3 1822 02507 3933 LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFOPNIA SAN DIEGO UNIVERSIT OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO 3 1822 02507 3933 Social Sciences & Humanities Library University of California, San Diego P,e a soNce: This item is subiecno rec* Date Due UCSD Lib. Cl 39 (5/97) . RURAL ARCHITECTURE, BEING A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF FARM HOUSES, COTTAGES, AND OUT BUILDINGS, COMPRISING WOOD HOUSES, WORKSHOPS. TOOL HOUSES, CARRIAGE AND WAGON HOUSES, STABLES, SMOKE AND ASH HOUSES, ICE HOUSES, APIARY OR BEE HOUSE, POULTRY HOUSES, RAB- BIXRY, DOVECOTE, PIGGERY, BARNS AND SHEDS FOR CATTLE, &c., &c., &a. TOGETHER WITH LAWNS, PLEASURE GROUNDS AND PARKS ; THE FLOWER, FRUIT ANB VEGETABLE GARDEN. ALSO, USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL DOMESTIC ANIMALS FOR THE COUNTRY RESIDENT, fcC., tC., fcC. ALSO, THE BEST METHOD OF CONDUCTING WATER INTO CATTLE YARDS AND HOUSES. BY LEWIS F. ULLEN. V^*-*"" BEAUTIFULLY ILLU ST. BATED. NEW YORK: A . O . MOORE, (LATE O. M. BAXTON A CO..) AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER, 140 FULTON STREET. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852. BY LEWIS F. ALLEN, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for tiie Southern District of New York. Stereotyped by JEWKTT, THOMAS AMI OO. Buflklo. N. Y. ADVERTISEMENT. The writer of these pages ought, perhaps, to apologize for attempting a work on a subject, of which he is not a profes- sional master, either in design or execution. In the science of Farm buildings he claims no better knowledge than a long practical observation has given him. The thoughts herein submitted for the consideration of those interested in the subject of Farm buildings are the result of that observation, added 'to his experience in the use of such buildings, and a conviction of the inconveniences attending many of those already planned and erected. Nor is it intended, in the production of this work, to niter- fere with the labors of the professional builder. To such builder all who may be disposed to adopt any model or suggestion here presented, are referred, for the various details, hi their specifications, and estimates, that may be required; presuming that the designs and descriptions of this work will be sufficient for the guidance of any master builder, in their erection and completion. iV ADVERTISEMENT. But for the solicitation of those who believe that the undersigned could offer some improvements in the construction of Farm buildings for the benefit of our landholders and practical farmers, these pages would probably never have appeared. They are offered in the hope that they may be useful in assisting to form the taste, and add to the comfort of those who are the main instruments in embellishing the face of our country in its most pleasing and agreeable features the American Farmer. LEWIS F. ALLEN. BLACK ROCK, N. Y. 1851. NOTE. For throwing the Designs embraced in these pages into their present artistic form, the writer is indebted to Messrs. Otis 24 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. comfort are concerned in a dwelling; and its conform- ity to just rules in architecture need not be additionally expensive or troublesome. He who builds at all, if it be anything beyond a rude or temporary shelter, may as easily and cheaply build in accordance with correct rules of architecture, as against such rules ; and it no more requires an extravagance in cost or a wasteful occupation of room to produce a given effect in a house suited to humble means, than in one of profuse accom- modation. Magnificence, or the attempt at magnifi- cence in building, is the great fault with Americans who aim to build out of the common line; and the consequence of such attempt is too often a failure, ap- parent, always, at a glance, and of course a perfect condemnation in itself of the judgment as well as taste of him who undertakes it. Holding our tenures as we do, with no privilege of entail to our posterity, an eye to his own interest, or to that of his family who is to succeed to his estate, should admonish the builder of a house to the adoption of a plan which will, in case of the sale of the estate, involve no serious loss. He should build such a house as will be no detriment, in its expense, to the selling value of the land on which it stands, and always fitted for the spot it occupies. Hence, an imitation of the high, extended, castellated mansions of England, or the Continent, although in miniature, are altogether un- suited.to the American farmer or planter, whose lands, instead of increasing in his family, are continually sub- ject to division, or to sale in mass, on his own demise; and when the estate is encumbered with unnecessarily KUEAL ARCHITECTURE. 25 large and expensive buildings, they become an abso- lute drawback to its value in either event. An expen- sive house requires a corresponding expense to maintain it, otherwise its effect is lost, and many a worthy owner of a costly mansion has been driven to sell and aban- don his estate altogether, from his unwillingness or inability to support " the establishment " which it en- tailed; when, if the dwelling were only such as the estate required and could reasonably maintain, a con- tented and happy home would have remained to him- self and family. It behooves, therefore, the American builder to examine well his premises, to ascertain the actual requirements of his farm or plantation, in con venieuce and accommodation, and build only to such extent, and at such cost as shall not impoverish his means, nor cause him future disquietude. Another difficulty with us is, that we oftener build to gratify the eyes of the public than our own, and fit up our dwellings to accommodate " company" or visit- ors, rather than our own families ; and in the indul- gence of this false notion, subject ourselves to perpetual inconvenience for the gratification of occasional hospi- tality or ostentation. This is all wrong. A house should be planned and constructed for the use of the household, with incidental accommodation for our im- mediate friends or guests which can always be done without sacrifice to the comfort or convenience of the regular inmates. In this remark, a stinted and parsi- monious spirit is not suggested. A liberal appropria- tion of rooms in every department; a spare chamber or two, or an additional room on the ground floor, 26 KTJBAL looking to a possible increase of family, and the indul- gence of an easy hospitality, should always govern the resident of the country in erecting his dwelling. The enjoyments of society and the intercourse of friends, sharing for the time, our own table and fireside, is a crowning pleasure of country life ; and all this may be done without extraordinary expense, in a wise con- struction of the dwelling. The farm house too, should comport in character and area with the extent and capacity of the farm itself, and the main design for which it is erected. To the farmer proper he who lives from the income which the farm produces it is important to know the extent of accommodation required for the economical manage- ment of his estate, and then to build in accordance with it, as well as to suit his own position in life, and the station which he and his family hold in society. The owner of a hundred acre farm, living upon the income he receives from it, will require less house room than he who tills equally well his farm of three, six, or ten hundred acres. Yet the numbers in their respective families, the relative position of each in society, or their taste for social intercourse may demand a larger or smaller household arrangement, regardless of the size of their estates ; still, the dwellings on each should bear, in extent and expense, a consistent relation to the land itself, and the means of its owner. For in- stance : a farm of one hundred acres may safely and economically erect and maintain a house costing eight hundred to two thousand dollars, while one of five hun- dred to a thousand acres may range in an expenditure M BUBAL ABCHTTECTIJBE. 27 of twenty-five hundred to five thousand dollars in its dwelling, and all be consistent with a proper economy in farm management. Let it be understood, that the above sums are named as simply comporting with a financial view of the sub- ject, and such as the economical management of the estate may warrant. To one who has no regard to such consideration, this rule of expenditure will not apply. He may invest any amount he so chooses in building beyond, if he only be content to pocket the loss which he can never expect to be returned in an increased value to the property, over and above the price of cheaper buildings. On the other hand, he would do well to consider that a farm is frequently worth less to an ordinary purchaser, with an extrava- gant house upon it, than with an economical one, and in many cases will bring even less in market, in pro- portion as the dwelling is expensive, fancy purchas- ers are few, and fastidious, while he who buys only for a home and an occupation, is governed solely by the profitable returns the estate will afford upon the capital invested. There is again a grand error which many fall into in building, looking as they do only at the extent of wood and timber, or stone and mortar in the structure, and paying no attention to the surroundings, which in most cases contribute more to the effect of the establishment than the structure itself, and which, if uncultivated or neglected, any amount of expenditure in building will fail to give that completeness and perfection of charac- ter which every homestead should command. Thus RURAL ARCHITECT-TEE. ** -** the tawdry erections in imitation of a cast-oil' feudalism in Europe, or a copying of the massive piles of more recent date abroad, although in miniature, both in extent and cost, is the sheerest affectation, in which no sensible man should ever indulge. It is out of all keeping, or propriety with other things, as we in this country have them, and the indulgence of all such fancies is sooner or later regretted. Substance, conve- nience, purpose, harmony all, perhaps, better summed up in the term EXPRESSION these are the objects which should govern the construction of our dwellings and out-buildings, and in their observance we can hardly err in the acquisition of what will promote the highest enjoyment which a dwelling can bestow. BUBAL ARCHITECTURE. 29 POSITION". The site of a dwelling should be an important study with every country builder; for on this depends much of its utility, and in addition to that, a large share of the enjoyment which its occupation will afford. Cus- tom, in many parts of the United States, in the location of the farm buildings, gives advantages which are denied in others. In the south, and in the slave states generally, the planter builds, regardless of roads, on the most convenient site his plantation presents ; the farmer of German descent, in Pennsylvania and some other states, does the same : while the Yankee, be he settled where he will, either in the east, north, or west, inexorably huddles himself immediately upon the high- way, whether his possessions embrace both sides of it or not, disregarding the facilities of access to his fields, the convenience of tilling his crops, or the character of the ground which his buildings may occupy, seeming to have no other object than proximity to the road as if his chief business was upon that, instead of its being simply a convenience to his occupation. To the last, but little choice is left ; and so long as a close connec- tion with the thoroughfare is to control, he is obliged 2* 30 BUBAL AECHITECTUEE. to conform to accident in what should be a matter of deliberate choice and judgment. Still, there are right and wrong positions for a house, which it is necessary to discuss, regardless of conventional rules, and they should be considered in the light of propriety alone. A fitness to the purposes for which the dwelling is constructed should, unquestionably, be the governing point in determining its position. The site should be dry, and slightly declining, if possible, on every side ; but if the surface be level, or where water occasionally flows from contiguous grounds, or on a soil naturally damp, it should be thoroughly drained of all super- fluous moisture. That is indispensable to the preser- vation of the house itself, and the health of its inmates. The house should so stand as to present an agreeable aspect from the main points at which it is seen, or the thoroughfares by which it is approached. It, should be so arranged as to afford protection from wind and storm, to that part most usually occupied, as well as be easy of access to the out-buildings appended to it. It should have an unmistakable front, sides, and rear; and the uses to which its various parts are applied, should distinctly appear in its outward character. It should combine all the advantages of soil, cultivation, water, shade, and shelter, which the most liberal grati- fication, consistent with the circumstances of the owner, may demand. If a site on the estate command a pros- pect of singular beauty, other things equal, the dwel- ling should embrace it ; if the luxury of a stream, or a , sheet of water in repose, present itself, it should, if possible, be enjoyed; if the shade and protection of a RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 31 grove be near, its benefits should be included ; in fine, any object in itself desirable, and not embarrassing to the main purposes of the dwelling and its appendages, should be turned to the best account, and appropriated in such manner as to combine all that is desirable both in beauty and effect, as well as in utility, to make up a perfect whole in the family residence. Attached to the building site should be considered the quality of the soil, as affording cultivation and growth to shrubbery and trees, at once the ornament most effective to all domestic buildings, grateful to the eye always, as objects of admiration and beauty delightful in the repose they offer in hours of las- situde or weariness ; and to them, that indispensable feature in a perfect arrangement, the garden, both fruit and vegetable, should be added. Happily for the American, our soils are so universally adapted to the growth of vegetation in all its varieties, that hardly a farm of considerable size can be found which does not afford tolerable facilities for the exercise of all the taste which one may indulge in the cultivation of the garden as well as in the planting and growth of trees and shrubbery; and a due appropriation of these to an agreeable residence is equal in importance to the stylo and arrangement of the house itself. The site selected for the dwelling, and the character of the scenery and objects immediately surrounding it, should have a controlling influence upon the style in which the house is to be constructed. A fitness and harmony in all these is indispensable to both express- ion and effect. And in their determination, a single 32 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. object should not control, but the entire picture, as completed, should be embraced in the view ; and that style of building constituting the most agreeable whole, as filling the eye with the most grateful sensations, should be the one selected with which to fill up and complete the design. HOME EMBELLISHMENTS. A discussion of the objects by way of embellishment, which may be required to give character and effect to a country residence, would embrace a range too wide, in all its parts, for a simply practical treatise like this ; and general hints on the subject are all indeed, that will be required, as no specific rules or directions can be given which would be applicable, indiscriminately, to guide tiie builder in the execution of his work. A dwelling house, no matter what the style, standing alone, either on hill or plain, apart from other objects, would hardly be an attractive sight. As a mere rep- resentation of a particular style of architecture, or as a model of imitation, it might excite our admiration, but it would not be an object on which the eye and the imagination could repose with satisfaction. It would be incomplete unless accompanied by such associates as the eye is accustomed to embrace in the full gratifica- tion of the sensations to which that organ is the KT7RAL ARCHITECTURE. 33 conductor. But assemble around that dwelling subor- dinate structures, trees, and shrubbery properly dis- posed, and it becomes an object of exceeding interest and pleasure in the contemplation. It is therefore, that the particular style or outward arrangement of the house is but a part of what should constitute the gen- eral effect, and such style is to be consulted only so far as it may in itself please the taste, and give benefit or utility in the purposes for which it is intended. Still, the architectural design should be in harmony with the features of the surrounding scenery, and is thus im- portant in completing the effect sought, and which cannot be accomplished without it. A farm with its buildings, or a simple country resi- dence with the grounds which enclose it, or a cottage with its door-yard and garden, should be finished sections of the landscape of which it forms a part, or attractive points within it; and of consequence, com- plete each within itself, and not dependent upon distant accessories to support it an imperium in imperio, in classic phrase. A tower, a monument, a steeple, or the indistinct outline of a distant town may form a striking feature in a pictorial design and the associa- tions connected with them, or, the character in which they are contemplated may allow them to stand naked and unadorned by other objects, and still permit them to fill up in perfect harmony the picture. This idea will illustrate the importance of embellishment, not only in the substitution of trees as necessary append- ages to a complete rural establishment, but in the erection of all the buildings necessary for occupation 34 RTTBAL AECHITECTUEE. in any manner, in form and position, to give effeci from any point of view in which the homestead ma/y be seen. General appearance should not be confine-! to one quarter alone, but the house and its surround ings on every side should show completeness in design and harmony in execution ; and although humble, ami devoted to the meanest purposes, a portion of these erections may be, yet the character of utility or neces sity which they maintain, gives them an air of dignity , if not of grace. Thus, a house and out-buildingo flanked with orchards, or a wood, on which they apparently fall back for support, fills the eye at once with not only a beautiful group, in themselves com bined, but associate the idea of repose, of comfort, and abundance indispensable requisites to a perfec 1 farm residence. They also seem to connect the house and out-buildings with the fields beyond, which are oi necessity naked of trees, and gradually spread the view abroad over the farm until it mingles with, 01 is lost in the general landscape. These remarks may seem too refined, and as out of place here, and trenching upon the subject of Land scape Gardening, which is not designed to be a part, or but an incidental one of the present work, yet they are important in connection with the subject under discussion. The proper disposition of trees and shrub- bery around, or in the vicinity of buildings is far too little understood, although tree planting about our dwellings is a practice pretty general throughout our country. Nothing is more common than to see a man build a house, perhaps in most elaborate and expensive EUKAL AKCHTTECTURE. , 35 style, and then plant a row of trees close upon the front, which when grown will shut it almost entirely out of view; while he leaves the rear as bald and unprotected as if it were a barn or a horse-shed as if in utter ignorance, as he probably is, that his house is more effectively set off by a flanking and back- ground of tree and shrubbery, than in front. And this is called good taste ! Let us examine it. Trees near a dwelling are desirable for shade ; shelter they do not afford except in masses, which last is always better given to the house itself by a veranda. Immediately adjoining, or within touching distance of a house, trees create dampness, more or less litter, and frequently vermin. They injure the walls and roofs by their continual shade and dampness. They exclude the rays of the sun, and prevent a free circulation of air. Therefore, close to the house, trees are absolutely per- nicious, to say nothing of excluding all its architectural effect from observation; when, if planted at proper distances, they compose its finest ornaments. If it be necessary to build in good taste at all, it is quite as necessary that such good taste be kept in view throughout. A country dwelling should always be a conspicuous object in its full character and out- line, from one or more prominent points of observation ; consequently all plantations of tree or shrubbery in its immediate vicinity should be considered as aids to show off the house and its appendages, instead of be- coming the principal objects of attraction in themselves. Their disposition should be such as to create a perfect and agreeable whole, when seen in connection with the 86 RURAL AECHITECTUKE. house itself. They should also be so placed as to open the surrounding landscape to view in its most attractive features, from the various parts of the dwelling. Much in the effective disposition of trees around the dwelling will thus depend upon the character of the country- seen from it, and which should control to a great extent their position. A single tree, of grand and stately dimensions, will frequently give greater effect than the most studied plantations. A ledge of rock, in the clefts of which wild vines may nestle, or around which a mass of shrubbery may cluster, will add a charm to the dwelling which an elaborate cultivation would fail to bestow ; and the most negligent apparel of nature in a thousand ways may give, a character which we might strive in vain to accomplish by our own inven- tion. In the efforts to embellish our dwellings or grounds, the strong natural objects with which they are associated should be consulted, always keeping in view an expression of the chief character to which the whole is applied. RUEAL AECHITEOTTJEE. 87 MATERIAL FOR FARM BUILDINGS. In a country like ours, containing within its soils and upon its surface such an abundance and variety of building material, the composition of our farm erections must depend in most cases upon the ability or the choice of the builder himself. Stone is the most durable, in the long run the cheap- est, and as a consequence, the lest material which can be furnished for the walls of a dwelling. With other farm buildings circumstances may govern differently ; still, in many sections of the United States, even stone cannot be obtained, except at an expense and incon- venience altogether forbidding its use. Yet it is a happy relief that where stone is difficult, or not at all to be obtained, the best of clay for bricks, is abundant ; and in almost all parts of our country, even where building timber is scarce, its transportation is so com- paratively light, and the facilities of removing it are so cheap, that wood is accessible to every one. Hence we may indulge in almost every fitting style of archi- tecture and arrangement, to which either kind of these materials are best adapted. We shall slightly discuss them as applicable to our purposes. BUBAL AECHITECTUBE. Stone is found either on the surface, or in quarries under ground. On the surface they lie chiefly as bowlders of less or greater size, usually of hard and durable kinds. Large bowlders may be either blasted, or split with wedges into sufficiently available shapes to lay in walls with mortar ; or if small, they may with a little extra labor, be fitted by the aid of good mortar into equally substantial wall as the larger masses. In quarries they are thrown out, either by blasting or splitting in layers, so as to form regular courses when laid up; and all their varieties may, unhammered, except to strike off projecting points or angles, be laid up with a sufficiently smooth face to give fine effect to a building. Thus, when easily obtained, aside from the greater advantages of their durability, stone is as cheap in the first instance as lumber, excepting in new districts of country where good building lumber is the chief article of production, and cheaper than brick in any event. Stone requires no paint. Its color is a natural, therefore an agreeable one, be it usually what it may, although some shades are more grateful to the eye than others; yet it is always in harmony with natural objects, and particularly so on the farm where everything ought to wear the most substantial appear- ance. The outer walls of a stone house should always be ftrred off inside for lathing and plastering, to keep them thoroughly dry. Without that, the rooms are liable to dampness, which would penetrate through the stone into the inside plastering unless cut off by an open space of air between. Bricks, where stone is not found, supply its place KTJBAL ARCHITECTURE. 39 tolerably well. When made of good clay, rightly tempered with sand, and well burned, they will in a wall remain for centuries, and as far as material is concerned, answer all purposes. Brick walls may be thinner than stone walls, but they equally require "firring off " for inside plastering, and in addition, they need the aid of paint quite as often as wood, to give them an agreeable color bricks themselves not usually being in the category of desirable colors or shades. Wood, when abundant and easily obtained, is worked with the greatest facility, and on many accounts, is the cheapest material, for the time, of which a building can be constructed. But it is perishable. It requires every few years a coat of paint, and is always asso- ciated with the idea of decay. Yet wood may be moulded into an infinite variety of form to please the eye, in the indulgence of any peculiar taste or fancy. We cannot, in the consideration of material for house-building therefore, urge upon the farmer the adoption of either of the above named materials to the preference of another, in any particular structure he may require ; but leave him to consult his own circum- stances in regard to them, as best he may. But this we will say: If it be possible, never lay a cellar or underground wall of perisha,ble material, such as wood or soft bricks ; nor build with soft or uribumt bricks in a wall exposed to the weather wnywhere / nor with stone which is liable to crumble or disintegrate by the action of frost or water upon it. We are aware that 40 KUBAL AEGHITEOTURE. unburnt bricks have been strongly recommended for house-building in America; but from observation, we are fully persuaded that they are worthless for any permanent structure, and if used, will in the end prove a dead loss in their application. Cottages, out- buildings, and other cheap erections on the farm, for the accommodation of laborers, stock, or crops, may be made of wood, where wood is the cheapest -and most easily obtained ; and, even "taking its perishable nature into account, it may be the most economical. In their construction, it may be simply a matter of calculation with him who needs them, to calculate the first cost of any material he has at hand, or may obtain, and to that add the interest upon it, the annual wear and tear, the insurance, and the period it may last, to determine this matter to his entire satisfaction always provided he have the means at hand to do either. But other considerations generally control the American farmer. His pocket is apt more often to be pinched, than his choice is to be' at fault; and this weighty argument compels him into the "make shift" system, which perhaps in its results, provided the main chance be attained, is quite as advantageous to his interests as the other. As a general remark, all buildings should show for themselves, what they are built of. Let stone be stone ; bricks show on their own account ; and of all things, put no counterfeit by way of plaster, stucco, or other false pretence other than paint, or a durable wash upon wood : it is a miserable affectation always, and of no possible use whatever. All counterfeit of BUBAL ABCHlTEOTUBE. 41 any kind as little becomes the buildings of the farmer, as the gilded pincTibeck watch would fit the finished attire of a gentleman. Before submitting the several designs proposed for this work, it may be remarked, that in addressing them to a climate strictly American, we have in every instance adopted the wide, steeply-pitched roof, with broad eaves, gables and cornices, as giving protection, shade, and shelter to the walls ; thus keeping them dry and in good preservation, and giving that well housed, and comfortable expression, so different from the stiff, pinched, and tucked-up look in which so many of the haberdasher-built houses of the present day exult. We give some examples of the hipped roof, because they are convenient and cheap in their construction; and we also throw into the designs a lateral direction to the roofs of the wings, or connecting parts of the building. This is sometimes done for effect in archi- tectural appearance, and sometimes for the economy and advantage of the building itself. "Where roofs thus intersect or connect with a side wall, the connect- ing gutters should be made of copper, zinc, lead, gal- vanized iron, or tin, into which the shingles, if they be covered with that material, should be laid so as to effectually prevent leakage. The eave gutters should be of copper, zinc, lead, galvanized iron or tin, also, and placed at least one foot back from the edge of the roof, and lead the water into conductors down the wall into the cistern or elsewhere, as may be required. If the water be not needed, and the roof be wide over the walls, there is no objection to let it pass off naturally, EUEAL ARCHITECTURE. if it be no inconvenience to the ground below, and can run off, or be absorbed into the ground without detri- ment to the cellar walls. All this must be subject to the judgment of the proprietor himself. OUTSIDE COLOR We are not among those who cast off, and on a sudden condemn, as out of all good taste the time-hon- ored white house with its green blinds, often so taste- fully gleaming out from beneath the shade of .summer trees ; nor do we doggedly adhere to it, except when in keeping, by contrast or otherwise, with everything around it. For a century past white has been the chief color of our wooden houses, and often so of brick ones, in the United States. This color has been sup- posed to be strong and durable, being composed chiefly of white lead ; and as it reflected the rays of the sun instead of absorbing them, as some of the darker colors do, it was thus considered a better preserver of the weather-boarding from the cracks which the fervid heat of the sun is apt to make upon it, than the darker colors. White, consequently, has always been consid- ered, until within a few years past, as a fitting and tasteful color for dwellings, both in town and country. A new school of taste in colors has risen, however, within a few years past, among us ; about the same time, too, that the recent gingerbread and beadwork BUBAL AECHITECTUKB. 43 style of country building was introduced. And these were both, as all new things are apt to be, carried to extremes. Instead of toning down the glare of the white into some quiet, neutral shade, as a straw color ; a drab of different hues always an agreeable and appropriate color for a dwelling, particularly when the door and window casings are dressed with a deeper or lighter shade, as those shades predominate in the main body of the house ; or a natural and soft wood color, which also may be of various shades ; or even the warm russet hue of some of our rich stones quite appropriate, too, as applied to wood, or bricks the fashion must be followed without either rhyme or reason, and hundreds of our otherwise pretty and imposing country houses have been daubed over with the dirtiest, gloomiest pigment imaginable, making every habitation which it touched look more like a funeral appendage than a cheerful, life-enjoying home We candidly say that we have no sort of affection for such sooty daubs. The fashion which dictates them is a barbarous, false, and arbitrary fashion ; void of all natural taste in its inception; and to one who has a cheerful, life-loving spirit about him, such colors have no more fitness on his dwelling or out-buildings, than a tomb would have in his lawn or dooryard. Locality, amplitude of the buildings, the purpose to which they are applied every consideration con- nected with them, in fact, should be consulted, as to color. Stone will give its own color; which, by the wny, some prodigiously smart folks paint quite as decorous or essential, as to " paint the lily." Brick 44 BUBAL AKCHirECTUitE. sometimes must be painted, but it should be of a colof in keeping with its character, of substance and dig- nity ; not a counterfeit of stone, or to cheat him whc looks upon it into a belief that it may be marble, or other unfounded pretension. A warm russet is most appropriate for brick- work of any kind of color the color of a russet apple, or undressed leather shades that comport with Milton's beautiful idea of " Russet lawns and fallows gray." Red and yellow are both too glaring, and slate, or lead colors too somber and cold. It is, in fact, a strong argument in favor of bricks in building, where they can be had as cheap as stone or wood, that any color can be given to them which the good taste of the builder may require, in addition to their durability, which, when made of good material, and properly burned, is quite equal to stone. In a wooden struc- ture one may play with his fancy in the way of coloi, minding in the operation, that he does not play the mountebank, and like the clown in the circus, make his tattooed tenement the derision of men of correct taste, as the other does his burlesque visage the ridicule of his auditors. A wooden country house, together with its out-build- ings, should -always be of a cheerful and softly-toned color a color giving a feeling of warmth and comfort; nothing glaring or flashy about it. And yet, such buildings should not, in their color, any more than in their architecture, appear as if imitating either stone or brick. Wood, of itself, is light. One cannot build KUBAi AROHITECTUIiE. 