FARMERS' HOUSES

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 147, 23 June 1915, Page 13

FARMERS' HOUSES

CHANGING ARCHITECTURE In the last few years a considerable change has taken place in the class of house that is now met with in the farming districts of the Manawatu. As the district has progressed the farmers — or should it be said 'the farmers' wives? — ' have remained no longer satisfied with the old two or four-roomed shanty, or cottage with verandah, which did service in the less ornate days — when people passed once or twice a week, and standing' bush fringed the small clearings. You go "farther back 1 ' nowadays to see this class of hguse, to where settlement has not been so long in progress as in the Manawatu. The change is, therefore, an indicatidn of progress. Almost everywhere in the lower country districts of the Wellington Province may be Been at frequent intervals large dwellings of one or two stories. These betoken the wealthier farmer. But as a general rule the small farmer also is studying appearance and comfort in his home to a greater extent than formerly. The old idea was to erect a lean-to or a square four-roomed building, with the intention, as money came in, or the family grew, of adding a kitchen or outhouses'at ( the back, and a room or two at the front, with bay windows and a fancy porch. But now there is more generally seen a building on modern lines, of much the same description as those which are being most generally erected in the suburbs of cities and towns—neat little houses, with extended roof -verandahs and overhanging eaves. The use of tiles has also come , more into favour •in the last few years, and this has necessitated a higher pitch in the roof. This gives the houses a more Old-World appearance. These are all pleaaaut changes J« those who obaci'Yjt,

made out of the actual produce of the farm, bat from the pockets of the other fellow, who seems so eager to rush in and give them large increased prices for the land that they, the previous owners, f had been fortunate enough to 6ecure for' less money. This has become so of late that a serious problem is in front of many who aYe now engaged in dairy farming, and, as, the practice in vogue the last few years must speedily, alter, we are face to face with the fact that the dairy farm must now be farmed, in order to give a reasonable return for capital and labour, and that the great army of land agents, who have fattened on the method in vogue i in the past, will soon have to turn their attention to . milking cows themselves for a livelihood, or, at any rate, thin, down their number a bit. | CHOOSING THE FARM. "Now we come to the dairy farm. The would-be farmer will, no doubt, have to be guided by his means and make his choice accordingly. As a rule, most of our dairy-farmers start with j inadequate capital, and find it a piefcly hard row to hoe in- its early stage, and many of them find themselves bo handicapped in their starting years that they become discouraged. . . '. In choosing a dairy farm, one should naturally take into consideration the quality of the land, 'its proximity to a' town, factory, Bchool, etc., and ' the improvements effected on the property, and base his< calculations as to what he could reasonably expect to do under normal con* ditions, from the average' cow, at an average price per pound of butter-fat in normal years> and base ,his purchasing prjee for the land accordingly. See that the land is suitable for cropping. rt-ell watered, lying well to the sun, and not too long and narrow in. conformation. The land need not necessarily bo dead level, but on the other hand it should not be extremely hilly. If possible, the buildings should be centrally situated, and shelter belts planted on paddock boundaries and corner patches. The land Bhoiild be suitable for subdivijmb ia moderate Areas* with, if feasible* ,