92 
AMERICAN AGKRICURTURIST 
[March, 
A Cottage, Costing $250. 
BY B. B. REED, ARCHITECT, CORONA, LONG ISLAND, N. T. 
This plan was designed for a simple cottage, with 
sufficient accommodations for beginners in house¬ 
keeping with limited means. It is arranged as the 
Wing of a larger house to be erect¬ 
ed in the future, as indicated in 
the dotted sketch adjoining ground 
plan. (The building, with the pro¬ 
posed enlargements complete, will 
be given in a subsequent number 
of the American Agriculturist.) To 
a certain extent one’s dwelling is 
an index of his character. Any 
effort at building expresses the 
owner’s ability, taste, and purpose. 
Every industrious man, starting in 
life, has a right, and should be 
encouraged, to anticipate prosperi¬ 
ty, as the sure reward of honest 
worth ; and he may, with propriety, 
give emphasis to such anticipa¬ 
tions in every step, and with every 
blow struck. His dwelling may 
well express the progressive char¬ 
acter, rather than a conclusive re¬ 
sult. Beginning a home by start¬ 
ing with a room or two, as present 
means will allow, and increasing 
its dimensions as can be afforded, 
without the precarious aid of 
the money-lender, is honest, inde¬ 
pendent, and best provides against 
the ever-changing vicissitudes of 
life. The first step towards build¬ 
ing consists in the preparation of 
plans. These should be sufficient¬ 
ly comprehensive to embrace all 
probable requirements. If only a small beginning 
is intended, it should be made to exhibit some de¬ 
gree of completeness, and be arranged to conform 
with the proposed future enlargements without 
serious alterations. Exterior, (fig. 1).—In 
view of the relation this structure is to bear to a 
proposed main house, and to allow for the grading 
likely to be required in the ultimate completion of 
the whole, the foundation is made to show four 
feet above the ground. Such elevation adds to the 
prominence and good appearance of the building, 
and relieves the interior from the dampness likely 
to result from a closer contact with the soil. The 
style is simple, neat, and favorable for the using of 
ordinary materials and methods of construction. 
_Interior, (fig. 2).—Hight of ceiling, 9 feet. 
The entire 
floor space is 
utilized in the 
three con¬ 
venient divi¬ 
sions—a Liv¬ 
ing - Room, 
Bedroom,and 
a large Pan¬ 
try—with no 
chimney 
breast, or 
stair-way to 
interfere. 
Each room is 
pleasan tly 
lighted, and 
the larger one 
has outside 
entrances 
front and 
rear. With 
a favorable 
location, the 
Living-Room 
may be made 
a very cheer¬ 
ful apart- 
ment. ,€on> 
The Foundations are brick piers, extending below 
the reach of frost, and 4 feet above, and the spaces 
between them are close-boarded with sheathing, 
making an inelosure useful for many purposes. If 
desired, a sort of temporary cellar may be made, by 
deepening the central portion of this inclosure a 
foot or two, and banking the loose earth against 
Iwnimnml 
BED ROOM 
6/4x10/2 LIVINC R00M 
10 X 15 
r\ -- 
'! PANTRY 
I''-- 
L— 
fi DININC 
j| 
10 X 
ROOM 
PARLOR 
12/4* 14- 
HALL 
Fig. 2.— INTERIOR OF COTTAGE. 
*truction.—For economy, and in prospect of a 
future enlargement that shall include ample cellars, 
such excavations are omitted for this building. 
Fig. 1.— EXTERIOR OF COTTAGE. 
the inside of the boarding. The Framework and 
other parts are substantially constructed, of ma¬ 
terials as indicated in the appended estimate. The 
Chimney rests on the central partition, (which is 
strengthened by the central pier of the foundation), 
and has two flues, with metal thimbles in the bot¬ 
tom of each—one to receive the stove-pipe from 
the Liviug-Room, and 
the other to serve as a 
ventilator for the Bed- <4l 
room. All of the ma¬ 
terials are intended to 
be of merchantable qua¬ 
lity. The siding, floor¬ 
ing, and casings, are 
mill dressed. The sizes 
of the sash are 2 ft. 8 in. 
by 5 ft. 2 in., and of the 
doors, 2 ft. 8 in. by 6 ft. 
8 in., all li in. thick, 
and may be found 
ready-made, and sea¬ 
soned, in the stock of 
any regular dealer.... 