4:5 a heavy house of wood, as compared with brick or stone. Therefore all imitation or device which may lead to a belief that it may be other than what it really is, is nothing less than a fraud not criminal, we admit, but none the less a fraud upon good taste and archi- tectural truth. It is true that in this country we cannot afford to place in stone and brick buildings those ornate trim- mings and appendages which, perhaps, if economy were not to be consulted, might be more durably con- structed of stone, but at an expense too great to be borne by those of moderate means. Yet it is not essential that such appendages should be of so expen- sive material. The very purposes to which they are applied, as a parapet, a railing, a balustrade, a portico, piazza, or porch ; all these may be of wood, even when the material of the house proper is of the most durable kind ; and by being painted in keeping with the build- ing itself, produce a fine effect, and do no violence to good taste or the most fastidious propriety. They may be even sanded to a color, and grained, stained, or otherwise brought to an identity, almost, with the material of the house, and be quite proper, because they simply are appendages of convenience, necessity, or luxury, to the building itself, and may be taken away without injuring or without defacing the main structure. They are not a 'material part of the build- ing itself, but reared for purposes which may be dis- pensed with. It is a matter of taste or preference, that they were either built there, or that they remain per- manently afterward, and of consequence, proper that 46 BUBAL ABOHTTEOTTTKE. they be of wood. Yet they should not imitate stone or brick. They should still show that they are of wood, but in color and outside preservation denote that they are appendages to a stone or brick house, by complying with the proper shades in color which predominate in the building itself, and become their own subordinate character. JSTot being a professional painter, or compounder of colors, we shall offer no receipts or specifics for paint- ing or washing buildings. Climate affects the compo- sition of both paints and washes, and those who are competent in this line, are the proper persons to dictate their various compositions; and we do but common justice to the skill and intelligence of our numerous mechanics, when we recommend to those who contem- plate building, to apply forthwith to such as are masters of their trade for all the information they require on the various subjects connected with it. One who sets out to be his own architect, builder, and painter, is akin to the lawyer in the proverb, who has a fool for his client, when pleading his own case, and quite as apt to have quack in them all. Hints, general out- lines, and oftentimes matters of detail in interior con- venience, and many other minor affairs may be given by the proprietor, when he is neither a professional architect, mechanic, or even an amateur; but in all things affecting the substantial and important parts of his buildings, he should consult those who are proficient and experienced in the department on which he con- sults them. And it may perhaps be added that none professing to be such, are competent, unless well KUKAL ARCHITECTURE. 4:7 instructed, and whose labors have met the approbation of those competent to judge. There is one kind of color, prevailing to a great extent in many parts of our country, particularly the northern and eastern, which, in its effect upon any one having an eye to a fitness of things in country build- ings, is a monstrous perversion of good taste. That is the glaring red, made up of Venetian red, ochre, or Spanish brown, with doors and windows touched off with white. The only apology we have ever heard given for such a barbarism was, that it is a good, strong, and lasting color. We shall not go into an examination as to that fact, but simply answer, that if it be so, there are other colors, not more expensive, which are equally strong and durable, and infinitely more tasteful and fitting. There can be nothing less comporting with the simplicity of rural scenery, than a glaring red color on a building. It connects with nothing natural about it; it neither fades into any surrounding shade of soil or vegetation, and must of necessity, stand out in its own bold and unshrouded impudence, a perfect Ishmaelite in color, and a perver- sion of every thing harmonious in the design. "We eschew red, therefore, from every thing in rural ar- chitecture. 48 KUEAL AKCHITECTDKB A SHOKT CHAPTER ON TASTE. The compound words, or terms good-taste and 'bad- taste have been used in the preceding pages without, perhaps, sufficiently explaining what is meant by the word taste, other than as giving vague and unsatisfac- tory terms to the reader in measuring the subject in hand. Taste is a term universally applied in criticism of the fine-arts, such as painting, sculpture, architec- ture, &c., &c., of which there are many schools of taste, we mean some of them, perhaps natural, but chiefly conventional, and all . more or less arbitrary. The proverb, " there is no accounting for taste," is as old as the aforesaid schools themselves, and defines perfectly our own estimate of the common usage of the term. As we have intended to use it, Webster defines the word taste to be " the faculty of discerning beauty, order, congruity, proportion, symmetry, or whatever constitutes excellence; style; manner with respect to what is pleasing." "With this understanding, therefore ; a fitness to the purpose for which a thing is intended got up in a manner agreeable to the eye and the mind RTJKAL ABCHirECTTTRE. 4:9 preserving also a harmony between its various parts and uses; pleasing to the eye, as addressed to the sense, and satisfactory to the mind, as appropriate to the object for which it is required ; these constitute good-taste, as the term is here understood. The term style, also, is " the manner or form of a thing." "When we say, " that is a stylish house," it should mean that it is in, or approaches some partic- ular style of building recognized by the schools. It may or may not be in accordance with good taste, and is, consequently, subject to the same capricious test in its government. Yet styles are subject to arrangement, and are classified in the several schools of architecture, either as distinct specimens of acknowledged orders, as the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthian, in Grecian architecture, or, the Tuscan and Composite, which are, more distinctly, styles of Roman architecture. To these may be added the Egyptian, the most massive of all ; and either of them, in their proper character, grand and imposing when applied to public buildings or extensive structures, but altogether inapplicable, from their want of lightness and convenience, to coun- try or even city dwellings. Other styles not exactly orders of architecture, such as the Italian, the Ro- manesque, the Gothic, the Swiss, with their modifica- tions all of which admit of a variety of departures from fixed rules, not allowed in the more rigid orders may be adapted in a variety of ways, to the most agreeable and harmonious arrangement in architectu- ral effect, for dwellings and structures appurtenant to them. 50 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. The Italian style of architecture, modified somewhat in pretension and extent, is admirably adapted to most parts of the United States. Its general lightness, open- ness, and freedom gives a wide range of choice ; and its wings, verandas, and terraces, stretching off in any and almost every direction desired, from the main building, make it exceedingly appropriate for general use. The modern, or rural Gothic, branching off some- times into what is termed the English cottage style, and in many instances blending so intimately with the Italian, as hardly to mark the line of division, is also a beautiful arrangement of building for country dwel- lings. These, in ruder structures, may also be carried into the Rustic not a style proper, in itself but so termed as approximating in execution or pretension to either of the above ; while the Swiss, with its hanging roofs, and sheltering eaves may be frequently brought in aid to show out the rustic form in more complete- ness, and in greater harmony with surrounding objects, than either of the others. For farm houses, either of these awangements or departures from a set and positive style, are better fit- ted than any which we have noticed ; and in some one or other of the modifications named, we have applied them in the examples submitted in this work. They may not therefore be viewed as distinct delineations of an order of architecture, or style proper, even ; but as a mode appropriate to the object required. And so long as they do not absolutely conflict with true taste, or in their construction commit a barbarism upon any acknowledged system of architecture, in any of its BUBAL AECHITEOTUEE. 51 modifications, we hazard no impropriety in introducing them for the imitation of country builders. Congruity with the objects to which it is applied should be the chief merit of any structure whatever ; and so long as that object be attained, good taste is not violated, and utility is fully subserved. Intimately connected with this subject, in rural build ings, is the shape of the structure. Many of the designs recently introduced for the imitation of build- ers, are full of angles and all sorts of zig-zag lines, which, although they may add to the variety of style, or relieve the monotony of straight and continuous lines, are carried to a needless excess, expensive in their construction, and entail infinite trouble upon the owner or occupant, in the repairs they subject him to, in the leakages continually occurring, against which last, either of wind or rain, it is almost impossible to guard. And what, let us ask, are the benefits of a parcel of needless gables and peaked windows, running up like owl's ears, above the eaves of a house, except to create expense, and invite leakage and decay ? If in appearance, they provoke an association of that kind, they certainly are not in good taste ; and a foot or two of increased height in a wall, or a low window sufficient for the purpose intended, would give a tone of dignity, of comfort, and real utility, which a whole covey of such pretentious things could not. All such trumpery should be scouted from the dwelling house of the farmer, and left to the special indulgence of the town builder. A square form of house will afford more area within 52 BTTKAL ARCHTTECTITBE. a given line of wall than any other sensible form which may be adopted. Yet a square house is not so agree- able to the eye as an oblong. Thus, a house should stand somewhat broader on one front than on another. It should also be relieved from an appearance of mon- otony and tameness, by one or more wings ; and such wings should, at their junction with the main building, retreat or advance a sufficient distance from a contin- uous line, as to relieve it effectually from an appearance of stiflhess, and show a different character of occupa- tion from that of the main structure. The front of a house should be the most imposing and finished in its architecture of any one of its parts ; and unless some motive of greater convenience control otherwise, its entrance the most highly wrought, as indicating the luxury of the establishment for even the humblest habitations have their luxuries. The side rooms, or more usually occupied apartments, require less pre- tension in both architectural effect and finish, and should wear a more subdued appearance; while the kitchen section, and from that, the several grades of apartments stretching beyond it, should distinctly show that they are subservient in their character, and wear a style and finish accordingly. Thus, each part of the house speaks for itself. It is its own finger-board, pointing the stranger to its various accommodation, as plainly as if written on its walls, and saying as signifi- cantly as dumb walls can do, that here dwells a well regulated family, who have a parlor for their friends ; a library, or sitting-room for their own leisure and com- fort; an ample bedroom and nursery, for the parents RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 53 and the little ones; a kitchen\for the cooking; and a scullery and closets, and all the other etceteras which belong to a perfect family homestead. And so with the grounds. The lawn or " dooryard," should be the best kept ground on the place. The most conspicuous part of the garden should show its shrubbery and its flowers. The side or rear approach should be separated from the lawn, and show its con- stant business occupation, and openly lead off to where men and farm stock meet on common ground, devoted to every purpose which the farm requires. Such arrangement would be complete in all its parts, satis- factory, and lasting. Tinsel ornament, or gewgaw decoration should never be permitted on any building where the sober enjoyment of agricultural life is de- signed. It can never add consideration or dignity to the retired gentleman even, and least of all should it be indulged in by the farmer, dwelling on his own cultivated acres. 3 54 BTTRAL ARCHITECTURE. THE CONSTEUCTIOlSr OF CELLAES. Every farm house and farm cottage, where a family of any size occupy the latter, should have a good, substantial stone-walled cellar beneath it. No room attached to the farm house is more profitable, in its occupation, than the cellar. It is useful for storing numberless articles which are necessary to be kept warm and dry in winter, as well as cool in summer, of which the farmer is well aware. The walls of a cellar should rise at least one, to two, or even three feet above the level of the ground surrounding it, according to circumstances, and the rooms in it well ventilated by two or more sliding sash windows in each, accord- ing to size, position, and the particular kind of storage for which it is required, so that a draft of pure air can pass through, and give it thorough ventilation at all times. It should also be at least seven and a half feet high in the clear ; and if it be even nine feet, that is not too much. If the soil be compact, or such as will hold water, it should be thoroughly drained from the lowest point or corner, and the drain always kept open ; (a stone drain is the best and most durable,) and if KURAL ARCHITECTURE. 55 floored with a coat of flat, or rubble stones, wtJl set in good hydraulic cement or cement alone, when the stone cannot be obtained all the better. This last will make it rat proof . For the purpose of avoiding these destructive creatures, the foundation stones in the wall should be brought to a joint, and project at least six inches on each side, from the wall itself, when laid upon this bottom course ; as the usual manner of rats is to burrow in a nearly perpendicular direction from the surface, by the side of the wall, when intend- ing to undermine it. On arriving at the bottom, if circumvented by the projecting stones, they will usu- ally abandon their work. Plank of hard wood, or hard burnt bricks, may answer this purpose when stone cannot be had. All cellar walls should be laid in good lime mortar, or if that be not practicable, they should be well pointed with it. This keeps them in place, and ren- ders them less liable to the ingress of water and vermin. The thickness of wall should not be less than fifteen to eighteen inches, in any event, when of stone ; and if the house walls above be built of stone or brick, two feet is better ; and in all cases the cellar wall should be full three inches thicker than the wall resting upon it. In the cellar of every farm house there should be an outside door, with a flight of steps by which to pass roots and other bulky or heavy articles, to which a wagon or cart may approach, either to receive or dis- charge them. This is indispensable. Every out-building upon the farm, let it be devoted to what purpose it may, having a wooden floor on the 56 KTJRAL ARCHITECTURE. ground story, should be set up sufficiently high from the surface to admit a cat or small terrier dog beneath such floor, with openings for them to pass in and out, or these hiding places will become so many rat war- rens upon the premises, and prove most destructive to the grain and poultry. Nothing can be more annoy- ing to the farmer than these vermin, and a trifling outlay in the beginning, will exclude them from the foundations and walls of all buildings. Care, there- fore, should be taken to leave no haunt for their convenience. With these suggestions the ingenuity of every builder will provide sufficient guards against the protection of vermin beneath his buildings. VENTILATION OF HOUSES. Pure air, and enough of it, is the cheapest blessing one can enjoy; and to deny one's self so indispensable an element of good health, is little short of criminal neglect, or the sheerest folly. Yet thousands who build at much needless expense, for the protection of their health and that of their families, as they allege, and no doubt suppose, by neglecting the simplest of all contrivances, in the work of ventilation, invite disease and infirmity, from the very pains they eo unwittingly take to ward off such afflictions. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 57 A inau, be he farmer or of other profession, finding himself prosperous in life, sets about the very sensible business of building a house for his own accommoda- tion. Looking back, perhaps, to the days of his boy- hood, in a severe climate, he remembers the not very highly-finished tenement of his father, and the wide, open fireplace which, with its well piled logs, was scarcely able to warm the large living-room, where the family were wont to huddle in winter. He possibly remembers, with shivering sympathy, the sprinkling of snow which he was accustomed to find upon his bed as he awaked in the morning, that had found its way through the frail casing of his chamber window but in the midst of all which he grew up with a vigorous constitution, a strong arm, and a determined spirit. He is resolved that Ms children shall encounter no such hardships, and that himself and his excellent helpmate shall suffer no such inconvenience as his own parents had done, who now perhaps, are enjoying a strong and serene old age, in their old-fashioned, yet to them not uncomfortable tenement. He therefore determines to have a snug, close house, where the cold cannot penetrate. He employs all his ingenuity to make every joint an air-tight fit; the doors must swing to an air-tight joint; the windows set into air-tight frames ; and to perfect the catalogue of his comforts, an air-tight stove is introduced into every occupied room which, perchance, if he can afford it, are further warmed and poisoned by the heated flues of an air- tight furnace in his air-tight cellar. In short, it is an air-tight concern throughout. His family breathe an 58 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. air-tight atmosphere ; they eat their food cooked in an " air-tight kitchen witch," of the latest " premium pat- tern;" and thus they start, father, mother, children, all on the high road if persisted in to a galloping consumption, which sooner or later conducts them to an air-tight dwelling, not soon to be changed. If such melancholy catastrophe be avoided, colds, catarrhs, headaches, and all sorts of bodily afflictions shortly make their appearance, and they wonder what is the matter ! They live so snug ! their house is so warm ! they sleep so comfortable ! how can it be ? True, in the morning the air of their sleeping- rooms feels close, but then if a window is opened it will chill the rooms, and that will give them colds. What can be the matter? The poor creatures never dream that they have been breathing, for hour after hour, decomposed air, charged with poisonous gases, which cannot es- cape through the tight walls, or over the tight win- dows, or through the tight stoves ; and thus they keep on in the sure course to infirmity, disease, and pre- mature death all for the want of a little ventilation ! Better indeed, that instead of all this painstaking, a pane were knocked out of every window, or a panel out of every door in the house. "We are not disposed to talk about cellar furnaces for heating a farmer's house. They have little to do in the farmer's inventory of goods at all, unless it be to give warmth to the hall and even then a snug box stove, with its pipe passing into the nearest chimney is, in most cases, the better appendage. Fuel is usu ally abundant with the farmer; and where so, its EUEAL ARCHITECTURE. 59 benefits are much better dispensed in open stoves or fireplaces, than in heating furnaces or " air-tights." We have slightly discussed this subject of firing in the farm house, in a previous page, but while in the vein, must crave another word. A farmer's house should look hospitable as well as be hospitable, both outside and in; and the broadest, most cheerful look of hospitality within doors, in cold weather, is an open fire in the chimney fireplace, with the blazing wood upon it. There is no mistake about it. It thaws you out, if cold ; it stirs you up, if drooping ; and is the welcome, winning introduction to the good cheer that is to follow A short time ago we went to pay a former town friend a visit. He had removed out to a snug little farm, where he could indulge his agricultural and hor- ticultural tastes, yet still attend to his town engage- ments, and enjoy the quietude of the country. We rang the door bell. A servant admitted us; and leaving overcoat and hat in the hall, we entered a lone room, with an " air-tight " stove, looking as black and solemn as a Turkish eunuch upon us, and giving out about the same degree of genial warmth as the said eunuch would have expressed had he been there an emasculated warming machine truly! On the floor was a Wilton carpet, too fine to stand on ; around the room were mahogany sofas and mahogany chairs, all too fine to sit on at all events to rest one upon if he were fatigued. The blessed light of day was shut out by crimson and white curtains, held up by gilded arrows ; and upon the mantle piece, and on the center 60 BURAL ARCHITECTURE. and side tables were all sorts of gimcracks, costly and worthless. In short, there was no comfort about the whole concern. Hearing onr friend coming up from his dining-room below, where too, was his cellar kitch- en that most abominable of all appendages to a farm house, or to any other country house, for that matter we buttoned our coat up close and high, thrust our hands into our pockets, and walked the room, as he entered. "Glad to see you glad to see you, my friend ! " said he, in great joy ; " but dear me, why so buttoned up, as if you were going ? What 's the mat- ter?" "My good sir," we replied, "you asked us to come over and see you, ' a plain farmer, ,' and ' take a quiet family dinner with you.' -We have done so; and here find you with all your town nonsense about you. No fire to warm by; no seat to rest in; no nothing like a farm or farmer about you ; and it only needs your charming better half, whom we always ad- mired, when she lived in town, to take down her enameled harp, and play ' In fairy bowers by moonlight hours,' to convince one that instead of ruralizing in the coun- try, you had gone a peg higher in town residence! No, no, we '11 go down to farmer Jocelyn's, our old schoolfellow, and take a dinner of bacon and cabbage with him. If he does occupy a one-story house, he lives up in sunshine, has an open fireplace, with a blazing wood fire on a chilly day, and his ' latch string is always out.' " Our friend was petrified astonished ! "We meant RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 61 to go it rather strong upon him, but still kept & frank, good-humored face, that showed him no malice. He began to think he was not exactly in character, and essayed to explain. "We listened to his story. His good wife came in, and all together, we had a long talk of their family and farming arrangements ; how they had furnished their house ; and how they proposed to live; but wound up with a sad story, that their good farming neighbors did'nt call on them the second time kind, civil people they appeared, too and while they were in, acted as though afraid to sit down, and afraid to stand up ; in short, they were dreadfully embarrassed; for why, our friends couldn't tell, but now began to understand it. "Well, my good friends," said we, " you have altogether mistaken country life in the outset. To live on a farm, it is neither necessary to be vulgar, nor clownish, nor to affect ignorance. Simplicity is all you require, in manners, and equal simplicity in your furniture and appointments. Now just turn all this nonsense in furniture and room dressing out of doors, and let some of your town friends have it. Get some simple, comfortable, cottage furniture, much better for all purposes, than this, and you will settle down into quiet, natural country life before you are aware of it, and all will go ' merry as a marriage bell ' with you, in a little time " for they both loved the country, and were truly excellent people. "We continued, "I came to spend the day and the night, and I will stay ; and this evening we '11 go down to your neighbor Jocelyn's; and you, Mrs. N , shall go with us; and we will see how quietly and 62 BUBAL AECHITECTUBE. comfortably he and his family take the world m a farmer's way." We did go ; not in carriage and livery, but walked the pleasant half mile that lay between them; the exercise of which gave us all activity and good spirits. Jocelyn was right glad to see us, and Patty, his staid and sober wife, with whom we had romped many an innocent hour in our childhood days, was quite as glad as he. But they looked a little surprised that such " great folks " as their new neighbors, should drop in so unceremoniously, and into their common " keeping room," too, to chat away an evening. . However, the embarrassment soon wore off. We talked of farming ; we talked of the late elections ; we talked of the fruit trees and the strawberry beds ; and Mrs. Jocelyn, who was a pattern of good housekeeping, told Mrs. N" how she made her apple jellies, and her currant tarts, and cream cheeses ; and before we left they had ex- changed ever so many engagements, Mrs. Patty to learn her new friend to do half a dozen nice little mat- ters of household pickling and preserving ; while she, in turn, was to teach Nancy and Fanny, Patty's two rosy-cheeked daughters, almost as pretty as their moth- er was at their own age, to knit a bead bag and work a fancy chair seat! And then we had apples and nuts, all of the very best for Jocelyn was a rare hand at grafting and managing his fruit trees, and knew the best apples all over the country. We had, indeed, a capital time ! To cut the story short, the next spring our friend sent his fancy furniture to auction, and provided his house with simple cottage furnishings, at EURAI, AECHITECTURE. 63 less than half the cost of the other ; which both he and his wife afterward declared was infinitely better, for all house-keeping purposes. He also threw a neat wing on to the cottage, for an upper kitchen and its offices, and they now live like sensible country folks ; and with their healthy, frolicksome children, are worth the envy of all the dyspeptic, town-fed people in existence. A long digression, truly; but so true a story, and one so apt to our subject can not well be omitted. But what has all this to do with ventilation? We'll tell you. Jocelyn's house was ventilated as it should be; for he was a methodical, thoughtful man, who planned and built his house himself not the mechan- ical work, but directed it throughout, and saw that it was faithfully done; and that put us in mind of the story. To be perfect in its ventilation, every room in the house, even to the closets, should be so arranged that a current of air may pass through, to keep it pure and dry. In living rooms, fresh air in sufficient quantity may usually be admitted through the doors. In sleep- ing rooms and closets, when doors may not be left open, one or more of the lower panels of the door may be filled by a rolling blind, opening more or less, at pleasure ; or a square or oblong opening for that pur- pose, may be left in the base board, at the floor, and covered by a wire netting. And in all rooms, living apartments, as well as these, an opening of at least sixty -four square inches should be made in the wall, near the ceiling, and leading into an air flue, to pass into \he garret. Such opening may bo filled by a 64 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. rolling blind, or wire screen, as below, and closed or kept open, at pleasure. Some builders prefer an air register to be placed in the chimney, over the fireplace or stove, near the ceiling ; but the liability to annoy- ance, by Smoke escaping through it into the room, if not thoroughly done, is an objection to this latter method, and the other may be made, in its construc- tion, rather ornamental than otherwise, in appearance. All such details as these should be planned when the building is commenced, so that the several flues may be provided as the building proceeds. In a stone or brick house, a small space may be left in the walls, against which these air registers may be required; and for inner rooms, or closets, they may pass off into the openings of the partitions, and so up into the garret ; from which apertures of escape may be left, or made at the gables, under the roof, or by a blind in a window. For the admission of air to the first floor of the house, a special opening through the walls, for that purpose, can hardly be necessary ; as the doors leading outside are usually opened often enough for such object. One of the best ventilated houses we have ever seen, is that owned and occupied by Samuel Cloon, Esq., of Cincinnati. It is situated on his farm, three miles out of the city, and in its fine architectural appearance and finished appointments, as a rural residence and first- class farm house, is not often excelled. Every closet is ventilated through rolling blinds in the door panels; and foul air, either admitted or created within them, is passed off at once by flues uear the ceiling overhead, passing into conductors leading off through the garret KUKAL AKCHITECTUBE. 65 Where chambers are carried into the roof of a house, to any extent, they are sometimes incommoded by the summer heat which penetrates them, conducted by the chamber ceiling overhead. This heat can best be obviated by inserting a small window at each opposite peak of the garret, by which the outside air can circu- late through, above the chambers, and so pass off the heated air, which will continually ascend. All this is a simple matter, for which any builder can provide, without particular expense or trouble. INTERIOR ACCOMMODATION OF HOUSES. Ground, in the country, being the cheapest item which the farmer can devote to building purposes, hia object should be to spread over, rather than to go deeply into it, or climb high in the aii above it. "We repudiate cellar kitchens, or under-ground rooms for house work, altogether, as being little better than a nuisance dark, damp, unhealthy, inconvenient, and expensive. The several rooms of a farm dwelling house should be compact in arrangement, and contig- uous as may be to the principally -occupied apartments. Such arrangement is cheaper, more convenient, and labor-saving ; and in addition, more in accordance with a good and correct taste in the outward appearance of the house itself. 66 EUKAL ARCHITECTURE. The general introduction of cooking stoves, and othei stoves and apparatus for warming houses, within the last twenty years, which we acknowledge to be a great acquisition in comfort as well as in convenience and economy, has been carried to an extreme, not only in shutting up and shutting out the time-honored open fireplace and its broad hearthstone, with their hal- lowed associations, but also in prejudice to the health of those who so indiscriminately use them, regardless of other arrangements which ought to go with them. A farm house should never be built without an ample, open fireplace in its kitchen, and other principally occupied rooms; and in all rooms where stoves are placed, and fires are daily required, the open Franklin should take place of the close or air-tight stove, unless extraordinary ventilation to such rooms be adopted also. The great charm of the farmer's winter evening is the open fireside, with its cheerful blaze and glow- ing embers ; not wastefully expended, but giving out that genial warmth and comfort which, to those who are accustomed to its enjoyment, is a pleasure not made up by any invention whatever ; and although the cooking stove or range be required which, in addi- tion to the fireplace, we would always recommend, to lighten female labor it can be so arranged as not to interfere with the enjoyment or convenience of the open fire. In the construction of the chimneys which appear in the plans submitted, the great majority of them particularly those for northern latitudes are placed in the interior of the house. They are less liable to RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 67 communicate fire to the building, and assist greatly in warming the rooms through which they pass. In southern houses they are not so necessary, fires being required for a much less period of the year. Yet even there they may be oftentimes properly so placed. Where holes, for the passage of stovepipes through floors, partitions, or into chimneys, are made, stone, earthen, or iron thimbles should be inserted ; and, except in the chimneys, such holes should be at least one to two inches larger than the pipe itself. The main flues of the chimney conducting oif the smoke of the differ- ent fires, should be built separate, and kept apart by a partition of one brick in thickness, and carried out independently, as in no other way will they rid the house of smoky rooms. An illustration in point: Fifteen years ago we purchased and removed into a most substantial and well-built stone house, the chimneys of which were constructed with open fireplaces, and the flues carried up separately to the top, where they all met upon the same level surface, as chimneys in past times usually were built, thus. Every fireplace in the house (and some- of them had stoves in.) smoked intolerably; so much so, that when the wind was in some quarters the fires had to be put out in every room but the kitch- en, which, as good luck would have it, smoked less although it did smoke there than the others. After balancing the matter in our own mind some time, whether we should pull down and rebuild the chimneys DO BUBAL ARCHITECTURE. altogether, or attempt an alteration ; as we had given but little thought to the subject of chimney draft, and to try an experiment was the cheapest, we set to work a bricklayer, who, under our direction, simply built over each discharge of the several flues a separate top of fifteen inches high, in this wise : The remedy was perfect. "We have had no smoke in the house since, blow the wind as it may, on any and all occasions. The chimneys can't smoke; and the whole expense for four chimneys, with their twelve flues, was not twenty dollars! The remedy was in giving each outlet a distinct current of air all around, and on every side of it. CHIMNEY TOPS. Nothing adds more to the outward expression of a dwelling, than the style of its chimneys. We have just shown that independent chimney tops pass off their smoke more perfectly, than when only partitioned inside to the common point of outlet. Aside from the architectural beauty which a group of chimney flues adds to the building, we have seen that they are really useful, beyond the formal, square-sided piles so com- mon throughout the country. They denote good cheer RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 69 social firesides, and a generous hospitality within features which should always mark the country dwell- ing ; and more particularly that of the farmer. The style and arrangement of these chimney groups may be various, as comporting with the design of the house itself; and any good architect can arrange them as fitted to such design. Our illustrations will show them of different kinds, which are generally cheap in construction, and simple, yet expressive in their arrangement. PRELIMINARY TO OUR DESIGNS. We have discussed with tolerable fullness, the chief subjects connected with farm buildings sufficiently so, we trust, to make ourselves understood as desiring to combine utility with commendable ornament in all that pertains to them. The object has been, thus far, to give hints, rather than models, in description. But as the point to which we have endeavored to arrive will be but imperfectly understood without illustration, we shall submit a few plans of houses and outbuildings, as carrying out more fully our ideas. We are quite aware that different forms or fashions of detail and finish, to both outside and inside work, prevail among builders in different sections of the United States. Some of these fashions are the result of climate, some of conventional taste, and some of 4 70 KUKAL AKCHTTECTUBE. education. "With them we are not disposed to quarrel. In many cases they are immaterial to the main objects of the work, and so long as they please the taste 01 partialities of those adopting them, are of little conse- quence. There are, however, certain matters of prin- ciple, both in general construction and in the detail of finish, which should not be disregarded ; and these, in the designs submitted, and in the explanations which follow, will be fully discussed, each in its place. The particular form or style of work we have not directed, because, as before remarked, we are no professional builder, and of course free from the dogmas which are too apt to be inculcated in the professional schools and workshops. "We give a wide berth, and a free tolera- tion in all such matters, and are not disposed to raise a hornet's nest about our ears by interfering in matters where every tyro of the drafting board and work-bench assumes to be, and probably may be, our superior. All minor subjects we are free to leave to the skill and ingenuity of the builder who, fortunately for the coun- try, is found in almost every village and hamlet of the land. Modes and styles of finish, both inside and outside of buildings, change ; and that so frequently, that what is laid down as the reigning fashion to-day, may be superseded by another fashion of to-morrow imma- terial in themselves, only, and not aifecting the shape, arrangement, and accommodation of the building itself, which in these, must ever maintain their relation with the use for which it is intended. The northern dwel- ling, with its dependencies and appointments, requires BURAL ARCHITECTURE. a more compact, snug, and connected arrangement than that of the south ; while one in the middle states may assume a style of arrangement between them both, each fitted for their own climate and country, and in equally good taste. The designs we are about to sub- mit are intended to be such as may be modified to any section of the country, although some of them are made for extremes of north and south, and are so dis- tinguished. Another object we have had in view is, to give to every farmer and country dweller of mod- erate means the opportunity of possessing a cheap work which would guide him in the general objects which he wishes to accomplish in building, that he may ha/ce Ms awn notions on the subject, and not be subject to the caprice and government of such as profess to exclusive knowledge in all that appertains to such subjects, and in which, it need not be offensive to say, that although clever in their way, they are sometimes apt to be mistaken. Therefore, without assuming to instruct the profess- ional builder, our. plans will be submitted, not without the hope that he even, may find in them something worthy of consideration; and we offer them to the owner and future occupant of the buildings themselves, as models which he may adopt, with the confidence that they will answer all his reasonable purposes. 