364 



HINTS AND DESIGNS FOR RUSTIC WORK. 



ed only of a few logs and twisted limbs of 

 trees, are in good keeping with the simplest 

 or the grandest forms of nature. However 

 wild the scene, wherever the foot-path of 

 the rambler is seen, there the rustic seat is 

 never obtrusive or unmeaning — in the quiet 

 nooks of the garden, amid its flowers and 

 shrubbery, the rustic-covered arbor, partly 

 rlothed with climbing plants, is an object 

 of beauty. The terminus of a long walk, 

 otherwise unmeaning, is in no way more 

 easily rendered satisfactory and agreeable, 

 than by a picturesque place of repose ; and 

 the charms of a commanding hill, where 

 the eye wanders over a grand panorama, 

 is rarely so happily improved, as by being 

 crowned with a rustic pavilion, which seems 

 as the shelter and resting place of modern 

 Gilpins, " in search of the picturesque." 



The construction of ornamental rustic 

 buildings is so easy, that any workman, ac- 

 customed to the use of the saw and ham- 

 mer, may, with a little practice, soon be- 

 come a " master builder." The chief merit 

 of these structures lies, of course, in the 

 design or plan. As a contribution to the 

 stock of ideas of the novice in rustic work, 

 we have offered a few sketches in our 

 Frontispiece of this month — all of which 

 may be improved upon by the adept in rus- 

 tic buildings. 



Fig. 1, is a design for a Rustic Well- 

 house ; Fig. 2, is an octagonal Rustic Pa- 

 vilion for an eminence ; Fig. 3, is a Rustic 

 Arbor for a nook in the shrubbery ; and 

 Fig. 4, is a Rustic Alcove, to be placed at 

 the end of a garden walk. 



Two or three practical hints here, may 

 be found of service to the beginner. Most 

 rustic work is quite perishable, when fully 

 exposed to the action of the weather, and 

 particularly to storms, in this climate. But 

 if all buildings of this kind are protected 

 by a close roof, that projects on all sides 



from one to three feet, this rustic work will 

 endure for many years in a perfect condi- 

 tion. 



When rustic work is necessarily exposed 

 to the weather, as in the case of open seats, 

 bridges, and the like, the bark should be 

 stripped from the branches composing it, 

 and a couple of coats of bark-coloured paint 

 applied to the surface of the limbs. What 

 is still better, is to construct exposed pieces 

 of rustic work of trunks and branches of 

 the Red Cedar, {Juniperus virginica) a tree 

 very common in the valley of the Hudson, 

 and some other parts of the country. This, 

 either with or without the bark, will en- 

 dure rnany years. 



The favorite mode of covering rustic 

 buildings in England, is to thatch them with 

 straw, (as represented in Figs. 2 and 4.) 

 This, if neatly done, has a good effect. 

 Another very picturesque roof, is made by 

 overlaying a common roof of matched floor- 

 plank, with pieces of oak or hemlock bark, 

 as shown in Fig. 3. The rustic well-house , 

 Fig. 1, is roofed with shingles, the lower 

 ends of which are pointed before laying 

 them on, so as to form a diamond pattern. 



The " dead wall," or interior portion 

 of rustic buildings, is usually ornamented 

 or finished by a sort of mosaic work, form- 

 ed of small, strait poles, with the bark on ; 

 these poles are halved, and then nailed on 

 a ground work of rough boards, with the 

 bark side out. If poles of different species 

 of trees, with strongly contrasting barks, 

 such as the white and black birch, are cho- 

 sen, and a little taste employed, a very 

 pretty effect may be given to this kind of 

 rustic inlaid work. 



Another very complete mode of finishing 

 the interior of a rustic building, is to line 

 it throughout with the fine soft evergreen 

 moss, to be found in thick woods. For this 

 purpose, narrow, slender, strait poles or 



