SOLON ROBINSON, 1839 113 



But the truth is, that men would rather build a con- 

 venient than an inconvenient house, if they knew how; 

 but unfortunately they cannot tell how their own design 

 will suit, until the house is built and tried. And where 

 is a farmer to find good plans of farm buildings? Can 

 you tell, sir? I think not. For in all the architectural 

 designs that ever I have examined, I never have found 

 them. And yours is the first paper that ever I have seen 

 such very useful things published in. I hope you will 

 continue the good work. And I hope every one of your 

 readers, whose wife thinks he has a very convenient 

 house, will furnish you at least the ground plan : so that 

 out of a great variety, you might select the best for publi- 

 cation, and out of these certainly every person, by adopt- 

 ing one plan, or parts of several, could always suit his 

 own taste better far than he could do by adopting an 

 original design of his own. I think it will be conceded, 

 that you cannot fill a portion of the Cultivator with more 

 useful matter than such drawings. I hope the additional 

 expense to you will not deter you. 



To begin, then, I offer you the ground plan of my own 

 house. It is not of so much consequence to give the ele- 

 vation, unless where a detailed bill of expense is given. 



You have heretofore given a great many excellent 

 plans of out buildings, &c. ; that ought also to be con- 

 tinued. No one is fully aware how valuable such plans 

 are, until he commences building himself, and then he 

 sees the want of them. Furnishing farmers with good 

 cheap plans will also tend to prevent another error that 

 some have committed — that is, building a house so big 

 that the whole farm, stock and cash, are sometimes all 

 swallowed up in the house, before it is completed. 



It is said that the author of the Declaration of Ameri- 

 can Independence, swallowed up $70,000 in building a 

 "great house," which has been since sold with 200 acres 

 of land, for $2,500, and now stands a monument of the 

 lack of any proper design in the builder. We all know 

 that the owner died, lacking that independence that he 