72 KUKAL AECHITECTURE. DESIGN I. "We here present a farm house of the simplest and most unpretending kind, suitable for a farm of twenty, fifty, or an hundred acres. Buildings somewhat in this style are not unfrequently seen in the New Eng- land States, and in ISTew York ; and the plan is in fact suggested, although not copied, from some farm houses which we have known there, with improvements and additions of our own. This house may be built either of stone, brick, or wood. The style is rather rustic than otherwise, and intended to be altogether plain, yet agreeable in out- ward appearance, and of quite convenient arrangement. The body of this house is 40x30 feet on the ground, and 12 feet high, to the plates for the roof; the lower rooms nine feet high ; the roof intended for a pitch of 35 but, by an error in the drawing, made less thus affording very tolerable chamber room in the roof story. The L, or rear projection, containing the wash- room and wood-house, juts out two feet from the side of the house to which it is attached, with posts 7i feet high above the floor of the main house ; the pitch of the roof being the same. Beyond this is a building 32x24 feet, with 10 feet posts, partitioned off into a Bwill-room, piggery, workshop, and wagon-house, and a like roof with the others. A light, rustic porch, : HOUSE. ,o 74 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 75 12x8 feet, with lattice work, is placed on the front of the house, and another at the side door, over which vines, by way of drapery, may run ; thus combining that sheltered, comfortable, and home-like expression so desirable in a rural dwelling. The chimney is car- ried out in three separate flues, sufficiently marked by the partitions above the roof. The windows are hood- ed, or sheltered, to protect them from the weather, and fitted with simple sliding sashes with 7x9 or 8x10 glass. Outer blinds may be added, if required ; but it is usually better to have these inside, as they are no ornament to the outside of the building, are liable to be driven back and forth by the wind, even if fasten- ings are used, and in any event are little better than a continual annoyance. INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT. The front door, over which is a single sash-light across, opens into a hall or entry 9x7 feet, from which a door opens on either side into a sitting-room and parlor, each 16x15 feet, lighted by a double, plain window, at the ends, and a single two-sash window in front. Between the entrance door and stove, are in each room a small pantry or closet for dishes, or other- wise, as may be required. The chimney stands in the center of the house, with a separate flue for each front room, into which a thimble is inserted to receive the stovepipes by which they are warmed ; and from the inner side of these rooms each has a door passing to the kitchen, or chief living room. This last apartment W.S. 16X10 PIO \6X\*i SWILL WH. 30xlG W.R. 16x14 B.9x8 K. E. 9x6 D 9x6 B R. 3x8 .. S.R. 16x15 P. 16x15 PORCH 10 XX XX> FLAW. BURAL ARCHITECTURE. 77 -- p y 9X14 2.2.XI6 T " 1 8 X/5 I CHAMBER PLAN. is 22x15 feet, with a broad fireplace containing a crane, hooks, and trammel, if required, and a spacious family oven affording those homely and primitive comforts still so dear to many of us who are not ready to concede that all the virtues of the present day are combined in a "perfection" cooking stove, and a "patent" heater; although there is a chance for these last, if they should be adopted into the peaceful atmos- phere of this kitchen. On one side of the kitchen, in rear of the stairs, is a bedroom, 9x8 feet, with a window in one corner. Adjoining that, is a buttery, dairy-room, or closet, 9x6 feet, also having a window. At the inner end of the stairway is the cellar passage ; at the outer end is the chamber passage, landing above, in the highest part of the roof story. Opposite the chamber stairs is a door leading to the wash-room. Between the two windows, Dn the rear side of the kitchen, is a sink, with a waste pipe passing out through the wall. At the further corner a door opens into a snug bedroom 9x8 feet, lighted by a window in rear; and adjoining this is a 78 RURAL ARCniTECTTJRE. side entry leading from the end door, 9x6 feet in area; thns making every room in the house accessible at once from the kitchen, and giving the greatest possible convenience in both living and house-work. The roof story is partitioned into convenient-sized bedrooms ; the ceiling running down the pitch of the roof to within two feet of the floor, unless they are cut short by inner partitions, as they are in the largest chamber, to give closets. The open area in the cen- ter, at the head of the stairs, is lighted by a small gable window inserted in the roof, at the rear, and serves as a lumber room ; or, if necessary, a bed may occupy a part of it. In rear of the main dwelling is a building 44x16 feet, occupied as a wash-room and wood-house. The wash-room floor is let down eight inches below the kitchen, and is 16x14 feet, in area, lighted by a window on each side, with a chimney, in which is set a boiler, and fireplace, if desired, and a sink in the corner adjoining. This room is 7i feet in height. A door passes from this wash-room into the wood-house, which is 30x16 feet, open iu front, with a water-closet in the further corner. The cellar is 7i feet in height and is the whole size of the house, laid with good stone wall, in lime mortar, with a flight of steps leading outside, in rear of the kitchen, and two or more sash-light windows at the ends. If not in a loose, gravelly, or sandy soil, the cellar should be kept dry by a drain leading out on to lower ground. The building beyond, and adjoining the wood house, BT7KAL ARCHITECTURE. 79 contains a swill-house 16x12 feet, with a window in one end; a chimney and boiler in one corner, with storage for swill barrels, grain, meal, potatoes, &c., for feeding the pigs, which are in the adjoining pen of same size, with feeding trough, place for sleeping, &c., and having a window in one end and a door in the rear, leading to a yard. Adjoining these, in front, is a workshop and tool- house, 16x10 feet, with a window at the end, and an entrance door near the wood house. In this is a join- er's work-bench, a chest of working tools, such as saw, hammer, augers, &c., &c., necessary for repairing im- plements, doing little rough jobs, or other wood work, &c., which every farmer ought to do for himself; and also storing his hoes, axes, shovels, hammers, and other small farm implements. In this room he will find abundant rainy-day employment in repairing his uten- sils of various kinds, making his beehives, hencoops, &c., &c. Next to this is the wagon-house, 16x14 feet, with broad doors at the end, and harness pegs around the walls. The posts of this building are 10 feet high ; the rooms eight feet high, and a low chamber overhead for storing lumber, grain, and other articles, as may be required. Altogether, these several apartments make a very com- plete and desirable accommodation to a man with the property and occupation for which it is intended. On one side and adjoining the house, should be the garden, the ciothes-yard, and the bee-house, which last should always stand in fall sight, and facing the most frequented room say the kitchen that they can be RURAL ARCHITECTURE. seen daily during the swarming season, as those per- forming household duties may keep them in view. MISCELLANEOUS, In regard to the surroundings, and approach to this dwelling, they should be treated under the suggestions already given on these subjects. This is an exceed- ingly snug tenement, and everything around and about it should be of the same character. No pretension or frippery whatever. A neat garden, usefully, rather than ornamentally and profusely supplied ; a moderate court-yard in front; free access to the end door, from the main e very-day approach by vehicles not on the highway, but on the farm road or lane the business entrance, in fact ; which should also lead to the barns and sheds beyond, not far distant. Every feature should wear a most domestic look, and breathe an air of repose and content. Trees should be near, but not so near as to cover the house. A few shrubs of simple kind some standing roses a few climbing ones ; a syringa, a lilac, a snow ball, and a little patch or two of flowers near the front porch, and the whole express- ion is given ; just as one would^wish to look upon as a simple, unpretending habitation. It is not here proposed to give working plans, or estimates, to a nicety; or particular directions for building any design even, that we present. The mate- rial for construction best suited to the circumstances and locality of the proprietor must govern all those matters: and as good builders are in most cases at RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 81 hand, who are competent to give estimates for the cost of any given plan, when the material for construction is once settled, the question of expense is readily fixed. The same sized house, with the same accommodation, may be made to cost fifty to one hundred per cent, over an economical estimate, by the increased style, or manner of its finish ; or it may be kept within bounds by a rigid adherence to the plan first adopted. In western ]S"ew York this house and attachments complete, the body of stone, the wood-house, wagon- house, r four horses, and a passage of four feet wide, from the carriage-house into it ; thus completing, and draw- ing under one continuous roof, and at less exposure than if separated, the chief every-day requirements of living, to a well-arranged and highly-respectable family. The chamber plan of the dwelling will be readily understood by reference to its arrangement. There are a sufficiency of closets for all purposes, and the whole are accessible from either flight of stairs. The rooms over the wing, of course, should be devoted to the male domestics of the family, work-people, &c. SURROUNDING PLANTATIONS, SHRUBBERY, WALKS, ETC. After the general remarks made in the preceding pages, no particular instructions can be given for the manner in which this residence should be embellished in its trees and shrubbery. The large forest trees, always grand, graceful, and appropriate, would become such a house, throwing a protecting air around and over its quiet, unpretending roof. Yines, or climbing roses, might throw their delicate spray around the columns of the modest veranda, and a varied selection of familiar shrubbery and ornamental plants checker the immediate front and sides of the house looking out upon the lawn ; through which a spacious walk, or 6 126 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. carriage-way should wind, from the high road, or chief approach. There are, however, so many objects to be consulted in the various sites of houses, that no one rule can be laid down for individual guidance. The surface of the ground immediately adjoining the house must be con- sidered ; the position of the house, as it is viewed from surrounding objects; its altitude, or depression, as affected by the adjacent lands ; its command upon sur- rounding near, or distant objects, in the way of pros- pect; the presence of water, either in stream, pond, or lake, far or near, or the absence of water altogether all these enter immediately into the manner in which the lawn of a house should be laid out, and worked, and planted. But as a rule, all filagree work, such as serpentine paths, and tortuous, unmeaning circles, arti- ficial piles of rock, and a multitude of small orna- ments so esteemed, by some should never be intro- duced into the lawn of a farm house. It is unmeaning, in the first place ; expensive in its care, in the second place ; unsatisfactory and annoying altogether. Such things about a farm establishment are neither dignified nor useful, and should be left to town's-people, having but a stinted appreciation of what constitutes natural beauty, and wanting to make the most of the limited piece of ground of which they are possessed. Nor would we shut out, by these remarks, the beauty and odor of the flower-borders, which are so appropri- ately the care of the good matron of the household and her comely daughters. To them may be devoted a well-dug plat beneath the windows, or in the garden. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 127 Enough, and to spare, they should always have, oi such cheerful, life-giving pleasures. We only object to their being strewed all over the ground, a tussoc of plant here, a patch of posey there, and a scattering of both everywhere, without either system or meaning. They lower the dignity and simplicity of the country dwelling altogether. The business approach to this house is, of course, toward the stables and carriage-house, and from them should lead off the main farm-avenue. The kitchen garden, if possible, should lie on the kitchen side of the house, where, also, should be placed the bee-house, in full sight from the windows, that their labors and ewarming may be watched. In fact, the entire economy of the farm house, and its append- ages, should be brought close under the eye of the household, to engage their care and watchfulness, and to interest them in all the little associations and endear- ments and they are many, when properly studied out which go to make agricultural life one of the most agreeable pursuits, if not altogether so, in which our lot in life may be cast. A fruit-garden, too, should be a prominent object near this house. We are now advancing somewhat into the elegances of agricultural life ; and although fruit trees, and good fruits too, should hold a strong place in the surroundings of even the humblest of all country places - sufficient, at least, for the ample use of the family they have not yet been noticed, to any extent, in those already described. It may be remark- ed, that the fruit-garden the orchard, for market 28 KUEAL AECHITECTUEE. purposes, is not here intended should be placed in near proximity to the house. All the small fruits, for household use, such as strawberries, raspberries, cur- rants, gooseberries, blackberries, grapes, as well as apricots, plums, nectarines, peaches, pears, apples, quinces, or whatever fruits may be cultivated, in dif- ferent localities, should be close by, for the convenience of collecting them, and to protect them from destruc- tion by vermin, birds, or the depredations of creatures called human. A decided plan of arrangement for all the planta- tions and grounds, should enter into the composition of the site for the dwelling, out-houses, gardens, &c., as they are to appear when the whole establishment is completed ; and nothing left to accident, chance, or after-thought, which can be disposed of at the com- mencement. By the adoption of such a course, the entire composition is more easily perfected, and with infinitely greater expression of character, than if left to the chance designs, or accidental demands of the future. Another feature should be strictly enforced, in the outward appointments of the farm house, and that is, the entire withdrawal of any use of the highway in its occupation by the stock of the farm, except in leading them to and from its enclosures. Nothing looks more slovenly, and nothing can be more un- thrifty, in an enclosed country, than the running of farm stock in the highway. What so untidy as the approach to a house, with a herd of filthy hogs root- ing about the fences, basking along the sidewalk, or AECHITECTUKE. 129 feeding at a huge, uncouth, hollowed log, in the road near the dwelling. It may be out of place here to speak of it, but this disgusting spectacle has so often offended our sight, at the approach of an otherwise pleasant farm establishment, that we cannot forego the opportunity to speak of it. The road lying in front, or between the different sections of the farm, should be as well, and as cleanly kept as any portion of the enclosures, and it is equally a sin against good taste and neighborhood-morality, to have it otherwise. TEEE-PLANTING IN THE HIGHWAY. This is frequently recommended by writers on coun- try embellishment, as indispensable to a finished deco- ration of the farm. Such may, or may not be the fact. Trees shade the roads, when planted on their sides, and so they partially do the fields adjoining, making the first muddy, in bad weather, by preventing the sun drying them, and shading the crops of the last by their overhanging foliage, in the season of their growth. Thus they are an evil, in moist and heavy soils. Yet, in light soils, their shade is grateful to the highway traveler, and not, perhaps, injurious to the crops of the adjoining field ; and when of proper kinds, they add grace and beauty to the domain in which they stand. 130 BUBAL AKCHITECTTTKE. "We do not, therefore, indiscriminately recommend them, but leave it to the discretion of the farmer, to decide for himself, having seen estates equally pleas- ant with, and without trees on the roadside. Nothing, however, can be more beautiful than a clump of trees in a pasture-ground, with a herd, or a flock beneath them, near the road ; or the grand and overshadowing branches of stately tree, in a rich meadow, leaning, perhaps, over the highway fence, or flourishing in its solitary grandeur, in the distance each, and all, imposing features in the rural landscape. All such should be preserved, with the greatest care and so- licitude, as among the highest and most attractive ornaments which the farm can boast. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. * 133 DESIGN Y. We here present a dwelling of a more ambitious and pretending character than any one which we have, as yet, described, and calculated for a large and wealthy farmer, who indulges in the elegances of country life, dispenses a liberal hospitality, and is every way a country gentleman, such as all our farmers of ample means should be. It will answer the demands of tho retired man of business as well ; and is, perhaps, as full in its various accommodation as an American farm or country house may require. It claims no distinct style of architecture, but is a composition agreeable in effect, and appropriate to almost any part of the coun- try, and its climate. Its site may be on either hill or plain with a view extensive, or restricted. It may look out over broad savannas, cultivated fields, and shining waters ; it may nestle amid its own quiet woods and lawn in its own selected shade and retirement, or lord it over an extensive park, ranged by herds and flocks, meandered by its own stream, spreading anon into the placid lake, or rushing swiftly over its own narrow bed an independent, substantial, convenient, and well conditioned home, standing upon its own broad acres, and comporting with the character and standing of its occupant, among his friends and neighbors. 134: *RTTKAL AKCmTECTUEE. The main building is 50x40 feet in area upon tho ground, two stories high ; the ground story 11 feet high, its floor elevated 2J or 3 feet above the level of the surrounding surface, as its position may demand ; the chambers 9 feet high, and running 2 feet into the roof. The rear wing is one and a half stories high, 36x16 feet ; the lower rooms 11 feet high, with a one story lean-to range of closets, and small rooms on the weather side, 8 feet in width and 9 feet high. In the rear of these is a wood-house, 30x20 feet, with 10 feet posts, dropped to a level with the ground. At the extremity of this is a building, by way of an L, 60x20 feet, one airtl a half stories high, with a lean-to, 12x30 feet, in the rear. The ground rooms of this are elevated 1J feet above the ground, and 9 feet high. A broad roof covers the whole, standing at an angle of 40 or 45 above a horizontal line, and projecting widely over the walls, 2J to 3 feet on the main building, and 2 feet on the, others, to shelter them perfectly from the storms and damps of the weather. A small cupola stands out of the ridge of the rear building, which may serve as a ventilator to the apartments and lofts below, and in it may be hung a bell, to summon the household, or the field laborers, as the case may be, to their duties or their meals. The design, as here shown, is rather florid, and per- haps profusely ornamental in its finish, as comporting with the taste of the day ", but the cut and moulded trimmings may be left off by those who prefer a plain finish, and be no detriment to the general effect which tho deep friezes of the roofs, properly cased beneath. RURAL AJJCBTTECTTJRE. 135 may give to it. Such, indeed, is our own taste ; but this full finish has been added, to gratify such as wish the full ornament which this style of building may admit. INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT. The front of this house is accommodated by a porch, or veranda, 40 feet long, and 10 feet wide, with a central, or entrance projection of 18 feet in length, and 12 feet in width, the floor of which is eight inches below the main floor of the house. The wings, or sides of this veranda may be so fitted up as to allow a pleasant conservatory on each side of the entrance area in winter, by enclosing them with glass windows, and the introduction of heat from a furnace under the main hall, in the cellar of the house. This would add to its general effect in winter, and, if continued through the summer, would not detract from its expression of dig- nity and refinement. From the veranda, a door in the center of the front, with two side windows, leads into the main hall, which is 26x12 feet in area, two feet in the width of which is taken from the rooms on the right of the main entrance. On the left of the hall a door opens into a parlor or drawing-room, marked P, 20 feet square, with a bay window on one side, con- taining three sashes, and seats beneath. A single window lights the front opening on to the veranda. On the opposite side to this is the fireplace, with blank walls on each side. On the opposite side of the hall is a library, 18x16 feet, with an end window, and a 6* YAPD W S 20 X 16 jl2y!2 I PIG POULTRpH 16 X 10 :;:: |:i::| GRAINY 20X10 CARRIAGE H 20X20 W H 20X30 8X8 1 W R I 16X16 RATH 8X8 |S 8X8. '/OXI6 DC 8X8 I- a m**m R 20X16 16 X IS IZXS HALL . 16X18 2SXI2 ~T PORCH _ al J 9-i RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 137 corresponding one to the parlor, in front, koking out on the veranda. In case these portions of the veranda, opposite the two front windows are occupied as conser- vatories, these windows should open to the floor, to admit a walk immediately into them. At the farther corner of the library a narrow door leads into an office, or business apartment, 12x8 feet, and opening by a broad door, the upper half of which is a lighted sash. This door leads from the office out on a small porch, with a floor and two columns, 8x5 feet, and nine feet high, with a gable and double roof of the same pitch as the house. Between the chimney flues, in the rear of this room may be placed an iron safe, or chest for the deposit of valuable papers ; and, although small, a table and chairs sufficient to accommodate the business requirements of the occupant, may be kept in it. A chimney stands in the center of the inner wall of the library, in which may be a fireplace, or a flue to receive a stovepipe, whichever may be preferred for warming the room. Near the hall side of the library a door opens into a passage leading into the family bedroom, or nursery. A portion of this passage may be shelved and fitted up as a closet for any convenient purpose. The nursery is 18x16 feet in size, lighted by two windows. It may have an open fireplace, or a stove, as preferred, let into the chimney, corresponding to that in the library. These two chimneys may either be drawn together in the chambers immediately above, or carried up sepa- rately into the garret, and pass out of the roof in one stack, or they may be built in one solid mass from the RURAL ARCHITECTURE. cellar bottom ; but they are so placed here, as saving room on the floors, and equally accommodating, in their separate divisions, the stovepipes that may lead into them. On the inner side of the nursery, a door leads into a large closet, or child's sleeping-room, 9x8 feet ; or it may be used as a dressing-room, with a sash inserted in the door to light it. A door may also lead from it into the small rear entry of the house, and thus pass directly out, without communicating with the nursery. On the extreme left corner of the nursery is a door leading into the back entry, by which it com- municates either with the rear porch, the dining-room, or the kitchen. Such a room we consider indispensable to the proper accommodation of a house in the country, as saving a world of up-and-down-stairs' labor to her who is usually charged with the domestic cares and supervision of the family. On the right -of the main hall an ample staircase leads into the upper hall by a landing and broad stair at eight feet above the floor, and a right-angled flight from that to the main floor above. Under this main hall staircase, a door and stairs may lead into the cellar. Beyond the turning flight below, a door leads into the back hall, or entry, already mentioned, which is 13x4 feet in area, which also has a side passage of 8x4 feet, and a door leading to the rear porch, and another into the kitchen at its farther side, near the outer one. Opposite the turning flight of stairs, in the main hall, is also a door leading to the dining-room, 20x16 feet. This is lighted by a large double window at the end. A fireplace, or stove flue is in the center wall, and on RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 139 each side a closet for plate, or table furniture. These closets come out flush with the chimney. At the extreme right corner a door leads into the rear entry or this may be omitted, at pleasure. Another door in the rear wall leads into the kitchen, past the passage down into the cellar or this may be omitted, if thought best. Still another door to the left, opens into a large dining closet of the back lean-to apartments, 8x8 feet. This closet is lighted by a window of proper architectural size, and fitted up with a suite of drawers, shelves, table, and cupboards, required for the prepar- ation and deposit of the lighter family stores and edi- bles. From this closet is also a door leading into the kitchen, through which may be passed all the meats and cookery for the table, either for safe-keeping, or immediate service. Here the thrifty and careful housekeeper and her assistants may, shut apart, and by themselves, get up, fabricate, and arrange all their table delicacies with the greatest convenience and pri- vacy, together with ease of access either to the dining- room or kitchen an apartment most necessary in a liberally -arranged establishment. From the rear entry opens a door to the kitchen, passing by the rear chamber stairs. This flight of stairs may be entered directly from the kitchen, lead- ing either to the chamber, or under them, into the cellar, without coming into the passage connecting with the entry or dining-room, if preferred. In such case, a broad stair of thirty inches in width should be next the door, on which to turn, as the door would be at right angles with the stairs, either up or down. 14:0 EUKAL AKCHITECTDRE. Tlie kitchen is 20x16 feet, and 11 feet high. It has an outer door leading on the rear porch, and a win- dow on each side of that door ; also a window, under which is a sink, on the opposite side, at the end of a passage four feet wide, leading through the lean-to. It has also an open fireplace, and an oven by the side of it old fashion. It may be also furnished with a cooking range, or stove the smoke and fumes leading by a pipe into a flue into the chimney. On the lean-to side is a milk or dairy-room, 8x8 feet, lighted by a window. Here also the kitchen furniture and meats may be stored in cupboards made for the purpose. In rear of the kitchen, and leading from it by a door through a lighted passage next the rear porch, is the wash-room, 16x16 feet, lighted by a large window from the porch side. A door also leads out of the rear on to a platform into the wood-house. Another door leads from the wash-room into a bath-room in the lean- to 8x8 feet, into which warm water is drawn by a pipe and pump from the boiler in the wash-room ; or, if preferred, the bath-room may be entered from the main kitchen, by the passage next the sink. This bath- room is lighted by a window. Next to the bath-room is a bedroom for a man servant who has charge of the fires, and heavy house-work, wood, &c., &c. This bedroom is also 8x8 feet, and lighted by a window in the lean-to. In front of this wash-room and kitchen is a porch, eight inches below the floor, six feet wide, with a railing, or not, as may be preferred. (The railing ia made in the cut.) A platform, three feet wide, leads from the back door of the wash-room to a KUKAL ARCinTECTUEE. 14:1 water-closet for the family proper. The wood-house is open in front, with a single post supporting the center of the roof. At the extreme outer angle is a water- closet for the domestics of the establishment. Adjoining the wood-house, and opening from it into the L before mentioned, is a workshop, and small-tool- house, 20x16 feet, lighted by a large double window at one end. In this should be a carpenter's work- bench and tool-chest, for the repairs of the farming utensils and vehicles. Overhead is a store-room for lumber, or whatever else may be necessary for use in that capacity. Next to this is a granary or feed-room, 20x10 feet, with a small chimney in one corner, where may be placed a boiler to cook food for pigs, poultry, &c., as the case may be. Here may also be bins for storage of grain and meal. Leading out of this is a flight of stairs passing to the chamber above, and a passage four feet wide, through the rear, into a yard adjoining. At the further end of the stairs a door opens into a poultry house, 16x10 feet, including the stairs. The poultry room is lighted at the extreme left corner, by a broad window. In this may be made roosts, and nesting places, and feeding troughs. A low door under the window may be also made for the fowls in passing to the rear yard. Adjoining the granary, and leading to it by a door, is the carriage-house, 20x20 feet, at the gable end of which are large doors for entrance. From the carriage-house is a broad passage of six feet, into the stables, which are 12 feet wide, and occupy the lean-to. This lean-to is eight feet high bebw the eaves, with two double stalls for 142 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. horses, and a door leading into the side yard, with the doors of the carriage-house. A window also lights the rear of the stables. A piggery 12 feet square occupies the remainder of the lean-to in rear of the poultry- house, in which two or three pigs can always be kept, and fatted on the offal of the house, for small pork, at any season, apart from the swine stock of the farm. A door leads out of the piggery into the rear yard, where range also the poultry. As the shed roof shuts down on to the pigsty and stables, no loft above them is necessary. In the loft over the granary, poultry, and carriage-house is deposited the hay, put in there through the doors which appear in the design. CHAMBER PLAN. This is easily understood. At the head of the stairs, over the main hall, is a large passage leading to the porch, and opening by a door- window on the middle deck of the veranda, which is nearly level, and tinned, or coppered, water-tight, as are also the two sides. On either side of this upper hall is a door leading to the front sleeping chambers, which are well closeted, and spacious. If it be desira- ble to construct more sleeping-rooms, they can be par- titioned laterally from the hall, and doors made to enter them. A rear hall is cut off from the front, lighted by a window over the lower rear porch, and a door leads into a further passage in the wing, fo'jr feet wide, which leads down a flight of stairs into the kitchen below. At the head of this flight is a chamber 20x12 feet, for the female domestic's sleeping-room, in which may be placed a stove, if necessary, passing ita pipe into the kitchen chimnev which passes through it. BURAL ARCHITECTURE. 