August, 1912 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
117 
In its construction, the first principle is 
that the post on which the gate is hung 
and which naturally receives more or less 
side strain from the weight of the gate, 
should be either rigid enough in itself or 
so braced as to resist this strain. The sec¬ 
ond principle requires that the gate itself 
shall be so braced as to keep its shape and 
be free from the danger of sagging. Un¬ 
fortunately, most old examples have not 
been as carefully considered in these re¬ 
spects as we could wish, and as a conse¬ 
quence have suffered from it. It is not 
pleasant to contemplate a delightful old 
design in which it has been necessary to 
use methods foreign to the original con¬ 
ventions to overcome the ever-to-be-con¬ 
sidered question of gravity. “Why not 
have done this in the first place?’’ one 
very naturally asks, and we heartily echo 
the query. 
Very naturally the wider the gate the 
greater the strain, and this at once brings 
us to the ordinary farm gate as a simple 
•example of the type. The convenient 
form of this is that which we find pic¬ 
tured on old plans of the Elizabethan and 
First Settlement periods — sawed rail with 
a brace, extending from the foot of its ex¬ 
treme swing to the top of the high post on 
which the structure is hung. There is a 
tremendous leverage exerted on this big 
post, and it must be very solid and well 
set to keep straight. In some parts of the 
country where granite quarries were for¬ 
merly worked, one finds many rough ash¬ 
lar underpinnings and very likely great 
stone posts, which support great gates 
with apparently as little trouble as if they 
were paper. 
There is a later form of the above gate, 
which has abandoned the high post and 
long brace; to this contrivance, one is 
simply a slave. The best farm gate we 
know of is that commonly seen in parts 
of Maine, but which seems to be known 
■elsewhere, although we do not remember 
having seen it. It gets rid of the leverage 
at once by adopting the principles of bal¬ 
ance. The section of a tree trunk which 
takes the most of the strain is pivoted on 
the top of a good stout post somewhat 
higher than the adjoining fence or wall. 
The gate hangs from the longer and light¬ 
er end, while the balancing end, which is 
also the butt of the tree, extends on its 
side of the post about two-thirds the dis¬ 
tance of its opposite. On the end of the 
butt is a wooden box, in shape much like a 
mason's hod, into which field stones are 
heaped, until the necessary balance is ef¬ 
fected. A good strong, true post and a 
sufficient beam are all that are necessary 
to dispose of our gate worries. 
The house-gate is, after all, the one 
where variety may be secured. Ordinarily 
it has gate posts which are emphatic 
enough in design to become a feature, but 
sometimes they are insignificant, being, 
with the gate, but a part of the fence. In 
its simplest form this was neither the best 
of taste nor convenient, as it often caused 
the stranger much confusion in its loca¬ 
tion. Developed, the type had its excuse 
Hardware 
T HE hardware is a small item in the total cost of a residence, 
hotel, school, apartment house or public building, but it is 
an important factor in an artistically harmonious ensemble. 
Beauty of finish, fitness of design and honesty of material and 
workmanship are the distinguishing features that have made 
Sargent Hardware the first choice of well informed architects. 
It affords the selection of true period designs that fit perfectly 
into each architectural and decorative scheme. 
We shall be pleased to send a copy 
of our Book of Designs on request. 
We will also send our Special 
Colonial Book if you are interested 
in that period. 
SARGENT & COMPANY, 142 Leonard 
St., New York 
This Colonial knob and key plate are 
rich in the simplicity of their design— 
they hark back to old Salem days. 
This is but one of our many pure de¬ 
signs of the Colonial period. 
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Branches: 1133 B’way, N. Y., 218 Race St., Phil a- 
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where water gets 
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Dipping the 
shingles two- 
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prevents this. 
In writing to advertisers please mention House and Garden. 
