BUILDING A POULTRY HOUSE 



183 



and two five feet long. Be sure that the ends are perfectly- 

 square. Nail the eight-foot posts securely at the front 

 corners, and flush them with both sides of the corners. 

 Use the spirit level to plumb the corner posts. They should 

 be braced with shingle laths both ways. One end of the 

 laths should be nailed high on the posts, the other end being 

 tacked to the runner or frame when the post is plumb. 



Fig. 100. — The posta erected and braced, showing the plates in place. 



Set the five-foot posts at the rear corners of the house in 

 the same way (Fig. 100). 



Exercise No. 42. — Erecting the Plates. — The plates are 

 two by four strips which connect the tops of the two rear 

 posts and the tops of the front ones. For these cut two 

 pieces of hemlock two by four, and six feet long. Be sure 

 that they are exactly the right length and the ends square. 

 Nail to the top of the posts with twenty-penny spikes. 



Exercise No. 43. — Erecting the Roof Rafters. — Select the 

 pieces designed for rafters. Saw one piece exactly ten feet 

 long, and notch the lower side of it as shown in figure 101. 



