Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/520

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

¥JQ COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. fatten together in large open yards, by dozens ; but this not the case with Scotch cattle more especially those from the Highlands. In looking over the specification, § 979 ti § 995, the reader will observe that many of the building terms used in Northumberlani differ from those in use about London ; and some even from those employed in the south of Scotland, as given by Mr. Newall in his specification, § 907. We have shortly ex- plained these terms, each when it first occurs ; but there are some of them which will require to be more minutely defined, and compared with other local terms, in the Glos- sarial Index. This specification will be found of great use to all persons intending to build farmeries where stone is employed, and it also shows the practical man what is considered, in a highly cultivated district, the best mode of finishing racks, mangers, cribs, partitions, &c. The construction of the cribs is worthy of notice ; the sides and bottom are formed of boards two inches and a quarter thick, which fit into grooves and notches in stone posts. This seems an excellent plan, because the boards may be taken out at any time, and cleaned, and at seasons when the cattle are not kept in the yards they may be taken out altogether, and placed under cover, in a dry airy situation, till again wanted. All the stables are fitted up with stalls and full-length partitions, so that every horse securely enjoys the food placed before him. There appear to be a few inches of slope from the head of the stall to the gutter behind, which is now generally disapproved of in the best stables in England and France, though still continued in the farm stables in Scotland, as appears by an article in the Highland Society's Transactions. Design XXII. — The Farmery at Galley in Kirkcudbrightshire, suitable for a Galloway Crop and Pasture Farm of 400 Acres. 997. The Object of this Design is to afford accommodation for wintering young cattle, and fattening others, as much or more than for affording stable room for horses. In Galloway, we are informed by the contributor of this Design, Mr. Brown, the factor or land agent at Galley, that the half of the rents is generally paid from the corn crop, and the other half from black cattle ; so that a considerable proportion ai the farmery is required to be laid out as cattle-sheds, for wintering the animals when young. The oldest and best Galloway cattle are generally wintered in the fields ; which, in Galloway, where the winters are very temperate, are mostly well sheltered by hedgej and plantations. Cattle wintered in this way are less tender in the feet, have a finer skin in the spring, and are in better condition to go to the English markets at that season, than those wintered in sheds and yards. 998. Accommodation. The cattle sheds here shown at a, in fig. 987, with the yard in front, h, are sufficient for the accommodation "^' of forty or fifty-two head of cattle. There are a feeding-house, c, in which six cattle may be fed in stalls ; a cow- house, d, 32 fett long, in which ten Galloway cows may stand without stalls ; and at their heads there is a foddering-passage, e, which communicates with the straw-house, f, the feeding-house, c, and the cattle-shedsand yard, a, h. There are a barn, <7, with a threshing- machine driven by waterj a room for horses' corn and cut straw, h ; a stable, . 33 feet by 17 feet, for six horses, i ; a cart-shed with a loft over, k ; a small office or count- ing-house, / ; a boiling or steaming house, m ; and a tool-house with a smith's forge for occa- ■sional use, n. One part of the yard is left open, 1 [J a en r-i □