GARDEN AND SUMMER HOUSES 23 



rotten woodwork abounding in insect life, without add- 

 ing to their numbers ; sound English oak should be the 

 material of which the summer-house is mainly constructed. 

 Larch is also good, but the building made of deal boards 

 cannot be expected to remain in sound condition for long. 

 Near clumps of trees very good summer-houses may be 

 made of octagonal form, using stout posts sunk in the 

 ground at each corner. Three of the sides facing the 

 desired direction should be left open, and the rest filled 

 in with suitable lengths of timber. The roof will look 

 well if covered with a fairly deep thatch, but where there 

 is a difficulty in obtaining the services of a competent 

 man, shingling would answer. Permanent seats are 

 not advisable, as they cannot well be made with any 

 degree of comfort, and the whole of the interior should 

 be left free to accommodate a table and one or two wooden 

 chairs, which may be kept there during the summer. A 

 mistake often made, is that of placing a large table in the 

 centre, securing it as a permanency to the stump of a 

 tree bedded in the ground. It fills up the space, and often 

 leaves little or no room for a few chairs, which, as a 

 consequence, have to be set outside in the full sun. 



Where the house is required for a position near a lawn, 

 or in an angle of the walls among the flower-borders, 

 very good structures in rough carpentry may be formed 

 with success. They may be made in a variety of shapes 

 square, octagonal, or to fit any particular angle at the 

 junction of walls. The uprights should be formed of 

 oak quartering, tarring the ends where they are embedded 

 in the soil. The exterior may be formed of split oak 

 fencing-pales, overlapping one another, with spaces left 

 for open lattice windows if they are desired. A roof of 

 reed thatch, or even tiles, will look well with this class of 

 summer-house, and the interior may be fitted up as com- 

 fortably as possible. A brick floor is a great convenience 

 and much more lasting than boards ; though, if the latter 



