14 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January, 
To Straighten and Strengthen a Sagging 
Bam Floor. 
A number of years ago the cross-beams of 
the floor over the carriage-room in the horse 
bam became so bent downward by the weight 
of the hay stored upon it, that it was neces¬ 
sary for something to be done. If upright 
posts were put under the cross-beams they 
would supply the necessary support, but 
would be constantly in the way in the car¬ 
riage-room. The following remedy was ap¬ 
plied : The hay having been removed, extra 
cross-beams were put in over the old ones 
Fig. 1. —THE SAGGING FLOOR. 
that were sagging. These beams were hewn 
from straight, thoroughly seasoned elm trees, 
and were made 6 by 12 inches in cross section, 
and placed edgewise upon the floor. These 
beams were considerably larger than 
“hose they were to relieve and straighten. 
Holes were cut through the floor on each 
side of the beams, at frequent intervals, for 
the passage of strong hard-wood cleats, l 1 /, 
inch thick, 8 inches wide, and long enough 
Fig. 2.— THE STRAIGHTENING BEAM IN PLACE. 
to reach from the top of the upper beam to 
the lower side of the one underneath. These 
cleats had a number of holes bored in them 
for the reception of spikes. When all was 
ready, temporary posts were put in the car¬ 
riage-room, under the beams, and the whole 
floor, beams and all, was raised by means of 
wedges driven under the feet of the posts. 
When the floor was brought to a level, the 
cleats were put through the holes in the floor¬ 
ing and fastened securely to the two beams— 
the cleats alternating on the two sides of the 
Fig. 3. —THE WORK COMPLETED. 
beams. This easy remedy for the sagging floor 
proved a perfect success. Figure 1 shows the 
floor as it was before putting in the beam, and 
figure 2 indicates the position of the beams 
before the cleats were put in place. The 
work, as completed, is shown in figure 3. 
Water-proof Boots. —While India-rubber 
boots keep out water perfectly, and are use¬ 
ful to put on for a short time, they are not 
desirable to wear continuously, as they make 
the feet tender. A pair of heavy leather 
boots, with the soles made water-proof, are 
better for the feet than rubber. The follow¬ 
ing is said to have been used by the New 
England fishermen for over a century : Tal¬ 
low, 4 ounces, Rosin and Beeswax, of each 
one ounce ; melt together with a gentle heat 
and add an equal bulk of neat’s-f oot oil. This 
is melted when used and applied to the boots, 
rubbing it before the fire; it will make 
them soft, and at the same time water-proof. 
Among the Farmers.—No. 60. 
BT ONE OF THEM. 
I have been studying some house plans late¬ 
ly, and for the first time in a long while have 
gone over and examined the plans given from 
month to month in the Amer. Agriculturist. 
Home Building’ 
is an art which no one leams until he builds ; 
and in truth very few learn it even then. 
Few persons are aware of what is really want¬ 
ed in a home. There are many who agree 
with the principles when they are announced, 
but who figure and plan blindly enough. 
We build to meet the requirements of our 
domestic life and of our social life. Every¬ 
body gives some heed to the necessities of the 
former, and very few regal’d the latter. We 
study the location and convenience of the 
kitchen and the sitting-room, and we have a 
parlor for state occasions, and a bedroom, all 
on one floor ; while upstairs are the sleeping- 
rooms and the linen closet, and a good many 
put in liberal closets connecting with each 
bedroom. We locate the chimneys so that 
their warmth shall all be within the house. 
All this is very well, but it is narrow. 
Space is economized. The “ halls ” are mere 
entries. The rooms have each their separate 
use, and they are isolated, and connect by 
single doors. Domestic life is planned for, 
and that is all. The housewife has every 
thing at her hand—stove, fuel, and water, 
and a good light. The dairy-room is “handy 
by.” So are the cellar stairs, and the cham¬ 
ber stall’s, and the clothes’ yard ; and the sit¬ 
ting-room opens out of the kitchen, and the 
bedroom out of that, and with a sink and 
pump in the kitchen, and a well just outside 
the door, the housewife is happy in her sur¬ 
roundings. The farmer glories in his bam 
and its contents, and is proud of his smart 
wife, and likes to have things handy and rim 
smoothly. He needs the house to eat, drink, 
and sleep in, and as a boarding-house for his 
hands. For these purposes it answers well, 
and he is satisfied. But we well know it is 
Not all of Life to Live 
as the old hymn hath it. We have a social 
side to our nature. Man is gregarious in a 
certain sense, and our houses ought to pro¬ 
vide for social enjoyments and for social life. 
Double Doors —folding or sliding—are a 
great social “institution.” By them two 
rooms may be thrown into one. A good 
broad hall becomes, in summer, an extra 
room. The air circulates. There is a free¬ 
dom and openness about the house, which 
gives an air of superiority to even very hum¬ 
ble dwellings. The superiority is real too. If 
we invite a few friends for the evening, it 
is not necessary to confine them to the 
“ parlor,” but the doors are thrown wide open; 
our guests fill parlor and hall and sitting- 
room and kitchen, perhaps, and yet all are 
one company, for the broad doors being open 
the whole house is thrown together. Music 
sounds through such a house delightfully, 
and people have a good time and love to come, 
because it is so cheerful and social. Even a 
funeral loses much of its stiffness, so oppres¬ 
sive in the little isolated crowded rooms, if 
broad halls and doorways connect the mourn¬ 
ing company of neighbors into one group. 
If I study the plans of any architect, and 
see that they are lacking in this social feel¬ 
ing, his work loses interest for me at once. 
The Exposure. 
Another point in our home building which 
we too often overlook is the exposure of 
the principal living and sleeping-rooms to 
the direct influence of the sun. The effect of 
sunlight is best gained when the house stands- 
with its comers towards the cardinal points 
of the compass, as shown in the diagram,, 
for thus the sun shines with considerable 
power on all sides of the house every clear 
day in summer, and yet his power is broken, 
because at noon-day the rays strike two sides 
obliquely, and very soon leave the south¬ 
eastern side in the shade. We should not 
forget that the sunshine is healthgiving 
dampness and shade, if slightly in excess,, 
injure the health of both men and animals. 
One thing more, is the importance of hav¬ 
ing some provision for fires in the chambers. 
We build for health and not for sickness, and 
I do not hesitate to say that many a family 
/s 
mourns the loss of a member simply because 
the sleeping-room could not be easily heated. 
The best mode of heating no doubt is by 
an open fire of some kind. It is very easy in 
building to make open fire-places in at least 
those chambers through which the chimney 
passes. These may be loosely bricked up, if 
desirable, but so that the flues may be 
promptly opened in case of illness. 
Chimneys and Fuel. 
Chimneys ought to be built with separate 
flues for each principal fire. In that case the 
chamber fireplaces need never have their 
flues bricked up, but constantly open, thus 
affording the very best ventilation all the 
time. Of course open fireplaces are not 
economical of fuel, but in the chambers fire 
is seldom wanted and stoves may be set if 
preferred. As to economy of fuel, builders, 
as well as architects and proprietors, either 
frequently overlook one important fact, or 
they do not know it, that is, that the warm¬ 
est part of any room is farthest from the 
floor ; so if we make our rooms ten or eleven 
feet high, we must heat the air in all that 
upper part before a person sitting at a table 
begins to feel at all warm, unless he is where 
he gets direct radiation from the stove or 
open fire. Low ceilings effect the greatest 
economy of fuel, and even make open fires 
economical as compared with stoves and 
high ceilings. Notwithstanding that open 
fires always make good ventilation, while 
rooms or houses warmed with furnaces and 
