UNIVERSITY** ILLINOIS LIBRARY „ URBANA CHAMPAIGN * ARCHITECTURE VAULT vault UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS THE FARMER'S AND MECHANIC'S PRACTICAL ARCHITECT; GUIDE IN RURAL ECONOMY. BY J. H. HAMMOND, ARCHITECT BOSTON: JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY CLEVELAND, OHIO : HENRY T. B. JEWETT. 1 858 Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1858, by JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. LITHOTTPED BY COWLES AND COMPANY, At the Office of the American Stereotype Company, FHCENIX BUILDING, BOSTON. Allen & Farnum, Printers, Cambridge. RILW CONTENTS. Essay I. — On the Value of good Architectural Plans, &c 7 Design No. 1. — A Village School House, 11 Essay II. — On the Outside Color of Houses, 17 Design No. 2. — A small Village Residence, 21 Essay IH. — On the Expediency of Owning a House, 26 Design No. 3. — Another small Residence, 29 Essay IV. — Hints on Mechanics, 32 Design No. 4. — A Plain Side-hill Cottage, 37 Essay V. — Style of the House, 40 Design No. 5. — Neat Dwelling for Two Families, 45 Essay VI. — Utility and Convenience, 50 Design No. 6. — A House for a Narrow Building Lot, 55 Essay VII, — Choice of a Situation, 60 Design No. 7. — A House with one Wing, 65 Essay VITI. — On Light and Prospect, 70 Design No. 8. — A Sharp-roofed Cottage, 75 Essay IX. — Building Materials, 78 Design No. 9. — A Farm House, . , . . 81 Essay X. — Classification of Houses, 86 Design No. 10. — An Irregular House, 91 Essay XL — On Embellishments, 94 Design No. 11. — A Square House in Italian style, 99 Essay XII. — Household Furniture, 104 Design No. 12. — A House for Two Families, 109 Essay XIII. — Interior Conveniences, 112 Design No. 13. — Suburban Residence for a Largo Family, . . . 117 Essay XIV. — On the Construction of Barns, 126 Design No. 14. — A Small Cottage and Stable, 131 Essay XV. — On Drainage, • 138 Design No. 15. — A Larger Stable for common use, 143 Essay XVI. — Outbuildings and their Arrangement, 149 Design No. 16. — A Piggery, and Corn Barn, ■ 153 3 4 CONTENTS. Essay XVTL — On the Management of Poultry, 157 Design No. 17. — A Poultry House, 163 Essay XVIII. — On Ventilation, 167 Design No. 18. — A Model Barn, 171 Essay XIX. — On the Construction of Highways, 1 76 Design No. 19. — A Side-hill Barn, 182 Essay XX. — Trees hy the Koadside, &c 187 Design No. 20. — A Barn for a Level Situation, 192 Essay XXL — On Fences and Hedges, 198 Design No. 21. — Another Side-hill Barn, 203 Essay XXII. — The Garden, , 20 9 Design No. 22. — Ground Plan for Frontispiece, 213 Design No. 23. — Brackets, 217 Design No. 24. — Mouldings, 218 Appendix, 221 PRACTICAL ARCHITECT. I. PREFACE. The selection of an appropriate design for a Dwelling House, com- bining those forms and arrangements which are both tasteful and con- venient, requires the exercise of a good judgment, and the advice of a professional architect. A large proportion of the farmers, mechanics, and other working-men of New England have but an imperfect idea of the value of a good set of plans, designed by a careful and skilful artist. These would furnish them with the advantage of all the experience which the artist has acquired in the course of his studies and practice, and for which they pay but a few dollars. When they have an opportunity to compare those dwellings which were con- structed according to the rules of taste and architectural proportions, with others which were built to suit the rude conceptions of the proprietor or of some uninformed mechanic, they may understand the full value of science. It is the ignorant and the least qualified to make a good design who refuse to avail themselves of the services of a professional architect. If one is preparing to build a house, he would do better to pay five per cent on the cost of it than to omit to provide himself with a good plan, accompanied with good pro- fessional advice. The object of the present publication is to offer some practical designs and drawings executed in a plain and simple manner, with useful hints which may be understood by those who have no par- ticular acquaintance with building. It is designed to encourage a taste for that kind of beauty which consists in the expression of neatness, simplicity, and the economical adaptation of means to useful ends ; and also to furnish a series of designs for different classes of buildings, suitable to the wants of our New England population. The proprietor knows his own particular wants better than any architect, but the latter only can furnish him with the plan of a house which will supply all these wants. The proprietor must 8 PREFACE. explain his ends, and the architect the means of obtaining them. But it may sometimes happen that the artist can explain to the proprietor the wants of his family, better than he can understand them without his explanation. A family which has never seen the modern improvements in the economical construction and arrange- ment of the interior of dwelling-houses may not know half the real wants connected with its household affairs. The head of such a family would be surprised to hear the architect name to him several wants which he had never thought of, no less than on being told the very obvious means of supplying those wants. It is a fact that many intelligent people do not know half the conveniences which a dwelling-house requires. They would say it needs a kitchen and its appurtenances, a living, or sitting room, a parlor, and bedrooms, with a certain number of closets. They would be surprised to learn from the architect many other conveniences which are almost indispensable. Economy, therefore, no less than the demands of good taste, requires the aid of professional advice. The architect can inform one how he may save expense in carrying out a design, while he furnishes him with a plan which will be pleasing and satisfactory to the eye. The proprietor may be a man of more highly cultivated taste than the architect; but he does not require the professional aid of the latter any the less on this account. A person in ill health often thinks he clearly understands his own symptoms, which, as they are not very distressing, he judges he can cure by some simple remedy, suggested by his own former experience. Afterwards, when the aggravation of his disease induces him to call his physician, the latter shows him that he did not understand his own case, and by a very simple remedy restores him to health. There is a two-fold advantage in consulting " experts," as they are called in the lan- guage of the law, whenever we undertake any business which is foreign to our profession or pursuits. It is well for a practical farmer, under certain circumstances to consult a chemist: but if the chemist were about to cultivate land, before he was accustomed to it, he would find it equally necessary to consult a practical farmer. If the farmer despises the science of the chemist, he will neither learn nor adopt the modern improvements in agriculture. If the chemist, on commencing the cultivation of the soil, should PREFACE. 9 despise the practical wisdom of the farmer, he would make many expensive and ridiculous blunders in the application of his science to the details of practice. When one seeks the advice of an experienced architect, and obtains from him a good plan, the benefit accruing from his course is not confined to the dwelling-house. The proprietor has, in the meantime, acquired many new and important ideas, both theoretical and practical, on the subject of building. This knowledge renders him a more intelligent citizen, and enables him to give better advice and instruction to others. Not that his knowledge is to supersede the advice of an architect, hereafter, for the benefit of his neighbors ; but having more wisdom on the subject of building he knows how to advise others to imitate his own example and to consult pro- fessional advice, whenever he is preparing to build a house. Such is the two-fold advantage of employing an architect. The pro- prietor obtains a more convenient, a more economical, and a more tasteful dwelling, and learns at the same time many useful matters of taste and science. The same remarks will apply to every other kind of employment. DESIGN, No. I. PLAN. O o o o o"o o o CO O O O O 'JO □ n □ □ OO OO CO oo CZI LZJ LZ3 CU CO OO OO OO CD □ □ nzi n a a □ o a □ □ til o O o o o □ o o D D A, School Room. B, Teacher's Platform and Desk. C, C, Recitation Room and Clothes Room* D, Front Entry. The dotted lines represent the position of the stove and funnel. DESIGN NO. I. A VILLAGE SCHOOL HOUSE. The design given in this place has been highly approved by many excellent teachers, and has been adopted in many of our villages. It is 30 by 38 feet on the ground plan, and will accom- modate fifty pupils. It has one ante-room for clothes, and one for a recitation room, with a large entry in the centre. The school-room is 25 by 30 feet, with four double windows, containing twelve lights in each half. Blackboards, which are an essential article of furniture in a school-room, should be made of pine wood, which is not so liable to be damaged as other kinds of wood, and may be more easily kept in repair. The boards of which they are made should be lain dried, the joints matched and glued, fastened on the back side with bars screwed down in the centre; with slots for the screw heads at each edge, to allow the shrinking and swelling. A strip one and a half inch wide, with a hollow worked on the upper side to admit the chalk, should be fastened on the lower edge. When made as described, a preparation of strong glue sizing, composed of half a pound of glue to two quarts of hot water, well dissolved, with the addition of a quarter of a pound of lamp-black, should be applied with a common paint brush. Two coats of this mate- rial will make a firm and durable surface. A woodshed open to the south, for storing and drying wood, is one of the necessary appendages to a school house. Wood which is well dried and under cover is worth twenty per cent more than the same when exposed to the weather. A good well of water should also be provided, with a white oak pump placed in it, well secured with a spile-hole, below the deck, to let off the water in freezing weather. A stout sink with a wash- ing apparatus is a necessary article of furniture. A pail made of white maple, and thoroughly scalded occasionally in skimmed milk 14 A VILLAGE SCHOOL HOUSE. is the best kind of a water pail: but a stone jar is preferable to any other vessel. Many of our school-houses are provided with very uncomfortable seats; and it is worthy of remark that those which are the most comfortable are likewise the most conducive to health. A con- strained position is often injurious to the spine. Easy seats are promotive of stillness and quiet, and favorable to studious habits : for every thing that renders the pupil uncomfortable withdraws his attention from his studies to his own feelings. A school com- mittee deserve severe censure who, for the sake of a niggardly economy, provide seats so uncomfortable as to render the pupils constantly restless, and to subject them to punishment, on account of their disquiet movements occasioned by badly constructed seats. School-rooms ought, likewise, to be constructed with reference to order in coming in and going out. No order of this kind can be expected in a room that obliges the children to become wedged together when they are leaving the house. To encourage exercise in the open air, and to afford the pupils an opportunity to enjoy it, the school-house should be provided with a good play ground for mild and open weather, and a simple gymnasium under cover to be used when the weather is moist. The two sexes should have separate grounds for their recreation. Niches in the different rooms of the school-house should be made for the accommodation of the busts of distinguished men, whose features might serve a good purpose by inspiring a rational ambition in the breast of the youthful pupil. Pots of flowers placed here and there in the window seats would present a charm- ing appearance, and encourage a taste for simple pleasures and a love of nature. No available circumstance should be omitted to render the school-room a pleasant place of resort, instead of a prison room from which all are glad to escape. ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. I. 10,500 feet of boards, for all purposes, $17.00 per M. . . $178.50 3,000 « « timber, 8x8 and 7x7, 15.00 "... 45.00 875 " « rafters, 3x5, 15.00 « , . . 13.12 CARPENTEE'S SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. 1. 15 2,400 " " deep joist, 3 x 8 and 2 x 7, 15.00 "... 36.00 1,500 " " studding, 3x5 and 2x5, 15.00 "... 22.50 15 M. shaved cedar shingles, $6.50 per M. laid, . . . 97.50 1,200 clapboards, extra No. 1, planed and laid, $8 per hundred, 96.00 .1 60 feet jut, corners, &c, 40 cents per foot, .... 64.00 500 lbs. nails, 4^ cents per lb., 22.50 Framing, raising, and boarding, 100.00 7 windows, hung with weights, and finished, $9.50, . . . 66.50 Laying floors, sheathing, and blackboards, 73.00 5 doors, trimmings, finish, and portico, 85.00 380 yards lathing and plastering, 20 cents per yard, . . . 76.00 Partition, and furring, . 19.00 Painting two coats, in and out side, 90.00 Foundation, steps, well and pump, 125.00 Shed for wood, privy, &c, 100.00 $1,309.62 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS. The Building to be 13 feet high in the clear when finished. Size op Timber. — Sills and cross floor timbers, 8 by 8 inches; corner posts, 7x7, boxed out ; centre posts, 5x8; plates, 7x7; beams, 8x8; truss timbei-s, 6x6; rafters, 2x7, with collar to each pair ; floor joist, 3x8; ceiling joist, 2x7, and furred ; studding, 3x5 and 2x5; alternate braces, 6 feet long; the whole to be well framed and pinned with hard wood pins. Roof — To be covered with sound boards, well nailed, and shingled with extra No. 1 shaved cedar shingles, not to exceed 5 inches to the weather, and to be nailed with Swedish nails ; roof of the portico to be tinned. Projection and Portico. — The roof to project 2 feet, with plain finish and brackets in the front end; see Plate. A bracketed portico over the front door, supported by trusses or large brackets ; plain 2 inch bead corners. Ci.ArBOARDiNG — To be done in the best manner — |j thickest edge and \ y at least, at thin edge — lapped one inch, thoroughly nailed with 5d nails. Windows. — Four windows in the scbool-room of 24 lights, 10x14, first quality double thick German glass, sash 1^ inch thick ; hard pine stiles to frames; 3 inches thick window sill ; H inch fascia, wide j.op, with cap mould. Two windows in front, 12 lights, 10x15, and side lights to front door; circular head window in the pable end, 10xl">, '- lights. A sky-light pear 16 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. 1. the centre of the building, nine lights, 8x12, double thick glass ;' hinged with safety rod and fastenings. Doors and Trimmings. — Front door, 3 feet 6 by 7 — 6, If thick, 4 panels, moulded on both sides ; 4^ mortice lock, and mineral knob ; hung with 4| loose butts; hard wood sill. Inside doors, 2 feet 10 by 7 feet, 1| thick> 4 panels, raised both sides, trimmed with mortice locks, mineral knobs, and 3^ loose butts. Floors. — Good hard pine or spruce, narrow boards, planed and laid in the best manner, after being thoroughly seasoned. Front entry laid with Southern hard pine. Lathing and Plastering^ — First quality 1^ inch laths well put on ; plastered with good lime, coarse sand, and hair mortar; with a good skim- coat put on the whole and well finished. Finish Inside. — The school-room and entry to be sheathed three feet high, with sound narrow boards, thoroughly dried. The blackboards to be set on the top of the sheathing at the front and back ends of the room. A platform for the teacher's desk, 5 by 7 feet, 8 inches high. II. COLOR OF THE OUTSIDE OF BUILDINGS. A great deal has been written of late concerning the propriety or the impropriety of certain colors for the outside of buildings. White was formerly, in this country, the fashionable and almost universal color used for this purpose. It was ridiculed by Sir Unedale Price, in his wo*rk " On the Picturesque," and afterwards by Mr. Downing. Thereupon it became the fashion to use paints almost black, varying from a drab to a dark brown, or bronze. Many a pretty little white cottage was transformed into something that resembled an unpainted shanty. Such dismal hues prevailed in the outside colors of the majority of our dwellings, in certain places, especially in the suburbs of our cities, that the spectator was affected with an actual depression of spirits, by looking at them. These gloomy colors were justly ridiculed in their turn, and gradually gave place to lighter tints, consisting of white, slightly tempered by a mixture of brown, yellow, olive, or other sober hues. The dark, sombre paints are now universally condemned and rejected. A very great latitude may be permitted in the choice of colors. Good taste would reject none whatever, except those which are very glaring or beautiful, very sombre or very peculiar. Dark colors may sometimes be used, when relieved by combination with such as are light and brilliant. We have often been very agree- ably impressed by the sight of a plain cottage, which was of a dark stone color, from having never received a coat of paint, while the window sashes, window frames and corner trimmings were painted white. The sombre effect of the dark surface was pleas- ingly relieved by the neat and cheerful appearance of the white window frames and other light colored wood-work. Some artists and connoisseurs affect an abhorrence of such contrasts ; but we must not allow our judgment to be misled by the prejudices of men who are wedded to certain established notions. Though we 18 COLOR OF THE OUTSIDE OF BUILDINGS. would not recommend the practice of painting houses of a brick red, yet we have often been pleased with the appearance of a neat farm house of this color, with the trimmings of white, not- withstanding its supposed violation of rules. The reasons for con- demning this color, when it does not approach to a scarlet, are not very intelligible ; and if any man should choose it for a plain dwelling, we have no doubt he could prove the correctness of his taste by as just a course of reasoning as may be adduced in fa- vor of any other tint. White, though a glaring color, seems better than any other to reflect the light from the surface, and to prevent it from receiving injury from the intense rays of a sumrrrer sun. Dark colors, on this account, are the worst, inasmuch as they absorb the sun's rays, and expose the surface of the building to an almost burning heat. A little settlement of white cottages presents nothing dis- agreeable to the sight, and in the winter season they harmonize with nature, when the ground is covered with snow. At other times, white paint renders a house a too conspicuous or prominent an object in the landscape. Almost all that is said, however, of the harmony of colors is dogmatical. Let us prefer those tints and those combinations of tints, which are the most permanently agreeable to the eye, in their situation, even though condemned by some whimsical rule of art. There are many paints, such as a light drab, yellow or straw-color, that might be preferred to white, as less glaring and equally cheerful. We would discard only those which are very brilliant, very sombre or extremely odd. It is fashion chiefly that leads men astray in these matters. White became a genuine color for dwelling-houses, not only on account of its neat and cheerful appearance but also on account of its superior durability. All people are disposed to be imitators, and few could bear to be so singular as to mix any other color with their paint, until fashion suddenly issued a decree that white must no longer be used, and that henceforth the darkest hues, which are not absolutely black, must be the outside colors of every respectable dwelling-house. As soon as the novelty of this prac- tice was over, every body was displeased with these gloomy tints. In a crowded settlement of buildings painted in this manner, it was not always easy to perceive that there was any sunshine COLOR OF THE OUTSIDE OF BUILDINGS. 19 upon them, so indistinct were the shadows cast upon them in the broadest light of day. Brilliant as our climate is, compared with that of other countries, we do not understand the course of reason- ing which would prove that we must, on that account, paint our houses more soberly than other nations do. On the principle of harmony which forms the basis of this reasoning, the opposite rule should govern our practice, that the bright colors of our dwelling- houses may correspond with the splendor of the sunshine, the dis- tinctness of the shadows, and the brilliant hues of the sky and the landscape. No circumstance, that is independent of moral causes, contributes in so great a degree to promote an internal cheerfulness and seren- ity of mind, as the sight of neatly painted dwelling-houses, not too brilliant, glittering in the sunshine, and surrounded by well- tilled but not highly decorated grounds. The lighter the colors of the outside, if not purely white, the more pleasing in their aspect at all seasons. They are lively, but not dazzling in the sunshine ; they are cheerful in dull cloudy weather ; they are beautiful in the clear moonlight. When an American visits England, he is struck with the sober appearance of the dwelling-houses, in all parts of the country ; but he finds the same sobriety pervading the sky and the landscape. The aspect of combined nature and art on the continent of Europe, is less sober than that of Great Britain, and less brilliant than that of America. The great masters of landscape painting, basing the rules of art on familiar scenes, established a somewhat different set of canons from those which would spontaneously arise in the minds of American artists. Hence the ideas of an American in regard to the picturesque differ essentially from those of an Eu- ropean: But while we freely admit the superiority, both in theory and practice, of foreign artists, we ought not to be slavishly governed by their rules. The architect is generally swayed by his ideas of the picturesque in designing both the forms of his buildings and the color of their exterior. But the laws that govern the painter do not unqualifiedly apply to objects in real landscape. Any one who gives particular attention to these studies, soon learns that many a charming scene in our villages would be wholly unattractive on canvas. But when we are designing a dwelling-house, and studying the rules for paint- 20 COLOR OF THE OUTSIDE OF BUILDINGS. ing it, we should consider its appearance in real landscape, rather than its picturesque effects. In real landscape we look for the in- dications of neatness, cheerfulness and comfort ; in a picture we are better pleased with scenes that suggest romantic and poetic images. Those buildings are generally the most pleasing to the eye which are not painted entirely of one color. Among our predecessors in New England, it was customary to use two or three different tints for the same house. When the general surface is light, the window sashes are often painted dark ; and when the general surface is dark, some other portions are painted white. The majority of our dwell- ing-houses have green blinds ; and the contrast made by them, when joined to a white painted house, has been very generally ridiculed. We are inclined to believe that if the white and the green paints used in this connection, were sobered by a slight mixture of some other color, the effect would be more generally pleasing. An entire uniformity of color is blank and tiresome, and should be relieved by contrasts more or less distinct, according as the main surface is more or less glaring or sober. If the window frames and window sashes are light when the house is of a dark tint, the effect of the whole is more lively and cheerful. The reverse of this sobers the glaring ap- pearance of a light ground-work. It is difficult to establish any very explicit rules on this subject. We would leave these matters chiefly to the taste of individuals, recommending, as a general rule, to avoid brilliant colors and glaring contrasts, and to prefer light to any very dark or sombre tints. > DESIGN, No. II. PLAN A, Parlor. B, Store Room. C, Sink Room. D, Front Entry. B, Living Room. DESIGN NO. II. A SMALL VILLAGE RESIDENCE. The accompanying design is one of a country house, suitable for a small lot of land, to be built for a low price. It is constructed of wood, in a neat and simple style, and will accommodate a family of five or six members. It contains a parlor, a living-room, with a* small sink-room and store-room; a front entry and stairs, and a back entrance, and a passage down cellar from the sink-room. On the second floor are three middle sized sleeping-rooms, and one small room is obtained over the front entry by setting the partition two feet over the lower room ; or it may be fitted for a bathing-room, of the same width as the entry. The attic is large enough for a good store-room, and might afford space for two sleeping-rooms, by a division in the centre. When preparing to build a house of this class, the first movement should be to purchase all the lumber, that it may be thoroughly sea- soned. Most of our low priced cottages are built hastily, of lumber very imperfectly dried, the drying process not being completed until after the house is built. Hence the shrinking of doors and of inte- rior boarding, producing unsightly crevices, and admitting the outer air, to an uncomfortable extent. This evil may be avoided by a small additional expense at the outset in the purchase of dry lumber and housing it. A very great saving in the amount of lumber may be made by purchasing piece-lumber, so called. The timber, floor-joists and stud- ding can be purchased of the right length. If the covering, roof and floor boards arc 13, 14, or 16 feet long, the house may be framed to suit the different lengths with but very little waste. It would be promotive of economy in building a house like this, to purchase sound low-priced lumber, having clear edges, and parts of boards that are clear, and cut from the whole lot all the finish that may be wanted, leaving nothing to waste, as the pieces may be used 23 24 ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. II. for under-floors, roofs, and other rough work. It may then be put through the planing-mill and easily fitted for the building. Nearly all the finishing for a common house can be made ready for use before the frame is made, and left to become thoroughly sea- soned. Floor boards should be selected, cut to a proper length and set up until wanted. If they lie in a close pile they will gather dampness. Top floors should be dried by spreading them in the sun, or by inside heat ; coal heat is the best for this purpose. ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. II. 4,000 feet timber and joist, board measure, $15.00 per M. . S60.00 9,000 " common boards, 15.00 " . . 135.00 8 M. shaved cedar shingles, nails and laying, $5 per M. . 40.00 900 clapboards, planed and laid, $7 per hundred, . . . 63.00 375 yards lathing, plastering, and partition, .... 87.00 13 windows, finished inside and out, $3.75 each, . . . 48.75 13 doors, finished and trimmed, $5.75 each, .... 74.75 500 lbs. nails, 4^ cents per lb., 22.50 Framing, boarding, &c, 75.50 Laving floors, mop-board, finish, and shelves, ..... 40.00 One chimney, straight flue, 16x20, lead on roof, . . . 20.00 Stairs, first and second story, and cellar, straight run, . . . 25.00 Painting two coats, inside and out, and papering, . . . 75.00 Cellar, well and pump, as an average, ...... 175.00 $941.00 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS. Stories. — Cellar under tbe whole house, 7 feet in the clear. First story, 8^ feet ; second, 8 feet ; the plates one foot above the aitic floor when finished. Size of Timber. — The sills and centre timbers, 7X7 inches; tin- posts, girts, plates, and attic floor timbers, 4x7; deep joist, first floor, 2x8; all others, 2x7; studs, 2x4 and 3X4; rafters, 2x6; floor joist laid on the top of the girts and spiked to the studs ; well framed and pinned with hard wood pins. CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. II. 25 Roof. — To be covered with common sound lumber, and shingled with No. 1 shaved cedar shingles ; not more than five inches to the weather, well laid and nailed with Swedish nails. Projection and Corners. — The roof to project over the sides and ends 18 inches ; to be sheathed on the under side of the rafters. Plank or bead corners rabbeted f of an inch to fit the corner, and rounded to the clapboards. Clapboarding. — To be clear heart lumber, well dried, planed and but- ted, and put on in a workman-like manner, well nailed, and lapped not less than one inch. Windows. — Common plain frames, l£ inch fascia, with wide top and cap-mould, rabbeted and made water-tight. If inch lip sash, with first quality of German glass, 10x15, 12 lights to each window. A skylight; glass double thickness, 8X12, 9 lights, made water-tight with lead round the frame outside. Doors and Trimmings. — Two outside doors, If inches thick, 4 panels, front door moulded on one side ; and raised panels on all the inside doors ; inside doors If inches thick, 2 feet 6 inches by 6 feet 8 inches, 4 panels; trimmed with 3 inch loose butts, and American thumb-latch ; front door trimmed with mortice lock, plain glass knob, and 3^ inch loose butts. Stairs. — Steps of hard pine or spruce ; a turned newel and hand-rail in the front entry as far as the attic stairs; a partition on both sides of the cellar stairs, with plank stringers and hard pine steps. Floors. — To be laid with sound spruce or pine narrow boards, planed, thoroughly seasoned, and well nailed with lOd floor nails. Sink-room laid with hard pine ; sink made of pure pine lumber, of suitable size, with water conductor to the drain. Lathing and Plastering. — Laths to be H inch pine laths, f thick, free from knots, and well put on ; plastered with good lime, coarse sand, and hair mortar; with skim-coat thoroughly smoothed. Painting and Papering. — The outside to have two good coats of pure white lead and oil, well put on ; sash drawn with two coats ; the standing work inside to be painted with two coats of zinc white and oil, and var- nished; the stairs on each flight, kitchen, sink room and front entry floors to be painted with white lead and oil, in colors. The parlor and front entry to be papered with 37 cent paper; sitting room and chambers, with 25 cent paper ; all well put on, with border in the parlor to match. III. ON THE EXPEDIENCY OF OWNING A HOUSE. Every married man who earns his living by the labor of his hands onght to be the occupant of his own house. No matter how small the tenement, though it be a mere hut, built at the cost of only two hundred dollars. It is only by becoming the owner of a house that one can render himself independent of landlords, or can hope by small earnings to accumulate property. He who lives in a hired tenement is liable to be removed at the end of his term, and he cannot know with certainty whether he shall be fortunate or unfortunate in his next move. He enjoys less liberty during his lease than if the house were his own property, and the improvements which he is obliged to make for his own temporary convenience are less valuable to him than if the house were his own. It is better, therefore, to occupy constantly a decent and comfortable hut, with only as many rooms as absolute necessity requires, than to be moving round from one house to another, with the chance of now and then obtaining one that is pleasant and commodious, i>ut more frequently one that is disagreeable and inconvenient. According to an old saying, " three removes are equal to one fire" — that is, one who has removed his family from one hired house to another three different times, has suffered as much injury, when all circumstances are taken into account, as he would be likely to suffer from being once burned out of house and home. The injury to one's household furniture by removing it from place to place, the cost of freight and the labor attending the removal, and the loss of time which is consumed in adapting furniture to the new tenement, produce an aggregate of considerable expense. There still remains the additional cost of new articles of furniture which the new situation requires, and the sacrifice of some valu- able articles which in one's present dwelling cannot be used. Every change of abode creates new wants, sometimes by its 2fi ON THE EXPEDIENCY OP OWNING A HOUSE. 