-.’\C 
VOL. XXIX. No. 1.) 
WHOLE No. 1275. f 
NEW YORK, AND ROCHESTER, N. Y„ JULY ,4 1874 
PRICE SIX CENTS, 
*2.50 PER YEAR. 
[Ente red according to Act of Congress. In the year 1874, by the Rural Publishing company, in the oflice of tho Librarian 
of Congress at Washington.] 
7,000 feet rough lumber, including sills, 
joist, studding, rafters, bridging, 
sheathing, at $15. . 
1,200 shingles and laying, at $7.26. 
Framing . 
1,800 feet flooring and laying, at $43. 
2,400 feet siding 
and laying, at 
83c. 72 00 
11 windows, at $8 , 88 00 
15 doors, at $7. 105 (X) 
Cornice. 60 00 
Base. 30 00 
Box-stairs. 30 00 
Collar steps . 5 00 
Veranda. 75 (X) 
Bay window. 60 00 
14-brick cellar 
foundation, at 
$11.50. 161 00 
58 rcet chimney 
flue, at 70c... . 40 60 
Gable ornaments.. 20 00 
Nails. 25 00 
500 yards plaster¬ 
ing, at 3oc. 206 50 
Painting. 75 00 
ment; the other was concrete walls 20 feet 
high, for general farm use, and a success. 
The dairy barn is located iu Alexandria 
County, Virginia, and is now owned by the 
- - ... Hon. Caleb Cushing. 
The eight Squares are 
-- 1 fifteen feet; it will hold 
N thirty cows. 
\ V. G. Austin. 
""/ Washington, D. C. 
A CHEAP COTTAGE 
NOTES FOE NATUEALISTS, 
The Rural New-Yorker not long since 
had an inquiry for a plan of a cheap cottage 
not to cost over $1,000, Here is a cottage 
whose cost, according to the architect’s esti¬ 
mate, exceeds that amount but little. We 
found it in and copied it from the Manufac¬ 
turer and Builder. The following are the 
architect’s specifications: 
The plans are all drawn to a scale of 10 
feet to the inch, tho elevations and perspec¬ 
tive 8 feet to the inch. The main building is 
10 feet 2 inches by 25 feet, with a wing 20 by 
22 feet. Under the rear half of the wing is 
the cellar, 0 by 19 feet. The hights of the 
stories are as follows : — Cellar, 6 feet 6 
inches; first story, 9 feet 6 inches ; second 
story, 8 feet 0 inches. 
The first story plan of the main building 
contains a parlor 12 feet 4 inches by 15 feet 4 
inches, with a bay-window 3 feet 0 inches by 
8 feet. A kitchen, it feet 8 inches by 15 
To Destroy Moles. —Bryan Tyson, Wash¬ 
ington City, gives the following method for 
making pills to destroy moles .-Make a still' 
dough of corn meal, mixing with it a small 
quantity of arsenic. Make a hole with a 
finger iu tho runways, drop in a lump of 
dough ubout’tlie size of a marble, and then 
cover over with a lump of earth to exclude 
the light. After the first rain go over the 
field again and deposit iu ull freshly made 
roads. I once concluded to plant a piece of 
sandy ^bottom land in sweet potatoes ; but, 
as it was much infested by moles, my suc¬ 
cess depended ou first exterminating them. 
A few doses of arsenic given in the way de¬ 
scribed brought about the desired result, and 
it was a very rare circumstance to sec the 
track of a mole in this piece of ground 
during the entire summer.— Sclent! fie Ameri¬ 
can. 
Discovery of a Living Mammoth. —A ru- 
EC0N0MY IN PAINTS 
The fact cannot be too 
forcibly impressed o n 
the minds of all who 
may be engaged in the 
business of painting that 
good results can be pro¬ 
duced only by the use of 
rials. The best are always the 
The main expense in painting is 
not in tho cost of the paint, but In that of 
labor and oil, and it requires more labor to 
apply the worst than to apply tho best paint 
that can be obtained. The cheapening of 
paints h.v jd^uimixture of adulterating 
materials Wmarried on to the last degree, 
probably to a greater extent than in any 
other article of general use and consump¬ 
tion. 
Tho experienced eye can with difficulty 
detect tho difference between colors which 
are pure and those which are highly adul¬ 
terated, tho only test being actual use and 
application. The safe way, therefore, is to 
purchase such colors only as bear the name 
of some well-known and responsible manu¬ 
facturer. 
The writer would not, however, he under¬ 
stood as advising the use of the best white 
lead or zinc for all kinds of painting ; there 
are paints much more economical because 
more durable for outside work than these. 
The ochres, or eartli-paints arc, for many 
purposes, the best, and cheapest. Taints are 
durable mainly because of tho water-proof 
quality of the oil iu which they are used. 
