Modern farm buildings; being suggestions for the most approved ways of designing the cow barn, dairy, horse barn, hay barn, sheepcote, piggery, manure pit, chicken house, root cellar, ice house, and other buildings of the farm group, on practical, sanitary and artistic lines

Front matter

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Preface

DURING the past twelve years the author has had occasion to design many farm buildings, varying from the smallest establishment to those of considerable extent. Amid all the improved ideas about the care of milk which have developed in the past decade, it has frequently been difficult for the architect to formulate conclusions from the mass of data compiled, and the many opinions expressed by those whose work has led them into the scientific analysis of milk and of milk production. In this search for facts, the author has come into contact with the bacteriologist — impressed by nothing but the thing he feels to be necessary to give a sterile sample of milk; with the enthusiastic herdsman — looking to a record for his cow, with no thought but for the quantity of milk; with the veterinary — who cares neither for milk nor milk production, but is concerned only with the health of the animal; and with the farm superintendent — who, perhaps, takes no special delight in milk production or scientific hygiene for his cattle, but whose first thought is for the arrangement that will permit the work to be done in the easiest possible manner. To reconcile these views is the hope which has inspired the following pages. A vain hope, perhaps, but a real one.

Though the author has been greatly interested in acquiring, in the cause of clean milk, the information here set down — information for the farmer, the herdsman, the dairyman —

PREFACE yet, quite equal to his interest on the practical side, has been his interest in the design of the farm buildings from the standpoint of the architect. He long ago became convinced of the delightful architectural possibilities of the farm barn — possibilities which have not been appreciated, either by his confreres or by the public at large ; and this work has been undertaken with the idea of setting forth these possibilities quite as much from the esthetic as from the practical side.

He wishes to acknowledge here his indebtedness to many friends who have helped him in his work : to Mr. S. L. Stewart, for his assistance on the method of milking ; indeed the chapter on Administration is virtually a description of the manner in which milk is made at the Brookside Farm; to Mr. James A. Reburn, for many suggestions with regard to the detail of the cow barn; to Mr. Harlo J. Fiske, manager of Skylands Farm, Sterlington, N. Y., for much that is comprised in the chapter on the Chicken House; to the author's friend, Mr. A. Foxton Ferguson, who has proved that friendship many times over by reading through his manuscript and giving to it the benefit of his literary skill ; and last, but by no means least, to Francis Lynde Stetson, Esq., who has entrusted to his care the architectural work on the beautiful Skylands Farm, giving him a free hand in the carrying out of every detail, who has been receptive of every thought which would improve any of the buildings in appearance or usefidness, has been patient with the perplexities of building and always helpful in suggestion. It has been a rare privilege to cooperate with him and the author here writes his grateful acknowledgment.

Alfred Hopkins

New York City, Sept. 7, 1912.

Preface To Third Edition

The author was very glad of the opportunity afforded by his book going into a further edition to include additional matter which he hopes will set forth more clearly than before the possibilities which farm buildings offer for attractive architecture. He was always disappointed in the first and second editions which do not show this side of his work to advantage, but the exigencies of the business of publication could not be, or at any rate were not overcome, and his volume was incomplete in artistic illustration. He has therefore added some thirty-two photographs and a chapter which takes up briefly the different materials in common use to-day.

New York, Nov. 13, 1919.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE-

I Artistic Possibilities of the Farm Building . ,. „ . . 15

II The Cow Barn 20

Chapter I AUTISTIC POSSIBILITIES OF THE FARM BUILDING

THE country has always attracted man as a place in which to rear his habitation and no matter how complex are his urban interests there is in the human heart a lurking desire sooner or later to revert to the soil. The effort of the architect to make beautiful the country home furnishes many interesting examples all over the world, though the most famous of these are to be found in Italy. Here the art of the architect finds its proper complement in the art of the gardener, and under the beautiful Italian skies the villa and its gardens reached a perfect development. In England the country estate has achieved a rare degree of importance, but while more acreage is brought under immediate cultivation, the result is at times lacking in charm when the more serious Northern effort is compared with the lightness and the grace of the South. While the Italian and the English phases of country life are captivating and have been the source of almost all our inspiration, yet it must be left to our own architects to develop and perfect an American ideal of the country home ; and never were opportunities more golden.

