Charlotte home and Democrat., 1882-01-27
Farm Buildings.


The size and business of the farm must.
to great extent, determine the number
and kinds of the buildings thereon. On
all farms capacious and conveniently ar
ranged barn is of the utmost importance
and necessity. The size of this house
must, of course, be proportionate to the
land under cultivation and kind and va
riety of crops raised. On large farms, be-
sides the barn, it is good plan, if the
owner can afford it, to have building to
serve as a general storehouse, where many
things that would be crowded into barn
may be kept, and be at the same time
readily accessible at any moment. One
part OF such building might serve as a
workshop, where broken tools may be put
in order, and tools and implements put
away. Another part might be used as
storage room for seeds, &c. There is
abundant need for such house on almost
every farm.
In addition to these, there must be sta
bles and cattle-sheds for all the teams and
and stock, poultry house, wood shed, and
meat house; and where several COWS are
kept there ought to be large and we'll
ventilated dairy also On tobacco farms
buildings for drying and curing tobacco
will also be needed; and on cotton farms,
Clubhouse is as necessary as the barn.
To word, special crops require special
and appropriate buildings for their stor-
! age and preservation. So that large
and well-equipped farm in the South has
much the appearance OF a small village,
with the dwelling as the capitol or head
quarters.
But to have all these buildings, with
the other improvements absolutely neces-
sary, entails upon the owner great bur-
den of expense that not every man is able
to carry; and hence it is that we see 20
many unfinished homesteads. Hence it
is, too, that many places present such an
incongruous and Heterogeneous assem-
blage of big and little, old and new, farm
buildings. They are built piece-meal, at
irregular intervals, and of such materials
as come readiest to hand and do not cost
much. The owner is unable to build up
his place in single year, and hence it is
never finished. In the end, however, the
cost is about double what it would have
been could all of the buildings have been
erected at once.
1t is strong objection to a very small
farm that the cost of the necessary out
buildings bears too great proportion to
the value of the whole farm. 1t is an OBJ
lection that cannot well be avoided, how
ever, and there are other things connected
with small farms that are decided advan-
tages, and which far outweigh the cost of
buildings. In this life, there is some mix
ture of evil with every cup of good we
have. 1t must be SO, and we must make
the best of it that we can.
The location of the outhouses will have
powerful influence upon the comfort and
happiness Of the farmer and his family
Let all remember that houses are built for
inclement weather, and that they fail to
serve this purpose unless they are such
as to afford effectual shelter and comfort
at such time. They must be far enough
away from the dwelling to prevent filth
and stencil from reaching the eyes and
nose of the inmates, yet near enough to
admit of access many times daily without
undue exposure to rains and storms. The
matter should be long and maturely con-
sidered before one decides to build, for
wrong step is not easily remedied after a
building is once in place.
In conclusion, we would say that the
outbuildings need not necessarily be, and
in general should not be, expensive. But
they should be durable and we'll made.
On barns and like buildings some kind Of
paint is great advantage. Some others
need not be painted. On some, as log
houses such as tobacco barns, coat of
tar would be useful. Durability, rather
than show, is the governing consideration.
Yet looks have much to do with the hap
pness of farmers family, and should not
be entirely ignored. When you build,
build we'll and with judgment.