40 AN AMERICAN FARMER IN ENGLAND. 



The roofing material changes completely often in one day s 

 walk ; flat tiles giving place to slates, slates to pan-tiles, &c. 

 In Monmouthshire, the roofs are generally made of a flat, 

 shaly stone, called tile-stone, quarried not less than an inch 

 thick. It is laid with mortar, or straw or moss, like tile, and 

 requires strong timber to support it. The better class of 

 houses and modern farm-buildings, almost every where, are 

 slated ; sometimes metal-roofed ; very rarely covered with 

 compositions or felt. Cottages and old farm-houses and sta 

 bles, every where, except in the vicinity of slate quarries, are 

 thatched. Straw thatch is commonly laid about eight inches 

 thick. Its permanence depends on the pitch of the roof. 

 Ordinarily it may last twenty-five years ; and when a new roof 

 is required, the old thatch is not removed, but a new layer of 

 the same thickness is laid over the old one. Frequently 

 three and sometimes more layers of thatch may be seen on 

 an old building, the roof thus being often two feet thick. It is 

 a cheaper roof than any other, and is much the best protection 

 against both cold and heat. The objection to it is that it 

 harbours vermin, and is more liable to take fire from sparks 

 than any other. The danger of the latter is not as great, 

 however, as would be supposed. I saw and heard of no 

 houses on fire while I was in England, except in London. I 

 frequently saw cottages in which coppice-wood was being 

 burned, the top of the chimney not a foot above the dry straw 

 thatch, and the smoke drifting right down upon it. The. dan 

 ger from fire would be somewhat greater in America, where 

 wood is more commonly used as fuel and rain is much less 

 frequent. There are some situations in which it might be 

 safely employed, however, (if on dwellings, the chimney 

 should be elevated more than usual,) and where it would form 

 the cheapest and most comfortable, and much the most pic 

 turesque and appropriate, roof. 