143 16 X 16 20X12 12X12 16X18 20X18 26X12 16X13 CHAMBEB. FLAW. It is also lighted by a window over the lean-to, on the side. Back of this, at the end of the passage, is the sleeping-room, 16 feet square, for the " men-folks," lighted on both sides by a window. This may also be warmed, if desired, by a stove, the pipe passing into the kitchen chimney. The cellar may extend under the entire house and wing, as convenience or necessity may require. If it be constructed under the main body only, an offset should be excavated to accommodate the cellar stairs, tliree feet in width, and walled in with the rest. A 144 EHRAL AECHITECTTTKE. wide, outer passage, with a flight of steps should also be made under the rear nursery window, for taking in and passing out bulky articles, with double doors to shut down upon it ; and partition walls should be built to support the partitions of the large rooms above. Many minor items of detail might be mentioned, all of which are already treated in the general remarks, under their proper heads, in the body of the work, and which cannot here be noticed such as the mode of warming it, the construction of furnaces, &c. It may, by some builders, be considered a striking defect in the interior accommodation of a house of this character, that the chief entrance hall should not be extended through, from its front to the rear, as is com- mon in many of the large mansions of our country. We object to the large, open hall for more than one reason, except, possibly, in a house for summer occu- pation only. In the first place it is uncomfortable, in subjecting the house to an unnecessary draught of air when it is not needed, in cold weather. Secondly, it cuts the house into two distinct parts, making them inconvenient of access in crossing its wide surface. Thirdly, it is uneconomical, in taking up valuable room that can be letter appropriated. For summer ventila- tion it is unnecessary ; that may be given by simply opening the front door and a chamber window con- nected with the hall above, through which a current of fresh air will always pass. Another thing, the hail belongs to the front, or dress part of the house, and should be cut off from the more domestic and common apartments by a partition, although accessible to them, RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 145 and not directly commimi eating with such apartments, which cannot of necessity, be in keeping with its showy and pretending character. It should contain only the front flight of stairs, as a part of its appointments, oesides the doors leading to its best apartments on the ground floor, which should be centrally placed its rear door being of a less pretending and subordinate character. Thus, the hall, with its open doors, con- necting the best rooms of the house on each side, with its ample flight of stairs in the background, gives a distinct expression of superiority in occupation to the other and humbler portions of the dwelling. In winter, too, how much more snug and comfortable is the house, shut in from the prying winds and shiv- ering cold of the outside air, which the opposite outer doors of an open hall cannot, in their continual opening and shutting, altogether exclude! Our own experi- ence, and, we believe, the experience of most house- keepers will readily concede its defects ; and after full reflection we have excluded it as both unnecessary and inconvenient. Another objection has been avoided in the better class of houses here presented, which has crept into very many of the designs of modern builders ; which is, that of using the living rooms of the family, more or less, as passages from the kitchen apartments in pass- ing to and from the front hall, or chief entrance. Such we consider a decided objection, and hence arose, probably, the older plans of by-gone years, of making the main hall reach back to the kitchen itself. This is here obviated by a cutting up of the rear section of the 146 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. hall, by which a passage, in all cases of the better kind of dwelling, is preserved, without encroaching upon the occupied rooms in passing out and in. To be sure, the front door is not the usual passage for the laborers or servants of the house, but they are subject, any hour of the day, to be called there to admit those who may come, and the continual opening of a private room for such purposes is most annoying. Therefore, as mat- ter of convenience, and as a decided improvement on the designs above noticed, we have adhered strictly to the separate rear passage. The garret, also, as we have arranged our designs, is either altogether left out, or made a quite unimportant part of the dwelling. It is but a lumber room, at best ; and should be approached only by a flight of steps from a rear chamber or passage, and used as a recep- tacle for useless traps, or cast-off furniture, seldom wanted. It is hot in summer, and cold in winter, unfit for decent lodging to any human being in the house, and of little account any way. We much prefer run- ning the chambers partially into the roof, which we think gives them a more comfortable expression, and admits of a better ventilation, by carrying their ceilings higher without the expense of high body walls to the jiouse, which would give them an otherwise naked look. If it be objected that thus running the chambers above the plates of the roof prevents the insertion of proper ties or beams to hold the roof plates together to prevent their spreading, we answer, that he must be a poor mechanic who cannot, in framing the chamber partitions so connect the opposite plates as to insure BUBAL ARCHITECTURE. 147 them against all such difficulty. A sTieltered, comfort- able aspect is that which should distinguish every farm house, and the cottage chamber is one of its chiefest characteristics ; and this can only be had by running such apartments into the roof, as in our design. CONSTRUCTION". A house of this kind must, according to its locality, and the material of which it is built, be liable to wide differences of estimate in its cost ; and from our own experience in such matters, any estimate here made we know cannot be reliable >as a rule for other locali- ties, where the prices of material and labor are differ- ent from our own. Where lumber, stone, and brick abound, and each are to be had at reasonable prices, the cost of an establishment of this kind would not vary much in the application of either one of these materials for the walls, if well and substantially con- structed. There should be no sham, nor slight, in any part of the building. As already observed, the design shows a high degree of finish, which, if building for ourself, we should not indulge in. A plain style of cornice, and veranda finish, we should certainly adopt. But the roof should not be contracted in its projecting breadth over the walls, in any part of the structure if anything, it should be more extended. The bay- window is an appendage of luxury, only. Great care should be had, in attaching its roof to the adjoining outer wall, to prevent leakage of any kind. If the 148 BUBAL ABCHITECTTIRfc. walls be of brick, or stone, a beam or lintel of wood should be inserted in the wall over the window-opening, quite two inches three would be better back from its outer surface, to receive the casing of the window, that the drip of the wall, and the driving of the storms may fall over the connecting joints of the window roof, beyond its point of junction with it. Such, also, should be the case with the intersection of the veranda or porch roof with the wall of the house, wherever a veranda, or porch is adopted ; as, simply joined on to a f/ush surface, as such appendages usually are even if ever so well done leakage and premature decay is inevitable. The style of finish must, of course, influence, in a considerable degree, its cost. It may, with the plain- est finish, be done for $4,000, and from that, up to $6,000. Every one desirous to build, should apply to the best mechanics of his neighborhood for informa- tion on that point, as, in such matters, they are the best judges, and from experience in their own particu- lar profession, of what the cost of building must be. The rules and customs of housekeeping vary, in dif- ferent sections of the United States, and the Canadas. These, also, enter into the estimates for certain depart- ments of building, and must be considered in the items of expenditure. The manner in which houses should be warmed, the ventilation, accommodation for servants and laborers, the appropriations to hospitality all, will have a beai- ing on the expense, of which we cannot be the proper judge. EITRAL AKCHITECTUKE. 149 A sufficient time should be given, to build a Louse of this character. A house designed and built in a hurry, is never a satisfactory house in its occupation. A year is little enough, and if two years be occupied hi its design and construction, the more acceptable will probably be its finish, and the more comfort will be added in its enjoyment. GROUNDS, PLANTATIONS, AND SURROUNDINGS. A house of this kind should never stand in vulgar and familiar contact with the highway, but at a dis- tance from it of one hundred to a thousand yards ; or even, if the estate on which it is built be extensive, a much greater distance. Breadth of ground between the highway and the dwelling adds dignity and char- acter to its appearance. An ample lawn, or a spread- ing park, well shaded with trees, should lay before it, through which a well-kept avenue leads to its front, and most frequented side. The various offices and buildings of the farm itself, should be at a respectable distance from it, so as not to interfere with its proper keeping as a genteel country residence. Its occupant is not to be supposed as under the necessity of toiling with his daily laborers in the fields, and therefore, although he may be strictly a man of business, he has sufficient employment in planning his work, and man- aging his estate through a foreman, in the various labor-occupations of the estate. His horse may be at his door in the earliest morning hours, that he may 150 ETJKAL ARCHITECTURE. inspect Ins fields, and give timely directions to his laborers, or view his herds, or his flocks, before his breakfast' hour ; or an early walk may take him to his stables, his barns, or to see that his previous directions are executed. The various accommodation appurtenant to the dwell- ing, makes ample provision for the household conven- ience of the family, and the main business of the farm may be at some distance, without inconvenience to the owner's every-day affairs. Consequently, the indul- gence of a considerable degree of ornament may be given, in the surroundings of his dwelling, which the occupant of a less extensive estate would neither re- quire, nor his circumstances warrant. A natural forest of stately trees, properly thinned out, is the most ap- propriate spot on which to build a house of this char- acter. But that not at hand, it should be set off with plantations of forest trees, of the largest growth, as in keeping with its own liberal dimensions. A capacious kitchen garden should lead off from the rear apart- ments, well stocked with all the family vegetables, and culinary fruits, in their proper seasons. A luxuriant fruit-garden may flank the least frequented side of the house. Neat and tasteful flower beds may lie beneath the windows of the rooms appropriated to the leisure hours of the family, to which the smaller varieties of shrubbery may be added, separated from the chief lawn, or park, only by a wire fence, or a simple railing, such as not to cut up and checker its simple and digni- fied surface ; and all these shut in on the rear from the adjoining fields of the farm by belts of large shrubbery RURAL ARCHITECTURE 151 closely planted, or the larger orchards, thus giving it a style of its own, yet showing its connection with the pursuits of the farm and its dependence upon it. These various appointments, however, may be either carried out or restricted, according to the requirements of the family occupying the estate, and the prevailing local taste of the vicinity in which it is situated ; but no narrow or stingy spirit should be indicated in the general plan or in its execution. Every appointment connected with it should indicate a liberality of pur- pose in the founder, without which its effect is pain- fully marred to the eye of the man of true taste and judgment. Small yards, picketed in for small uses, have no business in sight of the grounds in front, and all minor concerns should be thrown into the rear, beyond observation from the main approach to the dwelling. The trees that shade the entrance park, or lawn, should be chiefly forest trees, as the oak, in its varieties, the elm, the maple, the chestnut, walnut, butternut, hickory, or beech. If the soil be favorable, a few weeping willows may throw their drooping spray around the house ; and if exotic, or foreign trees be permitted, they should take their position in closer proximity to it than the natural forest trees, as indica- ting the higher care and cultivation which attaches to its presence. The Lombardy poplar, albeit a tree of disputed taste with modern planters, we would now and then throw in, not in stiff and formal rows, as guarding an avenue, but occasionally in the midst of a group of others, above which it should rise like a church spire from amidst a block of contiguous houses 7 152 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. a cheerful relief to the monotony of the rounder-headed branches of the more spreading varieties. If a stream of water meander the park, or spread into a little pond, trees which are partial to moisture should shadow it at different points, and low, water shrubs should hang over its border, or even run into its margin. Aquatic herbs, too, may form a part of its ornaments, and a boat-house, if such a thing be necessary, should, under the shade of a hanging tree of some kind, be a conspic- uous object in the picture. An overhanging rock, if such a thing be native there, may be an object of great attraction to its features, and its outlet may steal away and be hid in a dense mass of tangled vines and brush- wood. The predominating, natural features of the place should be cultivated, not rooted out, and meta- morphosed into something foreign and unfamiliar. It should, in short, be nature with her hair combed out straight, flowing, and graceful, instead of pinched, puffed, and curling a thing of luxuriance and beauty under the hand of a master. The great difficulty with many Americans in getting up a new place of any considerable extent is, that they seem to think whatever is common, or natural in the features of the spot must be so changed as to show, above all others, their own ingenuity and love of ex- pense in fashioning it to their peculiar tastes. Hocks must be sunk, or blasted, trees felled, and bushes grubbed, crooked water-courses straightened the place gibbeted and put into stocks ; in fact, that their own boasted handiwork may rise superior to the wisdom of Him who fashioned it in his own good RTJBAL ARCHITECTURE. 153 pleasure ; forgetting that a thousand points of natural beauty upon the earth on which they breathe are " When unadorned, adorned the most ; " and our eye has been frequently shocked at finding the choicest gems of nature sacrificed to a wanton display of expense in perverting, to the indulgence of a mis- taken fancy, that, which, with an eye to truth and propriety, and at a trifling expense, might have be- come a spot of abiding interest and contentment. BUBAL AECIHTECTUBE. DESIGN YI. A SOUTHERN OB PLANTATION HOUSE. The proprie- tor of a plantation in the South, or South-west, re- quires altogether a different kind of residence from the farmer of the Northern, or Middle States. He resides in the midst of his own principality, surrounded by a retinue of dependents and laborers, who dwell distant and apart from his own immediate family, although composing a community requiring his daily care and superintendence for a great share of his time. A por- tion of them are the attaches of his household, yet so disconnected in their domestic relations, as to require a separate accommodation, and yet be in immediate contiguity with it, and of course, an arrangement of living widely different from those who mingle in the same circle, and partake at the same board. The usual plan of house-building at the South, we are aware, is to have detached servants' rooms, and offices, and a space of some yards of uncovered way intervene between the family rooms of the chief dwell- ing and its immediate dependents. Such arrange- ment, however, we consider both unnecessary and inconvenient; and we have devised a plan of house- hold accommodation which will bring the family of the planter himself, and their servants, although under BUBAL ABCHITECTUBE. 157 different roofs, into convenient proximity with each other. A design of this kind is here given. The style is mainly Italian, plain, substantial, yet, we think, becoming. The broad veranda, stretching around three sides, including the front, gives an air of sheltered repose to what might otherwise appear an ambitious structure; and the connected apartments beyond, show a quiet utility which divests it of an over attempt at display. Nothing has been attempted for appearance, solely, beyond what is necessary and proper in the dwelling of a planter of good estate, who wants his domestic affairs well regulated, and his family, and servants duly provided with convenient accommodation. The form of the main dwelling is nearly square, , upright, with two full stories, giving ample area of room and ventilation, together with that appropriate indulgence to ease which the enervating warmth of a southern climate renders necessary. The servants' apartments, and kitchen offices are so dis- posed, that while connected, to render them easy of access, they are sufficiently remote to shut off the familiarity of association which would render them obnoxious to the most fastidious all, in fact, under one shelter, and within the readiest call. Such should be the construction of a planter's house in the United States, and such this design is intended to give. A* stable and carriage-house, in the same style, is near by, not connected to any part of the. dwelling, as in the previous designs with sufficient accommoda- tion for coachman and grooms, and the number of saddle and carriage horses that may be required for 158 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. either business or pleasure ; and to it may be connected, in the rear, in the same style of building, or plainer, and less expensive, further conveniences for such do- mestic animals as may be required for family use. The whole stands in open grounds, and may be sep- arated from each other by enclosures, as convenience or fancy may direct. The roofs of all the buildings are broad and sweep- ing, well protecting the walls from storm and frosts, as well as the glaring influences of the sun, and com- bining that comfortable idea of shelter and repose so grateful in a well-conditioned country house. It is true, that the dwelling might be more extensive in room, and the purposes of luxury enlarged ; but the planter on five hundred, or five thousand acres of land can here be sufficiently accommodated in all the rea- sonable indulgences of family enjoyment, and a lib- eral, even an elegant and prolonged hospitality, to which he is so generally inclined. The chimneys of this house, different from those in the previous designs, are placed next the outer walls, thus giving more space to the interior, and not being required, as in the others, to promote additional warmth than their fireplaces will give, to the rooms. A deck on the roof affords a pleasant look-out for the family from its top, guarded by a parapet, and giving a finish to its architectural appearance, and yet making no ambitious attempt at expensive ornament. It is, in fact, a plain, substantial, respectable mansion for a gen- tleman of good estate, and nothing beyond it. HUKAL ARCHITECTURE. 159 INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT. This house stands 50 x 40 feet on the ground. The front door opens from the veranda into a hall, 24 x 14 feet, in which is a flight of stairs leading to the cham- bers above. On the left a door leads into a library, or GROCXD PLAX. 160 RURAJL ARCHITECTURE. business room, 17x17 feet, lighted by three windows. A fireplace is inserted in the outer wall. Another door leads into a side hall, six feet wide, which sepa- rates the library from the dining-room, which is also 17x17 feet in area, lighted and accommodated with a fireplace like the other, with a door leading into it from the side hall, and another door at the further right hand corner leading into the rear hall, or entry. On the right of the chief entrance hall, opposite the library, a door opens into the parlor or drawing-room, 23x19 feet in area, lighted by three windows, and having a fireplace in the side wall. A door leads from the rear side of the parlor into a commodious nursery, or family bedroom, 19x16 feet in size, lighted by a window in each outer wall. A fireplace is also inserted on the same line as in the parlor. From the nursery a door leads into and through a large closet, 9x7 feet, into the rear hall. This closet may also be used as a sleeping-room for the children, or a confidential ser- vant-maid, or nurse, or devoted to the storage of bed- linfen for family use. Further on, adjoining, is another closet, 7x6 feet, opening from the rear hall, and lighted by a window. Leading from the outer door of the rear hall is a covered passage six feet wide, 16 feet long, and one and a half stories high, leading to the kitchen offices, and lighted by a window on the left, with a door opening in the same side beyond, on to the side front of the establishment. On the right, opposite, a door leads on to the kitchen porch, which is six feet wide, passing on to the bath-room and water-closet, in the RUKAL ARCHITECTURE. 163 far rear. At the end of the connecting passage from the main dwelling, a door opens into the kitchen, which is 24x18 feet in size, accommodated with two windows looking on to the porch just described. At one end is an open fireplace with a cooking range on one side, and an oven on the other. At the left of the entrance door is a large, commodious store-room and pantry, 12x9 feet, lighted by a window; and adjoining it, (and may be connected with it by a door, if neces- sary,) a kitchen closet of the same size, also connected by a corresponding door from the opposite corner of the kitchen. Between these doors is a flight of stairs leading to the sleeping-rooms above, and a cellar pas- sage beneath them. In the farther right corner of the kitchen a door leads into a smaller closet, 8x6 feet, lighted by a small window looking on to the rear porch at the end. A door at the rear of the kitchen leads out into the porch of the wash-room beyond, which is six feet wide, and another door into the wash-room itself, which is 20x16 feet, and furnished with a chim- ney and boilers. A window looks out on the extreme right hand, and two windows on to the porch in front. A door opens from its rear wall into the wood-house, 32x12 feet, which stands open on two sides, supported by posts, and under the extended roof of the wash-room and its porch just mentioned. A servants' water- closet is attached to the extreme right corner of the wood-house, by way of lean-to. The bath-room is 10x6 feet in area, and supplied with water from the kitchen boilers adjoining. The wa ter-closet beyond is 6 feet square, and architecturally. 7* 162 BTTKAL ARCHITECTURE. in its roof, may be made a fitting termination to that of the porch leading to it. 15 X 17 15X12 16X10 10 X 17 22 X 19 I ' 15 X 17 CHAMBEK PLAN. The main flight of stairs in the entrance hall leads on to a broad landing in the spacious upper hall, from which doors pass into the several chambers, which may be duly accommodated with closets. The pas- sage connecting with the upper story of the servants' offices, opens from the rear section of this upper hall, and by the flight of rear stairs communicates with the kitchen and out-buildings. A garret flight of steps may be made in the rear section of the main upper hall, by which that apartment may be reached, and the upper deck of the roof ascended. The sleeping-rooms of the kitchen may be divided off as convenience may dictate, and the entire structure thus appropriated to every accommodation which a well-regulated family need require. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 163 CARRIAGE HOUSE. The carriage-house is 48x24 feet in size, with a projection of five feet on the entrance front, the door of which leads both into the carriage-room and stables. On the right is a bedroom, 10x8 feet, for the grooms, lighted by a window ; and beyond are six stalls for horses, with a window in the rear wall beyond them. A flight of stairs leads to the hayloft above. In the rear of the carriage-room is a harness-room, 12x4 feet, and a granary of the same size, each lighted by a window. If farther attachments be required for the accommodation of out-building conveniences, they may be continued indefinitely in the rear. MISCELLANEOUS. It may strike the reader that the house just described has a lavish appropriation of veranda, and a needless side-front, which latter may detract from the precise architectural keeping that a dwelling of this pretension should maintain. In regard to the first, it may be remarked, that no feature of the house in a southern climate can be more expressive of easy, comfortable 164 RUKAI, ARCniTKCTUKE. enjoyment, than a spacious veranda. The habits of southern life demand it as a place of exercise in wet weather, and the cooler seasons of the year, as well as a place of recreation and social intercourse during the fervid heats of the summer. Indeed, many southern people almost live under the shade of their verandas. It is a delightful place to take their meals, to receive their visitors and friends ; and the veranda gives to a dwelling the very expression of hospitality, so far as any one feature of a dwelling can do it. No equal amount of accommodation can be provided for the same cost. It adds infinitely to the room of the U&use itself, and is, in fact, indispensable to the full enjoy- ment of a southern house. The side front in this design is simply a matter of convenience to the owner and occupant of the estate, who has usually much office business in its manage- ment ; and in the almost daily use of his library, where such business may be done, a side door and front is both appropriate and convenient. The chief front entrance belongs to his family and guests, and should be devoted to their exclusive use ; and as a light fence may be thrown oft' from the extreme end of the side porch, separating the front lawn from the rear approach to the house, the veranda on that side may be reached from its rear end, for business purposes, without intru- ding upon the lawn at all. So we would arrange it. Objections may be made to the sameness of plan, in the arrangement of the lower rooms of the several designs which we have submitted, such as having the nursery, or family sleeping-room, on the main floor of RITUAL ARCHITECTURE. 165 the house, and the uniformity, in location, of the others , and that there are no new and striking features in them. The answer to these may be, that the room appropriated for the nursery, or bedroom, may be used for other pur- poses, equally as well ; that when a mode of accommo- dation is already as convenient as may be, it is poorly worth while to make it less convenient, merely for the sake of variety ; and, that utility and convenience are the main objects to be attained in any well-ordered dwelling. These two requisites, utility and conven- ience, attained, the third and principal one comfort is secured. Cellar kitchens the most abominable nuisances that ever crept into a country dwelling might have been adopted, no doubt, to the especial delight of some who know nothing of the experimental duties of housekeeping; but the recommendation of these is an offence which we have no stomach to answer for hereafter. Steep, winding, and complicated stair- cases might have given a new feature to one or another of the designs ; dark closets, intricate passages, unique cubby -holes, and all sorts of inside gimcrackery might have amused our pencil ; but we have avoided them, as well as everything which would stand in the way of the simplest, cheapest, and most direct mode of reach- ing the object in view: a convenient, comfortably- arranged dwelling within, having a respectable, digni- fied appearance without and such, we trust, have been thus far presented in our designs. 166 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. LAWN, AND PARK SURROUNDINGS. The trees and shrubbery which ornament the ap- proach to this house, should be rather of the graceful varieties, than otherwise. The weeping-willow, the horse-chesnut, the mountain-ash, if suitable to the cli- mate ; or the china-tree of the south, or the linden, the weeping-elm, and the silver-maple, with its long slen- der branches and hanging leaves, would add most to the beauty, and comport more closely with the charac- ter of this establishment, than the more upright, stiff, and unbending trees of our American forests. The Lombardy-poplar albeit, an object of fashionable derision with many tree-fanciers in these more tasty days, as it was equally the admiration of our fathers, of forty years ago would set off and give effect *to a mansion of this character, either in a clump at the back-ground, as shown in the design, or occasionally shooting up its spire-like top through a group of the other trees. Yet, if built in a fine natural park or lawn of oaks, with a few other trees, such as we have named, planted immediately around it, this house would still show with fine effect. The style of finish given to this dwelling may appear too ornate and expensive for the position it is supposed to occupy. If so, a plainer mode of finish may be adopted, to the cheapest degree consistent with the manner of its construction. Still, on examination, there will be found little intricate or really expensive work upon it. Strength, substance, durability, should all enter into its composition ; and without these elements, RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 167 a house of this appearance is a mere bauble, not fit t j stand upon the premises of any man of substantial estate. If a more extensive accommodation be necessary, than the size of this house can afford, its style will admit of a wing, of any desirable length, on each side, in place of the rear part of the side verandas, without prejudice to its character or effect. Indeed, such wings may add to its dignity, and consequence, as comport- ing with the standing and influence which its occupant may hold in the community wherein he resides. A man of mark, indeed, should, if he live in the country, occupy a dwelling somewhat indicating the position which he holds, both in society and in public affairs. By this remark, we may be treading on questionable ground, in our democratic country ; but, practically, there is a fitness in it which no one can dispute. Not that extravagance, pretension, or any other assumption of superiority should mark the dwelling of the distin- guished man, but that his dwelling be of like character with himself: plain, dignified, solid, and, as a matter of course, altogether respectable. It is a happy feature in the composition of our repub- lican institutions, both social and political, that we can afford to let the flashy men of the day not of time flaunter in all their purchased fancy in house-building, without prejudice to the prevailing sober sentiment of their neighbors, in such particulars. The man of money, simply, may build his " villa," and squander his tens of thousands upon it. He may riot within it, and fidget about it for a few brief years ; he may even 168 RUKAL ARCHITECTURE. hang his coat of arms upon it, if he can fortunately do so without stumbling over a lapstone, or greasing his coat against the pans of a cook-shop ; but it is equally sure that no child of his will occupy it after him, even if his own changeable fancy or circumstances permit him to retain it for his natural life. Such are the episodes of country house-building, and of frequent attempts at agricultural life, by those who affect it as a matter of ostentation or display. For the subjects of these, we do not write. But there is something exceed- ingly grateful to the feelings of one of stable views in life, to look upon an estate which has been long in an individual family, still maintaining its primitive char- acter and respectability. Some five-and-twenty years ago, w r hen too young to have any established opinions in matters of this sort, as we were driving through one of the old farming towns in Massachusetts, about twenty miles west of Boston, we approached a comfortable, well-conditioned farm, with a tavern-house upon the high road, and several great elms standing about it. The road passed between two of the trees, and from a cross-beam, lodged across their branches, swung a large square sign, with names and dates painted upon it name and date we have forgotten ; it was a good old Puritan name, however in this wist: " JOHN ENDICOTT, 1652." "JonN ENDICOTT, 1696." " JOHN ENDICOTT, 1749." "JOHN ENDICOTT, 1784." " JOHN ENDICOTT, 1817." RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 169 As our eyes read over this list, we were struck with the stability of a family who for many consecutive generations had occupied, by the same name, that ven- erable spot, and ministered to the comfort of as many generations of travelers, and incontinently took off' our hat in respect to the record of so much worth, drove our horse under the shed, had him fed, went in, and took a quiet family dinner with the civil, good-tempered host, and the equally kind-mannered hostess, then in the prime of life, surrounded with a fine family of children, and heard from his own lips the history of his ancestors, from their first emigration from Eng- land not in the Mayflower, to whose immeasurable accommodations our good New England ancestors are so prone to refer but in one of her early successors. All over the old thirteen states, from Maine to Geor- gia, can be found agricultural estates now containing families, the descendants of those who founded them exceptions to the general rule, we admit, of American stability of residence, but none the less gratifying to the contemplation of those who respect a deep love of home, wherever it may be found. For the moral of our episode on this subject, we cannot refrain from a description of a fine old estate which we have fre- quently seen, minus now the buildings which then existed, and long since supplanted by others equally respectable and commodious, and erected by the suc- cessor of the original occupant, the late Dr. Boyls- ton, of Roxbury, who long made the farm his sum- mer residence. The description is from an old work, "The History of the County of "Worcester, in the 170 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. State of Massachusetts, by the Rev. Peter Whitney, 1793 : " " Many of the houses (in Princeton,) are large and elegant. This leads to a particular mention, that in this town is the country seat of the Hon. Moses Gill, Esq., (' Honorable ' meant something in those days,) who has been from the year 1775 one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of Worces- ter, and for several years a counsellor of this common- wealth. His noble and elegant seat is about one mile and a quarter from the meeting-house, to the south. The farm contains upwards of three thousand acres. The county road from Princeton to Worcester passes through it, in front of the house, which faces to the west. The buildings stand upon the highest land of the whole farm ; but it is level round about them for many rods, and then, there is a very gradual descent. The land on which these buildings stand is elevated between twelve hundred and thirteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, as the Hon. James Win- throp, Esq. informs me. The mansion house is large, being 50x50 feet, with four stacks of chimnies. The farm house is 40 feet by 36 : In a line with this stand the coach and chaise-house, 50 feet by 36. This is joined to the barn by a shed 70 feet in length the barn is 200 feet by 32. Yery elegant fences are erected around the mansion house, the out-houses, and the garden. " The prospect from this seat is extensive and grand, taking in a horizon to the east, of seventy miles, at least. The blue hills in Milton are discernible with RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 171 the naked eye, from the windows of this superb edifice, distant not less than sixty miles ; as also the waters in the harbor of Boston, at certain seasons of the year. When we view this seat, these buildings, and this farm of so many hundred acres, now under a high degree of profitable cultivation, and are told that in the year 1766 it was a perfect wilderness, we are struck with wonder, admiration, and astonishment. The honorable proprietor thereof must have great satisfaction in con- templating these improvements, so extensive, made under his direction, and, I may add, by his own active industry. Judge Gill is a gentleman of singular viva- city and activity, and indefatigable in his endeavors to bring forward the cultivation of his lands ; of great and essential service, by his example, in the employ- ment he finds for so many persons, and in all his attempts to serve the interests of the place where he dwells, and in his acts of private munificence, and public generosity, and deserves great respect and es- teem, not only from individuals, but from the town and country he has so greatly benefited, and especially by the ways in which he makes use of that vast estate wherewith a kind Providence has blessed him." Such was the estate, and such the man who founded and enjoyed it sixty years ago; and many an equal estate, founded and occupied by equally valuable men, then existed, and still exist in all our older states ; and if our private and public virtues are preserved, will ever exist in every state of our union. Such pictures, too, are forcible illustrations of the morals of correct building on the ample estates of many of our American 172 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. planters and farmers. The mansion house, which is so graphically described, we saw but a short time before it was pulled down then old, and hardly worth repairing, being built of wood, and of style something like this design of our own, bating the extent of veranda. The cost of this house may be from $5000 to $8000, depending upon the material of which it is constructed, the degree of finish given to it, and the locality where it is built. All these circumstances are to be consid- ered, and the estimates should be made by practical and experienced builders, who are competent judges in whatever appertains to it. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 175 DESIGN VII. A PLANTATION HOUSE. Another southern house is here presented, quite different in architectural design from the last, plain, unpretending, less ornate in its finish, as well as less expensive in construction. It may occupy a different site, in a hilly, wooded coun- try of rougher surface, but equally becoming it, as the other would more fitly grace the level prairie, or spreading plain in the more showy luxury of its character. This house stands 46x44 feet on the ground, two stories high, with a full length veranda, 10 feet wide in front, and a half length one above it, connecting with the main roof by an open gable, under which is a railed gallery for summer repose or recreation, or to enjoy the scenery upon which it may open. The roof is broad and overhanging, thoroughly sheltering the walls, and giving it a most protected, comfortable look. Covering half the rear is a lean-to, with shed roof, 16 feet wide, communicating with the servants' offices in the wing, the hall of which opens upon a low veranda on its front, and leading to the minor conveniences of the establishment. The main servants' building is 30x20 feet, one and a half stories high, with a roof in keeping with the main dwelling, and a chimney in 176 KTJRAL ARCHITECTURE. the center. In rear of this is attached a wood-house, with a shed roof, thus sloping off, and giving it a reposed, quiet air from that point of view. A narrow porch, 23 feet long and 8 feet wide, also shades the remaining rear part of the main dwelling, opening on to the approach in rear. INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT. The front door opens into a hall 34 feet long and 10 feet wide, with a flight of stairs. On the left of this opens a parlor or dining-room, 22x18 feet, lighted by two windows in front and one on the side, and connect- ing with the dining-room beyond, which is 18x16 feet, with two small dining closets between. The dining- room has two windows opening on to the rear veranda. Under the cross flight of stairs in the hall, a partition separates it from the rear hall, into which is a door. On the right of the entrance hall is a library, 18x18 feet, lighted by three windows. At the farther end is a closet, and by the side of it a small entry leading into the nursery or family bedroom, 18x15 feet in size, which also has a corresponding closet with the library. On the rear of the nursery is a flight of back stairs opening from it. Under these stairs, at the other end a door opens to another flight leading into the cellar below. A door also leads out from the nursery into the rear passage, to the offices; another door on the further side of the room opens into the rear hall of the house. The nursery should have two windows, but RURAL, ARCHITECTURE. 177 GEOUND PLAN. the drawing, by an error, gives only on 8. From this rear hall a door opens on the rear veranda, and another into the passage to the rear offices. This pas- sage is six feet wide and 34 feet long, opening at its left end on to the veranda, and on the right, to the ^servants' porch, and from its rear side into three small rooms, 10 feet square each, the outer one of which may be a business room for the proprietor of the es- tate; the next, a store-room for family supplies; and the other a kitchen closet. Each of these is lighted by a window on the rear. A door also lead/3 from the 178 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. rear passage into the kitchen, 20x16 feet in area, with a window looking out in front and two others on the side and rear, and a door into the wood-house. In this is placed a large chimney for the cooking establish- ment, oven, &c., &c. A flight of stairs and partition divides this from the wash-room, which is 14x14 feet, with two windows in the side, and a door into the wood-house. This wood-house is open on two sides, and a water-closet is in the far corner. The small veranda, which is six feet wide, fronting the kitchen apartments, opens into the bath-room, 9x6 feet, into which the water is drawn from the kitchen boilers in the adjoining chimney. Still beyond this is the entrance to the water-closets, 6x5 feet. 10X10 I 18X16- 18X14 13X18 18X16 18 X PLATFORM. CHAMBEK PLAN. The chamber plan is simple, and will be readily comprehended. If more rooms are desirable, they can be cut off from the larger ones. A flight of garret stairs may also be put in the rear chamber hall. The RT7BAL ABCHTTECTURE. 179 main hall of the chambers, in connection with the upper veranda, may be made a delightful resort for the summer, where the leisure hours of the family may be passed in view of the scenery which the house may command, and thus made one of its most attractive features. MISCELLANEOUS. "We have given less veranda to this house than to the last, because its style does not require it, and it is a cheaper and less pains-taking establishment through- out, although, perhaps, quite as convenient in its ar- rangement as the other. The veranda may, however, be continued round the two ends of the house, if required. A screen, or belt of privet, or low ever- greens may be planted in a circular form from the front right-hand corner of the dwelling, to the corres- ponding corner of the rear offices, enclosing a clothes drying yard, and cutting them off from too sightly an exposure from the lawn in front. The opposite end of the house, which may be termed its business front, may open to the every-day approach to the house, and be treated as convenience may determine. For the tree decoration of this establishment, ever- greens may come in for a share of attraction. Their conical, tapering points will correspond well with its general architecture, and add strikingly to its effect; otherwise the remarks already given on the subject of park and lawn plantation will suffice. As, however, in the position where this establishment is supposed to 180 KTJEAL ARCHITECTURE. be erected, land is plenty, ample area should be appro- priated to its convenience, and no pinched or parsimo- nious spirit should detract from giving it the fullest eifect in an allowance of ground. Nor need the ground devoted to such purposes be at all lost, or unappropriated ; various uses can be made of it, yield- ing both pleasure and profit, to which a future chapter will refer; and it is one of the chief pleasures of retired residence to cultivate, in the right place, such incidental objects of interest as tend to gratify, as well as to instruct, in whatever appertains to the elevation of our thoughts, and the improvement of our condition. All these, in their place, should be drawn about oiir dwellings, to render them as agreeable and attractive as our ingenuity and labor may command. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 181 LAWNS, GKOUKDS, PAKKS, AND WOODS. Having essayed to instruct our agricultural friends in the proper modes of erecting their houses, and providing for their convenient accommodation within them, a few remarks may be pardoned touching such collateral subjects of embellishment as may be con- nected with the farm residence in the way of planta- tions and grounds in their immediate vicinity. We are well aware that small farms do not permit any considerable appropriation of ground to waste purposes, as such spots are usually called which are occupied with wood, or the shade of open trees, near the dwelling. But no dwelling can be complete in all its appointments without trees in its immediate vicinity. This subject has perhaps been sufficiently discussed in preceding chapters ; yet, as a closing course of remark upon what a farm house, greater or less in extent, ehould be in the amount of shade given to it, a further suggestion or two may be permitted. There are, in almost all places, in the vicinity of the dwelling, por- tions of ground which can be appropriated to forest trees without detriment to other economical uses, if applied in the proper way. Any one who passes along 182 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. a high road and discovers the farm house, seated ou the margin or in the immediate vicinity of a pleasant grove, is immediately struck with the peculiarly rural and picturesque air which it presents, and thinks to himself that he should love such a spot for his own home, without reflecting that he might equally as well create one of the same character. Sites already occu- pied, where different dispositions are made of contigu- ous ground, may not admit of like advantages ; and such are to be continued in their present arrangement, with such course of improvement as their circumstances will admit. But to such as are about to select the sites of their future homes, it is important to study what can best embellish them in the most effective shade and ornament. In the immediate vicinity of our large towns and cities it is seldom possible to appropriate any consider- able breadth of land to ornamental purposes, excepting rough and unsightly waste ground, more or less occu- pied with rock or swamp ; or plainer tracts, so sterile as to be comparatively worthless for cultivation. Such grounds, too, often lie bare of wood, and require plant- ing, and a course of years to cover them with trees, even if the proprietor is willing, or desirous to devote them to such purpose. Still, there are vast sections of our country where to economize land is not important, and a mixed occupation of it to both ornament and profit may be indulged to the extent of the owner's disposition. All over the United States there are grand and beautiful sweeps and belts of cultivated country, interspersed with finely-wooded tracts, which RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 183 offer the most attractive sites for the erection of dwell- ings on the farms which embrace them, and that require only the eye and hand of taste to convert them, with slight labor, into the finest-wooded lawns and forested parks imaginable. No country whatever pro- duces finer trees than North America. The ever- greens of the north luxuriate in a grandeur scarcely known elsewhere, and shoot their cones into the sky to an extent that the stripling pines and firs, and larches of England in vain may strive to imitate. The elm of New England towers up, and spreads out its sweeping arms with a majesty unwonted in the ancient parks or forests of Europe; while its maples, and birches, and beeches, and ashes, and oaks, and the great white- armed buttonwood, make up a variety of intervening growth, luxuriant in the extreme. Pass on through the Middle States, and into the far west, and there they still flourish with additional kinds the tulip and poplar the nut-trees, in all their wide variety, with a host of others equally grand and imposing, inter- spersed; and shrub-trees innumerable, are seen every- where as they sweep along your path. Beyond the Alleghanies, and south of the great lakes, are vast natural parks, many of them enclosed, and dotted with herds of cattle ranging over them, which will show single trees, and clumps of forest that William the Conqueror would have given a whole fiefdom in his Hampshire spoliations to possess; while, stretching away toward the Gulf of Mexico, new varieties of tree are found, equally imposing, grand, and beautiful, throughout the whole vast range, and in almost every 184 KURAL ARCHITECTURE. locality, susceptible of the finest possible appropriation to ornament and use. Many a one of these noble forests, and open, natural parks have been appropria- ted already to embellish the comfortable family estab- lishment which has been built either on its margin, or within it; and thousands more are standing, as yet unimproved, but equally inviting the future occupant to their ample protection. The moral influences, too, of lawns and parks around or in the vicinity of our dwellings, are worthy of con- sideration. Secluded as many a country dweller may be, away from the throng of society, there is a sym- pathy in trees which invites our thoughts, and draws our presence among them witn unwonted interest, and in frequent cases, assist materially in stamping the feelings and courses of our future lives always with pure and ennobling sentiments " The groves were God's first temples." The thoughtful man, as he passes under their shel- tering boughs, in the heat of summer, with uncovered brow, silently worships the Hand that formed them there, scarcely conscious that their presence thus ele- vates his mind to holy aspirations. Among them, the speculative man " Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones.' Even children, born and educated among groves of trees, drink in early impressions, which follow them for good all their days ; and, when the toils of their RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 185 after life are passed, they love to return to these grate- ful coverts, and spend their remaining days amid the tranquillity of their presence. Men habituated to the wildest life, too, enjoy the woods, the hills, and the mountains, beyond all the captivation and excitement of society, and are nowhere at rest, but when in their communion. The love of forest scenery is a thing to be culti- vated as a high accomplishment, in those whose early associations have not been among them. Indeed, country life is tame, and intolerable, without a taste, either natural or acquired, for fine landscape scenery ; and in a land like this, where the country gives occu- pation to so great a proportion of its people, and a large share of those engaged in the active and ex- citing pursuits of populous towns, sigh and look for- ward to its enjoyment, every inducement should be offered to cultivate a taste for those things which make one of its- chief attractions. ISTor should seclusion from general society, and a residence apart from the bus- tling activity of the world, present a bar to the due cultivation of the taste in many subjects supposed to belong only to the throng of association. It 'is one of the advantages of rural life, that it gives us time to think; and the greatest minds of whose labors in the old world we have had the benefit, and of later times, in our own land, have been reared chiefly in the solitude of the country. Patrick Henry loved to range among the woods, admiring the leafy magnif- icence of nature, and to follow the meandering courses of the brooks, with his hook and line. Washington, J86 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. / when treading the vast solitudes of central Yirginia, with his surveyor's instruments on his back, conceived the wonderful resources of the great empire of which he will ever be styled the "father." The dwelling of the late John C. Calhoun, sheltered by noble trees, stands on an elevated swell of a grand range of moun- tain land, and it was there that his prolific genius ripened for those burning displays of thought which drew to him the affections of admiring thousands. Henry Clay undoubtedly felt the germ of his future greatness while sauntering, in his boyhood days, through the wild and picturesque slashes of Hanover. Webster, born amid the rugged hills of New Hamp- shire, drew the delightful relish of rural life, for which he is so celebrated, from the landscapes which sur- rounded his early home, and laid the foundation of his mighty intellect in the midst of lone and striking scenery. Bryant could never have written his "Than- atopsis," his "Rivulet," and his "Green River," but from the inspiration drawn from his secluded youthful home in the mountains of Massachusetts. Nor, to touch a more sacred subject, could Jonathan Edwards ever have composed his masterly " Treatise on the Will," in a pent-up city ; but owes his enduring fame to the thought and leisure which he found, while min- istering, among the sublime mountains of the Housa- tonic, to a feeble tribe of Stockbridge Indians. And these random names are but a few of those whose love of nature early imbibed, and in later life enjoyed in their own calm and retired homes, amid the serene beauty of woods and waters, which might RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 187 be named, as illustrations of the influence which fine ecenerj may exercise upon the mind, to assist in mould- ing it to greatness. The following anecdote was told us many years ago, by a venerable man in Connec- ticut, a friend of the elder Hillhouse, of New Haven, to whom that city is much indebted for the magnifi- cent trees by which it has become renowned as " the City of the Elms : " While a member of the General Assembly of that state, when Hillhouse was in Con- gress, learning that he had just returned home from the annual session, our informant, with a friend, went to the residence of the statesman, to pay him a visit. He had returned only that morning, and on their way there, they met him near his house, with a stout young tree on his shoulder, just taken from a neighboring piece of forest, which he was about to transplant in the place of one which had died during his absence. After the usual salutations, our friend expressed his surprise that he was so scon engaged in tree-planting, before he had even had time to look to his private and more pressing affairs. "Another day may be too late," replied the senator; "my tree well planted, it will grow at its leisure, and I can then look to my own concerns at my ease. So, gentlemen, if you will just wait till the tree is set, we '11 walk into the house, and settle the affairs of state in our own way." Walter Scott, whose deep love of park and forest scenery has stamped with his masterly descriptions, his native land as the home of all things beautiful and useful in trees and plantations, spent a great share of his leisure time in planting, and has written a most 188 KUEAL ARCHITECTUKE. instructive e^say on its practice and benefits. He puts into the mouth of " the Laird of Dumbiedikes," tho advice, " Be aye sticking in a tree, Jock ; it will be growing while you are sleeping." But Walter Scott had no American soil, to plant his trees upon ; nor do the grandest forest parks of Scotland show a tithe of the luxuriance and majesty of our American forests. Could he but have seen the variety, the symmetry, and the vast size of our oaks, and elms, and ever- greens, a new element of descriptive power would have grown out of the admiration they had created within him ; and he would have envied a people the possession of such exhaustless resources as we enjoy, to embellish their homes in the best imaginable manner, with such enduring monuments of grace and beauty. To the miscellaneous, or casual reader, such course of remark may appear merely sublimated nonsense. No matter ; we are not upon stilts, talking down to a class of inferior men, in a condescending tone, on a sub- ject above their comprehension ; but we are address- ing men, and the sons of men, who are our equals although, like ourself, upon their farms, taking their share in its daily toils, as well as pleasures and can perfectly well understand our language, and sympa- thize with our thoughts. They are the thoughts of rural life everywhere. It was old Sam Johnson, the great lexicographer, who lumbered his unwieldy gait through the streets of cities for a whole life, and with all his vast learning and wisdom, had no appreciation of the charms of the country, that said, " Who feeds fat cattle should himself be fat; " as if the dweller on RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 189 the farm should not possess an idea above the brutes around him. We wonder if he ever supposed a mer- chant should have any more brain than the parcel that he handled, or the bale which he rolled, or directed others to roll for him ! But, loving the solitude of the farm, and finding a thousand objects of interest and beauty scattered in profusion, where those educated among artificial objects would see nothing beyond things, to them, vulgar and common-place, in convers- ing with our rural friends upon what concerns their daily comfort, and is to constitute the nursery of those who succeed them, and on the influences which may, in a degree, stamp their future character, we cannot forbear such suggestions, connected with the family Home, as may induce them to cultivate all those acces- sories around it, which may add to their pleasure and contentment. We believe it was Keats, who said, " A tiling of Beauty is a joy for ever." And the thought that such " beauty " has been of our own creation, or that our own hands have assisted in its perpetuation, should certainly be a deep "joy" of our life. We have remarked, that the farm house is the chief nursery on which our broad country must rely for that healthy infusion of stamina and spirit into those men who, under our institutions, guide its destiny and direct its councils. They, in the great majority of their numbers, are natives of the retired homestead. It is, therefore, of high consequence, that good taste, intelligence, and. correct judgment, should enter into 190 ETJRAL ARCHITECTURE. all that surrounds the birth-place, and early see nes oi those who are to be the future actors in the prominent walks of life, either in public or private capacity ; and as the love of trees is one of the leading elements of enjoyment amid the outward scenes of country-life, we commend most heartily all who dwell in the pure air and bright sunshine of the open land to their study and cultivation. Every man who lives in the country, be he a prac- tical farmer or not, should plant trees, more or less. The father of a family should plant, for the benefit of his children, as well as for his own. The bachelor and the childless man should plant, if for nothing more than to show that he has left same living thing to per- petuate his memory. Boys should early be made planters. None but those who love trees, and plant them, know the serene pleasure of watching their growth, and anticipating their future beauty and gran- deur ; and no one can so exquisitely enjoy their grate- ful shade, as he whose hand has planted and cared for them. Planting, too, is a most agreeable pastime to a reflecting mind. It may be ranked among the pleas- ures, instead of the toils of life. We have always so found it. There is no pleasanter sight of labor than to see a father, with his young lads about him, plant- ing a tree. It becomes a landmark of their industry and good taste ; and no thinking man passes a planta- tion of fine trees but inwardly blesses the man, or the memory of the man who placed them there. Aside from all this, trees properly distributed, give a value to an estate far beyond the cost of planting, RUBA.L ARCHITECTURE. 191 and tending their growth, and which no other equal amount of labor and expense upon it can confer. Innumerable farms and places have been sold at high prices, over those of perhaps greater producing value, merely for the trees which embellished them. Thus, in a pecuniary light, to say nothing of the pleasure and luxury they confer, trees are a source of profitable investment. It is a happy feature in the improving rural character of our country, that tree-planting and tree preservation for some years past have attracted much more attention than formerly ; and with this attention a better taste is prevailing in their selection. We have gained but little in the introduction of many of the foreign trees among us, for ornament. Some of them are absolutely barbarous in comparison with our American forest trees, and their cultivation is only a demonstration of the utter want of good taste in those who apply them. For ordinary purposes, but few exotics should be tolerated ; and those chiefly in collections, as curiosi- ties, or for arboretums in which latter the farmer can- not often indulge; and for all the main purposes of shade, and use, and ornament, the trees of no country can equal our own. Varied as our country is, in soils and climates, no particular directions can be given as to the individual varieties of tree which are to be preferred for planting. Each locality has its own most appropriate kinds, and he who is to plant, can best make the selections most fitted to his use. Rapid-growing trees, when of fine symmetry, and free from bad habits in throwing up RURAL ARCHITECTURE. suckers ; not liable to the attacks of insects ; of early, dense, and long-continued foliage, are most to be commended ; while their opposites in character should be avoided in all well-kept grounds. It requires, in- deed, but a little thought and observation to guide every one in the selection which he should make, to produce the best effect of which the tree itself is capable. Giving the importance we have, to trees, and their planting, it may be supposed that we should discuss their position in the grounds to which they should be appropriated. But no specific directions can be given at large. All this branch of the subject must be left to the locality, position, and surface of the ground sought to be improved. A good tree can scarcely stand in a wrong place, when not injurious to a build- ing by its too dense shade, or shutting out its light, or prospect. Still, the proper disposition of trees is a study, and should be well considered before they be planted. Bald, unsightly spots should be covered by them, when not devoted to more useful objects of the farm, either in pasturage or cultivation. A partial shading of the soil by trees may add to its value for grazing purposes, like the woodland pastures of Ken- tucky, where subject to extreme droughts, or a scorch ing sun. If the planter feels disposed to consult authorities, as to the best disposition of his trees, works on Landscape Gardening may be studied ; but these can give only general hints, and the only true course is to strive to make his grounds look as much like nature herself as BUBAL ABCHITECTUBE. 193 possible for nature seldom makes mistakes in her designs. To conclude a course of remark, which the plain farmer, cultivating his land for its yearly profit alone, may consider as foreign to the subject of our work, we would not recommend any one to plant trees who is not willing to spend the necessary time to nurse and tend them afterward, till they are out of harm's way, and well established in a vigorous growth. All this must be taken into the account, for it is better to have even but a few trees, and those what trees should be, than a whole forest of stinted things, writhing and pining through a course of sickly existence. A chapter might also be written upon the proper mode of taking up and planting trees, but as this would lead us to a subject more directly belonging to another department, the proper authorities on that head must be co isulted. 194 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. FRUIT GARDEN- -ORCHARDS. As the fruit garden and orchards are usually near appendages to the dwelling and out-buildings, a few remarks as to their locality and distribution may be appropriate. The first should always be near the house, both for convenience in gathering its fruits, and for its due protection from the encroachments of those not entitled to its treasures. It should, if possible, adjoin the kitchen garden, for convenience of access ; as fruit is, or should be, an important item in the daily consumption of every family where it can be grown and afforded. A sheltered spot, if to be had, should be devoted to this object ; or if not, its margin, on the exposed side, should be set with the hardiest trees to which it is appropriated as the apple. The fruit gar- den, proper, may also contain the smaller fruits, as they are termed, as the currant, gooseberry, raspberry, and whatever other shrub-fruits are grown ; while the quince, the peach, the apricot, nectarine, plum, cherry, pear, and apple may, in the order they are named, stand in succession behind them, the taller and more hardy growth of each successive variety rising ' gher, and protecting its less hardy and aspiring nj ^hbor. The soil for all these varieties of tree is supposed to be EUKAL ARCHITECTURE. 195 congenial, and our remarks will only be directed to their proper distribution. The aspect for the fruit garden should, if possible, front the south, south-east, or south-west, in a northerly climate. In the Middle and Southern States the ex- posure is of less consequence. Currants, gooseberries raspberries, &c., should, for their most productive bear ing, and the highest quality of their fruits, be set at least four feet apart, in the rows, and the rows six feet distant from each other, that there may be abundant room to cultivate them with the plow, and kept clean of weeds and grass. The quince, peach, apricot, nec- tarine, and plum should be 16 feet apart each way. The pear, if on quince stock, may be 12 feet apart, and if on its own stock, 20 to 24 feet; while the apple should always be 30 to 36 feet apart, to let in the requisite degree of sun and air to ripen as well as give growth, color, and flavor to its fruit. The tendency of almost all planters of fruit trees is to set them too close, and many otherwise fine fruit gardens are utterly ruined by the compact manner in which they are planted. Trees are great consumers of the atmosphere ; every leaf is a lung, inhaling and respiring the gases, and if sufficient breathing room be not allowed them, the tree sickens, and pines for the want of it ; there- fore, every fruit tree, and fruit-bearing shrub should be so placed that the summer sun can shine on every part of its surface at some hour of the day. In such position, the fruit will reach its maximum of flavor, size, and perfection. The ground, too, should be rich; and, to have the 196 BUBAL ABCHTTECTUKE. greatest benefit of the soil, no crops should be grown among the trees, after they have arrived at their full maturity of bearing. Thus planted, and nursed, with good selections of varieties, both the fruit garden and the orchard become one of the most ornamental, as well as most profitable portions of the farm. In point of position, as affecting the appearance of the homestead, the fruit garden should stand on the weatJier-s'lde of the dwelling, so as, although protected, in its several varieties, by itself, when not altogether sheltered by some superior natural barrier, it should appear to shelter both the dwelling and kitchen gar- dens, which adjoin them. As this is a subject intended to be but incidentally touched in these pages, and only then as immediately connected in its general character with the dwelling house and its attachments, we refrain from going into any particulars of detail concerning it. It is also a subject to which we are strongly attached, and gladly would we have a set chat with our readers upon it ; but as the discussion for so broad a field as we should have to survey, would be in many points arbitrary, and unfitting to local information as to varieties, and particular cultivation, we refer the reader, with great pleasure, to the several treatises of Downing, and Thomas, and Barry, on this interesting topic, with which the public are fortunately in possession ; observ- ing, only, that there is no one item of rural economy to which our attention can be given, which yields more of luxury, health, and true enjoyment, both to the body and the mind, than the cultivation of good fruits. RURAL ABCHITECTUKE. 197 HOW TO LAY OUT A KITCHEN GAKDEN. The kitchen garden yields more necessaries and com- forts to the family, than any other piece of ground on the premises. It is, of consequence, necessary that it be so located and planned as to be ready of access, and yield the greatest possible quantity of products for the labor bestowed upon it; and as locality and plan have much to do with the labor bestowed upon it and the productions it may yield, both these sub- jects should be considered. As to locality, the kitchen garden should lie in the warmest and most sheltered spot which may be con- venient to the kitchen of the house. It should, in connection with that, be convenient of access to the dung-yards of the stables. The size may be such as your necessities or your convenience may demand. The shape, either a parallelogram or a square ; for it will be recollected, that this is a place allotted, not for a show or pleasure ground, but for profit. If the gar- den be large, this shape will better allow the use of the plow to turn up the soil, which, in a large garden, is a much cheaper, and, when properly done, a better mode 198 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. than to spade it ; and if small, and it be worked with the spade, right lines are easier made with the spade than curved ones. One or more walks, at least eight feet wide, should be made, leading from a broad gate, or bars, through which a cart and horse, or oxen, may enter, to draw in manure, or carry out the vegetables ; and if such walk, or walks, do not extend around the garden, which, if in a large one, they should do, a sufficient area should be thrown out at the farther ex- tremity, to turn the cart upon. If the soil be free, and stony, the stones should be taken out dean, when large and if small, down to the size of a hen's egg and the surface made as level as possible, for a loose soil will need no draining. If the soil be a clay, or clayey loam, it should be underdrained two and a half feet, to tie perfect, and the draining so planned as to lead off to a lower spot outside. This draining warms the soil, opens it for filtration, and makes it friable. Then, properly fenced, thoroughly manured, and plowed deep, and left rough no matter how rough in the fall of the year, and as late before the setting in of winter as you dare risk it, that part of the preparation is accomplished. The permanent or wide walks of the garden, after being laid out and graded, should never be plowed nor disturbed, except by the hoe and rake, to keep down the weeds and grass ; yet, if a close, and well-shorn grass turf be kept upon them, it is perhaps the cheap- est and most cleanly way of keeping the walks. They need only cutting off close with the hand-hook, in summer. