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The third floor contains billiard, tower and servants' rooms, while the 

 little space under the eaves was sacred to the owner's use. It is 

 reached by light weight steps hinged sidewise against the wall a 

 safer way of economizing on a makeshift stair than the weighted, 

 ceiling-hung ladder. 



It's many years since the fowl coop landed at the back door and 

 a novice tried his hand at housing its contents. The hennery was 

 neither square nor plumb, but the pride engendered by that first 

 effort has never been eclipsed. This success gave courage to make 

 a second attempt in the shape of the little stable shown in the photo- 

 graph herewith. These were the earliest symptoms of the building 

 mania that afterward possessed me. 



Hole-in-the-Ground Greenhouse. 



In these days a hole-in-the-ground greenhouse represented more 

 real enjoyment to the square inch than I ever derived from a hand- 

 some U-bar conservatory. 



Seventy-five dollars for some old hot-bed sash, boards, and 

 lumber ends, an oil stove and the services of Jimmie for a few days 

 gave a greenhouse 10 x 30 and about seven feet to the roof centre. 

 It ended against the south side of a six foot high tight board fence 

 and was so built that the plants came near the glass, hence abundant 

 bloom, while a neighbor's elaborate, high-studded, steel-arched con- 

 servatory produced mainly leaves or spindling, blooming plants. 



Expensive construction was avoided by selecting a dry, gravelly 

 southern slope and digging a trench thirty-five feet long, three feet 



