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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rural Architecture, by Lewis Falley Allen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Rural Architecture
+       Being a Complete Description of Farm Houses, Cottages, and Out Buildings
+
+Author: Lewis Falley Allen
+
+Illustrator: John William Orr
+
+Release Date: December 3, 2006 [EBook #19998]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RURAL ARCHITECTURE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Louise Hope, Steven Giacomelli and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images produced by Core Historical
+Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell University)
+
+
+
+
+
+  [Transcriber's Note:
+
+  Typographical errors and inconsistencies are listed at the end of
+  the text.]
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+              RURAL ARCHITECTURE.
+
+          Being A Complete Description
+                      of
+             FARM HOUSES, COTTAGES,
+                      and
+                 OUT BUILDINGS,
+
+                   Comprising
+
+ Wood Houses, Workshops, Tool Houses, Carriage
+and Wagon Houses, Stables, Smoke and Ash Houses,
+Ice Houses, Apiary or Bee House, Poultry Houses,
+  Rabbitry, Dovecote, Piggery, Barns and Sheds
+           for Cattle, &c., &c., &c.
+
+                 Together With
+
+ Lawns, Pleasure Grounds and Parks; The Flower,
+  Fruit and Vegetable Garden. Also, Useful and
+      Ornamental Domestic Animals for the
+        Country Resident, &c., &c., &c.
+
+                     Also,
+               The Best Method Of
+ CONDUCTING WATER INTO CATTLE YARDS AND HOUSES.
+
+
+               BY LEWIS F. ALLEN.
+
+            Beautifully Illustrated.
+
+
+                   New York:
+                 C. M. SAXTON,
+          Agricultural Book Publisher.
+                     1852.
+
+
+
+
+Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852.
+By LEWIS F. ALLEN,
+In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
+Southern District of New York.
+
+
+Stereotyped by
+JEWETT, THOMAS AND CO.
+Buffalo, N.Y.
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENT.
+
+
+The writer of these pages ought, perhaps, to apologize for attempting a
+work on a subject, of which he is not a _professional_ master, either in
+design or execution. In the science of Farm buildings he claims no
+better knowledge than a long practical observation has given him. The
+thoughts herein submitted for the consideration of those interested in
+the subject of Farm buildings are the result of that observation, added
+to his experience in the use of such buildings, and a conviction of the
+inconveniences attending many of those already planned and erected.
+
+Nor is it intended, in the production of this work, to interfere with
+the labors of the professional builder. To such builder all who may be
+disposed to adopt any model or suggestion here presented, are referred,
+for the various details, in their specifications, and estimates, that
+may be required; presuming that the designs and descriptions of this
+work will be sufficient for the guidance of any master builder, in their
+erection and completion.
+
+But for the solicitation of those who believe that the undersigned could
+offer some improvements in the construction of Farm buildings for the
+benefit of our landholders and practical farmers, these pages would
+probably never have appeared. They are offered in the hope that they may
+be useful in assisting to form the taste, and add to the comfort of
+those who are the main instruments in embellishing the face of our
+country in its most pleasing and agreeable features--the American
+Farmer.
+
+LEWIS F. ALLEN.
+
+Black Rock, N.Y. 1851.
+
+
+NOTE.--For throwing the Designs embraced in these pages into their
+present artistic form, the writer is indebted to Messrs. Otis & Brown,
+architects, of Buffalo, to whose skill and experience he takes a
+pleasure in recommending such as may wish instruction in the plans,
+drawings, specifications, or estimates relating to either of the designs
+here submitted, or for others of any kind that may be adapted to their
+purposes.
+
+
+L. F. A.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                                                             Page.
+PREFATORY,                                                      9
+INTRODUCTORY,                                                  13
+General Suggestions,                                           19
+Style of Building--Miscellaneous,                              23
+Position of Farm Houses,                                       29
+Home Embellishments,                                           32
+Material for Farm Buildings,                                   37
+Outside Color of Houses,                                       42
+A Short Chapter on Taste,                                      48
+The Construction of Cellars,                                   54
+Ventilation of Houses,                                         56
+Interior Accommodation of Houses,                              65
+Chimney Tops,                                                  68
+Preliminary to our Designs,                                    69
+DESIGN I. A Farm House,                                        72
+  Interior Arrangement,                                        75
+  Ground Plan,                                                 76
+  Chamber Plan,                                                77
+  Miscellaneous,                                               80
+    As a Tenant House,                                         81
+DESIGN II. Description,                                        84
+  Ground and Chamber Plans,                                    89
+  Interior Arrangement,                                        90
+Miscellaneous Details,                                         95
+DESIGN III. Description,                                      101
+  Ground and Chamber Plans,                                   105
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       106
+  Miscellaneous,                                              111
+DESIGN IV. Description,                                       114
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       118
+  Ground Plan,                                                119
+  Chamber Plan,                                               120
+  Surrounding Plantations, Shrubbery, Walks, &c.,             125
+  Tree Planting in the Highway,                               129
+DESIGN V. Description,                                        133
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       135
+  Ground Plan,                                                136
+  Chamber Plan,                                               142
+  Construction, Cost of Building, &c.,                        147
+  Grounds, Plantations, and Surroundings,                     149
+DESIGN VI. A Southern, or Plantation House,                   154
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       159
+  Chamber Plan,                                               162
+  Carriage House,                                             163
+  Miscellaneous,                                              163
+  Lawn and Park Surroundings,                                 166
+    An Ancient New England Family,                            168
+    An American Homestead of the Last Century,                169
+    Estimate of Cost of Design VI,                            172
+DESIGN VII. A Plantation House,                               175
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       176
+  Ground Plan,                                                177
+  Chamber Plan,                                               178
+  Miscellaneous,                                              179
+LAWNS, GROUNDS, PARKS, AND WOODS,                             181
+    The Forest Trees of America,                              183
+    Influence of Trees and Forests on the Character of men,   184
+    Hillhouse and Walter Scott as Tree Planters,              187
+    Doctor Johnson, no Rural Taste,                           188
+  Fruit Garden--Orchard,                                      194
+  How to lay out a Kitchen Garden,                            197
+  Flowers,                                                    202
+    Wild Flowers of America,                                  203
+    Succession of Home Flowers,                               206
+FARM COTTAGES,                                                208
+DESIGN I, and Ground Plan,                                    213
+  Interior Arrangement                                        214
+DESIGN II, and Ground Plan,                                   216
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       216
+DESIGN III, and Ground Plan,                                  220
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       220
+DESIGN IV, and Ground Plan,                                   226
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       229
+Cottage Outside Decoration,                                   231
+    Cottages on the Skirts of Estates,                        233
+House and Cottage Furniture,                                  235
+APIARY, OR BEE HOUSE,                                         246
+  View of Apiary and Ground Plan, and description,            249
+    Mode of Taking the Honey,                                 252
+AN ICE HOUSE,                                                 258
+  Elevation and Ground Plan,                                  260
+AN ASH HOUSE AND SMOKE HOUSE,                                 264
+  Elevation and Ground Plan,                                  265
+THE POULTRY HOUSE,                                            267
+  Elevation and Ground Plan,                                  269
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       271
+THE DOVECOTE,                                                 275
+    Different Varieties of Pigeons,                           278
+A PIGGERY,                                                    279
+  Elevation and Ground Plan,                                  281
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       282
+  Construction of Piggery--Cost,                              283
+FARM BARNS,                                                   286
+DESIGN I. Description,                                        291
+  Interior Arrangement, and Main Floor Plan,                  293
+  Underground Plan, and Yard,                                 295
+DESIGN II. Description,                                       300
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       303
+  Floor Plan,                                                 304
+BARN ATTACHMENTS,                                             308
+RABBITS,                                                      311
+    Mr. Rotch's Description of his Rabbits,                   313
+    Rabbits and Hutch,                                        315
+    Dutch, and English Rabbits,                               318
+    Mode of Feeding,                                          319
+  Mr. Rodman's Rabbitry, Elevation, and Floor Plan,           322
+  Explanations,                                               323
+  Loft or Garret, Explanation,                                324
+  Cellar plan, Explanation,                                   325
+  Front and Back of Hutches, and Explanation,                 326
+DAIRY BUILDINGS,                                              330
+  Cheese Dairy House,                                         330
+  Elevation of Dairy House and Ground Plan,                   331
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       333
+  The Butter Dairy,                                           335
+THE WATER RAM,                                                237
+  Figure and Description,                                     338
+GRANARY--Rat-proof,                                           343
+IMPROVED DOMESTIC ANIMALS,                                    345
+  Short Horn Bull,                                            349
+  Short Horn Cow,                                             352
+  Devon Cow and Bull,                                         355
+  Southdown Ram and Ewe,                                      359
+  Long-wooled Ram and Ewe,                                    362
+  Common Sheep,                                               364
+    Remarks,                                                  365
+WATERFOWLS,                                                   370
+    The African Goose,                                        370
+  China Goose,                                                371
+    Bremen Goose,                                             372
+A WORD ABOUT DOGS,                                            374
+  Smooth Terrier,                                             377
+  Shepherd Dog,                                               381
+
+
+
+
+PREFATORY.
+
+
+This work owes its appearance to the absence of any cheap and popular
+book on the subject of Rural Architecture, exclusively intended for the
+farming or agricultural interest of the United States. Why it is, that
+nothing of the kind has been heretofore attempted for the chief benefit
+of so large and important a class of our community as our farmers
+comprise, is not easy to say, unless it be that they themselves have
+indicated but little wish for instruction in a branch of domestic
+economy which is, in reality, one of great importance, not only to their
+domestic enjoyment, but their pecuniary welfare. It is, too, perhaps,
+among the category of neglects, and in the lack of fidelity to their own
+interests which pervades the agricultural community of this country,
+beyond those of any other profession--for we insist that agriculture,
+in its true and extended sense, is as much a profession as any other
+pursuit whatever. To the reality of such neglects they have but of late
+awaked, and indeed are now far too slowly wheeling into line for more
+active progress in the knowledge pertaining to their own advancement. As
+an accessory to their labors in such advancement, the present work is
+intended.
+
+It is an opinion far too prevalent among those engaged in the more
+active occupations of our people,--fortified indeed in such opinion,
+by the too frequent example of the farmer himself--that everything
+connected with agriculture and agricultural life is of a rustic and
+uncouth character; that it is a profession in which ignorance, as they
+understand the term, is entirely consistent, and one with which no
+aspirations of a high or an elevated character should, or at least need
+be connected. It is a reflection upon the integrity of the great
+agricultural interest of the country, that any such opinion should
+prevail; and discreditable to that interest, that its condition or
+example should for a moment justify, or even tolerate it.
+
+Without going into any extended course of remark, we shall find ample
+reason for the indifference which has prevailed among our rural
+population, on the subject of their own domestic architecture, in the
+absence of familiar and practical works on the subject, by such as have
+given any considerable degree of thought to it; and, what little thought
+has been devoted to this branch of building, has been incidentally
+rather than directly thrown off by those professionally engaged in the
+finer architectural studies appertaining to luxury and taste, instead of
+the every-day wants of a strictly agricultural population, and, of
+consequence, understanding but imperfectly the wants and conveniences of
+the farm house in its connection with the every-day labors and
+necessities of farm life.
+
+It is not intended, in these remarks, to depreciate the efforts of those
+who have attempted to instruct our farmers in this interesting branch of
+agricultural economy. We owe them a debt of gratitude for what they have
+accomplished in the introduction of their designs to our notice; and
+when it is remarked that they are insufficient for the purposes
+intended, it may be also taken as an admission of our own neglect, that
+we have so far disregarded the subject ourselves, as to force upon
+others the duty of essaying to instruct us in a work of which we
+ourselves should long ago have been the masters.
+
+Why should a farmer, because he _is_ a farmer, only occupy an uncouth,
+outlandish house, any more than a professional man, a merchant, or a
+mechanic? Is it because he himself is so uncouth and outlandish in his
+thoughts and manners, that he deserves no better? Is it because his
+occupation is degrading, his intellect ignorant, his position in life
+low, and his associations debasing? Surely not. Yet, in many of the
+plans and designs got up for his accommodation, in the books and
+publications of the day, all due convenience, to say nothing of the
+respectability or the elegance of domestic life, is as entirely
+disregarded as if such qualities had no connection with the farmer or
+his occupation. We hold, that although many of the practical operations
+of the farm may be rough, laborious, and untidy, yet they are not, and
+need not be inconsistent with the knowledge and practice of neatness,
+order, and even elegance and refinement within doors; and, that the due
+accommodation of the various things appertaining to farm stock, farm
+labor, and farm life, should have a tendency to elevate the social
+position, the associations, thoughts, and entire condition of the
+farmer. As the man himself--no matter what his occupation--be lodged and
+fed, so influenced, in a degree, will be his practice in the daily
+duties of his life. A squalid, miserable tenement, with which they who
+inhabit it are content, can lead to no elevation of character, no
+improvement in condition, either social or moral, of its occupants. But,
+the family comfortably and tidily, although humbly provided in their
+habitation and domestic arrangements, have usually a corresponding
+character in their personal relations. A log cabin, even,--and I speak
+of this primitive American structure with profound affection and regard,
+as the shelter from which we have achieved the most of our prodigious
+and rapid agricultural conquests,--may be so constructed as to speak an
+air of neatness, intelligence, and even refinement in those who inhabit
+it.
+
+Admitting, then, without further argument, that well conditioned
+household accommodations are as important to the farmer, even to the
+indulgence of luxury itself, when it can be afforded, as for those who
+occupy other and more active pursuits, it is quite important that he be
+equally well instructed in the art of planning and arranging these
+accommodations, and in designing, also, the various other structures
+which are necessary to his wants in their fullest extent. As a question
+of economy, both in saving and accumulating, good and sufficient
+buildings are of the first consequence, in a pecuniary light, and when
+to this are added other considerations touching our social enjoyment,
+our advancement in temporal condition, our associations, our position
+and influence in life, and, not least, the decided item of national good
+taste which the introduction of good buildings throughout our extended
+agricultural country will give, we find abundant cause for effort in
+improvement.
+
+It is not intended in our remarks to convey the impression that we
+Americans, as a people, are destitute of comfortable, and, in many
+cases, quite convenient household and farm arrangements. Numerous
+farmeries in every section of the United States, particularly in the
+older ones, demonstrate most fully, that where our farmers have taken
+the trouble to _think_ on the subject, their ingenuity has been equal,
+in the items of convenient and economical arrangement of their dwellings
+and out-buildings, to their demands. But, we are forced to say, that
+such buildings have been executed, in most cases, with great neglect of
+_architectural_ system, taste, or effect; and, in many instances, to the
+utter violation of all _propriety_ in appearance, or character, as
+appertaining to the uses for which they are applied.
+
+The character of the farm should be carried out so as to _express_
+itself in everything which it contains. All should bear a consistent
+relation with each other. The former himself is a plain man. His family
+are plain people, although none the less worthy, useful, or exalted, on
+that account. His structures, of every kind, should be plain, also, yet
+substantial, where substance is required. All these detract nothing from
+his respectability or his influence in the neighborhood, the town, the
+county, or the state. A farmer has quite as much business in the field,
+or about his ordinary occupations, with ragged garments, out at elbows,
+and a crownless hat, as he has to occupy a leaky, wind-broken, and
+dilapidated house. Neither is he any nearer the mark, with a ruffled
+shirt, a fancy dress, or gloved hands, when following his plough behind
+a pair of _fancy_ horses, than in living in a finical, pretending house,
+such as we see stuck up in conspicuous places in many parts of the
+country. All these are out of place in each extreme, and the one is as
+absurd, so far as true propriety is concerned, as the other. A fitness
+of things, or a correspondence of one thing with another, should always
+be preserved upon the farm, as elsewhere; and there is not a single
+reason why propriety and good keeping should not as well distinguish it.
+Nor is there any good cause why the farmer himself should not be a man
+of taste, in the arrangement and architecture of every building on his
+place, as well as other men. It is only necessary that he devote a
+little time to study, in order to give his mind a right direction in all
+that appertains to this department. Or, if he prefer to employ the
+ingenuity of others to do his planning,--which, by the way, is, in most
+cases, the more natural and better course,--he certainly should possess
+sufficient judgment to see that such plans be correct and will answer
+his purposes.
+
+The plans and directions submitted in this work are intended to be of
+the most practical kind; plain, substantial, and applicable, throughout,
+to the purposes intended, and such as are within the reach--each in
+their kind--of every farmer in our country. These plans are chiefly
+original; that is, they are not copied from any in the books, or from
+any structures with which the writer is familiar. Yet they will
+doubtless, on examination, be found in several cases to resemble
+buildings, both in outward appearance and interior arrangement, with
+which numerous readers may be acquainted. The object, in addition to our
+own designs, has been to apply practical hints, gathered from other
+structures in use, which have seemed appropriate for a work of the
+limited extent here offered, and that may serve to improve the taste of
+all such as, in building useful structures, desire to embellish their
+farms and estates in an agreeable style of home architecture, at once
+pleasant to the eye, and convenient in their arrangement.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+The lover of country life who looks upon rural objects in the true
+spirit, and, for the first time surveys the cultivated portions of the
+United States, will be struck with the incongruous appearance and style
+of our farm houses and their contiguous buildings; and, although, on
+examination, he will find many, that in their interior accommodation,
+and perhaps relative arrangement to each other, are tolerably suited to
+the business and convenience of the husbandman, still, the feeling will
+prevail that there is an absence of method, congruity, and correct taste
+in the architectural structure of his buildings generally, by the
+American farmer.
+
+We may, in truth, be said to have no architecture at all, as exhibited
+in our agricultural districts, so far as any correct system, or plan is
+concerned, as the better taste in building, which a few years past has
+introduced among us, has been chiefly confined to our cities and towns
+of rapid growth. Even in the comparatively few buildings in the modern
+style to be seen in our farming districts, from the various requirements
+of those buildings being partially unknown to the architect and builder,
+who had their planning--and upon whom, owing to their own inexperience
+in such matters, their employers have relied--a majority of such
+dwellings have turned out, if not absolute failures, certainly not what
+the necessities of the farmer has demanded. Consequently, save in the
+mere item of outward appearance--and that, not always--the farmer and
+cottager have gained nothing, owing to the absurdity in style or
+arrangement, and want of fitness to circumstances adopted for the
+occasion.
+
+We have stated that our prevailing rural architecture is discordant in
+appearance; it may be added, that it is also uncouth, out of keeping
+with correct rules, and, ofttimes offensive to the eye of any lover of
+rural harmony. Why it is so, no matter, beyond the apology already
+given--that of an absence of cultivation, and thought upon the subject.
+It may be asked, of what consequence is it that the farmer or small
+property-holder should conform to given rules, or mode, in the style and
+arrangement of his dwelling, or out-buildings, so that they be
+reasonably convenient, and answer his purposes? For the same reason that
+he requires symmetry, excellence of form or style, in his horses, his
+cattle, or other farm stock, household furniture, or personal dress.
+It is an arrangement of artificial objects, in harmony with natural
+objects; a cultivation of the sympathies which every rational being
+should have, more or less, with true taste; that costs little or nothing
+in the attainment, and, when attained, is a source of gratification
+through life. Every human being is bound, under ordinary circumstances,
+to leave the world somewhat better, so far as his own acts or exertions
+are concerned, than he found it, in the exercise of such faculties as
+have been given him. Such duty, among thinking men, is conceded, so far
+as the moral world is concerned; and why not in the artificial? So far
+as the influence for good goes, in all practical use, from the building
+of a temple, to the knocking together of a pig-stye--a labor of years,
+or the work of a day--the exercise of a correct taste is important, in a
+degree.
+
+In the available physical features of a country, no land upon earth
+exceeds North America. From scenery the most sublime, through the
+several gradations of magnificence and grandeur, down to the simply
+picturesque and beautiful, in all variety and shade; in compass vast, or
+in area limited, we have an endless variety, and, with a pouring out of
+God's harmonies in the creation, without a parallel, inviting every
+intelligent mind to study their features and character, in adapting them
+to his own uses, and, in so doing, to even embellish--if such a thing be
+possible--such exquisite objects with his own most ingenious handiwork.
+Indeed, it is a profanation to do otherwise; and when so to improve them
+requires no extraordinary application of skill, or any extravagant
+outlay in expense, not to plan and to build in conformity with good
+taste, is an absolute barbarism, inexcusable in a land like ours, and
+among a population claiming the intelligence we do, or making but a
+share of the general progress which we exhibit.
+
+It is the idea of some, that a house or building which the farmer or
+planter occupies, should, in shape, style, and character, be like some
+of the stored-up commodities of his farm or plantation. We cannot
+subscribe to this suggestion. We know of no good reason why the walls of
+a farm house should appear like a hay rick, or its roof like the
+thatched covering to his wheat stacks, because such are the shapes best
+adapted to preserve his crops, any more than the grocer's habitation
+should be made to imitate a tea chest, or the shipping merchant's a rum
+puncheon, or cotton bale. We have an idea that the farmer, or the
+planter, according to his means and requirements, should be as well
+housed and accommodated, and in as agreeable style, too, as any other
+class of community; not in like character, in all things, to be sure,
+but in his own proper way and manner. Nor do we know why a farm house
+should assume a peculiarly primitive or uncultivated style of
+architecture, from other sensible houses. That it be a _farm_ house, is
+sufficiently apparent from its locality upon the farm itself; that its
+interior arrangement be for the convenience of the in-door farm work,
+and the proper accommodation of the farmer's family, should be quite as
+apparent; but, that it should assume an uncouth or clownish aspect, is
+as unnecessary as that the farmer himself should be a boor in his
+manners, or a dolt in his intellect.
+
+The farm, in its proper cultivation, is the foundation of all human
+prosperity, and from it is derived the main wealth of the community.
+From the farm chiefly springs that energetic class of men, who replace
+the enervated and physically decaying multitude continually thrown off
+in the waste-weir of our great commercial and manufacturing cities and
+towns, whose population, without the infusion--and that continually--of
+the strong, substantial, and vigorous life blood of the country, would
+soon dwindle into insignificance and decrepitude. Why then should not
+this first, primitive, health-enjoying and life-sustaining class of our
+people be equally accommodated in all that gives to social and
+substantial life, its due development? It is absurd to deny them by
+others, or that they deny themselves, the least of such advantages, or
+that any mark of _caste_ be attempted to separate them from any other
+class or profession of equal wealth, means, or necessity. It is quite as
+well to say that the farmer should worship on the Sabbath in a
+_meeting-house_, built after the fashion of his barn, or that his
+district school house should look like a stable, as that his dwelling
+should not exhibit all that cheerfulness and respectability in form and
+feature which belongs to the houses of any class of our population
+whatever. Not that the farm house should be like the town or the village
+house, in character, style, or architecture, but that it should, in its
+own proper character, express all the comfort, repose, and quietude
+which belong to the retired and thoughtful occupation of him who
+inhabits it. Sheltered in its own secluded, yet independent domain, with
+a cheerful, _intelligent_ exterior, it should exhibit all the
+pains-taking in home embellishment and rural decoration that becomes its
+position, and which would make it an object of attraction and regard.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+              RURAL ARCHITECTURE.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+GENERAL SUGGESTIONS.
+
+
+In ascertaining what is desirable to the conveniences, or the
+necessities in our household arrangement, it may be not unprofitable to
+look about us, and consider somewhat, the existing condition of the
+structures too many of us now inhabit, and which, in the light of true
+fitness for the objects designed, are inconvenient, absurd, and out of
+all harmony of purpose; yet, under the guidance of a better skill, and a
+moderate outlay, might be well adapted, in most cases, to our
+convenience and comfort, and quite well, to a reasonable standard of
+taste in architectural appearance.
+
+At the threshold--not of the house, but of this treatise--it may be well
+to remark that it is not here assumed that there has been neither skill,
+ingenuity, nor occasional good taste exhibited, for many generations
+back, in the United States, in the construction of farm and country
+houses. On the contrary, there are found in the older states many farm
+and country houses that are almost models, in their way, for convenience
+in the main purposes required of structures of their kind, and such as
+can hardly be altered for the better. Such, however, form the exception,
+not the rule; yet instead of standing as objects for imitation, they
+have been ruled out as antiquated, and unfit for modern builders to
+consult, who have in the introduction of some real improvements, also
+left out, or discarded much that is valuable, and, where true comfort is
+concerned, indispensable to perfect housekeeping. Alteration is not
+always improvement, and in the rage for innovation of all kinds, among
+much that is valuable, a great deal in house-building has been
+introduced that is absolutely pernicious. Take, for instance, some of
+our ancient-looking country houses of the last century, which, in
+America, we call old. See their ample dimensions; their heavy, massive
+walls; their low, comfortable ceilings; their high gables; sharp roofs;
+deep porches, and spreading eaves, and contrast them with the ambitious,
+tall, proportionless, and card-sided things of a modern date, and draw
+the comparison in true comfort, which the ancient mansion really
+affords, by the side of the other. Bating its huge chimneys, its wide
+fire-places, its heavy beams dropping below the ceiling overhead, and
+the lack of some modern conveniences, which, to be added, would give all
+that is desired, and every man possessed of a proper judgment will
+concede the superiority to the house of the last century.
+
+That American house-building of the last fifty years is out of joint,
+requires no better proof than that the main improvements which have been
+applied to our rural architecture, are in the English style of farm and
+country houses of two or three centuries ago; so, in that particular, we
+acknowledge the better taste and judgment of our ancestors. True, modern
+luxury, and in some particulars, modern improvement has made obsolete,
+if not absurd, many things considered indispensable in a ruder age. The
+wide, rambling halls and rooms; the huge, deep fire-places in the
+chimneys; the proximity of out-buildings, and the contiguity of stables,
+ricks, and cattle-yards--all these are wisely contracted, dispensed
+with, or thrown off to a proper distance; but instead of such style
+being abandoned altogether, as has too often been done, the house itself
+might better have been partially reformed, and the interior arrangement
+adapted to modern convenience. Such changes have in some instances been
+made; and when so, how often does the old mansion, with outward features
+in good preservation, outspeak, in all the expression of home-bred
+comforts, the flashy, gimcrack neighbor, which in its plenitude of
+modern pretension looks so flauntingly down upon it!
+
+We cannot, in the United States, consistently adopt the domestic
+architecture of any other country, throughout, to our use. We are
+different in our institutions, our habits, our agriculture, our
+climates. Utility is our chief object, and coupled with that, the
+indulgence of an agreeable taste may be permitted to every one who
+creates a home for himself, or founds one for his family. The frequent
+changes of estates incident to our laws, and the many inducements held
+out to our people to change their locality or residence, in the hope of
+bettering their condition, is a strong hindrance to the adoption of a
+universally correct system in the construction of our buildings;
+deadening, as the effect of such changes, that home feeling which should
+be a prominent trait of agricultural character. An attachment to
+locality is not a conspicuous trait of American character; and if there
+be a people on earth boasting a high civilization and intelligence, who
+are at the same time a roving race, the Americans are that people; and
+we acknowledge it a blemish in our domestic and social constitution.
+
+Such remark is not dropped invidiously, but as a reason why we have thus
+far made so little progress in the arts of home embellishment, and in
+clustering about our habitations those innumerable attractions which win
+us to them sufficiently to repel the temptation so often presented to
+our enterprise, our ambition, or love of gain--and these not always
+successful--in seeking other and distant places of abode. If, then, this
+tendency to change--a want of attachment to any one spot--is a reason
+why we have been so indifferent to domestic architecture; and if the
+study and practice of a better system of building tends to cultivate a
+home feeling, why should it not be encouraged? Home attachment is a
+virtue. Therefore let that virtue be cherished. And if any one study
+tend to exalt our taste, and promote our enjoyment, let us cultivate
+that study to the highest extent within our reach.
+
+
+
+
+STYLE OF BUILDING.--MISCELLANEOUS.
+
+
+Diversified as are the features of our country in climate, soil,
+surface, and position, no one style of rural architecture is properly
+adapted to the whole; and it is a gratifying incident to the indulgence
+in a variety of taste, that we possess the opportunity which we desire
+in its display to almost any extent in mode and effect. The Swiss chal�t
+may hang in the mountain pass; the pointed Gothic may shoot up among the
+evergreens of the rugged hill-side; the Italian roof, with its
+overlooking campanile, may command the wooded slope or the open plain;
+or the quaint and shadowy style of the old English mansion, embosomed in
+its vines and shrubbery, may nestle in the quiet, shaded valley, all
+suited to their respective positions, and each in harmony with the
+natural features by which it is surrounded. Nor does the effect which
+such structures give to the landscape in an ornamental point of view,
+require that they be more imposing in character than the necessities of
+the occasion may demand. True economy demands a structure sufficiently
+spacious to accommodate its occupants in the best manner, so far as
+convenience and comfort are concerned in a dwelling; and its conformity
+to just rules in architecture need not be additionally expensive or
+troublesome. He who builds at all, if it be anything beyond a rude or
+temporary shelter, may as easily and cheaply build in accordance with
+correct rules of architecture, as against such rules; and it no more
+requires an extravagance in cost or a wasteful occupation of room to
+produce a given effect in a house suited to humble means, than in one of
+profuse accommodation. Magnificence, or the attempt at magnificence in
+building, is the great fault with Americans who aim to build out of the
+common line; and the consequence of such attempt is too often a failure,
+apparent, always, at a glance, and of course a perfect condemnation in
+itself of the judgment as well as taste of him who undertakes it.
+
+Holding our tenures as we do, with no privilege of entail to our
+posterity, an eye to his own interest, or to that of his family who is
+to succeed to his estate, should admonish the builder of a house to the
+adoption of a plan which will, in case of the sale of the estate,
+involve no serious loss. He should build such a house as will be no
+detriment, in its expense, to the selling value of the land on which it
+stands, and always fitted for the spot it occupies. Hence, an imitation
+of the high, extended, castellated mansions of England, or the
+Continent, although in miniature, are altogether unsuited to the
+American farmer or planter, whose lands, instead of increasing in his
+family, are continually subject to division, or to sale in mass, on his
+own demise; and when the estate is encumbered with unnecessarily large
+and expensive buildings, they become an absolute drawback to its value
+in either event. An expensive house requires a corresponding expense to
+maintain it, otherwise its effect is lost, and many a worthy owner of a
+costly mansion has been driven to sell and abandon his estate
+altogether, from his unwillingness or inability to support "the
+establishment" which it entailed; when, if the dwelling were only such
+as the estate required and could reasonably maintain, a contented and
+happy home would have remained to himself and family. It behooves,
+therefore, the American builder to examine well his premises, to
+ascertain the actual requirements of his farm or plantation, in
+convenience and accommodation, and build only to such extent, and at
+such cost as shall not impoverish his means, nor cause him future
+disquietude.
+
+Another difficulty with us is, that we oftener build to gratify the eyes
+of the public than our own, and fit up our dwellings to accommodate
+"company" or visitors, rather than our own families; and in the
+indulgence of this false notion, subject ourselves to perpetual
+inconvenience for the gratification of occasional hospitality or
+ostentation. This is all wrong. A house should be planned and
+constructed for the use of the household, with _incidental_
+accommodation for our immediate friends or guests--which can always be
+done without sacrifice to the comfort or convenience of the regular
+inmates. In this remark, a stinted and parsimonious spirit is not
+suggested. A liberal appropriation of rooms in every department; a spare
+chamber or two, or an additional room on the ground floor, looking to a
+possible increase of family, and the indulgence of an easy hospitality,
+should always govern the resident of the country in erecting his
+dwelling. The enjoyments of society and the intercourse of friends,
+sharing for the time, our own table and fireside, is a crowning pleasure
+of country life; and all this may be done without extraordinary expense,
+in a wise construction of the dwelling.
+
+The farm house too, should comport in character and area with the extent
+and capacity of the farm itself, and the main design for which it is
+erected. To the farmer proper--he who lives from the income which the
+farm produces--it is important to know the extent of accommodation
+required for the economical management of his estate, and then to build
+in accordance with it, as well as to suit his own position in life, and
+the station which he and his family hold in society. The owner of a
+hundred acre farm, living upon the income he receives from it, will
+require less house room than he who tills equally well his farm of
+three, six, or ten hundred acres. Yet the numbers in their respective
+families, the relative position of each in society, or their taste for
+social intercourse may demand a larger or smaller household arrangement,
+regardless of the size of their estates; still, the dwellings on each
+should bear, in extent and expense, a consistent relation to the land
+itself, and the means of its owner. For instance: a farm of one hundred
+acres may safely and economically erect and maintain a house costing
+eight hundred to two thousand dollars, while one of five hundred to a
+thousand acres may range in an expenditure of twenty-five hundred to
+five thousand dollars in its dwelling, and all be consistent with a
+proper economy in farm management.
+
+Let it be understood, that the above sums are named as simply comporting
+with a financial view of the subject, and such as the economical
+management of the estate may warrant. To one who has no regard to such
+consideration, this rule of expenditure will not apply. He may invest
+any amount he so chooses in building beyond, if he only be content to
+pocket the loss which he can never expect to be returned in an increased
+value to the property, over and above the price of cheaper buildings. On
+the other hand, he would do well to consider that a farm is frequently
+worth less to an ordinary purchaser, with an extravagant house upon it,
+than with an economical one, and in many cases will bring even less in
+market, in proportion as the dwelling is expensive. _Fancy_ purchasers
+are few, and fastidious, while he who buys only for a home and an
+occupation, is governed solely by the profitable returns the estate will
+afford upon the capital invested.
+
+There is again a grand error which many fall into in building, looking
+as they do only at the extent of wood and timber; or stone and mortar in
+the structure, and paying no attention to the surroundings, which in
+most cases contribute more to the effect of the establishment than the
+structure itself, and which, if uncultivated or neglected, any amount of
+expenditure in building will fail to give that completeness and
+perfection of character which every homestead should command. Thus the
+tawdry erections in imitation of a cast-off feudalism in Europe, or a
+copying of the massive piles of more recent date abroad, although in
+miniature, both in extent and cost, is the sheerest affectation, in
+which no sensible man should ever indulge. It is out of all keeping, or
+propriety with other things, as we in this country have them, and the
+indulgence of all such fancies is sooner or later regretted. Substance,
+convenience, purpose, harmony--all, perhaps, better summed up in the
+term EXPRESSION--these are the objects which should govern the
+construction of our dwellings and out-buildings, and in their observance
+we can hardly err in the acquisition of what will promote the highest
+enjoyment which a dwelling can bestow.
+
+
+
+
+POSITION.
+
+
+The site of a dwelling should be an important study with every country
+builder; for on this depends much of its utility, and in addition to
+that, a large share of the enjoyment which its occupation will afford.
+Custom, in many parts of the United States, in the location of the farm
+buildings, gives advantages which are denied in others. In the south,
+and in the slave states generally, the planter builds, regardless of
+roads, on the most convenient site his plantation presents; the farmer
+of German descent, in Pennsylvania and some other states, does the same:
+while the Yankee, be he settled where he will, either in the east,
+north, or west, inexorably huddles himself immediately upon the highway,
+whether his possessions embrace both sides of it or not, disregarding
+the facilities of access to his fields, the convenience of tilling his
+crops, or the character of the ground which his buildings may occupy,
+seeming to have no other object than proximity to the road--as if his
+chief business was upon that, instead of its being simply a convenience
+to his occupation. To the last, but little choice is left; and so long
+as a close connection with the thoroughfare is to control, he is obliged
+to conform to accident in what should be a matter of deliberate choice
+and judgment. Still, there are right and wrong positions for a house,
+which it is necessary to discuss, regardless of conventional rules, and
+they should be considered in the light of propriety alone.
+
+A fitness to the purposes for which the dwelling is constructed should,
+unquestionably, be the governing point in determining its position. The
+site should be dry, and slightly declining, if possible, on every side;
+but if the surface be level, or where water occasionally flows from
+contiguous grounds, or on a soil naturally damp, it should be thoroughly
+drained of all superfluous moisture. That is indispensable to the
+preservation of the house itself, and the health of its inmates. The
+house should so stand as to present an agreeable aspect from the main
+points at which it is seen, or the thoroughfares by which it is
+approached. It should be so arranged as to afford protection from wind
+and storm, to that part most usually occupied, as well as be easy of
+access to the out-buildings appended to it. It should have an
+unmistakable front, sides, and rear; and the uses to which its various
+parts are applied, should distinctly appear in its outward character.
+It should combine all the advantages of soil, cultivation, water, shade,
+and shelter, which the most liberal gratification, consistent with the
+circumstances of the owner, may demand. If a site on the estate command
+a prospect of singular beauty, other things equal, the dwelling should
+embrace it; if the luxury of a stream, or a sheet of water in repose,
+present itself, it should, if possible, be enjoyed; if the shade and
+protection of a grove be near, its benefits should be included; in fine,
+any object in itself desirable, and not embarrassing to the main
+purposes of the dwelling and its appendages, should be turned to the
+best account, and appropriated in such manner as to combine all that is
+desirable both in beauty and effect, as well as in utility, to make up a
+perfect whole in the family residence.
+
+Attached to the building site should be considered the quality of the
+soil, as affording cultivation and growth to shrubbery and trees,--at
+once the ornament most effective to all domestic buildings, grateful to
+the eye always, as objects of admiration and beauty--delightful in the
+repose they offer in hours of lassitude or weariness; and to them, that
+indispensable feature in a perfect arrangement, the garden, both fruit
+and vegetable, should be added. Happily for the American, our soils are
+so universally adapted to the growth of vegetation in all its varieties,
+that hardly a farm of considerable size can be found which does not
+afford tolerable facilities for the exercise of all the taste which one
+may indulge in the cultivation of the garden as well as in the planting
+and growth of trees and shrubbery; and a due appropriation of these to
+an agreeable residence is equal in importance to the style and
+arrangement of the house itself.
+
+The site selected for the dwelling, and the character of the scenery and
+objects immediately surrounding it, should have a controlling influence
+upon the style in which the house is to be constructed. A fitness and
+harmony in all these is indispensable to both expression and effect. And
+in their determination, a single object should not control, but the
+entire picture, as completed, should be embraced in the view; and that
+style of building constituting the most agreeable whole, as filling the
+eye with the most grateful sensations, should be the one selected with
+which to fill up and complete the design.
+
+
+
+
+HOME EMBELLISHMENTS.
+
+
+A discussion of the objects by way of embellishment, which may be
+required to give character and effect to a country residence, would
+embrace a range too wide, in all its parts, for a simply practical
+treatise like this; and general hints on the subject are all indeed,
+that will be required, as no specific rules or directions can be given
+which would be applicable, indiscriminately, to guide the builder in the
+execution of his work. A dwelling house, no matter what the style,
+standing alone, either on hill or plain, apart from other objects, would
+hardly be an attractive sight. As a mere representation of a particular
+style of architecture, or as a model of imitation, it might excite our
+admiration, but it would not be an object on which the eye and the
+imagination could repose with satisfaction. It would be incomplete
+unless accompanied by such associates as the eye is accustomed to
+embrace in the full gratification of the sensations to which that organ
+is the conductor. But assemble around that dwelling subordinate
+structures, trees, and shrubbery properly disposed, and it becomes an
+object of exceeding interest and pleasure in the contemplation. It is
+therefore, that the particular style or outward arrangement of the house
+is but a part of what should constitute the general effect, and such
+style is to be consulted only so far as it may in itself please the
+taste, and give benefit or utility in the purposes for which it is
+intended. Still, the architectural design should be in harmony with the
+features of the surrounding scenery, and is thus important in completing
+the effect sought, and which cannot be accomplished without it.
+
+A farm with its buildings, or a simple country residence with the
+grounds which enclose it, or a cottage with its door-yard and garden,
+should be finished sections of the landscape of which it forms a part,
+or attractive points within it; and of consequence, complete each within
+itself, and not dependent upon distant accessories to support it--an
+_imperium in imperio_, in classic phrase. A tower, a monument, a
+steeple, or the indistinct outline of a distant town may form a striking
+feature in a pictorial design and the associations connected with them,
+or, the character in which they are contemplated may allow them to stand
+naked and unadorned by other objects, and still permit them to fill up
+in perfect harmony the picture. This idea will illustrate the importance
+of embellishment, not only in the substitution of trees as necessary
+appendages to a complete rural establishment, but in the erection of all
+the buildings necessary for occupation in any manner, in form and
+position, to give effect from any point of view in which the homestead
+may be seen. General appearance should not be confined to one quarter
+alone, but the house and its surroundings on every side should show
+completeness in design and harmony in execution; and although humble,
+and devoted to the meanest purposes, a portion of these erections may
+be, yet the character of utility or necessity which they maintain, gives
+them an air of dignity, if not of grace. Thus, a house and out-buildings
+flanked with orchards, or a wood, on which they apparently fall back for
+support, fills the eye at once with not only a beautiful group, in
+themselves combined, but associate the idea of repose, of comfort, and
+abundance--indispensable requisites to a perfect farm residence. They
+also seem to connect the house and out-buildings with the fields beyond,
+which are of necessity naked of trees, and gradually spread the view
+abroad over the farm until it mingles with, or is lost in the general
+landscape.
+
+These remarks may seem too refined, and as out of place here, and
+trenching upon the subject of Landscape Gardening, which is not designed
+to be a part, or but an incidental one of the present work, yet they are
+important in connection with the subject under discussion. The proper
+disposition of trees and shrubbery around, or in the vicinity of
+buildings is far too little understood, although tree planting about our
+dwellings is a practice pretty general throughout our country. Nothing
+is more common than to see a man build a house, perhaps in most
+elaborate and expensive style, and then plant a row of trees close upon
+the front, which when grown will shut it almost entirely out of view;
+while he leaves the rear as bald and unprotected as if it were a barn or
+a horse-shed--as if in utter ignorance, as he probably is, that his
+house is more effectively set off by a _flanking_ and _background_ of
+tree and shrubbery, than in front. And this is called good taste! Let us
+examine it. Trees near a dwelling are desirable for shade; _shelter_
+they do not afford except in masses, which last is always better given
+to the house itself by a veranda. Immediately adjoining, or within
+touching distance of a house, trees create dampness, more or less
+litter, and frequently vermin. They injure the walls and roofs by their
+continual shade and dampness. They exclude the rays of the sun, and
+prevent a free circulation of air. Therefore, _close_ to the house,
+trees are absolutely pernicious, to say nothing of excluding all its
+architectural effect from observation; when, if planted at proper
+distances, they compose its finest ornaments.
+
+If it be necessary to build in good taste at all, it is quite as
+necessary that such good taste be kept in view throughout. A country
+dwelling should always be a conspicuous object in its full character and
+outline, from one or more prominent points of observation; consequently
+all plantations of tree or shrubbery in its immediate vicinity should be
+considered as aids to show off the house and its appendages, instead of
+becoming the principal objects of attraction in themselves. Their
+disposition should be such as to create a perfect and agreeable whole,
+when seen in connection with the house itself. They should also be so
+placed as to open the surrounding landscape to view in its most
+attractive features, from the various parts of the dwelling. Much in the
+effective disposition of trees around the dwelling will thus depend upon
+the character of the country seen from it, and which should control to a
+great extent their position. A single tree, of grand and stately
+dimensions, will frequently give greater effect than the most studied
+plantations. A ledge of rock, in the clefts of which wild vines may
+nestle, or around which a mass of shrubbery may cluster, will add a
+charm to the dwelling which an elaborate cultivation would fail to
+bestow; and the most negligent apparel of nature in a thousand ways may
+give a character which we might strive in vain to accomplish by our own
+invention. In the efforts to embellish our dwellings or grounds, the
+strong natural objects with which they are associated should be
+consulted, always keeping in view an _expression_ of the chief character
+to which the whole is applied.
+
+
+
+
+MATERIAL FOR FARM BUILDINGS.
+
+
+In a country like ours, containing within its soils and upon its surface
+such an abundance and variety of building material, the composition of
+our farm erections must depend in most cases upon the ability or the
+choice of the builder himself.
+
+Stone is the most durable, in the long run the cheapest, and as a
+consequence, the _best_ material which can be furnished for the walls of
+a dwelling. With other farm buildings circumstances may govern
+differently; still, in many sections of the United States, even stone
+cannot be obtained, except at an expense and inconvenience altogether
+forbidding its use. Yet it is a happy relief that where stone is
+difficult, or not at all to be obtained, the best of clay for bricks,
+is abundant; and in almost all parts of our country, even where building
+timber is scarce, its transportation is so comparatively light, and the
+facilities of removing it are so cheap, that wood is accessible to every
+one. Hence we may indulge in almost every fitting style of architecture
+and arrangement, to which either kind of these materials are best
+adapted. We shall slightly discuss them as applicable to our purposes.
+
+Stone is found either on the surface, or in quarries under ground.
+On the surface they lie chiefly as bowlders of less or greater size,
+usually of hard and durable kinds. Large bowlders may be either blasted,
+or split with wedges into sufficiently available shapes to lay in walls
+with mortar; or if small, they may with a little extra labor, be fitted
+by the aid of good mortar into equally substantial wall as the larger
+masses. In quarries they are thrown out, either by blasting or splitting
+in layers, so as to form regular courses when laid up; and all their
+varieties may, _unhammered_, except to strike off projecting points or
+angles, be laid up with a sufficiently smooth face to give fine effect
+to a building. Thus, when easily obtained, aside from the greater
+advantages of their durability, stone is as cheap in the first instance
+as lumber, excepting in new districts of country where good building
+lumber is the chief article of production, and cheaper than brick in any
+event. Stone requires no paint. Its color is a natural, therefore an
+agreeable one, be it usually what it may, although some shades are more
+grateful to the eye than others; yet it is always in harmony with
+natural objects, and particularly so on the farm where everything ought
+to wear the most substantial appearance. The outer walls of a stone
+house should always be _firred_ off inside for _lathing_ and plastering,
+to keep them thoroughly dry. Without that, the rooms are liable to
+dampness, which would penetrate through the stone into the inside
+plastering unless cut off by an open space of air between.
+
+Bricks, where stone is not found, supply its place tolerably well. When
+made of good clay, rightly tempered with sand, and well burned, they
+will in a wall remain for centuries, and as far as material is
+concerned, answer all purposes. Brick walls may be thinner than stone
+walls, but they equally require "firring off" for inside plastering, and
+in addition, they need the aid of paint quite as often as wood, to give
+them an agreeable color--bricks themselves not usually being in the
+category of desirable colors or shades.
+
+Wood, when abundant and easily obtained, is worked with the greatest
+facility, and on many accounts, is the cheapest material, _for the
+time_, of which a building can be constructed. But it is perishable. It
+requires every few years a coat of paint, and is always associated with
+the idea of decay. Yet wood may be moulded into an infinite variety of
+form to please the eye, in the indulgence of any peculiar taste or
+fancy.
+
+We cannot, in the consideration of material for house-building
+therefore, urge upon the farmer the adoption of either of the above
+named materials to the preference of another, in any particular
+structure he may require; but leave him to consult his own circumstances
+in regard to them, as best he may. But this we will say: _If it be
+possible_, never lay a _cellar_ or underground wall of perishable
+material, such as wood or soft bricks; nor build with soft or _unburnt_
+bricks in a wall exposed to the weather _anywhere;_ nor with stone which
+is liable to crumble or disintegrate by the action of frost or water
+upon it. We are aware that unburnt bricks have been strongly recommended
+for house-building in America; but from observation, we are fully
+persuaded that they are worthless for any _permanent_ structure, and if
+used, will in the end prove a dead loss in their application. Cottages,
+out-buildings, and other cheap erections on the farm, for the
+accommodation of laborers, stock, or crops, may be made of wood, where
+wood is the cheapest and most easily obtained; and, even taking its
+perishable nature into account, it may be the most economical. In their
+construction, it may be simply a matter of calculation with him who
+needs them, to calculate the first cost of any material he has at hand,
+or may obtain, and to that add the interest upon it, the annual wear and
+tear, the insurance, and the period it may last, to determine this
+matter to his entire satisfaction--always provided he have the means at
+hand to do either. But other considerations generally control the
+American farmer. His pocket is apt more often to be pinched, than his
+choice is to be at fault; and this weighty argument compels him into the
+"make shift" system, which perhaps in its results, provided the main
+chance be attained, is quite as advantageous to his interests as the
+other.
+
+As a general remark, all buildings should show for themselves, what they
+are built of. Let stone be stone; bricks show on their own account; and
+of all things, put no counterfeit by way of plaster, stucco, or other
+false pretence other than paint, or a durable wash upon wood: it is a
+miserable affectation always, and of no possible use whatever. All
+counterfeit of any kind as little becomes the buildings of the farmer,
+as the gilded _pinchbeck_ watch would fit the finished attire of a
+gentleman.
+
+Before submitting the several designs proposed for this work, it may be
+remarked, that in addressing them to a climate strictly American, we
+have in every instance adopted the wide, steeply-pitched roof, with
+broad eaves, gables and cornices, as giving protection, shade, and
+shelter to the walls; thus keeping them dry and in good preservation,
+and giving that well housed, and comfortable expression, so different
+from the stiff, pinched, and tucked-up look in which so many of the
+haberdasher-built houses of the present day exult.
+
+We give some examples of the hipped roof, because they are convenient
+and cheap in their construction; and we also throw into the designs a
+lateral direction to the roofs of the wings, or connecting parts of the
+building. This is sometimes done for effect in architectural appearance,
+and sometimes for the economy and advantage of the building itself.
+Where roofs thus intersect or connect with a side wall, the connecting
+gutters should be made of copper, zinc, lead, galvanized iron, or tin,
+into which the shingles, if they be covered with that material, should
+be laid so as to effectually prevent leakage. The _eave gutters_ should
+be of copper, zinc, lead, galvanized iron or tin, also, and placed _at
+least_ one foot back from the edge of the roof, and lead the water into
+conductors down the wall into the cistern or elsewhere, as may be
+required. If the water be not needed, and the roof be wide over the
+walls, there is no objection to let it pass off naturally, if it be no
+inconvenience to the ground below, and can run off, or be absorbed into
+the ground without detriment to the cellar walls. All this must be
+subject to the judgment of the proprietor himself.
+
+
+
+
+OUTSIDE COLOR.
+
+
+We are not among those who cast off, and on a sudden condemn, as out of
+all good taste, the time-honored white house with its green blinds,
+often so tastefully gleaming out from beneath the shade of summer trees;
+nor do we doggedly adhere to it, except when in keeping, by contrast or
+otherwise, with everything around it. For a century past white has been
+the chief color of our wooden houses, and often so of brick ones, in the
+United States. This color has been supposed to be strong and durable,
+being composed chiefly of white lead; and as it _reflected_ the rays of
+the sun instead of _absorbing_ them, as some of the darker colors do, it
+was thus considered a better preserver of the weather-boarding from the
+cracks which the fervid heat of the sun is apt to make upon it, than the
+darker colors. White, consequently, has always been considered, until
+within a few years past, as a fitting and _tasteful_ color for
+dwellings, both in town and country. A new school of _taste_ in colors
+has risen, however, within a few years past, among us; about the same
+time, too, that the recent gingerbread and beadwork style of country
+building was introduced. And these were both, as all _new_ things are
+apt to be, carried to extremes. Instead of _toning_ down the glare of
+the white into some quiet, neutral shade, as a straw color; a drab of
+different hues--always an agreeable and appropriate color for a
+dwelling, particularly when the door and window casings are dressed with
+a deeper or lighter shade, as those shades predominate in the main body
+of the house; or a natural and soft _wood_ color, which also may be of
+various shades; or even the warm russet hue of some of our rich
+stones--quite appropriate, too, as applied to wood, or bricks--the
+_fashion_ must be followed without either rhyme or reason, and hundreds
+of our otherwise pretty and imposing country houses have been daubed
+over with the dirtiest, gloomiest pigment imaginable, making every
+habitation which it touched look more like a funeral appendage than a
+cheerful, life-enjoying home. We candidly say that we have no sort of
+affection for such sooty daubs. The fashion which dictates them is a
+barbarous, false, and arbitrary fashion; void of all natural taste in
+its inception; and to one who has a cheerful, life-loving spirit about
+him, such colors have no more fitness on his dwelling or out-buildings,
+than a tomb would have in his lawn or dooryard.
+
+Locality, amplitude of the buildings, the purpose to which they are
+applied--every consideration connected with them, in fact, should be
+consulted, as to color. Stone will give its own color; which, by the
+way, some prodigiously smart folks _paint_--quite as decorous or
+essential, as to "paint the lily." Brick sometimes must be painted, but
+it should be of a color in keeping with its character,--of substance and
+dignity; not a counterfeit of stone, or to cheat him who looks upon it
+into a belief that it may be marble, or other unfounded pretension.
+A _warm_ russet is most appropriate for brick-work of any kind of
+color--the color of a russet apple, or undressed leather--shades that
+comport with Milton's beautiful idea of
+
+  "_Russet_ lawns and fallows _gray_."
+
+Red and yellow are both too glaring, and slate, or lead colors too
+somber and cold. It is, in fact, a strong argument in favor of bricks in
+building, where they can be had as cheap as stone or wood, that any
+color can be given to them which the good taste of the builder may
+require, in addition to their durability, which, when made of good
+material, and properly burned, is quite equal to stone. In a wooden
+structure one may play with his fancy in the way of color, minding in
+the operation, that he does not play the mountebank, and like the clown
+in the circus, make his tattooed tenement the derision of men of correct
+taste, as the other does his burlesque visage the ridicule of his
+auditors.
+
+A _wooden_ country house, together with its out-buildings, should always
+be of a cheerful and softly-toned color--a color giving a feeling of
+warmth and comfort; nothing glaring or flashy about it. And yet, such
+buildings should not, in their color, any more than in their
+architecture, appear as if _imitating_ either stone or brick. Wood, of
+itself, is light. One cannot build a _heavy_ house of wood, as compared
+with brick or stone. Therefore all imitation or device which may lead to
+a belief that it may be other than what it really is, is nothing less
+than a fraud--not criminal, we admit, but none the less a fraud upon
+good taste and architectural truth.
+
+It is true that in this country we cannot afford to place in stone and
+brick buildings those ornate trimmings and appendages which, perhaps, if
+economy were not to be consulted, might be more durably constructed of
+stone, but at an expense too great to be borne by those of moderate
+means. Yet it is not essential that such appendages should be of so
+expensive material. The very purposes to which they are applied, as a
+parapet, a railing, a balustrade, a portico, piazza, or porch; all these
+may be of wood, even when the material of the house _proper_ is of the
+most durable kind; and by being painted in keeping with the building
+itself, produce a fine effect, and do no violence to good taste or the
+most fastidious propriety. They may be even sanded to a color, and
+grained, stained, or otherwise brought to an identity, almost, with the
+material of the house, and be quite proper, because they simply are
+_appendages_ of convenience, necessity, or luxury, to the building
+itself, and may be taken away without injuring or without defacing the
+main structure. They are not a _material_ part of the building itself,
+but reared for purposes which may be dispensed with. It is a matter of
+taste or preference, that they were either built there, or that they
+remain permanently afterward, and of consequence, proper that they be of
+wood. Yet they should not _imitate_ stone or brick. They should still
+show that they _are_ of wood, but in color and outside preservation
+denote that they are appendages to a _stone_ or _brick_ house, by
+complying with the proper shades in color which predominate in the
+building itself, and become their own subordinate character.
+
+Not being a professional painter, or compounder of colors, we shall
+offer no receipts or specifics for painting or washing buildings.
+Climate affects the composition of both paints and washes, and those who
+are competent in this line, are the proper persons to dictate their
+various compositions; and we do but common justice to the skill and
+intelligence of our numerous mechanics, when we recommend to those who
+contemplate building, to apply forthwith to such as are masters of their
+trade for all the information they require on the various subjects
+connected with it. One who sets out to be his own architect, builder,
+and painter, is akin to the lawyer in the proverb, who has a fool for
+his client, when pleading his own case, and quite as apt to have quack
+in them all. Hints, general outlines, and oftentimes matters of detail
+in interior convenience, and many other minor affairs may be given by
+the proprietor, when he is neither a professional architect, mechanic,
+or even an amateur; but in all things affecting the _substantial_ and
+important parts of his buildings, he should consult those who are
+proficient and experienced in the department on which he consults them.
+And it may perhaps be added that none _professing_ to be such, are
+competent, unless well instructed, and whose labors have met the
+approbation of those competent to judge.
+
+There is one kind of color, prevailing to a great extent in many parts
+of our country, particularly the northern and eastern, which, in its
+effect upon any one having an eye to a fitness of things in country
+buildings, is a monstrous perversion of good taste. That is the glaring
+red, made up of Venetian red, ochre, or Spanish brown, with doors and
+windows touched off with white. The only apology we have ever heard
+given for such a barbarism was, that it is a good, strong, and lasting
+color. We shall not go into an examination as to that fact, but simply
+answer, that if it be so, there are other colors, not more expensive,
+which are equally strong and durable, and infinitely more tasteful and
+fitting. There can be nothing less comporting with the simplicity of
+rural scenery, than a glaring red color on a building. It _connects_
+with nothing natural about it; it neither _fades_ into any surrounding
+shade of soil or vegetation, and must of necessity, stand out in its own
+bold and unshrouded impudence, a perfect Ishmaelite in color, and a
+perversion of every thing harmonious in the design. We eschew _red_,
+therefore, from every thing in rural architecture.
+
+
+
+
+A SHORT CHAPTER ON TASTE.
+
+
+The compound words, or terms _good-taste_ and _bad-taste_ have been used
+in the preceding pages without, perhaps, sufficiently explaining what is
+meant by the word _taste_, other than as giving vague and unsatisfactory
+terms to the reader in measuring the subject in hand. _Taste_ is a term
+universally applied in criticism of the fine-arts, such as painting,
+sculpture, architecture, &c., &c., of which there are many schools--of
+_taste_, we mean--some of them, perhaps natural, but chiefly
+conventional, and all more or less arbitrary. The proverb, "there is no
+accounting for taste," is as old as the aforesaid schools themselves,
+and defines perfectly our own estimate of the common usage of the term.
+
+As we have intended to use it, Webster defines the word _taste_ to be
+"the faculty of discerning beauty, order, congruity, proportion,
+symmetry, or whatever constitutes excellence; style; manner with respect
+to what is pleasing." With this understanding, therefore; a fitness to
+the purpose for which a thing is intended--got up in a manner agreeable
+to the eye and the mind--preserving also a harmony between its various
+parts and uses; pleasing to the eye, as addressed to the sense, and
+satisfactory to the mind, as appropriate to the object for which it is
+required;--these constitute _good-taste_, as the term is here
+understood.
+
+The term _style_, also, is "the _manner_ or _form_ of a thing."
+When we say, "that is a stylish house," it should mean that it is in,
+or approaches some particular style of building recognized by the
+schools. It may or may not be in accordance with good taste, and is,
+consequently, subject to the same capricious test in its government. Yet
+_styles_ are subject to arrangement, and are classified in the several
+schools of architecture, either as distinct specimens of acknowledged
+orders, as the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthian, in Grecian
+architecture, or, the Tuscan and Composite, which are, more distinctly,
+styles of Roman architecture. To these may be added the Egyptian, the
+most massive of all; and either of them, in their proper character,
+grand and imposing when applied to public buildings or extensive
+structures, but altogether inapplicable, from their want of lightness
+and convenience, to country or even city dwellings. Other styles--not
+exactly orders--of architecture, such as the Italian, the Romanesque,
+the Gothic, the Swiss, with their modifications--all of which admit of a
+variety of departures from fixed rules, not allowed in the more rigid
+orders--may be adapted in a variety of ways, to the most agreeable and
+harmonious arrangement in architectural effect, for dwellings and
+structures appurtenant to them.
+
+The Italian style of architecture, modified somewhat in pretension and
+extent, is admirably adapted to most parts of the United States. Its
+general lightness, openness, and freedom gives a wide range of choice;
+and its wings, verandas, and terraces, stretching off in any and almost
+every direction desired, from the main building, make it exceedingly
+appropriate for general use. The modern, or rural Gothic, branching off
+sometimes into what is termed the English cottage style, and in many
+instances blending so intimately with the Italian, as hardly to mark the
+line of division, is also a beautiful _arrangement_ of building for
+country dwellings. These, in ruder structures, may also be carried into
+the Rustic--not a style proper, in itself--but so termed as
+approximating in execution or pretension to either of the above; while
+the Swiss, with its hanging roofs, and sheltering eaves may be
+frequently brought in aid to show out the rustic form in more
+completeness, and in greater harmony with surrounding objects, than
+either of the others.
+
+For farm houses, either of these _arrangements_ or departures from a
+_set_ and _positive_ style, are better fitted than any which we have
+noticed; and in some one or other of the modifications named, we have
+applied them in the examples submitted in this work. They may not
+therefore be viewed as _distinct_ delineations of an _order_ of
+architecture, or style _proper_, even; but as a _mode_ appropriate to
+the object required. And so long as they do not absolutely conflict with
+true taste, or in their construction commit a barbarism upon any
+acknowledged system of architecture, in any of its modifications, we
+hazard no impropriety in introducing them for the imitation of country
+builders. Congruity with the objects to which it is applied should be
+the chief merit of any structure whatever; and so long as that object be
+attained, good taste is not violated, and utility is fully subserved.
+
+Intimately connected with this subject, in rural buildings, is the
+_shape_ of the structure. Many of the designs recently introduced for
+the imitation of builders, are full of angles and all sorts of zig-zag
+lines, which, although they may add to the variety of style, or relieve
+the monotony of straight and continuous lines, are carried to a needless
+excess, expensive in their construction, and entail infinite trouble
+upon the owner or occupant, in the repairs they subject him to, in the
+leakages continually occurring, against which last, either of wind or
+rain, it is almost impossible to guard. And what, let us ask, are the
+benefits of a parcel of needless gables and peaked windows, running up
+like owl's ears, above the eaves of a house, except to create expense,
+and invite leakage and decay? If in appearance, they provoke an
+association of that kind, they certainly are not in good taste; and a
+foot or two of increased height in a wall, or a low window sufficient
+for the purpose intended, would give a tone of dignity, of comfort, and
+real utility, which a whole covey of such pretentious things could not.
+All such trumpery should be scouted from the dwelling house of the
+farmer, and left to the special indulgence of the town builder.
+
+A _square_ form of house will afford more area within a given line of
+wall than any other _sensible_ form which may be adopted. Yet a square
+house is not so agreeable to the eye as an oblong. Thus, a house should
+stand somewhat broader on one front than on another. It should also be
+relieved from an appearance of monotony and tameness, by one or more
+wings; and such wings should, at their junction with the main building,
+retreat or advance a sufficient distance from a continuous line, as to
+relieve it effectually from an appearance of stiffness, and show a
+different character of occupation from that of the main structure. The
+front of a house should be the most imposing and finished in its
+architecture of any one of its parts; and unless some motive of greater
+convenience control otherwise, its entrance the most highly wrought,
+as indicating the luxury of the establishment--for even the humblest
+habitations have their luxuries. The side rooms, or more usually
+occupied apartments, require less pretension in both architectural
+effect and finish, and should wear a more subdued appearance; while the
+kitchen section, and from that, the several grades of apartments
+stretching beyond it, should distinctly show that they are subservient
+in their character, and wear a style and finish accordingly. Thus, each
+part of the house speaks for itself. It is its own finger-board,
+pointing the stranger to its various accommodation, as plainly as if
+written on its walls, and saying as significantly as dumb walls can do,
+that here dwells a well regulated family, who have a parlor for their
+friends; a library, or sitting-room for their own leisure and comfort;
+an ample bedroom and nursery, for the parents and the little ones; a
+kitchen for the cooking; and a scullery and closets, and all the other
+etceteras which belong to a perfect family homestead.
+
+And so with the grounds. The lawn or "dooryard," should be the best kept
+ground on the place. The most conspicuous part of the garden should show
+its shrubbery and its flowers. The side or rear approach should be
+separated from the lawn, and show its constant _business_ occupation,
+and openly lead off to where men and farm stock meet on common ground,
+devoted to every purpose which the farm requires. Such arrangement would
+be complete in all its parts, satisfactory, and lasting. Tinsel
+ornament, or gewgaw decoration should never be permitted on any building
+where the sober enjoyment of agricultural life is designed. It can never
+add consideration or dignity to the retired gentleman even, and least of
+all should it be indulged in by the farmer, dwelling on his own
+cultivated acres.
+
+
+
+
+THE CONSTRUCTION OF CELLARS.
+
+
+Every farm house and farm cottage, where a family of any size occupy the
+latter, should have a good, substantial _stone_-walled cellar beneath
+it. No room attached to the farm house is more profitable, in its
+occupation, than the cellar. It is useful for storing numberless
+articles which are necessary to be kept warm and dry in winter, as well
+as cool in summer, of which the farmer is well aware. The walls of a
+cellar should rise at least one, to two, or even three feet above the
+level of the ground surrounding it, according to circumstances, and the
+rooms in it well ventilated by _two_ or more sliding sash windows in
+each, according to size, position, and the particular kind of storage
+for which it is required, so that a draft of pure air can pass through,
+and give it thorough ventilation at all times. It should also be at
+least seven and a half feet high in the clear; and if it be even nine
+feet, that is not too much. If the soil be compact, or such as will hold
+water, it should be thoroughly drained from the lowest point or corner,
+and the drain always kept open; (a stone drain is the best and most
+durable,) and if floored with a coat of flat, or rubble stones, well set
+in good hydraulic cement--or cement alone, when the stone cannot be
+obtained--all the better. This last will make it _rat proof_. For the
+purpose of avoiding these destructive creatures, the _foundation_ stones
+in the wall should be brought to a joint, and project at least six
+inches on each side, from the wall itself, when laid upon this bottom
+course; as the usual manner of rats is to burrow in a nearly
+perpendicular direction from the surface, by the side of the wall, when
+intending to undermine it. On arriving at the bottom, if circumvented by
+the projecting stones, they will usually abandon their work. Plank of
+hard wood, or hard burnt bricks, may answer this purpose when stone
+cannot be had.
+
+All cellar walls should be laid in good lime mortar, or if that be not
+practicable, they should be well pointed with it. This keeps them in
+place, and renders them less liable to the ingress of water and vermin.
+The thickness of wall should not be less than fifteen to eighteen
+inches, in any event, when of stone; and if the house walls above be
+built of stone or brick, two feet is better; and in all cases the cellar
+wall should be full three inches thicker than the wall resting upon it.
+
+In the cellar of every farm house there should be an outside door, with
+a flight of steps by which to pass roots and other bulky or heavy
+articles, to which a wagon or cart may approach, either to receive or
+discharge them. This is indispensable.
+
+Every out-building upon the farm, let it be devoted to what purpose it
+may, having a wooden floor on the ground story, should be set up
+sufficiently high from the surface to admit a cat or small terrier dog
+beneath such floor, with openings for them to pass in and out, or these
+hiding places will become so many rat warrens upon the premises, and
+prove most destructive to the grain and poultry. Nothing can be more
+annoying to the farmer than these vermin, and a trifling outlay in the
+beginning, will exclude them from the foundations and walls of all
+buildings. Care, therefore, should be taken to leave no haunt for their
+convenience.
+
+With these suggestions the ingenuity of every builder will provide
+sufficient guards against the protection of vermin beneath his
+buildings.
+
+
+
+
+VENTILATION OF HOUSES.
+
+
+Pure air, and enough of it, is the cheapest blessing one can enjoy; and
+to deny one's self so indispensable an element of good health, is little
+short of criminal neglect, or the sheerest folly. Yet thousands who
+build at much needless expense, for the protection of their health and
+that of their families, as they allege, and no doubt suppose, by
+neglecting the simplest of all contrivances, in the work of ventilation,
+invite disease and infirmity, from the very pains they so unwittingly
+take to ward off such afflictions.
+
+A man, be he farmer or of other profession, finding himself prosperous
+in life, sets about the very sensible business of building a house for
+his own accommodation. Looking back, perhaps, to the days of his
+boyhood, in a severe climate, he remembers the not very highly-finished
+tenement of his father, and the wide, open fireplace which, with its
+well piled logs, was scarcely able to warm the large living-room, where
+the family were wont to huddle in winter. He possibly remembers, with
+shivering sympathy, the sprinkling of snow which he was accustomed to
+find upon his bed as he awaked in the morning, that had found its way
+through the frail casing of his chamber window--but in the midst of all
+which he grew up with a vigorous constitution, a strong arm, and a
+determined spirit. He is resolved that _his_ children shall encounter no
+such hardships, and that himself and his excellent helpmate shall suffer
+no such inconvenience as his own parents had done, who now perhaps, are
+enjoying a strong and serene old age, in their old-fashioned, yet to
+them not uncomfortable tenement. He therefore determines to have a snug,
+_close_ house, where the cold cannot penetrate. He employs all his
+ingenuity to make every joint an air-tight fit; the doors must swing to
+an air-tight joint; the windows set into air-tight frames; and to
+perfect the catalogue of his comforts, an air-tight stove is introduced
+into every occupied room which, perchance, if he can afford it, are
+further warmed and poisoned by the heated flues of an air-tight furnace
+in his air-tight cellar. In short, it is an air-tight concern
+throughout. His family breathe an air-tight atmosphere; they eat their
+food cooked in an "air-tight kitchen witch," of the latest "premium
+pattern;" and thus they start, father, mother, children, all on the high
+road--if persisted in--to a galloping consumption, which sooner or later
+conducts them to an air-tight dwelling, not soon to be changed. If such
+melancholy catastrophe be avoided, colds, catarrhs, headaches, and all
+sorts of bodily afflictions shortly make their appearance, and they
+wonder what is the matter! They live so snug! their house is so warm!
+they sleep so comfortable! how can it be? True, in the morning the air
+of their sleeping-rooms feels close, but then if a window is opened it
+will chill the rooms, and that will give them colds. What _can_ be the
+matter? The poor creatures never dream that they have been breathing,
+for hour after hour, decomposed air, charged with poisonous gases, which
+cannot escape through the tight walls, or over the tight windows, or
+through the tight stoves; and thus they keep on in the sure course to
+infirmity, disease, and premature death--all for the want of a little
+ventilation! Better indeed, that instead of all this painstaking, a pane
+were knocked out of every window, or a panel out of every door in the
+house.
+
+We are not disposed to talk about cellar furnaces for heating a farmer's
+house. They have little to do in the farmer's inventory of goods at all,
+unless it be to give warmth to the hall--and even then a snug box stove,
+with its pipe passing into the nearest chimney is, in most cases, the
+better appendage. Fuel is usually abundant with the farmer; and where
+so, its benefits are much better dispensed in open stoves or fireplaces,
+than in heating furnaces or "air-tights."
+
+We have slightly discussed this subject of firing in the farm house,
+in a previous page, but while in the vein, must crave another word.
+A farmer's house should _look_ hospitable as well as _be_ hospitable,
+both outside and in; and the broadest, most cheerful look of hospitality
+within doors, in cold weather, is an _open_ fire in the chimney
+fireplace, with the blazing wood upon it. There is no _mistake_ about
+it. It thaws you out, if cold; it stirs you up, if drooping; and is the
+welcome, winning introduction to the good cheer that is to follow.
+
+A short time ago we went to pay a former town friend a visit. He had
+removed out to a snug little farm, where he could indulge his
+agricultural and horticultural tastes, yet still attend to his town
+engagements, and enjoy the quietude of the country. We rang the door
+bell. A servant admitted us; and leaving overcoat and hat in the hall,
+we entered a lone room, with an "air-tight" stove, looking as black and
+solemn as a Turkish eunuch upon us, and giving out about the same degree
+of genial warmth as the said eunuch would have expressed had he been
+there--an emasculated warming machine truly! On the floor was a Wilton
+carpet, too fine to stand on; around the room were mahogany sofas and
+mahogany chairs, all too fine to sit on--at all events to _rest_ one
+upon if he were fatigued. The blessed light of day was shut out by
+crimson and white curtains, held up by gilded arrows; and upon the
+mantle piece, and on the center and side tables were all sorts of
+gimcracks, costly and worthless. In short, there was no _comfort_ about
+the whole concern. Hearing our friend coming up from his dining-room
+below, where too, was his _cellar kitchen_--that most abominable of all
+appendages to a farm house, or to any other country house, for that
+matter--we buttoned our coat up close and high, thrust our hands into
+our pockets, and walked the room, as he entered. "Glad to see you--glad
+to see you, my friend!" said he, in great joy; "but dear me, why so
+buttoned up, as if you were going? What's the matter?" "My good sir," we
+replied, "you asked us to come over and see you, 'a _plain farmer_,' and
+'take a quiet family dinner with you.' We have done so; and here find
+you with all your town nonsense about you. No fire to warm by; no seat
+to rest in; no nothing like a farm or farmer about you; and it only
+needs your charming better half, whom we always admired, when she lived
+in town, to take down her enameled harp, and play
+
+  'In fairy bowers by moonlight hours,'
+
+to convince one that instead of ruralizing in the country, you had gone
+a peg higher in town residence! No, no, we'll go down to farmer
+Jocelyn's, our old schoolfellow, and take a dinner of bacon and cabbage
+with him. If he does occupy a one-story house, he lives up in sunshine,
+has an open fireplace, with a blazing wood fire on a chilly day, and his
+'latch string is always out.'"
+
+Our friend was petrified--astonished! We meant to go it rather strong
+upon him, but still kept a frank, good-humored face, that showed him no
+malice. He began to think he was not exactly in character, and essayed
+to explain. We listened to his story. His good wife came in, and all
+together, we had a long talk of their family and farming arrangements;
+how they had furnished their house; and how they proposed to live; but
+wound up with a sad story, that their good farming neighbors didn't call
+on them the _second_ time--kind, civil people they appeared, too--and
+while they were in, acted as though afraid to sit down, and afraid to
+stand up;--in short, they were dreadfully embarrassed; for why, our
+friends couldn't tell, but now began to understand it. "Well, my good
+friends," said we, "you have altogether mistaken country life in the
+outset. To live on a farm, it is neither necessary to be vulgar, nor
+clownish, nor to affect ignorance. _Simplicity_ is all you require, in
+manners, and equal simplicity in your furniture and appointments. Now
+just turn all this nonsense in furniture and room dressing out of doors,
+and let some of your town friends have it. Get some simple, comfortable,
+cottage furniture, much better for all purposes, than this, and you will
+settle down into quiet, natural country life before you are aware of it,
+and all will go 'merry as a marriage bell' with you, in a little
+time"--for they both loved the country, and were truly excellent people.
+We continued, "I came to spend the day and the night, and I will stay;
+and this evening we'll go down to your neighbor Jocelyn's; and you, Mrs.
+N----, shall go with us; and we will see how quietly and comfortably he
+and his family take the world in a farmer's way."
+
+We did go; not in carriage and livery, but walked the pleasant half mile
+that lay between them; the exercise of which gave us all activity and
+good spirits. Jocelyn was right glad to see us, and Patty, his staid and
+sober wife, with whom we had romped many an innocent hour in our
+childhood days, was quite as glad as he. But they _looked_ a little
+surprised that such "great folks" as their new neighbors, should drop in
+so unceremoniously, and into their common "keeping room," too, to chat
+away an evening. However, the embarrassment soon wore off. We talked of
+farming; we talked of the late elections; we talked of the fruit trees
+and the strawberry beds; and Mrs. Jocelyn, who was a pattern of good
+housekeeping, told Mrs. N---- how _she_ made her apple jellies, and her
+currant tarts, and cream cheeses; and before we left they had exchanged
+ever so many engagements,--Mrs. Patty to learn her new friend to do half
+a dozen nice little matters of household pickling and preserving; while
+she, in turn, was to teach Nancy and Fanny, Patty's two rosy-cheeked
+daughters, almost as pretty as their mother was at their own age, to
+knit a bead bag and work a fancy chair seat! And then we had apples and
+nuts, all of the very best--for Jocelyn was a rare hand at grafting and
+managing his fruit trees, and knew the best apples all over the country.
+We had, indeed, a capital time! To cut the story short, the next spring
+our friend sent his _fancy_ furniture to auction, and provided his house
+with simple cottage furnishings, at less than half the cost of the
+other; which both he and his wife afterward declared was infinitely
+better, for all house-keeping purposes. He also threw a neat wing on to
+the cottage, for an upper kitchen and its offices, and they now live
+like sensible country folks; and with their healthy, frolicksome
+children, are worth the envy of all the dyspeptic, town-fed people in
+existence.
+
+A long digression, truly; but so true a story, and one so apt to our
+subject can not well be omitted. But what has all this to do with
+ventilation? We'll tell you. Jocelyn's house was _ventilated_ as it
+should be;--for he was a methodical, thoughtful man, who planned and
+built his house himself--not the mechanical work, but directed it
+throughout, and saw that it was faithfully done; and that put us in mind
+of the story.
+
+To be perfect in its ventilation, every room in the house, even to the
+closets, should be so arranged that a current of air _may_ pass through,
+to keep it pure and dry. In living rooms, fresh air in sufficient
+quantity may usually be admitted through the doors. In sleeping rooms
+and closets, when doors may not be left open, one or more of the lower
+panels of the door may be filled by a rolling blind, opening more or
+less, at pleasure; or a square or oblong opening for that purpose, may
+be left in the base board, at the floor, and covered by a wire netting.
+And in all rooms, living apartments, as well as these, an opening of at
+least sixty-four square inches should be made in the wall, near the
+ceiling, and leading into an air flue, to pass into the garret. Such
+opening may be filled by a rolling blind, or wire screen, as below, and
+closed or kept open, at pleasure. Some builders prefer an air register
+to be placed in the chimney, over the fireplace or stove, near the
+ceiling; but the liability to annoyance, by smoke escaping through it
+into the room, if not thoroughly done, is an objection to this latter
+method, and the other may be made, in its construction, rather
+ornamental than otherwise, in appearance. All such details as these
+should be planned when the building is commenced, so that the several
+flues may be provided as the building proceeds. In a stone or brick
+house, a small space may be left in the walls, against which these air
+registers may be required; and for inner rooms, or closets, they may
+pass off into the openings of the partitions, and so up into the garret;
+from which apertures of escape may be left, or made at the gables, under
+the roof, or by a blind in a window.
+
+For the admission of air to the first floor of the house, a special
+opening through the walls, for that purpose, can hardly be necessary;
+as the doors leading outside are usually opened often enough for such
+object. One of the best ventilated houses we have ever seen, is that
+owned and occupied by Samuel Cloon, Esq., of Cincinnati. It is situated
+on his farm, three miles out of the city, and in its fine architectural
+appearance and finished appointments, as a rural residence and
+first-class farm house, is not often excelled. Every closet is
+ventilated through rolling blinds in the door panels; and foul air,
+either admitted or created within them, is passed off at once by flues
+near the ceiling overhead, passing into conductors leading off through
+the garret.
+
+Where chambers are carried into the roof of a house, to any extent, they
+are sometimes incommoded by the summer heat which penetrates them,
+conducted by the chamber ceiling overhead. This heat can best be
+obviated by inserting a small window at each opposite peak of the
+garret, by which the outside air can circulate through, above the
+chambers, and so pass off the heated air, which will continually ascend.
+All this is a simple matter, for which any builder can provide, without
+particular expense or trouble.
+
+
+
+
+INTERIOR ACCOMMODATION OF HOUSES.
+
+
+Ground, in the country, being the cheapest item which the farmer can
+devote to building purposes, his object should be to _spread over_,
+rather than to go deeply into it, or climb high in the air above it.
+We repudiate cellar kitchens, or under-ground rooms for house work,
+altogether, as being little better than a nuisance--dark, damp,
+unhealthy, inconvenient, and expensive. The several rooms of a farm
+dwelling house should be compact in arrangement, and contiguous as may
+be to the principally-occupied apartments. Such arrangement is cheaper,
+more convenient, and labor-saving; and in addition, more in accordance
+with a good and correct taste in the outward appearance of the house
+itself.
+
+The general introduction of cooking stoves, and other stoves and
+apparatus for warming houses, within the last twenty years, which we
+acknowledge to be a great acquisition in comfort as well as in
+convenience and economy, has been carried to an extreme, not only in
+shutting up and shutting out the time-honored open fireplace and its
+broad hearthstone, with their hallowed associations, but also in
+prejudice to the health of those who so indiscriminately use them,
+regardless of other arrangements which ought to go with them. A farm
+house should never be built without an ample, open fireplace in its
+kitchen, and other _principally_ occupied rooms; and in all rooms where
+stoves are placed, and fires are daily required, the _open_ Franklin
+should take place of the close or air-tight stove, unless extraordinary
+ventilation to such rooms be adopted also. The great charm of the
+farmer's winter evening is the open fireside, with its cheerful blaze
+and glowing embers; not wastefully expended, but giving out that genial
+warmth and comfort which, to those who are accustomed to its enjoyment,
+is a pleasure not made up by any invention whatever; and although the
+cooking stove or range be required--which, in addition to the fireplace,
+we would always recommend, to lighten female labor--it can be so
+arranged as not to interfere with the enjoyment or convenience of the
+open fire.
+
+In the construction of the chimneys which appear in the plans submitted,
+the great majority of them--particularly those for northern
+latitudes--are placed in the interior of the house. They are less liable
+to communicate fire to the building, and assist greatly in warming the
+rooms through which they pass. In southern houses they are not so
+necessary, fires being required for a much less period of the year. Yet
+even there they may be oftentimes properly so placed. Where holes, for
+the passage of stovepipes through floors, partitions, or into chimneys,
+are made, stone, earthen, or iron thimbles should be inserted; and,
+except in the chimneys, such holes should be at least one to two inches
+larger than the pipe itself. The main flues of the chimney conducting
+off the smoke of the different fires, should be built separate, and kept
+apart by a partition of one brick in thickness, and carried out
+independently, as in no other way will they rid the house of smoky
+rooms.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+An illustration in point: Fifteen years ago we purchased and removed
+into a most substantial and well-built stone house, the chimneys of
+which were constructed with open fireplaces, and the flues carried up
+separately to the top, where they all met upon the same level surface,
+as chimneys in past times usually were built, thus. Every fireplace in
+the house (and some of them had stoves in,) smoked intolerably; so much
+so, that when the wind was in some quarters the fires had to be put out
+in every room but the kitchen, which, as good luck would have it, smoked
+less--although it did smoke there--than the others. After balancing the
+matter in our own mind some time, whether we should pull down and
+rebuild the chimneys altogether, or attempt an alteration; as we had
+given but little thought to the subject of chimney draft, and to try an
+experiment was the cheapest, we set to work a bricklayer, who, under our
+direction, simply built over each discharge of the several flues a
+separate top of fifteen inches high, in this wise: The remedy was
+perfect. We have had no smoke in the house since, blow the wind as it
+may, on any and all occasions. The chimneys _can't_ smoke; and the whole
+expense for four chimneys, with their twelve flues, was not twenty
+dollars! The remedy was in giving each outlet a _distinct_ current of
+air all around, and on every side of it.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHIMNEY TOPS.
+
+
+Nothing adds more to the outward expression of a dwelling, than the
+style of its chimneys. We have just shown that independent chimney tops
+pass off their smoke more perfectly, than when only partitioned inside
+to the common point of outlet. Aside from the architectural beauty which
+a group of chimney flues adds to the building, we have seen that they
+are really useful, beyond the formal, square-sided piles so common
+throughout the country. They denote good cheer, social firesides, and a
+generous hospitality within--features which should always mark the
+country dwelling; and more particularly that of the farmer.
+
+The style and arrangement of these chimney groups may be various, as
+comporting with the design of the house itself; and any good architect
+can arrange them as fitted to such design. Our illustrations will show
+them of different kinds, which are generally cheap in construction, and
+simple, yet expressive in their arrangement.
+
+
+
+
+PRELIMINARY TO OUR DESIGNS.
+
+
+We have discussed with tolerable fullness, the chief subjects connected
+with farm buildings--sufficiently so, we trust, to make ourselves
+understood as desiring to combine utility with commendable ornament in
+all that pertains to them. The object has been, thus far, to give hints,
+rather than models, in description. But as the point to which we have
+endeavored to arrive will be but imperfectly understood without
+illustration, we shall submit a few plans of houses and outbuildings,
+as carrying out more fully our ideas.
+
+We are quite aware that different forms or fashions of detail and
+finish, to both outside and inside work, prevail among builders in
+different sections of the United States. Some of these fashions are the
+result of climate, some of conventional taste, and some of education.
+With them we are not disposed to quarrel. In many cases they are
+immaterial to the main objects of the work, and so long as they please
+the taste or partialities of those adopting them, are of little
+consequence. There are, however, certain matters of _principle_, both in
+general construction and in the detail of finish, which should not be
+disregarded; and these, in the designs submitted, and in the
+explanations which follow, will be fully discussed, each in its place.
+The particular form or style of work we have not directed, because, as
+before remarked, we are no professional builder, and of course free from
+the dogmas which are too apt to be inculcated in the professional
+schools and workshops. We give a wide berth, and a free toleration in
+all such matters, and are not disposed to raise a hornet's nest about
+our ears by interfering in matters where every tyro of the drafting
+board and work-bench assumes to be, and probably may be, our superior.
+All minor subjects we are free to leave to the skill and ingenuity of
+the builder--who, fortunately for the country, is found in almost every
+village and hamlet of the land.
+
+Modes and styles of finish, both inside and outside of buildings,
+change; and that so frequently, that what is laid down as the reigning
+fashion to-day, may be superseded by another fashion of
+to-morrow--immaterial in themselves, only, and not affecting the shape,
+arrangement, and accommodation of the building itself, which in these,
+must ever maintain their relation with the use for which it is intended.
+The northern dwelling, with its dependencies and appointments, requires
+a more compact, snug, and connected arrangement than that of the south;
+while one in the middle states may assume a style of arrangement between
+them both, each fitted for their own climate and country, and in equally
+good taste. The designs we are about to submit are intended to be such
+as may be modified to any section of the country, although some of them
+are made for extremes of north and south, and are so distinguished.
+Another object we have had in view is, to give to every farmer and
+country dweller of moderate means the opportunity of possessing a cheap
+work which would guide him in the general objects which he wishes to
+accomplish in building, that he may _have his own notions_ on the
+subject, and not be subject to the caprice and government of such as
+profess to exclusive knowledge in all that appertains to such subjects,
+and in which, it need not be offensive to say, that although clever in
+their way, they are sometimes apt to be mistaken.
+
+Therefore, without assuming _to instruct_ the professional builder, our
+plans will be submitted, not without the hope that he even, may find in
+them something worthy of consideration; and we offer them to the owner
+and future occupant of the buildings themselves, as models which he may
+adopt, with the confidence that they will answer all his reasonable
+purposes.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN I.
+
+
+We here present a farm house of the simplest and most unpretending kind,
+suitable for a farm of twenty, fifty, or an hundred acres. Buildings
+somewhat in this style are not unfrequently seen in the New England
+States, and in New York; and the plan is in fact suggested, although not
+copied, from some farm houses which we have known there, with
+improvements and additions of our own.
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 73-74.]
+
+This house may be built either of stone, brick, or wood. The style is
+rather rustic than otherwise, and intended to be altogether plain, yet
+agreeable in outward appearance, and of quite convenient arrangement.
+The body of this house is 40�30 feet on the ground, and 12 feet high,
+to the plates for the roof; the lower rooms nine feet high; the roof
+intended for a pitch of 35�--but, by an error in the drawing, made
+less--thus affording very tolerable chamber room in the roof story. The
+L, or rear projection, containing the wash-room and wood-house, juts out
+two feet from the side of the house to which it is attached, with posts
+7� feet high above the floor of the main house; the pitch of the roof
+being the same. Beyond this is a building 32�24 feet, with 10 feet
+posts, partitioned off into a swill-room, piggery, workshop, and
+wagon-house, and a like roof with the others. A light, rustic porch,
+12�8 feet, with lattice work, is placed on the front of the house, and
+another at the side door, over which vines, by way of drapery, may run;
+thus combining that sheltered, comfortable, and home-like expression so
+desirable in a rural dwelling. The chimney is carried out in three
+separate flues, sufficiently marked by the partitions above the roof.
+The windows are hooded, or sheltered, to protect them from the weather,
+and fitted with simple sliding sashes with 7�9 or 8�10 glass. Outer
+blinds may be added, if required; but it is usually better to have these
+_inside_, as they are no ornament to the outside of the building, are
+liable to be driven back and forth by the wind, even if fastenings are
+used, and in any event are little better than a continual annoyance.
+
+
+  [Illustration: GROUND PLAN.]
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door, over which is a single sash-light across, opens into a
+hall or entry 9�7 feet, from which a door opens on either side into a
+sitting-room and parlor, each 16�15 feet, lighted by a double, plain
+window, at the ends, and a single two-sash window in front. Between the
+entrance door and stove, are in each room a small pantry or closet for
+dishes, or otherwise, as may be required. The chimney stands in the
+center of the house, with a separate flue for each front room, into
+which a thimble is inserted to receive the stovepipes by which they are
+warmed; and from the inner side of these rooms each has a door passing
+to the kitchen, or chief living room. This last apartment is 22�15 feet,
+with a broad fireplace containing a crane, hooks, and trammel, if
+required, and a spacious family oven--affording those homely and
+primitive comforts still so dear to many of us who are not ready to
+concede that all the virtues of the present day are combined in a
+"perfection" cooking stove, and a "patent" heater; although there is a
+chance for these last, if they should be adopted into the peaceful
+atmosphere of this kitchen.
+
+  [Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN.]
+
+On one side of the kitchen, in rear of the stairs, is a bedroom, 9�8
+feet, with a window in one corner. Adjoining that, is a buttery,
+dairy-room, or closet, 9�6 feet, also having a window. At the inner end
+of the stairway is the cellar passage; at the outer end is the chamber
+passage, landing above, in the highest part of the roof story. Opposite
+the chamber stairs is a door leading to the wash-room. Between the two
+windows, on the rear side of the kitchen, is a sink, with a waste pipe
+passing out through the wall. At the further corner a door opens into a
+snug bedroom 9�8 feet, lighted by a window in rear; and adjoining this
+is a side entry leading from the end door, 9�6 feet in area; thus making
+every room in the house accessible at once from the kitchen, and giving
+the greatest possible convenience in both living and house-work.
+
+The roof story is partitioned into convenient-sized bedrooms; the
+ceiling running down the pitch of the roof to within two feet of the
+floor, unless they are cut short by inner partitions, as they are in the
+largest chamber, to give closets. The open area in the center, at the
+head of the stairs, is lighted by a small gable window inserted in the
+roof, at the rear, and serves as a lumber room; or, if necessary, a bed
+may occupy a part of it.
+
+In rear of the main dwelling is a building 44�16 feet, occupied as a
+wash-room and wood-house. The wash-room floor is let down eight inches
+below the kitchen, and is 16�14 feet, in area, lighted by a window on
+each side, with a chimney, in which is set a boiler, and fireplace, if
+desired, and a sink in the corner adjoining. This room is 7� feet in
+height. A door passes from this wash-room into the wood-house, which is
+30�16 feet, open in front, with a water-closet in the further corner.
+
+The cellar is 7� feet in height--and is the whole size of the house,
+laid with good stone wall, in lime mortar, with a flight of steps
+leading outside, in rear of the kitchen, and two or more sash-light
+windows at the ends. If not in a loose, gravelly, or sandy soil, the
+cellar should be kept dry by a drain leading out on to lower ground.
+
+The building beyond, and adjoining the wood-house, contains a
+swill-house 16�12 feet, with a window in one end; a chimney and boiler
+in one corner, with storage for swill barrels, grain, meal, potatoes,
+&c., for feeding the pigs, which are in the adjoining pen of same size,
+with feeding trough, place for sleeping, &c., and having a window in one
+end and a door in the rear, leading to a yard.
+
+Adjoining these, in front, is a workshop and tool-house, 16�10 feet,
+with a window at the end, and an entrance door near the wood house. In
+this is a joiner's work-bench, a chest of working tools, such as saw,
+hammer, augers, &c., &c., necessary for repairing implements, doing
+little rough jobs, or other wood work, &c., which every farmer ought to
+do for himself; and also storing his hoes, axes, shovels, hammers, and
+other small farm implements. In this room he will find abundant
+rainy-day employment in repairing his utensils of various kinds, making
+his beehives, hencoops, &c., &c. Next to this is the wagon-house, 16�14
+feet, with broad doors at the end, and harness pegs around the walls.
+
+The posts of this building are 10 feet high; the rooms eight feet high,
+and a low chamber overhead for storing lumber, grain, and other
+articles, as may be required. Altogether, these several apartments make
+a very complete and desirable accommodation to a man with the property
+and occupation for which it is intended.
+
+On one side and adjoining the house, should be the garden, the
+clothes-yard, and the bee-house, which last should always stand in full
+sight, and facing the most frequented room--say the kitchen--that they
+can be seen daily during the swarming season, as those performing
+household duties may keep them in view.
+
+
+MISCELLANEOUS.
+
+In regard to the surroundings, and approach to this dwelling, they
+should be treated under the suggestions already given on these subjects.
+This is an exceedingly _snug_ tenement, and everything around and about
+it should be of the same character. No pretension or frippery whatever.
+A neat garden, usefully, rather than ornamentally and profusely
+supplied; a moderate court-yard in front; free access to the end door,
+from the main every-day approach by vehicles--not on the highway, but on
+the farm road or lane--the business entrance, in fact; which should also
+lead to the barns and sheds beyond, not far distant. Every feature
+should wear a most domestic look, and breathe an air of repose and
+content. Trees should be near, but not so near as to cover the house.
+A few shrubs of simple kind--some standing roses--a few climbing ones;
+a syringa, a lilac, a snow ball, and a little patch or two of flowers
+near the front porch, and the whole expression is given; just as one
+would wish to look upon as a simple, unpretending habitation.
+
+It is not here proposed to give working plans, or estimates, to a
+nicety; or particular directions for building any design even, that we
+present. The material for construction best suited to the circumstances
+and locality of the proprietor must govern all those matters; and as
+good builders are in most cases at hand, who are competent to give
+estimates for the cost of any given plan, when the material for
+construction is once settled, the question of expense is readily fixed.
+The same sized house, with the same accommodation, may be made to cost
+fifty to one hundred per cent. over an economical estimate, by the
+increased style, or manner of its finish; or it may be kept within
+bounds by a rigid adherence to the plan first adopted.
+
+In western New York this house and attachments complete, the body of
+stone, the wood-house, wagon-house, &c., of wood, may be built and well
+finished in a plain way for $1,500. If built altogether of wood, with
+grooved and matched vertical boarding, and battens, the whole may be
+finished and painted for $800, to $1,200. For the lowest sum, the lumber
+and work would be of a rough kind, with a cheap wash to color it; but
+the latter amount would give good work, and a lasting coat of mineral
+paint both outside and within.
+
+As a _tenant_ house on a farm of three, four, or even five hundred
+acres, where all who live in it are laborers in the field or household,
+this design may be most conveniently adopted. The family inhabiting it
+in winter may be well accommodated for sleeping under the main roof,
+while they can at all seasons take their meals, and be made comfortable
+in the several rooms. In the summer season, when a larger number of
+laborers are employed, the lofts of the carriage or wagon-house and
+work-shop may be occupied with beds, and thus a large share of the
+expense of house building for a very considerable farm be saved. Luxury
+is a quality more or less consulted by every one who builds for his
+_own_ occupation on a farm, or elsewhere; and the tendency in building
+is constantly to expand, to give a higher finish, and in fact, to
+over-build. Indeed, if we were to draw the balance, on our _old_ farms,
+between scantily-accommodated houses, and houses with needless room in
+them, the latter would preponderate. Not that these latter houses either
+are too good, or too convenient for the purpose for which they were
+built, but they have _too much_ room, and that room badly appropriated
+and arranged.
+
+On a farm proper, the whole establishment is a _workshop_. The shop _out
+of doors_, we acknowledge, is not always _dry_, nor always warm; but it
+is exceedingly well aired and lighted, and a place where industrious
+people dearly love to labor. Within doors it is a work-shop too. There
+is always labor and occupation for the family, in the _general business_
+of the farm; therefore but little room is wanted for either luxury or
+leisure, and the farm house should be fully occupied, with the
+exception, perhaps, of a single room on the main floor, (and that not a
+large one,) for some regular business purpose. All these accommodated,
+and the requirements of the house are ended. Owners of _rented_ farms
+should reflect, too, that expensive houses on their estates entail
+expensive repairs, and that continually. Many tenants are careless of
+highly-finished houses. Not early accustomed to them, they
+misappropriate, perhaps, the best rooms in the house, and pay little
+attention to the purposes for which the owner designed them, or to the
+_manner_ of using them. It is therefore a total waste of money to build
+a house on a tenant estate anything beyond the mere comfortable wants of
+the family occupying it, and to furnish the room necessary for the
+accommodation of the crops, stock, and farm furniture, in the barns and
+other out-buildings--all in a cheap, tidy, yet substantial way.
+
+So, too, with the grounds for domestic purposes around the house. A
+kitchen garden, sufficient to grow the family vegetables--a few plain
+fruits--a _posey_ bed or two for the girls--and the story is told. Give
+a larger space for these things--anything indeed, for elegance--and ten
+to one, the plow is introduced, a corn or potato patch is _set out_,
+field culture is adopted, and your choice grounds are torn up, defaced,
+and sacrificed to the commonest uses.
+
+Notwithstanding these drawbacks, a cheerful, home-expression may be
+given, and should be given to the homestead, in the character and
+construction of the buildings, be they ever so rough and homely. We can
+call to mind many instances of primitive houses-_log_ cabins even--built
+when none better could be had, that presented a most comfortable and
+life-enjoying picture--residences once, indeed, of those who swayed "the
+applause of listening senates," but under the hands of taste, and a
+trifle of labor, made to look comfortable, happy, and sufficient. We
+confess, therefore, to a profound veneration, if not affection, for the
+humble farm house, as truly American in character; and which, with a
+moderate display of skill, may be made equal to the main purposes of
+life and enjoyment for all such as do not aspire to a high display, and
+who are content to make the most of moderate means.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN II.
+
+
+This is the plan of a house and out-buildings based chiefly on one which
+we built of wood some years since on a farm of our own, and which, in
+its occupation, has proved to be one of exceeding convenience to the
+purposes intended. As a farm _business_ house, we have not known it
+excelled; nor in the ease and facility of doing up the house-work within
+it, do we know a better. It has a subdued, quiet, unpretending look; yet
+will accommodate a family of a dozen workmen, besides the females
+engaged in the household work, with perfect convenience; or if occupied
+by a farmer with but his own family around him, ample room is afforded
+them for a most comfortable mode of life, and sufficient for the
+requirements of a farm of two, to three or four hundred acres.
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 85-86]
+
+This house is, in the main body, 36�22 feet, one and a half stories
+high, with a projection on the rear 34�16 feet, for the kitchen and its
+offices; and a still further addition to that, of 26�18 feet, for
+wash-room. The main body of the house is 14 feet high to the plates; the
+lower rooms are 9 feet high; the roof has a pitch of 35� from a
+horizontal line, giving partially-upright chambers in the main building,
+and _roof_ lodging rooms in the rear. The rear, or kitchen part, is one
+story high, with 10 feet posts, and such pitch of roof (which last runs
+at right angles to the main body, and laps on to the main roof,) as will
+carry the peak up to the same air line. This addition should retreat 6
+inches from the line of the main building, on the side given in the
+design, and 18 inches on the rear. The rooms on this kitchen floor are 8
+feet high, leaving one foot above the upper floor, under the roof, as a
+chamber garret, or lumber-room, as may be required. Beyond this, in the
+rear, is the other extension spoken of, with posts 9 feet high, for a
+buttery, closet, or dairy, or all three combined, and a wash-room; the
+floor of which is on a level with the last, and the roof running in the
+same direction, and of the same pitch. In front of this wash-room, where
+not covered by the wood-house, is an open porch, 8 feet wide and 10 feet
+long, the roof of which runs out at a less angle than the others--say
+30� from a horizontal line. Attached to this is the wood-house, running
+off by way of L, at right angles, 36�16 feet, of same height as the
+wash-room.
+
+Adjoining the wood-house, on the same front line, is a building 50�20
+feet, with 12 feet posts, occupied as a workshop, wagon-house, stable,
+and store-room, with a lean-to on the last of 15�10 feet, for a piggery.
+The several rooms in this building are 8 feet high, affording a good
+lumber room over the workshop, and hay storage over the wagon-house and
+stable. Over the wagon-house is a gable, with a blind window swinging on
+hinges, for receiving hay, thus relieving the long, uniform line of
+roof, and affording ample accommodation on each side to a pigeon-house
+or dovecote, if required.
+
+The style of this establishment is of plain Italian, or bracketed, and
+may be equally applied to stone, brick, or wood. The roofs are broad,
+and protect the walls by their full projection over them, 2� feet. The
+small gable in the front roof of the main dwelling relieves it of its
+otherwise straight uniformity, and affords a high door-window opening on
+to the deck of the veranda, which latter should be 8 or 10 feet in
+width. The shallow windows, also, over the wings of the veranda give it
+a more cheerful expression. The lower _end_ windows of this part of the
+house are hooded, or sheltered by a cheap roof, which gives them a snug
+and most comfortable appearance. The veranda may appear more ornamental
+than the plain character of the house requires; but any superfluous work
+upon it may be omitted, and the style of finish conformed to the other.
+The veranda roof is flatter than that of the house, but it may be made
+perfectly tight by closer shingling, and paint; while the deck or
+platform in the centre may be roofed with zinc, or tin, and a coat of
+sanded paint laid upon it. The front chimney is plain, yet in keeping
+with the general style of the house, and may be made of ordinary bricks.
+The two parts of the chimney, as they appear in the front rooms, are
+drawn together as they pass through the chamber above, and become one at
+the roof. The kitchen chimneys pass up through the peaks of their
+respective roofs, and should be in like character with the other.
+
+  [Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN. GROUND PLAN.]
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door of this house opens into a small entry or hall, 9�6 feet,
+which is lighted by a low sash of glass over the front door. A door
+leads into a room on each side; and at the inner end of the hall is a
+recess between the two chimneys of the opposite rooms, in which may be
+placed a table or broad shelf to receive hats and coats. On the left is
+a parlor 22�15 feet, lighted on one side by a double window, and in
+front by a single plain one. The fireplace is centrally placed on one
+side of the room, in the middle of the house. On one side of the
+fireplace is a closet, three feet deep, with shelves, and another closet
+at the inner end of the room, near the kitchen door; or this closet may
+be dispensed with for the use of this parlor, and given up to enlarge
+the closet which is attached to the bedroom. Another door opens directly
+into the kitchen. This parlor is 9 feet high between joints. The
+sitting-room is opposite to the parlor, 19�15 feet, and lighted and
+closeted in nearly the same manner, as will be seen by referring to the
+floor plan.
+
+The kitchen is the grand room of this house. It is 24�16 feet in area,
+having an ample fireplace, with its hooks and trammels, and a spacious
+oven by its side. It is lighted by a double window at one end, and a
+single window near the fireplace. At one end of this kitchen is a most
+comfortable and commodious family bedroom, 13�10 feet, with a large
+closet in one corner, and lighted by a window in the side. Two windows
+may be inserted if wanted. A passage leads by the side of the oven to a
+sink-room, or recess, behind the chimney, with shelves to dry dishes on,
+and lighted by the half of a double window, which accommodates with its
+other half the dairy, or closet adjoining. A door also opens from this
+recess into the closet and dairy, furnished with broad shelves, that
+part of which, next the kitchen, is used for dishes, cold meat and bread
+cupboards, &c.; while the part of it adjoining the window beyond, is
+used for milk. This room is 14�6 feet, besides the L running up next to
+the kitchen, of 6�4 feet. From the kitchen also opens a closet into the
+front part of the house for any purpose needed. This adjoins the parlor,
+and sitting-room, closets. In the passage to the sitting-room also opens
+the stairway leading to the chambers, and beneath, at the other end of
+it, next the outside wall, is a flight leading down cellar. The cellar
+is excavated under the whole house, being 36�22, and 34�16 feet, with
+glass windows, one light deep by four wide, of 8�10 glass; and an outer
+door, and flight of steps outside, under either the sitting-room or
+kitchen windows, as may be most convenient. A door opens, also, from the
+kitchen, into a passage 4 feet wide and 12 feet long leading to the
+wash-room, 18�16 feet, and by an outside door, through this passage to
+the porch. In this passage may be a small window to give it light.
+
+In the wash-room are two windows. A chimney at the far end accommodates
+a boiler or two, and a fireplace, if required. A sink stands adjoining
+the chimney. A flight of stairs, leading to a garret over head on one
+side, and to the kitchen chamber on the other, stands next the dairy,
+into which last a door also leads. In this wash-room may be located the
+cooking stove in warm weather, leaving the main kitchen for a family and
+eating room. A door also leads from the wash-room into the wood-house.
+
+The wood-house stands lower than the floor of the wash-room, from which
+it falls, by steps. This is large, because a plentiful store of wood is
+needed for a dwelling of this character. If the room be not all wanted
+for such purpose, a part of it may devoted to other necessary uses,
+there seldom being too much shelter of this kind on a farm; through the
+rear wall of this wood-house leads a door into the garden, or
+clothes-yard, as the case may be; and at its extreme angle is a water
+closet, 6�4 feet, by way of lean-to, with a hipped roof, 8 feet high,
+running off from both the wood-house and workshop. This water-closet is
+lighted by a sliding sash window.
+
+On to the wood-house, in a continuous front line, joins the workshop, an
+indispensable appendage to farm convenience. This has a flight of stairs
+leading to the lumber-room above. For the furnishing of this apartment,
+see description of Design I. Next to the work-house is the wagon and
+tool-house, above which is the hay loft, also spread over the stable
+adjoining; in which last are stalls for a pair of horses, which may be
+required for uses other than the main labors of the farm--to run to
+market, carry the family to church, or elsewhere. A pair of horses for
+such purposes should always be kept near the house. The horse-stalls
+occupy a space of 10�12 feet, with racks and feeding boxes. The plans of
+these will be described hereafter. The door leading out from these
+stalls is 5 feet wide, and faces the partition, so that each horse may
+be led out or in at an easy angle from them. Beyond the stalls is a
+passage 4 feet wide, leading to a store-room or area, from which a
+flight of rough stairs leads to the hay loft above. Beyond this room,
+in which is the oat bin for the horses, is a small piggery, for the
+convenience of a pig or two, which are always required to consume the
+daily wash and offal of the house; and not for the general _pork_ stock
+of the farm; which, on one of this size, may be expected to require more
+commodious quarters.
+
+The chamber plan of this house is commodious, furnishing one large room
+and three smaller ones. The small chamber leading to the deck over the
+porch, may, or may not be occupied as a sleeping room. The small one
+near the stairs may contain a single bed, or be occupied as a large
+clothes-closet. Through this, a door leads into the kitchen chamber,
+which may serve as one, or more laborers' bed-chambers. They may be
+lighted by one or more windows in the rear gable.
+
+If more convenient to the family, the parlor and sitting-room, already
+described, may change their occupation, and one substituted for the
+other.
+
+The main business approach to this house should be by a lane, or farm
+road opening on the side next the stable and wagon-house. The yard, in
+front of these last named buildings, should be separated from the lawn,
+or front door-yard of the dwelling. The establishment should stand some
+distance back from the traveled highway, and be decorated with such
+trees, shrubbery, and cultivation, as the taste of the owner may direct.
+No _general_ rules or directions can be applicable to this design beyond
+what have already been given; and the subject must be treated as
+circumstances may suggest. The unfrequented side of the house should,
+however, be flanked with a garden, either ornamental, or fruit and
+vegetable; as buildings of this character ought to command a
+corresponding share of attention with the grounds by which they are
+surrounded.
+
+This house will appear equally well built of wood, brick, or stone. Its
+cost, according to materials, or finish, may be $1,000 or $1,500. The
+out-buildings attached, will add $400 to $600, with the same conditions
+as to finish; but the whole may be substantially and well built of
+either stone, brick, or wood, where each may be had at equal
+convenience, for $2,000 in the interior of New York. Of course, it is
+intended to do all the work plain, and in character for the occupation
+to which it is intended.
+
+
+MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS.
+
+At this point of our remarks a word or two may be offered on the general
+subject of inside finish to farm houses, which may be applicable more or
+less to any one, or all of the designs that may come under our
+observation; therefore what is here said, may be applied at large.
+Different sections of the United States have their own several _local_
+notions, or preferences as to the mode of finish to their houses and
+out-buildings, according to climate, education, or other circumstances.
+In all these matters neither taste, fashion, nor climate should be
+arbitrary. The manner of finish may be various, without any departure
+from truth or propriety--always keeping in mind the object for which it
+is intended. The _material_ for a country house should be _strong_, and
+_durable_, and the work simple in its details, beyond that for either
+town or suburban houses. It should be _strong_, for the reason that the
+interior of the farm house is used for purposes of industry, in
+finishing up and perfecting the labors of the farm; labors indispensable
+too, and in amount beyond the ordinary housekeeping requirements of a
+family who have little to do but merely to live, and make themselves
+comfortable. The material should be _durable_, because the distance at
+which the farm house is usually located from the residences of building
+mechanics, renders it particularly troublesome and expensive to make
+repairs, and alterations. The work should be _simple_, because cheaper
+in the first place, in construction, and finish; quite as appropriate
+and satisfactory in appearance; and demanding infinitely less labor and
+pains to care for, and protect it afterward. Therefore all mouldings,
+architraves, _chisel_-work, and gewgawgery in interior finish should be
+let alone in the living and daily occupied rooms of the house. If, to a
+single parlor, or _spare_ bedchamber a little _ornamental_ work be
+permitted, let even that be in moderation, and just enough to teach the
+active mistress and her daughters what a world of scrubbing and elbow
+work they have saved themselves in the enjoyment of a plainly-finished
+house, instead of one full of gingerbread work and finery. None but the
+initiated can tell the affliction that _chiseled_ finishing entails on
+housekeepers in the spider, fly, and other insect lodgment which it
+invites--frequently the cause of more annoyance and _daily_ disquietude
+in housekeeping, because unnecessary, than real griefs from which we may
+not expect to escape. Bases, casings, sashes, doors--all should be
+plain, and painted or stained a quiet _russet_ color--a color natural to
+the woods used for the finish, if it can be, showing, in their wear, as
+little of dust, soiling, and fly dirt as possible. There is no poetry
+about common housekeeping. Cooking, house-cleaning, washing, scrubbing,
+sweeping, are altogether matter-of-fact duties, and usually considered
+_work_, not recreation; and these should all be made easy of
+performance, and as seldom to be done as possible; although the first
+item always was, and always _will_ be, and the last item _should_ be, an
+every-day vocation for _somebody_; and the manner of inside finish to a
+house has a great deal to do with all these labors.
+
+In a stone, or brick house, the inside walls should be firred off for
+plastering. This may be done either by "plugging," that is, driving a
+plug of wood strongly into the mortar courses, into which the firring
+should be nailed, or by laying a strip of thin board in the mortar
+course, the entire length of each wall. This is better than _blocks_
+laid in for such purpose, because it is effectually _bound_ by the
+stone, or brick work; whereas, a block may get loose by shrinking, but
+the nails which hold the firring to the plug, or to the thin strip of
+board will split and _wedge_ it closer to the mason work of the outside
+wall. This is an important item. It makes close work too, and leaves no
+room for rats, mice, or other vermin; and as it admits a _space_--no
+matter how thin--so that no outside damp from the walls can communicate
+into, or through the inner plastering, it answers all purposes. The
+inside, and partition walls should be of coarse, strong mortar, _floated
+off_ as smoothly as may be, not a _hard finish_, which is fine, and
+costly; and then papered throughout for the better rooms, and the
+commonly-used rooms whitewashed. Paper gives a most comfortable look to
+the rooms, more so than paint, and much less expensive, while nothing is
+so sweet, tidy, and cheerful to the _working_ rooms of the house as a
+_lime_ wash, either white, or softened down with some agreeable tint,
+such as _light_ blue, green, drab, fawn, or russet, to give the shade
+desired, and for which every _professional_ painter and whitewasher in
+the vicinity, can furnish a proper recipe applicable to the place and
+climate. On such subjects we choose to prescribe, rather than to play
+the apothecary by giving any of the thousand and one recipes extant, for
+the composition.
+
+Our remarks upon the strength and durability of _material_ in
+house-building do not apply exclusively to brick and stone. Wood is
+included also; and of this, there is much difference in the kind. Sound
+_white_ oak, is, perhaps the best material for the heavy frame-work of
+any house or out-building, and when to be had at a moderate expense, we
+would recommend it in preference to any other. If _white_ oak cannot be
+had, the other varieties of oak, or chesnut are the next best. In
+_light_ frame-timbers, such as studs, girts, joists, or rafters, oak is
+inclined to spring and warp, and we would prefer hemlock, or chesnut,
+which holds a nail equally as well, or, in its absence, pine, (which
+holds a nail badly,) whitewood, or black walnut. The outside finish to a
+wooden house, may be _lighter_ than in one of stone or brick. The wood
+work on the outside of the latter should always be heavy, and in
+character with the walls, giving an air of firmness and stability to the
+whole structure. No elaborate carving, or beadwork should be permitted
+on the outside work of a country house at all; and only a sufficient
+quantity of ornamental _tracery_ of any kind, to break the monotony of a
+plainness that would otherwise give it a formal, or uncouth expression,
+and relieve it of what some would consider a pasteboard look. A farm
+house, in fact, of any degree, either cheap or expensive, should wear
+the same appearance as a well-dressed person of either sex; so that a
+stranger, not looking at them for the purpose of inspecting their garb,
+should, after an interview, be unable to tell what particular sort of
+dress they wore, so perfectly in keeping was it with propriety.
+
+In the design now under discussion, a cellar is made under the whole
+body of the house; and this cellar is a _shallow_ one, so far as being
+sunk into the ground is concerned, say 5� feet, leaving 2� feet of
+cellar wall above ground--8 feet in all. A part of the wall above ground
+should be covered by the excavated earth, and sloped off to a level with
+the surrounding surface. A commodious, well-lighted, and well-ventilated
+cellar is one of the most important apartments of the farm house. It
+should, if the soil be compact, be well drained from some point or
+corner within the walls into a lower level outside, to which point
+within, the whole floor surface should incline, and the bottom be
+floored with water-lime cement. This will make it hard, durable, and
+dry. It may then be washed and scrubbed off as easily as an upper floor.
+If the building site be high, and in a gravelly, or sandy soil, neither
+drain nor flooring will be required. The cellar may be used for the
+storage of root crops, apples, meats, and household vegetables. A
+partitioned room will accommodate either a summer or a winter dairy, if
+not otherwise provided, and a multitude of conveniences may be made of
+it in all well arranged farmeries. But in all cases the cellar should be
+well lighted, ventilated, and dry. Even the ash-house and smoke-house
+may be made in it with perfect convenience, by brick or stone
+partitions, and the smoke-house flue be carried up into one of the
+chimney flues above, and thus make a more snug and compact arrangement
+than to have separate buildings for those objects. A wash-room, in
+which, also, the soap may be made, the tallow and lard tried up, and
+other extraordinary labor when fire heat is to be used, may properly be
+made in a cellar, particularly when on a sloping ground, and easy of
+access to the ground level on one side. But, as a general rule, such
+room is better on a level with the main floor of the dwelling, and there
+are usually sufficient occupations for the cellar without them.
+
+All cellar walls should be at least 18 inches thick, for even a wooden
+house, and from that to 2 feet for a stone or brick one, and well laid
+in strong lime-mortar. Unmortared cellar walls are frequently laid under
+wooden buildings, and _pointed_ with lime-mortar inside; but this is
+sometimes dug out by rats, and is apt to crumble and fall out otherwise.
+A _complete_ cellar wall should be thoroughly laid in mortar.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 101-102.]
+
+DESIGN III.
+
+
+We here present the reader with a substantial, plain, yet
+highly-respectable stone or brick farm house, of the second class,
+suitable for an estate of three, to five hundred acres, and
+accommodation for a family of a dozen or more persons. The style is
+mixed rural Gothic, Italian, and bracketed; yet in keeping with the
+character of the farm, and the farmer's standing and occupation.
+
+The main body of this house is 42�24 feet on the ground, and one and
+three quarter stories high--the chambers running two or three feet into
+the roof, as choice or convenience may direct. The roof has a pitch of
+30 to 40� from a horizontal line, and broadly spread over the walls, say
+two and a half feet, showing the ends of the rafters, bracket fashion.
+The chimneys pass out through the peak of the roof, where the hips of
+what would otherwise be the gables, connect with the long sides of the
+roof covering the front and rear. On the long front is partly seen, in
+the perspective, a portico, 16�10 feet--not the _chief_ entrance front,
+but rather a side front, practically, which leads into a lawn or garden,
+as may be most desirable, and from which the best view from the house is
+commanded. Over this porch is a small gable running into the roof, to
+break its monotony, in which is a door-window leading from the upper
+hall on to the deck of the porch. This gable has the same finish as the
+main roof, by brackets. The chamber windows are two-thirds or
+three-quarters the size of the lower ones; thus showing the upper story
+not full height below the plates, but running two to four feet into the
+garret. The rear wing, containing the entrance or business front, is
+24�32 feet, one and a half stories high, with a pitch of roof not less
+than 35�, and spread over the walls both at the eaves and gable, in the
+same proportion as the roof to the main body. In front of this is a
+porch or veranda eight feet wide, with a low, hipped roof. In the front
+and rear roofs of this wing is a dormer window, to light the chambers.
+The gable to this wing is bold, and gives it character by the breadth of
+its roof over the walls, and the strong brackets by which it is
+supported. The chimney is thrown up strong and boldly at the point of
+the roof, indicating the every-day uses of the fireplaces below, which,
+although distinct and wide apart in their location on the ground floors,
+are drawn together in the chambers, thus showing only one escape through
+the roof.
+
+The wood-house in the rear of the wing has a roof of the same character,
+and connects with the long building in the rear, which has the same
+description of roof, but hipped at one end. That end over the workshop,
+and next the wood-house, shows a bold gable like the wing of the house,
+and affords room and light to the lumber room over the shop, and also
+gives variety and relief to the otherwise too great sameness of
+roof-appearance on the further side of the establishment.
+
+  [Illustration: GROUND PLAN. CHAMBER PLAN.]
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+As has been remarked, the main entrance front to this house is from the
+wing veranda, from which a well finished and sizeable door leads into
+the principal hall, 24�8 feet in area, and lighted by a full-sized
+window at the front end. Opposite the entrance door is the door leading
+into the parlor; and farther along is the staircase, under the upper
+landing of which a door leads into a dining or sitting-room, as may be
+determined. This hall is 10 feet high, as are all the rooms of this
+lower main story. In the chimney, which adjoins the parlor side of this
+hall, may be inserted a thimble for a hall stovepipe, if this method of
+warming should be adopted. The parlor, into which a door leads from the
+hall, is 18�16 feet, with two windows on the side, shown in perspective,
+and one on the front facing the lawn, or garden. It has also a fireplace
+near the hall door. At the further angle is a door leading to an entry
+or passage on to the portico. E is the entry just mentioned, six feet
+square, and lighted by a short sash, one light deep, over the outside
+door. This portico may be made a pleasant summer afternoon and evening
+resort for the family, by which the occupied rooms connect with the lawn
+or garden, thus adding to its retired and private character.
+
+Opposite the parlor, on the other side of this entry, a door leads into
+a room 18�12 feet, which may be occupied as a family bedroom, library,
+or small sitting-room. This is lighted by two windows, and has a closet
+of 6�5 feet. A fireplace is on the inner side of this room; and near to
+that, a door connects with a dining-room of the same size, having a
+window in one end, and a fireplace, and closet of the same size as the
+last. Through the rear wall is a door leading into a pantry, which also
+communicates with the kitchen; and another door leads to the hall, and
+from the hall, under the staircases, (which, at that point, are
+sufficiently high for the purpose,) is a passage leading to the kitchen.
+
+Under the wing veranda, near the point of intersection of the wing with
+the main body of the house, is an _every-day_ outer door, leading into a
+small entry, 6�5 feet, and lighted by a low, one-sash window over the
+door. By another door, this leads to the kitchen, or family room, which
+is lighted by three windows. An ample fireplace, with oven, &c.,
+accommodates this room at the end. A closet, 7�5 feet, also stands next
+to the entry; and beyond that, an open passage, to the left, leading out
+under the front hall stairs to the rooms of the main building. A door
+also leads from that passage into a _best_ pantry, for choice crockery,
+sweetmeats, and tea-table comforts. Another door, near the last, leads
+into a dairy or milk-room, 9�8 feet, beyond the passage; in which last,
+also, may be placed a tier of narrow shelves. This milk, or dairy-room,
+is lighted by a window in the end, and connects also, by a door in the
+side, with the _outer_ kitchen, or wash-room. Next to this milk-room
+door, in the front kitchen, is another door leading down cellar; and
+through this door, passing by the upper, broad stair of the flight of
+cellar steps, is another door into the wash-room. At the farther angle
+of the kitchen is still another door, opening into a passage four feet
+wide; and, in that passage, a door leading up a flight of stairs into
+the wing chambers. This passage opens into the back kitchen, or
+wash-room, 16�16 feet in area, and lighted by two windows, one of which
+looks into the wood-house. In this wash-room is a chimney with boilers
+and fireplace, as may be required. The cellar and chamber stairs, and
+the milk-room are also accessible direct, by doors leading from this
+wash-room.
+
+The chamber plan will be readily understood, and requires no particular
+description. The space over the wing may be partitioned off according to
+the plan, or left more open for the accommodation of the "work folks,"
+as occasion may demand. But, as this dwelling is intended for
+substantial people, "well to do in the world," and who extend a generous
+hospitality to their friends, a liberal provision of sleeping chambers
+is given to the main body of the house. The parlor chamber, which is the
+best, or _spare_ one, is 18�16 feet, with roomy side-closets. Besides
+this, are other rooms for the daughters Sally, and Nancy, and Fanny, and
+possibly Mary and Elizabeth--who want their own chambers, which they
+keep so clean and tidy, with closets full of nice bedclothes, table
+linen, towels, &c., &c., for certain events not yet whispered of, but
+quite sure to come round. And then there are Frederick, and Robert, and
+George, fine stalwart boys coming into manhood, intending to be
+"somebody in the world," one day or another; they must have _their_
+rooms--and good ones too; for, if any people are to be well lodged, why
+not those who toil for it? All such accommodation every farm house of
+this character should afford. And we need not go far, or look sharp, to
+see the best men and the best women in our state and nation graduating
+from the wholesome farm house thus tidily and amply provided. How
+delightfully look the far-off mountains, or the nearer plains, or
+prairies, from the lawn porch of this snug farm house! The distant lake;
+the shining river, singing away through the valley; or the wimpling
+brook, stealing through the meadow! Aye, enjoy them all, for they are
+God's best, richest gifts, and we are made to love them.
+
+The wood-house strikes off from the back kitchen, retreating two feet
+from its gable wall, and is 36�14 feet in size. A bathing room may be
+partitioned off 8�6 feet, on the rear corner next the wash-room, if
+required, although not laid down in the plan. At the further end is the
+water-closet, 6�4 feet. Or, if the size and convenience of the family
+require it, a part of the wood-house may be partitioned off for a
+wash-room, from which a chimney may pass up through the peak of the
+roof. If so, carry it up so high that it will be above the eddy that the
+wind may make in passing over the adjoining wing, not causing it to
+smoke from that cause.
+
+At the far end of the wood-house is the workshop and tool-house, 18�16
+feet, lighted by two windows, and a door to enter it from beneath the
+wood-house. Over this, is the lumber and store-room.
+
+Next to this is the swill-room and pigsty for the house pigs, as
+described in the last design; and over it a loft for farm seeds, small
+grains, and any other storage required.
+
+Adjoining this is the wagon and carriage-house; and above, the hayloft,
+stretching, also, partly over the stable which stands next, with two
+stalls, 12�5 feet each, with a flight of stairs leading to the loft, in
+the passage next the door. In this loft are swinging windows, to let in
+hay for the horses.
+
+This completes the household establishment, and we leave the
+surroundings to the correct judgment and good taste of the proprietor to
+complete, as its position, and the variety of objects with which it may
+be connected, requires.
+
+Stone and brick we have mentioned as the proper materials for this
+house; but it may be also built of wood, if more within the means and
+limits of the builder. There should be no pinching in its proportions,
+but every part carried out in its full breadth and effect.
+
+The cost of the whole establishment may be from $2,000, to $3,000;
+depending somewhat upon the material used, and the finish put upon it.
+The first-named sum would build the whole in an economical and plain
+manner, while the latter would complete it amply in its details.
+
+
+MISCELLANEOUS.
+
+It may be an objection in the minds of some persons to the various plans
+here submitted, that we have connected the out-buildings _immediately_
+with the offices of the dwelling itself. We are well aware that such is
+not always usual; but many years observation have convinced us, that in
+their use and occupation, such connection is altogether the most
+convenient and economical. The only drawback is in the case of fire;
+which, if it occur in any one building, the whole establishment is
+liable to be consumed. This objection is conceded; but we take it, that
+it is the business of every one not able to be his own insurer, to have
+his buildings insured by others; and the additional cost of this
+insurance is not a tithe of what the extra expense of time, labor, and
+exposure is caused to the family by having the out-buildings
+disconnected, and at a _fire-proof_ distance from each other. There has,
+too, in the separation of these out-buildings, (we do not now speak of
+barns, and houses for the stock, and the farmwork proper,) from the main
+dwelling, crept into the construction of such dwellings, by modern
+builders, _some_ things, which in a country establishment, particularly,
+ought never to be there, such as privies, or _water-closets_, as they
+are more _genteelly_ called. These last, in our estimation, have no
+business _in_ a _farmer's_ house. They are an _effeminacy_, only, and
+introduced by _city_ life. An _appendage_ they should be, but separated
+to some distance from the living rooms, and accessible by sheltered
+passages to them. The wood-house should adjoin the outer kitchen,
+because the fuel should always be handy, and the outer kitchen, or
+wash-room is a sort of _slop_-room, of necessity; and the night wood,
+and that for the morning fires may be deposited in it for immediate use.
+The workshop, and small tool-house naturally comes next to that, as
+being chiefly used in stormy weather. Next to this last, would, more
+conveniently, come the carriage or wagon-house, and of course a stable
+for a horse or two for family use, always accessible at night, and
+convenient at unseasonable hours for farm labor. In the same close
+neighborhood, also, should be a small pigsty, to accommodate a pig or
+two, to eat up the kitchen slops from the table, refuse vegetables,
+parings, dishwater, &c., &c., which could not well be carried to the
+main piggery of the farm, unless the old-fashioned filthy mode of
+letting the hogs run in the road, and a trough set outside the door-yard
+fence, as seen in some parts of the country, were adopted. A pig can
+always be kept, and fatted in three or four months, from the wash of the
+house, with a little grain, in any well-regulated farmer's family. A few
+fowls may also be kept in a convenient hen-house, if desired, without
+offence--all constituting a part of the _household_ economy of the
+place.
+
+These out-buildings too, give a comfortable, domestic look to the whole
+concern. Each one shelters and protects the other, and gives an air of
+comfort and repose to the whole--a family expression all round. What so
+naked and chilling to the feelings, as to see a country dwelling-house
+all perked up, by itself, standing, literally, out of doors, without any
+dependencies about it? No, no. First should stand the house, the chief
+structure, in the foreground; appendant to that, the kitchen wing; next
+in grade, the wood-house; covering in, also, the minor offices of the
+house. Then by way of setting up, partially on their own account, should
+come the workshop, carriage-house, and stable, as practically having a
+separate character, but still subordinate to the house and its
+requirements; and these too, may have their piggery and hen-house, by
+way of tapering off to the adjoining fence, which encloses a kitchen
+garden, or family orchard. Thus, each structure is appropriate in its
+way--and together, they form a combination grateful to the sight, as a
+complete rural picture. All objections, on account of filth or vermin,
+to this connection, may be removed by a cleanly keeping of the
+premises--a removal of all offal immediately as it is made, and daily or
+weekly taking it on to the manure heaps of the barns, or depositing it
+at once on the grounds where it is required. In point of health, nothing
+is more congenial to sound physical condition than the occasional smell
+of a stable, or the breath of a cow, not within the immediate contiguity
+to the occupied rooms of the dwelling. On the score of neatness,
+therefore, as we have placed them, no bar can be raised to their
+adoption.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN IV.
+
+
+This is perhaps a more ambitious house than either of the preceding,
+although it may be adapted to a domain of the same extent and value. It
+is plain and unpretending in appearance; yet, in its ample finish, and
+deeply drawn, sheltering eaves, broad veranda, and spacious
+out-buildings, may give accommodation to a larger family indulging a
+more liberal style of living than the last.
+
+By an error in the engraving, the main roof of the house is made to
+appear like a double, or gambrel-roof, breaking at the intersection of
+the gable, or hanging roof over the ends. This is not so intended. The
+roofs on each side are a straight line of rafters. The Swiss, or hanging
+style of gable-roof is designed to give a more sheltered effect to the
+elevation than to run the end walls to a peak in the point of the roof.
+
+By a defect in the drawing, the roof of the veranda is not sufficiently
+thrown over the columns. This roof should project at least one foot
+beyond them, so as to perfectly shelter the mouldings beneath from the
+weather, and conform to the style of the main roof of the house.
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 115-116.]
+
+The material of which it is built may be of either stone, brick, or
+wood, as the taste or convenience of the proprietor may suggest. The
+main building is 44�36 feet, on the ground. The cellar wall may show 18
+to 24 inches above the ground, and be pierced by windows in each end, as
+shown in the plan. The height of the main walls may be two full stories
+below the roof plates, or the chambers may run a foot or two into the
+garret, at the choice of the builder, either of which arrangements may
+be permitted.
+
+The front door opens from a veranda 28 feet long by 10 feet in depth,
+dropping eight inches from the door-sill. This veranda has a hipped
+roof, which juts over the columns in due proportion with the roof of the
+house over its walls. These columns are plain, with brackets, or braces
+from near their tops, sustaining the plate and finish of the roof above,
+which may be covered either with tin or zinc, painted, or closely
+shingled.
+
+The walls of the house may be 18 to 20 feet high below the plates; the
+roof a pitch of 30 to 45�, which will afford an upper garret, or store,
+or small sleeping rooms, if required; and the eaves should project two
+to three feet, as climate may demand, over the walls. A plain
+finish--that is, ceiled underneath--is shown in the design, but brackets
+on the ends of the rafters, beaded and finished, may be shown, if
+preferred. The gables are _Swiss-roofed_, or _truncated_, thus giving
+them a most sheltered and comfortable appearance, particularly in a
+northerly climate. The small gable in front relieves the roof of its
+monotony, and affords light to the central garret. The chimneys are
+carried out with partition flues, and may be topped with square caps,
+as necessity or taste may demand.
+
+Retreating three feet from the kitchen side of the house runs, at right
+angles, a wing 30�18 feet, one and a half stories high, with a veranda
+eight feet wide in front. Next in rear of this, continues a wood-house,
+30�18 feet, one story high, with ten feet posts, and open in front, the
+ground level of which is 18 inches below the floor of the wing to which
+it is attached. The roof of these two is of like character with that of
+the main building.
+
+Adjoining this wood-house, and at right angles with it, is a building
+68�18 feet, projecting two feet outside the line of wood-house and
+kitchen. This building is one and a half stories high, with 12 feet
+posts, and roof in the same style and of equal pitch as the others.
+
+
+  [Illustration: GROUND PLAN.]
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door from the veranda of the house opens into a hall, 18�8
+feet, and 11 feet high, amply lighted by sash windows on the sides, and
+over the door. From the rear of this hall runs a flight of easy stairs,
+into the upper or chamber hall. On one side of the lower hall, a door
+leads into a parlor, 18 feet square, and 11 feet high, lighted by three
+windows, and warmed by an open stove, or fireplace, the pipe passing
+into a chimney flue in the rear. A door passes from this parlor into a
+rear passage, or entry, thus giving it access to the kitchen and rear
+apartments. At the back end of the front hall, a door leads into the
+rear passage and kitchen; and on the side opposite the parlor, a door
+opens into the sitting or family room, 18�16 feet in area, having an
+open fireplace, and three windows. On the hall side of this room, a door
+passes into the kitchen, 22�16 feet, and which may, in case the
+requirements of the family demand it, be made the chief family or living
+room, and the last one described converted into a library. In this
+kitchen, which is lighted by two windows, is a liberal open fireplace,
+with an ample oven by its side, and a sink in the outer corner. A flight
+of stairs, also, leads to the rear chambers above; and a corresponding
+flight, under them, to the cellar below. A door at each end of these
+stairs, leads into the back entry of the house, and thus to the other
+interior rooms, or through the rear outer door to the back porch. This
+back entry is lighted by a single sash window over the outside door
+leading to the porch. Another door, opposite that leading down cellar,
+opens into the passage through the wing. From the rear hall, which is
+16�5 feet, the innermost passage leads into a family bedroom, or
+nursery, 16�14 feet, lighted by a window in each outside wall, and
+warmed by an open fireplace, or stove, at pleasure. Attached to this
+bedroom is a clothes-closet, 8�4 feet, with shelves, and drawers. Next
+the outer door, in rear end of the hall, is a small closet opening from
+it, 6�4 feet in dimensions, convertible to any use which the mistress of
+the house may direct.
+
+  [Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN.]
+
+Opening into the wing from the kitchen, first, is a large closet and
+pantry, supplied with a table, drawers, and shelves, in which are stored
+the dishes, table furniture, and edibles necessary to be kept at a
+moment's access. This room is 14�8 feet, and well lighted by a window of
+convenient size. If necessary, this room may have a partition, shutting
+off a part from the everyday uses which the family requires. In this
+room, so near to the kitchen, to the sink, to hot-water, and the other
+little domestic accessories which good housewives know so well how to
+arrange and appreciate, all the nice little table-comforts can be got
+up, and perfected, and stored away, under lock and key, in drawer, tub,
+or jar, at their discretion, and still their eyes not be away from their
+subordinates in the other departments. Next to this, and connected by a
+door, is the dairy, or milk-room, also 14�8 feet; which, if necessary,
+may be sunk three or four feet into the ground, for additional coolness
+in the summer season, and the floor reached by steps. In this are ample
+shelves for the milkpans, conveniences of churning, &c., &c. But, if the
+dairy be a prominent object of the farm, a separate establishment will
+be required, and the excavation may not be necessary for ordinary
+household uses. Out of this milk-room, a door leads into a wash-room,
+18�14 feet. A passage from the kitchen also leads into this. The
+wash-room is lighted by two windows in rear, and one in front. A sink is
+between the two rear windows, with conductor leading outside, and a
+closet beneath it, for the iron ware. In the chimney, at the end, are
+boilers, and a fireplace, an oven, or anything else required, and a door
+leading to a platform in the wood-house, and so into the yard. On the
+other side of the chimney, a door leads into a bathing-room, 7�6 feet,
+into which hot water is drawn from one of the boilers adjoining, and
+cold water may be introduced, by a hand-pump, through a pipe leading
+into the well or cistern.
+
+As no more convenient opportunity may present itself, a word or two will
+be suggested as to the location of the bath-room in a country house. In
+city houses, or country houses designed for the summer occupancy of city
+dwellers, the bathing-rooms are usually placed in the second or chamber
+story, and the water for their supply is drawn from cisterns still above
+_them_. This arrangement, in city houses, is made chiefly from the want
+of room on the ground floor; and, also, thus arranged in the
+city-country houses, _because_ they are so constructed in the city. In
+the farm house, or in the country house proper, occupied by whom it may
+be, such arrangement is unnecessary, expensive, and inconvenient.
+Unnecessary, because there is no want of room on the ground; expensive,
+because an upper cistern is always liable to leakages, and a consequent
+wastage of water, wetting, and rotting out the floors, and all the
+slopping and dripping which such accidents occasion; and inconvenient,
+from the continual up-and-down-stair labor of those who occupy the bath,
+to say nothing of the piercing the walls of the house, for the admission
+of pipes to lead in and let out the water, and the thousand-and-one
+vexations, by way of plumbers' bills, and expense of getting to and from
+the house itself, always a distance of some miles from the mechanic.
+
+The only defence for such location of the bath-room and cisterns is, the
+convenience and privacy of access to them, by the females of the family.
+This counts but little, if anything, over the place appropriated in
+this, and the succeeding designs of this work. The access is almost, if
+not quite as private as the other, and, in case of ill-health, as easily
+approachable to invalids. And on the score of economy in construction,
+repair, or accident, the plan here adopted is altogether preferable. In
+this plan, the water is drawn from the boiler by the turning of a cock;
+that from the cistern, by a minute's labor with the hand-pump. It is let
+off by the drawing of a plug, and discharges, by a short pipe, into the
+adjoining garden, or grassplat, to moisten and invigorate the trees and
+plants which require it, and the whole affair is clean and sweet again.
+A screen for the window gives all the privacy required, and the most
+fastidious, shrinking female is as retired as in the shadiest nook of
+her dressing-room.
+
+So with water-closets. A fashion prevails of thrusting these noisome
+things into the midst of sleeping chambers and living rooms--pandering
+to effeminacy, and, at times, surcharging the house--for they cannot,
+at _all_ times, and under _all_ circumstances, be kept perfectly
+close--with their offensive odor. _Out_ of the house they belong; and if
+they, by any means, find their way within its walls proper, the fault
+will not be laid at our door.
+
+To get back to our description. This bathing-room occupies a corner of
+the wood-house.
+
+A raised platform passes from the wash-room in, past the bath-room, to a
+water-closet, which may be divided into two apartments, if desirable.
+The vaults are accessible from the rear, for cleaning out, or
+introducing lime, gypsum, powdered charcoal, or other deodorizing
+material. At the extreme corner of the wood-house, a door opens into a
+feed and swill-room, 20�8 feet, which is reached by steps, and stands
+quite eighteen inches above the ground level, on a stone under-pinning,
+or with a stone cellar beneath, for the storage of roots in winter. In
+one corner of this is a boiler and chimney, for cooking food for the
+pigs and chickens. A door leads from this room into the piggery, 20�12
+feet, where half-a-dozen swine may be kept. A door leads from this pen
+into a yard, in the rear, where they will be less offensive than if
+confined within. If necessary, a flight of steps, leading to the loft
+overhead, may be built, where corn can be stored for their feeding.
+
+Next to this is the workshop and tool-house, 18�14 feet; and, in rear, a
+snug, warm house for the family chickens, 18�6 feet. These chickens may
+also have the run of the yard in rear, with the pigs, and apartments in
+the loft overhead for roosting.
+
+Adjoining the workshop is the carriage house, 18�18 feet, with a flight
+of stairs to the hayloft above, in which is, also, a dovecote; and,
+leading out of the carriage floor, is the stable, 18�12 feet, with
+stalls for two or four horses, and a passage of four feet wide, from the
+carriage-house into it; thus completing, and drawing under one
+continuous roof, and at less exposure than if separated, the chief
+every-day requirements of living, to a well-arranged and
+highly-respectable family.
+
+The chamber plan of the dwelling will be readily understood by reference
+to its arrangement. There are a sufficiency of closets for all purposes,
+and the whole are accessible from either flight of stairs. The rooms
+over the wing, of course, should be devoted to the male domestics of the
+family, work-people, &c.
+
+
+SURROUNDING PLANTATIONS, SHRUBBERY, WALKS, ETC.
+
+After the general remarks made in the preceding pages, no _particular_
+instructions can be given for the manner in which this residence should
+be embellished in its trees and shrubbery. The large forest trees,
+always grand, graceful, and appropriate, would become such a house,
+throwing a protecting air around and over its quiet, unpretending roof.
+Vines, or climbing roses, might throw their delicate spray around the
+columns of the modest veranda, and a varied selection of familiar
+shrubbery and ornamental plants checker the immediate front and sides of
+the house looking out upon the lawn; through which a spacious walk, or
+carriage-way should wind, from the high road, or chief approach.
+
+There are, however, so many objects to be consulted in the various sites
+of houses, that no one rule can be laid down for individual guidance.
+The surface of the ground immediately adjoining the house must be
+considered; the position of the house, as it is viewed from surrounding
+objects; its altitude, or depression, as affected by the adjacent lands;
+its command upon surrounding near, or distant objects, in the way of
+prospect; the presence of water, either in stream, pond, or lake, far or
+near, or the absence of water altogether--all these enter immediately
+into the manner in which the lawn of a house should be laid out, and
+worked, and planted. But as a rule, all _filagree_ work, such as
+serpentine paths, and tortuous, unmeaning circles, artificial piles of
+rock, and a multitude of small _ornaments_--so esteemed, by some--should
+never be introduced into the lawn of a _farm_ house. It is unmeaning,
+in the first place; expensive in its care, in the second place;
+unsatisfactory and annoying altogether. Such things about a farm
+establishment are neither dignified nor useful, and should be left to
+town's-people, having but a stinted appreciation of what constitutes
+_natural_ beauty, and wanting to make the most of the limited piece of
+ground of which they are possessed.
+
+Nor would we shut out, by these remarks, the beauty and odor of the
+flower-borders, which are so appropriately the care of the good matron
+of the household and her comely daughters. To them may be devoted a
+well-dug plat beneath the windows, or in the garden. Enough, and to
+spare, they should always have, of such cheerful, life-giving pleasures.
+We only object to their being strewed all over the ground,--a tussoc of
+plant here, a patch of posey there, and a scattering of both everywhere,
+without either system or meaning. They lower the dignity and simplicity
+of the country dwelling altogether.
+
+The business approach to this house is, of course, toward the stables
+and carriage-house, and from them should lead off the main farm-avenue.
+
+The kitchen garden, if possible, should lie on the kitchen side of the
+house, where, also, should be placed the bee-house, in full sight from
+the windows, that their labors and swarming may be watched. In fact, the
+entire economy of the farm house, and its appendages, should be brought
+close under the eye of the household, to engage their care and
+watchfulness, and to interest them in all the little associations and
+endearments--and they are many, when properly studied out--which go to
+make agricultural life one of the most agreeable pursuits, if not
+altogether so, in which our lot in life may be cast.
+
+A fruit-garden, too, should be a prominent object near this house. We
+are now advancing somewhat into the _elegances_ of agricultural life;
+and although fruit trees, and _good_ fruits too, should hold a strong
+place in the surroundings of even the humblest of all country
+places--sufficient, at least, for the ample use of the family--they have
+not yet been noticed, to any extent, in those already described. It may
+be remarked, that the fruit-_garden_--the _orchard_, for market
+purposes, is not here intended--should be placed in near proximity to
+the house. All the _small_ fruits, for household use, such as
+strawberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, blackberries, grapes,
+as well as apricots, plums, nectarines, peaches, pears, apples, quinces,
+or whatever fruits may be cultivated, in different localities, should be
+close by, for the convenience of collecting them, and to protect them
+from destruction by vermin, birds, or the depredations of creatures
+_called_ human.
+
+A decided plan of arrangement for all the plantations and grounds,
+should enter into the composition of the site for the dwelling,
+out-houses, gardens, &c., as they are to appear when the whole
+establishment is completed; and nothing left to accident, chance, or
+after-thought, which can be disposed of at the commencement. By the
+adoption of such a course, the entire composition is more easily
+perfected, and with infinitely greater expression of character, than if
+left to the chance designs, or accidental demands of the future.
+
+Another feature should be strictly enforced, in the outward appointments
+of the farm house,--and that is, the entire withdrawal of any use of the
+highway, in its occupation by the stock of the farm, except in leading
+them to and from its enclosures. Nothing looks more slovenly, and
+nothing can be more unthrifty, in an _enclosed_ country, than the
+running of farm stock in the highway. What so untidy as the approach to
+a house, with a herd of filthy hogs rooting about the fences, basking
+along the sidewalk, or feeding at a huge, uncouth, hollowed log, in the
+road near the dwelling. It may be out of place here to speak of it, but
+this disgusting spectacle has so often offended our sight, at the
+approach of an otherwise pleasant farm establishment, that we cannot
+forego the opportunity to speak of it. The road lying in front, or
+between the different sections of the farm, should be as well, and as
+cleanly kept as any portion of the enclosures, and it is equally a sin
+against good taste and neighborhood-morality, to have it otherwise.
+
+
+TREE-PLANTING IN THE HIGHWAY.
+
+This is frequently recommended by writers on country embellishment, as
+indispensable to a finished decoration of the farm. Such may, or may not
+be the fact. Trees shade the roads, when planted on their sides, and so
+they partially do the fields adjoining, making the first muddy, in bad
+weather, by preventing the sun drying them, and shading the crops of the
+last by their overhanging foliage, in the season of their growth. Thus
+they are an evil, in moist and heavy soils. Yet, in light soils, their
+shade is grateful to the highway traveler, and not, perhaps, injurious
+to the crops of the adjoining field; and when of proper kinds, they add
+grace and beauty to the domain in which they stand. We do not,
+therefore, indiscriminately recommend them, but leave it to the
+discretion of the farmer, to decide for himself, having seen estates
+equally pleasant with, and without trees on the roadside. Nothing,
+however, can be more beautiful than a clump of trees in a
+pasture-ground, with a herd, or a flock beneath them, near the road; or
+the grand and overshadowing branches of stately tree, in a rich meadow,
+leaning, perhaps, over the highway fence, or flourishing in its solitary
+grandeur, in the distance--each, and all, imposing features in the rural
+landscape. All such should be preserved, with the greatest care and
+solicitude, as among the highest and most attractive ornaments which the
+farm can boast.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 131-132.]
+
+DESIGN V.
+
+
+We here present a dwelling of a more ambitious and pretending character
+than any one which we have, as yet, described, and calculated for a
+large and wealthy farmer, who indulges in the elegances of country life,
+dispenses a liberal hospitality, and is every way a country gentleman,
+such as all our farmers of ample means should be. It will answer the
+demands of the retired man of business as well; and is, perhaps, as full
+in its various accommodation as an American farm or country house may
+require. It claims no distinct style of architecture, but is a
+composition agreeable in effect, and appropriate to almost any part of
+the country, and its climate. Its site may be on either hill or
+plain--with a view extensive, or restricted. It may look out over broad
+savannas, cultivated fields, and shining waters; it may nestle amid its
+own quiet woods and lawn in its own selected shade and retirement, or
+lord it over an extensive park, ranged by herds and flocks, meandered by
+its own stream, spreading anon into the placid lake, or rushing swiftly
+over its own narrow bed--an independent, substantial, convenient, and
+well-conditioned home, standing upon its own broad acres, and comporting
+with the character and standing of its occupant, among his friends and
+neighbors.
+
+The main building is 50�40 feet in area upon the ground, two stories
+high; the ground story 11 feet high, its floor elevated 2� or 3 feet
+above the level of the surrounding surface, as its position may demand;
+the chambers 9 feet high, and running 2 feet into the roof. The rear
+wing is one and a half stories high, 36�16 feet; the lower rooms 11 feet
+high, with a one story lean-to range of closets, and small rooms on the
+weather side, 8 feet in width and 9 feet high. In the rear of these is a
+wood-house, 30�20 feet, with 10 feet posts, dropped to a level with the
+ground. At the extremity of this is a building, by way of an L, 60�20
+feet, one and a half stories high, with a lean-to, 12�30 feet, in the
+rear. The ground rooms of this are elevated 1� feet above the ground,
+and 9 feet high. A broad roof covers the whole, standing at an angle of
+40 or 45� above a horizontal line, and projecting widely over the walls,
+2� to 3 feet on the main building, and 2 feet on the others, to shelter
+them perfectly from the storms and damps of the weather. A small cupola
+stands out of the ridge of the rear building, which may serve as a
+ventilator to the apartments and lofts below, and in it may be hung a
+bell, to summon the household, or the field laborers, as the case may
+be, to their duties or their meals.
+
+The design, as here shown, is rather florid, and perhaps profusely
+ornamental in its finish, as comporting with the taste of the day; but
+the cut and moulded trimmings may be left off by those who prefer a
+plain finish, and be no detriment to the general effect which the deep
+friezes of the roofs, properly cased beneath, may give to it. Such,
+indeed, is our own taste; but this full finish has been added, to
+gratify such as wish the full ornament which this style of building may
+admit.
+
+
+  [Illustration: GROUND PLAN.]
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front of this house is accommodated by a porch, or veranda, 40 feet
+long, and 10 feet wide, with a central, or entrance projection of 18
+feet in length, and 12 feet in width, the floor of which is eight inches
+below the main floor of the house. The wings, or sides of this veranda
+may be so fitted up as to allow a pleasant conservatory on each side of
+the entrance area in winter, by enclosing them with glass windows, and
+the introduction of heat from a furnace under the main hall, in the
+cellar of the house. This would add to its general effect in winter,
+and, if continued through the summer, would not detract from its
+expression of dignity and refinement. From the veranda, a door in the
+center of the front, with two side windows, leads into the main hall,
+which is 26�12 feet in area, two feet in the width of which is taken
+from the rooms on the right of the main entrance. On the left of the
+hall a door opens into a parlor or drawing-room, marked P, 20 feet
+square, with a bay window on one side, containing three sashes, and
+seats beneath. A single window lights the front opening on to the
+veranda. On the opposite side to this is the fireplace, with blank walls
+on each side. On the opposite side of the hall is a library, 18�16 feet,
+with an end window, and a corresponding one to the parlor, in front,
+looking out on the veranda. In case these portions of the veranda,
+opposite the two front windows are occupied as conservatories, these
+windows should open to the floor, to admit a walk immediately into them.
+At the farther corner of the library a narrow door leads into an office,
+or business apartment, 12�8 feet, and opening by a broad door, the upper
+half of which is a lighted sash. This door leads from the office out on
+a small porch, with a floor and two columns, 8�5 feet, and nine feet
+high, with a gable and double roof of the same pitch as the house.
+Between the chimney flues, in the rear of this room may be placed an
+iron safe, or chest for the deposit of valuable papers; and, although
+small, a table and chairs sufficient to accommodate the business
+requirements of the occupant, may be kept in it. A chimney stands in the
+center of the inner wall of the library, in which may be a fireplace, or
+a flue to receive a stovepipe, whichever may be preferred for warming
+the room.
+
+Near the hall side of the library a door opens into a passage leading
+into the family bedroom, or nursery. A portion of this passage may be
+shelved and fitted up as a closet for any convenient purpose. The
+nursery is 18�16 feet in size, lighted by two windows. It may have an
+open fireplace, or a stove, as preferred, let into the chimney,
+corresponding to that in the library. These two chimneys may either be
+drawn together in the chambers immediately above, or carried up
+separately into the garret, and pass out of the roof in one stack, or
+they maybe built in one solid mass from the cellar bottom; but they are
+so placed here, as saving room on the floors, and equally accommodating,
+in their separate divisions, the stovepipes that may lead into them.
+On the inner side of the nursery, a door leads into a large closet, or
+child's sleeping-room, 9�8 feet; or it may be used as a dressing-room,
+with a sash inserted in the door to light it. A door may also lead from
+it into the small rear entry of the house, and thus pass directly out,
+without communicating with the nursery. On the extreme left corner of
+the nursery is a door leading into the back entry, by which it
+communicates either with the rear porch, the dining-room, or the
+kitchen. Such a room we consider indispensable to the proper
+accommodation of a house in the country, as saving a world of
+up-and-down-stairs' labor to her who is usually charged with the
+domestic cares and supervision of the family.
+
+On the right of the main hall an ample staircase leads into the upper
+hall by a landing and broad stair at eight feet above the floor, and a
+right-angled flight from that to the main floor above. Under this main
+hall staircase, a door and stairs may lead into the cellar. Beyond the
+turning flight below, a door leads into the back hall, or entry, already
+mentioned, which is 13�4 feet in area, which also has a side passage of
+8�4 feet, and a door leading to the rear porch, and another into the
+kitchen at its farther side, near the outer one. Opposite the turning
+flight of stairs, in the main hall, is also a door leading to the
+dining-room, 20�16 feet. This is lighted by a large double window at the
+end. A fireplace, or stove flue is in the center wall, and on each side
+a closet for plate, or table furniture. These closets come out flush
+with the chimney. At the extreme right corner a door leads into the rear
+entry--or this may be omitted, at pleasure. Another door in the rear
+wall leads into the kitchen, past the passage down into the cellar--or
+this may be omitted, if thought best. Still another door to the left,
+opens into a large dining closet of the back lean-to apartments, 8�8
+feet. This closet is lighted by a window of proper architectural size,
+and fitted up with a suite of drawers, shelves, table, and cupboards,
+required for the preparation and deposit of the lighter family stores
+and edibles. From this closet is also a door leading into the kitchen,
+through which may be passed all the meats and cookery for the table,
+either for safe-keeping, or immediate service. Here the thrifty and
+careful housekeeper and her assistants may, shut apart, and by
+themselves, get up, fabricate, and arrange all their table delicacies
+with the greatest convenience and privacy, together with ease of access
+either to the dining-room or kitchen--an apartment most necessary in a
+liberally-arranged establishment.
+
+From the rear entry opens a door to the kitchen, passing by the _rear_
+chamber stairs. This flight of stairs may be entered directly from the
+kitchen, leading either to the chamber, or under them, into the cellar,
+without coming into the passage connecting with the entry or
+dining-room, if preferred. In such case, a broad stair of thirty inches
+in width should be next the door, on which to turn, as the door would be
+at right angles with the stairs, either up or down.
+
+The kitchen is 20�16 feet, and 11 feet high. It has an outer door
+leading on the rear porch, and a window on each side of that door; also
+a window, under which is a sink, on the opposite side, at the end of a
+passage four feet wide, leading through the lean-to. It has also an open
+fireplace, and an oven by the side of it--old fashion. It may be also
+furnished with a cooking range, or stove--the smoke and fumes leading by
+a pipe into a flue into the chimney. On the lean-to side is a milk or
+dairy-room, 8�8 feet, lighted by a window. Here also the kitchen
+furniture and meats may be stored in cupboards made for the purpose.
+In rear of the kitchen, and leading from it by a door through a lighted
+passage next the rear porch, is the wash-room, 16�16 feet, lighted by a
+large window from the porch side. A door also leads out of the rear on
+to a platform into the wood-house. Another door leads from the wash-room
+into a bath-room in the lean-to 8�8 feet, into which warm water is drawn
+by a pipe and pump from the boiler in the wash-room; or, if preferred,
+the bath-room may be entered from the main kitchen, by the passage next
+the sink. This bath-room is lighted by a window. Next to the bath-room
+is a bedroom for a man servant who has charge of the fires, and heavy
+house-work, wood, &c., &c. This bedroom is also 8�8 feet, and lighted by
+a window in the lean-to. In front of this wash-room and kitchen is a
+porch, eight inches below the floor, six feet wide, with a railing, or
+not, as may be preferred. (The railing is made in the cut.) A platform,
+three feet wide, leads from the back door of the wash-room to a
+water-closet for the family _proper_. The wood-house is open in front,
+with a single post supporting the center of the roof. At the extreme
+outer angle is a water-closet for the domestics of the establishment.
+
+Adjoining the wood-house, and opening from it into the L before
+mentioned, is a workshop, and small-tool-house, 20�16 feet, lighted by a
+large double window at one end. In this should be a carpenter's
+work-bench and tool-chest, for the repairs of the farming utensils and
+vehicles. Overhead is a store-room for lumber, or whatever else may be
+necessary for use in that capacity. Next to this is a granary or
+feed-room, 20�10 feet, with a small chimney in one corner, where may be
+placed a boiler to cook food for pigs, poultry, &c., as the case may be.
+Here may also be bins for storage of grain and meal. Leading out of this
+is a flight of stairs passing to the chamber above, and a passage four
+feet wide, through the rear, into a yard adjoining. At the further end
+of the stairs a door opens into a poultry house, 16�10 feet, including
+the stairs. The poultry room is lighted at the extreme left corner, by a
+broad window. In this may be made roosts, and nesting places, and
+feeding troughs. A low door under the window may be also made for the
+fowls in passing to the rear yard. Adjoining the granary, and leading to
+it by a door, is the carriage-house, 20�20 feet, at the gable end of
+which are large doors for entrance. From the carriage-house is a broad
+passage of six feet, into the stables, which are 12 feet wide, and
+occupy the lean-to. This lean-to is eight feet high below the eaves,
+with two double stalls for horses, and a door leading into the _side_
+yard, with the doors of the carriage-house. A window also lights the
+rear of the stables. A piggery 12 feet square occupies the remainder of
+the lean-to in rear of the poultry-house, in which two or three pigs can
+always be kept, and fatted on the offal of the house, for _small_ pork,
+at any season, apart from the swine stock of the farm. A door leads out
+of the piggery into the rear yard, where range also the poultry. As the
+_shed_ roof shuts down on to the pigsty and stables, no loft above them
+is necessary. In the loft over the granary, poultry, and carriage-house
+is deposited the hay, put in there through the doors which appear in the
+design.
+
+CHAMBER PLAN.--This is easily understood. At the head of the stairs,
+over the main hall, is a large passage leading to the porch, and opening
+by a door-window on the middle deck of the veranda, which is nearly
+level, and tinned, or coppered, water-tight, as are also the two sides.
+On either side of this upper hall is a door leading to the front
+sleeping chambers, which are well closeted, and spacious. If it be
+desirable to construct more sleeping-rooms, they can be partitioned
+laterally from the hall, and doors made to enter them. A rear hall is
+cut off from the front, lighted by a window over the lower rear porch,
+and a door leads into a further passage in the wing, four feet wide,
+which leads down a flight of stairs into the kitchen below. At the head
+of this flight is a chamber 20�12 feet, for the female domestic's
+sleeping-room, in which may be placed a stove, if necessary, passing its
+pipe into the kitchen chimney which passes through it.
+
+  [Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN.]
+
+It is also lighted by a window over the lean-to, on the side. Back of
+this, at the end of the passage, is the sleeping-room, 16 feet square,
+for the "men-folks," lighted on both sides by a window. This may also be
+warmed, if desired, by a stove, the pipe passing into the kitchen
+chimney.
+
+The cellar may extend under the entire house and wing, as convenience or
+necessity may require. If it be constructed under the main body only, an
+offset should be excavated to accommodate the cellar stairs, three feet
+in width, and walled in with the rest. A wide, _outer_ passage, with a
+flight of steps should also be made under the rear nursery window, for
+taking in and passing out bulky articles, with double doors to shut down
+upon it; and partition walls should be built to support the partitions
+of the large rooms above. Many minor items of detail might be mentioned,
+all of which are already treated in the general remarks, under their
+proper heads, in the body of the work, and which cannot here be
+noticed--such as the mode of warming it, the construction of furnaces,
+&c.
+
+It may, by some builders, be considered a striking defect in the
+interior accommodation of a house of this character, that the chief
+entrance hall should not be extended through, from its front to the
+rear, as is common in many of the large mansions of our country.
+We object to the large, open hall for more than one reason, except,
+possibly, in a house for _summer_ occupation only. In the first place it
+is uncomfortable, in subjecting the house to an unnecessary draught of
+air when it is not needed, in cold weather. Secondly, it cuts the house
+into two distinct parts, making them inconvenient of access in crossing
+its wide surface. Thirdly, it is uneconomical, in taking up valuable
+room that can be better appropriated. For summer ventilation it is
+unnecessary; that may be given by simply opening the front door and a
+chamber window connected with the hall above, through which a current of
+fresh air will always pass. Another thing, the hall belongs to the
+front, or _dress_ part of the house, and should be _cut off_ from the
+more domestic and common apartments by a partition, although accessible
+to them, and not directly communicating with such apartments, which
+cannot of necessity, be in keeping with its showy and pretending
+character. It should contain only the _front_ flight of stairs, as a
+part of its appointments, besides the doors leading to its best
+apartments on the ground floor, which should be centrally placed--its
+rear door being of a less pretending and subordinate character. Thus,
+the hall, with its open doors, connecting the best rooms of the house on
+each side, with its ample flight of stairs in the background, gives a
+distinct expression of superiority in occupation to the other and
+humbler portions of the dwelling.
+
+In winter, too, how much more snug and comfortable is the house, shut in
+from the prying winds and shivering cold of the outside air, which the
+opposite outer doors of an open hall cannot, in their continual opening
+and shutting, altogether exclude! Our own experience, and, we believe,
+the experience of most housekeepers will readily concede its defects;
+and after full reflection we have excluded it as both unnecessary and
+inconvenient.
+
+Another objection has been avoided in the better class of houses here
+presented, which has crept into very many of the designs of modern
+builders; which is, that of using the living rooms of the family, more
+or less, as passages from the kitchen apartments in passing to and from
+the front hall, or chief entrance. Such we consider a decided objection,
+and hence arose, probably, the older plans of by-gone years, of making
+the main hall reach back to the kitchen itself. This is here obviated by
+a cutting up of the rear section of the hall, by which a passage, in all
+cases of the better kind of dwelling, is preserved, without encroaching
+upon the occupied rooms in passing out and in. To be sure, the front
+door is not the usual passage for the laborers or servants of the house,
+but they are subject, any hour of the day, to be called there to admit
+those who may come, and the continual opening of a private room for such
+purposes is most annoying. Therefore, as matter of convenience, and as a
+decided improvement on the designs above noticed, we have adhered
+strictly to the separate rear passage.
+
+The _garret_, also, as we have arranged our designs, is either
+altogether left out, or made a quite unimportant part of the dwelling.
+It is but a _lumber_ room, at best; and should be approached only by a
+flight of steps from a rear chamber or passage, and used as a receptacle
+for useless traps, or cast-off furniture, seldom wanted. It is hot in
+summer, and cold in winter, unfit for decent lodging to any human being
+in the house, and of little account any way. We much prefer running the
+chambers partially into the roof, which we think gives them a more
+comfortable expression, and admits of a better ventilation, by carrying
+their ceilings higher without the expense of high _body_ walls to the
+house, which would give them an otherwise naked look. If it be objected
+that thus running the chambers above the plates of the roof prevents the
+insertion of proper ties or beams to hold the roof plates together to
+prevent their spreading, we answer, that he must be a poor mechanic who
+cannot, in framing the chamber partitions so connect the opposite plates
+as to insure them against all such difficulty. A _sheltered,
+comfortable_ aspect is that which should distinguish every farm house,
+and the _cottage_ chamber is one of its chiefest characteristics; and
+this can only be had by running such apartments into the roof, as in our
+design.
+
+
+CONSTRUCTION.
+
+A house of this kind must, according to its locality, and the material
+of which it is built, be liable to wide differences of estimate in its
+cost; and from our own experience in such matters, any estimate here
+made we know cannot be reliable as a rule for other localities, where
+the prices of material and labor are different from our own. Where
+lumber, stone, and brick abound, and each are to be had at reasonable
+prices, the cost of an establishment of this kind would not vary much in
+the application of either one of these materials for the walls, if well
+and substantially constructed. There should be no _sham_, nor slight, in
+any part of the building. As already observed, the design shows a high
+degree of finish, which, if building for ourself, we should not indulge
+in. A plain style of cornice, and veranda finish, we should certainly
+adopt. But the roof should not be contracted in its projecting breadth
+over the walls, in any part of the structure--if anything, it should be
+more extended. The bay-window is an appendage of luxury, only. Great
+care should be had, in attaching its roof to the adjoining outer wall,
+to prevent leakage of any kind. If the walls be of brick, or stone,
+a beam or lintel of wood should be inserted in the wall over the
+window-opening, quite two inches--three would be better--back from its
+outer surface, to receive the casing of the window, that the drip of the
+wall, and the driving of the storms may fall _over_ the connecting
+joints of the window roof, beyond its point of junction with it. Such,
+also, should be the case with the intersection of the veranda or porch
+roof with the wall of the house, wherever a veranda, or porch is
+adopted; as, simply joined on to a _flush_ surface, as such appendages
+usually are--even if ever so well done--leakage and premature decay is
+inevitable.
+
+The style of finish must, of course, influence, in a considerable
+degree, its cost. It may, with the plainest finish, be done for $4,000,
+and from that, up to $6,000. Every one desirous to build, should apply
+to the best mechanics of his neighborhood for information on that point,
+as, in such matters, they are the best judges, and from experience in
+their own particular profession, of what the cost of building must be.
