VOL. XXXVUI. No. 26 
WHOLE No. 1535. 
PRICE FIVE CENTS, 
»-3.00 PER YEAR. 
[ Enter ed according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by the Rural Publishing Company, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.! 
tions, be made suitable for this fire-proof sys¬ 
tem. There is, however, one trouble about this 
fire-proof method, and that is, it is patented ; 
No cut is heic given for a cellar plan. A cel¬ 
lar may be either arranged under the whole 
bouse or only below the part which is carried 
AXIOMS” IN BARN-BUILDING AGAIN 
W. I. CHAMBERLAIN 
A VILLA 
The Rural of May 17th contains a criticism 
of my "so-calledaxioms” in the Rural of Feb¬ 
ruary 15th. The writer, I think, fails to give 
credit for the implied and expressed limitations 
in my articles, for their extreme brevity and 
consequent lack of fuller limitation and ex¬ 
planation, for their character and scope, and 
for the average common sense of farmers. 
He also, I think, falls into some errors in cor¬ 
recting what he deems to be mine. The im¬ 
portance of the subject seems to justify fur¬ 
ther discussion. 
1st. The writer says " the * axioms' are true 
only when certain conditions exist.” But I 
said as much distinctly at least once, and im¬ 
plied it all the way. I said, “ It pays to econo¬ 
mize roof by making the bain as high as pos¬ 
sible without inconvenience." Now a barn " a 
mile high" wouldn't be " convenient" in Ohio. 
Farmers here do not like to pitch hay to that 
altitude, and are not in danger of building 
barns that would render it necessary. Their 
" common sense" eau be trusted so far. If the 
case is different iu Michigan, my Lansing critic 
is right iu lifting a warning voice. 
2d. The ■* tmjMed limitations" are the com¬ 
mon sense of men, the existing (or partially 
oosolete) state of barn architecture, and the 
average size of farmers in the United States. 
The size of most farms here will not call for 
barns so large either vertically or horizontally 
as to require timbers materially larger, or 
more numerous proportionately, than those 
universally found in the 30x40 or 24x30-foot 
barns so common everywhere at the North. I 
shall return to this statement presently. 
3d. But first I wish to call attention to the 
scope and character of my former articles. 
They were brief, not full; practical and popu¬ 
lar, not learned : intended for farmers, not for 
engineers or architects : applicable to barns, 
not to bridges or towers. It would have been 
easy to fill columns with figures, formulas and 
" experiments on strength of materials” from 
a dozen cyclopedias, treatises on mechanics, 
and engineers'pocket or hand¬ 
books. But I tliink I have 
^ observed that the less a writer 
k introduces book knowledge in 
an agricultural paper, the 
P&& better it is for all concerned. 
'VWg. I have also noticed that when 
^ W formulas or principles are in- 
rUj? traduced from books, they 
.jdgjp slu) iild ,:ie carefully explained 
and "corrected” for the prac- 
£33 tical variations that occur. 
For instance, the -writer says 
* “ A very little study would 
at? lmve shown him (the present 
writer) that to construct a 
harn-f rame 20 feet high equally 
as strong as oue 13 feet high, 
tS would have taken for all up- 
right pieces, nearly four times 
as much.material." "Then,” he 
j ffi raj zvi R evidently rneaus " for,” since 
this is his only proof of the 
above statement—“ it is found 
that the breaking load ou the 
©nd °f a post 13 feet high, is 
11.4 tons, while that of a post 
20 feet high and five inches 
square, is only 3.4 tons.” This 
amounts to saying that posts 
half as long are (about) 
2J times as strong. But “ a 
V * ry Stud y” Wl h show 
that while this is true (essen- 
tially) of posts standing alone, 
vertically, loaded on top and 
unsupported laterally to keep 
them from springing or bow- 
. mg, and “ crippling." it is ab¬ 
solutely untrue of posts in a 
L. F. GRAETHKR, C. E 
The design here described, exhibits a small 
villa, which bears a similarity to the " Rural 
Residence” published iu our issue of May 17; in 
fact, it is a modification of the same. The 
elevation answers as well for the plans of the 
" Rural Residence" as it does for those given be¬ 
low, and the sketch conveys also au idea of 
the manner in which the surrounding grounds 
may be laid out, so as to be in harmony with 
the structure. 
The plans are explained as follows : 
First 8tort. A, piazza; B, vestibule; C, hall 
with main flight of stairs to 2d story; D, parlor 
(.12x15 ft.); E, diuiug-room, (15x24 ft.); f] 
kitchen. (15x17 ft.) including closets, H, H, 
and passage N, from dining-room to kitchen ; 
O, pantry, (8x11 ft.); from the piazza L a pas¬ 
sage leads under the stairs to the kitchen. 
The library I (12x15 ft.), and the sitting -room 
K, (15x20 ft.) are situated on the left side of 
the hull. 
The Second Story (see page 406) contaius in 
front the hall A, the bedrooms, B, C, and £ with 
closets L, L, and balconies D, D. A few steps N, 
lead from the stage G of the main stairs to the 
side ball 11, around which the bathroom F, and 
the bedrooms K and I arc grouped. The latter 
may be used as servants’ bedrooms. M, de¬ 
mites the several roofs above A, I, K aud L in 
the first story. 
In this connection, I will endeavor, as far 
as space permits, to describe a new method of 
making, at a small expense, frame houses to a 
great degree fire-proof. This mode of build¬ 
ing, called the Schillinger fire-proof system, is 
particularly adapted for buildings on the farm 
and at watering-places, etc. 
Such buildings require a very light framework. 
This is inclosed (see Fig. 1, page 406), and the 
spaces between the studds A are filled up to 
the bight of the plate with 
fire-proof composition D. 
The composition consists of a 
mixture of sand, lime and 
plaster, or debris, aud when 
set it is quite light, yet very 
tough and firm. Before the 
composition is applied, the 
studds, sills, etc., are inclosed 
with tarred paper B, to pre¬ 
vent dry-rot. The inner side 
of the studds is covored with 
elates L, nailed thereon. 
Clasp-nails C are driven into 
the studds A, so as to make 
the composition D adhere 
firmly thereon. The inner 
side of the wall receives, after 
the composition has set, a „.l. 
brown coal and hard-finish 
E, while the outside may be ' 
covered either with a coat of * - 
cement, plaster, or a siding 
F is fastened against cleats 
0 , thus leaving, between the v?. . 
composition and siding, an 
air-space necessary to prevent 
dampness. The partitions are V m 
but to our knowledge the expense—for getting 
a permit and the right to build in this manner, 
and also for getting the correct proportions of 
the ingredientsot which the composition is com¬ 
posed, with instructions as to its use—is very 
small, and consequently cannot be any serious 
objection to its general introduction. 
two stories high, according to the desire of 
the owner. In either case a wash-kitchen, just 
below the kitchen in the first story, maybe divi¬ 
ded off in the cellar. The inside stair to the cel¬ 
lar may be pnt under the main (light of stairs in 
the hall C. and steps from the outside and also 
a coal slide, etc., may be put in the rear. 
mmiir 
VILLA 
