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VOL. XXX. No. 1«. | 
WHOLE No. 1*90. f 
NEW YORK, AND ROCHESTER, N. Y, OCT. 17 , 1874 . 
JEntered according to Act of Congress. In the year 1874. by the lUmiT Publishing Company, | D the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.! 
PRICE SIX CENTS. 
Sa.50 PER YEAR. 
Jtoral giTliit^'turi). 
A GOOD FAEM HOUSE. 
A CORRESPONDENT of the RURAL NEW- 
Yorker writes :—“ I greatly desire a plan of 
a good, substantial and convenient farm 
house. 1 care less about style (though 1 want 
a want a good-looking one) and more about 
comfort and convenience. Any liints or plans 
you may be able to furnish will both interest 
and, I trust, benefit a new subscriber.” Con¬ 
sidering our correspondent’s request, and 
looking over plans already printed, we find 
the following article and accompanying plans 
and perspective of a farm house, furnished 
us four years ago by a farmer. We think it 
will at least aid our correspondent (and others 
who may be planning houses) in arriving at 
conclusions. 
Herewith I send a plan of a house that I 
hope will meet the approval of tile gentler 
wing of your Rural, army. It contains, I 
think, many of the requisites that belong to 
a first-class farm house. One of these is a 
dining-room, which will need no def-jnso 
while the thermometer ranges among the 
nineties. Another is a bedroom on the first 
floor, which all country residentsdeom indis¬ 
pensable, however it may be to those city 
denizens who arc obliged to make the most 
of a twenty-foot front. A bath-room should 
not be dispensed with in any house. The sit¬ 
ting room should divide prominence with the 
parlor, with the choice of the sunniest aspect, 
and both should open from the hall: the bed¬ 
room should open from the sitting-room, and 
the dining-room should open from both sit¬ 
ting-room and kitchen. 
The original plan contains a conservatory, 
which is partitioned off at the end of the ve¬ 
randa at “ cor.” This can be added by those 
who wash it, The upper hall is three and a 
. half feet wide, and makes a tine appearance 
with the rounded closets and the generous 
length. It gives a visitor an idea that there 
is plenty of room in the house, and that no 
one need sleep on the floor on their account. 
It is proposed to supply the principal 
chambers, the bath-room and the kitchen 
reservoir with cold water from 
the second story tank ; the sink 
and the bath-room with hot 
water from the reservoir. If 
the pipes for these purposes 
(with the exception of those to 
the chambers} lead into the cel¬ 
lar and thence up to where 
needed, there will be little dan¬ 
ger of freezing. A bell-pull could 
be carried to the men’s hall to 
waken them in the morning, if 
desired ; also to the girl’s room. 
As to the other “city” conven¬ 
iences of cellar kitchens and 
attic bedrooms, dumb waiters, 
speaking tubas and bed-room 
water-closets, I should not ad¬ 
vise the most ambitious to adopt 
them. 
All inside finish should be of 
hard wood, oiled and varnished. .'J 
The different oaks, black wal¬ 
nut, cherry and, best of all, lo¬ 
cust, make excelleut finish. 
Black walnut and cherry should 
be used sparingly, as bead-work 
f° r contrast, as the first is 
too dark and somber, and the 
last is lacking in grain. The 
economy of this finish is in the 
difference between *50 pine and $20 oak, and 
between costly paints and a painter bienni¬ 
ally, and varnish put on by oneself when 
needed. The casings should be heavy, at 
least eight inches wide. 
as for white. The idea of red sash will startle 
some, no doubt; but like some other good 
things, only needs to be seen to be appreciat¬ 
ed. Of the two styles of painting, white is 
the best, unless one wishes to pension a 
B 
8 XI* 
B 
8 X14 
B 13 
a XI 6 8X15 
arra 
l 
hH 
l 
lop 7 1 
(jj 
C 
L 
SX7 
B 
12X13 
S R 
20X15 
B 
13 X 12 
B 
18 X 15 
First Floor of Farm House. 
