164 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
This was faithfully done, until the poudrette was con¬ 
sumed. The remainder of the field received, apart the] 
usual dressing of plaster, and a part of ashes. The 
plants to which the poudrette was applied, were the 
first to change colour, throwing off the sickly yellow 
hue and adopting a deep green. At the period of the 
second hoeing, the same plants retained not only the ap¬ 
pearance of better health, but had obtained greater vi¬ 
gor and more size than any others of the same crop.— 
They have held the same distinction throughout the 
season, and it is now plainly visible, although the en¬ 
tire crop is a fair one, that when we come to harvest, 
we shall gather a greater weight of stalks and more 
grain from the portion where this manure was applied 
than from the same space at any other point in the 
field. 
We have certainly no experience proving that the 
same results could have been reasonably expected from 
the application of any other of the various manures in 
common use. With us, plaster has long been consider¬ 
ed the grand restorative for this crop, and ashes with 
many farmers almost a specific; and, indeed, that both 
substances are very useful as manures on mostvarieties 
of soil, is universally conceded. Mills to grind plaster 
for manuring purposes, are as common throughout the 
country, as those devoted to grain, and I have seen boats, 
loaded with leeched ashes, toiling their way from the far 
west, in order to enrich farms on Long-Island. In 
this experiment, poudrette was applied side by side with 
plaster and ashes, under circumstances in favor of the 
latter, and yet they have most indisputably yielded the 
palm to the former; and all this is not without reason. 
Heat and moisture are the sources of vegetation: pou¬ 
drette, if it have it notin itself, will generate more heat 
and for a longer period than either plaster or ashes, and 
will absorb and retain more moisture. It seems, also, 
to decompose inanimate vegetable substances in the soil 
with which it is mixed, and so to diffuse and incorpo¬ 
rate itself with the soil as to change its colour around 
the plant to which it is applied. Like most other ma¬ 
nures, only more sensibly and rapidly, it imparts of its 
qualities to every substance with which it comes in con 
tact; and by the aid of its own and borrowed heat and 
moisture, assimilates all to itself, and thus exercises, al¬ 
though applied in most inconsiderable quantities, a cer-1 
tain and immediate influence on vegetation. 
I regret that I did not receive the article so as to ap-I 
ply it at the time of planting. I am not sure that the I 
results would have been more successful, and except 
for the purposes of experiment, I should be content 
to use it hereafter on most crops, as I have done this} 
season. 
Desiccated manures have long been appreciated inj 
Europe. There, one ton of them have been estimated 
to be equal in fertilizing properties to thirty-six tons ofi 
barn-yard manure. At this rate there is a large balance 
on the score of economy in favor of the former; and 
when it is remembered that the manures as prepared by 
your company, are wholly inodorous and may be con¬ 
veyed in barrels to the most remote parts of the country 
as commodiously as flour, and at a trifling expense, our 
agriculturists should be moved by every consideration 
connected with cleanliness, rural economy, the produc¬ 
tiveness of the soil and the right use of the means which 
Providence places before them, as incitements to indus¬ 
try, to promote the use of substances, which left undis¬ 
turbed, are worse than useless, scattering, in our large 
cities apd towns disease and death, and which, when 
submitted to your alchemy, spreads health and verdure, 
and blesses and rewards both the citizen and husband¬ 
man. 
I shall be pleased to receive your “ Improved instruc¬ 
tions for using the manures,” of which you speak, and to 
know at how early a day this fall, I may order a few 
barrels for future experiments. Very respectfully yours, 
&c. A. L. LINN. 
select the best for publication, and out of these certain-1 
ly every person, by adopting one plan, or parts of se-l 
veral, could always suit his own taste better far thanl 
he could do by adopting an original design of his own.I 
I think it will be conceded, that you cannot fill a por-f 
tion of the Cultivator with more useful matter than such! 
drawings. I hope the additional expense to you will| 
not deter you. 
To begin, then, I oiler you the ground plan of my| 
own house. It is not of so much consequence to give! 
the elevation, unless where a detailed bill of expense is| 
given. 