+
+The rules and customs of housekeeping vary, in different sections of the
+United States, and the Canadas. These, also, enter into the estimates
+for certain departments of building, and must be considered in the items
+of expenditure.
+
+The manner in which houses should be warmed, the ventilation,
+accommodation for servants and laborers, the appropriations to
+hospitality--all, will have a bearing on the expense, of which we cannot
+be the proper judge.
+
+A sufficient time should be given, to build a house of this character.
+A house designed and built in a hurry, is never a satisfactory house in
+its occupation. A year is little enough, and if two years be occupied in
+its design and construction, the more acceptable will probably be its
+finish, and the more comfort will be added in its enjoyment.
+
+
+GROUNDS, PLANTATIONS, AND SURROUNDINGS.
+
+A house of this kind should never stand in vulgar and familiar contact
+with the highway, but at a distance from it of one hundred to a thousand
+yards; or even, if the estate on which it is built be extensive, a much
+greater distance. Breadth of ground between the highway and the dwelling
+adds dignity and character to its appearance. An ample lawn, or a
+spreading park, well shaded with trees, should lay before it, through
+which a well-kept avenue leads to its front, and most frequented side.
+The various offices and buildings of the farm itself, should be at a
+respectable distance from it, so as not to interfere with its proper
+keeping as a genteel country residence. Its occupant is not to be
+supposed as under the necessity of toiling with his daily laborers in
+the fields, and therefore, although he may be strictly a man of
+business, he has sufficient employment in planning his work, and
+managing his estate through a foreman, in the various labor-occupations
+of the estate. His horse may be at his door in the earliest morning
+hours, that he may inspect his fields, and give timely directions to his
+laborers, or view his herds, or his flocks, before his breakfast hour;
+or an early walk may take him to his stables, his barns, or to see that
+his previous directions are executed.
+
+The various accommodation appurtenant to the dwelling, makes ample
+provision for the household convenience of the family, and the main
+business of the farm may be at some distance, without inconvenience to
+the owner's every-day affairs. Consequently, the indulgence of a
+considerable degree of ornament may be given, in the surroundings of his
+dwelling, which the occupant of a less extensive estate would neither
+require, nor his circumstances warrant. A natural forest of stately
+trees, properly thinned out, is the most appropriate spot on which to
+build a house of this character. But that not at hand, it should be set
+off with plantations of forest trees, of the largest growth, as in
+keeping with its own liberal dimensions. A capacious kitchen garden
+should lead off from the rear apartments, well stocked with all the
+family vegetables, and culinary fruits, in their proper seasons. A
+luxuriant fruit-garden may flank the least frequented side of the house.
+Neat and tasteful flower beds may lie beneath the windows of the rooms
+appropriated to the leisure hours of the family, to which the smaller
+varieties of shrubbery may be added, separated from the chief lawn, or
+park, only by a wire fence, or a simple railing, such as not to cut up
+and _checker_ its simple and dignified surface; and all these shut in on
+the rear from the adjoining fields of the farm by belts of large
+shrubbery closely planted, or the larger orchards, thus giving it a
+style of its own, yet showing its connection with the pursuits of the
+farm and its dependence upon it.
+
+These various appointments, however, may be either carried out or
+restricted, according to the requirements of the family occupying the
+estate, and the prevailing local taste of the vicinity in which it is
+situated; but no narrow or stingy spirit should be indicated in the
+general plan or in its execution. Every appointment connected with it
+should indicate a liberality of purpose in the founder, without which
+its effect is painfully marred to the eye of the man of true taste and
+judgment. Small yards, picketed in for small uses, have no business in
+sight of the grounds in front, and all minor concerns should be thrown
+into the rear, beyond observation from the main approach to the
+dwelling. The trees that shade the entrance park, or lawn, should be
+chiefly forest trees, as the oak, in its varieties, the elm, the maple,
+the chestnut, walnut, butternut, hickory, or beech. If the soil be
+favorable, a few weeping willows may throw their drooping spray around
+the house; and if exotic, or foreign trees be permitted, they should
+take their position in closer proximity to it than the natural forest
+trees, as indicating the higher care and cultivation which attaches to
+its presence. The Lombardy poplar, albeit a tree of disputed taste with
+modern planters, we would now and then throw in, not in stiff and formal
+rows, as guarding an avenue, but occasionally in the midst of a group of
+others, above which it should rise like a church spire from amidst a
+block of contiguous houses--a cheerful relief to the monotony of the
+rounder-headed branches of the more spreading varieties. If a stream of
+water meander the park, or spread into a little pond, trees which are
+partial to moisture should shadow it at different points, and low, water
+shrubs should hang over its border, or even run into its margin. Aquatic
+herbs, too, may form a part of its ornaments, and a boat-house, if such
+a thing be necessary, should, under the shade of a hanging tree of some
+kind, be a conspicuous object in the picture. An overhanging rock, if
+such a thing be native there, may be an object of great attraction to
+its features, and its outlet may steal away and be hid in a dense mass
+of tangled vines and brushwood. The predominating, _natural_ features of
+the place should be _cultivated_, not rooted out, and metamorphosed into
+something foreign and unfamiliar. It should, in short, be _nature_ with
+her _hair combed_ out straight, flowing, and graceful, instead of
+pinched, puffed, and curling--a thing of luxuriance and beauty under the
+hand of a master.
+
+The great difficulty with many Americans in getting up a new place of
+any considerable extent is, that they seem to think whatever is common,
+or natural in the features of the spot must be so changed as to show,
+above all others, their own ingenuity and love of expense in fashioning
+it to their peculiar tastes. Rocks must be sunk, or blasted, trees
+felled, and bushes grubbed, crooked water-courses straightened--the
+place gibbeted and put into stocks; in fact, that their own boasted
+handiwork may rise superior to the wisdom of Him who fashioned it in his
+own good pleasure; forgetting that a thousand points of natural beauty
+upon the earth on which they breathe are
+
+  "When unadorned, adorned the most;"
+
+and our eye has been frequently shocked at finding the choicest gems of
+nature sacrificed to a wanton display of expense in perverting, to the
+indulgence of a mistaken fancy, that, which, with an eye to truth and
+propriety, and at a trifling expense, might have become a spot of
+abiding interest and contentment.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN VI.
+
+
+A SOUTHERN OR PLANTATION HOUSE.--The proprietor of a plantation in the
+South, or South-west, requires altogether a different kind of residence
+from the farmer of the Northern, or Middle States. He resides in the
+midst of his own principality, surrounded by a retinue of dependents and
+laborers, who dwell distant and apart from his own immediate family,
+although composing a community requiring his daily care and
+superintendence for a great share of his time. A portion of them are the
+attach�s of his household, yet so disconnected in their domestic
+relations, as to require a separate accommodation, and yet be in
+immediate contiguity with it, and of course, an arrangement of living
+widely different from those who mingle in the same circle, and partake
+at the same board.
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 155-156.]
+
+The usual plan of house-building at the South, we are aware, is to have
+_detached_ servants' rooms, and offices, and a space of some yards of
+uncovered way intervene between the family rooms of the chief dwelling
+and its immediate dependents. Such arrangement, however, we consider
+both unnecessary and inconvenient; and we have devised a plan of
+household accommodation which will bring the family of the planter
+himself, and their servants, although under different roofs, into
+convenient proximity with each other. A design of this kind is here
+given.
+
+The style is mainly Italian, plain, substantial, yet, we think,
+becoming. The broad veranda, stretching around three sides, including
+the front, gives an air of sheltered repose to what might otherwise
+appear an ambitious structure; and the connected apartments beyond, show
+a quiet utility which divests it of an over attempt at display. Nothing
+has been attempted for appearance, solely, beyond what is necessary and
+proper in the dwelling of a planter of good estate, who wants his
+domestic affairs well regulated, and his family, and servants duly
+provided with convenient accommodation. The form of the main dwelling is
+nearly square, upright, with two full stories, giving ample area of room
+and ventilation, together with that appropriate indulgence to ease which
+the enervating warmth of a southern climate renders necessary. The
+servants' apartments, and kitchen offices are so disposed, that while
+connected, to render them easy of access, they are sufficiently remote
+to shut off the familiarity of association which would render them
+obnoxious to the most fastidious--all, in fact, under one shelter, and
+within the readiest call. Such should be the construction of a planter's
+house in the United States, and such this design is intended to give.
+
+A stable and carriage-house, in the same style, is near by, not
+connected to any part of the dwelling, as in the previous designs--with
+sufficient accommodation for coachman and grooms, and the number of
+saddle and carriage horses that may be required for either business or
+pleasure; and to it may be connected, in the rear, in the same style of
+building, or plainer, and less expensive, further conveniences for such
+domestic animals as may be required for family use.
+
+The whole stands in open grounds, and may be separated from each other
+by enclosures, as convenience or fancy may direct.
+
+The roofs of all the buildings are broad and sweeping, well protecting
+the walls from storm and frosts, as well as the glaring influences of
+the sun, and combining that comfortable idea of shelter and repose so
+grateful in a well-conditioned country house. It is true, that the
+dwelling might be more extensive in room, and the purposes of luxury
+enlarged; but the planter on five hundred, or five thousand acres of
+land can here be sufficiently accommodated in all the reasonable
+indulgences of family enjoyment, and a liberal, even an elegant and
+prolonged hospitality, to which he is so generally inclined.
+
+The chimneys of this house, different from those in the previous
+designs, are placed next the outer walls, thus giving more space to the
+interior, and not being required, as in the others, to promote
+additional warmth than their fireplaces will give, to the rooms. A deck
+on the roof affords a pleasant look-out for the family from its top,
+guarded by a parapet, and giving a finish to its architectural
+appearance, and yet making no ambitious attempt at expensive ornament.
+It is, in fact, a plain, substantial, respectable mansion for a
+gentleman of good estate, and nothing beyond it.
+
+
+  [Illustration: GROUND PLAN.]
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+This house stands 50�40 feet on the ground. The front door opens from
+the veranda into a hall, 24�14 feet, in which is a flight of stairs
+leading to the chambers above. On the left a door leads into a library,
+or business room, 17�17 feet, lighted by three windows. A fireplace is
+inserted in the outer wall. Another door leads into a side hall, six
+feet wide, which separates the library from the dining-room, which is
+also 17�17 feet in area, lighted and accommodated with a fireplace like
+the other, with a door leading into it from the side hall, and another
+door at the further right hand corner leading into the rear hall, or
+entry.
+
+On the right of the chief entrance hall, opposite the library, a door
+opens into the parlor or drawing-room, 23�19 feet in area, lighted by
+three windows, and having a fireplace in the side wall. A door leads
+from the rear side of the parlor into a commodious nursery, or family
+bedroom, 19�16 feet in size, lighted by a window in each outer wall. A
+fireplace is also inserted on the same line as in the parlor. From the
+nursery a door leads into and through a large closet, 9�7 feet, into the
+rear hall. This closet may also be used as a sleeping-room for the
+children, or a confidential servant-maid, or nurse, or devoted to the
+storage of bed-linen for family use. Further on, adjoining, is another
+closet, 7�6 feet, opening from the rear hall, and lighted by a window.
+
+Leading from the outer door of the rear hall is a covered passage six
+feet wide, 16 feet long, and one and a half stories high, leading to the
+kitchen offices, and lighted by a window on the left, with a door
+opening in the same side beyond, on to the side front of the
+establishment. On the right, opposite, a door leads on to the kitchen
+porch, which is six feet wide, passing on to the bath-room and
+water-closet, in the far rear. At the end of the connecting passage from
+the main dwelling, a door opens into the kitchen, which is 24�18 feet in
+size, accommodated with two windows looking on to the porch just
+described. At one end is an open fireplace with a cooking range on one
+side, and an oven on the other. At the left of the entrance door is a
+large, commodious store-room and pantry, 12�9 feet, lighted by a window;
+and adjoining it, (and may be connected with it by a door, if
+necessary,) a kitchen closet of the same size, also connected by a
+corresponding door from the opposite corner of the kitchen. Between
+these doors is a flight of stairs leading to the sleeping-rooms above,
+and a cellar passage beneath them. In the farther right corner of the
+kitchen a door leads into a smaller closet, 8�6 feet, lighted by a small
+window looking on to the rear porch at the end. A door at the rear of
+the kitchen leads out into the porch of the wash-room beyond, which is
+six feet wide, and another door into the wash-room itself, which is
+20�16 feet, and furnished with a chimney and boilers. A window looks out
+on the extreme right hand, and two windows on to the porch in front.
+A door opens from its rear wall into the wood-house, 32�12 feet, which
+stands open on two sides, supported by posts, and under the extended
+roof of the wash-room and its porch just mentioned. A servants'
+water-closet is attached to the extreme right corner of the wood-house,
+by way of lean-to.
+
+The bath-room is 10�6 feet in area, and supplied with water from the
+kitchen boilers adjoining. The water-closet beyond is 6 feet square, and
+architecturally, in its roof, may be made a fitting termination to that
+of the porch leading to it.
+
+  [Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN.]
+
+The main flight of stairs in the entrance hall leads on to a broad
+landing in the spacious upper hall, from which doors pass into the
+several chambers, which may be duly accommodated with closets. The
+passage connecting with the upper story of the servants' offices, opens
+from the rear section of this upper hall, and by the flight of rear
+stairs communicates with the kitchen and out-buildings. A garret flight
+of steps may be made in the rear section of the main upper hall, by
+which that apartment may be reached, and the upper deck of the roof
+ascended.
+
+The sleeping-rooms of the kitchen may be divided off as convenience may
+dictate, and the entire structure thus appropriated to every
+accommodation which a well-regulated family need require.
+
+  [Illustration: CARRIAGE HOUSE.]
+
+The carriage-house is 48�24 feet in size, with a projection of five feet
+on the entrance front, the door of which leads both into the
+carriage-room and stables. On the right is a bedroom, 10�8 feet, for the
+grooms, lighted by a window; and beyond are six stalls for horses, with
+a window in the rear wall beyond them. A flight of stairs leads to the
+hayloft above. In the rear of the carriage-room is a harness-room, 12�4
+feet, and a granary of the same size, each lighted by a window. If
+farther attachments be required for the accommodation of out-building
+conveniences, they may be continued indefinitely in the rear.
+
+
+MISCELLANEOUS.
+
+It may strike the reader that the house just described has a lavish
+appropriation of veranda, and a needless side-front, which latter may
+detract from the _precise_ architectural keeping that a dwelling of this
+pretension should maintain. In regard to the first, it may be remarked,
+that no feature of the house in a southern climate can be more
+expressive of easy, comfortable enjoyment, than a spacious veranda. The
+habits of southern life demand it as a place of exercise in wet weather,
+and the cooler seasons of the year, as well as a place of recreation and
+social intercourse during the fervid heats of the summer. Indeed, many
+southern people almost live under the shade of their verandas. It is a
+delightful place to take their meals, to receive their visitors and
+friends; and the veranda gives to a dwelling the very expression of
+hospitality, so far as any one feature of a dwelling can do it. No equal
+amount of accommodation can be provided for the same cost. It adds
+infinitely to the _room_ of the house itself, and is, in fact,
+indispensable to the full enjoyment of a southern house.
+
+The side front in this design is simply a matter of convenience to the
+owner and occupant of the estate, who has usually much office business
+in its management; and in the almost daily use of his library, where
+such business may be done, a side door and front is both appropriate and
+convenient. The _chief_ front entrance belongs to his family and guests,
+and should be devoted to their exclusive use; and as a light fence may
+be thrown off from the extreme end of the side porch, separating the
+front lawn from the rear approach to the house, the veranda on that side
+may be reached from its rear end, for business purposes, without
+intruding upon the lawn at all. So we would arrange it.
+
+Objections may be made to the _sameness_ of plan, in the arrangement of
+the lower rooms of the several designs which we have submitted, such as
+having the nursery, or family sleeping-room, on the main floor of the
+house, and the uniformity, in location, of the others; and that there
+are no _new_ and _striking_ features in them. The answer to these may
+be, that the room appropriated for the nursery, or bedroom, may be used
+for other purposes, equally as well; that when a mode of accommodation
+is already as convenient as may be, it is poorly worth while to make it
+less convenient, merely for the sake of variety; and, that utility and
+convenience are the main objects to be attained in any well-ordered
+dwelling. These two requisites, utility and convenience, attained, the
+third and principal one--comfort--is secured. Cellar kitchens--the most
+abominable nuisances that ever crept into a country dwelling--might have
+been adopted, no doubt, to the especial delight of some who know nothing
+of the experimental duties of housekeeping; but the recommendation of
+these is an offence which we have no stomach to answer for hereafter.
+Steep, winding, and complicated staircases might have given a new
+feature to one or another of the designs; dark closets, intricate
+passages, unique cubby-holes, and all sorts of inside gimcrackery might
+have amused our pencil; but we have avoided them, as well as everything
+which would stand in the way of the simplest, cheapest, and most direct
+mode of reaching the object in view: a convenient, comfortably-arranged
+dwelling within, having a respectable, dignified appearance without--and
+such, we trust, have been thus far presented in our designs.
+
+
+LAWN, AND PARK SURROUNDINGS.
+
+The trees and shrubbery which ornament the approach to this house,
+should be rather of the graceful varieties, than otherwise. The
+weeping-willow, the horse-chesnut, the mountain-ash, if suitable to the
+climate; or the china-tree of the south, or the linden, the weeping-elm,
+and the silver-maple, with its long slender branches and hanging leaves,
+would add most to the beauty, and comport more closely with the
+character of this establishment, than the more upright, stiff, and
+unbending trees of our American forests. The Lombardy-poplar--albeit,
+an object of fashionable derision with many tree-fanciers in these more
+_tasty_ days, as it was equally the admiration of our fathers, of forty
+years ago--would set off and give effect to a mansion of this character,
+either in a clump at the back-ground, as shown in the design, or
+occasionally shooting up its spire-like top through a group of the other
+trees. Yet, if built in a fine natural park or lawn of oaks, with a few
+other trees, such as we have named, planted immediately around it, this
+house would still show with fine effect.
+
+The style of finish given to this dwelling may appear too ornate and
+expensive for the position it is supposed to occupy. If so, a plainer
+mode of finish may be adopted, to the cheapest degree consistent with
+the manner of its construction. Still, on examination, there will be
+found little intricate or really expensive work upon it. Strength,
+substance, durability, should all enter into its composition; and
+without these elements, a house of this appearance is a mere bauble, not
+fit to stand upon the premises of any man of substantial estate.
+
+If a more extensive accommodation be necessary, than the size of this
+house can afford, its style will admit of a wing, of any desirable
+length, on each side, in place of the rear part of the side verandas,
+without prejudice to its character or effect. Indeed, such wings may add
+to its dignity, and consequence, as comporting with the standing and
+influence which its occupant may hold in the community wherein he
+resides. A man of mark, indeed, should, if he live in the country,
+occupy a dwelling somewhat indicating the position which he holds, both
+in society and in public affairs. By this remark, we may be treading on
+questionable ground, in our democratic country; but, practically, there
+is a fitness in it which no one can dispute. Not that extravagance,
+pretension, or any other _assumption_ of superiority should mark the
+dwelling of the distinguished man, but that his dwelling be of like
+character with himself: plain, dignified, solid, and, as a matter of
+course, altogether respectable.
+
+It is a happy feature in the composition of our republican institutions,
+both social and political, that we can afford to let the flashy men of
+the _day_--not of _time_--flaunter in all their purchased fancy in
+house-building, without prejudice to the prevailing sober sentiment of
+their neighbors, in such particulars. The man of money, simply, may
+build his "villa," and squander his tens of thousands upon it. He may
+riot within it, and fidget about it for a few brief years; he may even
+hang his coat of arms upon it, if he can fortunately do so without
+stumbling over a lapstone, or greasing his coat against the pans of a
+cook-shop; but it is equally sure that no child of his will occupy it
+after him, even if his own changeable fancy or circumstances permit him
+to retain it for his natural life. Such are the episodes of country
+house-building, and of frequent attempts at agricultural life, by those
+who affect it as a matter of ostentation or display. For the subjects of
+these, we do not write. But there is something exceedingly grateful to
+the feelings of one of stable views in life, to look upon an estate
+which has been long in an individual family, still maintaining its
+primitive character and respectability. Some five-and-twenty years ago,
+when too young to have any established opinions in matters of this sort,
+as we were driving through one of the old farming towns in
+Massachusetts, about twenty miles west of Boston, we approached a
+comfortable, well-conditioned farm, with a tavern-house upon the high
+road, and several great elms standing about it. The road passed between
+two of the trees, and from a cross-beam, lodged across their branches,
+swung a large square sign, with names and dates painted upon it--name
+and date we have forgotten; it was a good old Puritan name, however--in
+this wise:
+
+  "John Endicott, 1652."
+  "John Endicott, 1696."
+  "John Endicott, 1749."
+  "John Endicott, 1784."
+  "John Endicott, 1817."
+
+As our eyes read over this list, we were struck with the stability of a
+family who for many consecutive generations had occupied, by the same
+name, that venerable spot, and ministered to the comfort of as many
+generations of travelers, and incontinently took off our hat in respect
+to the record of so much worth, drove our horse under the shed, had him
+fed, went in, and took a quiet family dinner with the civil,
+good-tempered host, and the equally kind-mannered hostess, then in the
+prime of life, surrounded with a fine family of children, and heard from
+his own lips the history of his ancestors, from their first emigration
+from England--not in the Mayflower, to whose immeasurable accommodations
+our good New England ancestors are so prone to refer--but in one of her
+early successors.
+
+All over the old thirteen states, from Maine to Georgia, can be found
+agricultural estates now containing families, the descendants of those
+who founded them--exceptions to the general rule, we admit, of American
+stability of residence, but none the less gratifying to the
+contemplation of those who respect a deep love of home, wherever it may
+be found. For the moral of our episode on this subject, we cannot
+refrain from a description of a fine old estate which we have frequently
+seen, minus now the buildings which then existed, and long since
+supplanted by others equally respectable and commodious, and erected by
+the successor of the original occupant, the late Dr. Boylston, of
+Roxbury, who long made the farm his summer residence. The description is
+from an old work, "The History of the County of Worcester, in the State
+of Massachusetts, by the Rev. Peter Whitney, 1793:"
+
+  "Many of the houses (in Princeton,) are large and elegant. This
+  leads to a particular mention, that in this town is the country seat
+  of the Hon. Moses Gill, Esq., ('Honorable' meant something in those
+  days,) who has been from the year 1775 one of the Judges of the
+  Court of Common Pleas for the county of Worcester, and for several
+  years a counsellor of this commonwealth. His noble and elegant seat
+  is about one mile and a quarter from the meeting-house, to the
+  south. The farm contains upwards of three thousand acres. The county
+  road from Princeton to Worcester passes through it, in front of the
+  house, which faces to the west. The buildings stand upon the highest
+  land of the whole farm; but it is level round about them for many
+  rods, and then there is a very gradual descent. The land on which
+  these buildings stand is elevated between twelve hundred and
+  thirteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, as the Hon. James
+  Winthrop, Esq. informs me. The mansion house is large, being 50�50
+  feet, with four stacks of chimnies. The farm house is 40 feet by 36:
+  In a line with this stand the coach and chaise-house, 50 feet by 36.
+  This is joined to the barn by a shed 70 feet in length--the barn is
+  200 feet by 32. Very elegant fences are erected around the mansion
+  house, the out-houses, and the garden.
+
+  "The prospect from this seat is extensive and grand, taking in a
+  horizon to the east, of seventy miles, at least. The blue hills in
+  Milton are discernible with the naked eye, from the windows of this
+  superb edifice, distant not less than sixty miles; as also the
+  waters in the harbor of Boston, at certain seasons of the year. When
+  we view this seat, these buildings, and this farm of so many hundred
+  acres, now under a high degree of profitable cultivation, and are
+  told that in the year 1766 it was a perfect wilderness, we are
+  struck with wonder, admiration, and astonishment. The honorable
+  proprietor thereof must have great satisfaction in contemplating
+  these improvements, so extensive, made under his direction, and,
+  I may add, by his own active industry. Judge Gill is a gentleman of
+  singular vivacity and activity, and indefatigable in his endeavors
+  to bring forward the cultivation of his lands; of great and
+  essential service, by his example, in the employment he finds for so
+  many persons, and in all his attempts to serve the interests of the
+  place where he dwells, and in his acts of private munificence, and
+  public generosity, and deserves great respect and esteem, not only
+  from individuals, but from the town and country he has so greatly
+  benefited, and especially by the ways in which he makes use of that
+  vast estate wherewith a kind Providence has blessed him."
+
+Such was the estate, and such the man who founded and enjoyed it sixty
+years ago; and many an equal estate, founded and occupied by equally
+valuable men, then existed, and still exist in all our older states; and
+if our private and public virtues are preserved, will ever exist in
+every state of our union. Such pictures, too, are forcible illustrations
+of the _morals_ of correct building on the ample estates of many of our
+American planters and farmers. The mansion house, which is so
+graphically described, we saw but a short time before it was pulled
+down--then old, and hardly worth repairing, being built of wood, and of
+style something like this design of our own, bating the extent of
+veranda.
+
+The cost of this house may be from $5000 to $8000, depending upon the
+material of which it is constructed, the degree of finish given to it,
+and the locality where it is built. All these circumstances are to be
+considered, and the estimates should be made by practical and
+experienced builders, who are competent judges in whatever appertains to
+it.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 173-174.]
+
+DESIGN VII.
+
+
+A PLANTATION HOUSE.--Another southern house is here presented, quite
+different in architectural design from the last, plain, unpretending,
+less ornate in its finish, as well as less expensive in construction.
+It may occupy a different site, in a hilly, wooded country of rougher
+surface, but equally becoming it, as the other would more fitly grace
+the level prairie, or spreading plain in the more showy luxury of its
+character.
+
+This house stands 46�44 feet on the ground, two stories high, with a
+full length veranda, 10 feet wide in front, and a half length one above
+it, connecting with the main roof by an open gable, under which is a
+railed gallery for summer repose or recreation, or to enjoy the scenery
+upon which it may open. The roof is broad and overhanging, thoroughly
+sheltering the walls, and giving it a most protected, comfortable look.
+Covering half the rear is a lean-to, with shed roof, 16 feet wide,
+communicating with the servants' offices in the wing, the hall of which
+opens upon a low veranda on its front, and leading to the minor
+conveniences of the establishment. The main servants' building is 30�20
+feet, one and a half stories high, with a roof in keeping with the main
+dwelling, and a chimney in the center. In rear of this is attached a
+wood-house, with a shed roof, thus sloping off, and giving it a reposed,
+quiet air from that point of view. A narrow porch, 23 feet long and 8
+feet wide, also shades the remaining rear part of the main dwelling,
+opening on to the approach in rear.
+
+
+  [Illustration: GROUND PLAN.]
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door opens into a hall 34 feet long and 10 feet wide, with a
+flight of stairs. On the left of this opens a parlor or dining-room,
+22�18 feet, lighted by two windows in front and one on the side, and
+connecting with the dining-room beyond, which is 18�16 feet, with two
+small dining closets between. The dining-room has two windows opening on
+to the rear veranda. Under the cross flight of stairs in the hall, a
+partition separates it from the rear hall, into which is a door. On the
+right of the entrance hall is a library, 18�18 feet, lighted by three
+windows. At the farther end is a closet, and by the side of it a small
+entry leading into the nursery or family bedroom, 18�15 feet in size,
+which also has a corresponding closet with the library. On the rear of
+the nursery is a flight of back stairs opening from it. Under these
+stairs, at the other end, a door opens to another flight leading into
+the cellar below. A door also leads out from the nursery into the rear
+passage, to the offices; another door on the further side of the room
+opens into the rear hall of the house. The nursery should have two
+windows, but the drawing, by an error, gives only one. From this rear
+hall a door opens on the rear veranda, and another into the passage to
+the rear offices. This passage is six feet wide and 34 feet long,
+opening at its left end on to the veranda, and on the right, to the
+servants' porch, and from its rear side into three small rooms, 10 feet
+square each, the outer one of which may be a business room for the
+proprietor of the estate; the next, a store-room for family supplies;
+and the other a kitchen closet. Each of these is lighted by a window on
+the rear. A door also leads from the rear passage into the kitchen,
+20�16 feet in area, with a window looking out in front and two others on
+the side and rear, and a door into the wood-house. In this is placed a
+large chimney for the cooking establishment, oven, &c., &c. A flight of
+stairs and partition divides this from the wash-room, which is 14�14
+feet, with two windows in the side, and a door into the wood-house. This
+wood-house is open on two sides, and a water-closet is in the far
+corner. The small veranda, which is six feet wide, fronting the kitchen
+apartments, opens into the bath-room, 9�6 feet, into which the water is
+drawn from the kitchen boilers in the adjoining chimney. Still beyond
+this is the entrance to the water-closets, 6�5 feet.
+
+  [Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN.]
+
+The chamber plan is simple, and will be readily comprehended. If more
+rooms are desirable, they can be cut off from the larger ones. A flight
+of garret stairs may also be put in the rear chamber hall. The main hall
+of the chambers, in connection with the upper veranda, may be made a
+delightful resort for the summer, where the leisure hours of the family
+may be passed in view of the scenery which the house may command, and
+thus made one of its most attractive features.
+
+
+MISCELLANEOUS.
+
+We have given less veranda to this house than to the last, because its
+style does not require it, and it is a cheaper and less pains-taking
+establishment throughout, although, perhaps, quite as convenient in its
+arrangement as the other. The veranda may, however, be continued round
+the two ends of the house, if required. A screen, or belt of privet,
+or low evergreens may be planted in a circular form from the front
+right-hand corner of the dwelling, to the corresponding corner of the
+rear offices, enclosing a clothes drying yard, and cutting them off from
+too sightly an exposure from the lawn in front. The opposite end of the
+house, which may be termed its _business_ front, may open to the
+every-day approach to the house, and be treated as convenience may
+determine.
+
+For the _tree_ decoration of this establishment, evergreens may come in
+for a share of attraction. Their conical, tapering points will
+correspond well with its general architecture, and add strikingly to its
+effect; otherwise the remarks already given on the subject of park and
+lawn plantation will suffice. As, however, in the position where this
+establishment is supposed to be erected, land is plenty, ample area
+should be appropriated to its convenience, and no pinched or
+parsimonious spirit should detract from giving it the fullest effect in
+an allowance of ground. Nor need the ground devoted to such purposes be
+at all lost, or unappropriated; various uses can be made of it, yielding
+both pleasure and profit, to which a future chapter will refer; and it
+is one of the chief pleasures of retired residence to cultivate, in the
+right place, such incidental objects of interest as tend to gratify,
+as well as to instruct, in whatever appertains to the elevation of our
+thoughts, and the improvement of our condition. All these, in their
+place, should be drawn about our dwellings, to render them as agreeable
+and attractive as our ingenuity and labor may command.
+
+
+
+
+LAWNS, GROUNDS, PARKS, AND WOODS.
+
+
+Having essayed to instruct our agricultural friends in the proper modes
+of erecting their houses, and providing for their convenient
+accommodation within them, a few remarks may be pardoned touching such
+collateral subjects of embellishment as may be connected with the farm
+residence in the way of plantations and grounds in their immediate
+vicinity.
+
+We are well aware that small farms do not permit any considerable
+appropriation of ground to _waste_ purposes, as such spots are usually
+called which are occupied with wood, or the shade of open trees, near
+the dwelling. But no dwelling can be complete in all its appointments
+without trees in its immediate vicinity. This subject has perhaps been
+sufficiently discussed in preceding chapters; yet, as a closing course
+of remark upon what a farm house, greater or less in extent, should be
+in the amount of shade given to it, a further suggestion or two may be
+permitted. There are, in almost all places, in the vicinity of the
+dwelling, portions of ground which can be appropriated to forest trees
+without detriment to other economical uses, if applied in the proper
+way. Any one who passes along a high road and discovers the farm house,
+seated on the margin or in the immediate vicinity of a pleasant grove,
+is immediately struck with the peculiarly rural and picturesque air
+which it presents, and thinks to himself that he should love such a spot
+for his own home, without reflecting that he might equally as well
+create one of the same character. Sites already occupied, where
+different dispositions are made of contiguous ground, may not admit of
+like advantages; and such are to be continued in their present
+arrangement, with such course of improvement as their circumstances will
+admit. But to such as are about to _select_ the sites of their future
+homes, it is important to study what can best embellish them in the most
+effective shade and ornament.
+
+In the immediate vicinity of our large towns and cities it is seldom
+possible to appropriate any considerable breadth of land to ornamental
+purposes, excepting rough and unsightly waste ground, more or less
+occupied with rock or swamp; or plainer tracts, so sterile as to be
+comparatively worthless for cultivation. Such grounds, too, often lie
+bare of wood, and require planting, and a course of years to cover them
+with trees, even if the proprietor is willing, or desirous to devote
+them to such purpose. Still, there are vast sections of our country
+where to economize land is not important, and a mixed occupation of it
+to both ornament and profit may be indulged to the extent of the owner's
+disposition. All over the United States there are grand and beautiful
+sweeps and belts of cultivated country, interspersed with finely-wooded
+tracts, which offer the most attractive sites for the erection of
+dwellings on the farms which embrace them, and that require only the eye
+and hand of taste to convert them, with slight labor, into the
+finest-wooded lawns and forested parks imaginable. No country whatever
+produces finer trees than North America. The evergreens of the north
+luxuriate in a grandeur scarcely known elsewhere, and shoot their cones
+into the sky to an extent that the stripling pines and firs, and larches
+of England in vain may strive to imitate. The elm of New England towers
+up, and spreads out its sweeping arms with a majesty unwonted in the
+ancient parks or forests of Europe; while its maples, and birches, and
+beeches, and ashes, and oaks, and the great white-armed buttonwood, make
+up a variety of intervening growth, luxuriant in the extreme. Pass on
+through the Middle States, and into the far west, and there they still
+flourish with additional kinds--the tulip and poplar--the nut-trees,
+in all their wide variety, with a host of others equally grand and
+imposing, interspersed; and shrub-trees innumerable, are seen every
+where as they sweep along your path. Beyond the Alleghanies, and south
+of the great lakes, are vast natural parks, many of them enclosed, and
+dotted with herds of cattle ranging over them, which will show single
+trees, and clumps of forest that William the Conqueror would have given
+a whole fiefdom in his Hampshire spoliations to possess; while,
+stretching away toward the Gulf of Mexico, new varieties of tree are
+found, equally imposing, grand, and beautiful, throughout the whole vast
+range, and in almost every locality, susceptible of the finest possible
+appropriation to ornament and use. Many a one of these noble forests,
+and open, natural parks have been appropriated already to embellish the
+comfortable family establishment which has been built either on its
+margin, or within it; and thousands more are standing, as yet
+unimproved, but equally inviting the future occupant to their ample
+protection.
+
+The moral influences, too, of lawns and parks around or in the vicinity
+of our dwellings, are worthy of consideration. Secluded as many a
+country dweller may be, away from the throng of society, there is a
+sympathy in trees which invites our thoughts, and draws our presence
+among them with unwonted interest, and in frequent cases, assist
+materially in stamping the feelings and courses of our future
+lives--always with pure and ennobling sentiments--
+
+  "The groves were God's first temples."
+
+The thoughtful man, as he passes under their sheltering boughs, in the
+heat of summer, with uncovered brow, silently worships the Hand that
+formed them there, scarcely conscious that their presence thus elevates
+his mind to holy aspirations. Among them, the speculative man
+
+  "Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
+  Sermons in stones."
+
+Even children, born and educated among groves of trees, drink in early
+impressions, which follow them for good all their days; and, when the
+toils of their after life are passed, they love to return to these
+grateful coverts, and spend their remaining days amid the tranquillity
+of their presence. Men habituated to the wildest life, too, enjoy the
+woods, the hills, and the mountains, beyond all the captivation and
+excitement of society, and are nowhere at rest, but when in their
+communion.
+
+The love of forest scenery is a thing to be cultivated as a high
+accomplishment, in those whose early associations have not been among
+them. Indeed, country life is tame, and intolerable, without a taste,
+either natural or acquired, for fine landscape scenery; and in a land
+like this, where the country gives occupation to so great a proportion
+of its people, and a large share of those engaged in the active and
+exciting pursuits of populous towns, sigh and look forward to its
+enjoyment, every inducement should be offered to cultivate a taste for
+those things which make one of its chief attractions. Nor should
+seclusion from general society, and a residence apart from the bustling
+activity of the world, present a bar to the due cultivation of the taste
+in many subjects supposed to belong only to the throng of association.
+It is one of the advantages of rural life, that it gives us time to
+think; and the greatest minds of whose labors in the old world we have
+had the benefit, and of later times, in our own land, have been reared
+chiefly in the solitude of the country. Patrick Henry loved to range
+among the woods, admiring the leafy magnificence of nature, and to
+follow the meandering courses of the brooks, with his hook and line.
+Washington, when treading the vast solitudes of central Virginia, with
+his surveyor's instruments on his back, conceived the wonderful
+resources of the great empire of which he will ever be styled the
+"father." The dwelling of the late John C. Calhoun, sheltered by noble
+trees, stands on an elevated swell of a grand range of mountain land,
+and it was there that his prolific genius ripened for those burning
+displays of thought which drew to him the affections of admiring
+thousands. Henry Clay undoubtedly felt the germ of his future greatness
+while sauntering, in his boyhood days, through the wild and picturesque
+slashes of Hanover. Webster, born amid the rugged hills of New
+Hampshire, drew the delightful relish of rural life, for which he is so
+celebrated, from the landscapes which surrounded his early home, and
+laid the foundation of his mighty intellect in the midst of lone and
+striking scenery. Bryant could never have written his "Thanatopsis," his
+"Rivulet," and his "Green River," but from the inspiration drawn from
+his secluded youthful home in the mountains of Massachusetts. Nor, to
+touch a more sacred subject, could Jonathan Edwards ever have composed
+his masterly "Treatise on the Will," in a pent-up city; but owes his
+enduring fame to the thought and leisure which he found, while
+ministering, among the sublime mountains of the Housatonic, to a feeble
+tribe of Stockbridge Indians.
+
+And these random names are but a few of those whose love of nature early
+imbibed, and in later life enjoyed in their own calm and retired homes,
+amid the serene beauty of woods and waters, which might be named, as
+illustrations of the influence which fine scenery may exercise upon the
+mind, to assist in moulding it to greatness. The following anecdote was
+told us many years ago, by a venerable man in Connecticut, a friend of
+the elder Hillhouse, of New Haven, to whom that city is much indebted
+for the magnificent trees by which it has become renowned as "the City
+of the Elms:" While a member of the General Assembly of that state, when
+Hillhouse was in Congress, learning that he had just returned home from
+the annual session, our informant, with a friend, went to the residence
+of the statesman, to pay him a visit. He had returned only that morning,
+and on their way there, they met him near his house, with a stout young
+tree on his shoulder, just taken from a neighboring piece of forest,
+which he was about to transplant in the place of one which had died
+during his absence. After the usual salutations, our friend expressed
+his surprise that he was so soon engaged in tree-planting, before he had
+even had time to look to his private and more pressing affairs. "Another
+day may be too late," replied the senator; "my tree well planted, it
+will grow at its leisure, and I can then look to my own concerns at my
+ease. So, gentlemen, if you will just wait till the tree is set, we'll
+walk into the house, and settle the affairs of state in our own way."
+
+Walter Scott, whose deep love of park and forest scenery has stamped
+with his masterly descriptions, his native land as the home of all
+things beautiful and useful in trees and plantations, spent a great
+share of his leisure time in planting, and has written a most
+instructive essay on its practice and benefits. He puts into the mouth
+of "the Laird of Dumbiedikes," the advice, "Be aye sticking in a tree,
+Jock; it will be growing while you are sleeping." But Walter Scott had
+no American soil to plant his trees upon; nor do the grandest forest
+parks of Scotland show a tithe of the luxuriance and majesty of our
+American forests. Could he but have seen the variety, the symmetry, and
+the vast size of our oaks, and elms, and evergreens, a new element of
+descriptive power would have grown out of the admiration they had
+created within him; and he would have envied a people the possession of
+such exhaustless resources as we enjoy, to embellish their homes in the
+best imaginable manner, with such enduring monuments of grace and
+beauty.
+
+To the miscellaneous, or casual reader, such course of remark may appear
+merely sublimated nonsense. No matter; we are not upon stilts, talking
+_down_ to a class of inferior men, in a condescending tone, on a subject
+above their comprehension; but we are addressing men, and the sons of
+men, who are our equals--although, like ourself, upon their farms,
+taking their share in its daily toils, as well as pleasures--and can
+perfectly well understand our language, and sympathize with our
+thoughts. They are the thoughts of rural life everywhere. It was old Sam
+Johnson, the great lexicographer, who lumbered his unwieldy gait through
+the streets of cities for a whole life, and with all his vast learning
+and wisdom, had no appreciation of the charms of the country, that said,
+"Who feeds fat cattle should himself be fat;" as if the dweller on the
+farm should not possess an idea above the brutes around him. We wonder
+if he ever supposed a merchant should have any more brain than the
+parcel that he handled, or the bale which he rolled, or directed others
+to roll for him! But, loving the solitude of the farm, and finding a
+thousand objects of interest and beauty scattered in profusion, where
+those educated among artificial objects would see nothing beyond things,
+to them, vulgar and common-place, in conversing with our rural friends
+upon what concerns their daily comfort, and is to constitute the nursery
+of those who succeed them, and on the influences which may, in a degree,
+stamp their future character, we cannot forbear such suggestions,
+connected with the family Home, as may induce them to cultivate all
+those accessories around it, which may add to their pleasure and
+contentment. We believe it was Keats, who said,
+
+  "A thing of Beauty is a joy for ever."
+
+And the thought that such "beauty" has been of our own creation, or that
+our own hands have assisted in its perpetuation, should certainly be a
+deep "joy" of our life.
+
+We have remarked, that the farm house is the chief nursery on which our
+broad country must rely for that healthy infusion of stamina and spirit
+into those men who, under our institutions, guide its destiny and direct
+its councils. They, in the great majority of their numbers, are natives
+of the retired homestead. It is, therefore, of high consequence, that
+good taste, intelligence, and correct judgment, should enter into all
+that surrounds the birth-place, and early scenes of those who are to be
+the future actors in the prominent walks of life, either in public or
+private capacity; and as the love of trees is one of the leading
+elements of enjoyment amid the outward scenes of country-life, we
+commend most heartily all who dwell in the pure air and bright sunshine
+of the open land to their study and cultivation.
+
+Every man who lives in the country, be he a practical farmer or not,
+should _plant_ trees, more or less. The father of a family should plant,
+for the benefit of his children, as well as for his own. The bachelor
+and the childless man should plant, if for nothing more than to show
+that he has left _some_ living thing to perpetuate his memory. Boys
+should early be made planters. None but those who love trees, and plant
+them, know the serene pleasure of watching their growth, and
+anticipating their future beauty and grandeur; and no one can so
+exquisitely enjoy their grateful shade, as he whose hand has planted and
+cared for them. Planting, too, is a most agreeable pastime to a
+reflecting mind. It may be ranked among the pleasures, instead of the
+toils of life. We have always so found it. There is no pleasanter sight
+of labor than to see a father, with his young lads about him, planting a
+tree. It becomes a landmark of their industry and good taste; and no
+thinking man passes a plantation of fine trees but inwardly blesses the
+man, or the memory of the man who placed them there.
+
+Aside from all this, trees properly distributed, give a value to an
+estate far beyond the cost of planting, and tending their growth, and
+which no other equal amount of labor and expense upon it can confer.
+Innumerable farms and places have been sold at high prices, over those
+of perhaps greater producing value, merely for the trees which
+embellished them. Thus, in a pecuniary light, to say nothing of the
+pleasure and luxury they confer, trees are a source of profitable
+investment.
+
+It is a happy feature in the improving rural character of our country,
+that tree-planting and tree preservation for some years past have
+attracted much more attention than formerly; and with this attention a
+better taste is prevailing in their selection. We have gained but little
+in the introduction of many of the foreign trees among us, for ornament.
+Some of them are absolutely barbarous in comparison with our American
+forest trees, and their cultivation is only a demonstration of the utter
+want of good taste in those who apply them.
+
+For ordinary purposes, but few exotics should be tolerated; and those
+chiefly in collections, as curiosities, or for arboretums--in which
+latter the farmer cannot often indulge; and for all the main purposes of
+shade, and use, and ornament, the trees of no country can equal our own.
+
+Varied as our country is, in soils and climates, no particular
+directions can be given as to the individual varieties of tree which are
+to be preferred for planting. Each locality has its own most appropriate
+kinds, and he who is to plant, can best make the selections most fitted
+to his use. Rapid-growing trees, when of fine symmetry, and free from
+bad habits in throwing up suckers; not liable to the attacks of insects;
+of early, dense, and long-continued foliage, are most to be commended;
+while their opposites in character should be avoided in all well-kept
+grounds. It requires, indeed, but a little thought and observation to
+guide every one in the selection which he should make, to produce the
+best effect of which the tree itself is capable.
+
+Giving the importance we have, to trees, and their planting, it may be
+supposed that we should discuss their position in the grounds to which
+they should be appropriated. But no specific directions can be given at
+large. All this branch of the subject must be left to the locality,
+position, and surface of the ground sought to be improved. A good tree
+can scarcely stand in a wrong place, when not injurious to a building by
+its too dense shade, or shutting out its light, or prospect. Still, the
+proper disposition of trees is a _study_, and should be well considered
+before they be planted. Bald, unsightly spots should be covered by them,
+when not devoted to more useful objects of the farm, either in pasturage
+or cultivation. A partial shading of the soil by trees may add to its
+value for grazing purposes, like the woodland pastures of Kentucky,
+where subject to extreme droughts, or a scorching sun.
+
+If the planter feels disposed to consult authorities, as to the best
+disposition of his trees, works on Landscape Gardening may be studied;
+but these can give only general hints, and the only true course is to
+strive to make his grounds look as much like nature herself as
+possible--for nature seldom makes mistakes in her designs. To conclude a
+course of remark, which the plain farmer, cultivating his land for its
+yearly profit alone, may consider as foreign to the subject of our work,
+we would not recommend any one to plant trees who is not willing to
+spend the necessary time to nurse and tend them afterward, till they are
+out of harm's way, and well established in a vigorous growth. All this
+must be taken into the account, for it is better to have even but a few
+trees, and those what trees should be, than a whole forest of stinted
+things, writhing and pining through a course of sickly existence.
+
+A chapter might also be written upon the proper mode of taking up and
+planting trees, but as this would lead us to a subject more directly
+belonging to another department, the proper authorities on that head
+must be consulted.
+
+
+FRUIT GARDEN--ORCHARDS.
+
+As the fruit garden and orchards are usually near appendages to the
+dwelling and out-buildings, a few remarks as to their locality and
+distribution may be appropriate. The first should _always_ be near the
+house, both for convenience in gathering its fruits, and for its due
+protection from the encroachments of those not entitled to its
+treasures. It should, if possible, adjoin the kitchen garden, for
+convenience of access; as fruit is, or should be, an important item in
+the daily consumption of every family where it can be grown and
+afforded. A sheltered spot, if to be had, should be devoted to this
+object; or if not, its margin, on the exposed side, should be set with
+the hardiest trees to which it is appropriated--as the apple. The fruit
+garden, proper, may also contain the smaller fruits, as they are termed,
+as the currant, gooseberry, raspberry, and whatever other shrub-fruits
+are grown; while the quince, the peach, the apricot, nectarine, plum,
+cherry, pear, and apple may, in the order they are named, stand in
+succession behind them, the taller and more hardy growth of each
+successive variety rising higher, and protecting its less hardy and
+aspiring neighbor. The soil for all these varieties of tree is supposed
+to be congenial, and our remarks will only be directed to their proper
+distribution.
+
+The aspect for the fruit garden should, if possible, front the south,
+south-east, or south-west, in a northerly climate. In the Middle and
+Southern States the exposure is of less consequence. Currants,
+gooseberries, raspberries, &c., should, for their most productive
+bearing, and the highest quality of their fruits, be set at least four
+feet apart, in the rows, and the rows six feet distant from each other,
+that there may be abundant room to cultivate them with the plow, and
+kept clean of weeds and grass. The quince, peach, apricot, nectarine,
+and plum should be 16 feet apart each way. The pear, if on quince stock,
+may be 12 feet apart, and if on its own stock, 20 to 24 feet; while the
+apple should always be 30 to 36 feet apart, to let in the requisite
+degree of sun and air to ripen as well as give growth, color, and flavor
+to its fruit. The tendency of almost all planters of fruit trees is to
+set them too close, and many otherwise fine fruit gardens are utterly
+ruined by the compact manner in which they are planted. Trees are great
+consumers of the atmosphere; every leaf is a lung, inhaling and
+respiring the gases, and if sufficient breathing room be not allowed
+them, the tree sickens, and pines for the want of it; therefore, every
+fruit tree, and fruit-bearing shrub should be so placed that the summer
+sun can shine on every part of its surface at some hour of the day. In
+such position, the fruit will reach its maximum of flavor, size, and
+perfection.
+
+The ground, too, should be rich; and, to have the greatest benefit of
+the soil, no crops should be grown among the trees, after they have
+arrived at their full maturity of bearing. Thus planted, and nursed,
+with good selections of varieties, both the fruit garden and the orchard
+become one of the most ornamental, as well as most profitable portions
+of the farm.
+
+In point of position, as affecting the appearance of the homestead, the
+fruit garden should stand on the _weather-side_ of the dwelling, so as,
+although protected, in its several varieties, by itself, when not
+altogether sheltered by some superior natural barrier, it should appear
+to shelter both the dwelling and kitchen gardens, which adjoin them.
+
+As this is a subject intended to be but incidentally touched in these
+pages, and only then as immediately connected in its general character
+with the dwelling house and its attachments, we refrain from going into
+any particulars of detail concerning it. It is also a subject to which
+we are strongly attached, and gladly would we have a set chat with our
+readers upon it; but as the discussion for so broad a field as we should
+have to survey, would be in many points arbitrary, and unfitting to
+local information as to varieties, and particular cultivation, we refer
+the reader, with great pleasure, to the several treatises of Downing,
+and Thomas, and Barry, on this interesting topic, with which the public
+are fortunately in possession; observing, only, that there is no one
+item of rural economy to which our attention can be given, which yields
+more of luxury, health, and true enjoyment, both to the body and the
+mind, than the cultivation of good fruits.
+
+
+HOW TO LAY OUT A KITCHEN GARDEN.
+
+The kitchen garden yields more necessaries and comforts to the family,
+than any other piece of ground on the premises. It is, of consequence,
+necessary that it be so located and planned as to be ready of access,
+and yield the greatest possible quantity of products for the labor
+bestowed upon it; and as locality and plan have much to do with the
+labor bestowed upon it and the productions it may yield, both these
+subjects should be considered.
+
+As to locality, the kitchen garden should lie in the _warmest_ and _most
+sheltered_ spot which may be convenient to the _kitchen_ of the house.
+It should, in connection with that, be convenient of access to the
+dung-yards of the stables. The size may be such as your necessities or
+your convenience may demand. The shape, either a parallelogram or a
+square; for it will be recollected, that this is a place allotted, not
+for a _show_ or _pleasure_ ground, but for _profit_. If the garden be
+large, this shape will better allow the use of the plow to turn up the
+soil, which, in a large garden, is a much cheaper, and, when properly
+done, a better mode than to spade it; and if small, and it be worked
+with the spade, _right_ lines are easier made with the spade than curved
+ones. One or more walks, at least eight feet wide, should be made,
+leading from a broad gate, or bars, through which a cart and horse, or
+oxen, may enter, to draw in manure, or carry out the vegetables; and if
+such walk, or walks, do not extend around the garden, which, if in a
+large one, they should do, a sufficient area should be thrown out at the
+farther extremity, to turn the cart upon. If the soil be free, and
+stony, the stones should be taken out _clean_, when large--and if small,
+down to the size of a hen's egg--and the surface made as level as
+possible, for a loose soil will need no draining. If the soil be a clay,
+or clayey loam, it should be underdrained two and a half feet, _to be
+perfect_, and the draining so planned as to lead off to a lower spot
+outside. This draining _warms_ the soil, opens it for filtration, and
+makes it friable. Then, properly fenced, thoroughly manured, and plowed
+deep, and left rough--no matter how rough--in the fall of the year, and
+as late before the setting in of winter as you dare risk it, that part
+of the preparation is accomplished.
+
+The _permanent_ or wide walks of the garden, after being laid out and
+graded, should never be plowed nor disturbed, except by the hoe and
+rake, to keep down the weeds and grass; yet, if a close, and well-shorn
+grass turf be kept upon them, it is perhaps the cheapest and most
+cleanly way of keeping the walks. They need only cutting off close with
+the hand-hook, in summer.
+
+We have known a great many people, after laying out a kitchen garden,
+and preparing it for use, fill it up with fruit trees, supposing that
+vegetables will grow quite as well with them as without. This is a wide
+mistake. _No tree larger than a currant or gooseberry bush should ever
+stand in a vegetable garden._ These fruits being partially used in the
+cooking department, as much in the way of vegetables, as of fruits, and
+small in size, may be permitted; and they, contrary to the usual
+practice, should always stand in _open_ ground, where they can have all
+the benefits of the sun and rain to ripen the fruit to perfection, as
+well as to receive the cultivation they need, instead of being placed
+under fences around the sides of the garden, where they are too
+frequently neglected, and become the resort of vermin, or make prolific
+harbors for weeds.
+
+Along the main walks, or alleys, the borders for perennial plants, as
+well as the currant and gooseberry bushes, should be made--for the plow
+should run parallel to, and not at right angles with them. Here may
+stand the rhubarbs, the sea kales, the various herbs, or even the
+asparagus beds, if a particular quarter be not set apart for them; and,
+if it be important, a portion of these main borders may be appropriated
+to the more common flowers and small shrubbery, if desired to cultivate
+them in a plain way; but not a peach, apricot, or any other larger tree
+than a currant or raspberry, should come within it. They not only shade
+the small plants, but suck up and rob them of their food and moisture,
+and keep off the sun, and prevent the circulation of air--than which
+nothing needs all these more than garden vegetables, to have them in
+high perfection. If it be necessary, by means of a cold exposure on the
+one side, to have a close plantation of shrubbery to screen the garden,
+let it be _outside_ the fence, rather than within it; but if within, let
+there be a _broad_ walk between such shrubbery and the garden beds, as
+their roots will extend under the vegetables, and rob them of their
+food.
+
+A walk, alley, or cartway, on the sides of the garden, is always better
+_next to the fence_, than to fill that space with anything else, as it
+is usually shaded for a portion of the day, and may be better afforded
+for such _waste_ purposes than the open, sunny ground within.
+
+It will be observed that _market gardeners_, men who always strive to
+make the most profit from their land and labor, and obtain the _best_
+vegetables, cultivate them in open fields. Not a tree, nor even a bush
+is permitted to stand near the growing crop, if they can prevent it; and
+where one is not stinted in the area of his domain, their example should
+be followed.
+
+A word upon _plowing_ gardens. Clays, or clayey loams, should always be
+manured and plowed in the fall, just before the setting in of the winter
+frosts. A world of pounding and hammering of lumps, to make them fine,
+in spring, is saved by fall plowing, besides incorporating the manure
+more thoroughly with the soil, as well as freezing out and destroying
+the eggs of worms and insects which infest it. Thrown up deeply and
+roughly with the plow or spade, the frosts act mechanically upon the
+soil, and slack and pulverise it so thoroughly that a heavy raking in
+early spring, is all that becomes necessary to put it in the finest
+condition for seeds, and make it perhaps the very best and most
+productive of all garden soils whatever. A light sandy loam is better to
+lie compact in winter, and manured and turned up in early spring. Its
+friable nature leaves it always open and light, and at all times in the
+absence of frost, accessible to the spade or the hoe. On these accounts,
+it is usually the most desirable and convenient soil for the kitchen
+garden, and on the whole, generally preferred where either kind may be a
+matter simply of choice.
+
+
+FLOWERS.
+
+Start not, gentle reader! We are not about to inflict upon you a
+dissertation on Pelargoniums, Calla-Ethiopias, Japonicas, and such like
+unmentionable terms, that bring to your mind the green-house, and
+forcing-house, and all the train of expense and vexation attending them;
+but we desire to have a short familiar conversation about what is all
+around you, or if not around you, should be, and kept there, with very
+little pains or labor on your part. Still, if you dislike the subject,
+just hand this part of our book over to your excellent wife, or
+daughters, or sisters, as the case may be, and we will talk to them
+about this matter.
+
+Flowers have their objects, and were made for our use and pleasure;
+otherwise, God would never have strewed them, as he has, so bountifully
+along our paths, and filled the world with their fragrance and beauty.
+Like all else beautiful, which He made, and pronounced "good," flowers
+have been objects of admiration and love since man's creation; and their
+cultivation has ever been a type of civilization and refinement among
+all people who have left written records behind them. Flowers equally
+become the cottage and the palace, in their decoration. The humblest
+cottager, and the mightiest monarch, have equally admired their beauty
+and their odor; and the whole train of mortals between, have devoted a
+portion of their time and thoughts to the development of their peculiar
+properties.
+
+But let that pass. Plain country people as we are, there are enough of
+sufficient variety all around us, to engage our attention, and give us
+all that we desire to embellish our homes, and engage the time which we
+have to devote to them. Among the wild flowers, in the mountains and
+hills of the farthest North, on the margin of their hidden brooks, where
+
+  "Floats the scarce-rooted watercress;"
+
+and on their barren sides, the tiny violet and the laurel bloom, each in
+their season, with unwonted beauty; and, sloping down on to the plains
+beneath, blush out in all their summer garniture, the wild rose and the
+honeysuckle. On, through the Middle States, the lesser flowers of early
+spring throw out a thousand brilliant dyes, and are surrounded by a host
+of summer plants, vieing with each other in the exuberance of their
+tints. On the Alleghanies, through all their vast range, grow up the
+magnificent dogwood, kalmia, and rhododendron, spangling mile upon
+mile of their huge sides and tops with white, and covering crags and
+precipices of untold space with their blushing splendor. Further west,
+on the prairies, and oak openings, and in the deep woods, too, of the
+great lakes, and of the Mississippi valley, with the earliest grass,
+shoot up, all over the land, a succession of flowers, which in variety
+and profusion of shape, and color, and odor, outvie all the lilies of
+the gardens of Solomon; and so they continue till the autumnal frosts
+cut down both grass and flower alike. Further south, along the piney
+coast, back through the hills and over the vast reach of cotton and
+sugar lands, another class of flowers burst out from their natural
+coverts in equal glory; and the magnolia, and the tulip-tree, and the
+wild orange throw a perfume along the air, like the odors of Palestine.
+In the deep lagoons of the southern rivers, too, float immense
+water-lilies, laying their great broad leaves, and expanded white and
+yellow flowers, upon the surface, which the waters of the Nile in the
+days of Cleopatra never equaled. And these are nature's wild productions
+only.
+
+Flowers being cultivated, not for profit, but for show and amusement,
+need not intrude upon the time which is required to the more important
+labors of the farm. A little time, given at such hours when it can be
+best spared, will set all the little flower-beds in order, and keep the
+required shrubbery of the place in trim--and should not be denied in any
+family who enjoy a taste for them. Even the simplest of their kind, when
+carefully disposed, produce a fine effect; and the hardy bulbous, and
+tuberous-rooted plants require but slight aid in producing the highest
+perfection of their bloom; while the fibrous-rooted perennials, and the
+flowering shrubs, bloom on from year to year, almost uncared for and
+untouched.
+
+The annuals require the most attention. Their seeds must be planted and
+gathered every year; they must be weeded and nursed with more care than
+the others; yet they richly repay all this trouble in their fresh bloom
+when the others are gone, and will carry their rich flowers far into the
+frosts of autumn, when their hardier companions have composed themselves
+for a winter's rest.
+
+The position of the flower-bed, or borders, may be various. As a matter
+of taste, however, they should be near the house, and in view of the
+windows of the most frequented rooms. They thus give more enjoyment in
+their sight, than when but occasionally seen in special visits; and such
+spots can usually be set apart for them. If not in the way of more
+important things, they should always be thus placed, where they are ever
+objects of interest and attraction.
+
+The ground which flowering plants occupy should be devoted to them
+alone, and the soil be made deep and rich. They should not be huddled
+up, nor crowded, but stand well apart, and have plenty of breathing-room
+for their branches and leaves, and space for the spread of their roots.
+They are consumers of the fertilizing gases, and require, equally with
+other plants, their due supply of manures--which also adds to the
+brilliance and size of their bloom, as well as to the growth of their
+stems. Their roots should be protected in winter by coarse litter thrown
+over them, particularly the earlier flowering plants, as it gives them
+an early and rapid start in the spring.
+
+In variety, we need scarcely recommend what may be most desirable. The
+crocus, and snowdrop are among (if not quite) the earliest in bloom; and
+to these follow the hyacinth, and daffodil, the jonquil, and many-varied
+family of Narcissus, the low-headed hearts-ease, or pansy; with them,
+too, comes the flowering-almond, the lilac, and another or two flowering
+shrubs. Then follow the tulips, in all their gorgeous and splendid
+variety of single, double, and fringed. To these follow the great
+peonies, in their full, dashing colors of crimson, white and pink, and
+the tree-like snow-ball, or guelder-rose. By the side of these hangs out
+the monthly-trumpet-honeysuckle, gracing the columns of your veranda,
+porch, or window, and the large Siberian honeysuckle, with its white and
+pink flowers; and along with them, the various Iris family, or
+fleur-de-lis, reminding one of France and the Bourbons, the Prussian
+lilac, and the early phloxes. Then blush out, in all their endless
+variety of shade and tint, from the purest white to the deepest purple,
+the whole vast family of roses; and in stature, from the humblest twig
+that leans its frail stem upon the ground, up to the hardy climber,
+whose delicious clusters hang over your chamber window; and a month of
+fragrance and beauty of these completes the succession of bulbs, and
+tubers, and perennial plants and shrubs--scores of which have not been
+noticed.
+
+Now commence the annuals, which may carry you a month further into the
+season, when the flaunting dahlia of every hue, and budding from its
+plant of every size, from the height of little Tommy, who is just
+toddling out with his mother to watch the first opening flower, up to
+the top of his father's hat, as he stands quite six feet, to hold the
+little fellow up to try to smell of another, which, like all the rest,
+has no sign of odor. Then come, after a long retinue of different
+things--among which we always count the morning-glory, or convolvulus,
+running up the kitchen windows,--the great sun-flower, which throws his
+broad disk high over the garden fence, always cheerful, and always
+glowing--the brilliant tribe of asters, rich, varied, and beautiful,
+running far into the autumnal frosts; and, to close our floral season,
+the chrysanthemum, which, well cared-for, blooms out in the open air,
+and, carefully taken up and boxed, will stay with us, in the house, till
+Christmas. Thus ends the blooming year. Now, if you would enjoy a
+pleasure perfectly pure, which has no alloy, save an occasional
+disappointment by casualty, and make home interesting beyond all other
+places, learn first to love, then to get, and next to cultivate flowers.
+
+
+
+
+FARM COTTAGES.
+
+
+Altogether too little attention has been paid in our country to these
+most useful appendages to the farm, both in their construction and
+appearance. Nothing adds more to the feeling of comfort, convenience,
+and _home_ expression in the farm, than the snug-built laborers' cottage
+upon it. The cottage also gives the farm an air of respectability and
+dignity. The laborer should, if not so sumptuously, be as comfortably
+housed and sheltered as his employer. This is quite as much to the
+interest of such employer as it is beneficial to the health and
+happiness of the laborer. Building is so cheap in America, that the
+difference in cost between a snugly-finished cottage, and a rickety,
+open tenement, is hardly to be taken into consideration, as compared
+with the higher health, and increased enjoyment of the laborer and his
+family; while every considerate employer knows that cheerfulness and
+contentment of disposition, which are perhaps more promoted by good home
+accommodations for the workingman than by any other influence, are
+strong incentives to increased labor on his part, and more fidelity in
+its application.
+
+A landed estate, of whatever extent, with its respectable farm house,
+in its own expressive style of construction, relieved and set off by its
+attendant cottages, either contiguous, or remote, and built in their
+proper character, leaves nothing wanting to fill the picture upon which
+one loves to gaze in the contemplation of country life; and without
+these last in due keeping with the chief structures of the estate, a
+blank is left in its completeness and finish. The little embellishments
+which may be given, by way of architectural arrangement, or the
+conveniences in accommodation, are, in almost all cases, appreciated by
+those who occupy them, and have an influence upon their character and
+conduct; while the trifling decorations which may be added in the way of
+shrubbery, trees, and flowering plants, costing little or nothing in
+their planting and keeping, give a charm to the humblest abode.
+
+The position of cottages on a farm should be controlled by
+considerations of convenience to the place of labor, and a proper
+economy in their construction; and hardly a site can be inappropriate
+which ensures these requirements. In the plans which are submitted, due
+attention has been paid to the comfort of those who inhabit them, as
+well as to picturesque effect in the cottage itself. Decency, order, and
+respectability are thus given to the estate, and to those who inhabit
+the cottages upon it, as well as to those whose more fortunate position
+in life has given the enjoyment of a higher luxury in the occupancy of
+its chief mansion.
+
+On all estates where the principal dwelling is located at any
+considerable distance from the public road, or where approached by a
+side road shut off from the highway by a gate, a small cottage, by way
+of lodge, or laborer's tenement, should be located at or near the
+entrance. Such appendage is not only ornamental in itself, but gives
+character to the place, and security to the enclosure; in guarding it
+from improper intrusion, as well as to receive and conduct into the
+premises those who either reside upon, or have business within it. It is
+thus a sort of sentry-box, as well as a laborer's residence.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: COTTAGE. Pages 211-212.]
+
+DESIGN I.
+
+
+This cottage is 10 feet high, from the sill to the plates, and may be
+built of wood, with a slight frame composed of sills and plates only,
+and planked up and down (vertically) and battened; or grooved and
+tongued, and matched close together; or it may be framed throughout with
+posts and studs, and covered with rough boards, and over these
+clapboards, and lathed and plastered inside. The first mode would be the
+cheapest, although not so warm and durable as the other, yet quite
+comfortable when warmed by a stove. On the second plan of building,
+it will cost near or quite double the amount of the first, if neatly
+painted. A small brick chimney should rest upon the floor overhead, in
+the side of which, at least a foot above the chamber floor, should be
+inserted an earthen or iron thimble, to receive the stovepipe and guard
+against fire; unless a flat stone, 14 to 16 inches square, and 2 to 4
+inches thick, with a pipe-hole--which is the better plan--should rest on
+the floor immediately over the pipe. This stone should be, also, the
+foundation of the chimney, which should pass immediately up through the
+ridge of the roof, and, for effect, in the center longitudinally, of the
+house. Such position will not interfere with the location of the stove,
+which may be placed in any part of the room, the pipe reaching the
+chimney by one or more elbows.
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The main body of this cottage is 18�12 feet, with a lean-to, 8 feet
+wide, running its whole length in rear. This lean-to may be 8 or 9
+inches lower, on the floor, than the main room, and divided into a
+passage, (leading to an open wood-house in rear, 10�12 feet, with a shed
+roof,) a large closet, and a bedroom, as may be required; or, the
+passage end may be left open at the side, for a wood shelter, or other
+useful purpose. The roof, which is raftered, boarded, and shingled in
+the usual mode, is well spread over the gables, as well as over the
+front and rear--say 18 inches. The porch in front will give additional
+convenience in summer, as a place to sit, or eat under, and its posts so
+fitted with grooves as to let in rough planks for winter enclosure in
+front and at one end, leaving the entrance only, at the least windy, or
+stormy side. The extra cost of such preparation, with the planks, which
+should be 1� or 1� inches thick, and jointed, would not exceed ten or
+fifteen dollars. This would make an admirable wood-house for the winter,
+and a perfect snuggery for a small family. While in its summer dress,
+with the porch opened--the planks taken out and laid overhead, across
+the beams connecting the porch with the house--it would present an
+object of quiet comfort and beauty. A hop vine or honeysuckle might be
+trained outside the posts, and give it all the shade required.
+
+In a stony country, where the adjoining enclosures are of stone, this
+cottage may be built of stone, also, at about double the cost of wood.
+This would save the expense of paint, or wash of any kind, besides the
+greater character of durability and substance it would add to the
+establishment. Trees, of course, should shelter it; and any little
+out-buildings that may be required should be nestled under a screen of
+vines and shrubbery near by.
+
+This being designed as the humblest and cheapest kind of cottage, where
+the family occupy only a single room, the cost would be small. On the
+plan first named, stained with a coarse wash, it could be built for
+$100. On the second plan, well-framed of sills, plates, posts, studs,
+&c. &c., covered with vertical boarding and battens, or clapboarded, and
+well painted in oil, it might cost $150 to $200. Stone, or brick,
+without paint, would add but little, if anything in cost over the last
+sum. The ceiling of the main floor is 8 feet high, and a low chamber or
+garret is afforded above it, into which a swing-step ladder ascends; and
+when not in use, it may be hung to the ceiling overhead by a common hook
+and staples.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN II.
+
+
+This cottage is a grade beyond the one just described, both in
+appearance and accommodation. It is 20�16 feet on the ground, with a
+rear wing 26�8 feet in area. The main body is 10 feet high, to the roof,
+vertically boarded and battened. A snug, half-open (or it may be closed,
+as convenience may require,) porch shelters the front door, 5�4 feet in
+area. The cottage has a square or hipped roof, of a 30� pitch from a
+horizontal line, which spreads full two feet over the walls and
+bracketed beneath. The rear wing retreats two feet from the wall line of
+the main building, and has also a hipped roof of the same pitch as the
+main one, with eight-feet posts. The open end of the wing advances 6
+feet toward the front of the main part for wood-house and storage. The
+construction of this is in the same style as Design I. The windows are
+plain, two-sashed, of six lights each, 8�12 glass in front, and 8�10 in
+the rear.
+
+  [Illustration: COTTAGE. Pages 217-218.]
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door opens into a common living room, 16�12 feet, with two
+windows, in which is a stove-chimney running up from the main floor next
+the partition, or placed over it in the chamber, and running up through
+the center of the roof. On one side of the living room is a bedroom,
+10�8 feet, with two windows. Next to this bedroom is a large closet, 8�6
+feet, with one window, and shelves, and tight cupboard within. These
+rooms are 9 feet high, and over them is a chamber, or garret, 20�16
+feet, entered by a swing step ladder, as in Design No. I. This garret is
+lighted by a small dormer window in the rear roof, over the shed or
+lean-to. A bed may be located in this chamber, or it may serve as a
+storage and lumber-room.
+
+The wing contains a small kitchen, in case the living room be not
+occupied for that purpose, 10�8 feet, lighted by a side-window, and
+having a small chimney in the rear wall. It may contain, also, a small
+closet, 3 feet square. A door passes from this small kitchen into the
+wood-house, which is 16�8 feet, or with its advance L, 14 feet, in the
+extreme outer corner of which is a water-closet, 5�3 feet; thus,
+altogether, giving accommodation to a family of five or six persons.
+
+The construction of this cottage is shown as of wood. Other material,
+either brick or stone, may be used, as most convenient, at a not much
+increased cost. The expense of this building may be, say fifty per cent.
+higher than that of No. I, according to the finish, and may be
+sufficiently well done and painted complete for $300; which may be
+reduced or increased, according to the style of finish and the taste of
+the builder.
+
+A cellar may be made under this cottage, which can be reached by a
+trap-door from the living room, opening to a flight of steps below.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN III.
+
+
+This cottage is still in advance of No. II, in style and arrangement,
+and may accommodate not only the farm laborer or gardener, but will
+serve for a small farmer himself, or a village mechanic. It is in the
+French style of roof, and allied to the Italian in its brackets, and
+gables, and half-terraced front. The body of the cottage is 22�20 feet,
+with twelve-feet posts; the roof has a pitch of 50� from a horizontal
+line, in its straight dimensions, curving horizontally toward the eaves,
+which, together with the gables, project 3 feet over the walls. The
+terrace in front is 5 feet wide. On the rear is a wood-house, 18�16 feet
+in area, open at the house end, and in front, with a roof in same style
+as the main house, and posts, 8 feet high, standing on the ground,
+2 feet below the surface of the cellar wall, which supports the main
+building.
+
+  [Illustration: COTTAGE. Pages 221-222.]
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door opens, in the center of the front wall, into a hall, 12�8
+feet, with a flight of stairs on one side, leading to the chamber above;
+under the stairs, at the upper end, is a passage leading beneath them
+into the cellar. On one side of this hall is a bedroom 8�10 feet,
+lighted by a window in front, and part of the hooded double window on
+the side. On the inner side, a door leads from the hall into the living
+room or kitchen, 18�12 feet. On one side of this is a bedroom, or
+pantry, as may be most desirable, 9�6 feet, from which leads a close
+closet, 3 feet square. This bedroom has a window on one side, next the
+hall. A door from the kitchen leads into a closet, 3 feet wide, which
+may contain a sink, and cupboard for kitchen wares. The living room is
+lighted by a part of the double hooded window on one side, and another
+on the rear. A door leads into the wood-house, which is 12�16 feet, in
+the extreme corner of which is the water-closet, 5�3 feet. The rooms in
+this cottage are 9 feet high. A chimney leads up from the floor of the
+living room, which may receive, in addition to its own fireplace, or
+stove, a pipe from the stove in the hall, if one is placed there.
+
+The chamber has two feet of perpendicular wall, and the sharp roof gives
+opportunity for two good lodging rooms, which may be partitioned off as
+convenience may require, each lighted by a window in the gables, and a
+dormer one in the roof, for the passage leading into them.
+
+The hall may serve as a pleasant sitting or dining-room, in pleasant
+weather, opening, as it does, on to the terrace, which is mostly
+sheltered by the overhanging roof.
+
+The construction of this cottage may be of either stone, brick, or wood,
+and produce a fine effect. Although it has neither porch, nor veranda,
+the broad eaves and gables give it a well-sheltered appearance, and the
+hooded windows on the sides throw an air of protection over them, quite
+agreeable to the eye. The framing of this roof is no way different,
+in the rafters, from those made on straight lines, but the curve and
+projection is given by planks cut into proper shape, and spiked into the
+rafters, and apparently supported by the brackets below, which should be
+cut from two to three-inch plank, to give them a heavy and substantial
+appearance. The windows are in casement form, as shown in the design,
+but may be changed into the ordinary sash form, if preferred, which is,
+in this country, usually the better way. It will be observed, that we
+have in all cases adopted the usual square-sided form of glass for
+windows, as altogether more convenient and economical in building,
+simple in repairing, and, we think, quite as agreeable in appearance,
+as those out-of-the-way shapes frequently adopted to give a more
+picturesque effect.
+
+In a hilly, mountainous, and evergreen country, this style of cottage is
+peculiarly appropriate. It takes additional character from bold and
+picturesque scenery, with which it is in harmony. The pine, spruce,
+cedar, or hemlock, or the evergreen laurel, planted around or near it,
+will give it increased effect, while among deciduous trees and shrubs,
+an occasional Lombardy poplar, and larch, will harmonize with the
+boldness of its outline. Even where hill or mountain scenery is wanting,
+plantations such as have been named, would render it a pleasing style of
+cottage, and give agreeable effect to its bold, sharp roof and
+projecting eaves.
+
+In a snowy country, the plan of roof here presented is well adapted to
+the shedding of heavy snows, on which it can find no protracted
+lodgment. Where massive stone walls enclose the estate, this style of
+cottage will be in character, as comporting with that strong and solid
+air which the rustic appearance of stone alone can give. It may, too,
+receive the same amount of outer decoration, in its shrubbery and
+plantations, given to any other style of building of like accommodation,
+and with an equally agreeable effect.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN IV.
+
+
+This cottage is still in advance of the last, in its accommodation, and
+is suitable for the small farmer, or the more liberal cottager, who
+requires wider room, and ampler conveniences than are allowed by the
+hitherto described structures. It is a first class dwelling, of its
+kind, and, in its details and finish, may be adapted to a variety of
+occupation, while it will afford a sufficient amount of expenditure to
+gratify a liberal outlay, to him who chooses to indulge his taste in a
+moderate extent of decoration and embellishment.
+
+The ground plan of this cottage is 30�22 feet, in light rural-Gothic
+style, one and a half stories high, the posts 14 feet in elevation.
+It has two chimneys, passing out through the roof on each side of the
+ridge, uniformly, each with the other. The roof has a pitch of 45� from
+a horizontal line, giving it a bold and rather dashing appearance, and
+deeply sheltering the walls. The side gables give variety to the roof,
+and light to the chambers, and add to the finish of its appearance;
+while the sharp arched double window in the front gable adds character
+to the design.
+
+  [Illustration: COTTAGE. Pages 227-228.]
+
+The deep veranda in front covers three-quarters of its surface in
+length, and in the symmetry of its roof, and airiness of its columns,
+with their light braces, give it a style of completeness; and if
+creeping vines or climbing shrubs be trained upon them, will produce an
+effect altogether rural and beautiful.
+
+Or, if a rustic style of finish be adopted, to render it cheaper in
+construction, the effect may still be imposing, and in harmony with the
+purposes to which it is designed. In fact, this model will admit of a
+variety of choice in finish, from the plainest to a high degree of
+embellishment, as the ability or fancy of the builder may suggest.
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+From the veranda in the center of the front, a door opens into a hall,
+17�7 feet, with a flight of stairs leading, in three different angles,
+to the chambers above. Opposite the front door is the passage into the
+living room, or parlor, 17�15 feet, lighted by three windows, two of
+which present an agreeable view of an adjacent stream and its opposite
+shores. At the line of partition from the hall, stands a chimney, with a
+fireplace, if desirable, or for a stove, to accommodate both this room
+and the hall with a like convenience; and under the flight of stairs
+adjoining opens a china closet, with spacious shelves, for the
+safe-keeping of household comforts. From this room, a door leads into a
+bedroom, 10�13 feet, lighted by a window opening into the veranda, also
+accommodated by a stove, which leads into a chimney at its inner
+partition. Next to this bedroom is the kitchen, 12�13 feet, accommodated
+with a chimney, where may be inserted an open fireplace, or a stove, as
+required. In this is a flight of back chamber and cellar stairs. This
+room is lighted by two windows--one in the side, another in the rear.
+A door leads from its rear into a large, roomy pantry, 8 feet square,
+situated in the wing, and lighted by a window. Next to this is a
+passage, 3 feet in width, leading to the wood-house, (in which the
+pantry just named is included,) 16�12 feet, with nine-feet posts, and
+roof pitched like the house, in the extreme corner of which is a
+water-closet, 5�3 feet. Cornering upon the wood-house beyond, is a small
+building, 15�12 feet, with ten-feet posts, and a roof in same style as
+the others--with convenience for a cow and a pig, with each a separate
+entrance. A flight of stairs leads to the hay-loft above the stables, in
+the gable of which is the hay-door; and under the stairs is the granary;
+and to these may be added, inside, a small accommodation for a choice
+stock of poultry.
+
+The chamber plan is the same as the lower floor, mainly, giving three
+good sleeping-rooms; that over the kitchen, being a _back_ chamber, need
+not have a separate passage into the upper hall, but may have a door
+passage into the principal chamber. The door to the front bedroom leads
+direct from the upper hall. Thus, accommodation is given to quite a
+numerous family. Closets may be placed in each of these chambers,
+if wanted; and the entire establishment made a most snug and compact,
+as well as commodious arrangement.
+
+
+
+
+COTTAGE OUTSIDE DECORATION.
+
+
+Nothing so perfectly sets off a cottage, in external appearance, as the
+presence of plants and shrubbery around it. A large tree or two, by
+giving an air of protection, is always in place; and creeping vines, and
+climbing shrubs about the windows and porch, are in true character;
+while a few low-headed trees, of various kinds, together with some
+simple and hardy annual and other flowers--to which should always be
+added, near by, a small, well-tended kitchen garden--fill up the
+picture.
+
+In the choice of what varieties should compose these ornaments, one can
+hardly be at a loss. Flanking the cottage, and near the kitchen garden,
+should be the fruit trees. The elm, maples, oak, and hickory, in all
+their varieties, black-walnut, butternut--the last all the better for
+its rich kernel--are every one appropriate for shade, as _large_ trees.
+The hop, morning-glory, running beans--all useful and ornamental as
+summer climbers; the clematis, bitter-sweet, ivy, any of the _climbing_
+roses; the lilac, syringa, snow-ball, and the _standard_ roses; while
+marigolds, asters, pinks, the phloxes, peonies, and a few other of the
+thousand-and-one simple and charming annuals, biennials, and perennials,
+with now and then a gorgeous sunflower, flaunting in its broad glory,
+will fill up the catalogue. Rare and costly plants are not required, and
+indeed, are hardly in place in the grounds of an ordinary cottage,
+unless occupied by the professional gardener. They denote expense, which
+the laboring cottager cannot afford; and besides that, they detract from
+the simplicity of the life and purpose which not only the cottage
+itself, but everything around it, should express.
+
+There is an affectation of _cottage_ building, with some people who,
+with a seeming humility, really aim at higher flights of style in living
+within them, than truth of either design or purpose will admit. But as
+such cases are more among villagers, and those temporarily retiring from
+the city for summer residence, the farm cottage has little to do with
+it. Still, such fancies are contagious, and we have occasionally seen
+the ambitious cottage, with its covert expression of humility,
+insinuating itself on to the farm, and for the farmer's own family
+occupation, too, which at once spoiled, to the eye, the _substantial
+reality_ of the whole establishment. A farmer should discard all such
+things as _ornamental_ cottages. They do not belong to the farm. If he
+live in a cottage himself, it should be a _plain_ one; yet it may be
+very substantial and well finished--something showing that he means
+either to be content in it, in its character of plainness, or that he
+intends, at a future day, to build something better--when this may serve
+for the habitation of one of his laborers.
+
+The cottage should never occupy a principal, or prominent site on the
+farm. It should take a subordinate position of ground. This adds to its
+expression as subordinate in rank, among the lesser farm buildings. A
+cottage cannot, and should not aspire to be _chief_ in either position
+or character. Such should be the farm house proper; although
+unpretending, still, in style, above the cottage; and if the latter,
+in addition, be required on the farm, it should so appear, both in
+construction and finish; just what it is intended for--a tenement for
+economical purposes.
+
+There is another kind of cottage, the dwellers in which, these pages
+will probably never reach, that expresses, in its wild structure, and
+rude locality, the idea of Moore's pretty song--
+
+  "I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled
+  Above the green elms, that a cottage was near."
+
+Yet, in some parts of our country, landlords may build such, for the
+accommodation of tenants, which they may make useful on the outskirts of
+their estates, and add indirectly to their own convenience and interest
+in so doing. This may be indulged in, _poetically_ too--for almost any
+thinking man has a spice of poetry in his composition--vagabondism, a
+strict, economizing utilitarian would call it. The name matters not. One
+may as well indulge his taste in this cheap sort of charitable
+expenditure, as another may indulge, in his dogs, and guns, his horses
+and equipages--and the first is far the cheapest. They, at the west and
+south, understand this, whose recreations are occasionally with their
+hounds, in chase of the deer, and the fox, and in their pursuit spend
+weeks of the fall and winter months, in which they are accompanied, and
+assisted, as boon companions for the time, by the rude tenants of the
+cottages we have described:
+
+  "A cheerful, simple, honest people."
+
+Another class of cottage may come within the farm enclosures, half
+poetical, and half economical, such as Milton describes:
+
+  "Hard by a cottage chimney smokes,
+  From betwixt two aged oaks;"
+
+and occupied by a family pensioner and his infirm old wife--we don't
+think _all_ "poor old folks" ought to go to the alms-house, because they
+cannot work _every_ day of the year--of which all long-settled families
+of good estate have, now and then, one near to, or upon their premises.
+Thousands of kind and liberal hearts among our farming and planting
+brethren, whose impulses are--
+
+  "Open as the day to melting charity,"
+
+are familiar with the wants of those who are thus made their dependents;
+and in their accommodation, an eye may be kept to the producing of an
+agreeable effect in locating their habitations, and to rudely embellish,
+rather than to mar the domain on which they may be lodged.
+
+In short, cottage architecture, in its proper character, may be made as
+effective, in all the ornament which it should give to the farm, as that
+of any other structure; and if those who have occasion for the cottage
+will only be content to build and maintain it as it should be, and leave
+off that perpetual aspiration after something unnatural, and foreign to
+its purpose, which so many cottage builders of the day attempt, and let
+it stand in its own humble, secluded character, they will save
+themselves a world of trouble, and pass for--what they now do not--men
+possessing a taste for truth and propriety in their endeavors.
+
+
+HOUSE AND COTTAGE FURNITURE.
+
+This is a subject so thoroughly discussed in the books, of late, that
+anything which may here be said, would avail but little, inasmuch as our
+opinions might be looked upon as "old-fashioned," "out of date," and "of
+no account whatever,"--for wonderfully modern notions in room-furnishing
+have crept into the farm house, as well as into town houses. Indeed, we
+confess to altogether ancient opinions in regard to household furniture,
+and contend, that, with a few exceptions, "modern degeneracy" has
+reached the utmost stretch of absurdity, in house-furnishing, to which
+the ingenuity of man can arrive. Fashions in furniture change about as
+often as the cut of a lady's dress, or the shape of her bonnet, and
+pretty much from the same source, too--the fancy shops of Par�, once, in
+good old English, Paris, the capital city of France. A farmer, rich or
+poor, may spend half his annual income, every year of his life, in
+taking down old, and putting up new furniture, and be kept uncomfortable
+all the time; when, if he will, after a quiet, good-tempered talk with
+his better-half, agree with her upon the list of _necessary_ articles to
+make them _really comfortable_; and then a catalogue of what shall
+comprise the _luxurious_ part of their furnishings, which, when
+provided, they will fixedly make up their mind to keep, and be content
+with, they will remain entirely free from one great source of "the ills
+which flesh is heir to."
+
+It is pleasant to see a young couple setting out in their housekeeping
+life, well provided with convenient and properly-selected furniture,
+appropriate to all the uses of the family; and then to keep, and use it,
+and enjoy it, like contented, sensible people; adding to it, now and
+then, as its wear, or the increasing wants of their family may require.
+Old, familiar things, to which we have long been accustomed, and
+habituated, make up a round share of our actual enjoyment. A family
+addicted to constant change in their household furniture, attached to
+nothing, content with nothing, and looking with anxiety to the next
+change of fashion which shall introduce something _new_ into the house,
+can take no sort of comfort, let their circumstances be ever so
+affluent. It is a kind of dissipation in which some otherwise worthy
+people are prone to indulge, but altogether pernicious in the
+indulgence. It detracts, also, from the apparent respectability of a
+family to find nothing _old_ about them--as if they themselves were of
+yesterday, and newly dusted out of a modern shop-keeper's stock in
+trade. The furniture of a house ought to look as though the family
+within it once had a grandfather--and as if old things had some
+veneration from those who had long enjoyed their service.
+
+We are not about to dictate, of what fashion household furniture should
+be, when selected, any further than that of a plain, substantial, and
+commodious fashion, and that it should comport, so far as those
+requirements in it will admit, with the approved modes of the day. But
+we are free to say, that in these times the extreme of absurdity, and
+unfitness for _use_, is more the fashion than anything else. What so
+useless as the modern French chairs, standing on legs like pipe-stems,
+_garote_-ing your back like a rheumatism, and frail as the legs of a
+spider beneath you, as you sit in it; and a tribe of equally worthless
+incumbrances, which absorb your money in their cost, and detract from
+your comfort, instead of adding to it, when you have got them; or a
+bedstead so high that you must have a ladder to climb into it, or so low
+as to scarcely keep you above the level of the floor, when lying on it.
+No; give us the substantial, the easy, the free, and enjoyable articles,
+and the rest may go to tickle the fancy of those who have a taste for
+them. Nor do these flashy furnishings add to one's rank in society, or
+to the good opinion of those whose consideration is most valuable. Look
+into the houses of those people who are the _really_ substantial, and
+worthy of the land. There will be found little of such frippery with
+them. Old furniture, well-preserved, useful in everything, mark the
+well-ordered arrangement of their rooms, and give an air of quietude, of
+comfort, and of hospitality to their apartments. Children cling to such
+objects in after life, as heir-looms of affection and parental regard.
+
+Although we decline to give specific directions about what varieties of
+furniture should constitute the furnishings of a house, or to illustrate
+its style or fashion by drawings, and content ourself with the single
+remark, that it should, in all cases, be strong, plain, and durable--no
+sham, nor ostentation about it--and such as is _made for use_: mere
+trinkets stuck about the room, on center tables, in corners, or on the
+mantel-piece, are the foolishest things imaginable. They are costly;
+they require a world of care, to keep them in condition; and then, with
+all this care, they are good for nothing, in any sensible use. We have
+frequently been into a country house, where we anticipated better
+things, and, on being introduced into the "parlor," actually found
+everything in the furniture line so dainty and "prinked up," that we
+were afraid to sit down on the frail things stuck around by way of
+seats, for fear of breaking them; and everything about it looked so
+gingerly and inhospitable, that we felt an absolute relief when we could
+fairly get out of it, and take a place by the wide old fireplace, in the
+common living room, comfortably ensconced in a good old easy,
+high-backed, split-bottomed chair--there was positive comfort in that,
+when in the "parlor" there was nothing but restraint and _dis_comfort.
+No; leave all this vanity to town-folk, who have nothing better--or who,
+at least, think they have--to amuse themselves with; it has no fitness
+for a country dwelling, whatever. All this kind of frippery smacks of
+the boarding school, the pirouette, and the dancing master, and is out
+of character for the farm, or the sensible retirement of the country.
+
+In connection with the subject of furniture, a remark may be made on the
+_room_ arrangement of the house, which might, perhaps, have been more
+fittingly made when discussing that subject, in the designs of our
+houses. Some people have a marvellous propensity for introducing into
+their houses a _suite_ of rooms, connected by wide folding-doors, which
+must always be opened into each other, furnished just alike, and devoted
+to extraordinary occasions; thus absolutely sinking the best rooms in
+the house, for display half a dozen times in the year, and at the
+sacrifice of the every-day comfort of the family. This is nothing but a
+bastard taste, of the most worthless kind, introduced from the city--the
+propriety of which, for city life, need not here be discussed. The
+presence of such arrangement, in a country house, is fatal to everything
+like domestic enjoyment, and always followed by great expense and
+inconvenience. No room, in any house, should be too good for occupation
+by the family themselves--not every-day, and common-place--but
+occupation at any and all times, when convenience or pleasure demand it.
+If a large room be required, let the single room itself be large; not
+sacrifice an extra room to the occasional extension of the choicer one,
+as in the use of folding-doors must be done. This "parlor" may be better
+furnished--and so it should be--than any other room in the house. Its
+carpet should be not too good to tread, or stand upon, or for the
+children to roll and tumble upon, provided their shoes and clothes be
+clean. Let the happy little fellows roll and tumble on it, to their
+heart's content, when their mother or elder sisters are with them--for
+it may be, perhaps, the most joyous, and most innocent pleasure of their
+lives, poor things! The hearth-rug should be in keeping with the carpet,
+also, and no floor-cloth should be necessary to cover it, for fear of
+soiling; but everything free and easy, with a comfortable, inviting,
+hospitable look about it.
+
+Go into the houses of our great men--such as live in the country--whom
+God made great, not money--and see how _they_ live. We speak not of
+statesmen and politicians alone, but great merchants, great scholars,
+great divines, great mechanics, and all men who, in mind and
+attainments, are head and shoulder above their class in any of the walks
+of life, and you find no starch, or flummery about them. We once went
+out to the country house--he lived there all the time, for that
+matter--of a distinguished banker of one of our great cities, to dine,
+and spend the day with him. He had a small farm attached to his
+dwelling, where he kept his horses and cows, his pigs, and his poultry.
+He had a large, plain two-story cottage house, with a piazza running on
+three sides of it, from which a beautiful view of the neighboring city,
+and water, and land, was seen in nearly all directions. He was an
+educated man. His father had been a statesman of distinguished ability
+and station at home, and a diplomatist abroad, and himself educated in
+the highest circles of business, and of society. His wife, too, was the
+daughter of a distinguished city merchant, quite his equal in all the
+accomplishments of life. His own wealth was competent; he was the
+manager of millions of the wealth of others; and his station in society
+was of the highest. Yet, with all this claim to pretension, his house
+did not cost him eight thousand dollars--and he built it by "days-work,"
+too, so as to have it faithfully done; and the furniture in it, aside
+from library, paintings, and statuary, never cost him three thousand.
+Every room in it was a plain one, not more highly finished than many a
+farmer's house can afford. The furniture of every kind was plain,
+saving, perhaps, the old family plate, and such as he had added to it,
+which was all substantial, and made for use. The younger children--and
+of these, younger and older, he had several--we found happy, healthy,
+cheerful, and frolicking on the carpets; and their worthy mother, in the
+plainest, yet altogether appropriate garb, was sitting among them, at
+her family sewing, and kindly welcomed us as we took our seats in front
+of the open, glowing fireplace. "Why, sir," we exclaimed, rubbing our
+hands in the comfortable glow of warmth which the fire had given--for it
+was a cold December day--"you are quite plain, as well as wonderfully
+comfortable, in your country house--quite different from your former
+city residence!" "To be sure we are," was the reply; "we stood it as
+long as we could, amid the starch and the gimcracks of ---- street,
+where we rarely had a day to ourselves, and the children could never
+_go_ into the streets but they must be tagged and tasselled, in their
+dress, into all sorts of discomfort, merely for the sake of appearance.
+So, after standing it as long as we could, my wife and I determined we
+would try the country, for a while, and see what we could make of it.
+We kept our town-house, into which we returned for a winter or two; but
+gave it up for a permanent residence here, with which we are perfectly
+content. We see here all the friends we want to see; we all enjoy
+ourselves, and the children are healthy and happy." And this is but a
+specimen of thousands of families in the enjoyment of country life,
+including the families of men in the highest station, and possessed of
+sufficient wealth.
+
+Why, then, should the farmer ape the fashion, and the frivolity of the
+butterflies of town life, or permit his family to do it? It is the
+sheerest possible folly in him to do so. Yet, it is a folly into which
+many are imperceptibly gliding, and which, if not reformed, will
+ultimately lead to great discomfort to themselves, and ruin to their
+families. Let thoughtless people do as they choose. Pay no attention to
+their extravagance; but watch them for a dozen years, and see how they
+come out in their fashionable career; and observe the fate of their
+families, as they get "established" in the like kind of life. He who
+keeps aloof from such temptation, will then have no cause to regret that
+he has maintained his own steady course of living, and taught his sons
+and daughters that a due attention to their own comfort, with economical
+habits in everything relating to housekeeping, will be to their lasting
+benefit in future.
+
+But, we have said enough to convey the ideas in house-furnishing we
+would wish to impart; and the reader will do as he, or she, no doubt,
+would have done, had we not written a word about it--go and select such
+as may strike their own fancy.
+
+We received, a day or two since, a letter from a person at the west,
+entirely unknown to us, whose ideas so entirely correspond with our own,
+that we give it a place, as showing that a proper taste _does_ prevail
+among many people in this country, in regard to buildings, and
+house-furnishings; and which we trust he will pardon us for publishing,
+as according entirely with our own views, in conclusion:
+
+  ----, ----, Ill., Dec. 18, 1851.
+
+  DEAR SIR,--I received, a few days since, a copy of the first number
+  of a periodical called the "Plough," into which is copied the
+  elevation of a design for a farm house, purporting to be from a
+  forthcoming work of yours, entitled "Rural Architecture." Although a
+  perfect stranger to you, you will perhaps allow me to make one or
+  two suggestions.
+
+  I have seen no work yet, which seems fully to meet the wants of our
+  country people in the matter of furniture. After having built their
+  houses, they need showing how to furnish them in the cheapest, most
+  neat, comfortable, convenient, and substantial manner. The furniture
+  should be designed for use, not merely for show. I would have it
+  plain, but not coarse--just enough for the utmost convenience, but
+  nothing superfluous. The articles of furniture figured, and
+  partially described in the late works on those subjects, are mostly
+  of too elaborate and expensive a cast to be generally introduced
+  into our country houses. There is too much _nabobery_ about them to
+  meet the wants, or suit the taste of the plain American farmer.
+
+  As to out-houses--the barn, stable, carriage and wagon-house,
+  tool-house, piggery, poultry-house, corn-crib, and granary, (to
+  say nothing of the "rabbit-warren" and "dovecote,")--are necessary
+  appendages of the farm house. Now, as cheapness is one great
+  desideratum with nearly all our new beginners in this western
+  region, it seems to me, that such plans as will conveniently include
+  the greatest number of these under the same roof, will be best
+  suited to their necessities. I do not mean to be understood that,
+  for the sake of the first cost, we should pay no regard to the
+  appearance, or that we should slight our work, or suffer it to be
+  constructed of flimsy or perishable materials: we should not only
+  have an eye to taste and durability, but put in practice the most
+  strict economy.
+
+  I hope, in the above matters, you may be able to furnish something
+  better suited to the necessities and means of our plain farmers,
+  than has been done by any of your predecessors.
+
+  I remain, &c., most respectfully yours,
+
+  ----, ----.
+
+Having completed the series of Designs for dwelling houses, which we had
+proposed for this work, and followed them out with such remarks as were
+thought fitting to attend them, we now pass on to the second part of our
+subject: the out-buildings of the farm, in which are to be accommodated
+the domestic animals which make up a large item of its economy and
+management; together with other buildings which are necessary to
+complete its requirements. We trust that they will be found to be such
+as the occasion, and the wants of the farmer may demand; and in economy,
+accommodation, and extent, be serviceable to those for whose benefit
+they are designed.
+
+
+
+
+AN APIARY, OR BEE-HOUSE.
+
+
+Every farmer should keep bees--provided he have pasturage for them, on
+his own land, or if a proper range for their food and stores lie in his
+immediate vicinity. Bees are, beyond any other domestic _stock_,
+economical in their keeping, to their owners. Still they require care,
+and that of no inconsiderable kind, and skill, in their management, not
+understood by every one who attempts to rear them. They ask no food,
+they require no assistance, in gathering their daily stores, beyond that
+of proper housing in the cheapest description of tenement, and with that
+they are entirely content. Yet, without these, they are a contingent,
+and sometimes a troublesome appendage to the domestic stock of the farm.
+
+We call them _domestic_. In one sense they are so; in another, they are
+as wild and untamed as when buzzing and collecting their sweets in the
+vineyard of Timnath, where the mighty Sampson took their honey from the
+carcass of the dead lion; or, as when John the Baptist, clothed with
+camel's hair, ate "locusts and wild honey" in the arid wastes of
+Palestine. Although kept in partial bondage for six thousand years, the
+ruling propensity of the bee is to seek a home and shelter in the
+forest, when it emerges in a swarm from the parent hive; and no amount
+of domestic accommodation, or kindness of treatment, will induce it
+willingly to migrate from its nursery habitation to another by its side,
+although provided with the choicest comforts to invite its entrance.
+It will soon fly to the woods, enter a hollow and dilapidated tree, and
+carve out for itself its future fortunes, amid a world of labor and
+apparent discomfort. The bee, too, barring its industry, patience, and
+sweetened labors, is an arrant thief--robbing its nearest neighbors,
+with impunity, when the strongest, and mercilessly slaughtering its
+weaker brethren, when standing in the way of its rapacity. It has been
+extolled for its ingenuity, its patience, its industry, its
+perseverance, and its virtue. Patience, industry, and perseverance it
+has, beyond a doubt, and in a wonderful degree; but ingenuity, and
+virtue, it has none, more than the spider, who spins his worthless web,
+or the wasp, who stings you when disturbing his labors. Instinct, the
+bee has, like all animals; but of kind feeling, and gratitude, it has
+nothing; and with all our vivid nursery remembrance of good Doctor
+Watts' charming little hymn--
+
+  "How doth the little busy bee," &c. &c.,
+
+we have long ago set it down as incorrigible to kind treatment, or
+charitable sympathy, and looked upon it simply as a thing to be treated
+kindly for the sake of its labors, and as composing one of that
+delightful family of domestic objects which make our homes attractive,
+pleasant, and profitable.
+
+The active labors of the bee, in a bright May or June morning, as they
+fly, in their busy order, back and forth from their hives, or the
+soothing hum of their playful hours, in a summer's afternoon, are among
+the most delightful associations of rural life; and as a luxury to the
+sight, and the ear, they should be associated with every farmer's home,
+and with every laborer's cottage, when practicable. And as their due
+accommodation is to be the object of our present writing, a plan is
+presented for that object.
+
+In many of the modern structures held out for imitation, the bee-house,
+or apiary, is an expensive, pretentious affair, got up in an ambitious
+way, with efforts at style, in the semblance of a temple, a pagoda, or
+other absurdity, the very appearance of which frightens the simple bee
+from its propriety, and in which we never yet knew a colony of them to
+become, and remain successful. The insect is, as we have observed, wild
+and untamable--a savage in its habits, and rude in its temper. It
+rejects all cultivated appearances, and seeks only its own temporary
+convenience, together with comfortable room for its stores, and the
+increase of its kind; and therefore, the more rustic and simple its
+habitation, the better is it pleased with its position.
+
+  [Illustration: APIARY.]
+
+The bee-house should front upon a sheltered and sunny aspect. It should
+be near the ground, in a clean and quiet spot, free from the intrusion
+of other creatures, either human or profane, and undisturbed by noisome
+smells, and uncouth sounds--for it loathes all these instinctively, and
+loves nothing so much as the wild beauty of nature itself. The plan here
+presented is of the plainest and least expensive kind. Nine posts, or
+crutches, are set into the ground sufficiently deep to hold them firm,
+and to secure them from heaving out by the frost. The distance of these
+posts apart may be according to the size of the building, and to give it
+strength enough to resist the action of the wind. The front posts should
+be 9 feet high, above the ground; the rear posts should be 7 feet--that
+a man, with his hat on, may stand upright under them--and 6 feet from
+the front line. The two end posts directly in the rear of the front
+corner posts, should be 3 feet back from them, and on a line to
+accommodate the pitch of the roof from the front to the rear. A light
+plate is to be fitted on the top line of the front posts; a plate at
+each end should run back to the posts in rear, and then another
+cross-plate, or girt, from each one of these middle posts, to the post
+in rear of all, to meet the plate which surmounts this rear line of
+posts; and a parallel plate, or rafter, should be laid from the two
+intermediate posts at the ends, to connect them, and for a central
+support to the roof. Intermediate central posts should also be placed
+opposite those in front, to support the central plate, and not exceeding
+12 feet apart. A shed roof, of boards, or shingles, tightly laid, should
+cover the whole, sufficiently projecting over the front, rear, and
+sides, to give the house abundant shelter, and make it architecturally
+agreeable to the eye--say 12 to 18 inches, according to its extent. A
+corner board should drop two feet below the plate, with such finish, by
+way of ornament, as may be desirable. The ends should be tightly boarded
+up against the weather, from bottom to top. The rear should also be
+tightly boarded, from the bottom up to a level with the stand inside,
+for the hives, and from 15 to 18 inches above that to the roof. Fitted
+into the space thus left in the rear, should be a light, though
+substantial, swing door, hung from the upper boarding, made in sections,
+extending from one post to the other, as the size of the house may
+determine, and secured with hooks, or buttons, as may be convenient. The
+outside of the structure is thus completed.
+
+The inside arrangement for the hives, may be made in two different ways,
+as the choice of the apiarian may govern in the mode in which his hives
+are secured. The most usual is the _stand_ method, which may be made
+thus: At each angle, equidistant, say 18 to 24 inches, inside, from the
+rear side and ends of the building--as shown in the ground plan--and
+opposite to each rear and end post, suspend perpendicularly a line of
+stout pieces of two-inch plank, 4 inches wide, well spiked on to the
+rafters above, reaching down within two feet of the ground--which is to
+hold up the bottom of the stand on which the hives are to rest. From
+each bottom end of these suspended strips, secure another piece of like
+thickness and width, horizontally back to the post in rear of it, at the
+side and ends. Then, lengthwise the building, and turning the angles at
+the ends, and resting on these horizontal pieces just described, lay
+other strips, 3�2 inches, set edgewise--one in front, and another in
+rear, inside each post and suspended strip, and close to it, and secured
+by heavy nails, so that there shall be a double line of these strips on
+a level, extending entirely around the interior, from the front at each
+end. This forms the hanging frame-work for the planks or boards on which
+the hives are to rest.
+
+Now for the hives. First, let as many pieces of sound one and a half, or
+two-inch plank as you have hives to set upon them, be cut long enough to
+reach from the boarding on the rear and ends of the building, to one
+inch beyond, and projecting over the front of the outer strip last
+described. Let these pieces of plank be well and smoothly planed, and
+laid lengthwise across the aforesaid strips, not less than four inches
+apart from each other--if a less number of hives be in the building than
+it will accommodate at four inches apart, no matter how far apart they
+may be--these pieces of plank are the _ferms_ for the hives, on which
+they are to sit. And, as we have for many years adopted the plan now
+described, with entire success, a brief description is given of our mode
+of hive, and the process for obtaining the surplus honey. We say
+surplus, for destroying the bees to obtain their honey, is a mode not at
+all according to our notions of economy, or mercy; and we prefer to take
+that honey only which the swarm may make, after supplying their own
+wants, and the stores for their increasing family. This process is given
+in the report of a committee of gentlemen appointed by the New York
+State Agricultural Society, on a hive which we exhibited on that
+occasion, with the following note attached, at their show at Buffalo,
+in 1848:
+
+"I have seen, examined, and used several different plans of _patent_
+hive, of which there are probably thirty invented, and used, more or
+less. I have found all which I have ever seen, unsatisfactory, not
+carrying out in full, the benefits claimed for them.
+
+"The bee works, and lives, I believe, solely by instinct. I do not
+consider it an inventive, or very ingenious insect. To succeed well, its
+accommodations should be of the _simplest_ and _securest_ form.
+Therefore, instead of adopting the complicated plans of many of the
+patent hives, I have made, and used a simple box, like that now before
+you, containing a cube of one foot square _inside_--made of one and a
+quarter inch sound pine plank, well jointed and planed on all sides, and
+put together perfectly tight at the joints, with white lead ground in
+oil, and the inside of the hive at the bottom champered off to
+three-eighths of an inch thick, with a door for the bees in front, of
+four inches long by three-eighths of an inch high. I do this, that there
+may be a thin surface to come in contact with the shelf on which they
+rest, thus preventing a harbor for the bee-moth. (I have never used a
+patent hive which would exclude the bee-moth, nor any one which would so
+well do it as this, having never been troubled with that scourge since I
+used this tight hive.) On the top of the hive, an inch or two from the
+front, is made a passage for the bees, of an inch wide, and six to eight
+inches long, to admit the bees into an upper hive for surplus honey,
+(which passage is covered, when no vessel for that purpose is on the
+top.) For obtaining the honey, I use a common ten or twelve-quart water
+pail, inverted, with the bail turned over, in which the bees deposit
+their surplus, like the sample before you. The pail will hold about
+twenty pounds of honey. This is simple, cheap, and expeditious; the pail
+costing not exceeding twenty-five cents, is taken off in a moment, the
+bail replaced, and the honey ready for transportation, or market, and
+_always in place_. If there is time for more honey to be made, (my bees
+made two pails-full in succession this year,) another pail can be put on
+at once.
+
+"Such, gentlemen, in short, is my method. I have kept bees about twenty
+years. I succeed better on this plan than with any other."
+
+
+In addition to this, our hives are painted white, or other light color,
+on the outside, to protect them from warping, and as a further security
+against the bee-moth, or miller, which infests and destroys so many
+carelessly-made hives, as to discourage the efforts of equally careless
+people in keeping them. Inside the hive, on each end, we fasten, by
+shingle nails, about half-way between the bottom and top, a small piece
+of half-inch board, about the size of a common window button, and with a
+like notch in it, set upward, but stationary, on which, when the hive is
+to receive the swarm, a stick is laid across, to support the comb as it
+is built, from falling in hot weather. At such time, also, when new, and
+used for the first time, the under-side of the top is scratched with the
+tines of a table fork, or a nail, so as to make a rough surface, to
+which the new comb can be fastened. In addition to the pails on the top
+of the hives, to receive the surplus honey, we sometimes use a flat box,
+the size of the hive in diameter, and six or seven inches high _inside_,
+which will hold twenty-five to thirty pounds of honey. The pails we
+adopted as an article of greater convenience for transporting the honey.
+
+The other plan of arranging the hives alluded to, is suspending them
+between the strips before described, by means of _cleats_ secured on to
+the front and rear sides of the hive, say two-thirds the way up from the
+bottom. In such case, the strips running lengthwise the house must be
+brought near enough together to receive the hives as hung by the
+_cleats_, and the bottom boards, or forms, must be much smaller than
+those already described, and hung with wire hooks and staples to the
+sides, with a button on the rear, to close up, or let them down a
+sufficient distance to admit the air to pass freely across them, and up
+into the hive--Weeks' plan, in fact, for which he has a patent, together
+with some other fancied improvements, such as chambers to receive the
+boxes for the deposit of surplus honey. This, by the way, is the best
+"patent" we have seen; and Mr. Weeks having written an ingenious and
+excellent treatise on the treatment of the bee, we freely recommend his
+book to the attention of every apiarian who wishes to succeed in their
+management. As a rule, we have no confidence in _patent_ hives. We have
+seen scores of them, of different kinds, have tried several of great
+pretension to sundry virtues--such as excluding moths, and other
+marvelous benefits--and, after becoming the victim of bee empirics to
+the tune of many a dollar, have thrown aside the gimcracks, and taken
+again to a common-sense method of keeping our bees, as here described.
+The bees themselves, we feel bound to say, seem to hold these
+patent-right habitations in quite as sovereign contempt as ourself,
+reluctantly going into them, and getting out of them at the first safe
+opportunity. But, as a treatise on bee-keeping is not a part of this
+present work, we must, for further information, commend the inquirer on
+that subject to some of the valuable treatises extant, on so prolific a
+subject, among which we name those of Bevan, Weeks, and Miner.
+
+The bee-house should be thoroughly whitewashed _inside_ every spring,
+and kept clean of cobwebs, wasp's nests, and vermin; and it may be
+painted outside, a soft and agreeable color, in keeping with the other
+buildings of the farm. Its premises should be clean, and sweet. The
+grass around should be kept mowed close. Low trees, or shrubbery, should
+stand within a few yards of it, that the new swarms may light upon them
+when coming out, and not, for want of such settling places, be liable to
+loss from flying away. It should, also, be within sight and hearing, and
+at no great distance from a continually-frequented room in the
+dwelling--perhaps the kitchen, if convenient, that, in their swarming
+season, they may be secured as they leave the parent hive. The apiary is
+a beautiful object, with its busy tenantry; and to the invalid, or one
+who loves to look upon God's tiny creatures, it may while away many an
+agreeable hour, in watching their labors--thus adding pleasure to
+profit.
+
+The cost of a bee-house, on the plan given, may be from ten to fifty
+dollars, according to the price of material, and the amount of labor
+expended upon it. It should not be an expensive structure, in any event,
+as its purpose does not warrant it. If a gimcrack affair be wanted, for
+the purposes of ornament, or expense, any sum of money may be squandered
+upon it which the fancy of its builder may choose to spare.
+
+
+
+
+AN ICE-HOUSE.
+
+
+Among the useful and convenient appendages to the farm and country
+family establishment, is the ice-house. Different from the general
+opinion which prevailed in our country before ice became so important an
+article of commerce, and of home consumption, the building which
+contains it should stand above-ground, instead of below it. And the
+plainer and more simple it can be constructed, the better.
+
+The position of the ice-house may be that which is most convenient to
+the dwelling, or to the wants of those who use it. If it can be placed
+beneath the shade of trees, it will so far be relieved from the
+influence of the sun; but it should be so constructed that sunshine will
+not affect the ice within it, even if it stand unsheltered; and as it
+has, by the ice-merchants of our eastern cities, who put up large
+quantities for exportation abroad, and others in the interior, who
+furnish ice in quantity for home consumption, been proved to be
+altogether the better plan to build the ice-house entirely above ground,
+we shall present no other mode of construction than this. It may be
+added, that five years' experience with one of our own building, has
+confirmed our opinion of the superiority of this over any other plan
+which may be adopted.
+
+The design here presented is of the most economical kind, yet
+sufficiently ornamental to make it an agreeable appendage to any family
+establishment. The size may be 12 feet square--less than that would be
+too small for keeping ice well--and from that up to any required extent.
+The idea here given is simply the _principle_ of construction. The posts
+should be full eight feet high above the ground, to where the plate of
+the roof is attached, and built thus:
+
+  [Illustration: ICE-HOUSE.]
+
+Mark out your ground the size you require for the house; then,
+commencing at one corner, dig, opposite each other, a double set of
+holes, one foot deep, and two and a half feet apart, on each side of the
+intended building, say three feet equidistant, so that when the posts
+stand up they will present a double set, one and a half feet apart. Then
+set in your posts, which should be of oak, chestnut, or some lasting
+wood, and pack the earth firmly around them. If the posts are sawed,
+they may be 4�6 inches in size, set edgeways toward each other. If not
+sawed, they may be round sticks cut from the woods, or split from the
+body of a tree, quartered--but sizable, so as to appear decent--and the
+insides facing each other as they stand up, lined to a surface to
+receive the planking. Of course, when the posts are set in the ground,
+they are to show a square form, or skeleton of what the building is to
+be when completed. When this is done, square off the top of each post to
+a level, all round; then frame, or spike on to each line of posts a
+plate, say six inches wide, and four to six inches deep, and stay the
+two plates together strongly, so as to form a double frame. Now, plank,
+or board up closely the _inside_ of each line of posts, that the space
+between them shall be a fair surface. Cut out, or leave out a space for
+a door in the center of the side where you want it, two and a half or
+three feet wide, and six and a half feet high, and board up the inner
+partition sides of this opening, so as to form a door-casing on each
+side, that the space between the two lines of posts may be a continuous
+box all around. Then fill up this space between the posts with moist
+tan-bark, or saw-dust, well packed from the ground up to the plates; and
+the body of the house is inclosed, sun-proof, and air-proof, to guard
+the ice.
+
+Now lay down, inside the building, some sticks--not much matter what, so
+that they be level--and on them lay loose planks or boards, for a floor.
+Cover this floor with a coating of straw, a foot thick, and it is ready
+to receive the ice.
+
+For the roof, take common 3�4 joists, as rafters; or, in place of them,
+poles from the woods, long enough, in a pitch of full 35� from a
+horizontal line, to carry the roof at least four feet over the outside
+of the plates, and secure the rafters well, by pins or spikes, to them.
+Then board over and shingle it, leaving a small aperture at the top,
+through which run a small pipe, say eight inches in diameter--a
+stove-crock will do--for a ventilator. Then set in, 4 little posts, say
+two feet high--as in the design--throw a little four-sided, pointed cap
+on to the top of these posts, and the roof is done. If you want to
+ornament the under side of the roof, in a rude way--and we would advise
+it--take some pieces of 3�4 scantling, such as were used for the roof,
+if the posts are of sawed stuff--if not, rough limbs of trees from the
+woods, to match the rough posts of the same kind, and fasten them to the
+posts and the under side of the roof, by way of brackets, as shown in
+the design.
+
+When the ice is put into the house, a close floor of boards should be
+laid on joists, which rest on the plates, loosely, so that this floor
+can be removed when putting in ice, and that covered five or six inches
+deep with tan, or saw-dust--straw will do, if the other can not be
+had--and the inside arrangement is complete. Two doors should be
+attached to the opening, where the ice is put in and taken out; one on
+the inner side of the lining, and the other on the outer side, both
+opening out. Tan, saw-dust, or straw should also be placed on the top of
+the ice, when put in, so as to keep the air from it as much as possible;
+and as the ice is removed, it will settle down upon, and still preserve
+it. Care must be taken to have a drain under the floor of the house, to
+pass off the water which melts from the ice, as it would, if standing
+there, injure its keeping.
+
+It will be seen, that, by an error in the cut of the ground plan, the
+inside line of posts does not show, as in the outer line, which they
+should do; nor is the outside door inserted, as is shown in the
+elevation. These defects, however, will be rectified by the builder.
+
+We have given considerable thought to this subject, and can devise no
+shape to the building more appropriate than this, nor one cheaper in
+construction. It may be built for fifty to a hundred dollars, according
+to the cost of material and labor, and the degree of finish given to it.
+
+It is hardly worth while to expatiate upon the convenience and economy
+of an ice-house, to an American. Those who love well-kept meats, fruits,
+butter, milk, and various etceteras for the table, understand its
+utility well; to say nothing of the cooling draughts, in the way of
+drinks, in hot weather, to which it adds--when not taken to
+extremes--such positive luxury. We commend the ice-house, _well-filled_,
+most heartily, to every good country housekeeper, as a matter of
+convenience, economy, and luxury, adding next to nothing to the living
+expenses, and, as an appendage to the main buildings, an item of little
+cost, and a considerable degree of ornament.
+
+If an under-ground ice-house be preferred to the plan here shown, a side
+hill, or bank, with a northerly exposure, is the best location for it;
+and the manner of building should be mainly like this, for the body of
+the house. The roof, however, should be only two-sided, and the door for
+putting in and taking out the ice may be in the gable, on the ground
+level. The drainage under the floor, and precautions for keeping the
+ice, should be quite as thorough as we have described; as, otherwise,
+the earth surrounding it on three sides, at least, of the house, will be
+a ready conductor of warmth, and melt the ice with great rapidity. If
+the under-ground plan is adopted, but little more than the roof will
+show, and of course, be of little ornament in the way of appearance.
+
+
+
+
+THE ASH-HOUSE AND SMOKE-HOUSE.
+
+
+These two objects may, both for convenience and economy, be well
+combined under one roof; and we have thus placed them in connection. The
+building is an exceedingly simple structure, made of stone, or brick;
+the body 10 feet high, and of such size as may be desirable, with a
+simple roof, and a plain, hooded chimney.
+
+  [Illustration: ASH HOUSE AND SMOKE HOUSE.]
+
+In the ground plan will be seen a brick, or stone partition--which may
+extend to such height as may be necessary to contain the bulk of ashes
+required for storage within it--on one side of the building, to which a
+door gives access. The opposite side, and overhead, is devoted to the
+smoke-house, in which the various girts and hooks may be placed, for
+sustaining the meats to be smoked. The building should be tied together
+by joists at the plates, properly anchored into the walls, to prevent
+their spreading. A stove, or pans, or neither, as the method of keeping
+the smoke alive may govern, can be placed inside, to which the chimney
+in the roof may serve as a partial escape, or not, as required. The
+whole process is so simple, and so easily understood, that further
+explanation is unnecessary.
+
+A great advantage that a house of this construction has, is the
+convenience of storing the smoked meats for an indefinite time, even
+through the whole season, keeping them dark, dry, and cool; and
+permitting, at any time, a smoke to be made, to drive out the flies,
+if they find their way into it.
+
+The ashes can, of course, be removed at any time, by the door at which
+they are thrown in.
+
+
+
+
+THE POULTRY-HOUSE.
+
+
+As poultry is an indispensable appendage to the farm, in all cases, the
+poultry-house is equally indispensable, for their accommodation, and for
+the most profitable management of the fowls themselves, and most
+convenient for the production of their eggs and young. Indeed, without
+well-arranged quarters for the fowls of the farm, they are exceedingly
+troublesome, and of doubtful profit; but with the proper buildings
+devoted to them exclusively, they become one of the most interesting and
+agreeable objects with which either the farm or the country house is
+associated.
+
+It is hardly worth while to eulogize poultry. Their merits and virtues
+are written in the hearts of all provident housekeepers; and their
+beauty and goodness are familiar to every son and daughter of the rural
+homestead. We shall, then, proceed at once to discuss their proper
+accommodation, in the cheapest and most familiar method with which we
+are acquainted.
+
+The hen-house--for hens (barn-door fowls, we mean) are the first and
+chief stock, of the kind, to be provided for, and with them most of the
+other varieties can be associated--should be located in a warm,
+sheltered, and sunny place, with abundant grounds about it, where they
+can graze--hens eat grass--and scratch, and enjoy themselves to their
+heart's content, in all seasons, when the ground is open and they _can_
+scratch into, or range over its surface. Some people--indeed, a good
+many people--picket in their gardens, to keep hens _out_; but we prefer
+an enclosure to keep the hens _in_, at all seasons when they are
+troublesome, which, after all, is only during short seasons of the year,
+when seeds are planted, or sown, and grain and vegetables are ripening.
+Otherwise, they may range at will, on the farm, doing good in their
+destruction of insects, and deriving much enjoyment to themselves; for
+hens, on the whole, are happy things.
+
+  [Illustration: POULTRY LAWN.]
+
+We here present the elevation of a poultry-house in perspective, to show
+the _principle_ which we would adopt in its construction, and which may
+be extended to any required length, and to which may be added any given
+area of ground, or yard-room, which the circumstances of the proprietor
+may devote to it. It is, as will be seen, of a most rustic appearance,
+and built as cheaply, yet thoroughly, as the subject may require. Its
+length, we will say, is 20 feet, its breadth 16, and its height 10 feet,
+made of posts set into the ground--for we do not like sills, and floors
+of wood, because rats are apt to burrow under them, which are their
+worst enemies--and boarded up, either inside or outside, as in the case
+of the ice-house previously described, though not double. Plates are
+laid on these posts, to connect them firmly together; and the rafters
+rest on the plates, as usual. The chamber floor is 9 feet high, above
+the ground, and may be used either for laying purposes by the fowls,
+or reserved as a storage-room for their feed. The roof is broadly drawn
+over the body of the building, to shelter it, and through the point of
+the roof, in the center, is a ventilator, with a covered top, and a vane
+significant of its purpose. It is also sufficiently lighted, with glass
+windows, into which our draughtsman has put the diamond-paned glass,
+contrary to our notions; but, as he had, no doubt, an eye to the
+"picturesque," we let it pass, only remarking, that if we were building
+the house on our own account, there should be no such nonsense about it.
+The front windows are large, to attract the warmth of the winter's sun.
+A section of picket fence is also attached, and trees in the rear--both
+of which are necessary to a complete establishment; the first, to secure
+the poultry in the contiguous yards, and the trees to give them shade,
+and even roosting-places, if they prefer such lodgings in warm
+weather--for which we consider them eminently wholesome.
+
+The wooden floor is dispensed with, as was remarked, to keep rid of the
+vermin. If the ground be gravelly, or sandy, it will be sufficiently
+dry. If a heavy or damp soil be used, it should be under-drained, which
+will effectually dry it, and be better for the fowls than a floor of
+either wood, brick, or stone. Doors of sufficient size can be made on
+the yard sides of the house, near the ground, for the poultry to enter
+either the living or roosting apartments, at pleasure, and hung with
+butts on the upper side, to be closed when necessary.
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door opens into the main living room. At each end, and in the
+rear, are tiers of boxes, one foot wide, one and a half feet long, and
+one and a half feet high--the lowest tier elevated two feet above the
+ground--and built one tier above the other, and snugly partitioned
+between, with a hole at one corner of each, ten inches high, and eight
+inches wide, for passing in to them; and a shelf, or passage-board, nine
+inches wide, in front. These are the nesting boxes, and should be kept
+supplied with short, soft straw, or hay orts, for that purpose. Hens
+love secrecy in their domestic economy, and are wonderfully pleased with
+the opportunity to hide away, and conceal themselves while laying.
+Indeed, such concealment, or the supposition of it, we have no doubt
+promotes fecundity, as it is well known that a hen _can_ stop laying,
+almost at pleasure, when disturbed in her regular habits and settled
+plans of life. Burns says--
+
+  "The best laid schemes of _mice_ and _men_
+  Gang aft agley;"
+
+and why not hen's? We think so. If turkeys be kept in the premises, the
+females can also be accommodated in these boxes, as they are fond of
+laying in company with the hens, and frequently in the same nests, only
+that they require larger entrances into them; or, a tier of boxes may be
+made on the ground, for their convenience.
+
+A door leads from the rear of this room into the roosting apartment,
+through which is a passage to the back side of the building, and a door
+opposite, leading out into the yard. On each side of this passage are
+roosts, rising, each behind and above the other, 18 inches apart. The
+lowest roosts may be three feet from the ground, and the highest six
+feet, that they may easily fly from one to the other; and in this way
+they may all be approached, to catch the fowls, when required. For the
+roosts, slender poles, two to three inches in diameter--small trees, cut
+from the woods, with the bark on, are the best--may be used; and they
+should be secured through augur holes in board slats suspended from the
+floor joists overhead. This apartment should be cleaned out as often as
+once a fortnight, both for cleanliness and health--for fowls like to be
+clean, and to have pure air. A flight of stairs may be made in one
+corner of the front room, to go into the chamber, if preferred; but a
+swing ladder, hung by one end, with hinges, to the joists above, is, for
+such purpose, a more cleanly mode of access; which, when not in use, may
+be hooked up to the under side of the floor above; and a trap door,
+shutting into the chamber floor, and also hung on hinges, will
+accommodate the entrance.
+
+For feeding troughs, we have seen many ingenious contrivances, and among
+them, possibly, a Yankee patent, or two; but all these we put aside, as
+of little account. A common segar box, or any other cast-off thing, that
+will hold their food, is just as good as the most complicated invention;
+and, in common feeding, there is no better mode than to scatter abroad
+their corn, and let them pick it up at their pleasure--when spread on a
+clean surface. We think, also, that, except for fattening poultry,
+stated hours of feeding are best for the birds themselves, and that they
+be fed only such quantity as they will pick up clean. Water should, if
+possible, be kept constantly by them; and if a small running stream
+could pass through the yard, all the better.
+
+If it be desirable to have fresh eggs during winter--and that is
+certainly a convenience--a box stove may be set in the living room, and
+properly protected by a grating around it, for warming the living
+apartment. It may be remarked, however, that this winter-laying of hens
+is usually a _forcing_ business. A hen will lay but about a given number
+of eggs in a year; say a hundred--we believe this is about the number
+which the most observant of poultry-keepers allow them--and what she
+lays in winter must be subtracted from the number she would otherwise
+lay in the spring, summer, or autumn. Yet a warm house will, laying,
+aside, keep the fowls with less food, and in greater comfort, than if
+cold, and left to their own natural warmth.
+
+There is usually little difficulty in keeping hens, turkies, ducks, and
+geese together, in the same inclosure, during winter and early spring,
+before the grass grows. But geese and turkies require greater range
+during the warm season than the others, and should have it, both for
+convenience to themselves and profit to their owners. For winter
+quarters, low shelters may be made for the water-fowls in the yards, and
+the turkies will frequently prefer to share the shelter of the hens, on
+the roosts in the house. Guinea-hens--cruel, vindictive things, as they
+are--should never be allowed within a common poultry yard. Always
+quarrelsome, and never quiet, they should take to the farmyard, with the
+cattle, where they may range at will, and take their amusement in
+fisticuffs with each other, at pleasure. Neither should peacocks be
+allowed to come into the poultry inclosures, during the breeding season;
+they are anything but amiable in their manners to other birds.
+
+With the care and management of the poultry department, after thus
+providing for their accommodation, it is not our province to interfere;
+that is a subject too generally understood, to require further remark.
+Nor need we discuss the many varieties of poultry which, at the present
+time, so arrest the attention of many of our good country people; and we
+will leave so important a subject to the meditations of the "New England
+Poultry Society," who have taken the gallinaceous, and other tribes
+under their special cognizance, and will, doubtless, in due time,
+illumine the world with various knowledge in this department of rural
+economy, not yet "dreamt of in our philosophy." The recently published
+poultry books, too, with an amplitude and particularity in the
+discussion of the different breeds and varieties, which shuts all
+suspicions of _self-interest_ into the corner, have given such a fund of
+information on the subject, that any further inquiry may, with entire
+good will, be turned over to their pages.
+
+
+
+
+THE DOVECOTE.
+
+
+This is a department, in itself, not common among the farm buildings,
+in the United States; and for the reason, probably, that the domestic
+pigeon, or house-dove, is usually kept more for amusement than for
+profit--there being little actual profit about them--and is readily
+accommodated in the spare lofts of sheds and out-buildings devoted to
+other purposes. Pigeons, however, add to the variety and interest of the
+poultry department; and as there are many different breeds of them, they
+are general favorites with the juveniles of the family.
+
+Our present object is, not to propose any distinct building for pigeon
+accommodation; but to give them a location in other buildings, where
+they will be conveniently provided with room, and least annoying by
+their presence--for, be it known, they are oft-times a most serious
+annoyance to many crops of the farm, when kept in any considerable
+numbers, as well as in the waste and havoc they make in the stores of
+the barns and granaries. Although graceful and beautiful birds,
+generally clean and tidy in their personal habits out of doors, they are
+the filthiest housekeepers imaginable, and no building can be especially
+devoted to their use, if not often swept and cleaned, but what will soon
+become an intolerable nuisance within, and not much better without, and
+the ground immediately around the premises a dirty place. The common
+pigeon is a pugnacious cavalier, warring apparently upon mere punctilio,
+as we have often seen, in the distant strut-and-coo of a stranger bird
+to his mate, even if she be the very incarnation of "rejected
+addresses." On all these accounts, we would locate--unless a small and
+select family of fancy birds, perhaps--the pigeon stock at the principal
+farm-yard, and in the lofts of the cattle sheds, or the chambers of the
+stable.
+
+Wherever the pigeon accommodations are designed to be, a close partition
+should separate their quarters from the room occupied for other
+purposes, with doors for admission to those who have to do with them,
+in cleaning their premises, or to take the birds, when needed. A line of
+holes, five inches high, and four inches wide--the top of the hole
+slightly arched--should be made, say 18 inches apart, for the distance
+of room they are to occupy in the building. A foot above the top of
+these, another line may be made; and so on, tiering them up to the
+height intended to devote to them. A line of shelves, or
+lighting-boards, six to eight inches wide, should then be placed one
+inch below the bottom of these holes, and firmly braced beneath, and
+nailed to the weather-boarding of the house. Inside, a range of box
+should be made, of corresponding length with the line of holes, to
+embrace every entrance from the outside, 18 inches wide, and partitioned
+equidistant between each entrance, so as to give a square box of 18
+inches to each pair of birds. The bottom board of each ascending tier of
+boxes will, of course, be the top of the boxes below, and these must be
+made _perfectly tight_, to prevent the offal of the upper ones from
+falling through, to the annoyance of their neighbors below. The back of
+these boxes should have a line of swing doors, hung with butts, or
+hinges, from the top, and fastened with buttons, or hooks, at the
+bottom, to allow admission, or examination, at any time, to those who
+have the care of them. This plan of door is indispensable, to clean them
+out--which should be done as often as once a week, or fortnight, at
+farthest--and to secure the birds as they may be wanted for the table,
+or other purposes--for it will be recollected that squabs, just
+feathered out, are considered a delicious dish, at the most sumptuous
+tables. It will be understood, that these boxes above described, are
+within a partitioned room, with a floor, in their rear, with sufficient
+space for the person in charge of them to pass along, and to hold the
+baskets, or whatever is to receive the offal of their boxes, as it is
+taken out. This offal is valuable, as a highly stimulating manure, and
+is sought for by the morocco tanners, at a high price--frequently at
+twenty-five cents a bushel.
+
+As pigeons are prolific breeders, laying and hatching six or seven times
+a year, and in warm climates oftener, they require a good supply of
+litter--short cut, soft straw is the best--which should be freely
+supplied at every new incubation, and the old litter removed. The boxes,
+too, should be in a warm place, snugly made, and well sheltered from the
+wind and driving storms; for pigeons, although hardy birds when grown,
+should be well protected while young.
+
+The common food of the pigeon is grain, of almost any kind, and worms,
+and other insects, which they pick up in the field. On the whole, they
+are a pleasant bird, when they can be conveniently kept, and are worth
+the trifling cost that their proper housing may demand.
+
+If our opinion were asked, as to the best, and least troublesome kind of
+pigeon to be kept, we should say, the finest and most hardy of the
+common kind, which are usually found in the collections throughout the
+country. But there are many _fancy_ breeds--such as the fan-tail, the
+powter, the tumbler, the ruffler, and perhaps another variety or
+two--all pretty birds, and each distinct in their appearance, and in
+some of their domestic habits. The most beautiful of the pigeon kind,
+however, is the Carrier. They are the very perfection of grace, and
+symmetry, and beauty. Their colors are always brilliant and changing,
+and in their flight they cleave the air with a rapidity which no other
+variety--indeed, which scarce any other bird, of any kind, can equal.
+History is full of examples of their usefulness, in carrying tidings
+from one country to another, in letters, or tokens, fastened to their
+necks or legs, for which they are trained by those who have thus used
+them; but which, now, the well known telegraph wire has nearly
+superseded.
+
+All these fancy breeds require great care in their management, to keep
+them pure in blood, as they will all mix, more or less, with the common
+pigeon, as they come in contact with them; and the selection of whatever
+kind is wanted to be kept, must be left to those who are willing to
+bestow the pains which their necessary care may demand.
+
+
+
+
+A PIGGERY.
+
+
+The hog is an animal for which we have no especial liking, be he either
+a tender suckling, nosing and tugging at the well-filled udder of his
+dam, or a well-proportioned porker, basking in all the plenitude of
+swinish luxury; albeit, in the use of his flesh, we affect not the Jew,
+but liking it moderately well, in its various preparations, as a
+substantial and savory article of diet. Still, the hog is an important
+item of our agricultural economy, and his production and proper
+treatment is a valuable study to all who rear him as a creature either
+of profit or convenience. In the western and southern states, a mild
+climate permits him to be easily reared and fed off for market, with
+little heed to shelter or protection; while in the north, he requires
+care and covering during winter. Not only this; in all places the hog is
+an unruly, mischievous creature, and has no business really in any other
+place than where he can he controlled, and kept at a moment's call.
+
+But, as tastes and customs differ essentially, with regard to his
+training and destiny, to such as agree with us in opinion, that his
+proper place is in the sty, particularly when feeding for pork, a plan
+of piggery is given, such as may be economical in construction, and
+convenient in its arrangement, both for the swine itself, and him who
+has charge of him.
+
+The design here given, is for a building, 36 feet long, and 24 feet
+wide, with twelve-feet posts; the lower, or living room for the swine,
+9 feet high, and a storage chamber above, for the grain and other food
+required for his keeping. The roof has a pitch of 40� from a horizontal
+line, spreading over the sides and gables at least 20 inches, and
+coarsely bracketed. The entrance front projects 6 feet from the main
+building, by 12 feet in length. Over its main door, in the gable, is a
+door with a hoisting beam and tackle above it, to take in the grain, and
+a floor over the whole area receives it. A window is in each gable end.
+A ventilator passes up through this chamber and the roof, to let off the
+steam from the cooking vats below, and the foul air emitted by the
+swine, by the side of which is the furnace-chimney, giving it, on the
+whole, as respectable an appearance as a pigsty need pretend to.
+
+  [Illustration: PIGGERY.]
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+At the left of the entrance is a flight of stairs, (_b_,) leading to the
+chamber above. On the right is a small area, (_a_,) with a window to
+light it. A door from this leads into the main room, (_c_,) where stands
+a chimney, (_d_,) with a furnace to receive the fuel for cooking the
+food, for which are two kettles, or boilers, with wooden vats, on the
+top, if the extent of food demands them; these are secured with broad
+wooden covers, to keep in the steam when cooking. An iron valve is
+placed in the back flue of the furnace, which may fall upon either side,
+to shut off the fire from either of the kettles, around which the fire
+may revolve; or, the valve may stand in a perpendicular position, at
+will, if both kettles be heated at the same time. But, as the most
+economical mode is to cook one kettle while the other is in process of
+feeding out, and _vice versa_, scarcely more than one at a time will be
+required in use. Over each kettle is a sliding door, with a short spout
+to slide the food into them, when wanted. If necessary, and it can be
+conveniently done, a well may be sunk under this room, and a pump
+inserted at a convenient place; or if equally convenient, a pipe may
+bring the water in from a neighboring stream, or spring. On three sides
+of this room are feeding pens, (_e_,) and sleeping partitions, (_f_,)
+for the swine. These several apartments are accommodated with doors,
+which open into separate yards on the sides and in rear, or a large one
+for the entire family, as may be desired.
+
+
+CONSTRUCTION.
+
+The frame of this building is of strong timber, and stout for its size.
+The sills should be 8 inches square, the corner posts of the same size,
+and the intermediate posts 8�6 inches in diameter. In the center of
+these posts, grooves should be made, 2 inches wide, and deep, to receive
+the _plank_ sides, which should be 2 inches thick, and let in from the
+level of the chamber by a flush cutting for that purpose, out of the
+grooves inside, thus using no nails or spikes, and holding the planks
+tight in their place, that they may not be rooted out, or rubbed off by
+the hogs, and the inner projection of the main posts left to serve as
+rubbing posts for them--for no creature so loves to rub his sides, when
+fatting, as a hog, and this very natural and praiseworthy propensity
+should be indulged. These planks, like the posts, should, particularly
+the lower ones, be of _hard_ wood, that they may not be eaten off. Above
+the chamber floor, thinner planks may be used, but all should be well
+jointed, that they may lie snug, and shut out the weather. The center
+post in the floor plan of the engraving is omitted, by mistake, but it
+should stand there, like the others. Inside posts at the corners, and in
+the sides of the partitions, like the outside ones, should be also
+placed and grooved to receive the planking, four and a half feet high,
+and their upper ends be secured by tenons into mortices in the beams
+overhead. The troughs should then, if possible, be made of _cast iron_,
+or, in default of that, the hardest of white oak plank, strongly spiked
+on to the floor and sides; and the apartment may then be called
+hog-proof--for a more unquiet, destructive creature, to a building in
+which he is confined, does not live, than the hog. The slide, or spout
+to conduct the swill and other feed from the feeding-room into the
+trough, should be inserted through the partition planks, with a steep
+_slant_ the whole length of the trough, that the feed may be readily
+thrown into any or all parts of it. This slide should be of two-inch
+white-oak plank, and bound along the bottom by a strip of hoop-iron, to
+prevent the pigs from eating it off--a habit they are prone to; then,
+firmly spiked down to the partition planks, and through the ends, to the
+adjoining studs, and the affair is complete. With what experience we
+have had with the hog, and that by no means an agreeable one, we can
+devise no better method of accommodation than this here described, and
+it certainly is the cheapest. But the timber and lumber used must be
+sound and strong; and then, properly put together, it may defy their
+most destructive ingenuity. Of the separate uses to which the various
+apartments may be put, nothing need be said, as the circumstances of
+every farmer will best govern them.
+
+One, to three hundred dollars, according to price of material and labor,
+will build this piggery, besides fitting it up with furnace and boilers.
+It may be contracted, or enlarged in size, as necessity may direct; but
+no one, with six to twenty porkers in his fatting pens, a year, will
+regret the expense of building a convenient appurtenance of this kind to
+his establishment.
+
+A word may be pardoned, in relation to the too universal practice of
+permitting swine to prowl along the highways, and in the yards and lawns
+of the farm house. There is nothing so slovenly, wasteful, and
+destructive to one's thrift, and so demoralizing, in a small way, as is
+this practice. What so revolting to one, of the least tidy nature
+whatever, as a villainous brute, with a litter of filthy pigs at her
+heels, and the slimy ooze of a mud-puddle reeking and dripping from
+their sides? See the daubs of mud marking every fence-post, far and
+near, along the highway, or where-ever they run! A burrow is rooted up
+at every shady point, a nuisance at every corner you turn, and their
+abominable snouts into everything that is filthy, or obscene--a living
+curse to all that is decent about them. An Ishmaelite among the farm
+stock, they are shunned and hated by every living thing, when at large.
+But, put the creature in his pen, with a ring in his nose, if permitted
+to go into the adjoining yard, and comfortably fed, your pig, if of a
+civilized breed, is a quiet, inoffensive--indeed, gentlemanly sort of
+animal; and as such, he is entitled to our toleration--regard, we cannot
+say; for in all the pages of our reading, we learn, by no creditable
+history, of any virtuous sympathies in a hog.
+
+
+
+
+FARM BARNS.
+
+
+The farm barn, next to the farm house, is the most important structure
+of the farm itself, in the Northern and Middle States; and even at the
+south and southwest, where less used, they are of more importance in the
+economy of farm management than is generally supposed. Indeed, to our
+own eyes, a farm, or a plantation appears incomplete, without a good
+barn accommodation, as much as without good household appointments--and
+without them, no agricultural establishment can be complete in all its
+proper economy.
+
+The most _thorough_ barn structures, perhaps, to be seen in the United
+States, are those of the state of Pennsylvania, built by the German
+farmers of the lower and central counties. They are large, and expensive
+in their construction; and, in a strictly economical view, perhaps more
+costly than required. Yet, there is a substance and durability in them,
+that is exceedingly satisfactory, and, where the pecuniary ability of
+the farmer will permit, may well be an example for imitation.
+
+In the structure of the barn, and in its interior accommodation, much
+will depend upon the branches of agriculture to which the farm is
+devoted. A farm cultivated in grain chiefly, requires but little room
+for stabling purposes. Storage for grain in the sheaf, and granaries,
+will require its room; while a stock farm requires a barn with extensive
+hay storage, and stables for its cattle, horses, and sheep, in all
+climates not admitting such stock to live through the winter in the
+field, like the great grazing states west of the Alleghanies. Again,
+there are wide districts of country where a mixed husbandry of grain and
+stock is pursued, which require barns and out-buildings accommodating
+both; and to supply the exigencies of each, we shall present such plans
+as may be appropriate, and that may, possibly, by a slight variation,
+be equally adapted to either, or all of their requirements.
+
+It may not be out of place here, to remark, that many _designers_ of
+barns, sheds, and other out-buildings for the accommodation of farm
+stock, have indulged in fanciful arrangements for the convenience and
+comfort of animals, which are so complicated that when constructed,
+as they sometimes are, the practical, common-sense farmer will not use
+them; and, in the _learning_ required in their use, are altogether unfit
+for the use and treatment they usually get from those who have the daily
+care of the stock which they are intended for, and for the rough usage
+they receive from the animals themselves. A very pretty, and a very
+plausible arrangement of stabling, and feeding, and all the etceteras of
+a barn establishment, may be thus got up by an ingenious theorist at the
+fireside, which will work to a charm, as he dilates upon its good
+qualities, untried; but, when subjected to experiment will be utterly
+worthless for practical use. All this we, in our practice, have gone
+through; and after many years experience, have come to the conclusion
+that the simplest plan of construction, consistent with an economical
+expenditure of the material of food for the consumption of stock, is by
+far the most preferable.
+
+Another item to be considered in this connection, is the comparative
+value of the stock, the forage fed to them, and the _labor_ expended in
+feeding and taking care of them. We will illustrate: Suppose a farm to
+lie in the vicinity of a large town, or city. Its value is, perhaps, a
+hundred dollars an acre. The hay cut upon it is worth fifteen dollars a
+ton, at the barn, and straw, and coarse grains in proportion, and hired
+labor ten or twelve dollars a month. Consequently, the manager of this
+farm should use all the economy in his power, by the aid of
+cutting-boxes, and other machinery, to make the least amount of forage
+supply the wants of his stock; and the internal economy of his barn
+arranged accordingly; because labor is his cheapest item, and food the
+dearest. Then, for any contrivance to work up his forage the closest--by
+way of machinery, or manual labor--by which it will serve the purposes
+of keeping his stock, is true economy; and the making, and saving of
+manures is an item of the first importance. His buildings, and their
+arrangements throughout, should, on these accounts, be constructed in
+accordance with his practice. If, on the other hand, lands are cheap and
+productive, and labor comparatively dear, a different practice will
+prevail. He will feed his hay from the mow, without cutting. The straw
+will be either stacked out, and the cattle turned to it, to pick what
+they like of it, and make their beds on the remainder; or, if it is
+housed, he will throw it into racks, and the stock may eat what they
+choose. It is but one-third, or one-half the labor to do this, that the
+other mode requires, and the saving in this makes up, and perhaps more
+than makes up for the increased quantity of forage consumed. Again,
+climate may equally affect the mode of winter feeding the stock. The
+winters may be mild. The hay may be stacked in the fields, when
+gathered, or put into small barns built for hay storage alone; and the
+manure, scattered over the fields by the cattle, as they are fed from
+either of them, may be knocked to pieces with the dung-beetle, in the
+spring, or harrowed and bushed over the ground; and with the very small
+quantity of labor required in all this, such practice will be more
+economical than any other which can be adopted. It is, therefore, a
+subject of deliberate study with the farmer, in the construction of his
+out-buildings, what plans he shall adopt in regard to them, and their
+fitting up and arrangement.
+
+With these considerations before us, we shall submit such plans of barn
+structures as may be adapted for general use, where shelters for the
+farm crops, and farm stock, are required; and which may, in their
+interior arrangement, be fitted for almost any locality of our country,
+as the judgment and the wants of the builder may require.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN I.
+
+
+This is a design of barn partially on the Pennsylvania plan, with
+under-ground stables, and a stone-walled basement on three sides, with a
+line of posts standing open on the yard front, and a wall, pierced by
+doors and windows, retreating 12 feet under the building, giving, in
+front, a shelter for stock. Two sheds, by way of wings, are run out to
+any desired length, on each side. The body of this barn, which is built
+of wood, above the basement, is 60�46 feet; the posts 18 feet high,
+above the sills; the roof is elevated at an angle of 40� from a
+horizontal line, and the gables hooded, or truncated, 14 feet wide at
+the verge, so as to cover the large doors at the ends. The main roof
+spreads 3 to 4 feet over the body of the barn, and runs from the side
+eaves in a _straight_ line, different from what is shown in the
+engraving, which appears of a gambrel or hipped fashion. The sides are
+covered with boards laid vertically, and battened with narrow strips,
+3 inches wide. The large doors in the ends are 14 feet wide, and 14 feet
+high. A slatted blind window is in each gable, for ventilation, and a
+door, 9�6 feet, on the yard side.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+A main floor, _A_, 12 feet wide, runs the whole length through the
+center of the barn. _S, S_, are the large doors. _H, H,_ are trap doors,
+to let hay or straw down to the alleys of the stables beneath. _B_,
+is the principal bay for hay storage, 16 feet wide, and runs up to the
+roof. _C_, is the bay, 26�16 feet, for the grain mow, if required for
+that purpose. D, is a granary, 13�16 feet, and 8 feet high. _E_,
+a storage room for fanning mill, cutting-box, or other machinery, or
+implements, of same size and height as the granary. _F_, is a passage,
+8 feet wide, leading from the main floor to the yard door, through which
+to throw out litter. Over this passage, and the granary, and store-room,
+may be stored grain in the sheaf, or hay. The main floor will
+accommodate the thrashing-machine, horse-power, cutting box, &c., &c.,
+when at work. A line of movable sleepers, or poles, may be laid across
+the floor, 10 feet above it, on a line of girts framed into the main
+posts, for that purpose, over which, when the sides of the barn are
+full, either hay or grain may be deposited, up to the ridge of the roof,
+and thus afford large storage. And if the demands of the crops require
+it, after the sides and over the floor is thus filled, the floor itself
+may, a part of it, be used for packing away either hay or grain, by
+taking off the team after the load is in, and passing them out by a
+retreating process, on the side of the cart or wagon; and the vehicle,
+when unloaded, backed out by hand. We have occasionally adopted this
+method, when crowded for room for increased crops, to great advantage.
+It requires somewhat more labor, to be sure, but it is much better than
+stacking out; and a well-filled barn is a good sight to look upon.
+
+  [Illustration: MAIN FLOOR PLAN.]
+
+Underneath the body of the barn are the stables, root cellar, calf
+houses, or any other accommodation which the farm stock may require;
+but, for the most economical objects, is here cut up into stables. At
+the ends, _l, l_, are passages for the stock to go into their stalls;
+and also, on the sides, for the men who attend to them. The main passage
+through the center double line of stalls is 8 feet wide; and on each
+side are double stalls, 6� feet wide. From the two end walls, the cattle
+passages are 5 feet wide, the partition between the stalls running back
+in a _slant_, from 5 feet high at the mangers to the floor, at that
+distance from the walls. The mangers, _j, j_, are 2 feet wide, or may be
+2� feet, by taking an additional six inches out of the rear passage. The
+passage is, between the mangers, 3 feet wide, to receive the hay from
+the trap doors in the floor above.
+
+  [Illustration: UNDER-GROUND PLAN AND YARD.]
+
+The most economical plan, for room in tying cattle in their stalls, is
+to fasten the rope, or chain, whichever is used, (the wooden stanchion,
+or _stanchel_, as it is called, to open and shut, enclosing the animal
+by the neck, we do not like,) into a ring, which is secured by a strong
+staple into the post which sustains the partition, just at the top of
+the manger, on each side of the stall. This prevents the cattle in the
+same stall from interfering with each other, while the partition
+effectually prevents any contact from the animals on each side of it, in
+the separate stalls. The bottom of the mangers, for grown cattle, should
+be a foot above the floor, and the top two and a half feet, which makes
+it deep enough to hold their food; and the whole, both sides and bottom,
+should be made of two-inch, sound, strong plank, that they may not be
+broken down. The back sides of the stalls, next the feeding alleys,
+should be full 3� feet high; and if the cattle are large, and disposed
+to climb into their mangers with their fore-feet, as they sometimes do,
+a pole, of 2� or 3 inches in diameter, should be secured across the
+front of the stall, next the cattle, and over the mangers--say 4� feet
+above the floor, to keep them out of the manger, and still give them
+sufficient room for putting their heads between that and the top of the
+manger, to get their food. Cattle thus secured in double stalls, take up
+less room, and lie much warmer, than when in single stalls; besides, the
+expense of fitting them up being much less--an experience of many years
+has convinced us on this point. The doors for the passage of the cattle
+in and out of the stables, should be five feet wide, that they may have
+plenty of room.
+
+In front of these stables, on the outside, is a line of posts, the feet
+of which rest on large flat stones, and support the outer sill of the
+barn, and form a recess, before named, of 12 feet in width, under which
+may be placed a line of racks, or mangers for outside cattle, to consume
+the orts, or leavings of hay rejected by the in-door stock; or, the
+manure may be housed under it, which is removed from the stables by
+wheel-barrows. The low line of sheds which extend from the barn on each
+side of the yard, may be used for the carts, and wagons of the place;
+or, racks and mangers may be fitted up in them, for outside cattle to
+consume the straw and coarse forage; or, they may be carried higher than
+in our plan, and floored overhead, and hay, or other food stored in them
+for the stock. They are so placed merely to give the idea.
+
+There may be no more fitting occasion than this, perhaps, to make a
+remark or two on the subject of managing stock in stables of any kind,
+when kept in any considerable numbers; and a word may not be impertinent
+to the subject in hand, as connected with the construction of stables.
+
+There is no greater benefit to cattle, after coming into winter
+quarters, than a straight-forward regularity in everything appertaining
+to them. Every animal should have its own particular stall in the
+stable, where it should _always be kept, and in no other_. The cattle
+should be fed and watered at certain hours of the day, as near as may
+be. When let out of the stables for water, unless the weather is very
+pleasant, when they may be permitted to lie out an hour or two, they
+should be immediately put back, and not allowed to range about with the
+outside cattle. They are more quiet and contented in their stables than
+elsewhere, and eat less food, than if permitted to run out; and are
+every way more comfortable, if properly bedded and attended to, as every
+one will find, on trying it. The habit of many people, in turning their
+cattle out of the stables in the morning, in all weathers--letting them
+range about in a cold yard, hooking and thorning each other--is of no
+possible benefit, unless to rid themselves of the trouble of cleaning
+the stables, which pays twice its cost in the saving of manure. The
+outside cattle, which occupy the yard, are all the better, that the
+stabled ones do not interfere with them. They become habituated to their
+own quarters, as the others do to their's, and all are better for being
+each in their own proper place. It may appear a small matter to notice
+this; but it is a subject of importance, which every one may know who
+tries it.
+
+It will be seen that a driving way is built up to the barn doors at the
+ends; this need not be expensive, and will add greatly to the ease and
+convenience of its approach. It is needless to remark, that this barn is
+designed to stand on a shelving piece of ground, or on a slope, which
+will admit of its cellar stables without much excavation of the earth;
+and in such a position it may be economically built. No estimate is
+given of its cost, which must depend upon the price of materials, and
+the convenience of stone on the farm. The size is not arbitrary, but may
+be either contracted or extended, according to the requirements of the
+builder.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+DESIGN II.
+
+
+Here is presented the design of a barn built by ourself, about sixteen
+years since, and standing on the farm we own and occupy; and which has
+proved so satisfactory in its use, that, save in one or two small
+particulars, which are here amended, we would not, for a stock barn,
+alter it in any degree, nor exchange it for one of any description
+whatever.
+
+For the farmer who needs one of but half the size, or greater, or less,
+it may be remarked that the extent of this need be no hindrance to the
+building of one of any size--as the general _design_ may be adopted, and
+carried out, either in whole or in part, according to his wants, and the
+economy of its accommodation preserved throughout. The _principle_ of
+the structure is what is intended to be shown.
+
+The _main_ body of this barn stands on the ground, 100�50 feet, with
+eighteen-feet posts, and a broad, sheltering roof, of 40� pitch from a
+horizontal line, and truncated at the gables to the width of the main
+doors below. The sills stand 4 feet above the ground, and a raised
+driving way to the doors admits the loads of grain and forage into it.
+The manner of building the whole structure would be, to frame and put up
+the main building as if it was to have no attachment whatever, and put
+on the roof, and board up the gable ends. Then frame, and raise
+adjoining it, on the long sides, and on the rear end--for the opposite
+gable end to that, is the entrance front to the barn--a continuous
+lean-to, 16 feet wide, attaching it to the posts of the barn, strongly,
+by girts. These ranges of lean-to stand on the ground level,
+nearly--high enough, however, to let a terrier dog under the floors,
+to keep out the rats--but quite 3 feet below the sills of the barn. The
+outer posts of the lean-to's should be 12 feet high, and 12� feet apart,
+from center to center, except at the extreme corners, which would be 16
+feet. One foot below the roof-plates of the main building, and across
+the rear gable end, a line of girts should be framed into the posts, as
+a _rest_ for the upper ends of the lean-to rafters, that they may pass
+under, and a foot below the lower ends of the main roof rafters, to make
+a break in the roof of one foot, and allow a line of eave gutters under
+it, if needed, and to show the lean-to line of roof as distinct from the
+other. The stables are 7 feet high, from the lower floor to the girts
+overhead, which connect them with the main line of barn posts; thus
+giving a loft of 4 feet in height at the eaves, and of 12 feet at the
+junction with the barn. In this loft is large storage for hay, and
+coarse forage, and bedding for the cattle, which is put in by side
+windows, level with the loft floor--as seen in the plate. In the center
+of the rear, _end_ lean-to, is a large door, corresponding with the
+front entrance to the barn, as shown in the design, 12 feet high, and 14
+feet wide, to pass out the wagons and carts which have discharged their
+loads in the barn, having entered at the main front door. A line of
+board, one foot wide, between the line of the main and lean-to roofs,
+is then nailed on, to shut up the space; and the rear gable end boarded
+down to the roof of the lean-to attached to it. The front end, and the
+stables on them vertically boarded, and battened, as directed in the
+last design; the proper doors and windows inserted, and the outside is
+finished.
+
+
+  [Illustration: FLOOR PLAN.]
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+Entering the large door, (_a_,) at the front end, 14 feet wide, and 14
+feet high, the main floor (_g_,) passes through the entire length of the
+barn, and rear lean-to, 116 feet--the last 16 feet through the
+lean-to--and sloping 3 feet to the outer sill, and door, (_a_,) of that
+appendage. On the left of the entrance is a recess, (_e_,) of 20�18
+feet, to be used as a thrashing floor, and for machinery, cutting feed,
+&c., &c.--5 feet next the end being cut off for a passage to the stable.
+Beyond this is a bay, (_b_,) 18�70 feet, for the storage of hay, or
+grain, leaving a passage at the further end, of 5 feet wide, to go into
+the further stables. This bay is bounded on the extreme left, by the
+line of outside posts of the barn. On the right of the main door is a
+granary, (_d_,) 10�18 feet, two stories high, and a flight of steps
+leading from the lower into the upper room. Beyond this is another bay,
+(_b_,) corresponding with the one just described on the opposite side.
+The passages at the ends of the bays, (_e_, _e_,) have steps of 3 feet
+descent, to bring them down on to a level with the stable floors of the
+lean-to. A passage in each of the two long side lean-to's, (_e_, _e_,) 3
+feet wide, receives the hay forage for cattle, or other stock, thrown
+into them from the bays, and the lofts over the stables; and from them
+is thrown into the mangers, (_h_, _h_.) The two apartments in the
+extreme end lean-to, (_f_, _f_,) 34�16 feet each, may be occupied as a
+hospital for invalid cattle, or partitioned off for calves, or any other
+purpose. A calving house for the cows which come in during the winter,
+is always convenient, and one of these may be used for such purpose. The
+stalls, (_i_, _i_,) are the same as described in Design I, and back of
+them is the passage for the cattle, as they pass in and out of their
+stalls. The stable doors, (_j_, _j_,) are six in number. Small windows,
+for ventilation, should be cut in the rear of the stalls, as marked, and
+for throwing out the manure, with sliding board shutters. This completes
+the barn accommodation--giving twenty-eight double stalls, where
+fifty-six grown cattle may be tied up, with rooms for twenty to thirty
+calves in the end stables. If a larger stock is kept, young cattle may
+be tied up, with their heads to the bays, on the main floor, beyond the
+thrashing floor, which we practice. This will hold forty young cattle.
+The manure is taken out on a wheel-barrow, and no injury done to the
+floor. They will soon eat out a place where their forage can be put, and
+do no injury beyond that to the hay in the bays, as it is too closely
+packed for them to draw it out any farther. In this way we can
+accommodate more than a hundred head of cattle, of assorted ages.
+
+The hay in the bays may drop three feet below the level of the main
+floor, by placing a tier of rough timbers and poles across them, to keep
+it from the ground, and many tons of additional storage be thus
+provided. We have often stored one hundred and fifty tons of hay in this
+barn; and it will hold even more, if thoroughly packed, and the movable
+girts over the main floor be used, as described in Design I.
+
+The chief advantages in a barn of this plan are, the exceeding
+convenience of getting the forage to the stock. When the barn is full,
+and feeding is first commenced, with a hay knife, we commence on each
+side next the stables, on the top of the bays, cut a _well_ down to the
+alley way in front of the mangers, which is left open up to the stable
+roof. This opens a passage for the hay to be thrown into the alleys, and
+in a short time it is so fed out on each side, that, the sides of the
+main barn being open to them, the hay can be thrown along their whole
+distance, and fed to the cattle as wanted; and so at the rear end
+stables, in the five-foot alley adjoining them. If a root cellar be
+required, it may be made under the front part of the main floor, and a
+trap-door lead to it. For a milk dairy, this arrangement is an admirable
+one--we so used it for four years; or for stall-feeding, it is equally
+convenient. One man will do more work, so far as feeding is concerned,
+in this barn, than two can do in one of almost any other arrangement;
+and the yards outside may be divided into five separate inclosures, with
+but little expense, and still be large enough for the cattle that may
+want to use them. It matters not what kind of stock may be kept in this
+barn; it is convenient for all alike. Even sheep may be accommodated in
+it with convenience. But low, open sheds, inclosed by a yard, are better
+for them; with storage for hay overhead, and racks and troughs beneath.
+
+This barn is built of wood. It may be well constructed, with stone
+underpinning, without mortar, for $1,000 to $1,500, as the price of
+materials may govern. And if the collection of the water from the roofs
+be an object, cheap gutters to carry it into one or more cisterns may be
+added, at an expense of $200 to $300.
+
+As before observed, a barn may be built on this principle, of any size,
+and the stables, or lean-to's may only attach to one side or end; or
+they may be built as mere sheds, with no storage room over the cattle.
+The chief objection to stabling cattle in the _body_ of the barn is, the
+continual decay of the most important timbers, such as sills, sleepers,
+&c., &c., by the leakage of the stale, and manure of the cattle on to
+them, and the loss of so much valuable storage as they would occupy, for
+hay and grain. By the plan described, the stables have no attachment to
+the sills, and other durable barn timbers below; and if the stable sills
+and sleepers decay, they are easily and cheaply replaced with others.
+Taking it altogether, we can recommend no better, nor, as we think, so
+good, and so cheap a plan for a _stock_ barn, as this.
+
+We deem it unnecessary to discuss the subject of water to cattle yards,
+as every farm has its own particular accommodations, or inconveniences
+in that regard; and the subject of leading water by pipes into different
+premises, is too well understood to require remark. Where these can not
+be had, and springs or streams are not at hand, wells and pumps must be
+provided, in as much convenience as the circumstances of the case will
+admit. Water is absolutely necessary, and that in quantity, for stock
+uses; and every good manager will exercise his best judgment to obtain
+it.
+
+
+
+
+BARN ATTACHMENTS.
+
+
+It may be expected, perhaps, that in treating so fully as we have of the
+several kinds of farm building, a full cluster of out-buildings should
+be drawn and exhibited, showing their relative positions and
+accommodation. This can not be done, however, except as a matter of
+"fancy;" and if attempted, might not be suited to the purposes of a
+single individual, by reason of the particular location where they would
+be situated, and the accommodation which the buildings might require.
+Convenience of access to the barns, from the fields where the crops are
+grown, a like convenience to get out manures upon those fields, and a
+ready communication with the dwelling house, are a part of the
+considerations which are to govern their position, or locality. Economy
+in labor, in the various avocations at the barn, and its necessary
+attachments; and the greatest convenience in storage, and the housing of
+the various stock, grains, implements, and whatever else may demand
+accommodation, are other considerations to be taken into the account,
+all to have a bearing upon them. Compactness is always an object in such
+buildings, when not obtained at a sacrifice of some greater advantage,
+and should be one of the items considered in placing them; and in their
+construction, next to the arrangement of them in the most convenient
+possible manner for their various objects, a due regard to their
+architectural appearance should be studied. Such appearance, where their
+objects are apparent, can easily be secured. _Utility_ should be their
+chief point of expression; and no style of architecture, or finish, can
+be really _bad_, where this expression is duly consulted, and carried
+out, even in the humblest way of cheapness, or rusticity.
+
+We have heretofore sufficiently remarked on the folly of unnecessary
+pretension in the farm buildings, of any kind; and nothing can appear,
+and really be more out of place, than ambitious structures intended only
+for the stock, and crops. Extravagant expenditure on these, any more
+than an extravagant expenditure on the dwelling and its attachments,
+does not add to the _selling_ value of the farm, nor to its economical
+management, in a productive capacity; and he who is about to build,
+should make his proposed buildings a study for months, in all their
+different requirements and conveniences, before he commences their
+erection. Mistakes in their design, and location, have cost men a whole
+after life of wear-and-tear of temper, patience, and labor, to
+themselves, and to all who were about them; and it is better to wait
+even two or three years, to fully mature the best plans of building,
+than by hurrying, to mis-locate, mis-arrange, and miss, in fact, the
+very best application in their structure of which such buildings are
+capable.
+
+A word might also be added about barn-_yards_. The planning and
+management of these, also, depends much upon the course the farmer has
+to pursue in the keeping of his stock, the amount of waste litter, such
+as straw, &c., which he has to dispose of, and the demands of the farm
+for animal and composted manures. There are different methods of
+constructing barn-yards, in different parts of the country, according to
+climate and soils, and the farmer must best consult his own experience,
+the most successful examples about him, and the publications which treat
+of that subject, in its connection with farm husbandry, to which last
+subject this item more properly belongs.
