240 AX AMERICAX FARMER IX EXGLAXD. 



shingle roofs with us, without repairs, and are fire-proof. Unless 

 laid over straw, they give less protection than shingles against 

 heat and cold. 



The roofing material changes completely often in one day's 

 walk ; flat tiles giving place to slates, slates to pan-tiles, etc. In 

 Monmouthshire, the roofs are generally made of a flat, shaly 

 stone, called tile-stone, quarried not less than an inch thick. It 

 is laid with mortar, or straw or moss, like tile, and requires 

 strong timber to support it. The better class of houses and 

 modem farm-buildings, almost every where, are slated; some- 

 times metal roofed; rarely covered with compositions or felt. 

 Cottages, and old farm-houses and stables, every where, except 

 in the vicinity of slate quarries, are thatched. Straw thatch is 

 commonly laid about eight inches thick. Its permanence depends 

 on the pitch of the roof. Ordinarily it may last twenty-five 

 years ; and when a new roof is required, the old thatch is not re- 

 moved, but a new layer of the same thickness is laid over the old 

 one. Frequently three and sometimes more layers of thatch 

 may be seen on an old building, the roof thus often being two 

 feet thick. It is a cheaper roof than any other, and is much the 

 best protection against both cold and heat. The objection to it 

 is that it harbors vermin, and is more liable to take fire from 

 sparks than any other. The danger of the latter is not as great, 

 however, as would be supposed. I saw and heard of no house 

 on fire while I was in England, except in London. I frequently 

 saw cottages in which coppice-wood was being burned, the top 

 of the chimney not a foot above the diy straw thatch, and the 

 smoke drifting right down upon it. The dangers from fire would 

 be somewhat greater in America, where wood is more commonly 

 used as fuel, and rain is much less frequent. There are some 

 situations in which it might be safely employed, however, (if on 

 dwellings, the chimney should be elevated more than usual,) and 



