400 AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING 



19. All buildings should serve as windbreaks. 



20. The shop and machine shed should be convenient to 

 the house, the barn, and the fields. 



Two general systems of arranging farm buildings have 

 been developed in this country. For want of better terms, 

 they may be designated as the distributed system, in which a 

 separate building is provided for each kind of stock or for 

 each purpose to which it may be devoted; and the concen- 

 trated system, in which everything is placed under one roof as 

 far as possible, or the buildings are at least connected. The 

 advantages of the first system may be stated as follows : 



1. A greater amount of lot room is possible. 



2. Different kinds of animals are separated. 



3. There is less destruction in case of fire. 



4. It is more economical for the storage of certain crops 

 and machinery. 



5. Better lighting is secured : wide barns are necessarily 

 dark. 



In turn, the following arguments may be advanced for the 

 concentrated system : 



1. The first cost is less: needed space is secured with the 

 minimum of wall surface. 



2. There is less expense for maintenance. 



3. It is more economical of labor. 



4. Better fire protection can be provided. 



5. Manure can be handled to the best advantage. 



6. It provides a very imposing structure. 



It is to be expected that opinions and tastes will differ, as 

 well as conditions, and all of these will determine the best 

 arrangement for any particular location. Most farmsteads 

 are the result of growth and development, and for this reason 

 are not what they would be if built entirely at one time. As 

 changes are made and new buildings constructed it is well to 



