276 
On  the  Construction  of  Farm-Buildings. 
cover,  and  here  box-feeding  may  be  again  rendered  available. 
With  regard  to  the  store-pigs,  they  may  have  open  yards  attached 
to  the  piggery.  One  reason  why  the  fatting  of  pigs  frequently 
does  not  pay,  is  because,  as  soon  as  they  have  begun  to  taste 
barleymeal,  they  refuse  to  eat  swedes  and  other  cheaper  food. 
If,  however,  the  roots  are  boiled,  they  will  eat  a considerable 
quantity  in  addition  to  the  meal,  and  thus  can  be  more  cheaply 
fatted.  Unless,  however,  suitable  apparatus  is  constructed,  the 
trouble  of  preparing  roots  is  so  great  as  to  preclude  their  use. 
We  have  therefore  added  a boiling-house,  which  is  situated  near 
the  piggeries,  and  where  both  the  food  for  the  pigs  and  the  linseed 
compound  for  the  cattle  may  be  conveniently  prepared. 
At  the  bottom  of  the  piggery  we  have  given  a large  shed,  which 
may  be  conveniently  used  as  a lambing-house,  and  where  the 
ewes  can  be  driven  nightly  during  the  lambing  season  with  great 
advantage.  This  space  admits  of  considerable  extension  by  means 
of  hurdles,  when  the  whole  of  the  space  between  the  cattle  shed, 
the  piggeries  and  the  lambing-houses  can  be  thrown  in. 
It  may,  perhaps,  be  urged  as  an  objection  to  our  plans,  that  on 
a farm  of  the  smallest  size,  comprehended  by  the  terms  of  the 
Society,  a rail  is  an  unnecessary  outlay,  and  that  the  amount  of 
labour  to  be  saved  thereby  is  not  commensurate  with  the  expense 
incurred.  We  demur  to  such  a conclusion  ; but  at  the  same  time 
we  believe  that  the  economical  construction  of  our  buildings  wdl 
hold  good  even  where  the  expense  of  a railway  is  not  incurred, 
and  we  think  it  difficult  to  point  out  a different  arrangement  of 
the  buildings  by  which  time  or  labour  can  be  saved.  We  have, 
however,  a right  to  presume,  that  on  a farm  of  the  size  stated,  the 
best  system  of  cultivation  will  be  carried  on,  and  by  the  aid  of 
ample  capital  that  every  improvement  that  can  be  shown  to  pay 
itself  will  be  readily  adopted. 
The  same  observation  will  apply  with  almost  equal  force  with 
reference  to  the  steam-engine,  which,  if  dispensed  with,  there 
would  then  be  required  but  little  re-adjustment  of  the  building; 
the  only  alteration  will  be  the  conversion  of  the  engine-house  into 
a root-store,  and  the  space  occupied  by  the  present  root-house 
and  shed  will  afford  room  for  a horse-power  threshing-machine. 
We  have  arranged  our  buildings  as  the  plan  in  its  integrity  now 
stands,  on  the  supposition  that  a steam-engine  would  be  employed, 
and  we  have  been  careful  to  place  that  engine  in  the  spot  where 
its  power  could  be  exerted  with  the  least  possible  amount  of  con- 
necting machinery.  The  hardest  work  that  engine  will  have  to 
do  is  to  kefp  the  threshing-machine  going ; power  is  therefore 
immediately  communicated  from  the  axle  of  the  fly-wheel  to  the 
threshing-machine,  which  stands  over  a platform  projecting  over 
the  barn  floor,  and  about  7 feet  above  it ; the  corn  threshed  out 
