exercise of their ncnmen, bnt still, I sny, if, as an act of condescension entirely, 

 he had read the article), he Avould have found that the house is therein described 

 part-icularly as an attenii>t to obtain, at a minimum cost, accommodation for a 

 small family requiring: only the y/iv??. number of rooms, for whom to have increased 

 that number, and with it (though in a less i)roportion) the cost, would have been 

 like the economy of the boy who fills his pockets with cheap thin<;s he does not 

 want, HECAUSE they are cheap. As for the flat cornices (which "Jeffreys" comi- 

 cally calls " water-tables I" and which, he informs us, " subject the roof-water to 

 detention and frost, and, in consequence, to leaknjre, which will stain and injure 

 the walls !"), is it possible he can be iprnorant tliat this description of cornice 

 (with a sunk gutter formed in it just outside the wall, and below the rake of rafters) 

 is universally in favor for use with flat tin roofs,/br the express purpose of prevent- 

 ing the hakac/e which is apt to occur in such roofs Avith the ordinary roof-gutter, 

 owing to its backing the water up on the roof. Further on, he expresses his dis- 

 approbation of the "reform in architecture," and his belief that, in ten years, the 

 public will return to the " old-fashioned square house." I hope " Jeffreys" is not 

 going to embark his ability and information, as an architectural critic, in a crusade 

 against the reform in architecture, and undo the earnest labors of Downing, and 

 many others, by throwing us back to the old-fashioned square house. 



As to the plan in the last number, there is little to remark in it beyond the 

 attempt, by the peculiar dormers (which are uncommonly pleasant internally), to 

 give a picturesque variety to the stale outline of the " old-fashioned square house." 

 The roof-water, from the bay between the dormers, is conducted by a lead-pipe 

 built into the wall down to the veranda-roof. That from the corner bay, by the 

 usual corner conductor, to the ground. The rest of the roof-wat.er is collected in 

 a cistern, which gives a head in every room in the house. The plan is a slight 

 variation on the " old-fashioned square house," and ought, therefore, to propitiate 

 " Jeffreys." The proportions of the rooms are not quite as I could have Avished 

 to have had them, the plan being, in some measure, imposed upon me by the 

 circumstance of the house having been already commenced when I was called to 

 superintend it. It possesses, however, the compactness, and a certain dignity, 

 which " Jeffreys" rightly ascribes to the old square form of house. The want of 

 length in dining-room is somewhat compensated by its capability of being thrown 

 into one with tlie library; the bay-window is uncommonly effective; internally, the 

 pantry is convenient, and it is altogether a very enjoyable house. It might be 

 i)uilt cheaply, or moderately, for from $5,000 to $8,000. As executed, it stands 

 on a noble ancient manor, near Philadelphia. 



ROOTS. 



In a former number, page Tl, we commenced to make some remarks on roots, 

 a subject which has more interest, perhaps, to the planter than any other, but 

 which is very generally neglected ; carelessness marks the 2}lacin(j of the part on 

 which the vitality of the tree is mainly to depend. A critic remarks, on the con- 

 tinually absorbing power of the roots, that the simile of a wick of a candle is 

 certainly one of the most appropriate. The wick (as well as the spongioles of the 

 root), by its hygrometric quality, conducts fluids to the flame, only the spongioles, 

 being continually renewed by their constant formation onwards, are permanent. 

 If cut, they will bleed, and occasionally discharge sap in abundance. A case is 

 mentioned of a very fine birch-tree, whose roots were cut through in making a 

 walk near it. They were about five in number, and averaged about an inch 

 half in diameter, and continued bleeding so incessantly for a fortnight 



