122 Roofs for Farm-Buildiiujs. 



exclusion of iron, under certain circumstances. Where wood is 

 plentiful, of good quality, and suitable character and growth, it 

 is decidedly cheaper and better, as will hereafter be shown, for 

 roofs of small spans, not exceeding 30 feet in width, than either 

 wood and iron in union, or iron by itself. 



Wood is known to preserve a more equable temperature than 

 iron. Live stock are therefore better housed under wood than 

 iron ; and as buildings for stock seldom exceed 20 feet in width, 

 the health and comfort of the stock afford additional reasons to 

 that of economy of cost, for the use of timber in these buildings. 



It is a great mistake to suppose that wood, when fairly dealt 

 with, is a less durable material than iron. Timber of suitable 

 character and growth, properly protected when placed in the 

 roof, will last for centuries ; and while iron is known to corrode 

 from exhalations rising from live stock and manure, timber, 

 under the same influences, will show no symptoms of decay. 



This admission of the inapplicability of iron for the roofing of 

 cattle-sheds is not made in disparagement of its use in its proper 

 place. It is the abuse of timber that has brought discredit upon 

 it. Landowners, in their eagerness to use timber grown upon 

 their estates, frequently employ elm and ash, and sometimes 

 poplar and lime, for the roofing of farm homesteads, and these 

 in an unseasoned condition. 



This indiscriminate use of home-grown timber has led to rapid 

 decay in the shape of dry-rot, and to ugly, distorted roofs by 

 reason of the Avarping of fresh-felled wood ; thus turning anti- 

 cipated cheapness into decided waste. How often do we see 

 used in farm-buildings immature larch, Aveighing 35 lbs. to the 

 cubic foot, in connection with heavy oak, weighing upwards of 

 50 lbs. to the cubic foot, without due regard to the difference of 

 weight and quality, conditions contradictory enough in them- 

 selves to weaken the best-designed roof. 



Practical experience indeed has proved that true economy is 

 opposed to the use of home-grown timber for roofing, and that 

 it is better to sell the wood produced on estates for appropriate 

 uses, and to resort to Baltic timber for the framework of roofs. 

 For this preference two excellent reasons may be assigned : the 

 first is, its superior adaptability, strength, and durability when 

 compared with the ill-grown, sappy, English timber generally 

 employed ; the second is, its superior condition for immediate 

 use, owing to its being always seasoned in some degree by the time 

 taken in its preparation and transport to this country. Through- 

 out the examples which illustrate the employment of timber, it 

 is assumed that foreign timber of the kind just specified is 

 used, and that the cost is calculated at the following prices : — 