+
+
+
+
+RABBITS.
+
+
+It may appear that we are extending our "Rural Architecture" to an undue
+length, in noticing a subject so little attended to in this country as
+Rabbit accommodations. But, as with other small matters which we have
+noticed, this may create a new source of interest and attachment to
+country life, we conclude to give it a place.
+
+It is a matter of surprise to an American first visiting England, to see
+the quantities of game which abound at certain seasons of the year in
+the London and other markets of that country, in contrast with the
+scanty supply, or rather no supply at all, existing in the markets of
+American cities. The reason for such difference is, that in England,
+Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, every acre of the soil is appropriated to
+some profitable use, while we, from the abundance of land in America,
+select only the best for agricultural purposes, and let the remainder go
+barren and uncared for. Lands appropriated to the rearing of game, when
+fit for farm pasturage or tillage, is unprofitable, generally, with us;
+but there are thousands of acres barren for other purposes, that might
+be devoted to the breeding and pasturage of rabbits, and which, by thus
+appropriating them, might be turned to profitable account. All the
+preparation required is, to enclose the ground with a high and nearly
+close paling fence, and the erection of a few rude hutches inside, for
+winter shelter and the storage of their food. They will burrow into the
+ground, and breed with great rapidity; and in the fall and winter
+seasons, they will be fat for market with the food they gather from the
+otherwise worthless soil over which they run. Rocky, bushy, and
+evergreen grounds, either hill, dale, or plain, are good for them,
+wherever the soils are dry and friable. The rabbit is a gross feeder,
+living well on what many grazing animals reject, and gnawing down all
+kinds of bushes, briars, and noxious weeds.
+
+The common domestic rabbits are probably the best for market purposes,
+and were they to be made an object of attention, immense tracts of
+mountain land in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the New York and New
+England highlands could be made available for this object.
+
+Some may think this a small business. So is making pins, and rearing
+chickens, and bees. But there are an abundance of people, whose age and
+capacity are just fitted for it, and for want of other employment are a
+charge upon their friends or the public; and now, when our cities and
+large towns are so readily reached by railroads from all parts of the
+country, our farmers should study to apply their land to the production
+of everything that will find a profitable market. Things unthought of,
+a few years ago, now find a large consumption in our large cities and
+towns, by the aid of railroads; and we know of no good reason, why this
+production and traffic should not continue to an indefinite extent. When
+the breeding of rabbits is commenced, get a good treatise on the
+breeding and rearing of them, which may be found at many of the
+bookstores.
+
+As the rearing of rabbits, and their necessary accommodation, is not a
+subject to which we have given much personal attention, we applied to
+Francis Rotch, Esq., of Morris, Otsego county, New York, who is probably
+the most accomplished rabbit "fancier" in the United States, for
+information, with which he has kindly furnished us. His beautiful and
+high-bred animals have won the highest premiums, at the shows of the New
+York State Agricultural Society. He thus answers:
+
+  "I now forward you the promised plan from Mr. Alfred Rodman, of
+  Dedham, Massachusetts, which, I think, will give you the information
+  you wish upon these subjects.
+
+  "Rabbits kept for profit in the vicinity of a city, and where there
+  are mills, may be raised at a very small cost; and when once known
+  as an article of food, will be liberally paid for by the epicure,
+  for their meat is as delicate as a chicken's, and their fat mild,
+  and very rich.
+
+  "I am surprised they are not more generally kept, as a source of
+  amusement, and for the purposes of experiment.
+
+  "There is, I think, in many, a natural fondness for animals, but not
+  easily indulged without more room than is often to be found in city
+  residences. Fowls, and pigeons, trespass on our neighbors, and are a
+  frequent cause of trouble. This objection does not hold good against
+  the rabbit, which occupies so small a space, that where there is an
+  outhouse there may be a rabbitry. _English_ children are encouraged
+  in their fondness for animals, as tending to good morals and good
+  feelings, and as offering a _home_ amusement, in contradistinction
+  to _street_ associations."
+
+  [Illustration: Drawn from life, by Mr. FRANCIS ROTCH.]
+
+Mr. Rotch continues:
+
+  "I have just finished the enclosed drawing of a 'fancy rabbit,'
+  which I hope will answer your purpose, as an illustration of what
+  the little animal should be in form, color, marking, and carriage,
+  according to the decisions of the various societies in and out of
+  London, who are its greatest admirers and patrons. These amateurs
+  hold frequent meetings for its exhibition, at which premiums are
+  awarded, and large prizes paid for such specimens as come up to
+  their standard of excellence. This standard is, of course,
+  conventional; and, as might be expected, is a combination of form
+  and color very difficult to obtain--based, it is true, on the most
+  correct principles of general breeding; but much of _fancy_ and
+  beauty is added to complete the requisites of a prize rabbit. For
+  instance, the head must be small and clean; the shoulders wide and
+  full; the chest broad and deep; the back wide, and the loin large.
+  Thus far, these are the characteristics of all really _good_ and
+  _improved_ animals; to which are to be added, on the score of
+  'fancy,' an eye round, full, and bright; an ear _long_, broad, and
+  pendant, of a soft, delicate texture, dropping nearly
+  perpendicularly by the side of the head--this is termed its
+  'carriage.' The color must be in rich, unmixed _masses_ on the body,
+  spreading itself over the back, side, and haunch, but breaking into
+  spots and patches on the shoulder, called the 'chain;' while that on
+  the back is known as the 'saddle.' The head must be full of color,
+  broken with white on the forehead and cheeks; the marking over the
+  bridge of the nose and down on both sides into the lips, should be
+  dark, and in shape somewhat resembling a butterfly, from which this
+  mark takes its name; the ear, however, must be uniform in color. Add
+  to all this, a large, full dewlap, and you will have a rabbit fit to
+  '_go in and win_.'
+
+  "The most esteemed colors are black and white; yellow and white;
+  tortoise-shell and white; blue and white, and gray and white. These
+  are called 'broken colors,' while those of _one_ uniform color are
+  called 'selfs.'"
+
+It will be observed that Mr. Rotch here describes a beautiful "fancy"
+variety of "lop-eared" rabbits, which he brought from England a few
+years since. They were, originally, natives of Madagascar. He continues:
+
+  "The domestic rabbit, in all its varieties, has always been, and
+  still is, a great favorite, in many parts of the European continent:
+
+  "In Holland, it is bred with reference to color only, which must be
+  a pure white, with dark ears, feet, legs, and tail; this
+  distribution has a singular effect, but, withal, it is a pretty
+  little creature. The French breed a long, rangy animal, of great
+  _apparent_ size, but deficient in depth and breadth, and of course,
+  wanting in constitution; no attention is paid to color, and its
+  marking is matter of accident. The White Angola, with its beautiful
+  long fur and red eyes, is also a great favorite in France.
+
+  "In England, the rabbit formerly held the rank of 'farm stock!' and
+  thousands of acres were exclusively devoted to its production;
+  families were supported, and rents, rates, and taxes were paid from
+  its increase and sale. The '_gray-skins_' went to the hatter, the
+  '_silver-skins_' were shipped to China, and were dressed as furs;
+  while the flesh was a favorite dish at home. This was the course
+  pursued in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and many other counties, with
+  their light sandy soils, before the more general introduction of
+  root culture, and the rotation of crops, gave an increased value to
+  such land. Since then, however, I remember visiting a farm of Lord
+  Onslow's, in Surrey, containing about 1,400 acres. It was in the
+  occupation of an eminent flock-master and agriculturist, who kept
+  some hundreds of hutched rabbits for the sake of their manure, which
+  he applied to his turnep crop; added to this, their skins and
+  carcasses were quite an item of profit, notwithstanding the care of
+  them required an old man and boy, with a donkey and cart. The food
+  used was chiefly brewer's grains, miller's waste, bran and hay, with
+  clover and roots, the cost of keeping not exceeding two pence a
+  week. The hutches stood under a long shed, open on all sides, for
+  the greater convenience of cleaning and feeding. I was told that the
+  manure was much valued by the market gardeners round London, who
+  readily paid 2s. 6d. a bushel at the rabbitries. These rabbitries
+  are very numerous in all the towns and cities of England, and form a
+  source of amusement or profit to all classes, from the man of
+  fortune to the day laborer. Nor is it unfrequent that this latter
+  produces a rabbit from an old tea-chest, or dry-goods box, that wins
+  the prize from its competitor of the mahogany hutch or ornamental
+  rabbitry.
+
+  "The food of the rabbit embraces great variety, including grain of
+  all kinds, bran, pea-chaff, miller's waste, brewer's grains, clover
+  and other hay, and the various weeds known as plantain, dock,
+  mallow, dandelion, purslain, thistles, &c., &c.
+
+  "The rabbit thus easily conforms itself to the means, condition, and
+  circumstances of its owner; occupies but little space, breeds often,
+  comes early to maturity, and is withal, a healthy animal, requiring
+  however, to be kept clean, and to be _cautiously_ fed with
+  _succulent_ food, which must always be free from dew or rain--water
+  is unnecessary to them when fed with 'greens.' My own course of
+  feeding is, one gill of oats in the morning, with a medium-sized
+  cabbage leaf, or what I may consider its _equivalent_ in any other
+  vegetable food, for the rabbit in confinement must be, as already
+  stated, cautiously fed with what is succulent. At noon, I feed a
+  handfull of cut hay or clover chaff, and in the evening the same as
+  in the morning. To does, when suckling, I give what they will eat of
+  both green and dry food. The cost to me is about three cents per
+  week, per head.
+
+  "I by no means recommend this as the best, or the most economical
+  mode of feeding, but it happens to suit my convenience. Were I in a
+  town, or near mills, I should make use of other and cheaper
+  substitutes. My young rabbits, when taken from the doe, say at
+  eight, ten, or twelve weeks old, are turned out together till about
+  six months old, when it becomes necessary to take them up, and put
+  them in separate hutches, to prevent their fighting and destroying
+  each other. The doe at that age is ready to breed; her period of
+  gestation is about thirty-one or two days, and she produces from
+  three or four to a dozen young at a 'litter'. It is not well to let
+  her raise more than six, or even four at once--the fewer, the larger
+  and finer the produce.
+
+  "Young rabbits are killed for the table at any age, from twelve
+  weeks to twelve months old, and are a very acceptable addition to
+  the country larder. The male is not allowed to remain with the doe,
+  lest he should destroy the young ones.
+
+  "Hutches are made singly, or in stacks, to suit the apartment, which
+  should be capable of thorough ventilation. The best size is about
+  three feet long, two feet deep, and fourteen inches high, with a
+  small apartment partitioned off from one end, nearly a foot wide,
+  as a breeding place for the doe. A wire door forms the front, and an
+  opening is left behind for cleaning; the floor should have a descent
+  to the back of the hutch of two inches. All edges should be tinned,
+  to save them from being gnawed.
+
+  "Having now given the leading characteristics and qualities which
+  constitute a good 'fancy lop-eared rabbit,' and its general
+  management, allow me to remark on the striking difference observable
+  between Americans and the people of many other countries, as to a
+  fondness for animals, or what are termed 'fancy pets,' of and for
+  which we, as a people, know and care very little. Indeed, we
+  scarcely admit more than a selfish fellowship with the dog, and but
+  too seldom does our attachment even for this faithful companion,
+  place him beyond the reach of the _omnipotent dollar_.
+
+  "The operatives, mechanics, and laborers, in other countries, seem
+  to have a perfect passion for such pursuits, and take the greatest
+  interest and pride in breeding and perfecting the lesser animals,
+  though often obliged to toil for the very food they feed to them.
+  Here, too, home influences are perceived to be good, and are
+  encouraged by the employer, as supplying the place of other and much
+  more questionable pursuits and tastes."
+
+We here present the elevation, and floor plan of Mr. Rodman's rabbitry,
+together with the front and rear views of the hutches within them:
+
+  [Illustration: ELEVATION. MAIN FLOOR PLAN.]
+
+No. 1 is the gable end elevation of the building, with a door and
+window.
+
+No. 2 is the main-floor plan, or living room for the rabbits.
+
+EXPLANATION.
+
+A, the doe's hutches, with nest boxes attached. B, hutches three feet
+long, with movable partitions for the young rabbits; the two lower
+hutches are used for the stock bucks. C, a tier of grain boxes on the
+floor for feeding the rabbits--the covers sloping out toward the room.
+D, small trapdoor, leading into the manure cellar beneath. E, large
+trapdoor leading into root cellar. F, troughs for leading off urine from
+rear of hutches into the manure cellar at K, K. G, wooden trunk leading
+from chamber above No. 3, through this into manure cellar. H, trap
+opening into manure cellar. I, stairs leading into loft No. 3, with
+hinged trapdoor overhead; when open, it will turn up against the wall,
+and leave a passage to clear out the hutches.
+
+NOTE.--The grain boxes are one foot high in front, and fifteen inches at
+the back, with sloping bottoms, and sloping covers. The floors of the
+hutches have a slope of two inches back. The hutches are furnished, at
+the back of the floor, with pieces of zinc, to keep them free from the
+drippings from above. The hutches are 16 inches high, 3 feet long, and 2
+feet deep.
+
+The foregoing plans and explanations might perhaps be sufficient for the
+guidance of such as wish to construct a rabbitry for their own use; but
+as a complete arrangement of all the rooms which may be conveniently
+appropriated to this object, to make it a complete thing, may be
+acceptable to the reader, we conclude, even at the risk of prolixity,
+to insert the upper loft, and cellar apartments, with which we have been
+furnished; hoping that our youthful friends will set themselves about
+the construction of a branch of rural employment so home-attaching in
+its associations.
+
+  [Illustration: LOFT OR GARRET.]
+
+No. 3 is the loft or chamber story, next above the main floor.
+
+EXPLANATION.
+
+A, place for storing hay. B, stairs leading from below. C, room for
+young rabbits. D, trapdoor into trunk leading to manure cellar.
+E, partition four feet high. This allows of ventilation between the two
+windows, in summer, which would be cut off, were the partition carried
+all the way up.
+
+  [Illustration: CELLAR.]
+
+No. 4 is the cellar under the rabbitry.
+
+EXPLANATION.
+
+A, manure cellar. B, root cellar. C, stairs leading to first, or main
+floor. D, stairs leading outside. E, window--lighting both rooms of
+cellar.
+
+No. 5 is a front section of rabbit hutches, eight in number, two in a
+line, four tiers high, one above another, with wire-screened doors,
+hinges, and buttons for fastening. A, the grain trough, is at the
+bottom.
+
+No. 6 is the floor section of the hutches, falling, as before mentioned,
+two inches from front to rear.
+
+  [Illustration: FRONT OF HUTCH. REAR OF HUTCH.]
+
+A, is the door to lift up, for cleaning out the floors. B, is the zinc
+plate, to carry off the urine and _running_ wash of the floors. C, is
+the trough for carrying off this offal into the manure cellars, through
+the trunk, as seen in No. 2.
+
+No. 7 is a rear section of hutches, same as in No. 5, with the waste
+trough at the bottom leading into the trench before described, with the
+cross section, No. 8, before described in No. 6.
+
+A, a grated door at the back of the hutch, for ventilation in summer,
+and covered with a thin board in winter. B, a flap-door, four inches
+wide, which is raised for cleaning out the floor; under this door is a
+space of one inch, for passing out the urine of the rabbits. C, are
+buttons for fastening the doors. D, the backs of the bedrooms, without
+any passage out on back side.
+
+This matter of the rabbitry, and its various explanations, may be
+considered by the plain, matter-of-fact man, as below the dignity of
+people pursuing the _useful_ and _money-making_ business of life. Very
+possible. But many boys--for whose benefit they are chiefly
+introduced--and _men_, even, may do worse than to spend their time in
+such apparent trifles. It is better than going to a horse-race. It is
+better even than going to a trotting match, where _fast men_, as well as
+_fast_ horses congregate. It is better, too, than a thousand other
+places where boys _want_ to go, when they have nothing to interest them
+at home.
+
+One half of the farmer's boys, who, discontented at home, leave it for
+something more congenial to their feelings and tastes, do so simply
+because of the excessive dullness, and want of interest in objects to
+attract them there, and keep them contented. Boys, in America at least,
+are apt to be _smart_. So their parents think, at all events; and too
+smart they prove, to stay at home, and follow the beaten track of their
+fathers, as their continual migration from the paternal roof too plainly
+testifies. This, in many cases, is the fault of the parents themselves,
+because they neglect those little objects of interest to which the minds
+and tastes of their sons are inclined, and for want of which they
+_imagine_ more attractive objects abroad, although in the search they
+often fail in finding them. We are a progressive people. Our children
+are not always content to be what their fathers are; and parents must
+yield a little to "the spirit of the age" in which they live. And boys
+_pay_ too, as they go along, if properly treated. They should be made
+companions, not servants. Many a joyous, hearty spirit, who, when
+properly encouraged, comes out a whole man at one-and-twenty, if kept in
+curb, and harnessed down by a hard parent, leaves the homestead, with a
+curse and a kick, determined, whether in weal or in woe, never to
+return. Under a different course of treatment, he would have fixed his
+home either at his birthplace, or in its immediate vicinity, and in a
+life of frugality, usefulness, and comparative ease, blessed his
+parents, his neighborhood, and possibly the world, with a useful
+example--all, perhaps, grown out of his youthful indulgence in the
+possession of a rabbit-warren, or some like trifling matter.
+
+This may appear to be small morals, as well as small business. We admit
+it. But those who have been well, and indulgently, as well as
+methodically trained, may look back and see the influence which all such
+little things had upon their early thoughts and inclinations; and thus
+realize the importance of providing for the amusements and pleasures of
+children in their early years. The dovecote, the rabbitry, the
+poultry-yard, the sheep-fold, the calf-pen, the piggery, the young colt
+of a favorite mare, the yoke of yearling steers, or a fruit tree which
+they have planted, and nursed, and called it, or the fruit it bears,
+_their own_,--anything, in fact, which they can call _theirs_--are so
+many objects to bind boys to their homes, and hallow it with a thousand
+nameless blessings and associations, known only to those who have been
+its recipients. Heaven's blessings be on the family homestead!
+
+  "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!"
+
+sung the imaginary maid of Milan, the beautiful creation of John Howard
+Payne, when returning from the glare and pomp of the world, to her
+native cottage in the mountains of Switzerland. And, although all out of
+date, and conventionally vulgar this sentiment may be _now_ considered,
+such is, or should be the subdued, unsophisticated feeling of all
+natives of the farm house, and the country cottage. We may leave the
+quiet roof of our childhood; we may mix in the bustling contentions of
+the open world; we may gain its treasures; we may enjoy its greatness,
+its honors, and its applause; but there are times when they will all
+fade into nothing, in comparison with the peace, and quietude, and
+tranquil happiness of a few acres of land, a comfortable roof, and
+contentment therewith!
+
+
+
+
+DAIRY BUILDINGS.
+
+
+Wherever the dairy is made an important branch of farm production,
+buildings for its distinct accommodation are indispensable. The dairy is
+as much a _manufactory_ as a cotton mill, and requires as much
+conveniences in its own peculiar line. We therefore set apart a
+building, on purpose for its objects; and either for cheese, or butter,
+separate conveniences are alike required. We commence with the
+
+
+  [Illustration: CHEESE DAIRY HOUSE.]
+
+CHEESE DAIRY HOUSE.
+
+This building is one and a half stories high, with a broad, spreading
+roof of 45� pitch; the ground plan is 10 feet between joists, and the
+posts 16 feet high. An ice-house, made on the plan already described, is
+at one end, and a wood-shed at the opposite end, of the same size. This
+building is supposed to be erected near the milking sheds of the farm,
+and in contiguity to the feeding troughs of the cows, or the piggery,
+and adapted to the convenience of feeding the whey to whichever of these
+animals the dairyman may select, as both, or either are required to
+consume it; and to which it may be conveyed in spouts from the
+dairy-room.
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door is protected by a light porch, (_a_,) entering by a door,
+(_b_,) the main dairy room. The cheese presses, (_c_, _c_,) occupy the
+left end of the room, between which a passage leads through a door,
+(_l_,) into the wood-shed, (_h_,) open on all sides, with its roof
+resting on four posts set in the ground. The large cheese-table, (_d_,)
+stands on the opposite end, and is 3 feet wide. In the center of the
+room is a chimney, (_e_,) with a whey and water boiler, and vats on each
+side. A flight of stairs, (_f_,) leading into the storage room above,
+is in the rear. A door, (_b_,) on the extreme right, leads into the
+ice-house, (_g_.) There are four windows to the room--two on each side,
+front and rear. In the loft are placed the shelves for storing the
+cheese, as soon as sufficiently prepared on the temporary table below.
+This loft is thoroughly ventilated by windows, and the heat of the sun
+upon it ripens the cheese rapidly for market. A trapdoor, through the
+floors, over which is hung a tackle, admits the cheese from below, or
+passes it down, when prepared for market.
+
+The cheese house should, if possible, be placed on a sloping bank, when
+it is designed to feed the whey to pigs; and even when it is fed to
+cows, it is more convenient to pass it to them on a lower level, than to
+carry it out in buckets. It may, however, if on level ground, be
+discharged into vats, in a cellar below, and pumped out as wanted.
+A cellar is convenient--indeed, almost indispensable--under the cheese
+dairy; and water should be so near as to be easily pumped, or drawn,
+into the vats and kettles used in running up the curd, or for washing
+the utensils used in the work. When the milk is kept over night, for the
+next morning's curd, temporary tables may be placed near the ice-room,
+to hold the pans or tubs in which it may be set, and the ice used to
+temper the milk to the proper degree for raising the cream. If the dairy
+be of such extent as to require larger accommodation than the plan here
+suggested, a room or two may be partitioned off from the main milk and
+pressing-room, for washing the vessels and other articles employed, and
+for setting the milk. Every facility should be made for neatness in all
+the operations connected with the work.
+
+Different accommodations are required, for making the different kinds of
+cheese which our varied markets demand, and in the fitting up of the
+dairy-house, no _positive_ plan of arrangement can be laid down, suited
+alike to all the work which may be demanded. The dairyman, therefore,
+will best arrange all these for the particular convenience which he
+requires. The main plan, and style of building however, we think will be
+generally approved, as being in an agreeable architectural style, and of
+convenient construction and shape for the objects intended.
+
+
+THE BUTTER DAIRY.
+
+This, if pursued on the same farm with the cheese dairy, and at
+different seasons of the year, may be carried on in the lower parts of
+the same building. But as it is usually a distinct branch of business,
+when prosecuted as the chief object on a farm, it should have
+accommodations of its own kind, which should be fitted up specially for
+that purpose.
+
+We cannot, perhaps, suggest a better model of a building for the butter
+dairy, than the one just submitted for the cheese-house, only that there
+is no necessity for the upper story; and the posts of the main building
+should not stand more than nine feet above the sills. A good, walled
+cellar, well lighted, as a room for setting the milk, is indispensable,
+with a broad, open flight of steps, from the main floor above, into it.
+Here, too, should stand the stone slabs, where the butter is worked, and
+the churns, to be driven by hand, or water, or animal power, as the two
+latter may be provided, and introduced into the building by belt, shaft,
+or crank. If running water can be brought on to the milk-shelves, from
+a higher level, which, for this purpose, should have curbs two or three
+inches high on their sides, it can flow in a constant gentle current
+over them, among the pans, from a receiving vat, in which ice is
+deposited, to keep the milk at the proper temperature--about 55�
+Fahrenheit--for raising the cream; and if the quantity of milk be large,
+the shelves can be so arranged, by placing each tier of shelf lower than
+the last, like steps, that the water may pass among them all before it
+escapes from the room. Such a mode of applying water and ice, renders
+the entire process of cream-rising almost certain in all weathers, and
+is highly approved wherever it has been practiced. The low temperature
+of the room, by the aid of water and ice, is also beneficial to the
+butter packed in kegs, keeping it cool and sweet--as much like a
+spring-house as possible, in its operation.
+
+The washing and drying of pans, buckets, churns, and the heating of
+water, should all be done in the room above, where the necessary kettles
+are set, and kept from contact with the cool atmosphere of the lower
+room. The latter apartment should have a well-laid stone or brick floor,
+filled and covered with a strong cement of water lime, and sloping
+gradually to the outer side, where all the water may pass off by a
+drain, and everything kept sweet and clean. The buttermilk may, as in
+the case of the whey, in the cheese dairy, be passed off in spouts to
+the pigsty, which should not be far distant.
+
+As all this process of arrangement, however, must conform somewhat to
+the shape of the ground, the locality, and the facilities at hand where
+it may be constructed; it is hardly possible to give any one system of
+detail which is applicable to an uniform mode of structure; and much
+will be left to the demands and the skill of the dairyman himself, in
+the plan he may finally adopt.
+
+
+
+
+THE WATER RAM.
+
+
+As water, and that of a good quality, and in abundant quantity, is
+indispensable to the various demands of the farm, it is worth some pains
+to provide it in the most economical manner, and at the most convenient
+points for use. In level grounds, wells are generally dug, and the water
+drawn up by buckets or pumps. In a hilly country, springs, and streams
+from higher grounds, may be brought in by the aid of pipes, the water
+flowing naturally, under its own head, wherever it may be wanted, away
+from its natural stream.
+
+  [Illustration: WATER RAM.]
+
+But, of all contrivances to elevate water from a _lower_ fountain, or
+current, to a _higher_ level, by its _own action_, the Water Ram is the
+most complete in its operation, and perfect in its construction, of
+anything within our knowledge. And as it may not be generally known to
+our readers, at our request, Messrs. A. B. ALLEN & CO., of New York--who
+keep them of all sizes for sale, at their agricultural warehouse, No's.
+189 and 191, Water-street--have kindly furnished us with the following
+description of the machine, given by W. & B. Douglass, of Middletown,
+Connecticut, manufacturers of the article:
+
+  "H, spring or brook. C, drive, or supply-pipe, from brook to ram.
+  G, discharge pipe, conveying water to house or other point required
+  for use. B, D, A, E, I, the Ram. J, the plank or other foundation to
+  which the machine is secured for use.
+
+  "The various uses of the ram are at once obvious, viz., for the
+  purposes of irrigating lands, and supplying dwellings, barnyards,
+  gardens, factories, villages, engines, railroad stations, &c., with
+  running water.
+
+  "The simplicity of the operation of this machine, together with its
+  effectiveness, and very apparent durability, renders it decidedly
+  the most important and valuable apparatus yet developed in
+  hydraulics, for forcing a portion of a running stream of water to
+  any elevation, proportionate to the fall obtained. It is perfectly
+  applicable where no more than eighteen inches fall can be had; yet,
+  the greater the fall applied, the more powerful the operation of the
+  machine, and the higher the water may be conveyed. The relative
+  proportions between the water raised, and wasted, is dependent
+  entirely upon the relative height of the spring or source of supply
+  above the ram, and the elevation to which it is required to be
+  raised. The quantity raised varying in proportion to the height to
+  which it is conveyed, with a given fall; also, the distance which
+  the water has to be conveyed, and consequent length of pipe, has
+  some bearing on the quantity of water raised and discharged by the
+  ram; as, the longer the pipe through which the water has to be
+  forced by the machine, the greater the friction to be overcome, and
+  the more the power consumed in the operation; yet, it is common to
+  apply the ram for conveying the water distances of one and two
+  hundred rods, and up elevations of one and two hundred feet. Ten
+  feet fall from the spring, or brook, to the ram, is abundantly
+  sufficient for forcing up the water to any elevation under say one
+  hundred and fifty feet in height, above the level of the point where
+  the ram is located; and the same ten feet fall will raise the water
+  to a much higher point than above last named, although in a
+  _diminished_ quantity, in proportion as the height is increased.
+  When a sufficient quantity of water is raised with a given fall,
+  it is not advisable to increase said fall, as in so doing the force
+  with which the ram works is increased, and the amount of labor which
+  it has to perform greatly augmented, the wear and tear of the
+  machine proportionably increased, and the durability of the same
+  lessened; so that economy, in the expense of keeping the ram in
+  repair, would dictate that no greater fall should be applied, for
+  propelling the ram, than is sufficient to raise a requisite supply
+  of water to the place of use. To enable any person to make the
+  calculation, as to what fall would be sufficient to apply to the
+  ram, to raise a sufficient supply of water to his premises, we would
+  say, that in conveying it any ordinary distance, of say fifty or
+  sixty rods, it may be safely calculated that about one-seventh part
+  of the water can be raised and discharged at an elevation above the
+  ram five times as high as the fall which is applied to the ram, or
+  one-fourteenth part can be raised and discharged, say ten times as
+  high as the fall applied; and so in that proportion, as the fall or
+  rise is varied. Thus, if the ram be placed under a head or fall of
+  five feet, of every seven gallons drawn from the spring, one may be
+  raised twenty-five feet, or half a gallon fifty feet. Or with ten
+  feet fall applied to the machine, of every fourteen gallons drawn
+  from the spring, one gallon may be raised to the height of one
+  hundred feet above the machine; and so in like proportion, as the
+  fall or rise is increased or diminished.
+
+  "It is presumed that the above illustrations of what the machine
+  will do under certain heads and rise, will be sufficient for all
+  practical purposes, to enable purchasers of the article to
+  determine, with a sufficient degree of nicety, as to the head or
+  fall to apply to the ram for a given rise and distance, which they
+  may wish to overcome in raising water from springs or brooks to
+  their premises, or other places where water is required. Yet, we
+  have the pleasure of copying the following article, which we find in
+  the 'American Agriculturist,' a very valuable journal published by
+  C. M. Saxton, 152 Fulton-street, New York, which may serve to
+  corroborate our statements as to what our ram will accomplish under
+  given circumstances:
+
+  "'The following is a correct statement of a water ram I have had in
+  successful operation for the last six months:
+
+  "'1. The fall from the surface of the water in the spring is four
+  feet. 2. The quantity of water delivered per ten minutes, at my
+  house, is three and a quarter gallons, and that discharged at the
+  ram twenty-five gallons. Thus, nearly one-seventh part of the water
+  is saved. 3. The perpendicular height of the place of delivery above
+  the ram is nineteen feet--say fifteen feet above the surface of the
+  spring. 4. The length of the pipe leading from the ram to the house
+  is one hundred and ninety feet. 5. The pipe leading from the ram to
+  the house has three right angles, rounded by curves. 6. The ram is
+  of Douglass' make, of a small size. 7. The length of the drive or
+  supply-pipe is sixty feet. Its inner diameter one inch. 8. The depth
+  of water in the spring, over the drive pipe, is six inches. 9. The
+  inner diameter of the pipe, conducting the water from the ram to the
+  house, is three-eighths of an inch.
+
+  "'I consider it very essential that the drive or supply-pipe should
+  be laid as straight as possible, as in the motion of the water in
+  this pipe consists the power of the ram.
+
+  V. H. HALLOCK.
+
+  North-East Center, N.Y., April 2d, 1849.'"
+
+We have seen several of these rams at work; and in any place where the
+required amount of fall can be had, with sufficient water to supply the
+demand, we are entirely satisfied that no plan so cheap and efficient
+can be adopted, by which to throw it to a higher level, and at a
+distance from the point of its flow. We heartily commend it to all who
+need a thing of the kind, and have at hand the facilities in the way of
+a stream for its use.
+
+It is hardly worth while to add, that by the aid of the ram, water can
+be thrown into every room in the dwelling house, as well as into the
+various buildings, and yards, and fields of the farm, wherever it may be
+required.
+
+
+
+
+RAT-PROOF GRANARY.
+
+
+This plan, and description, we take from an agricultural periodical
+published in New York--"The Plow." We can recommend no plan of a better
+kind for the objects required. It is an old-fashioned structure, which
+many of our readers will recognize--only, that it is improved in some of
+its details.
+
+  [Illustration: GRANARY]
+
+The illustration above needs but little description. The posts should be
+stone, if procurable, one foot square, and four feet long, set one-third
+in the ground, and capped with smooth flat stones, four to six inches
+thick, and two feet, at least, across. If wooden posts are used, make
+them sixteen inches square, and set them in a hole previously filled,
+six inches deep, with charcoal, or rubble stone and lime grouting, and
+fill around the posts with the same. Four inches from the top, nail on a
+flange of tin or sheet iron, six inches wide, the projecting edge of
+which may be serrated, as a further preventive against the depredating
+rascals creeping around. The steps are hinged to the door-sill, and
+should have a cord and weight attached to the door, so that whenever it
+is shut, the steps should be up also; this would prevent the possibility
+of carelessness in leaving them down for the rats to walk up. The sides
+should be made of slats, with large cracks between, and the floor under
+the corn-crib, with numerous open joints; no matter if shattered corn
+falls through, let the pigs and chickens have it; the circulation of the
+air through the pile of corn, will more than pay for all you will lose
+through the floor. If you intend to have sweet grain, be sure to have a
+ventilator in the roof, and you may see by the vane on the top of it,
+how the wind will always blow favorably for you.
+
+
+
+
+IMPROVED DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
+
+
+Having completed the series of subjects which we had designed for this
+work, we are hardly content to send it out to the public, without
+inviting the attention of our farmers, and others who dwell in the
+country and occupy land, to the importance of surrounding themselves
+with the best breeds of domestic animals, as an item of increased profit
+in their farm management, and as a subject of interest and satisfaction
+to themselves in the embellishment of their grounds.
+
+We have addressed ourselves through these pages to the good sense of men
+who, in their general character and pursuits, comprise the most stable
+class of our population. We have endeavored to impress upon them the
+importance of providing all the conveniences and comforts to themselves,
+in their dwellings, as well as the due provision for their animals and
+crops, in the rougher farm buildings, which their circumstances will
+admit; and we trust they have been shown that it is proper economy so to
+do. We have, in addition to these, somewhat dilated upon objects of
+embellishment, in the way of grounds to surround them, and trees to
+beautify them, which will in no way interfere with a just economy, and
+add greatly to the pleasure and interest of their occupation. We now
+want them to introduce into those grounds such domestic animals as shall
+add to their ornament, and be far more profitable to themselves, than
+the inferior things which are called the common, or native stock of the
+country. Without this last lesson, half our object would be lost. Of
+what avail will be the best provision for the conveniences of a family,
+and the labors of the farm, if the farm be badly cultivated, and a
+worthless or inferior stock be kept upon it? The work is but half done
+at best; and the inferiority of the last will only become more
+conspicuous and contemptible, in contrast with the superior condition of
+the first.
+
+It is not intended to go into an examination of the farm-stock of our
+country at large, nor into their modes of treatment; but, to recommend
+such varieties of animals as are profitable in their breeding and
+keeping, both to the professional farmer in his vocation, and to such
+as, beyond this, find them an object of convenience, or of pleasure.
+
+We, in America, are comparatively a young people. Yet, we have
+surmounted _necessity_. We have arrived at the period when we enjoy the
+fruits of competence--some of us, the luxuries of wealth. A taste for
+superior domestic animals has been increasing, and spreading over the
+United States for many years past; so that now, a portion of our farmers
+and country people understand somewhat of the subject. It has been
+thoroughly demonstrated, that good farm stock is better, and more
+profitable than poor stock. Still, a taste for good stock, and the
+advantages of keeping them, over the common stock of the country, is not
+_generally_ understood; and that taste has to be cultivated. It is not
+altogether a thing of nature, any more than other faculties which
+require the aid of education to develope. We have known many people who
+had a fine perception in many things: an eye for a fine house, pleasant
+grounds, beautiful trees, and all the surroundings which such a place
+might command; and when these were complete, would place about it the
+veriest brutes, in the way of domestic animals, imaginable. The resident
+of the city, who lives at his country-house in summer, and selects a
+picture of mean or inferior quality, to hang up in his house by way of
+ornament, would be laughed at by his friends; yet he may drive into his
+grounds the meanest possible creature, in the shape of a cow, a pig,
+or a sheep, and it is all very well--for neither he nor they know any
+better; yet, the one is quite as much out of place as the other. The
+man, too, who, in good circumstances, will keep and drive a miserable
+horse, is the ridicule of his neighbors, because everybody knows what a
+good horse is, and that he should be well kept. Yet, the other stock on
+his farm may be the meanest trash in existence, and it creates no
+remark. On the contrary, one who at any _extra_ cost has supplied
+himself with stock of the choicer kinds, let their superiority be ever
+so apparent, has often been the subject of ribaldry, by his unthinking
+associates. And such, we are sorry to say, is still the case in too many
+sections of our country. But, on the whole, both our public spirit, and
+our intelligence, is increasing, in such things.
+
+Now, we hold it to be a _practical_ fact, that no farm, or country
+place, can be complete in its appointments, without good stock upon it;
+and it is useless for any one to suppose that his farm, or his place, is
+_finished_, without it. The man who has a fine lawn, of any extent,
+about his house, or a park adjoining, should have something to graze
+it--for he cannot afford to let it lie idle; nor is it worth while, even
+if he can afford it, to be mowing the grass in it every fortnight during
+the summer, to make it sightly. Besides this, grass will grow under the
+trees, and that too thin, and short, for cutting. This ground must, of
+course, be pastured. Now, will he go and get a parcel of mean scrubs of
+cattle, or sheep, to graze it, surrounding his very door, and disgracing
+him by their vulgar, plebeian looks, and yielding him no return, in
+either milk, beef, mutton, or wool? Of course not, if he be a wise, or a
+provident man, or one who has any true taste in such matters. He will
+rather go and obtain the best stock he can get, of breeds suited to the
+climate, and soil, which will give him a profitable return, either in
+milk, or flesh, or their increase, for his outlay; and which will also
+embellish his grounds, and create an interest in his family for their
+care, and arrest the attention of those who visit him, or pass by his
+grounds. Of the proper selection of this branch of his stock, we shall
+now discourse.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+In cattle, if your grounds be rich, and your grass abundant, the
+short-horns are the stock for them. They are "the head and front,"
+in appearance, size, and combination of good qualities--the very
+aristocracy of all neat cattle. A well-bred, and well developed
+short-horn cow, full in the qualities which belong to her character,
+is the very perfection of her kind. Her large, square form; fine orange,
+russet, or nut-colored muzzle; bright, prominent, yet mild, expressive
+eye; small, light horn; thin ears; clean neck; projecting brisket; deep,
+and broad chest; level back, and loin; broad hips; large, and
+well-spread udder, with its silky covering of hair, and clean, taper,
+wide-standing teats, giving twenty to thirty quarts of rich milk in a
+day; deep thigh, and twist; light tail; small, short legs; and, added to
+this, her brilliant and ever-varying colors of all, and
+every-intermingling shades of red, and white, or either of them alone;
+such, singly, or in groups, standing quietly under the shade of trees,
+grazing in the open field, or quietly resting upon the grass, are the
+very perfection of a cattle picture, and give a grace and beauty to the
+grounds which no living thing can equal. Here stands a short-horn cow,
+in all the majesty of her style and character!
+
+We add, also, a short-horn bull, which exhibits, in a high degree, the
+vigor, stamina, and excellence of his kind.
+
+Nor, in this laudation of the short-horns, are we at all mistaken.
+Go into the luxuriant blue-grass pastures of Kentucky; the rich, and
+wide-spread grazing regions of central, and lower Ohio; the prairies of
+Indiana, and Illinois, just now beginning to receive them; the sweet,
+and succulent pastures of central and western New York, or on the Hudson
+river; and now and then, a finely-cultivated farm in other sections of
+the United States, where their worth has become established; and they
+present pictures of thrift, of excellence, of beauty, and of profit,
+that no other neat cattle can pretend to equal.
+
+As a family cow, nothing can excel the short-horn, in the abundance and
+richness of her milk, and in the profit she will yield to her owner;
+and, on every place where she can be supplied with abundance of food,
+she stands without a rival. From the short-horns, spring those
+magnificent fat oxen and steers, which attract so much admiration, and
+carry off the prizes, at our great cattle shows. Thousands of them, of
+less or higher grade in blood, are fed every year, in the Scioto, the
+Miami, and the other great feeding valleys of the west, and in the
+fertile corn regions of Kentucky, and taken to the New York and
+Philadelphia markets. As a profitable beast to the grazier, and the
+feeder, nothing can equal them in early maturity and excellence. For
+this purpose, the short-horns are steadily working their way all over
+the vast cattle-breeding regions of the west; and, for the richness and
+abundance of her milk, the cow is eagerly introduced into the dairy, and
+milk-producing sections of the other states, where she will finally take
+rank, and maintain her superiority over all others, on rich and
+productive soils.
+
+  [Illustration: DEVON COW. DEVON BULL.]
+
+On lighter soils, with shorter pastures; or on hilly and stony grounds,
+another race of cattle may be kept, better adapted to such localities,
+than those just described. They are the Devons--also an English breed,
+and claimed there as an aboriginal race in England; and if any variety
+of cattle, exhibiting the blood-like beauty, and fineness of limb, the
+deep, uniformity of color, and the gazelle-like brilliancy of their eye,
+can claim a remote ancestry, and a pure descent, the Devons can make
+such claim, beyond almost any other. They were introduced--save now and
+then an isolated animal at an earlier day--into the United States some
+thirty-two or three years ago, about the same time with the short-horns;
+and like them, have been added to, and improved by frequent importations
+since; until now, probably our country will show some specimens equal in
+quality to their high general character in the land of their nativity.
+Unlike the short-horn, the Devon is a much lighter animal, with a like
+fine expression of countenance; an elevated horn; more agile in form;
+yet finer in limb, and bone; a deep mahogany-red in color; and of a
+grace, and beauty in figure excelled by no other breed whatever. The
+Devon cow is usually a good milker, for her size; of quiet temper;
+docile in her habits; a quick feeder; and a most satisfactory animal in
+all particulars. From the Devons, spring those beautifully matched red
+working-oxen, so much admired in our eastern states; the superiors to
+which, in kindness, docility, endurance, quickness, and honesty of
+labor, no country can produce. In the _quality_ of their beef, they are
+unrivaled by any breed of cattle in the United States; but in their
+early maturity for that purpose, are not equal to the short-horns.
+
+We here present a cut of a Devon cow; but with the remark, that she
+presents a deficiency of bag, and stands higher on the leg, than she
+ought to do; and her leanness in flesh gives her a less graceful
+appearance than is her wont, when in good condition.
+
+We present, also, the cut of a Devon bull. This figure does not do him
+full justice, the head being drawn in, to give the cut room on the page.
+
+Several beautiful herds of Devons are to be found in New York, in
+Maryland, in Connecticut, and in Massachusetts; and some few in other
+states, where they can be obtained by those who wish to purchase. And it
+is a gratifying incident, to learn that both the breeds we have named
+are increasing in demand, which has created a corresponding spirit in
+those who breed them, to bestow their best attention in perfecting their
+good qualities.
+
+Another branch of domestic stock should also excite the attention of
+those who wish to embellish their grounds, as well as to improve the
+quality of their mutton--obtaining, withal, a fleece of valuable wool.
+These are the Southdown, and the Cotswold, Leicester, or other improved
+breeds of long-wooled sheep. There is no more peaceful, or beautiful
+small animal to be seen, in an open park, or pleasure ground, or in the
+paddock of a farm, than these; and as they have been of late much sought
+after, they will be briefly noticed.
+
+  [Illustration: SOUTHDOWN RAM. SOUTHDOWN EWE.]
+
+  [Illustration: LONG-WOOLED RAM. LONG-WOOLED EWE.]
+
+The Southdown, a cut of which we present, is a fine, compact, and solid
+sheep, with dark face and legs; quiet in its habits, mild in
+disposition, of a medium quality, and medium weight of fleece; and
+yielding a kind of mutton unsurpassed in flavor and delicacy--equal,
+in the estimation of many, to the finest venison. The carcass of a
+Southdown wether, when well fatted, is large, weighing, at two to three
+years old, a hundred to a hundred and twenty pounds. The ewe is a
+prolific breeder, and a good nurse. They are exceedingly hardy, and will
+thrive equally well in all climates, and on all our soils, where they
+can live. There is no other variety of sheep which has been bred to that
+high degree of perfection, in England. The great Southdown breeder, Mr.
+Webb, of Batraham, has often received as high as fifty, to one hundred
+guineas, in a season, for the _use_ of a single ram. Such prices show
+the estimation in which the best Southdowns are held there, as well as
+their great popularity among the English farmers. They are extensively
+kept in the parks, and pleasure grounds of the wealthy people, where
+things of profit are usually connected with those devoted to luxury.
+
+For this cut of the Southdown ewe, we are indebted to the kindness of
+Luther Tucker, Esq., of the Albany "Cultivator."
+
+The Cotswold, New Oxford, and Leicester sheep, of the long-wooled
+variety, are also highly esteemed, in the same capacity as the
+Southdowns.
+
+They are large; not so compactly built as the Southdowns; producing a
+heavy fleece of long wool, mostly used for combing, and making into
+worsted stuffs. They are scarcely so hardy, either, as the Southdowns;
+nor are they so prolific. Still, they have many excellent qualities; and
+although their mutton has not the fine grain, nor delicacy, of the
+other, it is of enormous weight, when well fattened, and a most
+profitable carcass. It has sometimes reached a weight of two hundred
+pounds, when dressed. They are gentle, and quiet in their habits; white
+in the face and legs; and show a fine and stately contrast to the
+Southdowns, in their increased size, and breadth of figure. They
+require, also, a somewhat richer pasture; but will thrive on any good
+soil, yielding sweet grasses. For the cut of the Cotswold ewe, we are
+also indebted to Mr. Tucker, of "The Cultivator."
+
+To show the contrast between the _common_ native sheep, and the improved
+breeds, of which we have spoken, a true portrait of the former is
+inserted, which will be readily recognized as the creature which
+embellishes, in so high a degree, many of the wild nooks, and rugged
+farms of the country!
+
+  [Illustration: A COMMON SHEEP.]
+
+That the keeping of choice breeds of animals, and the cultivation of a
+high taste for them, is no _vulgar_ matter, with even the most exalted
+intellects, and of men occupying the most honorable stations in the
+state, and in society; and that they concern the retired gentleman, as
+well as the practical farmer, it is only necessary to refer to the many
+prominent examples in Great Britain, and our own country, within the
+last fifty years.
+
+The most distinguished noblemen of England, and Scotland, have long bred
+the finest of cattle, and embellished their home parks with them. The
+late Earl Spencer, one of the great patrons of agricultural improvement
+in England, at his death owned a herd of two hundred of the highest bred
+short-horns, which he kept on his home farm, at Wiseton. The Dukes of
+Bedford, for the last century and a half, have made extraordinary
+exertions to improve their several breeds of cattle. The late Earl of
+Leicester, better known, perhaps, as Mr. Coke, of Holkham, and the most
+celebrated farmer of his time, has been long identified with his large
+and select herds of Devons, and his flocks of Southdowns. The Duke of
+Richmond has his great park at Goodwood stocked with the finest
+Southdowns, Short-horns, and Devons. Prince Albert, even, has caught the
+infection of such liberal and useful example, and the royal park at
+Windsor is tenanted with the finest farm stock, of many kinds; and he is
+a constant competitor at the great Smithfield cattle shows, annually
+held in London. Besides these, hundreds of the nobility, and wealthy
+country gentlemen of Great Britain, every year compete with the
+intelligent farmers, in their exhibitions of cattle, at the royal and
+provincial shows, in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
+
+In the United States, Washington was a great promoter of improvement in
+farm stock, and introduced on to his broad estate, at Mount Vernon, many
+foreign animals, which he had sent out to him at great expense; and it
+was his pride to show his numerous and distinguished guests, his horses,
+cattle, sheep, and pigs. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, was among the first
+promoters of the improvement of domestic animals in the fertile region,
+of which his own favorite Ashland is the center; and to his continued
+efforts in the breeding of the finest short-horns, and mules, is the
+state of Kentucky greatly indebted for its reputation in these
+descriptions of stock. Daniel Webster has introduced on to his estate,
+at Marshfield, the finest cattle, and sheep suited to its soil and
+climate, and takes much pride in showing their good qualities. Indeed,
+we have never heard either of these two last remarkable men more
+eloquent, than when discoursing of their cattle, and of their pleasure
+in ranging over their pastures, and examining their herds and flocks.
+They have both been importers of stock, and liberal in their
+dissemination among their agricultural friends and neighbors.
+Public-spirited, patriotic men, in almost every one of our states, have
+either imported from Europe, or drawn from a distance in their own
+country, choice animals, to stock their own estates, and bred them for
+the improvement of their several neighborhoods. Merchants, and generous
+men of other professions, have shown great liberality, and the finest
+taste, in importing, rearing, and distributing over the country the best
+breeds of horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. Their own beautiful home
+grounds are embellished with them, in a style that all the dumb statuary
+in existence can not equal in interest--models of grace, and beauty, and
+utility, which are in vain sought among the sculpture, or paintings of
+ancient time. And many a plain and unpretending farmer of our country,
+emulating such laudable examples, now shows in his luxuriant pastures,
+and well-filled barns and stables, the choicest specimens of imported
+stock; and their prizes, won at the cattle shows, are the laudable pride
+of themselves, and their families.
+
+Nor is this laudable taste, confined to _men_ alone. Females of the
+highest worth, and domestic example, both abroad and at home, cultivate
+a love for such objects, and take much interest in the welfare of their
+farm stock. We were at the annual state cattle show, in one of our large
+states, but a short time since, and in loitering about the cattle
+quarter of the grounds, met a lady of our acquaintance, with a party of
+her female friends, on a tour of inspection among the beautiful
+short-horns, and Devons, and the select varieties of sheep. She was the
+daughter of a distinguished statesman, who was also a large farmer, and
+a patron of great liberality, in the promotion of fine stock in his own
+state. She was bred upon the farm, and, to rare accomplishments in
+education, was possessed of a deep love for all rural objects; and in
+the stock of the farm she took a peculiar interest. Her husband was an
+extensive farmer, and a noted breeder of fine animals. She had her own
+farm, too, and cattle upon it, equally as choice as his, in her own
+right; and they were both competitors at the annual exhibitions.
+Introduced to her friends, at her request, we accompanied them in their
+round of inspection. There were the beautiful cows, and the younger
+cattle, and the sheep--all noticed, criticised, and remarked upon; and
+with a judgment, too, in their various properties, which convinced us of
+her sound knowledge of their physiology, and good qualities, which she
+explained to her associates with all the familiarity that she would a
+tambouring frame, or a piece of embroidery. There was no squeamish
+fastidiousness; no affectation of prudery, in this; but all natural as
+the pure flow of admiration in a well-bred lady could be. At her most
+comfortable, and hospitable residence, afterward, she showed us, with
+pride, the several cups, and other articles of plate, which her family
+had won as prizes, at the agricultural exhibitions; and which she
+intended to preserve, as heir-looms to her children. This is not a
+solitary example; yet, a too rare one, among our fair countrywomen. Such
+a spirit is contagious, and we witness with real satisfaction, their
+growing taste in such laudable sources of enjoyment: contrary to the
+_parvenue_ affectation of a vast many otherwise sensible and
+accomplished females of our cities and towns--comprising even the wives
+and daughters of farmers, too--who can saunter among the not over
+select, and equivocal representations, among the paintings and statuary
+of our public galleries; and descant with entire freedom, on the various
+attitudes, and artistical merits of the works before them; or gaze with
+apparent admiration upon the brazen pirouettes of a public dancing girl,
+amid all the equivoque of a crowded theater; and yet, whose delicacy is
+shocked at the exhibitions of a cattle show! Such females as we have
+noticed, can admire the living, moving beauty of animal life, with the
+natural and easy grace of purity itself, and without the slightest
+suspicion of a stain of vulgarity. From the bottom of our heart, we
+trust that a reformation is at work among our American women, in the
+promotion of a taste, and not only a taste, but a genuine _love_ of
+things connected with country life. It was not so, with the mothers, and
+the wives, of the stern and earnest men, who laid the foundations of
+their country's freedom and greatness. They were women of soul,
+character, and stamina; who grappled with the _realities_ of life, in
+their labors; and enjoyed its pleasures with truth and honesty. This
+over-nice, mincing delicacy, and sentimentality, in which their
+grand-daughters indulge, is but the off-throw of the boarding-school,
+the novelist, and the prude--mere "leather and prunella." Such remarks
+may be thought to lie beyond the line of our immediate labor. But in the
+discussion of the collateral subjects which have a bearing upon country
+life and residence, we incline to make a clean breast of it, and drop
+such incidental remark as may tend to promote the enjoyment, as well as
+instruction, of those whose sphere of action, and whose choice in life
+is amid the pure atmosphere, and the pure pleasures of the country.
+
+
+
+
+WATER-FOWLS.
+
+
+If a stream flow through the grounds, in the vicinity of the house; or a
+pond, or a small lake be near, a few varieties of choice water-fowls may
+be kept, adding much to the interest and amusement of the family. Many
+of the English nobility, and gentry, keep swans for such purpose. They
+are esteemed a bird of much grace and beauty, although silent, and of
+shy, unsocial habits, and not prolific in the production of their young.
+For such purposes as they are kept in England, the great African goose,
+resembling the China, but nearly double in size, is a preferable
+substitute in this country. It is a more beautiful bird in its plumage;
+equally graceful in the water; social, and gentle in its habits;
+breeding with facility, and agreeable in its voice, particularly at a
+little distance. The African goose will attain a weight of twenty to
+twenty-five pounds. Its body is finely formed, heavily feathered, and
+its flesh is of delicate flavor. The top of the head, and the back of
+its neck, which is long, high, and beautifully arched, is a dark brown;
+its bill black, with a high protuberance, or knob, at its junction with
+the head; a dark hazel eye, with a golden ring around it; the under part
+of the head and neck, a soft ash-color; and a heavy dewlap at the
+throat. Its legs and feet are orange-colored; and its belly white. Taken
+altogether, a noble and majestic bird.
+
+  [Illustration: CHINA GOOSE.]
+
+The small brown China goose is another variety which may be introduced.
+She is nearly the color of the African, but darker; has the same black
+bill, and high protuberance on it, but without the dewlap under the
+throat; and has black legs and feet. She is only half the size of the
+other; is a more prolific layer,--frequently laying three or four
+clutches of eggs in a year; has the same character of voice; an equally
+high, arched neck, and is quite as graceful in the water. The neck of
+the goose in the cut should be one-third longer, to be an accurate
+likeness.
+
+The White China is another variety, in size and shape like the last, but
+perfectly white, with an orange colored bill and legs. Indeed, no swan
+can be more beautiful than this, which is of the same pure, clean
+plumage, and, in its habits and docility, equally a favorite with the
+others we have described.
+
+The Bremen goose is still another variety, of about the same size as the
+African, but in shape and appearance, not unlike the common goose,
+except in color, which is pure white. Young geese of this breed, at nine
+months old, frequently weigh twenty pounds, alive. We have had them of
+that weight, and for the table, none can be finer. They are equally
+prolific as the common goose, but, as a thing of ornament, are far
+behind the African and the China. Still, they are a stately bird, and an
+acquisition to any grounds where water-fowls are a subject of interest,
+convenience, or profit.
+
+All these birds are more domestic, if possible, than the common goose,
+and we have found them less troublesome, not inclined to wander abroad,
+and, in all the qualities of such a bird, far more agreeable. We have
+long kept them, and without their presence, should consider our grounds
+as incomplete, in one of the most attractive features of animated life.
+
+It is too much a fault of our farming population, that they do not pay
+sufficient attention to many little things which would render their
+homes more interesting, both to themselves, if they would only think so,
+and to their families, most certainly. If parents have no taste for such
+objects as we have recommended, or even others more common, they should
+encourage their children in the love of them, and furnish them for their
+amusement. The very soul of a farmer's home is to cluster every thing
+about it which shall make it attractive, and speak out the character of
+the country, and of his occupation, in its full extent. Herds and flocks
+upon the farm are a matter of course; and so are the horses, and the
+pigs. But there are other things, quite as indicative of household
+abundance, and domestic enjoyment. The pigeons, and the poultry of all
+kinds, and perhaps the rabbit warren, which are chiefly in charge of the
+good housewife, and her daughters, and the younger boys, show out the
+domestic feeling and benevolence of character in the family, not to be
+mistaken. It is a sign of enjoyment, of domestic contentment, and of
+mental cultivation, even, that will lead to something higher, and more
+valuable in after life; and it is in such light that it becomes an
+absolute _duty_ of the farmer who seeks the improvement and education of
+his children, to provide them with all these little objects, to engage
+their leisure hours and promote their happiness. How different a home
+like this from one--which is, really, not a home--where no attention is
+paid to such minor attractions; where a few starveling things, by way of
+geese, perhaps, picked half a dozen times a year, to within an inch of
+their lives, mope about the dirty premises, making their nightly
+sittings in the door yard, if the house has one; a stray turkey, or two,
+running, from fear of the untutored dogs, into the nearest wood, in the
+spring, to make their rude nests, and bring out half a clutch of young,
+and creeping about the fields through the summer with a chicken or two,
+which the foxes, or other vermin, have spared, and then dogged down in
+the winter, to provide a half got-up Christmas-dinner; and the hens
+about the open buildings all the year, committing their nuisances in
+every possible way! There need be no surer indication than this, of the
+utter hopelessness of progress for good, in such a family.
+
+
+
+
+A WORD ABOUT DOGS.
+
+
+We always loved a dog; and it almost broke our little heart, when but a
+trudging schoolboy, in our first jacket-and-trowsers, our kind mother
+made us take back the young puppy that had hardly got its eyes open,
+which we one day brought home, to be kept until it was fit to be taken
+from its natural nurse. We are now among the boys, John, Tom, and Harry;
+and intend to give them the benefit of our own experience in this line,
+as well as to say a few words to the elder brothers,--and fathers,
+even,--if they do not turn up their noses in contempt of our
+instruction, on a subject so much beneath their notice.
+
+We say that we love dogs: not _all_ dogs, however. But we love some
+dogs--of the right breeds. There is probably no other civilized country
+so dog-ridden as this, both in
+
+  "Mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,
+  And curs of _low_ degree."
+
+Goldsmith, kind man that he was, must have been a capital judge of dogs,
+like many other poetical gentlemen. Still, other men than poets are
+sometimes good judges, and great lovers of dogs; but the mass of people
+are quite as well satisfied with one kind of dog as with another, so
+that it be a dog; and they too often indulge in their companionship,
+much to the annoyance of good neighborhood, good morals, and, indeed, of
+propriety, thrift, and common justice. Of all these we have nothing to
+say--here, at least. Ours is a "free country"--for dogs, if for nothing
+else. Nor shall we discuss the various qualities, or the different
+breeds of dogs for sporting purposes. We never go out shooting; nor do
+we take a hunt--having no taste that way. Perhaps in this we are to be
+pitied; but we are content as it is. Therefore we shall let the hounds,
+and pointers, and setters, the springers, and the land and the water
+spaniels, all alone. The mastiffs, and the bull dogs, too, we shall
+leave to those who like them. The poodle, and the little lap-dog of
+other kinds, also, we shall turn over to the kindness of those who--we
+are sorry for them, in having nothing better to interest themselves
+about--take a pleasure in keeping and tending them.
+
+We want to mix in a little _usefulness_, as well as amusement, in the
+way of a dog; and after a whole life, thus far, of dog companionship,
+and the trial of pretty much every thing in the line of a dog--from the
+great Newfoundland, of a hundred pounds weight, down to the squeaking
+little whiffet, of six--we have, for many years past, settled down into
+the practical belief that the small ratting terrier is the only one,
+except the shepherd dog, we care to keep; and of these, chiefly,
+we shall speak.
+
+There are many varieties of the Terrier. Some are large, weighing forty
+or fifty pounds, rough-haired, and savage looking. There is the
+bull-terrier, of less size, not a kindly, well-disposed creature to
+strangers; but irascibly inclined, and unamiable in his deportment;
+still useful as a watch-dog, and a determined enemy to all vermin,
+whatever. Then, again, are the small rat-terriers, as they are termed,
+weighing from a dozen to twenty pounds; some with rough, long, wiry
+hair; a fierce, whiskered muzzle; of prodigious strength for their size;
+wonderful instinct and sagacity; kind in temper; and possessing valuable
+qualities, bating a lack of beauty in appearance. They are of all
+colors, but are generally uniform in their color, whatever it be.
+Another kind, still, is the smooth terrier, of the same sizes as the
+last; a very pretty dog indeed; with a kinder disposition to mankind;
+yet equally destructive to vermin, and watchful to the premises which
+they inhabit, or of whatever else is put under their charge. The
+fidelity of the terrier to his master is wonderful; equal, if not
+superior to any other dog whatever. In courage and perseverance, in
+hardihood, and feats of daring, he has hardly an equal; and in general
+_usefulness,_ no dog can compare with him.
+
+  [Illustration: THE SMOOTH TERRIER.]
+
+Sir Walter Scott, who was a great friend to dogs, as well as a nice and
+critical judge of their qualities, used to tell this story:--When a
+young man, first attending, as an advocate, the Jedburgh assizes, a
+notorious burglar engaged Sir Walter to defend him on his trial for
+housebreaking in the neighborhood. The case was a hard one; the proof
+direct and conclusive; and no ingenuity of the defence could avoid the
+conviction of the culprit. The matter was settled beyond redemption; and
+before he left for his imprisonment, or transportation, the thief
+requested Sir Walter to come into his cell. On meeting, the fellow
+frankly told his counsel that he felt very grateful to him for his
+efforts to clear him; that he had done the best he could; but the proof
+was too palpable against him. He would gladly reward Sir Walter for his
+services; but he had no money, and could only give him a piece of
+advice, which might, perhaps, be serviceable hereafter. Sir Walter heard
+him, no doubt, with some regret at losing his fee; but concluding to
+hear what he had to say. "You are a housekeeper, Mr. Scott. For security
+to your doors, use nothing but a common lock--if rusty and old, no
+matter; they are quite as hard to pick as any others. (Neither Chubbs'
+nor Hobbs' _non-pickable_ locks were then invented.) Then provide
+yourself with a small rat terrier, and keep him in your house at night.
+There is no safety in a mastiff, or bull-dog, or in a large dog of any
+breed. They can always be appeased and quieted, and burglars understand
+them; but a terrier can neither be terrified nor silenced; nor do we
+attempt to break in where one is known to be kept." Sir Walter heeded
+the advice, and, in his housekeeping experience, afterward, confirmed
+the good qualities of the terrier, as related to him by the burglar.
+He also commemorated the conversation by the following not exceedingly
+poetical couplet:
+
+  "A terrier dog and a rusty key,
+  Was Walter Scott's first Jedburgh fee."
+
+The terrier has a perfect, thorough, unappeasable instinct for, and
+hatred to all kinds of vermin. He takes to rats and mice as naturally as
+a cat. He will scent out their haunts and burrows. He will lie for hours
+by their places of passage, and point them with the sagacity of a
+pointer at a bird. He is as quick as lightning, in pouncing upon them,
+when in sight, and rarely misses them when he springs. A single bite
+settles the matter; and where there are several rats found together, a
+dog will frequently dispatch half a dozen of them, before they can get
+twenty feet from him. A dog of our own has killed that number, before
+they could get across the stable floor. In the grain field, with the
+harvesters, a terrier will catch hundreds of field-mice in a day; or, in
+the hay field, he is equally destructive. With a woodchuck, a raccoon,
+or anything of their size--even a skunk, which many dogs avoid--he
+engages, with the same readiness that he will a rat. The night is no bar
+to his vigils. He has the sight of an owl, in the dark. Minks, and
+weasels, are his aversion, as much as other vermin. He will follow the
+first into the water, till he exhausts him with diving, and overtakes
+him in swimming. He is a hunter, too. He will tree a squirrel, or a
+raccoon, as readily as the best of sporting dogs. He will catch, and
+hold a pig, or anything not too large or heavy for him. He will lie down
+on your garment, and watch it for hours; or by anything else left in his
+charge. He will play with the children, and share their sports as
+joyfully as a dumb creature can do; and nothing can be more
+affectionate, kind, and gentle among them. He is cleanly, honest, and
+seldom addicted to tricks of any kind.
+
+We prefer the high-bred, smooth, English terrier, to any other variety.
+They are rather more gentle in temper, and very much handsomer in
+appearance, than the rough-haired kind; but perhaps no better in their
+useful qualities. We have kept them for years; we keep them now; and no
+reasonable inducement would let us part with them. A year or two ago,
+having accidentally lost our farm terrier, and nothing remaining on the
+place but our shepherd dog, the buildings soon swarmed with rats. They
+were in, and about everything. During the winter, the men who tended the
+horses, and cattle, at their nightly rounds of inspection, before going
+to bed, would kill, with their clubs, three or four, in the barns and
+stables, every evening. But still the rats increased, and they became
+unendurable. They got into the grain-mows, where they burrowed, and
+brought forth with a fecundity second only to the frogs of Egypt. They
+gnawed into the granaries. They dug into the dairy. They entered the
+meat barrels. They carried off the eggs from the hen-nests. They stole
+away, and devoured, the young ducks, and chickens. They literally came
+into the "kneading troughs" of the kitchen. Oh! the rats were
+intolerable! Traps were no use. Arsenic was innocuous--they wouldn't
+touch it. Opportunity favored us, and we got two high-bred, smooth,
+English terriers--a dog, and a slut. Then commenced such a slaughter as
+we seldom see. The rats had got bold. The dogs caught them daily by
+dozens, as they came out from their haunts, fearless of evil, as before.
+As they grew more shy, their holes were watched, and every morning dead
+rats were found about the premises. The dogs, during the day, pointed
+out their holes. Planks were removed, nests were found, and the rats,
+young and old, killed, _instanter_. Hundreds on hundreds were
+slaughtered, in the first few weeks; and in a short time, the place was
+mostly rid of them, until enough only are left to keep the dogs "in
+play," and to show that in spite of all precaution, they will harbor
+wherever there is a thing to eat, and a possible place of covert for
+them to burrow.
+
+To have the terrier in full perfection, it is important that the breed
+be _pure_. We are so prone to mix up everything we get, in this country,
+that it is sometimes difficult to get anything exactly as it should be;
+but a little care will provide us, in this particular. He should be
+properly trained, too, when young. That is, to mind what is said to him.
+His intelligence will be equal to all your wants in the _dog_-line; but
+he should not be _fooled_ with. His instincts are _sure_. And, with a
+good education, the terrier will prove all you need in a farm, and a
+watch-dog. We speak from long experience, and observation.
+
+  [Illustration: THE SHEPHERD DOG.]
+
+The shepherd dog is another useful--almost indispensable--creature, on
+the sheep, or dairy farm. This cut is an accurate representation of the
+finest of the breed. To the flock-master, he saves a world of labor, in
+driving and gathering the flocks together, or from one field, or place,
+to another. To the sheep-drover, also, he is worth a man, at least; and
+in many cases, can do with a flock what a man can not do. But for this
+labor, he requires training, and a strict, thorough education, by those
+who know how to do it. He is a peaceable, quiet creature; good for
+little else than driving, and on a stock farm will save fifty times his
+cost and keeping, every year. He is a reasonably good watch-dog, also;
+but he has neither the instinct, nor sagacity of the terrier, in that
+duty. To keep him in his best estate, for his own peculiar work, he
+should not be troubled with other labors, as it distracts his attention
+from his peculiar duties. We had a remarkably good dog, of this kind, a
+few years since. He was worth the services of a stout boy, in bringing
+up the cattle, and sheep, until an idle boy or two, in the neighborhood,
+decoyed him out in "_cooning_," a few nights during one autumn--in which
+he proved a most capital hunter; and after that, he became worthless, as
+a cattle dog. He was always rummaging around among the trees, barking at
+birds, squirrels, or any live thing that he could find; and no man could
+coax him back to the dull routine of his duty. A shepherd dog should
+never go a-hunting.
+
+We would not be understood as condemning everything else, excepting the
+dogs we have named, for farm use. The Newfoundland, and the mastiff, are
+enormously large dogs, and possessed of some noble qualities. They have
+performed feats of sagacity and fidelity which have attracted universal
+admiration; but, three to one, if you have them on your farm, they will
+kill every sheep upon it; and their watchfulness is no greater than that
+of the shepherd dog, or the terrier. We have spoken of such as we have
+entire confidence in, and such as we consider the best for useful
+service. There are some kinds of cur dog that are useful. They are of no
+_breed_ at all, to be sure; but have, now and then, good qualities; and
+when nothing better can be got, they will do for a make-shift. But as a
+rule, we would be equally particular in the _breed_ of our dog, as we
+would in the breed of our cattle, or sheep. There are altogether too
+many dogs kept, in the country, and most usually by a class of people
+who have no need of them, and which prove only a nuisance to the
+neighborhood, and a destruction to the goods of others. Thousands of
+useful sheep are annually destroyed by them; and in some regions of the
+country, they can not be kept, by reason of their destruction by
+worthless dogs, which are owned by the disorderly people about them. In
+a western state, some time ago, in conversing with a large farmer, who
+had a flock of perhaps a hundred sheep running in one of his pastures,
+and who also kept a dozen hounds, for hunting, we asked him whether the
+dogs did not kill his sheep? "To be sure they do," was his reply; "but
+the dogs are worth more than the sheep, for they give us great sport in
+hunting deer, and foxes; and the sheep only give us a little mutton, now
+and then, and some wool for the women to make into stockings!" This is a
+mere matter of taste, thought we, and the conversation on that subject
+dropped. Yet, this man had a thousand acres of the richest land in the
+world; raised three or four hundred acres of corn, a year; fed off a
+hundred head of cattle, annually; and sold three hundred hogs every
+year, for slaughtering!
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Books Published
+by
+C. M. SAXTON,
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+  The American Farm Book; or, a Compend of American Agriculture,
+  being a Practical Treatise on Soils, Manures, Draining, Irrigation,
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+
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+
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+  Loudon's Encyclopedia of Agriculture. $10.
+
+Loudon on Trees, &c.
+  Loudon's Encyclopedia of Trees, Shrubs, &c.
+
+Loudon on Plants, &c.
+  Loudon's Encyclopedia of Plants, &c.
+
+The Farmer's Library.
+  Two vols. 8vo. English. $5.
+
+The Farmer's Dictionary.
+  By D. P. Gardner. $1.50.
+
+Practical Treatise on the Grape Vine.
+  By J. Fisk Allen. Boards, $1; paper, 88 cts.
+
+Practical Treatise on the Veterinary Art.
+  By J. Briddon. 75 cts.
+
+Sheep Husbandry.
+  By Henry S. Randall. $1.25.
+
+Agricultural Chemistry.
+  By Justus Liebig. Cloth, $1; cheap edition, 25 cts.
+
+Animal Chemistry.
+  By J. Liebig. Cloth, 50 cts.; cheap ed. paper, 25 cts.
+
+Liebig's Complete Works,
+  In one vol. 8vo. $1.
+
+Cottage and Farm Houses.
+  By A. J. Downing. $2.
+
+Country Houses.
+  By A. J. Downing. $4.
+
+Sportsman's Library.
+  By T. B. Johnson. English edition. $5.
+
+Landscape Gardening.
+  By A. J. Downing. $3.50.
+
+Cottage Residences.
+  By A. J. Downing $2.
+
+Chaptal's Agricultural Chemistry,
+  With Notes. $1.
+
+American Husbandry.
+  By Gaylord and Tucker. $1.
+
+Gardener's Dictionary.
+  By Geo. Don, F.L.S. 4 vols. quarto. $10.
+
+Journal of Agriculture.
+  Edited by John S. Skinner. 3 vols. $6.
+
+Downing's Horticulturist.
+  Half morocco. Per Vol. yearly Vols. $3.75.
+   Do.     do.      half yearly  "     2.00.
+
+The Complete Produce Reckoner,
+  Showing the Value by Pound or Bushel. By R. Robbins. 75 cts.
+
+The American Shepherd.
+  By L. A. Morrill. $1.
+
+The Principles of Agriculture.
+  By Albert D. Thaer. $2.50.
+
+Lectures to Farmers on Agricultural Chemistry.
+  By Alexander Petzholdts. 75 cts.
+
+The Complete Farrier.
+  By John C. Knowlson. 25 cts.
+
+The Complete Cow Doctor.
+  By J. C. Knowlson. 25 cts.
+
+Milch Cows.
+  By Guenon. 38 cts.
+
+A Home for All;
+  Or a New, Cheap, and Superior mode of Building. By O. S. Fowler.
+  50 cts.
+
+The Poultry Breeder.
+  By George P. Burnham. 25 cts.
+
+The American Fowl Breeder. 25 cts.
+
+The Farmer's Companion.
+  By Judge Buel. 75 cts.
+
+The Farmer's Instructor.
+  By Judge Buel. $1.
+
+European Agriculture,
+  From Personal Observation. By Henry Coleman. 2 vols. $5.00.
+   Do.    do.        do.                        1 vol. $4.50.
+
+The Gardener and Florist. 25 cts.
+
+The Honey Bee.
+  By Bevan. 31 cts.
+
+Elements of Practical Agriculture.
+  By John P. Norton. 50 cts.
+
+Rogers' Scientific Agriculture. 75 cts.
+
+Mills' Sportsman's Library. $1.
+
+Stable Talk and Table Talk. $1.
+
+Hawker and Porter on Shooting. $2.75.
+
+Field Sports.
+  By Frank Forrester. 2 vols. $4
+
+Fish and Fishing.
+  By Frank Forrester. $2.50.
+
+The American Angler's Guide.
+  By J. J. Brown. $1.50.
+
+Johnson's Farmer's Encyclopedia.
+  Edited by G. Emerson, M.D. $4.
+
+Scientific and Practical Agriculture.
+  By Alonzo Gray. 75 cts.
+
+Theory and Practice of Agriculture.
+  By A. Partridge. 12 cts.
+
+Armstrong on Agriculture. 50 cts.
+
+Hovey's Magazine of Horticulture.
+  Published monthly. Per annum $2.
+
+Downing' Horticulturist.
+  Published monthly. Per annum $3.
+
+Gilpin's Landscape Gardening.
+  English edition. $2.50.
+
+The Gardener's Calendar.
+  By M. Mahon. $3.50.
+
+Agriculture for Schools.
+  By Rev. J. L. Blake, D.D. $1.
+
+Text Book of Agriculture.
+  By Davis. 50 cts.
+
+The American Agriculturist and Farmer's Cabinet.
+  Published monthly. Per annum $1.
+
+Weeks on the Honey Bee.
+
+Cottages and Cottage Life.
+  By Elliott. $2.25.
+
+Chemical Analysis.
+  By Fresinus and Bullock. $1.
+
+Applied Chemistry.
+  By A. Parnell. $1.
+
+The Vegetable Kingdom,
+  Or Handbook of Plants. By L. D. Chapin. $1.25.
+
+The Muck Manual.
+  A new edition. By Samuel L. Dana. 75 cts.
+
+Youatt on the Horse.
+  Edited by J. S Skinner. $1.50.
+
+Clater's Farrier. 50 cts.
+
+The Dog and Sportsman.
+  By J. S. Skinner. cts.
+
+The Bird Keeper's Manual. 50 cts.
+
+The American Herd Book.
+  By Lewis F. Allen. $_
+
+The American Orchardist.
+  By J. Kenrick. 75 cts.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+   *       *       *       *       *
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Invisible punctuation has been silently supplied.
+
+The spellings "chesnut" and "chestnut", "turkeys" and "turkies" are used
+interchangeably; the forms "mantle piece" and "mantle-piece" occur one
+time each. The spelling "Alleghanies" is used consistently.
+
+Other errors are individually noted.
+
+_Table of Contents_
+
+  Indentation of the Contents does not always correspond to chapters
+  and subchapters of the body text, and many entries have different
+  names. All secondary indentations were added by the transcriber,
+  representing text sections that have no distinct header.
+
+  There is no separate list of illustrations.
+
+PREFATORY ... 9
+  _in body text, "Prefatory" covers pgs. ix-xv_
+Miscellaneous Details
+  _indented in printed Contents, as if a subsection of "Design II"_
+Tree Planting in the Highway
+  _indented in printed Contents, as if a subsection of "Design IV"_
+Design VII ... Miscellaneous ... Lawns, Grounds, Parks, and Woods
+  _printed Contents shows Miscellaneous as a chapter heading,
+  with Lawns... indented as a subsection_
+Fruit Garden ... Kitchen Garden ... Flowers
+  _all shown in body text as separate chapters_
+Explanations (under Rabbits)
+  _not indented in printed Contents_
+The Butter Dairy
+  _shown in body text as a separate chapter_
+The Water Ram ... 337
+  _text reads "237"_
+Short Horn Bull ... 349
+Short Horn Cow ... 352
+  _pages reversed: bull is on 352, cow on 349_
+
+
+_Body Text_
+
+[frontispiece]
+  _illustration is shown again on page 85_
+its huge chimneys, its wide fire-places
+the huge, deep fire-places
+  _hyphens in original: normal for text is "fireplaces"_
+The Swiss chal�t
+  _error for "ch�let"?_
+their good farming neighbors didn't call on them
+  _text reads "did'nt"_
+an entrance door near the wood house
+  _form "wood house" unchanged: normal for text is "wood-house"
+  (but note title page)_
+Within doors it is a work-shop too.
+  _hyphen in original: normal for text is "workshop"_
+so perfectly in keeping was it with propriety.
+  _text has final comma_
+In the front and rear roofs of this wing is a dormer window
+  _text reads "dormar"_
+small-tool-house
+  _hyphens in original_
+The Lombardy-poplar--albeit, an object of fashionable derision
+  _hyphen in original: normal for text is "Lombardy poplar"_
+four stacks of chimnies
+  _spelling unchanged_
+dogwood, kalmia, and rhododendron
+  _text reads "rhodendendron"_
+while the fibrous-rooted perennials
+  _text reads "perenials"_
+a seeming humility
+  _text reads "humilty"_
+tool-house, piggery, poultry-house, corn-crib
+  _text reads "con-crib"_
+about the size of a common window button
+  _text unchanged: error for "batten"?_
+to support the comb as it is built
+  _text reads "as  t is" with blank space_
+and why not hen's?
+  _apostrophe in original_
+what she lays in winter must be subtracted
+  _text reads "substracted"_
+should then be placed one inch below
+  _text reads "theu"_
+the collections throughout the country
+  _text reads "throughout the the"_
+he applied to his turnep crop
+  _spelling unchanged_
+require the aid of education to develope.
+  _spelling unchanged_
+the finest Southdowns, Short-horns, and Devons
+  _capitalization as in original: normal for text is "short-horns"_
+but irascibly inclined
+  _text reads "irrascibly"_
+He will tree a squirrel
+  _text reads "sqirrel"_
+
+
+_Advertising Pages_
+
+Punctuation of book titles is unchanged.
+
+The Complete Farmer and American Gardener ... 2 vols.
+  _numeral "2" unclear_
+Rural Architecture ... Piggeries ...
+  _text reads "Pigeries"_
+Experimental Researches on the Food of Animals ... Thompson ...
+  _name usually found as "Thomson"_
+The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America ... colored, 15.00.
+  _no $ sign_
+The Plants of Boston and Vicinity.
+  _text reads "o  Boston" with empty space_
+Downing' Horticulturist.
+  _missing "s" in "Downing's"_
+The Muck Manual ... By Samuel L. Dana ...
+  _text reads "Da a" with empty space_
+The Dog and Sportsman ... cts.
+  _price missing, with no extra space_
+The American Herd Book ... $_.
+  _number illegible, possibly "2"_
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Rural Architecture, by Lewis Falley Allen
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RURAL ARCHITECTURE ***
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rural Architecture, by Lewis Falley Allen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Rural Architecture
+       Being a Complete Description of Farm Houses, Cottages, and Out Buildings
+
+Author: Lewis Falley Allen
+
+Illustrator: John William Orr
+
+Release Date: December 3, 2006 [EBook #19998]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RURAL ARCHITECTURE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Louise Hope, Steven Giacomelli and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images produced by Core Historical
+Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell University)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<p class = "mynote">
+A few typographical errors have been corrected. They have been
+marked in the text with <ins class = "correction" title =
+"like this">mouse-hover popups</ins>. Some inconsistencies of spelling
+are noted at the <a href = "#spelling">end of the text</a>.
+</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<img src = "images/pic85.jpg" width = "416" height = "208"
+alt = "frontispiece: farm house 2, page 85"
+title = "frontispiece: farm house 2, page 85"></p>
+
+
+<h2 class = "chapter">RURAL ARCHITECTURE.</h2>
+
+<hr class = "mid">
+
+<h4>BEING A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION</h4>
+
+<h6>OF</h6>
+
+<h1>FARM HOUSES, COTTAGES,</h1>
+
+<h6>AND</h6>
+
+<h2 class = "extended">OUT BUILDINGS,</h2>
+
+<h6>COMPRISING</h6>
+
+<div class = "line0 leftfloat"></div>
+<div class = "line0 rightfloat"></div>
+<div class = "line1 leftfloat"></div>
+<div class = "line1 rightfloat"></div>
+<div class = "line2 leftfloat"></div>
+<div class = "line2 rightfloat"></div>
+<div class = "line3 leftfloat"></div>
+<div class = "line3 rightfloat"></div>
+<div class = "line4 leftfloat"></div>
+<div class = "line4 rightfloat"></div>
+
+<h5>WOOD HOUSES, WORKSHOPS, TOOL HOUSES, CARRIAGE AND WAGON HOUSES,
+STABLES, SMOKE AND ASH HOUSES, ICE HOUSES, APIARY OR BEE HOUSE, POULTRY
+HOUSES, RABBITRY, DOVECOTE, PIGGERY, BARNS AND SHEDS FOR CATTLE,
+&amp;c.,&nbsp;&amp;c.,&nbsp;&amp;c.</h5>
+
+<h6>TOGETHER WITH</h6>
+
+<div class = "line0 leftfloat"> </div>
+<div class = "line0 rightfloat"> </div>
+<div class = "line1 leftfloat"> </div>
+<div class = "line1 rightfloat"> </div>
+<div class = "line2 leftfloat"> </div>
+<div class = "line2 rightfloat"> </div>
+<div class = "line3 leftfloat"> </div>
+<div class = "line3 rightfloat"> </div>
+<div class = "line4 leftfloat"> </div>
+<div class = "line4 rightfloat"> </div>
+
+<h5>LAWNS, PLEASURE GROUNDS AND PARKS; THE FLOWER, FRUIT AND VEGETABLE
+GARDEN. ALSO, USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL DOMESTIC ANIMALS FOR THE COUNTRY
+RESIDENT,
+&amp;c.,&nbsp;&amp;c.,&nbsp;&amp;c.</h5>
+
+<h6>ALSO,</h6>
+
+<h5>THE BEST METHOD OF</h5>
+
+<h4>CONDUCTING WATER INTO CATTLE YARDS AND HOUSES.</h4>
+
+<br>
+
+<h3 class = "extended">BY LEWIS F. ALLEN.</h3>
+
+<br>
+
+<h4 class = "boldf">BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED.</h4>
+
+<br>
+
+<h5>NEW YORK:</h5>
+<h5 class = "extended">C. M. SAXTON,</h5>
+<h6>AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER.</h6>
+<h5>1852.</h5>
+
+<p>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h6>Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852.<br>
+<span class = "smallcaps">By Lewis F. Allen</span>,<br>
+In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States<br>
+for the Southern District of New York.</h6>
+<hr>
+
+<br>
+
+<hr class = "mid">
+<h6>Stereotyped by<br>
+JEWETT, THOMAS AND CO.<br>
+Buffalo, N.Y.</h6>
+
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">iii</span>
+<h4 class = "chapter">ADVERTISEMENT.</h4>
+
+<hr class = "mid">
+
+<p>The writer of these pages ought, perhaps, to apologize for attempting
+a work on a subject, of which he is not a <i>professional</i> master,
+either in design or execution. In the science of Farm buildings he
+claims no better knowledge than a long practical observation has given
+him. The thoughts herein submitted for the consideration of those
+interested in the subject of Farm buildings are the result of that
+observation, added to his experience in the use of such buildings, and a
+conviction of the inconveniences attending many of those already planned
+and erected.</p>
+
+<p>Nor is it intended, in the production of this work, to interfere with
+the labors of the professional builder. To such builder all who may be
+disposed to adopt any model or suggestion here presented, are referred,
+for the various details, in their specifications, and estimates, that
+may be required; presuming that the designs and descriptions of this
+work will be sufficient for the guidance of any master builder, in their
+erection and completion.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">iv</span>
+But for the solicitation of those who believe that the undersigned could
+offer some improvements in the construction of Farm buildings for the
+benefit of our landholders and practical farmers, these pages would
+probably never have appeared. They are offered in the hope that they may
+be useful in assisting to form the taste, and add to the comfort of
+those who are the main instruments in embellishing the face of our
+country in its most pleasing and agreeable features&mdash;the American
+Farmer.</p>
+
+<p align = "right">
+LEWIS F. ALLEN.</p>
+
+<p class = "smallcaps">Black Rock, N.Y. 1851.</p>
+
+<hr class = "mid">
+
+<p><span class = "smallcaps">Note.</span>&mdash;For throwing the Designs
+embraced in these pages into their present artistic form, the writer is
+indebted to Messrs. Otis &amp; Brown, architects, of Buffalo, to whose
+skill and experience he takes a pleasure in recommending such as may
+wish instruction in the plans, drawings, specifications, or estimates
+relating to either of the designs here submitted, or for others of any
+kind that may be adapted to their purposes.</p>
+
+<p align = "right">
+L. F. A.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">v</span>
+<h4 class = "chapter"><a name = "contents" id =
+"contents">CONTENTS.</a></h4>
+
+<hr class = "mid">
+
+<div class = "mynote">
+
+<p>Headings in the Table of Contents are often different from the body
+text. All secondary indentations were added by the transcriber,
+representing text sections that have no distinct header. Line breaks
+were added when a single entry has two different links.</p>
+
+<p>There is no separate list of illustrations.</p>
+
+<p>Full-page plates have been placed before the discussion of each
+Design. The page number in the printed book is retained in the Table of
+Contents and some picture captions, and in marginal page numbers shown
+in parentheses. Floor plans of cottages and farm buildings have
+generally been moved to the Interior Arrangement sections; they were
+originally printed on the same page as the "Elevation".</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<table class = "toc" summary = "table of contents">
+<tr>
+<td></td>
+<td class = "number">Page.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#pref">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Prefatory</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number"><ins class = "correction" title =
+"body text has 'ix' (through xv)">9</ins></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#intro">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Introductory</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">13</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#general">
+General Suggestions</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">19</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#style">
+Style of Building&mdash;Miscellaneous</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">23</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#position">
+Position of Farm Houses</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">29</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#embellishments">
+Home Embellishments</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">32</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#material">
+Material for Farm Buildings</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">37</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#color">
+Outside Color of Houses</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">42</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#taste">
+A Short Chapter on Taste</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">48</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#cellars">
+The Construction of Cellars</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">54</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#ventilation">
+Ventilation of Houses</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">56</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#interior">
+Interior Accommodation of Houses</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">65</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#chimney">
+Chimney Tops</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">68</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#prelim">
+Preliminary to our Designs</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">69</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#house1">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Design I.</span> A Farm House</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">72</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house1_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">75</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house1_ground">
+Ground Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">76</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house1_chamber">
+Chamber Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">77</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house1_misc">
+Miscellaneous</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">80</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#house1_tenant">
+As a Tenant House</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">81</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#house2">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Design II.</span> Description</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">84</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house2_plans">
+Ground and Chamber Plans</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">89</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house2_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">90</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#details">
+Miscellaneous Details</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">95</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "mynote">
+Printed Contents indents "Miscellaneous Details," as if a subchapter to
+House Design&nbsp;II.
+</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#house3">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Design III.</span> Description</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">101</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house3_plans">
+Ground and Chamber Plans</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">105</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house3_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">106</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house3_misc">
+Miscellaneous</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">111</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td>
+<span class = "pagenum">vi</span>
+<a href = "#house4">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Design IV.</span> Description</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">114</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house4_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">118</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house4_ground">
+Ground Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">119</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house4_chamber">
+Chamber Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">120</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house4_grounds">
+Surrounding Plantations, Shrubbery, Walks, &amp;c.</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">125</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#trees">
+Tree Planting in the Highway</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">129</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "mynote">
+Printed Contents indents "Tree Planting," as if a subchapter to House
+Design&nbsp;IV.
+</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#house5">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Design V.</span> Description</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">133</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house5_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">135</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house5_ground">
+Ground Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">136</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house5_chamber">
+Chamber Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">142</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house5_construction">
+Construction, Cost of Building, &amp;c.</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">147</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house5_grounds">
+Grounds, Plantations, and Surroundings</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">149</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#house6">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Design VI.</span> A Southern, or Plantation
+House</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">154</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house6_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">159</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house6_chamber">
+Chamber Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">162</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house6_carriage">
+Carriage House</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">163</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house6_misc">
+Miscellaneous</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">163</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house6_grounds">
+Lawn and Park Surroundings</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">166</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#new_england">
+An Ancient New England Family</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">168</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#homestead">
+An American Homestead of the Last Century</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">169</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#house6_cost">
+Estimate of Cost of Design VI</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">172</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#house7">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Design VII.</span> A Plantation
+House</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">175</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house7_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">176</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house7_ground">
+Ground Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">177</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house7_chamber">
+Chamber Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">178</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#house6_misc">
+Miscellaneous</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">179</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "mynote">
+Printed Contents shows "Miscellaneous" (above) as a new chapter, but
+indents "Lawns..." (below).
+</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#woods">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Lawns, Grounds, Parks, and
+Woods</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">181</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#woods_forest">
+The Forest Trees of America</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">183</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#woods_character">
+Influence of Trees and Forests on the Character of men</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">184</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#woods_planters">
+Hillhouse and Walter Scott as Tree Planters</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">187</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#woods_johnson">
+Doctor Johnson, no Rural Taste</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">188</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "mynote">
+The following three headings&mdash; Fruit Garden, Kitchen Garden,
+Flowers&mdash; appear <i>in the body text</i> as separate chapters.
+</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#orchard">
+Fruit Garden&mdash;Orchard</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">194</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#kitchengarden">
+How to lay out a Kitchen Garden</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">197</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#flowers">
+Flowers</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">202</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#flowers_wild">
+Wild Flowers of America</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">203</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#flowers_home">
+Succession of Home Flowers</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">206</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#cottages">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Farm Cottages</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">208</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#cottage1">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Design I</span></a>,<br>
+and <a href = "#cottage1_interior">Ground Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">213</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#cottage1_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a></td>
+<td class = "number">214</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td>
+<span class = "pagenum">vii</span>
+<a href = "#cottage2">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Design II</span></a>,<br>
+and <a href = "#cottage2_interior">Ground Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">216</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#cottage2_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">216</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#cottage3">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Design III</span></a>,<br>
+and <a href = "#cottage3_interior">Ground Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">220</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#cottage3_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">220</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#cottage4">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Design IV</span></a>,<br>
+and <a href = "#cottage4_interior">Ground Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">226</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#cottage4_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">229</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#cottage_outside">
+Cottage Outside Decoration</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">231</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#cottage_estate">
+Cottages on the Skirts of Estates</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">233</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#furniture">
+House and Cottage Furniture</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">235</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#apiary">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Apiary, or Bee House</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">246</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#apiary_plan">
+View of Apiary and Ground Plan, and description</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">249</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#apiary_honey">
+Mode of Taking the Honey</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">252</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#icehouse">
+<span class = "smallcaps">An Ice House</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">258</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#icehouse_plan">
+Elevation and Ground Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">260</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#smokehouse">
+<span class = "smallcaps">An Ash House and Smoke House</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">264</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#smokehouse_plan">
+Elevation and Ground Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">265</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#poultry">
+<span class = "smallcaps">The Poultry House</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">267</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1">
+<a href = "#poultry">Elevation</a><br>
+and <a href = "#poultry_plan">Ground Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">269</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#poultry_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">271</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#dovecote">
+<span class = "smallcaps">The Dovecote</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">275</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#dovecote_pigeons">
+Different Varieties of Pigeons</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">278</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#piggery">
+<span class = "smallcaps">A Piggery</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">279</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1">
+<a href = "#piggery">Elevation</a><br>
+and <a href = "#piggery_plan">Ground Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">281</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#piggery_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">282</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#piggery_construction">
+Construction of Piggery&mdash;Cost</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">283</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#barns">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Farm Barns</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">286</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#barn1">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Design I.</span> Description</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">291</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1">
+<a href = "#barn1_interior">Interior Arrangement</a>,<br>
+and <a href = "#barn1_plan">Main Floor Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">293</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1">
+<a href = "#barn1_underground">Underground Plan, and Yard</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">295</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#barn2">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Design II.</span> Description</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">300</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#barn2_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">303</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1">
+<a href = "#barn1_plan">Floor Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">304</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#attachments">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Barn Attachments</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">308</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#rabbits">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Rabbits</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">311</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#rabbits_desc">
+Mr. Rotch's Description of his Rabbits</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">313</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#rabbits_hutch">
+Rabbits and Hutch</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">315</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#rabbits_dutch">
+Dutch, and English Rabbits</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">318</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#rabbits_feeding">
+Mode of Feeding</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">319</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#rabbits_rabbitry">
+Mr. Rodman's Rabbitry, Elevation, and Floor Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">322</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1">
+<span class = "pagenum">viii</span>
+<a href = "#rabbits_rabbitry_exp">
+Explanations</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">323</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "mynote">
+"Explanations" not indented in printed Contents.
+</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><p>
+<a href = "#rabbits_loft">Loft or Garret</a>,<br>
+<a href = "#rabbits_loft_exp">Explanation</a>,</p></td>
+<td class = "number">324</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><p>
+<a href = "#rabbits_cellar">Cellar plan</a>,<br>
+<a href = "#rabbits_cellar_exp">Explanation</a>,</p></td>
+<td class = "number">325</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><p>
+<a href = "#rabbits_front">Front and Back of Hutches</a>,<br>
+and <a href = "#rabbits_front_exp">Explanation</a>,</p></td>
+<td class = "number">326</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#dairy">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Dairy Buildings</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">330</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#dairy_cheese">
+Cheese Dairy House</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">330</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1">
+<a href = "#dairy_cheese">Elevation of Dairy House</a><br>
+and <a href = "#dairy_plan">Ground Plan</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">331</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#dairy_interior">
+Interior Arrangement</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">333</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#dairy_butter">
+The Butter Dairy</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">335</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class = "mynote">
+"The Butter Dairy" appears <i>in the body text</i> as a new chapter.
+</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#water">
+<span class = "smallcaps">The Water Ram</span>,</a></td>
+<td class = "number">
+<ins class = "correction" title = "text reads '237'">337</ins></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#water_figure">
+Figure and Description</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">338</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#granary">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Granary</span>&mdash;Rat-proof</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">343</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#animals">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Improved Domestic Animals</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">345</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#animals_shorthornbull">
+Short Horn Bull</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number"><ins class = "correction"
+title = "pages reversed: bull is on 352">349</ins></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#animals_shorthorncow">
+Short Horn Cow</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number"><ins class = "correction"
+title = "pages reversed: bull is on 349">352</ins></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#animals_devon">
+Devon Cow and Bull</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">355</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#animals_southdown">
+Southdown Ram and Ewe</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">359</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#animals_longwooled">
+Long-wooled Ram and Ewe</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">362</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#animals_sheep">
+Common Sheep</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">364</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#animals_remarks">
+Remarks</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">365</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#waterfowl">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Waterfowls</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">370</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#waterfowl_african">
+The African Goose</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">370</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#waterfowl_china">
+China Goose</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">371</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset2"><a href = "#waterfowl_bremen">
+Bremen Goose</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">372</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><a href = "#dogs">
+<span class = "smallcaps">A Word About Dogs</span></a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">374</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#dogs_terrier">
+Smooth Terrier</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">377</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class = "inset1"><a href = "#dogs_shepherd">
+Shepherd Dog</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">381</td>
+</tr>
+<tr class = "sans">
+<td><a href = "#advert">
+Advertising Section</a>,</td>
+<td class = "number">{1}</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">ix</span>
+<h4 class = "chapter"><a name = "pref" id = "pref">PREFATORY.</a></h4>
+
+
+<p>This work owes its appearance to the absence of any cheap and popular
+book on the subject of Rural Architecture, exclusively intended for the
+farming or agricultural interest of the United States. Why it is, that
+nothing of the kind has been heretofore attempted for the chief benefit
+of so large and important a class of our community as our farmers
+comprise, is not easy to say, unless it be that they themselves have
+indicated but little wish for instruction in a branch of domestic
+economy which is, in reality, one of great importance, not only to their
+domestic enjoyment, but their pecuniary welfare. It is, too, perhaps,
+among the category of neglects, and in the lack of fidelity to their own
+interests which pervades the agricultural community of this country,
+beyond those of any other profession&mdash;for we insist that
+agriculture, in its true and extended sense, is as much a profession as
+any other pursuit whatever. To the reality of such neglects they have
+but of late awaked, and indeed are now far too slowly wheeling into line
+for more
+<span class = "pagenum">x</span>
+active progress in the knowledge pertaining to their own advancement. As
+an accessory to their labors in such advancement, the present work is
+intended.</p>
+
+<p>It is an opinion far too prevalent among those engaged in the more
+active occupations of our people,&mdash;fortified indeed in such
+opinion, by the too frequent example of the farmer himself&mdash;that
+everything connected with agriculture and agricultural life is of a
+rustic and uncouth character; that it is a profession in which
+ignorance, as they understand the term, is entirely consistent, and one
+with which no aspirations of a high or an elevated character should, or
+at least need be connected. It is a reflection upon the integrity of the
+great agricultural interest of the country, that any such opinion should
+prevail; and discreditable to that interest, that its condition or
+example should for a moment justify, or even tolerate&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>Without going into any extended course of remark, we shall find ample
+reason for the indifference which has prevailed among our rural
+population, on the subject of their own domestic architecture, in the
+absence of familiar and practical works on the subject, by such as have
+given any considerable degree of thought to it; and, what little thought
+has been devoted to this branch of building, has been incidentally
+rather than directly thrown off by those professionally engaged in the
+finer architectural studies appertaining to luxury and taste, instead of
+the every-day wants of a strictly agricultural population, and, of
+consequence, understanding but imperfectly the wants and conveniences of
+the farm house in its connection with the every-day labors and
+necessities of farm life.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">xi</span>
+It is not intended, in these remarks, to depreciate the efforts of those
+who have attempted to instruct our farmers in this interesting branch of
+agricultural economy. We owe them a debt of gratitude for what they have
+accomplished in the introduction of their designs to our notice; and
+when it is remarked that they are insufficient for the purposes
+intended, it may be also taken as an admission of our own neglect, that
+we have so far disregarded the subject ourselves, as to force upon
+others the duty of essaying to instruct us in a work of which we
+ourselves should long ago have been the masters.</p>
+
+<p>Why should a farmer, because he <i>is</i> a farmer, only occupy an
+uncouth, outlandish house, any more than a professional man,
+a&nbsp;merchant, or a mechanic? Is it because he himself is so uncouth
+and outlandish in his thoughts and manners, that he deserves no better?
+Is it because his occupation is degrading, his intellect ignorant, his
+position in life low, and his associations debasing? Surely not. Yet, in
+many of the plans and designs got up for his accommodation, in the books
+and publications of the day, all due convenience, to say nothing of the
+respectability or the elegance of domestic life, is as entirely
+disregarded as if such qualities had no connection with the farmer or
+his occupation. We hold, that although many of the practical operations
+of the farm may be rough, laborious, and untidy, yet they are not, and
+need not be inconsistent with the knowledge and practice of neatness,
+order, and even elegance and refinement within doors; and, that the due
+accommodation of the various things appertaining to farm stock, farm
+labor, and farm life, should have a tendency to elevate the social
+<span class = "pagenum">xii</span>
+position, the associations, thoughts, and entire condition of the
+farmer. As the man himself&mdash;no matter what his occupation&mdash;be
+lodged and fed, so influenced, in a degree, will be his practice in the
+daily duties of his life. A&nbsp;squalid, miserable tenement, with which
+they who inhabit it are content, can lead to no elevation of character,
+no improvement in condition, either social or moral, of its occupants.
+But, the family comfortably and tidily, although humbly provided in
+their habitation and domestic arrangements, have usually a corresponding
+character in their personal relations. A&nbsp;log cabin, even,&mdash;and
+I speak of this primitive American structure with profound affection and
+regard, as the shelter from which we have achieved the most of our
+prodigious and rapid agricultural conquests,&mdash;may be so constructed
+as to speak an air of neatness, intelligence, and even refinement in
+those who inhabit&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>Admitting, then, without further argument, that well conditioned
+household accommodations are as important to the farmer, even to the
+indulgence of luxury itself, when it can be afforded, as for those who
+occupy other and more active pursuits, it is quite important that he be
+equally well instructed in the art of planning and arranging these
+accommodations, and in designing, also, the various other structures
+which are necessary to his wants in their fullest extent. As a question
+of economy, both in saving and accumulating, good and sufficient
+buildings are of the first consequence, in a pecuniary light, and when
+to this are added other considerations touching our social enjoyment,
+our advancement in temporal condition, our associations, our position
+and influence in life, and, not least,
+<span class = "pagenum">xiii</span>
+the decided item of national good taste which the introduction of good
+buildings throughout our extended agricultural country will give, we
+find abundant cause for effort in improvement.</p>
+
+<p>It is not intended in our remarks to convey the impression that we
+Americans, as a people, are destitute of comfortable, and, in many
+cases, quite convenient household and farm arrangements. Numerous
+farmeries in every section of the United States, particularly in the
+older ones, demonstrate most fully, that where our farmers have taken
+the trouble to <i>think</i> on the subject, their ingenuity has been
+equal, in the items of convenient and economical arrangement of their
+dwellings and out-buildings, to their demands. But, we are forced to
+say, that such buildings have been executed, in most cases, with great
+neglect of <i>architectural</i> system, taste, or effect; and, in many
+instances, to the utter violation of all <i>propriety</i> in appearance,
+or character, as appertaining to the uses for which they are
+applied.</p>
+
+<p>The character of the farm should be carried out so as to
+<i>express</i> itself in everything which it contains. All should bear a
+consistent relation with each other. The former himself is a plain man.
+His family are plain people, although none the less worthy, useful, or
+exalted, on that account. His structures, of every kind, should be
+plain, also, yet substantial, where substance is required. All these
+detract nothing from his respectability or his influence in the
+neighborhood, the town, the county, or the state. A&nbsp;farmer has
+quite as much business in the field, or about his ordinary occupations,
+with ragged garments, out at elbows, and a crownless hat, as he has to
+occupy
+<span class = "pagenum">xiv</span>
+a leaky, wind-broken, and dilapidated house. Neither is he any nearer
+the mark, with a ruffled shirt, a&nbsp;fancy dress, or gloved hands,
+when following his plough behind a pair of <i>fancy</i> horses, than in
+living in a finical, pretending house, such as we see stuck up in
+conspicuous places in many parts of the country. All these are out of
+place in each extreme, and the one is as absurd, so far as true
+propriety is concerned, as the other. A&nbsp;fitness of things, or a
+correspondence of one thing with another, should always be preserved
+upon the farm, as elsewhere; and there is not a single reason why
+propriety and good keeping should not as well distinguish it. Nor is
+there any good cause why the farmer himself should not be a man of
+taste, in the arrangement and architecture of every building on his
+place, as well as other men. It is only necessary that he devote a
+little time to study, in order to give his mind a right direction in all
+that appertains to this department. Or, if he prefer to employ the
+ingenuity of others to do his planning,&mdash;which, by the way, is, in
+most cases, the more natural and better course,&mdash;he certainly
+should possess sufficient judgment to see that such plans be correct and
+will answer his purposes.</p>
+
+<p>The plans and directions submitted in this work are intended to be of
+the most practical kind; plain, substantial, and applicable, throughout,
+to the purposes intended, and such as are within the reach&mdash;each in
+their kind&mdash;of every farmer in our country. These plans are chiefly
+original; that is, they are not copied from any in the books, or from
+any structures with which the writer is familiar. Yet they will
+doubtless, on examination, be found in several cases to resemble
+buildings,
+<span class = "pagenum">xv</span>
+both in outward appearance and interior arrangement, with which numerous
+readers may be acquainted. The object, in addition to our own designs,
+has been to apply practical hints, gathered from other structures in
+use, which have seemed appropriate for a work of the limited extent here
+offered, and that may serve to improve the taste of all such as, in
+building useful structures, desire to embellish their farms and estates
+in an agreeable style of home architecture, at once pleasant to the eye,
+and convenient in their arrangement.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">13</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "intro" id = "intro">
+INTRODUCTORY.</a></h4>
+
+<p>The lover of country life who looks upon rural objects in the true
+spirit, and, for the first time surveys the cultivated portions of the
+United States, will be struck with the incongruous appearance and style
+of our farm houses and their contiguous buildings; and, although, on
+examination, he will find many, that in their interior accommodation,
+and perhaps relative arrangement to each other, are tolerably suited to
+the business and convenience of the husbandman, still, the feeling will
+prevail that there is an absence of method, congruity, and correct taste
+in the architectural structure of his buildings generally, by the
+American farmer.</p>
+
+<p>We may, in truth, be said to have no architecture at all, as
+exhibited in our agricultural districts, so far as any correct system,
+or plan is concerned, as the better taste in building, which a few years
+past has introduced among us, has been chiefly confined to our cities
+and towns of rapid growth. Even in the comparatively few buildings in
+the modern style to be seen in our farming districts, from the various
+requirements of
+<span class = "pagenum">14</span>
+those buildings being partially unknown to the architect and builder,
+who had their planning&mdash;and upon whom, owing to their own
+inexperience in such matters, their employers have relied&mdash;a
+majority of such dwellings have turned out, if not absolute failures,
+certainly not what the necessities of the farmer has demanded.
+Consequently, save in the mere item of outward appearance&mdash;and
+that, not always&mdash;the farmer and cottager have gained nothing,
+owing to the absurdity in style or arrangement, and want of fitness to
+circumstances adopted for the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>We have stated that our prevailing rural architecture is discordant
+in appearance; it may be added, that it is also uncouth, out of keeping
+with correct rules, and, ofttimes offensive to the eye of any lover of
+rural harmony. Why it is so, no matter, beyond the apology already
+given&mdash;that of an absence of cultivation, and thought upon the
+subject. It may be asked, of what consequence is it that the farmer or
+small property-holder should conform to given rules, or mode, in the
+style and arrangement of his dwelling, or out-buildings, so that they be
+reasonably convenient, and answer his purposes? For the same reason that
+he requires symmetry, excellence of form or style, in his horses, his
+cattle, or other farm stock, household furniture, or personal dress. It
+is an arrangement of artificial objects, in harmony with natural
+objects; a&nbsp;cultivation of the sympathies which every rational being
+should have, more or less, with true taste; that costs little or nothing
+in the attainment, and, when attained, is a source of gratification
+through life. Every human being is
+<span class = "pagenum">15</span>
+bound, under ordinary circumstances, to leave the world somewhat better,
+so far as his own acts or exertions are concerned, than he found it, in
+the exercise of such faculties as have been given him. Such duty, among
+thinking men, is conceded, so far as the moral world is concerned; and
+why not in the artificial? So far as the influence for good goes, in all
+practical use, from the building of a temple, to the knocking together
+of a pig-stye&mdash;a labor of years, or the work of a day&mdash;the
+exercise of a correct taste is important, in a degree.</p>
+
+<p>In the available physical features of a country, no land upon earth
+exceeds North America. From scenery the most sublime, through the
+several gradations of magnificence and grandeur, down to the simply
+picturesque and beautiful, in all variety and shade; in compass vast, or
+in area limited, we have an endless variety, and, with a pouring out of
+God's harmonies in the creation, without a parallel, inviting every
+intelligent mind to study their features and character, in adapting them
+to his own uses, and, in so doing, to even embellish&mdash;if such a
+thing be possible&mdash;such exquisite objects with his own most
+ingenious handiwork. Indeed, it is a profanation to do otherwise; and
+when so to improve them requires no extraordinary application of skill,
+or any extravagant outlay in expense, not to plan and to build in
+conformity with good taste, is an absolute barbarism, inexcusable in a
+land like ours, and among a population claiming the intelligence we do,
+or making but a share of the general progress which we exhibit.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">16</span>
+It is the idea of some, that a house or building which the farmer or
+planter occupies, should, in shape, style, and character, be like some
+of the stored-up commodities of his farm or plantation. We cannot
+subscribe to this suggestion. We know of no good reason why the walls of
+a farm house should appear like a hay rick, or its roof like the
+thatched covering to his wheat stacks, because such are the shapes best
+adapted to preserve his crops, any more than the grocer's habitation
+should be made to imitate a tea chest, or the shipping merchant's a rum
+puncheon, or cotton bale. We have an idea that the farmer, or the
+planter, according to his means and requirements, should be as well
+housed and accommodated, and in as agreeable style, too, as any other
+class of community; not in like character, in all things, to be sure,
+but in his own proper way and manner. Nor do we know why a farm house
+should assume a peculiarly primitive or uncultivated style of
+architecture, from other sensible houses. That it be a <i>farm</i>
+house, is sufficiently apparent from its locality upon the farm itself;
+that its interior arrangement be for the convenience of the in-door farm
+work, and the proper accommodation of the farmer's family, should be
+quite as apparent; but, that it should assume an uncouth or clownish
+aspect, is as unnecessary as that the farmer himself should be a boor in
+his manners, or a dolt in his intellect.</p>
+
+<p>The farm, in its proper cultivation, is the foundation of all human
+prosperity, and from it is derived the main wealth of the community.
+From the farm chiefly springs that energetic class of men, who replace
+the
+<span class = "pagenum">17</span>
+enervated and physically decaying multitude continually thrown off in
+the waste-weir of our great commercial and manufacturing cities and
+towns, whose population, without the infusion&mdash;and that
+continually&mdash;of the strong, substantial, and vigorous life blood of
+the country, would soon dwindle into insignificance and decrepitude. Why
+then should not this first, primitive, health-enjoying and
+life-sustaining class of our people be equally accommodated in all that
+gives to social and substantial life, its due development? It is absurd
+to deny them by others, or that they deny themselves, the least of such
+advantages, or that any mark of <i>caste</i> be attempted to separate
+them from any other class or profession of equal wealth, means, or
+necessity. It is quite as well to say that the farmer should worship on
+the Sabbath in a <i>meeting-house</i>, built after the fashion of his
+barn, or that his district school house should look like a stable, as
+that his dwelling should not exhibit all that cheerfulness and
+respectability in form and feature which belongs to the houses of any
+class of our population whatever. Not that the farm house should be like
+the town or the village house, in character, style, or architecture, but
+that it should, in its own proper character, express all the comfort,
+repose, and quietude which belong to the retired and thoughtful
+occupation of him who inhabits it. Sheltered in its own secluded, yet
+independent domain, with a cheerful, <i>intelligent</i> exterior, it
+should exhibit all the pains-taking in home embellishment and rural
+decoration that becomes its position, and which would make it an object
+of attraction and regard.</p>
+
+
+<a name = "page18" id = "page18"> </a>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">19</span>
+<h3 class = "chapter">
+RURAL ARCHITECTURE.</h3>
+
+<hr class = "mid">
+
+<h4 class = "extended"><a name = "general" id = "general">
+GENERAL SUGGESTIONS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>In ascertaining what is desirable to the conveniences, or the
+necessities in our household arrangement, it may be not unprofitable to
+look about us, and consider somewhat, the existing condition of the
+structures too many of us now inhabit, and which, in the light of true
+fitness for the objects designed, are inconvenient, absurd, and out of
+all harmony of purpose; yet, under the guidance of a better skill, and a
+moderate outlay, might be well adapted, in most cases, to our
+convenience and comfort, and quite well, to a reasonable standard of
+taste in architectural appearance.</p>
+
+<p>At the threshold&mdash;not of the house, but of this
+treatise&mdash;it may be well to remark that it is not here assumed that
+there has been neither skill, ingenuity, nor occasional good taste
+exhibited, for many generations back, in the United States, in the
+construction of farm and country houses. On the contrary, there are
+found in the older states many farm and country houses
+<span class = "pagenum">20</span>
+that are almost models, in their way, for convenience in the main
+purposes required of structures of their kind, and such as can hardly be
+altered for the better. Such, however, form the exception, not the rule;
+yet instead of standing as objects for imitation, they have been ruled
+out as antiquated, and unfit for modern builders to consult, who have in
+the introduction of some real improvements, also left out, or discarded
+much that is valuable, and, where true comfort is concerned,
+indispensable to perfect housekeeping. Alteration is not always
+improvement, and in the rage for innovation of all kinds, among much
+that is valuable, a&nbsp;great deal in house-building has been
+introduced that is absolutely pernicious. Take, for instance, some of
+our ancient-looking country houses of the last century, which, in
+America, we call old. See their ample dimensions; their heavy, massive
+walls; their low, comfortable ceilings; their high gables; sharp roofs;
+deep porches, and spreading eaves, and contrast them with the ambitious,
+tall, proportionless, and card-sided things of a modern date, and draw
+the comparison in true comfort, which the ancient mansion really
+affords, by the side of the other. Bating its huge chimneys, its wide
+<ins class = "correction"
+title = "hyphen in original: normal form is 'fireplaces'">fire-places</ins>,
+its heavy beams dropping below the
+ceiling overhead, and the lack of some modern conveniences, which, to be
+added, would give all that is desired, and every man possessed of a
+proper judgment will concede the superiority to the house of the last
+century.</p>
+
+<p>That American house-building of the last fifty years is out of joint,
+requires no better proof than that the
+<span class = "pagenum">21</span>
+main improvements which have been applied to our rural architecture, are
+in the English style of farm and country houses of two or three
+centuries ago; so, in that particular, we acknowledge the better taste
+and judgment of our ancestors. True, modern luxury, and in some
+particulars, modern improvement has made obsolete, if not absurd, many
+things considered indispensable in a ruder age. The wide, rambling halls
+and rooms; the huge, deep <ins class = "correction" title =
+"hyphen in original: normal form is 'fireplaces'">fire-places</ins>
+in the chimneys; the proximity of out-buildings, and the contiguity of stables,
+ricks, and cattle-yards&mdash;all these are wisely contracted, dispensed
+with, or thrown off to a proper distance; but instead of such style
+being abandoned altogether, as has too often been done, the house itself
+might better have been partially reformed, and the interior arrangement
+adapted to modern convenience. Such changes have in some instances been
+made; and when so, how often does the old mansion, with outward features
+in good preservation, outspeak, in all the expression of home-bred
+comforts, the flashy, gimcrack neighbor, which in its plenitude of
+modern pretension looks so flauntingly down upon&nbsp;it!</p>
+
+<p>We cannot, in the United States, consistently adopt the domestic
+architecture of any other country, throughout, to our use. We are
+different in our institutions, our habits, our agriculture, our
+climates. Utility is our chief object, and coupled with that, the
+indulgence of an agreeable taste may be permitted to every one who
+creates a home for himself, or founds one for his family. The frequent
+changes of estates incident to our laws, and the many inducements held
+out to our people to
+<span class = "pagenum">22</span>
+change their locality or residence, in the hope of bettering their
+condition, is a strong hindrance to the adoption of a universally
+correct system in the construction of our buildings; deadening, as the
+effect of such changes, that home feeling which should be a prominent
+trait of agricultural character. An attachment to locality is not a
+conspicuous trait of American character; and if there be a people on
+earth boasting a high civilization and intelligence, who are at the same
+time a roving race, the Americans are that people; and we acknowledge it
+a blemish in our domestic and social constitution.</p>
+
+<p>Such remark is not dropped invidiously, but as a reason why we have
+thus far made so little progress in the arts of home embellishment, and
+in clustering about our habitations those innumerable attractions which
+win us to them sufficiently to repel the temptation so often presented
+to our enterprise, our ambition, or love of gain&mdash;and these not
+always successful&mdash;in seeking other and distant places of abode.
+If, then, this tendency to change&mdash;a want of attachment to any one
+spot&mdash;is a reason why we have been so indifferent to domestic
+architecture; and if the study and practice of a better system of
+building tends to cultivate a home feeling, why should it not be
+encouraged? Home attachment is a virtue. Therefore let that virtue be
+cherished. And if any one study tend to exalt our taste, and promote our
+enjoyment, let us cultivate that study to the highest extent within our
+reach.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">23</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "style" id = "style">
+STYLE OF BUILDING.&mdash;MISCELLANEOUS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>Diversified as are the features of our country in climate, soil,
+surface, and position, no one style of rural architecture is properly
+adapted to the whole; and it is a gratifying incident to the indulgence
+in a variety of taste, that we possess the opportunity which we desire
+in its display to almost any extent in mode and effect. The Swiss <ins
+class = "correction" title = "text reads 'chal�t'">ch�let</ins> may hang
+in the mountain pass; the pointed Gothic may shoot up among the
+evergreens of the rugged hill-side; the Italian roof, with its
+overlooking campanile, may command the wooded slope or the open plain;
+or the quaint and shadowy style of the old English mansion, embosomed in
+its vines and shrubbery, may nestle in the quiet, shaded valley, all
+suited to their respective positions, and each in harmony with the
+natural features by which it is surrounded. Nor does the effect which
+such structures give to the landscape in an ornamental point of view,
+require that they be more imposing in character than the necessities of
+the occasion may demand. True economy demands a structure sufficiently
+spacious to accommodate its occupants in the best manner, so far as
+convenience and
+<span class = "pagenum">24</span>
+comfort are concerned in a dwelling; and its conformity to just rules in
+architecture need not be additionally expensive or troublesome. He who
+builds at all, if it be anything beyond a rude or temporary shelter, may
+as easily and cheaply build in accordance with correct rules of
+architecture, as against such rules; and it no more requires an
+extravagance in cost or a wasteful occupation of room to produce a given
+effect in a house suited to humble means, than in one of profuse
+accommodation. Magnificence, or the attempt at magnificence in building,
+is the great fault with Americans who aim to build out of the common
+line; and the consequence of such attempt is too often a failure,
+apparent, always, at a glance, and of course a perfect condemnation in
+itself of the judgment as well as taste of him who
+undertakes&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>Holding our tenures as we do, with no privilege of entail to our
+posterity, an eye to his own interest, or to that of his family who is
+to succeed to his estate, should admonish the builder of a house to the
+adoption of a plan which will, in case of the sale of the estate,
+involve no serious loss. He should build such a house as will be no
+detriment, in its expense, to the selling value of the land on which it
+stands, and always fitted for the spot it occupies. Hence, an imitation
+of the high, extended, castellated mansions of England, or the
+Continent, although in miniature, are altogether unsuited to the
+American farmer or planter, whose lands, instead of increasing in his
+family, are continually subject to division, or to sale in mass, on his
+own demise; and when the estate is encumbered with unnecessarily
+<span class = "pagenum">25</span>
+large and expensive buildings, they become an absolute drawback to its
+value in either event. An expensive house requires a corresponding
+expense to maintain it, otherwise its effect is lost, and many a worthy
+owner of a costly mansion has been driven to sell and abandon his estate
+altogether, from his unwillingness or inability to support "the
+establishment" which it entailed; when, if the dwelling were only such
+as the estate required and could reasonably maintain, a&nbsp;contented
+and happy home would have remained to himself and family. It behooves,
+therefore, the American builder to examine well his premises, to
+ascertain the actual requirements of his farm or plantation, in
+convenience and accommodation, and build only to such extent, and at
+such cost as shall not impoverish his means, nor cause him future
+disquietude.</p>
+
+<p>Another difficulty with us is, that we oftener build to gratify the
+eyes of the public than our own, and fit up our dwellings to accommodate
+"company" or visitors, rather than our own families; and in the
+indulgence of this false notion, subject ourselves to perpetual
+inconvenience for the gratification of occasional hospitality or
+ostentation. This is all wrong. A&nbsp;house should be planned and
+constructed for the use of the household, with <i>incidental</i>
+accommodation for our immediate friends or guests&mdash;which can always
+be done without sacrifice to the comfort or convenience of the regular
+inmates. In this remark, a&nbsp;stinted and parsimonious spirit is not
+suggested. A&nbsp;liberal appropriation of rooms in every department;
+a&nbsp;spare chamber or two, or an additional room on the ground floor,
+<span class = "pagenum">26</span>
+looking to a possible increase of family, and the indulgence of an easy
+hospitality, should always govern the resident of the country in
+erecting his dwelling. The enjoyments of society and the intercourse of
+friends, sharing for the time, our own table and fireside, is a crowning
+pleasure of country life; and all this may be done without extraordinary
+expense, in a wise construction of the dwelling.</p>
+
+<p>The farm house too, should comport in character and area with the
+extent and capacity of the farm itself, and the main design for which it
+is erected. To the farmer proper&mdash;he who lives from the income
+which the farm produces&mdash;it is important to know the extent of
+accommodation required for the economical management of his estate, and
+then to build in accordance with it, as well as to suit his own position
+in life, and the station which he and his family hold in society. The
+owner of a hundred acre farm, living upon the income he receives from
+it, will require less house room than he who tills equally well his farm
+of three, six, or ten hundred acres. Yet the numbers in their respective
+families, the relative position of each in society, or their taste for
+social intercourse may demand a larger or smaller household arrangement,
+regardless of the size of their estates; still, the dwellings on each
+should bear, in extent and expense, a&nbsp;consistent relation to the
+land itself, and the means of its owner. For instance: a farm of one
+hundred acres may safely and economically erect and maintain a house
+costing eight hundred to two thousand dollars, while one of five hundred
+to a thousand acres may range in an expenditure
+<span class = "pagenum">27</span>
+of twenty-five hundred to five thousand dollars in its dwelling, and all
+be consistent with a proper economy in farm management.</p>
+
+<p>Let it be understood, that the above sums are named as simply
+comporting with a financial view of the subject, and such as the
+economical management of the estate may warrant. To one who has no
+regard to such consideration, this rule of expenditure will not apply.
+He may invest any amount he so chooses in building beyond, if he only be
+content to pocket the loss which he can never expect to be returned in
+an increased value to the property, over and above the price of cheaper
+buildings. On the other hand, he would do well to consider that a farm
+is frequently worth less to an ordinary purchaser, with an extravagant
+house upon it, than with an economical one, and in many cases will bring
+even less in market, in proportion as the dwelling is expensive.
+<i>Fancy</i> purchasers are few, and fastidious, while he who buys only
+for a home and an occupation, is governed solely by the profitable
+returns the estate will afford upon the capital invested.</p>
+
+<p>There is again a grand error which many fall into in building,
+looking as they do only at the extent of wood and timber; or stone and
+mortar in the structure, and paying no attention to the surroundings,
+which in most cases contribute more to the effect of the establishment
+than the structure itself, and which, if uncultivated or neglected, any
+amount of expenditure in building will fail to give that completeness
+and perfection of character which every homestead should command. Thus
+<span class = "pagenum">28</span>
+the tawdry erections in imitation of a cast-off feudalism in Europe, or
+a copying of the massive piles of more recent date abroad, although in
+miniature, both in extent and cost, is the sheerest affectation, in
+which no sensible man should ever indulge. It is out of all keeping, or
+propriety with other things, as we in this country have them, and the
+indulgence of all such fancies is sooner or later regretted. Substance,
+convenience, purpose, harmony&mdash;all, perhaps, better summed up in
+the term <span class = "smallroman">EXPRESSION</span>&mdash;these are
+the objects which should govern the construction of our dwellings and
+out-buildings, and in their observance we can hardly err in the
+acquisition of what will promote the highest enjoyment which a dwelling
+can bestow.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">29</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "position" id = "position">
+POSITION.</a></h4>
+
+<p>The site of a dwelling should be an important study with every
+country builder; for on this depends much of its utility, and in
+addition to that, a&nbsp;large share of the enjoyment which its
+occupation will afford. Custom, in many parts of the United States, in
+the location of the farm buildings, gives advantages which are denied in
+others. In the south, and in the slave states generally, the planter
+builds, regardless of roads, on the most convenient site his plantation
+presents; the farmer of German descent, in Pennsylvania and some other
+states, does the same: while the Yankee, be he settled where he will,
+either in the east, north, or west, inexorably huddles himself
+immediately upon the highway, whether his possessions embrace both sides
+of it or not, disregarding the facilities of access to his fields, the
+convenience of tilling his crops, or the character of the ground which
+his buildings may occupy, seeming to have no other object than proximity
+to the road&mdash;as if his chief business was upon that, instead of its
+being simply a convenience to his occupation. To the last, but little
+choice is left; and so long as a close connection with the thoroughfare
+is to control, he is obliged
+<span class = "pagenum">30</span>
+to conform to accident in what should be a matter of deliberate choice
+and judgment. Still, there are right and wrong positions for a house,
+which it is necessary to discuss, regardless of conventional rules, and
+they should be considered in the light of propriety alone.</p>
+
+<p>A fitness to the purposes for which the dwelling is constructed
+should, unquestionably, be the governing point in determining its
+position. The site should be dry, and slightly declining, if possible,
+on every side; but if the surface be level, or where water occasionally
+flows from contiguous grounds, or on a soil naturally damp, it should be
+thoroughly drained of all superfluous moisture. That is indispensable to
+the preservation of the house itself, and the health of its inmates. The
+house should so stand as to present an agreeable aspect from the main
+points at which it is seen, or the thoroughfares by which it is
+approached. It should be so arranged as to afford protection from wind
+and storm, to that part most usually occupied, as well as be easy of
+access to the out-buildings appended to it. It should have an
+unmistakable front, sides, and rear; and the uses to which its various
+parts are applied, should distinctly appear in its outward character. It
+should combine all the advantages of soil, cultivation, water, shade,
+and shelter, which the most liberal gratification, consistent with the
+circumstances of the owner, may demand. If a site on the estate command
+a prospect of singular beauty, other things equal, the dwelling should
+embrace it; if the luxury of a stream, or a sheet of water in repose,
+present itself, it should, if possible, be enjoyed; if the shade and
+protection of a
+<span class = "pagenum">31</span>
+grove be near, its benefits should be included; in fine, any object in
+itself desirable, and not embarrassing to the main purposes of the
+dwelling and its appendages, should be turned to the best account, and
+appropriated in such manner as to combine all that is desirable both in
+beauty and effect, as well as in utility, to make up a perfect whole in
+the family residence.</p>
+
+<p>Attached to the building site should be considered the quality of the
+soil, as affording cultivation and growth to shrubbery and
+trees,&mdash;at once the ornament most effective to all domestic
+buildings, grateful to the eye always, as objects of admiration and
+beauty&mdash;delightful in the repose they offer in hours of lassitude
+or weariness; and to them, that indispensable feature in a perfect
+arrangement, the garden, both fruit and vegetable, should be added.
+Happily for the American, our soils are so universally adapted to the
+growth of vegetation in all its varieties, that hardly a farm of
+considerable size can be found which does not afford tolerable
+facilities for the exercise of all the taste which one may indulge in
+the cultivation of the garden as well as in the planting and growth of
+trees and shrubbery; and a due appropriation of these to an agreeable
+residence is equal in importance to the style and arrangement of the
+house itself.</p>
+
+<p>The site selected for the dwelling, and the character of the scenery
+and objects immediately surrounding it, should have a controlling
+influence upon the style in which the house is to be constructed.
+A&nbsp;fitness and harmony in all these is indispensable to both
+expression and effect. And in their determination, a&nbsp;single
+<span class = "pagenum">32</span>
+object should not control, but the entire picture, as completed, should
+be embraced in the view; and that style of building constituting the
+most agreeable whole, as filling the eye with the most grateful
+sensations, should be the one selected with which to fill up and
+complete the design.</p>
+
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "embellishments" id = "embellishments">
+HOME EMBELLISHMENTS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>A discussion of the objects by way of embellishment, which may be
+required to give character and effect to a country residence, would
+embrace a range too wide, in all its parts, for a simply practical
+treatise like this; and general hints on the subject are all indeed,
+that will be required, as no specific rules or directions can be given
+which would be applicable, indiscriminately, to guide the builder in the
+execution of his work. A&nbsp;dwelling house, no matter what the style,
+standing alone, either on hill or plain, apart from other objects, would
+hardly be an attractive sight. As a mere representation of a particular
+style of architecture, or as a model of imitation, it might excite our
+admiration, but it would not be an object on which the eye and the
+imagination could repose with satisfaction. It would be incomplete
+unless accompanied by such associates as the eye is accustomed to
+embrace in the full gratification of the sensations to which that organ
+is the
+<span class = "pagenum">33</span>
+conductor. But assemble around that dwelling subordinate structures,
+trees, and shrubbery properly disposed, and it becomes an object of
+exceeding interest and pleasure in the contemplation. It is therefore,
+that the particular style or outward arrangement of the house is but a
+part of what should constitute the general effect, and such style is to
+be consulted only so far as it may in itself please the taste, and give
+benefit or utility in the purposes for which it is intended. Still, the
+architectural design should be in harmony with the features of the
+surrounding scenery, and is thus important in completing the effect
+sought, and which cannot be accomplished without&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>A farm with its buildings, or a simple country residence with the
+grounds which enclose it, or a cottage with its door-yard and garden,
+should be finished sections of the landscape of which it forms a part,
+or attractive points within it; and of consequence, complete each within
+itself, and not dependent upon distant accessories to support
+it&mdash;an <i>imperium in imperio</i>, in classic phrase. A&nbsp;tower,
+a&nbsp;monument, a&nbsp;steeple, or the indistinct outline of a distant
+town may form a striking feature in a pictorial design and the
+associations connected with them, or, the character in which they are
+contemplated may allow them to stand naked and unadorned by other
+objects, and still permit them to fill up in perfect harmony the
+picture. This idea will illustrate the importance of embellishment, not
+only in the substitution of trees as necessary appendages to a complete
+rural establishment, but in the erection of all the buildings necessary
+for occupation
+<span class = "pagenum">34</span>
+in any manner, in form and position, to give effect from any point of
+view in which the homestead may be seen. General appearance should not
+be confined to one quarter alone, but the house and its surroundings on
+every side should show completeness in design and harmony in execution;
+and although humble, and devoted to the meanest purposes, a&nbsp;portion
+of these erections may be, yet the character of utility or necessity
+which they maintain, gives them an air of dignity, if not of grace.
+Thus, a&nbsp;house and out-buildings flanked with orchards, or a wood,
+on which they apparently fall back for support, fills the eye at once
+with not only a beautiful group, in themselves combined, but associate
+the idea of repose, of comfort, and abundance&mdash;indispensable
+requisites to a perfect farm residence. They also seem to connect the
+house and out-buildings with the fields beyond, which are of necessity
+naked of trees, and gradually spread the view abroad over the farm until
+it mingles with, or is lost in the general landscape.</p>
+
+<p>These remarks may seem too refined, and as out of place here, and
+trenching upon the subject of Landscape Gardening, which is not designed
+to be a part, or but an incidental one of the present work, yet they are
+important in connection with the subject under discussion. The proper
+disposition of trees and shrubbery around, or in the vicinity of
+buildings is far too little understood, although tree planting about our
+dwellings is a practice pretty general throughout our country. Nothing
+is more common than to see a man build a house, perhaps in most
+elaborate and expensive
+<span class = "pagenum">35</span>
+style, and then plant a row of trees close upon the front, which when
+grown will shut it almost entirely out of view; while he leaves the rear
+as bald and unprotected as if it were a barn or a horse-shed&mdash;as if
+in utter ignorance, as he probably is, that his house is more
+effectively set off by a <i>flanking</i> and <i>background</i> of tree
+and shrubbery, than in front. And this is called good taste! Let us
+examine it. Trees near a dwelling are desirable for shade;
+<i>shelter</i> they do not afford except in masses, which last is always
+better given to the house itself by a veranda. Immediately adjoining, or
+within touching distance of a house, trees create dampness, more or less
+litter, and frequently vermin. They injure the walls and roofs by their
+continual shade and dampness. They exclude the rays of the sun, and
+prevent a free circulation of air. Therefore, <i>close</i> to the house,
+trees are absolutely pernicious, to say nothing of excluding all its
+architectural effect from observation; when, if planted at proper
+distances, they compose its finest ornaments.</p>
+
+<p>If it be necessary to build in good taste at all, it is quite as
+necessary that such good taste be kept in view throughout.
+A&nbsp;country dwelling should always be a conspicuous object in its
+full character and outline, from one or more prominent points of
+observation; consequently all plantations of tree or shrubbery in its
+immediate vicinity should be considered as aids to show off the house
+and its appendages, instead of becoming the principal objects of
+attraction in themselves. Their disposition should be such as to create
+a perfect and agreeable whole, when seen in connection with the
+<span class = "pagenum">36</span>
+house itself. They should also be so placed as to open the surrounding
+landscape to view in its most attractive features, from the various
+parts of the dwelling. Much in the effective disposition of trees around
+the dwelling will thus depend upon the character of the country seen
+from it, and which should control to a great extent their position.
+A&nbsp;single tree, of grand and stately dimensions, will frequently
+give greater effect than the most studied plantations. A&nbsp;ledge of
+rock, in the clefts of which wild vines may nestle, or around which a
+mass of shrubbery may cluster, will add a charm to the dwelling which an
+elaborate cultivation would fail to bestow; and the most negligent
+apparel of nature in a thousand ways may give a character which we might
+strive in vain to accomplish by our own invention. In the efforts to
+embellish our dwellings or grounds, the strong natural objects with
+which they are associated should be consulted, always keeping in view an
+<i>expression</i> of the chief character to which the whole is
+applied.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">37</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "material" id = "material">
+MATERIAL FOR FARM BUILDINGS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>In a country like ours, containing within its soils and upon its
+surface such an abundance and variety of building material, the
+composition of our farm erections must depend in most cases upon the
+ability or the choice of the builder himself.</p>
+
+<p>Stone is the most durable, in the long run the cheapest, and as a
+consequence, the <i>best</i> material which can be furnished for the
+walls of a dwelling. With other farm buildings circumstances may govern
+differently; still, in many sections of the United States, even stone
+cannot be obtained, except at an expense and inconvenience altogether
+forbidding its use. Yet it is a happy relief that where stone is
+difficult, or not at all to be obtained, the best of clay for bricks, is
+abundant; and in almost all parts of our country, even where building
+timber is scarce, its transportation is so comparatively light, and the
+facilities of removing it are so cheap, that wood is accessible to every
+one. Hence we may indulge in almost every fitting style of architecture
+and arrangement, to which either kind of these materials are best
+adapted. We shall slightly discuss them as applicable to our
+purposes.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">38</span>
+Stone is found either on the surface, or in quarries under ground. On
+the surface they lie chiefly as bowlders of less or greater size,
+usually of hard and durable kinds. Large bowlders may be either blasted,
+or split with wedges into sufficiently available shapes to lay in walls
+with mortar; or if small, they may with a little extra labor, be fitted
+by the aid of good mortar into equally substantial wall as the larger
+masses. In quarries they are thrown out, either by blasting or splitting
+in layers, so as to form regular courses when laid up; and all their
+varieties may, <i>unhammered</i>, except to strike off projecting points
+or angles, be laid up with a sufficiently smooth face to give fine
+effect to a building. Thus, when easily obtained, aside from the greater
+advantages of their durability, stone is as cheap in the first instance
+as lumber, excepting in new districts of country where good building
+lumber is the chief article of production, and cheaper than brick in any
+event. Stone requires no paint. Its color is a natural, therefore an
+agreeable one, be it usually what it may, although some shades are more
+grateful to the eye than others; yet it is always in harmony with
+natural objects, and particularly so on the farm where everything ought
+to wear the most substantial appearance. The outer walls of a stone
+house should always be <i>firred</i> off inside for <i>lathing</i> and
+plastering, to keep them thoroughly dry. Without that, the rooms are
+liable to dampness, which would penetrate through the stone into the
+inside plastering unless cut off by an open space of air between.</p>
+
+<p>Bricks, where stone is not found, supply its place
+<span class = "pagenum">39</span>
+tolerably well. When made of good clay, rightly tempered with sand, and
+well burned, they will in a wall remain for centuries, and as far as
+material is concerned, answer all purposes. Brick walls may be thinner
+than stone walls, but they equally require "firring off" for inside
+plastering, and in addition, they need the aid of paint quite as often
+as wood, to give them an agreeable color&mdash;bricks themselves not
+usually being in the category of desirable colors or shades.</p>
+
+<p>Wood, when abundant and easily obtained, is worked with the greatest
+facility, and on many accounts, is the cheapest material, <i>for the
+time</i>, of which a building can be constructed. But it is perishable.
+It requires every few years a coat of paint, and is always associated
+with the idea of decay. Yet wood may be moulded into an infinite variety
+of form to please the eye, in the indulgence of any peculiar taste or
+fancy.</p>
+
+<p>We cannot, in the consideration of material for house-building
+therefore, urge upon the farmer the adoption of either of the above
+named materials to the preference of another, in any particular
+structure he may require; but leave him to consult his own circumstances
+in regard to them, as best he may. But this we will say: <i>If it be
+possible</i>, never lay a <i>cellar</i> or underground wall of
+perishable material, such as wood or soft bricks; nor build with soft or
+<i>unburnt</i> bricks in a wall exposed to the weather <i>anywhere;</i>
+nor with stone which is liable to crumble or disintegrate by the action
+of frost or water upon it. We are aware that
+<span class = "pagenum">40</span>
+unburnt bricks have been strongly recommended for house-building in
+America; but from observation, we are fully persuaded that they are
+worthless for any <i>permanent</i> structure, and if used, will in the
+end prove a dead loss in their application. Cottages, out-buildings, and
+other cheap erections on the farm, for the accommodation of laborers,
+stock, or crops, may be made of wood, where wood is the cheapest and
+most easily obtained; and, even taking its perishable nature into
+account, it may be the most economical. In their construction, it may be
+simply a matter of calculation with him who needs them, to calculate the
+first cost of any material he has at hand, or may obtain, and to that
+add the interest upon it, the annual wear and tear, the insurance, and
+the period it may last, to determine this matter to his entire
+satisfaction&mdash;always provided he have the means at hand to do
+either. But other considerations generally control the American farmer.
+His pocket is apt more often to be pinched, than his choice is to be at
+fault; and this weighty argument compels him into the "make shift"
+system, which perhaps in its results, provided the main chance be
+attained, is quite as advantageous to his interests as the other.</p>
+
+<p>As a general remark, all buildings should show for themselves, what
+they are built of. Let stone be stone; bricks show on their own account;
+and of all things, put no counterfeit by way of plaster, stucco, or
+other false pretence other than paint, or a durable wash upon wood: it
+is a miserable affectation always, and of no possible use whatever. All
+counterfeit of
+<span class = "pagenum">41</span>
+any kind as little becomes the buildings of the farmer, as the gilded
+<i>pinchbeck</i> watch would fit the finished attire of a gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>Before submitting the several designs proposed for this work, it may
+be remarked, that in addressing them to a climate strictly American, we
+have in every instance adopted the wide, steeply-pitched roof, with
+broad eaves, gables and cornices, as giving protection, shade, and
+shelter to the walls; thus keeping them dry and in good preservation,
+and giving that well housed, and comfortable expression, so different
+from the stiff, pinched, and tucked-up look in which so many of the
+haberdasher-built houses of the present day exult.</p>
+
+<p>We give some examples of the hipped roof, because they are convenient
+and cheap in their construction; and we also throw into the designs a
+lateral direction to the roofs of the wings, or connecting parts of the
+building. This is sometimes done for effect in architectural appearance,
+and sometimes for the economy and advantage of the building itself.
+Where roofs thus intersect or connect with a side wall, the connecting
+gutters should be made of copper, zinc, lead, galvanized iron, or tin,
+into which the shingles, if they be covered with that material, should
+be laid so as to effectually prevent leakage. The <i>eave gutters</i>
+should be of copper, zinc, lead, galvanized iron or tin, also, and
+placed <i>at least</i> one foot back from the edge of the roof, and lead
+the water into conductors down the wall into the cistern or elsewhere,
+as may be required. If the water be not needed, and the roof be wide
+over the walls, there is no objection to let it pass off naturally,
+<span class = "pagenum">42</span>
+if it be no inconvenience to the ground below, and can run off, or be
+absorbed into the ground without detriment to the cellar walls. All this
+must be subject to the judgment of the proprietor himself.</p>
+
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "color" id = "color">
+OUTSIDE COLOR.</a></h4>
+
+<p>We are not among those who cast off, and on a sudden condemn, as out
+of all good taste, the time-honored white house with its green blinds,
+often so tastefully gleaming out from beneath the shade of summer trees;
+nor do we doggedly adhere to it, except when in keeping, by contrast or
+otherwise, with everything around it. For a century past white has been
+the chief color of our wooden houses, and often so of brick ones, in the
+United States. This color has been supposed to be strong and durable,
+being composed chiefly of white lead; and as it <i>reflected</i> the
+rays of the sun instead of <i>absorbing</i> them, as some of the darker
+colors do, it was thus considered a better preserver of the
+weather-boarding from the cracks which the fervid heat of the sun is apt
+to make upon it, than the darker colors. White, consequently, has always
+been considered, until within a few years past, as a fitting and
+<i>tasteful</i> color for dwellings, both in town and country.
+A&nbsp;new school of <i>taste</i> in colors has risen, however, within a
+few years past, among us; about the same time, too, that the recent
+gingerbread and beadwork
+<span class = "pagenum">43</span>
+style of country building was introduced. And these were both, as all
+<i>new</i> things are apt to be, carried to extremes. Instead of
+<i>toning</i> down the glare of the white into some quiet, neutral
+shade, as a straw color; a&nbsp;drab of different hues&mdash;always an
+agreeable and appropriate color for a dwelling, particularly when the
+door and window casings are dressed with a deeper or lighter shade, as
+those shades predominate in the main body of the house; or a natural and
+soft <i>wood</i> color, which also may be of various shades; or even the
+warm russet hue of some of our rich stones&mdash;quite appropriate, too,
+as applied to wood, or bricks&mdash;the <i>fashion</i> must be followed
+without either rhyme or reason, and hundreds of our otherwise pretty and
+imposing country houses have been daubed over with the dirtiest,
+gloomiest pigment imaginable, making every habitation which it touched
+look more like a funeral appendage than a cheerful, life-enjoying home.
+We candidly say that we have no sort of affection for such sooty daubs.
+The fashion which dictates them is a barbarous, false, and arbitrary
+fashion; void of all natural taste in its inception; and to one who has
+a cheerful, life-loving spirit about him, such colors have no more
+fitness on his dwelling or out-buildings, than a tomb would have in his
+lawn or dooryard.</p>
+
+<p>Locality, amplitude of the buildings, the purpose to which they are
+applied&mdash;every consideration connected with them, in fact, should
+be consulted, as to color. Stone will give its own color; which, by the
+way, some prodigiously smart folks <i>paint</i>&mdash;quite as decorous
+or essential, as to "paint the lily." Brick
+<span class = "pagenum">44</span>
+sometimes must be painted, but it should be of a color in keeping with
+its character,&mdash;of substance and dignity; not a counterfeit of
+stone, or to cheat him who looks upon it into a belief that it may be
+marble, or other unfounded pretension. A&nbsp;<i>warm</i> russet is most
+appropriate for brick-work of any kind of color&mdash;the color of a
+russet apple, or undressed leather&mdash;shades that comport with
+Milton's beautiful idea&nbsp;of</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"<i>Russet</i> lawns and fallows <i>gray</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Red and yellow are both too glaring, and slate, or lead colors too
+somber and cold. It is, in fact, a&nbsp;strong argument in favor of
+bricks in building, where they can be had as cheap as stone or wood,
+that any color can be given to them which the good taste of the builder
+may require, in addition to their durability, which, when made of good
+material, and properly burned, is quite equal to stone. In a wooden
+structure one may play with his fancy in the way of color, minding in
+the operation, that he does not play the mountebank, and like the clown
+in the circus, make his tattooed tenement the derision of men of correct
+taste, as the other does his burlesque visage the ridicule of his
+auditors.</p>
+
+<p>A <i>wooden</i> country house, together with its out-buildings,
+should always be of a cheerful and softly-toned color&mdash;a color
+giving a feeling of warmth and comfort; nothing glaring or flashy about
+it. And yet, such buildings should not, in their color, any more than in
+their architecture, appear as if <i>imitating</i> either stone or brick.
+Wood, of itself, is light. One cannot build
+<span class = "pagenum">45</span>
+a <i>heavy</i> house of wood, as compared with brick or stone. Therefore
+all imitation or device which may lead to a belief that it may be other
+than what it really is, is nothing less than a fraud&mdash;not criminal,
+we admit, but none the less a fraud upon good taste and architectural
+truth.</p>
+
+<p>It is true that in this country we cannot afford to place in stone
+and brick buildings those ornate trimmings and appendages which,
+perhaps, if economy were not to be consulted, might be more durably
+constructed of stone, but at an expense too great to be borne by those
+of moderate means. Yet it is not essential that such appendages should
+be of so expensive material. The very purposes to which they are
+applied, as a parapet, a&nbsp;railing, a&nbsp;balustrade,
+a&nbsp;portico, piazza, or porch; all these may be of wood, even when
+the material of the house <i>proper</i> is of the most durable kind; and
+by being painted in keeping with the building itself, produce a fine
+effect, and do no violence to good taste or the most fastidious
+propriety. They may be even sanded to a color, and grained, stained, or
+otherwise brought to an identity, almost, with the material of the
+house, and be quite proper, because they simply are <i>appendages</i> of
+convenience, necessity, or luxury, to the building itself, and may be
+taken away without injuring or without defacing the main structure. They
+are not a <i>material</i> part of the building itself, but reared for
+purposes which may be dispensed with. It is a matter of taste or
+preference, that they were either built there, or that they remain
+permanently afterward, and of consequence, proper that
+<span class = "pagenum">46</span>
+they be of wood. Yet they should not <i>imitate</i> stone or brick. They
+should still show that they <i>are</i> of wood, but in color and outside
+preservation denote that they are appendages to a <i>stone</i> or
+<i>brick</i> house, by complying with the proper shades in color which
+predominate in the building itself, and become their own subordinate
+character.</p>
+
+<p>Not being a professional painter, or compounder of colors, we shall
+offer no receipts or specifics for painting or washing buildings.
+Climate affects the composition of both paints and washes, and those who
+are competent in this line, are the proper persons to dictate their
+various compositions; and we do but common justice to the skill and
+intelligence of our numerous mechanics, when we recommend to those who
+contemplate building, to apply forthwith to such as are masters of their
+trade for all the information they require on the various subjects
+connected with it. One who sets out to be his own architect, builder,
+and painter, is akin to the lawyer in the proverb, who has a fool for
+his client, when pleading his own case, and quite as apt to have quack
+in them all. Hints, general outlines, and oftentimes matters of detail
+in interior convenience, and many other minor affairs may be given by
+the proprietor, when he is neither a professional architect, mechanic,
+or even an amateur; but in all things affecting the <i>substantial</i>
+and important parts of his buildings, he should consult those who are
+proficient and experienced in the department on which he consults them.
+And it may perhaps be added that none <i>professing</i> to be such, are
+competent, unless well
+<span class = "pagenum">47</span>
+instructed, and whose labors have met the approbation of those competent
+to judge.</p>
+
+<p>There is one kind of color, prevailing to a great extent in many
+parts of our country, particularly the northern and eastern, which, in
+its effect upon any one having an eye to a fitness of things in country
+buildings, is a monstrous perversion of good taste. That is the glaring
+red, made up of Venetian red, ochre, or Spanish brown, with doors and
+windows touched off with white. The only apology we have ever heard
+given for such a barbarism was, that it is a good, strong, and lasting
+color. We shall not go into an examination as to that fact, but simply
+answer, that if it be so, there are other colors, not more expensive,
+which are equally strong and durable, and infinitely more tasteful and
+fitting. There can be nothing less comporting with the simplicity of
+rural scenery, than a glaring red color on a building. It
+<i>connects</i> with nothing natural about it; it neither <i>fades</i>
+into any surrounding shade of soil or vegetation, and must of necessity,
+stand out in its own bold and unshrouded impudence, a&nbsp;perfect
+Ishmaelite in color, and a perversion of every thing harmonious in the
+design. We eschew <i>red</i>, therefore, from every thing in rural
+architecture.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">48</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "taste" id = "taste">
+A SHORT CHAPTER ON TASTE.</a></h4>
+
+<p>The compound words, or terms <i>good-taste</i> and <i>bad-taste</i>
+have been used in the preceding pages without, perhaps, sufficiently
+explaining what is meant by the word <i>taste</i>, other than as giving
+vague and unsatisfactory terms to the reader in measuring the subject in
+hand. <i>Taste</i> is a term universally applied in criticism of the
+fine-arts, such as painting, sculpture, architecture, &amp;c., &amp;c.,
+of which there are many schools&mdash;of <i>taste</i>, we
+mean&mdash;some of them, perhaps natural, but chiefly conventional, and
+all more or less arbitrary. The proverb, "there is no accounting for
+taste," is as old as the aforesaid schools themselves, and defines
+perfectly our own estimate of the common usage of the term.</p>
+
+<p>As we have intended to use it, Webster defines the word <i>taste</i>
+to be "the faculty of discerning beauty, order, congruity, proportion,
+symmetry, or whatever constitutes excellence; style; manner with respect
+to what is pleasing." With this understanding, therefore; a&nbsp;fitness
+to the purpose for which a thing is intended&mdash;got up in a manner
+agreeable to the eye and the
+<span class = "pagenum">49</span>
+mind&mdash;preserving also a harmony between its various parts and uses;
+pleasing to the eye, as addressed to the sense, and satisfactory to the
+mind, as appropriate to the object for which it is required;&mdash;these
+constitute <i>good-taste</i>, as the term is here understood.</p>
+
+<p>The term <i>style</i>, also, is "the <i>manner</i> or <i>form</i> of
+a thing." When we say, "that is a stylish house," it should mean that it
+is in, or approaches some particular style of building recognized by the
+schools. It may or may not be in accordance with good taste, and is,
+consequently, subject to the same capricious test in its government. Yet
+<i>styles</i> are subject to arrangement, and are classified in the
+several schools of architecture, either as distinct specimens of
+acknowledged orders, as the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthian, in Grecian
+architecture, or, the Tuscan and Composite, which are, more distinctly,
+styles of Roman architecture. To these may be added the Egyptian, the
+most massive of all; and either of them, in their proper character,
+grand and imposing when applied to public buildings or extensive
+structures, but altogether inapplicable, from their want of lightness
+and convenience, to country or even city dwellings. Other
+styles&mdash;not exactly orders&mdash;of architecture, such as the
+Italian, the Romanesque, the Gothic, the Swiss, with their
+modifications&mdash;all of which admit of a variety of departures from
+fixed rules, not allowed in the more rigid orders&mdash;may be adapted
+in a variety of ways, to the most agreeable and harmonious arrangement
+in architectural effect, for dwellings and structures appurtenant to
+them.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">50</span>
+The Italian style of architecture, modified somewhat in pretension and
+extent, is admirably adapted to most parts of the United States. Its
+general lightness, openness, and freedom gives a wide range of choice;
+and its wings, verandas, and terraces, stretching off in any and almost
+every direction desired, from the main building, make it exceedingly
+appropriate for general use. The modern, or rural Gothic, branching off
+sometimes into what is termed the English cottage style, and in many
+instances blending so intimately with the Italian, as hardly to mark the
+line of division, is also a beautiful <i>arrangement</i> of building for
+country dwellings. These, in ruder structures, may also be carried into
+the Rustic&mdash;not a style proper, in itself&mdash;but so termed as
+approximating in execution or pretension to either of the above; while
+the Swiss, with its hanging roofs, and sheltering eaves may be
+frequently brought in aid to show out the rustic form in more
+completeness, and in greater harmony with surrounding objects, than
+either of the others.</p>
+
+<p>For farm houses, either of these <i>arrangements</i> or departures
+from a <i>set</i> and <i>positive</i> style, are better fitted than any
+which we have noticed; and in some one or other of the modifications
+named, we have applied them in the examples submitted in this work. They
+may not therefore be viewed as <i>distinct</i> delineations of an
+<i>order</i> of architecture, or style <i>proper</i>, even; but as a
+<i>mode</i> appropriate to the object required. And so long as they do
+not absolutely conflict with true taste, or in their construction commit
+a barbarism upon any acknowledged system of architecture, in any of its
+<span class = "pagenum">51</span>
+modifications, we hazard no impropriety in introducing them for the
+imitation of country builders. Congruity with the objects to which it is
+applied should be the chief merit of any structure whatever; and so long
+as that object be attained, good taste is not violated, and utility is
+fully subserved.</p>
+
+<p>Intimately connected with this subject, in rural buildings, is the
+<i>shape</i> of the structure. Many of the designs recently introduced
+for the imitation of builders, are full of angles and all sorts of
+zig-zag lines, which, although they may add to the variety of style, or
+relieve the monotony of straight and continuous lines, are carried to a
+needless excess, expensive in their construction, and entail infinite
+trouble upon the owner or occupant, in the repairs they subject him to,
+in the leakages continually occurring, against which last, either of
+wind or rain, it is almost impossible to guard. And what, let us ask,
+are the benefits of a parcel of needless gables and peaked windows,
+running up like owl's ears, above the eaves of a house, except to create
+expense, and invite leakage and decay? If in appearance, they provoke an
+association of that kind, they certainly are not in good taste; and a
+foot or two of increased height in a wall, or a low window sufficient
+for the purpose intended, would give a tone of dignity, of comfort, and
+real utility, which a whole covey of such pretentious things could not.
+All such trumpery should be scouted from the dwelling house of the
+farmer, and left to the special indulgence of the town builder.</p>
+
+<p>A <i>square</i> form of house will afford more area within
+<span class = "pagenum">52</span>
+a given line of wall than any other <i>sensible</i> form which may be
+adopted. Yet a square house is not so agreeable to the eye as an oblong.
+Thus, a&nbsp;house should stand somewhat broader on one front than on
+another. It should also be relieved from an appearance of monotony and
+tameness, by one or more wings; and such wings should, at their junction
+with the main building, retreat or advance a sufficient distance from a
+continuous line, as to relieve it effectually from an appearance of
+stiffness, and show a different character of occupation from that of the
+main structure. The front of a house should be the most imposing and
+finished in its architecture of any one of its parts; and unless some
+motive of greater convenience control otherwise, its entrance the most
+highly wrought, as indicating the luxury of the establishment&mdash;for
+even the humblest habitations have their luxuries. The side rooms, or
+more usually occupied apartments, require less pretension in both
+architectural effect and finish, and should wear a more subdued
+appearance; while the kitchen section, and from that, the several grades
+of apartments stretching beyond it, should distinctly show that they are
+subservient in their character, and wear a style and finish accordingly.
+Thus, each part of the house speaks for itself. It is its own
+finger-board, pointing the stranger to its various accommodation, as
+plainly as if written on its walls, and saying as significantly as dumb
+walls can do, that here dwells a well regulated family, who have a
+parlor for their friends; a&nbsp;library, or sitting-room for their own
+leisure and comfort; an ample bedroom and nursery, for the parents
+<span class = "pagenum">53</span>
+and the little ones; a&nbsp;kitchen for the cooking; and a scullery and
+closets, and all the other etceteras which belong to a perfect family
+homestead.</p>
+
+<p>And so with the grounds. The lawn or "dooryard," should be the best
+kept ground on the place. The most conspicuous part of the garden should
+show its shrubbery and its flowers. The side or rear approach should be
+separated from the lawn, and show its constant <i>business</i>
+occupation, and openly lead off to where men and farm stock meet on
+common ground, devoted to every purpose which the farm requires. Such
+arrangement would be complete in all its parts, satisfactory, and
+lasting. Tinsel ornament, or gewgaw decoration should never be permitted
+on any building where the sober enjoyment of agricultural life is
+designed. It can never add consideration or dignity to the retired
+gentleman even, and least of all should it be indulged in by the farmer,
+dwelling on his own cultivated acres.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">54</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "cellars" id = "cellars">
+THE CONSTRUCTION OF CELLARS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>Every farm house and farm cottage, where a family of any size occupy
+the latter, should have a good, substantial <i>stone</i>-walled cellar
+beneath it. No room attached to the farm house is more profitable, in
+its occupation, than the cellar. It is useful for storing numberless
+articles which are necessary to be kept warm and dry in winter, as well
+as cool in summer, of which the farmer is well aware. The walls of a
+cellar should rise at least one, to two, or even three feet above the
+level of the ground surrounding it, according to circumstances, and the
+rooms in it well ventilated by <i>two</i> or more sliding sash windows
+in each, according to size, position, and the particular kind of storage
+for which it is required, so that a draft of pure air can pass through,
+and give it thorough ventilation at all times. It should also be at
+least seven and a half feet high in the clear; and if it be even nine
+feet, that is not too much. If the soil be compact, or such as will hold
+water, it should be thoroughly drained from the lowest point or corner,
+and the drain always kept open; (a stone drain is the best and most
+durable,) and if
+<span class = "pagenum">55</span>
+floored with a coat of flat, or rubble stones, well set in good
+hydraulic cement&mdash;or cement alone, when the stone cannot be
+obtained&mdash;all the better. This last will make it <i>rat proof</i>.
+For the purpose of avoiding these destructive creatures, the
+<i>foundation</i> stones in the wall should be brought to a joint, and
+project at least six inches on each side, from the wall itself, when
+laid upon this bottom course; as the usual manner of rats is to burrow
+in a nearly perpendicular direction from the surface, by the side of the
+wall, when intending to undermine it. On arriving at the bottom, if
+circumvented by the projecting stones, they will usually abandon their
+work. Plank of hard wood, or hard burnt bricks, may answer this purpose
+when stone cannot be had.</p>
+
+<p>All cellar walls should be laid in good lime mortar, or if that be
+not practicable, they should be well pointed with it. This keeps them in
+place, and renders them less liable to the ingress of water and vermin.
+The thickness of wall should not be less than fifteen to eighteen
+inches, in any event, when of stone; and if the house walls above be
+built of stone or brick, two feet is better; and in all cases the cellar
+wall should be full three inches thicker than the wall resting
+upon&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>In the cellar of every farm house there should be an outside door,
+with a flight of steps by which to pass roots and other bulky or heavy
+articles, to which a wagon or cart may approach, either to receive or
+discharge them. This is indispensable.</p>
+
+<p>Every out-building upon the farm, let it be devoted to what purpose
+it may, having a wooden floor on the
+<span class = "pagenum">56</span>
+ground story, should be set up sufficiently high from the surface to
+admit a cat or small terrier dog beneath such floor, with openings for
+them to pass in and out, or these hiding places will become so many rat
+warrens upon the premises, and prove most destructive to the grain and
+poultry. Nothing can be more annoying to the farmer than these vermin,
+and a trifling outlay in the beginning, will exclude them from the
+foundations and walls of all buildings. Care, therefore, should be taken
+to leave no haunt for their convenience.</p>
+
+<p>With these suggestions the ingenuity of every builder will provide
+sufficient guards against the protection of vermin beneath his
+buildings.</p>
+
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "ventilation" id = "ventilation">
+VENTILATION OF HOUSES.</a></h4>
+
+<p>Pure air, and enough of it, is the cheapest blessing one can enjoy;
+and to deny one's self so indispensable an element of good health, is
+little short of criminal neglect, or the sheerest folly. Yet thousands
+who build at much needless expense, for the protection of their health
+and that of their families, as they allege, and no doubt suppose, by
+neglecting the simplest of all contrivances, in the work of ventilation,
+invite disease and infirmity, from the very pains they so unwittingly
+take to ward off such afflictions.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">57</span>
+A man, be he farmer or of other profession, finding himself prosperous
+in life, sets about the very sensible business of building a house for
+his own accommodation. Looking back, perhaps, to the days of his
+boyhood, in a severe climate, he remembers the not very highly-finished
+tenement of his father, and the wide, open fireplace which, with its
+well piled logs, was scarcely able to warm the large living-room, where
+the family were wont to huddle in winter. He possibly remembers, with
+shivering sympathy, the sprinkling of snow which he was accustomed to
+find upon his bed as he awaked in the morning, that had found its way
+through the frail casing of his chamber window&mdash;but in the midst of
+all which he grew up with a vigorous constitution, a&nbsp;strong arm,
+and a determined spirit. He is resolved that <i>his</i> children shall
+encounter no such hardships, and that himself and his excellent helpmate
+shall suffer no such inconvenience as his own parents had done, who now
+perhaps, are enjoying a strong and serene old age, in their
+old-fashioned, yet to them not uncomfortable tenement. He therefore
+determines to have a snug, <i>close</i> house, where the cold cannot
+penetrate. He employs all his ingenuity to make every joint an air-tight
+fit; the doors must swing to an air-tight joint; the windows set into
+air-tight frames; and to perfect the catalogue of his comforts, an
+air-tight stove is introduced into every occupied room which, perchance,
+if he can afford it, are further warmed and poisoned by the heated flues
+of an air-tight furnace in his air-tight cellar. In short, it is an
+air-tight concern throughout. His family breathe an
+<span class = "pagenum">58</span>
+air-tight atmosphere; they eat their food cooked in an "air-tight
+kitchen witch," of the latest "premium pattern;" and thus they start,
+father, mother, children, all on the high road&mdash;if persisted
+in&mdash;to a galloping consumption, which sooner or later conducts them
+to an air-tight dwelling, not soon to be changed. If such melancholy
+catastrophe be avoided, colds, catarrhs, headaches, and all sorts of
+bodily afflictions shortly make their appearance, and they wonder what
+is the matter! They live so snug! their house is so warm! they sleep so
+comfortable! how can it be? True, in the morning the air of their
+sleeping-rooms feels close, but then if a window is opened it will chill
+the rooms, and that will give them colds. What <i>can</i> be the matter?
+The poor creatures never dream that they have been breathing, for hour
+after hour, decomposed air, charged with poisonous gases, which cannot
+escape through the tight walls, or over the tight windows, or through
+the tight stoves; and thus they keep on in the sure course to infirmity,
+disease, and premature death&mdash;all for the want of a little
+ventilation! Better indeed, that instead of all this painstaking,
+a&nbsp;pane were knocked out of every window, or a panel out of every
+door in the house.</p>
+
+<p>We are not disposed to talk about cellar furnaces for heating a
+farmer's house. They have little to do in the farmer's inventory of
+goods at all, unless it be to give warmth to the hall&mdash;and even
+then a snug box stove, with its pipe passing into the nearest chimney
+is, in most cases, the better appendage. Fuel is usually abundant with
+the farmer; and where so, its
+<span class = "pagenum">59</span>
+benefits are much better dispensed in open stoves or fireplaces, than in
+heating furnaces or "air-tights."</p>
+
+<p>We have slightly discussed this subject of firing in the farm house,
+in a previous page, but while in the vein, must crave another word.