27 additional space, and sometimes by its deficiency of conveniences. An additional room requires an enlargement of one's stock of furniture, and one room less than in the last house occupied causes a sacrifice of a part of it. There is no end indeed to the troubles, sacrifices, and expenses occasioned by thus moving about from house to house. The cutting of carpets, to n't them to new rooms, is a practice when often repeated that is very destructive. There is another important view of the matter that remains to be considered. A constant moving from house to house causes one to acquire thriftless habits, and is opposed to the practice of a wise and judicious economy. It induces one to " spend as he goes," and to act on the principle of allowing the morrow to take care of itself. " Take no thought for the morrow" was a precept given by Jesus Christ ■ to his disciples as a principle of action while they were engaged in their divine apostolic mission, and referred to their present necessity of leaving all their worldly occu- pations and taking no such thought for the morrow, as would interfere with the duties of their mission. This precept was not designed to establish a point of worldly wisdom. It is every man's duty to provide for the future ; and it is notorious that the man who buys a little cottage when he is first married, and continues to hold it, almost invariably accumulates property; while another, under similar circumstances in every other respect, is apt to con- sume all his earnings and to end his days in poverty. A mechanic or a merchant's clerk must live outside of the city, however, to become the proprietor of a house, under ordinary cir- cumstances of fortune. At the present day, when every foot of surface in the city is worth as many dollars as will cover it, the man who lives upon the wages of his labor cannot afford to buy a house or even to hire one within its limits. The house of a laboring man, and of any person of small income, must be located in the country. Health, comfort, and convenience unite in urging him to the same end. In the country he may buy a house *md land for less money than he must pay for rent to obtain as much accommodation in the city, and is in a situation that allows him to make the most profitable use of his own time and labor. One's own house is a spot around which all other kinds of pos- sessions and conveniences naturally accumulate. Many little arti- 28 ON THE EXPEDIENCY OF OWNING A HOUSE. cles of property are saved which would otherwise be sacrificed; and many a leisure hour may be employed in making improve- ments, in building appendages to it, in adding to its conveniences, which might otherwise be spent without any definite gain. Hence, one of the principal advantages of occupying one's own house consists in the opportunity it affords of using and economising one's own labor and leisure. If he is obliged to suspend his regu- lar employment for a few days, he can spend that time in mak- ing some important improvement in his house or his land. There is likewise a great deal of labor-saving to be derived from this circumstance for the advantage of the females of one's household. If their labor requires an additional convenience to be appended to the house, it can be added without waiting for the consent of a landlord. One is at liberty to make a place for everything, and it becomes, therefore, an easy task to keep every thing in its place. The occupants of a hired house are obliged to make a new arrangement of all things on every removal, and are led by discouragement to become careless of order and system. Their labors are greatly increased by these frequent changes, and less time is left to them for the profitable use of their hands after their daily tasks have been accomplished. We have named only a few among a multitude of reasons which should induce a young mechanic, or clerk, or professional man, or any one who lives upon the wages of his labor or upon a small income, on setting out in life, to purchase a plain and convenient house, in a commodious and pleasant situation. It will serve to endear him to his home, to encourage industry in his habits and economy in his expenses, remove him from the. petty tyranny of landlords, and enable him to employ his leisure time in profitable labor. DBS I ON, No. III. PLAN. A, Store Room, B, Living Room. C, Front Entry.. D, Parlor. DESIGN NO. III. ANOTHER SMALL RESIDENCE. This design is of a country residence on a small scale, adapted to the wants of a small family, but combining as many conveni- ences and advantages as possible, taking into consideration its cost. There are two large square rooms on the first floor, with front entry,, store-room, and sink room. The stairs are in the centre of the house, with a good sized pantry in the rear; one large and two small chambers, with closets for clothing. The estimated cost of such a house is thirteen hundred dollars. 31 IV. HINTS ON MECHANICS. Though the New Englanders are proverbial for their ingenuity and their talent for learning readily the practice of any new art or trade, it is still a lamentable fact that the majority of our mechanics, especially our carpenters, are but poorly acquainted with their art. There are few only who are capable of superintending the construc- tion of a first-class house, with a wise regard to economy and with a just calculation in the use of lumber. These deficiencies may be explained in several ways. In the first place, employers do not make a proper distinction between a thoroughly bred carpenter and one who has, as it were, merely " taken up the trade," without instruction in the elementary practice of it. Men in general prefer to hire the cheap- est labor, not considering that a wise economy would direct them to pay more for a good workman than for a mere pretender. Hence there is not sufficient encouragement held out, as an inducement to young men to perfect themselves in their art. A pretender is as well paid for his services as a thorough-bred workman. This evil extends through all the departments of constructive and decorative art in this country, and has rendered our people as notorious for their imperfec- tions, as for their ingenuity. Real merit gains among us a no better reward than its counterfeit. In the second place, our mechanics do not generally serve a regular five or seven year's apprentice-ship, as they do in Great Britain. There are very many who call themselves carpenters, who have occa- sionally assisted in some of the most simple operations, who set up as journeymen, and claim wages equal to those which are paid to one who is will versed in all the branches of his art. Such individ- uals might, by proper attention to the business, become in a few years very good workmen, but no man should consent to pay them the wages of a complete carpenter. If the labor of the former is worth two dollars a day, that of the latter is certainly worth more in pro- portion to his superior skill. Either the one should be cut down or 32 HINTS ON MECHANICS. 33 the other should be raised, as an encouragement to merit and a dis- couragement to pretence. Let these inferior mechanics consent to work at low wages, under the daily instn*tion of one who is master of his art, and at the expiration of five years he would be able to compete with his instructor. As reason is all that elevates a human being above a brute, so are knowledge and skill the only qualities that distinguish a mechanic from a common untaught laborer on the highways, and they are the only qualities that give dignity to labor. The acquisition of a mechanical art is not to be made in a month or a year; those that think otherwise must have a very low estimate of mechanical skill. We rate it so highly as to believe that it can- not be acquired in less time than would be necessary to render one the master of a foreign language or of a musical instrument. Though there are undoubtedly many excellent carpenters who have not served a seven years apprentice-ship, they are exceptions to the rule, and these, it will be found, have not learned their art without many years study and practice. There are some learned men who never entered a college ; ninety nine out of a hundred will be found among graduates, and all, without exception, must have been diligent students for a long series of years. The same rule of the necessity of early instruction, and continued practice and experience, applies to the disciples of all the arts and professions, learned or practical, me- chanical or theoretical. No man can learn well any art or trade, without long study and practice, commenced in early life and con- tinued in manhood. It will be long before the generality of men will learn to distin- guish between the well instructed and pretenders in the various arts and professions. How many persons prefer a stupid and audacious quack to a regularly educated physician, as if the most difficult science that was ever studied by mankind could be learned by an illiterate person, without any instruction, and with the aid of only a few years of solitary personal experience ! There are but few individuals who are capable of perceiving the difference between genuine skill and its counterfeit, because this discernment is the result of a great deal of common sense united with superior infor- mation. It is the duty, therefore, of all who are capable of making these distinctions, to prefer those who are the most skilful. Let 34 HINTS ON MECHANICS. every one be paid and employed according to his skill, and all would be stimulated to become masters of their art, before they set themselves up as practitioners. As the country grows older, the evil we are lamenting will undoubtedly cure itself. As the ranks of the different professions become filled with greater multitudes of heads and hands, the merits of all will be more carefully examined, and tKe chance of the pretender's success will become exceedingly small. The sooner and the oftener public attention is directed to this point, the sooner will the reform be commenced and the evil we deprecate be removed. Let all those who employ labor take pains to ascertain the merits of the person they employ, and pay him according to his worth ; and let young men who are imperfectly instructed, instead of claim- ing the wages of a master- workman, apprentice themselves to some person who is able and willing to instruct them. There is another view of the subject which remains to be con- sidered. Our young mechanics are not fully aware of the advan- tages they would derive from a knowledge of the science or theory of their art. The most ingenious carpenter in the world, who does not understand the elements of geometry and those branches of mathematics which are applicable to architecture, and who is also ignorant of draughting and perspective, can never be anything more than a skilful builder. He cannot design, nor draw, nor calculate sufficiently well those matters which are the necessary preliminaries of first-class buildings of every description. He is simply a skilful operative. All that is to be done with hands and tools, without the aid of science, he may execute in an admirable manner ; but he cannot be the architect of his own work. Many of our distinguished architects are incapable of handling tools. In vain would we attempt to cast ridicule upon them for their want of mechanical practice. If the mechanic is ignorant of science, every wise man would apply to one who is simply an architect to obtain his plans and specifications. If our practical mechanics regard this as an evil, the remedy is in their own hands ; and it must consist in learning by diligent study that science which the architect understands, and which they have neglected and per- haps despised. The public would always prefer one, if he could HINTS ON MECHANICS. 35 I be easily obtained, to plan his work, who is both a man of science and practical skill, to one who is deficient in the latter qualification. But as long as those who work with their hands have uneducated minds, it is absurd to ridicule the public for employing the closeted architect, whose only tools are the instruments of the draughtsman, and whose only education is that which is learned from books. DESIGN, No. IV. PLAN. \V\V>\W>^^!^ /OL-

B ,JO 10- & c A Bed Room. B, Store Room. 0, Wood Room. D, Closet. E, Kitchen. P, Dining Room. G, G, Parlor and Living Room. II, Front Hall. DESIGN NO. IX. A VILLAGE OR FARM RESIDENCE. This design is well calculated for a village residence, and with some slight modifications might be converted into an excellent farm- house. As represented on the plan, it would be suitable for a board- ing-house. Double windows are represented on the elevation. One large window does not cost so much as two small ones of half its size, two windows having double the number of joints in putting up the work. The smaller the window the larger is the proportion of work. Hence, it is considered the best mode to use the large or double windows, whenever the proportions of the house and of its rooms admit them, without violation of taste and propriety. Most of the New England people have a predilection for a multi- tude of small, high windows, with curtain fixtures and blinds. Four windows for each room cause an unnecessary expense, and destroy the beauty and symmetry of many of our country dwellings. It is better to admit the same quantity of light from one window than from two, as the smaller the number of windows the more easy it becomes to arrange the furniture of the room. Bay-windows admit of several conveniences, among which may be named the accommodation of house plants. They make a little recess which may likewise be occupied as a seat, after the manner of the old-fashioned brick houses. Perhaps it is needless to mention likewise the facility afforded by bay-windows for looking out on each side of the window as well as in front of it. ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. IX. 3,600 feet of square timber, 4,000 " " deep joist, 2x8 and 2x9, 2,500 " " studding, 3x4 and 2x4, 1,200 " ■ rafters, 2x6, $15.00 per M. . $54.00 15.00 " . . 60.00 15.00 " 38.00 15.00 " . 18.00 B3 84 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. IX. 17,000 feet of sound boards, $16 per M 272.00 2,000 " " clear boards, for shelves and inside finish, $30 per M. 60.00 2,000 " " partition plank, $15 per M 30.00 16 M. extra No. 1 shaved shingles, and laying, $6 per M. . 96.00 196 feet projection and gutters, finished, 50 cents per foot, . 98.00 1,600 clapboards, planed and laid, $8 per hundred, . . . 128.00 21 windows, frames, and finish both sides, $6 each, . . 126.00 32 doors, trimmed and finished both sides, $5 each, . . 160.00 Framing, raising, boarding, and under floors, .... 150.00 Portico, corners, water-table, &c, ....... 125.00 Laying floors, putting down base, finishing closets, &c. . . 100.00 Building 3 flights stairs, 120.00 2 chimneys, single flues, 50.00 800 lbs. nails, 4f cents per lb., 38.00 800 yards lathing and plastering, 20 cents per yard, . . . 160.00 4 marble chimney pieces, ........ 75.00 Painting and papering, 175.00 Cellar, well, and pump, 250.00 $2,383.00 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS. Stories. — The cellar to be 1\ feet ; the first story 9|- feet ; the second story, 8^, all in the clear. The attic floor to be 18 inches below the plate. Timber. — The sills, 7X7, cross timbers, 8x8, corner posts, 7X7, boxed out; centre posts, 4X8, girts, trimmers, and ties, 4X8, plates, &X^, rafters, 2X6, joist in first floor, 2X9> second and third floor, 2x8.; main partitions, 3 inches thick. Roof — Covered with sound boards, well nailed, and shingled with extra No. 1 shaved shingles, well laid, 4| inches to the weather, nailed with Swedish nails. Lead of good thickness, 14 inches wide, to be put in the gutters on the roof; also around the chimneys, to make water-tight. The centre of back roof to be flat, and tinned. Projection and Gutters. — The projection will be 14 inches, with small modillion and frieze two feet wide. Stout tin gutters with wood hollow under to form the face of the gutter ; 2\ inch tin conductors with cap and shoe. Rake mould with open pediment, and wide fascia. Walls — To be covered with sound square-edged boards, well nailed ; clapboarded with the best extra No. 1 heart lumber, § inch thick, well dried, planed, butted, and well laid, 4| inches to the weather. carpenter's SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. IX. 85 Windows. — There will be 10 double windows, 10X15, first quality double thick German glass ; sash 1^ inch thick, with lip. One half of each window hung with weights ; each half to have 8 lights. Hard pine stiles, 1£ inch, with wide top facing, rabbeted cap and moulding ; of the best clear lumber ; finished with plain pilaster, and projecting cap mould to doors and windows in all the principal rooms and entries ; single band mould in back rooms and chambers. Doors and Trimmings. — The front door, If inches thick, 7 feet 2 inches by 3 feet, 4 panelled, moulded on both sides, trimmed with mortice lock worth $1, with solid flint glass knob, plated trimmings, and hinged with 4-g- inch loose butts. Inside doors, 1-g- inches thick, 6 feet 10 by 2 feet 8, 4 paneled, and moulded on both sides; to be made of the best kiln-dried pine lumber, free from pitch or sap ; trimmed with mortice lock worth 37 cents, with glass, 8 square, knobs and white trimmings ; hinged with 3^ inch loose butts. Stairs. — The cellar stairs to have good plank stringers, hard pine steps, with raisers, well put up. Front stairs, straight run, with 7 inch mahogany newel at the bottom, and 3| inch square framed and turned newels to the attic ; 2^ inch mahogany worked rail ; lg- inch turned hard pine balusters ; 1 iron baluster in the centre. Southern hard pine steps, 1^ inch thick, all of the best matei'ials, and put up in a workman-like manner. Back stairs with base and hard pine steps, and partition both sides. Floors. — The kitchen and store-rooms to be laid with Southern hard pine ; the other floors to be laid with good sound pine, or spruce, free from loose or large knots ; narrow boards, planed and laid, level and smooth ; thoroughly dried before they are laid. Base. — The base of good, sound, suitable dry lumber, f inch thick and 8 inches wide, well put down in all the principal rooms before laying the floor ; a suitable base mould to the above 3 inches wide. Closets, back chambers, and attics, plain base beveled, f inch thick and 7 inches wide. Closets. — All the closets to be shelved in the best manner. China closet to have four drawers on one side. Lathing and Plastering. — 1^ inch clear pine laths, $ inch thick, well put on, and plastered with the best lime, coarse sand, and hair mor- tar, one coat, and a good skim-coat, put on and finished in the best manner. Painting and Papering. — The inside to be painted with two good coats of pure French zinc white and linseed oil. Outside, two good coats of pure white lead and linseed oil. Good 37 cent paper on all the front part of the house, with border to match ; the remainder 25 cents ; all to be well put on. X. CLASSIFICATION OP DWELLING-HOUSES. The classification of houses is in a great measure arbitrary, insomuch that it would be difficult to define them so precisely as that one should always be able to identify each particular species. We read of shanties, huts, cottages, farm-houses, blocks, villas, mansions, and palaces. Everybody recognises a hut, or a shanty, which is a dwelling of the lowest class, and large enough to accommodate only two or three persons conveniently. A cottage is commonly understood to be a small house, either of one or two stories, designed for a small family, and admitting, according to general opinion, of less ornament than the villa. Literally speak- ing, all our common sized dwelling-houses are cottages, no matter what may be their shape. The term villa is used to designate a country-seat for a man of wealth, combining all the conveniences of a .dwelling in the city and the country. It is supposed to admit of a great deal of orna- ment ; and it would seem that it is only by its ornamentation that it is really distinguishable from any dwelling-house of the same size and conveniences. The only true definition of a villa, therefore, is an ornamental country-house. There is some affectation in the habit of using this term, which is, literally, the Latin for a country- house. The last term is generally preferred. A gentleman seldom speaks of his villa; he prefers the compound Saxon word country- house or country-seat, and leaves the Latin word to be used by the authors of works on architecture to tickle the fancy of their readers. Some artists contend that as villa is a Roman word, and the house called by this name a Roman house, it should be built in the Italian, or Roman, style. We are not able to understand the precise distinction between a villa and a mansion. In England the latter term is applied to the established residence of a nobleman's family, bearing the same relation to a palace that a nobleman bears to his king. Any 86 CLASSIFICATION OF DWELLING-HOUSES. 87 house, therefore, which is the established residence of a nobleman, whatever may be the form, the style, or the size of it, is a mansion. The distinction seems to be founded entirely on the noble character of its proprietor and occupant. It is almost identical with Manor- House, which, as denned by Repton, is the house " where the lord of the soil resided among his tenants:" "a certain character of architecture holding a middle station betwixt the baronial castle and the yeoman's habitation." This was the manor-house, or man- sion. The style in which it is built is not named, because this is susposed to depend on the taste or caprice of the proprietor, and is not the thing upon which the distinction is founded. It is evi- dent, therefore, that as we have no order of nobility in the United States we cannot have mansions, in the literal acceptation of the term. Our own country is a land of cottages. There are compara- tively few persons who can afford to build or to occupy a house larger than the wants of their family require. Those who build for hospitality, for hotel-keeping, for boarding, or for ostentation, want a large house. Such a house might be called a mansion. We should name every other kind of a dwelling-house, every house which is built merely for the accommodation of one's own family, without reference to hospitality, a cottage, which may be ornamented more or less according to the taste of the owner. A hotel, a boarding-house, or any large house built for hospitality, or the show of hospitality, comes as near a mansion as any kind of a house in this country. A villa, as defined by English writers, is " a small country house." "The name 'villa' is applied to places of considerable variety in dimensions — from the house with a small plat of garden ground attached, to one surrounded by thirty or forty acres of pleasure grounds and park. Some mansions, belonging to small or moder- ate-sized estates, are, in their whole character and arrangements, nothing else than villas ; but it is not usual so to designate them ; they are rather said to be laid out in the villa style, though the distinction is perhaps more imaginary than real." The truth is, nearly all these distinctions are imaginary; and all are arbitrary, especially when applied to dwelling-houses in this country. There is another classification of houses which has more par- 88 CLASSIFICATION OF DWELLING-HOUSES. ticular reference to architectural style ; but this is neither more precise nor intelligible than the former. Artists speak of Grecian, Gothic, Roman, Italian, Swiss, and several other styles. In all these, if any one will study them carefully, he will find distinctions which are founded only on caprice. According to Repton, Gothic houses are those in which perpendicular forms prevail, and Grecian houses are those in which horizontal lines are most apparent. Usually, we call those houses which are built with extremely pointed roofs and gables, Gothic. This seems to be the distinction which is the most generally understood in this country; but it is quite unimportant and very far from being correct. There are certain forms and combinations of forms that pre- dominate in the style of the dwelling-houses of certain countries. The houses in Italy, for example, have comparatively flat roofs, with considerable projection, and piazzas. In Switzerland, on the con- trary, the houses are built with steep roofs, to allow the snow to slide off easily from them. Various other styles derive their respective names from the country in which they originally prevailed; others from their resemblance to certain modes of architecture. Hence we have the Classical, and the Romantic styles ; the former correspond- ing with the type of Grecian architecture, the latter including a com- bination of various forms or types in a sort of composite style. The characteristic of Grecian architecture is symmetry ; the characteristic of the Gothic style is irregularity ; the first depends on perpendicular pressure, the second on lateral pressure ; the first is horizontal in its appearance, the second perpendicular. Still there is so much that is unintelligible, and so little that is plain and obvious in the distinc- tions between the two, when applied to common wooden dwelling- houses, that they may be considered hardly worthy of study. All wooden buildings are Grecian in their mechanical construction, and when made to represent the Gothic form, are counterfeits. Those dwelling-houses are most indicative of good sense and sound judgment, which are built solely with reference to utility and convenience, and to the wants and purposes of the proprietors ; and which do not affect any particular style of architecture. Our ances- tors exhibited their good sense when they built those plain houses which it has lately become fashionable to ridicule, and when they named those houses " follies," which were built in the style that is CLASSIFICATION OF DWELLING-HOUSES. 