made for 
the sake of having a general design to be carried 
- out when required; and the water and sewer 
system had been built with reference to it. 
I told Nelson that a barn to shelter the horses 
was the first thing to build, after the house for 
the men, and that I saw no reason why two or 
even three buildings should not be in process of 
construction at the same time. He said there 
would be no difficulty in managing that if he 
could get the men and I could get the money. 
I promised to do my part, and we went into 
details. 
I wanted a horse barn for ten horses, with 
shed room for eight wagons in front and a small 
stable yard in the rear; also a sunken manure 
vat, ten feet by twenty, with cement walls and 
floor, the vat to be four feet deep, two feet in 
the ground and two feet above it. A vat like 
this has been built near each stable where stock 
is kept, and I find them perfectly satisfactory. 
They save the liquid manure, and thus add fifty 
per cent to the value of the whole. Open sheds 
protect from sun and rain, and they are emptied 
as often as is necessary, regardless of season, for 
I believe that the fields can care for manure bet- 
ter than a compost heap. 
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me 
D stag ee 
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