+A&nbsp;farmer's house should <i>look</i> hospitable as well as <i>be</i>
+hospitable, both outside and in; and the broadest, most cheerful look of
+hospitality within doors, in cold weather, is an <i>open</i> fire in the
+chimney fireplace, with the blazing wood upon it. There is no
+<i>mistake</i> about it. It thaws you out, if cold; it stirs you up, if
+drooping; and is the welcome, winning introduction to the good cheer
+that is to follow.</p>
+
+<p>A short time ago we went to pay a former town friend a visit. He had
+removed out to a snug little farm, where he could indulge his
+agricultural and horticultural tastes, yet still attend to his town
+engagements, and enjoy the quietude of the country. We rang the door
+bell. A&nbsp;servant admitted us; and leaving overcoat and hat in the
+hall, we entered a lone room, with an "air-tight" stove, looking as
+black and solemn as a Turkish eunuch upon us, and giving out about the
+same degree of genial warmth as the said eunuch would have expressed had
+he been there&mdash;an emasculated warming machine truly! On the floor
+was a Wilton carpet, too fine to stand on; around the room were mahogany
+sofas and mahogany chairs, all too fine to sit on&mdash;at all events to
+<i>rest</i> one upon if he were fatigued. The blessed light of day was
+shut out by crimson and white curtains, held up by gilded arrows; and
+upon the mantle piece, and on the center
+<span class = "pagenum">60</span>
+and side tables were all sorts of gimcracks, costly and worthless. In
+short, there was no <i>comfort</i> about the whole concern. Hearing our
+friend coming up from his dining-room below, where too, was his
+<i>cellar kitchen</i>&mdash;that most abominable of all appendages to a
+farm house, or to any other country house, for that matter&mdash;we
+buttoned our coat up close and high, thrust our hands into our pockets,
+and walked the room, as he entered. "Glad to see you&mdash;glad to see
+you, my friend!" said he, in great joy; "but dear me, why so buttoned
+up, as if you were going? What's the matter?" "My good sir," we replied,
+"you asked us to come over and see you, 'a <i>plain farmer</i>,' and
+'take a quiet family dinner with you.' We have done so; and here find
+you with all your town nonsense about you. No fire to warm by; no seat
+to rest in; no nothing like a farm or farmer about you; and it only
+needs your charming better half, whom we always admired, when she lived
+in town, to take down her enameled harp, and play</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+'In fairy bowers by moonlight hours,'</p>
+
+<p>to convince one that instead of ruralizing in the country, you had
+gone a peg higher in town residence! No, no, we'll go down to farmer
+Jocelyn's, our old schoolfellow, and take a dinner of bacon and cabbage
+with him. If he does occupy a one-story house, he lives up in sunshine,
+has an open fireplace, with a blazing wood fire on a chilly day, and his
+'latch string is always out.'"</p>
+
+<p>Our friend was petrified&mdash;astonished! We meant
+<span class = "pagenum">61</span>
+to go it rather strong upon him, but still kept a frank, good-humored
+face, that showed him no malice. He began to think he was not exactly in
+character, and essayed to explain. We listened to his story. His good
+wife came in, and all together, we had a long talk of their family and
+farming arrangements; how they had furnished their house; and how they
+proposed to live; but wound up with a sad story, that their good farming
+neighbors <ins class = "correction"
+title = "text reads 'did'nt'">didn't</ins>
+call on them the <i>second</i> time&mdash;kind,
+civil people they appeared, too&mdash;and while they were in, acted as
+though afraid to sit down, and afraid to stand up;&mdash;in short, they
+were dreadfully embarrassed; for why, our friends couldn't tell, but now
+began to understand it. "Well, my good friends," said we, "you have
+altogether mistaken country life in the outset. To live on a farm, it is
+neither necessary to be vulgar, nor clownish, nor to affect ignorance.
+<i>Simplicity</i> is all you require, in manners, and equal simplicity
+in your furniture and appointments. Now just turn all this nonsense in
+furniture and room dressing out of doors, and let some of your town
+friends have it. Get some simple, comfortable, cottage furniture, much
+better for all purposes, than this, and you will settle down into quiet,
+natural country life before you are aware of it, and all will go 'merry
+as a marriage bell' with you, in a little time"&mdash;for they both
+loved the country, and were truly excellent people. We continued,
+"I&nbsp;came to spend the day and the night, and I will stay; and this
+evening we'll go down to your neighbor Jocelyn's; and you, Mrs.
+N&mdash;&mdash;, shall go with us; and we will see how quietly and
+<span class = "pagenum">62</span>
+comfortably he and his family take the world in a farmer's way."</p>
+
+<p>We did go; not in carriage and livery, but walked the pleasant half
+mile that lay between them; the exercise of which gave us all activity
+and good spirits. Jocelyn was right glad to see us, and Patty, his staid
+and sober wife, with whom we had romped many an innocent hour in our
+childhood days, was quite as glad as he. But they <i>looked</i> a little
+surprised that such "great folks" as their new neighbors, should drop in
+so unceremoniously, and into their common "keeping room," too, to chat
+away an evening. However, the embarrassment soon wore off. We talked of
+farming; we talked of the late elections; we talked of the fruit trees
+and the strawberry beds; and Mrs. Jocelyn, who was a pattern of good
+housekeeping, told Mrs. N&mdash;&mdash; how <i>she</i> made her apple
+jellies, and her currant tarts, and cream cheeses; and before we left
+they had exchanged ever so many engagements,&mdash;Mrs. Patty to learn
+her new friend to do half a dozen nice little matters of household
+pickling and preserving; while she, in turn, was to teach Nancy and
+Fanny, Patty's two rosy-cheeked daughters, almost as pretty as their
+mother was at their own age, to knit a bead bag and work a fancy chair
+seat! And then we had apples and nuts, all of the very best&mdash;for
+Jocelyn was a rare hand at grafting and managing his fruit trees, and
+knew the best apples all over the country. We had, indeed,
+a&nbsp;capital time! To cut the story short, the next spring our friend
+sent his <i>fancy</i> furniture to auction, and provided his house with
+simple cottage furnishings, at
+<span class = "pagenum">63</span>
+less than half the cost of the other; which both he and his wife
+afterward declared was infinitely better, for all house-keeping
+purposes. He also threw a neat wing on to the cottage, for an upper
+kitchen and its offices, and they now live like sensible country folks;
+and with their healthy, frolicksome children, are worth the envy of all
+the dyspeptic, town-fed people in existence.</p>
+
+<p>A long digression, truly; but so true a story, and one so apt to our
+subject can not well be omitted. But what has all this to do with
+ventilation? We'll tell you. Jocelyn's house was <i>ventilated</i> as it
+should be;&mdash;for he was a methodical, thoughtful man, who planned
+and built his house himself&mdash;not the mechanical work, but directed
+it throughout, and saw that it was faithfully done; and that put us in
+mind of the story.</p>
+
+<p>To be perfect in its ventilation, every room in the house, even to
+the closets, should be so arranged that a current of air <i>may</i> pass
+through, to keep it pure and dry. In living rooms, fresh air in
+sufficient quantity may usually be admitted through the doors. In
+sleeping rooms and closets, when doors may not be left open, one or more
+of the lower panels of the door may be filled by a rolling blind,
+opening more or less, at pleasure; or a square or oblong opening for
+that purpose, may be left in the base board, at the floor, and covered
+by a wire netting. And in all rooms, living apartments, as well as
+these, an opening of at least sixty-four square inches should be made in
+the wall, near the ceiling, and leading into an air flue, to pass into
+the garret. Such opening may be filled by a
+<span class = "pagenum">64</span>
+rolling blind, or wire screen, as below, and closed or kept open, at
+pleasure. Some builders prefer an air register to be placed in the
+chimney, over the fireplace or stove, near the ceiling; but the
+liability to annoyance, by smoke escaping through it into the room, if
+not thoroughly done, is an objection to this latter method, and the
+other may be made, in its construction, rather ornamental than
+otherwise, in appearance. All such details as these should be planned
+when the building is commenced, so that the several flues may be
+provided as the building proceeds. In a stone or brick house,
+a&nbsp;small space may be left in the walls, against which these air
+registers may be required; and for inner rooms, or closets, they may
+pass off into the openings of the partitions, and so up into the garret;
+from which apertures of escape may be left, or made at the gables, under
+the roof, or by a blind in a window.</p>
+
+<p>For the admission of air to the first floor of the house,
+a&nbsp;special opening through the walls, for that purpose, can hardly
+be necessary; as the doors leading outside are usually opened often
+enough for such object. One of the best ventilated houses we have ever
+seen, is that owned and occupied by Samuel Cloon, Esq., of Cincinnati.
+It is situated on his farm, three miles out of the city, and in its fine
+architectural appearance and finished appointments, as a rural residence
+and first-class farm house, is not often excelled. Every closet is
+ventilated through rolling blinds in the door panels; and foul air,
+either admitted or created within them, is passed off at once by flues
+near the ceiling overhead, passing into conductors leading off through
+the garret.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">65</span>
+Where chambers are carried into the roof of a house, to any extent, they
+are sometimes incommoded by the summer heat which penetrates them,
+conducted by the chamber ceiling overhead. This heat can best be
+obviated by inserting a small window at each opposite peak of the
+garret, by which the outside air can circulate through, above the
+chambers, and so pass off the heated air, which will continually ascend.
+All this is a simple matter, for which any builder can provide, without
+particular expense or trouble.</p>
+
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "interior" id = "interior">
+INTERIOR ACCOMMODATION OF HOUSES.</a></h4>
+
+<p>Ground, in the country, being the cheapest item which the farmer can
+devote to building purposes, his object should be to <i>spread over</i>,
+rather than to go deeply into it, or climb high in the air above it. We
+repudiate cellar kitchens, or under-ground rooms for house work,
+altogether, as being little better than a nuisance&mdash;dark, damp,
+unhealthy, inconvenient, and expensive. The several rooms of a farm
+dwelling house should be compact in arrangement, and contiguous as may
+be to the principally-occupied apartments. Such arrangement is cheaper,
+more convenient, and labor-saving; and in addition, more in accordance
+with a good and correct taste in the outward appearance of the house
+itself.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">66</span>
+The general introduction of cooking stoves, and other stoves and
+apparatus for warming houses, within the last twenty years, which we
+acknowledge to be a great acquisition in comfort as well as in
+convenience and economy, has been carried to an extreme, not only in
+shutting up and shutting out the time-honored open fireplace and its
+broad hearthstone, with their hallowed associations, but also in
+prejudice to the health of those who so indiscriminately use them,
+regardless of other arrangements which ought to go with them.
+A&nbsp;farm house should never be built without an ample, open fireplace
+in its kitchen, and other <i>principally</i> occupied rooms; and in all
+rooms where stoves are placed, and fires are daily required, the
+<i>open</i> Franklin should take place of the close or air-tight stove,
+unless extraordinary ventilation to such rooms be adopted also. The
+great charm of the farmer's winter evening is the open fireside, with
+its cheerful blaze and glowing embers; not wastefully expended, but
+giving out that genial warmth and comfort which, to those who are
+accustomed to its enjoyment, is a pleasure not made up by any invention
+whatever; and although the cooking stove or range be
+required&mdash;which, in addition to the fireplace, we would always
+recommend, to lighten female labor&mdash;it can be so arranged as not to
+interfere with the enjoyment or convenience of the open fire.</p>
+
+<p>In the construction of the chimneys which appear in the plans
+submitted, the great majority of them&mdash;particularly those for
+northern latitudes&mdash;are placed in the interior of the house. They
+are less liable to
+<span class = "pagenum">67</span>
+communicate fire to the building, and assist greatly in warming the
+rooms through which they pass. In southern houses they are not so
+necessary, fires being required for a much less period of the year. Yet
+even there they may be oftentimes properly so placed. Where holes, for
+the passage of stovepipes through floors, partitions, or into chimneys,
+are made, stone, earthen, or iron thimbles should be inserted; and,
+except in the chimneys, such holes should be at least one to two inches
+larger than the pipe itself. The main flues of the chimney conducting
+off the smoke of the different fires, should be built separate, and kept
+apart by a partition of one brick in thickness, and carried out
+independently, as in no other way will they rid the house of smoky
+rooms.</p>
+
+<p>
+<img src = "images/pic67.png" width = "101" height = "103"
+align = "right" alt = "chimney" title = "chimney">
+An illustration in point: Fifteen years ago we purchased and removed
+into a most substantial and well-built stone house, the chimneys of
+which were constructed with open fireplaces, and the flues carried up
+separately to the top, where they all met upon the same level surface,
+as chimneys in past times usually were built, thus. Every fireplace in
+the house (and some of them had stoves in,) smoked intolerably; so much
+so, that when the wind was in some quarters the fires had to be put out
+in every room but the kitchen, which, as good luck would have it, smoked
+less&mdash;although it did smoke there&mdash;than the others. After
+balancing the matter in our own mind some time, whether we should pull
+down and rebuild the chimneys
+<span class = "pagenum">68</span>
+<img src = "images/pic68.png" width = "97" height = "115"
+align = "right" alt = "chimney" title = "chimney">
+altogether, or attempt an alteration; as we had given but little thought
+to the subject of chimney draft, and to try an experiment was the
+cheapest, we set to work a bricklayer, who, under our direction, simply
+built over each discharge of the several flues a separate top of fifteen
+inches high, in this wise: The remedy was perfect. We have had no smoke
+in the house since, blow the wind as it may, on any and all occasions.
+The chimneys <i>can't</i> smoke; and the whole expense for four
+chimneys, with their twelve flues, was not twenty dollars! The remedy
+was in giving each outlet a <i>distinct</i> current of air all around,
+and on every side of&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "chimney" id = "chimney">
+CHIMNEY TOPS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>Nothing adds more to the outward expression of a dwelling, than the
+style of its chimneys. We have just shown that independent chimney tops
+pass off their smoke more perfectly, than when only partitioned inside
+to the common point of outlet. Aside from the architectural beauty which
+a group of chimney flues adds to the building, we have seen that they
+are really useful, beyond the formal, square-sided piles so common
+throughout the country. They denote good cheer,
+<span class = "pagenum">69</span>
+social firesides, and a generous hospitality within&mdash;features which
+should always mark the country dwelling; and more particularly that of
+the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>The style and arrangement of these chimney groups may be various, as
+comporting with the design of the house itself; and any good architect
+can arrange them as fitted to such design. Our illustrations will show
+them of different kinds, which are generally cheap in construction, and
+simple, yet expressive in their arrangement.</p>
+
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "prelim" id = "prelim">
+PRELIMINARY TO OUR DESIGNS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>We have discussed with tolerable fullness, the chief subjects
+connected with farm buildings&mdash;sufficiently so, we trust, to make
+ourselves understood as desiring to combine utility with commendable
+ornament in all that pertains to them. The object has been, thus far, to
+give hints, rather than models, in description. But as the point to
+which we have endeavored to arrive will be but imperfectly understood
+without illustration, we shall submit a few plans of houses and
+outbuildings, as carrying out more fully our ideas.</p>
+
+<p>We are quite aware that different forms or fashions of detail and
+finish, to both outside and inside work, prevail among builders in
+different sections of the United States. Some of these fashions are the
+result of climate, some of conventional taste, and some of
+<span class = "pagenum">70</span>
+education. With them we are not disposed to quarrel. In many cases they
+are immaterial to the main objects of the work, and so long as they
+please the taste or partialities of those adopting them, are of little
+consequence. There are, however, certain matters of <i>principle</i>,
+both in general construction and in the detail of finish, which should
+not be disregarded; and these, in the designs submitted, and in the
+explanations which follow, will be fully discussed, each in its place.
+The particular form or style of work we have not directed, because, as
+before remarked, we are no professional builder, and of course free from
+the dogmas which are too apt to be inculcated in the professional
+schools and workshops. We give a wide berth, and a free toleration in
+all such matters, and are not disposed to raise a hornet's nest about
+our ears by interfering in matters where every tyro of the drafting
+board and work-bench assumes to be, and probably may be, our superior.
+All minor subjects we are free to leave to the skill and ingenuity of
+the builder&mdash;who, fortunately for the country, is found in almost
+every village and hamlet of the land.</p>
+
+<p>Modes and styles of finish, both inside and outside of buildings,
+change; and that so frequently, that what is laid down as the reigning
+fashion to-day, may be superseded by another fashion of
+to-morrow&mdash;immaterial in themselves, only, and not affecting the
+shape, arrangement, and accommodation of the building itself, which in
+these, must ever maintain their relation with the use for which it is
+intended. The northern dwelling, with its dependencies and appointments,
+requires
+<span class = "pagenum">71</span>
+a more compact, snug, and connected arrangement than that of the south;
+while one in the middle states may assume a style of arrangement between
+them both, each fitted for their own climate and country, and in equally
+good taste. The designs we are about to submit are intended to be such
+as may be modified to any section of the country, although some of them
+are made for extremes of north and south, and are so distinguished.
+Another object we have had in view is, to give to every farmer and
+country dweller of moderate means the opportunity of possessing a cheap
+work which would guide him in the general objects which he wishes to
+accomplish in building, that he may <i>have his own notions</i> on the
+subject, and not be subject to the caprice and government of such as
+profess to exclusive knowledge in all that appertains to such subjects,
+and in which, it need not be offensive to say, that although clever in
+their way, they are sometimes apt to be mistaken.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, without assuming <i>to instruct</i> the professional
+builder, our plans will be submitted, not without the hope that he even,
+may find in them something worthy of consideration; and we offer them to
+the owner and future occupant of the buildings themselves, as models
+which he may adopt, with the confidence that they will answer all his
+reasonable purposes.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(73)<br>
+(74)</span>
+<a name = "house1" id = "house1"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic73.jpg" width = "455" height = "328"
+alt = "farm house 1" title = "farm house 1">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "subcap">FARM HOUSE.</span> Pages 73-74.</p>
+
+<p class = "crossref">
+<a href = "images/pic73large.jpg">larger view</a></p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">72</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section smallcaps">Design I.</h4>
+
+<p>We here present a farm house of the simplest and most unpretending
+kind, suitable for a farm of twenty, fifty, or an hundred acres.
+Buildings somewhat in this style are not unfrequently seen in the New
+England States, and in New York; and the plan is in fact suggested,
+although not copied, from some farm houses which we have known there,
+with improvements and additions of our own.</p>
+
+<p>This house may be built either of stone, brick, or wood. The style is
+rather rustic than otherwise, and intended to be altogether plain, yet
+agreeable in outward appearance, and of quite convenient arrangement.
+The body of this house is 40�30 feet on the ground, and 12&nbsp;feet
+high, to the plates for the roof; the lower rooms nine feet high; the
+roof intended for a pitch of 35�&mdash;but, by an error in the drawing,
+made less&mdash;thus affording very tolerable chamber room in the roof
+story. The L, or rear projection, containing the wash-room and
+wood-house, juts out two feet from the side of the house to which it is
+attached, with posts 7� feet high above the floor of the main house; the
+pitch of the roof being the same. Beyond this is a building 32�24 feet,
+with 10&nbsp;feet posts, partitioned off into a swill-room, piggery,
+workshop, and wagon-house, and a like roof with the others.
+A&nbsp;light, rustic porch,
+<span class = "pagenum">75</span>
+12�8 feet, with lattice work, is placed on the front of the house, and
+another at the side door, over which vines, by way of drapery, may run;
+thus combining that sheltered, comfortable, and home-like expression so
+desirable in a rural dwelling. The chimney is carried out in three
+separate flues, sufficiently marked by the partitions above the roof.
+The windows are hooded, or sheltered, to protect them from the weather,
+and fitted with simple sliding sashes with 7�9 or 8�10 glass. Outer
+blinds may be added, if required; but it is usually better to have these
+<i>inside</i>, as they are no ornament to the outside of the building,
+are liable to be driven back and forth by the wind, even if fastenings
+are used, and in any event are little better than a continual
+annoyance.</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house1_interior" id =
+"house1_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">(76)</span>
+
+<p class = "pictop rightfloat">
+<a name = "house1_ground" id = "house1_ground"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic76top.gif" width = "227" height = "443"
+alt = "farm house 1, ground plan (partial)"
+title = "farm house 1, ground plan (partial)">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "picbottom rightfloat">
+<img src = "images/pic76bottom.gif" width = "318" height = "317"
+alt = "farm house 1, ground plan (partial)"
+title = "farm house 1, ground plan (partial)">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+GROUND PLAN.</span></p>
+
+<p>The front door, over which is a single sash-light across, opens into
+a hall or entry 9�7 feet, from which a door opens on either side into a
+sitting-room and parlor, each 16�15 feet, lighted by a double, plain
+window, at the ends, and a single two-sash window in front. Between the
+entrance door and stove, are in each room a small pantry or closet for
+dishes, or otherwise, as may be required. The chimney stands in the
+center of the house, with a separate flue for each front room, into
+which a thimble is inserted to receive the stovepipes by which they are
+warmed; and from the inner side of these rooms each has a door passing
+to the kitchen, or chief living room. This last apartment
+<span class = "pagenum">77</span>
+is 22�15 feet, with a broad fireplace containing a crane, hooks, and
+trammel, if required, and a spacious family oven&mdash;affording those
+homely and primitive comforts still so dear to many of us who are not
+ready to concede that all the virtues of the present day are combined in
+a "perfection" cooking stove, and a "patent" heater; although there is a
+chance for these last, if they should be adopted into the peaceful
+atmosphere of this kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>On one side of the kitchen, in rear of the stairs, is a bedroom, 9�8
+feet, with a window in one corner. Adjoining that, is a buttery,
+dairy-room, or closet, 9�6 feet, also having a window. At the inner end
+of the stairway is the cellar passage; at the outer end is the chamber
+passage, landing above, in the highest part of the roof story. Opposite
+the chamber stairs is a door leading to the wash-room. Between the two
+windows, on the rear side of the kitchen, is a sink, with a waste pipe
+passing out through the wall. At the further corner a door opens into a
+snug bedroom 9�8 feet, lighted by a window in rear; and adjoining this
+is a
+<span class = "pagenum">78</span>
+side entry leading from the end door, 9�6 feet in area; thus making
+every room in the house accessible at once from the kitchen, and giving
+the greatest possible convenience in both living and house-work.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration rightfloat">
+<a name = "house1_chamber" id = "house1_chamber"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic77.png" width = "252" height = "194"
+alt = "farm house 1, chamber plan" title = "farm house 1, chamber plan">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+CHAMBER PLAN.</span></p>
+
+<p>The roof story is partitioned into convenient-sized bedrooms; the
+ceiling running down the pitch of the roof to within two feet of the
+floor, unless they are cut short by inner partitions, as they are in the
+largest chamber, to give closets. The open area in the center, at the
+head of the stairs, is lighted by a small gable window inserted in the
+roof, at the rear, and serves as a lumber room; or, if necessary,
+a&nbsp;bed may occupy a part of&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>In rear of the main dwelling is a building 44�16 feet, occupied as a
+wash-room and wood-house. The wash-room floor is let down eight inches
+below the kitchen, and is 16�14 feet, in area, lighted by a window on
+each side, with a chimney, in which is set a boiler, and fireplace, if
+desired, and a sink in the corner adjoining. This room is 7� feet in
+height. A&nbsp;door passes from this wash-room into the wood-house,
+which is 30�16 feet, open in front, with a water-closet in the further
+corner.</p>
+
+<p>The cellar is 7� feet in height&mdash;and is the whole size of the
+house, laid with good stone wall, in lime mortar, with a flight of steps
+leading outside, in rear of the kitchen, and two or more sash-light
+windows at the ends. If not in a loose, gravelly, or sandy soil, the
+cellar should be kept dry by a drain leading out on to lower ground.</p>
+
+<p>The building beyond, and adjoining the wood-house,
+<span class = "pagenum">79</span>
+contains a swill-house 16�12 feet, with a window in one end;
+a&nbsp;chimney and boiler in one corner, with storage for swill barrels,
+grain, meal, potatoes, &amp;c., for feeding the pigs, which are in the
+adjoining pen of same size, with feeding trough, place for sleeping,
+&amp;c., and having a window in one end and a door in the rear, leading
+to a yard.</p>
+
+<p>Adjoining these, in front, is a workshop and tool-house, 16�10 feet,
+with a window at the end, and an entrance door near the <ins class =
+"correction" title =
+"normal form is 'wood-house' except on title page">wood house</ins>.
+In this is a joiner's work-bench, a&nbsp;chest
+of working tools, such as saw, hammer, augers, &amp;c., &amp;c.,
+necessary for repairing implements, doing little rough jobs, or other
+wood work, &amp;c., which every farmer ought to do for himself; and also
+storing his hoes, axes, shovels, hammers, and other small farm
+implements. In this room he will find abundant rainy-day employment in
+repairing his utensils of various kinds, making his beehives, hencoops,
+&amp;c., &amp;c. Next to this is the wagon-house, 16�14 feet, with broad
+doors at the end, and harness pegs around the walls.</p>
+
+<p>The posts of this building are 10 feet high; the rooms eight feet
+high, and a low chamber overhead for storing lumber, grain, and other
+articles, as may be required. Altogether, these several apartments make
+a very complete and desirable accommodation to a man with the property
+and occupation for which it is intended.</p>
+
+<p>On one side and adjoining the house, should be the garden, the
+clothes-yard, and the bee-house, which last should always stand in full
+sight, and facing the most frequented room&mdash;say the
+kitchen&mdash;that they can be
+<span class = "pagenum">80</span>
+seen daily during the swarming season, as those performing household
+duties may keep them in view.</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house1_misc" id = "house1_misc">
+MISCELLANEOUS.</a></h6>
+
+<p>In regard to the surroundings, and approach to this dwelling, they
+should be treated under the suggestions already given on these subjects.
+This is an exceedingly <i>snug</i> tenement, and everything around and
+about it should be of the same character. No pretension or frippery
+whatever. A&nbsp;neat garden, usefully, rather than ornamentally and
+profusely supplied; a&nbsp;moderate court-yard in front; free access to
+the end door, from the main every-day approach by vehicles&mdash;not on
+the highway, but on the farm road or lane&mdash;the business entrance,
+in fact; which should also lead to the barns and sheds beyond, not far
+distant. Every feature should wear a most domestic look, and breathe an
+air of repose and content. Trees should be near, but not so near as to
+cover the house. A&nbsp;few shrubs of simple kind&mdash;some standing
+roses&mdash;a few climbing ones; a&nbsp;syringa, a&nbsp;lilac,
+a&nbsp;snow ball, and a little patch or two of flowers near the front
+porch, and the whole expression is given; just as one would wish to look
+upon as a simple, unpretending habitation.</p>
+
+<p>It is not here proposed to give working plans, or estimates, to a
+nicety; or particular directions for building any design even, that we
+present. The material for construction best suited to the circumstances
+and locality of the proprietor must govern all those matters; and as
+good builders are in most cases at
+<span class = "pagenum">81</span>
+hand, who are competent to give estimates for the cost of any given
+plan, when the material for construction is once settled, the question
+of expense is readily fixed. The same sized house, with the same
+accommodation, may be made to cost fifty to one hundred per cent. over
+an economical estimate, by the increased style, or manner of its finish;
+or it may be kept within bounds by a rigid adherence to the plan first
+adopted.</p>
+
+<p>In western New York this house and attachments complete, the body of
+stone, the wood-house, wagon-house, &amp;c., of wood, may be built and
+well finished in a plain way for $1,500. If built altogether of wood,
+with grooved and matched vertical boarding, and battens, the whole may
+be finished and painted for $800, to $1,200. For the lowest sum, the
+lumber and work would be of a rough kind, with a cheap wash to color it;
+but the latter amount would give good work, and a lasting coat of
+mineral paint both outside and within.</p>
+
+<p><a name = "house1_tenant" id = "house1_tenant">As a <i>tenant</i>
+house</a> on a farm of three, four, or even five hundred acres, where
+all who live in it are laborers in the field or household, this design
+may be most conveniently adopted. The family inhabiting it in winter may
+be well accommodated for sleeping under the main roof, while they can at
+all seasons take their meals, and be made comfortable in the several
+rooms. In the summer season, when a larger number of laborers are
+employed, the lofts of the carriage or wagon-house and work-shop may be
+occupied with beds, and thus a large share of the expense of house
+building for a very considerable farm be saved. Luxury is a quality more
+or less consulted by every one who
+<span class = "pagenum">82</span>
+builds for his <i>own</i> occupation on a farm, or elsewhere; and the
+tendency in building is constantly to expand, to give a higher finish,
+and in fact, to over-build. Indeed, if we were to draw the balance, on
+our <i>old</i> farms, between scantily-accommodated houses, and houses
+with needless room in them, the latter would preponderate. Not that
+these latter houses either are too good, or too convenient for the
+purpose for which they were built, but they have <i>too much</i> room,
+and that room badly appropriated and arranged.</p>
+
+<p>On a farm proper, the whole establishment is a <i>workshop</i>. The
+shop <i>out of doors</i>, we acknowledge, is not always <i>dry</i>, nor
+always warm; but it is exceedingly well aired and lighted, and a place
+where industrious people dearly love to labor. Within doors it is a <ins
+class = "correction"
+title = "hyphen in original: normal form is 'workshop'">work-shop</ins>
+too. There is always labor and occupation
+for the family, in the <i>general business</i> of the farm; therefore
+but little room is wanted for either luxury or leisure, and the farm
+house should be fully occupied, with the exception, perhaps, of a single
+room on the main floor, (and that not a large one,) for some regular
+business purpose. All these accommodated, and the requirements of the
+house are ended. Owners of <i>rented</i> farms should reflect, too, that
+expensive houses on their estates entail expensive repairs, and that
+continually. Many tenants are careless of highly-finished houses. Not
+early accustomed to them, they misappropriate, perhaps, the best rooms
+in the house, and pay little attention to the purposes for which the
+owner designed them, or to the <i>manner</i> of using them. It is
+therefore a total waste of money to build a house on a tenant
+<span class = "pagenum">83</span>
+estate anything beyond the mere comfortable wants of the family
+occupying it, and to furnish the room necessary for the accommodation of
+the crops, stock, and farm furniture, in the barns and other
+out-buildings&mdash;all in a cheap, tidy, yet substantial way.</p>
+
+<p>So, too, with the grounds for domestic purposes around the house.
+A&nbsp;kitchen garden, sufficient to grow the family vegetables&mdash;a
+few plain fruits&mdash;a <i>posey</i> bed or two for the girls&mdash;and
+the story is told. Give a larger space for these things&mdash;anything
+indeed, for elegance&mdash;and ten to one, the plow is introduced,
+a&nbsp;corn or potato patch is <i>set out</i>, field culture is adopted,
+and your choice grounds are torn up, defaced, and sacrificed to the
+commonest uses.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding these drawbacks, a&nbsp;cheerful, home-expression may
+be given, and should be given to the homestead, in the character and
+construction of the buildings, be they ever so rough and homely. We can
+call to mind many instances of primitive houses-<i>log</i> cabins
+even&mdash;built when none better could be had, that presented a most
+comfortable and life-enjoying picture&mdash;residences once, indeed, of
+those who swayed "the applause of listening senates," but under the
+hands of taste, and a trifle of labor, made to look comfortable, happy,
+and sufficient. We confess, therefore, to a profound veneration, if not
+affection, for the humble farm house, as truly American in character;
+and which, with a moderate display of skill, may be made equal to the
+main purposes of life and enjoyment for all such as do not aspire to a
+high display, and who are content to make the most of moderate
+means.</p>
+
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(85)<br>
+(86)</span>
+<a name = "house2" id = "house2"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic85.jpg" width = "416" height = "208"
+alt = "farm house 2" title = "farm house 2">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "subcap">FARM HOUSE</span> Pages 85-86</p>
+
+<p class = "crossref">
+<a href = "images/pic85large.jpg">larger view</a></p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">84</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section smallcaps">Design II.</h4>
+
+<p>This is the plan of a house and out-buildings based chiefly on one
+which we built of wood some years since on a farm of our own, and which,
+in its occupation, has proved to be one of exceeding convenience to the
+purposes intended. As a farm <i>business</i> house, we have not known it
+excelled; nor in the ease and facility of doing up the house-work within
+it, do we know a better. It has a subdued, quiet, unpretending look; yet
+will accommodate a family of a dozen workmen, besides the females
+engaged in the household work, with perfect convenience; or if occupied
+by a farmer with but his own family around him, ample room is afforded
+them for a most comfortable mode of life, and sufficient for the
+requirements of a farm of two, to three or four hundred acres.</p>
+
+<p>This house is, in the main body, 36�22 feet, one and a half stories
+high, with a projection on the rear 34�16 feet, for the kitchen and its
+offices; and a still further addition to that, of 26�18 feet, for
+wash-room. The main body of the house is 14&nbsp;feet high to the
+plates; the lower rooms are 9&nbsp;feet high; the roof has a pitch of
+35� from a horizontal line, giving partially-upright chambers in the
+main building, and <i>roof</i> lodging rooms in the rear. The rear, or
+kitchen part,
+<span class = "pagenum">87</span>
+is one story high, with 10&nbsp;feet posts, and such pitch of roof
+(which last runs at right angles to the main body, and laps on to the
+main roof,) as will carry the peak up to the same air line. This
+addition should retreat 6&nbsp;inches from the line of the main
+building, on the side given in the design, and 18&nbsp;inches on the
+rear. The rooms on this kitchen floor are 8&nbsp;feet high, leaving one
+foot above the upper floor, under the roof, as a chamber garret, or
+lumber-room, as may be required. Beyond this, in the rear, is the other
+extension spoken of, with posts 9&nbsp;feet high, for a buttery, closet,
+or dairy, or all three combined, and a wash-room; the floor of which is
+on a level with the last, and the roof running in the same direction,
+and of the same pitch. In front of this wash-room, where not covered by
+the wood-house, is an open porch, 8&nbsp;feet wide and 10&nbsp;feet
+long, the roof of which runs out at a less angle than the
+others&mdash;say 30� from a horizontal line. Attached to this is the
+wood-house, running off by way of L, at right angles, 36�16 feet, of
+same height as the wash-room.</p>
+
+<p>Adjoining the wood-house, on the same front line, is a building 50�20
+feet, with 12&nbsp;feet posts, occupied as a workshop, wagon-house,
+stable, and store-room, with a lean-to on the last of 15�10 feet, for a
+piggery. The several rooms in this building are 8&nbsp;feet high,
+affording a good lumber room over the workshop, and hay storage over the
+wagon-house and stable. Over the wagon-house is a gable, with a blind
+window swinging on hinges, for receiving hay, thus relieving the long,
+uniform line of roof, and affording ample
+<span class = "pagenum">88</span>
+accommodation on each side to a pigeon-house or dovecote, if
+required.</p>
+
+<p>The style of this establishment is of plain Italian, or bracketed,
+and may be equally applied to stone, brick, or wood. The roofs are
+broad, and protect the walls by their full projection over them,
+2�&nbsp;feet. The small gable in the front roof of the main dwelling
+relieves it of its otherwise straight uniformity, and affords a high
+door-window opening on to the deck of the veranda, which latter should
+be 8 or 10 feet in width. The shallow windows, also, over the wings of
+the veranda give it a more cheerful expression. The lower <i>end</i>
+windows of this part of the house are hooded, or sheltered by a cheap
+roof, which gives them a snug and most comfortable appearance. The
+veranda may appear more ornamental than the plain character of the house
+requires; but any superfluous work upon it may be omitted, and the style
+of finish conformed to the other. The veranda roof is flatter than that
+of the house, but it may be made perfectly tight by closer shingling,
+and paint; while the deck or platform in the centre may be roofed with
+zinc, or tin, and a coat of sanded paint laid upon it. The front chimney
+is plain, yet in keeping with the general style of the house, and may be
+made of ordinary bricks. The two parts of the chimney, as they appear in
+the front rooms, are drawn together as they pass through the chamber
+above, and become one at the roof. The kitchen chimneys pass up through
+the peaks of their respective roofs, and should be in like character
+with the other.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">89</span>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "house2_plans" id = "house2_plans"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic89.png" width = "447" height = "327"
+alt = "farm house 2, plans" title = "farm house 2, plans">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "crossref">
+<a href = "images/pic89orig.png">Plans in original orientation</a>
+</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">90</span>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house2_interior" id =
+"house2_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p>The front door of this house opens into a small entry or hall, 9�6
+feet, which is lighted by a low sash of glass over the front door.
+A&nbsp;door leads into a room on each side; and at the inner end of the
+hall is a recess between the two chimneys of the opposite rooms, in
+which may be placed a table or broad shelf to receive hats and coats. On
+the left is a parlor 22�15 feet, lighted on one side by a double window,
+and in front by a single plain one. The fireplace is centrally placed on
+one side of the room, in the middle of the house. On one side of the
+fireplace is a closet, three feet deep, with shelves, and another closet
+at the inner end of the room, near the kitchen door; or this closet may
+be dispensed with for the use of this parlor, and given up to enlarge
+the closet which is attached to the bedroom. Another door opens directly
+into the kitchen. This parlor is 9&nbsp;feet high between joints. The
+sitting-room is opposite to the parlor, 19�15 feet, and lighted and
+closeted in nearly the same manner, as will be seen by referring to the
+floor plan.</p>
+
+<p>The kitchen is the grand room of this house. It is 24�16 feet in
+area, having an ample fireplace, with its hooks and trammels, and a
+spacious oven by its side. It is lighted by a double window at one end,
+and a single window near the fireplace. At one end of this kitchen is a
+most comfortable and commodious family bedroom, 13�10 feet, with a large
+closet in one corner, and lighted by a window in the side. Two
+<span class = "pagenum">91</span>
+windows may be inserted if wanted. A&nbsp;passage leads by the side of
+the oven to a sink-room, or recess, behind the chimney, with shelves to
+dry dishes on, and lighted by the half of a double window, which
+accommodates with its other half the dairy, or closet adjoining.
+A&nbsp;door also opens from this recess into the closet and dairy,
+furnished with broad shelves, that part of which, next the kitchen, is
+used for dishes, cold meat and bread cupboards, &amp;c.; while the part
+of it adjoining the window beyond, is used for milk. This room is 14�6
+feet, besides the L running up next to the kitchen, of 6�4 feet. From
+the kitchen also opens a closet into the front part of the house for any
+purpose needed. This adjoins the parlor, and sitting-room, closets. In
+the passage to the sitting-room also opens the stairway leading to the
+chambers, and beneath, at the other end of it, next the outside wall, is
+a flight leading down cellar. The cellar is excavated under the whole
+house, being 36�22, and 34�16 feet, with glass windows, one light deep
+by four wide, of 8�10 glass; and an outer door, and flight of steps
+outside, under either the sitting-room or kitchen windows, as may be
+most convenient. A&nbsp;door opens, also, from the kitchen, into a
+passage 4&nbsp;feet wide and 12&nbsp;feet long leading to the wash-room,
+18�16 feet, and by an outside door, through this passage to the porch.
+In this passage may be a small window to give it light.</p>
+
+<p>In the wash-room are two windows. A&nbsp;chimney at the far end
+accommodates a boiler or two, and a fireplace, if required. A&nbsp;sink
+stands adjoining the chimney. A&nbsp;flight of stairs, leading to a
+garret over head on one side,
+<span class = "pagenum">92</span>
+and to the kitchen chamber on the other, stands next the dairy, into
+which last a door also leads. In this wash-room may be located the
+cooking stove in warm weather, leaving the main kitchen for a family and
+eating room. A&nbsp;door also leads from the wash-room into the
+wood-house.</p>
+
+<p>The wood-house stands lower than the floor of the wash-room, from
+which it falls, by steps. This is large, because a plentiful store of
+wood is needed for a dwelling of this character. If the room be not all
+wanted for such purpose, a&nbsp;part of it may devoted to other
+necessary uses, there seldom being too much shelter of this kind on a
+farm; through the rear wall of this wood-house leads a door into the
+garden, or clothes-yard, as the case may be; and at its extreme angle is
+a water closet, 6�4 feet, by way of lean-to, with a hipped roof,
+8&nbsp;feet high, running off from both the wood-house and workshop.
+This water-closet is lighted by a sliding sash window.</p>
+
+<p>On to the wood-house, in a continuous front line, joins the workshop,
+an indispensable appendage to farm convenience. This has a flight of
+stairs leading to the lumber-room above. For the furnishing of this
+apartment, see description of Design I. Next to the work-house is the
+wagon and tool-house, above which is the hay loft, also spread over the
+stable adjoining; in which last are stalls for a pair of horses, which
+may be required for uses other than the main labors of the farm&mdash;to
+run to market, carry the family to church, or elsewhere. A&nbsp;pair of
+horses for such purposes should always be kept near the house. The
+horse-stalls
+<span class = "pagenum">93</span>
+occupy a space of 10�12 feet, with racks and feeding boxes. The plans of
+these will be described hereafter. The door leading out from these
+stalls is 5&nbsp;feet wide, and faces the partition, so that each horse
+may be led out or in at an easy angle from them. Beyond the stalls is a
+passage 4&nbsp;feet wide, leading to a store-room or area, from which a
+flight of rough stairs leads to the hay loft above. Beyond this room, in
+which is the oat bin for the horses, is a small piggery, for the
+convenience of a pig or two, which are always required to consume the
+daily wash and offal of the house; and not for the general <i>pork</i>
+stock of the farm; which, on one of this size, may be expected to
+require more commodious quarters.</p>
+
+<p>The chamber plan of this house is commodious, furnishing one large
+room and three smaller ones. The small chamber leading to the deck over
+the porch, may, or may not be occupied as a sleeping room. The small one
+near the stairs may contain a single bed, or be occupied as a large
+clothes-closet. Through this, a&nbsp;door leads into the kitchen
+chamber, which may serve as one, or more laborers' bed-chambers. They
+may be lighted by one or more windows in the rear gable.</p>
+
+<p>If more convenient to the family, the parlor and sitting-room,
+already described, may change their occupation, and one substituted for
+the other.</p>
+
+<p>The main business approach to this house should be by a lane, or farm
+road opening on the side next the stable and wagon-house. The yard, in
+front of these last named buildings, should be separated from the lawn,
+or front door-yard of the dwelling. The establishment
+<span class = "pagenum">94</span>
+should stand some distance back from the traveled highway, and be
+decorated with such trees, shrubbery, and cultivation, as the taste of
+the owner may direct. No <i>general</i> rules or directions can be
+applicable to this design beyond what have already been given; and the
+subject must be treated as circumstances may suggest. The unfrequented
+side of the house should, however, be flanked with a garden, either
+ornamental, or fruit and vegetable; as buildings of this character ought
+to command a corresponding share of attention with the grounds by which
+they are surrounded.</p>
+
+<p>This house will appear equally well built of wood, brick, or stone.
+Its cost, according to materials, or finish, may be $1,000 or $1,500.
+The out-buildings attached, will add $400 to $600, with the same
+conditions as to finish; but the whole may be substantially and well
+built of either stone, brick, or wood, where each may be had at equal
+convenience, for $2,000 in the interior of New York. Of course, it is
+intended to do all the work plain, and in character for the occupation
+to which it is intended.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">95</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "details" id = "details">
+MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>At this point of our remarks a word or two may be offered on the
+general subject of inside finish to farm houses, which may be applicable
+more or less to any one, or all of the designs that may come under our
+observation; therefore what is here said, may be applied at large.
+Different sections of the United States have their own several
+<i>local</i> notions, or preferences as to the mode of finish to their
+houses and out-buildings, according to climate, education, or other
+circumstances. In all these matters neither taste, fashion, nor climate
+should be arbitrary. The manner of finish may be various, without any
+departure from truth or propriety&mdash;always keeping in mind the
+object for which it is intended. The <i>material</i> for a country house
+should be <i>strong</i>, and <i>durable</i>, and the work simple in its
+details, beyond that for either town or suburban houses. It should be
+<i>strong</i>, for the reason that the interior of the farm house is
+used for purposes of industry, in finishing up and perfecting the labors
+of the farm; labors indispensable too, and in amount beyond the ordinary
+housekeeping requirements of a family who have little to do but merely
+to live, and make themselves comfortable. The material should be
+<i>durable</i>, because the distance at which the farm house is usually
+located from the
+<span class = "pagenum">96</span>
+residences of building mechanics, renders it particularly troublesome
+and expensive to make repairs, and alterations. The work should be
+<i>simple</i>, because cheaper in the first place, in construction, and
+finish; quite as appropriate and satisfactory in appearance; and
+demanding infinitely less labor and pains to care for, and protect it
+afterward. Therefore all mouldings, architraves, <i>chisel</i>-work, and
+gewgawgery in interior finish should be let alone in the living and
+daily occupied rooms of the house. If, to a single parlor, or
+<i>spare</i> bedchamber a little <i>ornamental</i> work be permitted,
+let even that be in moderation, and just enough to teach the active
+mistress and her daughters what a world of scrubbing and elbow work they
+have saved themselves in the enjoyment of a plainly-finished house,
+instead of one full of gingerbread work and finery. None but the
+initiated can tell the affliction that <i>chiseled</i> finishing entails
+on housekeepers in the spider, fly, and other insect lodgment which it
+invites&mdash;frequently the cause of more annoyance and <i>daily</i>
+disquietude in housekeeping, because unnecessary, than real griefs from
+which we may not expect to escape. Bases, casings, sashes,
+doors&mdash;all should be plain, and painted or stained a quiet
+<i>russet</i> color&mdash;a color natural to the woods used for the
+finish, if it can be, showing, in their wear, as little of dust,
+soiling, and fly dirt as possible. There is no poetry about common
+housekeeping. Cooking, house-cleaning, washing, scrubbing, sweeping, are
+altogether matter-of-fact duties, and usually considered <i>work</i>,
+not recreation; and these should all be made easy of performance, and as
+seldom to be done as
+<span class = "pagenum">97</span>
+possible; although the first item always was, and always <i>will</i> be,
+and the last item <i>should</i> be, an every-day vocation for
+<i>somebody</i>; and the manner of inside finish to a house has a great
+deal to do with all these labors.</p>
+
+<p>In a stone, or brick house, the inside walls should be firred off for
+plastering. This may be done either by "plugging," that is, driving a
+plug of wood strongly into the mortar courses, into which the firring
+should be nailed, or by laying a strip of thin board in the mortar
+course, the entire length of each wall. This is better than
+<i>blocks</i> laid in for such purpose, because it is effectually
+<i>bound</i> by the stone, or brick work; whereas, a&nbsp;block may get
+loose by shrinking, but the nails which hold the firring to the plug, or
+to the thin strip of board will split and <i>wedge</i> it closer to the
+mason work of the outside wall. This is an important item. It makes
+close work too, and leaves no room for rats, mice, or other vermin; and
+as it admits a <i>space</i>&mdash;no matter how thin&mdash;so that no
+outside damp from the walls can communicate into, or through the inner
+plastering, it answers all purposes. The inside, and partition walls
+should be of coarse, strong mortar, <i>floated off</i> as smoothly as
+may be, not a <i>hard finish</i>, which is fine, and costly; and then
+papered throughout for the better rooms, and the commonly-used rooms
+whitewashed. Paper gives a most comfortable look to the rooms, more so
+than paint, and much less expensive, while nothing is so sweet, tidy,
+and cheerful to the <i>working</i> rooms of the house as a <i>lime</i>
+wash, either white, or softened down with some agreeable tint, such as
+<i>light</i> blue, green, drab, fawn, or russet, to give the shade
+desired, and for which
+<span class = "pagenum">98</span>
+every <i>professional</i> painter and whitewasher in the vicinity, can
+furnish a proper recipe applicable to the place and climate. On such
+subjects we choose to prescribe, rather than to play the apothecary by
+giving any of the thousand and one recipes extant, for the
+composition.</p>
+
+<p>Our remarks upon the strength and durability of <i>material</i> in
+house-building do not apply exclusively to brick and stone. Wood is
+included also; and of this, there is much difference in the kind. Sound
+<i>white</i> oak, is, perhaps the best material for the heavy frame-work
+of any house or out-building, and when to be had at a moderate expense,
+we would recommend it in preference to any other. If <i>white</i> oak
+cannot be had, the other varieties of oak, or chesnut are the next best.
+In <i>light</i> frame-timbers, such as studs, girts, joists, or rafters,
+oak is inclined to spring and warp, and we would prefer hemlock, or
+chesnut, which holds a nail equally as well, or, in its absence, pine,
+(which holds a nail badly,) whitewood, or black walnut. The outside
+finish to a wooden house, may be <i>lighter</i> than in one of stone or
+brick. The wood work on the outside of the latter should always be
+heavy, and in character with the walls, giving an air of firmness and
+stability to the whole structure. No elaborate carving, or beadwork
+should be permitted on the outside work of a country house at all; and
+only a sufficient quantity of ornamental <i>tracery</i> of any kind, to
+break the monotony of a plainness that would otherwise give it a formal,
+or uncouth expression, and relieve it of what some would consider a
+pasteboard look. A&nbsp;farm house, in fact, of
+<span class = "pagenum">99</span>
+any degree, either cheap or expensive, should wear the same appearance
+as a well-dressed person of either sex; so that a stranger, not looking
+at them for the purpose of inspecting their garb, should, after an
+interview, be unable to tell what particular sort of dress they wore, so
+perfectly in keeping was it with propriety<ins class = "correction"
+title = "text has comma for period">.</ins></p>
+
+<p>In the design now under discussion, a&nbsp;cellar is made under the
+whole body of the house; and this cellar is a <i>shallow</i> one, so far
+as being sunk into the ground is concerned, say 5� feet, leaving 2� feet
+of cellar wall above ground&mdash;8 feet in all. A&nbsp;part of the wall
+above ground should be covered by the excavated earth, and sloped off to
+a level with the surrounding surface. A&nbsp;commodious, well-lighted,
+and well-ventilated cellar is one of the most important apartments of
+the farm house. It should, if the soil be compact, be well drained from
+some point or corner within the walls into a lower level outside, to
+which point within, the whole floor surface should incline, and the
+bottom be floored with water-lime cement. This will make it hard,
+durable, and dry. It may then be washed and scrubbed off as easily as an
+upper floor. If the building site be high, and in a gravelly, or sandy
+soil, neither drain nor flooring will be required. The cellar may be
+used for the storage of root crops, apples, meats, and household
+vegetables. A&nbsp;partitioned room will accommodate either a summer or
+a winter dairy, if not otherwise provided, and a multitude of
+conveniences may be made of it in all well arranged farmeries. But in
+all cases the cellar should be well lighted, ventilated, and dry. Even
+the ash-house and smoke-house may be made in it with perfect
+<span class = "pagenum">100</span>
+convenience, by brick or stone partitions, and the smoke-house flue be
+carried up into one of the chimney flues above, and thus make a more
+snug and compact arrangement than to have separate buildings for those
+objects. A&nbsp;wash-room, in which, also, the soap may be made, the
+tallow and lard tried up, and other extraordinary labor when fire heat
+is to be used, may properly be made in a cellar, particularly when on a
+sloping ground, and easy of access to the ground level on one side. But,
+as a general rule, such room is better on a level with the main floor of
+the dwelling, and there are usually sufficient occupations for the
+cellar without them.</p>
+
+<p>All cellar walls should be at least 18 inches thick, for even a
+wooden house, and from that to 2&nbsp;feet for a stone or brick one, and
+well laid in strong lime-mortar. Unmortared cellar walls are frequently
+laid under wooden buildings, and <i>pointed</i> with lime-mortar inside;
+but this is sometimes dug out by rats, and is apt to crumble and fall
+out otherwise. A&nbsp;<i>complete</i> cellar wall should be thoroughly
+laid in mortar.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(101)<br>
+(102)</span>
+<a name = "house3" id = "house3"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic102.jpg" width = "437" height = "262"
+alt = "farm house 3" title = "farm house 3">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "subcap">FARM HOUSE</span> Pages 101-102.</p>
+
+<p class = "crossref">
+<a href = "images/pic102large.jpg">larger view</a></p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">103</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section smallcaps">Design III.</h4>
+
+<p>We here present the reader with a substantial, plain, yet
+highly-respectable stone or brick farm house, of the second class,
+suitable for an estate of three, to five hundred acres, and
+accommodation for a family of a dozen or more persons. The style is
+mixed rural Gothic, Italian, and bracketed; yet in keeping with the
+character of the farm, and the farmer's standing and occupation.</p>
+
+<p>The main body of this house is 42�24 feet on the ground, and one and
+three quarter stories high&mdash;the chambers running two or three feet
+into the roof, as choice or convenience may direct. The roof has a pitch
+of 30 to 40� from a horizontal line, and broadly spread over the walls,
+say two and a half feet, showing the ends of the rafters, bracket
+fashion. The chimneys pass out through the peak of the roof, where the
+hips of what would otherwise be the gables, connect with the long sides
+of the roof covering the front and rear. On the long front is partly
+seen, in the perspective, a&nbsp;portico, 16�10 feet&mdash;not the
+<i>chief</i> entrance front, but rather a side front, practically, which
+leads into a lawn or garden, as may be most desirable, and from which
+the best view from the house is commanded. Over this porch is a small
+gable running into the roof, to break its monotony, in which is a
+door-window leading from the upper hall on to the deck of the porch.
+This
+<span class = "pagenum">104</span>
+gable has the same finish as the main roof, by brackets. The chamber
+windows are two-thirds or three-quarters the size of the lower ones;
+thus showing the upper story not full height below the plates, but
+running two to four feet into the garret. The rear wing, containing the
+entrance or business front, is 24�32 feet, one and a half stories high,
+with a pitch of roof not less than 35�, and spread over the walls both
+at the eaves and gable, in the same proportion as the roof to the main
+body. In front of this is a porch or veranda eight feet wide, with a
+low, hipped roof. In the front and rear roofs of this wing is a <ins
+class = "correction" title = "text reads 'dormar'">dormer</ins> window,
+to light the chambers. The gable to this wing is bold, and gives it
+character by the breadth of its roof over the walls, and the strong
+brackets by which it is supported. The chimney is thrown up strong and
+boldly at the point of the roof, indicating the every-day uses of the
+fireplaces below, which, although distinct and wide apart in their
+location on the ground floors, are drawn together in the chambers, thus
+showing only one escape through the roof.</p>
+
+<p>The wood-house in the rear of the wing has a roof of the same
+character, and connects with the long building in the rear, which has
+the same description of roof, but hipped at one end. That end over the
+workshop, and next the wood-house, shows a bold gable like the wing of
+the house, and affords room and light to the lumber room over the shop,
+and also gives variety and relief to the otherwise too great sameness of
+roof-appearance on the further side of the establishment.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">105</span>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "house3_plans" id = "house3_plans"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic105.png" width = "483" height = "354"
+alt = "farm house 3, plans" title = "farm house 3, plans">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "crossref">
+<a href = "images/pic105orig.png">Plans in original position</a><br>
+(note orientation of chamber floor plan)
+</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">106</span>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house3_interior" id =
+"house3_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p>As has been remarked, the main entrance front to this house is from
+the wing veranda, from which a well finished and sizeable door leads
+into the principal hall, 24�8 feet in area, and lighted by a full-sized
+window at the front end. Opposite the entrance door is the door leading
+into the parlor; and farther along is the staircase, under the upper
+landing of which a door leads into a dining or sitting-room, as may be
+determined. This hall is 10&nbsp;feet high, as are all the rooms of this
+lower main story. In the chimney, which adjoins the parlor side of this
+hall, may be inserted a thimble for a hall stovepipe, if this method of
+warming should be adopted. The parlor, into which a door leads from the
+hall, is 18�16 feet, with two windows on the side, shown in perspective,
+and one on the front facing the lawn, or garden. It has also a fireplace
+near the hall door. At the further angle is a door leading to an entry
+or passage on to the portico. E is the entry just mentioned, six feet
+square, and lighted by a short sash, one light deep, over the outside
+door. This portico may be made a pleasant summer afternoon and evening
+resort for the family, by which the occupied rooms connect with the lawn
+or garden, thus adding to its retired and private character.</p>
+
+<p>Opposite the parlor, on the other side of this entry, a&nbsp;door
+leads into a room 18�12 feet, which may be occupied as a family bedroom,
+library, or small sitting-room. This is lighted by two windows, and has
+a closet of 6�5 feet. A&nbsp;fireplace is on the inner side of
+<span class = "pagenum">107</span>
+this room; and near to that, a&nbsp;door connects with a dining-room of
+the same size, having a window in one end, and a fireplace, and closet
+of the same size as the last. Through the rear wall is a door leading
+into a pantry, which also communicates with the kitchen; and another
+door leads to the hall, and from the hall, under the staircases, (which,
+at that point, are sufficiently high for the purpose,) is a passage
+leading to the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>Under the wing veranda, near the point of intersection of the wing
+with the main body of the house, is an <i>every-day</i> outer door,
+leading into a small entry, 6�5 feet, and lighted by a low, one-sash
+window over the door. By another door, this leads to the kitchen, or
+family room, which is lighted by three windows. An ample fireplace, with
+oven, &amp;c., accommodates this room at the end. A&nbsp;closet, 7�5
+feet, also stands next to the entry; and beyond that, an open passage,
+to the left, leading out under the front hall stairs to the rooms of the
+main building. A&nbsp;door also leads from that passage into a
+<i>best</i> pantry, for choice crockery, sweetmeats, and tea-table
+comforts. Another door, near the last, leads into a dairy or milk-room,
+9�8 feet, beyond the passage; in which last, also, may be placed a tier
+of narrow shelves. This milk, or dairy-room, is lighted by a window in
+the end, and connects also, by a door in the side, with the <i>outer</i>
+kitchen, or wash-room. Next to this milk-room door, in the front
+kitchen, is another door leading down cellar; and through this door,
+passing by the upper, broad stair of the flight of cellar steps, is
+another door into the wash-room. At
+<span class = "pagenum">108</span>
+the farther angle of the kitchen is still another door, opening into a
+passage four feet wide; and, in that passage, a&nbsp;door leading up a
+flight of stairs into the wing chambers. This passage opens into the
+back kitchen, or wash-room, 16�16 feet in area, and lighted by two
+windows, one of which looks into the wood-house. In this wash-room is a
+chimney with boilers and fireplace, as may be required. The cellar and
+chamber stairs, and the milk-room are also accessible direct, by doors
+leading from this wash-room.</p>
+
+<p>The chamber plan will be readily understood, and requires no
+particular description. The space over the wing may be partitioned off
+according to the plan, or left more open for the accommodation of the
+"work folks," as occasion may demand. But, as this dwelling is intended
+for substantial people, "well to do in the world," and who extend a
+generous hospitality to their friends, a&nbsp;liberal provision of
+sleeping chambers is given to the main body of the house. The parlor
+chamber, which is the best, or <i>spare</i> one, is 18�16 feet, with
+roomy side-closets. Besides this, are other rooms for the daughters
+Sally, and Nancy, and Fanny, and possibly Mary and Elizabeth&mdash;who
+want their own chambers, which they keep so clean and tidy, with closets
+full of nice bedclothes, table linen, towels, &amp;c., &amp;c., for
+certain events not yet whispered of, but quite sure to come round. And
+then there are Frederick, and Robert, and George, fine stalwart boys
+coming into manhood, intending to be "somebody in the world," one day or
+another; they must have <i>their</i> rooms&mdash;and good ones too; for,
+if any people are to
+<span class = "pagenum">109</span>
+be well lodged, why not those who toil for it? All such accommodation
+every farm house of this character should afford. And we need not go
+far, or look sharp, to see the best men and the best women in our state
+and nation graduating from the wholesome farm house thus tidily and
+amply provided. How delightfully look the far-off mountains, or the
+nearer plains, or prairies, from the lawn porch of this snug farm house!
+The distant lake; the shining river, singing away through the valley; or
+the wimpling brook, stealing through the meadow! Aye, enjoy them all,
+for they are God's best, richest gifts, and we are made to love
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The wood-house strikes off from the back kitchen, retreating two feet
+from its gable wall, and is 36�14 feet in size. A&nbsp;bathing room may
+be partitioned off 8�6 feet, on the rear corner next the wash-room, if
+required, although not laid down in the plan. At the further end is the
+water-closet, 6�4 feet. Or, if the size and convenience of the family
+require it, a&nbsp;part of the wood-house may be partitioned off for a
+wash-room, from which a chimney may pass up through the peak of the
+roof. If so, carry it up so high that it will be above the eddy that the
+wind may make in passing over the adjoining wing, not causing it to
+smoke from that cause.</p>
+
+<p>At the far end of the wood-house is the workshop and tool-house,
+18�16 feet, lighted by two windows, and a door to enter it from beneath
+the wood-house. Over this, is the lumber and store-room.</p>
+
+<p>Next to this is the swill-room and pigsty for the
+<span class = "pagenum">110</span>
+house pigs, as described in the last design; and over it a loft for farm
+seeds, small grains, and any other storage required.</p>
+
+<p>Adjoining this is the wagon and carriage-house; and above, the
+hayloft, stretching, also, partly over the stable which stands next,
+with two stalls, 12�5 feet each, with a flight of stairs leading to the
+loft, in the passage next the door. In this loft are swinging windows,
+to let in hay for the horses.</p>
+
+<p>This completes the household establishment, and we leave the
+surroundings to the correct judgment and good taste of the proprietor to
+complete, as its position, and the variety of objects with which it may
+be connected, requires.</p>
+
+<p>Stone and brick we have mentioned as the proper materials for this
+house; but it may be also built of wood, if more within the means and
+limits of the builder. There should be no pinching in its proportions,
+but every part carried out in its full breadth and effect.</p>
+
+<p>The cost of the whole establishment may be from $2,000, to $3,000;
+depending somewhat upon the material used, and the finish put upon it.
+The first-named sum would build the whole in an economical and plain
+manner, while the latter would complete it amply in its details.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">111</span>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house3_misc" id = "house3_misc">
+MISCELLANEOUS.</a></h6>
+
+<p>It may be an objection in the minds of some persons to the various
+plans here submitted, that we have connected the out-buildings
+<i>immediately</i> with the offices of the dwelling itself. We are well
+aware that such is not always usual; but many years observation have
+convinced us, that in their use and occupation, such connection is
+altogether the most convenient and economical. The only drawback is in
+the case of fire; which, if it occur in any one building, the whole
+establishment is liable to be consumed. This objection is conceded; but
+we take it, that it is the business of every one not able to be his own
+insurer, to have his buildings insured by others; and the additional
+cost of this insurance is not a tithe of what the extra expense of time,
+labor, and exposure is caused to the family by having the out-buildings
+disconnected, and at a <i>fire-proof</i> distance from each other. There
+has, too, in the separation of these out-buildings, (we do not now speak
+of barns, and houses for the stock, and the farmwork proper,) from the
+main dwelling, crept into the construction of such dwellings, by modern
+builders, <i>some</i> things, which in a country establishment,
+particularly, ought never to be there, such as privies, or
+<i>water-closets</i>, as they are more <i>genteelly</i> called. These
+last, in our estimation, have no business <i>in</i> a <i>farmer's</i>
+house. They are an <i>effeminacy</i>, only, and introduced by
+<i>city</i> life. An <i>appendage</i> they should be, but separated to
+some distance from the living rooms, and accessible by sheltered
+<span class = "pagenum">112</span>
+passages to them. The wood-house should adjoin the outer kitchen,
+because the fuel should always be handy, and the outer kitchen, or
+wash-room is a sort of <i>slop</i>-room, of necessity; and the night
+wood, and that for the morning fires may be deposited in it for
+immediate use. The workshop, and small tool-house naturally comes next
+to that, as being chiefly used in stormy weather. Next to this last,
+would, more conveniently, come the carriage or wagon-house, and of
+course a stable for a horse or two for family use, always accessible at
+night, and convenient at unseasonable hours for farm labor. In the same
+close neighborhood, also, should be a small pigsty, to accommodate a pig
+or two, to eat up the kitchen slops from the table, refuse vegetables,
+parings, dishwater, &amp;c., &amp;c., which could not well be carried to
+the main piggery of the farm, unless the old-fashioned filthy mode of
+letting the hogs run in the road, and a trough set outside the door-yard
+fence, as seen in some parts of the country, were adopted. A&nbsp;pig
+can always be kept, and fatted in three or four months, from the wash of
+the house, with a little grain, in any well-regulated farmer's family.
+A&nbsp;few fowls may also be kept in a convenient hen-house, if desired,
+without offence&mdash;all constituting a part of the <i>household</i>
+economy of the place.</p>
+
+<p>These out-buildings too, give a comfortable, domestic look to the
+whole concern. Each one shelters and protects the other, and gives an
+air of comfort and repose to the whole&mdash;a family expression all
+round. What so naked and chilling to the feelings, as to see a country
+dwelling-house all perked up, by itself,
+<span class = "pagenum">113</span>
+standing, literally, out of doors, without any dependencies about it?
+No, no. First should stand the house, the chief structure, in the
+foreground; appendant to that, the kitchen wing; next in grade, the
+wood-house; covering in, also, the minor offices of the house. Then by
+way of setting up, partially on their own account, should come the
+workshop, carriage-house, and stable, as practically having a separate
+character, but still subordinate to the house and its requirements; and
+these too, may have their piggery and hen-house, by way of tapering off
+to the adjoining fence, which encloses a kitchen garden, or family
+orchard. Thus, each structure is appropriate in its way&mdash;and
+together, they form a combination grateful to the sight, as a complete
+rural picture. All objections, on account of filth or vermin, to this
+connection, may be removed by a cleanly keeping of the premises&mdash;a
+removal of all offal immediately as it is made, and daily or weekly
+taking it on to the manure heaps of the barns, or depositing it at once
+on the grounds where it is required. In point of health, nothing is more
+congenial to sound physical condition than the occasional smell of a
+stable, or the breath of a cow, not within the immediate contiguity to
+the occupied rooms of the dwelling. On the score of neatness, therefore,
+as we have placed them, no bar can be raised to their adoption.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(115)<br>
+(116)</span>
+<a name = "house4" id = "house4"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic115.jpg" width = "415" height = "220"
+alt = "farm house 4" title = "farm house 4">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "subcap">FARM HOUSE.</span> Pages 115-116.</p>
+
+<p class = "crossref">
+<a href = "images/pic115large.jpg">larger view</a></p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">114</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section smallcaps">Design IV.</h4>
+
+<p>This is perhaps a more ambitious house than either of the preceding,
+although it may be adapted to a domain of the same extent and value. It
+is plain and unpretending in appearance; yet, in its ample finish, and
+deeply drawn, sheltering eaves, broad veranda, and spacious
+out-buildings, may give accommodation to a larger family indulging a
+more liberal style of living than the last.</p>
+
+<p>By an error in the engraving, the main roof of the house is made to
+appear like a double, or gambrel-roof, breaking at the intersection of
+the gable, or hanging roof over the ends. This is not so intended. The
+roofs on each side are a straight line of rafters. The Swiss, or hanging
+style of gable-roof is designed to give a more sheltered effect to the
+elevation than to run the end walls to a peak in the point of the
+roof.</p>
+
+<p>By a defect in the drawing, the roof of the veranda is not
+sufficiently thrown over the columns. This roof should project at least
+one foot beyond them, so as to perfectly shelter the mouldings beneath
+from the weather, and conform to the style of the main roof of the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>The material of which it is built may be of either stone, brick, or
+wood, as the taste or convenience of the proprietor may suggest. The
+main building is 44�36 feet, on the ground. The cellar wall may show
+<span class = "pagenum">117</span>
+18 to 24 inches above the ground, and be pierced by windows in each end,
+as shown in the plan. The height of the main walls may be two full
+stories below the roof plates, or the chambers may run a foot or two
+into the garret, at the choice of the builder, either of which
+arrangements may be permitted.</p>
+
+<p>The front door opens from a veranda 28 feet long by 10&nbsp;feet in
+depth, dropping eight inches from the door-sill. This veranda has a
+hipped roof, which juts over the columns in due proportion with the roof
+of the house over its walls. These columns are plain, with brackets, or
+braces from near their tops, sustaining the plate and finish of the roof
+above, which may be covered either with tin or zinc, painted, or closely
+shingled.</p>
+
+<p>The walls of the house may be 18 to 20 feet high below the plates;
+the roof a pitch of 30 to 45�, which will afford an upper garret, or
+store, or small sleeping rooms, if required; and the eaves should
+project two to three feet, as climate may demand, over the walls.
+A&nbsp;plain finish&mdash;that is, ceiled underneath&mdash;is shown in
+the design, but brackets on the ends of the rafters, beaded and
+finished, may be shown, if preferred. The gables are
+<i>Swiss-roofed</i>, or <i>truncated</i>, thus giving them a most
+sheltered and comfortable appearance, particularly in a northerly
+climate. The small gable in front relieves the roof of its monotony, and
+affords light to the central garret. The chimneys are carried out with
+partition flues, and may be topped with square caps, as necessity or
+taste may demand.</p>
+
+<p>Retreating three feet from the kitchen side of the
+<span class = "pagenum">118</span>
+house runs, at right angles, a&nbsp;wing 30�18 feet, one and a half
+stories high, with a veranda eight feet wide in front. Next in rear of
+this, continues a wood-house, 30�18 feet, one story high, with ten feet
+posts, and open in front, the ground level of which is 18&nbsp;inches
+below the floor of the wing to which it is attached. The roof of these
+two is of like character with that of the main building.</p>
+
+<p>Adjoining this wood-house, and at right angles with it, is a building
+68�18 feet, projecting two feet outside the line of wood-house and
+kitchen. This building is one and a half stories high, with 12&nbsp;feet
+posts, and roof in the same style and of equal pitch as the others.</p>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house4_interior" id =
+"house4_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p class = "pictop leftfloat">
+<a name = "house4_ground" id = "house4_ground"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic119top.gif" width = "371" height = "103"
+alt = "farm house 4, ground plan (partial)"
+title = "farm house 4, ground plan (partial)">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "picbottom leftfloat">
+<img src = "images/pic119bottom.gif" width = "237" height = "527"
+alt = "farm house 4, ground plan (partial)"
+title = "farm house 4, ground plan (partial)">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">GROUND PLAN.</span></p>
+
+<p>The front door from the veranda of the house opens into a hall, 18�8
+feet, and 11&nbsp;feet high, amply lighted by sash windows on the sides,
+and over the door. From the rear of this hall runs a flight of easy
+stairs, into the upper or chamber hall. On one side of the lower hall,
+a&nbsp;door leads into a parlor, 18&nbsp;feet square, and 11&nbsp;feet
+high, lighted by three windows, and warmed by an open stove, or
+fireplace, the pipe passing into a chimney flue in the rear. A&nbsp;door
+passes from this parlor into a rear passage, or entry, thus giving it
+access to the kitchen and rear apartments. At the back end of the front
+hall, a&nbsp;door leads into the rear passage and kitchen; and on the
+side opposite the parlor, a&nbsp;door opens into the sitting or family
+room, 18�16 feet in
+<span class = "pagenum">119</span>
+area, having an open fireplace, and three windows. On the hall side of
+this room, a&nbsp;door passes into the kitchen, 22�16 feet, and which
+may, in case the requirements of the family demand it, be made the chief
+family or living room, and the last one described converted into a
+library. In this kitchen, which is
+<span class = "pagenum">120</span>
+lighted by two windows, is a liberal open fireplace, with an ample oven
+by its side, and a sink in the outer corner. A&nbsp;flight of stairs,
+also, leads to the rear chambers above; and a corresponding flight,
+under them, to the cellar below. A&nbsp;door at each end of these
+stairs, leads into the back entry of the house, and thus to the other
+interior rooms, or through the rear outer door to the back porch. This
+back entry is lighted by a single sash window over the outside door
+leading to the porch. Another door, opposite that leading down cellar,
+opens into the passage through the wing. From the rear hall, which is
+16�5 feet, the innermost passage leads into a family bedroom, or
+nursery, 16�14 feet, lighted by a window in each outside wall, and
+warmed by an
+<span class = "pagenum">121</span>
+open fireplace, or stove, at pleasure. Attached to this bedroom is a
+clothes-closet, 8�4 feet, with shelves, and drawers. Next the outer
+door, in rear end of the hall, is a small closet opening from it, 6�4
+feet in dimensions, convertible to any use which the mistress of the
+house may direct.</p>
+
+<p class = "pictop leftfloat">
+<a name = "house4_chamber" id = "house4_chamber"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic120top.gif" width = "118" height = "150"
+alt = "farm house 4, chamber plan (partial)"
+title = "farm house 4, chamber plan (partial)">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "picbottom leftfloat">
+<img src = "images/pic120bottom.gif" width = "235" height = "247"
+alt = "farm house 4, chamber plan (partial)"
+title = "farm house 4, chamber plan (partial)">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">CHAMBER PLAN.</span></p>
+
+<p>Opening into the wing from the kitchen, first, is a large closet and
+pantry, supplied with a table, drawers, and shelves, in which are stored
+the dishes, table furniture, and edibles necessary to be kept at a
+moment's access. This room is 14�8 feet, and well lighted by a window of
+convenient size. If necessary, this room may have a partition, shutting
+off a part from the everyday uses which the family requires. In this
+room, so near to the kitchen, to the sink, to hot-water, and the other
+little domestic accessories which good housewives know so well how to
+arrange and appreciate, all the nice little table-comforts can be got
+up, and perfected, and stored away, under lock and key, in drawer, tub,
+or jar, at their discretion, and still their eyes not be away from their
+subordinates in the other departments. Next to this, and connected by a
+door, is the dairy, or milk-room, also 14�8 feet; which, if necessary,
+may be sunk three or four feet into the ground, for additional coolness
+in the summer season, and the floor reached by steps. In this are ample
+shelves for the milkpans, conveniences of churning, &amp;c., &amp;c.
+But, if the dairy be a prominent object of the farm, a&nbsp;separate
+establishment will be required, and the excavation may not be necessary
+for ordinary household uses. Out of this milk-room, a&nbsp;door leads
+<span class = "pagenum">122</span>
+into a wash-room, 18�14 feet. A&nbsp;passage from the kitchen also leads
+into this. The wash-room is lighted by two windows in rear, and one in
+front. A&nbsp;sink is between the two rear windows, with conductor
+leading outside, and a closet beneath it, for the iron ware. In the
+chimney, at the end, are boilers, and a fireplace, an oven, or anything
+else required, and a door leading to a platform in the wood-house, and
+so into the yard. On the other side of the chimney, a&nbsp;door leads
+into a bathing-room, 7�6 feet, into which hot water is drawn from one of
+the boilers adjoining, and cold water may be introduced, by a hand-pump,
+through a pipe leading into the well or cistern.</p>
+
+<p>As no more convenient opportunity may present itself, a&nbsp;word or
+two will be suggested as to the location of the bath-room in a country
+house. In city houses, or country houses designed for the summer
+occupancy of city dwellers, the bathing-rooms are usually placed in the
+second or chamber story, and the water for their supply is drawn from
+cisterns still above <i>them</i>. This arrangement, in city houses, is
+made chiefly from the want of room on the ground floor; and, also, thus
+arranged in the city-country houses, <i>because</i> they are so
+constructed in the city. In the farm house, or in the country house
+proper, occupied by whom it may be, such arrangement is unnecessary,
+expensive, and inconvenient. Unnecessary, because there is no want of
+room on the ground; expensive, because an upper cistern is always liable
+to leakages, and a consequent wastage of water, wetting, and rotting out
+the floors, and all the slopping and dripping which such accidents
+<span class = "pagenum">123</span>
+occasion; and inconvenient, from the continual up-and-down-stair labor
+of those who occupy the bath, to say nothing of the piercing the walls
+of the house, for the admission of pipes to lead in and let out the
+water, and the thousand-and-one vexations, by way of plumbers' bills,
+and expense of getting to and from the house itself, always a distance
+of some miles from the mechanic.</p>
+
+<p>The only defence for such location of the bath-room and cisterns is,
+the convenience and privacy of access to them, by the females of the
+family. This counts but little, if anything, over the place appropriated
+in this, and the succeeding designs of this work. The access is almost,
+if not quite as private as the other, and, in case of ill-health, as
+easily approachable to invalids. And on the score of economy in
+construction, repair, or accident, the plan here adopted is altogether
+preferable. In this plan, the water is drawn from the boiler by the
+turning of a cock; that from the cistern, by a minute's labor with the
+hand-pump. It is let off by the drawing of a plug, and discharges, by a
+short pipe, into the adjoining garden, or grassplat, to moisten and
+invigorate the trees and plants which require it, and the whole affair
+is clean and sweet again. A&nbsp;screen for the window gives all the
+privacy required, and the most fastidious, shrinking female is as
+retired as in the shadiest nook of her dressing-room.</p>
+
+<p>So with water-closets. A&nbsp;fashion prevails of thrusting these
+noisome things into the midst of sleeping chambers and living
+rooms&mdash;pandering to effeminacy, and, at times, surcharging the
+house&mdash;for they
+<span class = "pagenum">124</span>
+cannot, at <i>all</i> times, and under <i>all</i> circumstances, be kept
+perfectly close&mdash;with their offensive odor. <i>Out</i> of the house
+they belong; and if they, by any means, find their way within its walls
+proper, the fault will not be laid at our door.</p>
+
+<p>To get back to our description. This bathing-room occupies a corner
+of the wood-house.</p>
+
+<p>A raised platform passes from the wash-room in, past the bath-room,
+to a water-closet, which may be divided into two apartments, if
+desirable. The vaults are accessible from the rear, for cleaning out, or
+introducing lime, gypsum, powdered charcoal, or other deodorizing
+material. At the extreme corner of the wood-house, a&nbsp;door opens
+into a feed and swill-room, 20�8 feet, which is reached by steps, and
+stands quite eighteen inches above the ground level, on a stone
+under-pinning, or with a stone cellar beneath, for the storage of roots
+in winter. In one corner of this is a boiler and chimney, for cooking
+food for the pigs and chickens. A&nbsp;door leads from this room into
+the piggery, 20�12 feet, where half-a-dozen swine may be kept.
+A&nbsp;door leads from this pen into a yard, in the rear, where they
+will be less offensive than if confined within. If necessary,
+a&nbsp;flight of steps, leading to the loft overhead, may be built,
+where corn can be stored for their feeding.</p>
+
+<p>Next to this is the workshop and tool-house, 18�14 feet; and, in
+rear, a&nbsp;snug, warm house for the family chickens, 18�6 feet. These
+chickens may also have the run of the yard in rear, with the pigs, and
+apartments in the loft overhead for roosting.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">125</span>
+Adjoining the workshop is the carriage house, 18�18 feet, with a flight
+of stairs to the hayloft above, in which is, also, a&nbsp;dovecote; and,
+leading out of the carriage floor, is the stable, 18�12 feet, with
+stalls for two or four horses, and a passage of four feet wide, from the
+carriage-house into it; thus completing, and drawing under one
+continuous roof, and at less exposure than if separated, the chief
+every-day requirements of living, to a well-arranged and
+highly-respectable family.</p>
+
+<p>The chamber plan of the dwelling will be readily understood by
+reference to its arrangement. There are a sufficiency of closets for all
+purposes, and the whole are accessible from either flight of stairs. The
+rooms over the wing, of course, should be devoted to the male domestics
+of the family, work-people, &amp;c.</p>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house4_grounds" id = "house4_grounds">
+SURROUNDING PLANTATIONS, SHRUBBERY, WALKS, ETC.</a></h6>
+
+<p>After the general remarks made in the preceding pages, no
+<i>particular</i> instructions can be given for the manner in which this
+residence should be embellished in its trees and shrubbery. The large
+forest trees, always grand, graceful, and appropriate, would become such
+a house, throwing a protecting air around and over its quiet,
+unpretending roof. Vines, or climbing roses, might throw their delicate
+spray around the columns of the modest veranda, and a varied selection
+of familiar shrubbery and ornamental plants checker the immediate front
+and sides of the house looking out upon the lawn; through which a
+spacious walk, or
+<span class = "pagenum">126</span>
+carriage-way should wind, from the high road, or chief approach.</p>
+
+<p>There are, however, so many objects to be consulted in the various
+sites of houses, that no one rule can be laid down for individual
+guidance. The surface of the ground immediately adjoining the house must
+be considered; the position of the house, as it is viewed from
+surrounding objects; its altitude, or depression, as affected by the
+adjacent lands; its command upon surrounding near, or distant objects,
+in the way of prospect; the presence of water, either in stream, pond,
+or lake, far or near, or the absence of water altogether&mdash;all these
+enter immediately into the manner in which the lawn of a house should be
+laid out, and worked, and planted. But as a rule, all <i>filagree</i>
+work, such as serpentine paths, and tortuous, unmeaning circles,
+artificial piles of rock, and a multitude of small
+<i>ornaments</i>&mdash;so esteemed, by some&mdash;should never be
+introduced into the lawn of a <i>farm</i> house. It is unmeaning, in the
+first place; expensive in its care, in the second place; unsatisfactory
+and annoying altogether. Such things about a farm establishment are
+neither dignified nor useful, and should be left to town's-people,
+having but a stinted appreciation of what constitutes <i>natural</i>
+beauty, and wanting to make the most of the limited piece of ground of
+which they are possessed.</p>
+
+<p>Nor would we shut out, by these remarks, the beauty and odor of the
+flower-borders, which are so appropriately the care of the good matron
+of the household and her comely daughters. To them may be devoted a
+well-dug plat beneath the windows, or in the garden.
+<span class = "pagenum">127</span>
+Enough, and to spare, they should always have, of such cheerful,
+life-giving pleasures. We only object to their being strewed all over
+the ground,&mdash;a tussoc of plant here, a&nbsp;patch of posey there,
+and a scattering of both everywhere, without either system or meaning.
+They lower the dignity and simplicity of the country dwelling
+altogether.</p>
+
+<p>The business approach to this house is, of course, toward the stables
+and carriage-house, and from them should lead off the main
+farm-avenue.</p>
+
+<p>The kitchen garden, if possible, should lie on the kitchen side of
+the house, where, also, should be placed the bee-house, in full sight
+from the windows, that their labors and swarming may be watched. In
+fact, the entire economy of the farm house, and its appendages, should
+be brought close under the eye of the household, to engage their care
+and watchfulness, and to interest them in all the little associations
+and endearments&mdash;and they are many, when properly studied
+out&mdash;which go to make agricultural life one of the most agreeable
+pursuits, if not altogether so, in which our lot in life may be
+cast.</p>
+
+<p>A fruit-garden, too, should be a prominent object near this house. We
+are now advancing somewhat into the <i>elegances</i> of agricultural
+life; and although fruit trees, and <i>good</i> fruits too, should hold
+a strong place in the surroundings of even the humblest of all country
+places&mdash;sufficient, at least, for the ample use of the
+family&mdash;they have not yet been noticed, to any extent, in those
+already described. It may be remarked, that the
+fruit-<i>garden</i>&mdash;the <i>orchard</i>, for market
+<span class = "pagenum">128</span>
+purposes, is not here intended&mdash;should be placed in near proximity
+to the house. All the <i>small</i> fruits, for household use, such as
+strawberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, blackberries, grapes,
+as well as apricots, plums, nectarines, peaches, pears, apples, quinces,
+or whatever fruits may be cultivated, in different localities, should be
+close by, for the convenience of collecting them, and to protect them
+from destruction by vermin, birds, or the depredations of creatures
+<i>called</i> human.</p>
+
+<p>A decided plan of arrangement for all the plantations and grounds,
+should enter into the composition of the site for the dwelling,
+out-houses, gardens, &amp;c., as they are to appear when the whole
+establishment is completed; and nothing left to accident, chance, or
+after-thought, which can be disposed of at the commencement. By the
+adoption of such a course, the entire composition is more easily
+perfected, and with infinitely greater expression of character, than if
+left to the chance designs, or accidental demands of the future.</p>
+
+<p>Another feature should be strictly enforced, in the outward
+appointments of the farm house,&mdash;and that is, the entire withdrawal
+of any use of the highway, in its occupation by the stock of the farm,
+except in leading them to and from its enclosures. Nothing looks more
+slovenly, and nothing can be more unthrifty, in an <i>enclosed</i>
+country, than the running of farm stock in the highway. What so untidy
+as the approach to a house, with a herd of filthy hogs rooting about the
+fences, basking along the sidewalk, or
+<span class = "pagenum">129</span>
+feeding at a huge, uncouth, hollowed log, in the road near the dwelling.
+It may be out of place here to speak of it, but this disgusting
+spectacle has so often offended our sight, at the approach of an
+otherwise pleasant farm establishment, that we cannot forego the
+opportunity to speak of it. The road lying in front, or between the
+different sections of the farm, should be as well, and as cleanly kept
+as any portion of the enclosures, and it is equally a sin against good
+taste and neighborhood-morality, to have it otherwise.</p>
+
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "trees" id = "trees">
+TREE-PLANTING IN THE HIGHWAY.</a></h4>
+
+<p>This is frequently recommended by writers on country embellishment,
+as indispensable to a finished decoration of the farm. Such may, or may
+not be the fact. Trees shade the roads, when planted on their sides, and
+so they partially do the fields adjoining, making the first muddy, in
+bad weather, by preventing the sun drying them, and shading the crops of
+the last by their overhanging foliage, in the season of their growth.
+Thus they are an evil, in moist and heavy soils. Yet, in light soils,
+their shade is grateful to the highway traveler, and not, perhaps,
+injurious to the crops of the adjoining field; and when of proper kinds,
+they add grace and beauty to the domain in which they stand.
+<span class = "pagenum">130</span>
+We do not, therefore, indiscriminately recommend them, but leave it to
+the discretion of the farmer, to decide for himself, having seen estates
+equally pleasant with, and without trees on the roadside. Nothing,
+however, can be more beautiful than a clump of trees in a
+pasture-ground, with a herd, or a flock beneath them, near the road; or
+the grand and overshadowing branches of stately tree, in a rich meadow,
+leaning, perhaps, over the highway fence, or flourishing in its solitary
+grandeur, in the distance&mdash;each, and all, imposing features in the
+rural landscape. All such should be preserved, with the greatest care
+and solicitude, as among the highest and most attractive ornaments which
+the farm can boast.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(131)<br>
+(132)</span>
+<a name = "house5" id = "house5"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic132.jpg" width = "381" height = "271"
+alt = "farm house 5" title = "farm house 5">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "subcap">FARM HOUSE.</span> Pages 131-132.</p>
+
+<p class = "crossref">
+<a href = "images/pic132large.jpg">larger view</a></p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">133</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section smallcaps">Design V.</h4>
+
+<p>We here present a dwelling of a more ambitious and pretending
+character than any one which we have, as yet, described, and calculated
+for a large and wealthy farmer, who indulges in the elegances of country
+life, dispenses a liberal hospitality, and is every way a country
+gentleman, such as all our farmers of ample means should be. It will
+answer the demands of the retired man of business as well; and is,
+perhaps, as full in its various accommodation as an American farm or
+country house may require. It claims no distinct style of architecture,
+but is a composition agreeable in effect, and appropriate to almost any
+part of the country, and its climate. Its site may be on either hill or
+plain&mdash;with a view extensive, or restricted. It may look out over
+broad savannas, cultivated fields, and shining waters; it may nestle
+amid its own quiet woods and lawn in its own selected shade and
+retirement, or lord it over an extensive park, ranged by herds and
+flocks, meandered by its own stream, spreading anon into the placid
+lake, or rushing swiftly over its own narrow bed&mdash;an independent,
+substantial, convenient, and well-conditioned home, standing upon its
+own broad acres, and comporting with the character and standing of its
+occupant, among his friends and neighbors.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">134</span>
+The main building is 50�40 feet in area upon the ground, two stories
+high; the ground story 11&nbsp;feet high, its floor elevated 2� or 3
+feet above the level of the surrounding surface, as its position may
+demand; the chambers 9&nbsp;feet high, and running 2&nbsp;feet into the
+roof. The rear wing is one and a half stories high, 36�16 feet; the
+lower rooms 11&nbsp;feet high, with a one story lean-to range of
+closets, and small rooms on the weather side, 8&nbsp;feet in width and
+9&nbsp;feet high. In the rear of these is a wood-house, 30�20 feet, with
+10&nbsp;feet posts, dropped to a level with the ground. At the extremity
+of this is a building, by way of an&nbsp;L, 60�20 feet, one and a half
+stories high, with a lean-to, 12�30 feet, in the rear. The ground rooms
+of this are elevated 1�&nbsp;feet above the ground, and 9&nbsp;feet
+high. A&nbsp;broad roof covers the whole, standing at an angle of 40 or
+45� above a horizontal line, and projecting widely over the walls,
+2�&nbsp;to 3 feet on the main building, and 2&nbsp;feet on the others,
+to shelter them perfectly from the storms and damps of the weather.
+A&nbsp;small cupola stands out of the ridge of the rear building, which
+may serve as a ventilator to the apartments and lofts below, and in it
+may be hung a bell, to summon the household, or the field laborers, as
+the case may be, to their duties or their meals.</p>
+
+<p>The design, as here shown, is rather florid, and perhaps profusely
+ornamental in its finish, as comporting with the taste of the day; but
+the cut and moulded trimmings may be left off by those who prefer a
+plain finish, and be no detriment to the general effect which the deep
+friezes of the roofs, properly cased beneath,
+<span class = "pagenum">135</span>
+may give to it. Such, indeed, is our own taste; but this full finish has
+been added, to gratify such as wish the full ornament which this style
+of building may admit.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">(136)</span>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "house5_ground" id = "house5_ground"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic136.png" width = "376" height = "934"
+alt = "farm house 5, ground plan" title = "farm house 5, ground plan">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+GROUND PLAN.</p>
+
+<p class = "crossref">
+<a href = "images/pic136orig.png">Plans in original orientation</a>
+</p>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house5_interior" id =
+"house5_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p>The front of this house is accommodated by a porch, or veranda, 40
+feet long, and 10 feet wide, with a central, or entrance projection of
+18&nbsp;feet in length, and 12&nbsp;feet in width, the floor of which is
+eight inches below the main floor of the house. The wings, or sides of
+this veranda may be so fitted up as to allow a pleasant conservatory on
+each side of the entrance area in winter, by enclosing them with glass
+windows, and the introduction of heat from a furnace under the main
+hall, in the cellar of the house. This would add to its general effect
+in winter, and, if continued through the summer, would not detract from
+its expression of dignity and refinement. From the veranda, a&nbsp;door
+in the center of the front, with two side windows, leads into the main
+hall, which is 26�12 feet in area, two feet in the width of which is
+taken from the rooms on the right of the main entrance. On the left of
+the hall a door opens into a parlor or drawing-room, marked P,
+20&nbsp;feet square, with a bay window on one side, containing three
+sashes, and seats beneath. A&nbsp;single window lights the front opening
+on to the veranda. On the opposite side to this is the fireplace, with
+blank walls on each side. On the opposite side of the hall is a library,
+18�16 feet, with an end window, and a
+<span class = "pagenum">137</span>
+corresponding one to the parlor, in front, looking out on the veranda.
+In case these portions of the veranda, opposite the two front windows
+are occupied as conservatories, these windows should open to the floor,
+to admit a walk immediately into them. At the farther corner of the
+library a narrow door leads into an office, or business apartment, 12�8
+feet, and opening by a broad door, the upper half of which is a lighted
+sash. This door leads from the office out on a small porch, with a floor
+and two columns, 8�5 feet, and nine feet high, with a gable and double
+roof of the same pitch as the house. Between the chimney flues, in the
+rear of this room may be placed an iron safe, or chest for the deposit
+of valuable papers; and, although small, a&nbsp;table and chairs
+sufficient to accommodate the business requirements of the occupant, may
+be kept in it. A&nbsp;chimney stands in the center of the inner wall of
+the library, in which may be a fireplace, or a flue to receive a
+stovepipe, whichever may be preferred for warming the room.</p>
+
+<p>Near the hall side of the library a door opens into a passage leading
+into the family bedroom, or nursery. A&nbsp;portion of this passage may
+be shelved and fitted up as a closet for any convenient purpose. The
+nursery is 18�16 feet in size, lighted by two windows. It may have an
+open fireplace, or a stove, as preferred, let into the chimney,
+corresponding to that in the library. These two chimneys may either be
+drawn together in the chambers immediately above, or carried up
+separately into the garret, and pass out of the roof in one stack, or
+they maybe built in one solid mass from the
+<span class = "pagenum">138</span>
+cellar bottom; but they are so placed here, as saving room on the
+floors, and equally accommodating, in their separate divisions, the
+stovepipes that may lead into them. On the inner side of the nursery,
+a&nbsp;door leads into a large closet, or child's sleeping-room, 9�8
+feet; or it may be used as a dressing-room, with a sash inserted in the
+door to light it. A&nbsp;door may also lead from it into the small rear
+entry of the house, and thus pass directly out, without communicating
+with the nursery. On the extreme left corner of the nursery is a door
+leading into the back entry, by which it communicates either with the
+rear porch, the dining-room, or the kitchen. Such a room we consider
+indispensable to the proper accommodation of a house in the country, as
+saving a world of up-and-down-stairs' labor to her who is usually
+charged with the domestic cares and supervision of the family.</p>
+
+<p>On the right of the main hall an ample staircase leads into the upper
+hall by a landing and broad stair at eight feet above the floor, and a
+right-angled flight from that to the main floor above. Under this main
+hall staircase, a&nbsp;door and stairs may lead into the cellar. Beyond
+the turning flight below, a&nbsp;door leads into the back hall, or
+entry, already mentioned, which is 13�4 feet in area, which also has a
+side passage of 8�4 feet, and a door leading to the rear porch, and
+another into the kitchen at its farther side, near the outer one.
+Opposite the turning flight of stairs, in the main hall, is also a door
+leading to the dining-room, 20�16 feet. This is lighted by a large
+double window at the end. A&nbsp;fireplace, or stove flue is in the
+center wall, and on
+<span class = "pagenum">139</span>
+each side a closet for plate, or table furniture. These closets come out
+flush with the chimney. At the extreme right corner a door leads into
+the rear entry&mdash;or this may be omitted, at pleasure. Another door
+in the rear wall leads into the kitchen, past the passage down into the
+cellar&mdash;or this may be omitted, if thought best. Still another door
+to the left, opens into a large dining closet of the back lean-to
+apartments, 8�8 feet. This closet is lighted by a window of proper
+architectural size, and fitted up with a suite of drawers, shelves,
+table, and cupboards, required for the preparation and deposit of the
+lighter family stores and edibles. From this closet is also a door
+leading into the kitchen, through which may be passed all the meats and
+cookery for the table, either for safe-keeping, or immediate service.
+Here the thrifty and careful housekeeper and her assistants may, shut
+apart, and by themselves, get up, fabricate, and arrange all their table
+delicacies with the greatest convenience and privacy, together with ease
+of access either to the dining-room or kitchen&mdash;an apartment most
+necessary in a liberally-arranged establishment.</p>
+
+<p>From the rear entry opens a door to the kitchen, passing by the
+<i>rear</i> chamber stairs. This flight of stairs may be entered
+directly from the kitchen, leading either to the chamber, or under them,
+into the cellar, without coming into the passage connecting with the
+entry or dining-room, if preferred. In such case, a&nbsp;broad stair of
+thirty inches in width should be next the door, on which to turn, as the
+door would be at right angles with the stairs, either up or down.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">140</span>
+The kitchen is 20�16 feet, and 11 feet high. It has an outer door
+leading on the rear porch, and a window on each side of that door; also
+a window, under which is a sink, on the opposite side, at the end of a
+passage four feet wide, leading through the lean-to. It has also an open
+fireplace, and an oven by the side of it&mdash;old fashion. It may be
+also furnished with a cooking range, or stove&mdash;the smoke and fumes
+leading by a pipe into a flue into the chimney. On the lean-to side is a
+milk or dairy-room, 8�8 feet, lighted by a window. Here also the kitchen
+furniture and meats may be stored in cupboards made for the purpose. In
+rear of the kitchen, and leading from it by a door through a lighted
+passage next the rear porch, is the wash-room, 16�16 feet, lighted by a
+large window from the porch side. A&nbsp;door also leads out of the rear
+on to a platform into the wood-house. Another door leads from the
+wash-room into a bath-room in the lean-to 8�8 feet, into which warm
+water is drawn by a pipe and pump from the boiler in the wash-room; or,
+if preferred, the bath-room may be entered from the main kitchen, by the
+passage next the sink. This bath-room is lighted by a window. Next to
+the bath-room is a bedroom for a man servant who has charge of the
+fires, and heavy house-work, wood, &amp;c., &amp;c. This bedroom is also
+8�8 feet, and lighted by a window in the lean-to. In front of this
+wash-room and kitchen is a porch, eight inches below the floor, six feet
+wide, with a railing, or not, as may be preferred. (The railing is made
+in the cut.) A platform, three feet wide, leads from the back door of
+the wash-room to a
+<span class = "pagenum">141</span>
+water-closet for the family <i>proper</i>. The wood-house is open in
+front, with a single post supporting the center of the roof. At the
+extreme outer angle is a water-closet for the domestics of the
+establishment.</p>
+
+<p>Adjoining the wood-house, and opening from it into the L before
+mentioned, is a workshop, and <ins class = "correction"
+title = "hyphens in original">small-tool-house</ins>,
+20�16 feet, lighted by a large
+double window at one end. In this should be a carpenter's work-bench and
+tool-chest, for the repairs of the farming utensils and vehicles.
+Overhead is a store-room for lumber, or whatever else may be necessary
+for use in that capacity. Next to this is a granary or feed-room, 20�10
+feet, with a small chimney in one corner, where may be placed a boiler
+to cook food for pigs, poultry, &amp;c., as the case may be. Here may
+also be bins for storage of grain and meal. Leading out of this is a
+flight of stairs passing to the chamber above, and a passage four feet
+wide, through the rear, into a yard adjoining. At the further end of the
+stairs a door opens into a poultry house, 16�10 feet, including the
+stairs. The poultry room is lighted at the extreme left corner, by a
+broad window. In this may be made roosts, and nesting places, and
+feeding troughs. A&nbsp;low door under the window may be also made for
+the fowls in passing to the rear yard. Adjoining the granary, and
+leading to it by a door, is the carriage-house, 20�20 feet, at the gable
+end of which are large doors for entrance. From the carriage-house is a
+broad passage of six feet, into the stables, which are 12&nbsp;feet
+wide, and occupy the lean-to. This lean-to is eight feet high below the
+eaves, with two double stalls for
+<span class = "pagenum">142</span>
+horses, and a door leading into the <i>side</i> yard, with the doors of
+the carriage-house. A&nbsp;window also lights the rear of the stables.
+A&nbsp;piggery 12&nbsp;feet square occupies the remainder of the lean-to
+in rear of the poultry-house, in which two or three pigs can always be
+kept, and fatted on the offal of the house, for <i>small</i> pork, at
+any season, apart from the swine stock of the farm. A&nbsp;door leads
+out of the piggery into the rear yard, where range also the poultry. As
+the <i>shed</i> roof shuts down on to the pigsty and stables, no loft
+above them is necessary. In the loft over the granary, poultry, and
+carriage-house is deposited the hay, put in there through the doors
+which appear in the design.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "smallcaps">Chamber Plan.</span>&mdash;This is easily
+understood. At the head of the stairs, over the main hall, is a large
+passage leading to the porch, and opening by a door-window on the middle
+deck of the veranda, which is nearly level, and tinned, or coppered,
+water-tight, as are also the two sides. On either side of this upper
+hall is a door leading to the front sleeping chambers, which are well
+closeted, and spacious. If it be desirable to construct more
+sleeping-rooms, they can be partitioned laterally from the hall, and
+doors made to enter them. A&nbsp;rear hall is cut off from the front,
+lighted by a window over the lower rear porch, and a door leads into a
+further passage in the wing, four feet wide, which leads down a flight
+of stairs into the kitchen below. At the head of this flight is a
+chamber 20�12 feet, for the female domestic's sleeping-room, in which
+may be placed a stove, if necessary, passing its pipe into the kitchen
+chimney which passes through&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">143</span>
+
+<p class = "pictop leftfloat">
+<a name = "house5_chamber" id = "house5_chamber"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic143top.gif" width = "145" height = "176"
+alt = "farm house 5, chamber plan" title = "farm house 5, chamber plan">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "picbottom leftfloat">
+<img src = "images/pic143bottom.gif" width = "265" height = "280"
+alt = "farm house 5, chamber plan" title = "farm house 5, chamber plan">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+CHAMBER PLAN.</span></p>
+
+<p>It is also lighted by a window over the lean-to, on the side. Back of
+this, at the end of the passage, is the sleeping-room, 16&nbsp;feet
+square, for the "men-folks," lighted on both sides by a window. This may
+also be warmed, if desired, by a stove, the pipe passing into the
+kitchen chimney.</p>
+
+<p>The cellar may extend under the entire house and wing, as convenience
+or necessity may require. If it be constructed under the main body only,
+an offset should be excavated to accommodate the cellar stairs, three
+feet in width, and walled in with the rest. A
+<span class = "pagenum">144</span>
+wide, <i>outer</i> passage, with a flight of steps should also be made
+under the rear nursery window, for taking in and passing out bulky
+articles, with double doors to shut down upon it; and partition walls
+should be built to support the partitions of the large rooms above. Many
+minor items of detail might be mentioned, all of which are already
+treated in the general remarks, under their proper heads, in the body of
+the work, and which cannot here be noticed&mdash;such as the mode of
+warming it, the construction of furnaces, &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>It may, by some builders, be considered a striking defect in the
+interior accommodation of a house of this character, that the chief
+entrance hall should not be extended through, from its front to the
+rear, as is common in many of the large mansions of our country. We
+object to the large, open hall for more than one reason, except,
+possibly, in a house for <i>summer</i> occupation only. In the first
+place it is uncomfortable, in subjecting the house to an unnecessary
+draught of air when it is not needed, in cold weather. Secondly, it cuts
+the house into two distinct parts, making them inconvenient of access in
+crossing its wide surface. Thirdly, it is uneconomical, in taking up
+valuable room that can be better appropriated. For summer ventilation it
+is unnecessary; that may be given by simply opening the front door and a
+chamber window connected with the hall above, through which a current of
+fresh air will always pass. Another thing, the hall belongs to the
+front, or <i>dress</i> part of the house, and should be <i>cut off</i>
+from the more domestic and common apartments by a partition, although
+accessible to them,
+<span class = "pagenum">145</span>
+and not directly communicating with such apartments, which cannot of
+necessity, be in keeping with its showy and pretending character. It
+should contain only the <i>front</i> flight of stairs, as a part of its
+appointments, besides the doors leading to its best apartments on the
+ground floor, which should be centrally placed&mdash;its rear door being
+of a less pretending and subordinate character. Thus, the hall, with its
+open doors, connecting the best rooms of the house on each side, with
+its ample flight of stairs in the background, gives a distinct
+expression of superiority in occupation to the other and humbler
+portions of the dwelling.</p>
+
+<p>In winter, too, how much more snug and comfortable is the house, shut
+in from the prying winds and shivering cold of the outside air, which
+the opposite outer doors of an open hall cannot, in their continual
+opening and shutting, altogether exclude! Our own experience, and, we
+believe, the experience of most housekeepers will readily concede its
+defects; and after full reflection we have excluded it as both
+unnecessary and inconvenient.</p>
+
+<p>Another objection has been avoided in the better class of houses here
+presented, which has crept into very many of the designs of modern
+builders; which is, that of using the living rooms of the family, more
+or less, as passages from the kitchen apartments in passing to and from
+the front hall, or chief entrance. Such we consider a decided objection,
+and hence arose, probably, the older plans of by-gone years, of making
+the main hall reach back to the kitchen itself. This is here obviated by
+a cutting up of the rear section of the
+<span class = "pagenum">146</span>
+hall, by which a passage, in all cases of the better kind of dwelling,
+is preserved, without encroaching upon the occupied rooms in passing out
+and in. To be sure, the front door is not the usual passage for the
+laborers or servants of the house, but they are subject, any hour of the
+day, to be called there to admit those who may come, and the continual
+opening of a private room for such purposes is most annoying. Therefore,
+as matter of convenience, and as a decided improvement on the designs
+above noticed, we have adhered strictly to the separate rear
+passage.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>garret</i>, also, as we have arranged our designs, is either
+altogether left out, or made a quite unimportant part of the dwelling.
+It is but a <i>lumber</i> room, at best; and should be approached only
+by a flight of steps from a rear chamber or passage, and used as a
+receptacle for useless traps, or cast-off furniture, seldom wanted. It
+is hot in summer, and cold in winter, unfit for decent lodging to any
+human being in the house, and of little account any way. We much prefer
+running the chambers partially into the roof, which we think gives them
+a more comfortable expression, and admits of a better ventilation, by
+carrying their ceilings higher without the expense of high <i>body</i>
+walls to the house, which would give them an otherwise naked look. If it
+be objected that thus running the chambers above the plates of the roof
+prevents the insertion of proper ties or beams to hold the roof plates
+together to prevent their spreading, we answer, that he must be a poor
+mechanic who cannot, in framing the chamber partitions so connect the
+opposite plates as to insure
+<span class = "pagenum">147</span>
+them against all such difficulty. A&nbsp;<i>sheltered, comfortable</i>
+aspect is that which should distinguish every farm house, and the
+<i>cottage</i> chamber is one of its chiefest characteristics; and this
+can only be had by running such apartments into the roof, as in our
+design.</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house5_construction" id =
+"house5_construction">
+CONSTRUCTION.</a></h6>
+
+<p>A house of this kind must, according to its locality, and the
+material of which it is built, be liable to wide differences of estimate
+in its cost; and from our own experience in such matters, any estimate
+here made we know cannot be reliable as a rule for other localities,
+where the prices of material and labor are different from our own. Where
+lumber, stone, and brick abound, and each are to be had at reasonable
+prices, the cost of an establishment of this kind would not vary much in
+the application of either one of these materials for the walls, if well
+and substantially constructed. There should be no <i>sham</i>, nor
+slight, in any part of the building. As already observed, the design
+shows a high degree of finish, which, if building for ourself, we should
+not indulge in. A&nbsp;plain style of cornice, and veranda finish, we
+should certainly adopt. But the roof should not be contracted in its
+projecting breadth over the walls, in any part of the structure&mdash;if
+anything, it should be more extended. The bay-window is an appendage of
+luxury, only. Great care should be had, in attaching its roof to the
+adjoining outer wall, to prevent leakage of any kind. If the
+<span class = "pagenum">148</span>
+walls be of brick, or stone, a&nbsp;beam or lintel of wood should be
+inserted in the wall over the window-opening, quite two
+inches&mdash;three would be better&mdash;back from its outer surface, to
+receive the casing of the window, that the drip of the wall, and the
+driving of the storms may fall <i>over</i> the connecting joints of the
+window roof, beyond its point of junction with it. Such, also, should be
+the case with the intersection of the veranda or porch roof with the
+wall of the house, wherever a veranda, or porch is adopted; as, simply
+joined on to a <i>flush</i> surface, as such appendages usually
+are&mdash;even if ever so well done&mdash;leakage and premature decay is
+inevitable.</p>
+
+<p>The style of finish must, of course, influence, in a considerable
+degree, its cost. It may, with the plainest finish, be done for $4,000,
+and from that, up to $6,000. Every one desirous to build, should apply
+to the best mechanics of his neighborhood for information on that point,
+as, in such matters, they are the best judges, and from experience in
+their own particular profession, of what the cost of building
+must&nbsp;be.</p>
+
+<p>The rules and customs of housekeeping vary, in different sections of
+the United States, and the Canadas. These, also, enter into the
+estimates for certain departments of building, and must be considered in
+the items of expenditure.</p>
+
+<p>The manner in which houses should be warmed, the ventilation,
+accommodation for servants and laborers, the appropriations to
+hospitality&mdash;all, will have a bearing on the expense, of which we
+cannot be the proper judge.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">149</span>
+A sufficient time should be given, to build a house of this character.
+A&nbsp;house designed and built in a hurry, is never a satisfactory
+house in its occupation. A&nbsp;year is little enough, and if two years
+be occupied in its design and construction, the more acceptable will
+probably be its finish, and the more comfort will be added in its
+enjoyment.</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house5_grounds" id = "house5_grounds">
+GROUNDS, PLANTATIONS, AND SURROUNDINGS.</a></h6>
+
+<p>A house of this kind should never stand in vulgar and familiar
+contact with the highway, but at a distance from it of one hundred to a
+thousand yards; or even, if the estate on which it is built be
+extensive, a&nbsp;much greater distance. Breadth of ground between the
+highway and the dwelling adds dignity and character to its appearance.
+An ample lawn, or a spreading park, well shaded with trees, should lay
+before it, through which a well-kept avenue leads to its front, and most
+frequented side. The various offices and buildings of the farm itself,
+should be at a respectable distance from it, so as not to interfere with
+its proper keeping as a genteel country residence. Its occupant is not
+to be supposed as under the necessity of toiling with his daily laborers
+in the fields, and therefore, although he may be strictly a man of
+business, he has sufficient employment in planning his work, and
+managing his estate through a foreman, in the various labor-occupations
+of the estate. His horse may be at his door in the earliest morning
+hours, that he may
+<span class = "pagenum">150</span>
+inspect his fields, and give timely directions to his laborers, or view
+his herds, or his flocks, before his breakfast hour; or an early walk
+may take him to his stables, his barns, or to see that his previous
+directions are executed.</p>
+
+<p>The various accommodation appurtenant to the dwelling, makes ample
+provision for the household convenience of the family, and the main
+business of the farm may be at some distance, without inconvenience to
+the owner's every-day affairs. Consequently, the indulgence of a
+considerable degree of ornament may be given, in the surroundings of his
+dwelling, which the occupant of a less extensive estate would neither
+require, nor his circumstances warrant. A&nbsp;natural forest of stately
+trees, properly thinned out, is the most appropriate spot on which to
+build a house of this character. But that not at hand, it should be set
+off with plantations of forest trees, of the largest growth, as in
+keeping with its own liberal dimensions. A&nbsp;capacious kitchen garden
+should lead off from the rear apartments, well stocked with all the
+family vegetables, and culinary fruits, in their proper seasons.
+A&nbsp;luxuriant fruit-garden may flank the least frequented side of the
+house. Neat and tasteful flower beds may lie beneath the windows of the
+rooms appropriated to the leisure hours of the family, to which the
+smaller varieties of shrubbery may be added, separated from the chief
+lawn, or park, only by a wire fence, or a simple railing, such as not to
+cut up and <i>checker</i> its simple and dignified surface; and all
+these shut in on the rear from the adjoining fields of the farm by belts
+of large shrubbery
+<span class = "pagenum">151</span>
+closely planted, or the larger orchards, thus giving it a style of its
+own, yet showing its connection with the pursuits of the farm and its
+dependence upon&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>These various appointments, however, may be either carried out or
+restricted, according to the requirements of the family occupying the
+estate, and the prevailing local taste of the vicinity in which it is
+situated; but no narrow or stingy spirit should be indicated in the
+general plan or in its execution. Every appointment connected with it
+should indicate a liberality of purpose in the founder, without which
+its effect is painfully marred to the eye of the man of true taste and
+judgment. Small yards, picketed in for small uses, have no business in
+sight of the grounds in front, and all minor concerns should be thrown
+into the rear, beyond observation from the main approach to the
+dwelling. The trees that shade the entrance park, or lawn, should be
+chiefly forest trees, as the oak, in its varieties, the elm, the maple,
+the chestnut, walnut, butternut, hickory, or beech. If the soil be
+favorable, a&nbsp;few weeping willows may throw their drooping spray
+around the house; and if exotic, or foreign trees be permitted, they
+should take their position in closer proximity to it than the natural
+forest trees, as indicating the higher care and cultivation which
+attaches to its presence. The Lombardy poplar, albeit a tree of disputed
+taste with modern planters, we would now and then throw in, not in stiff
+and formal rows, as guarding an avenue, but occasionally in the midst of
+a group of others, above which it should rise like a church spire from
+amidst a block of contiguous houses&mdash;a
+<span class = "pagenum">152</span>
+cheerful relief to the monotony of the rounder-headed branches of the
+more spreading varieties. If a stream of water meander the park, or
+spread into a little pond, trees which are partial to moisture should
+shadow it at different points, and low, water shrubs should hang over
+its border, or even run into its margin. Aquatic herbs, too, may form a
+part of its ornaments, and a boat-house, if such a thing be necessary,
+should, under the shade of a hanging tree of some kind, be a conspicuous
+object in the picture. An overhanging rock, if such a thing be native
+there, may be an object of great attraction to its features, and its
+outlet may steal away and be hid in a dense mass of tangled vines and
+brushwood. The predominating, <i>natural</i> features of the place
+should be <i>cultivated</i>, not rooted out, and metamorphosed into
+something foreign and unfamiliar. It should, in short, be <i>nature</i>
+with her <i>hair combed</i> out straight, flowing, and graceful, instead
+of pinched, puffed, and curling&mdash;a thing of luxuriance and beauty
+under the hand of a master.</p>
+
+<p>The great difficulty with many Americans in getting up a new place of
+any considerable extent is, that they seem to think whatever is common,
+or natural in the features of the spot must be so changed as to show,
+above all others, their own ingenuity and love of expense in fashioning
+it to their peculiar tastes. Rocks must be sunk, or blasted, trees
+felled, and bushes grubbed, crooked water-courses straightened&mdash;the
+place gibbeted and put into stocks; in fact, that their own boasted
+handiwork may rise superior to the wisdom of Him who fashioned it in his
+own good
+<span class = "pagenum">153</span>
+pleasure; forgetting that a thousand points of natural beauty upon the
+earth on which they breathe are</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"When unadorned, adorned the most;"</p>
+
+<p>and our eye has been frequently shocked at finding the choicest gems
+of nature sacrificed to a wanton display of expense in perverting, to
+the indulgence of a mistaken fancy, that, which, with an eye to truth
+and propriety, and at a trifling expense, might have become a spot of
+abiding interest and contentment.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(155)<br>
+(156)</span>
+<a name = "house6" id = "house6"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic155.jpg" width = "434" height = "249"
+alt = "farm house 6" title = "farm house 6">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "subcap">FARM HOUSE.</span> Pages 155-156.</p>
+
+<p class = "crossref">
+<a href = "images/pic155large.jpg">larger view</a></p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">154</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section smallcaps">Design VI.</h4>
+
+<p><span class = "smallcaps">A Southern or Plantation
+House.</span>&mdash;The proprietor of a plantation in the South, or
+South-west, requires altogether a different kind of residence from the
+farmer of the Northern, or Middle States. He resides in the midst of his
+own principality, surrounded by a retinue of dependents and laborers,
+who dwell distant and apart from his own immediate family, although
+composing a community requiring his daily care and superintendence for a
+great share of his time. A&nbsp;portion of them are the attach�s of his
+household, yet so disconnected in their domestic relations, as to
+require a separate accommodation, and yet be in immediate contiguity
+with it, and of course, an arrangement of living widely different from
+those who mingle in the same circle, and partake at the same board.</p>
+
+<p>The usual plan of house-building at the South, we are aware, is to
+have <i>detached</i> servants' rooms, and offices, and a space of some
+yards of uncovered way intervene between the family rooms of the chief
+dwelling and its immediate dependents. Such arrangement, however, we
+consider both unnecessary and inconvenient; and we have devised a plan
+of household accommodation which will bring the family of the planter
+himself, and their servants, although under
+<span class = "pagenum">157</span>
+different roofs, into convenient proximity with each other.
+A&nbsp;design of this kind is here given.</p>
+
+<p>The style is mainly Italian, plain, substantial, yet, we think,
+becoming. The broad veranda, stretching around three sides, including
+the front, gives an air of sheltered repose to what might otherwise
+appear an ambitious structure; and the connected apartments beyond, show
+a quiet utility which divests it of an over attempt at display. Nothing
+has been attempted for appearance, solely, beyond what is necessary and
+proper in the dwelling of a planter of good estate, who wants his
+domestic affairs well regulated, and his family, and servants duly
+provided with convenient accommodation. The form of the main dwelling is
+nearly square, upright, with two full stories, giving ample area of room
+and ventilation, together with that appropriate indulgence to ease which
+the enervating warmth of a southern climate renders necessary. The
+servants' apartments, and kitchen offices are so disposed, that while
+connected, to render them easy of access, they are sufficiently remote
+to shut off the familiarity of association which would render them
+obnoxious to the most fastidious&mdash;all, in fact, under one shelter,
+and within the readiest call. Such should be the construction of a
+planter's house in the United States, and such this design is intended
+to give.</p>
+
+<p>A stable and carriage-house, in the same style, is near by, not
+connected to any part of the dwelling, as in the previous
+designs&mdash;with sufficient accommodation for coachman and grooms, and
+the number of saddle and carriage horses that may be required for
+<span class = "pagenum">158</span>
+either business or pleasure; and to it may be connected, in the rear, in
+the same style of building, or plainer, and less expensive, further
+conveniences for such domestic animals as may be required for family
+use.</p>
+
+<p>The whole stands in open grounds, and may be separated from each
+other by enclosures, as convenience or fancy may direct.</p>
+
+<p>The roofs of all the buildings are broad and sweeping, well
+protecting the walls from storm and frosts, as well as the glaring
+influences of the sun, and combining that comfortable idea of shelter
+and repose so grateful in a well-conditioned country house. It is true,
+that the dwelling might be more extensive in room, and the purposes of
+luxury enlarged; but the planter on five hundred, or five thousand acres
+of land can here be sufficiently accommodated in all the reasonable
+indulgences of family enjoyment, and a liberal, even an elegant and
+prolonged hospitality, to which he is so generally inclined.</p>
+
+<p>The chimneys of this house, different from those in the previous
+designs, are placed next the outer walls, thus giving more space to the
+interior, and not being required, as in the others, to promote
+additional warmth than their fireplaces will give, to the rooms.
+A&nbsp;deck on the roof affords a pleasant look-out for the family from
+its top, guarded by a parapet, and giving a finish to its architectural
+appearance, and yet making no ambitious attempt at expensive ornament.
+It is, in fact, a&nbsp;plain, substantial, respectable mansion for a
+gentleman of good estate, and nothing beyond&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">159</span>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "house6_ground" id = "house6_ground"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic159.png" width = "378" height = "629"
+alt = "farm house 6, ground plan" title = "farm house 6, ground plan">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+GROUND PLAN.</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house6_interior" id =
+"house6_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p>This house stands 50�40 feet on the ground. The front door opens from
+the veranda into a hall, 24�14 feet, in which is a flight of stairs
+leading to the chambers above. On the left a door leads into a library,
+or
+<span class = "pagenum">160</span>
+business room, 17�17 feet, lighted by three windows. A&nbsp;fireplace is
+inserted in the outer wall. Another door leads into a side hall, six
+feet wide, which separates the library from the dining-room, which is
+also 17�17 feet in area, lighted and accommodated with a fireplace like
+the other, with a door leading into it from the side hall, and another
+door at the further right hand corner leading into the rear hall, or
+entry.</p>
+
+<p>On the right of the chief entrance hall, opposite the library,
+a&nbsp;door opens into the parlor or drawing-room, 23�19 feet in area,
+lighted by three windows, and having a fireplace in the side wall.
+A&nbsp;door leads from the rear side of the parlor into a commodious
+nursery, or family bedroom, 19�16 feet in size, lighted by a window in
+each outer wall. A&nbsp;fireplace is also inserted on the same line as
+in the parlor. From the nursery a door leads into and through a large
+closet, 9�7 feet, into the rear hall. This closet may also be used as a
+sleeping-room for the children, or a confidential servant-maid, or
+nurse, or devoted to the storage of bed-linen for family use. Further
+on, adjoining, is another closet, 7�6 feet, opening from the rear hall,
+and lighted by a window.</p>
+
+<p>Leading from the outer door of the rear hall is a covered passage six
+feet wide, 16&nbsp;feet long, and one and a half stories high, leading
+to the kitchen offices, and lighted by a window on the left, with a door
+opening in the same side beyond, on to the side front of the
+establishment. On the right, opposite, a&nbsp;door leads on to the
+kitchen porch, which is six feet wide, passing on to the bath-room and
+water-closet, in the
+<span class = "pagenum">161</span>
+far rear. At the end of the connecting passage from the main dwelling,
+a&nbsp;door opens into the kitchen, which is 24�18 feet in size,
+accommodated with two windows looking on to the porch just described. At
+one end is an open fireplace with a cooking range on one side, and an
+oven on the other. At the left of the entrance door is a large,
+commodious store-room and pantry, 12�9 feet, lighted by a window; and
+adjoining it, (and may be connected with it by a door, if necessary,) a
+kitchen closet of the same size, also connected by a corresponding door
+from the opposite corner of the kitchen. Between these doors is a flight
+of stairs leading to the sleeping-rooms above, and a cellar passage
+beneath them. In the farther right corner of the kitchen a door leads
+into a smaller closet, 8�6 feet, lighted by a small window looking on to
+the rear porch at the end. A&nbsp;door at the rear of the kitchen leads
+out into the porch of the wash-room beyond, which is six feet wide, and
+another door into the wash-room itself, which is 20�16 feet, and
+furnished with a chimney and boilers. A&nbsp;window looks out on the
+extreme right hand, and two windows on to the porch in front.
+A&nbsp;door opens from its rear wall into the wood-house, 32�12 feet,
+which stands open on two sides, supported by posts, and under the
+extended roof of the wash-room and its porch just mentioned.
+A&nbsp;servants' water-closet is attached to the extreme right corner of
+the wood-house, by way of lean-to.</p>
+
+<p>The bath-room is 10�6 feet in area, and supplied with water from the
+kitchen boilers adjoining. The water-closet beyond is 6&nbsp;feet
+square, and architecturally,
+<span class = "pagenum">162</span>
+in its roof, may be made a fitting termination to that of the porch
+leading to&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p class = "pictop leftfloat">
+<a name = "house6_chamber" id = "house6_chamber"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic162top.gif" width = "139" height = "93"
+alt = "farm house 6, chamber plan (partial)"
+title = "farm house 6, chamber plan (partial)">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "picbottom leftfloat">
+<img src = "images/pic162bottom.gif" width = "271" height = "222"
+alt = "farm house 6, chamber plan (partial)"
+title = "farm house 6, chamber plan (partial)">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+CHAMBER PLAN.</span></p>
+
+<p>The main flight of stairs in the entrance hall leads on to a broad
+landing in the spacious upper hall, from which doors pass into the
+several chambers, which may be duly accommodated with closets. The
+passage connecting with the upper story of the servants' offices, opens
+from the rear section of this upper hall, and by the flight of rear
+stairs communicates with the kitchen and out-buildings. A&nbsp;garret
+flight of steps may be made in the rear section of the main upper hall,
+by which that apartment may be reached, and the upper deck of the roof
+ascended.</p>
+
+<p>The sleeping-rooms of the kitchen may be divided off as convenience
+may dictate, and the entire structure thus appropriated to every
+accommodation which a well-regulated family need require.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">163</span>
+
+<p>The carriage-house is 48�24 feet in size, with a projection of five
+feet on the entrance front, the door of which leads both into the
+carriage-room and stables. On the right is a bedroom, 10�8 feet, for the
+grooms, lighted by a window; and beyond are six stalls for horses, with
+a window in the rear wall beyond them. A&nbsp;flight of stairs leads to
+the hayloft above. In the rear of the carriage-room is a harness-room,
+12�4 feet, and a granary of the same size, each lighted by a window. If
+farther attachments be required for the accommodation of out-building
+conveniences, they may be continued indefinitely in the rear.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "house6_carriage" id = "house6_carriage"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic163.png" width = "281" height = "174"
+alt = "farm house 6, carriage house"
+title = "farm house 6, carriage house">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+CARRIAGE HOUSE.</span></p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house6_misc" id = "house6_misc">
+MISCELLANEOUS.</a></h6>
+
+<p>It may strike the reader that the house just described has a lavish
+appropriation of veranda, and a needless side-front, which latter may
+detract from the <i>precise</i> architectural keeping that a dwelling of
+this pretension should maintain. In regard to the first, it may be
+remarked, that no feature of the house in a southern climate can be more
+expressive of easy, comfortable
+<span class = "pagenum">164</span>
+enjoyment, than a spacious veranda. The habits of southern life demand
+it as a place of exercise in wet weather, and the cooler seasons of the
+year, as well as a place of recreation and social intercourse during the
+fervid heats of the summer. Indeed, many southern people almost live
+under the shade of their verandas. It is a delightful place to take
+their meals, to receive their visitors and friends; and the veranda
+gives to a dwelling the very expression of hospitality, so far as any
+one feature of a dwelling can do it. No equal amount of accommodation
+can be provided for the same cost. It adds infinitely to the <i>room</i>
+of the house itself, and is, in fact, indispensable to the full
+enjoyment of a southern house.</p>
+
+<p>The side front in this design is simply a matter of convenience to
+the owner and occupant of the estate, who has usually much office
+business in its management; and in the almost daily use of his library,
+where such business may be done, a&nbsp;side door and front is both
+appropriate and convenient. The <i>chief</i> front entrance belongs to
+his family and guests, and should be devoted to their exclusive use; and
+as a light fence may be thrown off from the extreme end of the side
+porch, separating the front lawn from the rear approach to the house,
+the veranda on that side may be reached from its rear end, for business
+purposes, without intruding upon the lawn at all. So we would
+arrange&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>Objections may be made to the <i>sameness</i> of plan, in the
+arrangement of the lower rooms of the several designs which we have
+submitted, such as having the nursery, or family sleeping-room, on the
+main floor of
+<span class = "pagenum">165</span>
+the house, and the uniformity, in location, of the others; and that
+there are no <i>new</i> and <i>striking</i> features in them. The answer
+to these may be, that the room appropriated for the nursery, or bedroom,
+may be used for other purposes, equally as well; that when a mode of
+accommodation is already as convenient as may be, it is poorly worth
+while to make it less convenient, merely for the sake of variety; and,
+that utility and convenience are the main objects to be attained in any
+well-ordered dwelling. These two requisites, utility and convenience,
+attained, the third and principal one&mdash;comfort&mdash;is secured.
+Cellar kitchens&mdash;the most abominable nuisances that ever crept into
+a country dwelling&mdash;might have been adopted, no doubt, to the
+especial delight of some who know nothing of the experimental duties of
+housekeeping; but the recommendation of these is an offence which we
+have no stomach to answer for hereafter. Steep, winding, and complicated
+staircases might have given a new feature to one or another of the
+designs; dark closets, intricate passages, unique cubby-holes, and all
+sorts of inside gimcrackery might have amused our pencil; but we have
+avoided them, as well as everything which would stand in the way of the
+simplest, cheapest, and most direct mode of reaching the object in view:
+a convenient, comfortably-arranged dwelling within, having a
+respectable, dignified appearance without&mdash;and such, we trust, have
+been thus far presented in our designs.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">166</span>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house6_grounds" id = "house6_grounds">
+LAWN, AND PARK SURROUNDINGS.</a></h6>
+
+<p>The trees and shrubbery which ornament the approach to this house,
+should be rather of the graceful varieties, than otherwise. The
+weeping-willow, the horse-chesnut, the mountain-ash, if suitable to the
+climate; or the china-tree of the south, or the linden, the weeping-elm,
+and the silver-maple, with its long slender branches and hanging leaves,
+would add most to the beauty, and comport more closely with the
+character of this establishment, than the more upright, stiff, and
+unbending trees of our American forests. The <ins class = "correction"
+title = "hyphen in original: normal form is 'Lombardy poplar'">Lombardy-poplar</ins>&mdash;albeit,
+an object of fashionable derision with many tree-fanciers in these more <i>tasty</i>
+days, as it was equally the admiration of our fathers, of forty years
+ago&mdash;would set off and give effect to a mansion of this character,
+either in a clump at the back-ground, as shown in the design, or
+occasionally shooting up its spire-like top through a group of the other
+trees. Yet, if built in a fine natural park or lawn of oaks, with a few
+other trees, such as we have named, planted immediately around it, this
+house would still show with fine effect.</p>
+
+<p>The style of finish given to this dwelling may appear too ornate and
+expensive for the position it is supposed to occupy. If so,
+a&nbsp;plainer mode of finish may be adopted, to the cheapest degree
+consistent with the manner of its construction. Still, on examination,
+there will be found little intricate or really expensive work upon it.
+Strength, substance, durability, should all enter into its composition;
+and without these elements,
+<span class = "pagenum">167</span>
+a house of this appearance is a mere bauble, not fit to stand upon the
+premises of any man of substantial estate.</p>
+
+<p>If a more extensive accommodation be necessary, than the size of this
+house can afford, its style will admit of a wing, of any desirable
+length, on each side, in place of the rear part of the side verandas,
+without prejudice to its character or effect. Indeed, such wings may add
+to its dignity, and consequence, as comporting with the standing and
+influence which its occupant may hold in the community wherein he
+resides. A&nbsp;man of mark, indeed, should, if he live in the country,
+occupy a dwelling somewhat indicating the position which he holds, both
+in society and in public affairs. By this remark, we may be treading on
+questionable ground, in our democratic country; but, practically, there
+is a fitness in it which no one can dispute. Not that extravagance,
+pretension, or any other <i>assumption</i> of superiority should mark
+the dwelling of the distinguished man, but that his dwelling be of like
+character with himself: plain, dignified, solid, and, as a matter of
+course, altogether respectable.</p>
+
+<p>It is a happy feature in the composition of our republican
+institutions, both social and political, that we can afford to let the
+flashy men of the <i>day</i>&mdash;not of <i>time</i>&mdash;flaunter in
+all their purchased fancy in house-building, without prejudice to the
+prevailing sober sentiment of their neighbors, in such particulars. The
+man of money, simply, may build his "villa," and squander his tens of
+thousands upon it. He may riot within it, and fidget about it for a few
+brief years; he may even
+<span class = "pagenum">168</span>
+hang his coat of arms upon it, if he can fortunately do so without
+stumbling over a lapstone, or greasing his coat against the pans of a
+cook-shop; but it is equally sure that no child of his will occupy it
+after him, even if his own changeable fancy or circumstances permit him
+to retain it for his natural life. Such are the episodes of country
+house-building, and of frequent attempts at agricultural life, by those
+who affect it as a matter of ostentation or display. For the subjects of
+these, we do not write. But there is something exceedingly grateful to
+the feelings of one of stable views in life, to look upon an estate
+which has been long in an individual family, still maintaining its
+primitive character and respectability. <a name = "new_england" id =
+"new_england">Some five-and-twenty years ago</a>, when too young to have
+any established opinions in matters of this sort, as we were driving
+through one of the old farming towns in Massachusetts, about twenty
+miles west of Boston, we approached a comfortable, well-conditioned
+farm, with a tavern-house upon the high road, and several great elms
+standing about it. The road passed between two of the trees, and from a
+cross-beam, lodged across their branches, swung a large square sign,
+with names and dates painted upon it&mdash;name and date we have
+forgotten; it was a good old Puritan name, however&mdash;in this
+wise:</p>
+
+<p class = "smallcaps" align = "center">
+"John Endicott, 1652."<br>
+"John Endicott, 1696."<br>
+"John Endicott, 1749."<br>
+"John Endicott, 1784."<br>
+"John Endicott, 1817."</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">169</span>
+As our eyes read over this list, we were struck with the stability of a
+family who for many consecutive generations had occupied, by the same
+name, that venerable spot, and ministered to the comfort of as many
+generations of travelers, and incontinently took off our hat in respect
+to the record of so much worth, drove our horse under the shed, had him
+fed, went in, and took a quiet family dinner with the civil,
+good-tempered host, and the equally kind-mannered hostess, then in the
+prime of life, surrounded with a fine family of children, and heard from
+his own lips the history of his ancestors, from their first emigration
+from England&mdash;not in the Mayflower, to whose immeasurable
+accommodations our good New England ancestors are so prone to
+refer&mdash;but in one of her early successors.</p>
+
+<p>All over the old thirteen states, from Maine to Georgia, can be found
+agricultural estates now containing families, the descendants of those
+who founded them&mdash;exceptions to the general rule, we admit, of
+American stability of residence, but none the less gratifying to the
+contemplation of those who respect a deep love of home, wherever it may
+be found. For the moral of our episode on this subject, we cannot
+refrain from a description of a fine old estate which we have frequently
+seen, minus now the buildings which then existed, and long since
+supplanted by others equally respectable and commodious, and erected by
+the successor of the original occupant, the late Dr. Boylston, of
+Roxbury, who long made the farm his summer residence. <a name =
+"homestead" id = "homestead">The description is from an old work</a>,
+"The History of the County of Worcester, in the
+<span class = "pagenum">170</span>
+State of Massachusetts, by the Rev. Peter Whitney, 1793:"</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"Many of the houses (in Princeton,) are large and elegant. This leads to
+a particular mention, that in this town is the country seat of the Hon.
+Moses Gill, Esq., ('Honorable' meant something in those days,) who has
+been from the year 1775 one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas
+for the county of Worcester, and for several years a counsellor of this
+commonwealth. His noble and elegant seat is about one mile and a quarter
+from the meeting-house, to the south. The farm contains upwards of three
+thousand acres. The county road from Princeton to Worcester passes
+through it, in front of the house, which faces to the west. The
+buildings stand upon the highest land of the whole farm; but it is level
+round about them for many rods, and then there is a very gradual
+descent. The land on which these buildings stand is elevated between
+twelve hundred and thirteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, as
+the Hon. James Winthrop, Esq. informs me. The mansion house is large,
+being 50�50 feet, with four stacks of <ins class = "correction" title =
+"spelling unchanged">chimnies</ins>. The farm house is 40 feet
+by&nbsp;36: In a line with this stand the coach and chaise-house, 50
+feet by&nbsp;36. This is joined to the barn by a shed 70&nbsp;feet in
+length&mdash;the barn is 200 feet by&nbsp;32. Very elegant fences are
+erected around the mansion house, the out-houses, and the garden.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"The prospect from this seat is extensive and grand, taking in a horizon
+to the east, of seventy miles, at least. The blue hills in Milton are
+discernible with
+<span class = "pagenum">171</span>
+the naked eye, from the windows of this superb edifice, distant not less
+than sixty miles; as also the waters in the harbor of Boston, at certain
+seasons of the year. When we view this seat, these buildings, and this
+farm of so many hundred acres, now under a high degree of profitable
+cultivation, and are told that in the year 1766 it was a perfect
+wilderness, we are struck with wonder, admiration, and astonishment. The
+honorable proprietor thereof must have great satisfaction in
+contemplating these improvements, so extensive, made under his
+direction, and, I&nbsp;may add, by his own active industry. Judge Gill
+is a gentleman of singular vivacity and activity, and indefatigable in
+his endeavors to bring forward the cultivation of his lands; of great
+and essential service, by his example, in the employment he finds for so
+many persons, and in all his attempts to serve the interests of the
+place where he dwells, and in his acts of private munificence, and
+public generosity, and deserves great respect and esteem, not only from
+individuals, but from the town and country he has so greatly benefited,
+and especially by the ways in which he makes use of that vast estate
+wherewith a kind Providence has blessed him."
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Such was the estate, and such the man who founded and enjoyed it
+sixty years ago; and many an equal estate, founded and occupied by
+equally valuable men, then existed, and still exist in all our older
+states; and if our private and public virtues are preserved, will ever
+exist in every state of our union. Such pictures, too, are forcible
+illustrations of the <i>morals</i> of correct building on the ample
+estates of many of our American
+<span class = "pagenum">172</span>
+planters and farmers. The mansion house, which is so graphically
+described, we saw but a short time before it was pulled down&mdash;then
+old, and hardly worth repairing, being built of wood, and of style
+something like this design of our own, bating the extent of veranda.</p>
+
+<p><a name = "house6_cost" id = "house6_cost">The cost of this house</a>
+may be from $5000 to $8000, depending upon the material of which it is
+constructed, the degree of finish given to it, and the locality where it
+is built. All these circumstances are to be considered, and the
+estimates should be made by practical and experienced builders, who are
+competent judges in whatever appertains to&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(173)<br>
+(174)</span>
+<a name = "house7" id = "house7"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic174.jpg" width = "436" height = "247"
+alt = "farm house 7" title = "farm house 7">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "subcap">FARM HOUSE.</span> Pages 173-174.</p>
+
+<p class = "crossref">
+<a href = "images/pic174large.jpg">larger view</a></p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">175</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section smallcaps">Design VII.</h4>
+
+<p><span class = "smallcaps">A Plantation House.</span>&mdash;Another
+southern house is here presented, quite different in architectural
+design from the last, plain, unpretending, less ornate in its finish, as
+well as less expensive in construction. It may occupy a different site,
+in a hilly, wooded country of rougher surface, but equally becoming it,
+as the other would more fitly grace the level prairie, or spreading
+plain in the more showy luxury of its character.</p>
+
+<p>This house stands 46�44 feet on the ground, two stories high, with a
+full length veranda, 10&nbsp;feet wide in front, and a half length one
+above it, connecting with the main roof by an open gable, under which is
+a railed gallery for summer repose or recreation, or to enjoy the
+scenery upon which it may open. The roof is broad and overhanging,
+thoroughly sheltering the walls, and giving it a most protected,
+comfortable look. Covering half the rear is a lean-to, with shed roof,
+16&nbsp;feet wide, communicating with the servants' offices in the wing,
+the hall of which opens upon a low veranda on its front, and leading to
+the minor conveniences of the establishment. The main servants' building
+is 30�20 feet, one and a half stories high, with a roof in keeping with
+the main dwelling, and a chimney in
+<span class = "pagenum">176</span>
+the center. In rear of this is attached a wood-house, with a shed roof,
+thus sloping off, and giving it a reposed, quiet air from that point of
+view. A&nbsp;narrow porch, 23&nbsp;feet long and 8&nbsp;feet wide, also
+shades the remaining rear part of the main dwelling, opening on to the
+approach in rear.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "house7_ground" id = "house7_ground"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic177.png" width = "450" height = "492"
+alt = "farm house 7, ground plan" title = "farm house 7, ground plan">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+GROUND PLAN</p>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house7_interior" id =
+"house7_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p>The front door opens into a hall 34 feet long and 10&nbsp;feet wide,
+with a flight of stairs. On the left of this opens a parlor or
+dining-room, 22�18 feet, lighted by two windows in front and one on the
+side, and connecting with the dining-room beyond, which is 18�16 feet,
+with two small dining closets between. The dining-room has two windows
+opening on to the rear veranda. Under the cross flight of stairs in the
+hall, a&nbsp;partition separates it from the rear hall, into which is a
+door. On the right of the entrance hall is a library, 18�18 feet,
+lighted by three windows. At the farther end is a closet, and by the
+side of it a small entry leading into the nursery or family bedroom,
+18�15 feet in size, which also has a corresponding closet with the
+library. On the rear of the nursery is a flight of back stairs opening
+from it. Under these stairs, at the other end, a&nbsp;door opens to
+another flight leading into the cellar below. A&nbsp;door also leads out
+from the nursery into the rear passage, to the offices; another door on
+the further side of the room opens into the rear hall of the house. The
+nursery should have two windows, but
+<span class = "pagenum">177</span>
+the drawing, by an error, gives only one. From this rear hall a door
+opens on the rear veranda, and another into the passage to the rear
+offices. This passage is six feet wide and 34&nbsp;feet long, opening at
+its left end on to the veranda, and on the right, to the servants'
+porch, and from its rear side into three small rooms, 10&nbsp;feet
+square each, the outer one of which may be a business room for the
+proprietor of the estate; the next, a&nbsp;store-room for family
+supplies; and the other a kitchen closet. Each of these is lighted by a
+window on the rear. A&nbsp;door also leads from the
+<span class = "pagenum">178</span>
+rear passage into the kitchen, 20�16 feet in area, with a window looking
+out in front and two others on the side and rear, and a door into the
+wood-house. In this is placed a large chimney for the cooking
+establishment, oven, &amp;c., &amp;c. A&nbsp;flight of stairs and
+partition divides this from the wash-room, which is 14�14 feet, with two
+windows in the side, and a door into the wood-house. This wood-house is
+open on two sides, and a water-closet is in the far corner. The small
+veranda, which is six feet wide, fronting the kitchen apartments, opens
+into the bath-room, 9�6 feet, into which the water is drawn from the
+kitchen boilers in the adjoining chimney. Still beyond this is the
+entrance to the water-closets, 6�5 feet.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration rightfloat">
+<a name = "house7_chamber" id = "house7_chamber"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic178.png" width = "200" height = "224"
+alt = "farm house 7, chamber plan" title = "farm house 7, chamber plan">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+CHAMBER PLAN</span></p>
+
+<p>The chamber plan is simple, and will be readily comprehended. If more
+rooms are desirable, they can be cut off from the larger ones.
+A&nbsp;flight of garret stairs may also be put in the rear chamber hall.
+The
+<span class = "pagenum">179</span>
+main hall of the chambers, in connection with the upper veranda, may be
+made a delightful resort for the summer, where the leisure hours of the
+family may be passed in view of the scenery which the house may command,
+and thus made one of its most attractive features.</p>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "house7_misc" id = "house7_misc">
+MISCELLANEOUS.</a></h6>
+
+<p>We have given less veranda to this house than to the last, because
+its style does not require it, and it is a cheaper and less pains-taking
+establishment throughout, although, perhaps, quite as convenient in its
+arrangement as the other. The veranda may, however, be continued round
+the two ends of the house, if required. A&nbsp;screen, or belt of
+privet, or low evergreens may be planted in a circular form from the
+front right-hand corner of the dwelling, to the corresponding corner of
+the rear offices, enclosing a clothes drying yard, and cutting them off
+from too sightly an exposure from the lawn in front. The opposite end of
+the house, which may be termed its <i>business</i> front, may open to
+the every-day approach to the house, and be treated as convenience may
+determine.</p>
+
+<p>For the <i>tree</i> decoration of this establishment, evergreens may
+come in for a share of attraction. Their conical, tapering points will
+correspond well with its general architecture, and add strikingly to its
+effect; otherwise the remarks already given on the subject of park and
+lawn plantation will suffice. As, however, in the position where this
+establishment is supposed to
+<span class = "pagenum">180</span>
+be erected, land is plenty, ample area should be appropriated to its
+convenience, and no pinched or parsimonious spirit should detract from
+giving it the fullest effect in an allowance of ground. Nor need the
+ground devoted to such purposes be at all lost, or unappropriated;
+various uses can be made of it, yielding both pleasure and profit, to
+which a future chapter will refer; and it is one of the chief pleasures
+of retired residence to cultivate, in the right place, such incidental
+objects of interest as tend to gratify, as well as to instruct, in
+whatever appertains to the elevation of our thoughts, and the
+improvement of our condition. All these, in their place, should be drawn
+about our dwellings, to render them as agreeable and attractive as our
+ingenuity and labor may command.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">181</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "woods" id = "woods">
+LAWNS, GROUNDS, PARKS, AND WOODS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>Having essayed to instruct our agricultural friends in the proper
+modes of erecting their houses, and providing for their convenient
+accommodation within them, a&nbsp;few remarks may be pardoned touching
+such collateral subjects of embellishment as may be connected with the
+farm residence in the way of plantations and grounds in their immediate
+vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>We are well aware that small farms do not permit any considerable
+appropriation of ground to <i>waste</i> purposes, as such spots are
+usually called which are occupied with wood, or the shade of open trees,
+near the dwelling. But no dwelling can be complete in all its
+appointments without trees in its immediate vicinity. This subject has
+perhaps been sufficiently discussed in preceding chapters; yet, as a
+closing course of remark upon what a farm house, greater or less in
+extent, should be in the amount of shade given to it, a&nbsp;further
+suggestion or two may be permitted. There are, in almost all places, in
+the vicinity of the dwelling, portions of ground which can be
+appropriated to forest trees without detriment to other economical uses,
+if applied in the proper way. Any one who passes along
+<span class = "pagenum">182</span>
+a high road and discovers the farm house, seated on the margin or in the
+immediate vicinity of a pleasant grove, is immediately struck with the
+peculiarly rural and picturesque air which it presents, and thinks to
+himself that he should love such a spot for his own home, without
+reflecting that he might equally as well create one of the same
+character. Sites already occupied, where different dispositions are made
+of contiguous ground, may not admit of like advantages; and such are to
+be continued in their present arrangement, with such course of
+improvement as their circumstances will admit. But to such as are about
+to <i>select</i> the sites of their future homes, it is important to
+study what can best embellish them in the most effective shade and
+ornament.</p>
+
+<p>In the immediate vicinity of our large towns and cities it is seldom
+possible to appropriate any considerable breadth of land to ornamental
+purposes, excepting rough and unsightly waste ground, more or less
+occupied with rock or swamp; or plainer tracts, so sterile as to be
+comparatively worthless for cultivation. Such grounds, too, often lie
+bare of wood, and require planting, and a course of years to cover them
+with trees, even if the proprietor is willing, or desirous to devote
+them to such purpose. Still, there are vast sections of our country
+where to economize land is not important, and a mixed occupation of it
+to both ornament and profit may be indulged to the extent of the owner's
+disposition. All over the United States there are grand and beautiful
+sweeps and belts of cultivated country, interspersed with finely-wooded
+tracts, which
+<span class = "pagenum">183</span>
+offer the most attractive sites for the erection of dwellings on the
+farms which embrace them, and that require only the eye and hand of
+taste to convert them, with slight labor, into the finest-wooded lawns
+and forested parks imaginable. <a name = "woods_forest" id =
+"woods_forest">No country whatever produces finer trees</a> than North
+America. The evergreens of the north luxuriate in a grandeur scarcely
+known elsewhere, and shoot their cones into the sky to an extent that
+the stripling pines and firs, and larches of England in vain may strive
+to imitate. The elm of New England towers up, and spreads out its
+sweeping arms with a majesty unwonted in the ancient parks or forests of
+Europe; while its maples, and birches, and beeches, and ashes, and oaks,
+and the great white-armed buttonwood, make up a variety of intervening
+growth, luxuriant in the extreme. Pass on through the Middle States, and
+into the far west, and there they still flourish with additional
+kinds&mdash;the tulip and poplar&mdash;the nut-trees, in all their wide
+variety, with a host of others equally grand and imposing, interspersed;
+and shrub-trees innumerable, are seen every where as they sweep along
+your path. Beyond the Alleghanies, and south of the great lakes, are
+vast natural parks, many of them enclosed, and dotted with herds of
+cattle ranging over them, which will show single trees, and clumps of
+forest that William the Conqueror would have given a whole fiefdom in
+his Hampshire spoliations to possess; while, stretching away toward the
+Gulf of Mexico, new varieties of tree are found, equally imposing,
+grand, and beautiful, throughout the whole vast range, and in almost
+every
+<span class = "pagenum">184</span>
+locality, susceptible of the finest possible appropriation to ornament
+and use. Many a one of these noble forests, and open, natural parks have
+been appropriated already to embellish the comfortable family
+establishment which has been built either on its margin, or within it;
+and thousands more are standing, as yet unimproved, but equally inviting
+the future occupant to their ample protection.</p>
+
+<p><a name = "woods_character" id = "woods_character">The moral
+influences</a>, too, of lawns and parks around or in the vicinity of our
+dwellings, are worthy of consideration. Secluded as many a country
+dweller may be, away from the throng of society, there is a sympathy in
+trees which invites our thoughts, and draws our presence among them with
+unwonted interest, and in frequent cases, assist materially in stamping
+the feelings and courses of our future lives&mdash;always with pure and
+ennobling sentiments&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"The groves were God's first temples."</p>
+
+<p>The thoughtful man, as he passes under their sheltering boughs, in
+the heat of summer, with uncovered brow, silently worships the Hand that
+formed them there, scarcely conscious that their presence thus elevates
+his mind to holy aspirations. Among them, the speculative man</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,<br>
+Sermons in stones."</p>
+
+<p>Even children, born and educated among groves of trees, drink in
+early impressions, which follow them for good all their days; and, when
+the toils of their
+<span class = "pagenum">185</span>
+after life are passed, they love to return to these grateful coverts,
+and spend their remaining days amid the tranquillity of their presence.
+Men habituated to the wildest life, too, enjoy the woods, the hills, and
+the mountains, beyond all the captivation and excitement of society, and
+are nowhere at rest, but when in their communion.</p>
+
+<p>The love of forest scenery is a thing to be cultivated as a high
+accomplishment, in those whose early associations have not been among
+them. Indeed, country life is tame, and intolerable, without a taste,
+either natural or acquired, for fine landscape scenery; and in a land
+like this, where the country gives occupation to so great a proportion
+of its people, and a large share of those engaged in the active and
+exciting pursuits of populous towns, sigh and look forward to its
+enjoyment, every inducement should be offered to cultivate a taste for
+those things which make one of its chief attractions. Nor should
+seclusion from general society, and a residence apart from the bustling
+activity of the world, present a bar to the due cultivation of the taste
+in many subjects supposed to belong only to the throng of association.
+It is one of the advantages of rural life, that it gives us time to
+think; and the greatest minds of whose labors in the old world we have
+had the benefit, and of later times, in our own land, have been reared
+chiefly in the solitude of the country. Patrick Henry loved to range
+among the woods, admiring the leafy magnificence of nature, and to
+follow the meandering courses of the brooks, with his hook and line.
+Washington,
+<span class = "pagenum">186</span>
+when treading the vast solitudes of central Virginia, with his
+surveyor's instruments on his back, conceived the wonderful resources of
+the great empire of which he will ever be styled the "father." The
+dwelling of the late John C. Calhoun, sheltered by noble trees, stands
+on an elevated swell of a grand range of mountain land, and it was there
+that his prolific genius ripened for those burning displays of thought
+which drew to him the affections of admiring thousands. Henry Clay
+undoubtedly felt the germ of his future greatness while sauntering, in
+his boyhood days, through the wild and picturesque slashes of Hanover.
+Webster, born amid the rugged hills of New Hampshire, drew the
+delightful relish of rural life, for which he is so celebrated, from the
+landscapes which surrounded his early home, and laid the foundation of
+his mighty intellect in the midst of lone and striking scenery. Bryant
+could never have written his "Thanatopsis," his "Rivulet," and his
+"Green River," but from the inspiration drawn from his secluded youthful
+home in the mountains of Massachusetts. Nor, to touch a more sacred
+subject, could Jonathan Edwards ever have composed his masterly
+"Treatise on the Will," in a pent-up city; but owes his enduring fame to
+the thought and leisure which he found, while ministering, among the
+sublime mountains of the Housatonic, to a feeble tribe of Stockbridge
+Indians.</p>
+
+<p><a name = "woods_planters" id = "woods_planters">And these random
+names</a> are but a few of those whose love of nature early imbibed, and
+in later life enjoyed in their own calm and retired homes, amid the
+serene beauty of woods and waters, which might
+<span class = "pagenum">187</span>
+be named, as illustrations of the influence which fine scenery may
+exercise upon the mind, to assist in moulding it to greatness. The
+following anecdote was told us many years ago, by a venerable man in
+Connecticut, a&nbsp;friend of the elder Hillhouse, of New Haven, to whom
+that city is much indebted for the magnificent trees by which it has
+become renowned as "the City of the Elms:" While a member of the General
+Assembly of that state, when Hillhouse was in Congress, learning that he
+had just returned home from the annual session, our informant, with a
+friend, went to the residence of the statesman, to pay him a visit. He
+had returned only that morning, and on their way there, they met him
+near his house, with a stout young tree on his shoulder, just taken from
+a neighboring piece of forest, which he was about to transplant in the
+place of one which had died during his absence. After the usual
+salutations, our friend expressed his surprise that he was so soon
+engaged in tree-planting, before he had even had time to look to his
+private and more pressing affairs. "Another day may be too late,"
+replied the senator; "my tree well planted, it will grow at its leisure,
+and I can then look to my own concerns at my ease. So, gentlemen, if you
+will just wait till the tree is set, we'll walk into the house, and
+settle the affairs of state in our own way."</p>
+
+<p>Walter Scott, whose deep love of park and forest scenery has stamped
+with his masterly descriptions, his native land as the home of all
+things beautiful and useful in trees and plantations, spent a great
+share of his leisure time in planting, and has written a most
+<span class = "pagenum">188</span>
+instructive essay on its practice and benefits. He puts into the mouth
+of "the Laird of Dumbiedikes," the advice, "Be aye sticking in a tree,
+Jock; it will be growing while you are sleeping." But Walter Scott had
+no American soil to plant his trees upon; nor do the grandest forest
+parks of Scotland show a tithe of the luxuriance and majesty of our
+American forests. Could he but have seen the variety, the symmetry, and
+the vast size of our oaks, and elms, and evergreens, a&nbsp;new element
+of descriptive power would have grown out of the admiration they had
+created within him; and he would have envied a people the possession of
+such exhaustless resources as we enjoy, to embellish their homes in the
+best imaginable manner, with such enduring monuments of grace and
+beauty.</p>
+
+<p>To the miscellaneous, or casual reader, such course of remark may
+appear merely sublimated nonsense. No matter; we are not upon stilts,
+talking <i>down</i> to a class of inferior men, in a condescending tone,
+on a subject above their comprehension; but we are addressing men, and
+the sons of men, who are our equals&mdash;although, like ourself, upon
+their farms, taking their share in its daily toils, as well as
+pleasures&mdash;and can perfectly well understand our language, and
+sympathize with our thoughts. They are the thoughts of rural life
+everywhere. <a name = "woods_johnson" id = "woods_johnson">It was old
+Sam Johnson</a>, the great lexicographer, who lumbered his unwieldy gait
+through the streets of cities for a whole life, and with all his vast
+learning and wisdom, had no appreciation of the charms of the country,
+that said, "Who feeds fat cattle should himself be fat;" as if the
+dweller on
+<span class = "pagenum">189</span>
+the farm should not possess an idea above the brutes around him. We
+wonder if he ever supposed a merchant should have any more brain than
+the parcel that he handled, or the bale which he rolled, or directed
+others to roll for him! But, loving the solitude of the farm, and
+finding a thousand objects of interest and beauty scattered in
+profusion, where those educated among artificial objects would see
+nothing beyond things, to them, vulgar and common-place, in conversing
+with our rural friends upon what concerns their daily comfort, and is to
+constitute the nursery of those who succeed them, and on the influences
+which may, in a degree, stamp their future character, we cannot forbear
+such suggestions, connected with the family Home, as may induce them to
+cultivate all those accessories around it, which may add to their
+pleasure and contentment. We believe it was Keats, who said,</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"A thing of Beauty is a joy for ever."</p>
+
+<p>And the thought that such "beauty" has been of our own creation, or
+that our own hands have assisted in its perpetuation, should certainly
+be a deep "joy" of our life.</p>
+
+<p>We have remarked, that the farm house is the chief nursery on which
+our broad country must rely for that healthy infusion of stamina and
+spirit into those men who, under our institutions, guide its destiny and
+direct its councils. They, in the great majority of their numbers, are
+natives of the retired homestead. It is, therefore, of high consequence,
+that good taste, intelligence, and correct judgment, should enter into
+<span class = "pagenum">190</span>
+all that surrounds the birth-place, and early scenes of those who are to
+be the future actors in the prominent walks of life, either in public or
+private capacity; and as the love of trees is one of the leading
+elements of enjoyment amid the outward scenes of country-life, we
+commend most heartily all who dwell in the pure air and bright sunshine
+of the open land to their study and cultivation.</p>
+
+<p>Every man who lives in the country, be he a practical farmer or not,
+should <i>plant</i> trees, more or less. The father of a family should
+plant, for the benefit of his children, as well as for his own. The
+bachelor and the childless man should plant, if for nothing more than to
+show that he has left <i>some</i> living thing to perpetuate his memory.
+Boys should early be made planters. None but those who love trees, and
+plant them, know the serene pleasure of watching their growth, and
+anticipating their future beauty and grandeur; and no one can so
+exquisitely enjoy their grateful shade, as he whose hand has planted and
+cared for them. Planting, too, is a most agreeable pastime to a
+reflecting mind. It may be ranked among the pleasures, instead of the
+toils of life. We have always so found it. There is no pleasanter sight
+of labor than to see a father, with his young lads about him, planting a
+tree. It becomes a landmark of their industry and good taste; and no
+thinking man passes a plantation of fine trees but inwardly blesses the
+man, or the memory of the man who placed them there.</p>
+
+<p>Aside from all this, trees properly distributed, give a value to an
+estate far beyond the cost of planting,
+<span class = "pagenum">191</span>
+and tending their growth, and which no other equal amount of labor and
+expense upon it can confer. Innumerable farms and places have been sold
+at high prices, over those of perhaps greater producing value, merely
+for the trees which embellished them. Thus, in a pecuniary light, to say
+nothing of the pleasure and luxury they confer, trees are a source of
+profitable investment.</p>
+
+<p>It is a happy feature in the improving rural character of our
+country, that tree-planting and tree preservation for some years past
+have attracted much more attention than formerly; and with this
+attention a better taste is prevailing in their selection. We have
+gained but little in the introduction of many of the foreign trees among
+us, for ornament. Some of them are absolutely barbarous in comparison
+with our American forest trees, and their cultivation is only a
+demonstration of the utter want of good taste in those who apply
+them.</p>
+
+<p>For ordinary purposes, but few exotics should be tolerated; and those
+chiefly in collections, as curiosities, or for arboretums&mdash;in which
+latter the farmer cannot often indulge; and for all the main purposes of
+shade, and use, and ornament, the trees of no country can equal our
+own.</p>
+
+<p>Varied as our country is, in soils and climates, no particular
+directions can be given as to the individual varieties of tree which are
+to be preferred for planting. Each locality has its own most appropriate
+kinds, and he who is to plant, can best make the selections most fitted
+to his use. Rapid-growing trees, when of fine symmetry, and free from
+bad habits in throwing up
+<span class = "pagenum">192</span>
+suckers; not liable to the attacks of insects; of early, dense, and
+long-continued foliage, are most to be commended; while their opposites
+in character should be avoided in all well-kept grounds. It requires,
+indeed, but a little thought and observation to guide every one in the
+selection which he should make, to produce the best effect of which the
+tree itself is capable.</p>
+
+<p>Giving the importance we have, to trees, and their planting, it may
+be supposed that we should discuss their position in the grounds to
+which they should be appropriated. But no specific directions can be
+given at large. All this branch of the subject must be left to the
+locality, position, and surface of the ground sought to be improved.
+A&nbsp;good tree can scarcely stand in a wrong place, when not injurious
+to a building by its too dense shade, or shutting out its light, or
+prospect. Still, the proper disposition of trees is a <i>study</i>, and
+should be well considered before they be planted. Bald, unsightly spots
+should be covered by them, when not devoted to more useful objects of
+the farm, either in pasturage or cultivation. A&nbsp;partial shading of
+the soil by trees may add to its value for grazing purposes, like the
+woodland pastures of Kentucky, where subject to extreme droughts, or a
+scorching sun.</p>
+
+<p>If the planter feels disposed to consult authorities, as to the best
+disposition of his trees, works on Landscape Gardening may be studied;
+but these can give only general hints, and the only true course is to
+strive to make his grounds look as much like nature herself as
+<span class = "pagenum">193</span>
+possible&mdash;for nature seldom makes mistakes in her designs. To
+conclude a course of remark, which the plain farmer, cultivating his
+land for its yearly profit alone, may consider as foreign to the subject
+of our work, we would not recommend any one to plant trees who is not
+willing to spend the necessary time to nurse and tend them afterward,
+till they are out of harm's way, and well established in a vigorous
+growth. All this must be taken into the account, for it is better to
+have even but a few trees, and those what trees should be, than a whole
+forest of stinted things, writhing and pining through a course of sickly
+existence.</p>
+
+<p>A chapter might also be written upon the proper mode of taking up and
+planting trees, but as this would lead us to a subject more directly
+belonging to another department, the proper authorities on that head
+must be consulted.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">194</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "orchard" id = "orchard">
+FRUIT GARDEN&mdash;ORCHARDS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>As the fruit garden and orchards are usually near appendages to the
+dwelling and out-buildings, a&nbsp;few remarks as to their locality and
+distribution may be appropriate. The first should <i>always</i> be near
+the house, both for convenience in gathering its fruits, and for its due
+protection from the encroachments of those not entitled to its
+treasures. It should, if possible, adjoin the kitchen garden, for
+convenience of access; as fruit is, or should be, an important item in
+the daily consumption of every family where it can be grown and
+afforded. A&nbsp;sheltered spot, if to be had, should be devoted to this
+object; or if not, its margin, on the exposed side, should be set with
+the hardiest trees to which it is appropriated&mdash;as the apple. The
+fruit garden, proper, may also contain the smaller fruits, as they are
+termed, as the currant, gooseberry, raspberry, and whatever other
+shrub-fruits are grown; while the quince, the peach, the apricot,
+nectarine, plum, cherry, pear, and apple may, in the order they are
+named, stand in succession behind them, the taller and more hardy growth
+of each successive variety rising higher, and protecting its less hardy
+and aspiring neighbor. The soil for all these varieties of tree is
+supposed to be
+<span class = "pagenum">195</span>
+congenial, and our remarks will only be directed to their proper
+distribution.</p>
+
+<p>The aspect for the fruit garden should, if possible, front the south,
+south-east, or south-west, in a northerly climate. In the Middle and
+Southern States the exposure is of less consequence. Currants,
+gooseberries, raspberries, &amp;c., should, for their most productive
+bearing, and the highest quality of their fruits, be set at least four
+feet apart, in the rows, and the rows six feet distant from each other,
+that there may be abundant room to cultivate them with the plow, and
+kept clean of weeds and grass. The quince, peach, apricot, nectarine,
+and plum should be 16 feet apart each way. The pear, if on quince stock,
+may be 12&nbsp;feet apart, and if on its own stock, 20&nbsp;to 24 feet;
+while the apple should always be 30 to 36 feet apart, to let in the
+requisite degree of sun and air to ripen as well as give growth, color,
+and flavor to its fruit. The tendency of almost all planters of fruit
+trees is to set them too close, and many otherwise fine fruit gardens
+are utterly ruined by the compact manner in which they are planted.
