Chapter VII
The Farmstead
53. Organization.
The organization of the farm should begin with the farmstead.
It is from the farmstead that the daily operations will be
directed. Its location and arrangement are vital to the
successful and profitable management of the farm and should be
carefully studied. Two opposing factors will demand
consideration in making the plans. (1) It is to become the
home of the family. Everything that will add to their
pleasure, comfort, and happiness should be included. (2) It
is the center of the business operations of the farm, and it is
essential that the plans provide for the economical administration of
the farm business.
The first factor demands for the farmstead a position near the
highway for the sake of social convenience, or near a lake or pleasant
landscape view for aesthetic reasons. The second factor
demands that the buildings and yards be near the center of the farm
with easy access to the fields so as to permit quick connection with
the work and short distances for transporting the farm products to the
farm center. These opposing factors must be harmonized as far
as possible and the best location chosen, all things considered.
Whatever the location finally decided upon, the economical
operation of the farm depends upon the farmstead being well arranged
and the farm work being organized into a systematic and definite
relationship with it.
54. Location of Farmstead.
In locating the farmstead it is best to choose a place near
the center of the farm when this can be done without sacrificing the
social interests of the family. The advantages of having the
farmstead located near the center of the farm are many. Time
is economized in getting to and
64
The Farmstead
65
from the fields. All four sides of the farmstead are
in connection with the fields, allowing minor rotations to be arranged
for, which will provide the live stock with pasture and paddocks close
to the building. This permits live stock to be taken quickly
from the fields to yards or barns. From a central location
the farm manures can more easily be taken to all of the fields of the
farm without hauling it long distances. Also,
[Fig. 20.--Farmstead near center of farm. This location
brings all sides of the farmstead in direct connection with the fields,
thus reducing the amount of travel between the fields and the
farmstead. Fig. 21.--Farmstead at center of one side of farm.
This location brings the house near the road where travelers
can be seen and where neighbors will be encouraged to stop.
Three sides of the farmstead are still in contact with the
fields.]
the crops grown on the various fields can be more readily brought to
the farmstead.
The objection to a central location is that it results in the isolation
of the farmer's family, which is a serious phase of farm life.
Families of farmers enjoy seeing passing teams and should be
near enough to the road to encourage social calls from their neighbors.
Convenience of getting to school and to market should also
receive due consideration. The economic advantage of being
near the center of the farm is
66 Farm Management
shown in Figure 20, but it is doubtful whether this advantage is
sufficient to outweigh the social advantages of living near the main
road at the center of one side of the farm, as illustrated in Figure
21. When the farmstead is properly arranged
[Fig. 22.--Farmstead showing lanes leading to minor rotation.]
with short lanes leading to the minor rotation fields as in Figure 22,
and with the major rotation fields connected by roads, but little of
the economic advantage is lost. (See Figure 23.)
Both locations should receive careful consideration and the
one adopted which gives the greatest comfort to the family and which
does not call for useless expense in the operation of the farm.
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67
55. Size of the Farmstead.
The size of the farmstead should be in proportion to the size of the
farm. It will often be determined by the nature of the farm
business. Live stock raising with suitable barnyards and
paddocks demands more
[Fig. 23.--Short lanes to the minor rotation fields and roads to the
fields in the major rotation give easy access to all fields on the
farm.]
land in the farmstead than where grain raising or fruit growing is the
principal business of the farm. Four to six acres on a
160-acre farm is not too much for the farmstead on a diversified grain
and stock farm. Six to ten acres can often be used to
advantage. A plot of ground 32 by 40 rods in
68 Farm Management
dimensions on reasonably level land will give an eight acre farmstead
of suitable proportions. The dimensions can be varied in any
way desirable, or necessary to suit the particular farmstead to be
planned. Room should be reserved for wind-
[Fig. 24.--Drives between the buildings add to the
convenience of doing the work about the farmstead.
