THE BUILDING LINE
Before leaving Four Oaks that day I had a long conversation with Nelson,
the carpenter. I had taken his measure, by inquiry and observation, and
was willing to put work into his hands as fast as he could attend to it.
The first thing was to put him in possession of my plan of a building
line.
Two hundred feet south of the north line of the home lot a street or
lane was to run due west from the gate on the main road. This was to be
the teaming or business entrance to the farm. Commencing three hundred
feet from the east end of this drive, the structures were to be as
follows: On the south side, first a cold-storage house, then the
farm-house, the cottage, the well, and finally the carriage barn for the
big house. On the north side of the line, opposite the ice-house, the
dairy-house; then a square with a small power-house for its centre, a
woodhouse, a horse barn for the farm horses, a granary and a forage barn
for its four corners. Beyond this square to the west was the fruit-house
and the tool-house--the latter large enough to house all the farm
machinery we should ever need. I have a horror of the economy that
leaves good tools to sky and clouds without protection. This sketch
would not be worked out for a long time, as few of the buildings were
needed at once. It was made for the sake of having a general design to
be carried out when required; and the water and sewer system had been
built with reference to it.
I told Nelson that a barn to shelter the horses was the first thing to
build, after the house for the men, and that I saw no reason why two or
even three buildings should not be in process of construction at the
same time. He said there would be no difficulty in managing that if he
could get the men and I could get the money. I promised to do my part,
and we went into details.
I wanted a horse barn for ten horses, with shed room for eight wagons in
front and a small stable yard in the rear; also a sunken manure vat, ten
feet by twenty, with cement walls and floor, the vat to be four feet
deep, two feet in the ground and two feet above it. A vat like this has
been built near each stable where stock is kept, and I find them
perfectly satisfactory. They save the liquid manure, and thus add fifty
per cent to the value of the whole. Open sheds protect from sun and
rain, and they are emptied as often as is necessary, regardless of
season, for I believe that the fields can care for manure better than a
compost heap.
I also told Nelson to make plans and estimates for a large forage barn,
75 by 150 feet, 25 feet from floor to rafter plate, with a driving floor
through the length of it and mows on either side. A granary, with a
capacity of twenty thousand bushels, a large woodhouse, and a small
house in the centre of this group where the fifteen horse-power engine
could be installed, completed my commissions for that day.
Plans for these structures were submitted in due time, and the work was
pushed forward as rapidly as possible. The horse barn made a comfortable
home for ten horses, if we should need so many, with food and water
close at hand and every convenience for the care of the animals and
their harness. The forage barn was not expensive,--it was simply to
shelter a large quantity of forage to be drawn upon when needed. The
woodhouse was also inexpensive, though large. Wood was to be the
principal fuel at Four Oaks, since it would cost nothing, and there must
be ample shelter for a large amount. The granary would have to be built
well and substantially, but it was not large. The power-house also was a
small affair. The whole cost of these five buildings was $8550. The
itemized amount is, horse barn, $2000, forage barn, $3400, granary,
$2200, woodhouse, $400, power-house, $550.