You have heretofore given a great many excellent! 
plans of out buildings, &,c.; that ought also to be conti-| 
nued. No one is fully aware how valuable such plansl 
are, until he commences building himself, and then he| 
sees the want of them. Furnishing farmers with goodf 
cheap plans will also tend to prevent another error that 
some have committed—that is, building a house so big 
that the whole farm, stock and cash, are sometimes all 
swallowed up in the house, before it is completed. 
It is said that the author of the Declaration of Ame¬ 
rican Independence, swallowed up $70,000 in building 
a “ great house,” which has been since sold with 200 
acres of land, for $2,500, and now stands a monument 
of the lack of any proper design in the builder. We all 
know that the owner died, lacking that independence 
that he declared all ought to enjoy. This great mis¬ 
shapen mass of materials, was the great cause of his 
pecuniary embarrassments. 
Then let all builders beware, that they do not build a 
house so big that they cannot live in it, nor so good 
that when done they cannot use it. I remain, as usual, 
your friend, SOLON ROBINSON. 
Plan of a Western Prairie Cottage. —[Fig. No. 42.] 
Garden 
Gale. 
Cave 
Cellar 
CowVardi 
Hog 
Pen 
Gale 
South 
11 
A 
10 
d 
12 
'vr 
13 
di 
d 
jOate 
d 
M- 
Plans of Farm Houses. 
Lake C. H. Ia. Sept. 5, 1839. 
Hon. J. Buel —My worthy friend— I am much pleas-; 
ed with some of the plans in your last (August) number.! 
That to which you have awarded the premium, certain¬ 
ly is a very convenient house for any family, farmer or 
other occupation: and 1 certainly think that that single 
number of the Cultivator is worth more to every person 
expecting to build, than all he ever has or ever will pay 
for the paper. 
That the'“bump of design and constructiveness,” is 
not possessed by a very large majority of mankind, I 
think is, or can be fully attested, by viewing the thou¬ 
sands of piles of brick and mortar, and lumber, called 
dwelling-houses, throughout the country. It seems to 
me, that if the builders of a great many houses which 
I have seen, had put all their art and skill in play to| 
make them inconvenient and uncomfortable, they could| 
not have succeeded better to their wishes. 
But the truth is, that men would rather build a con-1 
venient than an inconvenient house, if they knew how;l 
but unfortunately they cannot tell how their own de-| 
sign will suit, until the house is built and tried. And| 
where is a farmer to find good plans of farm buildings?! 
Can you tell, sir? I think not. For in all the archi-| 
tectural designs that ever I have examined, I never! 
have found them. And yours is the first paper thatf 
ever I have seen such very useful things published in.I 
I hope you will continue the good work. And I hope| 
every one of your readers, whose wife thinks he has a| 
very convenient house, will furnish you at least the| 
ground plan; so that out of a great variety, you might 
I Yard set with trees _ . 
; __ _ _ G ate 
S inset 
Explanations. 
1. Spare room in the southeast corner of the house, 
16 by 16 feet. 
2. Common family room, eating room in summer, and 
cooking room in winter, situated in the centre of the 
house, so as easily to be kept warm; 15 by 18 feet. 
3. Bed-room, 9 by 11 feet. 
4. Wood shed in winter and wash shed in summer, 10 
by 21 feet. 
5. Pantry, 7 by 9 feet. 
6. Room for soap, meat, &c. 7 by 10 feet. 
7. Kitchen, 12 by 14 feet. 
8. Kitchen fire-place. 
9. Open passage, to give light to west windows of 
common room, 6 by 9 feet. 
10. Chamber stairs. 
11. Buttery, 9 by 16 feet, excepting stairway. 
12. Parlor stove. d. Doors. 
13. Cooking stove. w. Windows. 
In the draft, I have sketched the position of the well, 
cistern, garden, yards, &c. which I consider as a neces- 
E asf, 
4 
Wet! 
