246 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



PJBARTTARV II, 1S3S. 



W^W ^Sf^I£>^Sr3l> Sf^SiSEISma 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEB. 4, 1835. 



LOCATION & CONSTRTTCTION OP HOUSES, &c 



In rojnpli.niiCi' with fI»o rcqnt'st ni a cnrrespoiidont, 

 V'ith tlip sianalurp '• Inquirer," whose coninuinication 

 was puhlished on tlie 145th page of the current volume 

 of the New England Farmer, we make some remarks 

 on the above mentioned topics. 



We sliall first state some particulars relative to Farm 

 Huildings, and proceed to remarks applicable to build- 

 ings in general. 



The proper situation for farm buildings, is as near as 

 possible to the centre of' the cultivated parts of the 

 farm ; or, at least, not far from the middle of the arable 

 or ploughed land. It is very absurd to continue an old 

 fashioned mode of locating farm houses in clumps or 

 villages, detached from the farm. If the homestead is 

 at a Considerable distance from the farm, there will not 

 only be a partial want of that personal superintendence, 

 which is indispensable to the correct management of a 

 farm, but the expense of cultivation will be much in- 

 creased; the manure must be carted a greater distance 

 — the strength of the workmen, and of the horses, cat- 

 tle, &c. will be wasted in travelling backwards and 

 forwards, &c. 



It is desirable, when circumstances admit, to build 

 the farm house fronting the south, that those rooms 

 which are most occupied may be most remote from 

 northwest winds, as well as enjoy the prospect and 

 warmth of the sun. The house shoujd occupy a small 

 elevation, to which the ascent is not steep. Such a site 

 will give .a dry cellar, door yard, a good chance for 

 summer breezes, a prospect of your own, and perhaps 

 your neighbor's premises. An eminence of that kind 

 is not only conducive to health, but gives the farmer a 

 chance to see if his "help" is idle, his own or his 

 neighbor's cattle are committing trespass, &c. If " the 

 eye of a master can do more tlian his hand," it is highly 

 important that his house should be sufliciently elevated 

 to serve as an observatoiy, and enable him to overlook 

 whatever most requires his care and superintendence. 



One of the most common errors in the mode of build- 

 ing in this country, is tlie want of thickness in the 

 walls. A house with thin walls is cold in winter and 

 hot in summer. In Calcutta, the walls of the houst's 

 are nearly three feet thick, and the outsides are covered 

 witif a mortar, which reflects the heat, so that they are 

 rendered cooler than many houses in the United States, 

 notwithstanding tl)e greater heat of the climate of India. 

 The Domestic Encyclopedia asserts, that the walls of 

 most houses built in Philadelphia are much too thin, ns 

 they seldom exceed nine inches, and derive the chief 

 part-of their support from tl\e adjoining houses. It is 

 not unusual to perceive day light tlirough the walls of 

 the garret of a house, a circumstance wliich must nec- 

 essarily render these apartments imcomfortable at all 

 seasons But there is another disadvantage which 

 ought to be mentioned ; should the house take fire, and 

 the rafters of thv: roof lie destroyed, the gable end, for 

 want of support, will probably fall in, and endanger the 

 lives of those who meritoriously risk their safety for 

 our benefit. 



The wind from the northeast, norlli ;ind uortliwest, 

 in the United States, being cold and uncomfortable, a 

 house should be so contrived, if possible, as to occupy 

 those quartets with stair cases, and apartments not 

 much used in winter as sitting rooms. Great benefits 

 are derived in winter from the use oi' double windows, 

 (that is, one window, with its panes, near the outward 

 surface, and anotlier near the inner surface of the wall, 



in each casement, with a vacant space between them) 

 for a defence against cold. 



Contrivance, or design, is of the first importance in 

 building, as a skilful architect will not only make the 

 structure handsome and convenient, but often save gre.it 

 expenses, which cannot be avoided when, by hasty and 

 injudicious management, any future alterations become 

 necessary. A model is the most certain way to prevent 

 mistakes, and is superior to the best draughts. But if 

 the latter be adopted, it should be of the largest size, so 

 that the delineation of all the chimneys, hearths, bed 

 places, stairs, and the size and location of all doors and 

 windows, in each story, may be distinctly represented ; 

 and if the workmanship be agreed upon by the bulk, 

 it will be useful for obviating ditSculties and dispntes, 

 to insert the length and thickness of the ground plates, 

 breast summers, beams, principal post braces, quarters, 

 window posts, door posts, cellar beams, principal rafters, 

 &c. &c. whicli should all be minutely ascertained.* 



When houses are built of Avood it is very material 

 that it should be well seasoned. It is remarked in the 

 work above quoted, that " wood differs very much in 

 durability, and yet the opinion of men whose judgment 

 on this subject is matured by repeated experience, au- 

 thorizes the assertion that the durability of any particu- 

 lar species of wood is not so much connected with the 

 nature of it as with the seasoning. Hemlock (Pinvs 

 Ahics JJmcricana) is a very perishable wood, if used 

 when recently felled and sawed; but young hemlock, 

 free from wind shakes, duly seasoned, and not floated 

 and soaked with water, will last as long as most other 

 kinds of wood under similar circumstances. 