+Trees are great consumers of the atmosphere; every leaf is a lung,
+inhaling and respiring the gases, and if sufficient breathing room be
+not allowed them, the tree sickens, and pines for the want of it;
+therefore, every fruit tree, and fruit-bearing shrub should be so placed
+that the summer sun can shine on every part of its surface at some hour
+of the day. In such position, the fruit will reach its maximum of
+flavor, size, and perfection.</p>
+
+<p>The ground, too, should be rich; and, to have the
+<span class = "pagenum">196</span>
+greatest benefit of the soil, no crops should be grown among the trees,
+after they have arrived at their full maturity of bearing. Thus planted,
+and nursed, with good selections of varieties, both the fruit garden and
+the orchard become one of the most ornamental, as well as most
+profitable portions of the farm.</p>
+
+<p>In point of position, as affecting the appearance of the homestead,
+the fruit garden should stand on the <i>weather-side</i> of the
+dwelling, so as, although protected, in its several varieties, by
+itself, when not altogether sheltered by some superior natural barrier,
+it should appear to shelter both the dwelling and kitchen gardens, which
+adjoin them.</p>
+
+<p>As this is a subject intended to be but incidentally touched in these
+pages, and only then as immediately connected in its general character
+with the dwelling house and its attachments, we refrain from going into
+any particulars of detail concerning it. It is also a subject to which
+we are strongly attached, and gladly would we have a set chat with our
+readers upon it; but as the discussion for so broad a field as we should
+have to survey, would be in many points arbitrary, and unfitting to
+local information as to varieties, and particular cultivation, we refer
+the reader, with great pleasure, to the several treatises of Downing,
+and Thomas, and Barry, on this interesting topic, with which the public
+are fortunately in possession; observing, only, that there is no one
+item of rural economy to which our attention can be given, which yields
+more of luxury, health, and true enjoyment, both to the body and the
+mind, than the cultivation of good fruits.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">197</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "kitchengarden" id = "kitchengarden">
+HOW TO LAY OUT A KITCHEN GARDEN.</a></h4>
+
+<p>The kitchen garden yields more necessaries and comforts to the
+family, than any other piece of ground on the premises. It is, of
+consequence, necessary that it be so located and planned as to be ready
+of access, and yield the greatest possible quantity of products for the
+labor bestowed upon it; and as locality and plan have much to do with
+the labor bestowed upon it and the productions it may yield, both these
+subjects should be considered.</p>
+
+<p>As to locality, the kitchen garden should lie in the <i>warmest</i>
+and <i>most sheltered</i> spot which may be convenient to the
+<i>kitchen</i> of the house. It should, in connection with that, be
+convenient of access to the dung-yards of the stables. The size may be
+such as your necessities or your convenience may demand. The shape,
+either a parallelogram or a square; for it will be recollected, that
+this is a place allotted, not for a <i>show</i> or <i>pleasure</i>
+ground, but for <i>profit</i>. If the garden be large, this shape will
+better allow the use of the plow to turn up the soil, which, in a large
+garden, is a much cheaper, and, when properly done, a&nbsp;better mode
+<span class = "pagenum">198</span>
+than to spade it; and if small, and it be worked with the spade,
+<i>right</i> lines are easier made with the spade than curved ones. One
+or more walks, at least eight feet wide, should be made, leading from a
+broad gate, or bars, through which a cart and horse, or oxen, may enter,
+to draw in manure, or carry out the vegetables; and if such walk, or
+walks, do not extend around the garden, which, if in a large one, they
+should do, a&nbsp;sufficient area should be thrown out at the farther
+extremity, to turn the cart upon. If the soil be free, and stony, the
+stones should be taken out <i>clean</i>, when large&mdash;and if small,
+down to the size of a hen's egg&mdash;and the surface made as level as
+possible, for a loose soil will need no draining. If the soil be a clay,
+or clayey loam, it should be underdrained two and a half feet, <i>to be
+perfect</i>, and the draining so planned as to lead off to a lower spot
+outside. This draining <i>warms</i> the soil, opens it for filtration,
+and makes it friable. Then, properly fenced, thoroughly manured, and
+plowed deep, and left rough&mdash;no matter how rough&mdash;in the fall
+of the year, and as late before the setting in of winter as you dare
+risk it, that part of the preparation is accomplished.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>permanent</i> or wide walks of the garden, after being laid
+out and graded, should never be plowed nor disturbed, except by the hoe
+and rake, to keep down the weeds and grass; yet, if a close, and
+well-shorn grass turf be kept upon them, it is perhaps the cheapest and
+most cleanly way of keeping the walks. They need only cutting off close
+with the hand-hook, in summer.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">199</span>
+We have known a great many people, after laying out a kitchen garden,
+and preparing it for use, fill it up with fruit trees, supposing that
+vegetables will grow quite as well with them as without. This is a wide
+mistake. <i>No tree larger than a currant or gooseberry bush should ever
+stand in a vegetable garden.</i> These fruits being partially used in
+the cooking department, as much in the way of vegetables, as of fruits,
+and small in size, may be permitted; and they, contrary to the usual
+practice, should always stand in <i>open</i> ground, where they can have
+all the benefits of the sun and rain to ripen the fruit to perfection,
+as well as to receive the cultivation they need, instead of being placed
+under fences around the sides of the garden, where they are too
+frequently neglected, and become the resort of vermin, or make prolific
+harbors for weeds.</p>
+
+<p>Along the main walks, or alleys, the borders for perennial plants, as
+well as the currant and gooseberry bushes, should be made&mdash;for the
+plow should run parallel to, and not at right angles with them. Here may
+stand the rhubarbs, the sea kales, the various herbs, or even the
+asparagus beds, if a particular quarter be not set apart for them; and,
+if it be important, a&nbsp;portion of these main borders may be
+appropriated to the more common flowers and small shrubbery, if desired
+to cultivate them in a plain way; but not a peach, apricot, or any other
+larger tree than a currant or raspberry, should come within it. They not
+only shade the small plants, but suck up and rob them of their food and
+moisture, and keep off the sun, and prevent the circulation of
+air&mdash;than which nothing needs all
+<span class = "pagenum">200</span>
+these more than garden vegetables, to have them in high perfection. If
+it be necessary, by means of a cold exposure on the one side, to have a
+close plantation of shrubbery to screen the garden, let it be
+<i>outside</i> the fence, rather than within it; but if within, let
+there be a <i>broad</i> walk between such shrubbery and the garden beds,
+as their roots will extend under the vegetables, and rob them of their
+food.</p>
+
+<p>A walk, alley, or cartway, on the sides of the garden, is always
+better <i>next to the fence</i>, than to fill that space with anything
+else, as it is usually shaded for a portion of the day, and may be
+better afforded for such <i>waste</i> purposes than the open, sunny
+ground within.</p>
+
+<p>It will be observed that <i>market gardeners</i>, men who always
+strive to make the most profit from their land and labor, and obtain the
+<i>best</i> vegetables, cultivate them in open fields. Not a tree, nor
+even a bush is permitted to stand near the growing crop, if they can
+prevent it; and where one is not stinted in the area of his domain,
+their example should be followed.</p>
+
+<p>A word upon <i>plowing</i> gardens. Clays, or clayey loams, should
+always be manured and plowed in the fall, just before the setting in of
+the winter frosts. A&nbsp;world of pounding and hammering of lumps, to
+make them fine, in spring, is saved by fall plowing, besides
+incorporating the manure more thoroughly with the soil, as well as
+freezing out and destroying the eggs of worms and insects which infest
+it. Thrown up deeply and roughly with the plow or spade, the frosts act
+mechanically upon the soil, and slack and pulverise it so thoroughly
+that a heavy raking in early spring, is
+<span class = "pagenum">201</span>
+all that becomes necessary to put it in the finest condition for seeds,
+and make it perhaps the very best and most productive of all garden
+soils whatever. A&nbsp;light sandy loam is better to lie compact in
+winter, and manured and turned up in early spring. Its friable nature
+leaves it always open and light, and at all times in the absence of
+frost, accessible to the spade or the hoe. On these accounts, it is
+usually the most desirable and convenient soil for the kitchen garden,
+and on the whole, generally preferred where either kind may be a matter
+simply of choice.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">202</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "flowers" id = "flowers">
+FLOWERS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>Start not, gentle reader! We are not about to inflict upon you a
+dissertation on Pelargoniums, Calla-Ethiopias, Japonicas, and such like
+unmentionable terms, that bring to your mind the green-house, and
+forcing-house, and all the train of expense and vexation attending them;
+but we desire to have a short familiar conversation about what is all
+around you, or if not around you, should be, and kept there, with very
+little pains or labor on your part. Still, if you dislike the subject,
+just hand this part of our book over to your excellent wife, or
+daughters, or sisters, as the case may be, and we will talk to them
+about this matter.</p>
+
+<p>Flowers have their objects, and were made for our use and pleasure;
+otherwise, God would never have strewed them, as he has, so bountifully
+along our paths, and filled the world with their fragrance and beauty.
+Like all else beautiful, which He made, and pronounced "good," flowers
+have been objects of admiration and love since man's creation; and their
+cultivation has ever been a type of civilization and refinement among
+all people who have left written
+<span class = "pagenum">203</span>
+records behind them. Flowers equally become the cottage and the palace,
+in their decoration. The humblest cottager, and the mightiest monarch,
+have equally admired their beauty and their odor; and the whole train of
+mortals between, have devoted a portion of their time and thoughts to
+the development of their peculiar properties.</p>
+
+<p><a name = "flowers_wild" id = "flowers_wild">But let that pass.</a>
+Plain country people as we are, there are enough of sufficient variety
+all around us, to engage our attention, and give us all that we desire
+to embellish our homes, and engage the time which we have to devote to
+them. Among the wild flowers, in the mountains and hills of the farthest
+North, on the margin of their hidden brooks, where</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"Floats the scarce-rooted watercress;"</p>
+
+<p>and on their barren sides, the tiny violet and the laurel bloom, each
+in their season, with unwonted beauty; and, sloping down on to the
+plains beneath, blush out in all their summer garniture, the wild rose
+and the honeysuckle. On, through the Middle States, the lesser flowers
+of early spring throw out a thousand brilliant dyes, and are surrounded
+by a host of summer plants, vieing with each other in the exuberance of
+their tints. On the Alleghanies, through all their vast range, grow up
+the magnificent dogwood, kalmia, and <ins class = "correction" title =
+"text reads 'rhodendendron'">rhododendron</ins>, spangling mile upon
+mile of their huge sides and tops with white, and covering crags and
+precipices of untold space with their blushing splendor. Further west,
+on the prairies, and oak openings, and in the deep woods, too, of the
+great lakes,
+<span class = "pagenum">204</span>
+and of the Mississippi valley, with the earliest grass, shoot up, all
+over the land, a&nbsp;succession of flowers, which in variety and
+profusion of shape, and color, and odor, outvie all the lilies of the
+gardens of Solomon; and so they continue till the autumnal frosts cut
+down both grass and flower alike. Further south, along the piney coast,
+back through the hills and over the vast reach of cotton and sugar
+lands, another class of flowers burst out from their natural coverts in
+equal glory; and the magnolia, and the tulip-tree, and the wild orange
+throw a perfume along the air, like the odors of Palestine. In the deep
+lagoons of the southern rivers, too, float immense water-lilies, laying
+their great broad leaves, and expanded white and yellow flowers, upon
+the surface, which the waters of the Nile in the days of Cleopatra never
+equaled. And these are nature's wild productions only.</p>
+
+<p><a name = "flowers_home" id = "flowers_home">Flowers being
+cultivated</a>, not for profit, but for show and amusement, need not
+intrude upon the time which is required to the more important labors of
+the farm. A&nbsp;little time, given at such hours when it can be best
+spared, will set all the little flower-beds in order, and keep the
+required shrubbery of the place in trim&mdash;and should not be denied
+in any family who enjoy a taste for them. Even the simplest of their
+kind, when carefully disposed, produce a fine effect; and the hardy
+bulbous, and tuberous-rooted plants require but slight aid in producing
+the highest perfection of their bloom; while the fibrous-rooted <ins
+class = "correction" title = "text reads 'perenials'">perennials</ins>,
+and the flowering shrubs, bloom on from year to year, almost uncared for
+and untouched.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">205</span>
+The annuals require the most attention. Their seeds must be planted and
+gathered every year; they must be weeded and nursed with more care than
+the others; yet they richly repay all this trouble in their fresh bloom
+when the others are gone, and will carry their rich flowers far into the
+frosts of autumn, when their hardier companions have composed themselves
+for a winter's rest.</p>
+
+<p>The position of the flower-bed, or borders, may be various. As a
+matter of taste, however, they should be near the house, and in view of
+the windows of the most frequented rooms. They thus give more enjoyment
+in their sight, than when but occasionally seen in special visits; and
+such spots can usually be set apart for them. If not in the way of more
+important things, they should always be thus placed, where they are ever
+objects of interest and attraction.</p>
+
+<p>The ground which flowering plants occupy should be devoted to them
+alone, and the soil be made deep and rich. They should not be huddled
+up, nor crowded, but stand well apart, and have plenty of breathing-room
+for their branches and leaves, and space for the spread of their roots.
+They are consumers of the fertilizing gases, and require, equally with
+other plants, their due supply of manures&mdash;which also adds to the
+brilliance and size of their bloom, as well as to the growth of their
+stems. Their roots should be protected in winter by coarse litter thrown
+over them, particularly the earlier flowering plants, as it gives them
+an early and rapid start in the spring.</p>
+
+<p>In variety, we need scarcely recommend what may
+<span class = "pagenum">206</span>
+be most desirable. The crocus, and snowdrop are among (if not quite) the
+earliest in bloom; and to these follow the hyacinth, and daffodil, the
+jonquil, and many-varied family of Narcissus, the low-headed
+hearts-ease, or pansy; with them, too, comes the flowering-almond, the
+lilac, and another or two flowering shrubs. Then follow the tulips, in
+all their gorgeous and splendid variety of single, double, and fringed.
+To these follow the great peonies, in their full, dashing colors of
+crimson, white and pink, and the tree-like snow-ball, or guelder-rose.
+By the side of these hangs out the monthly-trumpet-honeysuckle, gracing
+the columns of your veranda, porch, or window, and the large Siberian
+honeysuckle, with its white and pink flowers; and along with them, the
+various Iris family, or fleur-de-lis, reminding one of France and the
+Bourbons, the Prussian lilac, and the early phloxes. Then blush out, in
+all their endless variety of shade and tint, from the purest white to
+the deepest purple, the whole vast family of roses; and in stature, from
+the humblest twig that leans its frail stem upon the ground, up to the
+hardy climber, whose delicious clusters hang over your chamber window;
+and a month of fragrance and beauty of these completes the succession of
+bulbs, and tubers, and perennial plants and shrubs&mdash;scores of which
+have not been noticed.</p>
+
+<p>Now commence the annuals, which may carry you a month further into
+the season, when the flaunting dahlia of every hue, and budding from its
+plant of every size, from the height of little Tommy, who is just
+toddling out with his mother to watch the first
+<span class = "pagenum">207</span>
+opening flower, up to the top of his father's hat, as he stands quite
+six feet, to hold the little fellow up to try to smell of another,
+which, like all the rest, has no sign of odor. Then come, after a long
+retinue of different things&mdash;among which we always count the
+morning-glory, or convolvulus, running up the kitchen windows,&mdash;the
+great sun-flower, which throws his broad disk high over the garden
+fence, always cheerful, and always glowing&mdash;the brilliant tribe of
+asters, rich, varied, and beautiful, running far into the autumnal
+frosts; and, to close our floral season, the chrysanthemum, which, well
+cared-for, blooms out in the open air, and, carefully taken up and
+boxed, will stay with us, in the house, till Christmas. Thus ends the
+blooming year. Now, if you would enjoy a pleasure perfectly pure, which
+has no alloy, save an occasional disappointment by casualty, and make
+home interesting beyond all other places, learn first to love, then to
+get, and next to cultivate flowers.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">208</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "cottages" id = "cottages">
+FARM COTTAGES.</a></h4>
+
+<p>Altogether too little attention has been paid in our country to these
+most useful appendages to the farm, both in their construction and
+appearance. Nothing adds more to the feeling of comfort, convenience,
+and <i>home</i> expression in the farm, than the snug-built laborers'
+cottage upon it. The cottage also gives the farm an air of
+respectability and dignity. The laborer should, if not so sumptuously,
+be as comfortably housed and sheltered as his employer. This is quite as
+much to the interest of such employer as it is beneficial to the health
+and happiness of the laborer. Building is so cheap in America, that the
+difference in cost between a snugly-finished cottage, and a rickety,
+open tenement, is hardly to be taken into consideration, as compared
+with the higher health, and increased enjoyment of the laborer and his
+family; while every considerate employer knows that cheerfulness and
+contentment of disposition, which are perhaps more promoted by good home
+accommodations for the workingman than by any other influence, are
+strong incentives to increased labor on his part, and more fidelity in
+its application.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">209</span>
+A landed estate, of whatever extent, with its respectable farm house, in
+its own expressive style of construction, relieved and set off by its
+attendant cottages, either contiguous, or remote, and built in their
+proper character, leaves nothing wanting to fill the picture upon which
+one loves to gaze in the contemplation of country life; and without
+these last in due keeping with the chief structures of the estate,
+a&nbsp;blank is left in its completeness and finish. The little
+embellishments which may be given, by way of architectural arrangement,
+or the conveniences in accommodation, are, in almost all cases,
+appreciated by those who occupy them, and have an influence upon their
+character and conduct; while the trifling decorations which may be added
+in the way of shrubbery, trees, and flowering plants, costing little or
+nothing in their planting and keeping, give a charm to the humblest
+abode.</p>
+
+<p>The position of cottages on a farm should be controlled by
+considerations of convenience to the place of labor, and a proper
+economy in their construction; and hardly a site can be inappropriate
+which ensures these requirements. In the plans which are submitted, due
+attention has been paid to the comfort of those who inhabit them, as
+well as to picturesque effect in the cottage itself. Decency, order, and
+respectability are thus given to the estate, and to those who inhabit
+the cottages upon it, as well as to those whose more fortunate position
+in life has given the enjoyment of a higher luxury in the occupancy of
+its chief mansion.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">210</span>
+On all estates where the principal dwelling is located at any
+considerable distance from the public road, or where approached by a
+side road shut off from the highway by a gate, a&nbsp;small cottage, by
+way of lodge, or laborer's tenement, should be located at or near the
+entrance. Such appendage is not only ornamental in itself, but gives
+character to the place, and security to the enclosure; in guarding it
+from improper intrusion, as well as to receive and conduct into the
+premises those who either reside upon, or have business within it. It is
+thus a sort of sentry-box, as well as a laborer's residence.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(211)<br>
+(212)</span>
+<a name = "cottage1" id = "cottage1"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic212a.jpg" width = "421" height = "320"
+alt = "cottage 1" title = "cottage 1"></p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+ELEVATION</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "subcap">COTTAGE</span> Pages 211-212.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">213</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section smallcaps">Design I.</h4>
+
+<p>This cottage is 10 feet high, from the sill to the plates, and may be
+built of wood, with a slight frame composed of sills and plates only,
+and planked up and down (vertically) and battened; or grooved and
+tongued, and matched close together; or it may be framed throughout with
+posts and studs, and covered with rough boards, and over these
+clapboards, and lathed and plastered inside. The first mode would be the
+cheapest, although not so warm and durable as the other, yet quite
+comfortable when warmed by a stove. On the second plan of building, it
+will cost near or quite double the amount of the first, if neatly
+painted. A&nbsp;small brick chimney should rest upon the floor overhead,
+in the side of which, at least a foot above the chamber floor, should be
+inserted an earthen or iron thimble, to receive the stovepipe and guard
+against fire; unless a flat stone, 14&nbsp;to 16 inches square, and 2 to
+4 inches thick, with a pipe-hole&mdash;which is the better
+plan&mdash;should rest on the floor immediately over the pipe. This
+stone should be, also, the foundation of the chimney, which should pass
+immediately up through the ridge of the roof, and, for effect, in the
+center longitudinally, of the house. Such position
+<span class = "pagenum">214</span>
+will not interfere with the location of the stove, which may be placed
+in any part of the room, the pipe reaching the chimney by one or more
+elbows.</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "cottage1_interior" id =
+"cottage1_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p class = "illustration rightfloat">
+<img src = "images/pic212b.png" width = "182" height = "353"
+alt = "cottage 1, plan" title = "cottage 1, plan">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+PLAN</span></p>
+
+<p>The main body of this cottage is 18�12 feet, with a lean-to,
+8&nbsp;feet wide, running its whole length in rear. This lean-to may be
+8 or 9 inches lower, on the floor, than the main room, and divided into
+a passage, (leading to an open wood-house in rear, 10�12 feet, with a
+shed roof,) a&nbsp;large closet, and a bedroom, as may be required; or,
+the passage end may be left open at the side, for a wood shelter, or
+other useful purpose. The roof, which is raftered, boarded, and shingled
+in the usual mode, is well spread over the gables, as well as over the
+front and rear&mdash;say 18&nbsp;inches. The porch in front will give
+additional convenience in summer, as a place to sit, or eat under, and
+its posts so fitted with grooves as to let in rough planks for winter
+enclosure in front and at one end, leaving the entrance only, at the
+least windy, or stormy side. The extra cost of such preparation, with
+the planks, which should be 1� or 1� inches thick, and jointed, would
+not exceed ten or fifteen dollars. This would make an admirable
+wood-house for the winter, and a perfect snuggery for a small family.
+While in its summer dress, with the porch opened&mdash;the planks taken
+out and laid overhead, across the beams connecting the porch with the
+house&mdash;it would present an object of quiet comfort and beauty.
+A&nbsp;hop vine or honeysuckle
+<span class = "pagenum">215</span>
+might be trained outside the posts, and give it all the shade
+required.</p>
+
+<p>In a stony country, where the adjoining enclosures are of stone, this
+cottage may be built of stone, also, at about double the cost of wood.
+This would save the expense of paint, or wash of any kind, besides the
+greater character of durability and substance it would add to the
+establishment. Trees, of course, should shelter it; and any little
+out-buildings that may be required should be nestled under a screen of
+vines and shrubbery near&nbsp;by.</p>
+
+<p>This being designed as the humblest and cheapest kind of cottage,
+where the family occupy only a single room, the cost would be small. On
+the plan first named, stained with a coarse wash, it could be built for
+$100. On the second plan, well-framed of sills, plates, posts, studs,
+&amp;c. &amp;c., covered with vertical boarding and battens, or
+clapboarded, and well painted in oil, it might cost $150 to $200. Stone,
+or brick, without paint, would add but little, if anything in cost over
+the last sum. The ceiling of the main floor is 8&nbsp;feet high, and a
+low chamber or garret is afforded above it, into which a swing-step
+ladder ascends; and when not in use, it may be hung to the ceiling
+overhead by a common hook and staples.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(217)<br>
+(218)</span>
+<a name = "cottage2" id = "cottage2"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic217a.jpg" width = "434" height = "312"
+alt = "cottage 2" title = "cottage 2">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+ELEVATION</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "subcap">COTTAGE</span> Pages 217-218.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">216</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section smallcaps">Design II.</h4>
+
+<p>This cottage is a grade beyond the one just described, both in
+appearance and accommodation. It is 20�16 feet on the ground, with a
+rear wing 26�8 feet in area. The main body is 10&nbsp;feet high, to the
+roof, vertically boarded and battened. A&nbsp;snug, half-open (or it may
+be closed, as convenience may require,) porch shelters the front door,
+5�4 feet in area. The cottage has a square or hipped roof, of a 30�
+pitch from a horizontal line, which spreads full two feet over the walls
+and bracketed beneath. The rear wing retreats two feet from the wall
+line of the main building, and has also a hipped roof of the same pitch
+as the main one, with eight-feet posts. The open end of the wing
+advances 6&nbsp;feet toward the front of the main part for wood-house
+and storage. The construction of this is in the same style as Design I.
+The windows are plain, two-sashed, of six lights each, 8�12 glass in
+front, and 8�10 in the rear.</p>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "cottage2_interior" id =
+"cottage2_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p class = "illustration rightfloat">
+<img src = "images/pic217b.png" width = "272" height = "279"
+alt = "cottage 2, plan" title = "cottage 2, plan">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+PLAN</span></p>
+
+<p>The front door opens into a common living room, 16�12 feet, with two
+windows, in which is a stove-chimney running up from the main floor next
+the partition, or placed over it in the chamber, and running
+<span class = "pagenum">219</span>
+up through the center of the roof. On one side of the living room is a
+bedroom, 10�8 feet, with two windows. Next to this bedroom is a large
+closet, 8�6 feet, with one window, and shelves, and tight cupboard
+within. These rooms are 9&nbsp;feet high, and over them is a chamber, or
+garret, 20�16 feet, entered by a swing step ladder, as in Design No. I.
+This garret is lighted by a small dormer window in the rear roof, over
+the shed or lean-to. A&nbsp;bed may be located in this chamber, or it
+may serve as a storage and lumber-room.</p>
+
+<p>The wing contains a small kitchen, in case the living room be not
+occupied for that purpose, 10�8 feet, lighted by a side-window, and
+having a small chimney in the rear wall. It may contain, also,
+a&nbsp;small closet, 3&nbsp;feet square. A&nbsp;door passes from this
+small kitchen into the wood-house, which is 16�8 feet, or with its
+advance L, 14&nbsp;feet, in the extreme outer corner of which is a
+water-closet, 5�3 feet; thus, altogether, giving accommodation to a
+family of five or six persons.</p>
+
+<p>The construction of this cottage is shown as of wood. Other material,
+either brick or stone, may be used, as most convenient, at a not much
+increased cost. The expense of this building may be, say fifty per cent.
+higher than that of No. I, according to the finish, and may be
+sufficiently well done and painted complete for $300; which may be
+reduced or increased, according to the style of finish and the taste of
+the builder.</p>
+
+<p>A cellar may be made under this cottage, which can be reached by a
+trap-door from the living room, opening to a flight of steps below.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(221)<br>
+(222)</span>
+<a name = "cottage3" id = "cottage3"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic221a.jpg" width = "461" height = "372"
+alt = "cottage 3" title = "cottage 3">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+ELEVATION</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "subcap">COTTAGE</span> Pages 221-222.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">220</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section smallcaps">Design III.</h4>
+
+<p>This cottage is still in advance of No. II, in style and arrangement,
+and may accommodate not only the farm laborer or gardener, but will
+serve for a small farmer himself, or a village mechanic. It is in the
+French style of roof, and allied to the Italian in its brackets, and
+gables, and half-terraced front. The body of the cottage is 22�20 feet,
+with twelve-feet posts; the roof has a pitch of 50� from a horizontal
+line, in its straight dimensions, curving horizontally toward the eaves,
+which, together with the gables, project 3&nbsp;feet over the walls. The
+terrace in front is 5&nbsp;feet wide. On the rear is a wood-house, 18�16
+feet in area, open at the house end, and in front, with a roof in same
+style as the main house, and posts, 8&nbsp;feet high, standing on the
+ground, 2&nbsp;feet below the surface of the cellar wall, which supports
+the main building.</p>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "cottage3_interior" id =
+"cottage3_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p class = "pictop leftfloat">
+<img src = "images/pic221b_top.gif" width = "116" height = "132"
+alt = "cottage 3, plan" title = "cottage 3, plan">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "picbottom leftfloat">
+<img src = "images/pic221b_bottom.gif" width = "279" height = "260"
+alt = "cottage 3, plan" title = "cottage 3, plan">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+PLAN</span></p>
+
+<p>The front door opens, in the center of the front wall, into a hall,
+12�8 feet, with a flight of stairs on one side, leading to the chamber
+above; under the stairs, at the upper end, is a passage leading beneath
+them into the cellar. On one side of this hall is a bedroom
+<span class = "pagenum">223</span>
+8�10 feet, lighted by a window in front, and part of the hooded double
+window on the side. On the inner side, a&nbsp;door leads from the hall
+into the living room or kitchen, 18�12 feet. On one side of this is a
+bedroom, or pantry, as may be most desirable, 9�6 feet, from which leads
+a close closet, 3&nbsp;feet square. This bedroom has a window on one
+side, next the hall. A&nbsp;door from the kitchen leads into a closet,
+3&nbsp;feet wide, which may contain a sink, and cupboard for kitchen
+wares. The living room is lighted by a part of the double hooded window
+on one side, and another on the rear. A&nbsp;door leads into the
+wood-house, which is 12�16 feet, in the extreme corner of which is the
+water-closet, 5�3 feet. The rooms in this cottage are 9&nbsp;feet high.
+A&nbsp;chimney leads up from the floor of the living room, which may
+receive, in addition to its own fireplace, or stove, a&nbsp;pipe from
+the stove in the hall, if one is placed there.</p>
+
+<p>The chamber has two feet of perpendicular wall, and the sharp roof
+gives opportunity for two good lodging rooms, which may be partitioned
+off as convenience may require, each lighted by a window in the gables,
+and a dormer one in the roof, for the passage leading into them.</p>
+
+<p>The hall may serve as a pleasant sitting or dining-room, in pleasant
+weather, opening, as it does, on to the terrace, which is mostly
+sheltered by the overhanging roof.</p>
+
+<p>The construction of this cottage may be of either stone, brick, or
+wood, and produce a fine effect. Although it has neither porch, nor
+veranda, the broad
+<span class = "pagenum">224</span>
+eaves and gables give it a well-sheltered appearance, and the hooded
+windows on the sides throw an air of protection over them, quite
+agreeable to the eye. The framing of this roof is no way different, in
+the rafters, from those made on straight lines, but the curve and
+projection is given by planks cut into proper shape, and spiked into the
+rafters, and apparently supported by the brackets below, which should be
+cut from two to three-inch plank, to give them a heavy and substantial
+appearance. The windows are in casement form, as shown in the design,
+but may be changed into the ordinary sash form, if preferred, which is,
+in this country, usually the better way. It will be observed, that we
+have in all cases adopted the usual square-sided form of glass for
+windows, as altogether more convenient and economical in building,
+simple in repairing, and, we think, quite as agreeable in appearance, as
+those out-of-the-way shapes frequently adopted to give a more
+picturesque effect.</p>
+
+<p>In a hilly, mountainous, and evergreen country, this style of cottage
+is peculiarly appropriate. It takes additional character from bold and
+picturesque scenery, with which it is in harmony. The pine, spruce,
+cedar, or hemlock, or the evergreen laurel, planted around or near it,
+will give it increased effect, while among deciduous trees and shrubs,
+an occasional Lombardy poplar, and larch, will harmonize with the
+boldness of its outline. Even where hill or mountain scenery is wanting,
+plantations such as have been named, would render it a pleasing style of
+cottage, and give agreeable effect to its bold, sharp roof and
+projecting eaves.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">225</span>
+In a snowy country, the plan of roof here presented is well adapted to
+the shedding of heavy snows, on which it can find no protracted
+lodgment. Where massive stone walls enclose the estate, this style of
+cottage will be in character, as comporting with that strong and solid
+air which the rustic appearance of stone alone can give. It may, too,
+receive the same amount of outer decoration, in its shrubbery and
+plantations, given to any other style of building of like accommodation,
+and with an equally agreeable effect.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(227)<br>
+(228)</span>
+<a name = "cottage4" id = "cottage4"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic227a.jpg" width = "410" height = "328"
+alt = "cottage 4" title = "cottage 4">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+ELEVATION</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+<span class = "subcap">COTTAGE</span> Pages 227-228.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">226</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section smallcaps">Design IV.</h4>
+
+<p>This cottage is still in advance of the last, in its accommodation,
+and is suitable for the small farmer, or the more liberal cottager, who
+requires wider room, and ampler conveniences than are allowed by the
+hitherto described structures. It is a first class dwelling, of its
+kind, and, in its details and finish, may be adapted to a variety of
+occupation, while it will afford a sufficient amount of expenditure to
+gratify a liberal outlay, to him who chooses to indulge his taste in a
+moderate extent of decoration and embellishment.</p>
+
+<p>The ground plan of this cottage is 30�22 feet, in light rural-Gothic
+style, one and a half stories high, the posts 14&nbsp;feet in elevation.
+It has two chimneys, passing out through the roof on each side of the
+ridge, uniformly, each with the other. The roof has a pitch of 45� from
+a horizontal line, giving it a bold and rather dashing appearance, and
+deeply sheltering the walls. The side gables give variety to the roof,
+and light to the chambers, and add to the finish of its appearance;
+while the sharp arched double window in the front gable adds character
+to the design.</p>
+
+<p>The deep veranda in front covers three-quarters of its surface in
+length, and in the symmetry of its roof, and airiness of its columns,
+with their light braces,
+<span class = "pagenum">229</span>
+give it a style of completeness; and if creeping vines or climbing
+shrubs be trained upon them, will produce an effect altogether rural and
+beautiful.</p>
+
+<p>Or, if a rustic style of finish be adopted, to render it cheaper in
+construction, the effect may still be imposing, and in harmony with the
+purposes to which it is designed. In fact, this model will admit of a
+variety of choice in finish, from the plainest to a high degree of
+embellishment, as the ability or fancy of the builder may suggest.</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "cottage4_interior" id =
+"cottage4_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p class = "pictop leftfloat">
+<img src = "images/pic227b_top.gif" width = "177" height = "233"
+alt = "cottage 4, plan (partial)" title = "cottage 4, plan (partial)">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "picbottom leftfloat">
+<img src = "images/pic227b_bottom.gif" width = "244" height = "233"
+alt = "cottage 4, plan (partial)" title = "cottage 4, plan (partial)">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+PLAN</span></p>
+
+<p>From the veranda in the center of the front, a&nbsp;door opens into a
+hall, 17�7 feet, with a flight of stairs leading, in three different
+angles, to the chambers above. Opposite the front door is the passage
+into the living room, or parlor, 17�15 feet, lighted by three windows,
+two of which present an agreeable view of an adjacent stream and its
+opposite shores. At the line of partition from the hall, stands a
+chimney, with a fireplace, if desirable, or for a stove, to accommodate
+both this room and the hall with a like convenience; and under the
+flight of stairs adjoining opens a china closet, with spacious shelves,
+for the safe-keeping of household comforts. From this room, a&nbsp;door
+leads into a bedroom, 10�13 feet, lighted by a window opening into the
+veranda, also accommodated by a stove, which leads into a chimney at its
+inner partition. Next to this bedroom is the kitchen, 12�13 feet,
+accommodated with a chimney, where may be inserted an open fireplace, or
+a stove, as required. In this is a flight of
+<span class = "pagenum">230</span>
+back chamber and cellar stairs. This room is lighted by two
+windows&mdash;one in the side, another in the rear. A&nbsp;door leads
+from its rear into a large, roomy pantry, 8&nbsp;feet square, situated
+in the wing, and lighted by a window. Next to this is a passage,
+3&nbsp;feet in width, leading to the wood-house, (in which the pantry
+just named is included,) 16�12 feet, with nine-feet posts, and roof
+pitched like the house, in the extreme corner of which is a
+water-closet, 5�3 feet. Cornering upon the wood-house beyond, is a small
+building, 15�12 feet, with ten-feet posts, and a roof in same style as
+the others&mdash;with convenience for a cow and a pig, with each a
+separate entrance. A&nbsp;flight of stairs leads to the hay-loft above
+the stables, in the gable of which is the hay-door; and under the stairs
+is the granary; and to these may be added, inside, a&nbsp;small
+accommodation for a choice stock of poultry.</p>
+
+<p>The chamber plan is the same as the lower floor, mainly, giving three
+good sleeping-rooms; that over the kitchen, being a <i>back</i> chamber,
+need not have a separate passage into the upper hall, but may have a
+door passage into the principal chamber. The door to the front bedroom
+leads direct from the upper hall. Thus, accommodation is given to quite
+a numerous family. Closets may be placed in each of these chambers, if
+wanted; and the entire establishment made a most snug and compact, as
+well as commodious arrangement.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">231</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "cottage_outside" id =
+"cottage_outside">
+COTTAGE OUTSIDE DECORATION.</a></h4>
+
+<p>Nothing so perfectly sets off a cottage, in external appearance, as
+the presence of plants and shrubbery around it. A&nbsp;large tree or
+two, by giving an air of protection, is always in place; and creeping
+vines, and climbing shrubs about the windows and porch, are in true
+character; while a few low-headed trees, of various kinds, together with
+some simple and hardy annual and other flowers&mdash;to which should
+always be added, near by, a&nbsp;small, well-tended kitchen
+garden&mdash;fill up the picture.</p>
+
+<p>In the choice of what varieties should compose these ornaments, one
+can hardly be at a loss. Flanking the cottage, and near the kitchen
+garden, should be the fruit trees. The elm, maples, oak, and hickory, in
+all their varieties, black-walnut, butternut&mdash;the last all the
+better for its rich kernel&mdash;are every one appropriate for shade, as
+<i>large</i> trees. The hop, morning-glory, running beans&mdash;all
+useful and ornamental as summer climbers; the clematis, bitter-sweet,
+ivy, any of the <i>climbing</i> roses; the lilac, syringa, snow-ball,
+and the <i>standard</i> roses; while marigolds, asters, pinks,
+<span class = "pagenum">232</span>
+the phloxes, peonies, and a few other of the thousand-and-one simple and
+charming annuals, biennials, and perennials, with now and then a
+gorgeous sunflower, flaunting in its broad glory, will fill up the
+catalogue. Rare and costly plants are not required, and indeed, are
+hardly in place in the grounds of an ordinary cottage, unless occupied
+by the professional gardener. They denote expense, which the laboring
+cottager cannot afford; and besides that, they detract from the
+simplicity of the life and purpose which not only the cottage itself,
+but everything around it, should express.</p>
+
+<p>There is an affectation of <i>cottage</i> building, with some people
+who, with a seeming <ins class = "correction"
+title = "text reads 'humilty'">humility</ins>,
+really aim at higher flights of style in
+living within them, than truth of either design or purpose will admit.
+But as such cases are more among villagers, and those temporarily
+retiring from the city for summer residence, the farm cottage has little
+to do with it. Still, such fancies are contagious, and we have
+occasionally seen the ambitious cottage, with its covert expression of
+humility, insinuating itself on to the farm, and for the farmer's own
+family occupation, too, which at once spoiled, to the eye, the
+<i>substantial reality</i> of the whole establishment. A&nbsp;farmer
+should discard all such things as <i>ornamental</i> cottages. They do
+not belong to the farm. If he live in a cottage himself, it should be a
+<i>plain</i> one; yet it may be very substantial and well
+finished&mdash;something showing that he means either to be content in
+it, in its character of plainness, or that he intends, at a future day,
+to build something better&mdash;when this may serve for the habitation
+of one of his laborers.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">233</span>
+<a name = "cottage_estate" id = "cottage_estate">The cottage should
+never occupy</a> a principal, or prominent site on the farm. It should
+take a subordinate position of ground. This adds to its expression as
+subordinate in rank, among the lesser farm buildings. A&nbsp;cottage
+cannot, and should not aspire to be <i>chief</i> in either position or
+character. Such should be the farm house proper; although unpretending,
+still, in style, above the cottage; and if the latter, in addition, be
+required on the farm, it should so appear, both in construction and
+finish; just what it is intended for&mdash;a tenement for economical
+purposes.</p>
+
+<p>There is another kind of cottage, the dwellers in which, these pages
+will probably never reach, that expresses, in its wild structure, and
+rude locality, the idea of Moore's pretty song&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled<br>
+Above the green elms, that a cottage was near."</p>
+
+<p>Yet, in some parts of our country, landlords may build such, for the
+accommodation of tenants, which they may make useful on the outskirts of
+their estates, and add indirectly to their own convenience and interest
+in so doing. This may be indulged in, <i>poetically</i> too&mdash;for
+almost any thinking man has a spice of poetry in his
+composition&mdash;vagabondism, a&nbsp;strict, economizing utilitarian
+would call it. The name matters not. One may as well indulge his taste
+in this cheap sort of charitable expenditure, as another may indulge, in
+his dogs, and guns, his horses and equipages&mdash;and the first is far
+the cheapest. They, at the west and south, understand this, whose
+recreations are occasionally
+<span class = "pagenum">234</span>
+with their hounds, in chase of the deer, and the fox, and in their
+pursuit spend weeks of the fall and winter months, in which they are
+accompanied, and assisted, as boon companions for the time, by the rude
+tenants of the cottages we have described:</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"A cheerful, simple, honest people."</p>
+
+<p>Another class of cottage may come within the farm enclosures, half
+poetical, and half economical, such as Milton describes:</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"Hard by a cottage chimney smokes,<br>
+From betwixt two aged oaks;"</p>
+
+<p>and occupied by a family pensioner and his infirm old wife&mdash;we
+don't think <i>all</i> "poor old folks" ought to go to the alms-house,
+because they cannot work <i>every</i> day of the year&mdash;of which all
+long-settled families of good estate have, now and then, one near to, or
+upon their premises. Thousands of kind and liberal hearts among our
+farming and planting brethren, whose impulses are&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"Open as the day to melting charity,"</p>
+
+<p>are familiar with the wants of those who are thus made their
+dependents; and in their accommodation, an eye may be kept to the
+producing of an agreeable effect in locating their habitations, and to
+rudely embellish, rather than to mar the domain on which they may be
+lodged.</p>
+
+<p>In short, cottage architecture, in its proper character, may be made
+as effective, in all the ornament which it should give to the farm, as
+that of any other structure;
+<span class = "pagenum">235</span>
+and if those who have occasion for the cottage will only be content to
+build and maintain it as it should be, and leave off that perpetual
+aspiration after something unnatural, and foreign to its purpose, which
+so many cottage builders of the day attempt, and let it stand in its own
+humble, secluded character, they will save themselves a world of
+trouble, and pass for&mdash;what they now do not&mdash;men possessing a
+taste for truth and propriety in their endeavors.</p>
+
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "furniture" id = "furniture">
+HOUSE AND COTTAGE FURNITURE.</a></h4>
+
+<p>This is a subject so thoroughly discussed in the books, of late, that
+anything which may here be said, would avail but little, inasmuch as our
+opinions might be looked upon as "old-fashioned," "out of date," and "of
+no account whatever,"&mdash;for wonderfully modern notions in
+room-furnishing have crept into the farm house, as well as into town
+houses. Indeed, we confess to altogether ancient opinions in regard to
+household furniture, and contend, that, with a few exceptions, "modern
+degeneracy" has reached the utmost stretch of absurdity, in
+house-furnishing, to which the ingenuity of man can arrive. Fashions in
+furniture change about as often as the cut of a lady's dress, or the
+shape of her bonnet, and pretty much from the same source,
+<span class = "pagenum">236</span>
+too&mdash;the fancy shops of Par�, once, in good old English, Paris, the
+capital city of France. A&nbsp;farmer, rich or poor, may spend half his
+annual income, every year of his life, in taking down old, and putting
+up new furniture, and be kept uncomfortable all the time; when, if he
+will, after a quiet, good-tempered talk with his better-half, agree with
+her upon the list of <i>necessary</i> articles to make them <i>really
+comfortable</i>; and then a catalogue of what shall comprise the
+<i>luxurious</i> part of their furnishings, which, when provided, they
+will fixedly make up their mind to keep, and be content with, they will
+remain entirely free from one great source of "the ills which flesh is
+heir&nbsp;to."</p>
+
+<p>It is pleasant to see a young couple setting out in their
+housekeeping life, well provided with convenient and properly-selected
+furniture, appropriate to all the uses of the family; and then to keep,
+and use it, and enjoy it, like contented, sensible people; adding to it,
+now and then, as its wear, or the increasing wants of their family may
+require. Old, familiar things, to which we have long been accustomed,
+and habituated, make up a round share of our actual enjoyment.
+A&nbsp;family addicted to constant change in their household furniture,
+attached to nothing, content with nothing, and looking with anxiety to
+the next change of fashion which shall introduce something <i>new</i>
+into the house, can take no sort of comfort, let their circumstances be
+ever so affluent. It is a kind of dissipation in which some otherwise
+worthy people are prone to indulge, but altogether pernicious in the
+indulgence. It detracts, also, from the apparent respectability of a
+family
+<span class = "pagenum">237</span>
+to find nothing <i>old</i> about them&mdash;as if they themselves were
+of yesterday, and newly dusted out of a modern shop-keeper's stock in
+trade. The furniture of a house ought to look as though the family
+within it once had a grandfather&mdash;and as if old things had some
+veneration from those who had long enjoyed their service.</p>
+
+<p>We are not about to dictate, of what fashion household furniture
+should be, when selected, any further than that of a plain, substantial,
+and commodious fashion, and that it should comport, so far as those
+requirements in it will admit, with the approved modes of the day. But
+we are free to say, that in these times the extreme of absurdity, and
+unfitness for <i>use</i>, is more the fashion than anything else. What
+so useless as the modern French chairs, standing on legs like
+pipe-stems, <i>garote</i>-ing your back like a rheumatism, and frail as
+the legs of a spider beneath you, as you sit in it; and a tribe of
+equally worthless incumbrances, which absorb your money in their cost,
+and detract from your comfort, instead of adding to it, when you have
+got them; or a bedstead so high that you must have a ladder to climb
+into it, or so low as to scarcely keep you above the level of the floor,
+when lying on it. No; give us the substantial, the easy, the free, and
+enjoyable articles, and the rest may go to tickle the fancy of those who
+have a taste for them. Nor do these flashy furnishings add to one's rank
+in society, or to the good opinion of those whose consideration is most
+valuable. Look into the houses of those people who are the <i>really</i>
+substantial, and worthy of the land. There will be found little of such
+frippery with them.
+<span class = "pagenum">238</span>
+Old furniture, well-preserved, useful in everything, mark the
+well-ordered arrangement of their rooms, and give an air of quietude, of
+comfort, and of hospitality to their apartments. Children cling to such
+objects in after life, as heir-looms of affection and parental
+regard.</p>
+
+<p>Although we decline to give specific directions about what varieties
+of furniture should constitute the furnishings of a house, or to
+illustrate its style or fashion by drawings, and content ourself with
+the single remark, that it should, in all cases, be strong, plain, and
+durable&mdash;no sham, nor ostentation about it&mdash;and such as is
+<i>made for use</i>: mere trinkets stuck about the room, on center
+tables, in corners, or on the mantel-piece, are the foolishest things
+imaginable. They are costly; they require a world of care, to keep them
+in condition; and then, with all this care, they are good for nothing,
+in any sensible use. We have frequently been into a country house, where
+we anticipated better things, and, on being introduced into the
+"parlor," actually found everything in the furniture line so dainty and
+"prinked up," that we were afraid to sit down on the frail things stuck
+around by way of seats, for fear of breaking them; and everything about
+it looked so gingerly and inhospitable, that we felt an absolute relief
+when we could fairly get out of it, and take a place by the wide old
+fireplace, in the common living room, comfortably ensconced in a good
+old easy, high-backed, split-bottomed chair&mdash;there was positive
+comfort in that, when in the "parlor" there was nothing but restraint
+and <i>dis</i>comfort. No; leave all this vanity to town-folk, who have
+nothing better&mdash;or
+<span class = "pagenum">239</span>
+who, at least, think they have&mdash;to amuse themselves with; it has no
+fitness for a country dwelling, whatever. All this kind of frippery
+smacks of the boarding school, the pirouette, and the dancing master,
+and is out of character for the farm, or the sensible retirement of the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>In connection with the subject of furniture, a&nbsp;remark may be
+made on the <i>room</i> arrangement of the house, which might, perhaps,
+have been more fittingly made when discussing that subject, in the
+designs of our houses. Some people have a marvellous propensity for
+introducing into their houses a <i>suite</i> of rooms, connected by wide
+folding-doors, which must always be opened into each other, furnished
+just alike, and devoted to extraordinary occasions; thus absolutely
+sinking the best rooms in the house, for display half a dozen times in
+the year, and at the sacrifice of the every-day comfort of the family.
+This is nothing but a bastard taste, of the most worthless kind,
+introduced from the city&mdash;the propriety of which, for city life,
+need not here be discussed. The presence of such arrangement, in a
+country house, is fatal to everything like domestic enjoyment, and
+always followed by great expense and inconvenience. No room, in any
+house, should be too good for occupation by the family
+themselves&mdash;not every-day, and common-place&mdash;but occupation at
+any and all times, when convenience or pleasure demand it. If a large
+room be required, let the single room itself be large; not sacrifice an
+extra room to the occasional extension of the choicer one, as in the use
+of folding-doors must be done. This "parlor"
+<span class = "pagenum">240</span>
+may be better furnished&mdash;and so it should be&mdash;than any other
+room in the house. Its carpet should be not too good to tread, or stand
+upon, or for the children to roll and tumble upon, provided their shoes
+and clothes be clean. Let the happy little fellows roll and tumble on
+it, to their heart's content, when their mother or elder sisters are
+with them&mdash;for it may be, perhaps, the most joyous, and most
+innocent pleasure of their lives, poor things! The hearth-rug should be
+in keeping with the carpet, also, and no floor-cloth should be necessary
+to cover it, for fear of soiling; but everything free and easy, with a
+comfortable, inviting, hospitable look about&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>Go into the houses of our great men&mdash;such as live in the
+country&mdash;whom God made great, not money&mdash;and see how
+<i>they</i> live. We speak not of statesmen and politicians alone, but
+great merchants, great scholars, great divines, great mechanics, and all
+men who, in mind and attainments, are head and shoulder above their
+class in any of the walks of life, and you find no starch, or flummery
+about them. We once went out to the country house&mdash;he lived there
+all the time, for that matter&mdash;of a distinguished banker of one of
+our great cities, to dine, and spend the day with him. He had a small
+farm attached to his dwelling, where he kept his horses and cows, his
+pigs, and his poultry. He had a large, plain two-story cottage house,
+with a piazza running on three sides of it, from which a beautiful view
+of the neighboring city, and water, and land, was seen in nearly all
+directions. He was an educated man. His father had been a statesman of
+<span class = "pagenum">241</span>
+distinguished ability and station at home, and a diplomatist abroad, and
+himself educated in the highest circles of business, and of society. His
+wife, too, was the daughter of a distinguished city merchant, quite his
+equal in all the accomplishments of life. His own wealth was competent;
+he was the manager of millions of the wealth of others; and his station
+in society was of the highest. Yet, with all this claim to pretension,
+his house did not cost him eight thousand dollars&mdash;and he built it
+by "days-work," too, so as to have it faithfully done; and the furniture
+in it, aside from library, paintings, and statuary, never cost him three
+thousand. Every room in it was a plain one, not more highly finished
+than many a farmer's house can afford. The furniture of every kind was
+plain, saving, perhaps, the old family plate, and such as he had added
+to it, which was all substantial, and made for use. The younger
+children&mdash;and of these, younger and older, he had several&mdash;we
+found happy, healthy, cheerful, and frolicking on the carpets; and their
+worthy mother, in the plainest, yet altogether appropriate garb, was
+sitting among them, at her family sewing, and kindly welcomed us as we
+took our seats in front of the open, glowing fireplace. "Why, sir," we
+exclaimed, rubbing our hands in the comfortable glow of warmth which the
+fire had given&mdash;for it was a cold December day&mdash;"you are quite
+plain, as well as wonderfully comfortable, in your country
+house&mdash;quite different from your former city residence!" "To be
+sure we are," was the reply; "we stood it as long as we could, amid the
+starch and the gimcracks of &mdash;&mdash;
+<span class = "pagenum">242</span>
+street, where we rarely had a day to ourselves, and the children could
+never <i>go</i> into the streets but they must be tagged and tasselled,
+in their dress, into all sorts of discomfort, merely for the sake of
+appearance. So, after standing it as long as we could, my wife and I
+determined we would try the country, for a while, and see what we could
+make of it. We kept our town-house, into which we returned for a winter
+or two; but gave it up for a permanent residence here, with which we are
+perfectly content. We see here all the friends we want to see; we all
+enjoy ourselves, and the children are healthy and happy." And this is
+but a specimen of thousands of families in the enjoyment of country
+life, including the families of men in the highest station, and
+possessed of sufficient wealth.</p>
+
+<p>Why, then, should the farmer ape the fashion, and the frivolity of
+the butterflies of town life, or permit his family to do it? It is the
+sheerest possible folly in him to do so. Yet, it is a folly into which
+many are imperceptibly gliding, and which, if not reformed, will
+ultimately lead to great discomfort to themselves, and ruin to their
+families. Let thoughtless people do as they choose. Pay no attention to
+their extravagance; but watch them for a dozen years, and see how they
+come out in their fashionable career; and observe the fate of their
+families, as they get "established" in the like kind of life. He who
+keeps aloof from such temptation, will then have no cause to regret that
+he has maintained his own steady course of living, and taught his sons
+and daughters that a due attention to their own comfort, with economical
+habits in everything
+<span class = "pagenum">243</span>
+relating to housekeeping, will be to their lasting benefit in
+future.</p>
+
+<p>But, we have said enough to convey the ideas in house-furnishing we
+would wish to impart; and the reader will do as he, or she, no doubt,
+would have done, had we not written a word about it&mdash;go and select
+such as may strike their own fancy.</p>
+
+<p>We received, a&nbsp;day or two since, a&nbsp;letter from a person at
+the west, entirely unknown to us, whose ideas so entirely correspond
+with our own, that we give it a place, as showing that a proper taste
+<i>does</i> prevail among many people in this country, in regard to
+buildings, and house-furnishings; and which we trust he will pardon us
+for publishing, as according entirely with our own views, in
+conclusion:</p>
+
+<p class = "letter" align = "right">
+&mdash;&mdash;, &mdash;&mdash;, <span class = "smallcaps">Ill.</span>,
+Dec. 18,&nbsp;1851.
+</p>
+
+<p class = "letter">
+<span class = "smallcaps">Dear Sir</span>,&mdash;I received, a&nbsp;few
+days since, a&nbsp;copy of the first number of a periodical called the
+"Plough," into which is copied the elevation of a design for a farm
+house, purporting to be from a forthcoming work of yours, entitled
+"Rural Architecture." Although a perfect stranger to you, you will
+perhaps allow me to make one or two suggestions.
+</p>
+
+<p class = "letter">
+I have seen no work yet, which seems fully to meet the wants of our
+country people in the matter of furniture. After having built their
+houses, they need showing how to furnish them in the cheapest, most
+neat, comfortable, convenient, and substantial manner. The furniture
+should be designed for use, not merely for show. I&nbsp;would have it
+plain, but not coarse&mdash;just
+<span class = "pagenum">244</span>
+enough for the utmost convenience, but nothing superfluous. The articles
+of furniture figured, and partially described in the late works on those
+subjects, are mostly of too elaborate and expensive a cast to be
+generally introduced into our country houses. There is too much
+<i>nabobery</i> about them to meet the wants, or suit the taste of the
+plain American farmer.
+</p>
+
+<p class = "letter">
+As to out-houses&mdash;the barn, stable, carriage and wagon-house,
+tool-house, piggery, poultry-house, <ins class = "correction" title =
+"text reads 'con-crib'">corn-crib</ins>, and granary, (to say nothing of
+the "rabbit-warren" and "dovecote,")&mdash;are necessary appendages of
+the farm house. Now, as cheapness is one great desideratum with nearly
+all our new beginners in this western region, it seems to me, that such
+plans as will conveniently include the greatest number of these under
+the same roof, will be best suited to their necessities. I&nbsp;do not
+mean to be understood that, for the sake of the first cost, we should
+pay no regard to the appearance, or that we should slight our work, or
+suffer it to be constructed of flimsy or perishable materials: we should
+not only have an eye to taste and durability, but put in practice the
+most strict economy.
+</p>
+
+<p class = "letter">
+I hope, in the above matters, you may be able to furnish something
+better suited to the necessities and means of our plain farmers, than
+has been done by any of your predecessors.
+</p>
+
+<p class = "letter" align = "center">
+I remain, &amp;c., most respectfully yours,
+</p>
+
+<p class = "letter" align = "right">
+&mdash;&mdash;, &mdash;&mdash;.
+</p>
+
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">245</span>
+Having completed the series of Designs for dwelling houses, which we had
+proposed for this work, and followed them out with such remarks as were
+thought fitting to attend them, we now pass on to the second part of our
+subject: the out-buildings of the farm, in which are to be accommodated
+the domestic animals which make up a large item of its economy and
+management; together with other buildings which are necessary to
+complete its requirements. We trust that they will be found to be such
+as the occasion, and the wants of the farmer may demand; and in economy,
+accommodation, and extent, be serviceable to those for whose benefit
+they are designed.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(249)</span>
+<a name = "apiary" id = "apiary"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic249a.jpg" width = "363" height = "310"
+alt = "apiary or bee-house" title = "apiary or bee-house">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+APIARY.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "apiary_plan" id = "apiary_plan"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic249b.png" width = "327" height = "117"
+alt = "apiary, plan" title = "apiary, plan">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+GROUND PLAN.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">246</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section">AN APIARY, OR BEE-HOUSE.</h4>
+
+<p>Every farmer should keep bees&mdash;provided he have pasturage for
+them, on his own land, or if a proper range for their food and stores
+lie in his immediate vicinity. Bees are, beyond any other domestic
+<i>stock</i>, economical in their keeping, to their owners. Still they
+require care, and that of no inconsiderable kind, and skill, in their
+management, not understood by every one who attempts to rear them. They
+ask no food, they require no assistance, in gathering their daily
+stores, beyond that of proper housing in the cheapest description of
+tenement, and with that they are entirely content. Yet, without these,
+they are a contingent, and sometimes a troublesome appendage to the
+domestic stock of the farm.</p>
+
+<p>We call them <i>domestic</i>. In one sense they are so; in another,
+they are as wild and untamed as when buzzing and collecting their sweets
+in the vineyard of Timnath, where the mighty Sampson took their honey
+from the carcass of the dead lion; or, as when John the Baptist, clothed
+with camel's hair, ate "locusts and wild honey" in the arid wastes of
+Palestine. Although kept in partial bondage for six thousand years, the
+ruling propensity of the bee is to seek a
+<span class = "pagenum">247</span>
+home and shelter in the forest, when it emerges in a swarm from the
+parent hive; and no amount of domestic accommodation, or kindness of
+treatment, will induce it willingly to migrate from its nursery
+habitation to another by its side, although provided with the choicest
+comforts to invite its entrance. It will soon fly to the woods, enter a
+hollow and dilapidated tree, and carve out for itself its future
+fortunes, amid a world of labor and apparent discomfort. The bee, too,
+barring its industry, patience, and sweetened labors, is an arrant
+thief&mdash;robbing its nearest neighbors, with impunity, when the
+strongest, and mercilessly slaughtering its weaker brethren, when
+standing in the way of its rapacity. It has been extolled for its
+ingenuity, its patience, its industry, its perseverance, and its virtue.
+Patience, industry, and perseverance it has, beyond a doubt, and in a
+wonderful degree; but ingenuity, and virtue, it has none, more than the
+spider, who spins his worthless web, or the wasp, who stings you when
+disturbing his labors. Instinct, the bee has, like all animals; but of
+kind feeling, and gratitude, it has nothing; and with all our vivid
+nursery remembrance of good Doctor Watts' charming little
+hymn&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"How doth the little busy bee," &amp;c. &amp;c.,</p>
+
+<p>we have long ago set it down as incorrigible to kind treatment, or
+charitable sympathy, and looked upon it simply as a thing to be treated
+kindly for the sake of its labors, and as composing one of that
+delightful family of domestic objects which make our homes attractive,
+pleasant, and profitable.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">248</span>
+The active labors of the bee, in a bright May or June morning, as they
+fly, in their busy order, back and forth from their hives, or the
+soothing hum of their playful hours, in a summer's afternoon, are among
+the most delightful associations of rural life; and as a luxury to the
+sight, and the ear, they should be associated with every farmer's home,
+and with every laborer's cottage, when practicable. And as their due
+accommodation is to be the object of our present writing, a&nbsp;plan is
+presented for that object.</p>
+
+<p>In many of the modern structures held out for imitation, the
+bee-house, or apiary, is an expensive, pretentious affair, got up in an
+ambitious way, with efforts at style, in the semblance of a temple,
+a&nbsp;pagoda, or other absurdity, the very appearance of which
+frightens the simple bee from its propriety, and in which we never yet
+knew a colony of them to become, and remain successful. The insect is,
+as we have observed, wild and untamable&mdash;a savage in its habits,
+and rude in its temper. It rejects all cultivated appearances, and seeks
+only its own temporary convenience, together with comfortable room for
+its stores, and the increase of its kind; and therefore, the more rustic
+and simple its habitation, the better is it pleased with its
+position.</p>
+
+<p>The bee-house should front upon a sheltered and sunny aspect. It
+should be near the ground, in a clean and quiet spot, free from the
+intrusion of other creatures, either human or profane, and undisturbed
+by noisome smells, and uncouth sounds&mdash;for it loathes all these
+instinctively, and loves nothing so much as the wild beauty of nature
+itself. The plan here presented
+<span class = "pagenum">250</span>
+is of the plainest and least expensive kind. Nine posts, or crutches,
+are set into the ground sufficiently deep to hold them firm, and to
+secure them from heaving out by the frost. The distance of these posts
+apart may be according to the size of the building, and to give it
+strength enough to resist the action of the wind. The front posts should
+be 9&nbsp;feet high, above the ground; the rear posts should be
+7&nbsp;feet&mdash;that a man, with his hat on, may stand upright under
+them&mdash;and 6&nbsp;feet from the front line. The two end posts
+directly in the rear of the front corner posts, should be 3&nbsp;feet
+back from them, and on a line to accommodate the pitch of the roof from
+the front to the rear. A&nbsp;light plate is to be fitted on the top
+line of the front posts; a&nbsp;plate at each end should run back to the
+posts in rear, and then another cross-plate, or girt, from each one of
+these middle posts, to the post in rear of all, to meet the plate which
+surmounts this rear line of posts; and a parallel plate, or rafter,
+should be laid from the two intermediate posts at the ends, to connect
+them, and for a central support to the roof. Intermediate central posts
+should also be placed opposite those in front, to support the central
+plate, and not exceeding 12&nbsp;feet apart. A&nbsp;shed roof, of
+boards, or shingles, tightly laid, should cover the whole, sufficiently
+projecting over the front, rear, and sides, to give the house abundant
+shelter, and make it architecturally agreeable to the eye&mdash;say 12
+to 18 inches, according to its extent. A&nbsp;corner board should drop
+two feet below the plate, with such finish, by way of ornament, as may
+be desirable. The ends should be tightly boarded up against
+<span class = "pagenum">251</span>
+the weather, from bottom to top. The rear should also be tightly
+boarded, from the bottom up to a level with the stand inside, for the
+hives, and from 15 to 18 inches above that to the roof. Fitted into the
+space thus left in the rear, should be a light, though substantial,
+swing door, hung from the upper boarding, made in sections, extending
+from one post to the other, as the size of the house may determine, and
+secured with hooks, or buttons, as may be convenient. The outside of the
+structure is thus completed.</p>
+
+<p>The inside arrangement for the hives, may be made in two different
+ways, as the choice of the apiarian may govern in the mode in which his
+hives are secured. The most usual is the <i>stand</i> method, which may
+be made thus: At each angle, equidistant, say 18 to 24 inches, inside,
+from the rear side and ends of the building&mdash;as shown in the ground
+plan&mdash;and opposite to each rear and end post, suspend
+perpendicularly a line of stout pieces of two-inch plank, 4&nbsp;inches
+wide, well spiked on to the rafters above, reaching down within two feet
+of the ground&mdash;which is to hold up the bottom of the stand on which
+the hives are to rest. From each bottom end of these suspended strips,
+secure another piece of like thickness and width, horizontally back to
+the post in rear of it, at the side and ends. Then, lengthwise the
+building, and turning the angles at the ends, and resting on these
+horizontal pieces just described, lay other strips, 3�2 inches, set
+edgewise&mdash;one in front, and another in rear, inside each post and
+suspended strip, and close to it, and secured by heavy nails, so that
+there shall be a double line of these
+<span class = "pagenum">252</span>
+strips on a level, extending entirely around the interior, from the
+front at each end. This forms the hanging frame-work for the planks or
+boards on which the hives are to rest.</p>
+
+<p>Now for the hives. First, let as many pieces of sound one and a half,
+or two-inch plank as you have hives to set upon them, be cut long enough
+to reach from the boarding on the rear and ends of the building, to one
+inch beyond, and projecting over the front of the outer strip last
+described. Let these pieces of plank be well and smoothly planed, and
+laid lengthwise across the aforesaid strips, not less than four inches
+apart from each other&mdash;if a less number of hives be in the building
+than it will accommodate at four inches apart, no matter how far apart
+they may be&mdash;these pieces of plank are the <i>ferms</i> for the
+hives, on which they are to sit. And, as we have for many years adopted
+the plan now described, with entire success, a&nbsp;brief description is
+given of our mode of hive, and the process for obtaining the surplus
+honey. We say surplus, for destroying the bees to obtain their honey, is
+a mode not at all according to our notions of economy, or mercy; and we
+prefer to take that honey only which the swarm may make, after supplying
+their own wants, and the stores for their increasing family. This
+process is given in the report of a committee of gentlemen appointed by
+the New York State Agricultural Society, on a hive which we exhibited on
+that occasion, with the following note attached, at their show at
+Buffalo, in 1848:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<span class = "pagenum">253</span>
+"<a name = "apiary_honey" id = "apiary_honey">I have seen, examined, and
+used</a> several different plans of <i>patent</i> hive, of which there
+are probably thirty invented, and used, more or less. I&nbsp;have found
+all which I have ever seen, unsatisfactory, not carrying out in full,
+the benefits claimed for them.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"The bee works, and lives, I&nbsp;believe, solely by instinct. I&nbsp;do
+not consider it an inventive, or very ingenious insect. To succeed well,
+its accommodations should be of the <i>simplest</i> and <i>securest</i>
+form. Therefore, instead of adopting the complicated plans of many of
+the patent hives, I&nbsp;have made, and used a simple box, like that now
+before you, containing a cube of one foot square
+<i>inside</i>&mdash;made of one and a quarter inch sound pine plank,
+well jointed and planed on all sides, and put together perfectly tight
+at the joints, with white lead ground in oil, and the inside of the hive
+at the bottom champered off to three-eighths of an inch thick, with a
+door for the bees in front, of four inches long by three-eighths of an
+inch high. I&nbsp;do this, that there may be a thin surface to come in
+contact with the shelf on which they rest, thus preventing a harbor for
+the bee-moth. (I have never used a patent hive which would exclude the
+bee-moth, nor any one which would so well do it as this, having never
+been troubled with that scourge since I used this tight hive.) On the
+top of the hive, an inch or two from the front, is made a passage for
+the bees, of an inch wide, and six to eight inches long, to admit the
+bees into an upper hive for surplus honey, (which passage is covered,
+when no vessel for that purpose is on the top.) For obtaining the honey,
+I&nbsp;use a common ten or twelve-quart water
+<span class = "pagenum">254</span>
+pail, inverted, with the bail turned over, in which the bees deposit
+their surplus, like the sample before you. The pail will hold about
+twenty pounds of honey. This is simple, cheap, and expeditious; the pail
+costing not exceeding twenty-five cents, is taken off in a moment, the
+bail replaced, and the honey ready for transportation, or market, and
+<i>always in place</i>. If there is time for more honey to be made, (my
+bees made two pails-full in succession this year,) another pail can be
+put on at once.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"Such, gentlemen, in short, is my method. I&nbsp;have kept bees about
+twenty years. I&nbsp;succeed better on this plan than with any other."
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>In addition to this, our hives are painted white, or other light
+color, on the outside, to protect them from warping, and as a further
+security against the bee-moth, or miller, which infests and destroys so
+many carelessly-made hives, as to discourage the efforts of equally
+careless people in keeping them. Inside the hive, on each end, we
+fasten, by shingle nails, about half-way between the bottom and top,
+a&nbsp;small piece of half-inch board, about the size of a common window
+<ins class = "correction"
+title = "text unchanged: error for 'batten'?">button</ins>,
+and with a like notch in it, set upward, but
+stationary, on which, when the hive is to receive the swarm,
+a&nbsp;stick is laid across, to support the comb <ins class =
+"correction" title = "text reads 'as &nbsp;t' with blank space">as
+it</ins> is built, from falling in hot weather. At such time, also, when
+new, and used for the first time, the under-side of the top is scratched
+with the tines of a table fork, or a nail, so as to make a rough
+surface, to which the new comb can be fastened. In addition to the pails
+<span class = "pagenum">255</span>
+on the top of the hives, to receive the surplus honey, we sometimes use
+a flat box, the size of the hive in diameter, and six or seven inches
+high <i>inside</i>, which will hold twenty-five to thirty pounds of
+honey. The pails we adopted as an article of greater convenience for
+transporting the honey.</p>
+
+<p>The other plan of arranging the hives alluded to, is suspending them
+between the strips before described, by means of <i>cleats</i> secured
+on to the front and rear sides of the hive, say two-thirds the way up
+from the bottom. In such case, the strips running lengthwise the house
+must be brought near enough together to receive the hives as hung by the
+<i>cleats</i>, and the bottom boards, or forms, must be much smaller
+than those already described, and hung with wire hooks and staples to
+the sides, with a button on the rear, to close up, or let them down a
+sufficient distance to admit the air to pass freely across them, and up
+into the hive&mdash;Weeks' plan, in fact, for which he has a patent,
+together with some other fancied improvements, such as chambers to
+receive the boxes for the deposit of surplus honey. This, by the way, is
+the best "patent" we have seen; and Mr. Weeks having written an
+ingenious and excellent treatise on the treatment of the bee, we freely
+recommend his book to the attention of every apiarian who wishes to
+succeed in their management. As a rule, we have no confidence in
+<i>patent</i> hives. We have seen scores of them, of different kinds,
+have tried several of great pretension to sundry virtues&mdash;such as
+excluding moths, and other marvelous benefits&mdash;and, after becoming
+the victim of bee
+<span class = "pagenum">256</span>
+empirics to the tune of many a dollar, have thrown aside the gimcracks,
+and taken again to a common-sense method of keeping our bees, as here
+described. The bees themselves, we feel bound to say, seem to hold these
+patent-right habitations in quite as sovereign contempt as ourself,
+reluctantly going into them, and getting out of them at the first safe
+opportunity. But, as a treatise on bee-keeping is not a part of this
+present work, we must, for further information, commend the inquirer on
+that subject to some of the valuable treatises extant, on so prolific a
+subject, among which we name those of Bevan, Weeks, and Miner.</p>
+
+<p>The bee-house should be thoroughly whitewashed <i>inside</i> every
+spring, and kept clean of cobwebs, wasp's nests, and vermin; and it may
+be painted outside, a&nbsp;soft and agreeable color, in keeping with the
+other buildings of the farm. Its premises should be clean, and sweet.
+The grass around should be kept mowed close. Low trees, or shrubbery,
+should stand within a few yards of it, that the new swarms may light
+upon them when coming out, and not, for want of such settling places, be
+liable to loss from flying away. It should, also, be within sight and
+hearing, and at no great distance from a continually-frequented room in
+the dwelling&mdash;perhaps the kitchen, if convenient, that, in their
+swarming season, they may be secured as they leave the parent hive. The
+apiary is a beautiful object, with its busy tenantry; and to the
+invalid, or one who loves to look upon God's tiny creatures, it may
+while away many an agreeable
+<span class = "pagenum">257</span>
+hour, in watching their labors&mdash;thus adding pleasure to profit.</p>
+
+<p>The cost of a bee-house, on the plan given, may be from ten to fifty
+dollars, according to the price of material, and the amount of labor
+expended upon it. It should not be an expensive structure, in any event,
+as its purpose does not warrant it. If a gimcrack affair be wanted, for
+the purposes of ornament, or expense, any sum of money may be squandered
+upon it which the fancy of its builder may choose to spare.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(260)</span>
+<a name = "icehouse" id = "icehouse"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic260a.jpg" width = "367" height = "290"
+alt = "ice-house" title = "ice-house">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+ICE-HOUSE.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "icehouse_plan" id = "icehouse_plan"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic260b.png" width = "305" height = "263"
+alt = "ice-house, plan" title = "ice-house, plan">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+GROUND PLAN.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">258</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section">AN ICE-HOUSE.</h4>
+
+<p>Among the useful and convenient appendages to the farm and country
+family establishment, is the ice-house. Different from the general
+opinion which prevailed in our country before ice became so important an
+article of commerce, and of home consumption, the building which
+contains it should stand above-ground, instead of below it. And the
+plainer and more simple it can be constructed, the better.</p>
+
+<p>The position of the ice-house may be that which is most convenient to
+the dwelling, or to the wants of those who use it. If it can be placed
+beneath the shade of trees, it will so far be relieved from the
+influence of the sun; but it should be so constructed that sunshine will
+not affect the ice within it, even if it stand unsheltered; and as it
+has, by the ice-merchants of our eastern cities, who put up large
+quantities for exportation abroad, and others in the interior, who
+furnish ice in quantity for home consumption, been proved to be
+altogether the better plan to build the ice-house entirely above ground,
+we shall present no other mode of construction than this. It may be
+added, that five years' experience with one of our own
+<span class = "pagenum">259</span>
+building, has confirmed our opinion of the superiority of this over any
+other plan which may be adopted.</p>
+
+<p>The design here presented is of the most economical kind, yet
+sufficiently ornamental to make it an agreeable appendage to any family
+establishment. The size may be 12&nbsp;feet square&mdash;less than that
+would be too small for keeping ice well&mdash;and from that up to any
+required extent. The idea here given is simply the <i>principle</i> of
+construction. The posts should be full eight feet high above the ground,
+to where the plate of the roof is attached, and built thus:</p>
+
+<p>Mark out your ground the size you require for the house; then,
+commencing at one corner, dig, opposite each other, a&nbsp;double set of
+holes, one foot deep, and two and a half feet apart, on each side of the
+intended building, say three feet equidistant, so that when the posts
+stand up they will present a double set, one and a half feet apart. Then
+set in your posts, which should be of oak, chestnut, or some lasting
+wood, and pack the earth firmly around them. If the posts are sawed,
+they may be 4�6 inches in size, set edgeways toward each other. If not
+sawed, they may be round sticks cut from the woods, or split from the
+body of a tree, quartered&mdash;but sizable, so as to appear
+decent&mdash;and the insides facing each other as they stand up, lined
+to a surface to receive the planking. Of course, when the posts are set
+in the ground, they are to show a square form, or skeleton of what the
+building is to be when completed. When this is done, square off the top
+of each post to a level, all round; then frame, or spike on to each line
+of posts a plate, say six inches
+<span class = "pagenum">261</span>
+wide, and four to six inches deep, and stay the two plates together
+strongly, so as to form a double frame. Now, plank, or board up closely
+the <i>inside</i> of each line of posts, that the space between them
+shall be a fair surface. Cut out, or leave out a space for a door in the
+center of the side where you want it, two and a half or three feet wide,
+and six and a half feet high, and board up the inner partition sides of
+this opening, so as to form a door-casing on each side, that the space
+between the two lines of posts may be a continuous box all around. Then
+fill up this space between the posts with moist tan-bark, or saw-dust,
+well packed from the ground up to the plates; and the body of the house
+is inclosed, sun-proof, and air-proof, to guard the ice.</p>
+
+<p>Now lay down, inside the building, some sticks&mdash;not much matter
+what, so that they be level&mdash;and on them lay loose planks or
+boards, for a floor. Cover this floor with a coating of straw,
+a&nbsp;foot thick, and it is ready to receive the ice.</p>
+
+<p>For the roof, take common 3�4 joists, as rafters; or, in place of
+them, poles from the woods, long enough, in a pitch of full 35� from a
+horizontal line, to carry the roof at least four feet over the outside
+of the plates, and secure the rafters well, by pins or spikes, to them.
+Then board over and shingle it, leaving a small aperture at the top,
+through which run a small pipe, say eight inches in diameter&mdash;a
+stove-crock will do&mdash;for a ventilator. Then set in, 4&nbsp;little
+posts, say two feet high&mdash;as in the design&mdash;throw a little
+four-sided, pointed cap on to the top of these posts, and the roof is
+done. If you want to ornament the under side of
+<span class = "pagenum">262</span>
+the roof, in a rude way&mdash;and we would advise it&mdash;take some
+pieces of 3�4 scantling, such as were used for the roof, if the posts
+are of sawed stuff&mdash;if not, rough limbs of trees from the woods, to
+match the rough posts of the same kind, and fasten them to the posts and
+the under side of the roof, by way of brackets, as shown in the
+design.</p>
+
+<p>When the ice is put into the house, a&nbsp;close floor of boards
+should be laid on joists, which rest on the plates, loosely, so that
+this floor can be removed when putting in ice, and that covered five or
+six inches deep with tan, or saw-dust&mdash;straw will do, if the other
+can not be had&mdash;and the inside arrangement is complete. Two doors
+should be attached to the opening, where the ice is put in and taken
+out; one on the inner side of the lining, and the other on the outer
+side, both opening out. Tan, saw-dust, or straw should also be placed on
+the top of the ice, when put in, so as to keep the air from it as much
+as possible; and as the ice is removed, it will settle down upon, and
+still preserve it. Care must be taken to have a drain under the floor of
+the house, to pass off the water which melts from the ice, as it would,
+if standing there, injure its keeping.</p>
+
+<p>It will be seen, that, by an error in the cut of the ground plan, the
+inside line of posts does not show, as in the outer line, which they
+should do; nor is the outside door inserted, as is shown in the
+elevation. These defects, however, will be rectified by the builder.</p>
+
+<p>We have given considerable thought to this subject, and can devise no
+shape to the building more appropriate than this, nor one cheaper in
+construction. It
+<span class = "pagenum">263</span>
+may be built for fifty to a hundred dollars, according to the cost of
+material and labor, and the degree of finish given to&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>It is hardly worth while to expatiate upon the convenience and
+economy of an ice-house, to an American. Those who love well-kept meats,
+fruits, butter, milk, and various etceteras for the table, understand
+its utility well; to say nothing of the cooling draughts, in the way of
+drinks, in hot weather, to which it adds&mdash;when not taken to
+extremes&mdash;such positive luxury. We commend the ice-house,
+<i>well-filled</i>, most heartily, to every good country housekeeper, as
+a matter of convenience, economy, and luxury, adding next to nothing to
+the living expenses, and, as an appendage to the main buildings, an item
+of little cost, and a considerable degree of ornament.</p>
+
+<p>If an under-ground ice-house be preferred to the plan here shown,
+a&nbsp;side hill, or bank, with a northerly exposure, is the best
+location for it; and the manner of building should be mainly like this,
+for the body of the house. The roof, however, should be only two-sided,
+and the door for putting in and taking out the ice may be in the gable,
+on the ground level. The drainage under the floor, and precautions for
+keeping the ice, should be quite as thorough as we have described; as,
+otherwise, the earth surrounding it on three sides, at least, of the
+house, will be a ready conductor of warmth, and melt the ice with great
+rapidity. If the under-ground plan is adopted, but little more than the
+roof will show, and of course, be of little ornament in the way of
+appearance.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(265)</span>
+<a name = "smokehouse" id = "smokehouse"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic265a.jpg" width = "364" height = "336"
+alt = "ash house and smoke house" title = "ash house and smoke house">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+ASH HOUSE AND SMOKE HOUSE.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">264</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section">THE ASH-HOUSE AND SMOKE-HOUSE.</h4>
+
+<p>These two objects may, both for convenience and economy, be well
+combined under one roof; and we have thus placed them in connection. The
+building is an exceedingly simple structure, made of stone, or brick;
+the body 10&nbsp;feet high, and of such size as may be desirable, with a
+simple roof, and a plain, hooded chimney.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration leftfloat">
+<a name = "smokehouse_plan" id = "smokehouse_plan"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic265b.png" width = "257" height = "15"
+alt = "smokehouse plan: scale" title = "smokehouse plan: scale">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration leftfloat">
+<img src = "images/pic265c.png" width = "155" height = "152"
+alt = "smokehouse, plan" title = "smokehouse, plan">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+GROUND PLAN.</span></p>
+
+<p>In the ground plan will be seen a brick, or stone
+partition&mdash;which may extend to such height as may be necessary to
+contain the bulk of ashes required for storage within it&mdash;on one
+side of the building, to which a door gives access. The opposite side,
+and overhead, is devoted to the smoke-house, in which the various girts
+and hooks may be placed, for sustaining the meats to be smoked. The
+building should be tied together by joists at the plates, properly
+anchored into the walls, to prevent their spreading. A&nbsp;stove, or
+pans, or neither, as the method of keeping the smoke alive may govern,
+can be placed inside, to which the chimney in the roof may serve as a
+partial escape, or not, as required. The whole process is so simple,
+<span class = "pagenum">266</span>
+and so easily understood, that further explanation is unnecessary.</p>
+
+<p>A great advantage that a house of this construction has, is the
+convenience of storing the smoked meats for an indefinite time, even
+through the whole season, keeping them dark, dry, and cool; and
+permitting, at any time, a&nbsp;smoke to be made, to drive out the
+flies, if they find their way into&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>The ashes can, of course, be removed at any time, by the door at
+which they are thrown&nbsp;in.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(269)</span>
+<a name = "poultry" id = "poultry"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic269a.jpg" width = "382" height = "323"
+alt = "poultry lawn" title = "poultry lawn">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+POULTRY LAWN.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">267</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section">THE POULTRY-HOUSE.</h4>
+
+<p>As poultry is an indispensable appendage to the farm, in all cases,
+the poultry-house is equally indispensable, for their accommodation, and
+for the most profitable management of the fowls themselves, and most
+convenient for the production of their eggs and young. Indeed, without
+well-arranged quarters for the fowls of the farm, they are exceedingly
+troublesome, and of doubtful profit; but with the proper buildings
+devoted to them exclusively, they become one of the most interesting and
+agreeable objects with which either the farm or the country house is
+associated.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration rightfloat">
+<a name = "poultry_plan" id = "poultry_plan"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic269b.png" width = "256" height = "216"
+alt = "poultry lawn, plan" title = "poultry lawn, plan">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+GROUND PLAN.</span></p>
+
+<p>It is hardly worth while to eulogize poultry. Their merits and
+virtues are written in the hearts of all provident housekeepers; and
+their beauty and goodness are familiar to every son and daughter of the
+rural homestead. We shall, then, proceed at once to discuss their proper
+accommodation, in the cheapest and most familiar method with which we
+are acquainted.</p>
+
+<p>The hen-house&mdash;for hens (barn-door fowls, we mean) are the first
+and chief stock, of the kind, to be provided for, and with them most of
+the other varieties
+<span class = "pagenum">268</span>
+can be associated&mdash;should be located in a warm, sheltered, and
+sunny place, with abundant grounds about it, where they can
+graze&mdash;hens eat grass&mdash;and scratch, and enjoy themselves to
+their heart's content, in all seasons, when the ground is open and they
+<i>can</i> scratch into, or range over its surface. Some
+people&mdash;indeed, a&nbsp;good many people&mdash;picket in their
+gardens, to keep hens <i>out</i>; but we prefer an enclosure to keep the
+hens <i>in</i>, at all seasons when they are troublesome, which, after
+all, is only during short seasons of the year, when seeds are planted,
+or sown, and grain and vegetables are ripening. Otherwise, they may
+range at will, on the farm, doing good in their destruction of insects,
+and deriving much enjoyment to themselves; for hens, on the whole, are
+happy things.</p>
+
+<p>We here present the elevation of a poultry-house in perspective, to
+show the <i>principle</i> which we would adopt in its construction, and
+which may be extended to any required length, and to which may be added
+any given area of ground, or yard-room, which the circumstances of the
+proprietor may devote to it. It is, as will be seen, of a most rustic
+appearance, and built as cheaply, yet thoroughly, as the subject may
+require. Its length, we will say, is 20&nbsp;feet, its breadth&nbsp;16,
+and its height 10&nbsp;feet, made of posts set into the ground&mdash;for
+we do not like sills, and floors of wood, because rats are apt to burrow
+under them, which are their worst enemies&mdash;and boarded up, either
+inside or outside, as in the case of the ice-house previously described,
+though not double. Plates are laid on these posts, to connect them
+firmly together; and the rafters
+<span class = "pagenum">270</span>
+rest on the plates, as usual. The chamber floor is 9&nbsp;feet high,
+above the ground, and may be used either for laying purposes by the
+fowls, or reserved as a storage-room for their feed. The roof is broadly
+drawn over the body of the building, to shelter it, and through the
+point of the roof, in the center, is a ventilator, with a covered top,
+and a vane significant of its purpose. It is also sufficiently lighted,
+with glass windows, into which our draughtsman has put the diamond-paned
+glass, contrary to our notions; but, as he had, no doubt, an eye to the
+"picturesque," we let it pass, only remarking, that if we were building
+the house on our own account, there should be no such nonsense about it.
+The front windows are large, to attract the warmth of the winter's sun.
+A&nbsp;section of picket fence is also attached, and trees in the
+rear&mdash;both of which are necessary to a complete establishment; the
+first, to secure the poultry in the contiguous yards, and the trees to
+give them shade, and even roosting-places, if they prefer such lodgings
+in warm weather&mdash;for which we consider them eminently
+wholesome.</p>
+
+<p>The wooden floor is dispensed with, as was remarked, to keep rid of
+the vermin. If the ground be gravelly, or sandy, it will be sufficiently
+dry. If a heavy or damp soil be used, it should be under-drained, which
+will effectually dry it, and be better for the fowls than a floor of
+either wood, brick, or stone. Doors of sufficient size can be made on
+the yard sides of the house, near the ground, for the poultry to enter
+either the living or roosting apartments, at pleasure, and hung with
+butts on the upper side, to be closed when necessary.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">271</span>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "poultry_interior" id =
+"poultry_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p>The front door opens into the main living room. At each end, and in
+the rear, are tiers of boxes, one foot wide, one and a half feet long,
+and one and a half feet high&mdash;the lowest tier elevated two feet
+above the ground&mdash;and built one tier above the other, and snugly
+partitioned between, with a hole at one corner of each, ten inches high,
+and eight inches wide, for passing in to them; and a shelf, or
+passage-board, nine inches wide, in front. These are the nesting boxes,
+and should be kept supplied with short, soft straw, or hay orts, for
+that purpose. Hens love secrecy in their domestic economy, and are
+wonderfully pleased with the opportunity to hide away, and conceal
+themselves while laying. Indeed, such concealment, or the supposition of
+it, we have no doubt promotes fecundity, as it is well known that a hen
+<i>can</i> stop laying, almost at pleasure, when disturbed in her
+regular habits and settled plans of life. Burns says&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"The best laid schemes of <i>mice</i> and <i>men</i><br>
+Gang aft agley;"</p>
+
+<p>and why not <ins class = "correction" title =
+"apostrophe in original">hen's</ins>? We think so. If turkeys be kept in
+the premises, the females can also be accommodated in these boxes, as
+they are fond of laying in company with the hens, and frequently in the
+same nests, only that they require larger entrances into them; or,
+a&nbsp;tier of boxes may be made on the ground, for their
+convenience.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">272</span>
+A door leads from the rear of this room into the roosting apartment,
+through which is a passage to the back side of the building, and a door
+opposite, leading out into the yard. On each side of this passage are
+roosts, rising, each behind and above the other, 18&nbsp;inches apart.
+The lowest roosts may be three feet from the ground, and the highest six
+feet, that they may easily fly from one to the other; and in this way
+they may all be approached, to catch the fowls, when required. For the
+roosts, slender poles, two to three inches in diameter&mdash;small
+trees, cut from the woods, with the bark on, are the best&mdash;may be
+used; and they should be secured through augur holes in board slats
+suspended from the floor joists overhead. This apartment should be
+cleaned out as often as once a fortnight, both for cleanliness and
+health&mdash;for fowls like to be clean, and to have pure air.
+A&nbsp;flight of stairs may be made in one corner of the front room, to
+go into the chamber, if preferred; but a swing ladder, hung by one end,
+with hinges, to the joists above, is, for such purpose, a&nbsp;more
+cleanly mode of access; which, when not in use, may be hooked up to the
+under side of the floor above; and a trap door, shutting into the
+chamber floor, and also hung on hinges, will accommodate the
+entrance.</p>
+
+<p>For feeding troughs, we have seen many ingenious contrivances, and
+among them, possibly, a&nbsp;Yankee patent, or two; but all these we put
+aside, as of little account. A&nbsp;common segar box, or any other
+cast-off thing, that will hold their food, is just as good as the most
+complicated invention; and, in common feeding,
+<span class = "pagenum">273</span>
+there is no better mode than to scatter abroad their corn, and let them
+pick it up at their pleasure&mdash;when spread on a clean surface. We
+think, also, that, except for fattening poultry, stated hours of feeding
+are best for the birds themselves, and that they be fed only such
+quantity as they will pick up clean. Water should, if possible, be kept
+constantly by them; and if a small running stream could pass through the
+yard, all the better.</p>
+
+<p>If it be desirable to have fresh eggs during winter&mdash;and that is
+certainly a convenience&mdash;a box stove may be set in the living room,
+and properly protected by a grating around it, for warming the living
+apartment. It may be remarked, however, that this winter-laying of hens
+is usually a <i>forcing</i> business. A&nbsp;hen will lay but about a
+given number of eggs in a year; say a hundred&mdash;we believe this is
+about the number which the most observant of poultry-keepers allow
+them&mdash;and what she lays in winter must be <ins class = "correction"
+title = "text reads 'substracted'">subtracted</ins> from the number she
+would otherwise lay in the spring, summer, or autumn. Yet a warm house
+will, laying, aside, keep the fowls with less food, and in greater
+comfort, than if cold, and left to their own natural warmth.</p>
+
+<p>There is usually little difficulty in keeping hens, turkies, ducks,
+and geese together, in the same inclosure, during winter and early
+spring, before the grass grows. But geese and turkies require greater
+range during the warm season than the others, and should have it, both
+for convenience to themselves and profit to their owners. For winter
+quarters, low shelters may be made for the water-fowls in the yards, and
+the turkies will
+<span class = "pagenum">274</span>
+frequently prefer to share the shelter of the hens, on the roosts in the
+house. Guinea-hens&mdash;cruel, vindictive things, as they
+are&mdash;should never be allowed within a common poultry yard. Always
+quarrelsome, and never quiet, they should take to the farmyard, with the
+cattle, where they may range at will, and take their amusement in
+fisticuffs with each other, at pleasure. Neither should peacocks be
+allowed to come into the poultry inclosures, during the breeding season;
+they are anything but amiable in their manners to other birds.</p>
+
+<p>With the care and management of the poultry department, after thus
+providing for their accommodation, it is not our province to interfere;
+that is a subject too generally understood, to require further remark.
+Nor need we discuss the many varieties of poultry which, at the present
+time, so arrest the attention of many of our good country people; and we
+will leave so important a subject to the meditations of the "New England
+Poultry Society," who have taken the gallinaceous, and other tribes
+under their special cognizance, and will, doubtless, in due time,
+illumine the world with various knowledge in this department of rural
+economy, not yet "dreamt of in our philosophy." The recently published
+poultry books, too, with an amplitude and particularity in the
+discussion of the different breeds and varieties, which shuts all
+suspicions of <i>self-interest</i> into the corner, have given such a
+fund of information on the subject, that any further inquiry may, with
+entire good will, be turned over to their pages.</p>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<span class = "pagenum">275</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "dovecote" id = "dovecote">
+THE DOVECOTE.</a></h4>
+
+<p>This is a department, in itself, not common among the farm buildings,
+in the United States; and for the reason, probably, that the domestic
+pigeon, or house-dove, is usually kept more for amusement than for
+profit&mdash;there being little actual profit about them&mdash;and is
+readily accommodated in the spare lofts of sheds and out-buildings
+devoted to other purposes. Pigeons, however, add to the variety and
+interest of the poultry department; and as there are many different
+breeds of them, they are general favorites with the juveniles of the
+family.</p>
+
+<p>Our present object is, not to propose any distinct building for
+pigeon accommodation; but to give them a location in other buildings,
+where they will be conveniently provided with room, and least annoying
+by their presence&mdash;for, be it known, they are oft-times a most
+serious annoyance to many crops of the farm, when kept in any
+considerable numbers, as well as in the waste and havoc they make in the
+stores of the barns and granaries. Although graceful and beautiful
+birds, generally clean and tidy in their personal habits
+<span class = "pagenum">276</span>
+out of doors, they are the filthiest housekeepers imaginable, and no
+building can be especially devoted to their use, if not often swept and
+cleaned, but what will soon become an intolerable nuisance within, and
+not much better without, and the ground immediately around the premises
+a dirty place. The common pigeon is a pugnacious cavalier, warring
+apparently upon mere punctilio, as we have often seen, in the distant
+strut-and-coo of a stranger bird to his mate, even if she be the very
+incarnation of "rejected addresses." On all these accounts, we would
+locate&mdash;unless a small and select family of fancy birds,
+perhaps&mdash;the pigeon stock at the principal farm-yard, and in the
+lofts of the cattle sheds, or the chambers of the stable.</p>
+
+<p>Wherever the pigeon accommodations are designed to be, a&nbsp;close
+partition should separate their quarters from the room occupied for
+other purposes, with doors for admission to those who have to do with
+them, in cleaning their premises, or to take the birds, when needed.
+A&nbsp;line of holes, five inches high, and four inches wide&mdash;the
+top of the hole slightly arched&mdash;should be made, say 18&nbsp;inches
+apart, for the distance of room they are to occupy in the building.
+A&nbsp;foot above the top of these, another line may be made; and so on,
+tiering them up to the height intended to devote to them. A&nbsp;line of
+shelves, or lighting-boards, six to eight inches wide, should <ins class
+= "correction" title = "text reads 'theu'">then</ins> be placed one inch
+below the bottom of these holes, and firmly braced beneath, and nailed
+to the weather-boarding of the house. Inside, a&nbsp;range of box should
+be made, of corresponding length with the line of holes, to embrace
+<span class = "pagenum">277</span>
+every entrance from the outside, 18 inches wide, and partitioned
+equidistant between each entrance, so as to give a square box of
+18&nbsp;inches to each pair of birds. The bottom board of each ascending
+tier of boxes will, of course, be the top of the boxes below, and these
+must be made <i>perfectly tight</i>, to prevent the offal of the upper
+ones from falling through, to the annoyance of their neighbors below.
+The back of these boxes should have a line of swing doors, hung with
+butts, or hinges, from the top, and fastened with buttons, or hooks, at
+the bottom, to allow admission, or examination, at any time, to those
+who have the care of them. This plan of door is indispensable, to clean
+them out&mdash;which should be done as often as once a week, or
+fortnight, at farthest&mdash;and to secure the birds as they may be
+wanted for the table, or other purposes&mdash;for it will be recollected
+that squabs, just feathered out, are considered a delicious dish, at the
+most sumptuous tables. It will be understood, that these boxes above
+described, are within a partitioned room, with a floor, in their rear,
+with sufficient space for the person in charge of them to pass along,
+and to hold the baskets, or whatever is to receive the offal of their
+boxes, as it is taken out. This offal is valuable, as a highly
+stimulating manure, and is sought for by the morocco tanners, at a high
+price&mdash;frequently at twenty-five cents a bushel.</p>
+
+<p>As pigeons are prolific breeders, laying and hatching six or seven
+times a year, and in warm climates oftener, they require a good supply
+of litter&mdash;short cut, soft straw is the best&mdash;which should be
+freely
+<span class = "pagenum">278</span>
+supplied at every new incubation, and the old litter removed. The boxes,
+too, should be in a warm place, snugly made, and well sheltered from the
+wind and driving storms; for pigeons, although hardy birds when grown,
+should be well protected while young.</p>
+
+<p>The common food of the pigeon is grain, of almost any kind, and
+worms, and other insects, which they pick up in the field. On the whole,
+they are a pleasant bird, when they can be conveniently kept, and are
+worth the trifling cost that their proper housing may demand.</p>
+
+<p><a name = "dovecote_pigeons" id = "dovecote_pigeons">If our opinion
+were asked</a>, as to the best, and least troublesome kind of pigeon to
+be kept, we should say, the finest and most hardy of the common kind,
+which are usually found in the collections throughout <ins class =
+"correction" title = "text reads 'the the'">the</ins> country. But there
+are many <i>fancy</i> breeds&mdash;such as the fan-tail, the powter, the
+tumbler, the ruffler, and perhaps another variety or two&mdash;all
+pretty birds, and each distinct in their appearance, and in some of
+their domestic habits. The most beautiful of the pigeon kind, however,
+is the Carrier. They are the very perfection of grace, and symmetry, and
+beauty. Their colors are always brilliant and changing, and in their
+flight they cleave the air with a rapidity which no other
+variety&mdash;indeed, which scarce any other bird, of any kind, can
+equal. History is full of examples of their usefulness, in carrying
+tidings from one country to another, in letters, or tokens, fastened to
+their necks or legs, for which they are trained by those who have thus
+used them; but which, now, the well known telegraph wire has nearly
+superseded.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">279</span>
+All these fancy breeds require great care in their management, to keep
+them pure in blood, as they will all mix, more or less, with the common
+pigeon, as they come in contact with them; and the selection of whatever
+kind is wanted to be kept, must be left to those who are willing to
+bestow the pains which their necessary care may demand.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(281)</span>
+<a name = "piggery" id = "piggery"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic281a.jpg" width = "374" height = "316"
+alt = "piggery" title = "piggery">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+PIGGERY.</p>
+
+
+<h4 class = "section">A PIGGERY.</h4>
+
+<p>The hog is an animal for which we have no especial liking, be he
+either a tender suckling, nosing and tugging at the well-filled udder of
+his dam, or a well-proportioned porker, basking in all the plenitude of
+swinish luxury; albeit, in the use of his flesh, we affect not the Jew,
+but liking it moderately well, in its various preparations, as a
+substantial and savory article of diet. Still, the hog is an important
+item of our agricultural economy, and his production and proper
+treatment is a valuable study to all who rear him as a creature either
+of profit or convenience. In the western and southern states,
+a&nbsp;mild climate permits him to be easily reared and fed off for
+market, with little heed to shelter or protection; while in the north,
+he requires care and covering during winter. Not only this; in all
+places the hog is an unruly, mischievous creature, and has no business
+really in any other
+<span class = "pagenum">280</span>
+place than where he can he controlled, and kept at a moment's call.</p>
+
+<p>But, as tastes and customs differ essentially, with regard to his
+training and destiny, to such as agree with us in opinion, that his
+proper place is in the sty, particularly when feeding for pork,
+a&nbsp;plan of piggery is given, such as may be economical in
+construction, and convenient in its arrangement, both for the swine
+itself, and him who has charge of him.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "piggery_plan" id = "piggery_plan"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic281b.png" width = "383" height = "276"
+alt = "piggery plan" title = "piggery plan">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+GROUND PLAN.</p>
+
+<p>The design here given, is for a building, 36 feet long, and
+24&nbsp;feet wide, with twelve-feet posts; the lower, or living room for
+the swine, 9&nbsp;feet high, and a storage chamber above, for the grain
+and other food required for his keeping. The roof has a pitch of 40�
+from a horizontal line, spreading over the sides and gables at least
+20&nbsp;inches, and coarsely bracketed. The entrance front projects
+6&nbsp;feet from the main building, by 12&nbsp;feet in length. Over its
+main door, in the gable, is a door with a hoisting beam and tackle above
+it, to take in the grain, and a floor over the whole area receives it.
+A&nbsp;window is in each gable end. A&nbsp;ventilator passes up through
+this chamber and the roof, to let off the steam from the cooking vats
+below, and the foul air emitted by the swine, by the side of which is
+the furnace-chimney, giving it, on the whole, as respectable an
+appearance as a pigsty need pretend&nbsp;to.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">282</span>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "piggery_interior" id =
+"piggery_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p>At the left of the entrance is a flight of stairs, (<i>b</i>,)
+leading to the chamber above. On the right is a small area, (<i>a</i>,)
+with a window to light it. A&nbsp;door from this leads into the main
+room, (<i>c</i>,) where stands a chimney, (<i>d</i>,) with a furnace to
+receive the fuel for cooking the food, for which are two kettles, or
+boilers, with wooden vats, on the top, if the extent of food demands
+them; these are secured with broad wooden covers, to keep in the steam
+when cooking. An iron valve is placed in the back flue of the furnace,
+which may fall upon either side, to shut off the fire from either of the
+kettles, around which the fire may revolve; or, the valve may stand in a
+perpendicular position, at will, if both kettles be heated at the same
+time. But, as the most economical mode is to cook one kettle while the
+other is in process of feeding out, and <i>vice versa</i>, scarcely more
+than one at a time will be required in use. Over each kettle is a
+sliding door, with a short spout to slide the food into them, when
+wanted. If necessary, and it can be conveniently done, a&nbsp;well may
+be sunk under this room, and a pump inserted at a convenient place; or
+if equally convenient, a&nbsp;pipe may bring the water in from a
+neighboring stream, or spring. On three sides of this room are feeding
+pens, (<i>e</i>,) and sleeping partitions, (<i>f</i>,) for the swine.
+These several apartments are accommodated with doors, which open into
+separate yards on the sides and in rear, or a large one for the entire
+family, as may be desired.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">283</span>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "piggery_construction" id =
+"piggery_construction">
+CONSTRUCTION.</a></h6>
+
+<p>The frame of this building is of strong timber, and stout for its
+size. The sills should be 8&nbsp;inches square, the corner posts of the
+same size, and the intermediate posts 8�6 inches in diameter. In the
+center of these posts, grooves should be made, 2&nbsp;inches wide, and
+deep, to receive the <i>plank</i> sides, which should be 2&nbsp;inches
+thick, and let in from the level of the chamber by a flush cutting for
+that purpose, out of the grooves inside, thus using no nails or spikes,
+and holding the planks tight in their place, that they may not be rooted
+out, or rubbed off by the hogs, and the inner projection of the main
+posts left to serve as rubbing posts for them&mdash;for no creature so
+loves to rub his sides, when fatting, as a hog, and this very natural
+and praiseworthy propensity should be indulged. These planks, like the
+posts, should, particularly the lower ones, be of <i>hard</i> wood, that
+they may not be eaten off. Above the chamber floor, thinner planks may
+be used, but all should be well jointed, that they may lie snug, and
+shut out the weather. The center post in the floor plan of the engraving
+is omitted, by mistake, but it should stand there, like the others.
+Inside posts at the corners, and in the sides of the partitions, like
+the outside ones, should be also placed and grooved to receive the
+planking, four and a half feet high, and their upper ends be secured by
+tenons into mortices in the beams overhead. The troughs should then, if
+possible, be made of <i>cast iron</i>, or, in default of that, the
+hardest of
+<span class = "pagenum">284</span>
+white oak plank, strongly spiked on to the floor and sides; and the
+apartment may then be called hog-proof&mdash;for a more unquiet,
+destructive creature, to a building in which he is confined, does not
+live, than the hog. The slide, or spout to conduct the swill and other
+feed from the feeding-room into the trough, should be inserted through
+the partition planks, with a steep <i>slant</i> the whole length of the
+trough, that the feed may be readily thrown into any or all parts of it.
+This slide should be of two-inch white-oak plank, and bound along the
+bottom by a strip of hoop-iron, to prevent the pigs from eating it
+off&mdash;a habit they are prone to; then, firmly spiked down to the
+partition planks, and through the ends, to the adjoining studs, and the
+affair is complete. With what experience we have had with the hog, and
+that by no means an agreeable one, we can devise no better method of
+accommodation than this here described, and it certainly is the
+cheapest. But the timber and lumber used must be sound and strong; and
+then, properly put together, it may defy their most destructive
+ingenuity. Of the separate uses to which the various apartments may be
+put, nothing need be said, as the circumstances of every farmer will
+best govern them.</p>
+
+<p>One, to three hundred dollars, according to price of material and
+labor, will build this piggery, besides fitting it up with furnace and
+boilers. It may be contracted, or enlarged in size, as necessity may
+direct; but no one, with six to twenty porkers in his fatting pens,
+a&nbsp;year, will regret the expense of building a convenient
+appurtenance of this kind to his establishment.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">285</span>
+A word may be pardoned, in relation to the too universal practice of
+permitting swine to prowl along the highways, and in the yards and lawns
+of the farm house. There is nothing so slovenly, wasteful, and
+destructive to one's thrift, and so demoralizing, in a small way, as is
+this practice. What so revolting to one, of the least tidy nature
+whatever, as a villainous brute, with a litter of filthy pigs at her
+heels, and the slimy ooze of a mud-puddle reeking and dripping from
+their sides? See the daubs of mud marking every fence-post, far and
+near, along the highway, or where-ever they run! A burrow is rooted up
+at every shady point, a&nbsp;nuisance at every corner you turn, and
+their abominable snouts into everything that is filthy, or
+obscene&mdash;a living curse to all that is decent about them. An
+Ishmaelite among the farm stock, they are shunned and hated by every
+living thing, when at large. But, put the creature in his pen, with a
+ring in his nose, if permitted to go into the adjoining yard, and
+comfortably fed, your pig, if of a civilized breed, is a quiet,
+inoffensive&mdash;indeed, gentlemanly sort of animal; and as such, he is
+entitled to our toleration&mdash;regard, we cannot say; for in all the
+pages of our reading, we learn, by no creditable history, of any
+virtuous sympathies in a hog.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">286</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "barns" id = "barns">
+FARM BARNS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>The farm barn, next to the farm house, is the most important
+structure of the farm itself, in the Northern and Middle States; and
+even at the south and southwest, where less used, they are of more
+importance in the economy of farm management than is generally supposed.
+Indeed, to our own eyes, a&nbsp;farm, or a plantation appears
+incomplete, without a good barn accommodation, as much as without good
+household appointments&mdash;and without them, no agricultural
+establishment can be complete in all its proper economy.</p>
+
+<p>The most <i>thorough</i> barn structures, perhaps, to be seen in the
+United States, are those of the state of Pennsylvania, built by the
+German farmers of the lower and central counties. They are large, and
+expensive in their construction; and, in a strictly economical view,
+perhaps more costly than required. Yet, there is a substance and
+durability in them, that is exceedingly satisfactory, and, where the
+pecuniary ability of the farmer will permit, may well be an example for
+imitation.</p>
+
+<p>In the structure of the barn, and in its interior accommodation, much
+will depend upon the branches of
+<span class = "pagenum">287</span>
+agriculture to which the farm is devoted. A&nbsp;farm cultivated in
+grain chiefly, requires but little room for stabling purposes. Storage
+for grain in the sheaf, and granaries, will require its room; while a
+stock farm requires a barn with extensive hay storage, and stables for
+its cattle, horses, and sheep, in all climates not admitting such stock
+to live through the winter in the field, like the great grazing states
+west of the Alleghanies. Again, there are wide districts of country
+where a mixed husbandry of grain and stock is pursued, which require
+barns and out-buildings accommodating both; and to supply the exigencies
+of each, we shall present such plans as may be appropriate, and that
+may, possibly, by a slight variation, be equally adapted to either, or
+all of their requirements.</p>
+
+<p>It may not be out of place here, to remark, that many
+<i>designers</i> of barns, sheds, and other out-buildings for the
+accommodation of farm stock, have indulged in fanciful arrangements for
+the convenience and comfort of animals, which are so complicated that
+when constructed, as they sometimes are, the practical, common-sense
+farmer will not use them; and, in the <i>learning</i> required in their
+use, are altogether unfit for the use and treatment they usually get
+from those who have the daily care of the stock which they are intended
+for, and for the rough usage they receive from the animals themselves.
+A&nbsp;very pretty, and a very plausible arrangement of stabling, and
+feeding, and all the etceteras of a barn establishment, may be thus got
+up by an ingenious theorist at the fireside, which will work to a charm,
+as he dilates upon its good
+<span class = "pagenum">288</span>
+qualities, untried; but, when subjected to experiment will be utterly
+worthless for practical use. All this we, in our practice, have gone
+through; and after many years experience, have come to the conclusion
+that the simplest plan of construction, consistent with an economical
+expenditure of the material of food for the consumption of stock, is by
+far the most preferable.</p>
+
+<p>Another item to be considered in this connection, is the comparative
+value of the stock, the forage fed to them, and the <i>labor</i>
+expended in feeding and taking care of them. We will illustrate: Suppose
+a farm to lie in the vicinity of a large town, or city. Its value is,
+perhaps, a&nbsp;hundred dollars an acre. The hay cut upon it is worth
+fifteen dollars a ton, at the barn, and straw, and coarse grains in
+proportion, and hired labor ten or twelve dollars a month. Consequently,
+the manager of this farm should use all the economy in his power, by the
+aid of cutting-boxes, and other machinery, to make the least amount of
+forage supply the wants of his stock; and the internal economy of his
+barn arranged accordingly; because labor is his cheapest item, and food
+the dearest. Then, for any contrivance to work up his forage the
+closest&mdash;by way of machinery, or manual labor&mdash;by which it
+will serve the purposes of keeping his stock, is true economy; and the
+making, and saving of manures is an item of the first importance. His
+buildings, and their arrangements throughout, should, on these accounts,
+be constructed in accordance with his practice. If, on the other hand,
+lands are cheap and productive, and labor comparatively dear,
+a&nbsp;different practice will prevail.
+<span class = "pagenum">289</span>
+He will feed his hay from the mow, without cutting. The straw will be
+either stacked out, and the cattle turned to it, to pick what they like
+of it, and make their beds on the remainder; or, if it is housed, he
+will throw it into racks, and the stock may eat what they choose. It is
+but one-third, or one-half the labor to do this, that the other mode
+requires, and the saving in this makes up, and perhaps more than makes
+up for the increased quantity of forage consumed. Again, climate may
+equally affect the mode of winter feeding the stock. The winters may be
+mild. The hay may be stacked in the fields, when gathered, or put into
+small barns built for hay storage alone; and the manure, scattered over
+the fields by the cattle, as they are fed from either of them, may be
+knocked to pieces with the dung-beetle, in the spring, or harrowed and
+bushed over the ground; and with the very small quantity of labor
+required in all this, such practice will be more economical than any
+other which can be adopted. It is, therefore, a&nbsp;subject of
+deliberate study with the farmer, in the construction of his
+out-buildings, what plans he shall adopt in regard to them, and their
+fitting up and arrangement.</p>
+
+<p>With these considerations before us, we shall submit such plans of
+barn structures as may be adapted for general use, where shelters for
+the farm crops, and farm stock, are required; and which may, in their
+interior arrangement, be fitted for almost any locality of our country,
+as the judgment and the wants of the builder may require.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(291)<br>
+(292)</span>
+<a name = "barn1" id = "barn1"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic291.jpg" width = "404" height = "253"
+alt = "barn 1" title = "barn 1">
+</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">290</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section smallcaps">Design I.</h4>
+
+<p>This is a design of barn partially on the Pennsylvania plan, with
+under-ground stables, and a stone-walled basement on three sides, with a
+line of posts standing open on the yard front, and a wall, pierced by
+doors and windows, retreating 12&nbsp;feet under the building, giving,
+in front, a&nbsp;shelter for stock. Two sheds, by way of wings, are run
+out to any desired length, on each side. The body of this barn, which is
+built of wood, above the basement, is 60�46 feet; the posts 18&nbsp;feet
+high, above the sills; the roof is elevated at an angle of 40� from a
+horizontal line, and the gables hooded, or truncated, 14&nbsp;feet wide
+at the verge, so as to cover the large doors at the ends. The main roof
+spreads 3&nbsp;to 4 feet over the body of the barn, and runs from the
+side eaves in a <i>straight</i> line, different from what is shown in
+the engraving, which appears of a gambrel or hipped fashion. The sides
+are covered with boards laid vertically, and battened with narrow
+strips, 3&nbsp;inches wide. The large doors in the ends are 14&nbsp;feet
+wide, and 14&nbsp;feet high. A&nbsp;slatted blind window is in each
+gable, for ventilation, and a door, 9�6 feet, on the yard side.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">293</span>
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "barn1_interior" id = "barn1_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p>A main floor, <i>A</i>, 12 feet wide, runs the whole length through
+the center of the barn. <i>S, S</i>, are the large doors.
+<i>H,&nbsp;H,</i> are trap doors, to let hay or straw down to the alleys
+of the stables beneath. <i>B</i>,&nbsp;is the principal bay for hay
+storage, 16&nbsp;feet wide, and runs up to the roof. <i>C</i>, is the
+bay, 26�16 feet, for the grain mow, if required for that purpose. <span
+class = "smallcaps">D</span>,&nbsp;is a granary, 13�16 feet, and
+8&nbsp;feet high. <i>E</i>,&nbsp;a&nbsp;storage room for fanning mill,
+cutting-box, or other machinery, or implements, of same size and height
+as the granary. <i>F</i>,&nbsp;is a passage, 8&nbsp;feet wide, leading
+from the main floor to the yard door, through which to throw out litter.
+Over this passage, and the granary, and store-room, may be stored grain
+in the sheaf, or hay. The main floor will accommodate the
+thrashing-machine, horse-power, cutting box, &amp;c., &amp;c., when at
+work. A&nbsp;line of movable sleepers, or poles, may be laid across the
+floor, 10&nbsp;feet above it, on a line of girts framed into the main
+posts, for that purpose, over which, when the sides of the
+<span class = "pagenum">294</span>
+barn are full, either hay or grain may be deposited, up to the ridge of
+the roof, and thus afford large storage. And if the demands of the crops
+require it, after the sides and over the floor is thus filled, the floor
+itself may, a&nbsp;part of it, be used for packing away either hay or
+grain, by taking off the team after the load is in, and passing them out
+by a retreating process, on the side of the cart or wagon; and the
+vehicle, when unloaded, backed out by hand. We have occasionally adopted
+this method, when crowded for room for increased crops, to great
+advantage. It requires somewhat more labor, to be sure, but it is much
+better than stacking out; and a well-filled barn is a good sight to look
+upon.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "barn1_plan" id = "barn1_plan"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic293.png" width = "298" height = "352"
+alt = "barn 1, main level" title = "barn 1, main level">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+MAIN FLOOR PLAN.</p>
+
+<p>Underneath the body of the barn are the stables, root cellar, calf
+houses, or any other accommodation which the farm stock may require;
+but, for the most economical objects, is here cut up into stables. At
+the ends, <i>l,&nbsp;l</i>, are passages for the stock to go into their
+stalls; and also, on the sides, for the men who attend to them. The main
+passage through the center double line of stalls is 8&nbsp;feet wide;
+and on each side are double stalls, 6�&nbsp;feet wide. From the two end
+walls, the cattle passages are 5&nbsp;feet wide, the partition between
+the stalls running back in a <i>slant</i>, from 5&nbsp;feet high at the
+mangers to the floor, at that distance from the walls. The mangers,
+<i>j,&nbsp;j</i>, are 2&nbsp;feet wide, or may be 2�&nbsp;feet, by
+taking an additional six inches out of the rear passage. The passage is,
+between the mangers, 3&nbsp;feet wide, to receive the hay from the trap
+doors in the floor above.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">295</span>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "barn1_underground" id = "barn1_underground"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic295.png" width = "300" height = "147"
+alt = "barn 1, lower level" title = "barn 1, lower level">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+UNDER-GROUND PLAN AND YARD.</p>
+
+<p>The most economical plan, for room in tying cattle in their stalls,
+is to fasten the rope, or chain, whichever is used, (the wooden
+stanchion, or <i>stanchel</i>, as it is called, to open and shut,
+enclosing the animal by the neck, we do not like,) into a ring, which is
+secured by a strong staple into the post which sustains the partition,
+just at the top of the manger, on each side of the stall. This prevents
+the cattle in the same stall from interfering with each other, while the
+partition effectually prevents any contact from the animals on each side
+of it, in the separate stalls. The bottom of the mangers, for grown
+cattle, should be a foot above
+<span class = "pagenum">296</span>
+the floor, and the top two and a half feet, which makes it deep enough
+to hold their food; and the whole, both sides and bottom, should be made
+of two-inch, sound, strong plank, that they may not be broken down. The
+back sides of the stalls, next the feeding alleys, should be full
+3�&nbsp;feet high; and if the cattle are large, and disposed to climb
+into their mangers with their fore-feet, as they sometimes do,
+a&nbsp;pole, of 2� or 3 inches in diameter, should be secured across the
+front of the stall, next the cattle, and over the mangers&mdash;say
+4�&nbsp;feet above the floor, to keep them out of the manger, and still
+give them sufficient room for putting their heads between that and the
+top of the manger, to get their food. Cattle thus secured in double
+stalls, take up less room, and lie much warmer, than when in single
+stalls; besides, the expense of fitting them up being much less&mdash;an
+experience of many years has convinced us on this point. The doors for
+the passage of the cattle in and out of the stables, should be five feet
+wide, that they may have plenty of room.</p>
+
+<p>In front of these stables, on the outside, is a line of posts, the
+feet of which rest on large flat stones, and support the outer sill of
+the barn, and form a recess, before named, of 12&nbsp;feet in width,
+under which may be placed a line of racks, or mangers for outside
+cattle, to consume the orts, or leavings of hay rejected by the in-door
+stock; or, the manure may be housed under it, which is removed from the
+stables by wheel-barrows. The low line of sheds which extend from the
+barn on each side of the yard, may be used for the carts, and wagons of
+the place; or, racks and mangers may be
+<span class = "pagenum">297</span>
+fitted up in them, for outside cattle to consume the straw and coarse
+forage; or, they may be carried higher than in our plan, and floored
+overhead, and hay, or other food stored in them for the stock. They are
+so placed merely to give the idea.</p>
+
+<p>There may be no more fitting occasion than this, perhaps, to make a
+remark or two on the subject of managing stock in stables of any kind,
+when kept in any considerable numbers; and a word may not be impertinent
+to the subject in hand, as connected with the construction of
+stables.</p>
+
+<p>There is no greater benefit to cattle, after coming into winter
+quarters, than a straight-forward regularity in everything appertaining
+to them. Every animal should have its own particular stall in the
+stable, where it should <i>always be kept, and in no other</i>. The
+cattle should be fed and watered at certain hours of the day, as near as
+may be. When let out of the stables for water, unless the weather is
+very pleasant, when they may be permitted to lie out an hour or two,
+they should be immediately put back, and not allowed to range about with
+the outside cattle. They are more quiet and contented in their stables
+than elsewhere, and eat less food, than if permitted to run out; and are
+every way more comfortable, if properly bedded and attended to, as every
+one will find, on trying it. The habit of many people, in turning their
+cattle out of the stables in the morning, in all weathers&mdash;letting
+them range about in a cold yard, hooking and thorning each
+other&mdash;is of no possible benefit, unless to rid themselves of the
+trouble of cleaning the stables, which
+<span class = "pagenum">298</span>
+pays twice its cost in the saving of manure. The outside cattle, which
+occupy the yard, are all the better, that the stabled ones do not
+interfere with them. They become habituated to their own quarters, as
+the others do to their's, and all are better for being each in their own
+proper place. It may appear a small matter to notice this; but it is a
+subject of importance, which every one may know who tries&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+<p>It will be seen that a driving way is built up to the barn doors at
+the ends; this need not be expensive, and will add greatly to the ease
+and convenience of its approach. It is needless to remark, that this
+barn is designed to stand on a shelving piece of ground, or on a slope,
+which will admit of its cellar stables without much excavation of the
+earth; and in such a position it may be economically built. No estimate
+is given of its cost, which must depend upon the price of materials, and
+the convenience of stone on the farm. The size is not arbitrary, but may
+be either contracted or extended, according to the requirements of the
+builder.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration chapter">
+<span class = "pagenum">(299)<br>
+(300)</span>
+<a name = "barn2" id = "barn2"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic300.jpg" width = "388" height = "232"
+alt = "barn 2" title = "barn 2">
+</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">301</span>
+
+<h4 class = "section smallcaps">Design II.</h4>
+
+<p>Here is presented the design of a barn built by ourself, about
+sixteen years since, and standing on the farm we own and occupy; and
+which has proved so satisfactory in its use, that, save in one or two
+small particulars, which are here amended, we would not, for a stock
+barn, alter it in any degree, nor exchange it for one of any description
+whatever.</p>
+
+<p>For the farmer who needs one of but half the size, or greater, or
+less, it may be remarked that the extent of this need be no hindrance to
+the building of one of any size&mdash;as the general <i>design</i> may
+be adopted, and carried out, either in whole or in part, according to
+his wants, and the economy of its accommodation preserved throughout.
+The <i>principle</i> of the structure is what is intended to be
+shown.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>main</i> body of this barn stands on the ground, 100�50 feet,
+with eighteen-feet posts, and a broad, sheltering roof, of 40� pitch
+from a horizontal line, and truncated at the gables to the width of the
+main doors below. The sills stand 4&nbsp;feet above the ground, and a
+raised driving way to the doors admits the loads of grain and forage
+into it. The manner of building the whole structure would be, to frame
+and put up the
+<span class = "pagenum">302</span>
+main building as if it was to have no attachment whatever, and put on
+the roof, and board up the gable ends. Then frame, and raise adjoining
+it, on the long sides, and on the rear end&mdash;for the opposite gable
+end to that, is the entrance front to the barn&mdash;a continuous
+lean-to, 16&nbsp;feet wide, attaching it to the posts of the barn,
+strongly, by girts. These ranges of lean-to stand on the ground level,
+nearly&mdash;high enough, however, to let a terrier dog under the
+floors, to keep out the rats&mdash;but quite 3&nbsp;feet below the sills
+of the barn. The outer posts of the lean-to's should be 12&nbsp;feet
+high, and 12�&nbsp;feet apart, from center to center, except at the
+extreme corners, which would be 16&nbsp;feet. One foot below the
+roof-plates of the main building, and across the rear gable end,
+a&nbsp;line of girts should be framed into the posts, as a <i>rest</i>
+for the upper ends of the lean-to rafters, that they may pass under, and
+a foot below the lower ends of the main roof rafters, to make a break in
+the roof of one foot, and allow a line of eave gutters under it, if
+needed, and to show the lean-to line of roof as distinct from the other.
+The stables are 7&nbsp;feet high, from the lower floor to the girts
+overhead, which connect them with the main line of barn posts; thus
+giving a loft of 4&nbsp;feet in height at the eaves, and of 12&nbsp;feet
+at the junction with the barn. In this loft is large storage for hay,
+and coarse forage, and bedding for the cattle, which is put in by side
+windows, level with the loft floor&mdash;as seen in the plate. In the
+center of the rear, <i>end</i> lean-to, is a large door, corresponding
+with the front entrance to the barn, as shown in the design,
+12&nbsp;feet high, and 14&nbsp;feet wide,
+<span class = "pagenum">303</span>
+to pass out the wagons and carts which have discharged their loads in
+the barn, having entered at the main front door. A&nbsp;line of board,
+one foot wide, between the line of the main and lean-to roofs, is then
+nailed on, to shut up the space; and the rear gable end boarded down to
+the roof of the lean-to attached to it. The front end, and the stables
+on them vertically boarded, and battened, as directed in the last
+design; the proper doors and windows inserted, and the outside is
+finished.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "barn2_plan" id = "barn2_plan"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic304.png" width = "295" height = "354"
+alt = "barn 2, plan" title = "barn 2, plan">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">FLOOR PLAN.</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "barn2_interior" id = "barn2_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p>Entering the large door, (<i>a</i>,) at the front end, 14&nbsp;feet
+wide, and 14&nbsp;feet high, the main floor&nbsp;(<i>g</i>,) passes
+through the entire length of the barn, and rear lean-to, 116
+feet&mdash;the last 16&nbsp;feet through the lean-to&mdash;and sloping
+3&nbsp;feet to the outer sill, and door, (<i>a</i>,) of that appendage.
+On the left of the entrance is a recess, (<i>e</i>,) of 20�18 feet, to
+be used as a thrashing floor, and for machinery, cutting feed, &amp;c.,
+&amp;c.&mdash;5 feet next the end being cut off for a passage to the
+stable. Beyond this is a bay, (<i>b</i>,) 18�70 feet, for the storage of
+hay, or grain, leaving a passage at the further end, of 5&nbsp;feet
+wide, to go into the further stables. This bay is bounded on the extreme
+left, by the line of outside posts of the barn. On the right of the main
+door is a granary, (<i>d</i>,) 10�18 feet, two stories high, and a
+flight of steps leading from the lower into the upper room. Beyond this
+is another bay, (<i>b</i>,) corresponding with the one just described on
+the opposite side. The passages at the ends of the bays,
+(<i>e</i>,&nbsp;<i>e</i>,) have steps of 3
+<span class = "pagenum">304</span>
+feet descent, to bring them down on to a level with the stable floors of
+the lean-to. A&nbsp;passage in each of the two long side lean-to's,
+(<i>e</i>, <i>e</i>,) 3&nbsp;feet wide, receives the hay forage for
+cattle, or other stock, thrown into them from the bays, and the lofts
+over the stables; and from them is thrown into the mangers, (<i>h</i>,
+<i>h</i>.) The two apartments in the extreme end lean-to, (<i>f</i>,
+<i>f</i>,) 34�16 feet each, may be occupied as a hospital for invalid
+cattle, or partitioned off for calves, or any other
+<span class = "pagenum">305</span>
+purpose. A&nbsp;calving house for the cows which come in during the
+winter, is always convenient, and one of these may be used for such
+purpose. The stalls, (<i>i</i>, <i>i</i>,) are the same as described in
+Design I, and back of them is the passage for the cattle, as they pass
+in and out of their stalls. The stable doors, (<i>j</i>, <i>j</i>,) are
+six in number. Small windows, for ventilation, should be cut in the rear
+of the stalls, as marked, and for throwing out the manure, with sliding
+board shutters. This completes the barn accommodation&mdash;giving
+twenty-eight double stalls, where fifty-six grown cattle may be tied up,
+with rooms for twenty to thirty calves in the end stables. If a larger
+stock is kept, young cattle may be tied up, with their heads to the
+bays, on the main floor, beyond the thrashing floor, which we practice.
+This will hold forty young cattle. The manure is taken out on a
+wheel-barrow, and no injury done to the floor. They will soon eat out a
+place where their forage can be put, and do no injury beyond that to the
+hay in the bays, as it is too closely packed for them to draw it out any
+farther. In this way we can accommodate more than a hundred head of
+cattle, of assorted ages.</p>
+
+<p>The hay in the bays may drop three feet below the level of the main
+floor, by placing a tier of rough timbers and poles across them, to keep
+it from the ground, and many tons of additional storage be thus
+provided. We have often stored one hundred and fifty tons of hay in this
+barn; and it will hold even more, if thoroughly packed, and the movable
+girts over the main floor be used, as described in Design&nbsp;I.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">306</span>
+The chief advantages in a barn of this plan are, the exceeding
+convenience of getting the forage to the stock. When the barn is full,
+and feeding is first commenced, with a hay knife, we commence on each
+side next the stables, on the top of the bays, cut a <i>well</i> down to
+the alley way in front of the mangers, which is left open up to the
+stable roof. This opens a passage for the hay to be thrown into the
+alleys, and in a short time it is so fed out on each side, that, the
+sides of the main barn being open to them, the hay can be thrown along
+their whole distance, and fed to the cattle as wanted; and so at the
+rear end stables, in the five-foot alley adjoining them. If a root
+cellar be required, it may be made under the front part of the main
+floor, and a trap-door lead to it. For a milk dairy, this arrangement is
+an admirable one&mdash;we so used it for four years; or for
+stall-feeding, it is equally convenient. One man will do more work, so
+far as feeding is concerned, in this barn, than two can do in one of
+almost any other arrangement; and the yards outside may be divided into
+five separate inclosures, with but little expense, and still be large
+enough for the cattle that may want to use them. It matters not what
+kind of stock may be kept in this barn; it is convenient for all alike.
+Even sheep may be accommodated in it with convenience. But low, open
+sheds, inclosed by a yard, are better for them; with storage for hay
+overhead, and racks and troughs beneath.</p>
+
+<p>This barn is built of wood. It may be well constructed, with stone
+underpinning, without mortar, for $1,000 to $1,500, as the price of
+materials may govern.
+<span class = "pagenum">307</span>
+And if the collection of the water from the roofs be an object, cheap
+gutters to carry it into one or more cisterns may be added, at an
+expense of $200 to $300.</p>
+
+<p>As before observed, a&nbsp;barn may be built on this principle, of
+any size, and the stables, or lean-to's may only attach to one side or
+end; or they may be built as mere sheds, with no storage room over the
+cattle. The chief objection to stabling cattle in the <i>body</i> of the
+barn is, the continual decay of the most important timbers, such as
+sills, sleepers, &amp;c., &amp;c., by the leakage of the stale, and
+manure of the cattle on to them, and the loss of so much valuable
+storage as they would occupy, for hay and grain. By the plan described,
+the stables have no attachment to the sills, and other durable barn
+timbers below; and if the stable sills and sleepers decay, they are
+easily and cheaply replaced with others. Taking it altogether, we can
+recommend no better, nor, as we think, so good, and so cheap a plan for
+a <i>stock</i> barn, as this.</p>
+
+<p>We deem it unnecessary to discuss the subject of water to cattle
+yards, as every farm has its own particular accommodations, or
+inconveniences in that regard; and the subject of leading water by pipes
+into different premises, is too well understood to require remark. Where
+these can not be had, and springs or streams are not at hand, wells and
+pumps must be provided, in as much convenience as the circumstances of
+the case will admit. Water is absolutely necessary, and that in
+quantity, for stock uses; and every good manager will exercise his best
+judgment to obtain&nbsp;it.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">308</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "attachments" id = "attachments">
+BARN ATTACHMENTS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>It may be expected, perhaps, that in treating so fully as we have of
+the several kinds of farm building, a&nbsp;full cluster of out-buildings
+should be drawn and exhibited, showing their relative positions and
+accommodation. This can not be done, however, except as a matter of
+"fancy;" and if attempted, might not be suited to the purposes of a
+single individual, by reason of the particular location where they would
+be situated, and the accommodation which the buildings might require.
+Convenience of access to the barns, from the fields where the crops are
+grown, a&nbsp;like convenience to get out manures upon those fields, and
+a ready communication with the dwelling house, are a part of the
+considerations which are to govern their position, or locality. Economy
+in labor, in the various avocations at the barn, and its necessary
+attachments; and the greatest convenience in storage, and the housing of
+the various stock, grains, implements, and whatever else may demand
+accommodation, are other considerations to be taken into the account,
+all to have a bearing upon them. Compactness is always an object in such
+buildings, when not obtained at a sacrifice of
+<span class = "pagenum">309</span>
+some greater advantage, and should be one of the items considered in
+placing them; and in their construction, next to the arrangement of them
+in the most convenient possible manner for their various objects,
+a&nbsp;due regard to their architectural appearance should be studied.
+Such appearance, where their objects are apparent, can easily be
+secured. <i>Utility</i> should be their chief point of expression; and
+no style of architecture, or finish, can be really <i>bad</i>, where
+this expression is duly consulted, and carried out, even in the humblest
+way of cheapness, or rusticity.</p>
+
+<p>We have heretofore sufficiently remarked on the folly of unnecessary
+pretension in the farm buildings, of any kind; and nothing can appear,
+and really be more out of place, than ambitious structures intended only
+for the stock, and crops. Extravagant expenditure on these, any more
+than an extravagant expenditure on the dwelling and its attachments,
+does not add to the <i>selling</i> value of the farm, nor to its
+economical management, in a productive capacity; and he who is about to
+build, should make his proposed buildings a study for months, in all
+their different requirements and conveniences, before he commences their
+erection. Mistakes in their design, and location, have cost men a whole
+after life of wear-and-tear of temper, patience, and labor, to
+themselves, and to all who were about them; and it is better to wait
+even two or three years, to fully mature the best plans of building,
+than by hurrying, to mis-locate, mis-arrange, and miss, in fact, the
+very best application in their structure of which such buildings are
+capable.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">310</span>
+A word might also be added about barn-<i>yards</i>. The planning and
+management of these, also, depends much upon the course the farmer has
+to pursue in the keeping of his stock, the amount of waste litter, such
+as straw, &amp;c., which he has to dispose of, and the demands of the
+farm for animal and composted manures. There are different methods of
+constructing barn-yards, in different parts of the country, according to
+climate and soils, and the farmer must best consult his own experience,
+the most successful examples about him, and the publications which treat
+of that subject, in its connection with farm husbandry, to which last
+subject this item more properly belongs.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">311</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "rabbits" id = "rabbits">
+RABBITS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>It may appear that we are extending our "Rural Architecture" to an
+undue length, in noticing a subject so little attended to in this
+country as Rabbit accommodations. But, as with other small matters which
+we have noticed, this may create a new source of interest and attachment
+to country life, we conclude to give it a place.</p>
+
+<p>It is a matter of surprise to an American first visiting England, to
+see the quantities of game which abound at certain seasons of the year
+in the London and other markets of that country, in contrast with the
+scanty supply, or rather no supply at all, existing in the markets of
+American cities. The reason for such difference is, that in England,
+Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, every acre of the soil is appropriated to
+some profitable use, while we, from the abundance of land in America,
+select only the best for agricultural purposes, and let the remainder go
+barren and uncared for. Lands appropriated to the rearing of game, when
+fit for farm pasturage or tillage, is unprofitable, generally, with us;
+but there are thousands of acres barren for other purposes, that might
+be devoted to the breeding
+<span class = "pagenum">312</span>
+and pasturage of rabbits, and which, by thus appropriating them, might
+be turned to profitable account. All the preparation required is, to
+enclose the ground with a high and nearly close paling fence, and the
+erection of a few rude hutches inside, for winter shelter and the
+storage of their food. They will burrow into the ground, and breed with
+great rapidity; and in the fall and winter seasons, they will be fat for
+market with the food they gather from the otherwise worthless soil over
+which they run. Rocky, bushy, and evergreen grounds, either hill, dale,
+or plain, are good for them, wherever the soils are dry and friable. The
+rabbit is a gross feeder, living well on what many grazing animals
+reject, and gnawing down all kinds of bushes, briars, and noxious
+weeds.</p>
+
+<p>The common domestic rabbits are probably the best for market
+purposes, and were they to be made an object of attention, immense
+tracts of mountain land in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the New York
+and New England highlands could be made available for this object.</p>
+
+<p>Some may think this a small business. So is making pins, and rearing
+chickens, and bees. But there are an abundance of people, whose age and
+capacity are just fitted for it, and for want of other employment are a
+charge upon their friends or the public; and now, when our cities and
+large towns are so readily reached by railroads from all parts of the
+country, our farmers should study to apply their land to the production
+of everything that will find a profitable market. Things unthought of,
+a&nbsp;few years ago, now find
+<span class = "pagenum">313</span>
+a large consumption in our large cities and towns, by the aid of
+railroads; and we know of no good reason, why this production and
+traffic should not continue to an indefinite extent. When the breeding
+of rabbits is commenced, get a good treatise on the breeding and rearing
+of them, which may be found at many of the bookstores.</p>
+
+<p>As the rearing of rabbits, and their necessary accommodation, is not
+a subject to which we have given much personal attention, we applied to
+Francis Rotch, Esq., of Morris, Otsego county, New York, who is probably
+the most accomplished rabbit "fancier" in the United States, for
+information, with which he has kindly furnished us. His beautiful and
+high-bred animals have won the highest premiums, at the shows of the New
+York State Agricultural Society. He thus answers:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"<a name = "rabbits_desc" id = "rabbits_desc">I now forward you</a> the
+promised plan from Mr. Alfred Rodman, of Dedham, Massachusetts, which,
+I&nbsp;think, will give you the information you wish upon these
+subjects.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"Rabbits kept for profit in the vicinity of a city, and where there are
+mills, may be raised at a very small cost; and when once known as an
+article of food, will be liberally paid for by the epicure, for their
+meat is as delicate as a chicken's, and their fat mild, and very rich.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"I am surprised they are not more generally kept, as a source of
+amusement, and for the purposes of experiment.
+</blockquote>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">314</span>
+
+<blockquote>
+"There is, I&nbsp;think, in many, a&nbsp;natural fondness for animals,
+but not easily indulged without more room than is often to be found in
+city residences. Fowls, and pigeons, trespass on our neighbors, and are
+a frequent cause of trouble. This objection does not hold good against
+the rabbit, which occupies so small a space, that where there is an
+outhouse there may be a rabbitry. <i>English</i> children are encouraged
+in their fondness for animals, as tending to good morals and good
+feelings, and as offering a <i>home</i> amusement, in contradistinction
+to <i>street</i> associations."
+</blockquote>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">(315)<br>
+(316)</span>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "rabbits_hutch" id = "rabbits_hutch"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic315.jpg" width = "435" height = "261"
+alt = "rabbit" title = "rabbit">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+Drawn from life, by Mr. <span class = "smallcaps">Francis
+Rotch</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rotch continues:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"I have just finished the enclosed drawing of a 'fancy rabbit,' which I
+hope will answer your purpose, as an illustration of what the little
+animal should be in form, color, marking, and carriage, according to the
+decisions of the various societies in and out of London, who are its
+greatest admirers and patrons. These amateurs hold frequent meetings for
+its exhibition, at which premiums are awarded, and large prizes paid for
+such specimens as come up to their standard of excellence. This standard
+is, of course, conventional; and, as might be expected, is a combination
+of form and color very difficult to obtain&mdash;based, it is true, on
+the most correct principles of general breeding; but much of
+<i>fancy</i> and beauty is added to complete the requisites of a prize
+rabbit. For instance, the head must be small and clean; the shoulders
+wide and full; the chest broad and deep; the back wide, and the loin
+large. Thus far, these are the
+<span class = "pagenum">317</span>
+characteristics of all really <i>good</i> and <i>improved</i> animals;
+to which are to be added, on the score of 'fancy,' an eye round, full,
+and bright; an ear <i>long</i>, broad, and pendant, of a soft, delicate
+texture, dropping nearly perpendicularly by the side of the
+head&mdash;this is termed its 'carriage.' The color must be in rich,
+unmixed <i>masses</i> on the body, spreading itself over the back, side,
+and haunch, but breaking into spots and patches on the shoulder, called
+the 'chain;' while that on the back is known as the 'saddle.' The head
+must be full of color, broken with white on the forehead and cheeks; the
+marking over the bridge of the nose and down on both sides into the
+lips, should be dark, and in shape somewhat resembling a butterfly, from
+which this mark takes its name; the ear, however, must be uniform in
+color. Add to all this, a&nbsp;large, full dewlap, and you will have a
+rabbit fit to '<i>go in and win</i>.'
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"The most esteemed colors are black and white; yellow and white;
+tortoise-shell and white; blue and white, and gray and white. These are
+called 'broken colors,' while those of <i>one</i> uniform color are
+called 'selfs.'"
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>It will be observed that Mr. Rotch here describes a beautiful "fancy"
+variety of "lop-eared" rabbits, which he brought from England a few
+years since. They were, originally, natives of Madagascar. He
+continues:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"The domestic rabbit, in all its varieties, has always been, and still
+is, a&nbsp;great favorite, in many parts of the European continent:
+</blockquote>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">318</span>
+
+<blockquote>
+"<a name = "rabbits_dutch" id = "rabbits_dutch">In Holland</a>, it is
+bred with reference to color only, which must be a pure white, with dark
+ears, feet, legs, and tail; this distribution has a singular effect,
+but, withal, it is a pretty little creature. The French breed a long,
+rangy animal, of great <i>apparent</i> size, but deficient in depth and
+breadth, and of course, wanting in constitution; no attention is paid to
+color, and its marking is matter of accident. The White Angola, with its
+beautiful long fur and red eyes, is also a great favorite in France.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"In England, the rabbit formerly held the rank of 'farm stock!' and
+thousands of acres were exclusively devoted to its production; families
+were supported, and rents, rates, and taxes were paid from its increase
+and sale. The '<i>gray-skins</i>' went to the hatter, the
+'<i>silver-skins</i>' were shipped to China, and were dressed as furs;
+while the flesh was a favorite dish at home. This was the course pursued
+in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and many other counties, with their light
+sandy soils, before the more general introduction of root culture, and
+the rotation of crops, gave an increased value to such land. Since then,
+however, I&nbsp;remember visiting a farm of Lord Onslow's, in Surrey,
+containing about 1,400 acres. It was in the occupation of an eminent
+flock-master and agriculturist, who kept some hundreds of hutched
+rabbits for the sake of their manure, which he applied to his <ins class
+= "correction" title = "spelling unchanged">turnep</ins> crop; added to
+this, their skins and carcasses were quite an item of profit,
+notwithstanding the care of them required an old man and boy, with a
+donkey and cart. The food used was chiefly brewer's grains, miller's
+waste, bran
+<span class = "pagenum">319</span>
+and hay, with clover and roots, the cost of keeping not exceeding two
+pence a week. The hutches stood under a long shed, open on all sides,
+for the greater convenience of cleaning and feeding. I&nbsp;was told
+that the manure was much valued by the market gardeners round London,
+who readily paid 2s. 6d. a&nbsp;bushel at the rabbitries. These
+rabbitries are very numerous in all the towns and cities of England, and
+form a source of amusement or profit to all classes, from the man of
+fortune to the day laborer. Nor is it unfrequent that this latter
+produces a rabbit from an old tea-chest, or dry-goods box, that wins the
+prize from its competitor of the mahogany hutch or ornamental rabbitry.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"<a name = "rabbits_feeding" id = "rabbits_feeding">The food of the
+rabbit</a> embraces great variety, including grain of all kinds, bran,
+pea-chaff, miller's waste, brewer's grains, clover and other hay, and
+the various weeds known as plantain, dock, mallow, dandelion, purslain,
+thistles, &amp;c., &amp;c.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"The rabbit thus easily conforms itself to the means, condition, and
+circumstances of its owner; occupies but little space, breeds often,
+comes early to maturity, and is withal, a&nbsp;healthy animal, requiring
+however, to be kept clean, and to be <i>cautiously</i> fed with
+<i>succulent</i> food, which must always be free from dew or
+rain&mdash;water is unnecessary to them when fed with 'greens.' My own
+course of feeding is, one gill of oats in the morning, with a
+medium-sized cabbage leaf, or what I may consider its <i>equivalent</i>
+in any other vegetable food, for the rabbit in confinement must be, as
+already stated, cautiously fed with what is succulent. At noon,
+I&nbsp;feed a handfull of cut hay or clover
+<span class = "pagenum">320</span>
+chaff, and in the evening the same as in the morning. To does, when
+suckling, I&nbsp;give what they will eat of both green and dry food. The
+cost to me is about three cents per week, per head.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"I by no means recommend this as the best, or the most economical mode
+of feeding, but it happens to suit my convenience. Were I in a town, or
+near mills, I&nbsp;should make use of other and cheaper substitutes. My
+young rabbits, when taken from the doe, say at eight, ten, or twelve
+weeks old, are turned out together till about six months old, when it
+becomes necessary to take them up, and put them in separate hutches, to
+prevent their fighting and destroying each other. The doe at that age is
+ready to breed; her period of gestation is about thirty-one or two days,
+and she produces from three or four to a dozen young at a 'litter'. It
+is not well to let her raise more than six, or even four at
+once&mdash;the fewer, the larger and finer the produce.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"Young rabbits are killed for the table at any age, from twelve weeks to
+twelve months old, and are a very acceptable addition to the country
+larder. The male is not allowed to remain with the doe, lest he should
+destroy the young ones.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"Hutches are made singly, or in stacks, to suit the apartment, which
+should be capable of thorough ventilation. The best size is about three
+feet long, two feet deep, and fourteen inches high, with a small
+apartment partitioned off from one end, nearly a foot wide, as a
+breeding place for the doe. A&nbsp;wire door forms the front, and an
+opening is left behind for cleaning; the floor should have a descent to
+the back of the
+<span class = "pagenum">321</span>
+hutch of two inches. All edges should be tinned, to save them from being
+gnawed.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"Having now given the leading characteristics and qualities which
+constitute a good 'fancy lop-eared rabbit,' and its general management,
+allow me to remark on the striking difference observable between
+Americans and the people of many other countries, as to a fondness for
+animals, or what are termed 'fancy pets,' of and for which we, as a
+people, know and care very little. Indeed, we scarcely admit more than a
+selfish fellowship with the dog, and but too seldom does our attachment
+even for this faithful companion, place him beyond the reach of the
+<i>omnipotent dollar</i>.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"The operatives, mechanics, and laborers, in other countries, seem to
+have a perfect passion for such pursuits, and take the greatest interest
+and pride in breeding and perfecting the lesser animals, though often
+obliged to toil for the very food they feed to them. Here, too, home
+influences are perceived to be good, and are encouraged by the employer,
+as supplying the place of other and much more questionable pursuits and
+tastes."
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>We here present the elevation, and floor plan of Mr. Rodman's
+rabbitry, together with the front and rear views of the hutches within
+them:</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">(322)</span>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "rabbits_rabbitry" id = "rabbits_rabbitry"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic322a.png" width = "316" height = "322"
+alt = "rabbitry" title = "rabbitry">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+NO. I.&mdash;ELEVATION.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration leftfloat">
+<img src = "images/pic322b.png" width = "285" height = "278"
+alt = "rabbitry, plan" title = "rabbitry, plan">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+NO II.&mdash;MAIN FLOOR PLAN.</span></p>
+
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">323</span>
+No. 1 is the gable end elevation of the building, with a door and
+window.</p>
+
+<p>No. 2 is the main-floor plan, or living room for the rabbits.</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "section noclear"><a name = "rabbits_rabbitry_exp" id =
+"rabbits_rabbitry_exp">
+EXPLANATION.</a></h6>
+
+<p>A, the doe's hutches, with nest boxes attached. B, hutches three feet
+long, with movable partitions for the young rabbits; the two lower
+hutches are used for the stock bucks. C,&nbsp;a tier of grain boxes on
+the floor for feeding the rabbits&mdash;the covers sloping out toward
+the room. D, small trapdoor, leading into the manure cellar beneath. E,
+large trapdoor leading into root cellar. F,&nbsp;troughs for leading off
+urine from rear of hutches into the manure cellar at K,&nbsp;K.
+G,&nbsp;wooden trunk leading from chamber above No.&nbsp;3, through this
+into manure cellar. H,&nbsp;trap opening into manure cellar.
+I,&nbsp;stairs leading into loft No.&nbsp;3, with hinged trapdoor
+overhead; when open, it will turn up against the wall, and leave a
+passage to clear out the hutches.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "smallcaps">Note.</span>&mdash;The grain boxes are one
+foot high in front, and fifteen inches at the back, with sloping
+bottoms, and sloping covers. The floors of the hutches have a slope of
+two inches back. The hutches are furnished, at the back of the floor,
+with pieces of zinc, to keep them free from the drippings from above.
+The hutches are 16&nbsp;inches high, 3&nbsp;feet long, and 2&nbsp;feet
+deep.</p>
+
+<p>The foregoing plans and explanations might perhaps be sufficient for
+the guidance of such as wish to construct a rabbitry for their own use;
+but as a complete arrangement of all the rooms which may be conveniently
+appropriated to this object, to make it a complete
+<span class = "pagenum">324</span>
+thing, may be acceptable to the reader, we conclude, even at the risk of
+prolixity, to insert the upper loft, and cellar apartments, with which
+we have been furnished; hoping that our youthful friends will set
+themselves about the construction of a branch of rural employment so
+home-attaching in its associations.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration leftfloat">
+<a name = "rabbits_loft" id = "rabbits_loft"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic324.png" width = "257" height = "231"
+alt = "rabbitry loft" title = "rabbitry loft">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+NO. III.&mdash;LOFT OR GARRET.</span></p>
+
+<p>No. 3 is the loft or chamber story, next above the main floor.</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "section noclear"><a name = "rabbits_loft_exp" id =
+"rabbits_loft_exp">
+EXPLANATION.</a></h6>
+
+<p>A, place for storing hay. B, stairs leading from below. C,&nbsp;room
+for young rabbits. D,&nbsp;trapdoor into trunk leading to manure cellar.
+E,&nbsp;partition four feet high. This allows of ventilation between the
+two windows, in summer, which would be cut off, were the partition
+carried all the way&nbsp;up.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration leftfloat">
+<a name = "rabbits_cellar" id = "rabbits_cellar"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic325.png" width = "200" height = "262"
+alt = "rabbitry cellar" title = "rabbitry cellar">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+NO. IV.&mdash;CELLAR.</span></p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">325</span>
+
+<p>No. 4 is the cellar under the rabbitry.</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "section noclear"><a name = "rabbits_cellar_exp" id =
+"rabbits_cellar_exp">
+EXPLANATION.</a></h6>
+
+<p>A, manure cellar. B, root cellar. C, stairs leading to first, or main
+floor. D,&nbsp;stairs leading outside. E,&nbsp;window&mdash;lighting
+both rooms of cellar.</p>
+
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">(326)</span>
+<a name = "rabbits_front" id = "rabbits_front"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic326.png" width = "393" height = "556"
+alt = "front of rabbit hutch" title = "front of rabbit hutch">
+</p>
+
+<p><a name = "rabbits_front_exp" id = "rabbits_front_exp">No. 5 is a
+front section of rabbit hutches</a>, eight in number, two in a line,
+four tiers high, one above another, with wire-screened doors, hinges,
+and buttons for fastening. A,&nbsp;the grain trough, is at the
+bottom.</p>
+
+<p>No. 6 is the floor section of the hutches, falling, as before
+mentioned, two inches from front to rear.</p>
+
+<p>A, is the door to lift up, for cleaning out the floors. B, is the
+zinc plate, to carry off the urine and <i>running</i>
+<span class = "pagenum">327</span>
+wash of the floors. C,&nbsp;is the trough for carrying off this offal
+into the manure cellars, through the trunk, as seen in No.&nbsp;2.</p>
+
+<p>No. 7 is a rear section of hutches, same as in No.&nbsp;5, with the
+waste trough at the bottom leading into the trench before described,
+with the cross section, No.&nbsp;8, before described in No.&nbsp;6.</p>
+
+<p>A, a&nbsp;grated door at the back of the hutch, for ventilation in
+summer, and covered with a thin board in winter. B,&nbsp;a flap-door,
+four inches wide, which is raised for cleaning out the floor; under this
+door is a space of one inch, for passing out the urine of the rabbits.
+C,&nbsp;are buttons for fastening the doors. D,&nbsp;the backs of the
+bedrooms, without any passage out on back side.</p>
+
+<p>This matter of the rabbitry, and its various explanations, may be
+considered by the plain, matter-of-fact man, as below the dignity of
+people pursuing the <i>useful</i> and <i>money-making</i> business of
+life. Very possible. But many boys&mdash;for whose benefit they are
+chiefly introduced&mdash;and <i>men</i>, even, may do worse than to
+spend their time in such apparent trifles. It is better than going to a
+horse-race. It is better even than going to a trotting match, where
+<i>fast men</i>, as well as <i>fast</i> horses congregate. It is better,
+too, than a thousand other places where boys <i>want</i> to go, when
+they have nothing to interest them at home.</p>
+
+<p>One half of the farmer's boys, who, discontented at home, leave it
+for something more congenial to their feelings and tastes, do so simply
+because of the excessive dullness, and want of interest in objects to
+attract them there, and keep them contented. Boys, in
+<span class = "pagenum">328</span>
+America at least, are apt to be <i>smart</i>. So their parents think, at
+all events; and too smart they prove, to stay at home, and follow the
+beaten track of their fathers, as their continual migration from the
+paternal roof too plainly testifies. This, in many cases, is the fault
+of the parents themselves, because they neglect those little objects of
+interest to which the minds and tastes of their sons are inclined, and
+for want of which they <i>imagine</i> more attractive objects abroad,
+although in the search they often fail in finding them. We are a
+progressive people. Our children are not always content to be what their
+fathers are; and parents must yield a little to "the spirit of the age"
+in which they live. And boys <i>pay</i> too, as they go along, if
+properly treated. They should be made companions, not servants. Many a
+joyous, hearty spirit, who, when properly encouraged, comes out a whole
+man at one-and-twenty, if kept in curb, and harnessed down by a hard
+parent, leaves the homestead, with a curse and a kick, determined,
+whether in weal or in woe, never to return. Under a different course of
+treatment, he would have fixed his home either at his birthplace, or in
+its immediate vicinity, and in a life of frugality, usefulness, and
+comparative ease, blessed his parents, his neighborhood, and possibly
+the world, with a useful example&mdash;all, perhaps, grown out of his
+youthful indulgence in the possession of a rabbit-warren, or some like
+trifling matter.</p>
+
+<p>This may appear to be small morals, as well as small business. We
+admit it. But those who have been well, and indulgently, as well as
+methodically trained,
+<span class = "pagenum">329</span>
+may look back and see the influence which all such little things had
+upon their early thoughts and inclinations; and thus realize the
+importance of providing for the amusements and pleasures of children in
+their early years. The dovecote, the rabbitry, the poultry-yard, the
+sheep-fold, the calf-pen, the piggery, the young colt of a favorite
+mare, the yoke of yearling steers, or a fruit tree which they have
+planted, and nursed, and called it, or the fruit it bears, <i>their
+own</i>,&mdash;anything, in fact, which they can call
+<i>theirs</i>&mdash;are so many objects to bind boys to their homes, and
+hallow it with a thousand nameless blessings and associations, known
+only to those who have been its recipients. Heaven's blessings be on the
+family homestead!</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!"</p>
+
+<p>sung the imaginary maid of Milan, the beautiful creation of John
+Howard Payne, when returning from the glare and pomp of the world, to
+her native cottage in the mountains of Switzerland. And, although all
+out of date, and conventionally vulgar this sentiment may be <i>now</i>
+considered, such is, or should be the subdued, unsophisticated feeling
+of all natives of the farm house, and the country cottage. We may leave
+the quiet roof of our childhood; we may mix in the bustling contentions
+of the open world; we may gain its treasures; we may enjoy its
+greatness, its honors, and its applause; but there are times when they
+will all fade into nothing, in comparison with the peace, and quietude,
+and tranquil happiness of a few acres of land, a&nbsp;comfortable roof,
+and contentment therewith!</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">330</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "dairy" id = "dairy">
+DAIRY BUILDINGS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>Wherever the dairy is made an important branch of farm production,
+buildings for its distinct accommodation are indispensable. The dairy is
+as much a <i>manufactory</i> as a cotton mill, and requires as much
+conveniences in its own peculiar line. We therefore set apart a
+building, on purpose for its objects; and either for cheese, or butter,
+separate conveniences are alike required. We commence with the</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<span class = "pagenum">(331)<br>
+(332)</span>
+<a name = "dairy_cheese" id = "dairy_cheese"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic331a.jpg" width = "361" height = "310"
+alt = "cheese dairy house" title = "cheese dairy house">
+</p>
+
+<h5 class = "section smallcaps">Cheese Dairy House.</h5>
+
+<p>This building is one and a half stories high, with a broad, spreading
+roof of 45� pitch; the ground plan is 10&nbsp;feet between joists, and
+the posts 16&nbsp;feet high. An ice-house, made on the plan already
+described, is at one end, and a wood-shed at the opposite end, of the
+same size. This building is supposed to be erected near the milking
+sheds of the farm, and in contiguity to the feeding troughs of the cows,
+or the piggery, and adapted to the convenience of feeding the whey to
+<span class = "pagenum">333</span>
+whichever of these animals the dairyman may select, as both, or either
+are required to consume it; and to which it may be conveyed in spouts
+from the dairy-room.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "dairy_plan" id = "dairy_plan"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic331b.png" width = "325" height = "149"
+alt = "cheese dairy house, plan" title = "cheese dairy house, plan">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+GROUND PLAN.</p>
+
+<p class = "mynote" align = "center">
+The Ground Plan was printed upside-down.</p>
+
+
+<h6 class = "section"><a name = "dairy_interior" id = "dairy_interior">
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.</a></h6>
+
+<p>The front door is protected by a light porch, (<i>a</i>,) entering by
+a door, (<i>b</i>,) the main dairy room. The cheese presses, (<i>c</i>,
+<i>c</i>,) occupy the left end of the room, between which a passage
+leads through a door, (<i>l</i>,) into the wood-shed, (<i>h</i>,) open
+on all sides, with its roof resting on four posts set in the ground. The
+large cheese-table, (<i>d</i>,) stands on the opposite end, and is
+3&nbsp;feet wide. In the center of the room is a chimney, (<i>e</i>,)
+with a whey and water boiler, and vats on each side. A&nbsp;flight of
+stairs, (<i>f</i>,) leading into the storage room above, is in the rear.
+A&nbsp;door, (<i>b</i>,) on the extreme right, leads into the ice-house,
+(<i>g</i>.) There are four windows to the room&mdash;two on each side,
+front and rear. In the loft are placed the shelves for storing the
+cheese, as soon as sufficiently prepared on the temporary table below.
+This loft is thoroughly ventilated by windows, and the heat of the sun
+upon it ripens the cheese rapidly for market. A&nbsp;trapdoor, through
+the floors, over which is hung a tackle, admits the cheese from below,
+or passes it down, when prepared for market.</p>
+
+<p>The cheese house should, if possible, be placed on a sloping bank,
+when it is designed to feed the whey to pigs; and even when it is fed to
+cows, it is more convenient to pass it to them on a lower level, than to
+<span class = "pagenum">334</span>
+carry it out in buckets. It may, however, if on level ground, be
+discharged into vats, in a cellar below, and pumped out as wanted.
+A&nbsp;cellar is convenient&mdash;indeed, almost
+indispensable&mdash;under the cheese dairy; and water should be so near
+as to be easily pumped, or drawn, into the vats and kettles used in
+running up the curd, or for washing the utensils used in the work. When
+the milk is kept over night, for the next morning's curd, temporary
+tables may be placed near the ice-room, to hold the pans or tubs in
+which it may be set, and the ice used to temper the milk to the proper
+degree for raising the cream. If the dairy be of such extent as to
+require larger accommodation than the plan here suggested, a&nbsp;room
+or two may be partitioned off from the main milk and pressing-room, for
+washing the vessels and other articles employed, and for setting the
+milk. Every facility should be made for neatness in all the operations
+connected with the work.</p>
+
+<p>Different accommodations are required, for making the different kinds
+of cheese which our varied markets demand, and in the fitting up of the
+dairy-house, no <i>positive</i> plan of arrangement can be laid down,
+suited alike to all the work which may be demanded. The dairyman,
+therefore, will best arrange all these for the particular convenience
+which he requires. The main plan, and style of building however, we
+think will be generally approved, as being in an agreeable architectural
+style, and of convenient construction and shape for the objects
+intended.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">335</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "dairy_butter" id = "dairy_butter">
+THE BUTTER DAIRY.</a></h4>
+
+<p>This, if pursued on the same farm with the cheese dairy, and at
+different seasons of the year, may be carried on in the lower parts of
+the same building. But as it is usually a distinct branch of business,
+when prosecuted as the chief object on a farm, it should have
+accommodations of its own kind, which should be fitted up specially for
+that purpose.</p>
+
+<p>We cannot, perhaps, suggest a better model of a building for the
+butter dairy, than the one just submitted for the cheese-house, only
+that there is no necessity for the upper story; and the posts of the
+main building should not stand more than nine feet above the sills.
+A&nbsp;good, walled cellar, well lighted, as a room for setting the
+milk, is indispensable, with a broad, open flight of steps, from the
+main floor above, into it. Here, too, should stand the stone slabs,
+where the butter is worked, and the churns, to be driven by hand, or
+water, or animal power, as the two latter may be provided, and
+introduced into the building by belt, shaft, or crank. If running water
+can be brought on
+<span class = "pagenum">336</span>
+to the milk-shelves, from a higher level, which, for this purpose,
+should have curbs two or three inches high on their sides, it can flow
+in a constant gentle current over them, among the pans, from a receiving
+vat, in which ice is deposited, to keep the milk at the proper
+temperature&mdash;about 55� Fahrenheit&mdash;for raising the cream; and
+if the quantity of milk be large, the shelves can be so arranged, by
+placing each tier of shelf lower than the last, like steps, that the
+water may pass among them all before it escapes from the room. Such a
+mode of applying water and ice, renders the entire process of
+cream-rising almost certain in all weathers, and is highly approved
+wherever it has been practiced. The low temperature of the room, by the
+aid of water and ice, is also beneficial to the butter packed in kegs,
+keeping it cool and sweet&mdash;as much like a spring-house as possible,
+in its operation.</p>
+
+<p>The washing and drying of pans, buckets, churns, and the heating of
+water, should all be done in the room above, where the necessary kettles
+are set, and kept from contact with the cool atmosphere of the lower
+room. The latter apartment should have a well-laid stone or brick floor,
+filled and covered with a strong cement of water lime, and sloping
+gradually to the outer side, where all the water may pass off by a
+drain, and everything kept sweet and clean. The buttermilk may, as in
+the case of the whey, in the cheese dairy, be passed off in spouts to
+the pigsty, which should not be far distant.</p>
+
+<p>As all this process of arrangement, however, must conform somewhat to
+the shape of the ground, the
+<span class = "pagenum">337</span>
+locality, and the facilities at hand where it may be constructed; it is
+hardly possible to give any one system of detail which is applicable to
+an uniform mode of structure; and much will be left to the demands and
+the skill of the dairyman himself, in the plan he may finally adopt.</p>
+
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "water" id = "water">
+THE WATER RAM.</a></h4>
+
+<p>As water, and that of a good quality, and in abundant quantity, is
+indispensable to the various demands of the farm, it is worth some pains
+to provide it in the most economical manner, and at the most convenient
+points for use. In level grounds, wells are generally dug, and the water
+drawn up by buckets or pumps. In a hilly country, springs, and streams
+from higher grounds, may be brought in by the aid of pipes, the water
+flowing naturally, under its own head, wherever it may be wanted, away
+from its natural stream.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration leftfloat">
+<a name = "water_figure" id = "water_figure"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic338.jpg" width = "342" height = "324"
+alt = "water ram" title = "water ram">
+</p>
+
+<p>But, of all contrivances to elevate water from a <i>lower</i>
+fountain, or current, to a <i>higher</i> level, by its <i>own
+action</i>, the Water Ram is the most complete in its operation, and
+perfect in its construction, of anything within our knowledge. And as it
+may not be generally known to our readers, at our request, Messrs. <span
+class = "smallcaps">A.&nbsp;B. Allen &amp; Co.</span>, of New
+York&mdash;who keep them of all sizes for sale, at their agricultural
+warehouse, No's.
+<span class = "pagenum">338</span>
+189 and 191, Water-street&mdash;have kindly furnished us with the
+following description of the machine, given by W. &amp; B. Douglass, of
+Middletown, Connecticut, manufacturers of the article:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"H, spring or brook. C, drive, or supply-pipe, from brook to ram. G,
+discharge pipe, conveying water to house or other point required for
+use. B, D, A, E, I, the Ram. J, the plank or other foundation to which
+the machine is secured for use.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"The various uses of the ram are at once obvious, viz., for the purposes
+of irrigating lands, and supplying dwellings, barnyards, gardens,
+factories, villages, engines, railroad stations, &amp;c., with running
+water.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"The simplicity of the operation of this machine, together with its
+effectiveness, and very apparent durability, renders it decidedly the
+most important and
+<span class = "pagenum">339</span>
+valuable apparatus yet developed in hydraulics, for forcing a portion of
+a running stream of water to any elevation, proportionate to the fall
+obtained. It is perfectly applicable where no more than eighteen inches
+fall can be had; yet, the greater the fall applied, the more powerful
+the operation of the machine, and the higher the water may be conveyed.
+The relative proportions between the water raised, and wasted, is
+dependent entirely upon the relative height of the spring or source of
+supply above the ram, and the elevation to which it is required to be
+raised. The quantity raised varying in proportion to the height to which
+it is conveyed, with a given fall; also, the distance which the water
+has to be conveyed, and consequent length of pipe, has some bearing on
+the quantity of water raised and discharged by the ram; as, the longer
+the pipe through which the water has to be forced by the machine, the
+greater the friction to be overcome, and the more the power consumed in
+the operation; yet, it is common to apply the ram for conveying the
+water distances of one and two hundred rods, and up elevations of one
+and two hundred feet. Ten feet fall from the spring, or brook, to the
+ram, is abundantly sufficient for forcing up the water to any elevation
+under say one hundred and fifty feet in height, above the level of the
+point where the ram is located; and the same ten feet fall will raise
+the water to a much higher point than above last named, although in a
+<i>diminished</i> quantity, in proportion as the height is increased.
+When a sufficient quantity of water is raised with a given fall, it is
+not advisable to increase said fall, as in so doing the
+<span class = "pagenum">340</span>
+force with which the ram works is increased, and the amount of labor
+which it has to perform greatly augmented, the wear and tear of the
+machine proportionably increased, and the durability of the same
+lessened; so that economy, in the expense of keeping the ram in repair,
+would dictate that no greater fall should be applied, for propelling the
+ram, than is sufficient to raise a requisite supply of water to the
+place of use. To enable any person to make the calculation, as to what
+fall would be sufficient to apply to the ram, to raise a sufficient
+supply of water to his premises, we would say, that in conveying it any
+ordinary distance, of say fifty or sixty rods, it may be safely
+calculated that about one-seventh part of the water can be raised and
+discharged at an elevation above the ram five times as high as the fall
+which is applied to the ram, or one-fourteenth part can be raised and
+discharged, say ten times as high as the fall applied; and so in that
+proportion, as the fall or rise is varied. Thus, if the ram be placed
+under a head or fall of five feet, of every seven gallons drawn from the
+spring, one may be raised twenty-five feet, or half a gallon fifty feet.
+Or with ten feet fall applied to the machine, of every fourteen gallons
+drawn from the spring, one gallon may be raised to the height of one
+hundred feet above the machine; and so in like proportion, as the fall
+or rise is increased or diminished.
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"It is presumed that the above illustrations of what the machine will do
+under certain heads and rise, will be sufficient for all practical
+purposes, to enable purchasers of the article to determine, with a
+sufficient
+<span class = "pagenum">341</span>
+degree of nicety, as to the head or fall to apply to the ram for a given
+rise and distance, which they may wish to overcome in raising water from
+springs or brooks to their premises, or other places where water is
+required. Yet, we have the pleasure of copying the following article,
+which we find in the 'American Agriculturist,' a very valuable journal
+published by C.&nbsp;M. Saxton, 152 Fulton-street, New York, which may
+serve to corroborate our statements as to what our ram will accomplish
+under given circumstances:
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"'The following is a correct statement of a water ram I have had in
+successful operation for the last six months:
+</blockquote>
+
+<blockquote>
+"'1. The fall from the surface of the water in the spring is four feet.
+2.&nbsp;The quantity of water delivered per ten minutes, at my house, is
+three and a quarter gallons, and that discharged at the ram twenty-five
+gallons. Thus, nearly one-seventh part of the water is saved.
+3.&nbsp;The perpendicular height of the place of delivery above the ram
+is nineteen feet&mdash;say fifteen feet above the surface of the spring.
+4.&nbsp;The length of the pipe leading from the ram to the house is one
+hundred and ninety feet. 5.&nbsp;The pipe leading from the ram to the
+house has three right angles, rounded by curves. 6.&nbsp;The ram is of
+Douglass' make, of a small size. 7.&nbsp;The length of the drive or
+supply-pipe is sixty feet. Its inner diameter one inch. 8.&nbsp;The
+depth of water in the spring, over the drive pipe, is six inches.