As the home needs the adornment of shrubs and trees and flowers, so do the fields and meadows require the amiable presence of animals to complete the picture; and indeed it may be argued that they and not man are the real tenants of the soil, and to house them properly and fittingly is a problem that no artist need despise. The various buildings necessary for their several uses are capable of such an infinite variety of groupings, that the requirements of the farm would seem to offer more scope to the architect than do the problems of the house. There are the tall towers for water or ensilage; the long, low creeping sheds for the storage of wood, farm implements and machinery ; and the huge protecting and dominating structures required for the proper housing of the hay, grain and straw. With these buildings in effective combination and appropriately placed among the fields, the picture of the farm can be made so pleasing, and the idea of going back to Nature as the source of all sustenance so ingratiating, that it would be possible to build up an effective philosophy on the principle that the architecture of the home should be made to resemble the architecture of the farm, rather than the other way about. While the various examples of farm barns, which are to follow, may not at all times substantiate this view, yet we trust that some of these may be found of sufficient interest to impress upon the man with landed estates that in his farm buildings he has delightful architectural possibilities which should not be ignored or entrusted to incompetent hands.

As the buildings are capable of such variety of architectural expression, they not only demand a proper and adequate environment, but they are entitled to it by every reason, practical as well as artistic. They should not be shunted off into an out-of-the-way corner or placed at a disadvantage because of a mistaken idea that farm buildings are not worthy of a picturesque or an important position. Each one of the centers of interest on an estate has its own individuality which

RAMBLING ROOI I IMS

ROUGH FIELD STONE AND HEWN" TIMBERS. COACH STABLE ANL>

COACHMAN'S COTTAGE FOR FRANCIS LYNDE STETSON, ESQ.,

STERLINGTON, N. Y.

ARTISTIC POSSIBILITIES 17

must be respected. The house place with its hospitality of garden, lawn or grove; the farmstead; the stabling and garage; the deer park; the lakes or watercourses with their verdured shores — each contributes to the fascination of the whole; but since it is in human nature to become fatigued with what is continually before the view, it is well to give to these various centers a certain seclusion of their own. This would suggest the choosing of a site for the farm barns well away from the immediate haunts of the home, and where they may be visited only by a pilgrimage through pleasant fields and lanes.

There is no doubt that an ideal situation is to be found on the top of a hill, where the long, low buildings can be thrown into prominence against the background of the sky. Here would be an inspiration for the designer to bring out the full effectiveness of his sky line, always a splendid possibility and one to which the diversities of the farm group so readily lend themselves. While the crest of a hill is certain to offer an effective treatment, yet a position half way down a long southern slope also provides an admirable setting, desirable in some climates and localities for the protection it gives in winter, where the force of the north wind may be tempered by the high-lying land in that direction. No builder who enters into the practical consideration of his problem will choose a site where the waters from the adjacent land cannot be easily turned aside, nor one where the drainage from the buildings themselves cannot be readily conducted away.

To speculate upon the architectural type of the structure is a fascinating occupation for the artist, but all esthetic discussion of the farm barn finally resolves itself into the view that the keynote of the whole scheme should be simplicity of construction and detail, and that all the well-worn motives of architectural ornament should be abandoned ; and this view obtains not only in the outlines of the exterior, but in the interior plan of the structure as well. The author long ago gave up the idea of formulating a plan for the farm barn along the generally accepted lines of architectural symmetry. This scheme of design is entirely too rigid to suit the problem either artistically or practically, and a more flexible manner should be chosen. The special uses of the various portions of the buildings are so different that, for example, it is difficult to reproduce in strict architectural symmetry the quarters for the horses in a wing that shall be identical in appearance with the quarters for the cows, without sacrificing very considerably the practical requirements of either one wing or the other. The strictly formal plan and elevation which the architect has devised as fitting for the stately palace and the great garden, seems entirely out of place when he comes to the humbler problem of the farm. Here the rambling, happygo-lucky type of plan will yield fully as much in artistic value and will hamper the architect less in his effort to combine the practical with the beautiful.

The local materials, whatever they are, will be the least expensive in cost and the most suitable in appearance. Nothing could be more fitting than to build the farm barn in rough stone or of rived cypress shingles — or of stone and shingles in combination. Stucco presents an admirable surface for this character of structure; the vines grow well on it, and the moving shadows from the trees give it a continual variation of light and shade which always lends a charm to its surface. Brick may be used with equal propriety and effect and in the

ARTISTIC POSSIBILITIES 19

old-fashioned weatherboarding of the farmer's barn there are still hidden possibilities of design that only await discovery by the artist who shall know how to nse them.