89 most admired by the present generation. There is an old saying that " fools build houses and wise men live in them." This remark is true only of those who build expensive houses for ostentation. To those who are affected with this sort of ambition, we would address the following passage from La Bruyere : — " This palace, this furniture, these gardens, these ^vater-works, charm you. At the first sight of so delicious a house, you cannot forbear an exclamation on the extreme felicity of the owner. Alas ! he is no more; he never lived so peaceably and so agreeably as yourself; he never knew a cheerful day or a quiet night; he sunk beneath the debts he contracted in adorning this structure with the beauties that so transport you. His creditors drove him from it ; he left it with a broken heart and died a miserable dependent on the charity of his friends." A profusion of beautiful ornaments, even if they were as easily procured and as cheaply maintained, are not to be preferred to neat- ness and simplicity. Just in proportion as the beautiful is sought, expense must be lavished. The most desirable picturesque effects, on the other hand, are compatible with good taste and economy. To make a house a pleasing picture, however, without costly decora- tions, requires a higher exercise of the faculty of taste. Any body who has money enough can make a beautiful and showy house, by means of sculptured and architectural ornamentation, and a geomet- rical flower-bed in the enclosures. But one must be possessed of the true genius of a painter, to make such an arrangement of the house and out buildings, grounds, trees and shrubbery, as without any great lavishment of money, will produce that indescribable charm which shall delight every eye. We see but very few such places, because nearly all who build houses ape one another, and "make every con- sideration subservient to the gratification of their vanity. Of the few such model places which are to be seen, the most are the result of accident. ■ It is by carefully observing these, and tracing to their source the agreeable sensations felt on beholding them, that we can learn the principles on which their beauty is founded. In conclusion, we would remark, that it is vastly more important to strive to attain this neat and romantic expression in the style of our dwellings and their appurtenances, than to seek for a showy or ambitious style of architecture. Tt is of but little importance whether 12 90 CLASSIFICATION OF DWELLING-HOUSES. a house be Gothic or Grecian, Swiss or Italian, English or American, in its style, provided it be justly proportioned, free from meretricious ornaments, and the grounds and out buildings so arranged as to render the situation pleasing to the mind. Too much stress has of late been placed on mere architectural embellishment. Seek pro- priety in the style of a house, and let its beauty consist rather in its proportions than in its ornaments. DESIGN, No. X. PLAN. A, Parlor. B, Front Hall. C, Kitchen. D, Living Room. E, Store Room. G, Wood Room. F, China Closet. DESIGN NO. X. AN IRREGULAR HOUSE. The irregular form of the ground plan suggests the title for this design. It will be noticed that the house is embellished with a piazza, circular-head windows, a bay-window, and large bracketed projection. The sitting room, which projects on the front of the design, affords a prospect on three sides, a very desirable feature in a suburban resi- dence. The parlor has two windows of common size, and a lajge bay-window intended to face the street. The front entrance is on the side, under the piazza, to the front hall, which is large, with circular stairs in the rear. On the first floor are three rooms of good size, wood-room, store- room, china-closet, and pantry ; a flight of back stairs leading to the second floor, on which are four chambers, and three closets for clothes ; three chambers in the attic. The Specifications under Design No. XI. are applicable to this. The estimated cost of a building constructed after this design and plan is twenty-six hundred dollars. 93 XI. ON EMBELLISHMENTS. The majority of writers on rural improvements are Englishmen, who have written with reference to the wants of the wealthy only. Their rules can be carried into operation by men of vast pecuniary resources, but are almost without any use to those of moderate means. "We have but few men of such wealth in this country, and it is not desirable that they should increase in numbers, since there must be a proportional increase of mendicants. When treat- ing of the improvements of landscape in this country, one should write for the masses, for men who are either poor, or only moder- ately wealthy. It ought to be shown in what manner the most pleasing and desirable effects may be produced, by stating rules and principles which can be carried out by the poorest man in the country who owns a house and an acre of land. It is the object of the present remarks to treat of the advantage of consulting moral rather than beautiful effects in the embellish- ment of our dwellings and their enclosures. Most writers when considering the style and decorations of a dwelling have reference only to absolute beauty, and moral effects have been almost entirely overlooked. They speak of harmony, symmetry, proportions and colors, because these are constituents of the beautiful ; but that combination of simplicity, neatness, naturalness, and certain other qualities, which by suggesting agreeable thoughts or awakening pleasant emotions, constitute an interesting picture, are entirely overlooked, or receive but a few passing remarks. All this neglect arises from narrow and imperfect conceptions of the nature of these qualities as applied to improvements in landscape and ar- chitecture. We are charmed with the apparent indications or expressions of certain amiable virtues, such as humility, resignation, innocence, cheerfulness, and contentment. If we observe the same in a face, as in that of a simple-minded and intelligent looking old person, 94 ON EMBELLISHMENTS. 95 this face, if skilfully represented on canvas, would become a favorite picture. Anything that suggests the idea of similar qualities in the appearance of a cottage renders it a favorite subject for the artist. These are some of the qualities of the picturesque. The pictur- esque character of any building is that quality belonging to it, or associated with it, which excites in the mind an agreeable sentiment, or emotion, independently of its intrinsic beauty. Such is an ap- parent adaptedness to pleasant rural retirement, or domestic peace and comfort. A plain cottage, overgrown with vines and creep- ing plants, suggesting that its inmates are humble people, endowed with a love for the beauties of nature, and uncorrupted by any fool- ish ambition, has an expression that renders it a pleasing object for a cultivated mind to behold and contemplate. It is of the greatest importance for the attainment of pleasing effects, to provide for an appearance of neatness and comfort in the scenes and enclosures around our habitations. If this be wanting, the mind of the spectator is affected with disagreeable sympathies ; — with pity for the inhabitants for their lack of comfort, or with contempt for their want of neatness. Neatness must not be con- founded with primness, or the manifestation of great labor and ex- pense in providing paint and fanciful decorations of the fences and out-buildings. An unpainted cottage, with a mere footpath winding along from the roadside to the front doorstep, — a rough slab of granite, — with the grass growing all around it, may exhibit a per- fect pattern of neatness, while a highly ornamented cottage, with white painted fences, a straight or serpentine gravelled walk, and other finical appurtenances, may exhibit a disgusting example of slovenliness. Neatness combined with simplicity around a plain cottage, give to it a double charm, by suggesting the idea of com- fort and thrift, unassociated with wealth and pride. It is natural for the wealthy whose minds are uncultivated to banish simplicity from the rural decorations of their dwelling-houses, because it seems calculated to conceal that wealth of which they are ostentatious. This species of vanity would be comparatively innocent if it were confined to the wealthy. But how often do we see a house built by a poor man with borrowed capital, which is expressive only of the effort of the builder to give to his house the appearance of great 96 ON EMBELLISHMENTS. cost. Such builders fancy themselves guided by taste, while they are only aping what they cannot successfully imitate. It should be a rule with all who are going to build or decorate a house, to take their models from cheaper houses than such as they can afford to build, and improve upon them. The contrary rule is their present guide. They take an expensive house for their model, and make a counterfeit of that which they cannot success- fully imitate. Such houses are sufficiently numerous in this country to destroy the beauty of our landscapes ; for nothing is so ridiculous as the result of an unsuccessful attempt. That sort of neatness which is compatible with a simple and natural appearance of one's enclosures, may be preserved compara- tively with little labor or cost. To preserve neatness, on the other hand, in the midst of costly and luxurious embellishments, whether rural or architectural, requires the constant employment of propor- tional labor and expense. A man of moderate means, therefore, who imitates the wealthy by a profusion of architectural ornaments, shrubbery, and flowers, must carry the imitation still further, by hiring laborers to keep them in decent trim. On this account it is advis- able for every one to consider, when laying out his grounds, whether he is not providing for a constant source of expense, or a yard full of litter and deformity. It is the habit of overlooking these considerations that causes so much slovenliness about the enclosures of most of our houses in the country. The owner has commenced by laying out more work than he can afford to finish. As the majority of those who own houses cannot afford to hire much labor, it is reasonable to inquire, what is the best method of decorating them and their enclosures with the least expense and with the most pleasing results. Fortunately, that style of decoration which yields the most satisfaction to the mind, though not the most dazzling to the eye, is that which is the most favorable to economy of labor and money. For the illustration of these remarks, let us look at two pictures of scenes which are of frequent occurrence. When passing through a country village we may observe on a slight elevation, a few rods back from the street, a plain square cottage. As it never was painted, the dark stone-color of its walls pleasantly harmonizes with the green lawn in front and on each side of the house. This is kept constantly ON EMBELLISHMENTS. 97 shorn by a few cows that are allowed to graze upon it after returning from pasture. No fence encloses this beautiful plat of verdure, which is shaded by two or three large trees. Beneath one of them is a well, with a plain unadorned curb. In the rear of the house a quantity of wood is neatly piled against the rugged stone wall. On the smooth- shaven green around the house there is an absence of all litter. The fruit trees in the orchard near by, are thrifty in their appearance ; and the branches which have been pruned from them are cut up for fuel, and thrown into a conical heap a few steps from the back- door. The barn-yard is covered with straw, and furnishes evidence that some neat hand has been busy with the hoe and the shovel. The cows and cattle are sleek and clean, and the pigs are neatly penned at the further side of the barn. A footpath winds along from the street to the front door, and another is seen in the rear of the house, leading to the field or garden. There is neither paint nor whitewash anywhere to be seen ; yet every beholder would point to the place as a pattern of neatness and comfort. Let us now examine the other picture. A prim white fence surrounds a white painted house, enclosing a narrow strip of land on two sides, crowded with exotic shrubbery. A gravelled walk, half covered with knot-grass, leads from the street to the front door. Beneath the shrubbery, the soil, which seems to have been dug up in the spring, has been planted with a variety of annuals, now growing in disorder, half concealed by a crowded assemblage of weeds. Flowers, weeds and shrubbery, briars, evergreens, and faded stalks, are yellow with dust from the street. The rosebushes which had once been trinpned against the porch have fallen down, and as if in spite for the neglect they suffer, tear the dresses of women and children as they pass out of the house. The stiff spruces and firs, standing like sentinels at each corner, are as dusty as soldiers at the close of a day's march. A dirty hen-coop and pigsty, each with a prim white fence around it, blend their odors with that of the roses, the tiger-lilies and the holly-hocks, whose dingy faces are just visible through the weeds and stubble. The grass, which is long and tangled, has rotted in a blackish semi-circle under the back windows, where the slops, apple parings, and potato cuttings have been thrown out by the labor-saving housewife. Upon the shrubbery under the front windows, numerous 13 98 ON EMBELLISHMENT3. threads and narrow strips of linen and calico are thickly suspended, like the long moss that hangs from the maples in the swamps. The enclosures, which must have been originally laid out and planted at considerable expense, resemble a dandy, who, having been overtaken by poverty, continues to wear his costly garments until they are miserably soiled and ragged. It is not to be supposed that the inmates of these finical and showy houses are less disposed to be neat in their habits than the inmates of houses of a more humble appearance. But it may be safely as- serted, that when a dwelling-house is surrounded by a mingled mass of flowers and shrubbery, its enclosures cannot be preserved without extraordinary care and labor, in so neat a condition as one sur- rounded by a clear, open lawn. The practice of surrounding one's house with a fence, enclosing a narrow yard, and filling it with all kinds of shrubbery, is so general, and is so generally regarded as an evidence of taste on the part of the owner, that many would deem it a sort of profanity to ridicule it. But there is a combined appearance of comfort, neatness, and freedom about an unenclosed and open green grass-plat, in front of a dwelling-house, that attracts and excites general admiration. One or two large trees should stand at a good distance from the house, to relieve the otherwise bleak appearance of the place, and the effect will be far more pleasing than any which would result from ill-kept shrubbery and flowers within a confined and narrow enclosure. "We shall treat further of this matter under the head of Fences and Hedges. DESIGN No. XI. PLAN. A, Wood Room. B, Bed Koom. C, Store Room. D, China Closet. E, Kitchen. F, Parlor. 0, Living Room. DESIGN NO. XL A SQUARE HOUSE IN ITALIAN STYLE. This design is for a square house, with a flat roof, bracketed cor- nice and dental work, with a portico, over the front door supported by large brackets, projecting window-caps, brackets, and large sized glass, in the Italian style of architecture, as it is termed. A square house, with a proper arrangement of rooms, is the most economical form ; and the nearer we approach to a square form, the greater the amount of room saved. The house represented in this design will furnish accommodation and all necessary conveniences for a family of more than ordinary size in numbers. On the first floor are a parlor, sitting and dining rooms, a large kitchen, a store- room, china-closet, a large wood-room, and front entry. Flights of stairs, front and back, lead to the second floor, on which are five chambers in the main house and one in the L, with four closets in the main house. >15.00 per M. . $55.50 15.00 " 64.50 15.00 " . . 30.00 15.00 15.00 16.00 " . . 200.00 ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. XI. 3,700 feet of square timber, 6X8 and 7x9, $15.00 per M 4,300 " " floor joists, 2x9 and 3x9, 2,000 " " studding, 3x4 and 2X4, 1,000 « " partitions, 2X3 and 3X4, 12,500 " " good pine boards, 3,000 " " clear pine, for finish of base and closets, $35 per M. 105.00 172 " " projection, and finish, with modillions, $1.25 per foot, 215.00 13 double windows, finished with two lights, German double thick glass, $20 each, 260.00 6 small windows, finished with weights, $3.50 each, . . 21.00 22 doors, finished and trimmed, $6 each, 132.00 1,700 clapboards, planed and laid, $7 per hundred, . . . 119.00 700 lbs. nails, 4| cents per lb 33.25 101 102 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XI. 800 yards of lathing and plastering, 28 cents per yard, 2 brick chimneys, with lead and fixtures, . Framing, boarding, laying floors, &c, .... Laying top floors, base, mouldings, and finish, Front stairs $80, cellar stairs $10, .... Back shed $75, portico $25, 3 marble chimney pieces, $20 each, .... 3 marble shelves and brackets, .... Papering, and painting 3 coats, Cellar, well, pumps, and fixtures, .... 1,575 feet of tinned roof, 9 cents per foot, . 224.00 75.00 100.00 75.00 90.00 100.00 60.00 18.00 175.00 275.00 141.75 $2584.00 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS. Stories. — The cellar to be 7£ feet, the first story to be 9^ feet, the second story to be 8£ feet, all in the clear when finished. The attic floor to be 2 feet below the plates. Timber. — The sills 7X7 inches, cross timbers 7x9, corner posts 7X7, and boxed out; centre posts 4X9, girts, trimmers, and ties 4X8, plates 6X8, rafters 2X6, deep joist in first and second floor 2x9, attic floor 2X8; studs 3X4, set edgewise; main partitions 3 inches, and short partitions 2 inches. Roof — Covered with sound inch boards, well nailed; to be tinned with the best quality of roofing tin, secured in the best manner, and made water tight. Projection. — The projection will be 2 feet, with plain bracket and dental work ; the gutter to be formed on top the roof with OG cornice. Portico. — A portico of 3 feet projection over the front door, supported by large brackets, with a dental cornice. Windows. — Windows made double, with 2 lights to "each half of 20X15 first quality of German double thick glass; sash 1^ inches thick, made of pure pine lumber. The frames made of clear sound lumber ; l£ inch out- side finish, projecting cap and brackets ; sash hung with weights in the best manner; 6 single windows made as above described. Doors and Trimmings. — The front door 2 inches thick, made of pure heart lumber with 2 bottom panels, moulded both sides, and 2 lights of white German plate glass, 32X13 inches, of good thickness, well set, in the upper panels ; a mortice lock, flint glass knobs, and plated trimmings ; hung CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XI. 103 with 4 inch loose butts. The inside doors, If inch thick, 4 panels, moulded on both sides, all to be made of the best clear soft pine lumber, kiln-dried, and well glued up. Trimmed with mortice lock worth 62 cents, and flint glass knobs with plated trimmings ; iiung with 3^ inch loose butts. Stairs. — The front stairs to have 7 inch turned newel, of mahogany, with 2^ inches worked hand-rail of mahogany, hard pine balusters 1^ inch, with one iron baluster; square turned newels on the upper floor. The cellar stairs to have plank stringers, and hard pine steps, put up in best manner. Floors. — The floors to be laid of thoroughly seasoned spruce or pine narrow boards, well nailed and level. The kitchen to be laid with Southern hard pine. Lathing. — The laths to be l£ inch in width, clear pine, f inch thick- ness, and well put on; partitions set 12 inches from centres. Back Plastering. — To be furred in the centre of the stud 16 inches, and lathed and plastered with good lime and hair mortar, and made air- tight on all the outside walls. Plastering. — One coat of the best white lime, coarse sand, and sound hair mortar, and finished in the best manner with a good skim-coat. Chimneys. — Two brick chimneys, 20x24 inches, commencing at the bot- tom of the cellar, on a stone foundation, and extending 5 feet above the roof, topped out with hard burnt bricks, 4 inches larger each way, and secured all round with lead to make water-tight. Painting. — The painting to be done with pure white lead and linseed oil; three coats over all the outside. The inside to be painted with pure French zinc and oil, two coats, and varnished. Papering. — The parlor, sitting room, and library, should be papered with 50 cent paper; front entry with 37 cent, and chambers with 25 cent paper, with borders to match. Skylight. — A suitable skylight over the upper entry, of 9 lights, double thick glass, 9X12, well secured with lead. XII. HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE. The American people are notorious for the habit of frequently- changing the furniture of their houses. This habit, it is believed, however, is chiefly confined to people who live in town, and who endeavor to live in style, or according to the requisitions of fashion. The aim of these classes of people is to live in a perpetual glitter. Nothing is valuable in their sight that does not dazzle the eyes or excite the admiration of the public. They live not for happiness, but for ambition ; and this ambition is of the lowest kind ; because it desires not the approbation of the wise and good, but that most vulgar of all fame, the plaudits of Fashion and the envy of her votaries. Many of these persons who realize from the profits of their business an annual income of ten thousand dollars or more, spend it all in sacrificing to fashion, and ultimately die in bank- ruptcy or poverty. It is a rule with them to keep furniture only so long as it is in fashion; as soon as the fashion changes it is sent off to be sold at auction, and their houses are furnished with more in the new style. But these remarks are not addressed to this class of people, who have neither the will to listen to them, nor the good sense to appre- ciate any rule of conduct that condemns their own follies. Those only are addressed who study economy rather than fashion, who desire the goodwill and approbation, rather than the envy of their neighbors, and who are guided by a rational taste rather than by a love of glitter and finery. To such persons the furniture of their houses is an important matter for study and reflection. It is the wise only whom we should aim to instruct, as the foolish are unwilling listeners. The furniture of a house is as important a subject for the consid- eration of an economist as the house itself; since, if the former be inconvenient, badly constructed, or ugly in its style, it interferes with the comforts and enjoyments of home. If it be too light it 104 HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE. 105 is in danger of being broken; if too heavy it is difficult to be handled; if too nice it is easily defaced; if too coarse it does not afford satisfaction. An ill-made and uncomfortable set of chairs is a constant annoyance to the members of the family. When we are sitting, it is a matter of serious importance to our cheerfulness as well as our comfort that we should be able to take an easy and unconstrained position. This cannot be done if the chair we occupy is badly shaped or hard seated. As much art, therefore, is required to make a perfect chair, as to make a perfect garment, or a perfect musical instrument. A bureau, with a set of drawers so well made as to slide back and forth without difficulty, is a valuable luxury in a lady's chamber; and one which is of an opposite character must be a constant source of vexation and a sore trial to the temper. Perfect construction and adaptation to its purpose are of vastly more importance than mere style. Every married couple should aim, on setting out in life, to pur- chase such furniture as they would like to keep through the remain- der of their days. They should select articles which are well made, convenient, comfortable, and neat in their style ; not too light, noT too heavy. They should be particular to reject massive furniture of all kinds, if they live in a hired house. In this case they should look out for the conveniences of removing it; the lighter it is the less will be the expense of freight, and the less the damage it will suffer by removal from one house to another. But if one lives in his own house, a wise economy would require the purchase of more massive and substantial furniture, which may be preserved without deterioration, a great number of years. Furniture is always more agreeable to the eye, in proportion to its antiquity, if it was originally well constructed of good materials, and fashioned according to a pleasing model. A bureau, for exam- ple, of this description, a hundred years old, has a charm about it which cannot be imitated in a new one. But such a bureau, to be well preserved, must have remained in the same house, and de- scended from father to son, or mother to daughter. If it were removed from house to house, with a moving family, once in two or three years on an average, it would become seriously defaced before it had lost the appearance of its youth. A moving, house- less family, should be content with the lightest and cheapest 14 106 HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE. furniture that can be obtained. They are only sojourners for a brief space in the house they occupy, and economy is seldom practised by those who are either necessarily, or by choice, addicted to such roving habits. But to this class of people it is almost as needless to address any advice as to the votaries of fashion. "We should rather address those who own the house they occupy, and who would find it the part of wisdom to buy furniture that would wear well for a hundred years. Fashion has suffered so many revolutions within the last twenty years, that there is hardly a pattern of household furniture which may not be found at the warehouses. Out of all these varieties, we should select those articles which are the most convenient in their form and construction, and which are made in the neatest and most workman-like manner. Heavy furniture, if it be as well made as it is massive, should be preferred ; but particularly avoided if it be badly made. There are mahogany chairs, as heavy as one can convenient- ly lift, which are fastened together only by glue and a few wooden pegs, and will become loose at the joints as often as once a quarter; and by a family of large boys would be completely demolished in the course of one year. Such chairs were probably invented to suit a fashion which was expected to change in less than a year, and it was thought unwise to construct them well enough to outlast the style. The American people ought to learn household economy of the English, and some other European nations, who take pride in the antiquity of their furniture, and care nothing about its fashionable- ness. But they pay some regard to its architecture. They select a good model, convenient for use, and pleasing in its forms, and prize it as they would an heirloom, — and as the ancients prized their household gods. Our people have endeavored to imitate them so far as to hunt for furniture constructed in antique style. This rage has led to the introduction of some excellent patterns; but a more rational taste would lead us to preserve our furniture until it grows old with ourselves, instead of running after antique models to be changed for any other style that may in futur*e become fashionable. It is when we are considering the style of our furniture, that we realize in an especial manner the importance and the wisdom of owning a house. There is no satisfaction in buying good furniture, to fit the rooms of a hous.e which we have hired for a few years, and HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE. 107 from which we may remove at the next year's end. But if we own a house, we feel that we are acting wisely in paying a dear price for a valuable bureau, bedstead, or set of chairs. "We know where they are to be placed, and there we have reason to believe they will remain for an indefinite period of time. "We would give the same advice, under these happy circumstances, in the selection of furniture, as in the building of a house. Look out for durability and convenience, and pay nothing for the prevail- ing mode beyond its intrinsic value. If the style of it is agreeable to the eye, and every way promotive of ease, comfort, and conveni- ence, it is the one which a good judgment would select though it had been out of fashion ten years. It seems like cant to ridicule fashion ; but although we would avoid cant and common place remarks, there is nothing more just than the condemnation which the veriest cynic has uttered against fashion, which is the most senseless of all rules of human conduct. Fashion often brings, by accident, a good thing into use : but fashion never yet had sense enough to avoid exchanging this good thing for another almost entirely worth- less, when- the caprice of her votaries demanded it. Let us keep ourselves independent of all such influences, and be governed by taste and good sense. There is a sort of pedantry in the style of furniture, as well as in the style of our buildings. In allusion to this an English writer remarks : — "I like appropriate emblems in furniture, though I would not adopt the pedantry of Mr. Hope, in its full extent, and make every foot-stool, by its classical or hieroglyphical mysteries, puzzle the head instead of supporting the body. Where pleasant associa- tions can be awakened — why should not our chairs, tables, and side-boards be made to enhance the attractions and resources of home, by ministering to a refined taste, and stimulating the imagination? To study how every decoration may express an emblem, and even to pun in marble, by sculpturing horses' heads beside a bust of Philip, because that word signifies, in Greek, a lover of horses, is a pitiful conceit. But it is pleasant, nevertheless, to impart to mahogany some of the properties of mind, to lift up- holstery out of its materiality, and make it the medium for con- veying the fancy through the whole range of time and space." DESIGN, No. XII. PLAN. A, Store Room. B, Wood Room. E, Living Room. F, Kitchen. G, Front Entry. H, Parlor. DESIGN NO. XII. A HOUSE FOR TWO FAMILIES. It is sometimes necessary or desirable for two individuals to construct their dwellings under one roof. Such a building is repre- sented in this design. It is nearly square in form, and a brick partition wall in the centre from the bottom of the cellar to the ridge, in connection with the chimneys, prevents all communication of sound from one part to the other ; this obviates one of the objections to a double house. The front elevation is a large main house, thirty-seven feet front, with two wings, six and one half feet each, the entrance to both being through a piazza. There are two bay-windows in the first story, two large French windows in the second, and two circular- head narrow windows in the attic. A large bracketed projection and rustic corners give to the building a finished appearance. The main house is thirty -eight by thirty-seven feet ; on the first floor of each dwelling are a parlor, sitting room, kitchen, china- closet, pantry, store-room, and front entry; on the second floor, one large square chamber and two small, with closets, and a Large entry; two large chambers in each attic. A house of this description will be warmer in winter than a single one, and the upper part can be more effectually ventilated. The entrance to the dwellings, in the front and rear, being entirely distinct, a fence in the centre will effectually separate the premises of the occupants. The estimated cost of such a house, including the cellar, is four thousand dollars. in XIII. INTERIOR CONVENIENCES. There are not many persons who are fully acquainted with their own wants. This fact is illustrated in the case of the farmer who uses an old-fashioned plow for all his labor upon the soil, and in the case of the housewife who uses no ice in the preparation of her butter. Those who are satisfied with antiquated ways and means, and who do not wish to improve them, are not acquainted with their own wants. The farmer who looks upon his old barn, that admits the wind and rain through a thousand chinks and crevices in the side-boarding, as a model, and who considers that the best method of ventilation, does not know his own wants. Another who owns five hundred acres of land and who expends all his sur- plus capital in adding to the number of those acres, instead of using it to improve the condition of his farm, does not know his own wants. The housekeeper who continues to use an open fire-place for all her cooking purposes, in winter as well as in summer, where the seasons are cold and fuel is scarce, who has no special apart- ment for her wardrobe, and who is .satisfied to see all the different articles of the chamber and kitchen distributed miscellaneously about the house, does not know her own wants. Hundreds of similar examples might be adduced to prove this position. It is often said that if one is well satisfied and contented with his limited accommodations, he is as well situated as if all his unknown wants were supplied. This remark will apply to all those wants which are the result of whim and caprice, but not to those which materially affect our comfort and convenience. It would apply to mere matters of taste and fancy, but not to the actual necessities of life. If Mrs. B. is perfectly well satisfied to wear a neat, and comfortable dress, made of an unfashionable material, and prefers it to a fashionable one which would be more expensive, but no more useful, she is better for not understanding the peculiar value of the more fashionable article. But if she is in the habit of making 119 INTERIOR CONVENIENCES. 