THE LETTER OF MR. TAUNTON. 



251 



The real cost of the boxes to the tenant centres in the 

 workman's wages. With the intrinsic value of the materials 

 he has but little to do, because landlords would readily furnish 

 such wood as I describe. But to the unassisted farmer, posts, 

 ties, and sills would cost about 9d. or 1^. each; and poles for 

 partitions, gates, and roofs, about 2d. or 3d. a-piece. With 

 respect to dimensions, I find 85 feet square, independent of the 

 space for the crib and passage, sufficient for bullocks of 40 or 

 50 stone weight (of 14 lbs. to the stone). But for cattle upon 

 a larger scale, a few additional inches might be added ; and 

 then one box would, if required, contain two small bullocks, a 

 plan that I have seen adopted with advantage. The following 

 extract from No. 3, recopied from the Gardener s ChronicJe 

 of the 9th instant, will, I hope, convince your readers of the 

 pains that I have taken to render this subject easy and com- 

 prehensible, and at the same time preclude all further requi- 

 sitions upon my time and patience, until the experiment has 

 heen fairly tried and found unsuccessful : — 



" The description of these buildings is diflficult, because, 

 however clear and explicit, it must conve}^ ideas of magnitude 

 and intricacy, while neither exists. To make ten boxes, a space 

 will be required of 90 feet long and 12^ feet wide, from the 

 side most convenient to the passage. Next let the mould, to 

 the depth of one foot, be excavated from the other part, and 

 thrown on the side intended for the front, and spread to the 

 thickness of a foot deep ; this will give two feet from the bot- 

 tom of the boxes to the surface. A wall of brickwork, four 

 inches wide and two feet high, is next to be built round the 

 inside of the part excavated, and intersected at distances of 

 8g feet. At each angle the brickwork should be about 12 

 inches square, which will both support the posts and afford 

 strength and durability. Upon the wall a sill of woodis to be 

 placed, for which purpose large poles, split or square, are 

 adapted. The foundation being now complete, posts six feet 

 long, and the necessary sills and ties, may be placed upon it. 

 Across the ties the most ordinary poles may be laid to support 

 a roof composed of the trimmings from hedges and ditches, 

 and completed with a thatch of straw or rushes. Two gates 



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