THE FARM HOMESTEAD. 



Some provision should be made on every farm for the 

 housing of poultry. The floor is best made of plaster or 

 asphalte, or such other material as can be readily cleaned, 

 and free from all crevices likely to form a harbour for 

 insects. The building should be well lighted and venti- 

 lated, and fitted with nests and roosting perches. Separate 

 places are required for turkeys, geese, and ducks; these 

 should open to the outside and not into the yard. 



Grain pits In the dairy districts a tank for the storage 

 of brewers' grains is an essential of every homestead. A great 

 economy is effected in purchasing grains during the summer 

 months, when the demand is inactive, and hence the prices- 

 are moderate. The grains cistern is made 4 to 6 feet 

 wide and long, and from 4 to 6 feet below the level of the 

 surrounding ground ; it is essential that it be watertight ; 

 hence it is either built in cement or hydraulic mortar. 

 This erection must be close to the mixing room in order to- 

 save the labour of removal from a distance. The grains are 

 trodden in and may be covered on the top with a layer of 

 well-tempered clay to exclude the air, and thus we have a 

 silo which has been in general use amongst the dairy farmers- 

 of Derbyshire for probably a century. 



Silos must be mentioned here, although they are at 

 present only an exceptional part of farm equipment, and still 

 of uncertain policy. They may be either 10 or 12 feet 

 cubic tanks as it were, dug into the solid clay subsoil, walled 

 with concrete and provided with a heavy covering, as of 

 boxes filled with stones, to give the requisite pressure for 

 the exclusion of air from their contents. In these may be 

 stored various green and even succulent forms of vegetable 

 growth with no other preparation than what may be 