In the following esti¬ 
mate, the item of $20, 
for carpenter’s labor, 
may seem very little. 
This amount is allow- j'jg 
ed for preparing the 
building ready forthe plasterer,and is entered in this 
manner for convenience in making the calculations. 
Adding to the above amount the cost of such labor 
in the “ completed ” parts, will make a total of $50. 
Estimate, cost of materials and labor: 
1000 bricks, laid, at $12 per M.. $J2.00 
124 yards plastering, at 20 cents per yard. 24.80 
636 feet of timber, at $15 per M..— • • 
2 sills, 4x6 in. IS feet long. I 1 girder, 4xfi in. 18 feet long. 
2 sills. 4x0 in. 16 feet long. 0 beams, 3x6 in'. 16 feet long. 
4 posts, 4x6 in. 10 ft. long. | 14 ceiling bds., 2x4 in. 16 It. 
75 wall strips, 2x4x13, at 11c. each. §■*{ 
98 siding, 9M inches, at 25c. each. 44.50 
Cornice materials . °.uu 
50 shingling lath, at 5c. each. 4.50 
0 shingling planks, at 20c. each. '-40 
12 bundles shingles, at $1.25 per bunch. 15.00 
30 flooring. 9M in., at 25c. pOO 
7 windows, (complete), at $6. 44.UU 
4 doors; (complete), at $5 . 40.on 
2 stoops and closets, (complete). -o.uu 
Nails, $4 ; painting, $14 ; carting, $5. 23.00 
Carpenter’s labor, (not included above). 20.00 
Incidentals. 42.45 
Total Cost...$250,00 
A Machine for Planting Potatoes. 
We have heretofore referred to a potato-planter, 
which cute the seed, opens a furrow, drops the sets, 
scatters any dry fertilizer in the furrow, and covers 
seed and fertilizer—all at one operation. This ma¬ 
chine is True’s Potato Planter, which we here illus¬ 
trate by engravings. It is no new invention, but 
has been in use by a large number of extensive po¬ 
tato growers for some years. It was exhibited at 
the Centennial, where it attracted the notice of the 
English Judge of agricultural machinery, who pro¬ 
cured several machines for himself and his friends. 
The value of a really effective machine, which will 
plant six acres of 
potatoes in one 
day, doing the 
whole work com¬ 
pletely, and as well 
as, if not better 
than, it can be done 
by hand,is obvious. 
That this machine 
is thus effective, 
we are well as¬ 
sured, and though 
we have not yet 
tried it in the field, 
we propose to do so the coming season. The general 
view of the machine is given at figure 1. It consists 
of a two-wheeled frame, upon which is a hopper 
for the seed potatoes, another hopper in front of 
this is for the fertilizer; a plow, through the stand¬ 
ard of which the cut sets drop into the furrow, 
which it opens, and a pair of scrapers in the rear, 
by which the furrow is closed, and the sets are 
covered. In the bottom of the hopper are a series 
of revolving holes, into which the potatoes drop, 
and as they are carried around upon a stationary 
floor, they are thrust against a blade, which slices 
off a piece sufficiently large for a set. This ar¬ 
rangement is shown at figure 2. The operation is 
certain and even, and the only thing which can in 
terfere with it, is the presence of a potato too large 
to drop into the holes. This is provided against by 
taking care to break any large potato, or to remove 
Fig. 2.— BOTTOM OF HOPPER. 
1.—TRUE’S POTATO PLANTER. 
any very large ones. Different sets of holes are 
furnished, to be used with potatoes of various 
sizes, from very small ones, up to those of average 
bulk. The machine is drawn by one horse, and the 
wheel-mark is intended to be a guide for planting 
each succeeding row. It is made under the super¬ 
vision of the inventor, Mr. J. L. True, by Messrs. 
Nash & Brother, of 7 College Place, New York. 
The North-western Dairymen’s Association 
met at Chicaco, Dec. 11, and following days. 
Various papers on interesting subjects were read, 
such as “Chemical fertilizers, their uses and ap¬ 
plication ”; “ Barn-yard manure, its value, and 
how applied”; “The best varieties of grasses for 
hay and pasture,” and similar topics. Dr. Jos. 
Tefft, of Elgin, Ill., was elected President, and 
■William Patten, of DeKalb Co., HI., Secretary. 