113 poor butter, and of losing her milk by its souring in hot weather, because she has no ice and does not know the value of it, she is not so well off as if she knew her wants in this respect. "We must first understand our own wants, that we may be supplied with a motive to use the proper means of gratifying them. By visiting a neighbor's house we sometimes observe a convenience which sug- gests an improvement in our own household arrangements, by which a great amount of domestic labor might be saved. A house may be very well constructed, and, architecturally speaking, well planned, and yet be greatly deficient in many little accommodations, of which a housewife knows only by experience, and which the designer of the house must have learned from the experience of similar persons. A house may look very well on a plan, and yet be found incon- venient when we become the occupant of it; because when we look on a plan we are apt to be governed by our ideas of beauty and proportion, rather than by our sense of utility and convenience. One of the most important principles of interior arrangement, is the disposing of the rooms in such relative positions that the work of the family may be done with the least possible amount of labor. In one way or another, the kitchen must be accessible to the dining room ; and it ought also to be widely separated from the parlor and the sleeping-rooms, because the odors which proceed from it are offensive when communicated to the bed-clothes or the ward- robes. The kitchen ought likewise to have separate closets for the different articles which are used in that apartment. There should be one for a larder, to be used for groceries ; another for earthen and wooden ware ; and another for iron ware. All such articles should be contiguous to the kitchen, if not in the room ; for if any one be distant from it, considerable time, in the aggregate, must be consumed in passing back and forth to obtain the article required. It may be well to allude in this place to a want which is sup- plied in very few houses in our land, but which is of so much consequence that no housekeeper would be willing to dispense with it after having experienced the advantages arising from it. We allude to a summer kitchen, or a room set apart from the other rooms of the house, separated perhaps by a wood-shed or a well- room, and in which the cooking for the family might be performed during all the warm months of the year, when the heat of the kitchen 15 114 INTERNAL CONVENIENCES. fire annoys the inmates of the house. Such a room would save a great deal of inconvenience arising from the heat, and it could be so situated as to be entirely open when it is necessary; whereas the ordinary kitchen of the house is made contiguous to the other rooms, and cannot be heated without communicating its heat to the adjoining rooms. This summer kitchen might be used for a store- room in the winter, and for other needful purposes. A cellar kitchen, for the ordinary purposes to which a kitchen is devoted, is an inconvenient contrivance. The labor of a family is always increased by the multiplication of rooms which are accessible only by a flight of stairs. The transportation of various articles, back and forth, from the kitchen and the living-room, when they are separated by a stairway, is a needless addition to the labors of housekeeping, and exposes the housewife and servants to accidents in passing up and down. In this country it is an important object to save labor, especially the labor of the household. The employments of cooking, washing, ironing, and other labors, are a severe task upon those who have them to perform. The expense of an addition- al servant might be rendered necessary by some important fault in the arrangement of the rooms of the house, and by the absence of some modern conveniences. It is plain to any person, that of two houses, each containing seven rooms, one of two stories with three rooms above and four below on one floor, and the other of three stories with two rooms in each, and a cellar kitchen in a basement, the same labor might be performed with vastly more ease in the former than in the latter. This difference in the arrangement of the rooms, other things being equal, might render an additional servant necessary. We have remarked that the labor of a family is increased by the multiplication of rooms which are accessible only by a flight of stairs. Still there are many houses that would be made more convenient by an additional staircase. It is the height of absurdity to oblige the inmates of the house to pass through other rooms, or through a long passage-way, from the front stairs, to obtain entrance to a back chamber, instead of providing a flight of back stairs. It is a bad contrivance, or arrangement, which renders it necessary to pass through one room to find entrance to another; and although this inconvenience cannot, in most cases, be entirely avoided, great im- INTERNAL CONVENIENCES. 115 provements might be made in this respect upon the plan of the majority of dwelling-houses. There ought always to be a passage through the house from the front door to the back door, without passing through one of the rooms, though this passage may be closed by a door. The advantages of such an arrangement are too obvious to require to be enumerated. In all model houses which are built at the present day, a con- trivance by which water may be conveyed directly into the kitchen, if into no other rooms, is considered indispensable. In the country, people are apt to set too low a value on the importance of these labor-saving accommodations. It is no small task, however, to leave the house to go out several yards from the back door to a pump or a well, whenever a pail of water is needed, especially in bad weather. It may often happen too that this is required to be done at the risk of the health. The time saved by a good pump in the kitchen is a matter of no mean consideration, even if we allow, as many suppose, that the saving of health and labor is of no consequence. Still, we would not be understood to be in favor of dispensing with the old- fashioned white-oak pump in the door-yard. There are very many practical men and women who are strangely ignorant of practical labor-saving improvements in the interior ac- commodations of a dwelling-house. Some people consider them- selves practical because they are ignorant. A man learns to handle tools and to perform skilfully certain manual and mechanical opera- tions ; he has learned to handle an axe and a plane ; he can swing a scythe, and hold a plow ; he can build fences and he can scatter grain ; and he flatters himself that he is a practical man, though he is unable to impart any valuable information, and is very ignorant. The truth is he is only a mechanical man. There are many farmers in our land of this description. An intelligent clerk from the city will go out into the country, a perfect novice in all matters appertaining to a farm, commence the business of farming, and in one year he will have obtained more practical knowledge than two thirds of these mechanical men have acquired in a lifetime. One great bar to the improvement of our mechanics and farmers, is the habit of mistaking their mechanical tact for practical knowledge. DESIGN, No. XIII PLAN. A, Store Room. B, Kitchen. C, Dining Room. D, China Closet. E, Store Room. P, Wood Room. I, Front Piazza. J, Front Hall. K, Living Room. L, Library. M, Tartar. N, Back Piazza DESIGN NO. XIII. SUBURBAN RESIDENCE FOR A LARGE FAMILY. The present design is calculated for a suburban residence and will be ample and convenient for a large family. The first floor contains a large parlor and sitting room, with a sleeping-room adjoining ; an entrance hall, two front doors and a staircase. The back portion has a large dining-room with a store closet and china-closet ; a spacious kitchen, containing a dish closet, communicating with the china- closet, and a large pantry. There is a flight of back stairs and a wood-room adjoining the back door. A house made after this plan is adapted to be placed on a corner lot, showing two fronts, and so arranged as to afford a carriage entrance on both streets, passing round the building in a circular course. The bold and handsome front which it presents on three sides, in connection with the large brackets, which support the projection, gives the whole an imposing appearance. The piazzas which are represented on two sides, are convenient as well as ornamental. The second floor contains three large sleeping-rooms, a hall, a staircase and a clothes closet in each chamber. The back portion has one large sleeping-room over the china-closet and storeroom ; also a bathing-room, and four small sleeping-rooms and entry. Two of these may be warmed by stoves and the two others by heat from the range. The third story of the main house contains three large sleeping- rooms, a large entry or hall and a cistern room. In all there are twelve sleeping-rooms — the smallest 10 by 12 feet ; the largest 19 by 16 feet. Many first class houses, which are large and expensive, have not more than six or seven sleeping-rooms, and some of these are in an attic, under a slated roof, often so extremely heated in summer as to raise the thermometer to 90° or 100° at sunset. Such apartments never should be occupied as sleeping-rooms, in hot weather. 119 120 ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. XIII. When preparing to build a house of this description, the first and most important point to be settled, is to obtain the best set of plans. Do not be hasty in the selection, but examine them all in various ways. Make pencil sketches of various designs, compare them, and consider well their adaptedness to your own peculiar wants. When you have selected a design an Architect should prepare all the working drawings, specifications and other necessary items, after which the superintendent can proceed without any of those altera- tions which often materially increase the expense of the building. ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. XIII 8,000 feet square timber, $15.00 per M. 8,500 " deep joist, 15.00 " 24,500 " common boards, 17.00 " 3,500 " studding, 3X4 and 2x4, 15.00 « 3,000 " partition lumber, 3x4 and 2x3, 15.00 " Framing, boarding, and under floors, .... 3,170 square feet tinned roof, 10 cents per foot, Setting partition, and preparing for plastering, Furring, lathing for back plastering, .... 1,70D yards of plastering, 28 cents per yard, . 3 brick chimneys, lead and fixtures, 175 feet of projection, finish and brackets, . 129 " " small projections, and modillions, . 50 " " piazza, $3.50 per foot, .... 2,500 clapboards, planed and laid, $9 per hundred, . Finish of corners, outside doors, &c, . . ... 42 windows, finished out and inside, $12.50 each, 43 doors, trimmed and finished both sides, $8 each, Base finish, closets, &c, ...... 5,000 feet of clear boards, $35 per M Front stairs $175, back stairs $40, .... 1,200 lbs. nails, 4| cents per lb., ..... Laying floors, ........ 6 marble chimney pieces, $30 each, 4 shelves and brackets 6 hard-coal grates, $12 each, ..... 2 soap-stone fire-places, and hearths, .... . $120.00 . 127.50 416.50 . 52.50 45.00 . 250.00 317.00 . 85.00 125.00 . 476.00 125.00 . 175.00 85.00 . 175.00 225.00 . 100.00 525.00 . 344.00 200.00 . 175.00 215.00 . 57.00 126.00 $9 ea. 216.00 72.00 . 40.00 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XIII. 121 Painting 3 coats, inside and out, ...... 400.00 Bathing room, hot water back, boiler, pipes, &c. .... 600.00 Pumps, well, reservoir, cistern, and fixtures, .... 500.00 Digging cellar, and grading, ........ 150.00 Stone work, 450.00 $6969.40 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS. Dimensions. — The main house is 35 feet square on the ground; the L part 43x£4 feet. Stories. — The cellar to be 8 feet; the first story 10^ feet, the second 9^, and the third 8 feet in the highest part and 7 in the lowest, all in the clear. The L part, first story 9 feet, second story 8 feet, in the clear. Timber. — The sills, corner posts, and plates, 7x7, all cross timbers 7x9, centre posts, girts, and trimmers 4X9. All the deep joist in main house, first floor 2X10 inches, second and third floors 2x9, roof 2x9, and extend over for projection to form the jut. Deep joist in L part, 2x9 first floor, 2X8 second floor, and 2X8 for roof, and form the projection. Roof. — The roof to be covered with sound pine or hemlock boards, jointed and matched, thoroughly dry before put on, and well nailed with lOd nails. To be tinned with the best roofing tin, well soldered and made water-tight. All the gutters to be formed on the top of the roofs, with 2£ inch tin conductors to convey the water to the ground or cistern. Clapboard in o. — Extra No. 1 thick pine clapboards, well dried, planed, and put on in the best manner; laid not more than 4|- inches to the weather. Projection. — The projection to be 3 feet with fascia and cornice mould, according to plans; dentals under cornice to the main house. The under side of projection sheathed with sound pine lumber, jointed and matched narrow boards. The frieze to be sheathed in the best manner with kiln- dried pure pine lumber, \ inch thick. Large brackets according to draw- ing, 6 inches thick; double face of good dry lumber well glued up. The projection to the L 15 inches, with small brackets, bead mould, and fascia; piazza to have 12 inch projections, finished as above, with two bracketed columns to each piazza ; plain sheathing over head. Windows. — There will be five double windows, two to extend to the floor in the dining room ; all the windows to have hard pine stiles, l£ inch face, 8 inches wide, with large band mould, with projecting dental cap, all 11 122 CARPENTERS SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XIII. well secured with lead and made water-tight; 3 inch stool piece of hard pine ; stops screwed on. Inside fini.-h, 7 inch double architrave and band mould ; the L part to have plain 5 inch pilasters round doors and windows. All the doors in the front part finished the same as windows. Panels under all the windows in the first story of main house. Window Sash — To be If inch thick, made of pure pine lumber, kiln- dried, and made in the best manner. All the sash to be double hung with weights, hemp cord, and pulleys. Glass — To be the English crown, 14X18 in the main house, and 11X15 first quality German, in the L part; all to be set in oil putty in the best manner. Doors. — All the doors in the first two stories of the main house to be 7 feet by 3 feet, and \\ inch thick, 4 paneled, moulded on both sides, with circular moulding at each end of panel, and carved corners ; the bottom panel just square, the moulding a true circle ; all to be well finished, stained, and varnished. The remainder of the doors to be 7 feet by 2 feet 10 inches, 1^ inch thick, 4 paneled, moulded on both sides, and all to be made of pure pine, kiln-dried lumber, finished in the best manner, stained and varnished Two outside doors to be 7 feet 6 inches by 3 feet 3 inches, and 2 inches thick. Trimmings. — All the doors in the first two stories of the main house to be trimmed with the best mortice locks, solid eight square flint glass knobs with plated trimmings, hinged with finished loose jointed butts, varnished, not painted. The remainder of the doors to be trimmed with mortice locks worth 37 cents each, mineral knobs, white trimmings, and hinged with 3^- inch loose butts ; a night lock on one of the front doors. Stairs. — The front to have two flights ; the bottom newel to be 10 inch eight square, with 3^ inch worked rail ; turned 4 inch newels where wanted, to the third story ; the cap to each newel worked on each rail with ease-off". The baluster, 1^ inch in diameter, to be turned of the same pattern as the small newels ; the steps to be 1^ inch thick, with bracket on stringer. The newels, rail, and balusters, to be close-grained, light-colored mahogany, thor- oughly seasoned. The back stairs to be partitioned on both sides, with plain base, hard pine steps, and hand-rail. Cellar stairs to have hard pine steps, plank stringers, and to be well put up. Base. — All the principal rooms and entries will have 9 inch plinth and base mould 3^ inch wide, well put down, of the best clear pine lumber. The remainder of the house to have plain base 9 inches wide, bevel top \ inch thick, all put down before floors are laid. Plain base to all the closets. Floors. — The floors are to be laid with sound narrow kiln-dried pine carpenter's SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XIII. 123 or spruce lumber, § inch thick, put down in the best manner, nailed with lOd floor nails. The kitchen floor to be Southern hard pine, kiln-dried ; all the thresholds to be hard wood, cherry or birch. Closets. — All the closets to be shelved in the best manner; hard wood strips in them all for coat and hat pins ; two sets of drawers to china-closet and store-room, made *>f spruce or white wood ; two sets of drawers in the kitchen pantry. Covering. — The walls are to be covered with sound dry pine or hem- lock, planed to a thickness and matched, well put on, and thoroughly nailed with lOd nails; a strip of tarred paper to be put under all the window frames and trimmings. Back Plastering — To be furred with strips of boards between every stud, so that the plastering will be in the centre of the space, 16 inches from centres, and lathed perpendicularly, and plastered with one coat of good lime, coarse sand, and hair moitar; to be well smoothed and made air-tight throughout the walls of the house. Furred Ceilings. — All the ceilings in the house to be furred crosswise of the joist, 12 inches from centres in the main part, and 16 inches from centres in the third story and L part. Partitions — In the main house to be 3 inches thick; 3x4 lumber for door-jams, and 2x3 for partitions; to be 12 inches from centres; one course of bridging in the remainder of the house to be set 16 inches from centres and bridged. Lathing and Plastering. — To be lathed with the best pine l£ inch laths not less than f inch thick, and plastered with two coats of the best lime, coarse sand, and sound hair mortar, and hard finished in the best manner throughout the whole house. Two base grounds and plastered be- tween them in the main house. Chimneys. — Three chimneys, commencing at the bottom of the cellar and extending from five to eight feet above the roof, built of good hard burned bricks and best lime mortar; to be 20 inches by 3 feet, and topped out 24 inches by 3 feet 4 inches. Each coal-grate will be set independent of the main flue, and entering directly back into the main flue ; the flue not to be contracted in any place whatever, and plastered perfectly smooth from the bottom to the top. Soapstone fire-places are to be set, the back-piece directly against the shaft of the chimney, and at the proper height the flue should be set into the brick work, with a dumper sufficient to entirely close it, if necessary. Cast iron rings and lids to be set in the brick work, flush with the plastering, in each of the upper chambers and hack chambers. Range. — The most approved cooking range, with hot water back, clothes 124: caepentee's SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XIII. boiler and hot water boiler for baths, to be placed in the kitchen ; hot air pipe from the range to the chamber over head and register. All the neces- sary pipes and fixtures to convey hot and cold water to the bathing room, and at least four other rooms in the house. The cistern will be placed in the corner of the main house over the bathing and dining ro^ms, in the third story. Each room to have a marble slab and porcelain wash-basins and plated water-faucets. "Water Pipes. — The water will be conveyed from the main roof into the cistern in the cistern room, and a pipe will convey the surplus water to the cistern in the cellar. A suitable force-pump to force water from the lower cistern to the upper, to be placed in the kitchen. A suitable cast- iron enameled or soapstone sink in the kitchen 5 feet long, 22 inches wide ; suitable cocks to draw hot or cold water into the sink and wash tubs. Painting. — Inside, the first coat with white lead, in linseed oil; the last two coats with Paris zinc white and linseed oil ; dead coat in the main house, and one coat of lead, and one of zinc in the L part ; all to be varnished with white copal varnish. All the mahogany part of the stairs to be oiled and varnished and well finished. The pulley stiles to be oiled two coats; the kitchen floor to be oiled and varnished. Stone Work and Excavation of Cellar.— All the soil should be taken off in the first place and placed where it is most needed to fill up and level the grounds ; then take the second stratum, or subsoil, by itself, and so on, keeping each grade separate, some being good for shrubbery grounds and some more suitable for roads; each part should be placed where most needed in the first move, to save expense. Stone Work. — A course of large stones should always be placed firmly on the bottom, well fitted down, to support the wall for every foundation of a good building; as the wall progresses it should be backed up and filled solid with gravel or hard-pan; the last two feet should always be filled with coarse gravel to prevent the frost from affecting the wall and racking the building ; a course of gravel 5 or 6 inches is sufficient. There should be a top course of large stone to place the underpinning on, about 14 inches wide, well chinked and mortared on both sides. Underpinning. — There should be good split underpinning, 2 feet wide, 7 inches thick, well sill-edged and headed and jointed, set in the best man- ner. There should be a course of hard burnt bricks and mortar inside of the underpinning, one inch space between, to prevent frost penetrating to the inside. There should be an 8-inch brick wall to divide the cellars, under the outside line of front entry, with passage doors ; should there be a furnace, it ought to be placed directly under the front entry. carpenter's SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XIII. 125 Cistern. — The rain water cistern should be built under the china-closet and store room; to be 18X10 feet in the clear, and 9 feet deep; the bottom should be bedded 4 inches deep with fine rubble, and water-lime cement made very soft and poured on and tamped while soft, and then a level coat of mortar smoothed over, and a single course of hard bricks laid in cement over the whole, and then plastered thoroughly with cement. The face of the stone wall should be thoroughly plastered with water lime, and after it is set lay a 4-inch course of bricks in cement and plaster the whole surface. The inside wall to be laid in cement, and hard burnt bricks ; 8- inch wall with buttress in the centre, outside, to prevent spreading; all to be built as high as the under side of the first flooring ; the wall should be plastered with cement thoroughly, and a lining of bricks laid within and another coat of plastering on that lining, which makes a lasting water-tight reservoir. A single course of heart pine boards, jointed and matched, should be placed over the whole to keep the dampness from the timbers, and all should be well ventilated. XIV. ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF BARNS. " A merciful man is merciful to his beast." Even if we had not scriptural authority for this saying, we should not doubt the truth of it. But there are other considerations besides those of mercy, which should lead us to provide for the comfort and wel- fare of our domestic animals ; since" it is an established principle that the ends of economy as well as of mercy are promoted by providing good shelter, good food, and sufficient ventilation, for our flocks and herds. The construction of barns is, therefore, as important a subject of study as the construction of our dwelling- houses, as far as it respects economy. In treating this subject we must first consider what is the most economical material for the construction of barns : secondly, the best form and interior arrange- ment, and, lastly, the best mode of ventilation. Warmth and shelter in winter, and coolness and quiet in summer, are essen- tial not only to the comfort of domestic animals, but are favorable to economy in the keeping of them. It is believed by men who are experienced in the rearing of cattle, that they ought to be housed a part of every day in the year. A barn or stable that is properly ventilated would afford these creatures partial security from the attacks of insects and a retreat from the beams of the hot summer sun, as well as a shelter from the cold in winter. In certain situations, where trees are wanting, a noonday retreat under some kind of a roof is very necessary to the comfort and health of animals. With respect to the best material for the construction of barns, brick and stone possess many superiorities over wood. But the same building that shelters the animals must be used also for a granary, and for the storage of hay and fodder. It is questionable whether the dampness that is condensed upon the inside of brick and stone walls may not be injurious to hay and grain. This evil, however, may be obviated by contrivances already mentioned in 126 ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF BARNS. 127 the chapter in this volume on materials for dwelling-houses. But different materials may be used for different parts of the building, and we may thereby combine the advantages of wood and stone, or brick. The lower part might be made of brick or stone for the lodging of cattle, and the upper part of wood for the storage of hay and grain. This is the custom in some parts of Europe. The Germans build the basements of their barns of stone, having a cellar beneath for roots, and storage above for hay and grain. They secure, by this arrangement, all the desirable conveniences of the different farm buildings, under one roof. This arrangement can be effected more conveniently if the barn is placed on a hillside. It is less expensive to keep one such building in repair, than a number of buildings spread over considerable space, according to the English mode. Hence, though the first cost may be greater, it is the part of a wise economy to concentrate all the accommodation of different outbuildings as much as possible under one roof. We must not copy too closely the example and practice of foreign nations in these matters, since no part of Europe, except perhaps the north-western countries, has a climate resembling ours. Cattle in our climate must be housed the most of the time from the mid- dle of November to the middle of May, and occasionally during other months. In England they require but very little shelter. In that country, and in all the southern parts of Europe, the root crops are fed on the ground, while ours must be carefully stored in a cellar. On this account, while sheds only are required in Europe, a build- ing uniting all the departments of barn and stable conveniences under one roof, is necessary in this country. The best form of a barn is nearly a square. A barn fifty by sixty feet will permit the packing of as much hay as can be packed in a long barn of forty by one hundred feet. This principle we have more fully illustrated and exemplified in the designs of barns given in this volume. It is only in a square building that ample space can be obtained for the storage of hay in the centre, and for cattle stalls around it. A square building is more easily kept warm, and having less outside surface exposed to the weather in proportion to its in- terior dimensions, it may proportionally with less difficulty be de- fended from its influences. It may be expedient however, in certain 128 ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF BARNS. situations, to accommodate the building to a narrow strip of land which is well located and adapted to this purpose by building a long barn. A good principle in mechanics must necessarily be set aside when circumstances render it inexpedient to adopt it. Thus, in a narrow house lot in town, it may be advisable to erect a high, nar- row block for a dwelling-house, with four pairs of rooms, contained in four stories. But in all cases in which the location will permit a good principle in mechanics to be literally carried out, it should be adopted. There is a difference of opinion with regard to wooden barns, concerning the closeness of the outside boarding. Some put on the boarding double, while others prefer a loose construction, to give a free passage to the air. They would undoubtedly become heated more readily in a close than in an open barn ; but if the hay be well cured, and the air of the barn be kept dry and pure by ventilation, and other expedients, it will keep better in a close barn. A close barn, without some mechanical contrivance for ventilation, would be worse than the worst of the old-fashioned loosely boarded barns. But the ways and means of securing perfect ventilation are so simple and attended by so little expense, that it would be the height of folly to feuild loosely for the sake of effecting this import- ant object. When ventilation is effected by a good mechanical con- trivance in a tight barn, it does not interfere with the warmth of the animals. It is impossible, on the other hand, to keep them warm in a barn that is loosely boarded. The modern practice of putting barn-doors on rollers is less of an improvement than it was at first supposed to be. Though such doors admit of being opened a few inches or wider, according as we wish, and are not exposed to injury from the action of the wind, they are very liable to get out of repair and to be frozen so that they cannot be opened. The most approved barn-doors of the present day swing into the barn. A barn ought, likewise, in all cases to be provided with glass windows, to admit sufficient light to allow a man to work in it in cold weather, while the doors are closed, and to supply the animals with light, which is one of the necessaries of their life. With regard to the size of barns, we must be governed by the extent of the farm and the number of animals to be kept. In ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF BARNS. 