2 72 
On  the  Construction  of  Farm-Buildings. 
to  be  met  with  in  the  Lothians  of  Scotland  are  almost  sufficient 
to  demonstrate  the  advantage  of  the  practice ; and  we  have  no 
doubt  that  the  reason  why  steam-power  is  not  more  frequently 
brought  to  bear,  in  England,  is  owing  to  the  ill-arranged  farm 
buildings  that  are  too  often  met  with;  albeit  the  employment  of 
portable  steam-engines  appears  to  be  on  the  increase,  and  where 
they  are  so  used  the  corn  is  threshed  better  and  at  a reduced 
expense.  We  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with  the  fact  of  the  su- 
perior economy  of  steam  over  horse-power,  when  we  bear  in  mind 
that  with  a common  4-horse  threshing  machine  it  is  hard  work 
for  one  horse  to  put  the  horse-gear  in  motion,  even  when  no 
threshing  is  accomplished,  such  is  the  friction  of  all  horse-power 
machinery.  It  may  be  urged,  however,  that  granting  that  a 
steam-engine  is  desirable  on  a large  farm,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
it  will  pay  on  a farm  of  300  acres.  We  believe  that  it  will,  and 
more  particularly  if  at  the  same  time  it  effects  other  purposes, 
such  as  chaff  cutting,  turnip  cutting,  and  grinding.  At  the  last 
meeting  of  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  at  York,  we  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  an  excellent  and  spirited  farmer  from  Corn- 
wall, who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  using  a steam  threshing- 
machine  for  many  years.  In  the  course  of  conversation  we  put 
the  following  question  to  him : “ What  do  you  consider  the 
smallest  sized  farm  on  which  it  will  answer  to  use  steam-power  for 
threshing?’’  He  replied,  that  it  wrould  answer  well  on  a farm  of 
200  acres,  and  he  thought  on  less.  This  from  a sensible  and 
practical  agriculturist  we  consider  as  very  strong  testimony.  The 
advantages  of  having  a steam  threshing-machine  are  many,  and  it 
is  by  no  means  the  least,  that  with  it  we  require  but  little  barn 
room,  as  the  corn  can  most  advantageously  remain  in  the  stack 
till  a short  time  before  it  is  wanted,  a point  of  much  importance 
in  the  erection  of  new  buildings.  We  simply  require  a space 
large  enough  to  take  a rick  and  another  convenient  space  to  re- 
ceive the  straw.*  It  is  well  known  that  threshing  should  always 
be  carried  on  in  fine  dry  weather,  and  in  such  weather  as  this 
there  is  always  plenty  of  work  for  horses  on  the  land.  We  pro- 
pose then,  as  part  and  parcel  of  our  plan,  that  a steam-engine  of 
* In  some  recently  erected  farm-buildings  that  have  come  under  our  notice  since 
this  essay  was  written,  and  where  steam-power  is  had  recourse  to,  there  is  no  space 
allowed  in  the  ham  for  depositing  a rick,  it  being  conlended  that  the  threshing  and 
taking  in  ought  to  go  on  simultaneously.  We  demur  to  this  conclusion,  and  believe 
it  to  be  a too  great  stretch  of  economy.  It  often  happens  that  in  this  changeable 
climate  a frosty  morning  is  succeeded  by  rain  or  a fall  of  snow  before  noon,  and  then 
the  threshing  must  either  be  discontinued,  or  the  rick  continued  to  be  taken  in  during 
the  rain.  Hesides  which,  there  may  not  be  a sufficient  number  of  hands  at  liberty  for 
both  operations,  though  quite  enougli  for  one  alone.  These  several  advantages  are 
quite  sufficient  to  outweigh  the  saving  of  expense  effected  by  limiting  the  barn-room, 
and  there  are  also  various  jmrposes  for  which  a covered-in  building  may  he  rendered 
available. — Authors. 