The irregularities of site frequently offer equally interesting opportunities ; for when the buildings cover a considerable ground area, or when, as often occurs in rolling districts, a level site of sufficient extent is not available, the architect may then greatly increase the interest of his work by placing his buildings at different levels, thereby letting his structure adapt itself more to the conformation of the ground. This is a phase of country building which he has been slow to appreciate, for his habitual custom is to level off all inequalities of site and construct a plain or plateau on which to rear his building. It is, therefore, well for him to proceed with caution if it becomes necessary to lay violent hands upon Nature's outlines, and not to mar her beauty by unnecessary cuts, fills, or embankments, nor with roads of too great a prominence, for even these should be carefully contrived and screened with plants and trees, so as not to make an obtrusive scar upon the face of the landscape.

Nothing is more helpful to the architect's work than the soft influence of vines and trees and shrubs, and the consideration of these shovdd not be neglected, for nowhere are they more appropriate than in the environment of the farm building, where their presence will soften the hard, constructional lines of the builder. The farm barn should have, therefore, every benefit which the growing plant and vine can yield and nestle quietly and unobtrusively where it will give to the eye the sense of shelter and of animal comfort and quiet.

Chapter II THE COW BAEN

WE will now leave, somewhat reluctantly, the architectural possibilities of the farm barn, and take up what must always come first in the consideration of any building project — its practical requirements.

It would seem proper to commence the discussion of the modern farm building with the cow barn, which is the most important building in the group; we will then proceed to a consideration of the dairy, with which it is intimately connected, and finally, we shall review the uses to which both are put, so far as such uses influence the general plan of the building.

With the idea of the purity of the milk constantly in mind, it must be remembered that the sources of its contamination are now no longer to be found in sewage, manure and the filth that used to prevail at the farm barn twenty or thirty years ago. Then nobody thought it necessary to pay any special attention to the sanitary condition of the cow, and the most unsanitary conditions in the matter of her care and environment prevailed generally. The milk methods of that time have been strikingly brought out by Dr. Wm. T. Sedgwick in his "Principles of Sanitary Science and the Public Health": "It should never be forgotten that if water were to be drawn, as milk is, from the body of a cow standing in a stable, by the hands of workmen of questionable cleanliness, and then stood and transported over long distances in imperfectly cleaned, closed cans, being further manipulated more or less, and finally left at the doors at an uncertain hour of the day, few would care to drink it, because its pollution and staleness would be obvious. ... It is clear, " he goes on to say, "that milk requires and deserves more careful treatment than water, for it is more valuable, more trusted, and more readily falsified and decomposed."

Now that the habit and knowledge of cleanliness is more general, it has been observed that the infection of milk is not

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CATTLE YARD

FIG. 1— PLAN SHOWING SIMPLEST POSSIBLE ARRANGEMENT OF COW BARN FOE YOUNG STOCK AND MILKING COWS — FEED BEING STORED OVER YOUNG STOCK so much due to the virulent pathogenic germ found in filthy and unsanitary surroundings, as to the bacteria on the dust in the stable, and especially the dust of the feed, grain and hay. For this reason it is desirable to place the milking cows as far as possible from the storage of hay, bedding and the like, which brings up at once the question as to whether it is advisable at all to store hay over the animals, although long custom has established that usage. Under certain conditions

— especially in cases where the floor between the cows and the loft above is fireproof, and where there is no communication between the storage of hay above and the cows beneath — it would be possible to put the hay over the animals without great damage to the milk. Fig. 1 shows a plan where the storage of hay is above the animals, drawn down into a feed room between the milking cows and the young stock, but even here the hay loft should be filled from the back and the bulk of the hay stored above the young stock and feed room, in preference to using the space over the milking cows. The great objection to hay above the milking cows is that at haying time so much dust is caused in filling the lofts that the making of good milk during that period is impossible, even with all the windows of the milking barn closed. For that reason the hay is best put into the barn at the rear of the building, and as far removed from the quarters of the milking cow as possible. This is the simplest type of barn for the man who wants to take care of his stock at a minimum cost of building and labor, and there is no reason why, with proper care, milk should not be made in such a structure which would answer every requirement of clean milk. In the author's practice, however, he has always endeavored to carry out the idea which aims at separating entirely the storage of the feed and hay from the housing of the animals, not only on account of the contamination of the milk by the dust in the feed, but equally on account of the contamination of the feed from the odors of the stable. Man has only to think how loathsome his own food would become if tainted by the fumes of sewage,- to realize how greatly the quality and value of the fodder for his animals would be lessened by a similar contamination. If hay is ever stored above the live stock, particular care should be taken that none of the fumes of the stable can reach it. The vent ducts may go through the hayloft, but they should be carefully papered and sheathed tight on both sides of the studding, and on no account should they open into the loft for any reason whatever. The custom of throwing hay down into the stable below through the vent duct must not be tolerated.

