On  the  Construction  of  Farm-Buildings. 
287 
The  more  the  horse-manure  is  mixed  with  that  of  the  grazing 
cattle  the  better  ; and  the  small  expense  of  carrying  it  into  those 
yards  daily  will  be  amply  repaid  by  the  improvement  in  the 
quality  of  the  manure. 
No.  20,  six  more  loose  boxes.  The  whole  of  the  boxes  should 
be  divided  4 feet  high  with  board  2 inches  thick,  and  then  2 feet 
more  with  strong  rails  of  either  oak  or  elm.  It  will  be  observed, 
that  three  of  the  horses  will  enter  at  one  outer  door,  one  going 
into  his  box  to  the  right,  another  to  the  left,  and  the  other  the 
centre  box. 
No.  21  is  another  harness-house. 
No.  22  is  the  nag-horse  stable,  fitted  up  with  two  stalls  and  a 
loose  box. 
No.  23,  gig-house. 
No.  24,  house  with  copper  and  furnace  for  cooking  and  steam- 
ing food  for  pigs,  & c.,  and  for  preparing  seed  wheat,  & c. 
No.  25,  house  for  fowls. 
No.  26,  liquid-manure  tank — the  drains  from  the  yards  all 
emptying  themselves  into  it. 
I have  thus  enumerated  every  building  required  for  a farm  of 
300  acres  of  arable  land  ; indeed,  it  might  suffice  for  nearly  100 
acres  more,  unless  an  extra  capital  was  employed  to  grow  heavier 
root-crops,  and  by  that  means  keeping  a larger  number  of  cattle. 
As  a matter  of  course,  the  buildings  should  be  all  fitted  up  with 
cast-iron  water-troughs  to  convey  the  water  from  the  eaves,  so  as 
none  of  the  water  from  the  roofs  of  the  buildings  be  allowed  to 
fall  upon  the  manure  in  the  yards : too  much  attention  cannot  be 
paid  to  this. 
An  excellent  plan  is  now  being  adopted  upon  a large  estate  in 
this  county  of  using  deal  board  instead  of  rafters  in  all  the  cattle- 
sheds  and  stables,  where  they  do  not  exceed  20  feet  in  width. 
Three  purlins,  or  side-pieces,  are  used  instead  of  one  as  formerly, 
and  these  are  cladded  over  with  board  1 inch  thick  from  the  ridge 
to  the  eaves,  and  the  slate  is  fastened  to  these  boards,  by  which 
means  neither  rafters  nor  lath  are  required,  and  the  slates  are 
never  blown  off  by  the  wind  ; nor  can  the  rats  or  birds  interfere 
with  the  roofs  of  the  buildings. 
Stone  should  be  used  for  the  bottoms  to  set  the  oak  posts  upon 
in  the  cattle-sheds;  the  cost  is  less  per  foot  than  oak,  and  it  will 
last  much  longer. 
The  cattle-sheds  being  16  feet  wide  can  easily  be  converted 
into  loose  boxes  if  required,  having  ample  room  for  a path  4 feet 
wide,  so  as  the  cattle  can  be  fed  at  the  head  without  going  into 
the  boxes.  In  either  case  they  should  be  fitted  up  with  cast-iron 
rnangers  attached  to  two  upright  posts,  so  as  they  may  be  raised 
up  a few  inches  at  a time,  as  the  manure  increases  in  height  in  the 
shed  or  boxes. 