129 New England, which is the part of the United States which may be particularly denominated the grass-growing region, large barns are required by the farmers, not merely to store hay for their own use but likewise for the market. The grain farms of the "West and South do not require so large barns in proportion to their extent as the grass farms of New England. The largest barns are required by those who raise a great deal of hay and a great deal of stock. Hence, they are particularly requisite on large dairy farms. Larger bams, likewise, are required for the same purposes at the North than at the South, where a smaller quantity of hay is necessary to be stored for the animals, which are fed to a greater extent on roots than at the North. Still it must be considered that the farms in New England are smaller than those in any other section of the country, averaging perhaps a hundred acres in Massachusetts, and a thousand acres in the South and West. Hence the majority of our New England farmers do not need a barn that would cost more than from six hundred to a thousand dollars. And here we would remark, that farmers should be put oh their guard against laying out extravagant sums for the sake of making their barns " artistic " and elegant structures. They have, in general, but little capital ; and this should be used for increasing the conveniences, and arrangements for the comfort of the animals, rather than for improving the mere outside appearance. We have contended that decorations are useless on a dwelling-house : they are utterly senseless on a barn. DESIGN, No. XIV. PLAN. A, Living Room. B, Store Room. C, Kitchen. E, Wood Room. G, Parlor. DESIGN NO. XIV. A COTTAGE AND STABLE, Houses of the description represented in this design are becoming numerous in the country. Although small they afford many con- veniences, and the cost of construction is not so large as to place them beyond the reach of mechanics or farmers. The large double window gives to the front a uniformity and completeness of finish, which it would not otherwise present. On the first floor are a parlor, sitting room, kitchen, store-room, pantry, wood-room, and front entry, with stairs to the second floor, on which are two large chambers and an entry in the main house, and a long attic chamber in the L. Stable. In the design the stable is attached to the house ; if this is objectionable on account of the noise of the animals, the objec- tion may be obviated by leaving a space between it and the end of the L. Buildings of this class are seldom conveniently built or warm enough for the comfort of the animals, where they are but few. A partition, with a large sliding door, should divide the stable from the carriage-room. . This will give a space sufficiently large for four full, grown animals. The space for a common sized cow should be six hundred cubic feet. The animal heat will be sufficient to keep the temperature in the stable above freezing point, if the building is properly constructed and protected from the cold, and at the same time admits of proper ventilation. ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. XIV — Cottage. U,000 feet merchantable pine boards, $16.00 per M. . $224.00 1,800 " dimension timber, 7x5 and 7X-3, 15.00 " . . 27.00 2,000 " deep joist, 2x8 and 2x7, 15.00 « . 30.00 2,500 " studding and rafters, 3X4 and 2X4, 15.00 " . . 37.50 133 134 carpenter's SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XIV. 900 clapboards, planed and" laid, $7 per hundred, . . . $63.00 15 M. shingles, nails, and laying, $5.50 per M. .... 82.50 800 feet partition plank, $15 per M 12.00 2 brick chimneys, with fixtures, $17.50 each, .... 35.00 Framing, boarding, and under floors, ...... 85.00 14 windows, finished both sides, $5 each, 70.00 21 doors, tripmed and finished both sides, $4 each, . . . 84.00 Front and cellar stairs, 25.00 650 yards lathing and plastering, 20 cents per yard, . . . 130.00 600 lbs. nails, 4f cents per lb., 28.50 176 feet jut finish, 30 cents per foot, . . . . . . 52.80 Piazza with tinned roof, $2.50 per foot in length, .... 70.00 Laying upper floors, base, and finish to closets, .... 60.00 2 marble chimney shelves and brackets, ...... 16.00 Papering and painting two coats, 60.00 Cellar, well, pumps, and fixtures, 150.00 $1,342.30 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS. Stories. — The cellar to be 7 feet, the first story 8^ feet, in the clear. The attic to be a half story, 4 feet at the eaves, 8 in the centre. Timber. — The sills and posts, 7x7 inches, centre cross timbers, 6X8, the girts, plates, and centre posts, 4X7, rafters, 2x6, studs, 2x3 and 3X4; joist in first floor, 2X§, second floor, 2X7; all 16 inches from centres and well bridged. All partitions to be 2 inches thick, and 16 inches from centres. * Roof — Covered with sound boards, well nailed, and shingled with extra No. 1 shaved cedar shingles, laid 5 inches to the weather, nailed with Swedish nails, and well laid. Sheet lead 14 inches wide, 2^ lbs. to the foot, to be put in the gutters on the roof. The roof to piazza to be covered with sound matched boards, and tinned. Projection. — To be 15 inches, plain cornice with suitable bracket to the gable ends. The back part and piazza to have tin gutters and conduc- tors. Plain square bracketed columns to piazza. Walls — To be covered with sound boards ; clapboards to be the best Eastern clear pine, of good thickness, planed and laid 5 inches to the weather, well nailed and jointed. Windows. — There will be 3 double windows of 8 lights to each part, carpenter's SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XIV. 135 9X14, first quality German glass, and 1^ inch sash; the remainder of win- dows 9X13, 12 lights each, lip sash; glass as above. Frames made of good sound lumber, face^, casings 1£ inch' thick, with a cap mould made water-tight. Doors and Trimmings. — Two outside doors, 4 paneled, 1| inch thick, 2 feet 10 by 7 feet; the front door to be moulded on both sides, the back on one side. Good mortice locks with mineral knobs to both; hinged with 4 inch loose butts. The inside doors 1^ inch thick, 4 paneled, 2 feet 6 by 6 feet 8 inches, raised panel on both sides, all made of kiln-dried pine lum- ber ; the doors in front to be trimmed with mortice locks, with mineral knobs ; those in the rear with good thumb latches; all hinged with 3^ inch loose butts. Stairs. — The cellar stairs to be of good plank stringers, hard pine steps, with raisers, put up in a workman-like manner. Front stairs to be a straight run, 6 inch turned newel at bottom and 3J square newels above; 3^- inch worked rail and ease-off, all of good clear cherry lumber ; spruce steps, 1£ inch thick, finished with plain base in a substantial manner. Floors. — Top floors to be sound spruce, or pine, thoroughly dried, nar- row boards, well nailed. The kitchen floor to be hard pine ; all to be free from loose knots and shakes. Chimneys. — Two chimneys built of well burnt bricks, lime mortar made with coarse sand, commencing at the bottom of the cellar and extending 6 feet above the ridge, secured with lead on the roof. Base. — The front part to be finished with 8 inch base, with 2 inch moulding, of sound clear lumber. The remainder with plain base, 7 inches wide. Closets — Finished with shelves, and strips for clothes pins. China-closet shelved all round, with a case of four drawers under the window, and a small cupboard under the main shelf. Lathing and Plastering. — The laths to be first quality pine, l£ inch wide, good thickness, and well put on, and plastered with good lime, coarse sand and sound hair mortar, one coat, and skimmed and finished in the belt manner. Papering and Painting. — The front portion to be papered with 25 cent paper; the back with 16 cent paper; all to be well put on. The inside to be painted two coats of pure zinc white and oil ; the doors coated and grained in imitation of oak, and varnished. The outside to have two coats of pure white lead and oil. 136 carpenter's SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XIV. ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. XIV — Stable. 6,000 feet common sound boards, $15.00 per M. $90.06 1,800 " square timber, 15.00 " 27.00 1,100 " deep joist, 3x7, 15.00 " . . . . 16.50 1,000 " for rafters and studs, 3X4 and 2X6, . . . 15.00 Framing, covering, and laying floors, ...... 75.00 9 M. shingles, nails, and laying, $6 per M. . . . . . 54.00 5 windows, frames, and finish, $3 each, ..... 15.00 5 doors, with trucks and finish, $6 each, ..... 30.00 90 feet jut finish, 20 cents per foot, 18.00 Painting S25, foundation $28, 53.00 400 lbs. nails, 4% cents per lb 18.00 Finishing stalls, and stairs, . . . . * . . . 20.00 $431.50 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS. Size. — This stable is given on the plans 30x22 feet on the ground. It is to be 17 feet high from the top of sill to top of plates. Covering. — The walls to be covered with sound narrow dry pine boards, planed, jointed and matched, and put on close joints, well nailed. Roof — To be covered with hemlock boards, well nailed, with sawed cedar shingles, laid 5 inches to the weather. Frame. — To be framed in a workman-like manner, hardwood pins, and not less than twenty 5 foot braces, framed and pinned at both ends. Projection. — The rafters to extend over the plates to form a 16-inch projection with plain finish. Windows. — There will be five windows, 9x12 German glass, to be well set. The sash If inch thick. Plain frames, 1^ inch facings with cap moulding. Doors. — There will be two large sliding doors; four feet of the large outside door will be hinged ; two small doors will be hinged ; 5 inch trucks on the large, and 12 inch strap-hinges on the small doors, with bolts and American latches to all ; to be well made of narrow merchantable pine lum- ber with suitable frames. Floors. — First floor to be laid with 2-inch plank, thoroughly dry, jointed, and well laid, close joints ; floor in stalls to be double ; top floor laid carpenter's SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XIV. 137 with 2x4 lumber, with one inch space between each piece. The scaffold floor to be single, jointed and matched, made of dry lumber, and well nailed. A partition where represented on the plan, with slide door, with three well finished stalls. Foundation. — A common wall, 3 feet deep, with a course of split straight-edged stone, 12 or 14 inches wide, to place the building on, well set, will make a good foundation; if a cellar is wanted, build a common faced wall, well backed up with the same underpinning ; the cellar should be 7 feet in the clear. 18 XY. ON DRAINAGE. The thorough draining of a bog meadow is not more necessary to fit it to produce a good crop of Indian corn, than a good drainage to the premises of a dwelling-house is to preserve the health of the inmates. Admitting to the fullest extent the importance of ventila- tion, we believe, nevertheless, that imperfect drainage is the source and cause of more diseases than imperfect ventilation. Each of these conditions, however, is essential to the healthfulness of a habitation, either for human beings or for brute animals. The bird when building its nest is directed by instinct to choose a location which will allcw the rain that falls upon it to pass off freely. The bluebird that builds in the hollows of trees, when he finds the bottom of the hollow impervious to water, makes an artificial foun- dation for drainage, several inches in depth, so that the water that enters the hollow shall be drained off from his nest. Many of the houses, in the country as well as the city, are built on low and wet places, that emit exhalations which are noxious both on account of their dampness and their impurity. Ventilation pro- tects the inmates of a dwelling, in -part, from the effects of each of these conditions ; but a good drainage is the only sure safeguard. Houses in low damp situations, however, are not the only ones that are exposed to the evils of excessive moisture, nor the only ones that require to be well drained. There are places where the filth is drained off from the surface into reservoirs which are near enough to the well to communicate a taint to the water which is used by the family. The health may be injured by drinking impure water, no less than by breathing impure air. We have known instances of families who used the water of a well thus corrupted, because it was clear and transparent, though offensive to the smell, in preference to the pure water of a neighboring brook, because the latter was tinged with that yellowish hue which is acquired by flowing through the 138 ON DRAINAGE. 139 woods and peat meadows. The well was corrupted by its proximity to a neighboring vault, and by the waters of a sink, which probably obtained communication with it when the rain caused an overflow upon the surface. A prejudice existed against the waters of the brook, because the cattle were seen occasionally to resort to it, and because filthy sub- stances had been known to be cast into it. We remarked that the brook, being constantly in motion and being every minute re-sup- plied with fresh water from its sources, which were among the hills and forests, was immediately rid of these impurities, and that there was but little chance of dipping from it a bucket of water that contained them. The well, on the other hand, being a reservoir, and having no outlet, the water contained in it could not purify itself of any corruption that was mixed with it. It could only be purified by drawing up the water, and afterwards cutting off all communication with the contaminating sources. People do not sufficiently attend to these matters. They drink foetid water from a well, because it is transparent, while they refuse the pure, inodor- ous water from a brook, because it is slightly tea-colored. The health of thousands of people is injured by drinking water from wells which are not sufficiently guarded from the contamination of vaults and sewers. It is bad enough to be obliged to drink the Epsom salts, the carbonate of lime, and other mineral ingredients that exist in all hard water, without being obliged to swallow sulphuretted hydrogen gas, dissolved humine, and certain other impurities which ought to be saved to enrich the compost heap. Every well of water ought to have an outlet, not only to guard against the impurities we have mentioned, but likewise to preserve it, comparatively, in a condition of soft water. When a well has mo outlet, except by percolation through the sides of the reservoir, or by overflowing it, the water constantly increases in hardness, by the accumulation of these min- eral substances in the reservoir. Hence every well should be pro- tected from contamination by a good system of drainage connected with the sewers and out-buildings, and from hardness by an outlet connected with its own waters. In a work by Dr. Wyman it is stated that " in some towns the 140 ON DRAINAGE. mortality was diminished more than twenty per cent, after the intro- duction of proper sewers and drains." A permanent reservoir of filth should never be allowed to stand on any place whatever, either on the surface or under the surface. Every particle of filth which is drained from one's premises should be removed periodically from its reservoir, to be used for the farm or the garden ; and while in the reservoir should be deodorized by some one of the various sub- stances which are used to neutralize the noxious properties of cor- rupted matter. All the dirty water and the substances dissolved in it, which corrupt our wells and our atmosphere, contain elements which are vitally important to the growth of plants ; and a wise man who owns land would use them to fertilize his grounds. In the one case, he who made .this use of them would have a well of pure water, and a garden full of wholesome fruits and vegetables ; in the other case, the one who neglected these things would have a well of corrupt and fetid water, and land that would produce nothing, because the well contained what was needed for the sustenance of the soil. In many houses in the country, water either stands in the cellar or passes through it in a running stream. Neither of these con- ditions ought to be allowed. If the house be built on springy land, a drain should lead underground directly through the cellar into a reservoir, if the house be on a level, and to a lower part of the ground if it be on the side of a hill. In this case the cellar should be covered about a foot in depth with cobble stones or peb- bles and the floor of the cellar laid over them. A drain conducted through the stones, and leading to some place outside, to prevent the water from rising above the level of the drainage is indispens- able. Such arrangements add but a trifle to the expense of the house, if they are provided at» the time it is built; they render it at the same time a more durable and more healthful habi- tation. The draining of the enclosures outside of the house is almost as important as the draining of the cellar and the foundation. Mud, however, may sometimes be avoided without drainage, by simply covering the surface with a good depth of gravel and lime. This will harden to such a degree, as to cause all the rain to drain ON DRAINAGE. 141 off, instead of sinking into the soil. This contrivance will prevent those who enter the house in wet weather from annoying the house- keepers by bringing in mud upon their feet. A great deal of labor performed by the over-tasked females of the household might be saved by proper attention to these matters, which are too apt to be wholly neglected. DESIGN, No. XV. PLAN. A A A A A, Stalls. B, Passage bebina the Stalls. C, Ventilating Pipe. D. Harness Room. E,j Carriage Room, DESIGN NO. XV. A STABLE FOR COMMON USE. This design exhibits a neat and convenient stable, adapted to the wants of those who wish to keep only two or three horses and a cow. It contains five apartments, or stalls, with a wide passage behind the horses and a slide door between the stable and carriage- room. The carriage-room is ample enough to admit three or four carriages. It contains also a harness-room, which is indispensa- ble to every stable, to preserve the harness from the dust of the barn. This building also contains a large hayloft, capable of holding ten or twelve tons of hay. The cupola over the ventilator gives the building a neat and finished appearance. A barn of this des- cription may be made an ornamental object, but its convenience depends almost as much on its location as its construction. The proper location must depend on the relative position of surrounding objects. It is impossible to offer any general advice which would apply to all circumstances ; a few hints, however, may not be useless. All stables should be so situated as to avoid the necessity of back- ing a team, and to allow sufficient space for turning. If practicable, they should be on the north and north-east side of the house, because when the wind blows from these points, the doors and windows of the dwelling-house are usually closed, even in summer. The in- mates, therefore, by this arrangement, avoid the effluvia from the stable. If it be located south, south-west, or west of the dwelling- house, when the wind blows from these points in summer and early autumn, the windows of the house are usually open, and the inmates are consequently annoyed by the smell of the barn. Very few stable cellars are properly ventilated, and some have no ventilation at all, except one opening, which is closed in cold weather. There ought to be at least four good sized windows, equally distributed and in opposite places, to produce a current of air in all parts of the cellar, each window containing eight lights, nine by twelve. 145 146 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XV. The best mode of thorough ventilation, is a ventilating tube, twelve by eighteen inches square, from the centre of the cellar to the cupola, made of sound planed and matched boards. Such ventilation prevents the carriages from acquiring an unpleasant smell, keeps a pure air in all the rooms, and preserves the health of the animals. A tool-room is also essential to every establishment of this kind, by affording the opportunity to mend at once any thing that is out of repair. A ventilator and tool-room are represented on the ground plan. ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. XV. 9,300 feet common boards, $15.00 per M. . 4,300 " square timber, 15.00 " . 4,000 " deep joist, 3x8 and 4x8, 15.00 " 3,500 " studding and rafters, 3x4 and 3x6, $15 per M. 1,600 clapboards, planed and laid, $8 per hundred, 20 M. shingles, Swedish nails and laying, $7 per M. . 170 feet jut finish, tin gutters, 50 cents per foot, 6 doors, trimmed and finished, 11 windows, hung with weights and finished, $7.50 each, 3,000 feet clear lumber for finish, $30 per M. . 700 lbs. nails and spikes, 4| cents per lb., . Cupola, spire, ball and vane, .... Framing, boarding, and under floors, Building stalls, stairs, &c, Digging and stoning cellar, windows, and doors, Painting 3 coats, . $139.50 64.50 . 60.00 52.50 . 128.00 140.00 . 85.00 65.00 . 85.50 90.00 . 33.25 75.00 . 150.00 75.00 . 170.00 75.00 SI, 488.25 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS. Stories. — The cellar is to be 8£ feet; the first story 9£ feet, in the clear ; the hay -loft 9 feet, including plate. Timber. — Sills 8X8, two cross centres 10x10, one bearing under each; posts 7X7, girts and plates 6X8, cross beams, second floor, 8X10, beams CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XV. 147 7X7, cupola post 6x0, studs 3X4, braces 3x5, rafters 3x6, with collar to each pair. Roof — Boarded with sound pine or hemlock, and shingled with extra No. 1 shaved shingles, 4f inch to the weather, well laid. Cupola — Built according to plan, of good pure lumber, secured with lead around the posts ; the roof to be tinned with the best roofing tin ; a spire and vane worth $30, with scuttle and blinds, wide slats. Projection. — The projection to be two feet, with rake mould, and tin gutter, with wood hollow under for support ; 1\ inch tin conductors, to con- vey water where needed. Windows. — There are to be eleven windows of 10x14 first quality German glass ; hard pine stiles, \\ inch face, If inch cap, with cap mould rabbeted on top, made water-tight ; sash 1^ inch thick ; circular head win- dows are to be leaded on the cap ; there is to be one window in each gable end; all to be hung with weights in the best manner. Clapboarding. — Extra No. 1 thick pine clapboards, planed, butted, and well laid, not over 5 inches to the weather. Doors. — Three outside doors framed of If inch plank, 15 inch bottom rail, stiles 7 inches, and sheathed inside with clear heart pine \ inch thick lumber, and mouldings cut into panels on the outside. Circular head doors over the great doors, hinged in two parts, swinging into the loft. Stable doors hinged as marked on plans. The large door to be put on trucks, done in the best manner with fastening. The stable doors to have the largest American latch and lock or bolt. Stairs. — One small flight of stairs in the stable to hay-loft. Stalls. — Five stalls, or apartments; three to be finished for horses, with round hard wood standards between stalls, with a groove cut 2 inches deep on one side, and the partition plank, 2 inch thick, fitted into the groove, doweled in the centre with hard wood pins ; each stall planked 6 feet high to the back stud, and 1\ feet high more than half way ; a good hard wood plank crib to each stall, and a good hay-rack to come down within 18 inches of the bottom of the crib. Two apartments finished with stanchions for cows. Floors. — The plank should be laid lengthwise in stalls and crosswise back of them. The whole of first floor to be laid double with dry plank well jointed up ; the hay-loft with single matched floor. Painting. — The whole outside, and doors and windows inside, are to be painted three coats of pure white lead and linseed oil, put on in the best manner. The blinds to the cupola are to be painted green. Cellar. — The loam should be all carted off previous to moving any of the lower strata, and each kept separate. When the cellar is dug, the trench . 1 48 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XV. for the lower wall should be six or eight inches lower than the bottom of the cellar. If the ground is naturally wet, the bottom of the cellar should slope one way, and a trench be dug back of the wall, and an under-drain laid all round the cellar and covered with large flat stones for the wall to be set on; this method will make a dry cellar if there is an outside drain. Cellab Wall. — A good wall faced inside 6^ feet high, and a mortared wall upon it, faced on both sides, 14 inches thick, 2 feet high; all the cel- lar well chinked and pointed with lime mortar. Cellar Doors and Windows. — Two double thick doors, hinged and fastened. The windows to be boxed outside with good plank frames, well set ; sash 1^ inch thick, and hinged at the top ; double thick glass ; all of the best material. XYI, OUT-BUILDINGS AND THEIR ARRANGEMENTS. The relative position, and the general situation of out-buildings are objects of too much importance to be overlooked. Every farm- yard needs protection ; and the sheds, barn, and other out-buildings may be so arranged as to make the yard either a very comfortable or a very uncomfortable place. It is desirable therefore, to arrange these buildings in such a manner as that the yard shall be- open to the sun the greater part of the day and screened from the north- erly winds. On the south side of the yard two or three deciduous trees should standi to shade it from the heat of the sun in summer. It is not an unusual practice to place house and barn on a line running east and west, and connected by a shed. Any gap that may occur is filled up by a close fence, to prevent a current of wind. This is, perhaps, the best arrangement that can be made. When the position of the house will not permit this to be done, the buildings may either form an angle with the house, or the out- buildings may be set back and form a row on a parallel line with the barn, and the space between the latter and the line of buildings should be protected by a fence made at right angles with them. It is of no importance how the arrangement is made, provided the buildings are set in such a manner as to protect the enclos- ures. This cannot be done unless they are either joined, or the gaps between them covered by a close fence, which would be a safer way in case of fire, because the fence might be removed to stop the progress of the flames. The barn, as every good farmer knows, should be placed so as to be convenient for the passing of teams, without increasing the labor of approaching it or of going from it. Hence it should not be located on" a hill, nor in a valley : for in either case, a rising ground must be ascended either going to or coming from it. It should be near the dwelling-house for the convenience of attend- ing to the animals; but it should be sufficiently removed from it 19 149 f 150 OUT-BUILDINGS AND THEIE ARRANGEMENTS. to prevent any annoyance to the inmates of the house, from the litter of the barn-yard or the effluvia from the stable. The cus- tom of placing the barn out of sight is an aristocratic folly which no sensible person, especially if he be a farmer, would think of imitating. The sight of the barn and sheds connected with a farm, or any other estate, is indeed a pleasing addition to the beauty of a residence in the country, and by removing them out of view the place is deprived of a great part of its rural attrac- tions, as well as its expression of comfort and convenience. Whenever it is practicable it would be a good rule to leave a belt of trees in such a situation as to protect one's estate and en- closures. If a farmer has planted his house in the midst of a pine wood, or on the south side of one, how easy and practicable it would be to leave a growth of young trees, wide enough to be impenetrable to the wind, to protect his grounds. There are many new places in which the pioneer might thus provide an out-of-door shelter, to add to the beauty of his enclosures, and the comfort of his domestic animals, and give a delightful rural aspect to his estate. But we have treated this subject more fully in another chapter. There is no building which is so generally located in the wrong place, as that diminutive house to which a name is applied that expresses the absolute importance of such a retreat. It is strange that a house which every one is ashamed to be seen to enter, should be so often paraded in one of the most conspicuous positions that could be found, so that from all the back windows of the dwelling- house, it is the most apparent object in view. Probably there was once thought to be a necessity for this location of the building, aris- ing from the idea that cleanliness required it to be placed at a con- siderable distance in the rear of the house. At present, when chem- istry has furnished the public with the knowledge of so many deodorising agents, the vault of this building may be prevented from corrupting the atmosphere. The first improvement that was made upon the custom to which we have alluded, was to surround the front of the edifice with blinds, or with a trellis, behind which one might conceal himself before he made his entrance. The next improvement was to build a platform on which one might walk to it in muddy weather. At length it was OUT-BUILDINGS AND THEIR ARRANGEMENTS. 