304 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



For the New England Farmer. 



PROPEK LOCATION OF BUILDINGS ON 

 THE PAKM. 



Most of the readers of the Farmer have doubt- 

 less often been struck with the want of taste or 

 judgment displayed in the relative position of 

 farm-houses and out-buildings connected with 

 them. This is not, however, the subject I propose 

 to consider in this article, but leave for others to 

 dispose of, if it has not already been done, to 

 their entire satisfaction. I now wish to bring for- 

 ward what I consider a more important matter, 

 viz : The location of farm buildings so as to se- 

 cure the greatest economy in all our farm opera- 

 tions. That this is lamentably overlooked, we 

 have abundant evidence on every hand. 



A year or two since I rode out of Boston a few 

 miles to look at a farm that was offered for sale, 

 very cheap, I thought, from the description given. 

 When I arrived on the jn-emises I found a noble 

 farm of 200 acres of excellent land, compact, and 

 all readily covered by the eye from the centre of 

 the farm, affording a fine prospect of the surround- 

 ing country. All that was wanting to complete 

 the picture, was the farm buildings, which were 

 located on one corner of the farm, by the high- 

 way, and consisted of a new house, costing over 

 $5000, an old barn, corn-house, carriage-house, 

 &c., not worth to anyone over $500, and for which 

 and proximity to the highway the house was lo- 

 cated, and the profitable working of the farm sac- 

 rificed. 



As these buildings were located, all the teaming 

 to be done upon the place was at great disadvan- 

 tage, involving unnecessary distance, up-hill road, 

 and of course more strength of team. In the 

 case of this farm, if the buildings were placed 

 upon the summit, which was near the centre, the 

 farmer could overlook his place ; anything out of 

 bounds Avould be quickly known and readily at- 

 tended to ; his manure easily distributed, and his 

 crops economically gathered. All these consid- 

 erations seem to have been overlooked, or sacri- 

 ficed, for the sake of the old shanties by the high- 

 way, and having the house convenient to them. 



in another instance, I went to view a farm of 

 over 100 acres, and found it extending back from 

 the road three-fourths of a mile, up quite a steep 

 grade. The road front was narrow, and the house 

 an old, poor thing, on a line with the road, if not 

 partly in it, near by which a new and expensive 

 barn had been built. 



What judicious farmer would buy farms with 

 buildings located as those described above, unless 

 at such a price as to admit of his revolutionizing 

 the whole arrangement ? A great propensity pre- 

 vails in New England to locate houses near the 

 public highway. The eligibility of other parts of 

 the farm is ignored, and its value sacrificed for 

 this seeming advantage. If the road should ])ass 

 through near the centre of the farm, very well ; 

 but even in this case, have a good sjiacious lawn 

 and carriage-way in front, trees, shrubs, ever- 

 greens, &c., lor surroundings, and you add greatly 

 to the estimate the observer will place upon it. 



But we cannot now alter our present arrange- 

 ment without serious cost, exclaims many. No 

 doubt of it, so far as most farmers are concerned. 

 My object is to direct the attention of those who 

 propose to erect new buildings to the importance 



of putting them in the right place. Don't let an 

 old shell of a barn induce you to put a new house 

 near it, unless it is, all things considered, the very 

 best place. In the case of the two farms I in- 

 stanced above, I estimated the additional, need- 

 less expense for labor and team, as equal to that 

 of one man and a yoke of oxen or a span of horses. 

 How much this would amount to annually, all 

 can reckon for themselves, according to the value 

 of such labor in their several localities. 



You who are contemplating building, ponder 

 these suggestions. O. K. 



Hochester, 3Iass. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 PLAN OF A SHEEP BARN. 



Having seen in your columns a call for a plan 

 of a sheep barn to be situated on level land, and 

 of ample capacity to accommodate 200 sheep, I 

 offer the following: I would build it 32 feet wide, 

 and 75 feet long, and divide into bands of 15 feet 

 each, the divisions being made by running fod- 

 dering racks cross-wise the building. Each of 

 tliese apartments will accommodate 40 sheep, giv- 

 ing each, one and one-half feet while at the racks. 

 In the centre of the front of each of these apart- 

 ments there should be hung a door, from six to 

 eight feet wide, which may be left open or closed 

 at will. In the centre of the back of each apart- 

 ment there should be a M'indow made to slide 

 back and forth, which should be left open during 

 mild weather, but closed wlien the storms beat. 

 In speaking of the doors, I should have said that 

 the middle band requires a door as large as those 

 of a common barn, so that hay may be driven in 

 through them. A water tank should be placed 

 at the end of every other rack inside the build- 

 ing. This barn should stand fronting the south 

 or south-east, and there should be a separate yard 

 for each apartment, in which the sheep may sun 

 themselves. The height of the sheep-room should 

 be eight feet, and that of the hay-loft six feet to 

 the foot of the rafter. Eave spouts are required 

 on the front side of the barn to prevent the water 

 dri])ping on the sheep during a thaw or rain storm. 



The prominent advantages of such a barn are 

 these : 



1. You can feed under cover at all times. 



2. The sheep and their fleeces are thereby kept 

 dry ; otherwise, both are greatly damaged. 



3. One is put to no inconvenience in clearing 

 the racks of snow after a storm. 



4. A greater amount of better manure can be 

 made ; better, perhaps, because better preserved. 

 Two hundred sheep kept in a barn of the above 

 descrijjtion, and occasionally littered down with 

 straw, say enough to keep them clean and dry, 

 will make a great amount of the very best ma- 

 nure. George CiiALJiERd, Jii. 



Ncwhurij, Vt., 18G2. 



Remarks. — We regret that a few lines connect- 

 ed with the above article have been lost. They 

 were on a separate piece of paper, and were either 

 not enclosed by the writer, or have been mislaid 

 since. They related, merely, to some of the ad- 

 vantages of the barn which he has described. 



