Agriculture of Denmark. 
275 
are nearly always erected in a square, with the dwelling-house 
on the one side, the barn opposite, and on either side buildings 
used as stables, granaries, «Scc. The barns are not constructed 
with practical skill ; too heavy timber is used, whereby much 
room is unnecessarily taken up, expense increased, and the grain 
exposed to injury from rats and mice. 
Th(? stables are generally low, dark, and badly ventilated. 
The cattle are placed in two rows lengthway s, with their heads 
towards the walls ; the pavement is bad, and difficult to keep 
clean, as the manure is not easily removed from the deep fuiiows 
between the stones. The older buildings have in general been 
erected with oak framework, but those now in course of building 
are frequently constructed entirely of brick. The roofs are 
thatched either Avitli straw or reeds. 
While the farm-buildings are generally thus far defective, a 
great difference may yet be observed amongst them in the various 
parts of the country ; and, strange to say, as a general rule, the 
worse the soil, the better the buildings. Thus central Jutland, with 
a sandy soil, has good buildings, w hile on the east coast of that 
province and on Sealand, with richer soil, they are but indifferent. 
This may be accounted for thus : in central Jutland there are 
no woods, and the transport of timber from the coast would be 
attended with great expense ; consequently the buildings are 
erected with bricks (there being brick-kilns in most neighbour- 
hoods) ; and secondly, the yeomen there have in early times been 
less oppressed than elsewhere, and have consequently, without 
risk, been more able and willing to spend money on their 
buildings. 
The accompanying ground-plan marked A will give a general 
idea of tlie usual arrangement of farm-buildings in Denmark 
Proper. It is preferred for the protection it is supposed to afford 
against wind and weather. As it is there almost universally 
adopted, the farmers in general must accept it with all its incon- 
veniences, one of which is certainly the absence of proper venti- 
lation. It cannot, however, be denied that the plan has this 
advantage, — that the whole of the court-yard, where farm-labour 
is carried on, is visible from the dwelling-house. I have been 
informed by a competent authority that, as a general rule, the- 
cost of the buildings on small farms is much too great, and that 
it often rises to one-third or one-fourth of their entire value. 
The farm-buildings in Holstein are better than those in the 
kingdom and in Sleswig, but both in Holstein and in Sleswig 
the plan of such buildings varies much from that adopted in 
Denmark Proper. In these duchies the principal farm-buildings 
are under one roof, and consist of dwelling-house, barn, stables, 
&c. The accompanying ground-plan marked B will give a fair- 
