1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



415 



ago ! What a pity that he who can change the face 



of nature at vdU, and make the earth teem Avith 

 its richest j)roductions, shoukl cramp his genius ov- 

 er a "political item," or over a dozen "light-houses." 

 Why, anybody can wite an editorial, or see that 

 Uncle Sam's revenue is duly collected ; but who can 

 turn an ugly swamp inside out, and clothe it with 

 perennial beauty and herd's grass six feet and one 

 inch high ! He must have token his pattern from 

 some of those ugly customers, called sword-fish, 

 who perforate ships' bottoms with their noses six 

 feet and one inch Ions: ! 



Fur the Neto England Farmer. 



STONE HOUSES. 



Seeing an inquiry of a "Subscriber" from War- 

 wick in relation to gravel houses, I have ventured 

 to ^ indite the following, respecting a method of 

 builcUng with common stone and mortar used here 

 m one instance, and which has also been successful- 

 ly used elsewhere. To many the method may not 

 be new ; but still it is to some, and deserves notice 

 as being an attempt to solve the great problem so 

 often proposed by men of moderate and humble 

 means, "how can we build substantially and cheap- 

 ly." Our forests are fast cUsappearing ; and thor- 

 ough, substantial, well-built wood houses, will now 

 rank among those of the first cost. True, we can 

 even now build quite cheap with wood, provided we 

 are content to accept a building which is really 

 cheap in all particulars. But with such structures 

 no man of sterling mind is at all satisfied, The 

 house built in an unsubstantial manner does the 

 possessor little or no good in adding to his real 

 happiness here ; nay, it may do him positive moral 

 harm, if not physical ; for it may lower his estimate 

 of the good, the noble, and the tiiie ; although it may 

 shield him and his in a measure from the elements. 



Last year, (1854) a stone machine shop, 400 feet 

 long, 40 feet ^vide and two stories high, -nith walls 

 21 inches thick, was built here of a kind of slate in 

 the following manner. The entire mass of stone 

 blasted from the ledge was carried to the building, 

 the nature of the ledge being such that a very large 

 portion of the stone obtained by blasting was in 

 small pieces ; into the mortar, wliich was made of 

 lime and coarse sand, were put, and intimately 

 mixed with it, all the small chips and fragments. 

 All the larger stone were reserved for the process 

 of filling in. The walls were made by filling the 

 mortar into boxes, made by placing plank outside 

 and inside of the wall, a distiuicc apart of the de- 

 sired thickness of the wall. These plank are kept 

 in their places by plumb, straight edges of sufficient 

 strength placed and fastened upon the outside of! 

 the ])lank. When the planks have been thus prop- 

 erly disposed in their places to a height of three or 

 four feet above the foundation, the mortar, in a very 

 plastic state, is brought from the mortar-bed in 

 hods, and jioured into the space between the 

 planks. Into tliis soft, yielding mass were chsposcd 

 all of the larger stones in such a manner as to make 

 the wall one solid mass of mortar and stone. These 

 processes of alternately filling with mortar and lar- 

 ger stone are repeated imtil the mould is full. 



The mould or planks Ibrming the wall are al- 

 lowed to remain upon the walls until the mortal-, 



has set, say twenty-four hours or more, according to 

 the quahty of the mortar ; and are then removed 

 and reset, and all the foregoing operations repeated 

 until the walls of the building are completed. The 

 windows and door-frames are made and set in the 

 same manner as they are for brick buildings ; over 

 the doors and windows is ])ut a wood or stone Untel 

 to hold the pressure of the wall until i-t is dry. 

 Care is to be taken in ])lacing all of the stone 

 around the AnndoM's and doors to have them perma- 

 nently fixed in their places, so as to form a soUd 

 jam. The flooring timbers are placed and anchored 

 into the walls in the same manner as they are in 

 brick buikUngs. As this kind of wall is somewhat 

 uneven for the reception of the flooring timbers, a 

 piece of scantling, say 24 by 6 inches, should be 

 ])laced and levelled upon the walls, and be firmly 

 bedded with mortar to receive the joists and other 

 flooring timbers. 



This method accords vath that practiced by Dr. 

 C. F. Ramsdell, formerly of Springfield, but now 

 of South Brookfield, in constructing buikUngs of 

 stone. The Doctor has had some experience in this 

 mode of buikUng, and would be very glad to com- 

 municate vdth any one upon this subject. The sand 

 for his mortar he prefers to be coarse and filled 

 with small gravel stone, the largest of which should 

 not exceed the size of a kidney bean. Into hLs 

 mortar in a very thin state, when well mixed, he 

 puts larger stone of various sizes. The lajing of 

 his walls he does in the same mamier as before 

 stated. For liis larger stone he takes any field or 

 whatever kind of good building stones are most 

 easy to be obtained, which are of a suitable size for 

 his walls. Flat stone are always to be prefeiTcd, 

 but by a due admixture of round and flat stone a 

 very strong wall may thus be built. For success with 

 this kind of wall one precaution is of the first im- 

 portance, and that is in lading, the materials should 

 be so chsposed in the walls, as to make the same en- 

 tirely solid, and at the same time have every indi- 

 vidual stone entu'ely coated with the mortar. 



The thickness of the walls should l)e pro])ortioned 

 to the size of the building and the height and num- 

 ber of stories. For orcUnary dwellings, two stories 

 high, the Doctor thinks 14 inches for the cellar, 

 12 inches for the first story, and 10 inches for the 

 second story, to be about that w hich is required for 

 strength and durabiUty. All inside chimneys would 

 be best built with brick. Those in the outside 

 walls might be carried with the same materials of 

 the walls. 



The outside of these houses may be finished with 

 a kind of mortar-finish called stucco. This finish has 

 been quite successfully used for many years in va- 

 rious parts of our country. It is made of common 

 lime and hydrauHc cement, together with some 

 chemicals used in C9loring the surface after it is 

 partly dry ; tliis mcUvCs a fine and durable covering 

 and finish : and withal, is tasty in aiijjcarance, it be- 

 ing blocked off" in imitation of large stones, and 

 maj- be so shaded as to rej)rescnt any ol' the sand- 

 stones or granite, to suit the fancy of the proprie- 

 tor. If a nicer and more ex])ensive finish is desired 

 than the stucco, this wall is well adapted to receive 

 the mastic finisli, which is made of dry sand and 

 linseed oil, together with some other drying mate- 

 rials. The doors and windows may be ornamented 

 with terra cotta or iron projecting caps if desired; 

 and all the appendages of verandahs and projecting 