+9.&nbsp;The inner diameter of the pipe, conducting the water from the
+ram to the house, is three-eighths of an inch.
+</blockquote>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">342</span>
+
+<blockquote>
+"'I consider it very essential that the drive or supply-pipe should be
+laid as straight as possible, as in the motion of the water in this pipe
+consists the power of the ram.
+</blockquote>
+
+<p class = "letter" align = "right">
+<span class = "smallcaps">V. H. Hallock.</span>
+</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<span class = "smallcaps">North-East Center, N.Y.</span>, April 2d,
+1849.'"
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>We have seen several of these rams at work; and in any place where
+the required amount of fall can be had, with sufficient water to supply
+the demand, we are entirely satisfied that no plan so cheap and
+efficient can be adopted, by which to throw it to a higher level, and at
+a distance from the point of its flow. We heartily commend it to all who
+need a thing of the kind, and have at hand the facilities in the way of
+a stream for its use.</p>
+
+<p>It is hardly worth while to add, that by the aid of the ram, water
+can be thrown into every room in the dwelling house, as well as into the
+various buildings, and yards, and fields of the farm, wherever it may be
+required.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">343</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "granary" id = "granary">
+RAT-PROOF GRANARY.</a></h4>
+
+<p>This plan, and description, we take from an agricultural periodical
+published in New York&mdash;"The Plow." We can recommend no plan of a
+better kind for the objects required. It is an old-fashioned structure,
+which many of our readers will recognize&mdash;only, that it is improved
+in some of its details.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pic343.png" width = "303" height = "252"
+alt = "granary" title = "granary">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">GRANARY.</p>
+
+<p>The illustration above needs but little description. The posts should
+be stone, if procurable, one foot square, and four feet long, set
+one-third in the ground, and capped with smooth flat stones, four to six
+inches
+<span class = "pagenum">344</span>
+thick, and two feet, at least, across. If wooden posts are used, make
+them sixteen inches square, and set them in a hole previously filled,
+six inches deep, with charcoal, or rubble stone and lime grouting, and
+fill around the posts with the same. Four inches from the top, nail on a
+flange of tin or sheet iron, six inches wide, the projecting edge of
+which may be serrated, as a further preventive against the depredating
+rascals creeping around. The steps are hinged to the door-sill, and
+should have a cord and weight attached to the door, so that whenever it
+is shut, the steps should be up also; this would prevent the possibility
+of carelessness in leaving them down for the rats to walk up. The sides
+should be made of slats, with large cracks between, and the floor under
+the corn-crib, with numerous open joints; no matter if shattered corn
+falls through, let the pigs and chickens have it; the circulation of the
+air through the pile of corn, will more than pay for all you will lose
+through the floor. If you intend to have sweet grain, be sure to have a
+ventilator in the roof, and you may see by the vane on the top of it,
+how the wind will always blow favorably for you.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">345</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "animals" id = "animals">
+IMPROVED DOMESTIC ANIMALS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>Having completed the series of subjects which we had designed for
+this work, we are hardly content to send it out to the public, without
+inviting the attention of our farmers, and others who dwell in the
+country and occupy land, to the importance of surrounding themselves
+with the best breeds of domestic animals, as an item of increased profit
+in their farm management, and as a subject of interest and satisfaction
+to themselves in the embellishment of their grounds.</p>
+
+<p>We have addressed ourselves through these pages to the good sense of
+men who, in their general character and pursuits, comprise the most
+stable class of our population. We have endeavored to impress upon them
+the importance of providing all the conveniences and comforts to
+themselves, in their dwellings, as well as the due provision for their
+animals and crops, in the rougher farm buildings, which their
+circumstances will admit; and we trust they have been shown that it is
+proper economy so to do. We have, in addition to these, somewhat dilated
+upon objects of embellishment, in the way of grounds to surround them,
+and trees to beautify them, which will in no way interfere with a just
+economy, and add greatly to the pleasure
+<span class = "pagenum">346</span>
+and interest of their occupation. We now want them to introduce into
+those grounds such domestic animals as shall add to their ornament, and
+be far more profitable to themselves, than the inferior things which are
+called the common, or native stock of the country. Without this last
+lesson, half our object would be lost. Of what avail will be the best
+provision for the conveniences of a family, and the labors of the farm,
+if the farm be badly cultivated, and a worthless or inferior stock be
+kept upon it? The work is but half done at best; and the inferiority of
+the last will only become more conspicuous and contemptible, in contrast
+with the superior condition of the first.</p>
+
+<p>It is not intended to go into an examination of the farm-stock of our
+country at large, nor into their modes of treatment; but, to recommend
+such varieties of animals as are profitable in their breeding and
+keeping, both to the professional farmer in his vocation, and to such
+as, beyond this, find them an object of convenience, or of pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>We, in America, are comparatively a young people. Yet, we have
+surmounted <i>necessity</i>. We have arrived at the period when we enjoy
+the fruits of competence&mdash;some of us, the luxuries of wealth.
+A&nbsp;taste for superior domestic animals has been increasing, and
+spreading over the United States for many years past; so that now,
+a&nbsp;portion of our farmers and country people understand somewhat of
+the subject. It has been thoroughly demonstrated, that good farm stock
+is better, and more profitable than poor stock. Still, a&nbsp;taste for
+good stock, and the advantages of keeping them, over
+<span class = "pagenum">347</span>
+the common stock of the country, is not <i>generally</i> understood; and
+that taste has to be cultivated. It is not altogether a thing of nature,
+any more than other faculties which require the aid of education to <ins
+class = "correction" title = "spelling unchanged">develope</ins>. We
+have known many people who had a fine perception in many things: an eye
+for a fine house, pleasant grounds, beautiful trees, and all the
+surroundings which such a place might command; and when these were
+complete, would place about it the veriest brutes, in the way of
+domestic animals, imaginable. The resident of the city, who lives at his
+country-house in summer, and selects a picture of mean or inferior
+quality, to hang up in his house by way of ornament, would be laughed at
+by his friends; yet he may drive into his grounds the meanest possible
+creature, in the shape of a cow, a&nbsp;pig, or a sheep, and it is all
+very well&mdash;for neither he nor they know any better; yet, the one is
+quite as much out of place as the other. The man, too, who, in good
+circumstances, will keep and drive a miserable horse, is the ridicule of
+his neighbors, because everybody knows what a good horse is, and that he
+should be well kept. Yet, the other stock on his farm may be the meanest
+trash in existence, and it creates no remark. On the contrary, one who
+at any <i>extra</i> cost has supplied himself with stock of the choicer
+kinds, let their superiority be ever so apparent, has often been the
+subject of ribaldry, by his unthinking associates. And such, we are
+sorry to say, is still the case in too many sections of our country.
+But, on the whole, both our public spirit, and our intelligence, is
+increasing, in such things.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">348</span>
+Now, we hold it to be a <i>practical</i> fact, that no farm, or country
+place, can be complete in its appointments, without good stock upon it;
+and it is useless for any one to suppose that his farm, or his place, is
+<i>finished</i>, without it. The man who has a fine lawn, of any extent,
+about his house, or a park adjoining, should have something to graze
+it&mdash;for he cannot afford to let it lie idle; nor is it worth while,
+even if he can afford it, to be mowing the grass in it every fortnight
+during the summer, to make it sightly. Besides this, grass will grow
+under the trees, and that too thin, and short, for cutting. This ground
+must, of course, be pastured. Now, will he go and get a parcel of mean
+scrubs of cattle, or sheep, to graze it, surrounding his very door, and
+disgracing him by their vulgar, plebeian looks, and yielding him no
+return, in either milk, beef, mutton, or wool? Of course not, if he be a
+wise, or a provident man, or one who has any true taste in such matters.
+He will rather go and obtain the best stock he can get, of breeds suited
+to the climate, and soil, which will give him a profitable return,
+either in milk, or flesh, or their increase, for his outlay; and which
+will also embellish his grounds, and create an interest in his family
+for their care, and arrest the attention of those who visit him, or pass
+by his grounds. Of the proper selection of this branch of his stock, we
+shall now discourse.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">(349)<br>
+(350)</span>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "animals_shorthorncow" id = "animals_shorthorncow"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic349.jpg" width = "470" height = "290"
+alt = "shorthorn cow" title = "shorthorn cow">
+</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">(351)<br>
+(352)</span>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "animals_shorthornbull" id = "animals_shorthornbull"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic352.jpg" width = "476" height = "292"
+alt = "shorthorn bull" title = "shorthorn bull">
+</p>
+
+<p>In cattle, if your grounds be rich, and your grass abundant, the
+short-horns are the stock for them. They are "the head and front," in
+appearance, size, and combination of good qualities&mdash;the very
+aristocracy
+<span class = "pagenum">353</span>
+of all neat cattle. A&nbsp;well-bred, and well developed short-horn cow,
+full in the qualities which belong to her character, is the very
+perfection of her kind. Her large, square form; fine orange, russet, or
+nut-colored muzzle; bright, prominent, yet mild, expressive eye; small,
+light horn; thin ears; clean neck; projecting brisket; deep, and broad
+chest; level back, and loin; broad hips; large, and well-spread udder,
+with its silky covering of hair, and clean, taper, wide-standing teats,
+giving twenty to thirty quarts of rich milk in a day; deep thigh, and
+twist; light tail; small, short legs; and, added to this, her brilliant
+and ever-varying colors of all, and every-intermingling shades of red,
+and white, or either of them alone; such, singly, or in groups, standing
+quietly under the shade of trees, grazing in the open field, or quietly
+resting upon the grass, are the very perfection of a cattle picture, and
+give a grace and beauty to the grounds which no living thing can equal.
+Here stands a short-horn cow, in all the majesty of her style and
+character!</p>
+
+<p>We add, also, a&nbsp;short-horn bull, which exhibits, in a high
+degree, the vigor, stamina, and excellence of his kind.</p>
+
+<p>Nor, in this laudation of the short-horns, are we at all mistaken. Go
+into the luxuriant blue-grass pastures of Kentucky; the rich, and
+wide-spread grazing regions of central, and lower Ohio; the prairies of
+Indiana, and Illinois, just now beginning to receive them; the sweet,
+and succulent pastures of central and western New York, or on the Hudson
+river; and now and then, a&nbsp;finely-cultivated farm in other sections
+<span class = "pagenum">354</span>
+of the United States, where their worth has become established; and they
+present pictures of thrift, of excellence, of beauty, and of profit,
+that no other neat cattle can pretend to equal.</p>
+
+<p>As a family cow, nothing can excel the short-horn, in the abundance
+and richness of her milk, and in the profit she will yield to her owner;
+and, on every place where she can be supplied with abundance of food,
+she stands without a rival. From the short-horns, spring those
+magnificent fat oxen and steers, which attract so much admiration, and
+carry off the prizes, at our great cattle shows. Thousands of them, of
+less or higher grade in blood, are fed every year, in the Scioto, the
+Miami, and the other great feeding valleys of the west, and in the
+fertile corn regions of Kentucky, and taken to the New York and
+Philadelphia markets. As a profitable beast to the grazier, and the
+feeder, nothing can equal them in early maturity and excellence. For
+this purpose, the short-horns are steadily working their way all over
+the vast cattle-breeding regions of the west; and, for the richness and
+abundance of her milk, the cow is eagerly introduced into the dairy, and
+milk-producing sections of the other states, where she will finally take
+rank, and maintain her superiority over all others, on rich and
+productive soils.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">(355)<br>
+(356)</span>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "animals_devon" id = "animals_devon"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic356a.jpg" width = "420" height = "291"
+alt = "Devon cow" title = "Devon cow">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+DEVON COW.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pic356b.jpg" width = "430" height = "311"
+alt = "Devon bull" title = "Devon bull">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+DEVON BULL.</p>
+
+<p>On lighter soils, with shorter pastures; or on hilly and stony
+grounds, another race of cattle may be kept, better adapted to such
+localities, than those just described. They are the Devons&mdash;also an
+English breed, and claimed there as an aboriginal race in England;
+<span class = "pagenum">357</span>
+and if any variety of cattle, exhibiting the blood-like beauty, and
+fineness of limb, the deep, uniformity of color, and the gazelle-like
+brilliancy of their eye, can claim a remote ancestry, and a pure
+descent, the Devons can make such claim, beyond almost any other. They
+were introduced&mdash;save now and then an isolated animal at an earlier
+day&mdash;into the United States some thirty-two or three years ago,
+about the same time with the short-horns; and like them, have been added
+to, and improved by frequent importations since; until now, probably our
+country will show some specimens equal in quality to their high general
+character in the land of their nativity. Unlike the short-horn, the
+Devon is a much lighter animal, with a like fine expression of
+countenance; an elevated horn; more agile in form; yet finer in limb,
+and bone; a&nbsp;deep mahogany-red in color; and of a grace, and beauty
+in figure excelled by no other breed whatever. The Devon cow is usually
+a good milker, for her size; of quiet temper; docile in her habits;
+a&nbsp;quick feeder; and a most satisfactory animal in all particulars.
+From the Devons, spring those beautifully matched red working-oxen, so
+much admired in our eastern states; the superiors to which, in kindness,
+docility, endurance, quickness, and honesty of labor, no country can
+produce. In the <i>quality</i> of their beef, they are unrivaled by any
+breed of cattle in the United States; but in their early maturity for
+that purpose, are not equal to the short-horns.</p>
+
+<p>We here present a cut of a Devon cow; but with the remark, that she
+presents a deficiency of bag, and stands higher on the leg, than she
+ought to do; and
+<span class = "pagenum">358</span>
+her leanness in flesh gives her a less graceful appearance than is her
+wont, when in good condition.</p>
+
+<p>We present, also, the cut of a Devon bull. This figure does not do
+him full justice, the head being drawn in, to give the cut room on the
+page.</p>
+
+<p>Several beautiful herds of Devons are to be found in New York, in
+Maryland, in Connecticut, and in Massachusetts; and some few in other
+states, where they can be obtained by those who wish to purchase. And it
+is a gratifying incident, to learn that both the breeds we have named
+are increasing in demand, which has created a corresponding spirit in
+those who breed them, to bestow their best attention in perfecting their
+good qualities.</p>
+
+<p>Another branch of domestic stock should also excite the attention of
+those who wish to embellish their grounds, as well as to improve the
+quality of their mutton&mdash;obtaining, withal, a&nbsp;fleece of
+valuable wool. These are the Southdown, and the Cotswold, Leicester, or
+other improved breeds of long-wooled sheep. There is no more peaceful,
+or beautiful small animal to be seen, in an open park, or pleasure
+ground, or in the paddock of a farm, than these; and as they have been
+of late much sought after, they will be briefly noticed.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">(359)<br>
+(360)</span>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "animals_southdown" id = "animals_southdown"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic359a.jpg" width = "384" height = "362"
+alt = "Southdown ram" title = "Southdown ram">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+SOUTHDOWN RAM.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pic359b.jpg" width = "473" height = "310"
+alt = "Southdown ewe" title = "Southdown ewe">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+SOUTHDOWN EWE.</p>
+
+<p>The Southdown, a&nbsp;cut of which we present, is a fine, compact,
+and solid sheep, with dark face and legs; quiet in its habits, mild in
+disposition, of a medium quality, and medium weight of fleece; and
+yielding a kind of mutton unsurpassed in flavor and
+delicacy&mdash;equal, in the estimation of many, to the finest venison.
+The carcass of a Southdown wether, when well fatted,
+<span class = "pagenum">363</span>
+is large, weighing, at two to three years old, a&nbsp;hundred to a
+hundred and twenty pounds. The ewe is a prolific breeder, and a good
+nurse. They are exceedingly hardy, and will thrive equally well in all
+climates, and on all our soils, where they can live. There is no other
+variety of sheep which has been bred to that high degree of perfection,
+in England. The great Southdown breeder, Mr. Webb, of Batraham, has
+often received as high as fifty, to one hundred guineas, in a season,
+for the <i>use</i> of a single ram. Such prices show the estimation in
+which the best Southdowns are held there, as well as their great
+popularity among the English farmers. They are extensively kept in the
+parks, and pleasure grounds of the wealthy people, where things of
+profit are usually connected with those devoted to luxury.</p>
+
+<p>For this cut of the Southdown ewe, we are indebted to the kindness of
+Luther Tucker, Esq., of the Albany "Cultivator."</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">(361)<br>
+(362)</span>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "animals_longwooled" id = "animals_longwooled"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic362a.jpg" width = "428" height = "288"
+alt = "long-wooled ram" title = "long-wooled ram">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+LONG-WOOLED RAM.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<img src = "images/pic362b.jpg" width = "360" height = "313"
+alt = "long-wooled ewe" title = "long-wooled ewe">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+LONG-WOOLED EWE.</p>
+
+<p>The Cotswold, New Oxford, and Leicester sheep, of the long-wooled
+variety, are also highly esteemed, in the same capacity as the
+Southdowns.</p>
+
+<p>They are large; not so compactly built as the Southdowns; producing a
+heavy fleece of long wool, mostly used for combing, and making into
+worsted stuffs. They are scarcely so hardy, either, as the Southdowns;
+nor are they so prolific. Still, they have many excellent qualities; and
+although their mutton has not the fine grain, nor delicacy, of the
+other, it is of enormous weight, when well fattened, and a most
+profitable carcass. It has sometimes reached a weight of two
+<span class = "pagenum">364</span>
+hundred pounds, when dressed. They are gentle, and quiet in their
+habits; white in the face and legs; and show a fine and stately contrast
+to the Southdowns, in their increased size, and breadth of figure. They
+require, also, a&nbsp;somewhat richer pasture; but will thrive on any
+good soil, yielding sweet grasses. For the cut of the Cotswold ewe, we
+are also indebted to Mr. Tucker, of "The Cultivator."</p>
+
+<p>To show the contrast between the <i>common</i> native sheep, and the
+improved breeds, of which we have spoken, a&nbsp;true portrait of the
+former is inserted, which will be readily recognized as the creature
+which embellishes, in so high a degree, many of the wild nooks, and
+rugged farms of the country!</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration rightfloat">
+<a name = "animals_sheep" id = "animals_sheep"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic364.jpg" width = "291" height = "220"
+alt = "sheep" title = "sheep">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+A COMMON SHEEP.</span></p>
+
+<p>That the keeping of choice breeds of animals, and the cultivation of
+a high taste for them, is no <i>vulgar</i>
+<span class = "pagenum">365</span>
+matter, with even the most exalted intellects, and of men occupying the
+most honorable stations in the state, and in society; and that they
+concern the retired gentleman, as well as the practical farmer, it is
+only necessary to refer to the many prominent examples in Great Britain,
+and our own country, within the last fifty years.</p>
+
+<p><a name = "animals_remarks" id = "animals_remarks">The most
+distinguished noblemen</a> of England, and Scotland, have long bred the
+finest of cattle, and embellished their home parks with them. The late
+Earl Spencer, one of the great patrons of agricultural improvement in
+England, at his death owned a herd of two hundred of the highest bred
+short-horns, which he kept on his home farm, at Wiseton. The Dukes of
+Bedford, for the last century and a half, have made extraordinary
+exertions to improve their several breeds of cattle. The late Earl of
+Leicester, better known, perhaps, as Mr. Coke, of Holkham, and the most
+celebrated farmer of his time, has been long identified with his large
+and select herds of Devons, and his flocks of Southdowns. The Duke of
+Richmond has his great park at Goodwood stocked with the finest
+Southdowns, <ins class = "correction" title =
+"spelling unchanged: normal form is 'short-horns'">Short-horns</ins>,
+and Devons. Prince
+Albert, even, has caught the infection of such liberal and useful
+example, and the royal park at Windsor is tenanted with the finest farm
+stock, of many kinds; and he is a constant competitor at the great
+Smithfield cattle shows, annually held in London. Besides these,
+hundreds of the nobility, and wealthy country gentlemen of Great
+Britain, every year compete with the intelligent farmers, in their
+exhibitions of cattle, at the
+<span class = "pagenum">366</span>
+royal and provincial shows, in England, Scotland, and Ireland.</p>
+
+<p>In the United States, Washington was a great promoter of improvement
+in farm stock, and introduced on to his broad estate, at Mount Vernon,
+many foreign animals, which he had sent out to him at great expense; and
+it was his pride to show his numerous and distinguished guests, his
+horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, was among the
+first promoters of the improvement of domestic animals in the fertile
+region, of which his own favorite Ashland is the center; and to his
+continued efforts in the breeding of the finest short-horns, and mules,
+is the state of Kentucky greatly indebted for its reputation in these
+descriptions of stock. Daniel Webster has introduced on to his estate,
+at Marshfield, the finest cattle, and sheep suited to its soil and
+climate, and takes much pride in showing their good qualities. Indeed,
+we have never heard either of these two last remarkable men more
+eloquent, than when discoursing of their cattle, and of their pleasure
+in ranging over their pastures, and examining their herds and flocks.
+They have both been importers of stock, and liberal in their
+dissemination among their agricultural friends and neighbors.
+Public-spirited, patriotic men, in almost every one of our states, have
+either imported from Europe, or drawn from a distance in their own
+country, choice animals, to stock their own estates, and bred them for
+the improvement of their several neighborhoods. Merchants, and generous
+men of other professions, have shown great liberality, and the finest
+<span class = "pagenum">367</span>
+taste, in importing, rearing, and distributing over the country the best
+breeds of horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. Their own beautiful home
+grounds are embellished with them, in a style that all the dumb statuary
+in existence can not equal in interest&mdash;models of grace, and
+beauty, and utility, which are in vain sought among the sculpture, or
+paintings of ancient time. And many a plain and unpretending farmer of
+our country, emulating such laudable examples, now shows in his
+luxuriant pastures, and well-filled barns and stables, the choicest
+specimens of imported stock; and their prizes, won at the cattle shows,
+are the laudable pride of themselves, and their families.</p>
+
+<p>Nor is this laudable taste, confined to <i>men</i> alone. Females of
+the highest worth, and domestic example, both abroad and at home,
+cultivate a love for such objects, and take much interest in the welfare
+of their farm stock. We were at the annual state cattle show, in one of
+our large states, but a short time since, and in loitering about the
+cattle quarter of the grounds, met a lady of our acquaintance, with a
+party of her female friends, on a tour of inspection among the beautiful
+short-horns, and Devons, and the select varieties of sheep. She was the
+daughter of a distinguished statesman, who was also a large farmer, and
+a patron of great liberality, in the promotion of fine stock in his own
+state. She was bred upon the farm, and, to rare accomplishments in
+education, was possessed of a deep love for all rural objects; and in
+the stock of the farm she took a peculiar interest. Her husband was an
+extensive farmer, and a noted breeder of fine animals.
+<span class = "pagenum">368</span>
+She had her own farm, too, and cattle upon it, equally as choice as his,
+in her own right; and they were both competitors at the annual
+exhibitions. Introduced to her friends, at her request, we accompanied
+them in their round of inspection. There were the beautiful cows, and
+the younger cattle, and the sheep&mdash;all noticed, criticised, and
+remarked upon; and with a judgment, too, in their various properties,
+which convinced us of her sound knowledge of their physiology, and good
+qualities, which she explained to her associates with all the
+familiarity that she would a tambouring frame, or a piece of embroidery.
+There was no squeamish fastidiousness; no affectation of prudery, in
+this; but all natural as the pure flow of admiration in a well-bred lady
+could be. At her most comfortable, and hospitable residence, afterward,
+she showed us, with pride, the several cups, and other articles of
+plate, which her family had won as prizes, at the agricultural
+exhibitions; and which she intended to preserve, as heir-looms to her
+children. This is not a solitary example; yet, a&nbsp;too rare one,
+among our fair countrywomen. Such a spirit is contagious, and we witness
+with real satisfaction, their growing taste in such laudable sources of
+enjoyment: contrary to the <i>parvenue</i> affectation of a vast many
+otherwise sensible and accomplished females of our cities and
+towns&mdash;comprising even the wives and daughters of farmers,
+too&mdash;who can saunter among the not over select, and equivocal
+representations, among the paintings and statuary of our public
+galleries; and descant with entire freedom, on the various attitudes,
+and artistical
+<span class = "pagenum">369</span>
+merits of the works before them; or gaze with apparent admiration upon
+the brazen pirouettes of a public dancing girl, amid all the equivoque
+of a crowded theater; and yet, whose delicacy is shocked at the
+exhibitions of a cattle show! Such females as we have noticed, can
+admire the living, moving beauty of animal life, with the natural and
+easy grace of purity itself, and without the slightest suspicion of a
+stain of vulgarity. From the bottom of our heart, we trust that a
+reformation is at work among our American women, in the promotion of a
+taste, and not only a taste, but a genuine <i>love</i> of things
+connected with country life. It was not so, with the mothers, and the
+wives, of the stern and earnest men, who laid the foundations of their
+country's freedom and greatness. They were women of soul, character, and
+stamina; who grappled with the <i>realities</i> of life, in their
+labors; and enjoyed its pleasures with truth and honesty. This
+over-nice, mincing delicacy, and sentimentality, in which their
+grand-daughters indulge, is but the off-throw of the boarding-school,
+the novelist, and the prude&mdash;mere "leather and prunella." Such
+remarks may be thought to lie beyond the line of our immediate labor.
+But in the discussion of the collateral subjects which have a bearing
+upon country life and residence, we incline to make a clean breast of
+it, and drop such incidental remark as may tend to promote the
+enjoyment, as well as instruction, of those whose sphere of action, and
+whose choice in life is amid the pure atmosphere, and the pure pleasures
+of the country.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">370</span>
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "waterfowl" id = "waterfowl">
+WATER-FOWLS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>If a stream flow through the grounds, in the vicinity of the house;
+or a pond, or a small lake be near, a&nbsp;few varieties of choice
+water-fowls may be kept, adding much to the interest and amusement of
+the family. Many of the English nobility, and gentry, keep swans for
+such purpose. They are esteemed a bird of much grace and beauty,
+although silent, and of shy, unsocial habits, and not prolific in the
+production of their young. For such purposes as they are kept in
+England, <a name = "waterfowl_african" id = "waterfowl_african">the
+great African goose</a>, resembling the China, but nearly double in
+size, is a preferable substitute in this country. It is a more beautiful
+bird in its plumage; equally graceful in the water; social, and gentle
+in its habits; breeding with facility, and agreeable in its voice,
+particularly at a little distance. The African goose will attain a
+weight of twenty to twenty-five pounds. Its body is finely formed,
+heavily feathered, and its flesh is of delicate flavor. The top of the
+head, and the back of its neck, which is long, high, and beautifully
+arched, is a dark brown; its bill black, with a high protuberance, or
+knob, at its junction with the head; a
+<span class = "pagenum">371</span>
+dark hazel eye, with a golden ring around it; the under part of the head
+and neck, a&nbsp;soft ash-color; and a heavy dewlap at the throat. Its
+legs and feet are orange-colored; and its belly white. Taken altogether,
+a&nbsp;noble and majestic bird.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration rightfloat">
+<a name = "waterfowl_china" id = "waterfowl_china"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic371.jpg" width = "258" height = "260"
+alt = "China goose" title = "China goose">
+<br>
+<span class = "caption">
+CHINA GOOSE.</span></p>
+
+<p>The small brown China goose is another variety which may be
+introduced. She is nearly the color of the African, but darker; has the
+same black bill, and high protuberance on it, but without the dewlap
+under the throat; and has black legs and feet. She is only half the size
+of the other; is a more prolific layer,&mdash;frequently laying three or
+four clutches of eggs in a year; has the same character of voice; an
+equally high, arched neck, and is quite as graceful in the water. The
+neck of the goose in the cut should be one-third longer, to be an
+accurate likeness.</p>
+
+<p><span class = "pagenum">372</span>
+The White China is another variety, in size and shape like the last, but
+perfectly white, with an orange colored bill and legs. Indeed, no swan
+can be more beautiful than this, which is of the same pure, clean
+plumage, and, in its habits and docility, equally a favorite with the
+others we have described.</p>
+
+<p><a name = "waterfowl_bremen" id = "waterfowl_bremen">The Bremen
+goose</a> is still another variety, of about the same size as the
+African, but in shape and appearance, not unlike the common goose,
+except in color, which is pure white. Young geese of this breed, at nine
+months old, frequently weigh twenty pounds, alive. We have had them of
+that weight, and for the table, none can be finer. They are equally
+prolific as the common goose, but, as a thing of ornament, are far
+behind the African and the China. Still, they are a stately bird, and an
+acquisition to any grounds where water-fowls are a subject of interest,
+convenience, or profit.</p>
+
+<p>All these birds are more domestic, if possible, than the common
+goose, and we have found them less troublesome, not inclined to wander
+abroad, and, in all the qualities of such a bird, far more agreeable. We
+have long kept them, and without their presence, should consider our
+grounds as incomplete, in one of the most attractive features of
+animated life.</p>
+
+<p>It is too much a fault of our farming population, that they do not
+pay sufficient attention to many little things which would render their
+homes more interesting, both to themselves, if they would only think so,
+and to their families, most certainly. If parents have no taste for such
+objects as we have recommended, or even
+<span class = "pagenum">373</span>
+others more common, they should encourage their children in the love of
+them, and furnish them for their amusement. The very soul of a farmer's
+home is to cluster every thing about it which shall make it attractive,
+and speak out the character of the country, and of his occupation, in
+its full extent. Herds and flocks upon the farm are a matter of course;
+and so are the horses, and the pigs. But there are other things, quite
+as indicative of household abundance, and domestic enjoyment. The
+pigeons, and the poultry of all kinds, and perhaps the rabbit warren,
+which are chiefly in charge of the good housewife, and her daughters,
+and the younger boys, show out the domestic feeling and benevolence of
+character in the family, not to be mistaken. It is a sign of enjoyment,
+of domestic contentment, and of mental cultivation, even, that will lead
+to something higher, and more valuable in after life; and it is in such
+light that it becomes an absolute <i>duty</i> of the farmer who seeks
+the improvement and education of his children, to provide them with all
+these little objects, to engage their leisure hours and promote their
+happiness. How different a home like this from one&mdash;which is,
+really, not a home&mdash;where no attention is paid to such minor
+attractions; where a few starveling things, by way of geese, perhaps,
+picked half a dozen times a year, to within an inch of their lives, mope
+about the dirty premises, making their nightly sittings in the door
+yard, if the house has one; a&nbsp;stray turkey, or two, running, from
+fear of the untutored dogs, into the nearest wood, in the spring, to
+make their rude nests, and bring out half a clutch of young,
+<span class = "pagenum">374</span>
+and creeping about the fields through the summer with a chicken or two,
+which the foxes, or other vermin, have spared, and then dogged down in
+the winter, to provide a half got-up Christmas-dinner; and the hens
+about the open buildings all the year, committing their nuisances in
+every possible way! There need be no surer indication than this, of the
+utter hopelessness of progress for good, in such a family.</p>
+
+
+<hr class = "mid section">
+
+<h4 class = "section"><a name = "dogs" id = "dogs">
+A WORD ABOUT DOGS.</a></h4>
+
+<p>We always loved a dog; and it almost broke our little heart, when but
+a trudging schoolboy, in our first jacket-and-trowsers, our kind mother
+made us take back the young puppy that had hardly got its eyes open,
+which we one day brought home, to be kept until it was fit to be taken
+from its natural nurse. We are now among the boys, John, Tom, and Harry;
+and intend to give them the benefit of our own experience in this line,
+as well as to say a few words to the elder brothers,&mdash;and fathers,
+even,&mdash;if they do not turn up their noses in contempt of our
+instruction, on a subject so much beneath their notice.</p>
+
+<p>We say that we love dogs: not <i>all</i> dogs, however. But we love
+some dogs&mdash;of the right breeds. There
+<span class = "pagenum">375</span>
+is probably no other civilized country so dog-ridden as this,
+both&nbsp;in</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"Mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,<br>
+And curs of <i>low</i> degree."</p>
+
+<p>Goldsmith, kind man that he was, must have been a capital judge of
+dogs, like many other poetical gentlemen. Still, other men than poets
+are sometimes good judges, and great lovers of dogs; but the mass of
+people are quite as well satisfied with one kind of dog as with another,
+so that it be a dog; and they too often indulge in their companionship,
+much to the annoyance of good neighborhood, good morals, and, indeed, of
+propriety, thrift, and common justice. Of all these we have nothing to
+say&mdash;here, at least. Ours is a "free country"&mdash;for dogs, if
+for nothing else. Nor shall we discuss the various qualities, or the
+different breeds of dogs for sporting purposes. We never go out
+shooting; nor do we take a hunt&mdash;having no taste that way. Perhaps
+in this we are to be pitied; but we are content as it is. Therefore we
+shall let the hounds, and pointers, and setters, the springers, and the
+land and the water spaniels, all alone. The mastiffs, and the bull dogs,
+too, we shall leave to those who like them. The poodle, and the little
+lap-dog of other kinds, also, we shall turn over to the kindness of
+those who&mdash;we are sorry for them, in having nothing better to
+interest themselves about&mdash;take a pleasure in keeping and tending
+them.</p>
+
+<p>We want to mix in a little <i>usefulness</i>, as well as amusement,
+in the way of a dog; and after a whole life, thus far, of dog
+companionship, and the trial of
+<span class = "pagenum">376</span>
+pretty much every thing in the line of a dog&mdash;from the great
+Newfoundland, of a hundred pounds weight, down to the squeaking little
+whiffet, of six&mdash;we have, for many years past, settled down into
+the practical belief that the small ratting terrier is the only one,
+except the shepherd dog, we care to keep; and of these, chiefly, we
+shall speak.</p>
+
+<p>There are many varieties of the Terrier. Some are large, weighing
+forty or fifty pounds, rough-haired, and savage looking. There is the
+bull-terrier, of less size, not a kindly, well-disposed creature to
+strangers; but <ins class = "correction"
+title = "text reads 'irrascibly'">irascibly</ins>
+inclined, and unamiable in his deportment;
+still useful as a watch-dog, and a determined enemy to all vermin,
+whatever. Then, again, are the small rat-terriers, as they are termed,
+weighing from a dozen to twenty pounds; some with rough, long, wiry
+hair; a&nbsp;fierce, whiskered muzzle; of prodigious strength for their
+size; wonderful instinct and sagacity; kind in temper; and possessing
+valuable qualities, bating a lack of beauty in appearance. They are of
+all colors, but are generally uniform in their color, whatever it be.
+Another kind, still, is the smooth terrier, of the same sizes as the
+last; a&nbsp;very pretty dog indeed; with a kinder disposition to
+mankind; yet equally destructive to vermin, and watchful to the premises
+which they inhabit, or of whatever else is put under their charge. The
+fidelity of the terrier to his master is wonderful; equal, if not
+superior to any other dog whatever. In courage and perseverance, in
+hardihood, and feats of daring, he has hardly an equal; and in general
+<i>usefulness,</i> no dog can compare with him.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">377</span>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "dogs_terrier" id = "dogs_terrier"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic377.jpg" width = "350" height = "288"
+alt = "smooth terrier" title = "smooth terrier">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+THE SMOOTH TERRIER.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Walter Scott, who was a great friend to dogs, as well as a nice
+and critical judge of their qualities, used to tell this
+story:&mdash;When a young man, first attending, as an advocate, the
+Jedburgh assizes, a&nbsp;notorious burglar engaged Sir Walter to defend
+him on his trial for housebreaking in the neighborhood. The case was a
+hard one; the proof direct and conclusive; and no ingenuity of the
+defence could avoid the conviction of the culprit. The matter was
+settled beyond redemption; and before he left for his imprisonment, or
+transportation, the thief requested Sir Walter to come into his cell. On
+meeting, the fellow frankly told his counsel that he felt very grateful
+to him for his efforts to clear him; that he had done the best he could;
+but the proof was too palpable against him. He would gladly reward Sir
+Walter for his services; but he had
+<span class = "pagenum">378</span>
+no money, and could only give him a piece of advice, which might,
+perhaps, be serviceable hereafter. Sir Walter heard him, no doubt, with
+some regret at losing his fee; but concluding to hear what he had to
+say. "You are a housekeeper, Mr. Scott. For security to your doors, use
+nothing but a common lock&mdash;if rusty and old, no matter; they are
+quite as hard to pick as any others. (Neither Chubbs' nor Hobbs'
+<i>non-pickable</i> locks were then invented.) Then provide yourself
+with a small rat terrier, and keep him in your house at night. There is
+no safety in a mastiff, or bull-dog, or in a large dog of any breed.
+They can always be appeased and quieted, and burglars understand them;
+but a terrier can neither be terrified nor silenced; nor do we attempt
+to break in where one is known to be kept." Sir Walter heeded the
+advice, and, in his housekeeping experience, afterward, confirmed the
+good qualities of the terrier, as related to him by the burglar. He also
+commemorated the conversation by the following not exceedingly poetical
+couplet:</p>
+
+<p class = "verse">
+"A terrier dog and a rusty key,<br>
+Was Walter Scott's first Jedburgh fee."</p>
+
+<p>The terrier has a perfect, thorough, unappeasable instinct for, and
+hatred to all kinds of vermin. He takes to rats and mice as naturally as
+a cat. He will scent out their haunts and burrows. He will lie for hours
+by their places of passage, and point them with the sagacity of a
+pointer at a bird. He is as quick as lightning, in pouncing upon them,
+when in sight, and rarely misses them when he springs. A&nbsp;single
+bite
+<span class = "pagenum">379</span>
+settles the matter; and where there are several rats found together,
+a&nbsp;dog will frequently dispatch half a dozen of them, before they
+can get twenty feet from him. A&nbsp;dog of our own has killed that
+number, before they could get across the stable floor. In the grain
+field, with the harvesters, a&nbsp;terrier will catch hundreds of
+field-mice in a day; or, in the hay field, he is equally destructive.
+With a woodchuck, a&nbsp;raccoon, or anything of their size&mdash;even a
+skunk, which many dogs avoid&mdash;he engages, with the same readiness
+that he will a rat. The night is no bar to his vigils. He has the sight
+of an owl, in the dark. Minks, and weasels, are his aversion, as much as
+other vermin. He will follow the first into the water, till he exhausts
+him with diving, and overtakes him in swimming. He is a hunter, too. He
+will tree a <ins class = "correction"
+title = "text reads 'sqirrel'">squirrel</ins>,
+or a raccoon, as readily as the best of
+sporting dogs. He will catch, and hold a pig, or anything not too large
+or heavy for him. He will lie down on your garment, and watch it for
+hours; or by anything else left in his charge. He will play with the
+children, and share their sports as joyfully as a dumb creature can do;
+and nothing can be more affectionate, kind, and gentle among them. He is
+cleanly, honest, and seldom addicted to tricks of any kind.</p>
+
+<p>We prefer the high-bred, smooth, English terrier, to any other
+variety. They are rather more gentle in temper, and very much handsomer
+in appearance, than the rough-haired kind; but perhaps no better in
+their useful qualities. We have kept them for years; we keep them now;
+and no reasonable inducement would
+<span class = "pagenum">380</span>
+let us part with them. A&nbsp;year or two ago, having accidentally lost
+our farm terrier, and nothing remaining on the place but our shepherd
+dog, the buildings soon swarmed with rats. They were in, and about
+everything. During the winter, the men who tended the horses, and
+cattle, at their nightly rounds of inspection, before going to bed,
+would kill, with their clubs, three or four, in the barns and stables,
+every evening. But still the rats increased, and they became
+unendurable. They got into the grain-mows, where they burrowed, and
+brought forth with a fecundity second only to the frogs of Egypt. They
+gnawed into the granaries. They dug into the dairy. They entered the
+meat barrels. They carried off the eggs from the hen-nests. They stole
+away, and devoured, the young ducks, and chickens. They literally came
+into the "kneading troughs" of the kitchen. Oh! the rats were
+intolerable! Traps were no use. Arsenic was innocuous&mdash;they
+wouldn't touch it. Opportunity favored us, and we got two high-bred,
+smooth, English terriers&mdash;a dog, and a slut. Then commenced such a
+slaughter as we seldom see. The rats had got bold. The dogs caught them
+daily by dozens, as they came out from their haunts, fearless of evil,
+as before. As they grew more shy, their holes were watched, and every
+morning dead rats were found about the premises. The dogs, during the
+day, pointed out their holes. Planks were removed, nests were found, and
+the rats, young and old, killed, <i>instanter</i>. Hundreds on hundreds
+were slaughtered, in the first few weeks; and in a short time, the place
+was mostly rid of them,
+<span class = "pagenum">381</span>
+until enough only are left to keep the dogs "in play," and to show that
+in spite of all precaution, they will harbor wherever there is a thing
+to eat, and a possible place of covert for them to burrow.</p>
+
+<p>To have the terrier in full perfection, it is important that the
+breed be <i>pure</i>. We are so prone to mix up everything we get, in
+this country, that it is sometimes difficult to get anything exactly as
+it should be; but a little care will provide us, in this particular. He
+should be properly trained, too, when young. That is, to mind what is
+said to him. His intelligence will be equal to all your wants in the
+<i>dog</i>-line; but he should not be <i>fooled</i> with. His instincts
+are <i>sure</i>. And, with a good education, the terrier will prove all
+you need in a farm, and a watch-dog. We speak from long experience, and
+observation.</p>
+
+<p class = "illustration">
+<a name = "dogs_shepherd" id = "dogs_shepherd"> </a>
+<img src = "images/pic382.jpg" width = "411" height = "373"
+alt = "shepherd dog" title = "shepherd dog">
+</p>
+
+<p class = "caption">
+THE SHEPHERD DOG.</p>
+
+<p>The shepherd dog is another useful&mdash;almost
+indispensable&mdash;creature, on the sheep, or dairy farm. This cut is
+an accurate representation of the finest of the breed. To the
+flock-master, he saves a world of labor, in driving and gathering the
+flocks together, or from one field, or place, to another. To the
+sheep-drover, also, he is worth a man, at least; and in many cases, can
+do with a flock what a man can not do. But for this labor, he requires
+training, and a strict, thorough education, by those who know how to do
+it. He is a peaceable, quiet creature; good for little else than
+driving, and on a stock farm will save fifty times his cost and keeping,
+every year. He is a reasonably good watch-dog, also; but he has neither
+the instinct, nor sagacity of the terrier, in that duty. To keep him
+<span class = "pagenum">382</span>
+in his best estate, for his own peculiar work, he should not be troubled
+with other labors, as it distracts his attention from his peculiar
+duties. We had a remarkably good dog, of this kind, a&nbsp;few years
+since. He was worth the services of a stout boy, in bringing up the
+cattle, and sheep, until an idle boy or two, in the neighborhood,
+decoyed him out in "<i>cooning</i>," a few nights during one
+autumn&mdash;in which he proved a most capital hunter; and after that,
+he became worthless, as a cattle dog. He was always rummaging around
+among the trees, barking at birds, squirrels, or any live thing that he
+could find; and no man could coax
+<span class = "pagenum">383</span>
+him back to the dull routine of his duty. A&nbsp;shepherd dog should
+never go a-hunting.</p>
+
+<p>We would not be understood as condemning everything else, excepting
+the dogs we have named, for farm use. The Newfoundland, and the mastiff,
+are enormously large dogs, and possessed of some noble qualities. They
+have performed feats of sagacity and fidelity which have attracted
+universal admiration; but, three to one, if you have them on your farm,
+they will kill every sheep upon it; and their watchfulness is no greater
+than that of the shepherd dog, or the terrier. We have spoken of such as
+we have entire confidence in, and such as we consider the best for
+useful service. There are some kinds of cur dog that are useful. They
+are of no <i>breed</i> at all, to be sure; but have, now and then, good
+qualities; and when nothing better can be got, they will do for a
+make-shift. But as a rule, we would be equally particular in the
+<i>breed</i> of our dog, as we would in the breed of our cattle, or
+sheep. There are altogether too many dogs kept, in the country, and most
+usually by a class of people who have no need of them, and which prove
+only a nuisance to the neighborhood, and a destruction to the goods of
+others. Thousands of useful sheep are annually destroyed by them; and in
+some regions of the country, they can not be kept, by reason of their
+destruction by worthless dogs, which are owned by the disorderly people
+about them. In a western state, some time ago, in conversing with a
+large farmer, who had a flock of perhaps a hundred sheep running in one
+of his pastures, and who also kept a dozen hounds, for
+<span class = "pagenum">384</span>
+hunting, we asked him whether the dogs did not kill his sheep? "To be
+sure they do," was his reply; "but the dogs are worth more than the
+sheep, for they give us great sport in hunting deer, and foxes; and the
+sheep only give us a little mutton, now and then, and some wool for the
+women to make into stockings!" This is a mere matter of taste, thought
+we, and the conversation on that subject dropped. Yet, this man had a
+thousand acres of the richest land in the world; raised three or four
+hundred acres of corn, a&nbsp;year; fed off a hundred head of cattle,
+annually; and sold three hundred hogs every year, for slaughtering!</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<div class = "advertising">
+
+<a name = "advert" id = "advert"> </a>
+
+<p class = "mynote">
+Punctuation of book titles, and arrangement of paragraphs, is
+unchanged.</p>
+
+<span class = "pagenum">{1}</span>
+
+<h3 class = "boldf">Books Published</h3>
+
+<h6>BY</h6>
+
+<h3 class = "extended">C. M. SAXTON,</h3>
+
+<h5>152 FULTON STREET, NEW YORK,</h5>
+
+<h6>SUITABLE FOR</h6>
+
+<h3>SCHOOL, TOWN, AGRICULTURAL,</h3>
+
+<h6>AND</h6>
+
+<h5 class = "sans boldf">PRIVATE LIBRARIES.</h5>
+
+<hr class = "mid">
+
+<h4>The American Farm Book;</h4>
+
+<p>The American Farm Book; or, a&nbsp;Compend of American Agriculture,
+being a Practical Treatise on Soils, Manures, Draining, Irrigation,
+Grasses, Grain, Roots, Fruits, Cotton, Tobacco, Sugar-Cane, Rice, and
+every staple product of the United States; with the best methods of
+Planting, Cultivating, and Preparation for Market. &nbsp; Illustrated by
+more than 100 engravings. &nbsp; By R.&nbsp;L. Allen. &nbsp; Cloth, $1;
+mail edition, paper, 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>American Poultry Yard;</h4>
+
+<p>The American Poultry Yard; comprising the Origin, History and
+Description of the different Breeds of Domestic Poultry, with complete
+directions for their Breeding, Crossing, Rearing, Fattening, and
+Preparation for Market; including specific directions for Caponizing
+Fowls, and for the Treatment of the Principal Diseases to which they are
+subject; drawn from authentic sources and personal observation. &nbsp;
+Illustrated with numerous engravings. &nbsp; By D.&nbsp;J. Browne.
+&nbsp; Cloth or sheep, $1; mail edition, paper, 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Diseases of Domestic Animals;</h4>
+
+<p>Being a History and Description of the Horse, Mule, Cattle, Sheep,
+Swine, Poultry, and Farm Dogs, with Directions for their Management,
+Breeding, Crossing, Rearing, Feeding, and Preparation for a profitable
+Market; also, their Diseases and Remedies; together with full Directions
+for the Management of the Dairy, and the Comparative Economy and
+Advantages of Working Animals, the Horse, Mule, Oxen, &amp;c. &nbsp; By
+R.&nbsp;L. Allen. &nbsp; Cloth or sheep, 75&nbsp;cts.; mail edition,
+paper, 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>American Bee Keeper's Manual;</h4>
+
+<p>Being a Practical Treatise on the History and Domestic Economy of the
+Honey Bee, embracing a full illustration of the whole subject, with the
+most approved methods of Managing this Insect, through every branch of
+its Culture, the result of many years' experience. &nbsp; Illustrated
+with many engravings. &nbsp; By T.&nbsp;B. Miner. &nbsp; Cloth or sheep,
+$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Modern Stair Builder's Guide:</h4>
+
+<p>Being a Plain, Practical System of Hand Railing, embracing all its
+necessary Details, and Geometrically Illustrated by Twenty-two Steel
+Engravings; together with the Use of the most important Principles of
+Practical Geometry. &nbsp; By Simon De Graff,
+Architect.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$2.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Prize Essay on Manures.</h4>
+
+<p>An Essay on Manures, submitted to the Trustees of the Massachusetts
+Society for Promoting Agriculture, for their Premium. &nbsp; By Samuel
+L. Dana. &nbsp; Paper. &nbsp; 25&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">{2}</span>
+<h4>American Bird Fancier.</h4>
+
+<p>Considered with reference to the Breeding, Rearing, Feeding,
+Management, &amp;c., of Cage and House Birds. &nbsp; Illustrated with
+engravings. &nbsp; By D.&nbsp;J. Browne. &nbsp; Cloth, 50&nbsp;cts.;
+mail edition, paper, 25&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>American Architect.</h4>
+
+<p>The American Architect; comprising Original Designs of cheap Country
+and Village Residences, with Details, Specifications, Plans, and
+Directions, and an estimate of the Cost of each Design. &nbsp; By John
+W. Ritch, Architect. &nbsp; First and Second Series quarto, bound in
+2&nbsp;vols., sheep, $6. Mail edition, paper, $5.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Domestic Medicine.</h4>
+
+<p>Gunn's Domestic Medicine; or, Poor Man's Friend in the Hours of
+Affliction, Pain, and Sickness. &nbsp; Raymond's new revised edition,
+improved and enlarged by John C. Gunn, 8vo. &nbsp;
+Sheep.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$3.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Saxton's American Farmer's Almanac for 1852.</h4>
+
+<p>Per 100, $3.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Family Kitchen Gardener.</h4>
+
+<p>Containing Plain and Accurate Descriptions of all the Different
+Species and Varieties of Culinary Vegetables; with their Botanical,
+English, French, and German names, alphabetically arranged, and the best
+mode of cultivating them in the garden, or under glass; also,
+Descriptions and Character of the most Select Fruits, their Management
+Propagation, &amp;c. &nbsp; By Robert Buist, author of the American
+Flower Garden Directory, &amp;c. &nbsp; cloth or sheep, 75&nbsp;cts.;
+mail edition, paper, 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Practical Agriculture.</h4>
+
+<p>Being a Treatise on the General Relations which Science bears to
+Agriculture. Delivered before the New York State Agricultural Society,
+by James F. W. Johnston, F.R.S.S.S. and&nbsp;E., Professor of
+Agricultural Chemistry in Durham University, and author of Lectures on
+Agricultural Chemistry, with Notes and Explanations by an American
+Farmer. &nbsp; Cloth, 75&nbsp;cts.; mail edition, paper,
+50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Elements of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology.</h4>
+
+<p>By J. F. W. Johnston, M.A., F.R.S. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Youatt and Martin on Cattle:</h4>
+
+<p>Being a Treatise on their Breeds, Management, and Diseases;
+comprising a full History of the Various Races; their Origin, Breeding,
+and Merits; their capacity for Beef and Milk. &nbsp; By W.&nbsp;Youatt
+and W.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;L. Martin. &nbsp; The whole forming a complete Guide
+for the Farmer, the Amateur, and the Veterinary Surgeon, with 100
+illustrations. &nbsp; Edited by Ambrose Stevens. &nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Youatt on the Horse.</h4>
+
+<p>Youatt on the Structure and Diseases of the Horse, with their
+Remedies. &nbsp; Also, Practical Rules for Buyers, Breeders, Breakers,
+Smiths, &amp;c. &nbsp; Edited by W.&nbsp;C. Spooner, M.R.C.V.S. &nbsp;
+With an account of the Breeds in the United States, by Henry S. Randall.
+&nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Youatt on Sheep:</h4>
+
+<p>Their Breed, Management, and Diseases, with illustrative engravings;
+to which are added Remarks on the Breeds and Management of Sheep in the
+United States, and on the Culture of Fine Wool in Silesia. &nbsp; By Wm.
+Youatt. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Hoare on the Grape Vine.</h4>
+
+<p>A Practical Treatise on the Cultivation of the Grape Vine on open
+Walls, with a Descriptive Account of an improved method of Planting and
+Managing the Roots of Grape Vines. &nbsp; By Clement Hoare. &nbsp; With
+an Appendix on the Cultivation of the same in the United States. &nbsp;
+50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">{3}</span>
+<h4>The American Agriculturist:</h4>
+
+<p>Being a Collection of Original Articles on the Various Subjects
+connected with the Farm, in ten vols. 8vo., containing nearly four
+thousand pages. &nbsp; $10.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Johnston's Agricultural Chemistry.</h4>
+
+<p>Lectures on the Application of Chemistry and Geology to Agriculture.
+&nbsp; New edition, with an Appendix. &nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Stephens' Book of the Farm.</h4>
+
+<p>A Complete Guide to the Farmer, Steward, Plowman, Cattleman,
+Shepherd, Field-Worker, and Dairy Maid. &nbsp; By Henry Stephens. &nbsp;
+With Four Hundred and Fifty Illustrations; to which are added
+Explanatory Notes, Remarks, &amp;c., by J.&nbsp;S. Skinner. &nbsp;
+Really one of the best books for a Farmer to possess. &nbsp; Cloth, $4;
+leather, $4.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Complete Farmer and American Gardener,</h4>
+
+<p>Rural Economist, and New American Gardener, containing a Compendious
+Epitome of the most Important Branches of Agricultural and Rural
+Economy; with Practical Directions on the Cultivation of Fruits and
+Vegetables; including Landscape and Ornamental Gardening. &nbsp; By
+Thomas G. Fessenden. <ins class = "correction"
+title = "text unclear">2</ins> vols. in one. &nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Chemistry Made Easy,</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+For the Use of Farmers. &nbsp; By J. Topham, M.A. &nbsp;
+25&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Brandy and Salt,</h4>
+
+<p>A Remedy for various Internal as well as External Diseases,
+Inflammation and Local Injuries. &nbsp; By Rev. Samuel Fenton. &nbsp;
+12�&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Southern Agriculture.</h4>
+
+<p>Comprising Essays on the Cultivation of Corn, Hemp, Tobacco, Wheat,
+&amp;c.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Cottage and Farm Bee Keeper:</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+A Practical Work, by a Country Curate. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>A Book for Every Boy in the Country.</h4>
+
+<p>Elements of Agriculture. &nbsp; Translated from the French, and
+adapted to General Use, by F.&nbsp;G. Skinner. &nbsp; 25&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Rural Architecture;</h4>
+
+<p>Comprising Farm Houses, Cottages, Carriage Houses, Sheep and Dove
+Cotes, <ins class = "correction" title =
+"text reads 'Pigeries'">Piggeries</ins>, Barns, &amp;c. &amp;c. &nbsp;
+By Lewis F. Allen. &nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The American Muck Book.</h4>
+
+<p>The American Muck Book; treating of the Nature, Properties, Sources,
+History, and Operations of all the principal Fertilizers and Manures in
+Common Use, with Specific Directions for their Preservation, and
+Application to the Soil and to Crops; drawn from Authentic Sources,
+Actual Experience, and Personal Observation, as Combined with the
+leading Principles of Practical and Scientific Agriculture. &nbsp; By
+J.&nbsp;D. Browne.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Youatt on the Pig.</h4>
+
+<p>A Treatise on the Breeds, Management, and Medical Treatment of Swine;
+with direction for Salting Pork, Curing Bacon and Hams. &nbsp; By Wm.
+Youatt, R.S. Illustrated with engravings drawn from life. &nbsp;
+60&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Youatt on the Dog.</h4>
+
+<p>By Wm. Youatt. &nbsp; Splendidly illustrated. &nbsp; Edited, with
+Additions, by E.&nbsp;J. Lewis, M.D. $1.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Poultry Book.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By John C. Bennett, M.D. 84&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">{4}</span>
+<h4>The American Poulterer's Companion,</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+With illustrations. &nbsp; By C. N. Bement.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>American Poultry Book.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Micajah Cook. &nbsp; 38&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Rose Culturist.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+A Practical Treatise on its Cultivation and Management. &nbsp;
+38&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>A Practical Treatise on Honey Bees,</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Their Management, &amp;c. &nbsp; By Edward Townley. &nbsp;
+50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The American Fruit Book.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By S. W. Cole. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The American Veterinarian.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By S. W. Cole. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Gardener's Text Book.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Peter Adam Schenck. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The American Gardener.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By William Cobbett. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Farmer's Land Measurer.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By James Pedder. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>New England Fruit Book.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By John M. Ives. &nbsp; 56&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Practical Treatise on Fruits,</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Adapted to New England Culture. &nbsp; By George Jaques. &nbsp;
+50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Farmer and Emigrant's Hand Book.</h4>
+
+<p>A Guide to Clearing the Forest and Prairie Land, &amp;c., &amp;c.
+&nbsp; By Josiah T. Marshall. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Farmer's Barn Book.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Youatt, Clater, Skinner and Mills. &nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Hind's Farriery and Stud Book.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Edited by J. S. Skinner.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Mason's Farrier and Stud Book.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Edited by J. S. Skinner. &nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Stewart's Stable Economy.</h4>
+
+<p>A Treatise on the Management of Horses. &nbsp; Edited by A.&nbsp;B.
+Allen.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Sugar Planter's Manual.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By W. S. Evans, M.D. &nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Treatise on Hothouses and Ventilation.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By R. B. Suckars. &nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">{5}</span>
+<h4>Ornamental and Domestic Poultry.</h4>
+
+<p>By Rev. Edmund Saul Dixon, A.M. &nbsp; With Large Additions by
+J.&nbsp;J. Kerr, M.D. With illustrations.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Canfield on Sheep,</h4>
+
+<p>Their Breeds, Management, Structure, and Diseases. &nbsp; With
+Illustrative Engravings and an Appendix. &nbsp; Edited by H.&nbsp;J.
+Canfield.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Book of Flowers,</h4>
+
+<p>In which are described the various Hardy Herbaceous Perennials,
+Annuals, Shrubby Plants and Evergreen Trees desirable for Ornamental
+Purposes. &nbsp; By Jos. Breck. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Experimental Researches on the Food of Animals,</h4>
+
+<p>The Fattening of Cattle, and Remarks on the Food of Man. &nbsp; By
+Robert Dundas <ins class = "correction" title =
+"spelling unchanged: name is usually written 'Thomson'">Thompson</ins>,
+M.D. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The American Flower Garden Companion,</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Revised and enlarged. &nbsp; By Edward Sayres. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Farmer's Treasure.</h4>
+
+<p>A Treatise on the Nature and Value of Manures, and Productive
+Farming. &nbsp; By F.&nbsp;Faulkner and Joseph A. Smith. &nbsp;
+75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Practical Farrier.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Richard Mason. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The American Farrier.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Barnum. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Principles of Practical Gardening.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Geo. W. Johnston, Esq. &nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The American Fruit Garden Companion.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+A Treatise on the Propagation and Culture of Fruit. &nbsp; By
+S.&nbsp;Sayres. &nbsp; 38&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Spooner on the Grape.</h4>
+
+<p>The Cultivation of American Grape Vines, and making of Wine. &nbsp;
+By Alden Spooner. &nbsp; 38&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Young Gardener's Assistant.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Thomas Bridgeman. &nbsp; $1.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Florist's Guide.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Thos. Bridgeman. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Kitchen Gardener's Instructor.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Bridgeman. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Fruit Cultivator's Manual.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Bridgeman. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Horse,</h4>
+
+<p>Its Habits, Diseases and Management, in the Stable and on the Road,
+&amp;c. &nbsp; 25&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">{6}</span>
+<h4>The Fruit, Flower, and Kitchen Garden.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Patrick Neill, LL.D., F.R.S., adapted to the United States. &nbsp;
+$1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Ladies' Companion to the Flower Garden.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Mrs. Loudon. &nbsp; Edited by A. J. Downing. &nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By A. J. Downing. &nbsp; $1.50.<br>
+Do<span class = "spread">. </span>do<span class = "spread">.
+</span>do<span class = "spread">. </span>do<span class = "spread">.
+</span>colored, &nbsp; <ins class = "correction" title =
+"$ sign missing">15.00</ins>.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Dictionary of Modern Gardening.</h4>
+
+<p>By Geo. W. Johnston. &nbsp; Edited by David Landreth. &nbsp;
+$1.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Rose Fancier's Manual.</h4>
+
+<p>By Mrs. Gore. &nbsp; $1.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Parsons on the Rose.</h4>
+
+<p>The Rose: its History, Poetry, Culture, and Classification. &nbsp; By
+S.&nbsp;B. Parsons. &nbsp; $1.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Hovey's Fruits of America.</h4>
+
+<p>Containing richly colored Figures and full Descriptions of all the
+Choicest Varieties cultivated in the United States, in 12&nbsp;numbers.
+&nbsp; $12.</p>
+
+
+<h4>History, Treatment and Diseases of the Horse,</h4>
+
+<p>With a Treatise on Draught, and Copious
+Index.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$2.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Rural Economy,</h4>
+
+<p>In its Relations with Chemistry, Physics, and Meteorology. &nbsp; By
+J.&nbsp;B. Boussingault. &nbsp; Translated, &amp;c., by George
+Law.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Liebig's Agricultural Chemistry.</h4>
+
+<p>Edited by Lyon Playfair, Ph.D., F.G.S, and William Gregory, M.D.,
+P.R.S.E. $1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Modern System of Farriery,</h4>
+
+<p>As Practiced at the Present Time at the Royal Veterinary College, and
+from Twenty Years' Practice of the Author, George Skevington, M.R.V.C.
+$5.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Ewbank's Hydraulics:</h4>
+
+<p>A Descriptive and Historical Account of Hydraulic and other Machines
+for Raising Water. &nbsp; $2.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Fruit Garden.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By P. Barry. &nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The American Fruit Culturist;</h4>
+
+<p>Containing Directions for the Culture of Fruit Trees in the Nursery,
+Orchard, and Garden. &nbsp; By John J. Thomas.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Rose Manual.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Robert Buist. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Plants <ins class = "correction" title =
+"text reads ' f' with blank space">of</ins> Boston and Vicinity.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Jacob Bigelow, M.D. &nbsp; $1.50.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">{7}</span>
+<h4>The Indian Meal Book;</h4>
+
+<p>Comprising the best Receipts for the Preparation of that Article.
+&nbsp; By Miss Leslie. &nbsp; 25&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Horse's Foot,</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+And How to Keep it Sound. &nbsp; By William Miles. &nbsp;
+25&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Catechism of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology.</h4>
+
+<p>By J. F. W. Johnston. &nbsp; 25&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Chemistry Applied to Agriculture.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Le Count Chaptal. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>British Husbandry.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Three Vols. and Supplement.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$5.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Loudon's Arboretum.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Eight Vols. &nbsp; $25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Loudon on Gardening.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Loudon's Encyclopedia of Gardening. &nbsp; $10.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Loudon on Agriculture.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Loudon's Encyclopedia of Agriculture. &nbsp; $10.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Loudon on Trees, &amp;c.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Loudon's Encyclopedia of Trees, Shrubs, &amp;c.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Loudon on Plants, &amp;c.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Loudon's Encyclopedia of Plants, &amp;c.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Farmer's Library.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Two vols. 8vo. English.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$5.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Farmer's Dictionary.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By D. P. Gardner. &nbsp; $1.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Practical Treatise on the Grape Vine.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By J. Fisk Allen. &nbsp; Boards, $1; paper, 88&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Practical Treatise on the Veterinary Art.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By J. Briddon. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Sheep Husbandry.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Henry S. Randall. &nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Agricultural Chemistry.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Justus Liebig. &nbsp; Cloth, $1; cheap edition, 25&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Animal Chemistry.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By J. Liebig. &nbsp; Cloth, 50&nbsp;cts.; cheap ed. paper,
+25&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Liebig's Complete Works,</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+In one vol. 8vo.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">{8}</span>
+<h4>Cottage and Farm Houses.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By A. J. Downing.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$2.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Country Houses.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By A. J. Downing.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$4.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Sportsman's Library.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By T. B. Johnson. &nbsp; English edition.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$5.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Landscape Gardening.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By A. J. Downing. &nbsp; $3.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Cottage Residences.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By A. J. Downing $2.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Chaptal's Agricultural Chemistry,</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+With Notes.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>American Husbandry.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Gaylord and Tucker.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Gardener's Dictionary.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Geo. Don, F.L.S. &nbsp; 4 vols. quarto. &nbsp; $10.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Journal of Agriculture.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Edited by John S. Skinner. &nbsp; 3 vols.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$6.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Downing's Horticulturist.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Half morocco. &nbsp; Per Vol. yearly Vols. &nbsp; $3.75.<br>
+Do<span class = "spread">. </span>do. half yearly " &nbsp; &nbsp;
+2.00.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Complete Produce Reckoner,</h4>
+
+<p>Showing the Value by Pound or Bushel. &nbsp; By R. Robbins. &nbsp;
+75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The American Shepherd.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By L. A. Morrill.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Principles of Agriculture.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Albert D. Thaer. &nbsp; $2.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Lectures to Farmers on Agricultural Chemistry.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Alexander Petzholdts. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Complete Farrier.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By John C. Knowlson. &nbsp; 25&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Complete Cow Doctor.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By J. C. Knowlson. &nbsp; 25&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Milch Cows.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Guenon. &nbsp; 38&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>A Home for All;</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Or a New, Cheap, and Superior mode of Building. &nbsp; By O.&nbsp;S.
+Fowler. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">{9}</span>
+<h4>The Poultry Breeder.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By George P. Burnham. &nbsp; 25&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The American Fowl Breeder.
+<span class = "price">25&nbsp;cts.</span></h4>
+
+
+<h4>The Farmer's Companion.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Judge Buel. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Farmer's Instructor.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Judge Buel.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>European Agriculture,</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+From Personal Observation. &nbsp; By Henry Coleman. 2&nbsp;vols. &nbsp;
+$5.00.<br>
+Do<span class = "spread">. </span>do<span class = "spread">.
+</span>do<span class = "spread">. </span>1 vol. &nbsp; &nbsp; $4.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Gardener and Florist.
+<span class = "price">25&nbsp;cts.</span></h4>
+
+
+<h4>The Honey Bee.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Bevan. &nbsp; 31&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Elements of Practical Agriculture.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By John P. Norton. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Rogers' Scientific Agriculture.
+<span class = "price">75&nbsp;cts.</span></h4>
+
+
+<h4>Mills' Sportsman's Library.
+<span class = "price">$1.</span></h4>
+
+
+<h4>Stable Talk and Table Talk.
+<span class = "price">$1.</span></h4>
+
+
+<h4>Hawker and Porter on Shooting.
+<span class = "price">$2.75.</span></h4>
+
+
+<h4>Field Sports.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Frank Forrester. 2 vols.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$4</p>
+
+
+<h4>Fish and Fishing.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Frank Forrester. &nbsp; $2.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The American Angler's Guide.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By J. J. Brown. &nbsp; $1.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Johnson's Farmer's Encyclopedia.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Edited by G. Emerson, M.D.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$4.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Scientific and Practical Agriculture.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Alonzo Gray. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Theory and Practice of Agriculture.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By A. Partridge. &nbsp; 12&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Armstrong on Agriculture.
+<span class = "price">50&nbsp;cts.</span></h4>
+
+
+<span class = "pagenum">{10}</span>
+
+<h4>Hovey's Magazine of Horticulture.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Published monthly. &nbsp; Per annum $2.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Downing<ins class = "correction" title = "'s' missing">'s</ins>
+Horticulturist.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Published monthly. &nbsp; Per annum $3.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Gilpin's Landscape Gardening.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+English edition. &nbsp; $2.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Gardener's Calendar.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By M. Mahon. &nbsp; $3.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Agriculture for Schools.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Rev. J. L. Blake, D.D.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Text Book of Agriculture.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Davis. &nbsp; 50&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The American Agriculturist and Farmer's Cabinet.</h4>
+
+<p>Published monthly. &nbsp; Per annum $1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Weeks on the Honey Bee.</h4>
+
+
+<h4>Cottages and Cottage Life.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Elliott. &nbsp; $2.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Chemical Analysis.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Fresinus and Bullock.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Applied Chemistry.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By A. Parnell.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Vegetable Kingdom,</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Or Handbook of Plants. &nbsp; By L. D. Chapin. &nbsp; $1.25.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Muck Manual.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+A new edition. &nbsp; By Samuel L. <ins class = "correction" title =
+"text reads 'Da a' with blank space">Dana</ins>. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Youatt on the Horse.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+Edited by J. S Skinner. &nbsp; $1.50.</p>
+
+
+<h4>Clater's Farrier.
+<span class = "price">50&nbsp;cts.</span></h4>
+
+
+<h4>The Dog and Sportsman.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By J. S. Skinner. <ins class = "correction" title =
+"number missing, no extra space">&nbsp;&nbsp;</ins>cts.</p>
+
+
+<h4>The Bird Keeper's Manual.
+<span class = "price">50&nbsp;cts.</span></h4>
+
+
+<h4>The American Herd Book.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By Lewis F. Allen. &nbsp; $<ins class = "correction"
+title = "number illegible: possibly '2'">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</ins></p>
+
+
+<h4>The American Orchardist.</h4>
+
+<p align = "right">
+By J. Kenrick. &nbsp; 75&nbsp;cts.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<hr>
+
+<div class = "mynote">
+<h4><a name = "spelling" id = "spelling">Spelling</a></h4>
+
+<p>
+The spellings "chesnut" and "chestnut", "turkeys" and "turkies" are used
+interchangeably; the forms "mantle piece" and "mantle-piece" occur one
+time each. The spelling "Alleghanies" is used consistently.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Rural Architecture, by Lewis Falley Allen
+
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+</pre>
+
+</body>
+
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rural Architecture, by Lewis Falley Allen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Rural Architecture
+       Being a Complete Description of Farm Houses, Cottages, and Out Buildings
+
+Author: Lewis Falley Allen
+
+Illustrator: John William Orr
+
+Release Date: December 3, 2006 [EBook #19998]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RURAL ARCHITECTURE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Louise Hope, Steven Giacomelli and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images produced by Core Historical
+Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell University)
+
+
+
+
+
+  [Transcriber's Note:
+
+  Typographical errors and inconsistencies are listed at the end of
+  the text.]
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+              RURAL ARCHITECTURE.
+
+          Being A Complete Description
+                      of
+             FARM HOUSES, COTTAGES,
+                      and
+                 OUT BUILDINGS,
+
+                   Comprising
+
+ Wood Houses, Workshops, Tool Houses, Carriage
+and Wagon Houses, Stables, Smoke and Ash Houses,
+Ice Houses, Apiary or Bee House, Poultry Houses,
+  Rabbitry, Dovecote, Piggery, Barns and Sheds
+           for Cattle, &c., &c., &c.
+
+                 Together With
+
+ Lawns, Pleasure Grounds and Parks; The Flower,
+  Fruit and Vegetable Garden. Also, Useful and
+      Ornamental Domestic Animals for the
+        Country Resident, &c., &c., &c.
+
+                     Also,
+               The Best Method Of
+ CONDUCTING WATER INTO CATTLE YARDS AND HOUSES.
+
+
+               BY LEWIS F. ALLEN.
+
+            Beautifully Illustrated.
+
+
+                   New York:
+                 C. M. SAXTON,
+          Agricultural Book Publisher.
+                     1852.
+
+
+
+
+Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852.
+By LEWIS F. ALLEN,
+In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
+Southern District of New York.
+
+
+Stereotyped by
+JEWETT, THOMAS AND CO.
+Buffalo, N.Y.
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENT.
+
+
+The writer of these pages ought, perhaps, to apologize for attempting a
+work on a subject, of which he is not a _professional_ master, either in
+design or execution. In the science of Farm buildings he claims no
+better knowledge than a long practical observation has given him. The
+thoughts herein submitted for the consideration of those interested in
+the subject of Farm buildings are the result of that observation, added
+to his experience in the use of such buildings, and a conviction of the
+inconveniences attending many of those already planned and erected.
+
+Nor is it intended, in the production of this work, to interfere with
+the labors of the professional builder. To such builder all who may be
+disposed to adopt any model or suggestion here presented, are referred,
+for the various details, in their specifications, and estimates, that
+may be required; presuming that the designs and descriptions of this
+work will be sufficient for the guidance of any master builder, in their
+erection and completion.
+
+But for the solicitation of those who believe that the undersigned could
+offer some improvements in the construction of Farm buildings for the
+benefit of our landholders and practical farmers, these pages would
+probably never have appeared. They are offered in the hope that they may
+be useful in assisting to form the taste, and add to the comfort of
+those who are the main instruments in embellishing the face of our
+country in its most pleasing and agreeable features--the American
+Farmer.
+
+LEWIS F. ALLEN.
+
+Black Rock, N.Y. 1851.
+
+
+NOTE.--For throwing the Designs embraced in these pages into their
+present artistic form, the writer is indebted to Messrs. Otis & Brown,
+architects, of Buffalo, to whose skill and experience he takes a
+pleasure in recommending such as may wish instruction in the plans,
+drawings, specifications, or estimates relating to either of the designs
+here submitted, or for others of any kind that may be adapted to their
+purposes.
+
+
+L. F. A.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                                                             Page.
+PREFATORY,                                                      9
+INTRODUCTORY,                                                  13
+General Suggestions,                                           19
+Style of Building--Miscellaneous,                              23
+Position of Farm Houses,                                       29
+Home Embellishments,                                           32
+Material for Farm Buildings,                                   37
+Outside Color of Houses,                                       42
+A Short Chapter on Taste,                                      48
+The Construction of Cellars,                                   54
+Ventilation of Houses,                                         56
+Interior Accommodation of Houses,                              65
+Chimney Tops,                                                  68
+Preliminary to our Designs,                                    69
+DESIGN I. A Farm House,                                        72
+  Interior Arrangement,                                        75
+  Ground Plan,                                                 76
+  Chamber Plan,                                                77
+  Miscellaneous,                                               80
+    As a Tenant House,                                         81
+DESIGN II. Description,                                        84
+  Ground and Chamber Plans,                                    89
+  Interior Arrangement,                                        90
+Miscellaneous Details,                                         95
+DESIGN III. Description,                                      101
+  Ground and Chamber Plans,                                   105
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       106
+  Miscellaneous,                                              111
+DESIGN IV. Description,                                       114
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       118
+  Ground Plan,                                                119
+  Chamber Plan,                                               120
+  Surrounding Plantations, Shrubbery, Walks, &c.,             125
+  Tree Planting in the Highway,                               129
+DESIGN V. Description,                                        133
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       135
+  Ground Plan,                                                136
+  Chamber Plan,                                               142
+  Construction, Cost of Building, &c.,                        147
+  Grounds, Plantations, and Surroundings,                     149
+DESIGN VI. A Southern, or Plantation House,                   154
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       159
+  Chamber Plan,                                               162
+  Carriage House,                                             163
+  Miscellaneous,                                              163
+  Lawn and Park Surroundings,                                 166
+    An Ancient New England Family,                            168
+    An American Homestead of the Last Century,                169
+    Estimate of Cost of Design VI,                            172
+DESIGN VII. A Plantation House,                               175
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       176
+  Ground Plan,                                                177
+  Chamber Plan,                                               178
+  Miscellaneous,                                              179
+LAWNS, GROUNDS, PARKS, AND WOODS,                             181
+    The Forest Trees of America,                              183
+    Influence of Trees and Forests on the Character of men,   184
+    Hillhouse and Walter Scott as Tree Planters,              187
+    Doctor Johnson, no Rural Taste,                           188
+  Fruit Garden--Orchard,                                      194
+  How to lay out a Kitchen Garden,                            197
+  Flowers,                                                    202
+    Wild Flowers of America,                                  203
+    Succession of Home Flowers,                               206
+FARM COTTAGES,                                                208
+DESIGN I, and Ground Plan,                                    213
+  Interior Arrangement                                        214
+DESIGN II, and Ground Plan,                                   216
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       216
+DESIGN III, and Ground Plan,                                  220
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       220
+DESIGN IV, and Ground Plan,                                   226
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       229
+Cottage Outside Decoration,                                   231
+    Cottages on the Skirts of Estates,                        233
+House and Cottage Furniture,                                  235
+APIARY, OR BEE HOUSE,                                         246
+  View of Apiary and Ground Plan, and description,            249
+    Mode of Taking the Honey,                                 252
+AN ICE HOUSE,                                                 258
+  Elevation and Ground Plan,                                  260
+AN ASH HOUSE AND SMOKE HOUSE,                                 264
+  Elevation and Ground Plan,                                  265
+THE POULTRY HOUSE,                                            267
+  Elevation and Ground Plan,                                  269
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       271
+THE DOVECOTE,                                                 275
+    Different Varieties of Pigeons,                           278
+A PIGGERY,                                                    279
+  Elevation and Ground Plan,                                  281
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       282
+  Construction of Piggery--Cost,                              283
+FARM BARNS,                                                   286
+DESIGN I. Description,                                        291
+  Interior Arrangement, and Main Floor Plan,                  293
+  Underground Plan, and Yard,                                 295
+DESIGN II. Description,                                       300
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       303
+  Floor Plan,                                                 304
+BARN ATTACHMENTS,                                             308
+RABBITS,                                                      311
+    Mr. Rotch's Description of his Rabbits,                   313
+    Rabbits and Hutch,                                        315
+    Dutch, and English Rabbits,                               318
+    Mode of Feeding,                                          319
+  Mr. Rodman's Rabbitry, Elevation, and Floor Plan,           322
+  Explanations,                                               323
+  Loft or Garret, Explanation,                                324
+  Cellar plan, Explanation,                                   325
+  Front and Back of Hutches, and Explanation,                 326
+DAIRY BUILDINGS,                                              330
+  Cheese Dairy House,                                         330
+  Elevation of Dairy House and Ground Plan,                   331
+  Interior Arrangement,                                       333
+  The Butter Dairy,                                           335
+THE WATER RAM,                                                237
+  Figure and Description,                                     338
+GRANARY--Rat-proof,                                           343
+IMPROVED DOMESTIC ANIMALS,                                    345
+  Short Horn Bull,                                            349
+  Short Horn Cow,                                             352
+  Devon Cow and Bull,                                         355
+  Southdown Ram and Ewe,                                      359
+  Long-wooled Ram and Ewe,                                    362
+  Common Sheep,                                               364
+    Remarks,                                                  365
+WATERFOWLS,                                                   370
+    The African Goose,                                        370
+  China Goose,                                                371
+    Bremen Goose,                                             372
+A WORD ABOUT DOGS,                                            374
+  Smooth Terrier,                                             377
+  Shepherd Dog,                                               381
+
+
+
+
+PREFATORY.
+
+
+This work owes its appearance to the absence of any cheap and popular
+book on the subject of Rural Architecture, exclusively intended for the
+farming or agricultural interest of the United States. Why it is, that
+nothing of the kind has been heretofore attempted for the chief benefit
+of so large and important a class of our community as our farmers
+comprise, is not easy to say, unless it be that they themselves have
+indicated but little wish for instruction in a branch of domestic
+economy which is, in reality, one of great importance, not only to their
+domestic enjoyment, but their pecuniary welfare. It is, too, perhaps,
+among the category of neglects, and in the lack of fidelity to their own
+interests which pervades the agricultural community of this country,
+beyond those of any other profession--for we insist that agriculture,
+in its true and extended sense, is as much a profession as any other
+pursuit whatever. To the reality of such neglects they have but of late
+awaked, and indeed are now far too slowly wheeling into line for more
+active progress in the knowledge pertaining to their own advancement. As
+an accessory to their labors in such advancement, the present work is
+intended.
+
+It is an opinion far too prevalent among those engaged in the more
+active occupations of our people,--fortified indeed in such opinion,
+by the too frequent example of the farmer himself--that everything
+connected with agriculture and agricultural life is of a rustic and
+uncouth character; that it is a profession in which ignorance, as they
+understand the term, is entirely consistent, and one with which no
+aspirations of a high or an elevated character should, or at least need
+be connected. It is a reflection upon the integrity of the great
+agricultural interest of the country, that any such opinion should
+prevail; and discreditable to that interest, that its condition or
+example should for a moment justify, or even tolerate it.
+
+Without going into any extended course of remark, we shall find ample
+reason for the indifference which has prevailed among our rural
+population, on the subject of their own domestic architecture, in the
+absence of familiar and practical works on the subject, by such as have
+given any considerable degree of thought to it; and, what little thought
+has been devoted to this branch of building, has been incidentally
+rather than directly thrown off by those professionally engaged in the
+finer architectural studies appertaining to luxury and taste, instead of
+the every-day wants of a strictly agricultural population, and, of
+consequence, understanding but imperfectly the wants and conveniences of
+the farm house in its connection with the every-day labors and
+necessities of farm life.
+
+It is not intended, in these remarks, to depreciate the efforts of those
+who have attempted to instruct our farmers in this interesting branch of
+agricultural economy. We owe them a debt of gratitude for what they have
+accomplished in the introduction of their designs to our notice; and
+when it is remarked that they are insufficient for the purposes
+intended, it may be also taken as an admission of our own neglect, that
+we have so far disregarded the subject ourselves, as to force upon
+others the duty of essaying to instruct us in a work of which we
+ourselves should long ago have been the masters.
+
+Why should a farmer, because he _is_ a farmer, only occupy an uncouth,
+outlandish house, any more than a professional man, a merchant, or a
+mechanic? Is it because he himself is so uncouth and outlandish in his
+thoughts and manners, that he deserves no better? Is it because his
+occupation is degrading, his intellect ignorant, his position in life
+low, and his associations debasing? Surely not. Yet, in many of the
+plans and designs got up for his accommodation, in the books and
+publications of the day, all due convenience, to say nothing of the
+respectability or the elegance of domestic life, is as entirely
+disregarded as if such qualities had no connection with the farmer or
+his occupation. We hold, that although many of the practical operations
+of the farm may be rough, laborious, and untidy, yet they are not, and
+need not be inconsistent with the knowledge and practice of neatness,
+order, and even elegance and refinement within doors; and, that the due
+accommodation of the various things appertaining to farm stock, farm
+labor, and farm life, should have a tendency to elevate the social
+position, the associations, thoughts, and entire condition of the
+farmer. As the man himself--no matter what his occupation--be lodged and
+fed, so influenced, in a degree, will be his practice in the daily
+duties of his life. A squalid, miserable tenement, with which they who
+inhabit it are content, can lead to no elevation of character, no
+improvement in condition, either social or moral, of its occupants. But,
+the family comfortably and tidily, although humbly provided in their
+habitation and domestic arrangements, have usually a corresponding
+character in their personal relations. A log cabin, even,--and I speak
+of this primitive American structure with profound affection and regard,
+as the shelter from which we have achieved the most of our prodigious
+and rapid agricultural conquests,--may be so constructed as to speak an
+air of neatness, intelligence, and even refinement in those who inhabit
+it.
+
+Admitting, then, without further argument, that well conditioned
+household accommodations are as important to the farmer, even to the
+indulgence of luxury itself, when it can be afforded, as for those who
+occupy other and more active pursuits, it is quite important that he be
+equally well instructed in the art of planning and arranging these
+accommodations, and in designing, also, the various other structures
+which are necessary to his wants in their fullest extent. As a question
+of economy, both in saving and accumulating, good and sufficient
+buildings are of the first consequence, in a pecuniary light, and when
+to this are added other considerations touching our social enjoyment,
+our advancement in temporal condition, our associations, our position
+and influence in life, and, not least, the decided item of national good
+taste which the introduction of good buildings throughout our extended
+agricultural country will give, we find abundant cause for effort in
+improvement.
+
+It is not intended in our remarks to convey the impression that we
+Americans, as a people, are destitute of comfortable, and, in many
+cases, quite convenient household and farm arrangements. Numerous
+farmeries in every section of the United States, particularly in the
+older ones, demonstrate most fully, that where our farmers have taken
+the trouble to _think_ on the subject, their ingenuity has been equal,
+in the items of convenient and economical arrangement of their dwellings
+and out-buildings, to their demands. But, we are forced to say, that
+such buildings have been executed, in most cases, with great neglect of
+_architectural_ system, taste, or effect; and, in many instances, to the
+utter violation of all _propriety_ in appearance, or character, as
+appertaining to the uses for which they are applied.
+
+The character of the farm should be carried out so as to _express_
+itself in everything which it contains. All should bear a consistent
+relation with each other. The former himself is a plain man. His family
+are plain people, although none the less worthy, useful, or exalted, on
+that account. His structures, of every kind, should be plain, also, yet
+substantial, where substance is required. All these detract nothing from
+his respectability or his influence in the neighborhood, the town, the
+county, or the state. A farmer has quite as much business in the field,
+or about his ordinary occupations, with ragged garments, out at elbows,
+and a crownless hat, as he has to occupy a leaky, wind-broken, and
+dilapidated house. Neither is he any nearer the mark, with a ruffled
+shirt, a fancy dress, or gloved hands, when following his plough behind
+a pair of _fancy_ horses, than in living in a finical, pretending house,
+such as we see stuck up in conspicuous places in many parts of the
+country. All these are out of place in each extreme, and the one is as
+absurd, so far as true propriety is concerned, as the other. A fitness
+of things, or a correspondence of one thing with another, should always
+be preserved upon the farm, as elsewhere; and there is not a single
+reason why propriety and good keeping should not as well distinguish it.
+Nor is there any good cause why the farmer himself should not be a man
+of taste, in the arrangement and architecture of every building on his
+place, as well as other men. It is only necessary that he devote a
+little time to study, in order to give his mind a right direction in all
+that appertains to this department. Or, if he prefer to employ the
+ingenuity of others to do his planning,--which, by the way, is, in most
+cases, the more natural and better course,--he certainly should possess
+sufficient judgment to see that such plans be correct and will answer
+his purposes.
+
+The plans and directions submitted in this work are intended to be of
+the most practical kind; plain, substantial, and applicable, throughout,
+to the purposes intended, and such as are within the reach--each in
+their kind--of every farmer in our country. These plans are chiefly
+original; that is, they are not copied from any in the books, or from
+any structures with which the writer is familiar. Yet they will
+doubtless, on examination, be found in several cases to resemble
+buildings, both in outward appearance and interior arrangement, with
+which numerous readers may be acquainted. The object, in addition to our
+own designs, has been to apply practical hints, gathered from other
+structures in use, which have seemed appropriate for a work of the
+limited extent here offered, and that may serve to improve the taste of
+all such as, in building useful structures, desire to embellish their
+farms and estates in an agreeable style of home architecture, at once
+pleasant to the eye, and convenient in their arrangement.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+The lover of country life who looks upon rural objects in the true
+spirit, and, for the first time surveys the cultivated portions of the
+United States, will be struck with the incongruous appearance and style
+of our farm houses and their contiguous buildings; and, although, on
+examination, he will find many, that in their interior accommodation,
+and perhaps relative arrangement to each other, are tolerably suited to
+the business and convenience of the husbandman, still, the feeling will
+prevail that there is an absence of method, congruity, and correct taste
+in the architectural structure of his buildings generally, by the
+American farmer.
+
+We may, in truth, be said to have no architecture at all, as exhibited
+in our agricultural districts, so far as any correct system, or plan is
+concerned, as the better taste in building, which a few years past has
+introduced among us, has been chiefly confined to our cities and towns
+of rapid growth. Even in the comparatively few buildings in the modern
+style to be seen in our farming districts, from the various requirements
+of those buildings being partially unknown to the architect and builder,
+who had their planning--and upon whom, owing to their own inexperience
+in such matters, their employers have relied--a majority of such
+dwellings have turned out, if not absolute failures, certainly not what
+the necessities of the farmer has demanded. Consequently, save in the
+mere item of outward appearance--and that, not always--the farmer and
+cottager have gained nothing, owing to the absurdity in style or
+arrangement, and want of fitness to circumstances adopted for the
+occasion.
+
+We have stated that our prevailing rural architecture is discordant in
+appearance; it may be added, that it is also uncouth, out of keeping
+with correct rules, and, ofttimes offensive to the eye of any lover of
+rural harmony. Why it is so, no matter, beyond the apology already
+given--that of an absence of cultivation, and thought upon the subject.
+It may be asked, of what consequence is it that the farmer or small
+property-holder should conform to given rules, or mode, in the style and
+arrangement of his dwelling, or out-buildings, so that they be
+reasonably convenient, and answer his purposes? For the same reason that
+he requires symmetry, excellence of form or style, in his horses, his
+cattle, or other farm stock, household furniture, or personal dress.
+It is an arrangement of artificial objects, in harmony with natural
+objects; a cultivation of the sympathies which every rational being
+should have, more or less, with true taste; that costs little or nothing
+in the attainment, and, when attained, is a source of gratification
+through life. Every human being is bound, under ordinary circumstances,
+to leave the world somewhat better, so far as his own acts or exertions
+are concerned, than he found it, in the exercise of such faculties as
+have been given him. Such duty, among thinking men, is conceded, so far
+as the moral world is concerned; and why not in the artificial? So far
+as the influence for good goes, in all practical use, from the building
+of a temple, to the knocking together of a pig-stye--a labor of years,
+or the work of a day--the exercise of a correct taste is important, in a
+degree.
+
+In the available physical features of a country, no land upon earth
+exceeds North America. From scenery the most sublime, through the
+several gradations of magnificence and grandeur, down to the simply
+picturesque and beautiful, in all variety and shade; in compass vast, or
+in area limited, we have an endless variety, and, with a pouring out of
+God's harmonies in the creation, without a parallel, inviting every
+intelligent mind to study their features and character, in adapting them
+to his own uses, and, in so doing, to even embellish--if such a thing be
+possible--such exquisite objects with his own most ingenious handiwork.
+Indeed, it is a profanation to do otherwise; and when so to improve them
+requires no extraordinary application of skill, or any extravagant
+outlay in expense, not to plan and to build in conformity with good
+taste, is an absolute barbarism, inexcusable in a land like ours, and
+among a population claiming the intelligence we do, or making but a
+share of the general progress which we exhibit.
+
+It is the idea of some, that a house or building which the farmer or
+planter occupies, should, in shape, style, and character, be like some
+of the stored-up commodities of his farm or plantation. We cannot
+subscribe to this suggestion. We know of no good reason why the walls of
+a farm house should appear like a hay rick, or its roof like the
+thatched covering to his wheat stacks, because such are the shapes best
+adapted to preserve his crops, any more than the grocer's habitation
+should be made to imitate a tea chest, or the shipping merchant's a rum
+puncheon, or cotton bale. We have an idea that the farmer, or the
+planter, according to his means and requirements, should be as well
+housed and accommodated, and in as agreeable style, too, as any other
+class of community; not in like character, in all things, to be sure,
+but in his own proper way and manner. Nor do we know why a farm house
+should assume a peculiarly primitive or uncultivated style of
+architecture, from other sensible houses. That it be a _farm_ house, is
+sufficiently apparent from its locality upon the farm itself; that its
+interior arrangement be for the convenience of the in-door farm work,
+and the proper accommodation of the farmer's family, should be quite as
+apparent; but, that it should assume an uncouth or clownish aspect, is
+as unnecessary as that the farmer himself should be a boor in his
+manners, or a dolt in his intellect.
+
+The farm, in its proper cultivation, is the foundation of all human
+prosperity, and from it is derived the main wealth of the community.
+From the farm chiefly springs that energetic class of men, who replace
+the enervated and physically decaying multitude continually thrown off
+in the waste-weir of our great commercial and manufacturing cities and
+towns, whose population, without the infusion--and that continually--of
+the strong, substantial, and vigorous life blood of the country, would
+soon dwindle into insignificance and decrepitude. Why then should not
+this first, primitive, health-enjoying and life-sustaining class of our
+people be equally accommodated in all that gives to social and
+substantial life, its due development? It is absurd to deny them by
+others, or that they deny themselves, the least of such advantages, or
+that any mark of _caste_ be attempted to separate them from any other
+class or profession of equal wealth, means, or necessity. It is quite as
+well to say that the farmer should worship on the Sabbath in a
+_meeting-house_, built after the fashion of his barn, or that his
+district school house should look like a stable, as that his dwelling
+should not exhibit all that cheerfulness and respectability in form and
+feature which belongs to the houses of any class of our population
+whatever. Not that the farm house should be like the town or the village
+house, in character, style, or architecture, but that it should, in its
+own proper character, express all the comfort, repose, and quietude
+which belong to the retired and thoughtful occupation of him who
+inhabits it. Sheltered in its own secluded, yet independent domain, with
+a cheerful, _intelligent_ exterior, it should exhibit all the
+pains-taking in home embellishment and rural decoration that becomes its
+position, and which would make it an object of attraction and regard.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+              RURAL ARCHITECTURE.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+GENERAL SUGGESTIONS.
+
+
+In ascertaining what is desirable to the conveniences, or the
+necessities in our household arrangement, it may be not unprofitable to
+look about us, and consider somewhat, the existing condition of the
+structures too many of us now inhabit, and which, in the light of true
+fitness for the objects designed, are inconvenient, absurd, and out of
+all harmony of purpose; yet, under the guidance of a better skill, and a
+moderate outlay, might be well adapted, in most cases, to our
+convenience and comfort, and quite well, to a reasonable standard of
+taste in architectural appearance.
+
+At the threshold--not of the house, but of this treatise--it may be well
+to remark that it is not here assumed that there has been neither skill,
+ingenuity, nor occasional good taste exhibited, for many generations
+back, in the United States, in the construction of farm and country
+houses. On the contrary, there are found in the older states many farm
+and country houses that are almost models, in their way, for convenience
+in the main purposes required of structures of their kind, and such as
+can hardly be altered for the better. Such, however, form the exception,
+not the rule; yet instead of standing as objects for imitation, they
+have been ruled out as antiquated, and unfit for modern builders to
+consult, who have in the introduction of some real improvements, also
+left out, or discarded much that is valuable, and, where true comfort is
+concerned, indispensable to perfect housekeeping. Alteration is not
+always improvement, and in the rage for innovation of all kinds, among
+much that is valuable, a great deal in house-building has been
+introduced that is absolutely pernicious. Take, for instance, some of
+our ancient-looking country houses of the last century, which, in
+America, we call old. See their ample dimensions; their heavy, massive
+walls; their low, comfortable ceilings; their high gables; sharp roofs;
+deep porches, and spreading eaves, and contrast them with the ambitious,
+tall, proportionless, and card-sided things of a modern date, and draw
+the comparison in true comfort, which the ancient mansion really
+affords, by the side of the other. Bating its huge chimneys, its wide
+fire-places, its heavy beams dropping below the ceiling overhead, and
+the lack of some modern conveniences, which, to be added, would give all
+that is desired, and every man possessed of a proper judgment will
+concede the superiority to the house of the last century.
+
+That American house-building of the last fifty years is out of joint,
+requires no better proof than that the main improvements which have been
+applied to our rural architecture, are in the English style of farm and
+country houses of two or three centuries ago; so, in that particular, we
+acknowledge the better taste and judgment of our ancestors. True, modern
+luxury, and in some particulars, modern improvement has made obsolete,
+if not absurd, many things considered indispensable in a ruder age. The
+wide, rambling halls and rooms; the huge, deep fire-places in the
+chimneys; the proximity of out-buildings, and the contiguity of stables,
+ricks, and cattle-yards--all these are wisely contracted, dispensed
+with, or thrown off to a proper distance; but instead of such style
+being abandoned altogether, as has too often been done, the house itself
+might better have been partially reformed, and the interior arrangement
+adapted to modern convenience. Such changes have in some instances been
+made; and when so, how often does the old mansion, with outward features
+in good preservation, outspeak, in all the expression of home-bred
+comforts, the flashy, gimcrack neighbor, which in its plenitude of
+modern pretension looks so flauntingly down upon it!
+
+We cannot, in the United States, consistently adopt the domestic
+architecture of any other country, throughout, to our use. We are
+different in our institutions, our habits, our agriculture, our
+climates. Utility is our chief object, and coupled with that, the
+indulgence of an agreeable taste may be permitted to every one who
+creates a home for himself, or founds one for his family. The frequent
+changes of estates incident to our laws, and the many inducements held
+out to our people to change their locality or residence, in the hope of
+bettering their condition, is a strong hindrance to the adoption of a
+universally correct system in the construction of our buildings;
+deadening, as the effect of such changes, that home feeling which should
+be a prominent trait of agricultural character. An attachment to
+locality is not a conspicuous trait of American character; and if there
+be a people on earth boasting a high civilization and intelligence, who
+are at the same time a roving race, the Americans are that people; and
+we acknowledge it a blemish in our domestic and social constitution.
+
+Such remark is not dropped invidiously, but as a reason why we have thus
+far made so little progress in the arts of home embellishment, and in
+clustering about our habitations those innumerable attractions which win
+us to them sufficiently to repel the temptation so often presented to
+our enterprise, our ambition, or love of gain--and these not always
+successful--in seeking other and distant places of abode. If, then, this
+tendency to change--a want of attachment to any one spot--is a reason
+why we have been so indifferent to domestic architecture; and if the
+study and practice of a better system of building tends to cultivate a
+home feeling, why should it not be encouraged? Home attachment is a
+virtue. Therefore let that virtue be cherished. And if any one study
+tend to exalt our taste, and promote our enjoyment, let us cultivate
+that study to the highest extent within our reach.
+
+
+
+
+STYLE OF BUILDING.--MISCELLANEOUS.
+
+
+Diversified as are the features of our country in climate, soil,
+surface, and position, no one style of rural architecture is properly
+adapted to the whole; and it is a gratifying incident to the indulgence
+in a variety of taste, that we possess the opportunity which we desire
+in its display to almost any extent in mode and effect. The Swiss chalet
+may hang in the mountain pass; the pointed Gothic may shoot up among the
+evergreens of the rugged hill-side; the Italian roof, with its
+overlooking campanile, may command the wooded slope or the open plain;
+or the quaint and shadowy style of the old English mansion, embosomed in
+its vines and shrubbery, may nestle in the quiet, shaded valley, all
+suited to their respective positions, and each in harmony with the
+natural features by which it is surrounded. Nor does the effect which
+such structures give to the landscape in an ornamental point of view,
+require that they be more imposing in character than the necessities of
+the occasion may demand. True economy demands a structure sufficiently
+spacious to accommodate its occupants in the best manner, so far as
+convenience and comfort are concerned in a dwelling; and its conformity
+to just rules in architecture need not be additionally expensive or
+troublesome. He who builds at all, if it be anything beyond a rude or
+temporary shelter, may as easily and cheaply build in accordance with
+correct rules of architecture, as against such rules; and it no more
+requires an extravagance in cost or a wasteful occupation of room to
+produce a given effect in a house suited to humble means, than in one of
+profuse accommodation. Magnificence, or the attempt at magnificence in
+building, is the great fault with Americans who aim to build out of the
+common line; and the consequence of such attempt is too often a failure,
+apparent, always, at a glance, and of course a perfect condemnation in
+itself of the judgment as well as taste of him who undertakes it.
+
+Holding our tenures as we do, with no privilege of entail to our
+posterity, an eye to his own interest, or to that of his family who is
+to succeed to his estate, should admonish the builder of a house to the
+adoption of a plan which will, in case of the sale of the estate,
+involve no serious loss. He should build such a house as will be no
+detriment, in its expense, to the selling value of the land on which it
+stands, and always fitted for the spot it occupies. Hence, an imitation
+of the high, extended, castellated mansions of England, or the
+Continent, although in miniature, are altogether unsuited to the
+American farmer or planter, whose lands, instead of increasing in his
+family, are continually subject to division, or to sale in mass, on his
+own demise; and when the estate is encumbered with unnecessarily large
+and expensive buildings, they become an absolute drawback to its value
+in either event. An expensive house requires a corresponding expense to
+maintain it, otherwise its effect is lost, and many a worthy owner of a
+costly mansion has been driven to sell and abandon his estate
+altogether, from his unwillingness or inability to support "the
+establishment" which it entailed; when, if the dwelling were only such
+as the estate required and could reasonably maintain, a contented and
+happy home would have remained to himself and family. It behooves,
+therefore, the American builder to examine well his premises, to
+ascertain the actual requirements of his farm or plantation, in
+convenience and accommodation, and build only to such extent, and at
+such cost as shall not impoverish his means, nor cause him future
+disquietude.
+
+Another difficulty with us is, that we oftener build to gratify the eyes
+of the public than our own, and fit up our dwellings to accommodate
+"company" or visitors, rather than our own families; and in the
+indulgence of this false notion, subject ourselves to perpetual
+inconvenience for the gratification of occasional hospitality or
+ostentation. This is all wrong. A house should be planned and
+constructed for the use of the household, with _incidental_
+accommodation for our immediate friends or guests--which can always be
+done without sacrifice to the comfort or convenience of the regular
+inmates. In this remark, a stinted and parsimonious spirit is not
+suggested. A liberal appropriation of rooms in every department; a spare
+chamber or two, or an additional room on the ground floor, looking to a
+possible increase of family, and the indulgence of an easy hospitality,
+should always govern the resident of the country in erecting his
+dwelling. The enjoyments of society and the intercourse of friends,
+sharing for the time, our own table and fireside, is a crowning pleasure
+of country life; and all this may be done without extraordinary expense,
+in a wise construction of the dwelling.
+
+The farm house too, should comport in character and area with the extent
+and capacity of the farm itself, and the main design for which it is
+erected. To the farmer proper--he who lives from the income which the
+farm produces--it is important to know the extent of accommodation
+required for the economical management of his estate, and then to build
+in accordance with it, as well as to suit his own position in life, and
+the station which he and his family hold in society. The owner of a
+hundred acre farm, living upon the income he receives from it, will
+require less house room than he who tills equally well his farm of
+three, six, or ten hundred acres. Yet the numbers in their respective
+families, the relative position of each in society, or their taste for
+social intercourse may demand a larger or smaller household arrangement,
+regardless of the size of their estates; still, the dwellings on each
+should bear, in extent and expense, a consistent relation to the land
+itself, and the means of its owner. For instance: a farm of one hundred
+acres may safely and economically erect and maintain a house costing
+eight hundred to two thousand dollars, while one of five hundred to a
+thousand acres may range in an expenditure of twenty-five hundred to
+five thousand dollars in its dwelling, and all be consistent with a
+proper economy in farm management.
+
+Let it be understood, that the above sums are named as simply comporting
+with a financial view of the subject, and such as the economical
+management of the estate may warrant. To one who has no regard to such
+consideration, this rule of expenditure will not apply. He may invest
+any amount he so chooses in building beyond, if he only be content to
+pocket the loss which he can never expect to be returned in an increased
+value to the property, over and above the price of cheaper buildings. On
+the other hand, he would do well to consider that a farm is frequently
+worth less to an ordinary purchaser, with an extravagant house upon it,
+than with an economical one, and in many cases will bring even less in
+market, in proportion as the dwelling is expensive. _Fancy_ purchasers
+are few, and fastidious, while he who buys only for a home and an
+occupation, is governed solely by the profitable returns the estate will
+afford upon the capital invested.
+
+There is again a grand error which many fall into in building, looking
+as they do only at the extent of wood and timber; or stone and mortar in
+the structure, and paying no attention to the surroundings, which in
+most cases contribute more to the effect of the establishment than the
+structure itself, and which, if uncultivated or neglected, any amount of
+expenditure in building will fail to give that completeness and
+perfection of character which every homestead should command. Thus the
+tawdry erections in imitation of a cast-off feudalism in Europe, or a
+copying of the massive piles of more recent date abroad, although in
+miniature, both in extent and cost, is the sheerest affectation, in
+which no sensible man should ever indulge. It is out of all keeping, or
+propriety with other things, as we in this country have them, and the
+indulgence of all such fancies is sooner or later regretted. Substance,
+convenience, purpose, harmony--all, perhaps, better summed up in the
+term EXPRESSION--these are the objects which should govern the
+construction of our dwellings and out-buildings, and in their observance
+we can hardly err in the acquisition of what will promote the highest
+enjoyment which a dwelling can bestow.
+
+
+
+
+POSITION.
+
+
+The site of a dwelling should be an important study with every country
+builder; for on this depends much of its utility, and in addition to
+that, a large share of the enjoyment which its occupation will afford.
+Custom, in many parts of the United States, in the location of the farm
+buildings, gives advantages which are denied in others. In the south,
+and in the slave states generally, the planter builds, regardless of
+roads, on the most convenient site his plantation presents; the farmer
+of German descent, in Pennsylvania and some other states, does the same:
+while the Yankee, be he settled where he will, either in the east,
+north, or west, inexorably huddles himself immediately upon the highway,
+whether his possessions embrace both sides of it or not, disregarding
+the facilities of access to his fields, the convenience of tilling his
+crops, or the character of the ground which his buildings may occupy,
+seeming to have no other object than proximity to the road--as if his
+chief business was upon that, instead of its being simply a convenience
+to his occupation. To the last, but little choice is left; and so long
+as a close connection with the thoroughfare is to control, he is obliged
+to conform to accident in what should be a matter of deliberate choice
+and judgment. Still, there are right and wrong positions for a house,
+which it is necessary to discuss, regardless of conventional rules, and
+they should be considered in the light of propriety alone.
+
+A fitness to the purposes for which the dwelling is constructed should,
+unquestionably, be the governing point in determining its position. The
+site should be dry, and slightly declining, if possible, on every side;
+but if the surface be level, or where water occasionally flows from
+contiguous grounds, or on a soil naturally damp, it should be thoroughly
+drained of all superfluous moisture. That is indispensable to the
+preservation of the house itself, and the health of its inmates. The
+house should so stand as to present an agreeable aspect from the main
+points at which it is seen, or the thoroughfares by which it is
+approached. It should be so arranged as to afford protection from wind
+and storm, to that part most usually occupied, as well as be easy of
+access to the out-buildings appended to it. It should have an
+unmistakable front, sides, and rear; and the uses to which its various
+parts are applied, should distinctly appear in its outward character.
+It should combine all the advantages of soil, cultivation, water, shade,
+and shelter, which the most liberal gratification, consistent with the
+circumstances of the owner, may demand. If a site on the estate command
+a prospect of singular beauty, other things equal, the dwelling should
+embrace it; if the luxury of a stream, or a sheet of water in repose,
+present itself, it should, if possible, be enjoyed; if the shade and
+protection of a grove be near, its benefits should be included; in fine,
+any object in itself desirable, and not embarrassing to the main
+purposes of the dwelling and its appendages, should be turned to the
+best account, and appropriated in such manner as to combine all that is
+desirable both in beauty and effect, as well as in utility, to make up a
+perfect whole in the family residence.
+
+Attached to the building site should be considered the quality of the
+soil, as affording cultivation and growth to shrubbery and trees,--at
+once the ornament most effective to all domestic buildings, grateful to
+the eye always, as objects of admiration and beauty--delightful in the
+repose they offer in hours of lassitude or weariness; and to them, that
+indispensable feature in a perfect arrangement, the garden, both fruit
+and vegetable, should be added. Happily for the American, our soils are
+so universally adapted to the growth of vegetation in all its varieties,
+that hardly a farm of considerable size can be found which does not
+afford tolerable facilities for the exercise of all the taste which one
+may indulge in the cultivation of the garden as well as in the planting
+and growth of trees and shrubbery; and a due appropriation of these to
+an agreeable residence is equal in importance to the style and
+arrangement of the house itself.
+
+The site selected for the dwelling, and the character of the scenery and
+objects immediately surrounding it, should have a controlling influence
+upon the style in which the house is to be constructed. A fitness and
+harmony in all these is indispensable to both expression and effect. And
+in their determination, a single object should not control, but the
+entire picture, as completed, should be embraced in the view; and that
+style of building constituting the most agreeable whole, as filling the
+eye with the most grateful sensations, should be the one selected with
+which to fill up and complete the design.
+
+
+
+
+HOME EMBELLISHMENTS.
+
+
+A discussion of the objects by way of embellishment, which may be
+required to give character and effect to a country residence, would
+embrace a range too wide, in all its parts, for a simply practical
+treatise like this; and general hints on the subject are all indeed,
+that will be required, as no specific rules or directions can be given
+which would be applicable, indiscriminately, to guide the builder in the
+execution of his work. A dwelling house, no matter what the style,
+standing alone, either on hill or plain, apart from other objects, would
+hardly be an attractive sight. As a mere representation of a particular
+style of architecture, or as a model of imitation, it might excite our
+admiration, but it would not be an object on which the eye and the
+imagination could repose with satisfaction. It would be incomplete
+unless accompanied by such associates as the eye is accustomed to
+embrace in the full gratification of the sensations to which that organ
+is the conductor. But assemble around that dwelling subordinate
+structures, trees, and shrubbery properly disposed, and it becomes an
+object of exceeding interest and pleasure in the contemplation. It is
+therefore, that the particular style or outward arrangement of the house
+is but a part of what should constitute the general effect, and such
+style is to be consulted only so far as it may in itself please the
+taste, and give benefit or utility in the purposes for which it is
+intended. Still, the architectural design should be in harmony with the
+features of the surrounding scenery, and is thus important in completing
+the effect sought, and which cannot be accomplished without it.
+
+A farm with its buildings, or a simple country residence with the
+grounds which enclose it, or a cottage with its door-yard and garden,
+should be finished sections of the landscape of which it forms a part,
+or attractive points within it; and of consequence, complete each within
+itself, and not dependent upon distant accessories to support it--an
+_imperium in imperio_, in classic phrase. A tower, a monument, a
+steeple, or the indistinct outline of a distant town may form a striking
+feature in a pictorial design and the associations connected with them,
+or, the character in which they are contemplated may allow them to stand
+naked and unadorned by other objects, and still permit them to fill up
+in perfect harmony the picture. This idea will illustrate the importance
+of embellishment, not only in the substitution of trees as necessary
+appendages to a complete rural establishment, but in the erection of all
+the buildings necessary for occupation in any manner, in form and
+position, to give effect from any point of view in which the homestead
+may be seen. General appearance should not be confined to one quarter
+alone, but the house and its surroundings on every side should show
+completeness in design and harmony in execution; and although humble,
+and devoted to the meanest purposes, a portion of these erections may
+be, yet the character of utility or necessity which they maintain, gives
+them an air of dignity, if not of grace. Thus, a house and out-buildings
+flanked with orchards, or a wood, on which they apparently fall back for
+support, fills the eye at once with not only a beautiful group, in
+themselves combined, but associate the idea of repose, of comfort, and
+abundance--indispensable requisites to a perfect farm residence. They
+also seem to connect the house and out-buildings with the fields beyond,
+which are of necessity naked of trees, and gradually spread the view
+abroad over the farm until it mingles with, or is lost in the general
+landscape.
+
+These remarks may seem too refined, and as out of place here, and
+trenching upon the subject of Landscape Gardening, which is not designed
+to be a part, or but an incidental one of the present work, yet they are
+important in connection with the subject under discussion. The proper
+disposition of trees and shrubbery around, or in the vicinity of
+buildings is far too little understood, although tree planting about our
+dwellings is a practice pretty general throughout our country. Nothing
+is more common than to see a man build a house, perhaps in most
+elaborate and expensive style, and then plant a row of trees close upon
+the front, which when grown will shut it almost entirely out of view;
+while he leaves the rear as bald and unprotected as if it were a barn or
+a horse-shed--as if in utter ignorance, as he probably is, that his
+house is more effectively set off by a _flanking_ and _background_ of
+tree and shrubbery, than in front. And this is called good taste! Let us
+examine it. Trees near a dwelling are desirable for shade; _shelter_
+they do not afford except in masses, which last is always better given
+to the house itself by a veranda. Immediately adjoining, or within
+touching distance of a house, trees create dampness, more or less
+litter, and frequently vermin. They injure the walls and roofs by their
+continual shade and dampness. They exclude the rays of the sun, and
+prevent a free circulation of air. Therefore, _close_ to the house,
+trees are absolutely pernicious, to say nothing of excluding all its
+architectural effect from observation; when, if planted at proper
+distances, they compose its finest ornaments.
+
+If it be necessary to build in good taste at all, it is quite as
+necessary that such good taste be kept in view throughout. A country
+dwelling should always be a conspicuous object in its full character and
+outline, from one or more prominent points of observation; consequently
+all plantations of tree or shrubbery in its immediate vicinity should be
+considered as aids to show off the house and its appendages, instead of
+becoming the principal objects of attraction in themselves. Their
+disposition should be such as to create a perfect and agreeable whole,
+when seen in connection with the house itself. They should also be so
+placed as to open the surrounding landscape to view in its most
+attractive features, from the various parts of the dwelling. Much in the
+effective disposition of trees around the dwelling will thus depend upon
+the character of the country seen from it, and which should control to a
+great extent their position. A single tree, of grand and stately
+dimensions, will frequently give greater effect than the most studied
+plantations. A ledge of rock, in the clefts of which wild vines may
+nestle, or around which a mass of shrubbery may cluster, will add a
+charm to the dwelling which an elaborate cultivation would fail to
+bestow; and the most negligent apparel of nature in a thousand ways may
+give a character which we might strive in vain to accomplish by our own
+invention. In the efforts to embellish our dwellings or grounds, the
+strong natural objects with which they are associated should be
+consulted, always keeping in view an _expression_ of the chief character
+to which the whole is applied.
+
+
+
+
+MATERIAL FOR FARM BUILDINGS.
+
+
+In a country like ours, containing within its soils and upon its surface
+such an abundance and variety of building material, the composition of
+our farm erections must depend in most cases upon the ability or the
+choice of the builder himself.
+
+Stone is the most durable, in the long run the cheapest, and as a
+consequence, the _best_ material which can be furnished for the walls of
+a dwelling. With other farm buildings circumstances may govern
+differently; still, in many sections of the United States, even stone
+cannot be obtained, except at an expense and inconvenience altogether
+forbidding its use. Yet it is a happy relief that where stone is
+difficult, or not at all to be obtained, the best of clay for bricks,
+is abundant; and in almost all parts of our country, even where building
+timber is scarce, its transportation is so comparatively light, and the
+facilities of removing it are so cheap, that wood is accessible to every
+one. Hence we may indulge in almost every fitting style of architecture
+and arrangement, to which either kind of these materials are best
+adapted. We shall slightly discuss them as applicable to our purposes.
+
+Stone is found either on the surface, or in quarries under ground.
+On the surface they lie chiefly as bowlders of less or greater size,
+usually of hard and durable kinds. Large bowlders may be either blasted,
+or split with wedges into sufficiently available shapes to lay in walls
+with mortar; or if small, they may with a little extra labor, be fitted
+by the aid of good mortar into equally substantial wall as the larger
+masses. In quarries they are thrown out, either by blasting or splitting
+in layers, so as to form regular courses when laid up; and all their
+varieties may, _unhammered_, except to strike off projecting points or
+angles, be laid up with a sufficiently smooth face to give fine effect
+to a building. Thus, when easily obtained, aside from the greater
+advantages of their durability, stone is as cheap in the first instance
+as lumber, excepting in new districts of country where good building
+lumber is the chief article of production, and cheaper than brick in any
+event. Stone requires no paint. Its color is a natural, therefore an
+agreeable one, be it usually what it may, although some shades are more
+grateful to the eye than others; yet it is always in harmony with
+natural objects, and particularly so on the farm where everything ought
+to wear the most substantial appearance. The outer walls of a stone
+house should always be _firred_ off inside for _lathing_ and plastering,
+to keep them thoroughly dry. Without that, the rooms are liable to
+dampness, which would penetrate through the stone into the inside
+plastering unless cut off by an open space of air between.
+
+Bricks, where stone is not found, supply its place tolerably well. When
+made of good clay, rightly tempered with sand, and well burned, they
+will in a wall remain for centuries, and as far as material is
+concerned, answer all purposes. Brick walls may be thinner than stone
+walls, but they equally require "firring off" for inside plastering, and
+in addition, they need the aid of paint quite as often as wood, to give
+them an agreeable color--bricks themselves not usually being in the
+category of desirable colors or shades.
+
+Wood, when abundant and easily obtained, is worked with the greatest
+facility, and on many accounts, is the cheapest material, _for the
+time_, of which a building can be constructed. But it is perishable. It
+requires every few years a coat of paint, and is always associated with
+the idea of decay. Yet wood may be moulded into an infinite variety of
+form to please the eye, in the indulgence of any peculiar taste or
+fancy.
+
+We cannot, in the consideration of material for house-building
+therefore, urge upon the farmer the adoption of either of the above
+named materials to the preference of another, in any particular
+structure he may require; but leave him to consult his own circumstances
+in regard to them, as best he may. But this we will say: _If it be
+possible_, never lay a _cellar_ or underground wall of perishable
+material, such as wood or soft bricks; nor build with soft or _unburnt_
+bricks in a wall exposed to the weather _anywhere;_ nor with stone which
+is liable to crumble or disintegrate by the action of frost or water
+upon it. We are aware that unburnt bricks have been strongly recommended
+for house-building in America; but from observation, we are fully
+persuaded that they are worthless for any _permanent_ structure, and if
+used, will in the end prove a dead loss in their application. Cottages,
+out-buildings, and other cheap erections on the farm, for the
+accommodation of laborers, stock, or crops, may be made of wood, where
+wood is the cheapest and most easily obtained; and, even taking its
+perishable nature into account, it may be the most economical. In their
+construction, it may be simply a matter of calculation with him who
+needs them, to calculate the first cost of any material he has at hand,
+or may obtain, and to that add the interest upon it, the annual wear and
+tear, the insurance, and the period it may last, to determine this
+matter to his entire satisfaction--always provided he have the means at
+hand to do either. But other considerations generally control the
+American farmer. His pocket is apt more often to be pinched, than his
+choice is to be at fault; and this weighty argument compels him into the
+"make shift" system, which perhaps in its results, provided the main
+chance be attained, is quite as advantageous to his interests as the
+other.
+
+As a general remark, all buildings should show for themselves, what they
+are built of. Let stone be stone; bricks show on their own account; and
+of all things, put no counterfeit by way of plaster, stucco, or other
+false pretence other than paint, or a durable wash upon wood: it is a
+miserable affectation always, and of no possible use whatever. All
+counterfeit of any kind as little becomes the buildings of the farmer,
+as the gilded _pinchbeck_ watch would fit the finished attire of a
+gentleman.
+
+Before submitting the several designs proposed for this work, it may be
+remarked, that in addressing them to a climate strictly American, we
+have in every instance adopted the wide, steeply-pitched roof, with
+broad eaves, gables and cornices, as giving protection, shade, and
+shelter to the walls; thus keeping them dry and in good preservation,
+and giving that well housed, and comfortable expression, so different
+from the stiff, pinched, and tucked-up look in which so many of the
+haberdasher-built houses of the present day exult.
+
+We give some examples of the hipped roof, because they are convenient
+and cheap in their construction; and we also throw into the designs a
+lateral direction to the roofs of the wings, or connecting parts of the
+building. This is sometimes done for effect in architectural appearance,
+and sometimes for the economy and advantage of the building itself.
+Where roofs thus intersect or connect with a side wall, the connecting
+gutters should be made of copper, zinc, lead, galvanized iron, or tin,
+into which the shingles, if they be covered with that material, should
+be laid so as to effectually prevent leakage. The _eave gutters_ should
+be of copper, zinc, lead, galvanized iron or tin, also, and placed _at
+least_ one foot back from the edge of the roof, and lead the water into
+conductors down the wall into the cistern or elsewhere, as may be
+required. If the water be not needed, and the roof be wide over the
+walls, there is no objection to let it pass off naturally, if it be no
+inconvenience to the ground below, and can run off, or be absorbed into
+the ground without detriment to the cellar walls. All this must be
+subject to the judgment of the proprietor himself.
+
+
+
+
+OUTSIDE COLOR.
+
+
+We are not among those who cast off, and on a sudden condemn, as out of
+all good taste, the time-honored white house with its green blinds,
+often so tastefully gleaming out from beneath the shade of summer trees;
+nor do we doggedly adhere to it, except when in keeping, by contrast or
+otherwise, with everything around it. For a century past white has been
+the chief color of our wooden houses, and often so of brick ones, in the
+United States. This color has been supposed to be strong and durable,
+being composed chiefly of white lead; and as it _reflected_ the rays of
+the sun instead of _absorbing_ them, as some of the darker colors do, it
+was thus considered a better preserver of the weather-boarding from the
+cracks which the fervid heat of the sun is apt to make upon it, than the
+darker colors. White, consequently, has always been considered, until
+within a few years past, as a fitting and _tasteful_ color for
+dwellings, both in town and country. A new school of _taste_ in colors
+has risen, however, within a few years past, among us; about the same
+time, too, that the recent gingerbread and beadwork style of country
+building was introduced. And these were both, as all _new_ things are
+apt to be, carried to extremes. Instead of _toning_ down the glare of
+the white into some quiet, neutral shade, as a straw color; a drab of
+different hues--always an agreeable and appropriate color for a
+dwelling, particularly when the door and window casings are dressed with
+a deeper or lighter shade, as those shades predominate in the main body
+of the house; or a natural and soft _wood_ color, which also may be of
+various shades; or even the warm russet hue of some of our rich
+stones--quite appropriate, too, as applied to wood, or bricks--the
+_fashion_ must be followed without either rhyme or reason, and hundreds
+of our otherwise pretty and imposing country houses have been daubed
+over with the dirtiest, gloomiest pigment imaginable, making every
+habitation which it touched look more like a funeral appendage than a
+cheerful, life-enjoying home. We candidly say that we have no sort of
+affection for such sooty daubs. The fashion which dictates them is a
+barbarous, false, and arbitrary fashion; void of all natural taste in
+its inception; and to one who has a cheerful, life-loving spirit about
+him, such colors have no more fitness on his dwelling or out-buildings,
+than a tomb would have in his lawn or dooryard.
+
+Locality, amplitude of the buildings, the purpose to which they are
+applied--every consideration connected with them, in fact, should be
+consulted, as to color. Stone will give its own color; which, by the
+way, some prodigiously smart folks _paint_--quite as decorous or
+essential, as to "paint the lily." Brick sometimes must be painted, but
+it should be of a color in keeping with its character,--of substance and
+dignity; not a counterfeit of stone, or to cheat him who looks upon it
+into a belief that it may be marble, or other unfounded pretension.
+A _warm_ russet is most appropriate for brick-work of any kind of
+color--the color of a russet apple, or undressed leather--shades that
+comport with Milton's beautiful idea of
+
+  "_Russet_ lawns and fallows _gray_."
+
+Red and yellow are both too glaring, and slate, or lead colors too
+somber and cold. It is, in fact, a strong argument in favor of bricks in
+building, where they can be had as cheap as stone or wood, that any
+color can be given to them which the good taste of the builder may
+require, in addition to their durability, which, when made of good
+material, and properly burned, is quite equal to stone. In a wooden
+structure one may play with his fancy in the way of color, minding in
+the operation, that he does not play the mountebank, and like the clown
+in the circus, make his tattooed tenement the derision of men of correct
+taste, as the other does his burlesque visage the ridicule of his
+auditors.
+
+A _wooden_ country house, together with its out-buildings, should always
+be of a cheerful and softly-toned color--a color giving a feeling of
+warmth and comfort; nothing glaring or flashy about it. And yet, such
+buildings should not, in their color, any more than in their
+architecture, appear as if _imitating_ either stone or brick. Wood, of
+itself, is light. One cannot build a _heavy_ house of wood, as compared
+with brick or stone. Therefore all imitation or device which may lead to
+a belief that it may be other than what it really is, is nothing less
+than a fraud--not criminal, we admit, but none the less a fraud upon
+good taste and architectural truth.
+
+It is true that in this country we cannot afford to place in stone and
+brick buildings those ornate trimmings and appendages which, perhaps, if
+economy were not to be consulted, might be more durably constructed of
+stone, but at an expense too great to be borne by those of moderate
+means. Yet it is not essential that such appendages should be of so
+expensive material. The very purposes to which they are applied, as a
+parapet, a railing, a balustrade, a portico, piazza, or porch; all these
+may be of wood, even when the material of the house _proper_ is of the
+most durable kind; and by being painted in keeping with the building
+itself, produce a fine effect, and do no violence to good taste or the
+most fastidious propriety. They may be even sanded to a color, and
+grained, stained, or otherwise brought to an identity, almost, with the
+material of the house, and be quite proper, because they simply are
+_appendages_ of convenience, necessity, or luxury, to the building
+itself, and may be taken away without injuring or without defacing the
+main structure. They are not a _material_ part of the building itself,
+but reared for purposes which may be dispensed with. It is a matter of
+taste or preference, that they were either built there, or that they
+remain permanently afterward, and of consequence, proper that they be of
+wood. Yet they should not _imitate_ stone or brick. They should still
+show that they _are_ of wood, but in color and outside preservation
+denote that they are appendages to a _stone_ or _brick_ house, by
+complying with the proper shades in color which predominate in the
+building itself, and become their own subordinate character.
+
+Not being a professional painter, or compounder of colors, we shall
+offer no receipts or specifics for painting or washing buildings.
+Climate affects the composition of both paints and washes, and those who
+are competent in this line, are the proper persons to dictate their
+various compositions; and we do but common justice to the skill and
+intelligence of our numerous mechanics, when we recommend to those who
+contemplate building, to apply forthwith to such as are masters of their
+trade for all the information they require on the various subjects
+connected with it. One who sets out to be his own architect, builder,
+and painter, is akin to the lawyer in the proverb, who has a fool for
+his client, when pleading his own case, and quite as apt to have quack
+in them all. Hints, general outlines, and oftentimes matters of detail
+in interior convenience, and many other minor affairs may be given by
+the proprietor, when he is neither a professional architect, mechanic,
+or even an amateur; but in all things affecting the _substantial_ and
+important parts of his buildings, he should consult those who are
+proficient and experienced in the department on which he consults them.
+And it may perhaps be added that none _professing_ to be such, are
+competent, unless well instructed, and whose labors have met the
+approbation of those competent to judge.
+
+There is one kind of color, prevailing to a great extent in many parts
+of our country, particularly the northern and eastern, which, in its
+effect upon any one having an eye to a fitness of things in country
+buildings, is a monstrous perversion of good taste. That is the glaring
+red, made up of Venetian red, ochre, or Spanish brown, with doors and
+windows touched off with white. The only apology we have ever heard
+given for such a barbarism was, that it is a good, strong, and lasting
+color. We shall not go into an examination as to that fact, but simply
+answer, that if it be so, there are other colors, not more expensive,
+which are equally strong and durable, and infinitely more tasteful and
+fitting. There can be nothing less comporting with the simplicity of
+rural scenery, than a glaring red color on a building. It _connects_
+with nothing natural about it; it neither _fades_ into any surrounding
+shade of soil or vegetation, and must of necessity, stand out in its own
+bold and unshrouded impudence, a perfect Ishmaelite in color, and a
+perversion of every thing harmonious in the design. We eschew _red_,
+therefore, from every thing in rural architecture.
+
+
+
+
+A SHORT CHAPTER ON TASTE.
+
+
+The compound words, or terms _good-taste_ and _bad-taste_ have been used
+in the preceding pages without, perhaps, sufficiently explaining what is
+meant by the word _taste_, other than as giving vague and unsatisfactory
+terms to the reader in measuring the subject in hand. _Taste_ is a term
+universally applied in criticism of the fine-arts, such as painting,
+sculpture, architecture, &c., &c., of which there are many schools--of
+_taste_, we mean--some of them, perhaps natural, but chiefly
+conventional, and all more or less arbitrary. The proverb, "there is no
+accounting for taste," is as old as the aforesaid schools themselves,
+and defines perfectly our own estimate of the common usage of the term.
+
+As we have intended to use it, Webster defines the word _taste_ to be
+"the faculty of discerning beauty, order, congruity, proportion,
+symmetry, or whatever constitutes excellence; style; manner with respect
+to what is pleasing." With this understanding, therefore; a fitness to
+the purpose for which a thing is intended--got up in a manner agreeable
+to the eye and the mind--preserving also a harmony between its various
+parts and uses; pleasing to the eye, as addressed to the sense, and
+satisfactory to the mind, as appropriate to the object for which it is
+required;--these constitute _good-taste_, as the term is here
+understood.
+
+The term _style_, also, is "the _manner_ or _form_ of a thing."
+When we say, "that is a stylish house," it should mean that it is in,
+or approaches some particular style of building recognized by the
+schools. It may or may not be in accordance with good taste, and is,
+consequently, subject to the same capricious test in its government. Yet
+_styles_ are subject to arrangement, and are classified in the several
+schools of architecture, either as distinct specimens of acknowledged
+orders, as the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthian, in Grecian
+architecture, or, the Tuscan and Composite, which are, more distinctly,
+styles of Roman architecture. To these may be added the Egyptian, the
+most massive of all; and either of them, in their proper character,
+grand and imposing when applied to public buildings or extensive
+structures, but altogether inapplicable, from their want of lightness
+and convenience, to country or even city dwellings. Other styles--not
+exactly orders--of architecture, such as the Italian, the Romanesque,
+the Gothic, the Swiss, with their modifications--all of which admit of a
+variety of departures from fixed rules, not allowed in the more rigid
+orders--may be adapted in a variety of ways, to the most agreeable and
+harmonious arrangement in architectural effect, for dwellings and
+structures appurtenant to them.
+
+The Italian style of architecture, modified somewhat in pretension and
+extent, is admirably adapted to most parts of the United States. Its
+general lightness, openness, and freedom gives a wide range of choice;
+and its wings, verandas, and terraces, stretching off in any and almost
+every direction desired, from the main building, make it exceedingly
+appropriate for general use. The modern, or rural Gothic, branching off
+sometimes into what is termed the English cottage style, and in many
+instances blending so intimately with the Italian, as hardly to mark the
+line of division, is also a beautiful _arrangement_ of building for
+country dwellings. These, in ruder structures, may also be carried into
+the Rustic--not a style proper, in itself--but so termed as
+approximating in execution or pretension to either of the above; while
+the Swiss, with its hanging roofs, and sheltering eaves may be
+frequently brought in aid to show out the rustic form in more
+completeness, and in greater harmony with surrounding objects, than
+either of the others.
+
+For farm houses, either of these _arrangements_ or departures from a
+_set_ and _positive_ style, are better fitted than any which we have
+noticed; and in some one or other of the modifications named, we have
+applied them in the examples submitted in this work. They may not
+therefore be viewed as _distinct_ delineations of an _order_ of
+architecture, or style _proper_, even; but as a _mode_ appropriate to
+the object required. And so long as they do not absolutely conflict with
+true taste, or in their construction commit a barbarism upon any
+acknowledged system of architecture, in any of its modifications, we
+hazard no impropriety in introducing them for the imitation of country
+builders. Congruity with the objects to which it is applied should be
+the chief merit of any structure whatever; and so long as that object be
+attained, good taste is not violated, and utility is fully subserved.
+
+Intimately connected with this subject, in rural buildings, is the
+_shape_ of the structure. Many of the designs recently introduced for
+the imitation of builders, are full of angles and all sorts of zig-zag
+lines, which, although they may add to the variety of style, or relieve
+the monotony of straight and continuous lines, are carried to a needless
+excess, expensive in their construction, and entail infinite trouble
+upon the owner or occupant, in the repairs they subject him to, in the
+leakages continually occurring, against which last, either of wind or
+rain, it is almost impossible to guard. And what, let us ask, are the
+benefits of a parcel of needless gables and peaked windows, running up
+like owl's ears, above the eaves of a house, except to create expense,
+and invite leakage and decay? If in appearance, they provoke an
+association of that kind, they certainly are not in good taste; and a
+foot or two of increased height in a wall, or a low window sufficient
+for the purpose intended, would give a tone of dignity, of comfort, and
+real utility, which a whole covey of such pretentious things could not.
+All such trumpery should be scouted from the dwelling house of the
+farmer, and left to the special indulgence of the town builder.
+
+A _square_ form of house will afford more area within a given line of
+wall than any other _sensible_ form which may be adopted. Yet a square
+house is not so agreeable to the eye as an oblong. Thus, a house should
+stand somewhat broader on one front than on another. It should also be
+relieved from an appearance of monotony and tameness, by one or more
+wings; and such wings should, at their junction with the main building,
+retreat or advance a sufficient distance from a continuous line, as to
+relieve it effectually from an appearance of stiffness, and show a
+different character of occupation from that of the main structure. The
+front of a house should be the most imposing and finished in its
+architecture of any one of its parts; and unless some motive of greater
+convenience control otherwise, its entrance the most highly wrought,
+as indicating the luxury of the establishment--for even the humblest
+habitations have their luxuries. The side rooms, or more usually
+occupied apartments, require less pretension in both architectural
+effect and finish, and should wear a more subdued appearance; while the
+kitchen section, and from that, the several grades of apartments
+stretching beyond it, should distinctly show that they are subservient
+in their character, and wear a style and finish accordingly. Thus, each
+part of the house speaks for itself. It is its own finger-board,
+pointing the stranger to its various accommodation, as plainly as if
+written on its walls, and saying as significantly as dumb walls can do,
+that here dwells a well regulated family, who have a parlor for their
+friends; a library, or sitting-room for their own leisure and comfort;
+an ample bedroom and nursery, for the parents and the little ones; a
+kitchen for the cooking; and a scullery and closets, and all the other
+etceteras which belong to a perfect family homestead.
+
+And so with the grounds. The lawn or "dooryard," should be the best kept
+ground on the place. The most conspicuous part of the garden should show
+its shrubbery and its flowers. The side or rear approach should be
+separated from the lawn, and show its constant _business_ occupation,
+and openly lead off to where men and farm stock meet on common ground,
+devoted to every purpose which the farm requires. Such arrangement would
+be complete in all its parts, satisfactory, and lasting. Tinsel
+ornament, or gewgaw decoration should never be permitted on any building
+where the sober enjoyment of agricultural life is designed. It can never
+add consideration or dignity to the retired gentleman even, and least of
+all should it be indulged in by the farmer, dwelling on his own
+cultivated acres.
+
+
+
+
+THE CONSTRUCTION OF CELLARS.
+
+
+Every farm house and farm cottage, where a family of any size occupy the
+latter, should have a good, substantial _stone_-walled cellar beneath
+it. No room attached to the farm house is more profitable, in its
+occupation, than the cellar. It is useful for storing numberless
+articles which are necessary to be kept warm and dry in winter, as well
+as cool in summer, of which the farmer is well aware. The walls of a
+cellar should rise at least one, to two, or even three feet above the
+level of the ground surrounding it, according to circumstances, and the
+rooms in it well ventilated by _two_ or more sliding sash windows in
+each, according to size, position, and the particular kind of storage
+for which it is required, so that a draft of pure air can pass through,
+and give it thorough ventilation at all times. It should also be at
+least seven and a half feet high in the clear; and if it be even nine
+feet, that is not too much. If the soil be compact, or such as will hold
+water, it should be thoroughly drained from the lowest point or corner,
+and the drain always kept open; (a stone drain is the best and most
+durable,) and if floored with a coat of flat, or rubble stones, well set
+in good hydraulic cement--or cement alone, when the stone cannot be
+obtained--all the better. This last will make it _rat proof_. For the
+purpose of avoiding these destructive creatures, the _foundation_ stones
+in the wall should be brought to a joint, and project at least six
+inches on each side, from the wall itself, when laid upon this bottom
+course; as the usual manner of rats is to burrow in a nearly
+perpendicular direction from the surface, by the side of the wall, when
+intending to undermine it. On arriving at the bottom, if circumvented by
+the projecting stones, they will usually abandon their work. Plank of
+hard wood, or hard burnt bricks, may answer this purpose when stone
+cannot be had.
+
+All cellar walls should be laid in good lime mortar, or if that be not
+practicable, they should be well pointed with it. This keeps them in
+place, and renders them less liable to the ingress of water and vermin.
+The thickness of wall should not be less than fifteen to eighteen
+inches, in any event, when of stone; and if the house walls above be
+built of stone or brick, two feet is better; and in all cases the cellar
+wall should be full three inches thicker than the wall resting upon it.
+
+In the cellar of every farm house there should be an outside door, with
+a flight of steps by which to pass roots and other bulky or heavy
+articles, to which a wagon or cart may approach, either to receive or
+discharge them. This is indispensable.
+
+Every out-building upon the farm, let it be devoted to what purpose it
+may, having a wooden floor on the ground story, should be set up
+sufficiently high from the surface to admit a cat or small terrier dog
+beneath such floor, with openings for them to pass in and out, or these
+hiding places will become so many rat warrens upon the premises, and
+prove most destructive to the grain and poultry. Nothing can be more
+annoying to the farmer than these vermin, and a trifling outlay in the
+beginning, will exclude them from the foundations and walls of all
+buildings. Care, therefore, should be taken to leave no haunt for their
+convenience.
+
+With these suggestions the ingenuity of every builder will provide
+sufficient guards against the protection of vermin beneath his
+buildings.
+
+
+
+
+VENTILATION OF HOUSES.
+
+
+Pure air, and enough of it, is the cheapest blessing one can enjoy; and
+to deny one's self so indispensable an element of good health, is little
+short of criminal neglect, or the sheerest folly. Yet thousands who
+build at much needless expense, for the protection of their health and
+that of their families, as they allege, and no doubt suppose, by
+neglecting the simplest of all contrivances, in the work of ventilation,
+invite disease and infirmity, from the very pains they so unwittingly
+take to ward off such afflictions.
+
+A man, be he farmer or of other profession, finding himself prosperous
+in life, sets about the very sensible business of building a house for
+his own accommodation. Looking back, perhaps, to the days of his
+boyhood, in a severe climate, he remembers the not very highly-finished
+tenement of his father, and the wide, open fireplace which, with its
+well piled logs, was scarcely able to warm the large living-room, where
+the family were wont to huddle in winter. He possibly remembers, with
+shivering sympathy, the sprinkling of snow which he was accustomed to
+find upon his bed as he awaked in the morning, that had found its way
+through the frail casing of his chamber window--but in the midst of all
+which he grew up with a vigorous constitution, a strong arm, and a
+determined spirit. He is resolved that _his_ children shall encounter no
+such hardships, and that himself and his excellent helpmate shall suffer
+no such inconvenience as his own parents had done, who now perhaps, are
+enjoying a strong and serene old age, in their old-fashioned, yet to
+them not uncomfortable tenement. He therefore determines to have a snug,
+_close_ house, where the cold cannot penetrate. He employs all his
+ingenuity to make every joint an air-tight fit; the doors must swing to
+an air-tight joint; the windows set into air-tight frames; and to
+perfect the catalogue of his comforts, an air-tight stove is introduced
+into every occupied room which, perchance, if he can afford it, are
+further warmed and poisoned by the heated flues of an air-tight furnace
+in his air-tight cellar. In short, it is an air-tight concern
+throughout. His family breathe an air-tight atmosphere; they eat their
+food cooked in an "air-tight kitchen witch," of the latest "premium
+pattern;" and thus they start, father, mother, children, all on the high
+road--if persisted in--to a galloping consumption, which sooner or later
+conducts them to an air-tight dwelling, not soon to be changed. If such
+melancholy catastrophe be avoided, colds, catarrhs, headaches, and all
+sorts of bodily afflictions shortly make their appearance, and they
+wonder what is the matter! They live so snug! their house is so warm!
+they sleep so comfortable! how can it be? True, in the morning the air
+of their sleeping-rooms feels close, but then if a window is opened it
+will chill the rooms, and that will give them colds. What _can_ be the
+matter? The poor creatures never dream that they have been breathing,
+for hour after hour, decomposed air, charged with poisonous gases, which
+cannot escape through the tight walls, or over the tight windows, or
+through the tight stoves; and thus they keep on in the sure course to
+infirmity, disease, and premature death--all for the want of a little
+ventilation! Better indeed, that instead of all this painstaking, a pane
+were knocked out of every window, or a panel out of every door in the
+house.
+
+We are not disposed to talk about cellar furnaces for heating a farmer's
+house. They have little to do in the farmer's inventory of goods at all,
+unless it be to give warmth to the hall--and even then a snug box stove,
+with its pipe passing into the nearest chimney is, in most cases, the
+better appendage. Fuel is usually abundant with the farmer; and where
+so, its benefits are much better dispensed in open stoves or fireplaces,
+than in heating furnaces or "air-tights."
+
+We have slightly discussed this subject of firing in the farm house,
+in a previous page, but while in the vein, must crave another word.
+A farmer's house should _look_ hospitable as well as _be_ hospitable,
+both outside and in; and the broadest, most cheerful look of hospitality
+within doors, in cold weather, is an _open_ fire in the chimney
+fireplace, with the blazing wood upon it. There is no _mistake_ about
+it. It thaws you out, if cold; it stirs you up, if drooping; and is the
+welcome, winning introduction to the good cheer that is to follow.
+
+A short time ago we went to pay a former town friend a visit. He had
+removed out to a snug little farm, where he could indulge his
+agricultural and horticultural tastes, yet still attend to his town
+engagements, and enjoy the quietude of the country. We rang the door
+bell. A servant admitted us; and leaving overcoat and hat in the hall,
+we entered a lone room, with an "air-tight" stove, looking as black and
+solemn as a Turkish eunuch upon us, and giving out about the same degree
+of genial warmth as the said eunuch would have expressed had he been
+there--an emasculated warming machine truly! On the floor was a Wilton
+carpet, too fine to stand on; around the room were mahogany sofas and
+mahogany chairs, all too fine to sit on--at all events to _rest_ one
+upon if he were fatigued. The blessed light of day was shut out by
+crimson and white curtains, held up by gilded arrows; and upon the
+mantle piece, and on the center and side tables were all sorts of
+gimcracks, costly and worthless. In short, there was no _comfort_ about
+the whole concern. Hearing our friend coming up from his dining-room
+below, where too, was his _cellar kitchen_--that most abominable of all
+appendages to a farm house, or to any other country house, for that
+matter--we buttoned our coat up close and high, thrust our hands into
+our pockets, and walked the room, as he entered. "Glad to see you--glad
+to see you, my friend!" said he, in great joy; "but dear me, why so
+buttoned up, as if you were going? What's the matter?" "My good sir," we
+replied, "you asked us to come over and see you, 'a _plain farmer_,' and
+'take a quiet family dinner with you.' We have done so; and here find
+you with all your town nonsense about you. No fire to warm by; no seat
+to rest in; no nothing like a farm or farmer about you; and it only
+needs your charming better half, whom we always admired, when she lived
+in town, to take down her enameled harp, and play
+
+  'In fairy bowers by moonlight hours,'
+
+to convince one that instead of ruralizing in the country, you had gone
+a peg higher in town residence! No, no, we'll go down to farmer
+Jocelyn's, our old schoolfellow, and take a dinner of bacon and cabbage
+with him. If he does occupy a one-story house, he lives up in sunshine,
+has an open fireplace, with a blazing wood fire on a chilly day, and his
+'latch string is always out.'"
+
+Our friend was petrified--astonished! We meant to go it rather strong
+upon him, but still kept a frank, good-humored face, that showed him no
+malice. He began to think he was not exactly in character, and essayed
+to explain. We listened to his story. His good wife came in, and all
+together, we had a long talk of their family and farming arrangements;
+how they had furnished their house; and how they proposed to live; but
+wound up with a sad story, that their good farming neighbors didn't call
+on them the _second_ time--kind, civil people they appeared, too--and
+while they were in, acted as though afraid to sit down, and afraid to
+stand up;--in short, they were dreadfully embarrassed; for why, our
+friends couldn't tell, but now began to understand it. "Well, my good
+friends," said we, "you have altogether mistaken country life in the
+outset. To live on a farm, it is neither necessary to be vulgar, nor
+clownish, nor to affect ignorance. _Simplicity_ is all you require, in
+manners, and equal simplicity in your furniture and appointments. Now
+just turn all this nonsense in furniture and room dressing out of doors,
+and let some of your town friends have it. Get some simple, comfortable,
+cottage furniture, much better for all purposes, than this, and you will
+settle down into quiet, natural country life before you are aware of it,
+and all will go 'merry as a marriage bell' with you, in a little
+time"--for they both loved the country, and were truly excellent people.
+We continued, "I came to spend the day and the night, and I will stay;
+and this evening we'll go down to your neighbor Jocelyn's; and you, Mrs.
+N----, shall go with us; and we will see how quietly and comfortably he
+and his family take the world in a farmer's way."
+
+We did go; not in carriage and livery, but walked the pleasant half mile
+that lay between them; the exercise of which gave us all activity and
+good spirits. Jocelyn was right glad to see us, and Patty, his staid and
+sober wife, with whom we had romped many an innocent hour in our
+childhood days, was quite as glad as he. But they _looked_ a little
+surprised that such "great folks" as their new neighbors, should drop in
+so unceremoniously, and into their common "keeping room," too, to chat
+away an evening. However, the embarrassment soon wore off. We talked of
+farming; we talked of the late elections; we talked of the fruit trees
+and the strawberry beds; and Mrs. Jocelyn, who was a pattern of good
+housekeeping, told Mrs. N---- how _she_ made her apple jellies, and her
+currant tarts, and cream cheeses; and before we left they had exchanged
+ever so many engagements,--Mrs. Patty to learn her new friend to do half
+a dozen nice little matters of household pickling and preserving; while
+she, in turn, was to teach Nancy and Fanny, Patty's two rosy-cheeked
+daughters, almost as pretty as their mother was at their own age, to
+knit a bead bag and work a fancy chair seat! And then we had apples and
+nuts, all of the very best--for Jocelyn was a rare hand at grafting and
+managing his fruit trees, and knew the best apples all over the country.
+We had, indeed, a capital time! To cut the story short, the next spring
+our friend sent his _fancy_ furniture to auction, and provided his house
+with simple cottage furnishings, at less than half the cost of the
+other; which both he and his wife afterward declared was infinitely
+better, for all house-keeping purposes. He also threw a neat wing on to
+the cottage, for an upper kitchen and its offices, and they now live
+like sensible country folks; and with their healthy, frolicksome
+children, are worth the envy of all the dyspeptic, town-fed people in
+existence.
+
+A long digression, truly; but so true a story, and one so apt to our
+subject can not well be omitted. But what has all this to do with
+ventilation? We'll tell you. Jocelyn's house was _ventilated_ as it
+should be;--for he was a methodical, thoughtful man, who planned and
+built his house himself--not the mechanical work, but directed it
+throughout, and saw that it was faithfully done; and that put us in mind
+of the story.
+
+To be perfect in its ventilation, every room in the house, even to the
+closets, should be so arranged that a current of air _may_ pass through,
+to keep it pure and dry. In living rooms, fresh air in sufficient
+quantity may usually be admitted through the doors. In sleeping rooms
+and closets, when doors may not be left open, one or more of the lower
+panels of the door may be filled by a rolling blind, opening more or
+less, at pleasure; or a square or oblong opening for that purpose, may
+be left in the base board, at the floor, and covered by a wire netting.
+And in all rooms, living apartments, as well as these, an opening of at
+least sixty-four square inches should be made in the wall, near the
+ceiling, and leading into an air flue, to pass into the garret. Such
+opening may be filled by a rolling blind, or wire screen, as below, and
+closed or kept open, at pleasure. Some builders prefer an air register
+to be placed in the chimney, over the fireplace or stove, near the
+ceiling; but the liability to annoyance, by smoke escaping through it
+into the room, if not thoroughly done, is an objection to this latter
+method, and the other may be made, in its construction, rather
+ornamental than otherwise, in appearance. All such details as these
+should be planned when the building is commenced, so that the several
+flues may be provided as the building proceeds. In a stone or brick
+house, a small space may be left in the walls, against which these air
+registers may be required; and for inner rooms, or closets, they may
+pass off into the openings of the partitions, and so up into the garret;
+from which apertures of escape may be left, or made at the gables, under
+the roof, or by a blind in a window.
+
+For the admission of air to the first floor of the house, a special
+opening through the walls, for that purpose, can hardly be necessary;
+as the doors leading outside are usually opened often enough for such
+object. One of the best ventilated houses we have ever seen, is that
+owned and occupied by Samuel Cloon, Esq., of Cincinnati. It is situated
+on his farm, three miles out of the city, and in its fine architectural
+appearance and finished appointments, as a rural residence and
+first-class farm house, is not often excelled. Every closet is
+ventilated through rolling blinds in the door panels; and foul air,
+either admitted or created within them, is passed off at once by flues
+near the ceiling overhead, passing into conductors leading off through
+the garret.
+
+Where chambers are carried into the roof of a house, to any extent, they
+are sometimes incommoded by the summer heat which penetrates them,
+conducted by the chamber ceiling overhead. This heat can best be
+obviated by inserting a small window at each opposite peak of the
+garret, by which the outside air can circulate through, above the
+chambers, and so pass off the heated air, which will continually ascend.
+All this is a simple matter, for which any builder can provide, without
+particular expense or trouble.
+
+
+
+
+INTERIOR ACCOMMODATION OF HOUSES.
+
+
+Ground, in the country, being the cheapest item which the farmer can
+devote to building purposes, his object should be to _spread over_,
+rather than to go deeply into it, or climb high in the air above it.
+We repudiate cellar kitchens, or under-ground rooms for house work,
+altogether, as being little better than a nuisance--dark, damp,
+unhealthy, inconvenient, and expensive. The several rooms of a farm
+dwelling house should be compact in arrangement, and contiguous as may
+be to the principally-occupied apartments. Such arrangement is cheaper,
+more convenient, and labor-saving; and in addition, more in accordance
+with a good and correct taste in the outward appearance of the house
+itself.
+
+The general introduction of cooking stoves, and other stoves and
+apparatus for warming houses, within the last twenty years, which we
+acknowledge to be a great acquisition in comfort as well as in
+convenience and economy, has been carried to an extreme, not only in
+shutting up and shutting out the time-honored open fireplace and its
+broad hearthstone, with their hallowed associations, but also in
+prejudice to the health of those who so indiscriminately use them,
+regardless of other arrangements which ought to go with them. A farm
+house should never be built without an ample, open fireplace in its
+kitchen, and other _principally_ occupied rooms; and in all rooms where
+stoves are placed, and fires are daily required, the _open_ Franklin
+should take place of the close or air-tight stove, unless extraordinary
+ventilation to such rooms be adopted also. The great charm of the
+farmer's winter evening is the open fireside, with its cheerful blaze
+and glowing embers; not wastefully expended, but giving out that genial
+warmth and comfort which, to those who are accustomed to its enjoyment,
+is a pleasure not made up by any invention whatever; and although the
+cooking stove or range be required--which, in addition to the fireplace,
+we would always recommend, to lighten female labor--it can be so
+arranged as not to interfere with the enjoyment or convenience of the
+open fire.
+
+In the construction of the chimneys which appear in the plans submitted,
+the great majority of them--particularly those for northern
+latitudes--are placed in the interior of the house. They are less liable
+to communicate fire to the building, and assist greatly in warming the
+rooms through which they pass. In southern houses they are not so
+necessary, fires being required for a much less period of the year. Yet
+even there they may be oftentimes properly so placed. Where holes, for
+the passage of stovepipes through floors, partitions, or into chimneys,
+are made, stone, earthen, or iron thimbles should be inserted; and,
+except in the chimneys, such holes should be at least one to two inches
+larger than the pipe itself. The main flues of the chimney conducting
+off the smoke of the different fires, should be built separate, and kept
+apart by a partition of one brick in thickness, and carried out
+independently, as in no other way will they rid the house of smoky
+rooms.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+An illustration in point: Fifteen years ago we purchased and removed
+into a most substantial and well-built stone house, the chimneys of
+which were constructed with open fireplaces, and the flues carried up
+separately to the top, where they all met upon the same level surface,
+as chimneys in past times usually were built, thus. Every fireplace in
+the house (and some of them had stoves in,) smoked intolerably; so much
+so, that when the wind was in some quarters the fires had to be put out
+in every room but the kitchen, which, as good luck would have it, smoked
+less--although it did smoke there--than the others. After balancing the
+matter in our own mind some time, whether we should pull down and
+rebuild the chimneys altogether, or attempt an alteration; as we had
+given but little thought to the subject of chimney draft, and to try an
+experiment was the cheapest, we set to work a bricklayer, who, under our
+direction, simply built over each discharge of the several flues a
+separate top of fifteen inches high, in this wise: The remedy was
+perfect. We have had no smoke in the house since, blow the wind as it
+may, on any and all occasions. The chimneys _can't_ smoke; and the whole
+expense for four chimneys, with their twelve flues, was not twenty
+dollars! The remedy was in giving each outlet a _distinct_ current of
+air all around, and on every side of it.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHIMNEY TOPS.
+
+
+Nothing adds more to the outward expression of a dwelling, than the
+style of its chimneys. We have just shown that independent chimney tops
+pass off their smoke more perfectly, than when only partitioned inside
+to the common point of outlet. Aside from the architectural beauty which
+a group of chimney flues adds to the building, we have seen that they
+are really useful, beyond the formal, square-sided piles so common
+throughout the country. They denote good cheer, social firesides, and a
+generous hospitality within--features which should always mark the
+country dwelling; and more particularly that of the farmer.
+
+The style and arrangement of these chimney groups may be various, as
+comporting with the design of the house itself; and any good architect
+can arrange them as fitted to such design. Our illustrations will show
+them of different kinds, which are generally cheap in construction, and
+simple, yet expressive in their arrangement.
+
+
+
+
+PRELIMINARY TO OUR DESIGNS.
+
+
+We have discussed with tolerable fullness, the chief subjects connected
+with farm buildings--sufficiently so, we trust, to make ourselves
+understood as desiring to combine utility with commendable ornament in
+all that pertains to them. The object has been, thus far, to give hints,
+rather than models, in description. But as the point to which we have
+endeavored to arrive will be but imperfectly understood without
+illustration, we shall submit a few plans of houses and outbuildings,
+as carrying out more fully our ideas.
+
+We are quite aware that different forms or fashions of detail and
+finish, to both outside and inside work, prevail among builders in
+different sections of the United States. Some of these fashions are the
+result of climate, some of conventional taste, and some of education.
+With them we are not disposed to quarrel. In many cases they are
+immaterial to the main objects of the work, and so long as they please
+the taste or partialities of those adopting them, are of little
+consequence. There are, however, certain matters of _principle_, both in
+general construction and in the detail of finish, which should not be
+disregarded; and these, in the designs submitted, and in the
+explanations which follow, will be fully discussed, each in its place.
+The particular form or style of work we have not directed, because, as
+before remarked, we are no professional builder, and of course free from
+the dogmas which are too apt to be inculcated in the professional
+schools and workshops. We give a wide berth, and a free toleration in
+all such matters, and are not disposed to raise a hornet's nest about
+our ears by interfering in matters where every tyro of the drafting
+board and work-bench assumes to be, and probably may be, our superior.
+All minor subjects we are free to leave to the skill and ingenuity of
+the builder--who, fortunately for the country, is found in almost every
+village and hamlet of the land.
+
+Modes and styles of finish, both inside and outside of buildings,
+change; and that so frequently, that what is laid down as the reigning
+fashion to-day, may be superseded by another fashion of
+to-morrow--immaterial in themselves, only, and not affecting the shape,
+arrangement, and accommodation of the building itself, which in these,
+must ever maintain their relation with the use for which it is intended.
+The northern dwelling, with its dependencies and appointments, requires
+a more compact, snug, and connected arrangement than that of the south;
+while one in the middle states may assume a style of arrangement between
+them both, each fitted for their own climate and country, and in equally
+good taste. The designs we are about to submit are intended to be such
+as may be modified to any section of the country, although some of them
+are made for extremes of north and south, and are so distinguished.
+Another object we have had in view is, to give to every farmer and
+country dweller of moderate means the opportunity of possessing a cheap
+work which would guide him in the general objects which he wishes to
+accomplish in building, that he may _have his own notions_ on the
+subject, and not be subject to the caprice and government of such as
+profess to exclusive knowledge in all that appertains to such subjects,
+and in which, it need not be offensive to say, that although clever in
+their way, they are sometimes apt to be mistaken.
+
+Therefore, without assuming _to instruct_ the professional builder, our
+plans will be submitted, not without the hope that he even, may find in
+them something worthy of consideration; and we offer them to the owner
+and future occupant of the buildings themselves, as models which he may
+adopt, with the confidence that they will answer all his reasonable
+purposes.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN I.
+
+
+We here present a farm house of the simplest and most unpretending kind,
+suitable for a farm of twenty, fifty, or an hundred acres. Buildings
+somewhat in this style are not unfrequently seen in the New England
+States, and in New York; and the plan is in fact suggested, although not
+copied, from some farm houses which we have known there, with
+improvements and additions of our own.
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 73-74.]
+
+This house may be built either of stone, brick, or wood. The style is
+rather rustic than otherwise, and intended to be altogether plain, yet
+agreeable in outward appearance, and of quite convenient arrangement.
+The body of this house is 40x30 feet on the ground, and 12 feet high,
+to the plates for the roof; the lower rooms nine feet high; the roof
+intended for a pitch of 35deg--but, by an error in the drawing, made
+less--thus affording very tolerable chamber room in the roof story. The
+L, or rear projection, containing the wash-room and wood-house, juts out
+two feet from the side of the house to which it is attached, with posts
+7-1/2 feet high above the floor of the main house; the pitch of the roof
+being the same. Beyond this is a building 32x24 feet, with 10 feet
+posts, partitioned off into a swill-room, piggery, workshop, and
+wagon-house, and a like roof with the others. A light, rustic porch,
+12x8 feet, with lattice work, is placed on the front of the house, and
+another at the side door, over which vines, by way of drapery, may run;
+thus combining that sheltered, comfortable, and home-like expression so
+desirable in a rural dwelling. The chimney is carried out in three
+separate flues, sufficiently marked by the partitions above the roof.
+The windows are hooded, or sheltered, to protect them from the weather,
+and fitted with simple sliding sashes with 7x9 or 8x10 glass. Outer
+blinds may be added, if required; but it is usually better to have these
+_inside_, as they are no ornament to the outside of the building, are
+liable to be driven back and forth by the wind, even if fastenings are
+used, and in any event are little better than a continual annoyance.
+
+
+  [Illustration: GROUND PLAN.]
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door, over which is a single sash-light across, opens into a
+hall or entry 9x7 feet, from which a door opens on either side into a
+sitting-room and parlor, each 16x15 feet, lighted by a double, plain
+window, at the ends, and a single two-sash window in front. Between the
+entrance door and stove, are in each room a small pantry or closet for
+dishes, or otherwise, as may be required. The chimney stands in the
+center of the house, with a separate flue for each front room, into
+which a thimble is inserted to receive the stovepipes by which they are
+warmed; and from the inner side of these rooms each has a door passing
+to the kitchen, or chief living room. This last apartment is 22x15 feet,
+with a broad fireplace containing a crane, hooks, and trammel, if
+required, and a spacious family oven--affording those homely and
+primitive comforts still so dear to many of us who are not ready to
+concede that all the virtues of the present day are combined in a
+"perfection" cooking stove, and a "patent" heater; although there is a
+chance for these last, if they should be adopted into the peaceful
+atmosphere of this kitchen.
+
+  [Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN.]
+
+On one side of the kitchen, in rear of the stairs, is a bedroom, 9x8
+feet, with a window in one corner. Adjoining that, is a buttery,
+dairy-room, or closet, 9x6 feet, also having a window. At the inner end
+of the stairway is the cellar passage; at the outer end is the chamber
+passage, landing above, in the highest part of the roof story. Opposite
+the chamber stairs is a door leading to the wash-room. Between the two
+windows, on the rear side of the kitchen, is a sink, with a waste pipe
+passing out through the wall. At the further corner a door opens into a
+snug bedroom 9x8 feet, lighted by a window in rear; and adjoining this
+is a side entry leading from the end door, 9x6 feet in area; thus making
+every room in the house accessible at once from the kitchen, and giving
+the greatest possible convenience in both living and house-work.
+
+The roof story is partitioned into convenient-sized bedrooms; the
+ceiling running down the pitch of the roof to within two feet of the
+floor, unless they are cut short by inner partitions, as they are in the
+largest chamber, to give closets. The open area in the center, at the
+head of the stairs, is lighted by a small gable window inserted in the
+roof, at the rear, and serves as a lumber room; or, if necessary, a bed
+may occupy a part of it.
+
+In rear of the main dwelling is a building 44x16 feet, occupied as a
+wash-room and wood-house. The wash-room floor is let down eight inches
+below the kitchen, and is 16x14 feet, in area, lighted by a window on
+each side, with a chimney, in which is set a boiler, and fireplace, if
+desired, and a sink in the corner adjoining. This room is 7-1/2 feet in
+height. A door passes from this wash-room into the wood-house, which is
+30x16 feet, open in front, with a water-closet in the further corner.
+
+The cellar is 7-1/2 feet in height--and is the whole size of the house,
+laid with good stone wall, in lime mortar, with a flight of steps
+leading outside, in rear of the kitchen, and two or more sash-light
+windows at the ends. If not in a loose, gravelly, or sandy soil, the
+cellar should be kept dry by a drain leading out on to lower ground.
+
+The building beyond, and adjoining the wood-house, contains a
+swill-house 16x12 feet, with a window in one end; a chimney and boiler
+in one corner, with storage for swill barrels, grain, meal, potatoes,
+&c., for feeding the pigs, which are in the adjoining pen of same size,
+with feeding trough, place for sleeping, &c., and having a window in one
+end and a door in the rear, leading to a yard.
+
+Adjoining these, in front, is a workshop and tool-house, 16x10 feet,
+with a window at the end, and an entrance door near the wood house. In
+this is a joiner's work-bench, a chest of working tools, such as saw,
+hammer, augers, &c., &c., necessary for repairing implements, doing
+little rough jobs, or other wood work, &c., which every farmer ought to
+do for himself; and also storing his hoes, axes, shovels, hammers, and
+other small farm implements. In this room he will find abundant
+rainy-day employment in repairing his utensils of various kinds, making
+his beehives, hencoops, &c., &c. Next to this is the wagon-house, 16x14
+feet, with broad doors at the end, and harness pegs around the walls.
+
+The posts of this building are 10 feet high; the rooms eight feet high,
+and a low chamber overhead for storing lumber, grain, and other
+articles, as may be required. Altogether, these several apartments make
+a very complete and desirable accommodation to a man with the property
+and occupation for which it is intended.
+
+On one side and adjoining the house, should be the garden, the
+clothes-yard, and the bee-house, which last should always stand in full
+sight, and facing the most frequented room--say the kitchen--that they
+can be seen daily during the swarming season, as those performing
+household duties may keep them in view.
+
+
+MISCELLANEOUS.
+
+In regard to the surroundings, and approach to this dwelling, they
+should be treated under the suggestions already given on these subjects.
+This is an exceedingly _snug_ tenement, and everything around and about
+it should be of the same character. No pretension or frippery whatever.
+A neat garden, usefully, rather than ornamentally and profusely
+supplied; a moderate court-yard in front; free access to the end door,
+from the main every-day approach by vehicles--not on the highway, but on
+the farm road or lane--the business entrance, in fact; which should also
+lead to the barns and sheds beyond, not far distant. Every feature
+should wear a most domestic look, and breathe an air of repose and
+content. Trees should be near, but not so near as to cover the house.
+A few shrubs of simple kind--some standing roses--a few climbing ones;
+a syringa, a lilac, a snow ball, and a little patch or two of flowers
+near the front porch, and the whole expression is given; just as one
+would wish to look upon as a simple, unpretending habitation.
+
+It is not here proposed to give working plans, or estimates, to a
+nicety; or particular directions for building any design even, that we
+present. The material for construction best suited to the circumstances
+and locality of the proprietor must govern all those matters; and as
+good builders are in most cases at hand, who are competent to give
+estimates for the cost of any given plan, when the material for
+construction is once settled, the question of expense is readily fixed.
+The same sized house, with the same accommodation, may be made to cost
+fifty to one hundred per cent. over an economical estimate, by the
+increased style, or manner of its finish; or it may be kept within
+bounds by a rigid adherence to the plan first adopted.
+
+In western New York this house and attachments complete, the body of
+stone, the wood-house, wagon-house, &c., of wood, may be built and well
+finished in a plain way for $1,500. If built altogether of wood, with
+grooved and matched vertical boarding, and battens, the whole may be
+finished and painted for $800, to $1,200. For the lowest sum, the lumber
+and work would be of a rough kind, with a cheap wash to color it; but
+the latter amount would give good work, and a lasting coat of mineral
+paint both outside and within.
