The  repressive  causes
that  have  tended  to  inertia
in  agriculture  are  passing
away,  and  a  new  hope  is
inspiring  farmers.  Freer
application  of  capital,
labor,  machinery,  chemi-
cals and  increased  tillage,
are  creating  a  new  era  in
eastern  agriculture.  This
article  will  treat,  then,
as  more  in  keeping  with
present  tendencies,  of  the
type  of  things  to  be  aimed

for  rather  than  the  type  developed  under  passing
conditions  in  New  England.
BuUdings.
Those  constructing  new  buildings  should  locate
them  as  central  to  farm  operations  as  possible.  An
acre  eighty  rods  from  the  buildings  requires,  in  a
rotation  period,  some  six  miles  more  travel  for  the
men  than  one  close  to  the  bam,  and  five  miles
more  annually  for  the  team.  This  represents,  in
mterest  on  land  at  5  per  cent  and  labor  at  $1.25
per  day,  $25  per  acre.  The  close-by  acre  is  worth,
then,  for  use  $25  more  than  the  one  eighty  rods
away.  If  the  house  is  in  the  center  of  a  15()-acre
farm,  the  most  remote  acre  would  be  less  than  one-
third  the  distance  away  than  when  the  house  is  at
one  end  of  a  150-rod  or  160-rod  farm  containing
the  same  area.
On  the  same  principle,  the  present  tendency  of
New  England  farmers  to  concentration  of  buildings
is  commendable,  both  for  the  economy  of  steps  and
the  comfort  of  work  in  inclement  weather.  The
round  bam  conserves  labor,  but  not  the  exchequer.
The  square  barn  economizes  both  in  first  cost  and
annual  labor  bill,  as  compared  with  the  common
rectangular  bam.