In laying the foundation of a building, proper care 

 should be taken to ascertain tlie nature of the soil by a 

 crow bar, or, what is still better, by a miner's or a well 

 digger's borer, in order to discover whether it is thor- 

 oughly sound, and fit to bear the weight which is to be 

 laid on it. A dwelling house should never be built 

 near marshes, fens, a boggy soil, nor too close to the 

 banks of a river, unless it stand on rising ground at the 

 northwestern side of the bank. 



The house should be so constructed that neither the 

 kitchen nor sitting room should open directly into the 

 open air. By means of an entry on the inside, or a 

 porch without the house, we may obviate the inconve-" 

 nience and danger of too sudden changes of temperature 

 in passing from a warm room to the open air, and vice 



versa. 



[To be continued.] 



MisTAKKS IN Printing Hon. Samoki, Lathrop's 

 Address. — We have received a line, stating that some 

 important errnta had occurred in the above mentioned 

 address, (which we commenced reprinting in our paper 

 of the 28th ult. p. 223) as printed in the Northampton 

 Courier. But not having preserved that paper, we are 

 not able to point out the misprints. We should there- 

 fore be much obliged if Mr Lathrop, or some other 

 friend, would be so good as to send us a corrected copy 

 of the whulc.'lddrcss, and we will. then either commence 

 de novo, or enable our readers to ascertain the correct 

 rending of what we have printed, and give a correct 

 transcript of the remainder. 



Maine Farmkr. — We are glad to perceive that this 

 useful periodical has assumed a now dress, new type 

 and an enlarged sheet. This is a valuable and well 

 conducted journal, and well deserves every embellish- 

 ment which improved typography can bestow, in order 

 that its appearance may comport with its merits. 



* Willich^s Domestic Encyclopedia. 



Thomas G. Ff.ssenden, Esq. 



Sir — I have seen it recommended in your paper to 

 keep Bees in a garret or tight snug house ; I am about 

 building one 8 feet by 10 ; 1 wish some of your readers 

 would inform me through' your paper the most suitable 

 way to put up th^ shelves ; thatis.tlie width most suit- 

 able and the distance they should be apart, and any 

 otliar information respecting it they may think proper. 

 By so doing they will confer a favor on one of yonr 

 subscribers, and perhaps many more. I. B. 



Thumaston, Me. Feb. 4, lti35. 



Adjourned TEnirEKANCE Meeti.vg. — Agreeably to 

 adjouriinient, the fi lends of temperance met at the Bow- 

 duin-strcc! Meeiing house, on Tuesday evening. Hon. 

 S. T. .'Armstrong, presided. The meeting was opened 

 with prayer by Rev. Dr Bolles. 



Horace Mann, Esq., of this cily, then rose and offered 

 the following Resolution : — 



Resoh'fd, That the evils of intemperance press with 

 peculiar weight and ag;;rava(ion U[ion the pour; — that 

 those evils are greater than any which happen in the 

 course of nature, or in the order of Providence ; — and 

 that society cannot be absolved from its obligation to 

 bestow upon the poor I he charity of its pecuriary aid, 

 until, by a nobler charity, it shall rescue them from suf- 

 fering and degradation- by securing to them the blessing 

 of Temperance. 



Rev. Mr Hague offered the following Resolution : — 



Resolved; That the influence of the American Tem- 

 perance Reform on foreign countries furnishes a strong 

 motive to prosecute the enterprize with renewed vigor. 



John A. Bolles, Esq. then offered the fullowing resolu- 

 tion : — 



Kcsolved, That it is peculiarly important to enlist in 

 the cause of Temperance, men of science and literature, 

 — bolh on account of the peculiar exposure to the seduc- 

 tions of intemperance, and of the extent of the influence 

 which they exert upon mankind. 



Two other gentlemen were expected to address the 

 meeting; but, as they weie absent, afler the singing of 

 a hymn. Rev. Mr Gray, minislcr at large, offered a few 

 remarks, sugge.-tcd by the words, 



" Hear the mother, children pleading 



Heaven relief would quickly send ! 

 Cruel monster," 

 in the hymn which had been sung. He related several 

 facts wliich had come within his knowledge in the 

 course of his visits among the poor in the city, which 

 were well described in these lines; one of them had oc- 

 curred that very day, where the mother, a Christian 

 woman, surrounded by her little children, was obliged 

 to hide every knife and razor in the house, fearing that 

 her husband, raving from the fumes of the poison admin- 

 istered by her neighbor, would murder her. 



The Corporation of Harvard College are about erect- 

 ing a new Library Hall, on the south side of the road 

 from the College yard, to cost about $40,000 — this sum, 

 and about ,f 10,000 more, having been received from the 

 estate of the late Christopher Gore. 



The House of Representatives on Friday last made 

 choice of Rov. Andrew Bigelow of Taunton, to preach 

 the next Election Sermon. 



A subscription has been commenced in Maine for the 

 purpose of defraying the expense of sending a Mission- 

 ary among the Lumber-cutters or Foresters in the 

 woods of that State. 



