Sko. 20.] ROOFS AND ROOFING. 335 



rolled upon a flat Loarcled roof, anil tacked suflicicntly to hold it in place, 

 and then saturated with tar, wliich glues it to the boards, and it is covered 

 with sand ; tiien more tar and anoihur coat of saud. 



Another receipt for couipositioii roofs is given as follows: Take coal-tar, 

 300 pounds; hydraulic lime, 150 j)Ounds ; oehci-, 75 pounds; and whiting; 

 40 pounds. Mix these substances together thoroughly, and they will make 

 a sutKcient quantity of cement to cover 1,000 scpiarc feet of rooting. It 

 slioultl be laid down upon strong cotton sheeting nailed to die rouf-boards, 

 and on ilie top of all a coat of dry sand or gravel is to be laid and ju'e-ssed 

 firmly down. The cost of such rooting is about $2 30 per ten feet square. 

 Jt answers very well for sheds and other outhouses. 



357. I'roiecting Roofs from Fire. — In a country where wood is used as fuel, 

 and where roofs are made of pine shingles, and. where drougiits arc among 

 the things occurring every summer, there is constant danger of conflagration 

 of the dwelling from sparks on the roof. This may be guarded against in 

 a very great measure in a very inexpensive manner. A roof carefully 

 washed with three coats of either composition mentioned in Xos. 3C0 or 361, 

 once in three years, would be a hundred times less liable to take lire from 

 sparks than an unwashed roof. 



Such a wash would be a very cheap preventive of danger from fire. So is 

 tile j)aint mentioned in the following extract: 



•' A wash composed of lime, salt, and fine sand or wood ashes, put on in the 

 ordinarv way of whitewashing, renders the roof fifty -fold niore safe against 

 taking tire from falling cinders or otherwise, in cases of fire in the vicinity. 

 It pays the expense a hundred-fold in its preserving influence against the eflect 

 of the weather. The older and more weather-beaten the shingles, the more 

 benefit derived. Such shingles generally become more or less warped, rough, 

 and cracked ; the application of the wash, by wetting the upper surface, re- 

 stores them at once to their original form, thereby closing the space between 

 the shingles, and the lime and sand, by filling up the cracks and pores in 

 the .shingle itself, prevent its warpiijg for years." 



35S. iheap Kails.— The cheapest nails are not the lowest priced ones. 

 Cut nails, made of iron of good quality, will ontlast such as can be bonglit 

 at the lowest rates about two to one. Never use nails for siding or shingles 

 that break very easily; and be sure not to allow your carpenter to use 

 nails of very light weight. First-rato cut nails of suitable size may cost 

 twenty-live j.er cent, more than the poorest and lightest, but in the end they 

 arc a hundred per cent, the best. Nails made of poor iron will rust out a 



reat deal quicker than nails made of good tough malleable iron, like that 

 known as old sable. It is about on u i)ar with sawed shingles to use tlie 

 cheapest or lowest priced nails, particularly lor shingling. In buil.ling 

 balloon frames none but the very best quality of nails shouhl be uswl. 

 Those known as "fence nails" are far the best, being made of tliicker iron 

 than the ordinary nails of the same nundier. 



Weath£j'-rroo/ iVujfe— are described in the Ohio Cultivator. It says: 



t^ 



