140 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



the bases, the wainscots and panellings, the chair-rails, ceiling- 

 beams, and corner-posts, ruthlessly demolished. It is van- 

 dalism to destroy these honest, homely features. By all 

 means let them stand ; cherish them, renovate them, paint 

 them with the choicest colors, decorate them, carve them, 

 drape them, build shelves about them, ingeniously contrive 

 to make them so quaintly interesting, and characteristic of 

 your own particular home, that the village neighbors who 

 live in stylish, stuck-up houses, shall grow green with envy 

 when they behold them. 



Above all things, don't commit the unspeakable folly of 

 filling up, burying alive, the old fireplace. If it is too large 

 for the modern wood-pile, line it with fresh bricks (moulded 

 patterns cost but little more) ; and never make an apology for 

 the high, stiff, old wooden mantel. Rather let us weep for 

 our own stupidity if we cannot see and bring out the beauty 

 it contains. The frequent superiority of these old members 

 arises from the fact that they are the product of more 

 thought and less machinery. The thought was not spread so 

 thin. Hand and brain worked together then more than 

 now. 



It would be pleasant to linger in these old houses. There 

 is a wonderful charm about them : they seem almost linman, 

 — almost alive. We feel something the same satisfaction in 

 renewing their beauty and excellence that is found in giving 

 health, strength, and good fortune to one who is staggering 

 beneath a burden of sickness, poverty, and toil. • 



But there is a point for men beyond which restoration to 

 health and usefulness is impossible ; and there are plenty of 

 old, dilapidated houses that only cumber the ground. Bet- 

 ter the shallow basin by the roadside, with crnmbling walls 

 overgrown with faithful lilacs, cinnamon -roses, catnip, and 

 tansy. 



Xew houses, the second branch of our subject, must be 

 cojisidered as to their external appearance, their internal 

 arrangement, and likewise their actual construction, taking 

 the last first. 



(Perhaps I should say that the term "architecture" is 

 used in its broad sense, including much that should be called 

 engineering, carpentry, and building.) 



The site of the new house should be on dry land. 



