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barns and ftables fliould be thatched, 

 becaufe workmen are always carelefs, in 

 laying corn and hay into them, and ge- 

 nerally pufh the tiles off with their 

 prongs ; and beiides, thefe buildings, 

 when empty, colled: a great deal of 

 wind, which is apt to diflodge them, 

 unlefs they are pointed in the infide, 

 which encreafes the expence confider- 

 ably, and is never lafting. Reed is the 

 beft of all covering for barns, flables, 

 cart-houfes, &c. There is a fort of reed 

 which grows in fens, marfhes, and wet- 

 lands, fo excellent for this ufe, that a 

 moderate coat, if it be well laid on, will 

 endure at leaft half a century, with very 

 little expence of reparation : and it is a 

 fad beyond contradidion, that the tim- 

 ber ufed in roofing will laft thirty years 

 longer, when covered with reed, than it 

 will when covered with tiles. The next 



beil 



