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3 
Let a strang^cr ask of them llio (luostlon, " How is it that so many 
of jou are anxious to beconu; truants upon such an estate, in pre- 
ference to some others ; and that you offer such high rents for 
those farms?" and he would receive some sucli reply as this: — 
" There is a mighty difference : the one has a commodious farm- 
house, in which my family could enjoy comfort ; and excellent 
offices, so that I could make the most of my cattle, and keep my 
horses in good health and condition. The other has little that is 
good about it — a bad house, in which my wife and daughters 
would never be content; bad buildings, which will not protect 
my cattle from rain and snow ; cottages so bad that no good ser- 
vants will remain in them ; and all these to be patched and 
propped yearly by the tenant, for the landlord will do nothing." 
A mighty difference, truly : no wonder that the worst tenants, 
the worst peasantry, and the worst management are found on 
such estates. It happened to myself lately, in passing along a 
road which leads through the estate of a wealthy landlord, to 
meet the tenant, a respectable man and good farmer, occupying a 
large farm. I entered into conversation with him, in the course 
of which he told me that he had brought a new bull from a dis- 
tance, and wished much that 1 would ride down to the farm, and 
give him my opinion of him. I readily consented to this, and 
applauded his spirit for introducing a good animal into the neigh- 
bourhood. When we reached the place, I found the offices, with 
few exceptions, in a ruinous condition. He said the bull was in 
a house in the corner of a fold-yard : when we reached it, the 
house was partly down, and the laull had escaped. " Aye," said 
the farmer, " he's gone again ; he often breaks out — he's like 
Samson — he carries off door and posts and a lump of the wall at 
once ; all our place is so bad that we have not a house that will 
hold him." We, however, found "Lord Brougham " careering 
among some young cattle in an adjoining field, and a creditable 
animal he was, and deserving of better lodgings. Many similar 
specimens of farm-buildings might be referred to : yet the tenants, 
if a fair length of lease were granted, would incur the expense — 
and that is no inconsiderable proportion of the whole — of bring- 
ing to the spot all the materials required in constructing new 
ones. 
The object of this paper is to endeavour to point out the advan- 
tage of having good farm-offices, and the points to be aimed at 
in their construction — namely, convenience, accommodation, and 
economy ; economy, not only in their first erection, but in the 
future saving of labour, arising from a compact form and good 
arrangement : such, for instance, as having the barn, straw-house, 
and turnip-stores centrally situated, and affording easy access to 
fold-yards; the sheds suitably arranged for the accommodation of 
B 2 
