216 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
July 
POOR MAN’S COTTAGE. 
I have looked over your useful paper for many years 
past, with no small degree of interest, to find a plan for 
a house at once convenient and comfortable, and cheap 
in its construction; and although many have been pre¬ 
sented, yet none, in the opinion of the writer, combines 
the above properties in a degree equal to the plan here¬ 
with sent. The house is built on a side hill, and exclu¬ 
sive of the basement, is one and a half stories high, and 
is 33 feet by 28. 
. <? 
y 
Fig. 59. 
Fig. 50, is the basement plan; the cellar b, is en¬ 
closed with a stone wall commencing at c, and running 
thence along the side d, to e\ a is the kitchen, and g 
the fire place; e, stairs. There is a wall one foot high 
around the kitchen, being even with the floor thereof 
and the sides of the kitchen are enclosed with studding*, 
weather-boarded on the out side, and lathed and plas¬ 
tered on the inside—being cheaper than stone wall, and 
dryer. 
(Fig. 60.) 
Fig. 60 represents the second and entrance story,; h, 
is a parlor; i, bed-room; k, closets; m, the chimney; 
n> bed-room; o, dining-room; p, vestibule; r, stairs, 
leading from vestibule to upper story; s, doors. The 
communication with the basement is by stairs leading 
from dining-room. The cheapness of the house consists 
in the small amount of stone work, being only about 
25 perch, and there being but one fire-place, viz., in 
the kitchen, with the flue thereof running up and con¬ 
necting with the four rooms above, all of which are 
warmed with stoves attached with pipe to the flue or 
chimney. I find no inconvenience from there being 
seveial pipes running into one flue—it seems to increase 
the draft. By having but one fire-place there is a great 
saving in brick, and cost of building chimney and 
mantle pieces. You can place the windows to suit the 
builder, and also can enlarge or diminish the whole 
plan, and also give the exterior an appearance to suit all 
tastes. 
The cost of building in a country town in Western 
Pennsylvania, finding all materials, is about $500, in¬ 
cluding painting in and out side. I scarcely need add 
that the building is of frame or wood. The farmer 
could put up a similar building, with an outlay beyond 
his own labor, of not more than $250. H. 
Mercer, Pa., 1846. 
„_ Jl 
1 
\\ 
v\ 
'-7-V 
u 
" :. ^7= 
=rr—---- 
. :r ^ 
■f V 
FARM GATE.—(Fig. 61.) 
Head, 3 by 3 inches; heel, 3 by 4; top piece 3 by 3 
at one end, and 3 by 4 at the other; upright and slanting 
braces, one inch thick and 4 wide, one on each side and 
riveted through. Bottom board 10 inches wide, the 
other three boards 6 inches wide; the spaces between, 
4, 5, 6. and 7 inches; the greatest thickness of the gate, 
3 inches. The latch is of hard wood, 2 inches wide, 
and 1 of an inch in thickness, suspended by two chains, 
and plays between the upright slats and through a mor¬ 
tice in the head. The shutting post has a groove on the 
inside 20 inches long, to receive the latch. The front 
side of the groove, which may be termed the catch, is 
so shaped as to throw back the latch until it meets the 
groove when it comes back into it. As the gate is in¬ 
tended to open but one way, the post is left the full 
width on the back side of the groove which keeps the 
latch from passing by. 
But the peculiar and most important feature about the 
gate, is its being hung on iron bolts, and is there¬ 
fore capable of being raised in the winter as the snow 
accumulates, without in the least deranging its opera¬ 
tion. All who use gates in snowy sections, know by 
experience, that not only the shovel, but frequently the 
old axe comes in requisition, and not unfrequently the 
trouble is so great that the gate is taken olf its hinges, 
and bars substituted during the winter. Now the 
above plan saves all this trouble; b, b, are bolts, 1 of an 
inch in diameter, with a screw at the bottom, on 
which the gate hangs; o, o, o, are oblong holes through 
the lower bolt, 6 inches apart, made to receive the key 
k, which together with the ring n supports the gate 
when it is raised. Highlander. 
New-Lisbon, N. Y. 
MALADY OF THE BUTTON-WOOD TREE. 
Mention has before been made of a disease which for 
several years has attacked the tree usually called button- 
wood, (Platanus occidentalism in this part of the coun¬ 
try, known in the south and west under the name of syca¬ 
more. The disease first appeared on the sea-board, in 
Massachusetts, and other eastern states; and has, we 
believe, been yearly extending itself westward, though 
we are unable to say precisely how far it has shown 
itself in that direction. Many trees have been en¬ 
tirely destroyed in Massachusetts, but we have under¬ 
stood that its ravages have been less severe in that sec¬ 
tion during the last year or two, than in previous years. 
We do not think the tree has suffered to so great an ex¬ 
tent here, as in some other places. We have noticed 
that the button-woods were for the two last seasons, 
rather late in getting into leaf, but thought they finally 
leaved out better the past spring, than the year before. 
Lately however, we have observed many trees on which 
more or less of the leaves have suddenly died, and from 
present appearances we think it not unlikely that the 
disease may prove more destructive this year than here¬ 
tofore. Who can give any light as to the cause? Is it 
an epidemic, that like the potato disease, is going over 
the country from east to west? 