Fia : 1;~B' B, 11 , Sitting-room; L, Li- 
nVnt’i Bed-rootu; D, it, Dining-room , 
11, Bath-rocmi ; C, Closets : 1 C, Kitchen ; P; 
Pantry; S, Store-room; W,AVood-room; V, 
Veranda; H, Hall. ' 
The outside painting should be white, with 
dai k red sash and green blinds, oz* a creams 
drab with darker facings, and sash and blinds 
Second Floor off Farm House. 
Fr °;, 2 ™ U ' BeB-rooms; C,Closets; T.Tank; P, 
It, Play-room. ’ ’ 
painter and run the risk of his house tumihg 
its color, one clapboard at a time. It is diffi¬ 
cult to get colored paints that will not fade 
more or less, the different paint companies 
to the contrary notwithstanding. It should 
■A. FIRST CLASS FYARJYI 
HOUSE, BY A. FARMER, 
not be left to the painter to select his own, 
unless experienced and perfectly honest. 
The cost, including furnace, will range 
from $R,OOb to $4,000, according to locality 
mid the man who builds it. There is more 
difference in Foe latter than in the former. II' 
one takes time uml watches his chances for 
buying to advantage, and gives his carpenter 
the. winter season to get out the moldings 
and do the shop work, ir will make consider¬ 
able difference in the price. w. n. b, 
--- 
BARN CELLARS AND BARN FLOORS. 
I wisn to build a barn. Do you think a 
cellar barn the best ? What kind of floor 
would you recommend 1 Would nob a floor 
something like Nicholson pavement be a good 
one ’—B. D. Miles, Iowa. 
E like “ cellar barns,” but would rather 
keep manure in them than stock. From 
your letter we infer you wish to lay a floor 
on the ground. For such a purpose nothing 
could be better than “something like the 
Nicholson pavement,” but not the Nicholson 
by any means. In this a space of half an 
inch or so la left between the blocks of wood, 
which is filled with gravel. Of course this 
would let the liquids of the stable down into 
the floor, keep it moist all the time and cause 
it to rot. You will have a very durable floor 
if it is laid thus Firat grade off and spread 
a layer of broken stones, topped with sand 
or gravel ; on this lay plank covered with 
coal tar and dusted with flue sand. (This 
should be done long enough beforehand for 
the tar to get dry enough not to come off 
when the plank are handled,) Upon this lay 
blocks of wood sawed out of 8-lnch timber, 
and five or six inches thick. The preferable 
sizes for the timber are 8x8, 8x12 and 8x4, aa 
those can be laid to break joLits convenient¬ 
ly. The blocks should be dipped in hot coal 
tar, or, better, coal tar asphaiturn laid upon 
the planks over which the same has been 
poured. Each course as laid should be nailed 
down to the plank by large nails driven di¬ 
agonally. The blocks should not be wedged 
into the courses, but simply set snug. When 
the floor Js done, hot asphaiturn may be 
poured over all and clean, sharp sand spread 
while it is hot. 
Of course the form of the floor should con¬ 
form to the uso to which it is to 
be applied. By a little contriv¬ 
ance, shallow gutters may be 
made behind the stalls and 
around the sides to carry off 
liquid manure, or water which 
may come through the founda¬ 
tion. We do not like this mate¬ 
rial for horses to stand upon ; 
but if a movable flooring be pro¬ 
vided of narrow planks, laid 
with one-inch space between 
them, nailed to cleats, upon 
which they rest, nothing can he 
better. Jjet It be said here, how¬ 
ever, that no barn cellar that is 
not dry, welblighted and' well- 
ventilated is fib to keep live stock 
in of any kmd. We know barn 
basements that have been ex¬ 
pensively fitted up for stables 
for stock that have been abao- 
4 doned for this purpose because 
^ stock could not be kept in a 
healthful condition in them. 
They have been converted into 
manure and root cellars and used 
as store places for farm machin¬ 
ery, &c., &c. But basements 
may be made that will embrace 
all essentials in health to stock. 