Key to Buildings:
(1) farm house; (2) wood shed; (3) work and tool room; (4)
machine shed; (5) milk and well house; (6) corn crib; (7) hog house;
(8) silo; (9) horse and cow barn; (10) granary; (11) poultry house.]
breaks or shelter-belts. The orchard, garden, poultry runs
and buildings for live stock, with suitable yards and paddocks, should
be included. Provision should be made for drives and walks
between the buildings. (Figure 24.) A generous lawn
adds greatly to the beauty and attractiveness of the farm home.
The Farmstead
69
The only objection that can
be made to such a lawn is that much labor would be required to keep it
up. By a little careful planning a large part of the labor
can be avoided (Figure 25).
[Fig. 25.--Suggestive arrangement of buildings and grouping
of shrubbery and trees on a well planned farmstead.
Key to buildings: (1)
house; (2) shed; (3) workshop and tool room; (4) machine shed; (10)
granary; (11) poultry house.
Key to plantings: (1)
elm trees; (2) spirea van houti; (3) rosa rugosa thickets; (4)
flowering currant; (5) high bush cranberry; (6) Virginia creeper or
climbing roses; (7) peony beds; (8) Colorado blue spruce; (9) mountain
ash; (10) snowball or lilac; (11) ferns.]
By grouping the plantings of shrubs, protecting them by light wire
hurdles, and by providing permanent fences on certain sides, it is
often possible to keep the lawn trimmed by allowing the sheep and
calves to graze on the lawn for two or three hours each day. It
may be necessary occasionally to run the lawn mower over it to even it
up, but ordinarily, where a little attention is given to the grazing of
the sheep and calves, they will keep the lawn in good shape without
additional labor. the only objection to this plan is that the
droppings from the animals are disagreeable. This annoyance can
be avoided to some extent by turning the animals on for two hours or so
early in the morning when the animals have been off feed over night.
By using the orchards for poultry runs or for pig or calf
pastures, good use can be made of the land. Other portions of the
enclosure may be used for permanent paddocks or stock runs, putting the
less objectionable animals in the foreground.
70 Farm Management
The whole effect of the landscape should be broad and commanding with
the shelter-belt as a background, and with suitable decorative
plantings and lawns in the foreground. An acre of the land can be
used about the house itself to good advantage.
56. Location of the House.
The Farmstead 71
for the growth that trees make and they should be planted some distance
apart, or plans should be made for taking out every other tree as they
get larger.
57. Remodeling an Old Farmstead.
58. Grouping of Buildings.
In arranging the buildings on the farmstead, certain groupings should
be made which will greatly reduce the amount of time required in doing
the daily chores. The horse barn and machine shed with workshop
included, should be placed near together. Both should be located
near to the main lane leading to the fields. Consideration of the
daily tasks shows that the farmer is required to go to the horse barn
for his team; from there he goes to the machine shed for the implement
he is to use, and he should then go direct to the field. The
horse barn is the starting place for most of the farm operations where
power is required. The machine shed furnishing the implements and
the workshop should be convenient for the sake of economizing time in
keeping the tools and machines in repair. Going from the horse
barn across the farmstead for a machine and thence back on the way to
the field, causes much unnecessary traveling and should be avoided
where possible. On three farms in Minnesota the distance traveled
in going to and from the machinery shed and the horse barn varied from
11.3 miles where the buildings were closely connected, to 68 miles per
year, where the
72 Farm Management
buildings were widely apart. Some such arrangement as is shown in Figure 26 should be made whenever possible.
The cattle barns and the buildings containing feed supplies, should be
located closely together. If the feed can be stored in the same
building, so much the better. the silo and hay-
[Fig. 26.--The close grouping of the horse barn and machine shed
and of corn crib and hog pens reduces greatly the labor of doing
chores. (1) house; (2) well; (3) barn; (4) poultry house;
(5) machine shed; (6) granary; (7) shop and engine house; (8) corn
crib; (9) feeding floor, and (10) hog house.
mow at least should be closely connected. Grain supplies can be
brought from a distance if necessary, but it is better to make
provision for them in the barn. A milk room should be provided if
possible. It may be combined with a well-house and tank which
will supply water at convenient points for the live stock. It is
sometimes included in the barn,
The Farmstead 73
though there are many objections to this plan as it is difficult to
keep the barn odors from reaching the milk. It is best to have
the milk room separate from the barn.
