On  the  Construction  of  Farm- Buildings. 
195 
cording  to  the  size  of  the  holding — the  present  scale  being 
adapted  for  a farm,  chiefly  arable,  of  about  300  acre«,  according 
to  the  specification  in  the  Society’s  programme. 
Taking  a general  view  of  the  arrangements  proposed,  it  is  in- 
tended that  a space  to  the  north  of  the  buildings  should  be 
occupied  by  the  stack-yard,  where  the  year’s  crop  of  all  kinds 
shall  be  stored  ; the  grain  on  staddles,  arranged  in  lines,  and  the 
hay  and  roots  as  conveniently  as  possible,  the  latter  in  long  heaps 
as  shot  from  the  carts  and  covered  with  straw.  Between  the 
lines  of  stacks  rails  or  tram-ways  are  laid  of  such  a gauge  (say 
3 feet)  that  the  cart-wheels  shall  travel  easily  on  each  side  of  the 
rails  ; and  for  the  convenience  of  stacking  and  removing  the  corn, 
the  staddles  may  stand  in  an  excavation  their  own  depth  below 
the  level  of  the  roads  between. 
The  stack-yard  thus  containing  the  raw  material  out  of  which 
the  chief  products  of  the  farm  (viz.,  the  grain,  the  fat  meat,  and 
the  manure)  are  to  be  obtained,  we  convey  the  sheaves  on  a 
truck  along  the  rails  to  the  elevator,  which  raises  them  to  the 
threshing-machine,  the  grain  being  delivered  below  into  sacks 
ready  dressed  for  market  and  the  straw  carried  forwards  on  the 
upper  story  into  the  straw-barn.  On  this  upper  floor  are,  1st,  the 
chaff-cutter  which  cuts  up  the  straw  into  food  or  litter;  2nd,  a lin- 
seed and  grain  crusher;  3rd,  a cake-breaker  ; 4th,  a pair  of  mill- 
stones; all  delivering  their  work  into  receptacles  on  the  ground- 
floor.  At  this  central  part  of  the  buildings  on  the  ground  floor  is 
th e kitchen,  as  it  may  be  termed,  where  the  food  thus  prepared,  and 
the  roots,  cabbages,  &c.  from  the  root-store  adjoining,  may  be  cooked 
by  waste  steam  from  the  engine,  or  by  a boiler  in  the  kitchen, 
and  hence  distributed  with  the  least  trouble  through  the  several 
houses  of  live  stock  which  converge  towards  this  point,  viz., 
straight  forwards  to  the  fatting  cattle — on  the  left  to  the  horses 
and  sheep — on  the  right  to  the  pigs  and  milch  cows.  The 
animals  whose  food  is  most  bulky,  or  requires  most  prepara- 
tion, are  placed  nearest  to  the  cooking  department,  the  sheep 
and  young  stock,  milch  cows,  &c.,  much  of  whose  food  will  be 
merely  sliced  or  given  without  preparation,  being  placed  furthest 
off.  The  part  of  the  food  not  assimilated  by  the  animals,  and 
which  has  been  collected,  together  with  the  litter,  under  cover  in 
the  boxes,  is  conveyed  away  through  the  further  extremity  of  the 
yards,  being  either  deposited  for  a time  under  cover  in  the  manure 
depot,  or  at  once  carted  on  the  land.  The  water  from  the  higher 
roofs  inside  the  yards  is  conveyed  by  spouts  into  tanks  conve- 
niently situated  for  supplying  the  different  animals,  the  dairy,  &c. 
Thus  the  chief  part  of  the  premises  is  kept  quite  clean  and  neat, 
no  litter,  dung,  or  drainings  of  dung-heaps  being  seen,  excepting 
towards  the  further  extremity,  where  the  young  stock,  young  pigs, 
o 2 
