JANUARY, 1909 
6. Bold style to redeem commonplace _ sur- 
roundings. Seventeen feet long with eighteen inch 
overhang. Cost: cedar, $2; straw, $1; labor, $15; 
incidentals, $1.30. Total, $19.30 a 
ground will prevent this, or it may be desired 
to have them portable. In such cases, the 
houses are built on sleepers, which may be 
sunk to the level of the path. 
For roofs, the texture and pliability of 
straw make it indispensable where the 
desired effect cannot be produced with the 
straight cedar poles. Use only the best 
of rye straw. This will last for several 
years and may be renewed at small cost. 
Straighten the straw before using, or, in 
other words, bring all the butts to the same 
level. Take a handful from the bundle, 
hold it upright, and jar the butts forcibly 
three or four times upon the floor, loosen- 
ing the grasp as the straw touches the 
ground. Remove all crooked and broken 
straws. 
A framework of poles ten inches apart 
must be built to carry the straw roof. The 
straw is put on in handfuls and bound to the 
poles with a half-hitch of copper wire pulled 
snug, but not tight enough to break the straw, 
each handful being crowded close against 
the preceding one. For convenience in pass- 
ing the wire through the framework, it is 
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7. The turned-down rails give these steps an 
air of inviting you to ascend. Cost: cedar, $3; 
labor, $15; incidentals, 40 cents. Total, $18.40 
wound on a stick or bobbin. It is best to : 
have an assistant at roofing, who, standing in- 
side the house, receives the bobbin and passes 
it up again to the thatcher at each stitch. 
Care is required in laying the straw so 
that the best results will be had in the com- 
pleted work. At the hips of the roof the 
straw must be parallel with them; at the 
centre of each side it should lie perpen- 
dicular to the line of the eaves. Between 
these points it must be adjusted, but the 
larger size of the straw at the butt makes 
this easy and the upper ends of the hand- 
fuls may be tied a little tighter if necessary. 
Good straw may be laid so as to expose 
twenty inches to the weather. 
As to the estimated cost of the various 
pieces here given, labor, the principal item, 
is difficult to compute, for the ability to 
construct handsome rustic work often de- 
pends more upon a special knack or 
intuition than upon mechanical skill. The 
continually varying dimensions of the rough 
wood demand more “rule of thumb” to 
fit the parts into place than careful use 
of square and bevel. Therefore, the cost 
of labor is based on the payment of $2.25 
a day for the “handy man” and $1.50 a 
day for his helper. The material used 
will depend on the local or available sup- 
ply. Red cedar, quite abundant in the 
more thickly settled regions of the Catskill 
Mountains, for instance, sells there for 
Summer-house six feet square. The floor is 
of 4-inch wood, split through the centre and hewn 
smooth. Cost: cedar, $2; labor, $18.50; straw, $1; 
incidentals, $1.50. Total, $23 
from six to ten dollars a cord, depend- 
ing upon the size of the trees, and, as has 
been stated, is the best. If it can be had 
at a reasonable price, I advise its use. Of 
course there is considerable waste in this 
kind of work, and due allowance has been 
make for that in the figures. The best rye 
straw will cost about six cents a bundle, or 
twelve dollars a ton. 
The other items of expense, grouped as 
incidentals, are for nails, copper wire No. 18 
for binding the straw in place, and spar 
varnish for preserving the fine color of the 
hewn seat pieces. 
No. 1 is a seat of simple design, placed 
at the edge of a walk through the woods to 
command a wood-interior landscape along 
the path. For contrast with the bold lines 
and flat surfaces of the rock masses behind 
it, a rich texture was decided upon. The 
design is based upon the development of 
the diagonals of the two main sections 
into which the back of the seat is divided, 
and is worked out into many small diamonds. 
In some of these, upright pieces are set to 
give still smaller spaces. These might have 
11. A dignified and graceful summer-house four 
four feet deep. A central steeple gives an air of Back of seat solid workin diagonal; branch-wood feet square, located on a sharp turn in the path. 
9. Four-post summer-house six feet wide and 10. Covered seat seven feet long with steep roof. 
panels as ends. Cost: cedar, $2; labor, $17; inci- Cost: cedar, $1.50; labor, $15; straw, 70 cents; 
piquancy to the low roof. Cost: cedar, $3; labor, 
; dentals, 80 cents. ‘Total, $19.80 incidentals, $1. Total, $18.20 
$15; incidentals, $1. Total, $19 