It is very essential that the corn crib be closely connected with the
hog and cattle feeding yards. A trip of 250 feet across the
farmstead and back three times a day for a basket of corn may mean as
much as 103 miles of travel per year. This can be avoided by
placing the corn crib near the hog feeding floor. Too much
attention cannot be given to this matter of suitable connections
between buildings, as it bears closely upon the economy of performing
the daily tasks about the barns and yards.
The poultry house should, if possible, be given a location near the
farmhouse and not far distant from the grain supplies. Frequently
the poultry house can be near the orchard. Both are looked after
or visited frequently by the women of the family and they, as well as
the men, should be saved every unnecessary step. The orchard can
sometimes be used for the poultry run, thus keeping down the insects
and making double use of the land. The garden also should be near
the house, and it should be fenced to keep the poultry out, unless the
poultry is confined in a yard of its own.
Lanes and drives to the fields should be arranged for in the plans of
the farmstead. The permanent fence lines should be laid out with
this in view, temporary fences being erected when necessary to aid in
keeping the farmstead clean and attractive. Main drives and roads
to the fields should be open to give easy access. By putting a
temporary hurdle or fence across, the corners of the farmstead and the
ground adjoining the barns and storage buildings can be trimmed up by
turning in the sheep or the colts for grazing a few hours each day.
In this way the whole farmstead can be kept attractive and bad
weeds subdued.
59. Time Required for Chores.
That the arrangement of the farmstead has a great deal to do with the economy of time
74 Farm Management
[Fig.
27--Buildings poorly located,--(1) farm house; (2) poultry house; (3)
hog house; (4) horse barn; (5) smoke house; (6) milk and well house;
(7) corn crib; (8) machine shed; (9) ice house; (10) cow barn and
granary; (11) silo; (12) hog shed. distance from horse barn to
machine shed 220 feet; from corn crib to hog pen 250 feet and from well
to hog pen 155 feet. In one trip three times a day for a year
between the corn crib and the hog house and between the well and hog
house, 199.6 miles would be traveled. In one trip a day between
the machine shed and horse barn 26.1 miles would be traveled, and going
to the poultry house three times a day for a year would require 78
miles of travel. A total of 264 miles would be traveled which, at
the rate of 15 miles a day would require 18.1 days.]
The Farmstead 75
[Fig. 28.--Buildings moved and more closely grouped. (1)
farm house; (2) poultry house; (3) hog house; (4) horse barn; (5) smoke
house; (6) milk and well house; (7) corncrib; (8) machine shed; (9) ice
house; (10) cow barn; (11) silo; (12) hog shed; (13) feeding floor.
In doing the same chores described under Fig. 29, only a little
over 30 miles need be traveled and but 2.24 days would be required.
The water is piped to the hog house and barns, greatly reducing
the labor. The feeding floor joins the corn crib and hog house
and the machine shed is only 30 feet distant from the barn.]
76 Farm Management
in doing the daily chores is well illustrated by Figures 27 and 28,
showing the amount of travel in doing certain chores when the buildings
are poorly located and the saving made by moving and relocating some of
them.
