8 BULLETIN 801,- U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Fundamental requirements for the arrangements of buildings not 
only demand that they 'be isolated as much as possible from adjacent 
property hazards, but that the several buildings should be arranged 
in such manner as to minimize the exposure, or fire hazard, that 
they present to each other. This is so important that it should be 
the first consideration in the design of the plant. Among exterior 
fire hazards a passing locomotive should not be overlooked. 
The buildings necessary for a complete warehouse plant vary 
according to the nature of the business conducted. In addition to 
the warehouse storage compartments there may be the compress 
compartment, sheds for receiving and delivering cotton, boiler 
house, pump house, hose or hydrant houses, office and classing 
rooms (which may provide a file room for cotton samples), and a 
watchman's room. Each of these buildings presents definite re- 
quirements for construction and fire protection. 
The design of the warehouse buildings should be selected with 
a view to the cost of construction, maintenance and operation on 
the one hand, and resulting fire hazard and insurance rates on the 
other. The most important item from both standpoints is the size 
and proportions of the compartments. After the capacity of the 
compartment is determined, its proportions must be considered in 
adopting a particular type of construction. The design of the 
building as regards the number of stories is usually determined by 
local conditions, but, all things considered, the single story ware- 
house is to be preferred in the majority of cases, if cotton can be 
piled with reasonable convenience. If cotton is not piled, the build- 
ing of several stories is more economical and convenient. 
The warehouse building should be divided into compartments 
in order to reduce as far as is economically practical the amount 
of cotton which may be subjected to a single fire. A compartment 
may be considered as that portion of the building which is cut 
off from all other parts of the building by fire-resistive division 
walls, or such walls and fire -resistive floors so combined that a fire 
will not be communicated readily from one of these sections to 
another. This reduction of single areas and protection of each 
against the other is a principle of the greatest importance in cotton 
warehousing. 
THE COMPARTMENT. 
The size of the compartment should be such as' to limit the cotton 
which may be stored therein to an amount of reasonable value. 
It usually is conceded as desirable that the size of the compartment 
should not permit the storage of more than 600 bales of cotton, while 
in few cases should the number of bales exceed 1,000, This view of 
the capacity of the storage compartment conforms to the usual in- 
