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XIII. — Farm-Buildings.  From  Mr.  Thompson. 
To  Mr.  Pusey. 
My  dear  Sir, — As  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Essays  on  Farm 
Buildings,  and  with  the  full  concurrence  of  Lord  Portman,  the 
other  judge,  I send  you  a few  remarks  on  the  reports  and  plans 
submitted  to  us. 
You  will,  I have  no  doubt,  recollect  remarking  that  never  since 
the  formation  of  the  Society  were  so  many  good  reports  sent 
in  for  one  prize,  and  it  will  probably  be  satisfactory  to  the 
unsuccessful  candidates  that  this  fact  should  be  publicly  stated. 
My  principal  reason,  however,  for  now  addressing  you,  is  the 
conviction  that  on  a subject  where  so  much  difference  of  opinion 
prevails,  as  on  the  best  form  of  farm  buildings,  it  would  be  satis- 
factory to  the  members  of  the  Society  to  know  on  what  principle 
the  judges  proceeded  in  adjudicating  on  this  large  and  meritorious 
class  of  reports. 
The  first  point  which  it  was  necessary  for  the  judges  to  bear  in 
mind  was,  that  the  object  in  giving  a prize  of  this  kind  was  to 
obtain  plans  which  should  be  as  generally  useful  as  possible. 
This  at  once  drew  a broad  line  of  distinction  between  the 
course  to  be  followed  by  the  judges,  and  that  which  would  be 
adopted  by  any  one  who  was  selecting  a plan  of  farm  buildings 
for  his  own  use.  In  such  a case  the  precise  kind  and  amount  of 
accommodation  required  could  be  ascertained  in  the  first  instance, 
and  the  plan  which  provided  it  in  the  most  compact  and  eco- 
nomical manner  would  be  sure  to  carry  the  day  ; whereas  the 
judges  were  fully  aware  that  no  one  plan  could  possibly  meet  the 
wants  of  the  great  variety  of  soils,  climates,  and  systems  which 
prevail  in  the  different  districts  of  the  kingdom,  and  it  was  con- 
sequently their  object  to  select  for  the  prize  that  plan  which  was 
not  only  good  in  itself,  but  which  wras  most  capable  of  extensive 
alteration  without  sacrificing  its  general  plan  of  arrangement,  and 
which  contained  the  greatest  number  of  useful  suggestions  that 
would  admit  of  being  separately  introduced  by  those  who  wished 
to  make  some  addition  to  existing  buildings,  or  who,  from  any 
other  cause,  did  not  choose  to  adopt  the  prize-plan  as  a whole. 
Another  point  which  they  kept  prominently  in  view  was,  that 
no  plan  would  be  generally  satisfactory  which  did  not  provide  for 
the  introduction  of  the  latest  improvements  in  farm  management. 
There  are  doubtless  many  who  are  either  not  convinced  of  the 
advantage  of  thrashing  by  steam,  box-feeding,  and  other  modern 
practices,  or,  at  any  rate,  who  are  not  prepared  to  introduce  them 
on  their  own  farms  at  the  present  moment ; but  there  are  probably 
very  few  of  those  who  are  about  to  lay  out  any  considerable  sum 