151 removed to the extreme end of the shed, and the unfortunate person who was obliged to retire to it might skulk round the shed, and allow it to be conjectured that he might possibly be gone on some less ignoble errand. How much soever it might be suspected, there was no actual proof that he entered the temple that stood there ; and a modest female after having occupied it without being seen to enter it, might on coming out return to the dwelling-house with a feeling of comparative innocence. The last improvement was to make the privy a part of the shed, separated only by a ventilating space, and so situated that one need not expose himself to sun, wind, rain, or snow, in making his retreat thither. This is the best possible location for a common privy. If it be a water-closet, it may be placed in the centre of a dwelling- house, without becoming offensive so long as it is in mechanical order and well supplied with a stream of clear water. But there are not many houses in the country that could be conveniently furnished with one of these structures. It is therefore important to see that the privy, while it is placed at a proper distance from the house, is easily accessible, and that it is kept pure, not by a draught of cold air in the vault, but by a good supply of deodorising agents, and by a ventilating tube, eight by twelve inches, extending from the vault, above the roof. D E S I G N, No. XVI CORN-BARN. PIGGERY. Ill C li B A B 1 1 ! 1 1 * 1 I -I B C B L B - A ■ A, Ground Floor under the Corn Chamber. B B, Corn Cribs in the Chamber. C, Entrance for Stairway . A, Swill Room. B B B B B, Pens C, Passage-way. D, Portable Boiler. DESIGN NO. XVI. A PIGGERY. This building is twenty-five by twenty-five feet on the ground, twelve feet high at the plates ; the first story seven feet, the attic eight feet. Each pair of rafters has a collar board spiked on the centre before it is put up. ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. XVI. 1,084 feet square timber, 6x6 and 4x7, $15.00 . . . . $16.26 5,800 " common boards, 15.00 . . . 87.00 2,000 " joist and rafters, 3x4 and 2X6, 15.00 .... 30.00 Framing, covering, and floors, 60.00 8 M. sbingles, nails, and laying, $5 per M 40.00 500 clapboards, planed and laid, $6 per hundred, . . . 30.00 7 windows, frames and finish, $2.50 each, ..... 17.50 3 large doors and 5 small, with trimmings, .... 15.00 1,000 feet 1^-inch lumber, $20 per M., for pens, .... 20.00 Painting two coats $16, foundation $16, 32.00 Building pens, feeding troughs, &c, 20.00 450 lbs. nails, 4^ cents per lb., 20.25 $388.01 CARPENTER'S SPECIFICATIONS FEAME. — To be well framed, long braces and hard wood pins. The floor joist placed on top of all the timbers. 4X4 girts, trained '_'! feel from the top of the floor, and 3X1 studs above; sills 6X6, beams 7x7, plates and middle girts 4x7, rafters 2x6, floor joist 3x4. Covering. — Tbe roof to be covered with hemlock boards, and shingled 155 156 carpenter's SPECIFICATIONS — DESIGN NO. XVI. with sawed cedar shingles; the sides covered with sound boards and with No. 1 clear clapboards, planed and well laid. Windows and Doors. — There will be seven windows of 8X12 glass, with good frames and springs to each. The doors will be made with wide battens, or narrow boards, well nailed with wrought nails; the two front doors to be put on 5-inch trucks. XYII. ON THE MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. / There is no matter appertaining to rural economy in which there is such a difference of opinion as the management of poultry. Some will inform us that there is no profit in keeping any description of fowls; others earn almost their whole livelihood by keeping them. As much can be said in favor of poultry as in favor of any other live stock ; but most people commit the error of supposing that the former must thrive and yield a profit without any of their care and attention or they are worthless. If a farmer owns two cows, valued at fifty dollars each, he expects they will cost him every year as much as they are worth for their keeping ; and that they will require the labor of one man two hours a day, at least, to take care of them ; beside the labor of a woman in the house about the same amount of time in attending to their milk and its products. He provides a barn for their shelter, adapted particularly to their wants and their accommodation. He does not consider his time mis-spent which is devoted to the management of them, although nine out of ten of our farmers would find it profitable to double the care and attention which they usually devote to these animals. If the same farmer has fifty fowls, which may be considered equal in value to one cow, he leaves, the care of them almost entirely to the children and the female members of his family. He grudges every dollar which is laid out for them, and considers his own time too precious to be given to so trifling an object. If any accommo- dations are provided for them, they are built only with reference to shutting them up and keeping them out of mischief in the spring and summer, and not with any reference to their health or their comfort ; and when they are let out of prison, they are obliged to shift for themselves the remainder of the year. The consequence of this sort of management is that fowls are of no profit to the farmer. If their eggs and flesh are sufficient to pay for the food they eat, there is still nothing to compensate for the mischief they have done 157 158 ON THE MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. in the field and the garden. Yet with the same amount of attention, with equally good management, and a proportional expense laid out for providing them with a good house and yard, a hundred dollars worth of poultry would yield as much profit as a hundred dollars worth of any other kind of stock. The farmer complains that his hens do not lay well, and his neighbor inforjns him that he keeps a poor breed, and sells him some of the eggs of his own choice sort of fowls for a dollar or two dollars a dozen. These may be more profitable for a while, because he is prompted by his experimental zeal to take more care of them than he usually devotes to his fowls. As soon as he relaxes this extraordinary care and attention, his new stock relapses into unprofitable habits, and he believes he must have been "taken in" by his neighbor who sold him the eggs. He purchases another lot at an extravagant price ; and in the course of ten or twelve years he pays enough for extraordinary breeds of poultry to have built a large and convenient poultry house and yard. After all he has obtained no profit from his fowls, and like all the rest of his countrymen for ten miles round, his yard is filled with a miserable, ugly set of mongrels, and he has not yet provided them with proper accommodations. The truth is that no description of poultry can be made profitable without care; and without care all kinds will be both expensive and mischievous. With equal attention in proportion to their value they would yield as good a profit as any domestic animals. It is idle, however, to expect any profit from hens unless they be confined, because the mischief they would do when at liberty would overbalance their profits. Yet this confinement, which, if of the right sort, would increase their profitableness, would destroy it, if too close or uncomfortable ; it must be such that every fowl should continue in as good condition . as if she had her freedom. For the kind of poultry house which may be recommended, see the accompanying design. Besides a house, the fowls should be provided with a yard, of a size proportioned to the number of fowls to be kept. Let the yard be so spacious that the fowls confined in it should not destroy the grass, which is necessary for their health and good condition, though not for their actual subsistence. Twenty-five hens would ON THE MANAGEMENT OF POULTKY. 159 require about a quarter of an acre thus enclosed. If this number were found not to injure the grass it might be increased. The state of the grass, if about half the enclosure was laid down to grass, might be the criterion by which we should determine whether the number of fowls should be increased or diminished. About half this quantity of land should be occasionally spaded for their benefit. Every good hen kept in this comfortable confinement, with a sufficiency of grass, and supplied judiciously with food, shells, and gravel, would produce annually about one hundred and fifty eggs, and yield a clear profit of a dollar. Still, no profit can be made from fowls, if they are of the best breed in the world, unless they are kept in a healthy and comfortable condition. A hundred dollars expended in building a poultry house and yard of the foregoing convenient and spacious description, would be a good investment for every farmer in this country. The hens should be confined to this yard at least five months of the year. The chickens should be kept outside of the yard, until they are large enough to be mischievous. They should not be allowed to mix with the laying hens, as they mutually annoy one another. With respect to breeds, it may simply be remarked that hens may be divided, with reference to their laying, into two sorts ; the first including those which, like the common breeds, lay an egg almost daily until they have laid from a dozen to twenty, and then become broody. If not allowed to set they rest from ten to twelve days, then begin to lay again, thus continually laying and resting through- out the year. The second includes those varieties which after they have begun to lay continue to produce an egg about every other day, if well kept, until their moulting commences, when they rest about three months. Among the first are included all the common barn-door fowls, the game-fowl, the Malays, the Chittergongs, the Dorkings, and other large breeds. Among the second are included the black, white, and spangled Polands, or Hamburgs, the black Spanish, and the Bolton greys. The first may be called periodical layers, the second perpetual layers, though the periodical layers probably produce as many eggs during the year as the others. The difference between them is as if the first should produce fourteen eggs, and then rest fourteen days, while the last produce fourteen eggs by laying every other day during twenty-eight days. 160 ON THE MANAGEMENT OF POULTEY. The actual difference is not so precise as this would make it appear to be, but it approximates to it. It is probable, however, that with equal attention and good keeping, a dozen of the perpetual layers would produce more eggs during the year than a dozen of the periodical layers, because the latter waste some of their strength in their periodical efforts to set, when they are apt to be worried to such an extent as to impair their vigor. It is evident that if one is desirous of avoiding the trouble of a constant succession of broody hens, throughout the season, where a large flock is kept, the perpetual layers are to be preferred, mixed with a few of the other sort to be employed in raising chickens. Suppose a farmer keeps a stock of two dozen hens. Let eighteen of them be perpetual layers — Polands, black Spanish, or Bolton greys, — and the remaining six of the common creeper variety, which are beyond comparison the best setters and the best mothers for chickens. Keep the last employed in setting and rearing chickens during the spring and summer, and they will not exhaust their fecundity, and will lay in the winter those eggs which, had they not been employed as mothers, they would have laid in the summer. They will continue to be profitable in this manner until they are three or four years old. We would remark, in this place, that it is a vulgar error to suppose that old hens are the best mothers or nurses. Young hens are decidedly the best to set, or to rear chickens, being more careful not to step on them, and less clumsy in their efforts to avoid doing so. Excepting the very large breeds, hens that were hatched in April or May will begin to lay in October, and if kept in a warm place and properly fed will continue to lay all winter, and the remainder of the year until the moulting season. But they do not, after laying during the fall and winter, commonly produce a great many eggs in spring and summer. September chickens that commence laying in March and April, are the most prolific in spring and summer. Still, as autumn and winter laying is more profitable than spring and summer laying, the most valuable fowls are those which produce the most of their annual number of eggs in cold weather, between the months of September and March. Six creeper hens hatched in April or May, and kept for mothers, or nurses, ON THE MANAGEMENT OF POULTRY. 161 might be made very profitable. They would begin to lay in October, and continue to lay through the winter, and take their rest in summer, while employed in setting and rearing chickens. After this, and when they had finished their moulting, they would lay again as in the preceding fall and winter. There is more science in the management of poultry than is usually imagined, and more probably than- in the care of any other domestic animals. The individuals whom we intend to em- ploy as mothers should belong to early broods that will lay in cold weather, because they are to rest from laying in warm weather. It is of less importance whether the perpetual layers are from late or early broods. Creepers are the best setters, because they can almost stand in their nest while brooding their eggs, and do not become cramped by their position. Hence they are not so restless as other hens while setting, and do not roam so much as the long-legged sorts. 21 DESIGN, No. XVII. PLAN. D D, Doors. W W, Windows. L, Laying Room. R, Roosting Room. DESIGN NO. XVII. A POULTRY HOUSE. This building is ten feet by twenty, divided into two apart- ments or tenements, and designed to accommodate twenty-four fowls, twelve in each part. Each tenement is ten feet square, opening by a door at the side of a building opposite the window, the window of one part being on the same side Avith the door of the other part. Each door opens into a separate yard, each con- taining an eighth of an acre, chiefly of grass land, a small portion }f it being spaded. As no family of fowls ought to consist of more, than ten or twelve hens to one cock, if double this number is kept it is best to confine them in separate apartments. In this case, if the owner wishes to experiment with any particular breed, or variety, he has accommodations for the purpose. If he wishes to keep only about a dozen fowls, it is still a convenient arrange- ment. The plan of the interior is as follows : — The floor is not boarded, because a ground floor is more wholesome, as the surface may be frequently removed and fresh loam thrown in for the use of the fowls. The division for brooding is in the centre of the building, measuring from the ends. Against this are placed two shelves, or platforms, the lower one three feet in width and the upper one two feet, so that the fowls may easily fly from one to the other. The lower shelf is three feet from the ground and the upper one two feet above the other. The height of the building is eight feet to the eaves. Upon the shelves are arranged boxes for nests, which may be made in any form that may be preferred, except that they should be shallow, or sufficiently filled with hay and chaff to pre- vent the hen from stepping down from a height upon her eggs. She should not be obliged to descend more than two or thrje inches from the entrance to reach her nest. The shelves will also accommodate a box or a barrel of grain. On the two opposite outer ends of the building are the roosts, 165 166 A POULTRY HOUSE. ten feet long and reaching from one of the eaves to the opposite. There is only one roost in each coop, situated so that the drop- pings shall fall upon the slide, which is to be drawn out and cleansed two or three times a week. A flight of steps, or a ladder, with the steps about three feet apart, should conduct from the floor tc the roost. The slide is about two feet wide and as long as the roost; it is raised about two feet from the ground, so that the hens may not lose the ground it would occupy. It is drawn out, on a platform, as seen on the diagram. The feeding boxes may consist of any shallow vessels which it may be convenient to use ; and if there is no running water near, it should be constantly supplied to the fowls. In winter the floor should be covered with chaff from the bottom of the hay-mow, from which the fowls will peck large quantities of hay seed and clover leaves. The yard should be a grass field containing an eighth of an acre, and having a close fence all round, about four feet in height, with pickets about four feet in length above the fence. The fowls, even if they could easily fly over the pickets, will not attempt it in a spacious yard like this, as long as it contains a good supply of grass ; and if properly fed and managed such confinement would not be irksome to them. Indeed, they would hardly be conscious of any confinement. The advantage of a close fence below is, that under some part of it the fowls can take shelter at all times and seasons, from the wind in cold weather, and from the sun in hot weather. The yard should be partially shaded with trees. XYIII. VENTILATION. Not many persons are aware of the full importance of ventilation to health and comfort : and among those who are aware of it but few understand the methods by which it may be most prudently and economically obtained. In our cold climate it would be imprudent to allow a current of outer air to pass directly through an occupied room. All ventilation must be effected in such a manner as not to expose the occupants of the room to a stream of wind. In the generality of country houses, sufficient ventilation is obtained from the doors and windows, which are often very imperfectly fitted to exclude the wind. It would be a wiser economy to build a house in so perfect a manner, as to admit only so much of the outer air as we choose to admit by a proper system of ventilation. But little space should be occupied in writing a homily upon the necessity of ventilation. The want of fresh air is always painfully felt by the occupants of a crowded hall which is unsupplied with a good ventilator, or in a crowded rail-road car with the same defici- ency, even on the coldest days of winter ; it is needless to add that they could not remain in this crowded condition for the space of twelve hours without fatal consequences to some individuals of the company. The greater amount of health enjoyed by the children of those families who live in comfortable and spacious houses com- pared with those who are crowded into a few small rooms, is suffi- cient proof of the necessity of pure air. One's own feelings afford a good criterion of the purity of the atmosphere in an apartment which we are occupying. If we feel perfectly brisk after sitting in it an hour or more, and can rise from our seat without an effort, the air is pure ; if on the other hand, after sitting awhile, we feel an unac- countable languor, though we may not suffer any difficulty of respi- ration, the room is imperfectly ventilated. In a house as loosely put together as the greater part of our country dwelling-houses, all the ventilation that is required may be obtained through the loose dpors 167 168 VENTILATION. and windows ; but this is as bad a method of ventilating as of build- in" a house. Every properly constructed house requires some ap- paratus for ventilation, to be used more or less, according to the state of the atmosphere. When the wind is still and the weather is mild, or warm, more ventilation is necessary than when a brisk northerly wind prevails. Among the different modes of ventilation the following may be mentioned. In the place of one of the lower panels of the door, is inserted a rolling blind, which may be opened or closed. A similar contrivance may be placed over the door of a sleeping-room. When the latter is without a chimney-place, an opening should be made in the wall into an air-flue, communicating with the garret or outer air. This should be constructed with a blind or a valve, that can be opened and shut as may be thought necessary. The garret of a house should always be ventilated by a judicious contrivance made for the purpose. If the garret be well ventilated, the air-flues communicating with it will ventilate the rooms from which they proceed; otherwise the air descending from the garret might con- taminate the air in the rooms. Ventilation should not be confined to our chambers and living- rooms, but should be extended to every closet and small apartment, to whatever use it may be devoted. Our wearing apparel is kept in a more wholesome condition in a well ventilated closet, and a con- fined air is unfavorable to the preservation of meats and other articles of diet. It might be inferred from the principle of preserving meat and fruits by keeping them in air-tight vessels, that the same must be preserved longer in a close than in an airy apartment. Experience proves the very reverse of this. In the confined atmosphere of a small and close room, the exhalations from one fermenting substance contaminate another substance. This fact is probably known to every experienced house-keeper. We have known butter to acquire a very disagreeable flavor from the atmosphere of a cellar in which were some moulding vegetables. If an impure atmosphere will pro- duce such effects upon an unorganized substance, what must be its effects upon the health of a human being who. inhales its noxious gases, to be circulated in the veins and arteries throughout his system. The ventilation of barns and stables is also of incalculable im- VENTILATION. 1G9 portance to the health and good condition of our domestic animals, and to the preservation of their food. A good method of ventilating a barn or stable is to place a box or pipe, twelve by eighteen inches, extending from the cellar to the ridge, in the centre of the building, with an opening into the pipe, near the top of the stable, behind the stalls. This will be sufficient to ventilate the cellar and the first story. A ventilator three feet square on the roof, not to exceed in cost fifteen dollars, slated on the four sides, would be in good proportion, and give a finished appearance to the building. Windows of suitable size should be placed in the cellar, on opposite sides, made tight in cold weather, but kept open when it does not freeze. Light and air are necessary not only to the health and comfort of living beings, but they are also essential to the durability of timber, if it be exposed to any degree of moisture. Ventilation for animals has been but imperfectly understood and shamefully neglected in the construction of barns and stables. In living and sleeping-rooms, ventilation ought to be conducted on the following principles. The current of air that is admitted from the outside should enter perpendicularly, not horizontally. If it enter perpendicularly, the ascending column of air is broken, as it were into a spray, and unless it be a very forcible current, there would be no perceptible motion in the air of the room. If it enter directly, or horizontally, a current of air is produced along the distance of several feet, before it is diffused. Such currents of air are dangerous to the health of those who are exposed to them, even for a few minutes only. Summer is the time when we most seriously feel the need of a good apparatus for ventilating our sleeping-rooms. So suffocating, during the warm nights of summer, is the air of a room which is not ventilated, that the occupants are forced to open a window, though, by so doing, they expose themselves, while sleeping, to a direct current of air, which may become very cold and damp before morning. Many fatal colds have been contracted in this manner. The only remedy for this evil is to provide every sleeping- room with a ventilating apparatus, which can be used without exposing the occupants to a current of air. No man should neglect this point when he is building a house. It is particularly necessary in small sleeping apartments, in which an open window is not so 170 VENTILATION. safe as in a large room, where the current of air could be more generally diffused before it reached the bed. The old-fashioned sliding shutters are excellent contrivances for ventilation from open windows. The window may be opened only a few inches, if the draft of air be strong, and the lower shutter closed. The air, in that case, enters the room in a perpendicular current, at the side, and is broken into a spray before it is circulated about the room. In a room that is unprovided with shutters of this kind, a board may be fitted to the lower half of the window, fastened with buttons on each side, allowing two or three inches of space between the board and the window, which may then be opened behind it as behind a sliding shutter. DESIGN, No. XVIII PLAN. ■'■.■'■ V - ^ J I I I I I I i l I 1 1 1 1 r W W, Walk behind the Animals. T, Manure Trench. S, Stalls. F, Feed Passage D, Driveway. B, Bayforllay. DESIGN NO. XVIII. A MODEL BARN. This design is expressly calculated for the use of those farmers who have old barns which are badly constructed but in sound condition. Many of these barns, of which there are hundreds in Massachusetts, are about thirty feet wide, and from fifty to a hundred feet long, and with thorough remodelling the old frame may be preserved and used with advantage. The plan before us is from one eighty feet long — fifty for the hay-barn and thirty for the stable, (forty would be preferable). This will accommodate sixteen or eighteen full sized animals. The hay-barn is low and narrow, but it will hold, when well packed, forty-five tons of hay, and leave room for grain. The corn fodder can be placed over the stable. The scaffold over the drive-way should all be so framed as to be movable seven feet high or more, in the clear; by means of side girts and laying the floor joist on them, we obtain the use of the drive-way for all common purposes, and the space above will hold a large amount of fodder. The common barn-doors should be hung to swing inside, where- ever it is practicable; when thus hung they are more convenient and manageable. They should be made with stout wide battens and wrought nails. A stable of this kind in which horses are to be kept, should head towards the walls of the building, with ventilating windows under the cribs, made to turn on a pivot in the centre of the sash. All stables should be ventilated in such a manner that the current of air shall sweep the floor, with suitable openings at the top for the escape of foul air. The cost of altering an old barn and modelling it according to this plan, would not be far from five hundred dollars. To build one entirely new would cost not less than thirteen hundred. The hay-barn may be fitted up at small expense. The stable 173 174 ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. XVIII. should be made tight and warm, with a slide door between the drive-way and feed-passage. When our New England farmers shall have separated the animals from the hay-barn, and shall no longer leave the manure standing under the hay, we shall witness a valuable improvement. The basement is designed to have doors on both sides, and is calculated for storing all kinds of farming implements. Such a provision for tools is needful for every well ordered farm. The manure cellar has doors on both sides ; large windows are represented on the plan, hinged at the bottom, for ventilation in warm weather. The entrance to the stable is at the end, up an inclined plane protected by guard rails. ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. XVLTI. HAT BARN. 4,000 feet square timber, $15.00 per M. $60.00 13,000 " boards and joist, 17.00 "... 221.00 16,000 shingles, $6.25 per M., laid, 100.00 400 lbs. nails, 4^ cents per lb., 18.00 5 windows, sash and finish, $4 each, 20.00 3 large doors and trimmings, $12 each, . . . ' . 36.00 Framing, raising, and boarding roof, 65.00 Covering walls, 20.00 Laying floors, 30.00 Finishing carriage room, 15.00 170 feet jut finish, 25 cents per foot, , 42.50 Ventilator, 35.00 Extra labor, collecting materials, &c, 60.00 $722.50 STABLE. 11,000 feet boards, timber and joist, SI 6 per M., . . . SI 76.00 10,000 shingles, $6.25 per M., laid, 62.50 Framing, raising, and boarding roof, 55.00 Finishing stalls, stairs, &c, 100.00 ESTIMATE FOR DESIGN NO. XVIII. 175 Laying floors, . ' . Covering walls, .... 96 feet jut finish, 25 cents per foot, . 9 windows and frames, $3 each,. 5 doors, with trimmings, $5 each, . 500 lbs. nails, 4£ cents per lb., Extra labor, and fixtures, . 30.00 20.00 24.00 27.00 25.00 22.50 50.00 This Estimate is above the foundation. $592.00 722.50 $1314.50 The estimate here given may be applied to most of the plans for barns in this work, by adopting the same rule, whether larger or smaller. First find the amount of board measure in all the lumber required, and the value of the same ; also, of all other materials which may be wanted. Whatever the sum total may be, take three-fourths of the amount for the labor, and when this is added to the lumber bill you have the estimate of the whole expense, above the foundation, as near as it can be made. The prices of lumber and of labor are constantly varying; but the estimates are based on the computation of $1.75 per day for labor, and $15 a thousand for com- mon lumber. XIX. ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF HIGHWAYS. It is remarkable that so little has been said in our public journals on the proper construction of roads, especially with reference to their effects in landscape. A great deal has been written concerning the planting of shade trees, but very little on the proper width and direction of the roads on which they are planted. It seems to be generally understood, that if they enable the traveller to perform his journey in the safest manner and quickest time, all that is necessary has been accomplished. These, it is true, are the most desirable ends ; but it is a great error to suppose that pleasantness of prospect, variety of course, and those numerous circumstances which are valued by the man who is journeying for pleasure, are to be over- looked. The general complaint in reference to roads is that they are too narrow. This is a fact particularly worthy of notice in a country where land is so cheap, and so barren that a wide road would be the greatest recommendation of almost any locality. Houses are put up along these narrow roads, so near their bounds, that it becomes necessary to build a fence in front of them, to prevent the horses which are hitched by the sidewalk from putting their heads through the windows. Hence, even in our smaller country villages, the inhabitants are excessively annoyed by dust from the streets, and suffer many of those inconveniences which ought to be tolerated only in the city where they cannot be avoided. The most of our cross-roads are laid out by speculators in real estate ; and in many cases, in the centre of a village, a sufficient width might be impracticable by too greatly reducing the size of the building lots. But wherever a wide road could be conveniently made, speculators might obtain advantage from it, by the consequent greater value of the house lots adjoining it, compared with those adjoining a narrow road. There are but few men who would not pay more for a quarter of an acre of land on a wide road, with a 176 ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF HIGHWAYS. 177 wide sidewalk between their enclosures and its dusty centre, than they would pay for the same quantity of land on a narrow road, with a sidewalk only three or four feet wide. What improvements ought then to be made in the construction of our high-roads ? When a road is already laid out, of the common width, and does not admit of being widened, the evil in many situations might be remedied by locating the houses a proportional greater distance from its boundaries. The dwellings, in this case, would be less exposed to the dust, and the shade trees would have more room to expand in all directions. How often do we see a row of noble trees divested of nearly all their branches on the inner side because the house is too near them. Their symmetry is destroyed, and many inconveniences are suffered from the close proximity of the trees to the house. Shade trees ought to be far enough from the windows to be seen in their full proportions by the occupants of the house, that they may have the pleasure of viewing them as well a3 of enjoying their shade. Vines are for the walls of a house, and trees for the lawn at a little distance from it. One or two rods added to the width of most of our roads would be an unquestionable improvement. Let them be so wide that ten feet of sidewalk might be made between the fence and the shade trees. Ample space would then be left for the proprietor of the house to plant other trees, in his own enclosures, without interfering with those on the road-side. The houses ought, wherever it is practicable, to be placed several rods from the bounds, and this space should be open lawn, unincumbered with shrubbery. Travel- lers then, as they are passing, have a good view of the house from beneath a canopy of shade afforded by the trees, instead of seeing them half covered by trees growing closely against the windows, and concealed by a tangled mass of shrubbery. All roads ought to be of sufficient width to permit a row of the largest trees on each side to spread their branches without interfering with those opposite to them. Our country is still new. Thousands of roads will be laid out, annually, for fifty years to come. The public ought, therefore, to realize the necessity of building them in such a manner as shall best contribute to the convenience of the inhabitants, to the pleas- antness of travel, and the beautiful display of sqencry. The increase 178 "on the construction of highways. -'■■■. ■ . of expense consequent upon such improvements would be hardly appreciable; and a saving might "be made, in some instances, by omitting certain alterations which are not improvements. The authorities of a town, for example, often spend, annually, a great deal of money for the purpose of straightening certain curves and angles which greatly contribute to the beauty of the route. A road winds gracefully around a rocky eminence, overgrown with trees and shrubbery, and enamelled with flowers. To shorten the distance between two points, the town appropriates several hundred dollars, which are expended in levelling this beautiful eminence. The road is made shorter and straighter ; but this agreeable curve, and the shade offered by the trees and shrubs that nodded over the cliff, are destroyed. This description of work is a very doubtful economy. Had the same money been spent for planting shade trees along the bleak portions of this road, to protect men and horses from the heat of the sun, they would have preferred a little longer distance, with such advantages, to a shorter one without them. The direction which a road should follow must generally be under the control of the commissioners. The nearest course between the two points which it connects is usually marked out as the most convenient and proper. It would be idle to say to the road-com- missioners that a road ought to be carried round a hill or over a hill, or in any particular direction, for picturesque effect, or the advantages of prospect. They choose to build the road on a prin- ciple that is strictly utilitarian. A commissioner who, for the sake of commanding a pleasant view of certain scenery, should cause a road of fifteen miles in length to be made half a mile longer than absolute necessity required, would be likely to be voted out of office at the next election. Yet it might be proved to the veriest matter- of-fact calculation, that from sole regard to •dollars and cents, it would be better to lay out a road so as to secure all possible advantages of landscape, especially in the vicinity of a town, even at a little additional cost. If the scenes on the road are pleasing and striking, or if it be agreeably located and sheltered, a greater temptation is offered to visitors to purchase land and build houses there. Hence the burden of supporting the road is proportionally lessened by the increased number of tax-payers, who have come from abroad ; and if you and your neighbors have sold land advanta- ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF niCIIWAYS. 170 geously, on account of the agreeable situation of this new road, you are all proportionally better able to pay your highway taxes. Our mere utilitarians have not sufficiently considered the fact that two roads may pursue a different course to and from the same places and seldom lose sight of one another, — yet one may be a very delightful route, and the other a very dull and uninteresting one. Suppose the former were five per cent longer than the latter — who would not prefer (unless he was on an errand requiring great haste) the long and pleasant road, to the shorter one which is not so well sheltered and is barren of prospect? Who builds a house, from choice, upon a turnpike road? Its straight, monotonous, dreary, and commercial aspect renders such a road repulsive ; and the old winding road is preferred, by travellers, without reference to the saving of toll. A few houses are built upon it ; but they bear no comparison in number to those built, during the same period, on the old country road. It might be supposed that a road, leading the traveller nearly to the summit of a hill, would afford him some wide and distant pros- pects, not to be seen from one that winds round it. This may be true, and the winding course may still be preferable. Prospects are not all which we require to make a journey agreeable. The pleasant and sheltered aspect of all the home scenery along the route is far more important to the interest of the route than distant prospects. The straight road, like the old turnpikes, leading over the summit of the hills, affords a broader prospect than the road that leads round them, but the views from the last are far more interesting. One of the advantages resulting from the numerous turns and windings in a road, consists in the agreeable surprises occurring when, after riding round a wood, or an eminence, we are struck by the view of a charming scene that was concealed by the intervening hill or wood. We cannot in general meet with these surprises in a straight road, because, whether we are ascend- ing a hill or passing over a level, we have constantly a partial sight of approaching scenes. But the advantages afforded by roads which follow the general level of the country, for pleasant and well protected residences, are beyond all comparison superior to those afforded by straight roads. One of the most delightful routes in the vicinity of Boston, is 180 ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF HIGHWAYS. the old road between Beverly and Gloucester. This is a crooked road that follows to a considerable extent the inequalities of the coast. The beauties of this route are not wholly confined to the sea-views ; they are created, in a great measure, by the numerous windings around the cliffs and promontories, which are a peculiar feature of that coast, and are almost entirely covered with pine woods. Still, the sea-views are unquestionably its principal attrac- tion. The traveller catches constant glimpses of the ocean, through the openings, and is frequently surprised with a sudden view of its broad expanse, when emerging from a valley between two wooded hills, or coming round an angle in the road formed by an almost perpendicular cliff. These turns, or windings, in the road, reveal numerous pleasantly sheltered houses and farms, and produce a constant change and variety of prospect; sometimes rude and wild, then smooth and cultivated ; for the country seats which have lately been erected on this shore have added a new feature to its wild and romantic scenery. Any rules for road-making with reference to the pleasantness of travel, must necessarily be general. By entering minutely into details one might commit the error of making rules that could not be carried into practice. If road-makers were but convinced of the expediency of paying regard to the principles of taste in laying out a road, they would be likely to pursue the right course. There is but little disagreement among men concerning what con- stitutes an eligible situation for a residence, a pleasant route, or an agreeable prospect; but many have never entertained a thought of taking these circumstances into consideration in laying out a road. We would simply recommend, whenever it is practicable, and expedient, to construct roads in such a direction as may afford the greatest number of pleasant and sheltered locations for the houses of the people. D E S I G N, No. XIX BAST FRONT. NORTH END DESIGN, No. XIX. PLAN. W, Walk behind the Animals. T, Manure Trench. S, Stalls. C, Crib. F, Feed Passage. R, Root Cellar. L, Cellar for storing Loam, etc. DESIGN NO. XIX. A SIDE-HILL BARN. This design is intended for locations that are very uneven or hilly. The plans given are the elevation of the lowest side and one end, with a ground plan of the stable and cellar. It will accommodate fourteen cows, and contains room for fifty tons of hay and the usual amount of grain and corn fodder. The hay-barn is fifty by thirty six feet, eighteen feet posts, with a lean-to fifty by thirteen feet, eleven feet posts. There is a manure cellar under the stable nine feet deep, with two doors in the centre, opening a space of eighteen feet wide, and side windows for light and air. A cellar under the hay-barn will be on a level with the stable ; the entrance will be under the bridge, or drive-way, at the east or west end as the case may require. A portion of it may be used for a root cellar by inserting a partition where it is represented. The remain- der can be used for housing carts, sleds, and all kinds of farming implements, and dry loam for winter use, as an absorbent of liquid manure. The stable being below the main barn, the animals will be fed from the drive-way through a slide in the crib. There is a tight board partition on the side of the drive-way with three feet of the lower portion of it hinged at the top, to swing back at the time of feeding, and making a complete separation between the stable and hay-barn ; also a flight of stairs to the manure-cellar and drive-way near the entrance of the stable, with door at the top. By locating a barn in this manner, we secure many important objects; such as a root cellar on the same level with the stable, allowing the roots to be apportioned to the cattle without carrying them out of the cellar. It also allows a sufficient amount of loam to be stored when it is dry, on a level with the stable, which is easily applied with a wheel-barrow once a day. The animals occupy only about six hundred and fifty cubic feet each ; and if the stable is filled, their animal heat will be sufficient to keep the temperature above freezing, in common winter weather, with a healthy ventilatidn. 24 185 186 A SIDE-HILL BARN. Two ventilating tubes to convey the gases which cannot be retained, are seen in front of the cows' crib, extending above the roof; the same tubes will be used for ventilating near the roof over the animals. There will be a ventilating tube near the centre post, leading from the main cellar to the cupola, twelve by twenty inches, made tight. Cellar windows of liberal size are marked on the plan. The object of the bridge is to make the cellar easy of access, and to save filling up, and to be used as a drive-way. It requires but a small amount of stone-work and filling. The stable should be covered with sound matched boards, and the hay -barn may be covered with narrow square-edged boards, and white-washed with white lime once in three years. The estimated cost of a barn, according to this design, finished in a plain substantial manner, will be about nine hundred and fifty dollars. XX. TREES BY THE ROADSIDE AND IN OUR ENCLOSURES. Many objections have been made to the planting of shade trees near our dwellings, and in some cases by the roadside, on account of the dampness occasioned by them in the one case, and the injury they do by shading the fields in the other, Tree planting in these situations may undoubtedly be carried to excess, and it is well to consider a few of the rules by which we should be governed. We have seen men diligently employed in setting out trees by the high- way, when they would be acting more wisely if they neglected the roadside, and used their influence to prevent the sacrifice of a beautiful knoll of trees and shrubbery in close proximity to the road, which another party was felling for fuel. Our Tree Associations should avoid giving their exclusive attention to the planting of trees by the roadside, and look out for the preservation of those pleasing groups of wood and shrubbery that already exist, or adopt measures to secure a new growth in those elevated spots which are beautiful when wooded and unsightly when bald and barren, and which are unsuitable either for tillage or pasture. It has been usual to plant indiscriminately on both sides of the road, and in all situations, without considering that both sides do not always equally require the protection of trees, and that certain kinds of soils and situations are not suitable for some species. One of the objections to roadside trees is that they shade land that is contiguous to them. This objection may be obviated, whenever the course of the road is east and west, by planting them only on the south side, since on this side their shadows would be cast upon the road instead of the adjoining fields. We are not liable to go to an extreme in the general planting of trees ; but we may go to an extreme in planting them in particular places. It may be a question whether the public has a right to shade a man's grounds injuriously by roadside trees, and also whether a private individual 187 . 188 TREES BY THE ROADSIDE. has a right to destroy a noble tree on his own premises, which has for many years beautified the landscape and shaded the highway. There are situations where plantations o£ trees might be made near the public road, which would be highly favorable to the beauty of landscape, and valuable for shade and protection. Such are those steep eminences, comprising half an acre or more, around which the road makes an elliptical turn. It may be a rocky declivity or a barren sand hill; but if it be destitute of trees, it deserves to be planted, and it would be better to neglect the roadside than such places. There is no comparison between the beauty of one such spot which is well wooded, and another that is bald. A traveller may be annoyed by trees by the roadside that conceal the prospect, and tire him by their uniformity ; but he could not fail to be delight- ed with a wood on one of these conspicuous elevations, and almost painfully affected by the want of it. A hundred trees grouped as they are by nature on such a spot are more ornamental to the landscape than the same number of trees skirting the highway ; but each want should be properly and judiciously supplied. In some of our old roads, the wild wood and shrubbery have come up spontaneously in pleasing irregularity. Sometimes for a mile along their course, though there is no appearance of a single tree that was planted by human hands, birches, pines, maples, and several other species appear, singly, in groups, or more often in broken rows. The appearance of this wood scenery, thus irregularly grouped, and of the accompanying shrubbery that half conceals the old stone walls, is exceedingly delightful to the traveller. Yet in many instances all this has been destroyed by the very persons who should have protected it, to make room for prim rows of maples or limes, at proper distances apart. This sort of work may be neces- sary to a certain extent, when the extension of a populous village requires the destruction of all picturesque objects ; but until that necessity arrives, we should be careful to avoid deforming the features of nature by casting them in an artificial mould. When we are about to make one of these plantations, a great deal of skill is required to avoid uniformity in their arrangement. But the error which is most likely to be committed, is that of blend- ing the different species of trees too equally. If a hundred trees were to be set out on a knoll, with the intention of forming them TREES BY THE ROADSIDE. 189 into a picturesque group, the planter, perhaps, would select twenty- trees respectively of five different species, and mix them in such a manner as that there shall be in no part a predominance of one kind. A careful observer will find that nature never blends her trees or any other plants in this way. He will observe that in one natural wood the majority of the trees are pines, with an occasional individual, or group, of some other species scattered among them; in another wood the general growth consists of oaks, or beeches, or maples, with pines and other trees interspersed. We seldom find a natural wood in which the several species of trees are so equally blended that we cannot perceive at once the excessive predominance of one kind. Hence, in making a plantation, if we would give it a natural appearance, we should be as careful to avoid a thorough inter- mixture of species, as to avoid regular rows, or any other kind of uniformity in their arrangement. A good rule for our guidance would be to decide in the first place what species should predomi- nate. Suppose the white pine be selected for this purpose ; the whole tract should be covered with trees of this species the first season. The next season fill all the vacancies created by those which are dead, or injured, with hardwood trees of such kinds as may be desired. When the plantation has attained its growth, it will be a pine wood, with a pleasing and apparently spontaneous intermixture of deciduous trees. A few remarks may be added in regard to trees near our dwel- ling-houses. It is not true that we cannot have too many trees in such situations. Indeed, it would be unquestionably better for the health that there should be too few than too many trees near our houses, shutting out the sun and preserving a constant dampness in and around them. AIL shade trees should be planted at such a distance as to afford each tree room to expand to its fullest dimen- sions, without extending its branches over any part of the house, leaving amp|c space for the sun. to shine upon the roof and the walls, and to dry up all the dampness to which they are constantly exposed. A disagreeable coolness and chilliness of the atmosphere is always perceptible, as soon as the sun begins to decline, at the open doors and windows of a house that is densely surrounded by trees, during all the season while they are in leaf. In a somewhat crowded village, with narrow streets, we are 190 TREES BY THE ROADSIDE. obliged to plant trees very near our dwellings, or dispense with them altogether. For such situations those species should be selected that run up tall and slender, with much spread of their lateral branches. In this respect the Lombardy poplar surpasses all other trees in the known world, and is unquestionably the best tree to be planted in narrow roads Or enclosures. Trees of this species are sometimes partially winter-killed ; but so vigorous is their growth, that if the decayed limbs be removed, the gap will be immediately filled with new and healthy branches. They have a dense and beautiful foliage, unsurpassed in the liveliness of its verdure, and in its balsamic and healthful odors, and they charm the eye at all times by the musical fluttering of their leaves. The Lombardy poplar is, likewise, beyond all other trees a favorite resort for our familiar singing birds. The nests of the common robin, the vireo, the summer yellow-bird, and the indigo-bird, are constantly found among their branches, which on account of their dense and peculiar growth afford them unusual facilities for building and con- cealing their nests. A great deal of senseless ridicule has been cast upon this tree ; but it is the only species that ought to be planted in the narrow streets and enclosures of some of our towns. At a sufficient distance from the house to allow the sun to shine freely upon every part of it during a portion of the day, too many trees are not likely to be planted. It is only in close proximity to the house that they are injurious. The sun's rays should never be obstructed from our windows by foliage. The house should be shaded by window blinds, and not by trees, which should only be near enough to enable the inmates of the house, in the hot days of summer, to take shelter under them without inconvenience, and to afford them the pleasure of listening from their windows, to the singing-birds, whose melodies constitute one of the principal charms of the morning and evening, in spring and early summer. DESIGN, No. XX. EAST SIDE, SOUTH END. DESIGN, No. XX, PLAN. —^mcairr-rr r iiiiiiihMiir ihesc I i-***--- <■ r > ' ■/■<"-, ■■ ('■' ' VS^- \\'i. ■ ['' — — , ■ ^ >._./ *r|y).| 11 1 * u M, Manure Shed. TV, TValk behind the Animals. T, Manure Trench. S, Stalls. D, Driveway. B, Bay for Hay. DESIGN NO. XX. A BARN FOR A LEVEL SITUATION. Barns of this description have been in use a number of years, having a drive-way lengthwise through the centre. Many of them have manure cellars underneath. But the larger number of these are tight cellars, without proper ventilation, for the lack of which the timbers and floors decay in a very short time. The gases which accumulate under all barns, if not taken up by absorbents, will pene- trate the solid wood, and press through every crevice in escaping to the space above, where they mix with the breath of the animals, injuring their health and condition, and contaminating the hay. These gases will penetrate through a mow of hay of almost any size, and change its color and injure its flavor. If such a barn is tight and warm, the roof and upper portion will be covered inside with frost of considerable thickness, in cold weather. When the sun's rays warm the roof of the building, the frost melts and drops on the hay and grain, and communicates to them not only its dampness but the foulness which comes with it from the roof. All these evils may be overcome with small expense. In the first place, it is necessary to have a ventilator on the roof for every forty feet of its length, to be at least five feet square, with open slats on all sides, four feet high. The cost in plain style would be about twenty dollars. Then construct two air tubes from the cellar to the ventilator on the roof. These should be made of sound, jointed and matched boards, sixteen by twelve inches square, placed near one of the centre posts, the upper portion being at an angle of forty degrees or more. Next we should provide two cellar windows to every twenty feet in the length of the barn cellar, with a tube of the same size of the window (three lights, nine by twelve), to conduct the air down to the bottom of the cellar. This will produce a current of air at the bottom instead of the top. Windows should be placed in opposite directions to give an equal circulation, to be regulated in cold weather 195 196 A BAEN FOR A LE.VEL SITUATION. as circumstances may require. A slide should be introduced just below the glass, to shut off the cold air at pleasure. Currents of air may be introduced into cellars through an underground passage, twenty feet or more, and with good effect. A barn cellar without proper ventilation is unsafe for the housing of any farming imple- ments. If properly built it is the best place for them, as it affords an even temperature, neither too dry. nor too damp, especially if the cellar has a dry bottom, which may always be effected by art. Manure cellars should be separate from the cellars under the hay. This plan requires a mortared wall between the two, built under one side of the drive-way which takes the bearing of one half of the centre of the building; the other half should be placed on truss bearings, one in every twenty four feet. This division wall gives twelve feet to the manure cellar, and twenty six feet in width to the store cellar, if the barn be forty feet wide. The manure cellar being but twelve feet wide, under the main building, it will be for the inter- est of the farmer to build a manure shed against its whole length, eight feet wide, seven feet high at the eaves, the highest part of the roof four feet above the side of the main building, with a ventilating tube once in twenty feet, on the outside of the main building. A space of twelve feet, with two doors hung on strap hinges, to every forty feet, will be sufficient for getting out the manure. The loam and other composting materials may be thrown in from the drive-way through scuttles in the cribs. One side of the drive-way in this plan is used for a stable for cows. There should be a tight single floor over the stable, made of narrow boards, jointed and matched. In this case there will be no worms to sift down the chaff. The stalls are represented here as double, six feet four inches to each, with a round five inch grooved stud between every other cow, and a board partition five feet high. The crib should be two feet five inches wide. It should be boarded down in front of the cows to within four feet of the floor ; and there should be a two by five inch rail the whole length, two feet from* the floor, and bolted to the studs every six feet. The crib-piece should be three by twelve inches running the whole length. Tie studs should be placed into the crib three inches, and two inches from the partition. This will prevent the cows from step- A BARN FOR A LEVEL SITUATION. 197 ping back too far, and wetting the walk. Trenches behind the cows ought to be five inches deep, and twenty two inches wide, made watertight. The floor and walk should also be water tight, for the health of the animals, if for no other reason, and to keep down the ammonia which is generated in the cellar. Experience has fully satisfied us that the best way of composting manures, is to use cut straw or any other coarse litter in the trench, and dry loam or muck, and mix thoroughly every day. The time thus spent may seem to be considerable, but it is profitably spent. Ventilators, sixteen by twelve inches, should be constructed once in every twenty feet, behind the cows, placed inside, extending nearly as high as the jut, with slats on the outside at the top. Thus it will be seen, that by the addition of a shed, at a small expense, we obtain a large and convenient store cellar separate from the manure eellar. The bad effects upon the hay of the exhalations from the manure are avoided, and the cows have sweeter hay and a more wholesome atmosphere. A root cellar, which is indispensable, may be constructed under tho barn by a double board partition, having a space of six inches filled with mill shavings or saw-dust. XXI. FENCES AND HEDGES. It is difficult to divest the public mind of the notion that fences and hedges are not designed for ornaments, and that they are at best but necessary evils. They are intended only for two legiti- mate purposes ; one of these is to protect the grounds from the trespass of men and the encroachment of animals, and the second is to confine animals and protect them. But as fences are often made in ornamental style, many have been led to suppose that if fences were entirely useless for any practical or economical purpose, they might still be highly prized as ornaments ! Hence we see them put up, at considerable expense, in hundreds of situations in which they are not required. In like manner, columns that were originally designed to support a part of the building to which they were appended, have been used by modern imitators to deco- rate a house, without being necessary to support any part of it. With equal wisdom and propriety people who have perfect sight would wear spectacles for ornaments, until the custom became so general that mankind forgot the purpose for which they were origi- nally used. It is on account of these mistaken ideas of the importance of fences that we see so many in places where they are not required ; as, for example, in the subdivision of the grounds around dwelling- houses, and around the family burial lots in a rural cemetery. It is not our present intention to treat of the best method of constructing fences. Every man, in this matter, must consult his own taste and resources. If stones are lying in abundance over all his grounds, he cannot dispose of them in a better manner than by piling them up into stone walls. If stones be wanting, and small timber abundant, a rail-fence would be the most economical. If he lives in town and nearer a lumber yard than a forest, boards and palings must be the best material. In a city, iron fences are the most economical ; but they greatly disfigure a place in the country. 