60. Building Plans.
The plans of the buildings should be considered quite as much as the
plans for the farmstead. Before erecting a building, a plan
should be made of it, drawing to scale, with all of the interior
arrangements made. Feed storage rooms should be provided which
will permit quick and easy feeding of the live stock. Convenient
arrangements should be made for watering, and an attempt made to lessen
the labor in every way possible. The harness rooms, milk rooms,
and grain bins should all be at convenient points and located with the
view of lessening the amount of travel. If a harness room is
provided, it should be at a central spot and where every stall can be
reached with the minimum amount of travel. The milk room, where
included in the barn, should be located near the center but where it
can be well ventilated and where the objectionable odors of the barn
can be kept from it. The grain bin frequently can be placed
overhead, with an elevator run by a gasoline engine for elevating the
grain into it. By providing suitable spouts, feed boxes, and
alleys, the work of feeding the animals is thus greatly reduced.
Attention to details of arrangement is the first essential in
providing economical and convenient buildings.
Exercises for Pupils
1. Have the pupils measure the distance from the house to the
well on their own farms and keep a record of the number of trips made
for water in a week. Find the average number of trips per day.
Calculate the number of miles traveled in a year in carrying
water for house use. How much does it cost if labor is worth 16
cents an hour? How large an investment in water pipes would the
labor cost pay interest on?
2. Have the pupils measure the distance between their corn cribs
and hog feeding pens. Keep a record of the number of trips made
between them in feeding the pigs for a week. Find the average
trips in a day. Calculate the number of miles traveled in a year.
The Farmstead 77
3. In the same way determine the time required and the labor cost
of doing other chores. Compare the results from the various farms
and suggest ways of remedying badly arranged farmsteads.
4. Have them record distances traveled between feed bin and
mangers in feeding horses and cows, and in other ways call the
attention of the pupils to wasted time or energy.
Problems
1. By placing the farmstead at the center of a 160-acre farm, the
distance to a 20-acre field can be shortened 1/4 mile. An average
of six trips per week are made to this field by man and team. The
trips would be made at the rate of 1 1/2 miles an hour. If horse
labor is worth 9¢ an hour and man labor 16¢, how much could
be saved a year on this 20-acre field by locating the farmstead at the
center of the farm.
2. By building a lane in order to reach a 40-acre field, a farmer
can save 1/2 mile in going to the field. The lane will be 80 rods
long. Smooth wire fencing can be put up at a cost of 90¢ per
rod. Four hundred thirty trips are made to the field in a year
with man and team traveling at the rate of 2 1/2 miles an hour.
Man labor costs 16¢ and horse labor 9¢ an hour.
How many years will it take to pay for the fencing for the lane
in saving of time alone?
3. A man's corn crib is located 12 rods from the hog-feeding
floor where he feeds 2,000 bushels of corn annually. A hired
man's time is worth 16¢ an hour; he can carry a bushel at each
load, and walks three miles an hour. How much does it cost to
carry the corn to the hogs annually?
4. A farm house is located 100 ft from a spring from which the
water is carried for household use. An average of 10 buckets are
carried each day. Allowing 5 minutes time for each bucket of
water carried, and 10¢ an hour for the time, how many days would
it take to pay for a hydraulic ram costing $25.00 and galvanized pipe
at 12 1/2¢ per foot?
5. A dairyman delivers milk 6 days out of the week to a creamery
four miles distant from the nearest corner of the farm. His
farmstead is one-half mile farther away. If he drives at the rate
of 6 miles an hour, how much more time does he spend on the road than
if he were on the corner nearest the creamery? If man and team
are worth $3.00 for a 10-hour day, what will be the total cost a year
under each condition?
6. A man hauls a barrel of water to his hog pasture each day for
4 month in the year since it is not in the farmstead. It takes a
horse and man 3/4 hours each day to haul the water. Horse labor
is worth 9¢ per hour and man labor 16¢. He can arrange
for a hog pasture in the minor rotation by erecting 50 rods of fence
costing 42¢ a rod, and can pipe the water to it at a cost of
$10,00. How long would it take to pay for the changes?
References
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bulletin No. 236.
Planning and Adorning the Farmstead.--Iowa Experiment Station Bulletin No. 126.
Farm Development.--W. M. Hays, pages 96-126.
Minnesota Farmers' Institute Annual No. 22, pages 23-29.
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