358 
On the Construction of Cottages. 
summer and cold in winter.* A thatched roof (the straw being 
threshed by tlie flail, and not by machine) will last thirty years or 
more, being once "roved" or " ridged," at a trifling cost, during 
that period. In the meantime the difference in prime cost be- 
tween slate and thatch will have accumulated sufficiently to pay 
for a new roof. 
Cottagers like to have things to themselves. There must be 
no common oven or copper ; neither is it necessary to have the 
oven or copper in a distinct apartment from the dwelling-room. 
The mother of a family can attend to the children while she is 
" washing," or " bakino^," or " brewing," if these operations are 
carried on in the dwelling-room, but not otherwise. 
The chimney must be an open one, 4J feet in the clear, and 
the jamb must be 2 feet 1^ inches deep. The back of one chim- 
ney, which is the partition between the two, must be 9 inches : 
thus the base of the double chimney will be 5 feet by 6 feet, out- 
side measure, having the mouth of the oven on one side of it. 
The copper, which is a tenant's fixture, may be beside the oven. 
The grate is also a tenant's fixture, and so are the shelves. 
Leaded casements are the most usual in cottages, but they are 
cold and fragile. The square form is more desirable than the 
diamond. Cast-iron are neat and durable : they may be of any 
form, diamond or square, but they are expensive. Wooden are 
cheaper than either of the above. 
Stone-work, 14 inches thick, and rendered inside with lime- 
mortar, is warm and durable, and well-looking ; and in those dis- 
tricts in which stone may be had for little more than the raising, 
can be employed to advantage. Clay walls made in the manner 
I shall describe, and protected by thatch, are as warm almost as 
durable (quite, says Mr. M , steward to Lord A ), and, 
with a little timely attention to repair, look as well. 
The ceiling may be either of lime-mortar or of clay. The 
former I should adopt, if the walls are of stone ; the latter if of 
clay. But of this hereafter. Sometimes the ceiling is between 
the joists, by which a saving is effected, as less materials are re- 
quired than for ceiling over the floor-joists, but the plan is not a 
good one. Dust is apt to fall ; and, moreover, joists of the 
scantling I recommend require to be " stayed ' between by short 
pieces of wood, placed zig-zag ; and ceiling between the joists 
would expose these to view. 
All ceiling may be dispensed with by " filleting" the floor- 
boards, not rabeting. In filleting, the under edge of each floor- 
board is cut away, and a fillet one inch wide, and three-fourths of 
* From long experience I have found slate roofs far preferable to any 
other covering for cottages and barns. Thatch soon perishes in Essex. — 
Braybrooke. 
