FARM BUILDINGS. The various buildings necessary for the occupation and operation of a farm are collectively known in England as the homestead, in Scotland as the onstead or stead mg, in America as the homestead or farmstead. They include the farmhouse with its attendant buildings providing a ecommoda t ions for the farmer and Ili, family and the farm laborers, and the barn and its attendant buildings pro viding for the storage and preparation for use of the farm products, storage of farm implements and machinery, the housing and care of stock, etc. Convenient, commodions, well-constructed, and ell-arrangcd farm buildings for these pur poses are essential to successful fanning, both troin the standpoint of the comfort and happiness of the farmer and from that of the proper care of the live stock, products, and equipment of the farm. For example, it is a generally recognized fact that well-housed animals thrive better and make a better return for the food consumed than those unduly exposed to cold and inclement weather, i.e. it is profitable as well as humane to Louse stock well.
The character of farm buildings will of course vary with the size of the farm and the system of fanning practiced, whether grain, truck, or fruit farming, stock raising, dairying, poultry raising, etc. The requirements as regards such buildings have undergone and are undergoing great changes due to improvements of all kinds—the increased use of farm machinery, the keeping of more and better stock, superior methods of preparing and using feeding stuffs, etc. The most narked re stilt of this change is seen in the tendeney to make the homestead more compact, to reduce the number of separate buildings, and provide for a greater variety of purposes in a few larger buildings, as explained under BARN. The char acter of modern agriculture is such that farm buildings are becoming as complex in design and varied in use as factories, and indeed, in a sense, they are factories for the manufacture of mar ketable products—meat, milk, etc. The old practice of providing 20 or more separate build ings and scattering them over the farm is both inconvenient and expensive. The labor of col lecting tire crops in one place is less than is in volved in passing from place to place to feed them out. The extent to which centralization is desirable, however, will depend largely upon the size of the farm. In case of very large farms. for instance, it may be of decided advantage to scatter the farm buildings somewhat. The dan ger of serious loss by fire is increased when the buildings are compactly grouped, but this is largely met by insurance against fire. It is not
considered advisable to place the barn and out buildings so near the farm house that fire in case of one necessarily endangers the other or the odors of the barnyard are offensive to the occu pants of the house. However, it is important as a rule that the farm house should be located within a convenient distance of the barn, al though not so near as to seem a part of the out buildings. The homestead should be centrally located on the farm, in communication with as many fields as possible, and where an abundant supply of good water, good drainage. and plenty of light and air can be secured without unneces sary exposure to unfavorable weather conditions.
Three essentials to he considered in the con struction of the ordinary farm house are comfort, convenience, and economy. It is hardly neces sary to add that it is also important that the house should be attractive in appearance, it h sanitary and pleasant surroundings. It should be planned with reference to future needs as well as present requirements, and so designed that it may be enlarged without impairing its symmetry of proportions or convenience of arrangement. Having decided upon the general features which the house nut possess, it is as a rule hest to employ a competent architect or builder to plan and work out the details of construction. This may be said with equal truth of all other farm buildings, except those of very simple construc tion. In planning the barn and out-buildings, as in case of the farm house, the purposes for which they are to be used should be carefully considered in advance to the end that they may be conveniently arranged, of ample capacity, and may be enlarged without undue resort to annexes, lean-tos, sheds, etc. With the increased produc tion of high-bred, high-priced stock, ventilation and sanitation of stables is second in importance only to that of dwelling houses. The large choice of building material now available makes cheaper construction than in former years pos sible, although the questions of the best material for construction and best methods of ventilation and sanitation are in large part still unsolved. Among the accessory structures forming most important additions to modern farm equipment are the silo (q.v.) and cold storage houses and cellars.
Consult, in addition to works noted under BARN, King, Physics of Agriculture (Madison, 1901) ; Roberts, The Farmstead (New York, 1900) ; Scott, Text-book of Farm Engineering (London, 1885).