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 199 "We have known a great many people, after laying out a kitchen garden, and preparing it for use, fill it up with fruit trees, supposing that vegetables will grow quite as well with them as without. This is a wide mistake. No tree larger than a currant or gooseberry lush should ever stand in a vegetable garden. These fruits being partially used in the cooking department, as much in the way of vegetables, as of fruits, and small in size, may be permitted ; and they, contrary to the usual practice, should always stand in open ground, where they can have all the benefits of the sun and rain to ripen the fruit to perfection, as well as to receive the cultivation they need, instead of being placed under fences around the sides of the garden, where they are too frequently neglected, and become the resort of vermin, or make prolific harbors for weeds. Along the main walks, or alleys, the borders for perennial plants, as well as the currant and gooseberry bushes, should be made 'for the plow should run par- allel to, and not at right angles with them. Here may stand the rhubarbs, the sea kales, the various herbs, or even the asparagus beds, if a particular quarter be not set apart for them ; and, if it be important, a portion of these main borders may be appropriated to the more common flowers and small shrubbery, if desired to cultivate them in a plain way ; but not a peach, apricot, or any other larger tree than a currant or rasp- berry, should come within it. They not only shade the small plants, but suck up and rob them of their food and moisture, and keep off the sun, and prevent the circulation of air than which nothing needs all 200 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. these more than garden vegetables, to have them ii high perfection. If it be necessary, by means of i cold exposure on the one side, to have a close planta- tion of shrubbery to screen the garden, let it be out- side the fence, rather than within it ; but if within, let there be a broad walk between such shrubbery and the garden beds, as their roots will extend under the vegetables, and rob them of their food. A walk, alley, or cartway, on the sides of the gar- den, is always better next to the fence, than to fill that space with anything else, as it is usually shaded for a portion of the day, and may be better afforded for such waste purposes than the open, sunny ground within. It will be observed that market gardeners, men who always strive to make the most profit from their land and labor, and obtain the best vegetables, cultivate them in open fields. Not a tree, nor even a bush is permitted to stand near the growing crop, if they can prevent it ; and where one is not stinted in the area of his domain, their example should be followed. A word upon plowing gardens. Clays, or clayey loams, should always be manured and plowed in the fall, just before the setting in of the winter frosts. A world of pounding and hammering of lumps, to make them fine, in spring, is saved by fall plowing, besides incorporating the manure more thoroughly with the soil, as well as freezing out and destroying the eggs of worms and insects which infest it. Thrown up deeply and roughly with the plow or spade, the frosts act mechanically upon the soil, and slack and pulverise it so thoroughly that a heavy raking in early spring, is KUKAL ARCHITECTURE. 201 all that becomes necessary to put it in the finest con- dition for seeds, and make it perhaps the very best and most productive of all garden soils whatever. A light sandy loam is better to lie compact in winter, and manured and turned up in early spring. Its friable nature leaves it always open and light, and at all times in the absence of frost, accessible to the spade or the hoe. On these accounts, it is usually the most desir- able and convenient soil for the kitchen garden, and on the whole, generally preferred where either kind may be a matter simply of choice. 202 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. FLOWERS. Start not, gentle reader ! "We are not about to in- flict upon you a dissertation on Pelargoniums, Calla- Ethiopias, Japonicas, and such like unmentionable terms, that bring to your mind the green-house, and forcing-house, and all the train of expense and vexa- tion attending them; but we desire to have a short familiar conversation about what is all around you, or if not around you, should be, and kept there, with very little pains or labor on your part. Still, if you dislike the subject, just hand this part of our book over to your excellent wife, or daughters, or sisters, as the case may be, and we will talk to them about this matter. Flowers have their objects, and were made for our use and pleasure ; otherwise, God would never have strewed them, as he has, so bountifully along our paths, and filled the world with their fragrance and beauty. Like all else beautiful, which He made, and pro- nounced "good," flowers have been objects of ad- miration and love since man's creation; and their cultivation has ever been a type of civilization and refinement among all people who have left written BUBAL ABCHITECTUBE. 203 records behind them. Flowers equally become the cottage and the palace, in their decoration. The hum- blest cottager, and the mightiest monarch, have equally admired their beauty and their odor ; and the whole train of mortals between, have devoted a portion of their time and thoughts to the development of their peculiar properties. But let that pass. Plain country people as we are, there are enough of sufficient variety all around us, to engage our attention, and give us all that we desire to embellish our homes, and engage the time which we have to devote to them. Among the* wild flowers, in the mountains and hills of the farthest North, on the margin of their hidden brooks, where " Floats the scarc-rooted watercress ; " and on their barren sides, the tiny violet and the laurel bloom, each in their season, with unwonted beauty ; and, sloping down on to the plains beneath, blush out in all their summer garniture, the wild rose and the honeysuckle. On, through the Middle States, the lesser flowers of early spring throw out a thousand brilliant dyes, and are surrounded by a host of sum- mer plants, vieing with each other in the exuberance of their tints. On the AUeghanies, through all their vast range, grow up the magnificent dogwood, kal- mia, and rhodendendron, spangling mile upon mile of their huge sides and tops with white, and covering crags and precipices of untold space with their blushing splendor. Further west, on the prairies, and oak open- ings, and in the deep woods, too, of the great lakes, 204 EUEAL ARCHITECTURE. and of the Mississippi valley, with the earliest grass, shoot up, all over the land, a succession of flowers, which in variety and profusion of shape, and color, and odor, outvie all the lilies of the gardens of Solo- mon ; and so they continue till the autumnal frosts cut down both grass and flower alike. Further south, along the piney coast, back through the hills and over the vast reach of cotton and sugar lands, another class of flowers burst out from their natural coverts in equal glory ; and the magnolia, and the tulip-tree, and the wild orange throw a perfume along the air, like the odors of Palestine. In the deep lagoons of the south- ern rivers, too, float immense water-lilies, laying their great broad leaves, and expanded white and yellow flowers, upon the surface, which the waters of the Nile in the days of Cleopatra never equaled. And these are nature's wild productions only. Flowers being cultivated, not for profit, but for show and amusement, need not intrude upon the time which is required to the more important labors of the farm. A little time, given at such hours when it can be best spared, will set all the little flower-beds in order, and keep the required shrubbery of the place in trim and should not be denied in any family who enjoy a taste for them. Even the simplest of their kind, when carefully disposed, produce a fine effect; and the hardy bulbous, and tuberous-rooted plants require but slight aid in producing the highest perfection of their bloom ; while the fibrous-rooted perenials, and the flowering shrubs, bloom on from year to year, almost uncared for and untouched. BUBAL ARCHITECTURE. 205 The annuals require the most attention. Their seeds must be planted and gathered every year ; they must be weeded and nursed with more care than the others ; yet they richly repay all this trouble in their fresh bloom when the others are gone, and will carry their rich flowers far into the frosts of autumn, when their hardier companions have composed themselves for a winter's rest. The position of the flower-bed, or borders, may be various. As a matter of taste, however, they should be near the house, and in view of the windows of the most frequented rooms. They thus give more enjoy- ment in their sight, than when but occasionally seen in special visits ; and such spots can usually be set apart for them. If not in the way of more important things, they should always be thus placed, where they are ever objects of interest and attraction. The ground which flowering plants occupy should be devoted to them alone, and the soil be made deep and rich. They should not be huddled up, nor crowded, but stand well apart, and have plenty of breathing- room for their branches and leaves, and space for the spread of their roots. They are consumers of the fer- tilizing gases, and require, equally with other plants, their due supply of manures which also adds to the brilliance and size of their bloom, as well as to the growth of their stems. Their roots should be protected in winter by coarse litter thrown over them, particu- larly the earlier flowering plants, as it gives them an early and rapid start in the spring. In variety, we need scarcely recommend what may 206 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. be most desirable. The crocus, and snowdrop are among (if not quite) the earliest in bloom ; and to these follow the hyacinth, and daffodil, the jonquil, and many-varied family of Narcissus, the low-headed hearts-ease, or pansy ; with them, too, comes the flow- ering-almond, the lilac, and another or two flowering shrubs. Then follow the tulips, in all their gorgeous and splendid variety of single, double, and fringed. To these follow the great peonies, in their full, dash- ing colors of crimson, white and pink, and the tree- like snow-ball, or guelder-rose. By the side of these hangs out the monthly-trumpet-honeysuckle, gracing the columns of your veranda, porch, or window, and the large Siberian honeysuckle, with its white and pink flowers ; and along with them, the various Iris family, or fleur-de-lis, reminding one of France and the Bour- bons, the Prussian lilac, and the early phloxes. Then blush out, in all their endless variety of shade and tint, from the purest white to the deepest purple, the whole vast family of roses ; and in stature, from the humblest twig that leans its frail stem upon the ground, up to the hardy climber, whose delicious clusters hang over your chamber window ; and a month of fragrance and beauty of these completes the succession of bulbs, and tubers, and perennial plants and shrubs scores of which have not been noticed. Now commence the annuals, which may carry you a month further into the season, when the flaunting dahlia of every hue, and budding from its plant of every size, from the height of little Tommy, who is jnst toddling out with his mother to watch the first RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 207 opening flower, up to the top of his father's hat, as he stands quite six feet, to hold the little fellow up to try to smell of another, which, like all the rest, has no sign of odor. Then come, after a long retinue of different things among which we always count the morning-glory, or convolvulus, running up the kitchen windows, the great sun-flower, which throws his broad disk high over the garden fence, always cheerful, and always glowing the brilliant tribe of asters, rich, varied, and beautiful, running far into the autum- nal frosts ; and, to close our floral season, the chrysan- themum, which, well cared-for, blooms out in the open air, and, carefully taken up and boxed, will stay with ns, in the house, till Christmas. Thus ends the bloom- ing year. Now, if you would enjoy a pleasure per- fectly pure, which has no alloy, save an occasional disappointment by casualty, and make home interest- ing beyond all other places, learn first to love, then to get, and next to cultivate flowers. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. FAKM COTTAGES. Altogether too little attention has been paid in our country to these most useful appendages to the farm, both in their construction and appearance. Nothing adds more to the feeling of comfort, convenience, and home expression in the farm, than the snug-built labor- ers' cottage upon it. The cottage also gives the farm an air of respectability and dignity. The laborer should, if not so sumptuously, be as comfortably housed and sheltered as his employer. This is quite as much to the interest of such employer as it is bene- ficial to the health and happiness of the laborer. Building is so cheap in America, that the difference in cost between a snugly-finished cottage, and a rickety, open tenement, is hardly to be taken into consideration, as compared with the higher health, and increased enjoyment of the laborer and his family ; while every considerate employer knows that cheerfulness and contentment of disposition, which are perhaps more promoted by good home accommodations for the work- ingman than by any other influence, are strong incen- tives to increased labor on his part, and more fidelity f i its application. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 209 A landed estate, of whatever extent, with its re- spectable farm house, in its own expressive style of construction, relieved and set off by its attendant cot- tages, either contiguous, or remote, and built in their proper character, leaves nothing wanting to fill the picture upon which one loves to gaze in the contem- plation of country life; and without these last in due keeping with the chief structures of the estate, a blank is left in its completeness and finish. The little embellishments which may be given, by way of archi- tectural arrangement, or the conveniences in accom- modation, are, in almost all cases, appreciated by those who occupy them, and have an influence upon their character and conduct ; while the trifling decorations which may be added in the way of shrubbery, trees, and flowering plants, costing little or nothing in their planting and keeping, give a charm to the humblest abode. The position of cottages on a farm should be con- trolled by considerations of convenience to the place of labor, and a proper economy in their construction ; and hardly a site can be inappropriate which ensures these requirements. In the plans which are submitted, due attention has been paid to the comfort of those who inhabit them, as well as to picturesque effect in the cottage itself. Decency, order, and respectability are thus given to the estate, and to those who inhabit the cottages upon it, as well as to those whose more fortunate position in life has given the enjoyment of a higher luxury in the occupancy of its chief mansion. 210 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. On all estates where the principal dwelling is located at any considerable distance from the public road, or where approached by a side road shut off from the highway by a gate, a small cottage, by way of lodge, or laborer's tenement, should be located at or near the entrance. Such appendage is not only ornamental in itself, but gives character to the place, and security to the enclosure ; in guarding it from improper intrusion, as well as to receive and conduct into the premises those who either reside upon, or have business within it. It is thus a sort of sentry-box, as well as a laborer's residence. Elevation. W.H.IO*|2. I 5 "8- 8 x8 6- B.R. 13.*. 12. H L. R. Plan. Page 211. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 213 DESIGN I. This cottage is 10 feet high, from the sill to the plates, and may be built of wood, with a slight frame composed of sills and plates only, and planked up and down (vertically) and battened ; or grooved and tongued, and matched close together; or it may be framed throughout with posts . and studs, and covered with rough boards, and over these clapboards, and lathed and plastered inside. The first mode would be the cheapest, although not so warm and durable as the other, yet quite comfortable when warmed by a stove. On the second plan of building, it will cost near or quite double the amount of the first, if neatly painted. A small brick chimney should rest upon the floor overhead, in the side of which, at least a foot above the chamber floor, should be inserted an earthen or iron thimble, to receive the stovepipe and guard against fire ; unless a flat stone, 14 to 16 inches square, and 2 to 4 inches thick, with a pipe-hole which is the better plan should rest on the floor immediately over the pipe. This stone should be, also, the founda- tion of the chimney, which should pass immediately up through the ridge of the roof, and, for effect, in the center, longitudinally, of the house. Such position 9* 214 KUEAL ARCHITECTTIRE. will not interfere with the location of the stove, which may be placed in any part of the room, the pipe reach- ing the chimney by one or more elbows. INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT. The main body of this cottage is 18x12 feet, with a lean-to, 8 feet wide, running its whole length in rear. This lean-to may be 8 or 9 inches lower, on the floor, than the main room, and divided into a passage, (lead- ing to an open wood-house in rear, 10x12 feet, with a shed roof, ) a large closet, and a bedroom, as may be required ; or, the passage end may be left open at the side, for a wood shelter, or other useful purpose. The roof, which is raftered, boarded, and shingled in the usual mode, is well spread over the gables, as well as over the front and rear say 18 inches. The porch in front will give additional convenience in summer, as a place to sit, or eat under, and its posts so fitted with grooves as to let in rough planks for winter en- closure in front and at one end, leaving the entrance only, at the least windy, or stormy side. The extra cost of such preparation, with the planks, which should be 1J or li inches thick, and jointed, would not exceed ten or fifteen dollars. This would make an admirable wood-house for the winter, and a perfect snuggery for a small family. While in its summer dress, with the porch opened the planks taken out and laid overhead, across the beams connecting the porch with the house it would present an object of quiet comfort and beauty. A hop vine or honeysuckle BUBAL ARCHITECTURE. 215 might be trained outside the posts, and give it all the shade required. In a stony country, where the adjoining enclosures are of stone, this cottage may be built of stone, also, at about double the cost of wood. This would save the expense of paint, or wash of any kind, besides the greater character of durability and substance it would add to the establishment. Trees, of course, should shelter it; and any little out-buildings that may be required should be nestled under a screen of vines and shrubbery near by. This being designed as the humblest and cheapest kind of cottage, where the family occupy only a single room, the cost would be small. On the plan first named, stained with a coarse wash, it could be built for $100. On the second plan, well-framed of sills, plates, posts, studs, &c. &c., covered with vertical boarding and battens, or clapboarded, and well painted in oil, it might cost $150 to $200. Stone, or brick, without paint, would add but little, if anything in cost over the last sum. The ceiling of the main floor is 8 feet high, and a low chamber or garret is afforded above it, into which a swing-step ladder ascends ; and when not in use, it may be hung to the ceiling over- head by a common hook and staples. 216 BTTRAL ARCHITECTURE. DESIGN II. This cottage is a grade beyond the one just described, both in appearance and accommodation. It is 20x16 feet on the ground, with a rear wing 26x8 feet in area. The main body is 10 feet high, to the roof, vertically boarded and battened. A snug, half-open (or it may be closed, as convenience may require,) porch shelters the front door, 5x4 feet in area. The cottage has a square or hipped roof, of a 30 pitch from a horizontal line, which spreads full two feet over the walls and bracketed beneath. The rear wing retreats two feet from the wall line of the main building, and has also a hipped roof of the same pitch as the main one, with eight-feet posts. The open end of the wing advances 6 feet toward the front of the main part for wood-house and storage. The construction of this is in the same style as Design I. The windows are plain, two-sashed, of six lights each, 8x12 glass in front, and 8x10 in the rear. INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT. The front door opens into a common living room, 16x12 feet, with two windows, in which is a stove- chimney running up from the main floor next the par- tition, or placed over it in the chamber, and running F i iij K icx s L R 12X16 B R XIO Fayes ^17 218. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 219 up tlirough the center of the roof. On one side of the living room is a bedroom, 10x8 feet, with two win- dows. Next to this bedroom is a large closet, 8x6 feet, with one window, and shelves, and tight cupboard within. These rooms are 9 feet high, and over them is a chamber, or garret, 20x16 feet, entered by a swing step ladder, as in Design No. I. This garret is lighted by a small dormer window in the rear roof, over the shed or lean-to. A bed may be located in this cham- ber, or it may serve as a storage and lumber-room. The wing contains a small kitchen, in case the living room be not occupied for that purpose, 10x8 feet, lighted by a side-window, and having a small chimney in the rear wall. It may contain, also, a small closet, 3 feet square. A door passes from this small kitchen into the wood-house, which is 16x8 feet, or with its advance L, 14 feet, in the extreme outer corner of which is a water-closet, 5x3 feet ; thus, altogether, giv- ing accommodation to a family of five or six persons. The construction of this cottage is shown as of wood. Other material, either brick or stone, may be used, as most convenient, at a not much increased cost. The expense of this building may be, say fifty per cent, higher than that of No. I, according to the finish, and may be sufficiently well done and painted complete for $300 ; which may be reduced or increased, according to the style of finish and the taste of the builder. A cellar may be made under this cottage, which can be reached by a trap-door from the living room, opening to a flight of steps below. 220 BUBAL AKCHITEOTUKE. DESIGN III. This cottage is still in advance of No. II, in style and arrangement, and may accommodate not only the farm laborer or gardener, but will serve for a small farmer himself, or a village mechanic. It is in the French style of roof, and allied to the Italian in its orackets, and gables, and half-terraced front. The body of the cottage is 22x20 feet, with twelve-feet posts ; the roof has a pitch of 50 from a horizontal line, in its straight dimensions, curving horizontally toward the eaves, which, together with the gables, pro- ject 3 feet over the walls. The terrace in front is 5 feet wide. On the rear is a wood-house, 18x16 feet in area, open at the house end, and in front, with a roof in same style as the main house, and posts, 8 feet high, standing on the ground, 2 feet below the surface of the cellar wall, which supports the main building. INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT. The front d^or opens, in the center of the front wall, into a hall, 12x8 feet, with a flight of stairs on one side, leading to the chamber above ; under the stairs, at the upper end, is a passage leading beneath them into the cellar. On one side of this hall is a bedroom W H 18X16 Plan. COTTAGE Pages 22122:3 RUEAL AKCHTTECTUKE. 223 8x10 feet, lighted by a window in front, and part of the hooded double window on the side. On the inner side, a door leads from the hall into the living room or kitchen, 18x12 feet. On one side of this is a bed- room, or pantry, as may be most desirable, 9x6 feet, from which leads a close closet, 3 feet square. This bedroom has a window on one side, next the hall. A door from the kitchen leads into a closet, 3 feet wide, which may contain a sink, and cupboard for kitchen wares. The living room is lighted by a part of the double hooded window on one side, and another on the rear. A door leads into the wood-house, which is 12x16 feet, in the extreme corner of which is the water-closet. 5x3 feet. The rooms in this cottage are 9 feet high. A chimney leads up from the floor of the living room, which may receive, in addition to its own fireplace, or stove, a pipe from the stove in the hall, if one is placed there. The chamber has two feet of perpendicular wall, and the sharp roof gives opportunity for two good lodging rooms, which may be partitioned off as con- venience may require, each lighted by a window in the gables, and a dormer one in the roof, for the pas- sage leading into them. The hall may serve as a pleasant sitting or dining- room, in pleasant weather, opening, as it does, on to the terrace, which is mostly sheltered by the over- hanging roof. The construction of this cottage may be of either stone, brick, or wood, and produce a fine effect. Al- though it has neither porch, nor veranda, the broad 224: BUBAL ABOHITEOTUBE. eaves and gables give it a well-sheltered appearance, and the hooded windows on the sides throw an air of protection over them, quite agreeable to the eye. The framing of this roof is no way different, in the rafters, from those made on straight lines, but the curve and projection is given by planks cut into proper shape, and spiked into the rafters, and apparently supported by the brackets below, which should be cut from two to three-inch plank, to give them a heavy and substan- tial appearance. The windows are in casement form, as shown in the design, but may be changed into the ordinary sash form, if preferred, which is, in this country, usually the better way. It will be observed, that we have in all cases adopted the usual square' sided form of glass for windows, as altogether more convenient and economical in building, simple in re- pairing, and, we think, quite as agreeable in appear- ance, as those out-of-the-way shapes frequently adopted to give a more picturesque effect. In a hilly, mountainous, and evergreen country, this style of cottage is peculiarly appropriate. It takes additional character from bold and picturesque scenery, with which it is in harmony. The pine, spruce, cedar, or hemlock, or the evergreen laurel, planted around or near it, will give it increased effect, while among deciduous trees and shrubs, an occasional Lombardy poplar, and larch, will harmonize with the boldness of its outline. Even where hill or mountain scenery is wanting, plantations such as have been named, would render it a pleasing style of cottage, and give agree- able effect to its bold, sharp roof and projecting eaves ETTEAL ARCHITECTURE. 225 In a snowy country, the plan of roof here presented is well adapted to the shedding of heavy snows, on which it can find no protracted lodgment. Where massive stone walls enclose the estate, this style of cottage will be in character, as comporting with that strong and solid air which the rustic appearance of stone alone can give. It may, too, receive the same amount of outer decoration, in its shrubbery and plan- tations, given to any other style of building of like accommodation, and with an equally agreeable effect. 226 KUKAL ARCHITECTURE DESIGN IV. This cottage is still in advance of the last, in its accommodation, and is suitable for the small farmer, or the more liberal cottager, who requires wider room, and ampler conveniences than are allowed by the hith- erto described structures. It is a first class dwelling, of its kind, and, in its details and finish, may be adapted to a variety of occupation, while it will afford a sufficient amount of expenditure to gratify a liberal outlay, to him who chooses to indulge his taste in a moderate extent of decoration and embellishment. The ground plan of this cottage is 30x22 feet, in light rural-Gothic style, one and a half stories high, the posts 14 feet in elevation. It has two chimneys, passing out through the roof on each side of the ridge, uniformly, each with the other. The roof has a pitch of 45 from a horizontal line, giving it a bold and rather dashing appearance, and deeply sheltering the walls. The side gables give variety to the roof, and light to the chambers, and add to the finish of its appearance ; while the sharp arched double window in the front gable adds character to the design. The deep veranda in front covers three-quarters of its surface in length, and in the symmetry of its roof, and airiness of its columns, with their light braces, Pluu. COT" KUBAL ARCHITECTURE. give it a style of completeness ; and if creeping vines or climbing shrubs be trained upon them, will produce an effect altogether rural and beautiful. Or, if a rustic style of finish be adopted, to render it cheaper in construction, the effect may still be im- posing, and in harmony with the purposes to which it is designed. In fact, this model will admit of a variety of choice in finish, from the plainest to a high degree of embellishment, as the ability or fancy of the builder may suggest. INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT. From the veranda in the center of the front, a door opens into a hall, 17 x7 feet, with a flight of stairs leading, in three different angles, to the chambers above. Opposite the front door is the passage into the living room, or parlor, !Yxl5 feet, lighted by three windows, two of which present an agreeable view of an adjacent stream and its opposite shores. At the line of partition from the hall, stands a chimney, with a fireplace, if desirable, or for a stove, to accommodate both this room and the hall with a like convenience ; and under the flight of stairs adjoining opens a china closet, with spacious shelves, for the safe-keeping of household comforts. From this room, a door leads into a bedroom, 10x13 feet, lighted by a window opening into the veranda, also accommodated by a stove, which leads into a chimney at its inner partition. Next to this bedroom is the kitchen, 12x13 feet, accommodated with a chimney, where may be inserted an open fire- place, or a stove, as required. In this is a flight of 230 KUEAL AJRCHITECTIIRE. back chamber and cellar stairs. This room is lighted by two windows one in the side, another in the rear. A door leads from its rear into a large, roomy pantry, 8 feet square, situated in the wing, and lighted by a window. Next to this is a passage, 3 feet in width, leading to the wood-house, (in which the pantry just named is included,) 16x12 feet, with nine-feet posts, and roof pitched like the house, in the extreme corner of which is a water-closet, 5x3 feet. Cornering upon the wood-house beyond, is a small building, 15x12 feet, with ten-feet posts, and a roof in same style as the others with convenience for a cow and a pig, with each a separate entrance. A flight of stairs leads to the hay-loft above the stables, in the gable of which is the hay-door ; and under the stairs is the granary ; and to these may be added, inside, a small accommo- dation for a choice stock of poultry. The chamber plan is the same as the lower floor, mainly, giving three good sleeping-rooms ; that over the kitchen, being a T)ack chamber, need not have a separate passage into the upper hall, but may have a door passage into the principal chamber. The door to the front bedroom leads direct from the upper hall. Thus, accommodation is given to quite a nu- merous family. Closets may be placed in each of these chambers, if wanted ; and the entire establish ment made a most snug and compact, as well as commodious arrangement. RURAL AEOHITECTUEE. 231 COTTAGE OUTSIDE DECOKATIOtf. Nothing so perfectly sets off a cottage, in external appearance, as the presence of plants and shrubbery Ifcound it. A large tree or two, by giving an air of protection, is always in place ; and creeping vines, and climbing shrubs about the windows and porch, are in true character ; while a few low-headed trees, of vari- ous kinds, together with some simple and hardy annual and other flowers to which should always be added, near by, a small, well-tended kitchen garden fill up the picture. In the choice of what varieties should compose these ornaments, one can hardly be at a loss. Flanking the cottage, and near the 3$itchen garden, should be the fruit trees. The elm, maples, oak, and hickory, in all their varieties, black-walnut, butternut the last all the better for its rich kernel are every one appro- priate for shade, as large trees. The hop, morning- glory, running beans all useful and ornamental as summer climbers ; the clematis, bitter-sweet, ivy, any of the climbing roses ; the lilac, syringa, snow-ball, and the standard roses ; while marigolds, asters, pinks, 282 KTTKAL ARCHITECTURE. the phloxes, peonies, and a few other cf the thousand- and-one simple and charming annuals, biennials, and perennials, with now and then a gorgeous sunflower, flaunting in its broad glory, will fill up the catalogue. Rare and costly plants are not required, and indeed, are hardly in place in the grounds of an ordinary cot- tage, unless occupied by the professional gardener. They denote expense, which the laboring cottager can- not afford ; and besides that, they detract from the simplicity of the life and purpose which not only the cottage itself, but everything around it, should express. There is an affectation of cottage building, with sorn^e- people who, with a seeming humilty, really aim ^ higher flights of style in living within them, than truth of either design or purpose will admit. But as such cases are more among villagers, and those temporarily retiring from the city for summer residence, the farm cottage has little to do with it. Still, such fancies are contagious, and we have occasionally seen the ambi- tious cottage, with its covert expression of humility, insinuating itself on to the farm, and for the farmer's own family occupation, too, which at once spoiled, to the eye, the substantial reality of the whole establish- ment. A farmer should discard all such things as ornamental cottages. They do not belong to the farm. If he live in a cottage himself, it should be a plain one; yet it may be very substantial and well finished something showing that he means either to be content in it, in -its character of plainness, or that he intends, at a future day, to build something better when this may serve for the habitation of one of his laborers. KURAL ARCHITECTURE. 