+
+As a _tenant_ house on a farm of three, four, or even five hundred
+acres, where all who live in it are laborers in the field or household,
+this design may be most conveniently adopted. The family inhabiting it
+in winter may be well accommodated for sleeping under the main roof,
+while they can at all seasons take their meals, and be made comfortable
+in the several rooms. In the summer season, when a larger number of
+laborers are employed, the lofts of the carriage or wagon-house and
+work-shop may be occupied with beds, and thus a large share of the
+expense of house building for a very considerable farm be saved. Luxury
+is a quality more or less consulted by every one who builds for his
+_own_ occupation on a farm, or elsewhere; and the tendency in building
+is constantly to expand, to give a higher finish, and in fact, to
+over-build. Indeed, if we were to draw the balance, on our _old_ farms,
+between scantily-accommodated houses, and houses with needless room in
+them, the latter would preponderate. Not that these latter houses either
+are too good, or too convenient for the purpose for which they were
+built, but they have _too much_ room, and that room badly appropriated
+and arranged.
+
+On a farm proper, the whole establishment is a _workshop_. The shop _out
+of doors_, we acknowledge, is not always _dry_, nor always warm; but it
+is exceedingly well aired and lighted, and a place where industrious
+people dearly love to labor. Within doors it is a work-shop too. There
+is always labor and occupation for the family, in the _general business_
+of the farm; therefore but little room is wanted for either luxury or
+leisure, and the farm house should be fully occupied, with the
+exception, perhaps, of a single room on the main floor, (and that not a
+large one,) for some regular business purpose. All these accommodated,
+and the requirements of the house are ended. Owners of _rented_ farms
+should reflect, too, that expensive houses on their estates entail
+expensive repairs, and that continually. Many tenants are careless of
+highly-finished houses. Not early accustomed to them, they
+misappropriate, perhaps, the best rooms in the house, and pay little
+attention to the purposes for which the owner designed them, or to the
+_manner_ of using them. It is therefore a total waste of money to build
+a house on a tenant estate anything beyond the mere comfortable wants of
+the family occupying it, and to furnish the room necessary for the
+accommodation of the crops, stock, and farm furniture, in the barns and
+other out-buildings--all in a cheap, tidy, yet substantial way.
+
+So, too, with the grounds for domestic purposes around the house. A
+kitchen garden, sufficient to grow the family vegetables--a few plain
+fruits--a _posey_ bed or two for the girls--and the story is told. Give
+a larger space for these things--anything indeed, for elegance--and ten
+to one, the plow is introduced, a corn or potato patch is _set out_,
+field culture is adopted, and your choice grounds are torn up, defaced,
+and sacrificed to the commonest uses.
+
+Notwithstanding these drawbacks, a cheerful, home-expression may be
+given, and should be given to the homestead, in the character and
+construction of the buildings, be they ever so rough and homely. We can
+call to mind many instances of primitive houses-_log_ cabins even--built
+when none better could be had, that presented a most comfortable and
+life-enjoying picture--residences once, indeed, of those who swayed "the
+applause of listening senates," but under the hands of taste, and a
+trifle of labor, made to look comfortable, happy, and sufficient. We
+confess, therefore, to a profound veneration, if not affection, for the
+humble farm house, as truly American in character; and which, with a
+moderate display of skill, may be made equal to the main purposes of
+life and enjoyment for all such as do not aspire to a high display, and
+who are content to make the most of moderate means.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN II.
+
+
+This is the plan of a house and out-buildings based chiefly on one which
+we built of wood some years since on a farm of our own, and which, in
+its occupation, has proved to be one of exceeding convenience to the
+purposes intended. As a farm _business_ house, we have not known it
+excelled; nor in the ease and facility of doing up the house-work within
+it, do we know a better. It has a subdued, quiet, unpretending look; yet
+will accommodate a family of a dozen workmen, besides the females
+engaged in the household work, with perfect convenience; or if occupied
+by a farmer with but his own family around him, ample room is afforded
+them for a most comfortable mode of life, and sufficient for the
+requirements of a farm of two, to three or four hundred acres.
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 85-86]
+
+This house is, in the main body, 36x22 feet, one and a half stories
+high, with a projection on the rear 34x16 feet, for the kitchen and its
+offices; and a still further addition to that, of 26x18 feet, for
+wash-room. The main body of the house is 14 feet high to the plates; the
+lower rooms are 9 feet high; the roof has a pitch of 35deg from a
+horizontal line, giving partially-upright chambers in the main building,
+and _roof_ lodging rooms in the rear. The rear, or kitchen part, is one
+story high, with 10 feet posts, and such pitch of roof (which last runs
+at right angles to the main body, and laps on to the main roof,) as will
+carry the peak up to the same air line. This addition should retreat 6
+inches from the line of the main building, on the side given in the
+design, and 18 inches on the rear. The rooms on this kitchen floor are 8
+feet high, leaving one foot above the upper floor, under the roof, as a
+chamber garret, or lumber-room, as may be required. Beyond this, in the
+rear, is the other extension spoken of, with posts 9 feet high, for a
+buttery, closet, or dairy, or all three combined, and a wash-room; the
+floor of which is on a level with the last, and the roof running in the
+same direction, and of the same pitch. In front of this wash-room, where
+not covered by the wood-house, is an open porch, 8 feet wide and 10 feet
+long, the roof of which runs out at a less angle than the others--say
+30deg from a horizontal line. Attached to this is the wood-house,
+running off by way of L, at right angles, 36x16 feet, of same height
+as the wash-room.
+
+Adjoining the wood-house, on the same front line, is a building 50x20
+feet, with 12 feet posts, occupied as a workshop, wagon-house, stable,
+and store-room, with a lean-to on the last of 15x10 feet, for a piggery.
+The several rooms in this building are 8 feet high, affording a good
+lumber room over the workshop, and hay storage over the wagon-house and
+stable. Over the wagon-house is a gable, with a blind window swinging on
+hinges, for receiving hay, thus relieving the long, uniform line of
+roof, and affording ample accommodation on each side to a pigeon-house
+or dovecote, if required.
+
+The style of this establishment is of plain Italian, or bracketed, and
+may be equally applied to stone, brick, or wood. The roofs are broad,
+and protect the walls by their full projection over them, 2-1/2 feet.
+The small gable in the front roof of the main dwelling relieves it of
+its otherwise straight uniformity, and affords a high door-window
+opening on to the deck of the veranda, which latter should be 8 or 10
+feet in width. The shallow windows, also, over the wings of the veranda
+give it a more cheerful expression. The lower _end_ windows of this part
+of the house are hooded, or sheltered by a cheap roof, which gives them
+a snug and most comfortable appearance. The veranda may appear more
+ornamental than the plain character of the house requires; but any
+superfluous work upon it may be omitted, and the style of finish
+conformed to the other. The veranda roof is flatter than that of the
+house, but it may be made perfectly tight by closer shingling, and
+paint; while the deck or platform in the centre may be roofed with zinc,
+or tin, and a coat of sanded paint laid upon it. The front chimney is
+plain, yet in keeping with the general style of the house, and may be
+made of ordinary bricks. The two parts of the chimney, as they appear in
+the front rooms, are drawn together as they pass through the chamber
+above, and become one at the roof. The kitchen chimneys pass up through
+the peaks of their respective roofs, and should be in like character
+with the other.
+
+  [Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN. GROUND PLAN.]
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door of this house opens into a small entry or hall, 9x6 feet,
+which is lighted by a low sash of glass over the front door. A door
+leads into a room on each side; and at the inner end of the hall is a
+recess between the two chimneys of the opposite rooms, in which may be
+placed a table or broad shelf to receive hats and coats. On the left is
+a parlor 22x15 feet, lighted on one side by a double window, and in
+front by a single plain one. The fireplace is centrally placed on one
+side of the room, in the middle of the house. On one side of the
+fireplace is a closet, three feet deep, with shelves, and another closet
+at the inner end of the room, near the kitchen door; or this closet may
+be dispensed with for the use of this parlor, and given up to enlarge
+the closet which is attached to the bedroom. Another door opens directly
+into the kitchen. This parlor is 9 feet high between joints. The
+sitting-room is opposite to the parlor, 19x15 feet, and lighted and
+closeted in nearly the same manner, as will be seen by referring to the
+floor plan.
+
+The kitchen is the grand room of this house. It is 24x16 feet in area,
+having an ample fireplace, with its hooks and trammels, and a spacious
+oven by its side. It is lighted by a double window at one end, and a
+single window near the fireplace. At one end of this kitchen is a most
+comfortable and commodious family bedroom, 13x10 feet, with a large
+closet in one corner, and lighted by a window in the side. Two windows
+may be inserted if wanted. A passage leads by the side of the oven to a
+sink-room, or recess, behind the chimney, with shelves to dry dishes on,
+and lighted by the half of a double window, which accommodates with its
+other half the dairy, or closet adjoining. A door also opens from this
+recess into the closet and dairy, furnished with broad shelves, that
+part of which, next the kitchen, is used for dishes, cold meat and bread
+cupboards, &c.; while the part of it adjoining the window beyond, is
+used for milk. This room is 14x6 feet, besides the L running up next to
+the kitchen, of 6x4 feet. From the kitchen also opens a closet into the
+front part of the house for any purpose needed. This adjoins the parlor,
+and sitting-room, closets. In the passage to the sitting-room also opens
+the stairway leading to the chambers, and beneath, at the other end of
+it, next the outside wall, is a flight leading down cellar. The cellar
+is excavated under the whole house, being 36x22, and 34x16 feet, with
+glass windows, one light deep by four wide, of 8x10 glass; and an outer
+door, and flight of steps outside, under either the sitting-room or
+kitchen windows, as may be most convenient. A door opens, also, from the
+kitchen, into a passage 4 feet wide and 12 feet long leading to the
+wash-room, 18x16 feet, and by an outside door, through this passage to
+the porch. In this passage may be a small window to give it light.
+
+In the wash-room are two windows. A chimney at the far end accommodates
+a boiler or two, and a fireplace, if required. A sink stands adjoining
+the chimney. A flight of stairs, leading to a garret over head on one
+side, and to the kitchen chamber on the other, stands next the dairy,
+into which last a door also leads. In this wash-room may be located the
+cooking stove in warm weather, leaving the main kitchen for a family and
+eating room. A door also leads from the wash-room into the wood-house.
+
+The wood-house stands lower than the floor of the wash-room, from which
+it falls, by steps. This is large, because a plentiful store of wood is
+needed for a dwelling of this character. If the room be not all wanted
+for such purpose, a part of it may devoted to other necessary uses,
+there seldom being too much shelter of this kind on a farm; through the
+rear wall of this wood-house leads a door into the garden, or
+clothes-yard, as the case may be; and at its extreme angle is a water
+closet, 6x4 feet, by way of lean-to, with a hipped roof, 8 feet high,
+running off from both the wood-house and workshop. This water-closet is
+lighted by a sliding sash window.
+
+On to the wood-house, in a continuous front line, joins the workshop, an
+indispensable appendage to farm convenience. This has a flight of stairs
+leading to the lumber-room above. For the furnishing of this apartment,
+see description of Design I. Next to the work-house is the wagon and
+tool-house, above which is the hay loft, also spread over the stable
+adjoining; in which last are stalls for a pair of horses, which may be
+required for uses other than the main labors of the farm--to run to
+market, carry the family to church, or elsewhere. A pair of horses for
+such purposes should always be kept near the house. The horse-stalls
+occupy a space of 10x12 feet, with racks and feeding boxes. The plans of
+these will be described hereafter. The door leading out from these
+stalls is 5 feet wide, and faces the partition, so that each horse may
+be led out or in at an easy angle from them. Beyond the stalls is a
+passage 4 feet wide, leading to a store-room or area, from which a
+flight of rough stairs leads to the hay loft above. Beyond this room,
+in which is the oat bin for the horses, is a small piggery, for the
+convenience of a pig or two, which are always required to consume the
+daily wash and offal of the house; and not for the general _pork_ stock
+of the farm; which, on one of this size, may be expected to require more
+commodious quarters.
+
+The chamber plan of this house is commodious, furnishing one large room
+and three smaller ones. The small chamber leading to the deck over the
+porch, may, or may not be occupied as a sleeping room. The small one
+near the stairs may contain a single bed, or be occupied as a large
+clothes-closet. Through this, a door leads into the kitchen chamber,
+which may serve as one, or more laborers' bed-chambers. They may be
+lighted by one or more windows in the rear gable.
+
+If more convenient to the family, the parlor and sitting-room, already
+described, may change their occupation, and one substituted for the
+other.
+
+The main business approach to this house should be by a lane, or farm
+road opening on the side next the stable and wagon-house. The yard, in
+front of these last named buildings, should be separated from the lawn,
+or front door-yard of the dwelling. The establishment should stand some
+distance back from the traveled highway, and be decorated with such
+trees, shrubbery, and cultivation, as the taste of the owner may direct.
+No _general_ rules or directions can be applicable to this design beyond
+what have already been given; and the subject must be treated as
+circumstances may suggest. The unfrequented side of the house should,
+however, be flanked with a garden, either ornamental, or fruit and
+vegetable; as buildings of this character ought to command a
+corresponding share of attention with the grounds by which they are
+surrounded.
+
+This house will appear equally well built of wood, brick, or stone. Its
+cost, according to materials, or finish, may be $1,000 or $1,500. The
+out-buildings attached, will add $400 to $600, with the same conditions
+as to finish; but the whole may be substantially and well built of
+either stone, brick, or wood, where each may be had at equal
+convenience, for $2,000 in the interior of New York. Of course, it is
+intended to do all the work plain, and in character for the occupation
+to which it is intended.
+
+
+MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS.
+
+At this point of our remarks a word or two may be offered on the general
+subject of inside finish to farm houses, which may be applicable more or
+less to any one, or all of the designs that may come under our
+observation; therefore what is here said, may be applied at large.
+Different sections of the United States have their own several _local_
+notions, or preferences as to the mode of finish to their houses and
+out-buildings, according to climate, education, or other circumstances.
+In all these matters neither taste, fashion, nor climate should be
+arbitrary. The manner of finish may be various, without any departure
+from truth or propriety--always keeping in mind the object for which it
+is intended. The _material_ for a country house should be _strong_, and
+_durable_, and the work simple in its details, beyond that for either
+town or suburban houses. It should be _strong_, for the reason that the
+interior of the farm house is used for purposes of industry, in
+finishing up and perfecting the labors of the farm; labors indispensable
+too, and in amount beyond the ordinary housekeeping requirements of a
+family who have little to do but merely to live, and make themselves
+comfortable. The material should be _durable_, because the distance at
+which the farm house is usually located from the residences of building
+mechanics, renders it particularly troublesome and expensive to make
+repairs, and alterations. The work should be _simple_, because cheaper
+in the first place, in construction, and finish; quite as appropriate
+and satisfactory in appearance; and demanding infinitely less labor and
+pains to care for, and protect it afterward. Therefore all mouldings,
+architraves, _chisel_-work, and gewgawgery in interior finish should be
+let alone in the living and daily occupied rooms of the house. If, to a
+single parlor, or _spare_ bedchamber a little _ornamental_ work be
+permitted, let even that be in moderation, and just enough to teach the
+active mistress and her daughters what a world of scrubbing and elbow
+work they have saved themselves in the enjoyment of a plainly-finished
+house, instead of one full of gingerbread work and finery. None but the
+initiated can tell the affliction that _chiseled_ finishing entails on
+housekeepers in the spider, fly, and other insect lodgment which it
+invites--frequently the cause of more annoyance and _daily_ disquietude
+in housekeeping, because unnecessary, than real griefs from which we may
+not expect to escape. Bases, casings, sashes, doors--all should be
+plain, and painted or stained a quiet _russet_ color--a color natural to
+the woods used for the finish, if it can be, showing, in their wear, as
+little of dust, soiling, and fly dirt as possible. There is no poetry
+about common housekeeping. Cooking, house-cleaning, washing, scrubbing,
+sweeping, are altogether matter-of-fact duties, and usually considered
+_work_, not recreation; and these should all be made easy of
+performance, and as seldom to be done as possible; although the first
+item always was, and always _will_ be, and the last item _should_ be, an
+every-day vocation for _somebody_; and the manner of inside finish to a
+house has a great deal to do with all these labors.
+
+In a stone, or brick house, the inside walls should be firred off for
+plastering. This may be done either by "plugging," that is, driving a
+plug of wood strongly into the mortar courses, into which the firring
+should be nailed, or by laying a strip of thin board in the mortar
+course, the entire length of each wall. This is better than _blocks_
+laid in for such purpose, because it is effectually _bound_ by the
+stone, or brick work; whereas, a block may get loose by shrinking, but
+the nails which hold the firring to the plug, or to the thin strip of
+board will split and _wedge_ it closer to the mason work of the outside
+wall. This is an important item. It makes close work too, and leaves no
+room for rats, mice, or other vermin; and as it admits a _space_--no
+matter how thin--so that no outside damp from the walls can communicate
+into, or through the inner plastering, it answers all purposes. The
+inside, and partition walls should be of coarse, strong mortar, _floated
+off_ as smoothly as may be, not a _hard finish_, which is fine, and
+costly; and then papered throughout for the better rooms, and the
+commonly-used rooms whitewashed. Paper gives a most comfortable look to
+the rooms, more so than paint, and much less expensive, while nothing is
+so sweet, tidy, and cheerful to the _working_ rooms of the house as a
+_lime_ wash, either white, or softened down with some agreeable tint,
+such as _light_ blue, green, drab, fawn, or russet, to give the shade
+desired, and for which every _professional_ painter and whitewasher in
+the vicinity, can furnish a proper recipe applicable to the place and
+climate. On such subjects we choose to prescribe, rather than to play
+the apothecary by giving any of the thousand and one recipes extant, for
+the composition.
+
+Our remarks upon the strength and durability of _material_ in
+house-building do not apply exclusively to brick and stone. Wood is
+included also; and of this, there is much difference in the kind. Sound
+_white_ oak, is, perhaps the best material for the heavy frame-work of
+any house or out-building, and when to be had at a moderate expense, we
+would recommend it in preference to any other. If _white_ oak cannot be
+had, the other varieties of oak, or chesnut are the next best. In
+_light_ frame-timbers, such as studs, girts, joists, or rafters, oak is
+inclined to spring and warp, and we would prefer hemlock, or chesnut,
+which holds a nail equally as well, or, in its absence, pine, (which
+holds a nail badly,) whitewood, or black walnut. The outside finish to a
+wooden house, may be _lighter_ than in one of stone or brick. The wood
+work on the outside of the latter should always be heavy, and in
+character with the walls, giving an air of firmness and stability to the
+whole structure. No elaborate carving, or beadwork should be permitted
+on the outside work of a country house at all; and only a sufficient
+quantity of ornamental _tracery_ of any kind, to break the monotony of a
+plainness that would otherwise give it a formal, or uncouth expression,
+and relieve it of what some would consider a pasteboard look. A farm
+house, in fact, of any degree, either cheap or expensive, should wear
+the same appearance as a well-dressed person of either sex; so that a
+stranger, not looking at them for the purpose of inspecting their garb,
+should, after an interview, be unable to tell what particular sort of
+dress they wore, so perfectly in keeping was it with propriety.
+
+In the design now under discussion, a cellar is made under the whole
+body of the house; and this cellar is a _shallow_ one, so far as being
+sunk into the ground is concerned, say 5-1/2 feet, leaving 2-1/2 feet of
+cellar wall above ground--8 feet in all. A part of the wall above ground
+should be covered by the excavated earth, and sloped off to a level with
+the surrounding surface. A commodious, well-lighted, and well-ventilated
+cellar is one of the most important apartments of the farm house. It
+should, if the soil be compact, be well drained from some point or
+corner within the walls into a lower level outside, to which point
+within, the whole floor surface should incline, and the bottom be
+floored with water-lime cement. This will make it hard, durable, and
+dry. It may then be washed and scrubbed off as easily as an upper floor.
+If the building site be high, and in a gravelly, or sandy soil, neither
+drain nor flooring will be required. The cellar may be used for the
+storage of root crops, apples, meats, and household vegetables. A
+partitioned room will accommodate either a summer or a winter dairy, if
+not otherwise provided, and a multitude of conveniences may be made of
+it in all well arranged farmeries. But in all cases the cellar should be
+well lighted, ventilated, and dry. Even the ash-house and smoke-house
+may be made in it with perfect convenience, by brick or stone
+partitions, and the smoke-house flue be carried up into one of the
+chimney flues above, and thus make a more snug and compact arrangement
+than to have separate buildings for those objects. A wash-room, in
+which, also, the soap may be made, the tallow and lard tried up, and
+other extraordinary labor when fire heat is to be used, may properly be
+made in a cellar, particularly when on a sloping ground, and easy of
+access to the ground level on one side. But, as a general rule, such
+room is better on a level with the main floor of the dwelling, and there
+are usually sufficient occupations for the cellar without them.
+
+All cellar walls should be at least 18 inches thick, for even a wooden
+house, and from that to 2 feet for a stone or brick one, and well laid
+in strong lime-mortar. Unmortared cellar walls are frequently laid under
+wooden buildings, and _pointed_ with lime-mortar inside; but this is
+sometimes dug out by rats, and is apt to crumble and fall out otherwise.
+A _complete_ cellar wall should be thoroughly laid in mortar.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 101-102.]
+
+DESIGN III.
+
+
+We here present the reader with a substantial, plain, yet
+highly-respectable stone or brick farm house, of the second class,
+suitable for an estate of three, to five hundred acres, and
+accommodation for a family of a dozen or more persons. The style is
+mixed rural Gothic, Italian, and bracketed; yet in keeping with the
+character of the farm, and the farmer's standing and occupation.
+
+The main body of this house is 42x24 feet on the ground, and one and
+three quarter stories high--the chambers running two or three feet into
+the roof, as choice or convenience may direct. The roof has a pitch of
+30 to 40deg from a horizontal line, and broadly spread over the walls,
+say two and a half feet, showing the ends of the rafters, bracket
+fashion. The chimneys pass out through the peak of the roof, where the
+hips of what would otherwise be the gables, connect with the long sides
+of the roof covering the front and rear. On the long front is partly
+seen, in the perspective, a portico, 16x10 feet--not the _chief_
+entrance front, but rather a side front, practically, which leads into a
+lawn or garden, as may be most desirable, and from which the best view
+from the house is commanded. Over this porch is a small gable running
+into the roof, to break its monotony, in which is a door-window leading
+from the upper hall on to the deck of the porch. This gable has the same
+finish as the main roof, by brackets. The chamber windows are two-thirds
+or three-quarters the size of the lower ones; thus showing the upper
+story not full height below the plates, but running two to four feet
+into the garret. The rear wing, containing the entrance or business
+front, is 24x32 feet, one and a half stories high, with a pitch of roof
+not less than 35deg, and spread over the walls both at the eaves and
+gable, in the same proportion as the roof to the main body. In front of
+this is a porch or veranda eight feet wide, with a low, hipped roof. In
+the front and rear roofs of this wing is a dormer window, to light the
+chambers. The gable to this wing is bold, and gives it character by the
+breadth of its roof over the walls, and the strong brackets by which it
+is supported. The chimney is thrown up strong and boldly at the point of
+the roof, indicating the every-day uses of the fireplaces below, which,
+although distinct and wide apart in their location on the ground floors,
+are drawn together in the chambers, thus showing only one escape through
+the roof.
+
+The wood-house in the rear of the wing has a roof of the same character,
+and connects with the long building in the rear, which has the same
+description of roof, but hipped at one end. That end over the workshop,
+and next the wood-house, shows a bold gable like the wing of the house,
+and affords room and light to the lumber room over the shop, and also
+gives variety and relief to the otherwise too great sameness of
+roof-appearance on the further side of the establishment.
+
+  [Illustration: GROUND PLAN. CHAMBER PLAN.]
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+As has been remarked, the main entrance front to this house is from the
+wing veranda, from which a well finished and sizeable door leads into
+the principal hall, 24x8 feet in area, and lighted by a full-sized
+window at the front end. Opposite the entrance door is the door leading
+into the parlor; and farther along is the staircase, under the upper
+landing of which a door leads into a dining or sitting-room, as may be
+determined. This hall is 10 feet high, as are all the rooms of this
+lower main story. In the chimney, which adjoins the parlor side of this
+hall, may be inserted a thimble for a hall stovepipe, if this method of
+warming should be adopted. The parlor, into which a door leads from the
+hall, is 18x16 feet, with two windows on the side, shown in perspective,
+and one on the front facing the lawn, or garden. It has also a fireplace
+near the hall door. At the further angle is a door leading to an entry
+or passage on to the portico. E is the entry just mentioned, six feet
+square, and lighted by a short sash, one light deep, over the outside
+door. This portico may be made a pleasant summer afternoon and evening
+resort for the family, by which the occupied rooms connect with the lawn
+or garden, thus adding to its retired and private character.
+
+Opposite the parlor, on the other side of this entry, a door leads into
+a room 18x12 feet, which may be occupied as a family bedroom, library,
+or small sitting-room. This is lighted by two windows, and has a closet
+of 6x5 feet. A fireplace is on the inner side of this room; and near to
+that, a door connects with a dining-room of the same size, having a
+window in one end, and a fireplace, and closet of the same size as the
+last. Through the rear wall is a door leading into a pantry, which also
+communicates with the kitchen; and another door leads to the hall, and
+from the hall, under the staircases, (which, at that point, are
+sufficiently high for the purpose,) is a passage leading to the kitchen.
+
+Under the wing veranda, near the point of intersection of the wing with
+the main body of the house, is an _every-day_ outer door, leading into a
+small entry, 6x5 feet, and lighted by a low, one-sash window over the
+door. By another door, this leads to the kitchen, or family room, which
+is lighted by three windows. An ample fireplace, with oven, &c.,
+accommodates this room at the end. A closet, 7x5 feet, also stands next
+to the entry; and beyond that, an open passage, to the left, leading out
+under the front hall stairs to the rooms of the main building. A door
+also leads from that passage into a _best_ pantry, for choice crockery,
+sweetmeats, and tea-table comforts. Another door, near the last, leads
+into a dairy or milk-room, 9x8 feet, beyond the passage; in which last,
+also, may be placed a tier of narrow shelves. This milk, or dairy-room,
+is lighted by a window in the end, and connects also, by a door in the
+side, with the _outer_ kitchen, or wash-room. Next to this milk-room
+door, in the front kitchen, is another door leading down cellar; and
+through this door, passing by the upper, broad stair of the flight of
+cellar steps, is another door into the wash-room. At the farther angle
+of the kitchen is still another door, opening into a passage four feet
+wide; and, in that passage, a door leading up a flight of stairs into
+the wing chambers. This passage opens into the back kitchen, or
+wash-room, 16x16 feet in area, and lighted by two windows, one of which
+looks into the wood-house. In this wash-room is a chimney with boilers
+and fireplace, as may be required. The cellar and chamber stairs, and
+the milk-room are also accessible direct, by doors leading from this
+wash-room.
+
+The chamber plan will be readily understood, and requires no particular
+description. The space over the wing may be partitioned off according to
+the plan, or left more open for the accommodation of the "work folks,"
+as occasion may demand. But, as this dwelling is intended for
+substantial people, "well to do in the world," and who extend a generous
+hospitality to their friends, a liberal provision of sleeping chambers
+is given to the main body of the house. The parlor chamber, which is the
+best, or _spare_ one, is 18x16 feet, with roomy side-closets. Besides
+this, are other rooms for the daughters Sally, and Nancy, and Fanny, and
+possibly Mary and Elizabeth--who want their own chambers, which they
+keep so clean and tidy, with closets full of nice bedclothes, table
+linen, towels, &c., &c., for certain events not yet whispered of, but
+quite sure to come round. And then there are Frederick, and Robert, and
+George, fine stalwart boys coming into manhood, intending to be
+"somebody in the world," one day or another; they must have _their_
+rooms--and good ones too; for, if any people are to be well lodged, why
+not those who toil for it? All such accommodation every farm house of
+this character should afford. And we need not go far, or look sharp, to
+see the best men and the best women in our state and nation graduating
+from the wholesome farm house thus tidily and amply provided. How
+delightfully look the far-off mountains, or the nearer plains, or
+prairies, from the lawn porch of this snug farm house! The distant lake;
+the shining river, singing away through the valley; or the wimpling
+brook, stealing through the meadow! Aye, enjoy them all, for they are
+God's best, richest gifts, and we are made to love them.
+
+The wood-house strikes off from the back kitchen, retreating two feet
+from its gable wall, and is 36x14 feet in size. A bathing room may be
+partitioned off 8x6 feet, on the rear corner next the wash-room, if
+required, although not laid down in the plan. At the further end is the
+water-closet, 6x4 feet. Or, if the size and convenience of the family
+require it, a part of the wood-house may be partitioned off for a
+wash-room, from which a chimney may pass up through the peak of the
+roof. If so, carry it up so high that it will be above the eddy that the
+wind may make in passing over the adjoining wing, not causing it to
+smoke from that cause.
+
+At the far end of the wood-house is the workshop and tool-house, 18x16
+feet, lighted by two windows, and a door to enter it from beneath the
+wood-house. Over this, is the lumber and store-room.
+
+Next to this is the swill-room and pigsty for the house pigs, as
+described in the last design; and over it a loft for farm seeds, small
+grains, and any other storage required.
+
+Adjoining this is the wagon and carriage-house; and above, the hayloft,
+stretching, also, partly over the stable which stands next, with two
+stalls, 12x5 feet each, with a flight of stairs leading to the loft, in
+the passage next the door. In this loft are swinging windows, to let in
+hay for the horses.
+
+This completes the household establishment, and we leave the
+surroundings to the correct judgment and good taste of the proprietor to
+complete, as its position, and the variety of objects with which it may
+be connected, requires.
+
+Stone and brick we have mentioned as the proper materials for this
+house; but it may be also built of wood, if more within the means and
+limits of the builder. There should be no pinching in its proportions,
+but every part carried out in its full breadth and effect.
+
+The cost of the whole establishment may be from $2,000, to $3,000;
+depending somewhat upon the material used, and the finish put upon it.
+The first-named sum would build the whole in an economical and plain
+manner, while the latter would complete it amply in its details.
+
+
+MISCELLANEOUS.
+
+It may be an objection in the minds of some persons to the various plans
+here submitted, that we have connected the out-buildings _immediately_
+with the offices of the dwelling itself. We are well aware that such is
+not always usual; but many years observation have convinced us, that in
+their use and occupation, such connection is altogether the most
+convenient and economical. The only drawback is in the case of fire;
+which, if it occur in any one building, the whole establishment is
+liable to be consumed. This objection is conceded; but we take it, that
+it is the business of every one not able to be his own insurer, to have
+his buildings insured by others; and the additional cost of this
+insurance is not a tithe of what the extra expense of time, labor, and
+exposure is caused to the family by having the out-buildings
+disconnected, and at a _fire-proof_ distance from each other. There has,
+too, in the separation of these out-buildings, (we do not now speak of
+barns, and houses for the stock, and the farmwork proper,) from the main
+dwelling, crept into the construction of such dwellings, by modern
+builders, _some_ things, which in a country establishment, particularly,
+ought never to be there, such as privies, or _water-closets_, as they
+are more _genteelly_ called. These last, in our estimation, have no
+business _in_ a _farmer's_ house. They are an _effeminacy_, only, and
+introduced by _city_ life. An _appendage_ they should be, but separated
+to some distance from the living rooms, and accessible by sheltered
+passages to them. The wood-house should adjoin the outer kitchen,
+because the fuel should always be handy, and the outer kitchen, or
+wash-room is a sort of _slop_-room, of necessity; and the night wood,
+and that for the morning fires may be deposited in it for immediate use.
+The workshop, and small tool-house naturally comes next to that, as
+being chiefly used in stormy weather. Next to this last, would, more
+conveniently, come the carriage or wagon-house, and of course a stable
+for a horse or two for family use, always accessible at night, and
+convenient at unseasonable hours for farm labor. In the same close
+neighborhood, also, should be a small pigsty, to accommodate a pig or
+two, to eat up the kitchen slops from the table, refuse vegetables,
+parings, dishwater, &c., &c., which could not well be carried to the
+main piggery of the farm, unless the old-fashioned filthy mode of
+letting the hogs run in the road, and a trough set outside the door-yard
+fence, as seen in some parts of the country, were adopted. A pig can
+always be kept, and fatted in three or four months, from the wash of the
+house, with a little grain, in any well-regulated farmer's family. A few
+fowls may also be kept in a convenient hen-house, if desired, without
+offence--all constituting a part of the _household_ economy of the
+place.
+
+These out-buildings too, give a comfortable, domestic look to the whole
+concern. Each one shelters and protects the other, and gives an air of
+comfort and repose to the whole--a family expression all round. What so
+naked and chilling to the feelings, as to see a country dwelling-house
+all perked up, by itself, standing, literally, out of doors, without any
+dependencies about it? No, no. First should stand the house, the chief
+structure, in the foreground; appendant to that, the kitchen wing; next
+in grade, the wood-house; covering in, also, the minor offices of the
+house. Then by way of setting up, partially on their own account, should
+come the workshop, carriage-house, and stable, as practically having a
+separate character, but still subordinate to the house and its
+requirements; and these too, may have their piggery and hen-house, by
+way of tapering off to the adjoining fence, which encloses a kitchen
+garden, or family orchard. Thus, each structure is appropriate in its
+way--and together, they form a combination grateful to the sight, as a
+complete rural picture. All objections, on account of filth or vermin,
+to this connection, may be removed by a cleanly keeping of the
+premises--a removal of all offal immediately as it is made, and daily or
+weekly taking it on to the manure heaps of the barns, or depositing it
+at once on the grounds where it is required. In point of health, nothing
+is more congenial to sound physical condition than the occasional smell
+of a stable, or the breath of a cow, not within the immediate contiguity
+to the occupied rooms of the dwelling. On the score of neatness,
+therefore, as we have placed them, no bar can be raised to their
+adoption.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN IV.
+
+
+This is perhaps a more ambitious house than either of the preceding,
+although it may be adapted to a domain of the same extent and value. It
+is plain and unpretending in appearance; yet, in its ample finish, and
+deeply drawn, sheltering eaves, broad veranda, and spacious
+out-buildings, may give accommodation to a larger family indulging a
+more liberal style of living than the last.
+
+By an error in the engraving, the main roof of the house is made to
+appear like a double, or gambrel-roof, breaking at the intersection of
+the gable, or hanging roof over the ends. This is not so intended. The
+roofs on each side are a straight line of rafters. The Swiss, or hanging
+style of gable-roof is designed to give a more sheltered effect to the
+elevation than to run the end walls to a peak in the point of the roof.
+
+By a defect in the drawing, the roof of the veranda is not sufficiently
+thrown over the columns. This roof should project at least one foot
+beyond them, so as to perfectly shelter the mouldings beneath from the
+weather, and conform to the style of the main roof of the house.
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 115-116.]
+
+The material of which it is built may be of either stone, brick, or
+wood, as the taste or convenience of the proprietor may suggest. The
+main building is 44x36 feet, on the ground. The cellar wall may show 18
+to 24 inches above the ground, and be pierced by windows in each end, as
+shown in the plan. The height of the main walls may be two full stories
+below the roof plates, or the chambers may run a foot or two into the
+garret, at the choice of the builder, either of which arrangements may
+be permitted.
+
+The front door opens from a veranda 28 feet long by 10 feet in depth,
+dropping eight inches from the door-sill. This veranda has a hipped
+roof, which juts over the columns in due proportion with the roof of the
+house over its walls. These columns are plain, with brackets, or braces
+from near their tops, sustaining the plate and finish of the roof above,
+which may be covered either with tin or zinc, painted, or closely
+shingled.
+
+The walls of the house may be 18 to 20 feet high below the plates; the
+roof a pitch of 30 to 45deg, which will afford an upper garret, or
+store, or small sleeping rooms, if required; and the eaves should
+project two to three feet, as climate may demand, over the walls. A
+plain finish--that is, ceiled underneath--is shown in the design, but
+brackets on the ends of the rafters, beaded and finished, may be shown,
+if preferred. The gables are _Swiss-roofed_, or _truncated_, thus giving
+them a most sheltered and comfortable appearance, particularly in a
+northerly climate. The small gable in front relieves the roof of its
+monotony, and affords light to the central garret. The chimneys are
+carried out with partition flues, and may be topped with square caps, as
+necessity or taste may demand.
+
+Retreating three feet from the kitchen side of the house runs, at right
+angles, a wing 30x18 feet, one and a half stories high, with a veranda
+eight feet wide in front. Next in rear of this, continues a wood-house,
+30x18 feet, one story high, with ten feet posts, and open in front, the
+ground level of which is 18 inches below the floor of the wing to which
+it is attached. The roof of these two is of like character with that of
+the main building.
+
+Adjoining this wood-house, and at right angles with it, is a building
+68x18 feet, projecting two feet outside the line of wood-house and
+kitchen. This building is one and a half stories high, with 12 feet
+posts, and roof in the same style and of equal pitch as the others.
+
+
+  [Illustration: GROUND PLAN.]
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door from the veranda of the house opens into a hall, 18x8
+feet, and 11 feet high, amply lighted by sash windows on the sides, and
+over the door. From the rear of this hall runs a flight of easy stairs,
+into the upper or chamber hall. On one side of the lower hall, a door
+leads into a parlor, 18 feet square, and 11 feet high, lighted by three
+windows, and warmed by an open stove, or fireplace, the pipe passing
+into a chimney flue in the rear. A door passes from this parlor into a
+rear passage, or entry, thus giving it access to the kitchen and rear
+apartments. At the back end of the front hall, a door leads into the
+rear passage and kitchen; and on the side opposite the parlor, a door
+opens into the sitting or family room, 18x16 feet in area, having an
+open fireplace, and three windows. On the hall side of this room, a door
+passes into the kitchen, 22x16 feet, and which may, in case the
+requirements of the family demand it, be made the chief family or living
+room, and the last one described converted into a library. In this
+kitchen, which is lighted by two windows, is a liberal open fireplace,
+with an ample oven by its side, and a sink in the outer corner. A flight
+of stairs, also, leads to the rear chambers above; and a corresponding
+flight, under them, to the cellar below. A door at each end of these
+stairs, leads into the back entry of the house, and thus to the other
+interior rooms, or through the rear outer door to the back porch. This
+back entry is lighted by a single sash window over the outside door
+leading to the porch. Another door, opposite that leading down cellar,
+opens into the passage through the wing. From the rear hall, which is
+16x5 feet, the innermost passage leads into a family bedroom, or
+nursery, 16x14 feet, lighted by a window in each outside wall, and
+warmed by an open fireplace, or stove, at pleasure. Attached to this
+bedroom is a clothes-closet, 8x4 feet, with shelves, and drawers. Next
+the outer door, in rear end of the hall, is a small closet opening from
+it, 6x4 feet in dimensions, convertible to any use which the mistress of
+the house may direct.
+
+  [Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN.]
+
+Opening into the wing from the kitchen, first, is a large closet and
+pantry, supplied with a table, drawers, and shelves, in which are stored
+the dishes, table furniture, and edibles necessary to be kept at a
+moment's access. This room is 14x8 feet, and well lighted by a window of
+convenient size. If necessary, this room may have a partition, shutting
+off a part from the everyday uses which the family requires. In this
+room, so near to the kitchen, to the sink, to hot-water, and the other
+little domestic accessories which good housewives know so well how to
+arrange and appreciate, all the nice little table-comforts can be got
+up, and perfected, and stored away, under lock and key, in drawer, tub,
+or jar, at their discretion, and still their eyes not be away from their
+subordinates in the other departments. Next to this, and connected by a
+door, is the dairy, or milk-room, also 14x8 feet; which, if necessary,
+may be sunk three or four feet into the ground, for additional coolness
+in the summer season, and the floor reached by steps. In this are ample
+shelves for the milkpans, conveniences of churning, &c., &c. But, if the
+dairy be a prominent object of the farm, a separate establishment will
+be required, and the excavation may not be necessary for ordinary
+household uses. Out of this milk-room, a door leads into a wash-room,
+18x14 feet. A passage from the kitchen also leads into this. The
+wash-room is lighted by two windows in rear, and one in front. A sink is
+between the two rear windows, with conductor leading outside, and a
+closet beneath it, for the iron ware. In the chimney, at the end, are
+boilers, and a fireplace, an oven, or anything else required, and a door
+leading to a platform in the wood-house, and so into the yard. On the
+other side of the chimney, a door leads into a bathing-room, 7x6 feet,
+into which hot water is drawn from one of the boilers adjoining, and
+cold water may be introduced, by a hand-pump, through a pipe leading
+into the well or cistern.
+
+As no more convenient opportunity may present itself, a word or two will
+be suggested as to the location of the bath-room in a country house. In
+city houses, or country houses designed for the summer occupancy of city
+dwellers, the bathing-rooms are usually placed in the second or chamber
+story, and the water for their supply is drawn from cisterns still above
+_them_. This arrangement, in city houses, is made chiefly from the want
+of room on the ground floor; and, also, thus arranged in the
+city-country houses, _because_ they are so constructed in the city. In
+the farm house, or in the country house proper, occupied by whom it may
+be, such arrangement is unnecessary, expensive, and inconvenient.
+Unnecessary, because there is no want of room on the ground; expensive,
+because an upper cistern is always liable to leakages, and a consequent
+wastage of water, wetting, and rotting out the floors, and all the
+slopping and dripping which such accidents occasion; and inconvenient,
+from the continual up-and-down-stair labor of those who occupy the bath,
+to say nothing of the piercing the walls of the house, for the admission
+of pipes to lead in and let out the water, and the thousand-and-one
+vexations, by way of plumbers' bills, and expense of getting to and from
+the house itself, always a distance of some miles from the mechanic.
+
+The only defence for such location of the bath-room and cisterns is, the
+convenience and privacy of access to them, by the females of the family.
+This counts but little, if anything, over the place appropriated in
+this, and the succeeding designs of this work. The access is almost, if
+not quite as private as the other, and, in case of ill-health, as easily
+approachable to invalids. And on the score of economy in construction,
+repair, or accident, the plan here adopted is altogether preferable. In
+this plan, the water is drawn from the boiler by the turning of a cock;
+that from the cistern, by a minute's labor with the hand-pump. It is let
+off by the drawing of a plug, and discharges, by a short pipe, into the
+adjoining garden, or grassplat, to moisten and invigorate the trees and
+plants which require it, and the whole affair is clean and sweet again.
+A screen for the window gives all the privacy required, and the most
+fastidious, shrinking female is as retired as in the shadiest nook of
+her dressing-room.
+
+So with water-closets. A fashion prevails of thrusting these noisome
+things into the midst of sleeping chambers and living rooms--pandering
+to effeminacy, and, at times, surcharging the house--for they cannot,
+at _all_ times, and under _all_ circumstances, be kept perfectly
+close--with their offensive odor. _Out_ of the house they belong; and if
+they, by any means, find their way within its walls proper, the fault
+will not be laid at our door.
+
+To get back to our description. This bathing-room occupies a corner of
+the wood-house.
+
+A raised platform passes from the wash-room in, past the bath-room, to a
+water-closet, which may be divided into two apartments, if desirable.
+The vaults are accessible from the rear, for cleaning out, or
+introducing lime, gypsum, powdered charcoal, or other deodorizing
+material. At the extreme corner of the wood-house, a door opens into a
+feed and swill-room, 20x8 feet, which is reached by steps, and stands
+quite eighteen inches above the ground level, on a stone under-pinning,
+or with a stone cellar beneath, for the storage of roots in winter. In
+one corner of this is a boiler and chimney, for cooking food for the
+pigs and chickens. A door leads from this room into the piggery, 20x12
+feet, where half-a-dozen swine may be kept. A door leads from this pen
+into a yard, in the rear, where they will be less offensive than if
+confined within. If necessary, a flight of steps, leading to the loft
+overhead, may be built, where corn can be stored for their feeding.
+
+Next to this is the workshop and tool-house, 18x14 feet; and, in rear, a
+snug, warm house for the family chickens, 18x6 feet. These chickens may
+also have the run of the yard in rear, with the pigs, and apartments in
+the loft overhead for roosting.
+
+Adjoining the workshop is the carriage house, 18x18 feet, with a flight
+of stairs to the hayloft above, in which is, also, a dovecote; and,
+leading out of the carriage floor, is the stable, 18x12 feet, with
+stalls for two or four horses, and a passage of four feet wide, from the
+carriage-house into it; thus completing, and drawing under one
+continuous roof, and at less exposure than if separated, the chief
+every-day requirements of living, to a well-arranged and
+highly-respectable family.
+
+The chamber plan of the dwelling will be readily understood by reference
+to its arrangement. There are a sufficiency of closets for all purposes,
+and the whole are accessible from either flight of stairs. The rooms
+over the wing, of course, should be devoted to the male domestics of the
+family, work-people, &c.
+
+
+SURROUNDING PLANTATIONS, SHRUBBERY, WALKS, ETC.
+
+After the general remarks made in the preceding pages, no _particular_
+instructions can be given for the manner in which this residence should
+be embellished in its trees and shrubbery. The large forest trees,
+always grand, graceful, and appropriate, would become such a house,
+throwing a protecting air around and over its quiet, unpretending roof.
+Vines, or climbing roses, might throw their delicate spray around the
+columns of the modest veranda, and a varied selection of familiar
+shrubbery and ornamental plants checker the immediate front and sides of
+the house looking out upon the lawn; through which a spacious walk, or
+carriage-way should wind, from the high road, or chief approach.
+
+There are, however, so many objects to be consulted in the various sites
+of houses, that no one rule can be laid down for individual guidance.
+The surface of the ground immediately adjoining the house must be
+considered; the position of the house, as it is viewed from surrounding
+objects; its altitude, or depression, as affected by the adjacent lands;
+its command upon surrounding near, or distant objects, in the way of
+prospect; the presence of water, either in stream, pond, or lake, far or
+near, or the absence of water altogether--all these enter immediately
+into the manner in which the lawn of a house should be laid out, and
+worked, and planted. But as a rule, all _filagree_ work, such as
+serpentine paths, and tortuous, unmeaning circles, artificial piles of
+rock, and a multitude of small _ornaments_--so esteemed, by some--should
+never be introduced into the lawn of a _farm_ house. It is unmeaning,
+in the first place; expensive in its care, in the second place;
+unsatisfactory and annoying altogether. Such things about a farm
+establishment are neither dignified nor useful, and should be left to
+town's-people, having but a stinted appreciation of what constitutes
+_natural_ beauty, and wanting to make the most of the limited piece of
+ground of which they are possessed.
+
+Nor would we shut out, by these remarks, the beauty and odor of the
+flower-borders, which are so appropriately the care of the good matron
+of the household and her comely daughters. To them may be devoted a
+well-dug plat beneath the windows, or in the garden. Enough, and to
+spare, they should always have, of such cheerful, life-giving pleasures.
+We only object to their being strewed all over the ground,--a tussoc of
+plant here, a patch of posey there, and a scattering of both everywhere,
+without either system or meaning. They lower the dignity and simplicity
+of the country dwelling altogether.
+
+The business approach to this house is, of course, toward the stables
+and carriage-house, and from them should lead off the main farm-avenue.
+
+The kitchen garden, if possible, should lie on the kitchen side of the
+house, where, also, should be placed the bee-house, in full sight from
+the windows, that their labors and swarming may be watched. In fact, the
+entire economy of the farm house, and its appendages, should be brought
+close under the eye of the household, to engage their care and
+watchfulness, and to interest them in all the little associations and
+endearments--and they are many, when properly studied out--which go to
+make agricultural life one of the most agreeable pursuits, if not
+altogether so, in which our lot in life may be cast.
+
+A fruit-garden, too, should be a prominent object near this house. We
+are now advancing somewhat into the _elegances_ of agricultural life;
+and although fruit trees, and _good_ fruits too, should hold a strong
+place in the surroundings of even the humblest of all country
+places--sufficient, at least, for the ample use of the family--they have
+not yet been noticed, to any extent, in those already described. It may
+be remarked, that the fruit-_garden_--the _orchard_, for market
+purposes, is not here intended--should be placed in near proximity to
+the house. All the _small_ fruits, for household use, such as
+strawberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, blackberries, grapes,
+as well as apricots, plums, nectarines, peaches, pears, apples, quinces,
+or whatever fruits may be cultivated, in different localities, should be
+close by, for the convenience of collecting them, and to protect them
+from destruction by vermin, birds, or the depredations of creatures
+_called_ human.
+
+A decided plan of arrangement for all the plantations and grounds,
+should enter into the composition of the site for the dwelling,
+out-houses, gardens, &c., as they are to appear when the whole
+establishment is completed; and nothing left to accident, chance, or
+after-thought, which can be disposed of at the commencement. By the
+adoption of such a course, the entire composition is more easily
+perfected, and with infinitely greater expression of character, than if
+left to the chance designs, or accidental demands of the future.
+
+Another feature should be strictly enforced, in the outward appointments
+of the farm house,--and that is, the entire withdrawal of any use of the
+highway, in its occupation by the stock of the farm, except in leading
+them to and from its enclosures. Nothing looks more slovenly, and
+nothing can be more unthrifty, in an _enclosed_ country, than the
+running of farm stock in the highway. What so untidy as the approach to
+a house, with a herd of filthy hogs rooting about the fences, basking
+along the sidewalk, or feeding at a huge, uncouth, hollowed log, in the
+road near the dwelling. It may be out of place here to speak of it, but
+this disgusting spectacle has so often offended our sight, at the
+approach of an otherwise pleasant farm establishment, that we cannot
+forego the opportunity to speak of it. The road lying in front, or
+between the different sections of the farm, should be as well, and as
+cleanly kept as any portion of the enclosures, and it is equally a sin
+against good taste and neighborhood-morality, to have it otherwise.
+
+
+TREE-PLANTING IN THE HIGHWAY.
+
+This is frequently recommended by writers on country embellishment, as
+indispensable to a finished decoration of the farm. Such may, or may not
+be the fact. Trees shade the roads, when planted on their sides, and so
+they partially do the fields adjoining, making the first muddy, in bad
+weather, by preventing the sun drying them, and shading the crops of the
+last by their overhanging foliage, in the season of their growth. Thus
+they are an evil, in moist and heavy soils. Yet, in light soils, their
+shade is grateful to the highway traveler, and not, perhaps, injurious
+to the crops of the adjoining field; and when of proper kinds, they add
+grace and beauty to the domain in which they stand. We do not,
+therefore, indiscriminately recommend them, but leave it to the
+discretion of the farmer, to decide for himself, having seen estates
+equally pleasant with, and without trees on the roadside. Nothing,
+however, can be more beautiful than a clump of trees in a
+pasture-ground, with a herd, or a flock beneath them, near the road; or
+the grand and overshadowing branches of stately tree, in a rich meadow,
+leaning, perhaps, over the highway fence, or flourishing in its solitary
+grandeur, in the distance--each, and all, imposing features in the rural
+landscape. All such should be preserved, with the greatest care and
+solicitude, as among the highest and most attractive ornaments which the
+farm can boast.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 131-132.]
+
+DESIGN V.
+
+
+We here present a dwelling of a more ambitious and pretending character
+than any one which we have, as yet, described, and calculated for a
+large and wealthy farmer, who indulges in the elegances of country life,
+dispenses a liberal hospitality, and is every way a country gentleman,
+such as all our farmers of ample means should be. It will answer the
+demands of the retired man of business as well; and is, perhaps, as full
+in its various accommodation as an American farm or country house may
+require. It claims no distinct style of architecture, but is a
+composition agreeable in effect, and appropriate to almost any part of
+the country, and its climate. Its site may be on either hill or
+plain--with a view extensive, or restricted. It may look out over broad
+savannas, cultivated fields, and shining waters; it may nestle amid its
+own quiet woods and lawn in its own selected shade and retirement, or
+lord it over an extensive park, ranged by herds and flocks, meandered by
+its own stream, spreading anon into the placid lake, or rushing swiftly
+over its own narrow bed--an independent, substantial, convenient, and
+well-conditioned home, standing upon its own broad acres, and comporting
+with the character and standing of its occupant, among his friends and
+neighbors.
+
+The main building is 50x40 feet in area upon the ground, two stories
+high; the ground story 11 feet high, its floor elevated 2-1/2 or 3 feet
+above the level of the surrounding surface, as its position may demand;
+the chambers 9 feet high, and running 2 feet into the roof. The rear
+wing is one and a half stories high, 36x16 feet; the lower rooms 11 feet
+high, with a one story lean-to range of closets, and small rooms on the
+weather side, 8 feet in width and 9 feet high. In the rear of these is a
+wood-house, 30x20 feet, with 10 feet posts, dropped to a level with the
+ground. At the extremity of this is a building, by way of an L, 60x20
+feet, one and a half stories high, with a lean-to, 12x30 feet, in the
+rear. The ground rooms of this are elevated 1-1/2 feet above the ground,
+and 9 feet high. A broad roof covers the whole, standing at an angle of
+40 or 45deg above a horizontal line, and projecting widely over the
+walls, 2-1/2 to 3 feet on the main building, and 2 feet on the others,
+to shelter them perfectly from the storms and damps of the weather. A
+small cupola stands out of the ridge of the rear building, which may
+serve as a ventilator to the apartments and lofts below, and in it may
+be hung a bell, to summon the household, or the field laborers, as the
+case may be, to their duties or their meals.
+
+The design, as here shown, is rather florid, and perhaps profusely
+ornamental in its finish, as comporting with the taste of the day; but
+the cut and moulded trimmings may be left off by those who prefer a
+plain finish, and be no detriment to the general effect which the deep
+friezes of the roofs, properly cased beneath, may give to it. Such,
+indeed, is our own taste; but this full finish has been added, to
+gratify such as wish the full ornament which this style of building may
+admit.
+
+
+  [Illustration: GROUND PLAN.]
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front of this house is accommodated by a porch, or veranda, 40 feet
+long, and 10 feet wide, with a central, or entrance projection of 18
+feet in length, and 12 feet in width, the floor of which is eight inches
+below the main floor of the house. The wings, or sides of this veranda
+may be so fitted up as to allow a pleasant conservatory on each side of
+the entrance area in winter, by enclosing them with glass windows, and
+the introduction of heat from a furnace under the main hall, in the
+cellar of the house. This would add to its general effect in winter,
+and, if continued through the summer, would not detract from its
+expression of dignity and refinement. From the veranda, a door in the
+center of the front, with two side windows, leads into the main hall,
+which is 26x12 feet in area, two feet in the width of which is taken
+from the rooms on the right of the main entrance. On the left of the
+hall a door opens into a parlor or drawing-room, marked P, 20 feet
+square, with a bay window on one side, containing three sashes, and
+seats beneath. A single window lights the front opening on to the
+veranda. On the opposite side to this is the fireplace, with blank walls
+on each side. On the opposite side of the hall is a library, 18x16 feet,
+with an end window, and a corresponding one to the parlor, in front,
+looking out on the veranda. In case these portions of the veranda,
+opposite the two front windows are occupied as conservatories, these
+windows should open to the floor, to admit a walk immediately into them.
+At the farther corner of the library a narrow door leads into an office,
+or business apartment, 12x8 feet, and opening by a broad door, the upper
+half of which is a lighted sash. This door leads from the office out on
+a small porch, with a floor and two columns, 8x5 feet, and nine feet
+high, with a gable and double roof of the same pitch as the house.
+Between the chimney flues, in the rear of this room may be placed an
+iron safe, or chest for the deposit of valuable papers; and, although
+small, a table and chairs sufficient to accommodate the business
+requirements of the occupant, may be kept in it. A chimney stands in the
+center of the inner wall of the library, in which may be a fireplace, or
+a flue to receive a stovepipe, whichever may be preferred for warming
+the room.
+
+Near the hall side of the library a door opens into a passage leading
+into the family bedroom, or nursery. A portion of this passage may be
+shelved and fitted up as a closet for any convenient purpose. The
+nursery is 18x16 feet in size, lighted by two windows. It may have an
+open fireplace, or a stove, as preferred, let into the chimney,
+corresponding to that in the library. These two chimneys may either be
+drawn together in the chambers immediately above, or carried up
+separately into the garret, and pass out of the roof in one stack, or
+they maybe built in one solid mass from the cellar bottom; but they are
+so placed here, as saving room on the floors, and equally accommodating,
+in their separate divisions, the stovepipes that may lead into them.
+On the inner side of the nursery, a door leads into a large closet, or
+child's sleeping-room, 9x8 feet; or it may be used as a dressing-room,
+with a sash inserted in the door to light it. A door may also lead from
+it into the small rear entry of the house, and thus pass directly out,
+without communicating with the nursery. On the extreme left corner of
+the nursery is a door leading into the back entry, by which it
+communicates either with the rear porch, the dining-room, or the
+kitchen. Such a room we consider indispensable to the proper
+accommodation of a house in the country, as saving a world of
+up-and-down-stairs' labor to her who is usually charged with the
+domestic cares and supervision of the family.
+
+On the right of the main hall an ample staircase leads into the upper
+hall by a landing and broad stair at eight feet above the floor, and a
+right-angled flight from that to the main floor above. Under this main
+hall staircase, a door and stairs may lead into the cellar. Beyond the
+turning flight below, a door leads into the back hall, or entry, already
+mentioned, which is 13x4 feet in area, which also has a side passage of
+8x4 feet, and a door leading to the rear porch, and another into the
+kitchen at its farther side, near the outer one. Opposite the turning
+flight of stairs, in the main hall, is also a door leading to the
+dining-room, 20x16 feet. This is lighted by a large double window at the
+end. A fireplace, or stove flue is in the center wall, and on each side
+a closet for plate, or table furniture. These closets come out flush
+with the chimney. At the extreme right corner a door leads into the rear
+entry--or this may be omitted, at pleasure. Another door in the rear
+wall leads into the kitchen, past the passage down into the cellar--or
+this may be omitted, if thought best. Still another door to the left,
+opens into a large dining closet of the back lean-to apartments, 8x8
+feet. This closet is lighted by a window of proper architectural size,
+and fitted up with a suite of drawers, shelves, table, and cupboards,
+required for the preparation and deposit of the lighter family stores
+and edibles. From this closet is also a door leading into the kitchen,
+through which may be passed all the meats and cookery for the table,
+either for safe-keeping, or immediate service. Here the thrifty and
+careful housekeeper and her assistants may, shut apart, and by
+themselves, get up, fabricate, and arrange all their table delicacies
+with the greatest convenience and privacy, together with ease of access
+either to the dining-room or kitchen--an apartment most necessary in a
+liberally-arranged establishment.
+
+From the rear entry opens a door to the kitchen, passing by the _rear_
+chamber stairs. This flight of stairs may be entered directly from the
+kitchen, leading either to the chamber, or under them, into the cellar,
+without coming into the passage connecting with the entry or
+dining-room, if preferred. In such case, a broad stair of thirty inches
+in width should be next the door, on which to turn, as the door would be
+at right angles with the stairs, either up or down.
+
+The kitchen is 20x16 feet, and 11 feet high. It has an outer door
+leading on the rear porch, and a window on each side of that door; also
+a window, under which is a sink, on the opposite side, at the end of a
+passage four feet wide, leading through the lean-to. It has also an open
+fireplace, and an oven by the side of it--old fashion. It may be also
+furnished with a cooking range, or stove--the smoke and fumes leading by
+a pipe into a flue into the chimney. On the lean-to side is a milk or
+dairy-room, 8x8 feet, lighted by a window. Here also the kitchen
+furniture and meats may be stored in cupboards made for the purpose.
+In rear of the kitchen, and leading from it by a door through a lighted
+passage next the rear porch, is the wash-room, 16x16 feet, lighted by a
+large window from the porch side. A door also leads out of the rear on
+to a platform into the wood-house. Another door leads from the wash-room
+into a bath-room in the lean-to 8x8 feet, into which warm water is drawn
+by a pipe and pump from the boiler in the wash-room; or, if preferred,
+the bath-room may be entered from the main kitchen, by the passage next
+the sink. This bath-room is lighted by a window. Next to the bath-room
+is a bedroom for a man servant who has charge of the fires, and heavy
+house-work, wood, &c., &c. This bedroom is also 8x8 feet, and lighted by
+a window in the lean-to. In front of this wash-room and kitchen is a
+porch, eight inches below the floor, six feet wide, with a railing, or
+not, as may be preferred. (The railing is made in the cut.) A platform,
+three feet wide, leads from the back door of the wash-room to a
+water-closet for the family _proper_. The wood-house is open in front,
+with a single post supporting the center of the roof. At the extreme
+outer angle is a water-closet for the domestics of the establishment.
+
+Adjoining the wood-house, and opening from it into the L before
+mentioned, is a workshop, and small-tool-house, 20x16 feet, lighted by a
+large double window at one end. In this should be a carpenter's
+work-bench and tool-chest, for the repairs of the farming utensils and
+vehicles. Overhead is a store-room for lumber, or whatever else may be
+necessary for use in that capacity. Next to this is a granary or
+feed-room, 20x10 feet, with a small chimney in one corner, where may be
+placed a boiler to cook food for pigs, poultry, &c., as the case may be.
+Here may also be bins for storage of grain and meal. Leading out of this
+is a flight of stairs passing to the chamber above, and a passage four
+feet wide, through the rear, into a yard adjoining. At the further end
+of the stairs a door opens into a poultry house, 16x10 feet, including
+the stairs. The poultry room is lighted at the extreme left corner, by a
+broad window. In this may be made roosts, and nesting places, and
+feeding troughs. A low door under the window may be also made for the
+fowls in passing to the rear yard. Adjoining the granary, and leading to
+it by a door, is the carriage-house, 20x20 feet, at the gable end of
+which are large doors for entrance. From the carriage-house is a broad
+passage of six feet, into the stables, which are 12 feet wide, and
+occupy the lean-to. This lean-to is eight feet high below the eaves,
+with two double stalls for horses, and a door leading into the _side_
+yard, with the doors of the carriage-house. A window also lights the
+rear of the stables. A piggery 12 feet square occupies the remainder of
+the lean-to in rear of the poultry-house, in which two or three pigs can
+always be kept, and fatted on the offal of the house, for _small_ pork,
+at any season, apart from the swine stock of the farm. A door leads out
+of the piggery into the rear yard, where range also the poultry. As the
+_shed_ roof shuts down on to the pigsty and stables, no loft above them
+is necessary. In the loft over the granary, poultry, and carriage-house
+is deposited the hay, put in there through the doors which appear in the
+design.
+
+CHAMBER PLAN.--This is easily understood. At the head of the stairs,
+over the main hall, is a large passage leading to the porch, and opening
+by a door-window on the middle deck of the veranda, which is nearly
+level, and tinned, or coppered, water-tight, as are also the two sides.
+On either side of this upper hall is a door leading to the front
+sleeping chambers, which are well closeted, and spacious. If it be
+desirable to construct more sleeping-rooms, they can be partitioned
+laterally from the hall, and doors made to enter them. A rear hall is
+cut off from the front, lighted by a window over the lower rear porch,
+and a door leads into a further passage in the wing, four feet wide,
+which leads down a flight of stairs into the kitchen below. At the head
+of this flight is a chamber 20x12 feet, for the female domestic's
+sleeping-room, in which may be placed a stove, if necessary, passing its
+pipe into the kitchen chimney which passes through it.
+
+  [Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN.]
+
+It is also lighted by a window over the lean-to, on the side. Back of
+this, at the end of the passage, is the sleeping-room, 16 feet square,
+for the "men-folks," lighted on both sides by a window. This may also be
+warmed, if desired, by a stove, the pipe passing into the kitchen
+chimney.
+
+The cellar may extend under the entire house and wing, as convenience or
+necessity may require. If it be constructed under the main body only, an
+offset should be excavated to accommodate the cellar stairs, three feet
+in width, and walled in with the rest. A wide, _outer_ passage, with a
+flight of steps should also be made under the rear nursery window, for
+taking in and passing out bulky articles, with double doors to shut down
+upon it; and partition walls should be built to support the partitions
+of the large rooms above. Many minor items of detail might be mentioned,
+all of which are already treated in the general remarks, under their
+proper heads, in the body of the work, and which cannot here be
+noticed--such as the mode of warming it, the construction of furnaces,
+&c.
+
+It may, by some builders, be considered a striking defect in the
+interior accommodation of a house of this character, that the chief
+entrance hall should not be extended through, from its front to the
+rear, as is common in many of the large mansions of our country.
+We object to the large, open hall for more than one reason, except,
+possibly, in a house for _summer_ occupation only. In the first place it
+is uncomfortable, in subjecting the house to an unnecessary draught of
+air when it is not needed, in cold weather. Secondly, it cuts the house
+into two distinct parts, making them inconvenient of access in crossing
+its wide surface. Thirdly, it is uneconomical, in taking up valuable
+room that can be better appropriated. For summer ventilation it is
+unnecessary; that may be given by simply opening the front door and a
+chamber window connected with the hall above, through which a current of
+fresh air will always pass. Another thing, the hall belongs to the
+front, or _dress_ part of the house, and should be _cut off_ from the
+more domestic and common apartments by a partition, although accessible
+to them, and not directly communicating with such apartments, which
+cannot of necessity, be in keeping with its showy and pretending
+character. It should contain only the _front_ flight of stairs, as a
+part of its appointments, besides the doors leading to its best
+apartments on the ground floor, which should be centrally placed--its
+rear door being of a less pretending and subordinate character. Thus,
+the hall, with its open doors, connecting the best rooms of the house on
+each side, with its ample flight of stairs in the background, gives a
+distinct expression of superiority in occupation to the other and
+humbler portions of the dwelling.
+
+In winter, too, how much more snug and comfortable is the house, shut in
+from the prying winds and shivering cold of the outside air, which the
+opposite outer doors of an open hall cannot, in their continual opening
+and shutting, altogether exclude! Our own experience, and, we believe,
+the experience of most housekeepers will readily concede its defects;
+and after full reflection we have excluded it as both unnecessary and
+inconvenient.
+
+Another objection has been avoided in the better class of houses here
+presented, which has crept into very many of the designs of modern
+builders; which is, that of using the living rooms of the family, more
+or less, as passages from the kitchen apartments in passing to and from
+the front hall, or chief entrance. Such we consider a decided objection,
+and hence arose, probably, the older plans of by-gone years, of making
+the main hall reach back to the kitchen itself. This is here obviated by
+a cutting up of the rear section of the hall, by which a passage, in all
+cases of the better kind of dwelling, is preserved, without encroaching
+upon the occupied rooms in passing out and in. To be sure, the front
+door is not the usual passage for the laborers or servants of the house,
+but they are subject, any hour of the day, to be called there to admit
+those who may come, and the continual opening of a private room for such
+purposes is most annoying. Therefore, as matter of convenience, and as a
+decided improvement on the designs above noticed, we have adhered
+strictly to the separate rear passage.
+
+The _garret_, also, as we have arranged our designs, is either
+altogether left out, or made a quite unimportant part of the dwelling.
+It is but a _lumber_ room, at best; and should be approached only by a
+flight of steps from a rear chamber or passage, and used as a receptacle
+for useless traps, or cast-off furniture, seldom wanted. It is hot in
+summer, and cold in winter, unfit for decent lodging to any human being
+in the house, and of little account any way. We much prefer running the
+chambers partially into the roof, which we think gives them a more
+comfortable expression, and admits of a better ventilation, by carrying
+their ceilings higher without the expense of high _body_ walls to the
+house, which would give them an otherwise naked look. If it be objected
+that thus running the chambers above the plates of the roof prevents the
+insertion of proper ties or beams to hold the roof plates together to
+prevent their spreading, we answer, that he must be a poor mechanic who
+cannot, in framing the chamber partitions so connect the opposite plates
+as to insure them against all such difficulty. A _sheltered,
+comfortable_ aspect is that which should distinguish every farm house,
+and the _cottage_ chamber is one of its chiefest characteristics; and
+this can only be had by running such apartments into the roof, as in our
+design.
+
+
+CONSTRUCTION.
+
+A house of this kind must, according to its locality, and the material
+of which it is built, be liable to wide differences of estimate in its
+cost; and from our own experience in such matters, any estimate here
+made we know cannot be reliable as a rule for other localities, where
+the prices of material and labor are different from our own. Where
+lumber, stone, and brick abound, and each are to be had at reasonable
+prices, the cost of an establishment of this kind would not vary much in
+the application of either one of these materials for the walls, if well
+and substantially constructed. There should be no _sham_, nor slight, in
+any part of the building. As already observed, the design shows a high
+degree of finish, which, if building for ourself, we should not indulge
+in. A plain style of cornice, and veranda finish, we should certainly
+adopt. But the roof should not be contracted in its projecting breadth
+over the walls, in any part of the structure--if anything, it should be
+more extended. The bay-window is an appendage of luxury, only. Great
+care should be had, in attaching its roof to the adjoining outer wall,
+to prevent leakage of any kind. If the walls be of brick, or stone,
+a beam or lintel of wood should be inserted in the wall over the
+window-opening, quite two inches--three would be better--back from its
+outer surface, to receive the casing of the window, that the drip of the
+wall, and the driving of the storms may fall _over_ the connecting
+joints of the window roof, beyond its point of junction with it. Such,
+also, should be the case with the intersection of the veranda or porch
+roof with the wall of the house, wherever a veranda, or porch is
+adopted; as, simply joined on to a _flush_ surface, as such appendages
+usually are--even if ever so well done--leakage and premature decay is
+inevitable.
+
+The style of finish must, of course, influence, in a considerable
+degree, its cost. It may, with the plainest finish, be done for $4,000,
+and from that, up to $6,000. Every one desirous to build, should apply
+to the best mechanics of his neighborhood for information on that point,
+as, in such matters, they are the best judges, and from experience in
+their own particular profession, of what the cost of building must be.
+
+The rules and customs of housekeeping vary, in different sections of the
+United States, and the Canadas. These, also, enter into the estimates
+for certain departments of building, and must be considered in the items
+of expenditure.
+
+The manner in which houses should be warmed, the ventilation,
+accommodation for servants and laborers, the appropriations to
+hospitality--all, will have a bearing on the expense, of which we cannot
+be the proper judge.
+
+A sufficient time should be given, to build a house of this character.
+A house designed and built in a hurry, is never a satisfactory house in
+its occupation. A year is little enough, and if two years be occupied in
+its design and construction, the more acceptable will probably be its
+finish, and the more comfort will be added in its enjoyment.
+
+
+GROUNDS, PLANTATIONS, AND SURROUNDINGS.
+
+A house of this kind should never stand in vulgar and familiar contact
+with the highway, but at a distance from it of one hundred to a thousand
+yards; or even, if the estate on which it is built be extensive, a much
+greater distance. Breadth of ground between the highway and the dwelling
+adds dignity and character to its appearance. An ample lawn, or a
+spreading park, well shaded with trees, should lay before it, through
+which a well-kept avenue leads to its front, and most frequented side.
+The various offices and buildings of the farm itself, should be at a
+respectable distance from it, so as not to interfere with its proper
+keeping as a genteel country residence. Its occupant is not to be
+supposed as under the necessity of toiling with his daily laborers in
+the fields, and therefore, although he may be strictly a man of
+business, he has sufficient employment in planning his work, and
+managing his estate through a foreman, in the various labor-occupations
+of the estate. His horse may be at his door in the earliest morning
+hours, that he may inspect his fields, and give timely directions to his
+laborers, or view his herds, or his flocks, before his breakfast hour;
+or an early walk may take him to his stables, his barns, or to see that
+his previous directions are executed.
+
+The various accommodation appurtenant to the dwelling, makes ample
+provision for the household convenience of the family, and the main
+business of the farm may be at some distance, without inconvenience to
+the owner's every-day affairs. Consequently, the indulgence of a
+considerable degree of ornament may be given, in the surroundings of his
+dwelling, which the occupant of a less extensive estate would neither
+require, nor his circumstances warrant. A natural forest of stately
+trees, properly thinned out, is the most appropriate spot on which to
+build a house of this character. But that not at hand, it should be set
+off with plantations of forest trees, of the largest growth, as in
+keeping with its own liberal dimensions. A capacious kitchen garden
+should lead off from the rear apartments, well stocked with all the
+family vegetables, and culinary fruits, in their proper seasons. A
+luxuriant fruit-garden may flank the least frequented side of the house.
+Neat and tasteful flower beds may lie beneath the windows of the rooms
+appropriated to the leisure hours of the family, to which the smaller
+varieties of shrubbery may be added, separated from the chief lawn, or
+park, only by a wire fence, or a simple railing, such as not to cut up
+and _checker_ its simple and dignified surface; and all these shut in on
+the rear from the adjoining fields of the farm by belts of large
+shrubbery closely planted, or the larger orchards, thus giving it a
+style of its own, yet showing its connection with the pursuits of the
+farm and its dependence upon it.
+
+These various appointments, however, may be either carried out or
+restricted, according to the requirements of the family occupying the
+estate, and the prevailing local taste of the vicinity in which it is
+situated; but no narrow or stingy spirit should be indicated in the
+general plan or in its execution. Every appointment connected with it
+should indicate a liberality of purpose in the founder, without which
+its effect is painfully marred to the eye of the man of true taste and
+judgment. Small yards, picketed in for small uses, have no business in
+sight of the grounds in front, and all minor concerns should be thrown
+into the rear, beyond observation from the main approach to the
+dwelling. The trees that shade the entrance park, or lawn, should be
+chiefly forest trees, as the oak, in its varieties, the elm, the maple,
+the chestnut, walnut, butternut, hickory, or beech. If the soil be
+favorable, a few weeping willows may throw their drooping spray around
+the house; and if exotic, or foreign trees be permitted, they should
+take their position in closer proximity to it than the natural forest
+trees, as indicating the higher care and cultivation which attaches to
+its presence. The Lombardy poplar, albeit a tree of disputed taste with
+modern planters, we would now and then throw in, not in stiff and formal
+rows, as guarding an avenue, but occasionally in the midst of a group of
+others, above which it should rise like a church spire from amidst a
+block of contiguous houses--a cheerful relief to the monotony of the
+rounder-headed branches of the more spreading varieties. If a stream of
+water meander the park, or spread into a little pond, trees which are
+partial to moisture should shadow it at different points, and low, water
+shrubs should hang over its border, or even run into its margin. Aquatic
+herbs, too, may form a part of its ornaments, and a boat-house, if such
+a thing be necessary, should, under the shade of a hanging tree of some
+kind, be a conspicuous object in the picture. An overhanging rock, if
+such a thing be native there, may be an object of great attraction to
+its features, and its outlet may steal away and be hid in a dense mass
+of tangled vines and brushwood. The predominating, _natural_ features of
+the place should be _cultivated_, not rooted out, and metamorphosed into
+something foreign and unfamiliar. It should, in short, be _nature_ with
+her _hair combed_ out straight, flowing, and graceful, instead of
+pinched, puffed, and curling--a thing of luxuriance and beauty under the
+hand of a master.
+
+The great difficulty with many Americans in getting up a new place of
+any considerable extent is, that they seem to think whatever is common,
+or natural in the features of the spot must be so changed as to show,
+above all others, their own ingenuity and love of expense in fashioning
+it to their peculiar tastes. Rocks must be sunk, or blasted, trees
+felled, and bushes grubbed, crooked water-courses straightened--the
+place gibbeted and put into stocks; in fact, that their own boasted
+handiwork may rise superior to the wisdom of Him who fashioned it in his
+own good pleasure; forgetting that a thousand points of natural beauty
+upon the earth on which they breathe are
+
+  "When unadorned, adorned the most;"
+
+and our eye has been frequently shocked at finding the choicest gems of
+nature sacrificed to a wanton display of expense in perverting, to the
+indulgence of a mistaken fancy, that, which, with an eye to truth and
+propriety, and at a trifling expense, might have become a spot of
+abiding interest and contentment.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN VI.
+
+
+A SOUTHERN OR PLANTATION HOUSE.--The proprietor of a plantation in the
+South, or South-west, requires altogether a different kind of residence
+from the farmer of the Northern, or Middle States. He resides in the
+midst of his own principality, surrounded by a retinue of dependents and
+laborers, who dwell distant and apart from his own immediate family,
+although composing a community requiring his daily care and
+superintendence for a great share of his time. A portion of them are
+the attaches of his household, yet so disconnected in their domestic
+relations, as to require a separate accommodation, and yet be in
+immediate contiguity with it, and of course, an arrangement of living
+widely different from those who mingle in the same circle, and partake
+at the same board.
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 155-156.]
+
+The usual plan of house-building at the South, we are aware, is to have
+_detached_ servants' rooms, and offices, and a space of some yards of
+uncovered way intervene between the family rooms of the chief dwelling
+and its immediate dependents. Such arrangement, however, we consider
+both unnecessary and inconvenient; and we have devised a plan of
+household accommodation which will bring the family of the planter
+himself, and their servants, although under different roofs, into
+convenient proximity with each other. A design of this kind is here
+given.
+
+The style is mainly Italian, plain, substantial, yet, we think,
+becoming. The broad veranda, stretching around three sides, including
+the front, gives an air of sheltered repose to what might otherwise
+appear an ambitious structure; and the connected apartments beyond, show
+a quiet utility which divests it of an over attempt at display. Nothing
+has been attempted for appearance, solely, beyond what is necessary and
+proper in the dwelling of a planter of good estate, who wants his
+domestic affairs well regulated, and his family, and servants duly
+provided with convenient accommodation. The form of the main dwelling is
+nearly square, upright, with two full stories, giving ample area of room
+and ventilation, together with that appropriate indulgence to ease which
+the enervating warmth of a southern climate renders necessary. The
+servants' apartments, and kitchen offices are so disposed, that while
+connected, to render them easy of access, they are sufficiently remote
+to shut off the familiarity of association which would render them
+obnoxious to the most fastidious--all, in fact, under one shelter, and
+within the readiest call. Such should be the construction of a planter's
+house in the United States, and such this design is intended to give.
+
+A stable and carriage-house, in the same style, is near by, not
+connected to any part of the dwelling, as in the previous designs--with
+sufficient accommodation for coachman and grooms, and the number of
+saddle and carriage horses that may be required for either business or
+pleasure; and to it may be connected, in the rear, in the same style of
+building, or plainer, and less expensive, further conveniences for such
+domestic animals as may be required for family use.
+
+The whole stands in open grounds, and may be separated from each other
+by enclosures, as convenience or fancy may direct.
+
+The roofs of all the buildings are broad and sweeping, well protecting
+the walls from storm and frosts, as well as the glaring influences of
+the sun, and combining that comfortable idea of shelter and repose so
+grateful in a well-conditioned country house. It is true, that the
+dwelling might be more extensive in room, and the purposes of luxury
+enlarged; but the planter on five hundred, or five thousand acres of
+land can here be sufficiently accommodated in all the reasonable
+indulgences of family enjoyment, and a liberal, even an elegant and
+prolonged hospitality, to which he is so generally inclined.
+
+The chimneys of this house, different from those in the previous
+designs, are placed next the outer walls, thus giving more space to the
+interior, and not being required, as in the others, to promote
+additional warmth than their fireplaces will give, to the rooms. A deck
+on the roof affords a pleasant look-out for the family from its top,
+guarded by a parapet, and giving a finish to its architectural
+appearance, and yet making no ambitious attempt at expensive ornament.
+It is, in fact, a plain, substantial, respectable mansion for a
+gentleman of good estate, and nothing beyond it.
+
+
+  [Illustration: GROUND PLAN.]
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+This house stands 50x40 feet on the ground. The front door opens from
+the veranda into a hall, 24x14 feet, in which is a flight of stairs
+leading to the chambers above. On the left a door leads into a library,
+or business room, 17x17 feet, lighted by three windows. A fireplace is
+inserted in the outer wall. Another door leads into a side hall, six
+feet wide, which separates the library from the dining-room, which is
+also 17x17 feet in area, lighted and accommodated with a fireplace like
+the other, with a door leading into it from the side hall, and another
+door at the further right hand corner leading into the rear hall, or
+entry.
+
+On the right of the chief entrance hall, opposite the library, a door
+opens into the parlor or drawing-room, 23x19 feet in area, lighted by
+three windows, and having a fireplace in the side wall. A door leads
+from the rear side of the parlor into a commodious nursery, or family
+bedroom, 19x16 feet in size, lighted by a window in each outer wall. A
+fireplace is also inserted on the same line as in the parlor. From the
+nursery a door leads into and through a large closet, 9x7 feet, into the
+rear hall. This closet may also be used as a sleeping-room for the
+children, or a confidential servant-maid, or nurse, or devoted to the
+storage of bed-linen for family use. Further on, adjoining, is another
+closet, 7x6 feet, opening from the rear hall, and lighted by a window.
+
+Leading from the outer door of the rear hall is a covered passage six
+feet wide, 16 feet long, and one and a half stories high, leading to the
+kitchen offices, and lighted by a window on the left, with a door
+opening in the same side beyond, on to the side front of the
+establishment. On the right, opposite, a door leads on to the kitchen
+porch, which is six feet wide, passing on to the bath-room and
+water-closet, in the far rear. At the end of the connecting passage from
+the main dwelling, a door opens into the kitchen, which is 24x18 feet in
+size, accommodated with two windows looking on to the porch just
+described. At one end is an open fireplace with a cooking range on one
+side, and an oven on the other. At the left of the entrance door is a
+large, commodious store-room and pantry, 12x9 feet, lighted by a window;
+and adjoining it, (and may be connected with it by a door, if
+necessary,) a kitchen closet of the same size, also connected by a
+corresponding door from the opposite corner of the kitchen. Between
+these doors is a flight of stairs leading to the sleeping-rooms above,
+and a cellar passage beneath them. In the farther right corner of the
+kitchen a door leads into a smaller closet, 8x6 feet, lighted by a small
+window looking on to the rear porch at the end. A door at the rear of
+the kitchen leads out into the porch of the wash-room beyond, which is
+six feet wide, and another door into the wash-room itself, which is
+20x16 feet, and furnished with a chimney and boilers. A window looks out
+on the extreme right hand, and two windows on to the porch in front.
+A door opens from its rear wall into the wood-house, 32x12 feet, which
+stands open on two sides, supported by posts, and under the extended
+roof of the wash-room and its porch just mentioned. A servants'
+water-closet is attached to the extreme right corner of the wood-house,
+by way of lean-to.
+
+The bath-room is 10x6 feet in area, and supplied with water from the
+kitchen boilers adjoining. The water-closet beyond is 6 feet square, and
+architecturally, in its roof, may be made a fitting termination to that
+of the porch leading to it.
+
+  [Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN.]
+
+The main flight of stairs in the entrance hall leads on to a broad
+landing in the spacious upper hall, from which doors pass into the
+several chambers, which may be duly accommodated with closets. The
+passage connecting with the upper story of the servants' offices, opens
+from the rear section of this upper hall, and by the flight of rear
+stairs communicates with the kitchen and out-buildings. A garret flight
+of steps may be made in the rear section of the main upper hall, by
+which that apartment may be reached, and the upper deck of the roof
+ascended.
+
+The sleeping-rooms of the kitchen may be divided off as convenience may
+dictate, and the entire structure thus appropriated to every
+accommodation which a well-regulated family need require.
+
+  [Illustration: CARRIAGE HOUSE.]
+
+The carriage-house is 48x24 feet in size, with a projection of five feet
+on the entrance front, the door of which leads both into the
+carriage-room and stables. On the right is a bedroom, 10x8 feet, for the
+grooms, lighted by a window; and beyond are six stalls for horses, with
+a window in the rear wall beyond them. A flight of stairs leads to the
+hayloft above. In the rear of the carriage-room is a harness-room, 12x4
+feet, and a granary of the same size, each lighted by a window. If
+farther attachments be required for the accommodation of out-building
+conveniences, they may be continued indefinitely in the rear.
+
+
+MISCELLANEOUS.
+
+It may strike the reader that the house just described has a lavish
+appropriation of veranda, and a needless side-front, which latter may
+detract from the _precise_ architectural keeping that a dwelling of this
+pretension should maintain. In regard to the first, it may be remarked,
+that no feature of the house in a southern climate can be more
+expressive of easy, comfortable enjoyment, than a spacious veranda. The
+habits of southern life demand it as a place of exercise in wet weather,
+and the cooler seasons of the year, as well as a place of recreation and
+social intercourse during the fervid heats of the summer. Indeed, many
+southern people almost live under the shade of their verandas. It is a
+delightful place to take their meals, to receive their visitors and
+friends; and the veranda gives to a dwelling the very expression of
+hospitality, so far as any one feature of a dwelling can do it. No equal
+amount of accommodation can be provided for the same cost. It adds
+infinitely to the _room_ of the house itself, and is, in fact,
+indispensable to the full enjoyment of a southern house.
+
+The side front in this design is simply a matter of convenience to the
+owner and occupant of the estate, who has usually much office business
+in its management; and in the almost daily use of his library, where
+such business may be done, a side door and front is both appropriate and
+convenient. The _chief_ front entrance belongs to his family and guests,
+and should be devoted to their exclusive use; and as a light fence may
+be thrown off from the extreme end of the side porch, separating the
+front lawn from the rear approach to the house, the veranda on that side
+may be reached from its rear end, for business purposes, without
+intruding upon the lawn at all. So we would arrange it.
+
+Objections may be made to the _sameness_ of plan, in the arrangement of
+the lower rooms of the several designs which we have submitted, such as
+having the nursery, or family sleeping-room, on the main floor of the
+house, and the uniformity, in location, of the others; and that there
+are no _new_ and _striking_ features in them. The answer to these may
+be, that the room appropriated for the nursery, or bedroom, may be used
+for other purposes, equally as well; that when a mode of accommodation
+is already as convenient as may be, it is poorly worth while to make it
+less convenient, merely for the sake of variety; and, that utility and
+convenience are the main objects to be attained in any well-ordered
+dwelling. These two requisites, utility and convenience, attained, the
+third and principal one--comfort--is secured. Cellar kitchens--the most
+abominable nuisances that ever crept into a country dwelling--might have
+been adopted, no doubt, to the especial delight of some who know nothing
+of the experimental duties of housekeeping; but the recommendation of
+these is an offence which we have no stomach to answer for hereafter.
+Steep, winding, and complicated staircases might have given a new
+feature to one or another of the designs; dark closets, intricate
+passages, unique cubby-holes, and all sorts of inside gimcrackery might
+have amused our pencil; but we have avoided them, as well as everything
+which would stand in the way of the simplest, cheapest, and most direct
+mode of reaching the object in view: a convenient, comfortably-arranged
+dwelling within, having a respectable, dignified appearance without--and
+such, we trust, have been thus far presented in our designs.
+
+
+LAWN, AND PARK SURROUNDINGS.
+
+The trees and shrubbery which ornament the approach to this house,
+should be rather of the graceful varieties, than otherwise. The
+weeping-willow, the horse-chesnut, the mountain-ash, if suitable to the
+climate; or the china-tree of the south, or the linden, the weeping-elm,
+and the silver-maple, with its long slender branches and hanging leaves,
+would add most to the beauty, and comport more closely with the
+character of this establishment, than the more upright, stiff, and
+unbending trees of our American forests. The Lombardy-poplar--albeit,
+an object of fashionable derision with many tree-fanciers in these more
+_tasty_ days, as it was equally the admiration of our fathers, of forty
+years ago--would set off and give effect to a mansion of this character,
+either in a clump at the back-ground, as shown in the design, or
+occasionally shooting up its spire-like top through a group of the other
+trees. Yet, if built in a fine natural park or lawn of oaks, with a few
+other trees, such as we have named, planted immediately around it, this
+house would still show with fine effect.
+
+The style of finish given to this dwelling may appear too ornate and
+expensive for the position it is supposed to occupy. If so, a plainer
+mode of finish may be adopted, to the cheapest degree consistent with
+the manner of its construction. Still, on examination, there will be
+found little intricate or really expensive work upon it. Strength,
+substance, durability, should all enter into its composition; and
+without these elements, a house of this appearance is a mere bauble, not
+fit to stand upon the premises of any man of substantial estate.
+
+If a more extensive accommodation be necessary, than the size of this
+house can afford, its style will admit of a wing, of any desirable
+length, on each side, in place of the rear part of the side verandas,
+without prejudice to its character or effect. Indeed, such wings may add
+to its dignity, and consequence, as comporting with the standing and
+influence which its occupant may hold in the community wherein he
+resides. A man of mark, indeed, should, if he live in the country,
+occupy a dwelling somewhat indicating the position which he holds, both
+in society and in public affairs. By this remark, we may be treading on
+questionable ground, in our democratic country; but, practically, there
+is a fitness in it which no one can dispute. Not that extravagance,
+pretension, or any other _assumption_ of superiority should mark the
+dwelling of the distinguished man, but that his dwelling be of like
+character with himself: plain, dignified, solid, and, as a matter of
+course, altogether respectable.
+
+It is a happy feature in the composition of our republican institutions,
+both social and political, that we can afford to let the flashy men of
+the _day_--not of _time_--flaunter in all their purchased fancy in
+house-building, without prejudice to the prevailing sober sentiment of
+their neighbors, in such particulars. The man of money, simply, may
+build his "villa," and squander his tens of thousands upon it. He may
+riot within it, and fidget about it for a few brief years; he may even
+hang his coat of arms upon it, if he can fortunately do so without
+stumbling over a lapstone, or greasing his coat against the pans of a
+cook-shop; but it is equally sure that no child of his will occupy it
+after him, even if his own changeable fancy or circumstances permit him
+to retain it for his natural life. Such are the episodes of country
+house-building, and of frequent attempts at agricultural life, by those
+who affect it as a matter of ostentation or display. For the subjects of
+these, we do not write. But there is something exceedingly grateful to
+the feelings of one of stable views in life, to look upon an estate
+which has been long in an individual family, still maintaining its
+primitive character and respectability. Some five-and-twenty years ago,
+when too young to have any established opinions in matters of this sort,
+as we were driving through one of the old farming towns in
+Massachusetts, about twenty miles west of Boston, we approached a
+comfortable, well-conditioned farm, with a tavern-house upon the high
+road, and several great elms standing about it. The road passed between
+two of the trees, and from a cross-beam, lodged across their branches,
+swung a large square sign, with names and dates painted upon it--name
+and date we have forgotten; it was a good old Puritan name, however--in
+this wise:
+
+  "John Endicott, 1652."
+  "John Endicott, 1696."
+  "John Endicott, 1749."
+  "John Endicott, 1784."
+  "John Endicott, 1817."
+
+As our eyes read over this list, we were struck with the stability of a
+family who for many consecutive generations had occupied, by the same
+name, that venerable spot, and ministered to the comfort of as many
+generations of travelers, and incontinently took off our hat in respect
+to the record of so much worth, drove our horse under the shed, had him
+fed, went in, and took a quiet family dinner with the civil,
+good-tempered host, and the equally kind-mannered hostess, then in the
+prime of life, surrounded with a fine family of children, and heard from
+his own lips the history of his ancestors, from their first emigration
+from England--not in the Mayflower, to whose immeasurable accommodations
+our good New England ancestors are so prone to refer--but in one of her
+early successors.
+
+All over the old thirteen states, from Maine to Georgia, can be found
+agricultural estates now containing families, the descendants of those
+who founded them--exceptions to the general rule, we admit, of American
+stability of residence, but none the less gratifying to the
+contemplation of those who respect a deep love of home, wherever it may
+be found. For the moral of our episode on this subject, we cannot
+refrain from a description of a fine old estate which we have frequently
+seen, minus now the buildings which then existed, and long since
+supplanted by others equally respectable and commodious, and erected by
+the successor of the original occupant, the late Dr. Boylston, of
+Roxbury, who long made the farm his summer residence. The description is
+from an old work, "The History of the County of Worcester, in the State
+of Massachusetts, by the Rev. Peter Whitney, 1793:"
+
+  "Many of the houses (in Princeton,) are large and elegant. This
+  leads to a particular mention, that in this town is the country seat
+  of the Hon. Moses Gill, Esq., ('Honorable' meant something in those
+  days,) who has been from the year 1775 one of the Judges of the
+  Court of Common Pleas for the county of Worcester, and for several
+  years a counsellor of this commonwealth. His noble and elegant seat
+  is about one mile and a quarter from the meeting-house, to the
+  south. The farm contains upwards of three thousand acres. The county
+  road from Princeton to Worcester passes through it, in front of the
+  house, which faces to the west. The buildings stand upon the highest
+  land of the whole farm; but it is level round about them for many
+  rods, and then there is a very gradual descent. The land on which
+  these buildings stand is elevated between twelve hundred and
+  thirteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, as the Hon. James
+  Winthrop, Esq. informs me. The mansion house is large, being 50x50
+  feet, with four stacks of chimnies. The farm house is 40 feet by 36:
+  In a line with this stand the coach and chaise-house, 50 feet by 36.
+  This is joined to the barn by a shed 70 feet in length--the barn is
+  200 feet by 32. Very elegant fences are erected around the mansion
+  house, the out-houses, and the garden.
+
+  "The prospect from this seat is extensive and grand, taking in a
+  horizon to the east, of seventy miles, at least. The blue hills in
+  Milton are discernible with the naked eye, from the windows of this
+  superb edifice, distant not less than sixty miles; as also the
+  waters in the harbor of Boston, at certain seasons of the year. When
+  we view this seat, these buildings, and this farm of so many hundred
+  acres, now under a high degree of profitable cultivation, and are
+  told that in the year 1766 it was a perfect wilderness, we are
+  struck with wonder, admiration, and astonishment. The honorable
+  proprietor thereof must have great satisfaction in contemplating
+  these improvements, so extensive, made under his direction, and,
+  I may add, by his own active industry. Judge Gill is a gentleman of
+  singular vivacity and activity, and indefatigable in his endeavors
+  to bring forward the cultivation of his lands; of great and
+  essential service, by his example, in the employment he finds for so
+  many persons, and in all his attempts to serve the interests of the
+  place where he dwells, and in his acts of private munificence, and
+  public generosity, and deserves great respect and esteem, not only
+  from individuals, but from the town and country he has so greatly
+  benefited, and especially by the ways in which he makes use of that
+  vast estate wherewith a kind Providence has blessed him."
+
+Such was the estate, and such the man who founded and enjoyed it sixty
+years ago; and many an equal estate, founded and occupied by equally
+valuable men, then existed, and still exist in all our older states; and
+if our private and public virtues are preserved, will ever exist in
+every state of our union. Such pictures, too, are forcible illustrations
+of the _morals_ of correct building on the ample estates of many of our
+American planters and farmers. The mansion house, which is so
+graphically described, we saw but a short time before it was pulled
+down--then old, and hardly worth repairing, being built of wood, and of
+style something like this design of our own, bating the extent of
+veranda.
+
+The cost of this house may be from $5000 to $8000, depending upon the
+material of which it is constructed, the degree of finish given to it,
+and the locality where it is built. All these circumstances are to be
+considered, and the estimates should be made by practical and
+experienced builders, who are competent judges in whatever appertains to
+it.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 173-174.]
+
+DESIGN VII.
+
+
+A PLANTATION HOUSE.--Another southern house is here presented, quite
+different in architectural design from the last, plain, unpretending,
+less ornate in its finish, as well as less expensive in construction.
+It may occupy a different site, in a hilly, wooded country of rougher
+surface, but equally becoming it, as the other would more fitly grace
+the level prairie, or spreading plain in the more showy luxury of its
+character.
+
+This house stands 46x44 feet on the ground, two stories high, with a
+full length veranda, 10 feet wide in front, and a half length one above
+it, connecting with the main roof by an open gable, under which is a
+railed gallery for summer repose or recreation, or to enjoy the scenery
+upon which it may open. The roof is broad and overhanging, thoroughly
+sheltering the walls, and giving it a most protected, comfortable look.
+Covering half the rear is a lean-to, with shed roof, 16 feet wide,
+communicating with the servants' offices in the wing, the hall of which
+opens upon a low veranda on its front, and leading to the minor
+conveniences of the establishment. The main servants' building is 30x20
+feet, one and a half stories high, with a roof in keeping with the main
+dwelling, and a chimney in the center. In rear of this is attached a
+wood-house, with a shed roof, thus sloping off, and giving it a reposed,
+quiet air from that point of view. A narrow porch, 23 feet long and 8
+feet wide, also shades the remaining rear part of the main dwelling,
+opening on to the approach in rear.
+
+
+  [Illustration: GROUND PLAN.]
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door opens into a hall 34 feet long and 10 feet wide, with a
+flight of stairs. On the left of this opens a parlor or dining-room,
+22x18 feet, lighted by two windows in front and one on the side, and
+connecting with the dining-room beyond, which is 18x16 feet, with two
+small dining closets between. The dining-room has two windows opening on
+to the rear veranda. Under the cross flight of stairs in the hall, a
+partition separates it from the rear hall, into which is a door. On the
+right of the entrance hall is a library, 18x18 feet, lighted by three
+windows. At the farther end is a closet, and by the side of it a small
+entry leading into the nursery or family bedroom, 18x15 feet in size,
+which also has a corresponding closet with the library. On the rear of
+the nursery is a flight of back stairs opening from it. Under these
+stairs, at the other end, a door opens to another flight leading into
+the cellar below. A door also leads out from the nursery into the rear
+passage, to the offices; another door on the further side of the room
+opens into the rear hall of the house. The nursery should have two
+windows, but the drawing, by an error, gives only one. From this rear
+hall a door opens on the rear veranda, and another into the passage to
+the rear offices. This passage is six feet wide and 34 feet long,
+opening at its left end on to the veranda, and on the right, to the
+servants' porch, and from its rear side into three small rooms, 10 feet
+square each, the outer one of which may be a business room for the
+proprietor of the estate; the next, a store-room for family supplies;
+and the other a kitchen closet. Each of these is lighted by a window on
+the rear. A door also leads from the rear passage into the kitchen,
+20x16 feet in area, with a window looking out in front and two others on
+the side and rear, and a door into the wood-house. In this is placed a
+large chimney for the cooking establishment, oven, &c., &c. A flight of
+stairs and partition divides this from the wash-room, which is 14x14
+feet, with two windows in the side, and a door into the wood-house. This
+wood-house is open on two sides, and a water-closet is in the far
+corner. The small veranda, which is six feet wide, fronting the kitchen
+apartments, opens into the bath-room, 9x6 feet, into which the water is
+drawn from the kitchen boilers in the adjoining chimney. Still beyond
+this is the entrance to the water-closets, 6x5 feet.
+
+  [Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN.]
+
+The chamber plan is simple, and will be readily comprehended. If more
+rooms are desirable, they can be cut off from the larger ones. A flight
+of garret stairs may also be put in the rear chamber hall. The main hall
+of the chambers, in connection with the upper veranda, may be made a
+delightful resort for the summer, where the leisure hours of the family
+may be passed in view of the scenery which the house may command, and
+thus made one of its most attractive features.
+
+
+MISCELLANEOUS.
+
+We have given less veranda to this house than to the last, because its
+style does not require it, and it is a cheaper and less pains-taking
+establishment throughout, although, perhaps, quite as convenient in its
+arrangement as the other. The veranda may, however, be continued round
+the two ends of the house, if required. A screen, or belt of privet,
+or low evergreens may be planted in a circular form from the front
+right-hand corner of the dwelling, to the corresponding corner of the
+rear offices, enclosing a clothes drying yard, and cutting them off from
+too sightly an exposure from the lawn in front. The opposite end of the
+house, which may be termed its _business_ front, may open to the
+every-day approach to the house, and be treated as convenience may
+determine.
+
+For the _tree_ decoration of this establishment, evergreens may come in
+for a share of attraction. Their conical, tapering points will
+correspond well with its general architecture, and add strikingly to its
+effect; otherwise the remarks already given on the subject of park and
+lawn plantation will suffice. As, however, in the position where this
+establishment is supposed to be erected, land is plenty, ample area
+should be appropriated to its convenience, and no pinched or
+parsimonious spirit should detract from giving it the fullest effect in
+an allowance of ground. Nor need the ground devoted to such purposes be
+at all lost, or unappropriated; various uses can be made of it, yielding
+both pleasure and profit, to which a future chapter will refer; and it
+is one of the chief pleasures of retired residence to cultivate, in the
+right place, such incidental objects of interest as tend to gratify,
+as well as to instruct, in whatever appertains to the elevation of our
+thoughts, and the improvement of our condition. All these, in their
+place, should be drawn about our dwellings, to render them as agreeable
+and attractive as our ingenuity and labor may command.
+
+
+
+
+LAWNS, GROUNDS, PARKS, AND WOODS.
+
+
+Having essayed to instruct our agricultural friends in the proper modes
+of erecting their houses, and providing for their convenient
+accommodation within them, a few remarks may be pardoned touching such
+collateral subjects of embellishment as may be connected with the farm
+residence in the way of plantations and grounds in their immediate
+vicinity.
+
+We are well aware that small farms do not permit any considerable
+appropriation of ground to _waste_ purposes, as such spots are usually
+called which are occupied with wood, or the shade of open trees, near
+the dwelling. But no dwelling can be complete in all its appointments
+without trees in its immediate vicinity. This subject has perhaps been
+sufficiently discussed in preceding chapters; yet, as a closing course
+of remark upon what a farm house, greater or less in extent, should be
+in the amount of shade given to it, a further suggestion or two may be
+permitted. There are, in almost all places, in the vicinity of the
+dwelling, portions of ground which can be appropriated to forest trees
+without detriment to other economical uses, if applied in the proper
+way. Any one who passes along a high road and discovers the farm house,
+seated on the margin or in the immediate vicinity of a pleasant grove,
+is immediately struck with the peculiarly rural and picturesque air
+which it presents, and thinks to himself that he should love such a spot
+for his own home, without reflecting that he might equally as well
+create one of the same character. Sites already occupied, where
+different dispositions are made of contiguous ground, may not admit of
+like advantages; and such are to be continued in their present
+arrangement, with such course of improvement as their circumstances will
+admit. But to such as are about to _select_ the sites of their future
+homes, it is important to study what can best embellish them in the most
+effective shade and ornament.
+
+In the immediate vicinity of our large towns and cities it is seldom
+possible to appropriate any considerable breadth of land to ornamental
+purposes, excepting rough and unsightly waste ground, more or less
+occupied with rock or swamp; or plainer tracts, so sterile as to be
+comparatively worthless for cultivation. Such grounds, too, often lie
+bare of wood, and require planting, and a course of years to cover them
+with trees, even if the proprietor is willing, or desirous to devote
+them to such purpose. Still, there are vast sections of our country
+where to economize land is not important, and a mixed occupation of it
+to both ornament and profit may be indulged to the extent of the owner's
+disposition. All over the United States there are grand and beautiful
+sweeps and belts of cultivated country, interspersed with finely-wooded
+tracts, which offer the most attractive sites for the erection of
+dwellings on the farms which embrace them, and that require only the eye
+and hand of taste to convert them, with slight labor, into the
+finest-wooded lawns and forested parks imaginable. No country whatever
+produces finer trees than North America. The evergreens of the north
+luxuriate in a grandeur scarcely known elsewhere, and shoot their cones
+into the sky to an extent that the stripling pines and firs, and larches
+of England in vain may strive to imitate. The elm of New England towers
+up, and spreads out its sweeping arms with a majesty unwonted in the
+ancient parks or forests of Europe; while its maples, and birches, and
+beeches, and ashes, and oaks, and the great white-armed buttonwood, make
+up a variety of intervening growth, luxuriant in the extreme. Pass on
+through the Middle States, and into the far west, and there they still
+flourish with additional kinds--the tulip and poplar--the nut-trees,
+in all their wide variety, with a host of others equally grand and
+imposing, interspersed; and shrub-trees innumerable, are seen every
+where as they sweep along your path. Beyond the Alleghanies, and south
+of the great lakes, are vast natural parks, many of them enclosed, and
+dotted with herds of cattle ranging over them, which will show single
+trees, and clumps of forest that William the Conqueror would have given
+a whole fiefdom in his Hampshire spoliations to possess; while,
+stretching away toward the Gulf of Mexico, new varieties of tree are
+found, equally imposing, grand, and beautiful, throughout the whole vast
+range, and in almost every locality, susceptible of the finest possible
+appropriation to ornament and use. Many a one of these noble forests,
+and open, natural parks have been appropriated already to embellish the
+comfortable family establishment which has been built either on its
+margin, or within it; and thousands more are standing, as yet
+unimproved, but equally inviting the future occupant to their ample
+protection.
+
+The moral influences, too, of lawns and parks around or in the vicinity
+of our dwellings, are worthy of consideration. Secluded as many a
+country dweller may be, away from the throng of society, there is a
+sympathy in trees which invites our thoughts, and draws our presence
+among them with unwonted interest, and in frequent cases, assist
+materially in stamping the feelings and courses of our future
+lives--always with pure and ennobling sentiments--
+
+  "The groves were God's first temples."
+
+The thoughtful man, as he passes under their sheltering boughs, in the
+heat of summer, with uncovered brow, silently worships the Hand that
+formed them there, scarcely conscious that their presence thus elevates
+his mind to holy aspirations. Among them, the speculative man
+
+  "Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
+  Sermons in stones."
+
+Even children, born and educated among groves of trees, drink in early
+impressions, which follow them for good all their days; and, when the
+toils of their after life are passed, they love to return to these
+grateful coverts, and spend their remaining days amid the tranquillity
+of their presence. Men habituated to the wildest life, too, enjoy the
+woods, the hills, and the mountains, beyond all the captivation and
+excitement of society, and are nowhere at rest, but when in their
+communion.
+
+The love of forest scenery is a thing to be cultivated as a high
+accomplishment, in those whose early associations have not been among
+them. Indeed, country life is tame, and intolerable, without a taste,
+either natural or acquired, for fine landscape scenery; and in a land
+like this, where the country gives occupation to so great a proportion
+of its people, and a large share of those engaged in the active and
+exciting pursuits of populous towns, sigh and look forward to its
+enjoyment, every inducement should be offered to cultivate a taste for
+those things which make one of its chief attractions. Nor should
+seclusion from general society, and a residence apart from the bustling
+activity of the world, present a bar to the due cultivation of the taste
+in many subjects supposed to belong only to the throng of association.
+It is one of the advantages of rural life, that it gives us time to
+think; and the greatest minds of whose labors in the old world we have
+had the benefit, and of later times, in our own land, have been reared
+chiefly in the solitude of the country. Patrick Henry loved to range
+among the woods, admiring the leafy magnificence of nature, and to
+follow the meandering courses of the brooks, with his hook and line.
+Washington, when treading the vast solitudes of central Virginia, with
+his surveyor's instruments on his back, conceived the wonderful
+resources of the great empire of which he will ever be styled the
+"father." The dwelling of the late John C. Calhoun, sheltered by noble
+trees, stands on an elevated swell of a grand range of mountain land,
+and it was there that his prolific genius ripened for those burning
+displays of thought which drew to him the affections of admiring
+thousands. Henry Clay undoubtedly felt the germ of his future greatness
+while sauntering, in his boyhood days, through the wild and picturesque
+slashes of Hanover. Webster, born amid the rugged hills of New
+Hampshire, drew the delightful relish of rural life, for which he is so
+celebrated, from the landscapes which surrounded his early home, and
+laid the foundation of his mighty intellect in the midst of lone and
+striking scenery. Bryant could never have written his "Thanatopsis," his
+"Rivulet," and his "Green River," but from the inspiration drawn from
+his secluded youthful home in the mountains of Massachusetts. Nor, to
+touch a more sacred subject, could Jonathan Edwards ever have composed
+his masterly "Treatise on the Will," in a pent-up city; but owes his
+enduring fame to the thought and leisure which he found, while
+ministering, among the sublime mountains of the Housatonic, to a feeble
+tribe of Stockbridge Indians.
+
+And these random names are but a few of those whose love of nature early
+imbibed, and in later life enjoyed in their own calm and retired homes,
+amid the serene beauty of woods and waters, which might be named, as
+illustrations of the influence which fine scenery may exercise upon the
+mind, to assist in moulding it to greatness. The following anecdote was
+told us many years ago, by a venerable man in Connecticut, a friend of
+the elder Hillhouse, of New Haven, to whom that city is much indebted
+for the magnificent trees by which it has become renowned as "the City
+of the Elms:" While a member of the General Assembly of that state, when
+Hillhouse was in Congress, learning that he had just returned home from
+the annual session, our informant, with a friend, went to the residence
+of the statesman, to pay him a visit. He had returned only that morning,
+and on their way there, they met him near his house, with a stout young
+tree on his shoulder, just taken from a neighboring piece of forest,
+which he was about to transplant in the place of one which had died
+during his absence. After the usual salutations, our friend expressed
+his surprise that he was so soon engaged in tree-planting, before he had
+even had time to look to his private and more pressing affairs. "Another
+day may be too late," replied the senator; "my tree well planted, it
+will grow at its leisure, and I can then look to my own concerns at my
+ease. So, gentlemen, if you will just wait till the tree is set, we'll
+walk into the house, and settle the affairs of state in our own way."
+
+Walter Scott, whose deep love of park and forest scenery has stamped
+with his masterly descriptions, his native land as the home of all
+things beautiful and useful in trees and plantations, spent a great
+share of his leisure time in planting, and has written a most
+instructive essay on its practice and benefits. He puts into the mouth
+of "the Laird of Dumbiedikes," the advice, "Be aye sticking in a tree,
+Jock; it will be growing while you are sleeping." But Walter Scott had
+no American soil to plant his trees upon; nor do the grandest forest
+parks of Scotland show a tithe of the luxuriance and majesty of our
+American forests. Could he but have seen the variety, the symmetry, and
+the vast size of our oaks, and elms, and evergreens, a new element of
+descriptive power would have grown out of the admiration they had
+created within him; and he would have envied a people the possession of
+such exhaustless resources as we enjoy, to embellish their homes in the
+best imaginable manner, with such enduring monuments of grace and
+beauty.
+
+To the miscellaneous, or casual reader, such course of remark may appear
+merely sublimated nonsense. No matter; we are not upon stilts, talking
+_down_ to a class of inferior men, in a condescending tone, on a subject
+above their comprehension; but we are addressing men, and the sons of
+men, who are our equals--although, like ourself, upon their farms,
+taking their share in its daily toils, as well as pleasures--and can
+perfectly well understand our language, and sympathize with our
+thoughts. They are the thoughts of rural life everywhere. It was old Sam
+Johnson, the great lexicographer, who lumbered his unwieldy gait through
+the streets of cities for a whole life, and with all his vast learning
+and wisdom, had no appreciation of the charms of the country, that said,
+"Who feeds fat cattle should himself be fat;" as if the dweller on the
+farm should not possess an idea above the brutes around him. We wonder
+if he ever supposed a merchant should have any more brain than the
+parcel that he handled, or the bale which he rolled, or directed others
+to roll for him! But, loving the solitude of the farm, and finding a
+thousand objects of interest and beauty scattered in profusion, where
+those educated among artificial objects would see nothing beyond things,
+to them, vulgar and common-place, in conversing with our rural friends
+upon what concerns their daily comfort, and is to constitute the nursery
+of those who succeed them, and on the influences which may, in a degree,
+stamp their future character, we cannot forbear such suggestions,
+connected with the family Home, as may induce them to cultivate all
+those accessories around it, which may add to their pleasure and
+contentment. We believe it was Keats, who said,
+
+  "A thing of Beauty is a joy for ever."
+
+And the thought that such "beauty" has been of our own creation, or that
+our own hands have assisted in its perpetuation, should certainly be a
+deep "joy" of our life.
+
+We have remarked, that the farm house is the chief nursery on which our
+broad country must rely for that healthy infusion of stamina and spirit
+into those men who, under our institutions, guide its destiny and direct
+its councils. They, in the great majority of their numbers, are natives
+of the retired homestead. It is, therefore, of high consequence, that
+good taste, intelligence, and correct judgment, should enter into all
+that surrounds the birth-place, and early scenes of those who are to be
+the future actors in the prominent walks of life, either in public or
+private capacity; and as the love of trees is one of the leading
+elements of enjoyment amid the outward scenes of country-life, we
+commend most heartily all who dwell in the pure air and bright sunshine
+of the open land to their study and cultivation.
+
+Every man who lives in the country, be he a practical farmer or not,
+should _plant_ trees, more or less. The father of a family should plant,
+for the benefit of his children, as well as for his own. The bachelor
+and the childless man should plant, if for nothing more than to show
+that he has left _some_ living thing to perpetuate his memory. Boys
+should early be made planters. None but those who love trees, and plant
+them, know the serene pleasure of watching their growth, and
+anticipating their future beauty and grandeur; and no one can so
+exquisitely enjoy their grateful shade, as he whose hand has planted and
+cared for them. Planting, too, is a most agreeable pastime to a
+reflecting mind. It may be ranked among the pleasures, instead of the
+toils of life. We have always so found it. There is no pleasanter sight
+of labor than to see a father, with his young lads about him, planting a
+tree. It becomes a landmark of their industry and good taste; and no
+thinking man passes a plantation of fine trees but inwardly blesses the
+man, or the memory of the man who placed them there.
+
+Aside from all this, trees properly distributed, give a value to an
+estate far beyond the cost of planting, and tending their growth, and
+which no other equal amount of labor and expense upon it can confer.
+Innumerable farms and places have been sold at high prices, over those
+of perhaps greater producing value, merely for the trees which
+embellished them. Thus, in a pecuniary light, to say nothing of the
+pleasure and luxury they confer, trees are a source of profitable
+investment.
+
+It is a happy feature in the improving rural character of our country,
+that tree-planting and tree preservation for some years past have
+attracted much more attention than formerly; and with this attention a
+better taste is prevailing in their selection. We have gained but little
+in the introduction of many of the foreign trees among us, for ornament.
+Some of them are absolutely barbarous in comparison with our American
+forest trees, and their cultivation is only a demonstration of the utter
+want of good taste in those who apply them.
+
+For ordinary purposes, but few exotics should be tolerated; and those
+chiefly in collections, as curiosities, or for arboretums--in which
+latter the farmer cannot often indulge; and for all the main purposes of
+shade, and use, and ornament, the trees of no country can equal our own.
+
+Varied as our country is, in soils and climates, no particular
+directions can be given as to the individual varieties of tree which are
+to be preferred for planting. Each locality has its own most appropriate
+kinds, and he who is to plant, can best make the selections most fitted
+to his use. Rapid-growing trees, when of fine symmetry, and free from
+bad habits in throwing up suckers; not liable to the attacks of insects;
+of early, dense, and long-continued foliage, are most to be commended;
+while their opposites in character should be avoided in all well-kept
+grounds. It requires, indeed, but a little thought and observation to
+guide every one in the selection which he should make, to produce the
+best effect of which the tree itself is capable.
+
+Giving the importance we have, to trees, and their planting, it may be
+supposed that we should discuss their position in the grounds to which
+they should be appropriated. But no specific directions can be given at
+large. All this branch of the subject must be left to the locality,
+position, and surface of the ground sought to be improved. A good tree
+can scarcely stand in a wrong place, when not injurious to a building by
+its too dense shade, or shutting out its light, or prospect. Still, the
+proper disposition of trees is a _study_, and should be well considered
+before they be planted. Bald, unsightly spots should be covered by them,
+when not devoted to more useful objects of the farm, either in pasturage
+or cultivation. A partial shading of the soil by trees may add to its
+value for grazing purposes, like the woodland pastures of Kentucky,
+where subject to extreme droughts, or a scorching sun.
+
+If the planter feels disposed to consult authorities, as to the best
+disposition of his trees, works on Landscape Gardening may be studied;
+but these can give only general hints, and the only true course is to
+strive to make his grounds look as much like nature herself as
+possible--for nature seldom makes mistakes in her designs. To conclude a
+course of remark, which the plain farmer, cultivating his land for its
+yearly profit alone, may consider as foreign to the subject of our work,
+we would not recommend any one to plant trees who is not willing to
+spend the necessary time to nurse and tend them afterward, till they are
+out of harm's way, and well established in a vigorous growth. All this
+must be taken into the account, for it is better to have even but a few
+trees, and those what trees should be, than a whole forest of stinted
+things, writhing and pining through a course of sickly existence.
+
+A chapter might also be written upon the proper mode of taking up and
+planting trees, but as this would lead us to a subject more directly
+belonging to another department, the proper authorities on that head
+must be consulted.
+
+
+FRUIT GARDEN--ORCHARDS.
+
+As the fruit garden and orchards are usually near appendages to the
+dwelling and out-buildings, a few remarks as to their locality and
+distribution may be appropriate. The first should _always_ be near the
+house, both for convenience in gathering its fruits, and for its due
+protection from the encroachments of those not entitled to its
+treasures. It should, if possible, adjoin the kitchen garden, for
+convenience of access; as fruit is, or should be, an important item in
+the daily consumption of every family where it can be grown and
+afforded. A sheltered spot, if to be had, should be devoted to this
+object; or if not, its margin, on the exposed side, should be set with
+the hardiest trees to which it is appropriated--as the apple. The fruit
+garden, proper, may also contain the smaller fruits, as they are termed,
+as the currant, gooseberry, raspberry, and whatever other shrub-fruits
+are grown; while the quince, the peach, the apricot, nectarine, plum,
+cherry, pear, and apple may, in the order they are named, stand in
+succession behind them, the taller and more hardy growth of each
+successive variety rising higher, and protecting its less hardy and
+aspiring neighbor. The soil for all these varieties of tree is supposed
+to be congenial, and our remarks will only be directed to their proper
+distribution.
+
+The aspect for the fruit garden should, if possible, front the south,
+south-east, or south-west, in a northerly climate. In the Middle and
+Southern States the exposure is of less consequence. Currants,
+gooseberries, raspberries, &c., should, for their most productive
+bearing, and the highest quality of their fruits, be set at least four
+feet apart, in the rows, and the rows six feet distant from each other,
+that there may be abundant room to cultivate them with the plow, and
+kept clean of weeds and grass. The quince, peach, apricot, nectarine,
+and plum should be 16 feet apart each way. The pear, if on quince stock,
+may be 12 feet apart, and if on its own stock, 20 to 24 feet; while the
+apple should always be 30 to 36 feet apart, to let in the requisite
+degree of sun and air to ripen as well as give growth, color, and flavor
+to its fruit. The tendency of almost all planters of fruit trees is to
+set them too close, and many otherwise fine fruit gardens are utterly
+ruined by the compact manner in which they are planted. Trees are great
+consumers of the atmosphere; every leaf is a lung, inhaling and
+respiring the gases, and if sufficient breathing room be not allowed
+them, the tree sickens, and pines for the want of it; therefore, every
+fruit tree, and fruit-bearing shrub should be so placed that the summer
+sun can shine on every part of its surface at some hour of the day. In
+such position, the fruit will reach its maximum of flavor, size, and
+perfection.
+
+The ground, too, should be rich; and, to have the greatest benefit of
+the soil, no crops should be grown among the trees, after they have
+arrived at their full maturity of bearing. Thus planted, and nursed,
+with good selections of varieties, both the fruit garden and the orchard
+become one of the most ornamental, as well as most profitable portions
+of the farm.
+
+In point of position, as affecting the appearance of the homestead, the
+fruit garden should stand on the _weather-side_ of the dwelling, so as,
+although protected, in its several varieties, by itself, when not
+altogether sheltered by some superior natural barrier, it should appear
+to shelter both the dwelling and kitchen gardens, which adjoin them.
+
+As this is a subject intended to be but incidentally touched in these
+pages, and only then as immediately connected in its general character
+with the dwelling house and its attachments, we refrain from going into
+any particulars of detail concerning it. It is also a subject to which
+we are strongly attached, and gladly would we have a set chat with our
+readers upon it; but as the discussion for so broad a field as we should
+have to survey, would be in many points arbitrary, and unfitting to
+local information as to varieties, and particular cultivation, we refer
+the reader, with great pleasure, to the several treatises of Downing,
+and Thomas, and Barry, on this interesting topic, with which the public
+are fortunately in possession; observing, only, that there is no one
+item of rural economy to which our attention can be given, which yields
+more of luxury, health, and true enjoyment, both to the body and the
+mind, than the cultivation of good fruits.
+
+
+HOW TO LAY OUT A KITCHEN GARDEN.
+
+The kitchen garden yields more necessaries and comforts to the family,
+than any other piece of ground on the premises. It is, of consequence,
+necessary that it be so located and planned as to be ready of access,
+and yield the greatest possible quantity of products for the labor
+bestowed upon it; and as locality and plan have much to do with the
+labor bestowed upon it and the productions it may yield, both these
+subjects should be considered.
+
+As to locality, the kitchen garden should lie in the _warmest_ and _most
+sheltered_ spot which may be convenient to the _kitchen_ of the house.
+It should, in connection with that, be convenient of access to the
+dung-yards of the stables. The size may be such as your necessities or
+your convenience may demand. The shape, either a parallelogram or a
+square; for it will be recollected, that this is a place allotted, not
+for a _show_ or _pleasure_ ground, but for _profit_. If the garden be
+large, this shape will better allow the use of the plow to turn up the
+soil, which, in a large garden, is a much cheaper, and, when properly
+done, a better mode than to spade it; and if small, and it be worked
+with the spade, _right_ lines are easier made with the spade than curved
+ones. One or more walks, at least eight feet wide, should be made,
+leading from a broad gate, or bars, through which a cart and horse, or
+oxen, may enter, to draw in manure, or carry out the vegetables; and if
+such walk, or walks, do not extend around the garden, which, if in a
+large one, they should do, a sufficient area should be thrown out at the
+farther extremity, to turn the cart upon. If the soil be free, and
+stony, the stones should be taken out _clean_, when large--and if small,
+down to the size of a hen's egg--and the surface made as level as
+possible, for a loose soil will need no draining. If the soil be a clay,
+or clayey loam, it should be underdrained two and a half feet, _to be
+perfect_, and the draining so planned as to lead off to a lower spot
+outside. This draining _warms_ the soil, opens it for filtration, and
+makes it friable. Then, properly fenced, thoroughly manured, and plowed
+deep, and left rough--no matter how rough--in the fall of the year, and
+as late before the setting in of winter as you dare risk it, that part
+of the preparation is accomplished.
+
+The _permanent_ or wide walks of the garden, after being laid out and
+graded, should never be plowed nor disturbed, except by the hoe and
+rake, to keep down the weeds and grass; yet, if a close, and well-shorn
+grass turf be kept upon them, it is perhaps the cheapest and most
+cleanly way of keeping the walks. They need only cutting off close with
+the hand-hook, in summer.
+
+We have known a great many people, after laying out a kitchen garden,
+and preparing it for use, fill it up with fruit trees, supposing that
+vegetables will grow quite as well with them as without. This is a wide
+mistake. _No tree larger than a currant or gooseberry bush should ever
+stand in a vegetable garden._ These fruits being partially used in the
+cooking department, as much in the way of vegetables, as of fruits, and
+small in size, may be permitted; and they, contrary to the usual
+practice, should always stand in _open_ ground, where they can have all
+the benefits of the sun and rain to ripen the fruit to perfection, as
+well as to receive the cultivation they need, instead of being placed
+under fences around the sides of the garden, where they are too
+frequently neglected, and become the resort of vermin, or make prolific
+harbors for weeds.
+
+Along the main walks, or alleys, the borders for perennial plants, as
+well as the currant and gooseberry bushes, should be made--for the plow
+should run parallel to, and not at right angles with them. Here may
+stand the rhubarbs, the sea kales, the various herbs, or even the
+asparagus beds, if a particular quarter be not set apart for them; and,
+if it be important, a portion of these main borders may be appropriated
+to the more common flowers and small shrubbery, if desired to cultivate
+them in a plain way; but not a peach, apricot, or any other larger tree
+than a currant or raspberry, should come within it. They not only shade
+the small plants, but suck up and rob them of their food and moisture,
+and keep off the sun, and prevent the circulation of air--than which
+nothing needs all these more than garden vegetables, to have them in
+high perfection. If it be necessary, by means of a cold exposure on the
+one side, to have a close plantation of shrubbery to screen the garden,
+let it be _outside_ the fence, rather than within it; but if within, let
+there be a _broad_ walk between such shrubbery and the garden beds, as
+their roots will extend under the vegetables, and rob them of their
+food.
+
+A walk, alley, or cartway, on the sides of the garden, is always better
+_next to the fence_, than to fill that space with anything else, as it
+is usually shaded for a portion of the day, and may be better afforded
+for such _waste_ purposes than the open, sunny ground within.
+
+It will be observed that _market gardeners_, men who always strive to
+make the most profit from their land and labor, and obtain the _best_
+vegetables, cultivate them in open fields. Not a tree, nor even a bush
+is permitted to stand near the growing crop, if they can prevent it; and
+where one is not stinted in the area of his domain, their example should
+be followed.
+
+A word upon _plowing_ gardens. Clays, or clayey loams, should always be
+manured and plowed in the fall, just before the setting in of the winter
+frosts. A world of pounding and hammering of lumps, to make them fine,
+in spring, is saved by fall plowing, besides incorporating the manure
+more thoroughly with the soil, as well as freezing out and destroying
+the eggs of worms and insects which infest it. Thrown up deeply and
+roughly with the plow or spade, the frosts act mechanically upon the
+soil, and slack and pulverise it so thoroughly that a heavy raking in
+early spring, is all that becomes necessary to put it in the finest
+condition for seeds, and make it perhaps the very best and most
+productive of all garden soils whatever. A light sandy loam is better to
+lie compact in winter, and manured and turned up in early spring. Its
+friable nature leaves it always open and light, and at all times in the
+absence of frost, accessible to the spade or the hoe. On these accounts,
+it is usually the most desirable and convenient soil for the kitchen
+garden, and on the whole, generally preferred where either kind may be a
+matter simply of choice.
+
+
+FLOWERS.
+
+Start not, gentle reader! We are not about to inflict upon you a
+dissertation on Pelargoniums, Calla-Ethiopias, Japonicas, and such like
+unmentionable terms, that bring to your mind the green-house, and
+forcing-house, and all the train of expense and vexation attending them;
+but we desire to have a short familiar conversation about what is all
+around you, or if not around you, should be, and kept there, with very
+little pains or labor on your part. Still, if you dislike the subject,
+just hand this part of our book over to your excellent wife, or
+daughters, or sisters, as the case may be, and we will talk to them
+about this matter.
+
+Flowers have their objects, and were made for our use and pleasure;
+otherwise, God would never have strewed them, as he has, so bountifully
+along our paths, and filled the world with their fragrance and beauty.
+Like all else beautiful, which He made, and pronounced "good," flowers
+have been objects of admiration and love since man's creation; and their
+cultivation has ever been a type of civilization and refinement among
+all people who have left written records behind them. Flowers equally
+become the cottage and the palace, in their decoration. The humblest
+cottager, and the mightiest monarch, have equally admired their beauty
+and their odor; and the whole train of mortals between, have devoted a
+portion of their time and thoughts to the development of their peculiar
+properties.
+
+But let that pass. Plain country people as we are, there are enough of
+sufficient variety all around us, to engage our attention, and give us
+all that we desire to embellish our homes, and engage the time which we
+have to devote to them. Among the wild flowers, in the mountains and
+hills of the farthest North, on the margin of their hidden brooks, where
+
+  "Floats the scarce-rooted watercress;"
+
+and on their barren sides, the tiny violet and the laurel bloom, each in
+their season, with unwonted beauty; and, sloping down on to the plains
+beneath, blush out in all their summer garniture, the wild rose and the
+honeysuckle. On, through the Middle States, the lesser flowers of early
+spring throw out a thousand brilliant dyes, and are surrounded by a host
+of summer plants, vieing with each other in the exuberance of their
+tints. On the Alleghanies, through all their vast range, grow up the
+magnificent dogwood, kalmia, and rhododendron, spangling mile upon
+mile of their huge sides and tops with white, and covering crags and
+precipices of untold space with their blushing splendor. Further west,
+on the prairies, and oak openings, and in the deep woods, too, of the
+great lakes, and of the Mississippi valley, with the earliest grass,
+shoot up, all over the land, a succession of flowers, which in variety
+and profusion of shape, and color, and odor, outvie all the lilies of
+the gardens of Solomon; and so they continue till the autumnal frosts
+cut down both grass and flower alike. Further south, along the piney
+coast, back through the hills and over the vast reach of cotton and
+sugar lands, another class of flowers burst out from their natural
+coverts in equal glory; and the magnolia, and the tulip-tree, and the
+wild orange throw a perfume along the air, like the odors of Palestine.
+In the deep lagoons of the southern rivers, too, float immense
+water-lilies, laying their great broad leaves, and expanded white and
+yellow flowers, upon the surface, which the waters of the Nile in the
+days of Cleopatra never equaled. And these are nature's wild productions
+only.
+
+Flowers being cultivated, not for profit, but for show and amusement,
+need not intrude upon the time which is required to the more important
+labors of the farm. A little time, given at such hours when it can be
+best spared, will set all the little flower-beds in order, and keep the
+required shrubbery of the place in trim--and should not be denied in any
+family who enjoy a taste for them. Even the simplest of their kind, when
+carefully disposed, produce a fine effect; and the hardy bulbous, and
+tuberous-rooted plants require but slight aid in producing the highest
+perfection of their bloom; while the fibrous-rooted perennials, and the
+flowering shrubs, bloom on from year to year, almost uncared for and
+untouched.
+
+The annuals require the most attention. Their seeds must be planted and
+gathered every year; they must be weeded and nursed with more care than
+the others; yet they richly repay all this trouble in their fresh bloom
+when the others are gone, and will carry their rich flowers far into the
+frosts of autumn, when their hardier companions have composed themselves
+for a winter's rest.
+
+The position of the flower-bed, or borders, may be various. As a matter
+of taste, however, they should be near the house, and in view of the
+windows of the most frequented rooms. They thus give more enjoyment in
+their sight, than when but occasionally seen in special visits; and such
+spots can usually be set apart for them. If not in the way of more
+important things, they should always be thus placed, where they are ever
+objects of interest and attraction.
+
+The ground which flowering plants occupy should be devoted to them
+alone, and the soil be made deep and rich. They should not be huddled
+up, nor crowded, but stand well apart, and have plenty of breathing-room
+for their branches and leaves, and space for the spread of their roots.
+They are consumers of the fertilizing gases, and require, equally with
+other plants, their due supply of manures--which also adds to the
+brilliance and size of their bloom, as well as to the growth of their
+stems. Their roots should be protected in winter by coarse litter thrown
+over them, particularly the earlier flowering plants, as it gives them
+an early and rapid start in the spring.
+
+In variety, we need scarcely recommend what may be most desirable. The
+crocus, and snowdrop are among (if not quite) the earliest in bloom; and
+to these follow the hyacinth, and daffodil, the jonquil, and many-varied
+family of Narcissus, the low-headed hearts-ease, or pansy; with them,
+too, comes the flowering-almond, the lilac, and another or two flowering
+shrubs. Then follow the tulips, in all their gorgeous and splendid
+variety of single, double, and fringed. To these follow the great
+peonies, in their full, dashing colors of crimson, white and pink, and
+the tree-like snow-ball, or guelder-rose. By the side of these hangs out
+the monthly-trumpet-honeysuckle, gracing the columns of your veranda,
+porch, or window, and the large Siberian honeysuckle, with its white and
+pink flowers; and along with them, the various Iris family, or
+fleur-de-lis, reminding one of France and the Bourbons, the Prussian
+lilac, and the early phloxes. Then blush out, in all their endless
+variety of shade and tint, from the purest white to the deepest purple,
+the whole vast family of roses; and in stature, from the humblest twig
+that leans its frail stem upon the ground, up to the hardy climber,
+whose delicious clusters hang over your chamber window; and a month of
+fragrance and beauty of these completes the succession of bulbs, and
+tubers, and perennial plants and shrubs--scores of which have not been
+noticed.
+
+Now commence the annuals, which may carry you a month further into the
+season, when the flaunting dahlia of every hue, and budding from its
+plant of every size, from the height of little Tommy, who is just
+toddling out with his mother to watch the first opening flower, up to
+the top of his father's hat, as he stands quite six feet, to hold the
+little fellow up to try to smell of another, which, like all the rest,
+has no sign of odor. Then come, after a long retinue of different
+things--among which we always count the morning-glory, or convolvulus,
+running up the kitchen windows,--the great sun-flower, which throws his
+broad disk high over the garden fence, always cheerful, and always
+glowing--the brilliant tribe of asters, rich, varied, and beautiful,
+running far into the autumnal frosts; and, to close our floral season,
+the chrysanthemum, which, well cared-for, blooms out in the open air,
+and, carefully taken up and boxed, will stay with us, in the house, till
+Christmas. Thus ends the blooming year. Now, if you would enjoy a
+pleasure perfectly pure, which has no alloy, save an occasional
+disappointment by casualty, and make home interesting beyond all other
+places, learn first to love, then to get, and next to cultivate flowers.
+
+
+
+
+FARM COTTAGES.
+
+
+Altogether too little attention has been paid in our country to these
+most useful appendages to the farm, both in their construction and
+appearance. Nothing adds more to the feeling of comfort, convenience,
+and _home_ expression in the farm, than the snug-built laborers' cottage
+upon it. The cottage also gives the farm an air of respectability and
+dignity. The laborer should, if not so sumptuously, be as comfortably
+housed and sheltered as his employer. This is quite as much to the
+interest of such employer as it is beneficial to the health and
+happiness of the laborer. Building is so cheap in America, that the
+difference in cost between a snugly-finished cottage, and a rickety,
+open tenement, is hardly to be taken into consideration, as compared
+with the higher health, and increased enjoyment of the laborer and his
+family; while every considerate employer knows that cheerfulness and
+contentment of disposition, which are perhaps more promoted by good home
+accommodations for the workingman than by any other influence, are
+strong incentives to increased labor on his part, and more fidelity in
+its application.
+
+A landed estate, of whatever extent, with its respectable farm house,
+in its own expressive style of construction, relieved and set off by its
+attendant cottages, either contiguous, or remote, and built in their
+proper character, leaves nothing wanting to fill the picture upon which
+one loves to gaze in the contemplation of country life; and without
+these last in due keeping with the chief structures of the estate, a
+blank is left in its completeness and finish. The little embellishments
+which may be given, by way of architectural arrangement, or the
+conveniences in accommodation, are, in almost all cases, appreciated by
+those who occupy them, and have an influence upon their character and
+conduct; while the trifling decorations which may be added in the way of
+shrubbery, trees, and flowering plants, costing little or nothing in
+their planting and keeping, give a charm to the humblest abode.
+
+The position of cottages on a farm should be controlled by
+considerations of convenience to the place of labor, and a proper
+economy in their construction; and hardly a site can be inappropriate
+which ensures these requirements. In the plans which are submitted, due
+attention has been paid to the comfort of those who inhabit them, as
+well as to picturesque effect in the cottage itself. Decency, order, and
+respectability are thus given to the estate, and to those who inhabit
+the cottages upon it, as well as to those whose more fortunate position
+in life has given the enjoyment of a higher luxury in the occupancy of
+its chief mansion.
+
+On all estates where the principal dwelling is located at any
+considerable distance from the public road, or where approached by a
+side road shut off from the highway by a gate, a small cottage, by way
+of lodge, or laborer's tenement, should be located at or near the
+entrance. Such appendage is not only ornamental in itself, but gives
+character to the place, and security to the enclosure; in guarding it
+from improper intrusion, as well as to receive and conduct into the
+premises those who either reside upon, or have business within it. It is
+thus a sort of sentry-box, as well as a laborer's residence.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: COTTAGE. Pages 211-212.]
+
+DESIGN I.
+
+
+This cottage is 10 feet high, from the sill to the plates, and may be
+built of wood, with a slight frame composed of sills and plates only,
+and planked up and down (vertically) and battened; or grooved and
+tongued, and matched close together; or it may be framed throughout with
+posts and studs, and covered with rough boards, and over these
+clapboards, and lathed and plastered inside. The first mode would be the
+cheapest, although not so warm and durable as the other, yet quite
+comfortable when warmed by a stove. On the second plan of building,
+it will cost near or quite double the amount of the first, if neatly
+painted. A small brick chimney should rest upon the floor overhead, in
+the side of which, at least a foot above the chamber floor, should be
+inserted an earthen or iron thimble, to receive the stovepipe and guard
+against fire; unless a flat stone, 14 to 16 inches square, and 2 to 4
+inches thick, with a pipe-hole--which is the better plan--should rest on
+the floor immediately over the pipe. This stone should be, also, the
+foundation of the chimney, which should pass immediately up through the
+ridge of the roof, and, for effect, in the center longitudinally, of the
+house. Such position will not interfere with the location of the stove,
+which may be placed in any part of the room, the pipe reaching the
+chimney by one or more elbows.
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The main body of this cottage is 18x12 feet, with a lean-to, 8 feet
+wide, running its whole length in rear. This lean-to may be 8 or 9
+inches lower, on the floor, than the main room, and divided into a
+passage, (leading to an open wood-house in rear, 10x12 feet, with a shed
+roof,) a large closet, and a bedroom, as may be required; or, the
+passage end may be left open at the side, for a wood shelter, or other
+useful purpose. The roof, which is raftered, boarded, and shingled in
+the usual mode, is well spread over the gables, as well as over the
+front and rear--say 18 inches. The porch in front will give additional
+convenience in summer, as a place to sit, or eat under, and its posts so
+fitted with grooves as to let in rough planks for winter enclosure in
+front and at one end, leaving the entrance only, at the least windy, or
+stormy side. The extra cost of such preparation, with the planks, which
+should be 1-1/4 or 1-1/2 inches thick, and jointed, would not exceed ten
+or fifteen dollars. This would make an admirable wood-house for the
+winter, and a perfect snuggery for a small family. While in its summer
+dress, with the porch opened--the planks taken out and laid overhead,
+across the beams connecting the porch with the house--it would present
+an object of quiet comfort and beauty. A hop vine or honeysuckle might
+be trained outside the posts, and give it all the shade required.
+
+In a stony country, where the adjoining enclosures are of stone, this
+cottage may be built of stone, also, at about double the cost of wood.
+This would save the expense of paint, or wash of any kind, besides the
+greater character of durability and substance it would add to the
+establishment. Trees, of course, should shelter it; and any little
+out-buildings that may be required should be nestled under a screen of
+vines and shrubbery near by.
+
+This being designed as the humblest and cheapest kind of cottage, where
+the family occupy only a single room, the cost would be small. On the
+plan first named, stained with a coarse wash, it could be built for
+$100. On the second plan, well-framed of sills, plates, posts, studs,
+&c. &c., covered with vertical boarding and battens, or clapboarded, and
+well painted in oil, it might cost $150 to $200. Stone, or brick,
+without paint, would add but little, if anything in cost over the last
+sum. The ceiling of the main floor is 8 feet high, and a low chamber or
+garret is afforded above it, into which a swing-step ladder ascends; and
+when not in use, it may be hung to the ceiling overhead by a common hook
+and staples.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN II.
+
+
+This cottage is a grade beyond the one just described, both in
+appearance and accommodation. It is 20x16 feet on the ground, with a
+rear wing 26x8 feet in area. The main body is 10 feet high, to the roof,
+vertically boarded and battened. A snug, half-open (or it may be closed,
+as convenience may require,) porch shelters the front door, 5x4 feet in
+area. The cottage has a square or hipped roof, of a 30deg pitch from a
+horizontal line, which spreads full two feet over the walls and
+bracketed beneath. The rear wing retreats two feet from the wall line of
+the main building, and has also a hipped roof of the same pitch as the
+main one, with eight-feet posts. The open end of the wing advances 6
+feet toward the front of the main part for wood-house and storage. The
+construction of this is in the same style as Design I. The windows are
+plain, two-sashed, of six lights each, 8x12 glass in front, and 8x10 in
+the rear.
+
+  [Illustration: COTTAGE. Pages 217-218.]
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door opens into a common living room, 16x12 feet, with two
+windows, in which is a stove-chimney running up from the main floor next
+the partition, or placed over it in the chamber, and running up through
+the center of the roof. On one side of the living room is a bedroom,
+10x8 feet, with two windows. Next to this bedroom is a large closet, 8x6
+feet, with one window, and shelves, and tight cupboard within. These
+rooms are 9 feet high, and over them is a chamber, or garret, 20x16
+feet, entered by a swing step ladder, as in Design No. I. This garret is
+lighted by a small dormer window in the rear roof, over the shed or
+lean-to. A bed may be located in this chamber, or it may serve as a
+storage and lumber-room.
+
+The wing contains a small kitchen, in case the living room be not
+occupied for that purpose, 10x8 feet, lighted by a side-window, and
+having a small chimney in the rear wall. It may contain, also, a small
+closet, 3 feet square. A door passes from this small kitchen into the
+wood-house, which is 16x8 feet, or with its advance L, 14 feet, in the
+extreme outer corner of which is a water-closet, 5x3 feet; thus,
+altogether, giving accommodation to a family of five or six persons.
+
+The construction of this cottage is shown as of wood. Other material,
+either brick or stone, may be used, as most convenient, at a not much
+increased cost. The expense of this building may be, say fifty per cent.
+higher than that of No. I, according to the finish, and may be
+sufficiently well done and painted complete for $300; which may be
+reduced or increased, according to the style of finish and the taste of
+the builder.
+
+A cellar may be made under this cottage, which can be reached by a
+trap-door from the living room, opening to a flight of steps below.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN III.
+
+
+This cottage is still in advance of No. II, in style and arrangement,
+and may accommodate not only the farm laborer or gardener, but will
+serve for a small farmer himself, or a village mechanic. It is in the
+French style of roof, and allied to the Italian in its brackets, and
+gables, and half-terraced front. The body of the cottage is 22x20 feet,
+with twelve-feet posts; the roof has a pitch of 50deg from a horizontal
+line, in its straight dimensions, curving horizontally toward the eaves,
+which, together with the gables, project 3 feet over the walls. The
+terrace in front is 5 feet wide. On the rear is a wood-house, 18x16 feet
+in area, open at the house end, and in front, with a roof in same style
+as the main house, and posts, 8 feet high, standing on the ground,
+2 feet below the surface of the cellar wall, which supports the main
+building.
+
+  [Illustration: COTTAGE. Pages 221-222.]
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door opens, in the center of the front wall, into a hall, 12x8
+feet, with a flight of stairs on one side, leading to the chamber above;
+under the stairs, at the upper end, is a passage leading beneath them
+into the cellar. On one side of this hall is a bedroom 8x10 feet,
+lighted by a window in front, and part of the hooded double window on
+the side. On the inner side, a door leads from the hall into the living
+room or kitchen, 18x12 feet. On one side of this is a bedroom, or
+pantry, as may be most desirable, 9x6 feet, from which leads a close
+closet, 3 feet square. This bedroom has a window on one side, next the
+hall. A door from the kitchen leads into a closet, 3 feet wide, which
+may contain a sink, and cupboard for kitchen wares. The living room is
+lighted by a part of the double hooded window on one side, and another
+on the rear. A door leads into the wood-house, which is 12x16 feet, in
+the extreme corner of which is the water-closet, 5x3 feet. The rooms in
+this cottage are 9 feet high. A chimney leads up from the floor of the
+living room, which may receive, in addition to its own fireplace, or
+stove, a pipe from the stove in the hall, if one is placed there.
+
+The chamber has two feet of perpendicular wall, and the sharp roof gives
+opportunity for two good lodging rooms, which may be partitioned off as
+convenience may require, each lighted by a window in the gables, and a
+dormer one in the roof, for the passage leading into them.
+
+The hall may serve as a pleasant sitting or dining-room, in pleasant
+weather, opening, as it does, on to the terrace, which is mostly
+sheltered by the overhanging roof.
+
+The construction of this cottage may be of either stone, brick, or wood,
+and produce a fine effect. Although it has neither porch, nor veranda,
+the broad eaves and gables give it a well-sheltered appearance, and the
+hooded windows on the sides throw an air of protection over them, quite
+agreeable to the eye. The framing of this roof is no way different,
+in the rafters, from those made on straight lines, but the curve and
+projection is given by planks cut into proper shape, and spiked into the
+rafters, and apparently supported by the brackets below, which should be
+cut from two to three-inch plank, to give them a heavy and substantial
+appearance. The windows are in casement form, as shown in the design,
+but may be changed into the ordinary sash form, if preferred, which is,
+in this country, usually the better way. It will be observed, that we
+have in all cases adopted the usual square-sided form of glass for
+windows, as altogether more convenient and economical in building,
+simple in repairing, and, we think, quite as agreeable in appearance,
+as those out-of-the-way shapes frequently adopted to give a more
+picturesque effect.
+
+In a hilly, mountainous, and evergreen country, this style of cottage is
+peculiarly appropriate. It takes additional character from bold and
+picturesque scenery, with which it is in harmony. The pine, spruce,
+cedar, or hemlock, or the evergreen laurel, planted around or near it,
+will give it increased effect, while among deciduous trees and shrubs,
+an occasional Lombardy poplar, and larch, will harmonize with the
+boldness of its outline. Even where hill or mountain scenery is wanting,
+plantations such as have been named, would render it a pleasing style of
+cottage, and give agreeable effect to its bold, sharp roof and
+projecting eaves.
+
+In a snowy country, the plan of roof here presented is well adapted to
+the shedding of heavy snows, on which it can find no protracted
+lodgment. Where massive stone walls enclose the estate, this style of
+cottage will be in character, as comporting with that strong and solid
+air which the rustic appearance of stone alone can give. It may, too,
+receive the same amount of outer decoration, in its shrubbery and
+plantations, given to any other style of building of like accommodation,
+and with an equally agreeable effect.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN IV.
+
+
+This cottage is still in advance of the last, in its accommodation, and
+is suitable for the small farmer, or the more liberal cottager, who
+requires wider room, and ampler conveniences than are allowed by the
+hitherto described structures. It is a first class dwelling, of its
+kind, and, in its details and finish, may be adapted to a variety of
+occupation, while it will afford a sufficient amount of expenditure to
+gratify a liberal outlay, to him who chooses to indulge his taste in a
+moderate extent of decoration and embellishment.
+
+The ground plan of this cottage is 30x22 feet, in light rural-Gothic
+style, one and a half stories high, the posts 14 feet in elevation.
+It has two chimneys, passing out through the roof on each side of the
+ridge, uniformly, each with the other. The roof has a pitch of 45deg
+from a horizontal line, giving it a bold and rather dashing appearance,
+and deeply sheltering the walls. The side gables give variety to the
+roof, and light to the chambers, and add to the finish of its
+appearance; while the sharp arched double window in the front gable adds
+character to the design.
+
+  [Illustration: COTTAGE. Pages 227-228.]
+
+The deep veranda in front covers three-quarters of its surface in
+length, and in the symmetry of its roof, and airiness of its columns,
+with their light braces, give it a style of completeness; and if
+creeping vines or climbing shrubs be trained upon them, will produce an
+effect altogether rural and beautiful.
+
+Or, if a rustic style of finish be adopted, to render it cheaper in
+construction, the effect may still be imposing, and in harmony with the
+purposes to which it is designed. In fact, this model will admit of a
+variety of choice in finish, from the plainest to a high degree of
+embellishment, as the ability or fancy of the builder may suggest.
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+From the veranda in the center of the front, a door opens into a hall,
+17x7 feet, with a flight of stairs leading, in three different angles,
+to the chambers above. Opposite the front door is the passage into the
+living room, or parlor, 17x15 feet, lighted by three windows, two of
+which present an agreeable view of an adjacent stream and its opposite
+shores. At the line of partition from the hall, stands a chimney, with a
+fireplace, if desirable, or for a stove, to accommodate both this room
+and the hall with a like convenience; and under the flight of stairs
+adjoining opens a china closet, with spacious shelves, for the
+safe-keeping of household comforts. From this room, a door leads into a
+bedroom, 10x13 feet, lighted by a window opening into the veranda, also
+accommodated by a stove, which leads into a chimney at its inner
+partition. Next to this bedroom is the kitchen, 12x13 feet, accommodated
+with a chimney, where may be inserted an open fireplace, or a stove, as
+required. In this is a flight of back chamber and cellar stairs. This
+room is lighted by two windows--one in the side, another in the rear.
+A door leads from its rear into a large, roomy pantry, 8 feet square,
+situated in the wing, and lighted by a window. Next to this is a
+passage, 3 feet in width, leading to the wood-house, (in which the
+pantry just named is included,) 16x12 feet, with nine-feet posts, and
+roof pitched like the house, in the extreme corner of which is a
+water-closet, 5x3 feet. Cornering upon the wood-house beyond, is a small
+building, 15x12 feet, with ten-feet posts, and a roof in same style as
+the others--with convenience for a cow and a pig, with each a separate
+entrance. A flight of stairs leads to the hay-loft above the stables, in
+the gable of which is the hay-door; and under the stairs is the granary;
+and to these may be added, inside, a small accommodation for a choice
+stock of poultry.
+
+The chamber plan is the same as the lower floor, mainly, giving three
+good sleeping-rooms; that over the kitchen, being a _back_ chamber, need
+not have a separate passage into the upper hall, but may have a door
+passage into the principal chamber. The door to the front bedroom leads
+direct from the upper hall. Thus, accommodation is given to quite a
+numerous family. Closets may be placed in each of these chambers,
+if wanted; and the entire establishment made a most snug and compact,
+as well as commodious arrangement.
+
+
+
+
+COTTAGE OUTSIDE DECORATION.
+
+
+Nothing so perfectly sets off a cottage, in external appearance, as the
+presence of plants and shrubbery around it. A large tree or two, by
+giving an air of protection, is always in place; and creeping vines, and
+climbing shrubs about the windows and porch, are in true character;
+while a few low-headed trees, of various kinds, together with some
+simple and hardy annual and other flowers--to which should always be
+added, near by, a small, well-tended kitchen garden--fill up the
+picture.
+
+In the choice of what varieties should compose these ornaments, one can
+hardly be at a loss. Flanking the cottage, and near the kitchen garden,
+should be the fruit trees. The elm, maples, oak, and hickory, in all
+their varieties, black-walnut, butternut--the last all the better for
+its rich kernel--are every one appropriate for shade, as _large_ trees.
+The hop, morning-glory, running beans--all useful and ornamental as
+summer climbers; the clematis, bitter-sweet, ivy, any of the _climbing_
+roses; the lilac, syringa, snow-ball, and the _standard_ roses; while
+marigolds, asters, pinks, the phloxes, peonies, and a few other of the
+thousand-and-one simple and charming annuals, biennials, and perennials,
+with now and then a gorgeous sunflower, flaunting in its broad glory,
+will fill up the catalogue. Rare and costly plants are not required, and
+indeed, are hardly in place in the grounds of an ordinary cottage,
+unless occupied by the professional gardener. They denote expense, which
+the laboring cottager cannot afford; and besides that, they detract from
+the simplicity of the life and purpose which not only the cottage
+itself, but everything around it, should express.
+
+There is an affectation of _cottage_ building, with some people who,
+with a seeming humility, really aim at higher flights of style in living
+within them, than truth of either design or purpose will admit. But as
+such cases are more among villagers, and those temporarily retiring from
+the city for summer residence, the farm cottage has little to do with
+it. Still, such fancies are contagious, and we have occasionally seen
+the ambitious cottage, with its covert expression of humility,
+insinuating itself on to the farm, and for the farmer's own family
+occupation, too, which at once spoiled, to the eye, the _substantial
+reality_ of the whole establishment. A farmer should discard all such
+things as _ornamental_ cottages. They do not belong to the farm. If he
+live in a cottage himself, it should be a _plain_ one; yet it may be
+very substantial and well finished--something showing that he means
+either to be content in it, in its character of plainness, or that he
+intends, at a future day, to build something better--when this may serve
+for the habitation of one of his laborers.
+
+The cottage should never occupy a principal, or prominent site on the
+farm. It should take a subordinate position of ground. This adds to its
+expression as subordinate in rank, among the lesser farm buildings. A
+cottage cannot, and should not aspire to be _chief_ in either position
+or character. Such should be the farm house proper; although
+unpretending, still, in style, above the cottage; and if the latter,
+in addition, be required on the farm, it should so appear, both in
+construction and finish; just what it is intended for--a tenement for
+economical purposes.
+
+There is another kind of cottage, the dwellers in which, these pages
+will probably never reach, that expresses, in its wild structure, and
+rude locality, the idea of Moore's pretty song--
+
+  "I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled
+  Above the green elms, that a cottage was near."
+
+Yet, in some parts of our country, landlords may build such, for the
+accommodation of tenants, which they may make useful on the outskirts of
+their estates, and add indirectly to their own convenience and interest
+in so doing. This may be indulged in, _poetically_ too--for almost any
+thinking man has a spice of poetry in his composition--vagabondism,
+a strict, economizing utilitarian would call it. The name matters not.
+One may as well indulge his taste in this cheap sort of charitable
+expenditure, as another may indulge, in his dogs, and guns, his horses
+and equipages--and the first is far the cheapest. They, at the west and
+south, understand this, whose recreations are occasionally with their
+hounds, in chase of the deer, and the fox, and in their pursuit spend
+weeks of the fall and winter months, in which they are accompanied, and
+assisted, as boon companions for the time, by the rude tenants of the
+cottages we have described:
+
+  "A cheerful, simple, honest people."
+
+Another class of cottage may come within the farm enclosures, half
+poetical, and half economical, such as Milton describes:
+
+  "Hard by a cottage chimney smokes,
+  From betwixt two aged oaks;"
+
+and occupied by a family pensioner and his infirm old wife--we don't
+think _all_ "poor old folks" ought to go to the alms-house, because they
+cannot work _every_ day of the year--of which all long-settled families
+of good estate have, now and then, one near to, or upon their premises.
+Thousands of kind and liberal hearts among our farming and planting
+brethren, whose impulses are--
+
+  "Open as the day to melting charity,"
+
+are familiar with the wants of those who are thus made their dependents;
+and in their accommodation, an eye may be kept to the producing of an
+agreeable effect in locating their habitations, and to rudely embellish,
+rather than to mar the domain on which they may be lodged.
+
+In short, cottage architecture, in its proper character, may be made as
+effective, in all the ornament which it should give to the farm, as that
+of any other structure; and if those who have occasion for the cottage
+will only be content to build and maintain it as it should be, and leave
+off that perpetual aspiration after something unnatural, and foreign to
+its purpose, which so many cottage builders of the day attempt, and let
+it stand in its own humble, secluded character, they will save
+themselves a world of trouble, and pass for--what they now do not--men
+possessing a taste for truth and propriety in their endeavors.
+
+
+HOUSE AND COTTAGE FURNITURE.
+
+This is a subject so thoroughly discussed in the books, of late, that
+anything which may here be said, would avail but little, inasmuch as our
+opinions might be looked upon as "old-fashioned," "out of date," and "of
+no account whatever,"--for wonderfully modern notions in room-furnishing
+have crept into the farm house, as well as into town houses. Indeed, we
+confess to altogether ancient opinions in regard to household furniture,
+and contend, that, with a few exceptions, "modern degeneracy" has
+reached the utmost stretch of absurdity, in house-furnishing, to which
+the ingenuity of man can arrive. Fashions in furniture change about as
+often as the cut of a lady's dress, or the shape of her bonnet, and
+pretty much from the same source, too--the fancy shops of Paree, once,
+in good old English, Paris, the capital city of France. A farmer, rich
+or poor, may spend half his annual income, every year of his life, in
+taking down old, and putting up new furniture, and be kept uncomfortable
+all the time; when, if he will, after a quiet, good-tempered talk with
+his better-half, agree with her upon the list of _necessary_ articles to
+make them _really comfortable_; and then a catalogue of what shall
+comprise the _luxurious_ part of their furnishings, which, when
+provided, they will fixedly make up their mind to keep, and be content
+with, they will remain entirely free from one great source of "the ills
+which flesh is heir to."
+
+It is pleasant to see a young couple setting out in their housekeeping
+life, well provided with convenient and properly-selected furniture,
+appropriate to all the uses of the family; and then to keep, and use it,
+and enjoy it, like contented, sensible people; adding to it, now and
+then, as its wear, or the increasing wants of their family may require.
+Old, familiar things, to which we have long been accustomed, and
+habituated, make up a round share of our actual enjoyment. A family
+addicted to constant change in their household furniture, attached to
+nothing, content with nothing, and looking with anxiety to the next
+change of fashion which shall introduce something _new_ into the house,
+can take no sort of comfort, let their circumstances be ever so
+affluent. It is a kind of dissipation in which some otherwise worthy
+people are prone to indulge, but altogether pernicious in the
+indulgence. It detracts, also, from the apparent respectability of a
+family to find nothing _old_ about them--as if they themselves were of
+yesterday, and newly dusted out of a modern shop-keeper's stock in
+trade. The furniture of a house ought to look as though the family
+within it once had a grandfather--and as if old things had some
+veneration from those who had long enjoyed their service.
+
+We are not about to dictate, of what fashion household furniture should
+be, when selected, any further than that of a plain, substantial, and
+commodious fashion, and that it should comport, so far as those
+requirements in it will admit, with the approved modes of the day. But
+we are free to say, that in these times the extreme of absurdity, and
+unfitness for _use_, is more the fashion than anything else. What so
+useless as the modern French chairs, standing on legs like pipe-stems,
+_garote_-ing your back like a rheumatism, and frail as the legs of a
+spider beneath you, as you sit in it; and a tribe of equally worthless
+incumbrances, which absorb your money in their cost, and detract from
+your comfort, instead of adding to it, when you have got them; or a
+bedstead so high that you must have a ladder to climb into it, or so low
+as to scarcely keep you above the level of the floor, when lying on it.
+No; give us the substantial, the easy, the free, and enjoyable articles,
+and the rest may go to tickle the fancy of those who have a taste for
+them. Nor do these flashy furnishings add to one's rank in society, or
+to the good opinion of those whose consideration is most valuable. Look
+into the houses of those people who are the _really_ substantial, and
+worthy of the land. There will be found little of such frippery with
+them. Old furniture, well-preserved, useful in everything, mark the
+well-ordered arrangement of their rooms, and give an air of quietude, of
+comfort, and of hospitality to their apartments. Children cling to such
+objects in after life, as heir-looms of affection and parental regard.
+
+Although we decline to give specific directions about what varieties of
+furniture should constitute the furnishings of a house, or to illustrate
+its style or fashion by drawings, and content ourself with the single
+remark, that it should, in all cases, be strong, plain, and durable--no
+sham, nor ostentation about it--and such as is _made for use_: mere
+trinkets stuck about the room, on center tables, in corners, or on the
+mantel-piece, are the foolishest things imaginable. They are costly;
+they require a world of care, to keep them in condition; and then, with
+all this care, they are good for nothing, in any sensible use. We have
+frequently been into a country house, where we anticipated better
+things, and, on being introduced into the "parlor," actually found
+everything in the furniture line so dainty and "prinked up," that we
+were afraid to sit down on the frail things stuck around by way of
+seats, for fear of breaking them; and everything about it looked so
+gingerly and inhospitable, that we felt an absolute relief when we could
+fairly get out of it, and take a place by the wide old fireplace, in the
+common living room, comfortably ensconced in a good old easy,
+high-backed, split-bottomed chair--there was positive comfort in that,
+when in the "parlor" there was nothing but restraint and _dis_comfort.
+No; leave all this vanity to town-folk, who have nothing better--or who,
+at least, think they have--to amuse themselves with; it has no fitness
+for a country dwelling, whatever. All this kind of frippery smacks of
+the boarding school, the pirouette, and the dancing master, and is out
+of character for the farm, or the sensible retirement of the country.
+
+In connection with the subject of furniture, a remark may be made on the
+_room_ arrangement of the house, which might, perhaps, have been more
+fittingly made when discussing that subject, in the designs of our
+houses. Some people have a marvellous propensity for introducing into
+their houses a _suite_ of rooms, connected by wide folding-doors, which
+must always be opened into each other, furnished just alike, and devoted
+to extraordinary occasions; thus absolutely sinking the best rooms in
+the house, for display half a dozen times in the year, and at the
+sacrifice of the every-day comfort of the family. This is nothing but a
+bastard taste, of the most worthless kind, introduced from the city--the
+propriety of which, for city life, need not here be discussed. The
+presence of such arrangement, in a country house, is fatal to everything
+like domestic enjoyment, and always followed by great expense and
+inconvenience. No room, in any house, should be too good for occupation
+by the family themselves--not every-day, and common-place--but
+occupation at any and all times, when convenience or pleasure demand it.
+If a large room be required, let the single room itself be large; not
+sacrifice an extra room to the occasional extension of the choicer one,
+as in the use of folding-doors must be done. This "parlor" may be better
+furnished--and so it should be--than any other room in the house. Its
+carpet should be not too good to tread, or stand upon, or for the
+children to roll and tumble upon, provided their shoes and clothes be
+clean. Let the happy little fellows roll and tumble on it, to their
+heart's content, when their mother or elder sisters are with them--for
+it may be, perhaps, the most joyous, and most innocent pleasure of their
+lives, poor things! The hearth-rug should be in keeping with the carpet,
+also, and no floor-cloth should be necessary to cover it, for fear of
+soiling; but everything free and easy, with a comfortable, inviting,
+hospitable look about it.
+
+Go into the houses of our great men--such as live in the country--whom
+God made great, not money--and see how _they_ live. We speak not of
+statesmen and politicians alone, but great merchants, great scholars,
+great divines, great mechanics, and all men who, in mind and
+attainments, are head and shoulder above their class in any of the walks
+of life, and you find no starch, or flummery about them. We once went
+out to the country house--he lived there all the time, for that
+matter--of a distinguished banker of one of our great cities, to dine,
+and spend the day with him. He had a small farm attached to his
+dwelling, where he kept his horses and cows, his pigs, and his poultry.
+He had a large, plain two-story cottage house, with a piazza running on
+three sides of it, from which a beautiful view of the neighboring city,
+and water, and land, was seen in nearly all directions. He was an
+educated man. His father had been a statesman of distinguished ability
+and station at home, and a diplomatist abroad, and himself educated in
+the highest circles of business, and of society. His wife, too, was the
+daughter of a distinguished city merchant, quite his equal in all the
+accomplishments of life. His own wealth was competent; he was the
+manager of millions of the wealth of others; and his station in society
+was of the highest. Yet, with all this claim to pretension, his house
+did not cost him eight thousand dollars--and he built it by "days-work,"
+too, so as to have it faithfully done; and the furniture in it, aside
+from library, paintings, and statuary, never cost him three thousand.
+Every room in it was a plain one, not more highly finished than many a
+farmer's house can afford. The furniture of every kind was plain,
+saving, perhaps, the old family plate, and such as he had added to it,
+which was all substantial, and made for use. The younger children--and
+of these, younger and older, he had several--we found happy, healthy,
+cheerful, and frolicking on the carpets; and their worthy mother, in the
+plainest, yet altogether appropriate garb, was sitting among them, at
+her family sewing, and kindly welcomed us as we took our seats in front
+of the open, glowing fireplace. "Why, sir," we exclaimed, rubbing our
+hands in the comfortable glow of warmth which the fire had given--for it
+was a cold December day--"you are quite plain, as well as wonderfully
+comfortable, in your country house--quite different from your former
+city residence!" "To be sure we are," was the reply; "we stood it as
+long as we could, amid the starch and the gimcracks of ---- street,
+where we rarely had a day to ourselves, and the children could never
+_go_ into the streets but they must be tagged and tasselled, in their
+dress, into all sorts of discomfort, merely for the sake of appearance.
+So, after standing it as long as we could, my wife and I determined we
+would try the country, for a while, and see what we could make of it.
+We kept our town-house, into which we returned for a winter or two; but
+gave it up for a permanent residence here, with which we are perfectly
+content. We see here all the friends we want to see; we all enjoy
+ourselves, and the children are healthy and happy." And this is but a
+specimen of thousands of families in the enjoyment of country life,
+including the families of men in the highest station, and possessed of
+sufficient wealth.
