London International Exhibition, 1879. 
801 
"Practice with Economy." 
Descbiption by the Author, 
This design is for buildings suitable for a 400-acre farm, 300 of which are 
arable and 100 pasture. My aim has been to give ample accommodation in 
the most approved manner and at the least cost, combined with the use of the 
most durable materials and with workmanship of the best description. To 
attain this end I have " grouped " or " attached " the buildings as much as \x>s- 
sible, without sacrificing light, ventilation, or convenience. Although they are 
not all in one group, their doors all open inwards, so that the entire set form 
their own roadways, without any additional walling or fencing than that shown 
on the plan. I have also endeavoured, by studying the arrangement of parts, 
to lessen the labour on the part of the farmer in his superintendence of opera- 
tions, and also of his men in their attendance upon the stock. These can be 
quickly fed, and their dunging out can almost be done with a cast of the 
shovel over the low walls which run from pier to pier, and separate the stalls 
and pigsties from the yards. There are also doors provided for this purpose ; 
and it will be seen that every one of the four covered yards will receive a 
part of the manure from the stalls to be trodden in with that made by the 
animals running in them. 
As it is necessary that this description should be as concise as possible, I 
will call attention as briefly as I can to the points which I consider are most 
■worthy of notice, or which are otherwise necessary to convey to the reader a 
fair conception of the ideas embodied in my plan. I wish to call particular 
attention to my mode of ventilation by means of air-shafting under the 
mangers, which is spoken of further on. 
General Construction and Arrangement. — The whole is built of brick and 
slated, the covered yards being only what is termed half slated. The stable, 
cowhouse, and food-store floors are cement, concreted for the sake of cleanliness 
and durability. The feeding-passages are the same, and being thus very 
smooth, a tramway is unnecessary. Glazed-ware manger-blocks are used 
throughout, both for cattle and horses, as they are strong and clean. The 
drains are of glazed-ware socket-pipes, and run direct from cesspool to cesspool, 
to facilitate examination and cleaning out without disturbing the flooring or 
drains themselves. Drains are put in the covered yards, but they would only 
require to be used when litter was very scarce ; they could be plugged up at 
other times. Water is supplied to yards and boxes by pipes from a large 
tank forming part of the roof over the steaming-house. This tank can be 
filled by pumping by steam-power out of a well to be sunk near, if a supply of 
water is not otherwise obtainable. 
To make the plan as generallj^ useful as possible, and suited for additions or 
modifications as might be required by local circumstances, if ever it was 
erected, I have designed it in two parts, and have given separate estimates for 
each — the main block, ^vith the east and west ranges, forming one part, and 
the open yard block to the south forming the other part. The walls dividing 
the cow-house and pigsties from the yards are only -i ft. 6 in. high between the 
piers. This economises material and causes a free circulation of air. 
Ventilation. — Although the main block is "grouped" to save walling, 
ventilation is not sacrificed. In addition to the usual supply of windows and 
ventilating bricks, the eaves of the covered yard roofs are carried, by means of 
the pillars, high enough to give an opening all their length and 12 inches 
deep above the eaves of the stable and pigsty ranges. This causes a current of 
air from east to west, or vice versa, quite across the covered yards and cow- 
house, notwithstanding the abutment of the stables and pigsties, and the 
amount may be regulated by shutters or louvre boarding. Ventilating shafts 
VOL. XV. — S. S. 3 H 