198 FENCES AND HEDGES. 190 We should except the wire fences, which would be proper only in the country ; wire is undoubtedly an excellent material for a mov- able fence, intended for one place for a short time only, and after- wards to be removed to another. " Wire fences are commonly formed of light iron posts or stakes, through holes in which are stretched stout wires or slender iron rods ; or they are formed of light iron hurdles, — that is, separate iron frames, which are placed end to end, and can be removed at pleasure. In forming wire fences of stakes and iron wires, there is no difficulty where the line of direction is perfectly straight, or consists of a number of straight lines joined together; but when the direction is curvilinear, some attention is requisite to fix the posts in such a manner as to permit the wires which pass through holes in them to be drawn quite tight. To admit of this being done, each post must be fixed into a piece of wood, or stone, and supported by a brace on the concave side of the curve ; and both the block and the brace must be buried so far under the soil as not to be seen." — Loudon. A rustic fence, consisting of posts made of small trees not divested of their bark, and rails of the same description, is sometimes built around the enclosures of a highly ornamented dwelling-house. The object of this kind of fence is to give a sort of rural or rustic appearance to the dwelling ; but the place is not half so rustic in its expression as the absence of any fence would make it, and never can be made to harmonise with a house that has any pre- tensions to elegance. Such fences should be confined to the enclo- sures of simple and rude cottages, or to the borders of woods and pastures. There is one kind of fence of which we have not yet spoken, — that is the hedge. Some persons imagine that they should be in paradise at once, if their grounds were but surrounded with a full grown hedge, though every other condition of a paradise were wanting. It is very necessary to consider, before we plant a hedge, whether the boundary which it marks is ever likely to be disturbed. If so, it is folly to plant a hedge there, to be removed, and probably destroyed, before it has grown, perhaps, to half its natural height. It is also idle to plant a hedge merely for ornament, because if it be in a town it must always be dusty and dirty, and not so use- 200 FENCES AND HEDGES. ful nor so ornamental as an artificial fence. If it be in the coun- try, it is not so beautiful as any miscellaneous collection of shrub- bery, which will also attain a good height and bear blossoms and fruit before the sheared and clipped hedge has acquired the height of two feet. If a hedge is wanted only as a mass of shrubbery for a border to grounds, it is better to build a simple, rude fence of rails, and plant shrubs of various sorts on each side of it. A hedge is seldom a beautiful object. The clipping and shearing necessarily render it a deformity, even when they are done in the best manner. A buckthorn hedge is as barren and unprofitable as a stone wall. Though it produces both fruit and flowers, they are of no more value, except, perhaps, medicinally, and have no more , beauty than the lichens that^row upon the stone wall, while the latter is most generally covered with wild vines and shrubbery which produce an abundance of good fruit. It is a great folly to devote a strip of land, four feet in width, for the cultivation of this ugly shrub, which loses its foliage very early in the autumn, and is never tinted like other American shrubbery. A hedge ought always to be made of a shrub which has some beauty of flowers or foliage ; such as the evergreen privet, the arbor vita?, the hawthorn, the holly, the mountain laurel, and hundreds of other plants which are supe- rior in every respect to the buckthorn. Hedges are not desirable, except as boundaries to an estate which is not likely to be changed for a century. Wherever the bounds of an estate, or a field, are likely to be removed, artificial fences are, on every account, to be preferred. Hedges are probably the most expensive fences which are generally built. The plants and their first setting out are less expensive than a substantial fence ; but a tolerably good fence must be built at the same time, to serve one's purpose until the hedge be grown. It requires clipping twice in the season, and this must be done by an experienced man, whose services are expensive. The ground in which it is planted must be trenched deeply and filled with good soil and compost, at the expense, proba- bly, of the adjoining tillage ; otherwise it will be lean and imperfect in its growth. After it has attained its full size it must still be clipped annually, or it will acquire an unsightly and straggling growth. To conclude, if any one expects that the hedge is to become any- FENCES AND HEDGES. 201 thing more than a fence after all, he is mistaken. If he expects to see in the hedge a mass of beautiful shrubbery, he is mistaken. It is in its best condition but a mass of crooked sticks, with foliage covering its outside upper surface. A mile of hedge-row would not contain so much foliage as a half mile of natural shrubbery, occupy- ing the same amount of space, while the latter is more beautiful and productive both of fruit and flowers. 26 DESIGN, No. XXI. PLAN. — • W, Walk behind the Animals. T, Manure Trench. S 8, Stalls. F, Feed Passage. B, B^ for Hay. B. Root Cellar. D, Small Door near Outside Boor. H, Horse Stalls. C, Carnage Room. P, Passage in Front of Uorse Stalls. DESIGN, No. XXI, WEST END. NORTH SIDE. DESIGN NO. XXI. ANOTHER SIDE-HILL BARN. There are many important improvements in this design. The first is the elevation of the drive-way eight feet above the stable floor, allowing a feed passage directly under the drive-way in front of the cow stalls. It also allows part of the hay to be pitched downwards instead of upwards, thereby saving considerable labor, during the part of the season when labor is the most valuable. The drive-way being on one side, leaves a solid hay-mow twenty-eight feet wide and twenty-four feet high by fifty-six in length, of sufficient capacity to hold one hundred tons of hay, if well stored. Another important advantage consists in the separation of the animals from the main barn or hay-loft. This allows about six hundred cubic feet of space to each animal when the stalls are full. The whole is to be well lighted and well ventilated. The stable floor should be nine inches lower than the feed-passage, and each animal should have three feet and four inches of space. The manure cellar is separated from the main cellar by a tight board partition, with several doors wide enough to admit a wheel- barrow. The west part of the cellar is designed for roots, and the eastern or northern part for dry muck, or loam, which should be wheeled in daily. The root cellar being protected on all sides, will be secure against frost; a current of air should be admitted on two opposite sides, and there should be a ventilating pipe, ex- tending to the cupola. The stone cellar having two large doors will be, through them, sufficiently ventilated. The outlines of the building are fifty by seventy-two feet. The main building is forty by sixty. The horse-barn is twenty by thirty, fourteen feet high above the cellar. Ventilators from the manure cellar, also from the stable, connect, as represented on the south elevation, from the roof of the lean-to. B bay for hay, fifty-six by twenty-eight: F feed-passage in front of the animals, twelve, feet 207 208 ANOTHER SIDE-HILL BABN. wide under the drive-way, and six on the end : S stalls for cows, on platform four feet five inches wide : T a trench behind the cows, five inches deep and twenty-two inches wide : W a walk behind the cows three feet and six inches wide : C carriage-house and harness- room : H horse-stalls : P passage in front of horse-stalls : D small door in the stable, near the outside entrance, to shut either way, at pleasure, as the animals are passing in and out. R root cellar as far as the dotted line on the ground plan. We might repeat in this place our advice respecting the comfort of domestic animals. If the stable is made tight with good matched boards, and with the allowance of six hundred cubic feet to each, the animal heat will be sufficient to keep the temperature of the stable above 33° in common winter weather, allowing it at the same time to be well ventilated. Animals when kept comfortably warm require less food to preserve them in good condition, than when they are exposed to the cold in uncomfortable stalls. Milking cows will give more milk and keep in better flesh ; young animals will not be retarded in their growth by the winter, and will be prepared for a more rapid growth during the following season. The estimated cost of this design, finished in good architectural style, clapboarded and painted, is twenty-two hundred dollars. A barn of the same size, the same accommodations, boarded with rough, square-edged boards, the roof put on in strips three inches wide and covered with sawed shingle-, small projections to the roof with plain fascia, finished in all parts substantially but economically might be built for seventeen hundred dollars. XXII. THE GARDEN. It is surprising that our farmers who live at a distance from the city should think so lightly of a garden as a means of supplying their families with fruit and vegetables, which are not mere luxuries, but the absolute necessaries of life. No man in the country who owns land, or who can conveniently obtain it and cultivate it, would remain a single year without a garden, if he knew how dependent we are for the maintenance of health on a good supply of early sum- mer vegetables and fruit. The season of the year when we most painfully feel the want of fresh fruits and vegetables, is the period including April, May, and June. This is the time when there is probably a need of the largest quantity for the preservation of health ; yet it is the time when it is the most difficult to obtain any quantity. Mankind cannot live in health upon meat and bread alone. Many a confirmed dyspeptic owes his lingering complaint to this confined diet. Our farmers, according to our observation, are plentifully supplied with meat and flour. They have a great abundance of meats : the housekeeper furnishes the table with excellent bread, cake of several sorts, pies, and preserved fruits. But the very articles which it might reasonably be supposed would find place there are usually wanting. In the spring and early summer you may be surfeited with the arti- cles of diet above named ; but they are not wanted particularly at this season, and will make a dyspeptic of any one who is not con- stantly engaged in out-of-door labor or exercise. The conclusion we have drawn from these facts is, that our farmers and their wives do not know how they ought to live. They set too high a value upon luxuries and too low a value on some of the most important of the necessaries of life. They overrate the importance of preserved fruits, of cake, pies, and even of bread and meat, and think too lightly of cabbages, spinach, dandelions, asparagus, early peas, and all kinds of early vegetables and fruits. Our luxurious manner of living, and 27 210 THE GARDEN. our concentrated diet, may be considered one important cause of our inferior muscular development, compared with the Europeans who are descended from the same stock. Our people are not surpassed in activity, but it is well known that they are not so stout nor so capa- ble of enduring severe labor as the Europeans. This constitutional infirmity, this physical degeneracy, may be attributed to the national diet. The Americans live upon meat and bread, cake, custards, pud- dings, and pies ; their diet is luxurious and concentrated ; hence their degeneracy. The Europeans use comparatively but little meat and bread ; they seldom taste of luxuries ; but they make their principal diet of preparations analogous to our homony, made from wheat, oats, and barley ; and they consume large quantities of vegetables in soups seasoned with a very little meat. The people of the Southern States live more like the Europeans because they can obtain salads all winter and use a great deal of homony. In the winter we might enjoy health with but a small quantity of fruit, because the cold weather creates a necessity for animal food, bread, butter and cheese. . Yet winter is the time when we have the best supply of fruits and vegetables. "When spring opens, a greater craving and necessity exist for these articles , but at this time they cannot be obtained without difficulty : because our country people have not learned how much the health depends on these articles at this season of the year. Children often supply this craving by pick- ing cranberries in the meadows, and eating them on the spot. Dried apples imperfectly supply this want ; conserves still more imperfectly. Cranberries are the most wholesome fruit which can be obtained in the spring, but no effort is generally made to keep them for this sea- son. They are all consumed in the autumn and winter, when there is an abundance of other kinds of fruit. The evils above enumerated might be remedied by establishing the general custom of keeping good vegetable gardens, and by economis- ing those kinds of fruits which are the most valuable in the spring. Such are cranberries. Apples are generally tasteless and almost worthless in the spring excepting those sour varieties which are ne- glected, despised, and thrown away. A barrel of the sourest apples \vhich are cast upon the cider heap, the product of trees which our farmers are annually cutting down for fuel, would be worth in April TIIE GARDEN. 211 more than three barrels of Baldwins which had lost all their virtues. It would be wise to cultivate some of these despised varieties of " natural fruit," which in spring are equal to cranberries. But we will now turn our attention to the means by which we might obtain a constant supply of fresh vegetables, and we will begin with January. — Nothing can yet be done towards a garden ; but there is generally during this month no lack of a supply of winter apples and pears, and cranberries and perhaps of grapes : for vegetables we have cabbages, potatoes, and all the common sorts. February. — Fruits and vegetables continue as in January. March. — Apples begin to be tasteless and scarce, and cranberries which might be kept more easily than apples have been almost entirely consumed and wasted by our improvidence. They have been sold in foreign markets to people who are more intelligent .than ourselves. Among conserves, preserved barberries have more of the quality of fresh fruits than any other sort that can be named. April. — In this month fresh vegetables might be in readiness, if one was provided with a good hot-house, which costs neither much labor nor expense, but requires a sort of wise management which is too often above the comprehension of our farmers and other working men. The best vegetable gardens are under the management of foreigners. The time which would be devoted to a hot-bed is during a season of the year when our farmers are forced to remain almost in idleness ; before they can begin their plowing and other farming-work. But our farmers despise all such " quid- dling work," as they call it. If they possessed more intelligence they would despise those who despise it, because they would see thai it requires more skill than ordinary farming operations. The hot-house would furnish lettuce, spinach, and some other salads, besides for- warding tomato plants, and cabbage plants, &c, for setting oui early in summer. Parsneps are in their best condition during this month. May. — No provident farmer or gardener would be without a good supply of fresh vegetables during this month. If he have a productive asparagus bed, this alone would in a considerable measure supply the want ; and we should as soon think of cultivating a farm without keeping a pig or a cow, as without an asparagus bed. It supplies the family with fresh vegetables when there is a Lament- able want of these articles. Half the languor to which people are 212 THE GARDEN. subject in May is owing to the want of fresh vegetables and fruits. In May we ought to have an abundance of all the fruits and veget- ables named below. Cranberries, kept fresh in casks of water; apples of despised sorts, which are too sour to be used in the autumn, and which do not lose their flavor like other apples during the winter; rhubarb, parsneps, lettuce, spinach, asparagus, and in the latter part of the month cabbage sprouts* and new onions (rare-ripes). June. — In this month the garden should abound in rhubarb, green gooseberries, strawberries, and currants; in asparagus, and all the vegetables named for the last month, with the addition of beets. Notwithstanding the ease with which all these things might be sup- plied, if our people knew the full value of a garden, it is the most difficult thing in the world to obtain them. We live as if luxuries were the only necessaries of life. The simple products of the gar- den are neglected, and men spend their money on patent nostrums, to cure themselves of those complaints which arise from the want of asparagus, spinach, and the other produce of the garden. j UL y. — When this month has arrived the want of early fruits and vegetables is more generally supplied, because a hot-bed is not required to bring them into a state of sufficient forwardness. The wild fruits are now becoming abundant and compensate in some measure for the want of garden fruits. Thus nature provides against the improvidence of men. The garden in this month should be well supplied with strawberries, cherries, currants, and gooseberries. It should also abound in green peas, string-beans, turnips, beets, and onions, and in the last of the month in new potatoes, shelled beans, and early York cabbages. August. — All the vegetables named above, with the addition of green corn, summer squashes, beans in all shapes and varieties, and all esculent roots. The summer fruits begin to be scarce, but early apples and pears, tomatos, and melons, ought to be abundant. During the remainder of the year there is no scarcity of fruits and vegetables, and we shall not therefore proceed with our calendar. In conclusion, we would repeat that no man who owns land is wise who neglects to provide a spot to be devoted to the raising of early fruits and vegetables. The garden is an essential appendage to rv ( >ry farm, and to the least as well as the greatest estate. DESIGN, No. XXII [Sec Frontispiece.] PLAN F A, Parlor. B, Living Room. C, Kitchen. D, Wash Room. E, Wood Room. F, Store Room. G, China Closet. II, Front Entry. [See Design, No. XIV.] PLAN. DESIGN NO. XXII. [see frontispiece.] The frontispiece is a representation of the Author's dwelling- house and out-buildings, in Grafton, Mass., the ground plan of which will be found on the preceding page. He believes, from his own experience, that the house contains as many conveniences and as ample accommodations as can be obtained for the money which it cost him, namely, seventeen hundred dollars. The dimensions of the rooms on the first story are as follows: parlor 14 by 24 feet, sitting-room 14 by 14, kitchen 19 by 12, wash room 17 by 9, pantry 7 by 7, store-room 8 by 7, and wood-room 17 by 10. The front entry is six feet wide. The parlor is lighted by four windows, the one in the rear being a French window. By opening the door between the front entry and the window opposite a fine current of air is obtained. During the summer the cook-stove is removed from the kitchen to the wash-room. A door opens from the kitchen into the pantry, and another from the pantry into the store-room. The passage to the wood-room is through the wash- room, from which there is a door opening into a large wood-shed, 14 by 28. There is also a door between the wood-room and the barn. The stairs, front and back, are as marked on the plan. There is a square chamber directly over the sitting-room. Over the parlor are two sleeping chambers, the rear one lighted by a Lutheran window. There are three other chambers, five clothes closets, and a bathing-room, also, on the second floor. All the Designs and Plans in this volume, with the exception of the ground plot which may be found on the same page with the ground plan of the author's residence, are on a scale of six- teen feet to one inch ; the ground plot referred to is on a scale of forty feet to one inch. -.Mo BRACKETS, &c. The following Plate presents a profile of three large brackets, on a scale of one inch to the foot, designed for projections over front doors, windows, &c. Also a profile of a window cap and sill, on a scale of four inches to the foot. MOULDINGS. On the two Plates next following will be found the profile of vari- ous kinds and forms of Mouldings, of half the size ordinarily used. They can be purchased at the manufactories where they are wrought by machinery for very much less than it will cost to manufacture them by hand. Wrought Mouldings of the forms represented in the Plates can be procured, in Boston, of William Heath, 155 Merrimac street, and the Boston Planing and Moulding Company. 216 DESIGN, No. XXIV. DESIGN, No. XXIII. 2 J // ^ e /s DESIGN.No. XXIII //" SB \ 27 2/ £J? APPENDIX. I. A FEW HINTS ON LAYING SHINGLES, AC. Few builders pay sufficient regard to the mode of laying shingles on a roof, the many supposing that they will answer every desirable purpose if laid within an inch or "two of a straight line. We have seen shingles laid by those who boast of their skill and experience, on a building worth a thousand dollars, with a variation in their courses of from four to six inches, in different parts of the roof. This is very bad economy. The length of the shingle determines how much to lay to the weather ; about one-third of its length is the common practice. Several other points should be considered in order to make good work. If the shingles are green, they should be well fitted together half their length, and nailed nine inches from the lower end. The nail should not be driven into the crack or joint of the course under- neath ; in breaking joints the laps should not be less than one and a half inches. If a shingle is winding, two nails should be driven ; but if it lies flat, one nail is better than two. Sawed shingles are not so durable as shaved, being more liable to retain moisture and decay. This defect is attributable, in part, to nailing too low down, and using twice as many nails as are neces- sary. Sawed shingles may be used advantageously on any kind of a roof, even on a very flat one, by laying them on strips three inches* wide, and just as many strips as there are courses, with one good nail in each shingle. A roof constructed in this way will never rot, if made of good materials; it can only wear out with age. Shaky shingles are good for no building purposes, though they may some- times be economically applied to the walls of a cheap building. With regard to material, it may be remarked that as the pine wood of which rift shingles are made is becoming scarce, we are obliged to use several other kinds of wood in the place of it. The 221 222 APPENDIX. white, or silver, cedar is a good material ; the red cedar is sometimes used ; but it will not last more than two-thirds as long as the white. Sawed shingles made of old pine lumber, cut so as to be straight grained, will last longer than any other kind we can obtain in New England, except those made of Southern cedar. Many of the pine sawed shingles we find in the market are cut slash-wise of the grain and are a poor article. They split very easily after they are laid, and are liable to speedy decay. They also shrink and swell more readily than others. All pine shingles should have the grain run through the thickness, instead of on the surface. Spruce and hemlock are introduced into our market, and are recommended as substitutes for the commonly approved sorts. But shingles made of these materials are not durable ; a portion of them will soon decay; and they ought not to be used except for old buildings which will not, probably, outlast them. Our own experience, continued through a long course of years, has compelled us to adopt many changes from the usual practice in laying shingles. With regard to nails in particular, we would say that we have always found the old wrought nails to be sound and good, after the shingles have nearly perished with age. They never rust and corrode sufficiently to cause the shingles to slide off in sheets, as the common nails do. The only nail worthy of recom- mendation for good work is the Swedish nail, made of tough iron. The common nails are made of coarse iron ; they are very brittle and soon rust off, especially if used in the ordinary mode, namely, putting two nails into each shingle and within five or six inches of the lower ends. II. ON THE APPLICATION OF PAINT TO BUILDINGS. It is thought by many that the priming, or first coat, on the clean wood, should be made thick or heavy with white lead or zinc. A later and wiser experience has proved that the first coat should consist chiefly of oil, laying on with the brush as much as can be applied without causing it to run. All succeeding coats should be light, of pure lead, thoroughly rubbed down to an even, smooth surface with the brush. Three light coats of paint judiciously laid on will stand longer before the surface becomes chalky, than three APPENDIX. 223 heavy coats improperly applied; at the same time a great saving is made in the quantity of paint used. Zinc should never be used for the priming coat, as it is liable to scale off from the wood. It may be used to advantage for inside work. It is better to oil and varnish the plain woodwork in kitchens and pantries. This application gives it a clean look ; it does not become defaced so soon as paint, nor does it so plainly show any deface- ment. Above all, when it has become soiled, it admits of being more easily and thoroughly cleaned. After a good body of paint has been judiciously applied to a building, it is good economy, before it begins to rub off, to give it a very light coat. This will save the old paint from breaking, or becoming porous. A firm body of paint should be kept perma- nently upon all buildings which are painted at all. Old buildings may be painted with very little expense, by making the first coat with pine oil and mineral paint ; (oil 37^ cents per gallon, paint 2\ cents per lb.). When it is well dried you may use white lead to obtain a good surface. in. farmer's tool-room. The following is a schedule of the carpenter's tools which, if not absolutely necessary, will always be found to be convenient by every farmer who possesses ordinary mechanical ingenuity. 1 short jointer, 1 jack-plane, 1 smooth plane, all double ironed; 1 hammer, 1 mallet, 2 augers — one 1 inch and one \\ inch, — 2 framing chisels — one 1 inch and one \\ inch, — 2 screw drivers, 1 tri-square, 1 brace and £, f, \, f, f, f auger bits, 4 counter-sinks, 1 reamer, 2 guages, 6 firmir chisels, \, \, f , f, 1, \\ inches, and handles, 1 large splitting saw, 1 half-size cutting saw, 1 key saw, 1 large iron square, 1 drawing knife, 1 spoke-shave, 1 oil-stone, 1 hand-hatchet, 1 iron vice, 1 set of brad-awls and handles, 1 chalk-line, 2 nail-sets, and 6 gimlets. IV. CATALOGUE OF FRUIT TREES. The author of this work having had a long experience in the cultivation of fruit trees, ventures to add, in the way of recommen- dation to those who are about to commence, or have already com- menced the planting of an orchard, the following li 224 APPENDIX. A SELECTION OF TWENTY-FIYE TEEES APPLES PEARS Names. I No. Early Harvest, 2 "Williams Favorite, I 2 Early Bough, 2 Porter 2 Pall Pippin, 2 Huhbardston Nonsuch, 2 Darner's Winter Sweet, 2 Rhode Island Greening, 4 Ladies' Sweet, 1 Baldwin, 6 Season. August. Sept. Oct Oct. Dec Oct. Jan Dec. Mar Dec. April Dec. May Nov. May. Name. Bloodgood, Tyson, Bartlett, Q Doyenne Boussock, Q. Buffum, Andrews, Urb&niste, Q Beurre Diel, Q Glout Morceau, Lawrence, Beurre d' Anjon, Q.. . , Vicar of Winkfield, Q. , Season. August. September. October. Nov. Dec. Dec. Jaa. Nov. Jan. A SELECTION OF ONE HUNDRED TREES Red Astrachan, Early Harvest, "Williams' Favorite, Early Bough, Primate, Porter, Fall Pippin, Gravenstein, Minister, Hubbardston Nonsuch, Danver's Winter Sweet,.. . Rhode Island Greening,. . . Canada, or Red Nonsuch, . Baldwin, Ladies' Sweet, Roxburv Russet, August. Sept. Oct J Oct. Dec, i Sept. Nov, | Oct. Jan, Dec. Mar. Dec. April. iDec. Mar Dec. Jan. |Dec. May. Dec. June Dearbcrn'8 Seedling, Q. Brandywine, Tyson, Bloodgood, Andrews,. | Bartlett, Q Fulton, ;Seckel, Buffum, jUrbaniste, Q Flemish Beauty, Q Swan's Orange, j Beurre d' Anjou, Q Beurre d' Aremberg,- . . . : Glout Morceau, Q Beurre Diel, Q • i Vicar of Winkfield, Q ■ August. September. October. : Sept. Oct. November. TJeceniber. ■ Dec. Jan. ti tt Nov. Dec. Nov. Jan. Note. — The varieties of pears marked Q thrive best on quince stocks.