196 
On  the  Construction  of  Farm- Buildings. 
lambing  ewes,  Sic.  may  be  allowed  more  liberty  than  the  other 
animals;  but  even  here  this  is  not  neeessary,  as  proved  by  Mr. 
Huxtable,  whose  calves  and  young  pigs  are  kept  in  sheds  from 
the  first. 
In  the  general  view  of  the  plan  of  the  homestead  to  which  our 
attention  is  now  confined,  we  may  observe  that  on  the  left  hand 
on  entering  is  the  power  employed  on  the  farm,  viz.,  the  engine 
and  horses,  with  the  implements  to  which  they  are  harnessed, 
and  the  workshops  in  which  repairs  to  these  are  executed ; in  the 
central  parts  and  to  the  right  hand  are  the  grain,  the  fatting 
beasts,  the  dairy — near  the  cows,  pigs,  &c. ; beyond  are  the 
open  sheds  and  yards  appropriated  to  growing  animals,  and  to 
which  the  litter  can  be  readily  supplied  from  the  straw-barn. 
At  one  entrance  to  the  premises  there  is  a weighing-machine 
connected  with  an  office,  where  the  weight  of  everything  passing 
in  or  out  of  the  buildings  may  be  registered,  as  grain,  animals, 
coals,  manure,  &c.  The  whole  is  protected  from  the  north, 
north-west,  and  north-east  by  the  high  buildings  which  contain 
the  granary,  thrashing-floor,  dairy,  gig-house,  &c.,  whilst  the  east 
and  west  winds  are  shut  out  by  surrounding  buildings,  which  are 
lowest  towards  the  south.  Indeed  the  low  sheds  placed  on  the 
south  face  might  be  dispensed  with,  and  the  inclosure  made  on 
that  side  by  posts  and  rails,  or  by  a low  wall. 
It  has  thus  been  attempted  to  place  the  buildings  in  that  order 
which  a consideration  of  the  dependence  of  one  on  another 
seemed  to  point  out  as  most  advisable;  and  we  may  now  proceed 
to  a more  detailed  description  of  the  several  parts,  mentioning, 
under  each,  examples  of  their  successful  application. 
Stackyard  (a)* . — The  stackyard  to  the  north  contains  all  the 
corn  and  straw  produced  on  the  farm,  stacked  on  staddles  of 
either  stone  or  cast-iron,  with  wood  or  iron  framing.  If  wooden 
framing  is  used  with  cast-iron  uprights,  of  which  the  first  cost  is 
about  the  same  as  stone  (only  that  iron  is  of  more  value  second- 
hand), the  iron-work  will  cost  about  505.,  and  the  wood  and 
labour  about  as  much — altogether  51.  each  staddle.  They  should 
be  made  of  such  a size  (say  to  hold  about  25  quarters  of  grain 
each,  when  straw  is  of  average  quantity),  as  that  the  machine  may 
thrash  out  one  or  two  entire  stacks  a-day,  according  to  its  power ; 
so  that  a stack  may  not  be  left  unprotected  during  the  night,  and 
that  the  hands  at  the  machine  may  be  kept  on  at  one  job 
throughout  the  day,  and  so  that  once  getting  up  the  steam  may 
serve  for  a whole  day’s  work.  Suppose  150  acres  of  corn  are 
grown  at  5 quarters  to  the  acre,  750  quarters  will  require  30 
staddles,  or  5 rows,  of  6 in  each  row,  as  drawn  on  the  plan.  In 
* The  small  letters  refer  to  those  which  distinguish  different  parts  on  the  plans. 
