530 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Not. 



Perhaps it is not generally known that tallow 

 from beeves fed on corn or grain, is much softer 

 than when fed on grass or clover. Therefore the 

 tallow from grass-fed cattle should always be 

 hard with the addition of very little alum and 

 beeswax. In very cold weather much less alum 

 must be used, or they will crack so as to fall to 

 pieces sometimes ; and a third more of each 

 should be used in very warm weather if the tal- 

 low is very soft. With a little management you 

 can always have hard tallow for summer use 

 where you make all your own candles. — Country 

 Gentleman. 



For the New L'ngl-and Fanner. 

 MATBBIAIiS FOB BOOFING. 



Dear Sir : — Sometime since you asked me 

 some questions about the best roofing material 

 for farmers to- use. I lay it down as a principle 

 to commence with, that the best roof is the best 

 for a farmer, as it is the one which, although it 

 may cost most at stax'ting, will last the longest, 

 and preserve his crops from all loss by bad 

 weather. 



The time-honored roof in New England is 

 shingles, and roofs are occasionally to be seen 

 which have been shingled from 30 to 40 years, 

 and have needed only occasional repairs. Such 

 instances are very rare, and it may be assumed 

 that the best shingle roof which can be laid will 

 not last more than 15 to 20 years — longer, most 

 of your readers will say, than they shall need it. 

 Such a roof will cost, for shingles, $5,50 to $6 

 per thousand, and $1 to lay them; total cost, 

 $6,50 to $7 per thousand. 1000 shingles cover 

 a little more than 100 square feet for the roof; 

 and how much more on an average I do not 

 know; the makers of shingles don't intend them 

 to cover any more. 



The next roofs, in point of cost, are those 

 made of tar, gravel, cement and composition. 

 These roofs originated farther west than New 

 England, where shingles are even more scarce 

 than here. 



There are several great objections to all such ; 

 any roof made in one piece is valuless in a cli- 

 mate like ours; it does not admit of any expan- 

 sion and contraction ; the expansion of a roof 

 under our summer suns is very great ; and under 

 the direct rays of January and February it is very 

 appreciable. The contraction caused by a sudden 

 frost is proportionally large. India rubber may 

 stand it, but no solid material can, unless there is 

 some allowance for the play. Consequently you 

 will find that all these roofs crack around the 

 chimney, under the eaves, and wherever they 

 join the wood-work. If the coat applied is not 

 very thick, the cold penetrates to the boarding, 

 below, which, being of different density from the 

 roofing, expands and contracts differently from 

 it, and in time you will find cracks in the roofing 

 over the joints in the boards below. 



If the material is put on thick enough to keep 

 out cold it is very heavy and expensive. An ar- 

 gument for such roofs is, they may be nearly flat ; 

 this is no gain in a barn, and is a loss in a house, 

 for a flat roof allows of no garret, and a house 

 without a garret is like a coat without pockets. 

 Besides, flat-roofed houses have to stand an enor- 

 mous strain, from the weight of snow which falls 



upon them, and are destitute of all the pictur- 

 esque effect of pitched roofs. 



Tin, zinc and galvanized iron roofs are all 

 objectionable for the reason just given, that they 

 are in one piece, and as metals, they are even 

 more affected by heat and cold than other mate- 

 rials. Besides, they must be painted often to 

 keep them in order, and then, at best, they wear 

 out in a short time ; their cost is double that of 

 best shingles. 



Another material for roofing is slate ; this was 

 first imported from Europe, and is still. The 

 Welsh slate is sold, and used all over our coun- 

 try, and is acknowledged to be the best slate, 

 and a standard for all slate used for roofing pur- 

 poses. The advantages of slate are, it comes in 

 pieces like shingles, of any size one wishes ; it is 

 fire-proof, unaffected by heat and cold, imperish- 

 able, and may at any time be taken oft' the roof 

 and relaid Avith small loss, should there be any 

 necessity for so doing. The Welsh slate is cost- 

 ly, though less expensive than metal. 



There are several varieties of slate found in 

 this country ; these differ very much in quality ; 

 the difference is shown in thickness, breaking 

 under the foot, and by the action of frost. Very 

 much of the American slate absorbs water ; a 

 slate which absorbs water will be easily broken by 

 the frost of winter, and any observant person will 

 see, upon looking at the roofs of many of our 

 buildings, slates gone, corners broken off, iS:c. ; 

 this is attributable to the slate being of poor qual- 

 ity, or being made across the grain. Singular 

 though it may seem to you, some slate can be 

 made across the grain, just as you could saw a 

 shingle across the grain. Of course such a slate 

 or shingle has no strength. The power in soft 

 slate which absorbs the water and therefore 

 freezes and breaks, may be detected by setting a 

 slate carefully, half its depth, into a pail of water; 

 the water will be seen to ascend it quite rapidly. 

 By putting several slates from different quarries, 

 into a pail at the same time, it will be easy to as- 

 certain their relative powers of resisting water 

 and frost. It was this trouble which rendered 

 the slate of the Hoosac mountain of no value. 

 Large quarries of slate are found in New Jersey 

 and Pennsylvania ; it is all soft, and will rot on 

 the roof. So, also, will the slate of the State of 

 Maine ; much of that is soft, whilst in the same 

 quarry slate is found that is first-rate. 



The veins there are narrow and parallel. Some 

 of these veins are hard and excellent, others poor 

 and soft, and when made into slate, the purchas- 

 er is liable to get slate of first-rate or of very infe- 

 rior quality. I have known roofs laid with this 

 slate to rot within 5 years, and have to be relaid. 

 This slate, the Hoosac and New Jersey, are all 

 black. 



In Vermont large quarries of slate exist ; these 

 differ very much in quality. Their color is all 

 much alike, purple, brown and green. The Ver- 

 mont slates, however, have one peculiarity in 

 their favor and to their injury. Some of these 

 slate change color when exposed to the rays of 

 the sun, others do not ; those that do fade are 

 hard and unaffected by frost or heat ; those that 

 do not fade are soft afld very rotten and easily 

 broken by frost. A quarry somewhat noted for 

 this failing is called the Western Vermont. 



This test^of fading or holding color settles the 



