Dec. 
396 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
DESIGN FOB A COUNTRY SCHOOL-HOUSE. 
Rural 3lrd)itecturr. 
Country School-House. 
It is a singular inconsistency, that, notwithstand¬ 
ing the great value which our people profess to 
attribute to common schools, the buildings which are 
devoted to them, frequently evince the utmost 
neglect. In passing through the country, one can¬ 
not fail to be struck with many disagreeable exam¬ 
ples of this kind. Sometimes the school-house is 
planted within the limits of the highway, and to es¬ 
cape the charge that it incommodes the public travel 
it is, perhaps, perched upon some high bank, or 
precipice, entirely inaccessible to any vehicle. In 
reaching it, the children realize such a foretaste of 
the toils incident to climbing the “hill of science, 
that it is no wonder they become discouraged. In 
other instances the house is placed in the bleakest 
situation of the neighborhood, exposed to the most 
violent winds and storms of winter, and the most 
intense sunshine of summer ; not a tree breaks the 
force of the blast, or intercepts the scorching ray. 
The building itself has not one inviting feature. It 
stands on four piles oT stones—one at each corner; 
the underpinning having never been finished, there 
is a free circulation of air under the floor. It never 
had any paint; there are no blinds to the windows; 
sometimes some calico or paper is hung up as a 
screen to half the window; but more frequently the 
only protection of this kind, is some bushes with the 
leaves on, which the “mistress 77 has fastened into 
the window-frame. If a certain necessary append¬ 
age to the school-house has ever been erected, its 
situation and condition are such as to outrage de¬ 
cency. Half the boards are torn off, it has no door, 
and is so near the public road that it might well be 
complained of as a nuisance. 
Such are too many of our country school-houses. 
But we are happy to know that a reform has com¬ 
menced. Public school-houses, tasteful in design, 
and convenient in arrangement, have been erected 
in many places, and we hope the improvement will 
speedily spread over all parts of the country. 
The design here given was modified by Mr. Dow¬ 
ning, for the Horticulturist, from an English work 
on school-houses, by Kendall. It represents a 
small sohool-house, in a style admirably suited to 
harmonize with rural scenery. It might be built of 
wood for $600 to $700. If not exactly copied, the 
design would afford some excellent hints. The ex¬ 
terior would have an agreeable effect if adopted for 
a small country church 
