Seo. 20.] ROOFS AND EOOFIXG. 333 



the Lark of the tree will last about as long as such shingles on a roof. Tlie 

 carelessness of persons eniplo^-ed to lay shingles is notorious, and a cross- 

 grained shingle is just as apt to be laid wrong side up as right. Then tho 

 sui-faeo wears rough, and water soaks into the wood and rots it through so 

 as to leak in a few months. Tiiis writer thinks the fault of sawed shingles 

 is much more in the timber tJian in the manufacture; that is, that sawed 

 shingles from good, sound, straight-grained timber will last as long as 

 split ones. 



Another letter writer suggests that sawed shingles should never be laid 

 npon a boarded roof, but npon narrow laths, one to each course. He says : 



''T know of a bnilding where the sliingles were jnit on boards and the 

 boards put close together, which have been on but a few years and are very 

 leaky ; the shingles and boards have rotted through in places, while other 

 ]>arts arc so\ind and good. I think the reason is, the shingles lie so close to 

 the boards that when they get wet they never dry through ; while if laid upon 

 laths, sawed shingles will last as long as split ones from the same timber." 



Another writer, speaking of the absolute necessity of using something as 

 a substitute for split shingles on account of the scarcity of timber, wants to 

 know why we can not have tile manufactured that will be a better substi- 

 tute for ohiiigles than anything else that we have, both for economy and 

 certainty of having a good roof. 



A correspondent speaks of shingles cut by a machine patented by J. L. 

 I>rown, of Indianapolis, Ind., at the rate of 50,000 a day, that are altogether 

 superior to sawed sliingles, even should the latter be j)laned. This may be 

 so, but we have no faith in the economy of using shingles made by any kind 

 of machinery that cuts wood across the grain. I*fo shingles thus made will 

 be as durable as split ones, nidess saturated with oils or resins, or kyanized, 

 and then they would be as expensive as those made by riving and shaving, 

 or perhaps as much so in the long run as slate or tin. Depend upon it, using 

 po(n' shingles upon farm buildings is very poor economy. 



rJ55. Prescrviiis Sliiuii^los on Roofs. — " Some jiaint roof shingles after tliey 

 are laid. This makes them rot sooner than tliey otherwise would. Some 

 l)aint the courses as they are laid ; this is a great preservative if each shingle 

 is ]iainted its full length, and not by courses.'' 



Mr. Ed. Emerson, of Ilollis, Mass., thus gives, in the Xfw England 

 Fiu-mcr, some hints that arc worthy of preservation upon shingling roofs, 

 lie says : 



"Twenty-three years ago I had quite a lot of refuse shingles on hand, both 

 sappy and shaky, and I laid them on the back kitchen and wood-shed. I 

 have just examined them, and think they will last at least seven years longer. 

 The building has not leaked, to my knowledge. 1 soaked these shingles in 

 a very thin wliitcwash, made with brine instead i>f clear water. There lion 

 been nothing done to them since, although I have no doubt that to have 

 whitewashed or served a coat of dry-slaked linus or line salt once in two or 

 three years on them, would have been of great advantage to them. 



