§|§ Letter n. TO [Part III. 



The man who made it lor me, and with whom I made 

 a bargain in writing, wanted me to agree to a specifica- 

 tion of the thing rhvA I declined having any thing to 

 do with cogs and icheels, and persisted in stipulating for 

 effects. And these were, that with a certain force of 

 horses, it was to make so much fine flour in so long a 

 time ; and this bargain he very faithfully fulfilled. The 

 price was I think seventy pounds, and the putting up 

 and altogether made the amount about a hundred 

 pounds. There were no heavy timbers in any part of 

 the thing. There was not a bit of wood, in any part 

 of the construction, so big as my thigh. The whole 

 thing might have been carried away, all at once, very 

 conveniently, in one of my wagons. 



641. There is another thing, which I beg leave to 

 recommend to your attention ; and that is, the use of 

 the BrootU'Corit Stalks as thatch. The co\'erings of 

 barns and other out-houses with shingles makes them 

 fiery hot in summer, so that it is dangerous to be at 

 work in making mows near them in very hot weather. 

 The heat they cause in the upper parts of houses, 

 though there be a ceiling under them is intolerable. In 

 the very hot weather I always bring my bed down to 

 the ground-floor. Thatch is cool. Cool in summer 

 and warm in winter. Its inconveniences are danger 

 from Jire and want of durability. The former is no 

 great deal greater than that of shingles. The latter 

 may be wholly removed by the use of the Broom-Corn 

 Stalks. In England a good thatch of wheat-straw will last 

 twelve or fifteen years. If this straw be reeded, as they 

 do it in the counties of Dorset and Devon, it will last 

 thirty years ; and it is very beautiful. The little town 

 of Ch.\rmouth, which is all thatched, is one of the 

 prettiest places I ever saw. What beautiful thatching 

 might be made in this country, where the straw is so 

 sound and so clean ! A Dorsetshire thatcher might, upon 

 this very island, make himself a decent fortune in a few 

 years. They do cover bams with straw here sometimes; 

 but how one of our thatchers would laugh at the work ! 

 Let me digress here, for a moment, to ask you if you 

 have got a sow-spayer? We have no such roan here. 



