834 TnE FARMERY. [Chap. IH 



" As I shingle differently from almost every one else, I will give you my 

 inetliod, and my reasons for it. However wide the shingles may ho, I do 

 not allow the nails to ho put more tlian two inches apart. liiason — If your 

 shingles are wet or green, and the wide ones are nailed at the edges, the 

 shingles must split or one of the nails must draw Avhcn tlie shjngle shrinhs 

 If the shingle is dry, it must liuff or crowd the nail out when it swells. 

 Thus your nails are kept in constant motion hy every shrink or swell of the 

 shingle till they are broken, ])ulled out, or the shingle is split. I do not 

 want tlie nails driven rpiifc in, or so as to sink the head. licason — The 

 heads of the nails hold up the butts of the next row of shingles, and give 

 the air a free circulation. 



" I lay all my shingles in whitewash. I prefer brine for making it. I 

 line with red chalk. I then whitewash the last course laid down to the 

 line, and after the building is shingled I whitewash the whole of the roof. 

 lieason — To make the shingles last twice as long as they would without the 

 whitewash, and I consider it much better than just whitewashing the roof 

 after sliingling." 



" Whitewashed shingles are never mossy. If slaked lime is sprinkled upon 

 wet roofs, it will prevent moss from growing, a,nd if the shingles are cov- 

 ered ever so thick M'itli moss, putting the lime on twice will take all the 

 moss oti' and leave the roof white and clean, and it will look almost as well 

 as if it had been painted. It ought to be done once a year, and, in my opin- 

 ion, the shingles will last almost twice as long as they will to let the roof all 

 grow over to moss." One who has tried this plan says : 



" I tried it on the back part of my house ten years ago, when the shingles 

 were a11 covered over with moss, and appeared to be nearly rotten. I then 

 gave the roof a heavy coat of lime, and have followed it nearly every year 

 since, and the roof is better now than at first." 



356. Roofs— their Form— Shingled and Composition. — It is a serious defect in 

 our roof architecture that the roofs of most buildings are so flat that the rain 

 finds its way under the shingles. Sharp roofs keep out rain and last longer, 

 and although the first cost is a trifle greater, they are cheaper in the end. 

 We know of no composition we can recommend to cure leaky shingled 

 roofs, though several are advertised as sure cures. We are afraid they arc 

 like the Indian's gun — " cost more than he worth." There is a patent 

 asphalt roofing felt that can be easily put on by any person. It weighs only 

 about forty-two pounds to the square one hundred feet. It must be stretched 

 tight and smooth, overlapping full one inch at the joinings, and closely 

 nailed through the overlap. It should then receive a coating of coal-tar and 

 lime — two gallons of the former to six pounds of the latter — well boiled to- 

 gether and kept constantly stirred while boiling, and put on with a swab, 

 and while it is soft some coarse sand may be sifted over it. This coating 

 needs renewing once in five or six years. 



There is also roofing-paper — a soft, spongy substance, saturated with tar, 

 which comes in rolls, and is sold for about four cents a pound. It is un- 



