328 
Rustic Adornments . 
is laid on the bare soil, and this is at all damp, which it is almost sure to be 
in winter time, the wood will rot. If the latter be allowed to sink into the soil, 
and is deprived of a free circulation of air, it will decay and suffer dry rot. 
To avoid both, the foundations of the house, being of wood, must rest on a 
material which will allow of free access of air to the wood, and the foundation 
must be raised above the level of the surrounding soil. If the levelled space 
for the site of the house can be paved with bricks or stone, or covered 
with a bed of concrete, so much the better; but if not, it will be advisable to 
lay down a bed of brick rubbish, shingle, gravel, or clinkers, some four or five 
inches in thickness, on which the floor joists of the house should rest. 
A thatched roof is even more in unison with the surroundings of a summer¬ 
house than a roof of weather boards. The thatch may be of straw, of wheaten 
reeds, of long grass, of rushes, of whin, broom, birch twigs, or any other 
similar bushy material, or it may be of furze or gorse. Wheaten reed may be 
regarded as the most tractable material, but this and straw has a new appear¬ 
ance when first put up, which does not always quite harmonize with other 
surroundings. Long coarse dried grass, or rye grass, is less tractable because 
shorter and more brittle. Rushes, when dried, or even half dried, look fairly 
well as a thatch on a summer-house. Whin or heather, broom, birch, and 
furze are only suitable for overthatching on weather boards, to give the house 
a finished rustic appearance, as these materials do not lie straight and com¬ 
pact together. 
The house being constructed, we may next turn our attention to its 
ornamentation. The frame-work is complete, the floor laid down, the roof is 
on, and the back and sides secured, but the house is a mere skeleton. If 
constructed of natural unsawn wood, this feature will not be so prominent, 
for we shall have rustic posts in front, and a rustic frame-work only needing a 
few pieces of rough wood to give it a finished appearance. If, however, the 
frame has been built of sawn deal or other sawn wood, we must cover this 
with pieces of rough wood to give it a rustic finish. Taking the design 
(Fig. 3) as an example. If the four front pillars have been of untrimmed 
larch or elm, with the bark left on, it will be necessary to get three very 
crooked branches of oak, elm, or similar crooked wood, and cut from them 
the curved pieces seen over the doorway and window. A notch should be 
cut in each post for the ends of the arched wood to fit into, and the ends of 
the wood must be chamfered off to fit the notches, then secured therein by 
long nails. A similar arrangement must be provided for the doors and 