233 The cottage should never occupy a principal, or prominent site on the farm It should take a subor- dinate position of ground. This adds to its expression as subordinate in rank, among the lesser farm build- ings. A cottage cannot, and should not aspire to be chief in either position or character. Such should be the farm house proper; although unpretending, still, in style, above the cottage ; and if the latter, in addi- tion, be required on the farm, it should so appear, both in construction and finish ; just what it is intended for a tenement for economical purposes. There is another kind of cottage, the dwellers in O ' which, these pages will probably never reach, that expresses, in its wild structure, and rude locality, the idea of Moore's pretty song " I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled Above the green elms, that a cottage was near." Yet, in some parts of our country, landlords may build Biich, for the accommodation of tenants, which they may make useful on the outskirts of their estates, and add indirectly to their own convenience and interest in so doing. This may be indulged in, poetically too for almost any thinking man has a spice of poetry in his composition vagabondism, a strict, economizing utili- tarian would call it. The name matters not. One may as well indulge his taste in this cheap sort of charitable expenditure, as another may indulge, in his dogs, and guns, his horses and equipages and the first is far the cheapest. They, at the west and south, understand this, whose recreations are occasionally 234: BUBAL AKCHITECTT7BE. with their hounds, in chase of the deer, and the fox, and in their pursuit spend weeks of the fall and winter months, in which they are accompanied, and assisted, as boon companions for the time, by the rude tenants of the cottages we have described : " A cheerful, simple, honest people." Another class of cottage may come within the farm enclosures, half poetical, and half economical, such as Milton describes : " Hard by a cottage chimney smokes, From betwixt two aged oaks ; " and occupied by a family pensioner and his infirm old wife we don't think all "poor old folks" ought to go to the alms-house, because they cannot work every day of the year of which all long-settled families of good estate have, now and then, one near to, or upon their premises. Thousands of kind and liberal hearts among our farming and planting brethren, whose im- Dulses are "Open as the day to melting charity," are familiar with the wants of those who are thus made their dependents; and in their accommodation, an eye may be kept to the producing of an agreeable effect in locating their habitations, and to rudely embellish, rather than to mar the domain on which they may be lodged. In short, cottage architecture, in its proper character, may be made as effective, in all the ornament which it should give to the farm, as that of any other structure ; ETJKAL ARCHITECTURE. 235 and if those who have occasion for the cottage will only be content to build and maintain it as it should be, and leave off that perpetual aspiration after some- thing unnatural, and foreign to its purpose, which so many cottage builders of the day attempt, and let it stand in its own humble, secluded character, they will save themselves a world of trouble, and pass for what they now do not men possessing a taste for truth and propriety in their endeavors. HOUSE AND COTTAGE FUKjSTITURE. This is a subject so thoroughly discussed in the books, of late, that anything which may here be said, would avail but little, inasmuch as our opinions might be looked upon as "old-fashioned," " out of date," and " of no account whatever," for wonderfully modern notions in room-furnishing have crept into the farm house, as well as into town houses. Indeed, we confess to altogether ancient opinions in regard to household furniture, and contend, that, with a few exceptions, " modern degeneracy " has reached the utmost stretch of absurdity, in house-furnishing, to which the ingenu- ity of man can arrive. Fashions in furniture change about as often as the cut of a lady's dress, or the shape of her bonnet, and pretty much from the same source, 10 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. too the fancy shops of Pare", once, in good old Eng- lish, Paris, the capital city of France. A farmer, rich or poor, may spend half his annual income, every year of his life, in taking down old, and putting up new furniture, and be kept uncomfortable all the time; when, if he will, after a quiet, good-tempered talk with his better-half, agree with her upon the list of necessary articles to make them really comfortable; and then a catalogue of what shall comprise the luxu- rious part of their furnishings, which, when provided, they will fixedly make up their mind to keep, and be content with, they will remain entirely free from one great source of " the ills which flesh is heir to." It is pleasant to see a young couple setting out in their housekeeping life, well provided with convenient and properly-selected furniture, appropriate to all the uses of the family ; and then to keep, and use it, and enjoy it, like contented, sensible people ; adding to it, now and then, as its wear, or the increasing wants of their family may require. Old, familiar things, to which we have long been accustomed, and habituated, make up a round share of our actual enjoyment. A family addicted to constant change in their household furniture, attached to nothing, content with nothing, and looking with anxiety to the next change of fashion which shall introduce something new into the house, can take no sort of comfort, let their circumstances be ever so affluent. It is a kind of dissipation in which some otherwise worthy people are prone to indulge, but altogether pernicious in the indulgence. It de- tracts, also, from the apparent respectability of a family KURAI ARCHITECTURE. 237 to find nothing old about them as if they themselves were of yesterday, and newly dusted out of a modern shop-keeper's stock in trade. The furniture of a house ought to look as though the family within it once had a grandfather and as if old things had some veneration from those who had long enjoyed their service. We are not about to dictate, of what fashion house- hold furniture should be, when selected, any further than that of a plain, substantial, and commodious fashion, and that it should comport, so far as those requirements in it will admit, with the approved modes of the day. But we are free to say, that in these times the extreme of absurdity, and unfitness for use, is more the fashion than anything else. What so useless as the modern French chairs, standing on legs like pipe- stems, garote-ing your back like a rheumatism, and frail as the legs of a spider beneath you, as you sit in it; and a tribe of equally worthless incumbrances, Avhich absorb your money in their cost, and detract from your comfort, instead of adding to it, when you have got them ; or a bedstead so high that you must have a ladder to climb into it, or so low as to scarcely keep you above the level of the floor, when lying on it. No; give us the substantial, the easy, the free, and enjoyable articles, and the rest may go to tickle the fancy of those, who have a taste for them. Nor do these flashy furnishings add to one's rank in society, or to the good opinion of those whose consideration is most valuable. Look into the houses of those people who are the really substantial, and worthy of the land. There will be found little of such frippery with them KUKAL ARCHITECTURE. Old furniture, well-preserved, useful in 6 very tiling, mark the well-ordered arrangement of their rooms, and give an air of quietude, of comfort, and of hospitality to their apartments. Children cling to such objects in after life, as heir-looms of affection and parental regard. Although we decline to give specific directions about what varieties of furniture should constitute the fur- nishings of a house, or to illustrate its style or fashion by drawings, and content ourself with the single re- mark, that it should, in all cases, be strong, plain, and durable no sham, nor ostentation about it and such as is made for use : mere trinkets stuck about the room, on center tables, in corners, or on the man- tel-piece, are the foolishest things imaginable. They are costly ; they require a world of care, to keep them in condition ; and then, with all this care, they are good for nothing, in any sensible use. We have fre- quently been into a country house, where we antici- pated better things, and, on being introduced into the "parlor," actually found everything in the furniture line so dainty and "prinked up," that we were afraid to sit down on the frail tilings stuck around by way of seats, for fear of breaking them ; and everything about it looked so gingerly and inhospitable, that we felt an absolute relief when we could fairly get out of it, and take a place by the wide old fireplace, in the common living room, comfortably ensconced in a good old easy, high-backed, split-bottomed chair there was positive comfort in that, when in the " parlor" there was noth- ing but restraint and discomfort. No ; leave all this vanity to town-folk, who have nothing better or KURAL AKOHITEOTUBE. who, at least, think they have to amuse themselves with; it has no fitness for a country dwelling, what- ever. All this kind of frippery smacks of the board- ing school, the pirouette, and the dancing master, and is out of character for the farm, or the sensible retire- ment of the country. In connection with the subject of furniture, a remark may be made on the room arrangement of the house, which might, perhaps, have been more fittingly made when discussing that subject, in the designs of our houses. Some people have a marvellous propensity for introducing into their houses a suite of rooms, con- nected by wide folding-doors, which must always be opened into each other, furnished just alike, and de- voted to extraordinary occasions ; thus absolutely sink- ing the best rooms in the house, for display half a dozen times in the year, and at the sacrifice of the every-day comfort of the family. This is nothing but a bastard taste, of the most worthless kind, introduced from the city the propriety of which, for city life, need not here be discussed. The presence of such arrangement, in a country house, is fatal to everything like domestic enjoyment, and always followed by great expense and inconvenience. No room, in any house, should be too good for occupation by the family them- selves not every-day, and common-place but occu- pation at any and all times, when convenience or plea- sure demand it. If a large room be required, let the single room itself be large ; not sacrifice an extra room to the occasional extension of the choicer one, as in the use of folding-doors must be done. This " parlor " 240 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. may be better furnished and so it should be than any other room in the house. Its carpet should be not too good to tread, or stand upon, or for the children to roll and tumble upon, provided their shoes and clothes be clean. Let the happy little fellows roll and tumble on it, to their heart's content, when their mother or elder sisters are with them for it may be, perhaps, the most joyous, and most innocent pleasure of their lives, poor things ! The hearth-rug should be in keep- ing with the carpet, also, and no floor-cloth should be necessary to cover it, for fear of soiling; but every- thing free and easy, with a comfortable, inviting, hospitable look about it. Go into the houses of our great men such as live in the country whom God made great, not money and see how they live. We speak not of statesmen and politicians alone, but great merchants, great schol- ars, great divines, great mechanics, and all men who, in mind and attainments, are head and shoulder above their class in any of the walks of life, and you find no starch, or flummery about them. We once went out to the country house he lived there all the time, for that matter of a distinguished banker of one of our great cities, to dine, and spend the day with him. He had a small farm attached to his dwelling, where he kept his horses and cows, uis pigs, and his poultry. He had a large, plain two-story cottage house, with a piazza running on three sides of it, from which a beautiful view of the neighboring city, and water, and land, was seen in nearly all directions. He was an educated man. His father had been a statesman of EUEAL ARCHITECTURE. 241 distinguished ability and station at home, and a diplo- matist abroad, and himself educated in the highest cir- cles of business, and of society. His wife, too, was the daughter of a distinguished city merchant, quite his equal in all the accomplishments of life. His own wealth was competent ; he was the manager of mil- lions of the wealth of others ; and his station in society was of the highest. Yet, with all this claim to pre- tension, his house did not cost him eight thousand dol- lars and he built it by "days-work," too, so as to have it faithfully done ; and the furniture in it, aside from library, paintings, and statuary, never cost him three thousand. Every room in it was a plain one, not more highly finished than many a farmer's house can afford. The furniture of every kind was plain, saving, perhaps, the old family plate, and such as he had added to it, which was all substantial, and made for use. The younger children and of these, younger and older, he had several we found happy, healthy, cheerful, and frolicking on the carpets ; and their wor- thy mother, in the plainest, yet altogether appropriate garb, was sitting among them, at her family sewing, and kindly welcomed us as we took our seats in front of the open, glowing fireplace. " Why, sir," we ex- claimed, rubbing our hands in the comfortable glow of warmth which the fire had given for it was a cold December day " you are quite plain, as well as won- derfully comfortable, in your country house 'quite different from your former city residence ! " " To .be sure we are," was the reply ; " we stood it as long as we could, amid the starch and the gimcracks of 242 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. street, where we rarely had a day to ourselves, and the children could never go into the streets but they must be tagged and tasselled, in their dress, into all sorts of discomfort, merely for the sake of appearance. So, after standing it as long as we could, my wife and I determined we would try the country, for a while, and see what we could make of it. We kept our town- house, into which we returned for a winter or two ; but gave it up for a permanent residence here, with which we are perfectly content. "We see here all the friends we want to see ; we all enjoy ourselves, and the chil- dren are healthy and happy." And this is but a speci- men of thousands of families in the enjoyment of country life, including the families of men in the highest station, and possessed of sufficient wealth. Why, then, should the farmer ape the fashion, and the frivolity of the butterflies of town life, or permit his family to do it? It is the sheerest possible folly in him to do so. Yet, it is a folly into which many are imperceptibly gliding, and which, if not reformed, will ultimately lead to great discomfort to themselves, and ruin to their families. Let thoughtless people do as they choose. Pay no attention to their extravagance ; but watch them for a dozen years, and see how they come out in their fashionable career ; and observe the fate of their families, as they get " established " in the like kind of life. He who keeps aloof from such temp- tation, will then have no cause to regret that he has maintained his own steady course of living, and taught his sons and daughters that a due attention to their own comfort, with economical habits in everything RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 243 relating to housekeeping, will be to their lasting benefit in future. But, we have said enough to convey the ideas in house-furnishing we would wish to impart; and the reader will do as he, or she, no doubt, would have done, had we not written a word about it go and select such as may strike their own fancy. We received, a day or two since, a letter from a person at the west, entirely unknown to us, whose ideas so entirely correspond with our own, that we give it a place, as showing that a proper taste does prevail among many people in this country, in regard to buildings, and house-furnishings ; and which we trust he will pardon us for publishing, as according entirely with our own views, in conclusion : -, ILL, Dec. 18, 1851. DEAR SIB, I received, a few days since, a copy of the first number of a periodical called the " Plough," into which is copied the elevation of a design for a farm house, purporting to be from a forthcoming work of yours, entitled " Rural Architecture." Although a perfect stranger to you, you will perhaps allow me to make one or two suggestions. I have seen no work yet, which seems fully to meet the wants of our country people in the matter of fur- niture. After having built their houses, they need showing how to furnish them in the cheapest, most neat, comfortable, convenient, and substantial manner. The furniture should be designed for use, not merely for show. I would have it plain, but not coarse just 10* 244 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. enough for the utmost convenience, but nothir g super- fluous. The articles of furniture figured, and partially described in the late works on those subjects, are mostly of too elaborate and expensive a cast to be gen- erally introduced into our country houses. There is too much ndbobery about them to meet the wants, or suit the taste of the plain American farmer. As to out-houses the barn, stable, carriage and wagon-house, tool-house, piggery, poultry-house, coii- crib, and granary, (to say nothing of the " rabbit-wai- ren" and "dovecote,") are necessary appendages of the farm house. !N"ow, as cheapness is one great de- sideratum with nearly all our new beginners in this western region, it seems to me, that such plans as will conveniently include the greatest number of these under the same roof, will be best suited to their neces- sities. I do not mean to be understood that, for the sake of the first cost, we should pay no regard to the appearance, :>r that we should slight our work, or suffer it to be constructed of flimsy or perishable materials : we should not only have an eye to taste and durability, but put in practice the most strict economy. I hope, in the above matters, you may be able to furnish something better suited to the necessities and means of our plain farmers, than has been done by any of your predecessors. I remain, &c., most respectfully yours, BTJRAL ARCHITECTUKE. 245 Having completed the series of Designs for dwelling houses, which we had proposed for this work, and fol- lowed them out with such remarks as were thought fitting to attend them, we now pass on to the second part of our subject : the out-buildings of the farm, in which are to be accommodated the domestic animals which make up a large item of its economy and man- agement; together with other buildings which are necessary to complete its requirements. We trust that they will be found to be such as the occasion, and the wants of the farmer may demand; and in economy, accommodation, and extent, be serviceable to those for whose benefit they are designed. 246 BUBAL ARCHITECTURE. AN APIAEY, OE BEE-HOUSE. Every farmer should keep bees provided he have pasturage for them, on his own land, or if a proper range for their food and stores lie in his immediate vicinity. Bees are, beyond any other domestic stock, economical in their keeping, to their owners. Still they require care, and that of no inconsiderable kind, and skill, in their management, not understood by every one who attempts to rear them. They ask no food, they require no assistance, in gathering their daily stores, beyond that of proper housing in the cheapest description of tenement, and with that they are entirely content. Yet, without these, they are a contingent, and sometimes a troublesome appendage to the domestic stock of the farm. "We call them domestic. In one sense they are so ; in another, they are as wild and untamed as when buz- zing and collecting their sweets in the vineyard of Timnath, where the mighty Sampson took their honey from the carcass of the dead lion ; or, as when John the Baptist, clothed with camel's hair, ate "locusts and wild honey" in the arid wastes of Palestine. Although kept in partial bondage for six thousand years, the ruling propensity of the bee is to seek a RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 247 home and shelter in the forest, when it emerges in a swarm from the parent hive ; and no amount of domes- tic accommodation, or kindness of treatment, will in- duce it willingly to migrate from its nursery habitation to another by its side, although provided with the choicest comforts to invite its entrance. It will soon fly to the woods, enter a hollow and dilapidated tree, and carve out for itself its future fortunes, amid a world of labor and apparent discomfort. The bee, too, barring its industry, patience, and sweetened labors, is an arrant thief robbing its nearest neighbors, with impunity, when the strongest, and mercilessly slaugh- tering its weaker brethren, when standing in the way of its rapacity. It has been extolled for its ingenuity, its patience, its industry, its perseverance, and its vir- tue. Patience, industry, and perseverance it has, beyond a~ doubt, and in a wonderful degree ; but in- genuity, and virtue, it has none, more than the spider, who spins his worthless web, or the wasp, who stings you when disturbing his labors. Instinct, the bee has, like all animals ; but of kind feeling, and gratitude, it has nothing; and with all our vivid nursery remem- brance of good Doctor Watts' charming little hymn "How doth the little busy bee," (fee. und along the bottom by a strip of hoop-iron, to ]>. event the pigs from eating it oft' a habit they are jrone to; then, firmly spiked down to the partition planks, and through the ends, to the adjoining studs, and the aftair is complete. With what experience we Lave had with the hog, and that by no means an agree- able one, we can devise no better method of accom- modation than this here described, and it certainly is the cheapest. But the timber and lumber used must bu sound and strong; and then, properly put together, it may defy their most destructive ingenuity. Of the separate uses to which the various apartments may be pat, nothing need be said, as the circumstances of every farmer will best govern them. One, to three hundred dollars, according to price of material and labor, will build this piggery, besides fit- ting it up with furnace and boilers. It may be con- tracted, or enlarged in size, as necessity may direct; but no one, with six to twenty porkers in his fatting pens, a year, will regret the expense of building a con- venient appurtenance of this kind to his establishment. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 285 A word may be pardoned, in relation to the too uni- versal practice of permitting swine to prowl along the highways, and in the yards and lawns of the farm house. There is nothing so slovenly, wasteful, and destructive to one's thrift, and so demoralizing, in a small way, as is this practice. What so revolting to one, of the least tidy nature whatever, as a villainous brute, with a litter of filthy pigs at her heels, and the slimy ooze of a mud-puddle reeking and dripping from their sides ? See the daubs of mud marking every fence-post, far and near, along the highway, or where- ever they run ! A burrow is rooted up at every shady point, a nuisance at every corner you turn, and their abominable snouts into everything that is filthy, or obscene a living curse to all that is decent about them. An Ishmaelite among the farm stock, they are shunned and hated by every living thing, when at large. But, put the creature in his pen, with a ring in his nose, if permitted to go into the adjoining yard, and comfortably fed, your pig, if of a civilized breed, is a quiet, inoffensive indeed, gentlemanly sort of animal ; and as such, he is entitled to our toleration regard, we cannot say ; for in all the pages of our read- ing, we learn, by no creditable history, of any virtuoua sympathies in a hog. 286 BUBAL AECHITECTT7BE. FAKM BARNS. The farm barn, next to the farm house, is the most important structure of the farm itself, in the Northern and Middle States ; and even at the south and south- west, where less used, they are of more importance in the economy of farm management than is generally supposed. Indeed, to our own eyes, a farm, or a plantation appears incomplete, without a good barn accommodation, as much as without good household appointments and without them, no agricultural es- tablishment can be complete in all its proper economy. The most thorough barn structures, perhaps, to be seen in the United States, are those of the state of Pennsylvania, built by the German farmers of the lower and central counties. They are large, and ex- pensive in their construction ; and, in a strictly econ- omical view, perhaps more costly than required. Yet, there is a substance and durability in them, that is exceedingly satisfactory, and, where the pecuniary ability of the farmer will permit, may well be an example for imitation. In the structure of the barn, and in its interior ac- commodation, much will depend upon the branches of RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 287 agriculture to which the farm is devoted. A farm cul- tivated in grain chiefly, requires but little room for stabling purposes. Storage for grain in the sheaf, and granaries, will require its room ; while a stock farm requires a barn with extensive hay storage, and stables for its cattle, horses, and sheep, in all climates not admitting such stock to live through the winter in the field, like the great grazing states west of the Allegha- nies. Again, there are wide districts of country where. a mixed husbandry of grain and stock is pursued, which require barns and out-buildings accommodating both ; and to supply the exigencies of each, we shall present such plans as may be appropriate, and that may, possibly, by a slight variation, be equally adapted to either, or all of their requirements. It may not be out of place here, to remark, that many designers of barns, sheds, and other out-build- ings for the accommodation of farm stock, have in- dulged in fanciful arrangements for the convenience and comfort of animals, which are so complicated that when constructed, as they sometimes are, the practical, common-sense farmer will not use them ; and, in the lea/rning required in their use, are altogether unfit for the use and treatment they usually get from those who have the daily care of the stock which they are in- tended for, and for the rough usage they receive from the animals themselves. A very pretty, and a very plausible arrangement of stabling, and feeding, and all the etceteras of a barn establishment, may be thus got up by an ingenious theorist at the fireside, which will work to a charm, as he dilates upon its good 288 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. qualities, untried ; but, when subjected to experiment will be utterly worthless for practical use. All this we, in our practice, have gone through ; and after many years experience, have come to the conclusion that the simplest plan of construction, consistent with an economical expenditure of the material of food for the consumption of stock, is by far the most preferable. Another item to be considered in this connection, is the comparative value of the stock, the forage fed to them, and the labor expended in feeding and taking care of them. We will illustrate : Suppose a farm to lie in the vicinity of a large town, or city. Its value is, perhaps, a hundred dollars an acre. The hay cut upon it is worth fifteen dollars a ton, at the barn, and straw, and coarse grains in proportion, and hired labor ten or twelve dollars a month. Consequently, the manager of this farm should use all the economy in his power, by the aid of cutting-boxes, and other machinery, to make the least amount of forage supply the wants of his stock ; and the internal economy of his barn arranged accordingly; because labor is his cheapest item, and food the dearest. Then, for any contrivance to work up his forage the closest by way of machinery, or manual labor by which it will serve the purposes of keeping his stock, is true economy; and the making, and saving of manures is an item of the first importance. His buildings, and their arrange- ments throughout, should, on these accounts, be con- structed in accordance with his practice. If, on the other hand, lands are cheap and productive, and labor comparatively dear, a different practice will prevail. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. He will feed his hay from the mow, without catting. The straw will be either stacked out, and the cattle turned to it, to pick what they like of it, and make their beds on the remainder ; or, if it is housed, he will throw it into racks, and the stock may eat what they choose. It is but one-third, or- one-half the labor to do this, that the other mode requires, and the saving in this makes up, and perhaps more than makes up fur the increased quantity of forage consumed. Again, climate may equally affect the mode of winter feeding the stock. The winters may be mild. The hay may be stacked in the fields, when gathered, or put into small barns built for hay storage alone ; and the ma- nure, scattered over the fields by the cattle, as they arc fed from either of them, may be knocked to pieces with the dung-beetle, in the spring, or harrowed ami bushed over the ground; and with the very small quantity of labor required in all this, such practice will be more economical than any other which can be adopted. It is, therefore, a subject of deliberate study with the farmer, in the construction of his out-build- ings, what plans he shall adopt in regard to them, and their fitting up and arrangement. With these considerations before us, we shall submit such plans of barn structures as may be adapted for gen- eral use, where shelters for the farm crops, and farm stock, are required ; and which may, in their interior arrangement, be fitted for almost any locality of our country, as the judgment and the wants of the builder may require. 290 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. DESIGN I. This is a design of barn partially on the Pennsyl- vania plan, with under-ground stables, and a stone- walled basement on three sides, with a line of posts standing open on the yard front, and a wall, pierced by doors and windows, retreating 12 feet under the building, giving, in front, a shelter for stock. Two sheds, by way of wings, are run out to any desired length, on each side. The body of this barn, which is built of wood, above the basement, is 60x46 feet; the posts 18 feet high, above the sills ; the roof is elevated at an angle of 40 from a horizontal line, and the gables hooded, or truncated, 14 feet wide at the verge, so as to cover the large doors at the ends. The main roof spreads 3 to 4 feet over the body of the barn, and runs from the side eaves in a straight line, different from what is shown in the engraving, which appears of a gambrel or hipped fashion. The sides are covered with boards laid vertically, and battened with narrow strips, 3. inches wide. The large doors in the ends are 14 feet wide, and 14 feet high. A slatted blind win- dow is in each gable, for ventilation, and a door, 9x6 feet, on the yard side. RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 293 INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT. A main floor, A, 12 feet wide, runs the whole length through the center of the barn. , 8, are the large doors. jT, H, are trap doors, to let hay or straw down to the alleys of the stables beneath. B, is the princi- pal bay for hay storage, 16 feet wide, and runs up to the roof. (7, is the bay, 26x16 feet, for the grain mow, MAIN FLOOR PLAN. if required for that purpose. j9, is a granary, 13x16 feet, and 8 feet high. E, a storage room for fanning mill, cutting-box, or other machinery, or implements, of same size and height as the granary. F, is a pas- sage, 8 feet wide, leading from the main floor to the yard door, through which to throw out litter. Over this passage, and the granary, and store-room, may be stored grain in the sheaf, or hay. The main floor will accommodate the thrashing-machine, horse-power, cut- ting box, &c., &c., when at work. A line of movable sleepers, or poles, may be laid across the floor, 10 feet above it, on a line of girts framed into the main posts, for that purpose, over which, when the sides of the 294 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. bam are fall, either hay or grain may be deposited, up to the ridge of the roof, and thus afford Isirge storage. And if the demands of the crops require it, after the sides and over the floor is thus filled, the floor itself may, a part of it, be used for packing away either hay or grain, by taking off the team after the load is in, and passing them out by a retreating process, on the side of the cart or wagon ; and the vehicle, when un- loaded, backed out by hand. We have occasionally adopted this method, when crowded for room for in- creased crops, to great advantage. It requires some- what more labor, to be sure, but it is much better than stacking out ; and a well-filled barn is a good sight to look upon. Underneath the body of the barn are the stables, root cellar, calf houses, or any other accommodation which the farm stock may require ; but, for the most economical objects, is here cut up into stables. At the ends, ?, Z, are passages for the stock to go into their stalls ; and also, on the sides, for the men who attend to them. The main passage through the center double line of stalls is 8 feet wide; and on each side are double stalls, 6 J feet wide. From the two end walls, the cattle passages are 5 feet wide, the partition be- tween the stalls running back in a slant, from 5 feet high at the mangers to the floor, at that distance from the walls. The mangers, j, j, are 2 feet wide, or may be 2i feet, by taking an additional six inches out of the rear passage. The passage is, between the man- gers, 3 feet wide, to receive the hay from the trap o matter, with even the most exalted intellects, and of men occupying the most honorable stations in the state, and in society ; and that they concern the retired gen- tleman, as well as the practical farmer, it is only neces- sary to refer to the many prominent examples in Great Britain, and our own country, within the last fifty years. The most distinguished noblemen of England, and Scotland, have long bred the finest of cattle, and em- bellished their home parks with them. The late Earl Spencer, one of the great patrons of agricultural im- provement in England, at his death owned a herd of two hundred of the highest bred short-horns, which he kept on his home farm, at Wiseton. The Dukes of Bedford, for the last century and a half, have made extraordinary exertions to improve their several breeds of cattle. The late Earl of Leicester, better known, perhaps, as Mr. Coke, of Holkham, and the most cele- brated farmer of his time, has been long identified with his large and select herds of Devons, and his flocks of Southdowns. The Duke of Richmond has his great park at Goodwood stocked with the finest Southdowns, Short-horns, and Devons. Prince Albert, even, has caught the infection of such liberal and use- ful example, and the royal park at Windsor is tenanted with the finest farm stock, of many kinds ; and he is a constant competitor at the great Smithfield cattle shows, annually held in London. Besides these, hun- dreds of the nobility, and wealthy country gentlemen of Great Britain, every year compete with the intelli- gent farmers, in their exhibitions of cattle, at the 354 BUBAL ABCHITECTUEE. royal and provincial shows, in England, Scotland, and Ireland. In the United States, Washington was a great pro- moter of improvement in farm stock, and introduced on to his broad estate, at Mount Yernon, many foreign animals, which he had sent out to him at great expense ; and it was his pride to show his numerous and distin- guished guests, his horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, was among the first pro- moters of the improvement of domestic animals in the fertile region, of which his own favorite Ashland is the center ; and to his continued efforts in the breeding of the finest short-horns, and mules, is the state of Ken- tucky greatly indebted for its reputation in these de- scriptions of stock. Daniel Webster has introduced on to his estate, at Marshfield, the finest cattle, and sheep suited to its soil and climate, and takes much pride in showing their good qualities. Indeed, we have never heard either of these two last remarkable men more eloquent, than when discoursing of their cattle, and of their pleasure in ranging over their pas- tures,, and examining their herds and flocks. They have both been importers of stock, and liberal in their dissemination among their agricultural friends and neighbors. Public-spirited, patriotic men, in almost every one of our states, have either imported from Europe, or drawn from a distance in their own conn try, choice animals, to stock their own estates, and bred them for the improvement of their several neigh- borhoods. Merchants, and generous men of other pro- fessions, have shown great liberality, and the finest RURAL ARCmTECTUKE. 