® 
WoodYOrd 
Cistern □ 
Gate 
In the erection of a dwelling house, there are three 
things which I consider essential, viz.: First of all, con- 
Ivenience and suitability to the wants of the family who 
are expected to occupy it. Secondly, economy in the 
expense of its erection; and lastly, (and by many, per¬ 
haps, not thought at all essential,) its beauty or pleasant 
aspect, which I think ought not to be overlooked. Up¬ 
on these points I will make one or two remarks. As to 
the convenience in the arrangement of rooms, the in¬ 
crease of a few additional steps in a part of a house 
which has to be traversed fifty or one hundred times in 
a day, would, in the course of the common period of a 
person’s life, amount to a distance of travel that would 
surprise and astonish us, I have, therefore, endeavored 
to place those apartments contiguous to each other 
whose uses have the greatest connexion. 
I have always been of the opinion that unnecessary 
| expense in building, is one of the poorest of investments 
of money, as you receive no profit in return, but are sub¬ 
ject to the expense and loss of keeping in repair, and the 
sure although perhaps slow decay of time. I have, there- 
sary part of the “fixings” about a farmer’s house.—|fore, adapted the size and plan of my house to the wa ts 
Upon our soil, cellars under the house are not admissi-| of 1 t ^ at °* a c ?U“ oa or SI ? a ^ l far “5 r ’ (whmh I am,) o 
ble; and in my opinion, should never be made under a 1 cultivates and tills from 100 to 125 acres of land, v ch 
dwelling-house, only in very dry soils, and then alwaysg^ L ]V r e s ume, constitute the kigest por m y 
kept clean. 
My house is built of hewn logs, but the same plan 
might be adopted in using any material. Itis esteemed 
a very convenient house, without a foot of waste room. 
The south part is a story and a half, the ridge run¬ 
ning east and west; the other part one story, the ridge: 
running north and south, and roof extending down over 
the kitchen. The wood shed is a “ lean-to” on the north 
end. 
I am much in favor of one story farm houses. They 
are much easier for the good woman, and I believe the 
extra cost of roofing is fully saved in several ways. 
The frame need not be near as strong for a single story, 
particularly in a windy situation; and comfort and con¬ 
venience never should be dispensed with by a farmer 
for show. 
If you think the plan would be of sufficient interest 
to your readers to warrant its publication, and if I could 
ever be assured that it added an hour’s comfort, or sav¬ 
ed a dollar of expense to one of them, I shall be happy 
to think I have given it. I hope you will be furnished 
with numerous other plans, so that all tastes may be 
suited. Your friend, &c. 
SOLON ROBINSON. 
subscribers. Many a man has entailed upon himself 
and family, perplexity and misery by running into debt 
in the erection of a large and showy “ castle,” (as some 
traveller has termed our large country houses,) a por¬ 
tion of which he could neither use nor needed. I al¬ 
ways esteem a small well finished and furnished house, 
preferable to a large unfinished (or finished) empty 
one. 
As to appearance, nothing, I think, which tends to 
render home delightful and pleasant, which is consis¬ 
tent with convenience and economy, should be neglected. 
Upon this rule I have endeavored to project my plan. 
Plan A.—[Fig. No. 43.] 
B 
o 
TT“ 
Sink 
t u 
V 
Farm Dwelling Houses. 
Grand Rapids, Kent co. Mich. 
20th August, 1839. 
Judge Buel —Sir—Although too late to compete for| 
the premium so liberally offered in your most valuable 
publication, yet thinking it might (if you deemed it! 
worthy of publicity,) benefit some one else, who thinks! 
as I do in relation to building, I send you the enclosed! 
plan of a dwelling house, to be built of brick, which l| 
commenced making preparations for building the spring? 
past. As I am not a mechanic, but a farmer, unused tol 
drafting, and besides have no other implements than aff 
carpenter’s square and compasses and my pen, the| 
drafts will of necessity be rough, but may serve to givej| 
an idea of my plan. 
m 
n 
cM 
t? d 
-M- 
—5 
o 
S3 
P- 
Plan A, is the ground plan 36 feet long by 26 wide, 
with wood-house back; one story 30 feet by 16, into 
which the kitchen projects 6 feet, together with an open 
platform for use of kitchen of 6 feet. 
a, Front door, leading into hall or lobby. 
b, Hall 6 feet wide, including staircase. 
c, The principal staircase. 
d, Parlor 16 feet square. 
e, Door leading from hall to parlor. 
f, Dining room, 16 feet square. 
