1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



289 



■where the timbers are left to show from beneath, 

 being planed and chamfered off, and painted or 

 stained like the rest. During the winter it -will 

 be well to hang a couple of doors in the opening, 

 making thus a close vestibule of it, and keeping 

 out the wind and snow. B is the girls' entry, nine 

 feet by ten, furnished with a couple of rows of 

 iron hooks for clothing, a couple of shelves for 

 baskets, &c., and a fixed stand for umbrellas, with 

 a tin pan in the bottom to receive the water. 



C is the school room, a pleasant and airy apart- 

 ment twenty feet long, twenty-five feet wide, and 

 ten feet high at the sides, and fourteen in the cen- 

 tre of the room, well lighted by two triple win- 

 dows with double hung sashes, and with. means 

 for thorough ventilation, and the preservation of 

 an equal temperature at all times. 



It has seats and desks for about forty pupils, 

 besides recitation benches, and a raised platform 

 and desk for the teacher. 



A great improvement has been made in School 

 furniture within a few years — the era of pine 

 benches and slab seats has long since gone by, 

 and in their place we have easy, comfortable 

 chairs, and desks and shelves for books and slates, 

 and conveniences for writing and drawing at- 

 tached. They are made of hard wood, principal- 

 ly birch or cherry varnished — with cast iron sup- 

 ports of graceful patterns, firmly secured to the 

 floor of the school-room — and embrace a variety of 

 sizes for scholars of all ages, from four to twenty. 



The following scale from " The Guide," a circu- 

 lar published by S. Wales, Jr., School Furniture 

 manufacturer, Boston, shows the height of seat 

 and desk required for scholars of diS"erent ages : 



Manufacturer'' i Height of Desk Height of 



Age. tiumber. Next Scholar. Chairs. 



4 to 5 years. Ko. 1 20 inchea. 10 inches. 



6to 6 " "2 21 " 11 " 



6 to 8 " "3 22 « 12 " 



8 to 10 " " 4 23 " 13 " 



10 " " 5 24 " 14 '• 



10 to 12 " " 6 25* <« 15 " 



12 to 14 " «• 7 27 " 16 " 



14 to 20 " " 8 28i «« 17 " 



The above are made in a variety of styles, and 

 are furnished single or in pairs, the latter — a 

 double desk and two chairs — being the most pop- 

 ular, and costing from five dollars to six and a 

 half dollars a set. For primary schools, Mr. 

 Wales manufactures three sizes of small arm- 

 chairs without desks, but with small cast iron 

 cases at the sides for books ; each chair, based on 

 an iron pedestal securely fastened to the floor of 

 the room, thus becoming a permanent article of 

 furniture, and completely avoiding the noise and 

 confusion which accompany movable chairs. 



K, on the plan, indicates the position of the 

 teacher's desk. On the right of the school-room 

 is a room, D, used for class recitations. It 

 measures ten feet by fifteen and a half, and is 

 well lighted and ventilated. A row of settees 

 surrounds three sides, and an assistant's desk and 

 table occupy the fourth. 



E is the boys' entry on the left of the school- 

 room, fitted like the girls' with hooks and shelves 

 for clothing, umbrella-stand, etc. Beyond it is 

 the wood-room, F, nine by twelve feet. H, small 

 wash-room, with pump and sink, with closet un- 

 der, and conveniences for washing, brushing, etc. 

 The attic floor — quite small, the central portion 

 being mostly included in the school-room — is ap- 

 proached by a ladder from the wood room, and 

 may be used as a store room for spare furniture. 

 Construction. — This building is to be built of 

 wood, and covered in the vertical manner, the 

 joints battened with heavy battens. The trim- 

 mings, door hoods, ventilator, etc., should be ex- 

 ecuted in a substantial manner, of heavy stock, 

 and the whole painted in three tints of a color 

 between a drab and a brown, the main walls be- 

 ing the lightest, the trimmings the second tint, 

 and the slats of the ventilator, recesses of the 

 openings and the base and steps the darkest tint. 

 The interior finish of all the rooms except the 

 wood and wash rooms is to be a wainscoting, 

 three feet high all around, with a base and a cap 

 moulding. Above this the walls are to be lathed 

 and plastered, and in the school and recitation 

 rooms, hlack plastered, three feet above the 

 wainscoting, with a moulding between it and the 

 white or tinted wall above. 



All the wood work is to be oiled and varnished, 

 showing its natural color and grain, the windows 

 glazed with the best quality German glass, and 

 the sashes drawn bronze green. All the windows 

 should have inside blinds, oiled and varnished. 

 The chimney breast should be wider than it is 

 shown on the plan, to admit of a ventilating box 

 at its side. 



Built in the above simple manner this structure 

 would cost from nine to twelve hundred dollars, 

 varying according to the quality of the finish and 

 the location. 



