No. 63.] 129 



tial to the unity of the plan is the preservation of correct proportions. 

 The eye of taste will guide in this matter; the eye without taste, will 

 never see the lack of precision. Let those wishing fuller specifica- 

 tions, first resolve the dilemma. 



The estimate could be made, but how should it be made'i For brick, 

 stone, wood, stuccoed, plain or ornamented '? Shall it be made in view 

 of the superintendence of an intelligent proprietor, saving, by a thou- 

 sand means, what to the indifferent would swell the outlay by thou- 

 sands? $2,500 would finish the buildings enumerated cheaply, — 

 $3,500, well, — and $5,500, elegantly. Nearer than this, in view of 

 contingencies, it is impossible to come. 



The style of building will admit of much more cheapness, con- 

 sistent with beauty, than an ordinary farm-house; and it will admit of an 

 ornateness, in the hands of taste and wealth, to please the most lavish. 

 The poor man may cover the chestnut of the frame, taken from his own 

 grove, with plain boards, well battoned ; within, he may lath and plaster, 

 cheap as lime and sand. The wealthy may hang black oaken wain- 

 scotings, wrought into the rich forms of Gothic wildners — arching his 

 polished jambs — crowning his doors with vine leaves; without, he may 

 have hewn stone labels, and elegantly cut tracery, and oriel windows 

 of many colored glass, with all the et ceteras that blend so glori- 

 ously in the old abbeys (I have seen their portraits,) of olden time. 



The advantages of the plan laid down are, first, that the house and 

 yard are effectually protected from cold winds by the out-buildings; 

 and there is a most gracious shelter from northeasters about the kitch- 

 en door. Secondly, every cool breeze of summer has full play upon 

 the east, west and south of dwelling. The effluvia and noise, and of- 

 fensive sights of barnyard, are effectually shut off from the house, 

 though near enough for every convenience. The maid may empty 

 her pail of swill, (I like the Saxon,) without wetting a stray lock or 

 a dainty slipper. The farmer, too, in sickness or in storm, may see 

 to the health and provisions of every animal, without encountering 

 the weather. The woodhouse is in grateful contiguity with the kitch- 

 en; the piggery, with potatoes and kettle; the shop overhead takes 

 advantage of the chimney for a winter day's work. The poultry 

 yard is near the piggery, the cattle yard, the granary, and (best of 

 all) the cook; the granary is convenient to the pigs, the poultry, the 

 horse and the cattle. 



[Senate No. 63. j R 



