134
FARM-HOUSES AND OFFICES
Principles to be attended to in the construction of Farm-Houses and Offices.
1. 1 he first object of a judicious farmer who has a new setof farm houses to build, is, to fix on a proper situation,which ought to be as nearly as possible in the centre of anarable farm. In many cases this makes a difference, in pointof rent, of from Is. to even 5 s. per acre, according to thesize of the farm, and various other local circumstances. Bysome intelligent farmers, it is calculated at the expence of aplough, or L. 100} and on very extensive farms, at nearlyL. 200 per annum. Indeed, if the houses and offices areplaced at the corner of a large farm, a part of the land willoften be neglected; less manure will be sent to it ; the ex-pence of cultivation will be materially increased; the strengthof the horses uselessly wasted in going backwards and for-wards, and the remote parts of the farm left, in what is termedin Scotland an outfield or afierwall state, that is to say, inmiserable pasturage, and when occasionally broken up, thecrop will scarcely defray the expence of seed and labour.
There can be but one reason for not having the farm-houseand offices in a central situation, and that is, when at anotherpoint of the farm a better command of water can be procuredfor family use, and for the farm-stock; or for driving a thresh-ing-mill, by means of which a great saving in the labour ofhorses is obtained. These, however, are only exceptions tothe general rule; for it may be laid down as an axiom in agri-culture, “ That the farm-house and offices ought to be placed,as nearly as possible, in the centre of a farm
farmer would be willing to purchase if he can procure them at home. Indeedso sensible are farmers, in the more improved districts, of the truth of these mat-ers, that almost every one of them has a kitchen garden upon a large scale;any excess of produce being given to swine and cattle .”—Sir J. Sinclair's Ac.count of Scotch Husbandry, p. 20.