468 



BuHiDINCxS FOR SmALL HoLDERS. 



[Aug. , 



BUILDINGS FOR SMALL HOLDERS: 



EXPEKIMENTS IN ADAPTATION. 

 Captain S. Douglas Meadows. 



In these days of soaring prices, when estabhshed pre-war 

 ideas as to building costs have become obsolete, it behoves 

 everyone interested in the equipment of the new small holdings 

 which are being created under the Government's Scheme of 

 Land Settlement for ex-Service men to test every means which 

 might suggest itself for carrying out building operations on the 

 most economic lines, consistent with efficiency. Any existing 

 buildings which by alteration, and possibly addition, can bo 

 adapted to the purpose in view should be utilised to the fullest 

 possible extent. 



In the case of farm buildings, it is particularly necessary that 

 the fullest advantage should be taken of any existing buildings 

 which can serve any useful purpose in a new scheme of equip- 

 ment. The isolated position of most farms, and the absence of 

 good roads to them, make haulage of building materials a 

 considerable item of cost, and the adaptation of these existing 

 buildings is a far cheaper proposition than the provision of new 

 equipment would be. 



Old farm buildings are generally of the ram^bling type, and do 

 not appear to have been designed on any definite principle. 

 They are often spread over a wide area of land that could be 

 more profitably utilised in other ways, and they are rarely built 

 square in themselves or with each other. A good deal of space 

 is wasted in this manner which could be utilised to some purpose 

 by a little thought and ingenuity in the adaptation of the build- 

 ings. Waste space, cumbersome and rambling buildings, 

 although they may be picturesque in appearance, are uneconomic 

 in the pressing needs of up-to-date farming. Buildings must be 

 judged only from the point of view of their efficiency, and 

 beauty in artistic design should be made to conform to this 

 consideration. 



