FARM BUILDINGS. 633 



Eave Troughs. No house is complete without being supplied with eave-troughs for 

 conducting the water from the roof. By their use, rain-water may be secured, if desired, 

 for various purposes, such as for cisterns, or watering-troughs. In sections where the well water 

 is hard, this is a very easy means of securing soft water for washing and other household pur 

 poses. &quot;Where barn-roofs are sufficiently large, cisterns may in this manner often be kept 

 well supplied with water for watering stock. 



Wherever eave-troughs are used, the water should either be conducted into cisterns, or 

 some other place away from the house, to permit its reaching the cellar. &quot;Without them, the 

 constant dripping from the eaves in a rain-storm washes the soil and spoils the turf close to 

 the building, while the water is very apt to find its way into the cellar, making it very damp 

 and unhealthy. It is rare to find a dry cellar where they are not employed. It is also very 

 unpleasant to go in and out of a house when it rains, and have the surplus water caught by 

 the roof come flooding down upon one, as it will from buildings that are not supplied with 

 them. 



Blinds. These add much to the pleasant appearance of a house, both externally and 

 internally. &quot;While they are not absolutely a necessity, still a dwelling seems bare and unfin 

 ished without them. They make the house much cooler in summer, warmer in winter; are 

 a protection to the windows, admit of regulating the intensity of light in a room better than 

 could be accomplished by any other means, and also aid in keeping out flies and other insects 

 in summer. 



A house seems much better furnished and more home-like with them, and they add a 

 kind of completeness and finish to a building that is not secured in any other way. The best 

 blinds are the cheapest in the end, and should always be procured. They should be well 

 fitted and hung, and provided with strong and suitable fastenings to make them secure, whether 

 open or shut. 



Lightning-Rods. A good lightning-rod, well put up, is a great protection to a build 

 ing against lightning, while a poor one, or a good one that is improperly put up, is a source 

 of danger. In procuring a rod, only the very best should be selected, and a person who 

 thoroughly understands the business be employed to put it up. 



The size of the rod should be nearly uniform throughout, and not less than three-fourths 

 of an inch in diameter. A larger size is to be preferred to a smaller. The number of points, 

 and the height to which they should rise, will depend upon the size of the building. In 

 case of a small house, a single point may be sufficient, providing it be raised sufficiently high 

 above the roof. The usual rule to be observed in such cases is, that the point should at least 

 be elevated half the distance to which its protection is intended to extend, or, in other words, 

 the protection secured will be extended over the area of a circle of which twice the elevation 

 of th3 point is one-half the diameter. Thus, if the ridge of the roof be forty feet in length, 

 the point should have an elevation of ten feet, which is one-half the radius of the circle of 

 protection; if the ridge be fifty feet in length, the elevation of the point should be twelve and 

 a half feet, and so on. Where there are several points on the same building, it would be 

 safer to have them a little nearer each other than this distance, and they must always have a 

 perfect connection with each other. The more direct the course of the rod is to the earth, the 

 better, and acute angles by bending it in its course to the ground should be avoided. 



The lower end of the rod should be placed sufficiently deep in the earth to always be in 

 contact with moist soil. This is very essential, and if it could terminate in an underground 

 spring of water, or beneath the surface of the water of an old well located at a sufficient dis 

 tance from the house, so much the better. But it should never terminate in a cistern. This 

 would be a serious mistake, because the water contained in it is insulated from the earth by 

 the lining of cement. When the building is covered with a metallic roof, it should be con. 