355 taste, in importing, rearing, and distributing over the country the best breeds of horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. Their own beautiful home grounds are embel- lished with them, in a style that all the dumb stat- uary in existence can not equal in interest models of grace, and beauty, and utility, which are in vain sought among the sculpture, or paintings of ancient time. And many a plain and unpretending farmer of our country, emulating such laudable examples, now shows in his luxuriant pastures, and well-filled barns and stables, the choicest specimens of imported stock ; and their prizes, won at the cattle shows, are the laud- able pride of themselves, and their families. Nor is this laudable taste, confined to men alone. Females of the highest worth, and domestic example, both .abroad and at home, cultivate a love for such objects, and take much interest in the welfare of their farm stock. "We were at the annual state cattle show, in one of our large states, but a short time since, and in loitering about the cattle quarter of the grounds, met a lady of our acquaintance, with a party of her female friends, on a tour of inspection among the beau- tiful short-horns, and Devons, and the select varieties of sheep. She was the daughter of a distinguished statesman, who was also a large farmer, and a patron of great liberality, in the promotion of fine stock in his own state. She was bred upon the farm, and, to rare accomplishments in education, was possessed of a deep love for all rural objects ; and in the stock of the farm she took a peculiar interest. Her husband was an extensive fanner, and a noted breeder of fine animals. 856 RURAL AECJITTECTTJKE. She had her own farm, too, and cattle upon it, equally as choice as his, in her own right ; and they were both competitors at the annual exhibitions. Introduced to her friends, at her request, we accompanied them in their round of inspection. There were the beautiful cows, and the younger cattle, and the sheep all noticed, criticised, and remarked upon ; and with a judgment, too, in their various properties, which con- vinced us of her sound knowledge of their physiology, and good qualities, which she explained to her asso- ciates with all the familiarity that she would a tam- bouring frame, or a piece of embroidery. There was no squeamish fastidiousness ; no affectation of prudery, in this j but all natural as the pure flow of admiration in a well-bred lady could be. At her most comfort- able, and hospitable residence, afterward, she showed us, with pride, the several cups, and other articles of plate, which her family had won as prizes, at the agri- cultural exhibitions; and which she intended to pre- serve, as heir-looms to her children. This is not a solitary example ; yet, a too rare one, among our fair countrywomen. Such a spirit is contagious, and we witness with real satisfaction, their growing taste in such laudable sources of enjoyment : contrary to the parvenue affectation of a vast many otherwise sensible and accomplished females of our cities and towns comprising even the wives and daughters of farmers, too who can saunter among the not over select, and equivocal representations, among the paintings and statuary of our public galleries ; and descant with en- tire freedom, on the various attitudes, and artistical RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 357 merits of the works before them ; or gaze with appa- rent admiration upon the brazen pirouettes of a public danci.ig girl, amid all the equivoque of a crowded theater ; and yet, whose delicacy is shocked at the ex- hibitions of a cattle show ! Such females as we have noticed, can admire the living, moving beauty of ani- mal life, with the natural and easy grace of purity itself, and without the slightest suspicion of a stain of vulgarity. From the bottom of our heart, we trust that a reformation is at work among our American women, in the promotion of a taste, and not only a taste, but a genuine love of things connected with coun- try life. It was not so, with the mothers, and the wives, of the stern and earnest men, who laid the foundations of their country's freedom and greatness They were women of soul, character, and stamina; who grappled with the realities of life, in their labors ; and enjoyed its pleasures with truth and honesty. This over-nice, mincing delicacy, and sentimentality, in which their grand-daughters indulge, is but the off- throw of the boarding-school, the novelist, and the prude mere "leather and prunella." Such remarks may be thought to lie beyond the line of our immediate labor. But in the discussion of the collateral subjects which have a bearing upon country life and residence, we incline to make a clean breast of it, and drop such incidental remark as may tend to promote the enjoy- ment, as well as instruction, of those whose sphere of action, and whose choice in life is amid the pure atmos- phere, and the pure pleasures of the country. 358 BtTRAL ABCHITEOTtTBB WATEK-FOWLS. If a stream flow through the grounds, in the vicinity of the house ; or a pond, or a small lake be near, a few varieties of choice water-fowls may be kept, adding much to the interest and amusement of the family. Many of the English nobility, and gentry, keep swans for such purpose. They are esteemed a bird of much grace and beauty, although silent, and of shy, unsocial habits, and not prolific in the production of their young. For such purposes as they are kept in England, the great African goose, resembling the China, but nearly double in size, is a preferable substitute in this country. It is a more beautiful bird in its plumage ; equally graceful in the water ; social, and gentle in its habits ; breeding with facility, and agreeable in its voice, par- ticularly at a little distance. The African goose will attain a weight of twenty to twenty-five pounds. Its body is finely formed, heavily feathered, and its flesh is of delicate flavor. The top of the head, and the back of its neck, which is long, high, and beautifully arched, is a dark brown ; its bill black, with a high protuberance, or knob, at its junction with the head ; a RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 359 dark hazel eye, with a golden ring around it; the tinder part of the head and neck, a soft ash- color ; and a heavy dewlap at the throat. Its legs and feet are orange-colored ; and its belly white. Taken altogether, a noble and majestic bird. CHINA GOOSE. The small brown China goose is another variety which may be introduced. She is nearly the color of the African, but darker ; has the same black bill, and high protuberance on it, but without the dewlap under the throat ; and has black legs and feet. She is only half the size of the other ; is a more prolific layer, frequently laying three or four clutches of eggs in a year ; has the same character of voice ; an equally high, arched neck, and is quite as graceful in the water. The neck of the goose in the cut should be one-third longer, to be an accurate likeness. 360 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. The White China is another variety, in size and shape like the last, but perfectly white, with an orange col- ored bill and legs. Indeed, no swan can be more beautiful than this, which is of the same pure, clean plumage, and, in its habits and docility, equally a favorite with the others we have described. The Bremen goose is still another variety, of about the same size as the African, but in shape and appear- ance, not unlike the common goose, except in color, which is pure white. Young geese of this breed, at nine months old, frequently weigh twenty pounds, alive. We have had them of that weight, and for the table, none can be finer. They are equally prolific as the common goose, but, as a thing of ornament, are far behind the African and the China. Still, they are a stately bird, and an acquisition to any grounds where water-fowls are a subject of interest, convenience, or profit. All these birds are more domestic, if possible, than the common goose, and we have found them less troublesome, not inclined to wander abroad, and, in all the qualities of such a bird, far more agreeable. We have long kept them, and without their presence, should consider our grounds as incomplete, in one ot the most attractive features of animated life. It is too much a fault of our farming population, that they do not pay sufficient attention to many little things which would render their homes more interesting, both to themselves, if they would only think so, and to their families, most certainly. If parents have no taste for such objects as we have recommended, or even RUKAL ARCHITECTURE. 3C1 others more common, they should encourage their chil dren in the love of them, and furnish them for their amusement. The very soul of a farmer's home is to cluster every thing about it which shall make it attract- ive, and speak out the character of the country, and of his occupation, in its full extent. Herds and flocks upon the farm are a matter of course ; and so are the horses, and the pigs. But there are other things, quite as in- dicative of household abundance, and domestic enjoy- ment. The pigeons, and the poultry of all kinds, and perhaps the rabbit warren, which are chiefly in charge of the good housewife, and her daughters, and the younger boys, show out the domestic feeling and be- nevolence of character in the family, not to be mis- taken. It is a sign of enjoyment, of domestic content- ment, and of mental cultivation, even, that will lead to something higher, and more valuable in after life ; and it is in such light that it becomes an absolute duty of the farmer who seeks the improvement and education of his children, to provide them with all these little objects, to engage their leisure hours and promote their- happiness. How different a h^me like this from one which is, really, not a home where no attention ig paid to such minor attractions ; where a few starve- ling things, by way of geese, perhaps, picked half a dozen times a year, to within an inch of their Ifves, mope about the dirty premises, making their nightly sittings in the door yard, if the house has one ; a stray turkey, or two, running, from fear of the untutored dogs, into the nearest wood, in the spring, to make their rude nests, and bring out half a clutch of y oung, 362 BUBAL ARCHITECTURE. and creeping about the fields through the summer with a chicken or two, which the foxes, or other vermin, have spared, and -then dogged down in the winter, to provide a half got-up Christmas-dinner ; and the hens about the open buildings all the year, committing their nuisances in every possible way ! There need be no surer indication than this, of the utter hopelessness of progress for good, in such a family. A WOED ABOUT DOGS. "We always loved a dog; and it almost broke our little heart, when but a trudging schoolboy, in our first jacket-and-trowsers, our kind mother made us take back the young puppy that had hardly got its eyes open, which we one day brought home, to be kept until it was fit to be taken from its natural nurse. "We are now among the boys, John, Tom, and Harry ; and in- tend to give them the benefit of our own experience in this^line, as well as to say a few words to the elder brothers, and fathers, even, if they do not turn up their noses in contempt of our instruction, on a subject so much beneath their notice. "We say that we love dogs : not all dogs, however. But we love some clogs of the right breeds. There BUBAL ARCHITECTURE. 363 is probably no other civilized country so 'dog-ridden as this, both in " Mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound, And curs of low degree." Goldsmith, kind man that he was, must have been a capital judge of dogs, like many other poetical gentle- men. Still, other men than poets are sometimes good judges, and great lovers of dogs ; but the mass of peo- ple are quite as well satisfied with one kind of dog as with another, so that it be a dog ; and they too often indulge in their companionship, much to the annoy- ance of good neighborhood, good morals, and, indeed, of propriety, thrift, and common justice. Of all these we have nothing to say here, at least. Ours is a "free country" for dogs, if for nothing else. Nor shall we discuss the various qualities, or the different breeds of dogs for sporting purposes. We never go out shooting ; nor do we take a hunt having no taste that way. Perhaps in this we are to be pitied ; but we are content as it is. Therefore we shall let the hounds, and pointers, and setters, the springers, and the land and the water spaniels, all alone. The mas- tiffs, and the bull dogs, too, we shall leave to those who like them. The poodle, and the little lap-dog of other kinds, also, we shall turn over to the kindness of those who we are sorry for them, in having nothing better to interest themselves about take a pleasure in keep- ing and tending them. We want to mix in a little usefulness, as well as amusement, in the way of a dog ; and after a whole life, thus far, of dog companionship, and the trial of RUKAL ARCHITECTURE. pretty much fevery tiling in the line of a dog frcin the great Newfoundland, of a hundred pounds weight, down to the squeaking little whiffet, of six we have, for many years past, settled down into the practical belief that the small ratting terrier is the only one, except the shepherd dog, we care to keep ; and of these, chiefly, we shall speak. There are many varieties of the Terrier. Some are large, weighing forty or fifty pounds, rough-haired, and savage looking. There is the bull-terrier, of less size, not a kindly, well-disposed creature to strangers ; but irrascibly inclined, and unamiable in his deportment ; still useful as a watch-dog, and a determined enemy to all vermin, whatever. Then, again, are the small rat- terriers, as they are termed, weighing from a dozen to twenty pounds ; some with rough, long, wiry hair ; a fierce, whiskered muzzle ; of prodigious strength for their size ; wonderful instinct and sagacity ; kind in temper; and possessing valuable qualities, bating a lack of beauty in appearance. . They are of all colors, but are generally uniform in their color, whatever it be. Another kind, still, is the smooth terrier, of the same sizes as the last ; a very pretty dog indeed ; with a kinder disposition to mankind ; yet equally destruct- ive to vermin, and watchful to the premises which they inhabit, or of whatever else is put under their charge. The fidelity of the terrier to his master is wonderful ; equal, if not superior to any other dog whatever. In courage and perseverance, in hardihood, and feats of daring, he has hardly an equal ; and in general useful ness, no dog can compare with him. BUBAL ABCHITECTURE. 366 THE SMOOTH TERRIER Sir "Walter Scott, who was a great friend to dogs, as well as a nice and critical judge of their qualities, used to tell this story : When a young man, first attend- ing, as an advocate, the Jedburgh assizes, a notorious burglar engaged Sir "Walter to defend him on his trial for housebreaking in the neighborhood. The case was a hard one ; the proof direct and conclusive ; and no ingenuity of the defence could avoid the conviction ot the culprit. The matter was settled beyond redemp- tion ; and before he left for his imprisonment, or trans- portation, the thief requested Sir "Walter to come into his cell. On meeting, the fellow frankly told his coun- sel that he felt very grateful to him for his efforts to clear him ; that he had done the best he could ; but the proof was too palpable against him. He would gladly reward Sir "Walter for his services ; but he had 866 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. no money, and could only give him a piece of advice, which might, perhaps, be serviceable hereafter. Sir "Walter heard him, no doubt, with some regret at losing his fee ; but concluding to hear what he had to say. " You are a housekeeper, Mr. Scott. For security to your doors, use nothing but a common lock if rusty and old, no matter ; they are quite as hard to pick as any others. (Neither Chubbs' nor Hobbs' non-pickdble locks were then invented.) Then provide yourself with a small rat terrier, and keep him in your house at night. There is no safety in a mastiff, or bull-dog, or in a large dog of any breed. They can always be appeased and quieted, and burglars understand them ; but a ter- rier can neither be terrified nor silenced ; nor do we attempt to break in where one is known to be kept." Sir "Walter heeded the advice, and, in his housekeeping experience, afterward, confirmed the good qualities of the terrier, as related to him by the burglar. He also commemorated the conversation by the following not exceedingly poetical couplet : " A terrier dog and a rusty key, Was Walter Scott's first Jedburgh fee." The terrier has a perfect, thorough, unappeasable instinct for, and hatred to all kinds of vermin. He takqs to rats and mice as naturally as a cat. He will scent out their haunts and burrows. He will lie for hours by their places of passage, and point them with the sagacity of a pointer at a bird. He is as quick as lightning, in pouncing upon them, when in sig'ut, and rarely misses them when he springs. A single bite EUEAL ARCHITECTURE. 3C7 settles the matter; and where there are several rats found together, a dog will frequently dispatch half a dozen of them, before they can get twenty feet from him. A dog of our own has killed that number, before they could get across the stable floor. In the grain field, with the harvesters, a terrier will catch hundreds of field-mice in a day ; or, in the hay field, he is equally destructive. With a woodchuck, a raccoon, or anything of their size even a skunk, which many dogs avoid he engages, with the same readiness that he will a rat. The night is no bar to his vigils. He has the sight of an owl, in the dark. Minks, and weasels, are his aversion, as much as other vermin. He will follow the first into the water, till he exhausts him with diving, and overtakes him in swimming. He is a hunter, too. He will tree a sqirrel, or a rac- coon, as readily as the best of sporting dogs. He will catch, and hold a pig, or anything not too large or heavy for him. He will lie down on your garment, and watch it for hours ; or by anything else left in his charge. He will play with the children, and share their sports as joyfully as a dumb creature can do ; and nothing can be more affectionate, kind, and gen- tle among them. He is cleanly, honest, and seldom addicted to tricks of any kind. We prefer the high-bred, smooth, English terrier, to any other variety. They are rather more gentle in temper, and very much handsomer in appearance, than the rough-haired kind ; but perlmps no better in their useful qualities. We have kept them for years; we t^m now and no reasonable inducement would RURAL ARCHITECTURE. let us part with them. A year or two ago, having accidentally lost our farm terrier, and nothing remain- ing on the place but our shepherd dog, the buildings soon swarmed with rats. They were in, and about everything. During the winter, the men who tended the horses, and cattle, at their nightly rounds of inspec- tion, before going to bed, would kill, with their clubs, three or four, in the barns and stables, every evening. But still the rats increased, and they became unen- durable. They got into the grain-mows, where they burrowed, and brought forth with a fecundity second only to the frogs of Egypt. They gnawed into the granaries. They dug into the dairy. They entered the meat barrels. They carried off the eggs from the hen-nests. They stole away, and devoured, the young ducks, and chickens. They literally came into the "kneading troughs" of the kitchen. Oh! the rats were intolerable ! Traps were no use. Arsenic was innocuous they would n't touch it. Opportunity favored us, and we got two high-bred, smooth, English terriers a dog, and a slut. Then commenced such a slaughter as we seldom see. The rats had got bold. The dogs caught them daily by dozens, as they came out from their haunts, fearless of evil, as before. As they grew more shy, their holes were watched, and every morning dead rats were found about the prem- ises. The dogs, during the day, pointed out their holes. Planks were removed, nests were found, and the rats, young and old, killed, instanter. Hundreds on hundreds were slaughtered, in the first few weeks ; and in a short time, the place was mostly rid of them, BUBAL ARCHITECTURE. 3G9 until enough only are left to keep the dogs "in play," and to show that in spite of all precaution, they will harbor wherever there is a thing to eat, and a possible place of covert for them to burrow. To have the terrier in full perfection, it is important that the breed be pure. TVe are so prone to mix up everything we get, in this country, that it is sometimes difficult to get anything exactly as it should be ; but a little care will provide us, in this particular. He should be properly trained, too, when young. That is, to mind what is said to him. His intelligence will be equal to all your wants in the dog-line ; but he should not be fooled with. His instincts are sure. And, with a good education, the terrier will prove all you need in a farm, and a watch-dog. We speak from long experience, and observation. The shepherd dog is another useful almost indis- pensable creature, on the sheep, or dairy farm. This cut is an accurate representation of the finest of the breed. To the flock-master, he saves a world of labor, in driving and gathering the flocks together, or from one field, or place, to another. To the sheep- drover, also, he is worth a man, at least ; and in many cases, can do with a flock what a man can not do. But for this labor, he requires training, and a strict, thor- ough education, by those who know how to do it. He is a peaceable, quiet creature ; good for little else than driving, and on a stock farm will save fifty times his cost and keeping, every year. He is a reasonably good watch-dog, also ; but he has neither the instinct, nor sagacity of the terrier, in that duty. To keep him 370 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. THE SHEPHERD DGtt. in his best estate, for his own peculiar work, he should not be troubled with other labors, as it distracts his attention from his peculiar duties. "We had a remark- ably good dog, of this kind, a few years since. He was worth the services of a stout boy, in bringing up the cattle, and sheep, until an idle boy or two, in the neighborhood, decoyed him out in " cooning, " a few nights during one autumn in which he proved a most capital hunter ; and after that, he became worth- less, as a cattle dog. He was always rummaging around among the trees, barking at birds, squirrels, or any live thing that he could find ; and no man could coax EURAL ARCHITECTURE. 371 him back to the dull routine of his duty. A shepherd dog should never go a-hunting. We would not be understood as condemning every- thing else, excepting the dogs we have named, for farm use. The Newfoundland, and the mastiff, are enor- mously large dogs, and possessed of some noble quali- ties. They have performed feats of sagacity and fidel- ity which have attracted universal admiration; but, three to one, if you have them on your farm, they will kill every sheep upon it ; and their watchfulness is no greater than that of the shepherd dog, or the terrier. We have spoken of such as we have entire confidence in, and such as we consider the best for useful service. There are some kinds of cur dog that are useful. They are of no breed at all, to be sure ; but have, now and then, good qualities ; and when nothing better can be got, they will do for a make-shift. But as a rule, we would be equally particular in the breed of our dog, as we would in the breed of our cattle, or sheep. There are altogether too many dogs kept, in the coun- try, and most usually by a class of people who have no need of them, and which prove only a nuisance to the neighborhood, and a destruction to the goods of others. Thousands of useful sheep are annually de- stroyed by them ; and in some regions of the country, they can not be kept, by reason of their destruction by worthless dogs, which are owned by the disorderly people about them. In a western state, some time ago, in conversing with a large farmer, who had a flock of perhaps a hundred sheep running in one of his pastures, and who also kept a dozen hounds, for 372 RUKAL AliCIIITEOTUBK. hunting, we asked him whether the dogs did not kill his sheep ? " To be sure they do." was his reply , "but the dogs are worth more than the sheep, for they give us great sport in hunting deer, and foxes ; and tbe sheep only give us a little mutton, now and then, and some wool for the women to make into stockings !" This is a mere matter of taste, thought we, and the conversation on that subject dropped. Yet, this man had a thousand acres of the richest land in the world ; raised three or four hundred acres of corn, a year ; fed off a hundred head of cattle, annually ; and sold three hundred hogs every year, for slaughtering ! FISH-PONDS. Wherever water in sufficient, quantity can be intro- duced by a side-cut from a stream, by damming the stream itself or by drawing it from a large spring, and the face of the ground in the vicinity of the house can afford a suitable place, either by inclosing a natural hollow or ravine by a dam, or by excavation, a fish- pond is well worthy the attention of a country resident, even if he be but a small farmer. As an ornamental feature of the place, it is of the most agreeable charac- ter ; its utility will be unquestioned. The size of the pond is immaterial, beyond half an acre in area less it jhould not be and if it embrace even twenty, thirty, or fifty acres, provided the proprietor can afford to de- RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 373 vote so much land to that object, it will be all the bet- ter for the fish, both in numbers and in quality. The depth of water may vary no matter how deep but the deepest part should not be less than ten feet, that there may be a cool retreat for the fish in summer, and a warm resting-place in winter ; and if a depth to that extent can be made close to the margin on a part of the boundary, it will be all the better, as the fish may then enjoy the overhanging shade of the bank. The shore should be undulating if possible ; irregular in its outline, and a part of it shaded by trees and shrubbery, as fish love shade as well as sunshine. A part of the shore should be shallow, and shelve off gradually into the deep water, and if partially grown up with rushes, or lying on a smooth, clean sand or gravel, it will accommodate the different varieties of fish to bed and spawn upon ; some preferring the shady and muddy bottom of the rush beds, and others the pebbly, clear and sunny floor of the pond for that object. The temperature of the water will vary, according to its depth and" proximity to the shore, from ten to twenty degrees at any given time, thus affording accommodation to different varieties of the fish which may inhabit it in the various conditions of breeding, growth, and feeding, as they are enabled to treat themselves in their natural haunts in wild waters. According to the clearness, temperature, and purity of the water, will depend the selection of the kinds of fish which are to inhabit it. If the soil forming the bed of the pond be light, and clean, and stony, and the water be let in from a spring, or a spring brook of a low temperature, the Speckled Trout, and the cold- water fishes which are found in the same natural waters with them, may be introduced. Yet for trout, the 374 EUKAL ARCHITECTURE. water should have some current. They are a playful and active fish, and nothing delights them more than the bubbling water of a spring, or the rapid shooting of a stream over a rugged bed. Still in cool and clear water, a pond will satisfy them if the circulation be such as to avoid stagnation. The trout, too, love a deep hole, under a shaded bank, by the side of a projecting rock, or beneath the roots of a huge tree. There the larger ones love to gather, and from such haunts are the finest specimens to be drawn with the hook. They love to spawn in clear eddies, in sunny spots, over a stony or sandy bed, where their young fry can feed upon the animalculi and insects which play about the margin. The Yellow Perch, a beautiful and delicious fish, may also be introduced into clear and cool water. It is quick and active in its movements, bites readily at the hook, and is exceedingly prolific. In the spring and summer season it loves to lie among rushes on the margin of a gently-flowing stream or a still pond, when it spawns and breeds. The perch will thrive in water too warm and sluggish for the trout, but like the trout, it loves to retreat and hide itself under a bank in the deep shadow during the day. If the pond be sufficiently extensive, the Bass, in its varieties may be introduced ; but as they are a much larger fish than the trout or the perch, they require a greater depth of water and a wider range for their food. The bass is an excellent table fish, and prolific in the propagation of its kind. The Pike might also be added, in clear and cool waters. But it is a voracious, heartless wretch prey- ing upon every other fish of lesser size within its reach, and by its rapid movements enabled to dart and seize upon everything inhabiting the same waters from which RTTRAL ARCHITECTURE. 375 ft cannot escape. A single pike or two, introduced into a close pond, has been known within a few months to entirely depopulate it of all other sizeable fish. Al- though, in its natural haunts, a fish of excellent quality of flesh, they should hardly be introduced into the do- mestic pond. The Yellow Carp (the gold fish) is a beautiful crea- ture to throw into the pond. They are not a fish of prey upon its fellows, but live chiefly on insects and worms. They may be domesticated like the perch, and fed from the hand, and called by a bell to their ac- customed feeding places in the pond. When turned out at large, their progeny will change into silver and brown varieties of color, while some of them will re- tain the deep orange of the originals. On the whole they are a beautiful and interesting fish, and should always be introduced into the pond. In dark waters, resting on an oozy or muddy bot- tom, the European Carp is a capital and appropriate fish for propagation. It feeds like the yellow carp, chiefly on water-worms, and has a " sucker" mouth, and grows to the weight of five, to ten or twelve pounds. The Mullet is also a good fish and of equal size to the carp, and when the waters are cold, of the finest flavor for the table. In warm weather, its flesh is apt to become soft and flavorless. The mullet also takes its food by suction. It is a fish of exceeding beauty, having large scales of most brilliant varying shades of silver, purple and yellow, which give it an uncommon richness in appearance. These " sucker-mouthed" fish do not take the hook like the trout, the perch, or the bass, but may be caught by the net, or spear, as they lie in the shallow water near the shore, either in the day-time, or by torch-light at night. 376 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. The Silver Eel may also be put into the muddy bot- tom pond, but when confined, they make sad havoc with the other fish, as well as with young ducks or goslings, if they are permitted to swim in it. Although a migratory fish, they will remain in confined waters ; but they have too many disagreeable qualities in their social relations to be the companions of the better fish that we have named. In all waters where edible fish are kept, smaller varieties should be introduced, as the Chub, the Sun Fish or Roach, the Dace, the Shiner, the Smelt, and the Minnow ; they are prolific in breeding, and furnish abundant food for the Bass, the Trout, and the Perch, which fatten upon them. The larger of these yield the finest of sport to the children, with their pin hooks and thread lines if they have no better. They are a nice pan fish also, bating the multitude of their little bones ; but fried to a crisp, they are seldom in the way. In stocking a new pond, a sufficient variety of both the smaller and the larger kinds should be introduced, so that a fair trial may be had with each, and such as the waters best suit will ultimately become the chief tenants of the domain ; but if Pike and Eels be intro- duced, let them by all means be put in together, and alone, to feed upon the frogs and lizards, or each other as chance and might may govern. As a rule however, the small fry should have possession of the waters for at least one year in advance, that they may multiply to a sufficient extent to supply partial food to the larger ones ; and as they spawn, and keep in the shallowest waters, they will thus propagate in sufficient abundance to prevent a future scarcity when their more voracious fellow-lodgers are introduced. In ponds of sufficient extent, fish may be kept and KTTEA.L ARCHITECTURE. 377 propagated to profit, aside from supplying the family with so great a luxury in food as fresh fish are usually esteemed. They may be fed with the offal meats of the slaughter-house or the farm, or with balls of flour or meal, boiled or baked. They may be called to a particular point of the pond to feed at regular hours, if they become accustomed to it. Such extra feeding will give them an earlier and increased growth, and having less need to prey upon the smaller fish, the stock of course will be largely increased. The feeding and care of fish will also be a source of pleasure and amusement to the members of the family ; and while away many an hour of leisure or idleness that might otherwise tempt away the younger ones to resorts of dissipation or vice. In short, aside from its useful objects, we would have the fish-pond, as we would the dove-cote or the rabbitry, to give pleasure and variety to the farm, and to cluster around it all the endearments with which life in the country should be surrounded. To give the fish-pond its most ornamental features as an object of interest or beauty, it should be partially clothed with trees and shrubs. In trees .we would se- lect the soft or water maples, the willows, the water, or black ash, the birch, and the lowland poplar. In the way of shrubbery, the black alder, the wild rose, and the osier willow, make a beautiful fringe to a water margin. A certain expression of wildness should be given to the pond, where it is of any size, and if it have some hidden nooks and recesses difficult to ap- proach from the shore, it will be all the better. Fish love seclusion. Indeed, a pond haunted on every side by the foot of man, or the tread of animals, is but ac indifferent spot for their welfare, and the more it can 378 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. resemble, in outward appearance and keeping, the wild water of the river, the lake, or the natural pond, the more congenial will it be to the tastes and habits of the fish, and of course more profitable to the proprietor. It is scarcely necessary to add that the pond should have an outlet of sufficient capacity to let off its sur- plus water, and be thoroughly secured against accident in bursting away, as an occurrence of this kind might in a few hours, destroy the labor and solicitude of years. 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