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XXXI. — Beport of the Judges of Farm Plans sent in for competi- 
tion at the London International Exhibition, 1879. Bj J. 
Bailey Denton, Esq. 
The prizes offered lor plans of farm buildings were as fol- 
lows : — 
£ 
Tor arable farms above 300 acres 50 
For arable farms not exceeding 300 acres .. .. 50 
For dairy farms above 100 acres 50 
For dairy farms not exceeding 100 acres .. .. 50 
It was duly notified to the competitors that the plans were to 
be on a scale of 8 feet to the inch, and were to be accompanied 
by " complete specifications " and " money bills of quanti- 
ties." 
There were 68 sets of plans sent in for competition from 39 
different authors, of which 3 sets were disqualified. 
It is due to the competitors, who took considerable pains in 
the preparation of their designs, that it should be stated before 
any observations be made upon them, that the important con- 
dition insisted upon by the Societv, that each design should be 
accompanied by " a complete specification" and " money bills 
of quantities, ' was regarded by the Judges as tantamount to 
instructions that no prize should be awarded unless approved 
arrangement and accommodation were afforded at such a pro- 
bable outlav as might fairlv be charged on land in the occupa- 
tion of practical farmers, and would be justified in the economy 
of rural estates. 
As Judges acting on behalf of the highest agricultural 
authoritv in the kingdom, we considered that we should fail in 
our duty if we awarded a prize to a design which might present 
admirable features of arrangement, but which could not be 
executed at a reasonable cost — such a cost, we repeat, as a 
landowner would be justified in expending, and which the 
Enclosure Commissioners, who are the protectors of reversionary 
interests, would allow to be charged on entailed estates. 
To arrive at a conclusion on this point, it became necessary 
that the Judges should, in the first place, prescribe lor them- 
selves a limit of expenditure, beyond which they could not 
convey approval, although they were thoroughly impressed with 
the truth that farms of the same acreage and character might 
require homesteads differing in accommodation, and therefore 
differing in cost, according to the productive capability of the 
land, the proportion of arable and pasture, and the customs of 
locality. 
