COUNTRY VILLAS. 223 



cai-penti-y of the house, as well as for the joinery. The johits of the brick- 

 work were soon obliged to be raked out, and filled in with tuck and puck ; 

 and there is not a single door in the house that has not shrunk and twisted ; 

 nor a window-sash that does not rattle in the frames with the slightest breeze. 

 It is true there is no want of ventilation in this house, and there is not a 

 single chimney that does not draw well ; but the causes which produce these 

 effects render the rooms so cold in winter, that they cannot be thoroughly 

 heated by the largest fires. In all the larger windows, the panes have been 

 cracked by the twisthig of the sash-bars ; and it is needless to say that the par- 

 titions and the floors are warped and rent, as in the preceding case. To employ 

 first-rate workmen, and supply them with ready money for purchasing all the 

 materials, is a mode often resorted to, under the idea of economy ; but, how- 

 ever excellent and honest the workmen employed may be, and however well 

 they may be acquainted with the various details of house-building, they must 

 necessarily be without the experience of the master-builder, who has built 

 several houses of diflierent sizes ; and thus be liable to be wrong in judging of 

 what will suit. The persons selling the materials will also naturally keep their 

 best articles for their best customers ; and thus the purchaser of small quantities 

 will not be able to get his materials either so good or so cheap. We acknow- 

 ledge that it seems hard to lay down rules which are calculated to prevent the 

 mechanic or tradesman who has no capital from ever bettering his condition ; 

 but we cannot help it. We merely state facts, and the opinions which we have 

 formed on them. In another house, built under somewhat similar circum- 

 stances, in addition to these evils, more or less aggravated or alleviated, in 

 consequence of employing an ignorant plumber, all the lead on the roof of 

 the house, which was too thin, and was, consequently, raised, cracked, and 

 twisted by the heat of the sun, was obliged to be removed, and replaced by 

 lead of a thicker quality at the end of the third summer; and all the water- 

 closets were obliged to be altered. One of these, a self-acting patent one, 

 which cost double the usual expense, was rendered useless by the plumber's 

 attempting to improve its construction, while setting it up. On inquiry into 

 the history of this plumber, it was found that he had never been regularly 

 brought up to the business, but that, having failed in a totally different trade, 

 in another part of London, he had set up as a plumber on the faith of public 

 ignorance. In this manner many persons about the metropolis setup as petty 

 masters in businesses which they have never been regularly taught. Every 

 one knows that the occupations of coal-merchant, wine-merchant, publican, 

 and coffee-house-keeper, are universal resources to persons not regularly 

 brought up to any trade ; but those of petty builders, plumbers, glaziers, 

 bricklayers, upholsterers, and a great variety of other trades and professions, 

 are also the resources of persons who have been unsuccessful in their original 

 pursuits. To these examples of bungled houses, we could add hundreds of 

 other cases, some of which would hardly be credited by our readers, which 

 have come under our observation during a period of nearly forty years, 

 all which time our attention has been constantly directed to the subjects 

 of building, planting, and gardening. We shall only add, that our decided 

 opinion is, that, whether a shed or a mansion is to be erected, the cheapest 

 mode, as well as the best, is to employ a first-rate builder. 



323. The principal planting about the place, including the trenching and 

 levelling of the ground, the formation of the approach and walks, and also 