Some paints, the ochres, for instance, arc in¬ 
ert substances, and do not, in any degree, 
change the nature of the oil.— Mcisury. 
ROOT PLAN. 
SCALE /G FEET TO AN INCH 
OCTAGON BARN 
I notice in Rural New-Yorker of May 
23 an inquiry for a plan of a daily ham, T 
have built three octagon barns—one with a 
basement for dairy purposes, and it proved 
to be the moat convenient and economical 
that I ever saw. It was located on ground 
a little sloping, so as to give an easy drive 
into the bam on the main floor. The base¬ 
ment floor was paved with cobble stone, 
with a gentle slope to the walls, with a trench 
of brick work to carry off the urine. The 
stalls were arranged so that the cattle’s 
beads pointed to the center. The Umbel's 
for stanchions corresponded to walls, octa¬ 
gon, one solid standard and one to move 
with clapper on top. Opening in center, 
overhead, in the floor with the feed cutter, 
so the feed falls down In the center into a 
suitable box, by the side of which the dairy¬ 
man could feed all the stock without mov¬ 
ing out of his trucks, only to turn round. 
The upper portion of the barn is UBed for 
storing, threshing and cutting feed, &c. 
The main doors swing open; the smaller 
ones were hung with ropes and pullies to 
slide up and down. If this is of any benefit 
to your numerous readers, they are welcome 
to it. This barn was frame with brick base¬ 
AM'Mf FO/rC'A 
5*8 
BED NO CM 
£> e x/2 * 
aca \ 
ROOM / 
wrc/LOV 
/irr/c //xso 
s/rr/Ac HC'OAi 
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BEDROOM 
i- _d k-^, &/1* , —II 
GROUND PLAU x!* 8 / 
feet 4 inches, which communicates with the 
cellar and back porch ; iu connection with 
the kitchen is a pantry, 4 feet 6 inches by 6 
feet, containing shelves, Hour bins, etc. The 
kitchen also contains a china closet, besides 
the cellar stairs under the returns above. 
From the veranda of the wing a hall is en¬ 
tered 5 feet 4 inches by 9 feet in size, c»m- 
municating with parlor, sitting-room, kitch¬ 
en and stall's to the floor 
above. The sitting-room is a 
pleasant apartment with front 
and side window, and china 
closet (where it is used as din¬ 
ing-room), and communicates 
directly with the family bed¬ 
room, 9 feet 6 inches by 12 feet 
9 incites, which has two win- 
dows and a large wardrobe, 
with drawers, shelves, etc. 
The floor above tho main build- - 'w&js 
ing bus a passage with lied- 
clothes closet and two sleep- fcfju$2i| 
ing-rooms, with swinging wSpS/jN® 
sashes above the doors for 
ventilation, and if desired a Y- rfflJwU/. 
ventilating shaft to comrauni- 
cate with the attic, through eY 
which a current of air passes 
fi'om the ventilators in the ; 
gables. The chimneys are so ‘^£^99Lr 
located that two answer for jjffi 
the whole house, which pierce 
the roof in such position as to " 
add to its outside appearance, 
besides extending inside to the 
CL/AMl3£ft PLAN. 
mor from Russia to the effect that the mam¬ 
moth is not an extinct animal, lias set nat¬ 
uralists on the alert ; and should it prove 
true that living mammoths are now to be 
seen iu t he deep, gorges of the Lena, in far 
Eastern Siberia, we may anticipate that 
expeditions will be sent out to capture a few 
of the huge animals foi' the zoological gar¬ 
dens of Europe. According to the rumor, 
the discovery was made by 
one of the convicts who had 
been transported to that dis¬ 
tant region. That the mam¬ 
moth once abounded in Si¬ 
beria/, is well known; for 
h - thousands of mammoths, 
^ whose tusks supply much of 
the ivory used In the arts, are 
there embedded in the frozen 
... Wire Worms. — These are 
\ found iu the greatest quan- 
tities in fresh, new loam, just 
gSgSgll* brought from tiie field, and 
such soil, when used for valu- 
: r ; able plants, should lie careful* 
•* examined, and the wire 
a MB p a gfc worms crushed ; their hrow- 
aifllBHPr f • nish-rod bodies arc easily seen. 
Mr. TiJLuy writes to the 
• tw! s# Garden that slices of potatoes 
or l. eltUk; c stems will likewise 
Mmfc ;i Y entice them where they are 
rVulm* numerous. The aliens should 
be placed under ground, and 
Pp PTT r . then frequently examined. He 
^ saved a bed of seeding gladio- 
luses that were planted in 
some new loam, which, he 
aqttg t -■ found afterwards, swarmed 
WwJli^ v. with wire worms, by placing 
gr" slices of potatoes and lettuce 
1 stalks in the ground after ho 
found that some of the plants 
were flagging. 
-A. CHEAP COTTAGE 