FEED ROOM. — From a scientific as well as a practical point of view, the feed room is just as necessary for the care of the animal as the pantry is to the service in the human household. It is located between the hay barn and the cows, and is the place into which the feed is drawn, and there cut and mixed. The door of the feed room should always be closed when feed is being prepared, or when dust from it is liable to get into the cow barn, no matter whether the cows are being milked or not. The feed room should be a place solely for the preparation of the feed, and not for the storage of it. Hay is cared for in the hay barn and, in fact, the general storage of meal, grain, etc., is best effected above the feed room and not in it. In fact a very good system of feeding is to mix the feed either above or away from the feed room, and so keep the dust occasioned by mixing out of the feed room entirely. Grain is almost invariably sold in bags, even when bought in carload lots, and the proper storage of feed is to keep it in the bags ; feed keeps fresher in bags than when stored in bulk, and consequently the feed bins need not be any larger than is necessary to hold a week's supply. When empty they are refilled from the bags of stored meal. Feed bins are invariably lined with metal, the four sides as well as the covers; and if projected down into the room below, as shown by Fig. 2, the feed will not clog up and cake in the

FIG. 2— SECTION OP FEED BIN [24]

bottom of the bins, but will run freely through the chutes. Tour compartments are desirable, though three are usually sufficient — two small ones and one or two larger ones, as the young stock, dry stock, and milking cows all require different rations.

The feeding cart, as well as all utensils for mixing the feed Bhould be kept scrupulously clean. "Water must be had at a

FIG. 3— A TTPICAL PLAN FOE HOUSING A HERD OF FOURTEEN MILKING COWS, FOUR DRY STOCK, SEVEN YOUNG STOCK AND A BULL

place convenient for cleaning — preferably both steam and water. In the plan illustrated by Fig. 3 a separate small room has been provided with steam connections, not only for the keeping but for the special cleaning of the feed carts, manure carriers and all the utensils of the cow stable.

It is desirable, especially in large plans, that the feed room should have an outside door, so located that a loaded wagon may be driven through it easily without backing. There is no objection to backing out empty; but all places of storage should certainly be located where they can be reached without it being necessary to back when loaded.

Root cellars are frequently placed below the feed room but since ensilage has come into such favor with dairymen, the use of roots in feeding is less general than it was, and the root cellar is now kept more for the storage of vegetables and fruits, when it is best located away from the farm barn entirely. Root cellars under feed room and under portions of the hay barn are very liable to freeze in extremely cold weather and, in order to avoid this, it is well to have a chimney whose flue, not less than 12x16 in., can be used for ventilation and also for a stove. Ventilation in the root cellar is essential and this must be so arranged as to allow the air to circulate through every part of it.

Access from the feed room to the root cellar below or to

FIG. 4— SHOWING SANITARY COVE FORMED OF CONCRETE AT FOOT OF LADDER STAIRS storage above should always be had by steps and not by ladder. It is frequently necessary for the man to carry something above or below which cannot be done handily on a ladder. Fig. 4 shows the usual type of such steps, with the bottom of the stringer raised upon a concrete base to avoid the sharp angle of the stringer with the floor.

MILK ROOM. — In the larger establishment a milk room at the barn is desirable, where should be placed the usual twenty-quart can into which the milk from the milkers' pails is poured. Here the scales and records of each cow are kept, and the basins are placed in which the men wash their hands after each milking. This milk room is entered by doubleswinging doors which must be opened by the milker pushing them with his elbows and not with his hands. If special care is required the milk room may be separated from the cow barn by two doors. For the smaller problem an alcove may be formed at the cow barn, where a wash-basin and towel are placed. A milk room may be placed at the end of a passageway and adjoin the dairy, all of which arrangements may be seen in subsequent plans. The real reason for this room is to provide a place that may be kept free from flies, odors and dust. If the cow barn is such a place (and it should be) then the necessity for a milk room diminishes and, as will be seen from some of the plans, it has occasionally been omitted, in the hope that ideal conditions at the cow barn may prevail and that the milk room may not be required. These ideals however, have seldom been realized.

LOCATION OF CATTLE.— The milking cows must always be kept separate from the young stock and the dry cows, and to avoid all confusion as to what class of cattle is meant, cows giving milk will be designated as milking cows, the others as dry stock or young stock. A greater degree of cleanliness is necessary for the milking cows, and consequently they should be in an apartment by themselves, away from the dry stock, young stock and all other animals. This separation is so important that it cannot be insisted upon too strongly.

