No. 6. 



A Hint to House Owners and Builders. — Lime. 



189 



As no soil can for any great length of 

 time be made to support one species of trees 

 or plants, without being properly fed by such 

 jRjod or properties as are adapted to tiie wants 

 of the same, hence we must naturally expect 

 that any one favourable portion of the vast 

 prairies of the West, will in a given period, 

 fail to produce the article of wheat in such 

 abundance, with as little effort as at present. 

 Let the reader bring to mind any plot of full 

 grown timber that has been cut or burned 

 down within his own observation, and which 

 same piece is now producing a second growth 

 of trees ; these trees are not mainly of the 

 same species of the former growth, for the 

 simple reason that the soil was exhausted of 

 those properties which were required to 

 produce tlie former growth. 



"Cloudy weather" is no disparagement to 

 the growth and filling of grain, and " the 

 absence of a warm sun" is just the thing 

 we desire in our impoverished country, in 

 order to produce a full berry to the grain. 



The average yield of wheat in this State 

 the present season, may be set down at 17 

 bushels per acre, safely; some pieces prO' 

 duce as high as 40 bushels to the acre. We 

 have raised nearly enough for our consump- 

 tion. S. W- Jewett. 



Middlebury, Vt., DfC. 27th, 1843. 



A Hint to House Owners and Builders. 



No portion of a house is so important to 

 its preservation as a good roof; and yet, 

 strange to say, although a poor uncivilized 

 Indian can with common bark, cover his 

 cabin or wigwam so effectually as to prevent 

 a leak, the generality of " modern roofers," 

 with the aid of a choice of materials — tin, 

 copper, zinc, &c. — seldom are found ingeni- 

 ous enough to prevent a roof from leaking. 

 The leaks most common to newly built 

 houses are found about the chimneys, or 

 wherever the material of wliich the roof is 

 made, comes in contact with brick work. 

 This arises from not properly covering the 

 edge of the roofing. In tin roofs, the usual 

 custom is to carry the sheets of tin some 

 foot or six inches up along side tlie brick 

 work, at)d to putty, or plaster, or cement the 

 seam ; but after a short time, either by 

 shrinking of the rafters and other wood 

 work of the roof, or a settling of the chim- 

 ney, this putty, cement or plastering, is 

 found to show a crack, by the tin being 

 drawn from its position, and the water enters 

 and runs down under the tin. 



In other cases the upper edge of the tin 

 is bent and inserted in the brick work, but 

 the shrinking and settling above alluded to, 

 produce the same result; the tin is drawn 



from its position and a leak is sure to follow. 

 This causes more putty and plaster, and 

 " paint skins" are also resorted to, but after 

 a few showers and hot days they all prove 

 ineffectual. Ask a roofer, and he will tell 

 you " these leaks can't well be prevented ; 

 it always has been so and always will be, as 

 long as wood shrinks or chimneys settle." 



Now, a very simple plan cannot fail to 

 prove a complete protection against leaks. 

 When the chimney is built, let the mason 

 be instructed to insert between the second 

 and third tiers of bricks above the roof, a 

 strip of sheet lead, say six inches wide, leav- 

 ing about four inches projecting outward, the 

 other two inches being firmly masoned in 

 the brick, and leave it there. I'hen the 

 roofer, when he is completing his work, will 

 carry the sheets of the roof up the side of 

 the chimney nearly to this lead, which he 

 will then bend down over the upper edge of 

 his work, and batter it smoothly and snugly 

 clown. There must be no soldering or nail- 

 ing the two together. W^ith this arrange- 

 ment the shrinking of the wood work of the 

 roof may draw the tin or other metal of 

 which the roofing is composed, or the chim- 

 ney may settle, but no leak can occur there 

 in consequence. 



If this plan is to be applied to houses al- 

 ready built,- the hood of lead can be inserted 

 in tlie brick work of the chimney by cutting 

 out the pointing and plastering of the brick, 

 and securing the lead with new cement. 



Any man who builds a house and desires 

 to have a tight roof, should insist upon hav- 

 ing this lead hood inserted firmly in the 

 work that rises above the roof, so that when 

 the roof is put on there is a covering ready 

 to be bent down over the roof work, when 

 it joins the brick or stone work of the 

 house. — N. Y. Commercial Advertiser. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Lime. 



To THE Editor, — Sir: I have read with 

 much pleasure, of the wonderful effects of 

 lime, as an improver of the exhausted, worn- 

 out lands of Newcastle county. And as I 

 feel a deep interest in the advancement of 

 the farmers of this County and State, I have 

 thought fit to give you my experience on 

 lime, hoping it may be of some service to 

 the owners of such lands as I have alluded 

 to above. I have used Mr. Abel .leans' white 

 lime, burnt in the northern part of this county 

 — I have used shell lime, and Schuylkill 

 wood, and coal-burnt lime, all with the same 

 uniform success. 1 have not for ten years 

 past, limed any of my lands that did not pay 

 me the cost of the lime, together with the into- 