+
+Why, then, should the farmer ape the fashion, and the frivolity of the
+butterflies of town life, or permit his family to do it? It is the
+sheerest possible folly in him to do so. Yet, it is a folly into which
+many are imperceptibly gliding, and which, if not reformed, will
+ultimately lead to great discomfort to themselves, and ruin to their
+families. Let thoughtless people do as they choose. Pay no attention to
+their extravagance; but watch them for a dozen years, and see how they
+come out in their fashionable career; and observe the fate of their
+families, as they get "established" in the like kind of life. He who
+keeps aloof from such temptation, will then have no cause to regret that
+he has maintained his own steady course of living, and taught his sons
+and daughters that a due attention to their own comfort, with economical
+habits in everything relating to housekeeping, will be to their lasting
+benefit in future.
+
+But, we have said enough to convey the ideas in house-furnishing we
+would wish to impart; and the reader will do as he, or she, no doubt,
+would have done, had we not written a word about it--go and select such
+as may strike their own fancy.
+
+We received, a day or two since, a letter from a person at the west,
+entirely unknown to us, whose ideas so entirely correspond with our own,
+that we give it a place, as showing that a proper taste _does_ prevail
+among many people in this country, in regard to buildings, and
+house-furnishings; and which we trust he will pardon us for publishing,
+as according entirely with our own views, in conclusion:
+
+  ----, ----, Ill., Dec. 18, 1851.
+
+  DEAR SIR,--I received, a few days since, a copy of the first number
+  of a periodical called the "Plough," into which is copied the
+  elevation of a design for a farm house, purporting to be from a
+  forthcoming work of yours, entitled "Rural Architecture." Although a
+  perfect stranger to you, you will perhaps allow me to make one or
+  two suggestions.
+
+  I have seen no work yet, which seems fully to meet the wants of our
+  country people in the matter of furniture. After having built their
+  houses, they need showing how to furnish them in the cheapest, most
+  neat, comfortable, convenient, and substantial manner. The furniture
+  should be designed for use, not merely for show. I would have it
+  plain, but not coarse--just enough for the utmost convenience, but
+  nothing superfluous. The articles of furniture figured, and
+  partially described in the late works on those subjects, are mostly
+  of too elaborate and expensive a cast to be generally introduced
+  into our country houses. There is too much _nabobery_ about them to
+  meet the wants, or suit the taste of the plain American farmer.
+
+  As to out-houses--the barn, stable, carriage and wagon-house,
+  tool-house, piggery, poultry-house, corn-crib, and granary, (to
+  say nothing of the "rabbit-warren" and "dovecote,")--are necessary
+  appendages of the farm house. Now, as cheapness is one great
+  desideratum with nearly all our new beginners in this western
+  region, it seems to me, that such plans as will conveniently include
+  the greatest number of these under the same roof, will be best
+  suited to their necessities. I do not mean to be understood that,
+  for the sake of the first cost, we should pay no regard to the
+  appearance, or that we should slight our work, or suffer it to be
+  constructed of flimsy or perishable materials: we should not only
+  have an eye to taste and durability, but put in practice the most
+  strict economy.
+
+  I hope, in the above matters, you may be able to furnish something
+  better suited to the necessities and means of our plain farmers,
+  than has been done by any of your predecessors.
+
+  I remain, &c., most respectfully yours,
+
+  ----, ----.
+
+Having completed the series of Designs for dwelling houses, which we had
+proposed for this work, and followed them out with such remarks as were
+thought fitting to attend them, we now pass on to the second part of our
+subject: the out-buildings of the farm, in which are to be accommodated
+the domestic animals which make up a large item of its economy and
+management; together with other buildings which are necessary to
+complete its requirements. We trust that they will be found to be such
+as the occasion, and the wants of the farmer may demand; and in economy,
+accommodation, and extent, be serviceable to those for whose benefit
+they are designed.
+
+
+
+
+AN APIARY, OR BEE-HOUSE.
+
+
+Every farmer should keep bees--provided he have pasturage for them, on
+his own land, or if a proper range for their food and stores lie in his
+immediate vicinity. Bees are, beyond any other domestic _stock_,
+economical in their keeping, to their owners. Still they require care,
+and that of no inconsiderable kind, and skill, in their management, not
+understood by every one who attempts to rear them. They ask no food,
+they require no assistance, in gathering their daily stores, beyond that
+of proper housing in the cheapest description of tenement, and with that
+they are entirely content. Yet, without these, they are a contingent,
+and sometimes a troublesome appendage to the domestic stock of the farm.
+
+We call them _domestic_. In one sense they are so; in another, they are
+as wild and untamed as when buzzing and collecting their sweets in the
+vineyard of Timnath, where the mighty Sampson took their honey from the
+carcass of the dead lion; or, as when John the Baptist, clothed with
+camel's hair, ate "locusts and wild honey" in the arid wastes of
+Palestine. Although kept in partial bondage for six thousand years, the
+ruling propensity of the bee is to seek a home and shelter in the
+forest, when it emerges in a swarm from the parent hive; and no amount
+of domestic accommodation, or kindness of treatment, will induce it
+willingly to migrate from its nursery habitation to another by its side,
+although provided with the choicest comforts to invite its entrance.
+It will soon fly to the woods, enter a hollow and dilapidated tree, and
+carve out for itself its future fortunes, amid a world of labor and
+apparent discomfort. The bee, too, barring its industry, patience, and
+sweetened labors, is an arrant thief--robbing its nearest neighbors,
+with impunity, when the strongest, and mercilessly slaughtering its
+weaker brethren, when standing in the way of its rapacity. It has been
+extolled for its ingenuity, its patience, its industry, its
+perseverance, and its virtue. Patience, industry, and perseverance it
+has, beyond a doubt, and in a wonderful degree; but ingenuity, and
+virtue, it has none, more than the spider, who spins his worthless web,
+or the wasp, who stings you when disturbing his labors. Instinct, the
+bee has, like all animals; but of kind feeling, and gratitude, it has
+nothing; and with all our vivid nursery remembrance of good Doctor
+Watts' charming little hymn--
+
+  "How doth the little busy bee," &c. &c.,
+
+we have long ago set it down as incorrigible to kind treatment, or
+charitable sympathy, and looked upon it simply as a thing to be treated
+kindly for the sake of its labors, and as composing one of that
+delightful family of domestic objects which make our homes attractive,
+pleasant, and profitable.
+
+The active labors of the bee, in a bright May or June morning, as they
+fly, in their busy order, back and forth from their hives, or the
+soothing hum of their playful hours, in a summer's afternoon, are among
+the most delightful associations of rural life; and as a luxury to the
+sight, and the ear, they should be associated with every farmer's home,
+and with every laborer's cottage, when practicable. And as their due
+accommodation is to be the object of our present writing, a plan is
+presented for that object.
+
+In many of the modern structures held out for imitation, the bee-house,
+or apiary, is an expensive, pretentious affair, got up in an ambitious
+way, with efforts at style, in the semblance of a temple, a pagoda, or
+other absurdity, the very appearance of which frightens the simple bee
+from its propriety, and in which we never yet knew a colony of them to
+become, and remain successful. The insect is, as we have observed, wild
+and untamable--a savage in its habits, and rude in its temper. It
+rejects all cultivated appearances, and seeks only its own temporary
+convenience, together with comfortable room for its stores, and the
+increase of its kind; and therefore, the more rustic and simple its
+habitation, the better is it pleased with its position.
+
+  [Illustration: APIARY.]
+
+The bee-house should front upon a sheltered and sunny aspect. It should
+be near the ground, in a clean and quiet spot, free from the intrusion
+of other creatures, either human or profane, and undisturbed by noisome
+smells, and uncouth sounds--for it loathes all these instinctively, and
+loves nothing so much as the wild beauty of nature itself. The plan here
+presented is of the plainest and least expensive kind. Nine posts, or
+crutches, are set into the ground sufficiently deep to hold them firm,
+and to secure them from heaving out by the frost. The distance of these
+posts apart may be according to the size of the building, and to give it
+strength enough to resist the action of the wind. The front posts should
+be 9 feet high, above the ground; the rear posts should be 7 feet--that
+a man, with his hat on, may stand upright under them--and 6 feet from
+the front line. The two end posts directly in the rear of the front
+corner posts, should be 3 feet back from them, and on a line to
+accommodate the pitch of the roof from the front to the rear. A light
+plate is to be fitted on the top line of the front posts; a plate at
+each end should run back to the posts in rear, and then another
+cross-plate, or girt, from each one of these middle posts, to the post
+in rear of all, to meet the plate which surmounts this rear line of
+posts; and a parallel plate, or rafter, should be laid from the two
+intermediate posts at the ends, to connect them, and for a central
+support to the roof. Intermediate central posts should also be placed
+opposite those in front, to support the central plate, and not exceeding
+12 feet apart. A shed roof, of boards, or shingles, tightly laid, should
+cover the whole, sufficiently projecting over the front, rear, and
+sides, to give the house abundant shelter, and make it architecturally
+agreeable to the eye--say 12 to 18 inches, according to its extent. A
+corner board should drop two feet below the plate, with such finish, by
+way of ornament, as may be desirable. The ends should be tightly boarded
+up against the weather, from bottom to top. The rear should also be
+tightly boarded, from the bottom up to a level with the stand inside,
+for the hives, and from 15 to 18 inches above that to the roof. Fitted
+into the space thus left in the rear, should be a light, though
+substantial, swing door, hung from the upper boarding, made in sections,
+extending from one post to the other, as the size of the house may
+determine, and secured with hooks, or buttons, as may be convenient. The
+outside of the structure is thus completed.
+
+The inside arrangement for the hives, may be made in two different ways,
+as the choice of the apiarian may govern in the mode in which his hives
+are secured. The most usual is the _stand_ method, which may be made
+thus: At each angle, equidistant, say 18 to 24 inches, inside, from the
+rear side and ends of the building--as shown in the ground plan--and
+opposite to each rear and end post, suspend perpendicularly a line of
+stout pieces of two-inch plank, 4 inches wide, well spiked on to the
+rafters above, reaching down within two feet of the ground--which is to
+hold up the bottom of the stand on which the hives are to rest. From
+each bottom end of these suspended strips, secure another piece of like
+thickness and width, horizontally back to the post in rear of it, at the
+side and ends. Then, lengthwise the building, and turning the angles at
+the ends, and resting on these horizontal pieces just described, lay
+other strips, 3x2 inches, set edgewise--one in front, and another in
+rear, inside each post and suspended strip, and close to it, and secured
+by heavy nails, so that there shall be a double line of these strips on
+a level, extending entirely around the interior, from the front at each
+end. This forms the hanging frame-work for the planks or boards on which
+the hives are to rest.
+
+Now for the hives. First, let as many pieces of sound one and a half, or
+two-inch plank as you have hives to set upon them, be cut long enough to
+reach from the boarding on the rear and ends of the building, to one
+inch beyond, and projecting over the front of the outer strip last
+described. Let these pieces of plank be well and smoothly planed, and
+laid lengthwise across the aforesaid strips, not less than four inches
+apart from each other--if a less number of hives be in the building than
+it will accommodate at four inches apart, no matter how far apart they
+may be--these pieces of plank are the _ferms_ for the hives, on which
+they are to sit. And, as we have for many years adopted the plan now
+described, with entire success, a brief description is given of our mode
+of hive, and the process for obtaining the surplus honey. We say
+surplus, for destroying the bees to obtain their honey, is a mode not at
+all according to our notions of economy, or mercy; and we prefer to take
+that honey only which the swarm may make, after supplying their own
+wants, and the stores for their increasing family. This process is given
+in the report of a committee of gentlemen appointed by the New York
+State Agricultural Society, on a hive which we exhibited on that
+occasion, with the following note attached, at their show at Buffalo,
+in 1848:
+
+"I have seen, examined, and used several different plans of _patent_
+hive, of which there are probably thirty invented, and used, more or
+less. I have found all which I have ever seen, unsatisfactory, not
+carrying out in full, the benefits claimed for them.
+
+"The bee works, and lives, I believe, solely by instinct. I do not
+consider it an inventive, or very ingenious insect. To succeed well, its
+accommodations should be of the _simplest_ and _securest_ form.
+Therefore, instead of adopting the complicated plans of many of the
+patent hives, I have made, and used a simple box, like that now before
+you, containing a cube of one foot square _inside_--made of one and a
+quarter inch sound pine plank, well jointed and planed on all sides, and
+put together perfectly tight at the joints, with white lead ground in
+oil, and the inside of the hive at the bottom champered off to
+three-eighths of an inch thick, with a door for the bees in front, of
+four inches long by three-eighths of an inch high. I do this, that there
+may be a thin surface to come in contact with the shelf on which they
+rest, thus preventing a harbor for the bee-moth. (I have never used a
+patent hive which would exclude the bee-moth, nor any one which would so
+well do it as this, having never been troubled with that scourge since I
+used this tight hive.) On the top of the hive, an inch or two from the
+front, is made a passage for the bees, of an inch wide, and six to eight
+inches long, to admit the bees into an upper hive for surplus honey,
+(which passage is covered, when no vessel for that purpose is on the
+top.) For obtaining the honey, I use a common ten or twelve-quart water
+pail, inverted, with the bail turned over, in which the bees deposit
+their surplus, like the sample before you. The pail will hold about
+twenty pounds of honey. This is simple, cheap, and expeditious; the pail
+costing not exceeding twenty-five cents, is taken off in a moment, the
+bail replaced, and the honey ready for transportation, or market, and
+_always in place_. If there is time for more honey to be made, (my bees
+made two pails-full in succession this year,) another pail can be put on
+at once.
+
+"Such, gentlemen, in short, is my method. I have kept bees about twenty
+years. I succeed better on this plan than with any other."
+
+
+In addition to this, our hives are painted white, or other light color,
+on the outside, to protect them from warping, and as a further security
+against the bee-moth, or miller, which infests and destroys so many
+carelessly-made hives, as to discourage the efforts of equally careless
+people in keeping them. Inside the hive, on each end, we fasten, by
+shingle nails, about half-way between the bottom and top, a small piece
+of half-inch board, about the size of a common window button, and with a
+like notch in it, set upward, but stationary, on which, when the hive is
+to receive the swarm, a stick is laid across, to support the comb as it
+is built, from falling in hot weather. At such time, also, when new, and
+used for the first time, the under-side of the top is scratched with the
+tines of a table fork, or a nail, so as to make a rough surface, to
+which the new comb can be fastened. In addition to the pails on the top
+of the hives, to receive the surplus honey, we sometimes use a flat box,
+the size of the hive in diameter, and six or seven inches high _inside_,
+which will hold twenty-five to thirty pounds of honey. The pails we
+adopted as an article of greater convenience for transporting the honey.
+
+The other plan of arranging the hives alluded to, is suspending them
+between the strips before described, by means of _cleats_ secured on to
+the front and rear sides of the hive, say two-thirds the way up from the
+bottom. In such case, the strips running lengthwise the house must be
+brought near enough together to receive the hives as hung by the
+_cleats_, and the bottom boards, or forms, must be much smaller than
+those already described, and hung with wire hooks and staples to the
+sides, with a button on the rear, to close up, or let them down a
+sufficient distance to admit the air to pass freely across them, and up
+into the hive--Weeks' plan, in fact, for which he has a patent, together
+with some other fancied improvements, such as chambers to receive the
+boxes for the deposit of surplus honey. This, by the way, is the best
+"patent" we have seen; and Mr. Weeks having written an ingenious and
+excellent treatise on the treatment of the bee, we freely recommend his
+book to the attention of every apiarian who wishes to succeed in their
+management. As a rule, we have no confidence in _patent_ hives. We have
+seen scores of them, of different kinds, have tried several of great
+pretension to sundry virtues--such as excluding moths, and other
+marvelous benefits--and, after becoming the victim of bee empirics to
+the tune of many a dollar, have thrown aside the gimcracks, and taken
+again to a common-sense method of keeping our bees, as here described.
+The bees themselves, we feel bound to say, seem to hold these
+patent-right habitations in quite as sovereign contempt as ourself,
+reluctantly going into them, and getting out of them at the first safe
+opportunity. But, as a treatise on bee-keeping is not a part of this
+present work, we must, for further information, commend the inquirer on
+that subject to some of the valuable treatises extant, on so prolific a
+subject, among which we name those of Bevan, Weeks, and Miner.
+
+The bee-house should be thoroughly whitewashed _inside_ every spring,
+and kept clean of cobwebs, wasp's nests, and vermin; and it may be
+painted outside, a soft and agreeable color, in keeping with the other
+buildings of the farm. Its premises should be clean, and sweet. The
+grass around should be kept mowed close. Low trees, or shrubbery, should
+stand within a few yards of it, that the new swarms may light upon them
+when coming out, and not, for want of such settling places, be liable to
+loss from flying away. It should, also, be within sight and hearing, and
+at no great distance from a continually-frequented room in the
+dwelling--perhaps the kitchen, if convenient, that, in their swarming
+season, they may be secured as they leave the parent hive. The apiary is
+a beautiful object, with its busy tenantry; and to the invalid, or one
+who loves to look upon God's tiny creatures, it may while away many an
+agreeable hour, in watching their labors--thus adding pleasure to
+profit.
+
+The cost of a bee-house, on the plan given, may be from ten to fifty
+dollars, according to the price of material, and the amount of labor
+expended upon it. It should not be an expensive structure, in any event,
+as its purpose does not warrant it. If a gimcrack affair be wanted, for
+the purposes of ornament, or expense, any sum of money may be squandered
+upon it which the fancy of its builder may choose to spare.
+
+
+
+
+AN ICE-HOUSE.
+
+
+Among the useful and convenient appendages to the farm and country
+family establishment, is the ice-house. Different from the general
+opinion which prevailed in our country before ice became so important an
+article of commerce, and of home consumption, the building which
+contains it should stand above-ground, instead of below it. And the
+plainer and more simple it can be constructed, the better.
+
+The position of the ice-house may be that which is most convenient to
+the dwelling, or to the wants of those who use it. If it can be placed
+beneath the shade of trees, it will so far be relieved from the
+influence of the sun; but it should be so constructed that sunshine will
+not affect the ice within it, even if it stand unsheltered; and as it
+has, by the ice-merchants of our eastern cities, who put up large
+quantities for exportation abroad, and others in the interior, who
+furnish ice in quantity for home consumption, been proved to be
+altogether the better plan to build the ice-house entirely above ground,
+we shall present no other mode of construction than this. It may be
+added, that five years' experience with one of our own building, has
+confirmed our opinion of the superiority of this over any other plan
+which may be adopted.
+
+The design here presented is of the most economical kind, yet
+sufficiently ornamental to make it an agreeable appendage to any family
+establishment. The size may be 12 feet square--less than that would be
+too small for keeping ice well--and from that up to any required extent.
+The idea here given is simply the _principle_ of construction. The posts
+should be full eight feet high above the ground, to where the plate of
+the roof is attached, and built thus:
+
+  [Illustration: ICE-HOUSE.]
+
+Mark out your ground the size you require for the house; then,
+commencing at one corner, dig, opposite each other, a double set of
+holes, one foot deep, and two and a half feet apart, on each side of the
+intended building, say three feet equidistant, so that when the posts
+stand up they will present a double set, one and a half feet apart. Then
+set in your posts, which should be of oak, chestnut, or some lasting
+wood, and pack the earth firmly around them. If the posts are sawed,
+they may be 4x6 inches in size, set edgeways toward each other. If not
+sawed, they may be round sticks cut from the woods, or split from the
+body of a tree, quartered--but sizable, so as to appear decent--and the
+insides facing each other as they stand up, lined to a surface to
+receive the planking. Of course, when the posts are set in the ground,
+they are to show a square form, or skeleton of what the building is to
+be when completed. When this is done, square off the top of each post to
+a level, all round; then frame, or spike on to each line of posts a
+plate, say six inches wide, and four to six inches deep, and stay the
+two plates together strongly, so as to form a double frame. Now, plank,
+or board up closely the _inside_ of each line of posts, that the space
+between them shall be a fair surface. Cut out, or leave out a space for
+a door in the center of the side where you want it, two and a half or
+three feet wide, and six and a half feet high, and board up the inner
+partition sides of this opening, so as to form a door-casing on each
+side, that the space between the two lines of posts may be a continuous
+box all around. Then fill up this space between the posts with moist
+tan-bark, or saw-dust, well packed from the ground up to the plates; and
+the body of the house is inclosed, sun-proof, and air-proof, to guard
+the ice.
+
+Now lay down, inside the building, some sticks--not much matter what, so
+that they be level--and on them lay loose planks or boards, for a floor.
+Cover this floor with a coating of straw, a foot thick, and it is ready
+to receive the ice.
+
+For the roof, take common 3x4 joists, as rafters; or, in place of them,
+poles from the woods, long enough, in a pitch of full 35deg from a
+horizontal line, to carry the roof at least four feet over the outside
+of the plates, and secure the rafters well, by pins or spikes, to them.
+Then board over and shingle it, leaving a small aperture at the top,
+through which run a small pipe, say eight inches in diameter--a
+stove-crock will do--for a ventilator. Then set in, 4 little posts, say
+two feet high--as in the design--throw a little four-sided, pointed cap
+on to the top of these posts, and the roof is done. If you want to
+ornament the under side of the roof, in a rude way--and we would advise
+it--take some pieces of 3x4 scantling, such as were used for the roof,
+if the posts are of sawed stuff--if not, rough limbs of trees from the
+woods, to match the rough posts of the same kind, and fasten them to the
+posts and the under side of the roof, by way of brackets, as shown in
+the design.
+
+When the ice is put into the house, a close floor of boards should be
+laid on joists, which rest on the plates, loosely, so that this floor
+can be removed when putting in ice, and that covered five or six inches
+deep with tan, or saw-dust--straw will do, if the other can not be
+had--and the inside arrangement is complete. Two doors should be
+attached to the opening, where the ice is put in and taken out; one on
+the inner side of the lining, and the other on the outer side, both
+opening out. Tan, saw-dust, or straw should also be placed on the top of
+the ice, when put in, so as to keep the air from it as much as possible;
+and as the ice is removed, it will settle down upon, and still preserve
+it. Care must be taken to have a drain under the floor of the house, to
+pass off the water which melts from the ice, as it would, if standing
+there, injure its keeping.
+
+It will be seen, that, by an error in the cut of the ground plan, the
+inside line of posts does not show, as in the outer line, which they
+should do; nor is the outside door inserted, as is shown in the
+elevation. These defects, however, will be rectified by the builder.
+
+We have given considerable thought to this subject, and can devise no
+shape to the building more appropriate than this, nor one cheaper in
+construction. It may be built for fifty to a hundred dollars, according
+to the cost of material and labor, and the degree of finish given to it.
+
+It is hardly worth while to expatiate upon the convenience and economy
+of an ice-house, to an American. Those who love well-kept meats, fruits,
+butter, milk, and various etceteras for the table, understand its
+utility well; to say nothing of the cooling draughts, in the way of
+drinks, in hot weather, to which it adds--when not taken to
+extremes--such positive luxury. We commend the ice-house, _well-filled_,
+most heartily, to every good country housekeeper, as a matter of
+convenience, economy, and luxury, adding next to nothing to the living
+expenses, and, as an appendage to the main buildings, an item of little
+cost, and a considerable degree of ornament.
+
+If an under-ground ice-house be preferred to the plan here shown, a side
+hill, or bank, with a northerly exposure, is the best location for it;
+and the manner of building should be mainly like this, for the body of
+the house. The roof, however, should be only two-sided, and the door for
+putting in and taking out the ice may be in the gable, on the ground
+level. The drainage under the floor, and precautions for keeping the
+ice, should be quite as thorough as we have described; as, otherwise,
+the earth surrounding it on three sides, at least, of the house, will be
+a ready conductor of warmth, and melt the ice with great rapidity. If
+the under-ground plan is adopted, but little more than the roof will
+show, and of course, be of little ornament in the way of appearance.
+
+
+
+
+THE ASH-HOUSE AND SMOKE-HOUSE.
+
+
+These two objects may, both for convenience and economy, be well
+combined under one roof; and we have thus placed them in connection. The
+building is an exceedingly simple structure, made of stone, or brick;
+the body 10 feet high, and of such size as may be desirable, with a
+simple roof, and a plain, hooded chimney.
+
+  [Illustration: ASH HOUSE AND SMOKE HOUSE.]
+
+In the ground plan will be seen a brick, or stone partition--which may
+extend to such height as may be necessary to contain the bulk of ashes
+required for storage within it--on one side of the building, to which a
+door gives access. The opposite side, and overhead, is devoted to the
+smoke-house, in which the various girts and hooks may be placed, for
+sustaining the meats to be smoked. The building should be tied together
+by joists at the plates, properly anchored into the walls, to prevent
+their spreading. A stove, or pans, or neither, as the method of keeping
+the smoke alive may govern, can be placed inside, to which the chimney
+in the roof may serve as a partial escape, or not, as required. The
+whole process is so simple, and so easily understood, that further
+explanation is unnecessary.
+
+A great advantage that a house of this construction has, is the
+convenience of storing the smoked meats for an indefinite time, even
+through the whole season, keeping them dark, dry, and cool; and
+permitting, at any time, a smoke to be made, to drive out the flies,
+if they find their way into it.
+
+The ashes can, of course, be removed at any time, by the door at which
+they are thrown in.
+
+
+
+
+THE POULTRY-HOUSE.
+
+
+As poultry is an indispensable appendage to the farm, in all cases, the
+poultry-house is equally indispensable, for their accommodation, and for
+the most profitable management of the fowls themselves, and most
+convenient for the production of their eggs and young. Indeed, without
+well-arranged quarters for the fowls of the farm, they are exceedingly
+troublesome, and of doubtful profit; but with the proper buildings
+devoted to them exclusively, they become one of the most interesting and
+agreeable objects with which either the farm or the country house is
+associated.
+
+It is hardly worth while to eulogize poultry. Their merits and virtues
+are written in the hearts of all provident housekeepers; and their
+beauty and goodness are familiar to every son and daughter of the rural
+homestead. We shall, then, proceed at once to discuss their proper
+accommodation, in the cheapest and most familiar method with which we
+are acquainted.
+
+The hen-house--for hens (barn-door fowls, we mean) are the first and
+chief stock, of the kind, to be provided for, and with them most of the
+other varieties can be associated--should be located in a warm,
+sheltered, and sunny place, with abundant grounds about it, where they
+can graze--hens eat grass--and scratch, and enjoy themselves to their
+heart's content, in all seasons, when the ground is open and they _can_
+scratch into, or range over its surface. Some people--indeed, a good
+many people--picket in their gardens, to keep hens _out_; but we prefer
+an enclosure to keep the hens _in_, at all seasons when they are
+troublesome, which, after all, is only during short seasons of the year,
+when seeds are planted, or sown, and grain and vegetables are ripening.
+Otherwise, they may range at will, on the farm, doing good in their
+destruction of insects, and deriving much enjoyment to themselves; for
+hens, on the whole, are happy things.
+
+  [Illustration: POULTRY LAWN.]
+
+We here present the elevation of a poultry-house in perspective, to show
+the _principle_ which we would adopt in its construction, and which may
+be extended to any required length, and to which may be added any given
+area of ground, or yard-room, which the circumstances of the proprietor
+may devote to it. It is, as will be seen, of a most rustic appearance,
+and built as cheaply, yet thoroughly, as the subject may require. Its
+length, we will say, is 20 feet, its breadth 16, and its height 10 feet,
+made of posts set into the ground--for we do not like sills, and floors
+of wood, because rats are apt to burrow under them, which are their
+worst enemies--and boarded up, either inside or outside, as in the case
+of the ice-house previously described, though not double. Plates are
+laid on these posts, to connect them firmly together; and the rafters
+rest on the plates, as usual. The chamber floor is 9 feet high, above
+the ground, and may be used either for laying purposes by the fowls,
+or reserved as a storage-room for their feed. The roof is broadly drawn
+over the body of the building, to shelter it, and through the point of
+the roof, in the center, is a ventilator, with a covered top, and a vane
+significant of its purpose. It is also sufficiently lighted, with glass
+windows, into which our draughtsman has put the diamond-paned glass,
+contrary to our notions; but, as he had, no doubt, an eye to the
+"picturesque," we let it pass, only remarking, that if we were building
+the house on our own account, there should be no such nonsense about it.
+The front windows are large, to attract the warmth of the winter's sun.
+A section of picket fence is also attached, and trees in the rear--both
+of which are necessary to a complete establishment; the first, to secure
+the poultry in the contiguous yards, and the trees to give them shade,
+and even roosting-places, if they prefer such lodgings in warm
+weather--for which we consider them eminently wholesome.
+
+The wooden floor is dispensed with, as was remarked, to keep rid of the
+vermin. If the ground be gravelly, or sandy, it will be sufficiently
+dry. If a heavy or damp soil be used, it should be under-drained, which
+will effectually dry it, and be better for the fowls than a floor of
+either wood, brick, or stone. Doors of sufficient size can be made on
+the yard sides of the house, near the ground, for the poultry to enter
+either the living or roosting apartments, at pleasure, and hung with
+butts on the upper side, to be closed when necessary.
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door opens into the main living room. At each end, and in the
+rear, are tiers of boxes, one foot wide, one and a half feet long, and
+one and a half feet high--the lowest tier elevated two feet above the
+ground--and built one tier above the other, and snugly partitioned
+between, with a hole at one corner of each, ten inches high, and eight
+inches wide, for passing in to them; and a shelf, or passage-board, nine
+inches wide, in front. These are the nesting boxes, and should be kept
+supplied with short, soft straw, or hay orts, for that purpose. Hens
+love secrecy in their domestic economy, and are wonderfully pleased with
+the opportunity to hide away, and conceal themselves while laying.
+Indeed, such concealment, or the supposition of it, we have no doubt
+promotes fecundity, as it is well known that a hen _can_ stop laying,
+almost at pleasure, when disturbed in her regular habits and settled
+plans of life. Burns says--
+
+  "The best laid schemes of _mice_ and _men_
+  Gang aft agley;"
+
+and why not hen's? We think so. If turkeys be kept in the premises, the
+females can also be accommodated in these boxes, as they are fond of
+laying in company with the hens, and frequently in the same nests, only
+that they require larger entrances into them; or, a tier of boxes may be
+made on the ground, for their convenience.
+
+A door leads from the rear of this room into the roosting apartment,
+through which is a passage to the back side of the building, and a door
+opposite, leading out into the yard. On each side of this passage are
+roosts, rising, each behind and above the other, 18 inches apart. The
+lowest roosts may be three feet from the ground, and the highest six
+feet, that they may easily fly from one to the other; and in this way
+they may all be approached, to catch the fowls, when required. For the
+roosts, slender poles, two to three inches in diameter--small trees, cut
+from the woods, with the bark on, are the best--may be used; and they
+should be secured through augur holes in board slats suspended from the
+floor joists overhead. This apartment should be cleaned out as often as
+once a fortnight, both for cleanliness and health--for fowls like to be
+clean, and to have pure air. A flight of stairs may be made in one
+corner of the front room, to go into the chamber, if preferred; but a
+swing ladder, hung by one end, with hinges, to the joists above, is, for
+such purpose, a more cleanly mode of access; which, when not in use, may
+be hooked up to the under side of the floor above; and a trap door,
+shutting into the chamber floor, and also hung on hinges, will
+accommodate the entrance.
+
+For feeding troughs, we have seen many ingenious contrivances, and among
+them, possibly, a Yankee patent, or two; but all these we put aside, as
+of little account. A common segar box, or any other cast-off thing, that
+will hold their food, is just as good as the most complicated invention;
+and, in common feeding, there is no better mode than to scatter abroad
+their corn, and let them pick it up at their pleasure--when spread on a
+clean surface. We think, also, that, except for fattening poultry,
+stated hours of feeding are best for the birds themselves, and that they
+be fed only such quantity as they will pick up clean. Water should, if
+possible, be kept constantly by them; and if a small running stream
+could pass through the yard, all the better.
+
+If it be desirable to have fresh eggs during winter--and that is
+certainly a convenience--a box stove may be set in the living room, and
+properly protected by a grating around it, for warming the living
+apartment. It may be remarked, however, that this winter-laying of hens
+is usually a _forcing_ business. A hen will lay but about a given number
+of eggs in a year; say a hundred--we believe this is about the number
+which the most observant of poultry-keepers allow them--and what she
+lays in winter must be subtracted from the number she would otherwise
+lay in the spring, summer, or autumn. Yet a warm house will, laying,
+aside, keep the fowls with less food, and in greater comfort, than if
+cold, and left to their own natural warmth.
+
+There is usually little difficulty in keeping hens, turkies, ducks, and
+geese together, in the same inclosure, during winter and early spring,
+before the grass grows. But geese and turkies require greater range
+during the warm season than the others, and should have it, both for
+convenience to themselves and profit to their owners. For winter
+quarters, low shelters may be made for the water-fowls in the yards, and
+the turkies will frequently prefer to share the shelter of the hens, on
+the roosts in the house. Guinea-hens--cruel, vindictive things, as they
+are--should never be allowed within a common poultry yard. Always
+quarrelsome, and never quiet, they should take to the farmyard, with the
+cattle, where they may range at will, and take their amusement in
+fisticuffs with each other, at pleasure. Neither should peacocks be
+allowed to come into the poultry inclosures, during the breeding season;
+they are anything but amiable in their manners to other birds.
+
+With the care and management of the poultry department, after thus
+providing for their accommodation, it is not our province to interfere;
+that is a subject too generally understood, to require further remark.
+Nor need we discuss the many varieties of poultry which, at the present
+time, so arrest the attention of many of our good country people; and we
+will leave so important a subject to the meditations of the "New England
+Poultry Society," who have taken the gallinaceous, and other tribes
+under their special cognizance, and will, doubtless, in due time,
+illumine the world with various knowledge in this department of rural
+economy, not yet "dreamt of in our philosophy." The recently published
+poultry books, too, with an amplitude and particularity in the
+discussion of the different breeds and varieties, which shuts all
+suspicions of _self-interest_ into the corner, have given such a fund of
+information on the subject, that any further inquiry may, with entire
+good will, be turned over to their pages.
+
+
+
+
+THE DOVECOTE.
+
+
+This is a department, in itself, not common among the farm buildings,
+in the United States; and for the reason, probably, that the domestic
+pigeon, or house-dove, is usually kept more for amusement than for
+profit--there being little actual profit about them--and is readily
+accommodated in the spare lofts of sheds and out-buildings devoted to
+other purposes. Pigeons, however, add to the variety and interest of the
+poultry department; and as there are many different breeds of them, they
+are general favorites with the juveniles of the family.
+
+Our present object is, not to propose any distinct building for pigeon
+accommodation; but to give them a location in other buildings, where
+they will be conveniently provided with room, and least annoying by
+their presence--for, be it known, they are oft-times a most serious
+annoyance to many crops of the farm, when kept in any considerable
+numbers, as well as in the waste and havoc they make in the stores of
+the barns and granaries. Although graceful and beautiful birds,
+generally clean and tidy in their personal habits out of doors, they are
+the filthiest housekeepers imaginable, and no building can be especially
+devoted to their use, if not often swept and cleaned, but what will soon
+become an intolerable nuisance within, and not much better without, and
+the ground immediately around the premises a dirty place. The common
+pigeon is a pugnacious cavalier, warring apparently upon mere punctilio,
+as we have often seen, in the distant strut-and-coo of a stranger bird
+to his mate, even if she be the very incarnation of "rejected
+addresses." On all these accounts, we would locate--unless a small and
+select family of fancy birds, perhaps--the pigeon stock at the principal
+farm-yard, and in the lofts of the cattle sheds, or the chambers of the
+stable.
+
+Wherever the pigeon accommodations are designed to be, a close partition
+should separate their quarters from the room occupied for other
+purposes, with doors for admission to those who have to do with them,
+in cleaning their premises, or to take the birds, when needed. A line of
+holes, five inches high, and four inches wide--the top of the hole
+slightly arched--should be made, say 18 inches apart, for the distance
+of room they are to occupy in the building. A foot above the top of
+these, another line may be made; and so on, tiering them up to the
+height intended to devote to them. A line of shelves, or
+lighting-boards, six to eight inches wide, should then be placed one
+inch below the bottom of these holes, and firmly braced beneath, and
+nailed to the weather-boarding of the house. Inside, a range of box
+should be made, of corresponding length with the line of holes, to
+embrace every entrance from the outside, 18 inches wide, and partitioned
+equidistant between each entrance, so as to give a square box of 18
+inches to each pair of birds. The bottom board of each ascending tier of
+boxes will, of course, be the top of the boxes below, and these must be
+made _perfectly tight_, to prevent the offal of the upper ones from
+falling through, to the annoyance of their neighbors below. The back of
+these boxes should have a line of swing doors, hung with butts, or
+hinges, from the top, and fastened with buttons, or hooks, at the
+bottom, to allow admission, or examination, at any time, to those who
+have the care of them. This plan of door is indispensable, to clean them
+out--which should be done as often as once a week, or fortnight, at
+farthest--and to secure the birds as they may be wanted for the table,
+or other purposes--for it will be recollected that squabs, just
+feathered out, are considered a delicious dish, at the most sumptuous
+tables. It will be understood, that these boxes above described, are
+within a partitioned room, with a floor, in their rear, with sufficient
+space for the person in charge of them to pass along, and to hold the
+baskets, or whatever is to receive the offal of their boxes, as it is
+taken out. This offal is valuable, as a highly stimulating manure, and
+is sought for by the morocco tanners, at a high price--frequently at
+twenty-five cents a bushel.
+
+As pigeons are prolific breeders, laying and hatching six or seven times
+a year, and in warm climates oftener, they require a good supply of
+litter--short cut, soft straw is the best--which should be freely
+supplied at every new incubation, and the old litter removed. The boxes,
+too, should be in a warm place, snugly made, and well sheltered from the
+wind and driving storms; for pigeons, although hardy birds when grown,
+should be well protected while young.
+
+The common food of the pigeon is grain, of almost any kind, and worms,
+and other insects, which they pick up in the field. On the whole, they
+are a pleasant bird, when they can be conveniently kept, and are worth
+the trifling cost that their proper housing may demand.
+
+If our opinion were asked, as to the best, and least troublesome kind of
+pigeon to be kept, we should say, the finest and most hardy of the
+common kind, which are usually found in the collections throughout the
+country. But there are many _fancy_ breeds--such as the fan-tail, the
+powter, the tumbler, the ruffler, and perhaps another variety or
+two--all pretty birds, and each distinct in their appearance, and in
+some of their domestic habits. The most beautiful of the pigeon kind,
+however, is the Carrier. They are the very perfection of grace, and
+symmetry, and beauty. Their colors are always brilliant and changing,
+and in their flight they cleave the air with a rapidity which no other
+variety--indeed, which scarce any other bird, of any kind, can equal.
+History is full of examples of their usefulness, in carrying tidings
+from one country to another, in letters, or tokens, fastened to their
+necks or legs, for which they are trained by those who have thus used
+them; but which, now, the well known telegraph wire has nearly
+superseded.
+
+All these fancy breeds require great care in their management, to keep
+them pure in blood, as they will all mix, more or less, with the common
+pigeon, as they come in contact with them; and the selection of whatever
+kind is wanted to be kept, must be left to those who are willing to
+bestow the pains which their necessary care may demand.
+
+
+
+
+A PIGGERY.
+
+
+The hog is an animal for which we have no especial liking, be he either
+a tender suckling, nosing and tugging at the well-filled udder of his
+dam, or a well-proportioned porker, basking in all the plenitude of
+swinish luxury; albeit, in the use of his flesh, we affect not the Jew,
+but liking it moderately well, in its various preparations, as a
+substantial and savory article of diet. Still, the hog is an important
+item of our agricultural economy, and his production and proper
+treatment is a valuable study to all who rear him as a creature either
+of profit or convenience. In the western and southern states, a mild
+climate permits him to be easily reared and fed off for market, with
+little heed to shelter or protection; while in the north, he requires
+care and covering during winter. Not only this; in all places the hog is
+an unruly, mischievous creature, and has no business really in any other
+place than where he can he controlled, and kept at a moment's call.
+
+But, as tastes and customs differ essentially, with regard to his
+training and destiny, to such as agree with us in opinion, that his
+proper place is in the sty, particularly when feeding for pork, a plan
+of piggery is given, such as may be economical in construction, and
+convenient in its arrangement, both for the swine itself, and him who
+has charge of him.
+
+The design here given, is for a building, 36 feet long, and 24 feet
+wide, with twelve-feet posts; the lower, or living room for the swine,
+9 feet high, and a storage chamber above, for the grain and other food
+required for his keeping. The roof has a pitch of 40deg from a
+horizontal line, spreading over the sides and gables at least 20 inches,
+and coarsely bracketed. The entrance front projects 6 feet from the main
+building, by 12 feet in length. Over its main door, in the gable, is a
+door with a hoisting beam and tackle above it, to take in the grain, and
+a floor over the whole area receives it. A window is in each gable end.
+A ventilator passes up through this chamber and the roof, to let off the
+steam from the cooking vats below, and the foul air emitted by the
+swine, by the side of which is the furnace-chimney, giving it, on the
+whole, as respectable an appearance as a pigsty need pretend to.
+
+  [Illustration: PIGGERY.]
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+At the left of the entrance is a flight of stairs, (_b_,) leading to the
+chamber above. On the right is a small area, (_a_,) with a window to
+light it. A door from this leads into the main room, (_c_,) where stands
+a chimney, (_d_,) with a furnace to receive the fuel for cooking the
+food, for which are two kettles, or boilers, with wooden vats, on the
+top, if the extent of food demands them; these are secured with broad
+wooden covers, to keep in the steam when cooking. An iron valve is
+placed in the back flue of the furnace, which may fall upon either side,
+to shut off the fire from either of the kettles, around which the fire
+may revolve; or, the valve may stand in a perpendicular position, at
+will, if both kettles be heated at the same time. But, as the most
+economical mode is to cook one kettle while the other is in process of
+feeding out, and _vice versa_, scarcely more than one at a time will be
+required in use. Over each kettle is a sliding door, with a short spout
+to slide the food into them, when wanted. If necessary, and it can be
+conveniently done, a well may be sunk under this room, and a pump
+inserted at a convenient place; or if equally convenient, a pipe may
+bring the water in from a neighboring stream, or spring. On three sides
+of this room are feeding pens, (_e_,) and sleeping partitions, (_f_,)
+for the swine. These several apartments are accommodated with doors,
+which open into separate yards on the sides and in rear, or a large one
+for the entire family, as may be desired.
+
+
+CONSTRUCTION.
+
+The frame of this building is of strong timber, and stout for its size.
+The sills should be 8 inches square, the corner posts of the same size,
+and the intermediate posts 8x6 inches in diameter. In the center of
+these posts, grooves should be made, 2 inches wide, and deep, to receive
+the _plank_ sides, which should be 2 inches thick, and let in from the
+level of the chamber by a flush cutting for that purpose, out of the
+grooves inside, thus using no nails or spikes, and holding the planks
+tight in their place, that they may not be rooted out, or rubbed off by
+the hogs, and the inner projection of the main posts left to serve as
+rubbing posts for them--for no creature so loves to rub his sides, when
+fatting, as a hog, and this very natural and praiseworthy propensity
+should be indulged. These planks, like the posts, should, particularly
+the lower ones, be of _hard_ wood, that they may not be eaten off. Above
+the chamber floor, thinner planks may be used, but all should be well
+jointed, that they may lie snug, and shut out the weather. The center
+post in the floor plan of the engraving is omitted, by mistake, but it
+should stand there, like the others. Inside posts at the corners, and in
+the sides of the partitions, like the outside ones, should be also
+placed and grooved to receive the planking, four and a half feet high,
+and their upper ends be secured by tenons into mortices in the beams
+overhead. The troughs should then, if possible, be made of _cast iron_,
+or, in default of that, the hardest of white oak plank, strongly spiked
+on to the floor and sides; and the apartment may then be called
+hog-proof--for a more unquiet, destructive creature, to a building in
+which he is confined, does not live, than the hog. The slide, or spout
+to conduct the swill and other feed from the feeding-room into the
+trough, should be inserted through the partition planks, with a steep
+_slant_ the whole length of the trough, that the feed may be readily
+thrown into any or all parts of it. This slide should be of two-inch
+white-oak plank, and bound along the bottom by a strip of hoop-iron, to
+prevent the pigs from eating it off--a habit they are prone to; then,
+firmly spiked down to the partition planks, and through the ends, to the
+adjoining studs, and the affair is complete. With what experience we
+have had with the hog, and that by no means an agreeable one, we can
+devise no better method of accommodation than this here described, and
+it certainly is the cheapest. But the timber and lumber used must be
+sound and strong; and then, properly put together, it may defy their
+most destructive ingenuity. Of the separate uses to which the various
+apartments may be put, nothing need be said, as the circumstances of
+every farmer will best govern them.
+
+One, to three hundred dollars, according to price of material and labor,
+will build this piggery, besides fitting it up with furnace and boilers.
+It may be contracted, or enlarged in size, as necessity may direct; but
+no one, with six to twenty porkers in his fatting pens, a year, will
+regret the expense of building a convenient appurtenance of this kind to
+his establishment.
+
+A word may be pardoned, in relation to the too universal practice of
+permitting swine to prowl along the highways, and in the yards and lawns
+of the farm house. There is nothing so slovenly, wasteful, and
+destructive to one's thrift, and so demoralizing, in a small way, as is
+this practice. What so revolting to one, of the least tidy nature
+whatever, as a villainous brute, with a litter of filthy pigs at her
+heels, and the slimy ooze of a mud-puddle reeking and dripping from
+their sides? See the daubs of mud marking every fence-post, far and
+near, along the highway, or where-ever they run! A burrow is rooted up
+at every shady point, a nuisance at every corner you turn, and their
+abominable snouts into everything that is filthy, or obscene--a living
+curse to all that is decent about them. An Ishmaelite among the farm
+stock, they are shunned and hated by every living thing, when at large.
+But, put the creature in his pen, with a ring in his nose, if permitted
+to go into the adjoining yard, and comfortably fed, your pig, if of a
+civilized breed, is a quiet, inoffensive--indeed, gentlemanly sort of
+animal; and as such, he is entitled to our toleration--regard, we cannot
+say; for in all the pages of our reading, we learn, by no creditable
+history, of any virtuous sympathies in a hog.
+
+
+
+
+FARM BARNS.
+
+
+The farm barn, next to the farm house, is the most important structure
+of the farm itself, in the Northern and Middle States; and even at the
+south and southwest, where less used, they are of more importance in the
+economy of farm management than is generally supposed. Indeed, to our
+own eyes, a farm, or a plantation appears incomplete, without a good
+barn accommodation, as much as without good household appointments--and
+without them, no agricultural establishment can be complete in all its
+proper economy.
+
+The most _thorough_ barn structures, perhaps, to be seen in the United
+States, are those of the state of Pennsylvania, built by the German
+farmers of the lower and central counties. They are large, and expensive
+in their construction; and, in a strictly economical view, perhaps more
+costly than required. Yet, there is a substance and durability in them,
+that is exceedingly satisfactory, and, where the pecuniary ability of
+the farmer will permit, may well be an example for imitation.
+
+In the structure of the barn, and in its interior accommodation, much
+will depend upon the branches of agriculture to which the farm is
+devoted. A farm cultivated in grain chiefly, requires but little room
+for stabling purposes. Storage for grain in the sheaf, and granaries,
+will require its room; while a stock farm requires a barn with extensive
+hay storage, and stables for its cattle, horses, and sheep, in all
+climates not admitting such stock to live through the winter in the
+field, like the great grazing states west of the Alleghanies. Again,
+there are wide districts of country where a mixed husbandry of grain and
+stock is pursued, which require barns and out-buildings accommodating
+both; and to supply the exigencies of each, we shall present such plans
+as may be appropriate, and that may, possibly, by a slight variation,
+be equally adapted to either, or all of their requirements.
+
+It may not be out of place here, to remark, that many _designers_ of
+barns, sheds, and other out-buildings for the accommodation of farm
+stock, have indulged in fanciful arrangements for the convenience and
+comfort of animals, which are so complicated that when constructed,
+as they sometimes are, the practical, common-sense farmer will not use
+them; and, in the _learning_ required in their use, are altogether unfit
+for the use and treatment they usually get from those who have the daily
+care of the stock which they are intended for, and for the rough usage
+they receive from the animals themselves. A very pretty, and a very
+plausible arrangement of stabling, and feeding, and all the etceteras of
+a barn establishment, may be thus got up by an ingenious theorist at the
+fireside, which will work to a charm, as he dilates upon its good
+qualities, untried; but, when subjected to experiment will be utterly
+worthless for practical use. All this we, in our practice, have gone
+through; and after many years experience, have come to the conclusion
+that the simplest plan of construction, consistent with an economical
+expenditure of the material of food for the consumption of stock, is by
+far the most preferable.
+
+Another item to be considered in this connection, is the comparative
+value of the stock, the forage fed to them, and the _labor_ expended in
+feeding and taking care of them. We will illustrate: Suppose a farm to
+lie in the vicinity of a large town, or city. Its value is, perhaps, a
+hundred dollars an acre. The hay cut upon it is worth fifteen dollars a
+ton, at the barn, and straw, and coarse grains in proportion, and hired
+labor ten or twelve dollars a month. Consequently, the manager of this
+farm should use all the economy in his power, by the aid of
+cutting-boxes, and other machinery, to make the least amount of forage
+supply the wants of his stock; and the internal economy of his barn
+arranged accordingly; because labor is his cheapest item, and food the
+dearest. Then, for any contrivance to work up his forage the closest--by
+way of machinery, or manual labor--by which it will serve the purposes
+of keeping his stock, is true economy; and the making, and saving of
+manures is an item of the first importance. His buildings, and their
+arrangements throughout, should, on these accounts, be constructed in
+accordance with his practice. If, on the other hand, lands are cheap and
+productive, and labor comparatively dear, a different practice will
+prevail. He will feed his hay from the mow, without cutting. The straw
+will be either stacked out, and the cattle turned to it, to pick what
+they like of it, and make their beds on the remainder; or, if it is
+housed, he will throw it into racks, and the stock may eat what they
+choose. It is but one-third, or one-half the labor to do this, that the
+other mode requires, and the saving in this makes up, and perhaps more
+than makes up for the increased quantity of forage consumed. Again,
+climate may equally affect the mode of winter feeding the stock. The
+winters may be mild. The hay may be stacked in the fields, when
+gathered, or put into small barns built for hay storage alone; and the
+manure, scattered over the fields by the cattle, as they are fed from
+either of them, may be knocked to pieces with the dung-beetle, in the
+spring, or harrowed and bushed over the ground; and with the very small
+quantity of labor required in all this, such practice will be more
+economical than any other which can be adopted. It is, therefore, a
+subject of deliberate study with the farmer, in the construction of his
+out-buildings, what plans he shall adopt in regard to them, and their
+fitting up and arrangement.
+
+With these considerations before us, we shall submit such plans of barn
+structures as may be adapted for general use, where shelters for the
+farm crops, and farm stock, are required; and which may, in their
+interior arrangement, be fitted for almost any locality of our country,
+as the judgment and the wants of the builder may require.
+
+
+
+
+DESIGN I.
+
+
+This is a design of barn partially on the Pennsylvania plan, with
+under-ground stables, and a stone-walled basement on three sides, with a
+line of posts standing open on the yard front, and a wall, pierced by
+doors and windows, retreating 12 feet under the building, giving, in
+front, a shelter for stock. Two sheds, by way of wings, are run out to
+any desired length, on each side. The body of this barn, which is built
+of wood, above the basement, is 60x46 feet; the posts 18 feet high,
+above the sills; the roof is elevated at an angle of 40deg from a
+horizontal line, and the gables hooded, or truncated, 14 feet wide at
+the verge, so as to cover the large doors at the ends. The main roof
+spreads 3 to 4 feet over the body of the barn, and runs from the side
+eaves in a _straight_ line, different from what is shown in the
+engraving, which appears of a gambrel or hipped fashion. The sides are
+covered with boards laid vertically, and battened with narrow strips,
+3 inches wide. The large doors in the ends are 14 feet wide, and 14 feet
+high. A slatted blind window is in each gable, for ventilation, and a
+door, 9x6 feet, on the yard side.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+A main floor, _A_, 12 feet wide, runs the whole length through the
+center of the barn. _S, S_, are the large doors. _H, H,_ are trap doors,
+to let hay or straw down to the alleys of the stables beneath. _B_,
+is the principal bay for hay storage, 16 feet wide, and runs up to the
+roof. _C_, is the bay, 26x16 feet, for the grain mow, if required for
+that purpose. D, is a granary, 13x16 feet, and 8 feet high. _E_,
+a storage room for fanning mill, cutting-box, or other machinery, or
+implements, of same size and height as the granary. _F_, is a passage,
+8 feet wide, leading from the main floor to the yard door, through which
+to throw out litter. Over this passage, and the granary, and store-room,
+may be stored grain in the sheaf, or hay. The main floor will
+accommodate the thrashing-machine, horse-power, cutting box, &c., &c.,
+when at work. A line of movable sleepers, or poles, may be laid across
+the floor, 10 feet above it, on a line of girts framed into the main
+posts, for that purpose, over which, when the sides of the barn are
+full, either hay or grain may be deposited, up to the ridge of the roof,
+and thus afford large storage. And if the demands of the crops require
+it, after the sides and over the floor is thus filled, the floor itself
+may, a part of it, be used for packing away either hay or grain, by
+taking off the team after the load is in, and passing them out by a
+retreating process, on the side of the cart or wagon; and the vehicle,
+when unloaded, backed out by hand. We have occasionally adopted this
+method, when crowded for room for increased crops, to great advantage.
+It requires somewhat more labor, to be sure, but it is much better than
+stacking out; and a well-filled barn is a good sight to look upon.
+
+  [Illustration: MAIN FLOOR PLAN.]
+
+Underneath the body of the barn are the stables, root cellar, calf
+houses, or any other accommodation which the farm stock may require;
+but, for the most economical objects, is here cut up into stables. At
+the ends, _l, l_, are passages for the stock to go into their stalls;
+and also, on the sides, for the men who attend to them. The main passage
+through the center double line of stalls is 8 feet wide; and on each
+side are double stalls, 6-1/2 feet wide. From the two end walls, the
+cattle passages are 5 feet wide, the partition between the stalls
+running back in a _slant_, from 5 feet high at the mangers to the floor,
+at that distance from the walls. The mangers, _j, j_, are 2 feet wide,
+or may be 2-1/2 feet, by taking an additional six inches out of the rear
+passage. The passage is, between the mangers, 3 feet wide, to receive
+the hay from the trap doors in the floor above.
+
+  [Illustration: UNDER-GROUND PLAN AND YARD.]
+
+The most economical plan, for room in tying cattle in their stalls, is
+to fasten the rope, or chain, whichever is used, (the wooden stanchion,
+or _stanchel_, as it is called, to open and shut, enclosing the animal
+by the neck, we do not like,) into a ring, which is secured by a strong
+staple into the post which sustains the partition, just at the top of
+the manger, on each side of the stall. This prevents the cattle in the
+same stall from interfering with each other, while the partition
+effectually prevents any contact from the animals on each side of it, in
+the separate stalls. The bottom of the mangers, for grown cattle, should
+be a foot above the floor, and the top two and a half feet, which makes
+it deep enough to hold their food; and the whole, both sides and bottom,
+should be made of two-inch, sound, strong plank, that they may not be
+broken down. The back sides of the stalls, next the feeding alleys,
+should be full 3-1/2 feet high; and if the cattle are large, and
+disposed to climb into their mangers with their fore-feet, as they
+sometimes do, a pole, of 2-1/2 or 3 inches in diameter, should be
+secured across the front of the stall, next the cattle, and over the
+mangers--say 4-1/2 feet above the floor, to keep them out of the manger,
+and still give them sufficient room for putting their heads between that
+and the top of the manger, to get their food. Cattle thus secured in
+double stalls, take up less room, and lie much warmer, than when in
+single stalls; besides, the expense of fitting them up being much
+less--an experience of many years has convinced us on this point. The
+doors for the passage of the cattle in and out of the stables, should be
+five feet wide, that they may have plenty of room.
+
+In front of these stables, on the outside, is a line of posts, the feet
+of which rest on large flat stones, and support the outer sill of the
+barn, and form a recess, before named, of 12 feet in width, under which
+may be placed a line of racks, or mangers for outside cattle, to consume
+the orts, or leavings of hay rejected by the in-door stock; or, the
+manure may be housed under it, which is removed from the stables by
+wheel-barrows. The low line of sheds which extend from the barn on each
+side of the yard, may be used for the carts, and wagons of the place;
+or, racks and mangers may be fitted up in them, for outside cattle to
+consume the straw and coarse forage; or, they may be carried higher than
+in our plan, and floored overhead, and hay, or other food stored in them
+for the stock. They are so placed merely to give the idea.
+
+There may be no more fitting occasion than this, perhaps, to make a
+remark or two on the subject of managing stock in stables of any kind,
+when kept in any considerable numbers; and a word may not be impertinent
+to the subject in hand, as connected with the construction of stables.
+
+There is no greater benefit to cattle, after coming into winter
+quarters, than a straight-forward regularity in everything appertaining
+to them. Every animal should have its own particular stall in the
+stable, where it should _always be kept, and in no other_. The cattle
+should be fed and watered at certain hours of the day, as near as may
+be. When let out of the stables for water, unless the weather is very
+pleasant, when they may be permitted to lie out an hour or two, they
+should be immediately put back, and not allowed to range about with the
+outside cattle. They are more quiet and contented in their stables than
+elsewhere, and eat less food, than if permitted to run out; and are
+every way more comfortable, if properly bedded and attended to, as every
+one will find, on trying it. The habit of many people, in turning their
+cattle out of the stables in the morning, in all weathers--letting them
+range about in a cold yard, hooking and thorning each other--is of no
+possible benefit, unless to rid themselves of the trouble of cleaning
+the stables, which pays twice its cost in the saving of manure. The
+outside cattle, which occupy the yard, are all the better, that the
+stabled ones do not interfere with them. They become habituated to their
+own quarters, as the others do to their's, and all are better for being
+each in their own proper place. It may appear a small matter to notice
+this; but it is a subject of importance, which every one may know who
+tries it.
+
+It will be seen that a driving way is built up to the barn doors at the
+ends; this need not be expensive, and will add greatly to the ease and
+convenience of its approach. It is needless to remark, that this barn is
+designed to stand on a shelving piece of ground, or on a slope, which
+will admit of its cellar stables without much excavation of the earth;
+and in such a position it may be economically built. No estimate is
+given of its cost, which must depend upon the price of materials, and
+the convenience of stone on the farm. The size is not arbitrary, but may
+be either contracted or extended, according to the requirements of the
+builder.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+DESIGN II.
+
+
+Here is presented the design of a barn built by ourself, about sixteen
+years since, and standing on the farm we own and occupy; and which has
+proved so satisfactory in its use, that, save in one or two small
+particulars, which are here amended, we would not, for a stock barn,
+alter it in any degree, nor exchange it for one of any description
+whatever.
+
+For the farmer who needs one of but half the size, or greater, or less,
+it may be remarked that the extent of this need be no hindrance to the
+building of one of any size--as the general _design_ may be adopted, and
+carried out, either in whole or in part, according to his wants, and the
+economy of its accommodation preserved throughout. The _principle_ of
+the structure is what is intended to be shown.
+
+The _main_ body of this barn stands on the ground, 100x50 feet, with
+eighteen-feet posts, and a broad, sheltering roof, of 40deg pitch from a
+horizontal line, and truncated at the gables to the width of the main
+doors below. The sills stand 4 feet above the ground, and a raised
+driving way to the doors admits the loads of grain and forage into it.
+The manner of building the whole structure would be, to frame and put up
+the main building as if it was to have no attachment whatever, and put
+on the roof, and board up the gable ends. Then frame, and raise
+adjoining it, on the long sides, and on the rear end--for the opposite
+gable end to that, is the entrance front to the barn--a continuous
+lean-to, 16 feet wide, attaching it to the posts of the barn, strongly,
+by girts. These ranges of lean-to stand on the ground level,
+nearly--high enough, however, to let a terrier dog under the floors,
+to keep out the rats--but quite 3 feet below the sills of the barn. The
+outer posts of the lean-to's should be 12 feet high, and 12-1/2 feet
+apart, from center to center, except at the extreme corners, which would
+be 16 feet. One foot below the roof-plates of the main building, and
+across the rear gable end, a line of girts should be framed into the
+posts, as a _rest_ for the upper ends of the lean-to rafters, that they
+may pass under, and a foot below the lower ends of the main roof
+rafters, to make a break in the roof of one foot, and allow a line of
+eave gutters under it, if needed, and to show the lean-to line of roof
+as distinct from the other. The stables are 7 feet high, from the lower
+floor to the girts overhead, which connect them with the main line of
+barn posts; thus giving a loft of 4 feet in height at the eaves, and of
+12 feet at the junction with the barn. In this loft is large storage for
+hay, and coarse forage, and bedding for the cattle, which is put in by
+side windows, level with the loft floor--as seen in the plate. In the
+center of the rear, _end_ lean-to, is a large door, corresponding with
+the front entrance to the barn, as shown in the design, 12 feet high,
+and 14 feet wide, to pass out the wagons and carts which have discharged
+their loads in the barn, having entered at the main front door. A line
+of board, one foot wide, between the line of the main and lean-to roofs,
+is then nailed on, to shut up the space; and the rear gable end boarded
+down to the roof of the lean-to attached to it. The front end, and the
+stables on them vertically boarded, and battened, as directed in the
+last design; the proper doors and windows inserted, and the outside is
+finished.
+
+
+  [Illustration: FLOOR PLAN.]
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+Entering the large door, (_a_,) at the front end, 14 feet wide, and 14
+feet high, the main floor (_g_,) passes through the entire length of the
+barn, and rear lean-to, 116 feet--the last 16 feet through the
+lean-to--and sloping 3 feet to the outer sill, and door, (_a_,) of that
+appendage. On the left of the entrance is a recess, (_e_,) of 20x18
+feet, to be used as a thrashing floor, and for machinery, cutting feed,
+&c., &c.--5 feet next the end being cut off for a passage to the stable.
+Beyond this is a bay, (_b_,) 18x70 feet, for the storage of hay, or
+grain, leaving a passage at the further end, of 5 feet wide, to go into
+the further stables. This bay is bounded on the extreme left, by the
+line of outside posts of the barn. On the right of the main door is a
+granary, (_d_,) 10x18 feet, two stories high, and a flight of steps
+leading from the lower into the upper room. Beyond this is another bay,
+(_b_,) corresponding with the one just described on the opposite side.
+The passages at the ends of the bays, (_e_, _e_,) have steps of 3 feet
+descent, to bring them down on to a level with the stable floors of the
+lean-to. A passage in each of the two long side lean-to's, (_e_, _e_,) 3
+feet wide, receives the hay forage for cattle, or other stock, thrown
+into them from the bays, and the lofts over the stables; and from them
+is thrown into the mangers, (_h_, _h_.) The two apartments in the
+extreme end lean-to, (_f_, _f_,) 34x16 feet each, may be occupied as a
+hospital for invalid cattle, or partitioned off for calves, or any other
+purpose. A calving house for the cows which come in during the winter,
+is always convenient, and one of these may be used for such purpose. The
+stalls, (_i_, _i_,) are the same as described in Design I, and back of
+them is the passage for the cattle, as they pass in and out of their
+stalls. The stable doors, (_j_, _j_,) are six in number. Small windows,
+for ventilation, should be cut in the rear of the stalls, as marked, and
+for throwing out the manure, with sliding board shutters. This completes
+the barn accommodation--giving twenty-eight double stalls, where
+fifty-six grown cattle may be tied up, with rooms for twenty to thirty
+calves in the end stables. If a larger stock is kept, young cattle may
+be tied up, with their heads to the bays, on the main floor, beyond the
+thrashing floor, which we practice. This will hold forty young cattle.
+The manure is taken out on a wheel-barrow, and no injury done to the
+floor. They will soon eat out a place where their forage can be put, and
+do no injury beyond that to the hay in the bays, as it is too closely
+packed for them to draw it out any farther. In this way we can
+accommodate more than a hundred head of cattle, of assorted ages.
+
+The hay in the bays may drop three feet below the level of the main
+floor, by placing a tier of rough timbers and poles across them, to keep
+it from the ground, and many tons of additional storage be thus
+provided. We have often stored one hundred and fifty tons of hay in this
+barn; and it will hold even more, if thoroughly packed, and the movable
+girts over the main floor be used, as described in Design I.
+
+The chief advantages in a barn of this plan are, the exceeding
+convenience of getting the forage to the stock. When the barn is full,
+and feeding is first commenced, with a hay knife, we commence on each
+side next the stables, on the top of the bays, cut a _well_ down to the
+alley way in front of the mangers, which is left open up to the stable
+roof. This opens a passage for the hay to be thrown into the alleys, and
+in a short time it is so fed out on each side, that, the sides of the
+main barn being open to them, the hay can be thrown along their whole
+distance, and fed to the cattle as wanted; and so at the rear end
+stables, in the five-foot alley adjoining them. If a root cellar be
+required, it may be made under the front part of the main floor, and a
+trap-door lead to it. For a milk dairy, this arrangement is an admirable
+one--we so used it for four years; or for stall-feeding, it is equally
+convenient. One man will do more work, so far as feeding is concerned,
+in this barn, than two can do in one of almost any other arrangement;
+and the yards outside may be divided into five separate inclosures, with
+but little expense, and still be large enough for the cattle that may
+want to use them. It matters not what kind of stock may be kept in this
+barn; it is convenient for all alike. Even sheep may be accommodated in
+it with convenience. But low, open sheds, inclosed by a yard, are better
+for them; with storage for hay overhead, and racks and troughs beneath.
+
+This barn is built of wood. It may be well constructed, with stone
+underpinning, without mortar, for $1,000 to $1,500, as the price of
+materials may govern. And if the collection of the water from the roofs
+be an object, cheap gutters to carry it into one or more cisterns may be
+added, at an expense of $200 to $300.
+
+As before observed, a barn may be built on this principle, of any size,
+and the stables, or lean-to's may only attach to one side or end; or
+they may be built as mere sheds, with no storage room over the cattle.
+The chief objection to stabling cattle in the _body_ of the barn is, the
+continual decay of the most important timbers, such as sills, sleepers,
+&c., &c., by the leakage of the stale, and manure of the cattle on to
+them, and the loss of so much valuable storage as they would occupy, for
+hay and grain. By the plan described, the stables have no attachment to
+the sills, and other durable barn timbers below; and if the stable sills
+and sleepers decay, they are easily and cheaply replaced with others.
+Taking it altogether, we can recommend no better, nor, as we think, so
+good, and so cheap a plan for a _stock_ barn, as this.
+
+We deem it unnecessary to discuss the subject of water to cattle yards,
+as every farm has its own particular accommodations, or inconveniences
+in that regard; and the subject of leading water by pipes into different
+premises, is too well understood to require remark. Where these can not
+be had, and springs or streams are not at hand, wells and pumps must be
+provided, in as much convenience as the circumstances of the case will
+admit. Water is absolutely necessary, and that in quantity, for stock
+uses; and every good manager will exercise his best judgment to obtain
+it.
+
+
+
+
+BARN ATTACHMENTS.
+
+
+It may be expected, perhaps, that in treating so fully as we have of the
+several kinds of farm building, a full cluster of out-buildings should
+be drawn and exhibited, showing their relative positions and
+accommodation. This can not be done, however, except as a matter of
+"fancy;" and if attempted, might not be suited to the purposes of a
+single individual, by reason of the particular location where they would
+be situated, and the accommodation which the buildings might require.
+Convenience of access to the barns, from the fields where the crops are
+grown, a like convenience to get out manures upon those fields, and a
+ready communication with the dwelling house, are a part of the
+considerations which are to govern their position, or locality. Economy
+in labor, in the various avocations at the barn, and its necessary
+attachments; and the greatest convenience in storage, and the housing of
+the various stock, grains, implements, and whatever else may demand
+accommodation, are other considerations to be taken into the account,
+all to have a bearing upon them. Compactness is always an object in such
+buildings, when not obtained at a sacrifice of some greater advantage,
+and should be one of the items considered in placing them; and in their
+construction, next to the arrangement of them in the most convenient
+possible manner for their various objects, a due regard to their
+architectural appearance should be studied. Such appearance, where their
+objects are apparent, can easily be secured. _Utility_ should be their
+chief point of expression; and no style of architecture, or finish, can
+be really _bad_, where this expression is duly consulted, and carried
+out, even in the humblest way of cheapness, or rusticity.
+
+We have heretofore sufficiently remarked on the folly of unnecessary
+pretension in the farm buildings, of any kind; and nothing can appear,
+and really be more out of place, than ambitious structures intended only
+for the stock, and crops. Extravagant expenditure on these, any more
+than an extravagant expenditure on the dwelling and its attachments,
+does not add to the _selling_ value of the farm, nor to its economical
+management, in a productive capacity; and he who is about to build,
+should make his proposed buildings a study for months, in all their
+different requirements and conveniences, before he commences their
+erection. Mistakes in their design, and location, have cost men a whole
+after life of wear-and-tear of temper, patience, and labor, to
+themselves, and to all who were about them; and it is better to wait
+even two or three years, to fully mature the best plans of building,
+than by hurrying, to mis-locate, mis-arrange, and miss, in fact, the
+very best application in their structure of which such buildings are
+capable.
+
+A word might also be added about barn-_yards_. The planning and
+management of these, also, depends much upon the course the farmer has
+to pursue in the keeping of his stock, the amount of waste litter, such
+as straw, &c., which he has to dispose of, and the demands of the farm
+for animal and composted manures. There are different methods of
+constructing barn-yards, in different parts of the country, according to
+climate and soils, and the farmer must best consult his own experience,
+the most successful examples about him, and the publications which treat
+of that subject, in its connection with farm husbandry, to which last
+subject this item more properly belongs.
+
+
+
+
+RABBITS.
+
+
+It may appear that we are extending our "Rural Architecture" to an undue
+length, in noticing a subject so little attended to in this country as
+Rabbit accommodations. But, as with other small matters which we have
+noticed, this may create a new source of interest and attachment to
+country life, we conclude to give it a place.
+
+It is a matter of surprise to an American first visiting England, to see
+the quantities of game which abound at certain seasons of the year in
+the London and other markets of that country, in contrast with the
+scanty supply, or rather no supply at all, existing in the markets of
+American cities. The reason for such difference is, that in England,
+Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, every acre of the soil is appropriated to
+some profitable use, while we, from the abundance of land in America,
+select only the best for agricultural purposes, and let the remainder go
+barren and uncared for. Lands appropriated to the rearing of game, when
+fit for farm pasturage or tillage, is unprofitable, generally, with us;
+but there are thousands of acres barren for other purposes, that might
+be devoted to the breeding and pasturage of rabbits, and which, by thus
+appropriating them, might be turned to profitable account. All the
+preparation required is, to enclose the ground with a high and nearly
+close paling fence, and the erection of a few rude hutches inside, for
+winter shelter and the storage of their food. They will burrow into the
+ground, and breed with great rapidity; and in the fall and winter
+seasons, they will be fat for market with the food they gather from the
+otherwise worthless soil over which they run. Rocky, bushy, and
+evergreen grounds, either hill, dale, or plain, are good for them,
+wherever the soils are dry and friable. The rabbit is a gross feeder,
+living well on what many grazing animals reject, and gnawing down all
+kinds of bushes, briars, and noxious weeds.
+
+The common domestic rabbits are probably the best for market purposes,
+and were they to be made an object of attention, immense tracts of
+mountain land in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the New York and New
+England highlands could be made available for this object.
+
+Some may think this a small business. So is making pins, and rearing
+chickens, and bees. But there are an abundance of people, whose age and
+capacity are just fitted for it, and for want of other employment are a
+charge upon their friends or the public; and now, when our cities and
+large towns are so readily reached by railroads from all parts of the
+country, our farmers should study to apply their land to the production
+of everything that will find a profitable market. Things unthought of,
+a few years ago, now find a large consumption in our large cities and
+towns, by the aid of railroads; and we know of no good reason, why this
+production and traffic should not continue to an indefinite extent. When
+the breeding of rabbits is commenced, get a good treatise on the
+breeding and rearing of them, which may be found at many of the
+bookstores.
+
+As the rearing of rabbits, and their necessary accommodation, is not a
+subject to which we have given much personal attention, we applied to
+Francis Rotch, Esq., of Morris, Otsego county, New York, who is probably
+the most accomplished rabbit "fancier" in the United States, for
+information, with which he has kindly furnished us. His beautiful and
+high-bred animals have won the highest premiums, at the shows of the New
+York State Agricultural Society. He thus answers:
+
+  "I now forward you the promised plan from Mr. Alfred Rodman, of
+  Dedham, Massachusetts, which, I think, will give you the information
+  you wish upon these subjects.
+
+  "Rabbits kept for profit in the vicinity of a city, and where there
+  are mills, may be raised at a very small cost; and when once known
+  as an article of food, will be liberally paid for by the epicure,
+  for their meat is as delicate as a chicken's, and their fat mild,
+  and very rich.
+
+  "I am surprised they are not more generally kept, as a source of
+  amusement, and for the purposes of experiment.
+
+  "There is, I think, in many, a natural fondness for animals, but not
+  easily indulged without more room than is often to be found in city
+  residences. Fowls, and pigeons, trespass on our neighbors, and are a
+  frequent cause of trouble. This objection does not hold good against
+  the rabbit, which occupies so small a space, that where there is an
+  outhouse there may be a rabbitry. _English_ children are encouraged
+  in their fondness for animals, as tending to good morals and good
+  feelings, and as offering a _home_ amusement, in contradistinction
+  to _street_ associations."
+
+  [Illustration: Drawn from life, by Mr. FRANCIS ROTCH.]
+
+Mr. Rotch continues:
+
+  "I have just finished the enclosed drawing of a 'fancy rabbit,'
+  which I hope will answer your purpose, as an illustration of what
+  the little animal should be in form, color, marking, and carriage,
+  according to the decisions of the various societies in and out of
+  London, who are its greatest admirers and patrons. These amateurs
+  hold frequent meetings for its exhibition, at which premiums are
+  awarded, and large prizes paid for such specimens as come up to
+  their standard of excellence. This standard is, of course,
+  conventional; and, as might be expected, is a combination of form
+  and color very difficult to obtain--based, it is true, on the most
+  correct principles of general breeding; but much of _fancy_ and
+  beauty is added to complete the requisites of a prize rabbit. For
+  instance, the head must be small and clean; the shoulders wide and
+  full; the chest broad and deep; the back wide, and the loin large.
+  Thus far, these are the characteristics of all really _good_ and
+  _improved_ animals; to which are to be added, on the score of
+  'fancy,' an eye round, full, and bright; an ear _long_, broad, and
+  pendant, of a soft, delicate texture, dropping nearly
+  perpendicularly by the side of the head--this is termed its
+  'carriage.' The color must be in rich, unmixed _masses_ on the body,
+  spreading itself over the back, side, and haunch, but breaking into
+  spots and patches on the shoulder, called the 'chain;' while that on
+  the back is known as the 'saddle.' The head must be full of color,
+  broken with white on the forehead and cheeks; the marking over the
+  bridge of the nose and down on both sides into the lips, should be
+  dark, and in shape somewhat resembling a butterfly, from which this
+  mark takes its name; the ear, however, must be uniform in color. Add
+  to all this, a large, full dewlap, and you will have a rabbit fit to
+  '_go in and win_.'
+
+  "The most esteemed colors are black and white; yellow and white;
+  tortoise-shell and white; blue and white, and gray and white. These
+  are called 'broken colors,' while those of _one_ uniform color are
+  called 'selfs.'"
+
+It will be observed that Mr. Rotch here describes a beautiful "fancy"
+variety of "lop-eared" rabbits, which he brought from England a few
+years since. They were, originally, natives of Madagascar. He continues:
+
+  "The domestic rabbit, in all its varieties, has always been, and
+  still is, a great favorite, in many parts of the European continent:
+
+  "In Holland, it is bred with reference to color only, which must be
+  a pure white, with dark ears, feet, legs, and tail; this
+  distribution has a singular effect, but, withal, it is a pretty
+  little creature. The French breed a long, rangy animal, of great
+  _apparent_ size, but deficient in depth and breadth, and of course,
+  wanting in constitution; no attention is paid to color, and its
+  marking is matter of accident. The White Angola, with its beautiful
+  long fur and red eyes, is also a great favorite in France.
+
+  "In England, the rabbit formerly held the rank of 'farm stock!' and
+  thousands of acres were exclusively devoted to its production;
+  families were supported, and rents, rates, and taxes were paid from
+  its increase and sale. The '_gray-skins_' went to the hatter, the
+  '_silver-skins_' were shipped to China, and were dressed as furs;
+  while the flesh was a favorite dish at home. This was the course
+  pursued in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and many other counties, with
+  their light sandy soils, before the more general introduction of
+  root culture, and the rotation of crops, gave an increased value to
+  such land. Since then, however, I remember visiting a farm of Lord
+  Onslow's, in Surrey, containing about 1,400 acres. It was in the
+  occupation of an eminent flock-master and agriculturist, who kept
+  some hundreds of hutched rabbits for the sake of their manure, which
+  he applied to his turnep crop; added to this, their skins and
+  carcasses were quite an item of profit, notwithstanding the care of
+  them required an old man and boy, with a donkey and cart. The food
+  used was chiefly brewer's grains, miller's waste, bran and hay, with
+  clover and roots, the cost of keeping not exceeding two pence a
+  week. The hutches stood under a long shed, open on all sides, for
+  the greater convenience of cleaning and feeding. I was told that the
+  manure was much valued by the market gardeners round London, who
+  readily paid 2s. 6d. a bushel at the rabbitries. These rabbitries
+  are very numerous in all the towns and cities of England, and form a
+  source of amusement or profit to all classes, from the man of
+  fortune to the day laborer. Nor is it unfrequent that this latter
+  produces a rabbit from an old tea-chest, or dry-goods box, that wins
+  the prize from its competitor of the mahogany hutch or ornamental
+  rabbitry.
+
+  "The food of the rabbit embraces great variety, including grain of
+  all kinds, bran, pea-chaff, miller's waste, brewer's grains, clover
+  and other hay, and the various weeds known as plantain, dock,
+  mallow, dandelion, purslain, thistles, &c., &c.
+
+  "The rabbit thus easily conforms itself to the means, condition, and
+  circumstances of its owner; occupies but little space, breeds often,
+  comes early to maturity, and is withal, a healthy animal, requiring
+  however, to be kept clean, and to be _cautiously_ fed with
+  _succulent_ food, which must always be free from dew or rain--water
+  is unnecessary to them when fed with 'greens.' My own course of
+  feeding is, one gill of oats in the morning, with a medium-sized
+  cabbage leaf, or what I may consider its _equivalent_ in any other
+  vegetable food, for the rabbit in confinement must be, as already
+  stated, cautiously fed with what is succulent. At noon, I feed a
+  handfull of cut hay or clover chaff, and in the evening the same as
+  in the morning. To does, when suckling, I give what they will eat of
+  both green and dry food. The cost to me is about three cents per
+  week, per head.
+
+  "I by no means recommend this as the best, or the most economical
+  mode of feeding, but it happens to suit my convenience. Were I in a
+  town, or near mills, I should make use of other and cheaper
+  substitutes. My young rabbits, when taken from the doe, say at
+  eight, ten, or twelve weeks old, are turned out together till about
+  six months old, when it becomes necessary to take them up, and put
+  them in separate hutches, to prevent their fighting and destroying
+  each other. The doe at that age is ready to breed; her period of
+  gestation is about thirty-one or two days, and she produces from
+  three or four to a dozen young at a 'litter'. It is not well to let
+  her raise more than six, or even four at once--the fewer, the larger
+  and finer the produce.
+
+  "Young rabbits are killed for the table at any age, from twelve
+  weeks to twelve months old, and are a very acceptable addition to
+  the country larder. The male is not allowed to remain with the doe,
+  lest he should destroy the young ones.
+
+  "Hutches are made singly, or in stacks, to suit the apartment, which
+  should be capable of thorough ventilation. The best size is about
+  three feet long, two feet deep, and fourteen inches high, with a
+  small apartment partitioned off from one end, nearly a foot wide,
+  as a breeding place for the doe. A wire door forms the front, and an
+  opening is left behind for cleaning; the floor should have a descent
+  to the back of the hutch of two inches. All edges should be tinned,
+  to save them from being gnawed.
+
+  "Having now given the leading characteristics and qualities which
+  constitute a good 'fancy lop-eared rabbit,' and its general
+  management, allow me to remark on the striking difference observable
+  between Americans and the people of many other countries, as to a
+  fondness for animals, or what are termed 'fancy pets,' of and for
+  which we, as a people, know and care very little. Indeed, we
+  scarcely admit more than a selfish fellowship with the dog, and but
+  too seldom does our attachment even for this faithful companion,
+  place him beyond the reach of the _omnipotent dollar_.
+
+  "The operatives, mechanics, and laborers, in other countries, seem
+  to have a perfect passion for such pursuits, and take the greatest
+  interest and pride in breeding and perfecting the lesser animals,
+  though often obliged to toil for the very food they feed to them.
+  Here, too, home influences are perceived to be good, and are
+  encouraged by the employer, as supplying the place of other and much
+  more questionable pursuits and tastes."
+
+We here present the elevation, and floor plan of Mr. Rodman's rabbitry,
+together with the front and rear views of the hutches within them:
+
+  [Illustration: ELEVATION. MAIN FLOOR PLAN.]
+
+No. 1 is the gable end elevation of the building, with a door and
+window.
+
+No. 2 is the main-floor plan, or living room for the rabbits.
+
+EXPLANATION.
+
+A, the doe's hutches, with nest boxes attached. B, hutches three feet
+long, with movable partitions for the young rabbits; the two lower
+hutches are used for the stock bucks. C, a tier of grain boxes on the
+floor for feeding the rabbits--the covers sloping out toward the room.
+D, small trapdoor, leading into the manure cellar beneath. E, large
+trapdoor leading into root cellar. F, troughs for leading off urine from
+rear of hutches into the manure cellar at K, K. G, wooden trunk leading
+from chamber above No. 3, through this into manure cellar. H, trap
+opening into manure cellar. I, stairs leading into loft No. 3, with
+hinged trapdoor overhead; when open, it will turn up against the wall,
+and leave a passage to clear out the hutches.
+
+NOTE.--The grain boxes are one foot high in front, and fifteen inches at
+the back, with sloping bottoms, and sloping covers. The floors of the
+hutches have a slope of two inches back. The hutches are furnished, at
+the back of the floor, with pieces of zinc, to keep them free from the
+drippings from above. The hutches are 16 inches high, 3 feet long, and 2
+feet deep.
+
+The foregoing plans and explanations might perhaps be sufficient for the
+guidance of such as wish to construct a rabbitry for their own use; but
+as a complete arrangement of all the rooms which may be conveniently
+appropriated to this object, to make it a complete thing, may be
+acceptable to the reader, we conclude, even at the risk of prolixity,
+to insert the upper loft, and cellar apartments, with which we have been
+furnished; hoping that our youthful friends will set themselves about
+the construction of a branch of rural employment so home-attaching in
+its associations.
+
+  [Illustration: LOFT OR GARRET.]
+
+No. 3 is the loft or chamber story, next above the main floor.
+
+EXPLANATION.
+
+A, place for storing hay. B, stairs leading from below. C, room for
+young rabbits. D, trapdoor into trunk leading to manure cellar.
+E, partition four feet high. This allows of ventilation between the two
+windows, in summer, which would be cut off, were the partition carried
+all the way up.
+
+  [Illustration: CELLAR.]
+
+No. 4 is the cellar under the rabbitry.
+
+EXPLANATION.
+
+A, manure cellar. B, root cellar. C, stairs leading to first, or main
+floor. D, stairs leading outside. E, window--lighting both rooms of
+cellar.
+
+No. 5 is a front section of rabbit hutches, eight in number, two in a
+line, four tiers high, one above another, with wire-screened doors,
+hinges, and buttons for fastening. A, the grain trough, is at the
+bottom.
+
+No. 6 is the floor section of the hutches, falling, as before mentioned,
+two inches from front to rear.
+
+  [Illustration: FRONT OF HUTCH. REAR OF HUTCH.]
+
+A, is the door to lift up, for cleaning out the floors. B, is the zinc
+plate, to carry off the urine and _running_ wash of the floors. C, is
+the trough for carrying off this offal into the manure cellars, through
+the trunk, as seen in No. 2.
+
+No. 7 is a rear section of hutches, same as in No. 5, with the waste
+trough at the bottom leading into the trench before described, with the
+cross section, No. 8, before described in No. 6.
+
+A, a grated door at the back of the hutch, for ventilation in summer,
+and covered with a thin board in winter. B, a flap-door, four inches
+wide, which is raised for cleaning out the floor; under this door is a
+space of one inch, for passing out the urine of the rabbits. C, are
+buttons for fastening the doors. D, the backs of the bedrooms, without
+any passage out on back side.
+
+This matter of the rabbitry, and its various explanations, may be
+considered by the plain, matter-of-fact man, as below the dignity of
+people pursuing the _useful_ and _money-making_ business of life. Very
+possible. But many boys--for whose benefit they are chiefly
+introduced--and _men_, even, may do worse than to spend their time in
+such apparent trifles. It is better than going to a horse-race. It is
+better even than going to a trotting match, where _fast men_, as well as
+_fast_ horses congregate. It is better, too, than a thousand other
+places where boys _want_ to go, when they have nothing to interest them
+at home.
+
+One half of the farmer's boys, who, discontented at home, leave it for
+something more congenial to their feelings and tastes, do so simply
+because of the excessive dullness, and want of interest in objects to
+attract them there, and keep them contented. Boys, in America at least,
+are apt to be _smart_. So their parents think, at all events; and too
+smart they prove, to stay at home, and follow the beaten track of their
+fathers, as their continual migration from the paternal roof too plainly
+testifies. This, in many cases, is the fault of the parents themselves,
+because they neglect those little objects of interest to which the minds
+and tastes of their sons are inclined, and for want of which they
+_imagine_ more attractive objects abroad, although in the search they
+often fail in finding them. We are a progressive people. Our children
+are not always content to be what their fathers are; and parents must
+yield a little to "the spirit of the age" in which they live. And boys
+_pay_ too, as they go along, if properly treated. They should be made
+companions, not servants. Many a joyous, hearty spirit, who, when
+properly encouraged, comes out a whole man at one-and-twenty, if kept in
+curb, and harnessed down by a hard parent, leaves the homestead, with a
+curse and a kick, determined, whether in weal or in woe, never to
+return. Under a different course of treatment, he would have fixed his
+home either at his birthplace, or in its immediate vicinity, and in a
+life of frugality, usefulness, and comparative ease, blessed his
+parents, his neighborhood, and possibly the world, with a useful
+example--all, perhaps, grown out of his youthful indulgence in the
+possession of a rabbit-warren, or some like trifling matter.
+
+This may appear to be small morals, as well as small business. We admit
+it. But those who have been well, and indulgently, as well as
+methodically trained, may look back and see the influence which all such
+little things had upon their early thoughts and inclinations; and thus
+realize the importance of providing for the amusements and pleasures of
+children in their early years. The dovecote, the rabbitry, the
+poultry-yard, the sheep-fold, the calf-pen, the piggery, the young colt
+of a favorite mare, the yoke of yearling steers, or a fruit tree which
+they have planted, and nursed, and called it, or the fruit it bears,
+_their own_,--anything, in fact, which they can call _theirs_--are so
+many objects to bind boys to their homes, and hallow it with a thousand
+nameless blessings and associations, known only to those who have been
+its recipients. Heaven's blessings be on the family homestead!
+
+  "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!"
+
+sung the imaginary maid of Milan, the beautiful creation of John Howard
+Payne, when returning from the glare and pomp of the world, to her
+native cottage in the mountains of Switzerland. And, although all out of
+date, and conventionally vulgar this sentiment may be _now_ considered,
+such is, or should be the subdued, unsophisticated feeling of all
+natives of the farm house, and the country cottage. We may leave the
+quiet roof of our childhood; we may mix in the bustling contentions of
+the open world; we may gain its treasures; we may enjoy its greatness,
+its honors, and its applause; but there are times when they will all
+fade into nothing, in comparison with the peace, and quietude, and
+tranquil happiness of a few acres of land, a comfortable roof, and
+contentment therewith!
+
+
+
+
+DAIRY BUILDINGS.
+
+
+Wherever the dairy is made an important branch of farm production,
+buildings for its distinct accommodation are indispensable. The dairy is
+as much a _manufactory_ as a cotton mill, and requires as much
+conveniences in its own peculiar line. We therefore set apart a
+building, on purpose for its objects; and either for cheese, or butter,
+separate conveniences are alike required. We commence with the
+
+
+  [Illustration: CHEESE DAIRY HOUSE.]
+
+CHEESE DAIRY HOUSE.
+
+This building is one and a half stories high, with a broad, spreading
+roof of 45deg pitch; the ground plan is 10 feet between joists, and the
+posts 16 feet high. An ice-house, made on the plan already described, is
+at one end, and a wood-shed at the opposite end, of the same size. This
+building is supposed to be erected near the milking sheds of the farm,
+and in contiguity to the feeding troughs of the cows, or the piggery,
+and adapted to the convenience of feeding the whey to whichever of these
+animals the dairyman may select, as both, or either are required to
+consume it; and to which it may be conveyed in spouts from the
+dairy-room.
+
+
+INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.
+
+The front door is protected by a light porch, (_a_,) entering by a door,
+(_b_,) the main dairy room. The cheese presses, (_c_, _c_,) occupy the
+left end of the room, between which a passage leads through a door,
+(_l_,) into the wood-shed, (_h_,) open on all sides, with its roof
+resting on four posts set in the ground. The large cheese-table, (_d_,)
+stands on the opposite end, and is 3 feet wide. In the center of the
+room is a chimney, (_e_,) with a whey and water boiler, and vats on each
+side. A flight of stairs, (_f_,) leading into the storage room above,
+is in the rear. A door, (_b_,) on the extreme right, leads into the
+ice-house, (_g_.) There are four windows to the room--two on each side,
+front and rear. In the loft are placed the shelves for storing the
+cheese, as soon as sufficiently prepared on the temporary table below.
+This loft is thoroughly ventilated by windows, and the heat of the sun
+upon it ripens the cheese rapidly for market. A trapdoor, through the
+floors, over which is hung a tackle, admits the cheese from below, or
+passes it down, when prepared for market.
+
+The cheese house should, if possible, be placed on a sloping bank, when
+it is designed to feed the whey to pigs; and even when it is fed to
+cows, it is more convenient to pass it to them on a lower level, than to
+carry it out in buckets. It may, however, if on level ground, be
+discharged into vats, in a cellar below, and pumped out as wanted.
+A cellar is convenient--indeed, almost indispensable--under the cheese
+dairy; and water should be so near as to be easily pumped, or drawn,
+into the vats and kettles used in running up the curd, or for washing
+the utensils used in the work. When the milk is kept over night, for the
+next morning's curd, temporary tables may be placed near the ice-room,
+to hold the pans or tubs in which it may be set, and the ice used to
+temper the milk to the proper degree for raising the cream. If the dairy
+be of such extent as to require larger accommodation than the plan here
+suggested, a room or two may be partitioned off from the main milk and
+pressing-room, for washing the vessels and other articles employed, and
+for setting the milk. Every facility should be made for neatness in all
+the operations connected with the work.
+
+Different accommodations are required, for making the different kinds of
+cheese which our varied markets demand, and in the fitting up of the
+dairy-house, no _positive_ plan of arrangement can be laid down, suited
+alike to all the work which may be demanded. The dairyman, therefore,
+will best arrange all these for the particular convenience which he
+requires. The main plan, and style of building however, we think will be
+generally approved, as being in an agreeable architectural style, and of
+convenient construction and shape for the objects intended.
+
+
+THE BUTTER DAIRY.
+
+This, if pursued on the same farm with the cheese dairy, and at
+different seasons of the year, may be carried on in the lower parts of
+the same building. But as it is usually a distinct branch of business,
+when prosecuted as the chief object on a farm, it should have
+accommodations of its own kind, which should be fitted up specially for
+that purpose.
+
+We cannot, perhaps, suggest a better model of a building for the butter
+dairy, than the one just submitted for the cheese-house, only that there
+is no necessity for the upper story; and the posts of the main building
+should not stand more than nine feet above the sills. A good, walled
+cellar, well lighted, as a room for setting the milk, is indispensable,
+with a broad, open flight of steps, from the main floor above, into it.
+Here, too, should stand the stone slabs, where the butter is worked, and
+the churns, to be driven by hand, or water, or animal power, as the two
+latter may be provided, and introduced into the building by belt, shaft,
+or crank. If running water can be brought on to the milk-shelves, from
+a higher level, which, for this purpose, should have curbs two or three
+inches high on their sides, it can flow in a constant gentle current
+over them, among the pans, from a receiving vat, in which ice is
+deposited, to keep the milk at the proper temperature--about 55deg
+Fahrenheit--for raising the cream; and if the quantity of milk be large,
+the shelves can be so arranged, by placing each tier of shelf lower than
+the last, like steps, that the water may pass among them all before it
+escapes from the room. Such a mode of applying water and ice, renders
+the entire process of cream-rising almost certain in all weathers, and
+is highly approved wherever it has been practiced. The low temperature
+of the room, by the aid of water and ice, is also beneficial to the
+butter packed in kegs, keeping it cool and sweet--as much like a
+spring-house as possible, in its operation.
+
+The washing and drying of pans, buckets, churns, and the heating of
+water, should all be done in the room above, where the necessary kettles
+are set, and kept from contact with the cool atmosphere of the lower
+room. The latter apartment should have a well-laid stone or brick floor,
+filled and covered with a strong cement of water lime, and sloping
+gradually to the outer side, where all the water may pass off by a
+drain, and everything kept sweet and clean. The buttermilk may, as in
+the case of the whey, in the cheese dairy, be passed off in spouts to
+the pigsty, which should not be far distant.
+
+As all this process of arrangement, however, must conform somewhat to
+the shape of the ground, the locality, and the facilities at hand where
+it may be constructed; it is hardly possible to give any one system of
+detail which is applicable to an uniform mode of structure; and much
+will be left to the demands and the skill of the dairyman himself, in
+the plan he may finally adopt.
+
+
+
+
+THE WATER RAM.
+
+
+As water, and that of a good quality, and in abundant quantity, is
+indispensable to the various demands of the farm, it is worth some pains
+to provide it in the most economical manner, and at the most convenient
+points for use. In level grounds, wells are generally dug, and the water
+drawn up by buckets or pumps. In a hilly country, springs, and streams
+from higher grounds, may be brought in by the aid of pipes, the water
+flowing naturally, under its own head, wherever it may be wanted, away
+from its natural stream.
+
+  [Illustration: WATER RAM.]
+
+But, of all contrivances to elevate water from a _lower_ fountain, or
+current, to a _higher_ level, by its _own action_, the Water Ram is the
+most complete in its operation, and perfect in its construction, of
+anything within our knowledge. And as it may not be generally known to
+our readers, at our request, Messrs. A. B. ALLEN & CO., of New York--who
+keep them of all sizes for sale, at their agricultural warehouse, No's.
+189 and 191, Water-street--have kindly furnished us with the following
+description of the machine, given by W. & B. Douglass, of Middletown,
+Connecticut, manufacturers of the article:
+
+  "H, spring or brook. C, drive, or supply-pipe, from brook to ram.
+  G, discharge pipe, conveying water to house or other point required
+  for use. B, D, A, E, I, the Ram. J, the plank or other foundation to
+  which the machine is secured for use.
+
+  "The various uses of the ram are at once obvious, viz., for the
+  purposes of irrigating lands, and supplying dwellings, barnyards,
+  gardens, factories, villages, engines, railroad stations, &c., with
+  running water.
+
+  "The simplicity of the operation of this machine, together with its
+  effectiveness, and very apparent durability, renders it decidedly
+  the most important and valuable apparatus yet developed in
+  hydraulics, for forcing a portion of a running stream of water to
+  any elevation, proportionate to the fall obtained. It is perfectly
+  applicable where no more than eighteen inches fall can be had; yet,
+  the greater the fall applied, the more powerful the operation of the
+  machine, and the higher the water may be conveyed. The relative
+  proportions between the water raised, and wasted, is dependent
+  entirely upon the relative height of the spring or source of supply
+  above the ram, and the elevation to which it is required to be
+  raised. The quantity raised varying in proportion to the height to
+  which it is conveyed, with a given fall; also, the distance which
+  the water has to be conveyed, and consequent length of pipe, has
+  some bearing on the quantity of water raised and discharged by the
+  ram; as, the longer the pipe through which the water has to be
+  forced by the machine, the greater the friction to be overcome, and
+  the more the power consumed in the operation; yet, it is common to
+  apply the ram for conveying the water distances of one and two
+  hundred rods, and up elevations of one and two hundred feet. Ten
+  feet fall from the spring, or brook, to the ram, is abundantly
+  sufficient for forcing up the water to any elevation under say one
+  hundred and fifty feet in height, above the level of the point where
+  the ram is located; and the same ten feet fall will raise the water
+  to a much higher point than above last named, although in a
+  _diminished_ quantity, in proportion as the height is increased.
+  When a sufficient quantity of water is raised with a given fall,
+  it is not advisable to increase said fall, as in so doing the force
+  with which the ram works is increased, and the amount of labor which
+  it has to perform greatly augmented, the wear and tear of the
+  machine proportionably increased, and the durability of the same
+  lessened; so that economy, in the expense of keeping the ram in
+  repair, would dictate that no greater fall should be applied, for
+  propelling the ram, than is sufficient to raise a requisite supply
+  of water to the place of use. To enable any person to make the
+  calculation, as to what fall would be sufficient to apply to the
+  ram, to raise a sufficient supply of water to his premises, we would
+  say, that in conveying it any ordinary distance, of say fifty or
+  sixty rods, it may be safely calculated that about one-seventh part
+  of the water can be raised and discharged at an elevation above the
+  ram five times as high as the fall which is applied to the ram, or
+  one-fourteenth part can be raised and discharged, say ten times as
+  high as the fall applied; and so in that proportion, as the fall or
+  rise is varied. Thus, if the ram be placed under a head or fall of
+  five feet, of every seven gallons drawn from the spring, one may be
+  raised twenty-five feet, or half a gallon fifty feet. Or with ten
+  feet fall applied to the machine, of every fourteen gallons drawn
+  from the spring, one gallon may be raised to the height of one
+  hundred feet above the machine; and so in like proportion, as the
+  fall or rise is increased or diminished.
+
+  "It is presumed that the above illustrations of what the machine
+  will do under certain heads and rise, will be sufficient for all
+  practical purposes, to enable purchasers of the article to
+  determine, with a sufficient degree of nicety, as to the head or
+  fall to apply to the ram for a given rise and distance, which they
+  may wish to overcome in raising water from springs or brooks to
+  their premises, or other places where water is required. Yet, we
+  have the pleasure of copying the following article, which we find in
+  the 'American Agriculturist,' a very valuable journal published by
+  C. M. Saxton, 152 Fulton-street, New York, which may serve to
+  corroborate our statements as to what our ram will accomplish under
+  given circumstances:
+
+  "'The following is a correct statement of a water ram I have had in
+  successful operation for the last six months:
+
+  "'1. The fall from the surface of the water in the spring is four
+  feet. 2. The quantity of water delivered per ten minutes, at my
+  house, is three and a quarter gallons, and that discharged at the
+  ram twenty-five gallons. Thus, nearly one-seventh part of the water
+  is saved. 3. The perpendicular height of the place of delivery above
+  the ram is nineteen feet--say fifteen feet above the surface of the
+  spring. 4. The length of the pipe leading from the ram to the house
+  is one hundred and ninety feet. 5. The pipe leading from the ram to
+  the house has three right angles, rounded by curves. 6. The ram is
+  of Douglass' make, of a small size. 7. The length of the drive or
+  supply-pipe is sixty feet. Its inner diameter one inch. 8. The depth
+  of water in the spring, over the drive pipe, is six inches. 9. The
+  inner diameter of the pipe, conducting the water from the ram to the
+  house, is three-eighths of an inch.
+
+  "'I consider it very essential that the drive or supply-pipe should
+  be laid as straight as possible, as in the motion of the water in
+  this pipe consists the power of the ram.
+
+  V. H. HALLOCK.
+
+  North-East Center, N.Y., April 2d, 1849.'"
+
+We have seen several of these rams at work; and in any place where the
+required amount of fall can be had, with sufficient water to supply the
+demand, we are entirely satisfied that no plan so cheap and efficient
+can be adopted, by which to throw it to a higher level, and at a
+distance from the point of its flow. We heartily commend it to all who
+need a thing of the kind, and have at hand the facilities in the way of
+a stream for its use.
+
+It is hardly worth while to add, that by the aid of the ram, water can
+be thrown into every room in the dwelling house, as well as into the
+various buildings, and yards, and fields of the farm, wherever it may be
+required.
+
+
+
+
+RAT-PROOF GRANARY.
+
+
+This plan, and description, we take from an agricultural periodical
+published in New York--"The Plow." We can recommend no plan of a better
+kind for the objects required. It is an old-fashioned structure, which
+many of our readers will recognize--only, that it is improved in some of
+its details.
+
+  [Illustration: GRANARY]
+
+The illustration above needs but little description. The posts should be
+stone, if procurable, one foot square, and four feet long, set one-third
+in the ground, and capped with smooth flat stones, four to six inches
+thick, and two feet, at least, across. If wooden posts are used, make
+them sixteen inches square, and set them in a hole previously filled,
+six inches deep, with charcoal, or rubble stone and lime grouting, and
+fill around the posts with the same. Four inches from the top, nail on a
+flange of tin or sheet iron, six inches wide, the projecting edge of
+which may be serrated, as a further preventive against the depredating
+rascals creeping around. The steps are hinged to the door-sill, and
+should have a cord and weight attached to the door, so that whenever it
+is shut, the steps should be up also; this would prevent the possibility
+of carelessness in leaving them down for the rats to walk up. The sides
+should be made of slats, with large cracks between, and the floor under
+the corn-crib, with numerous open joints; no matter if shattered corn
+falls through, let the pigs and chickens have it; the circulation of the
+air through the pile of corn, will more than pay for all you will lose
+through the floor. If you intend to have sweet grain, be sure to have a
+ventilator in the roof, and you may see by the vane on the top of it,
+how the wind will always blow favorably for you.
+
+
+
+
+IMPROVED DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
+
+
+Having completed the series of subjects which we had designed for this
+work, we are hardly content to send it out to the public, without
+inviting the attention of our farmers, and others who dwell in the
+country and occupy land, to the importance of surrounding themselves
+with the best breeds of domestic animals, as an item of increased profit
+in their farm management, and as a subject of interest and satisfaction
+to themselves in the embellishment of their grounds.
+
+We have addressed ourselves through these pages to the good sense of men
+who, in their general character and pursuits, comprise the most stable
+class of our population. We have endeavored to impress upon them the
+importance of providing all the conveniences and comforts to themselves,
+in their dwellings, as well as the due provision for their animals and
+crops, in the rougher farm buildings, which their circumstances will
+admit; and we trust they have been shown that it is proper economy so to
+do. We have, in addition to these, somewhat dilated upon objects of
+embellishment, in the way of grounds to surround them, and trees to
+beautify them, which will in no way interfere with a just economy, and
+add greatly to the pleasure and interest of their occupation. We now
+want them to introduce into those grounds such domestic animals as shall
+add to their ornament, and be far more profitable to themselves, than
+the inferior things which are called the common, or native stock of the
+country. Without this last lesson, half our object would be lost. Of
+what avail will be the best provision for the conveniences of a family,
+and the labors of the farm, if the farm be badly cultivated, and a
+worthless or inferior stock be kept upon it? The work is but half done
+at best; and the inferiority of the last will only become more
+conspicuous and contemptible, in contrast with the superior condition of
+the first.
+
+It is not intended to go into an examination of the farm-stock of our
+country at large, nor into their modes of treatment; but, to recommend
+such varieties of animals as are profitable in their breeding and
+keeping, both to the professional farmer in his vocation, and to such
+as, beyond this, find them an object of convenience, or of pleasure.
+
+We, in America, are comparatively a young people. Yet, we have
+surmounted _necessity_. We have arrived at the period when we enjoy the
+fruits of competence--some of us, the luxuries of wealth. A taste for
+superior domestic animals has been increasing, and spreading over the
+United States for many years past; so that now, a portion of our farmers
+and country people understand somewhat of the subject. It has been
+thoroughly demonstrated, that good farm stock is better, and more
+profitable than poor stock. Still, a taste for good stock, and the
+advantages of keeping them, over the common stock of the country, is not
+_generally_ understood; and that taste has to be cultivated. It is not
+altogether a thing of nature, any more than other faculties which
+require the aid of education to develope. We have known many people who
+had a fine perception in many things: an eye for a fine house, pleasant
+grounds, beautiful trees, and all the surroundings which such a place
+might command; and when these were complete, would place about it the
+veriest brutes, in the way of domestic animals, imaginable. The resident
+of the city, who lives at his country-house in summer, and selects a
+picture of mean or inferior quality, to hang up in his house by way of
+ornament, would be laughed at by his friends; yet he may drive into his
+grounds the meanest possible creature, in the shape of a cow, a pig,
+or a sheep, and it is all very well--for neither he nor they know any
+better; yet, the one is quite as much out of place as the other. The
+man, too, who, in good circumstances, will keep and drive a miserable
+horse, is the ridicule of his neighbors, because everybody knows what a
+good horse is, and that he should be well kept. Yet, the other stock on
+his farm may be the meanest trash in existence, and it creates no
+remark. On the contrary, one who at any _extra_ cost has supplied
+himself with stock of the choicer kinds, let their superiority be ever
+so apparent, has often been the subject of ribaldry, by his unthinking
+associates. And such, we are sorry to say, is still the case in too many
+sections of our country. But, on the whole, both our public spirit, and
+our intelligence, is increasing, in such things.
+
+Now, we hold it to be a _practical_ fact, that no farm, or country
+place, can be complete in its appointments, without good stock upon it;
+and it is useless for any one to suppose that his farm, or his place, is
+_finished_, without it. The man who has a fine lawn, of any extent,
+about his house, or a park adjoining, should have something to graze
+it--for he cannot afford to let it lie idle; nor is it worth while, even
+if he can afford it, to be mowing the grass in it every fortnight during
+the summer, to make it sightly. Besides this, grass will grow under the
+trees, and that too thin, and short, for cutting. This ground must, of
+course, be pastured. Now, will he go and get a parcel of mean scrubs of
+cattle, or sheep, to graze it, surrounding his very door, and disgracing
+him by their vulgar, plebeian looks, and yielding him no return, in
+either milk, beef, mutton, or wool? Of course not, if he be a wise, or a
+provident man, or one who has any true taste in such matters. He will
+rather go and obtain the best stock he can get, of breeds suited to the
+climate, and soil, which will give him a profitable return, either in
+milk, or flesh, or their increase, for his outlay; and which will also
+embellish his grounds, and create an interest in his family for their
+care, and arrest the attention of those who visit him, or pass by his
+grounds. Of the proper selection of this branch of his stock, we shall
+now discourse.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+In cattle, if your grounds be rich, and your grass abundant, the
+short-horns are the stock for them. They are "the head and front,"
+in appearance, size, and combination of good qualities--the very
+aristocracy of all neat cattle. A well-bred, and well developed
+short-horn cow, full in the qualities which belong to her character,
+is the very perfection of her kind. Her large, square form; fine orange,
+russet, or nut-colored muzzle; bright, prominent, yet mild, expressive
+eye; small, light horn; thin ears; clean neck; projecting brisket; deep,
+and broad chest; level back, and loin; broad hips; large, and
+well-spread udder, with its silky covering of hair, and clean, taper,
+wide-standing teats, giving twenty to thirty quarts of rich milk in a
+day; deep thigh, and twist; light tail; small, short legs; and, added to
+this, her brilliant and ever-varying colors of all, and
+every-intermingling shades of red, and white, or either of them alone;
+such, singly, or in groups, standing quietly under the shade of trees,
+grazing in the open field, or quietly resting upon the grass, are the
+very perfection of a cattle picture, and give a grace and beauty to the
+grounds which no living thing can equal. Here stands a short-horn cow,
+in all the majesty of her style and character!
+
+We add, also, a short-horn bull, which exhibits, in a high degree, the
+vigor, stamina, and excellence of his kind.
+
+Nor, in this laudation of the short-horns, are we at all mistaken.
+Go into the luxuriant blue-grass pastures of Kentucky; the rich, and
+wide-spread grazing regions of central, and lower Ohio; the prairies of
+Indiana, and Illinois, just now beginning to receive them; the sweet,
+and succulent pastures of central and western New York, or on the Hudson
+river; and now and then, a finely-cultivated farm in other sections of
+the United States, where their worth has become established; and they
+present pictures of thrift, of excellence, of beauty, and of profit,
+that no other neat cattle can pretend to equal.
+
+As a family cow, nothing can excel the short-horn, in the abundance and
+richness of her milk, and in the profit she will yield to her owner;
+and, on every place where she can be supplied with abundance of food,
+she stands without a rival. From the short-horns, spring those
+magnificent fat oxen and steers, which attract so much admiration, and
+carry off the prizes, at our great cattle shows. Thousands of them, of
+less or higher grade in blood, are fed every year, in the Scioto, the
+Miami, and the other great feeding valleys of the west, and in the
+fertile corn regions of Kentucky, and taken to the New York and
+Philadelphia markets. As a profitable beast to the grazier, and the
+feeder, nothing can equal them in early maturity and excellence. For
+this purpose, the short-horns are steadily working their way all over
+the vast cattle-breeding regions of the west; and, for the richness and
+abundance of her milk, the cow is eagerly introduced into the dairy, and
+milk-producing sections of the other states, where she will finally take
+rank, and maintain her superiority over all others, on rich and
+productive soils.
+
+  [Illustration: DEVON COW. DEVON BULL.]
+
+On lighter soils, with shorter pastures; or on hilly and stony grounds,
+another race of cattle may be kept, better adapted to such localities,
+than those just described. They are the Devons--also an English breed,
+and claimed there as an aboriginal race in England; and if any variety
+of cattle, exhibiting the blood-like beauty, and fineness of limb, the
+deep, uniformity of color, and the gazelle-like brilliancy of their eye,
+can claim a remote ancestry, and a pure descent, the Devons can make
+such claim, beyond almost any other. They were introduced--save now and
+then an isolated animal at an earlier day--into the United States some
+thirty-two or three years ago, about the same time with the short-horns;
+and like them, have been added to, and improved by frequent importations
+since; until now, probably our country will show some specimens equal in
+quality to their high general character in the land of their nativity.
+Unlike the short-horn, the Devon is a much lighter animal, with a like
+fine expression of countenance; an elevated horn; more agile in form;
+yet finer in limb, and bone; a deep mahogany-red in color; and of a
+grace, and beauty in figure excelled by no other breed whatever. The
+Devon cow is usually a good milker, for her size; of quiet temper;
+docile in her habits; a quick feeder; and a most satisfactory animal in
+all particulars. From the Devons, spring those beautifully matched red
+working-oxen, so much admired in our eastern states; the superiors to
+which, in kindness, docility, endurance, quickness, and honesty of
+labor, no country can produce. In the _quality_ of their beef, they are
+unrivaled by any breed of cattle in the United States; but in their
+early maturity for that purpose, are not equal to the short-horns.
+
+We here present a cut of a Devon cow; but with the remark, that she
+presents a deficiency of bag, and stands higher on the leg, than she
+ought to do; and her leanness in flesh gives her a less graceful
+appearance than is her wont, when in good condition.
+
+We present, also, the cut of a Devon bull. This figure does not do him
+full justice, the head being drawn in, to give the cut room on the page.
+
+Several beautiful herds of Devons are to be found in New York, in
+Maryland, in Connecticut, and in Massachusetts; and some few in other
+states, where they can be obtained by those who wish to purchase. And it
+is a gratifying incident, to learn that both the breeds we have named
+are increasing in demand, which has created a corresponding spirit in
+those who breed them, to bestow their best attention in perfecting their
+good qualities.
+
+Another branch of domestic stock should also excite the attention of
+those who wish to embellish their grounds, as well as to improve the
+quality of their mutton--obtaining, withal, a fleece of valuable wool.
+These are the Southdown, and the Cotswold, Leicester, or other improved
+breeds of long-wooled sheep. There is no more peaceful, or beautiful
+small animal to be seen, in an open park, or pleasure ground, or in the
+paddock of a farm, than these; and as they have been of late much sought
+after, they will be briefly noticed.
+
+  [Illustration: SOUTHDOWN RAM. SOUTHDOWN EWE.]
+
+  [Illustration: LONG-WOOLED RAM. LONG-WOOLED EWE.]
+
+The Southdown, a cut of which we present, is a fine, compact, and solid
+sheep, with dark face and legs; quiet in its habits, mild in
+disposition, of a medium quality, and medium weight of fleece; and
+yielding a kind of mutton unsurpassed in flavor and delicacy--equal,
+in the estimation of many, to the finest venison. The carcass of a
+Southdown wether, when well fatted, is large, weighing, at two to three
+years old, a hundred to a hundred and twenty pounds. The ewe is a
+prolific breeder, and a good nurse. They are exceedingly hardy, and will
+thrive equally well in all climates, and on all our soils, where they
+can live. There is no other variety of sheep which has been bred to that
+high degree of perfection, in England. The great Southdown breeder, Mr.
+Webb, of Batraham, has often received as high as fifty, to one hundred
+guineas, in a season, for the _use_ of a single ram. Such prices show
+the estimation in which the best Southdowns are held there, as well as
+their great popularity among the English farmers. They are extensively
+kept in the parks, and pleasure grounds of the wealthy people, where
+things of profit are usually connected with those devoted to luxury.
+
+For this cut of the Southdown ewe, we are indebted to the kindness of
+Luther Tucker, Esq., of the Albany "Cultivator."
+
+The Cotswold, New Oxford, and Leicester sheep, of the long-wooled
+variety, are also highly esteemed, in the same capacity as the
+Southdowns.
+
+They are large; not so compactly built as the Southdowns; producing a
+heavy fleece of long wool, mostly used for combing, and making into
+worsted stuffs. They are scarcely so hardy, either, as the Southdowns;
+nor are they so prolific. Still, they have many excellent qualities; and
+although their mutton has not the fine grain, nor delicacy, of the
+other, it is of enormous weight, when well fattened, and a most
+profitable carcass. It has sometimes reached a weight of two hundred
+pounds, when dressed. They are gentle, and quiet in their habits; white
+in the face and legs; and show a fine and stately contrast to the
+Southdowns, in their increased size, and breadth of figure. They
+require, also, a somewhat richer pasture; but will thrive on any good
+soil, yielding sweet grasses. For the cut of the Cotswold ewe, we are
+also indebted to Mr. Tucker, of "The Cultivator."
+
+To show the contrast between the _common_ native sheep, and the improved
+breeds, of which we have spoken, a true portrait of the former is
+inserted, which will be readily recognized as the creature which
+embellishes, in so high a degree, many of the wild nooks, and rugged
+farms of the country!
+
+  [Illustration: A COMMON SHEEP.]
+
+That the keeping of choice breeds of animals, and the cultivation of a
+high taste for them, is no _vulgar_ matter, with even the most exalted
+intellects, and of men occupying the most honorable stations in the
+state, and in society; and that they concern the retired gentleman, as
+well as the practical farmer, it is only necessary to refer to the many
+prominent examples in Great Britain, and our own country, within the
+last fifty years.
+
+The most distinguished noblemen of England, and Scotland, have long bred
+the finest of cattle, and embellished their home parks with them. The
+late Earl Spencer, one of the great patrons of agricultural improvement
+in England, at his death owned a herd of two hundred of the highest bred
+short-horns, which he kept on his home farm, at Wiseton. The Dukes of
+Bedford, for the last century and a half, have made extraordinary
+exertions to improve their several breeds of cattle. The late Earl of
+Leicester, better known, perhaps, as Mr. Coke, of Holkham, and the most
+celebrated farmer of his time, has been long identified with his large
+and select herds of Devons, and his flocks of Southdowns. The Duke of
+Richmond has his great park at Goodwood stocked with the finest
+Southdowns, Short-horns, and Devons. Prince Albert, even, has caught the
+infection of such liberal and useful example, and the royal park at
+Windsor is tenanted with the finest farm stock, of many kinds; and he is
+a constant competitor at the great Smithfield cattle shows, annually
+held in London. Besides these, hundreds of the nobility, and wealthy
+country gentlemen of Great Britain, every year compete with the
+intelligent farmers, in their exhibitions of cattle, at the royal and
+provincial shows, in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
+
+In the United States, Washington was a great promoter of improvement in
+farm stock, and introduced on to his broad estate, at Mount Vernon, many
+foreign animals, which he had sent out to him at great expense; and it
+was his pride to show his numerous and distinguished guests, his horses,
+cattle, sheep, and pigs. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, was among the first
+promoters of the improvement of domestic animals in the fertile region,
+of which his own favorite Ashland is the center; and to his continued
+efforts in the breeding of the finest short-horns, and mules, is the
+state of Kentucky greatly indebted for its reputation in these
+descriptions of stock. Daniel Webster has introduced on to his estate,
+at Marshfield, the finest cattle, and sheep suited to its soil and
+climate, and takes much pride in showing their good qualities. Indeed,
+we have never heard either of these two last remarkable men more
+eloquent, than when discoursing of their cattle, and of their pleasure
+in ranging over their pastures, and examining their herds and flocks.
+They have both been importers of stock, and liberal in their
+dissemination among their agricultural friends and neighbors.
+Public-spirited, patriotic men, in almost every one of our states, have
+either imported from Europe, or drawn from a distance in their own
+country, choice animals, to stock their own estates, and bred them for
+the improvement of their several neighborhoods. Merchants, and generous
+men of other professions, have shown great liberality, and the finest
+taste, in importing, rearing, and distributing over the country the best
+breeds of horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. Their own beautiful home
+grounds are embellished with them, in a style that all the dumb statuary
+in existence can not equal in interest--models of grace, and beauty, and
+utility, which are in vain sought among the sculpture, or paintings of
+ancient time. And many a plain and unpretending farmer of our country,
+emulating such laudable examples, now shows in his luxuriant pastures,
+and well-filled barns and stables, the choicest specimens of imported
+stock; and their prizes, won at the cattle shows, are the laudable pride
+of themselves, and their families.
+
+Nor is this laudable taste, confined to _men_ alone. Females of the
+highest worth, and domestic example, both abroad and at home, cultivate
+a love for such objects, and take much interest in the welfare of their
+farm stock. We were at the annual state cattle show, in one of our large
+states, but a short time since, and in loitering about the cattle
+quarter of the grounds, met a lady of our acquaintance, with a party of
+her female friends, on a tour of inspection among the beautiful
+short-horns, and Devons, and the select varieties of sheep. She was the
+daughter of a distinguished statesman, who was also a large farmer, and
+a patron of great liberality, in the promotion of fine stock in his own
+state. She was bred upon the farm, and, to rare accomplishments in
+education, was possessed of a deep love for all rural objects; and in
+the stock of the farm she took a peculiar interest. Her husband was an
+extensive farmer, and a noted breeder of fine animals. She had her own
+farm, too, and cattle upon it, equally as choice as his, in her own
+right; and they were both competitors at the annual exhibitions.
+Introduced to her friends, at her request, we accompanied them in their
+round of inspection. There were the beautiful cows, and the younger
+cattle, and the sheep--all noticed, criticised, and remarked upon; and
+with a judgment, too, in their various properties, which convinced us of
+her sound knowledge of their physiology, and good qualities, which she
+explained to her associates with all the familiarity that she would a
+tambouring frame, or a piece of embroidery. There was no squeamish
+fastidiousness; no affectation of prudery, in this; but all natural as
+the pure flow of admiration in a well-bred lady could be. At her most
+comfortable, and hospitable residence, afterward, she showed us, with
+pride, the several cups, and other articles of plate, which her family
+had won as prizes, at the agricultural exhibitions; and which she
+intended to preserve, as heir-looms to her children. This is not a
+solitary example; yet, a too rare one, among our fair countrywomen. Such
+a spirit is contagious, and we witness with real satisfaction, their
+growing taste in such laudable sources of enjoyment: contrary to the
+_parvenue_ affectation of a vast many otherwise sensible and
+accomplished females of our cities and towns--comprising even the wives
+and daughters of farmers, too--who can saunter among the not over
+select, and equivocal representations, among the paintings and statuary
+of our public galleries; and descant with entire freedom, on the various
+attitudes, and artistical merits of the works before them; or gaze with
+apparent admiration upon the brazen pirouettes of a public dancing girl,
+amid all the equivoque of a crowded theater; and yet, whose delicacy is
+shocked at the exhibitions of a cattle show! Such females as we have
+noticed, can admire the living, moving beauty of animal life, with the
+natural and easy grace of purity itself, and without the slightest
+suspicion of a stain of vulgarity. From the bottom of our heart, we
+trust that a reformation is at work among our American women, in the
+promotion of a taste, and not only a taste, but a genuine _love_ of
+things connected with country life. It was not so, with the mothers, and
+the wives, of the stern and earnest men, who laid the foundations of
+their country's freedom and greatness. They were women of soul,
+character, and stamina; who grappled with the _realities_ of life, in
+their labors; and enjoyed its pleasures with truth and honesty. This
+over-nice, mincing delicacy, and sentimentality, in which their
+grand-daughters indulge, is but the off-throw of the boarding-school,
+the novelist, and the prude--mere "leather and prunella." Such remarks
+may be thought to lie beyond the line of our immediate labor. But in the
+discussion of the collateral subjects which have a bearing upon country
+life and residence, we incline to make a clean breast of it, and drop
+such incidental remark as may tend to promote the enjoyment, as well as
+instruction, of those whose sphere of action, and whose choice in life
+is amid the pure atmosphere, and the pure pleasures of the country.
+
+
+
+
+WATER-FOWLS.
+
+
+If a stream flow through the grounds, in the vicinity of the house; or a
+pond, or a small lake be near, a few varieties of choice water-fowls may
+be kept, adding much to the interest and amusement of the family. Many
+of the English nobility, and gentry, keep swans for such purpose. They
+are esteemed a bird of much grace and beauty, although silent, and of
+shy, unsocial habits, and not prolific in the production of their young.
+For such purposes as they are kept in England, the great African goose,
+resembling the China, but nearly double in size, is a preferable
+substitute in this country. It is a more beautiful bird in its plumage;
+equally graceful in the water; social, and gentle in its habits;
+breeding with facility, and agreeable in its voice, particularly at a
+little distance. The African goose will attain a weight of twenty to
+twenty-five pounds. Its body is finely formed, heavily feathered, and
+its flesh is of delicate flavor. The top of the head, and the back of
+its neck, which is long, high, and beautifully arched, is a dark brown;
+its bill black, with a high protuberance, or knob, at its junction with
+the head; a dark hazel eye, with a golden ring around it; the under part
+of the head and neck, a soft ash-color; and a heavy dewlap at the
+throat. Its legs and feet are orange-colored; and its belly white. Taken
+altogether, a noble and majestic bird.
+
+  [Illustration: CHINA GOOSE.]
+
+The small brown China goose is another variety which may be introduced.
+She is nearly the color of the African, but darker; has the same black
+bill, and high protuberance on it, but without the dewlap under the
+throat; and has black legs and feet. She is only half the size of the
+other; is a more prolific layer,--frequently laying three or four
+clutches of eggs in a year; has the same character of voice; an equally
+high, arched neck, and is quite as graceful in the water. The neck of
+the goose in the cut should be one-third longer, to be an accurate
+likeness.
+
+The White China is another variety, in size and shape like the last, but
+perfectly white, with an orange colored bill and legs. Indeed, no swan
+can be more beautiful than this, which is of the same pure, clean
+plumage, and, in its habits and docility, equally a favorite with the
+others we have described.
+
+The Bremen goose is still another variety, of about the same size as the
+African, but in shape and appearance, not unlike the common goose,
+except in color, which is pure white. Young geese of this breed, at nine
+months old, frequently weigh twenty pounds, alive. We have had them of
+that weight, and for the table, none can be finer. They are equally
+prolific as the common goose, but, as a thing of ornament, are far
+behind the African and the China. Still, they are a stately bird, and an
+acquisition to any grounds where water-fowls are a subject of interest,
+convenience, or profit.
+
+All these birds are more domestic, if possible, than the common goose,
+and we have found them less troublesome, not inclined to wander abroad,
+and, in all the qualities of such a bird, far more agreeable. We have
+long kept them, and without their presence, should consider our grounds
+as incomplete, in one of the most attractive features of animated life.
+
+It is too much a fault of our farming population, that they do not pay
+sufficient attention to many little things which would render their
+homes more interesting, both to themselves, if they would only think so,
+and to their families, most certainly. If parents have no taste for such
+objects as we have recommended, or even others more common, they should
+encourage their children in the love of them, and furnish them for their
+amusement. The very soul of a farmer's home is to cluster every thing
+about it which shall make it attractive, and speak out the character of
+the country, and of his occupation, in its full extent. Herds and flocks
+upon the farm are a matter of course; and so are the horses, and the
+pigs. But there are other things, quite as indicative of household
+abundance, and domestic enjoyment. The pigeons, and the poultry of all
+kinds, and perhaps the rabbit warren, which are chiefly in charge of the
+good housewife, and her daughters, and the younger boys, show out the
+domestic feeling and benevolence of character in the family, not to be
+mistaken. It is a sign of enjoyment, of domestic contentment, and of
+mental cultivation, even, that will lead to something higher, and more
+valuable in after life; and it is in such light that it becomes an
+absolute _duty_ of the farmer who seeks the improvement and education of
+his children, to provide them with all these little objects, to engage
+their leisure hours and promote their happiness. How different a home
+like this from one--which is, really, not a home--where no attention is
+paid to such minor attractions; where a few starveling things, by way of
+geese, perhaps, picked half a dozen times a year, to within an inch of
+their lives, mope about the dirty premises, making their nightly
+sittings in the door yard, if the house has one; a stray turkey, or two,
+running, from fear of the untutored dogs, into the nearest wood, in the
+spring, to make their rude nests, and bring out half a clutch of young,
+and creeping about the fields through the summer with a chicken or two,
+which the foxes, or other vermin, have spared, and then dogged down in
+the winter, to provide a half got-up Christmas-dinner; and the hens
+about the open buildings all the year, committing their nuisances in
+every possible way! There need be no surer indication than this, of the
+utter hopelessness of progress for good, in such a family.
+
+
+
+
+A WORD ABOUT DOGS.
+
+
+We always loved a dog; and it almost broke our little heart, when but a
+trudging schoolboy, in our first jacket-and-trowsers, our kind mother
+made us take back the young puppy that had hardly got its eyes open,
+which we one day brought home, to be kept until it was fit to be taken
+from its natural nurse. We are now among the boys, John, Tom, and Harry;
+and intend to give them the benefit of our own experience in this line,
+as well as to say a few words to the elder brothers,--and fathers,
+even,--if they do not turn up their noses in contempt of our
+instruction, on a subject so much beneath their notice.
+
+We say that we love dogs: not _all_ dogs, however. But we love some
+dogs--of the right breeds. There is probably no other civilized country
+so dog-ridden as this, both in
+
+  "Mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,
+  And curs of _low_ degree."
+
+Goldsmith, kind man that he was, must have been a capital judge of dogs,
+like many other poetical gentlemen. Still, other men than poets are
+sometimes good judges, and great lovers of dogs; but the mass of people
+are quite as well satisfied with one kind of dog as with another, so
+that it be a dog; and they too often indulge in their companionship,
+much to the annoyance of good neighborhood, good morals, and, indeed, of
+propriety, thrift, and common justice. Of all these we have nothing to
+say--here, at least. Ours is a "free country"--for dogs, if for nothing
+else. Nor shall we discuss the various qualities, or the different
+breeds of dogs for sporting purposes. We never go out shooting; nor do
+we take a hunt--having no taste that way. Perhaps in this we are to be
+pitied; but we are content as it is. Therefore we shall let the hounds,
+and pointers, and setters, the springers, and the land and the water
+spaniels, all alone. The mastiffs, and the bull dogs, too, we shall
+leave to those who like them. The poodle, and the little lap-dog of
+other kinds, also, we shall turn over to the kindness of those who--we
+are sorry for them, in having nothing better to interest themselves
+about--take a pleasure in keeping and tending them.
+
+We want to mix in a little _usefulness_, as well as amusement, in the
+way of a dog; and after a whole life, thus far, of dog companionship,
+and the trial of pretty much every thing in the line of a dog--from the
+great Newfoundland, of a hundred pounds weight, down to the squeaking
+little whiffet, of six--we have, for many years past, settled down into
+the practical belief that the small ratting terrier is the only one,
+except the shepherd dog, we care to keep; and of these, chiefly,
+we shall speak.
+
+There are many varieties of the Terrier. Some are large, weighing forty
+or fifty pounds, rough-haired, and savage looking. There is the
+bull-terrier, of less size, not a kindly, well-disposed creature to
+strangers; but irascibly inclined, and unamiable in his deportment;
+still useful as a watch-dog, and a determined enemy to all vermin,
+whatever. Then, again, are the small rat-terriers, as they are termed,
+weighing from a dozen to twenty pounds; some with rough, long, wiry
+hair; a fierce, whiskered muzzle; of prodigious strength for their size;
+wonderful instinct and sagacity; kind in temper; and possessing valuable
+qualities, bating a lack of beauty in appearance. They are of all
+colors, but are generally uniform in their color, whatever it be.
+Another kind, still, is the smooth terrier, of the same sizes as the
+last; a very pretty dog indeed; with a kinder disposition to mankind;
+yet equally destructive to vermin, and watchful to the premises which
+they inhabit, or of whatever else is put under their charge. The
+fidelity of the terrier to his master is wonderful; equal, if not
+superior to any other dog whatever. In courage and perseverance, in
+hardihood, and feats of daring, he has hardly an equal; and in general
+_usefulness,_ no dog can compare with him.
+
+  [Illustration: THE SMOOTH TERRIER.]
+
+Sir Walter Scott, who was a great friend to dogs, as well as a nice and
+critical judge of their qualities, used to tell this story:--When a
+young man, first attending, as an advocate, the Jedburgh assizes, a
+notorious burglar engaged Sir Walter to defend him on his trial for
+housebreaking in the neighborhood. The case was a hard one; the proof
+direct and conclusive; and no ingenuity of the defence could avoid the
+conviction of the culprit. The matter was settled beyond redemption; and
+before he left for his imprisonment, or transportation, the thief
+requested Sir Walter to come into his cell. On meeting, the fellow
+frankly told his counsel that he felt very grateful to him for his
+efforts to clear him; that he had done the best he could; but the proof
+was too palpable against him. He would gladly reward Sir Walter for his
+services; but he had no money, and could only give him a piece of
+advice, which might, perhaps, be serviceable hereafter. Sir Walter heard
+him, no doubt, with some regret at losing his fee; but concluding to
+hear what he had to say. "You are a housekeeper, Mr. Scott. For security
+to your doors, use nothing but a common lock--if rusty and old, no
+matter; they are quite as hard to pick as any others. (Neither Chubbs'
+nor Hobbs' _non-pickable_ locks were then invented.) Then provide
+yourself with a small rat terrier, and keep him in your house at night.
+There is no safety in a mastiff, or bull-dog, or in a large dog of any
+breed. They can always be appeased and quieted, and burglars understand
+them; but a terrier can neither be terrified nor silenced; nor do we
+attempt to break in where one is known to be kept." Sir Walter heeded
+the advice, and, in his housekeeping experience, afterward, confirmed
+the good qualities of the terrier, as related to him by the burglar.
+He also commemorated the conversation by the following not exceedingly
+poetical couplet:
+
+  "A terrier dog and a rusty key,
+  Was Walter Scott's first Jedburgh fee."
+
+The terrier has a perfect, thorough, unappeasable instinct for, and
+hatred to all kinds of vermin. He takes to rats and mice as naturally as
+a cat. He will scent out their haunts and burrows. He will lie for hours
+by their places of passage, and point them with the sagacity of a
+pointer at a bird. He is as quick as lightning, in pouncing upon them,
+when in sight, and rarely misses them when he springs. A single bite
+settles the matter; and where there are several rats found together, a
+dog will frequently dispatch half a dozen of them, before they can get
+twenty feet from him. A dog of our own has killed that number, before
+they could get across the stable floor. In the grain field, with the
+harvesters, a terrier will catch hundreds of field-mice in a day; or, in
+the hay field, he is equally destructive. With a woodchuck, a raccoon,
+or anything of their size--even a skunk, which many dogs avoid--he
+engages, with the same readiness that he will a rat. The night is no bar
+to his vigils. He has the sight of an owl, in the dark. Minks, and
+weasels, are his aversion, as much as other vermin. He will follow the
+first into the water, till he exhausts him with diving, and overtakes
+him in swimming. He is a hunter, too. He will tree a squirrel, or a
+raccoon, as readily as the best of sporting dogs. He will catch, and
+hold a pig, or anything not too large or heavy for him. He will lie down
+on your garment, and watch it for hours; or by anything else left in his
+charge. He will play with the children, and share their sports as
+joyfully as a dumb creature can do; and nothing can be more
+affectionate, kind, and gentle among them. He is cleanly, honest, and
+seldom addicted to tricks of any kind.
+
+We prefer the high-bred, smooth, English terrier, to any other variety.
+They are rather more gentle in temper, and very much handsomer in
+appearance, than the rough-haired kind; but perhaps no better in their
+useful qualities. We have kept them for years; we keep them now; and no
+reasonable inducement would let us part with them. A year or two ago,
+having accidentally lost our farm terrier, and nothing remaining on the
+place but our shepherd dog, the buildings soon swarmed with rats. They
+were in, and about everything. During the winter, the men who tended the
+horses, and cattle, at their nightly rounds of inspection, before going
+to bed, would kill, with their clubs, three or four, in the barns and
+stables, every evening. But still the rats increased, and they became
+unendurable. They got into the grain-mows, where they burrowed, and
+brought forth with a fecundity second only to the frogs of Egypt. They
+gnawed into the granaries. They dug into the dairy. They entered the
+meat barrels. They carried off the eggs from the hen-nests. They stole
+away, and devoured, the young ducks, and chickens. They literally came
+into the "kneading troughs" of the kitchen. Oh! the rats were
+intolerable! Traps were no use. Arsenic was innocuous--they wouldn't
+touch it. Opportunity favored us, and we got two high-bred, smooth,
+English terriers--a dog, and a slut. Then commenced such a slaughter as
+we seldom see. The rats had got bold. The dogs caught them daily by
+dozens, as they came out from their haunts, fearless of evil, as before.
+As they grew more shy, their holes were watched, and every morning dead
+rats were found about the premises. The dogs, during the day, pointed
+out their holes. Planks were removed, nests were found, and the rats,
+young and old, killed, _instanter_. Hundreds on hundreds were
+slaughtered, in the first few weeks; and in a short time, the place was
+mostly rid of them, until enough only are left to keep the dogs "in
+play," and to show that in spite of all precaution, they will harbor
+wherever there is a thing to eat, and a possible place of covert for
+them to burrow.
+
+To have the terrier in full perfection, it is important that the breed
+be _pure_. We are so prone to mix up everything we get, in this country,
+that it is sometimes difficult to get anything exactly as it should be;
+but a little care will provide us, in this particular. He should be
+properly trained, too, when young. That is, to mind what is said to him.
+His intelligence will be equal to all your wants in the _dog_-line; but
+he should not be _fooled_ with. His instincts are _sure_. And, with a
+good education, the terrier will prove all you need in a farm, and a
+watch-dog. We speak from long experience, and observation.
+
+  [Illustration: THE SHEPHERD DOG.]
+
+The shepherd dog is another useful--almost indispensable--creature, on
+the sheep, or dairy farm. This cut is an accurate representation of the
+finest of the breed. To the flock-master, he saves a world of labor, in
+driving and gathering the flocks together, or from one field, or place,
+to another. To the sheep-drover, also, he is worth a man, at least; and
+in many cases, can do with a flock what a man can not do. But for this
+labor, he requires training, and a strict, thorough education, by those
+who know how to do it. He is a peaceable, quiet creature; good for
+little else than driving, and on a stock farm will save fifty times his
+cost and keeping, every year. He is a reasonably good watch-dog, also;
+but he has neither the instinct, nor sagacity of the terrier, in that
+duty. To keep him in his best estate, for his own peculiar work, he
+should not be troubled with other labors, as it distracts his attention
+from his peculiar duties. We had a remarkably good dog, of this kind, a
+few years since. He was worth the services of a stout boy, in bringing
+up the cattle, and sheep, until an idle boy or two, in the neighborhood,
+decoyed him out in "_cooning_," a few nights during one autumn--in which
+he proved a most capital hunter; and after that, he became worthless, as
+a cattle dog. He was always rummaging around among the trees, barking at
+birds, squirrels, or any live thing that he could find; and no man could
+coax him back to the dull routine of his duty. A shepherd dog should
+never go a-hunting.
+
+We would not be understood as condemning everything else, excepting the
+dogs we have named, for farm use. The Newfoundland, and the mastiff, are
+enormously large dogs, and possessed of some noble qualities. They have
+performed feats of sagacity and fidelity which have attracted universal
+admiration; but, three to one, if you have them on your farm, they will
+kill every sheep upon it; and their watchfulness is no greater than that
+of the shepherd dog, or the terrier. We have spoken of such as we have
+entire confidence in, and such as we consider the best for useful
+service. There are some kinds of cur dog that are useful. They are of no
+_breed_ at all, to be sure; but have, now and then, good qualities; and
+when nothing better can be got, they will do for a make-shift. But as a
+rule, we would be equally particular in the _breed_ of our dog, as we
+would in the breed of our cattle, or sheep. There are altogether too
+many dogs kept, in the country, and most usually by a class of people
+who have no need of them, and which prove only a nuisance to the
+neighborhood, and a destruction to the goods of others. Thousands of
+useful sheep are annually destroyed by them; and in some regions of the
+country, they can not be kept, by reason of their destruction by
+worthless dogs, which are owned by the disorderly people about them. In
+a western state, some time ago, in conversing with a large farmer, who
+had a flock of perhaps a hundred sheep running in one of his pastures,
+and who also kept a dozen hounds, for hunting, we asked him whether the
+dogs did not kill his sheep? "To be sure they do," was his reply; "but
+the dogs are worth more than the sheep, for they give us great sport in
+hunting deer, and foxes; and the sheep only give us a little mutton, now
+and then, and some wool for the women to make into stockings!" This is a
+mere matter of taste, thought we, and the conversation on that subject
+dropped. Yet, this man had a thousand acres of the richest land in the
+world; raised three or four hundred acres of corn, a year; fed off a
+hundred head of cattle, annually; and sold three hundred hogs every
+year, for slaughtering!
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Books Published
+by
+C. M. SAXTON,
+152 Fulton Street, New York,
+
+Suitable for
+School, Town, Agricultural,
+and
+Private Libraries.
+
+
+The American Farm Book;
+  The American Farm Book; or, a Compend of American Agriculture,
+  being a Practical Treatise on Soils, Manures, Draining, Irrigation,
+  Grasses, Grain, Roots, Fruits, Cotton, Tobacco, Sugar-Cane, Rice,
+  and every staple product of the United States; with the best methods
+  of Planting, Cultivating, and Preparation for Market. Illustrated by
+  more than 100 engravings. By R. L. Allen. Cloth, $1; mail edition,
+  paper, 75 cts.
+
+American Poultry Yard;
+  The American Poultry Yard; comprising the Origin, History and
+  Description of the different Breeds of Domestic Poultry, with
+  complete directions for their Breeding, Crossing, Rearing,
+  Fattening, and Preparation for Market; including specific directions
+  for Caponizing Fowls, and for the Treatment of the Principal
+  Diseases to which they are subject; drawn from authentic sources and
+  personal observation. Illustrated with numerous engravings. By D. J.
+  Browne. Cloth or sheep, $1; mail edition, paper, 75 cts.
+
+The Diseases of Domestic Animals;
+  Being a History and Description of the Horse, Mule, Cattle, Sheep,
+  Swine, Poultry, and Farm Dogs, with Directions for their Management,
+  Breeding, Crossing, Rearing, Feeding, and Preparation for a
+  profitable Market; also, their Diseases and Remedies; together with
+  full Directions for the Management of the Dairy, and the Comparative
+  Economy and Advantages of Working Animals, the Horse, Mule, Oxen,
+  &c. By R. L. Allen. Cloth or sheep, 75 cts.; mail edition, paper,
+  50 cts.
+
+American Bee Keeper's Manual;
+  Being a Practical Treatise on the History and Domestic Economy of
+  the Honey Bee, embracing a full illustration of the whole subject,
+  with the most approved methods of Managing this Insect, through
+  every branch of its Culture, the result of many years' experience.
+  Illustrated with many engravings. By T. B. Miner. Cloth or sheep, $1.
+
+The Modern Stair Builder's Guide:
+  Being a Plain, Practical System of Hand Railing, embracing all its
+  necessary Details, and Geometrically Illustrated by Twenty-two Steel
+  Engravings; together with the Use of the most important Principles
+  of Practical Geometry. By Simon De Graff, Architect. $2.
+
+Prize Essay on Manures.
+  An Essay on Manures, submitted to the Trustees of the Massachusetts
+  Society for Promoting Agriculture, for their Premium. By Samuel L.
+  Dana. Paper. 25 cts.
+
+American Bird Fancier.
+  Considered with reference to the Breeding, Rearing, Feeding,
+  Management, &c., of Cage and House Birds. Illustrated with
+  engravings. By D. J. Browne. Cloth, 50 cts.; mail edition, paper,
+  25 cts.
+
+American Architect.
+  The American Architect; comprising Original Designs of cheap Country
+  and Village Residences, with Details, Specifications, Plans, and
+  Directions, and an estimate of the Cost of each Design. By John W.
+  Ritch, Architect. First and Second Series quarto, bound in 2 vols.,
+  sheep, $6. Mail edition, paper, $5.
+
+Domestic Medicine.
+  Gunn's Domestic Medicine; or, Poor Man's Friend in the Hours of
+  Affliction, Pain, and Sickness. Raymond's new revised edition,
+  improved and enlarged by John C. Gunn, 8vo. Sheep. $3.
+
+Saxton's American Farmer's Almanac for 1852.
+  Per 100, $3.
+
+Family Kitchen Gardener.
+  Containing Plain and Accurate Descriptions of all the Different
+  Species and Varieties of Culinary Vegetables; with their Botanical,
+  English, French, and German names, alphabetically arranged, and the
+  best mode of cultivating them in the garden, or under glass; also,
+  Descriptions and Character of the most Select Fruits, their
+  Management Propagation, &c. By Robert Buist, author of the American
+  Flower Garden Directory, &c. cloth or sheep, 75 cts.; mail edition,
+  paper, 50 cts.
+
+Practical Agriculture.
+  Being a Treatise on the General Relations which Science bears to
+  Agriculture. Delivered before the New York State Agricultural
+  Society, by James F. W. Johnston, F.R.S.S.S. and E., Professor of
+  Agricultural Chemistry in Durham University, and author of Lectures
+  on Agricultural Chemistry, with Notes and Explanations by an
+  American Farmer. Cloth, 75 cts.; mail edition, paper, 50 cts.
+
+Elements of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology.
+  By J. F. W. Johnston, M.A., F.R.S. 50 cts.
+
+Youatt and Martin on Cattle:
+  Being a Treatise on their Breeds, Management, and Diseases;
+  comprising a full History of the Various Races; their Origin,
+  Breeding, and Merits; their capacity for Beef and Milk. By W. Youatt
+  and W. C. L. Martin. The whole forming a complete Guide for the
+  Farmer, the Amateur, and the Veterinary Surgeon, with 100
+  illustrations. Edited by Ambrose Stevens. $1.25.
+
+Youatt on the Horse.
+  Youatt on the Structure and Diseases of the Horse, with their
+  Remedies. Also, Practical Rules for Buyers, Breeders, Breakers,
+  Smiths, &c. Edited by W. C. Spooner, M.R.C.V.S. With an account of
+  the Breeds in the United States, by Henry S. Randall. $1.25.
+
+Youatt on Sheep:
+  Their Breed, Management, and Diseases, with illustrative engravings;
+  to which are added Remarks on the Breeds and Management of Sheep in
+  the United States, and on the Culture of Fine Wool in Silesia. By
+  Wm. Youatt. 75 cts.
+
+Hoare on the Grape Vine.
+  A Practical Treatise on the Cultivation of the Grape Vine on open
+  Walls, with a Descriptive Account of an improved method of Planting
+  and Managing the Roots of Grape Vines. By Clement Hoare. With an
+  Appendix on the Cultivation of the same in the United States. 50 cts.
+
+The American Agriculturist:
+  Being a Collection of Original Articles on the Various Subjects
+  connected with the Farm, in ten vols. 8vo., containing nearly four
+  thousand pages. $10.
+
+Johnston's Agricultural Chemistry.
+  Lectures on the Application of Chemistry and Geology to Agriculture.
+  New edition, with an Appendix. $1.25.
+
+Stephens' Book of the Farm.
+  A Complete Guide to the Farmer, Steward, Plowman, Cattleman,
+  Shepherd, Field-Worker, and Dairy Maid. By Henry Stephens. With Four
+  Hundred and Fifty Illustrations; to which are added Explanatory
+  Notes, Remarks, &c., by J. S. Skinner. Really one of the best books
+  for a Farmer to possess.
+  Cloth, $4; leather, $4.50.
+
+The Complete Farmer and American Gardener,
+  Rural Economist, and New American Gardener, containing a Compendious
+  Epitome of the most Important Branches of Agricultural and Rural
+  Economy; with Practical Directions on the Cultivation of Fruits and
+  Vegetables; including Landscape and Ornamental Gardening. By Thomas
+  G. Fessenden. 2 vols. in one. $1.25.
+
+Chemistry Made Easy,
+  For the Use of Farmers. By J. Topham, M.A. 25 cts.
+
+Brandy and Salt,
+  A Remedy for various Internal as well as External Diseases,
+  Inflammation and Local Injuries. By Rev. Samuel Fenton. 12-1/2 cts.
+
+Southern Agriculture.
+  Comprising Essays on the Cultivation of Corn, Hemp, Tobacco, Wheat,
+  &c. $1.
+
+The Cottage and Farm Bee Keeper:
+  A Practical Work, by a Country Curate. 50 cts.
+
+A Book for Every Boy in the Country.
+  Elements of Agriculture. Translated from the French, and adapted to
+  General Use, by F. G. Skinner. 25 cts.
+
+Rural Architecture;
+  Comprising Farm Houses, Cottages, Carriage Houses, Sheep and Dove
+  Cotes, Piggeries, Barns, &c. &c. By Lewis F. Allen. $1.25.
+
+The American Muck Book.
+  The American Muck Book; treating of the Nature, Properties, Sources,
+  History, and Operations of all the principal Fertilizers and Manures
+  in Common Use, with Specific Directions for their Preservation, and
+  Application to the Soil and to Crops; drawn from Authentic Sources,
+  Actual Experience, and Personal Observation, as Combined with the
+  leading Principles of Practical and Scientific Agriculture. By J. D.
+  Browne. $1.
+
+Youatt on the Pig.
+  A Treatise on the Breeds, Management, and Medical Treatment of
+  Swine; with direction for Salting Pork, Curing Bacon and Hams. By
+  Wm. Youatt, R.S. Illustrated with engravings drawn from life. 60 cts.
+
+Youatt on the Dog.
+  By Wm. Youatt. Splendidly illustrated. Edited, with Additions, by
+  E. J. Lewis, M.D. $1.50.
+
+The Poultry Book.
+  By John C. Bennett, M.D. 84 cts.
+  The American Poulterer's Companion,
+  With illustrations. By C. N. Bement. $1.
+
+American Poultry Book.
+  By Micajah Cook. 38 cts.
+
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+  A Practical Treatise on its Cultivation and Management. 38 cts.
+
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+  Their Management, &c. By Edward Townley. 50 cts.
+
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+  By S. W. Cole. 50 cts.
+
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+  By S. W. Cole. 50 cts.
+
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+  By Peter Adam Schenck. 50 cts.
+
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+  By William Cobbett. 50 cts.
+
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+  By James Pedder. 50 cts.
+
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+  By John M. Ives. 56 cts.
+
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+  Adapted to New England Culture. By George Jaques. 50 cts.
+
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+  A Guide to Clearing the Forest and Prairie Land, &c., &c. By Josiah
+  T. Marshall. 75 cts.
+
+Farmer's Barn Book.
+  By Youatt, Clater, Skinner and Mills. $1.25.
+
+Hind's Farriery and Stud Book.
+  Edited by J. S. Skinner. $1.
+
+Mason's Farrier and Stud Book.
+  Edited by J. S. Skinner. $1.25.
+
+Stewart's Stable Economy.
+  A Treatise on the Management of Horses. Edited by A. B. Allen. $1.
+
+Sugar Planter's Manual.
+  By W. S. Evans, M.D. $1.25.
+
+Treatise on Hothouses and Ventilation.
+  By R. B. Suckars. $1.25.
+
+Ornamental and Domestic Poultry.
+  By Rev. Edmund Saul Dixon, A.M. With Large Additions by J. J. Kerr,
+  M.D. With illustrations. $1.
+
+Canfield on Sheep,
+  Their Breeds, Management, Structure, and Diseases. With Illustrative
+  Engravings and an Appendix. Edited by H. J. Canfield. $1.
+
+Book of Flowers,
+  In which are described the various Hardy Herbaceous Perennials,
+  Annuals, Shrubby Plants and Evergreen Trees desirable for Ornamental
+  Purposes. By Jos. Breck. 75 cts.
+
+Experimental Researches on the Food of Animals,
+  The Fattening of Cattle, and Remarks on the Food of Man. By Robert
+  Dundas Thompson, M.D. 75 cts.
+
+The American Flower Garden Companion,
+  Revised and enlarged. By Edward Sayres. 75 cts.
+
+The Farmer's Treasure.
+  A Treatise on the Nature and Value of Manures, and Productive
+  Farming. By F. Faulkner and Joseph A. Smith. 75 cts.
+
+The Practical Farrier.
+  By Richard Mason. 75 cts.
+
+The American Farrier.
+  By Barnum. 75 cts.
+
+Principles of Practical Gardening.
+  By Geo. W. Johnston, Esq. $1.25.
+
+The American Fruit Garden Companion.
+  A Treatise on the Propagation and Culture of Fruit. By S. Sayres.
+  38 cts.
+
+Spooner on the Grape.
+  The Cultivation of American Grape Vines, and making of Wine. By
+  Alden Spooner. 38 cts.
+
+The Young Gardener's Assistant.
+  By Thomas Bridgeman. $1.50.
+
+The Florist's Guide.
+  By Thos. Bridgeman. 50 cts.
+
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+  By Bridgeman. 50 cts.
+
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+  By Bridgeman. 50 cts.
+
+The Horse,
+  Its Habits, Diseases and Management, in the Stable and on the Road,
+  &c. 25 cts.
+
+The Fruit, Flower, and Kitchen Garden.
+  By Patrick Neill, LL.D., F.R.S., adapted to the United States. $1.25.
+
+Ladies' Companion to the Flower Garden.
+  By Mrs. Loudon. Edited by A. J. Downing. $1.25.
+
+The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America.
+  By A. J. Downing. $1.50.
+  Do. do. do. do. colored, 15.00.
+
+Dictionary of Modern Gardening.
+  By Geo. W. Johnston. Edited by David Landreth. $1.50.
+
+The Rose Fancier's Manual.
+  By Mrs. Gore. $1.50.
+
+Parsons on the Rose.
+  The Rose: its History, Poetry, Culture, and Classification. By S. B.
+  Parsons. $1.50.
+
+Hovey's Fruits of America.
+  Containing richly colored Figures and full Descriptions of all the
+  Choicest Varieties cultivated in the United States, in 12 numbers.
+  $12.
+
+History, Treatment and Diseases of the Horse,
+  With a Treatise on Draught, and Copious Index. $2.
+
+Rural Economy,
+  In its Relations with Chemistry, Physics, and Meteorology. By J. B.
+  Boussingault. Translated, &c., by George Law. $1.
+
+Liebig's Agricultural Chemistry.
+  Edited by Lyon Playfair, Ph.D., F.G.S, and William Gregory, M.D.,
+  P.R.S.E. $1.
+
+The Modern System of Farriery,
+  As Practiced at the Present Time at the Royal Veterinary College,
+  and from Twenty Years' Practice of the Author, George Skevington,
+  M.R.V.C. $5.
+
+Ewbank's Hydraulics:
+  A Descriptive and Historical Account of Hydraulic and other Machines
+  for Raising Water. $2.50.
+
+The Fruit Garden.
+  By P. Barry. $1.25.
+
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+  Containing Directions for the Culture of Fruit Trees in the Nursery,
+  Orchard, and Garden. By John J. Thomas. $1.
+
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+  By Robert Buist. 75 cts.
+
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+  By Jacob Bigelow, M.D. $1.50.
+
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+  Comprising the best Receipts for the Preparation of that Article.
+  By Miss Leslie. 25 cts.
+
+The Horse's Foot,
+  And How to Keep it Sound. By William Miles. 25 cts.
+
+Catechism of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology.
+  By J. F. W. Johnston. 25 cts.
+
+Chemistry Applied to Agriculture.
+  By Le Count Chaptal. 50 cts.
+
+British Husbandry.
+  Three Vols. and Supplement. $5.
+
+Loudon's Arboretum.
+  Eight Vols. $25.
+
+Loudon on Gardening.
+  Loudon's Encyclopedia of Gardening. $10.
+
+Loudon on Agriculture.
+  Loudon's Encyclopedia of Agriculture. $10.
+
+Loudon on Trees, &c.
+  Loudon's Encyclopedia of Trees, Shrubs, &c.
+
+Loudon on Plants, &c.
+  Loudon's Encyclopedia of Plants, &c.
+
+The Farmer's Library.
+  Two vols. 8vo. English. $5.
+
+The Farmer's Dictionary.
+  By D. P. Gardner. $1.50.
+
+Practical Treatise on the Grape Vine.
+  By J. Fisk Allen. Boards, $1; paper, 88 cts.
+
+Practical Treatise on the Veterinary Art.
+  By J. Briddon. 75 cts.
+
+Sheep Husbandry.
+  By Henry S. Randall. $1.25.
+
+Agricultural Chemistry.
+  By Justus Liebig. Cloth, $1; cheap edition, 25 cts.
+
+Animal Chemistry.
+  By J. Liebig. Cloth, 50 cts.; cheap ed. paper, 25 cts.
+
+Liebig's Complete Works,
+  In one vol. 8vo. $1.
+
+Cottage and Farm Houses.
+  By A. J. Downing. $2.
+
+Country Houses.
+  By A. J. Downing. $4.
+
+Sportsman's Library.
+  By T. B. Johnson. English edition. $5.
+
+Landscape Gardening.
+  By A. J. Downing. $3.50.
+
+Cottage Residences.
+  By A. J. Downing $2.
+
+Chaptal's Agricultural Chemistry,
+  With Notes. $1.
+
+American Husbandry.
+  By Gaylord and Tucker. $1.
+
+Gardener's Dictionary.
+  By Geo. Don, F.L.S. 4 vols. quarto. $10.
+
+Journal of Agriculture.
+  Edited by John S. Skinner. 3 vols. $6.
+
+Downing's Horticulturist.
+  Half morocco. Per Vol. yearly Vols. $3.75.
+   Do.     do.      half yearly  "     2.00.
+
+The Complete Produce Reckoner,
+  Showing the Value by Pound or Bushel. By R. Robbins. 75 cts.
+
+The American Shepherd.
+  By L. A. Morrill. $1.
+
+The Principles of Agriculture.
+  By Albert D. Thaer. $2.50.
+
+Lectures to Farmers on Agricultural Chemistry.
+  By Alexander Petzholdts. 75 cts.
+
+The Complete Farrier.
+  By John C. Knowlson. 25 cts.
+
+The Complete Cow Doctor.
+  By J. C. Knowlson. 25 cts.
+
+Milch Cows.
+  By Guenon. 38 cts.
+
+A Home for All;
+  Or a New, Cheap, and Superior mode of Building. By O. S. Fowler.
+  50 cts.
+
+The Poultry Breeder.
+  By George P. Burnham. 25 cts.
+
+The American Fowl Breeder. 25 cts.
+
+The Farmer's Companion.
+  By Judge Buel. 75 cts.
+
+The Farmer's Instructor.
+  By Judge Buel. $1.
+
+European Agriculture,
+  From Personal Observation. By Henry Coleman. 2 vols. $5.00.
+   Do.    do.        do.                        1 vol. $4.50.
+
+The Gardener and Florist. 25 cts.
+
+The Honey Bee.
+  By Bevan. 31 cts.
+
+Elements of Practical Agriculture.
+  By John P. Norton. 50 cts.
+
+Rogers' Scientific Agriculture. 75 cts.
+
+Mills' Sportsman's Library. $1.
+
+Stable Talk and Table Talk. $1.
+
+Hawker and Porter on Shooting. $2.75.
+
+Field Sports.
+  By Frank Forrester. 2 vols. $4
+
+Fish and Fishing.
+  By Frank Forrester. $2.50.
+
+The American Angler's Guide.
+  By J. J. Brown. $1.50.
+
+Johnson's Farmer's Encyclopedia.
+  Edited by G. Emerson, M.D. $4.
+
+Scientific and Practical Agriculture.
+  By Alonzo Gray. 75 cts.
+
+Theory and Practice of Agriculture.
+  By A. Partridge. 12 cts.
+
+Armstrong on Agriculture. 50 cts.
+
+Hovey's Magazine of Horticulture.
+  Published monthly. Per annum $2.
+
+Downing' Horticulturist.
+  Published monthly. Per annum $3.
+
+Gilpin's Landscape Gardening.
+  English edition. $2.50.
+
+The Gardener's Calendar.
+  By M. Mahon. $3.50.
+
+Agriculture for Schools.
+  By Rev. J. L. Blake, D.D. $1.
+
+Text Book of Agriculture.
+  By Davis. 50 cts.
+
+The American Agriculturist and Farmer's Cabinet.
+  Published monthly. Per annum $1.
+
+Weeks on the Honey Bee.
+
+Cottages and Cottage Life.
+  By Elliott. $2.25.
+
+Chemical Analysis.
+  By Fresinus and Bullock. $1.
+
+Applied Chemistry.
+  By A. Parnell. $1.
+
+The Vegetable Kingdom,
+  Or Handbook of Plants. By L. D. Chapin. $1.25.
+
+The Muck Manual.
+  A new edition. By Samuel L. Dana. 75 cts.
+
+Youatt on the Horse.
+  Edited by J. S Skinner. $1.50.
+
+Clater's Farrier. 50 cts.
+
+The Dog and Sportsman.
+  By J. S. Skinner. cts.
+
+The Bird Keeper's Manual. 50 cts.
+
+The American Herd Book.
+  By Lewis F. Allen. $_
+
+The American Orchardist.
+  By J. Kenrick. 75 cts.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+   *       *       *       *       *
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Invisible punctuation has been silently supplied.
+
+The spellings "chesnut" and "chestnut", "turkeys" and "turkies" are used
+interchangeably; the forms "mantle piece" and "mantle-piece" occur one
+time each. The spelling "Alleghanies" is used consistently.
+
+Other errors are individually noted.
+
+_Table of Contents_
+
+  Indentation of the Contents does not always correspond to chapters
+  and subchapters of the body text, and many entries have different
+  names. All secondary indentations were added by the transcriber,
+  representing text sections that have no distinct header.
+
+  There is no separate list of illustrations.
+
+PREFATORY ... 9
+  _in body text, "Prefatory" covers pgs. ix-xv_
+Miscellaneous Details
+  _indented in printed Contents, as if a subsection of "Design II"_
+Tree Planting in the Highway
+  _indented in printed Contents, as if a subsection of "Design IV"_
+Design VII ... Miscellaneous ... Lawns, Grounds, Parks, and Woods
+  _printed Contents shows Miscellaneous as a chapter heading,
+  with Lawns... indented as a subsection_
+Fruit Garden ... Kitchen Garden ... Flowers
+  _all shown in body text as separate chapters_
+Explanations (under Rabbits)
+  _not indented in printed Contents_
+The Butter Dairy
+  _shown in body text as a separate chapter_
+The Water Ram ... 337
+  _text reads "237"_
+Short Horn Bull ... 349
+Short Horn Cow ... 352
+  _pages reversed: bull is on 352, cow on 349_
+
+
+_Body Text_
+
+[frontispiece]
+  _illustration is shown again on page 85_
+its huge chimneys, its wide fire-places
+the huge, deep fire-places
+  _hyphens in original: normal for text is "fireplaces"_
+The Swiss chalet
+  _printed with circumflex over "e" instead of "a"_
+their good farming neighbors didn't call on them
+  _text reads "did'nt"_
+an entrance door near the wood house
+  _form "wood house" unchanged: normal for text is "wood-house"
+  (but note title page)_
+Within doors it is a work-shop too.
+  _hyphen in original: normal for text is "workshop"_
+so perfectly in keeping was it with propriety.
+  _text has final comma_
+In the front and rear roofs of this wing is a dormer window
+  _text reads "dormar"_
+small-tool-house
+  _hyphens in original_
+The Lombardy-poplar--albeit, an object of fashionable derision
+  _hyphen in original: normal for text is "Lombardy poplar"_
+four stacks of chimnies
+  _spelling unchanged_
+dogwood, kalmia, and rhododendron
+  _text reads "rhodendendron"_
+while the fibrous-rooted perennials
+  _text reads "perenials"_
+a seeming humility
+  _text reads "humilty"_
+the fancy shops of Paree
+  _printed "Pare'" with accent on "e"_
+tool-house, piggery, poultry-house, corn-crib
+  _text reads "con-crib"_
+about the size of a common window button
+  _text unchanged: error for "batten"?_
+to support the comb as it is built
+  _text reads "as  t is" with blank space_
+and why not hen's?
+  _apostrophe in original_
+what she lays in winter must be subtracted
+  _text reads "substracted"_
+should then be placed one inch below
+  _text reads "theu"_
+the collections throughout the country
+  _text reads "throughout the the"_
+he applied to his turnep crop
+  _spelling unchanged_
+require the aid of education to develope.
+  _spelling unchanged_
+the finest Southdowns, Short-horns, and Devons
+  _capitalization as in original: normal for text is "short-horns"_
+but irascibly inclined
+  _text reads "irrascibly"_
+He will tree a squirrel
+  _text reads "sqirrel"_
+
+
+_Advertising Pages_
+
+Punctuation of book titles is unchanged.
+
+The Complete Farmer and American Gardener ... 2 vols.
+  _numeral "2" unclear_
+Rural Architecture ... Piggeries ...
+  _text reads "Pigeries"_
+Experimental Researches on the Food of Animals ... Thompson ...
+  _name usually found as "Thomson"_
+The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America ... colored, 15.00.
+  _no $ sign_
+The Plants of Boston and Vicinity.
+  _text reads "o  Boston" with empty space_
+Downing' Horticulturist.
+  _missing "s" in "Downing's"_
+The Muck Manual ... By Samuel L. Dana ...
+  _text reads "Da a" with empty space_
+The Dog and Sportsman ... cts.
+  _price missing, with no extra space_
+The American Herd Book ... $_.
+  _number illegible, possibly "2"_
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Rural Architecture, by Lewis Falley Allen
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
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author	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 05:07:07 -0700
committer	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 05:07:07 -0700
commit	083bfac505303a4a35cfa82e7c652dc36c0b85fb (patch)
tree	587aa2bfe2b2112efe1d381620973213fce86113