The best exposure for the cow barn is undoubtedly with its long axis northwest and southeast ; this places the building so that it will receive the greatest benefit from the cooling summer breezes and the warming winter sun; and the windows should be large and numerous so as to be effective in both seasons. 1 The separate wing for the cows which gives air on three, if not four, sides is a much better plan than to quarter them within a building which limits their exposure to only one or two sides. Care should also be taken so to place other structures of the farm group that they will not deprive the animals, whether cows or horses, of the sun and air which they need. Fig. 3 illustrates a typical plan for housing a herd of fourteen milking cows, four dry stock, seven young stock and a bull. The necessary calf and calving pens are provided. These latter are interchangeable and are used for the cow to have her calf in, also for the rearing of the young animal. It is possible, and in fact desirable, in a herd of this size, to accommodate all the cattle — young stock, dry stock and milking cows — under one roof. One compartment has been provided for the milking cows and another for the young stock, dry stock and the bull ; connecting with the former is the covered passage to the dairy; with the latter is the feed room with a place already noted for the cleaning and keeping of the va-

i Those who wish to go more carefully into the placing of a building with regard to its exposure, will be much interested in a little volume, "The Orientation of Buildings or Planning for Sunlight," by William Atkinson — John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1912. Mr. Atkinson points out very clearly the importance of the orientation of the hospital and shows how the plan may be devised so that no part of the adjoining ground need be in complete shadow cast by the walls of the building. Such an arrangement of plan is doubly desirable for the farm building, and for the commercial building where artistic considerations are ignored, this point should never be neglected.

TOOL HOUSE IN Jill. WOODS, SKYLANDS FARM, STERLINGTON, \. V

OLD FARM BUILDIXGS OX LOXG ISLAXD— ARTISTIC, BUT UNSANITARY

INTERIOR OF A COMMERCIAL COW BARN

COW BARN INTERIOR, SHOWING STEEL STANCHIONS AND ALSO AN EXCELLENT TYPE OF THE FEEDING-TROUGH— LOW AND BROAD rious utensils of the cow barn — pitchforks, shovels, brooms, brushes, curry-combs, etc. It is always better to locate the young stock between the milking cows and the feed room, as the milking cows should not be disturbed by traffic through their quarters into the young stock barn.

In planning for a given number of animals, it is necessary to know approximately what ratio exists between the milking cows, dry stock and young stock, so that the proper accommodations for each may be provided. This ratio is variable according to conditions. The owner may not desire to raise his young stock, though in this case he loses one of the most attractive and interesting occupations of the farm; but if he does, and the natural conditions prevail, from thirty per cent, to fifty per cent, of the entire herd will be young stock or dry stock. Or, if he starts with a number of milking cows, accommodations for from fifty per cent, to seventy-five per cent, of that number will be required for his young stock and dry stock. There should be one calf pen for every four or five milking cows in small herds, and this proportion may be reduced to one calf pen for every ten cows in the larger herds.

MATERIALS. — The material for the interior surface of the cow barn is selected with a view toward the elimination of all wood. Even in a wooden structure the interior walls can be entirely covered with non-absorbent materials, which render it possible to make a wooden building just as sanitary as one of masonry. To get this result it is necessary that the walls to the height of 3 ft., 8 in. or 4 ft. above the floor (or to the under side of the windowsills) be plastered in Portland cement, using the same mixture as for the top coating of the concrete floor, and forming a cement dado all around the building. This cement dado, as well as the plastering above, is best put on galvanized iron lath. Above this point the walls and ceilings are plastered in the usual manner but finished with some hard substance, such as Keene's cement. To reduce cost slightly the ordinary hard-finish plastering on wooden lath above the cement dado gives fairly satisfactory results, and it is well to observe here that plastering of the simplest kind is very much better than the old-fashioned method of sheathing with wood and varnishing the interior of stables. To this method there is every objection — the woodwork is absorbent in spite of the varnish, the varnish deteriorates in a very short time, it makes a dark stable, and is more expensive than the plastering. All offsets in the plastering should be carefully avoided and 3-in. coves run at all interior angles, while all exterior angles should be rounded. Where the cement dado and the white plastering on the side walls come together it is never desirable to make a joint; let the mason finish the two materials as smoothly together as possible. At the connection a 4-in. stripe may be painted, which, however, must be done in some damp-resisting paint, as the ordinary oil paint would be discolored by the action of the cement.