Rural Architecture

L >> Lewis Falley Allen >> Rural Architecture

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The bee-house should be thoroughly whitewashed _inside_ every spring,
and kept clean of cobwebs, wasp's nests, and vermin; and it may be
painted outside, a soft and agreeable color, in keeping with the other
buildings of the farm. Its premises should be clean, and sweet. The
grass around should be kept mowed close. Low trees, or shrubbery, should
stand within a few yards of it, that the new swarms may light upon them
when coming out, and not, for want of such settling places, be liable to
loss from flying away. It should, also, be within sight and hearing, and
at no great distance from a continually-frequented room in the
dwelling--perhaps the kitchen, if convenient, that, in their swarming
season, they may be secured as they leave the parent hive. The apiary is
a beautiful object, with its busy tenantry; and to the invalid, or one
who loves to look upon God's tiny creatures, it may while away many an
agreeable hour, in watching their labors--thus adding pleasure to
profit.

The cost of a bee-house, on the plan given, may be from ten to fifty
dollars, according to the price of material, and the amount of labor
expended upon it. It should not be an expensive structure, in any event,
as its purpose does not warrant it. If a gimcrack affair be wanted, for
the purposes of ornament, or expense, any sum of money may be squandered
upon it which the fancy of its builder may choose to spare.

AN ICE-HOUSE.

Among the useful and convenient appendages to the farm and country
family establishment, is the ice-house. Different from the general
opinion which prevailed in our country before ice became so important an
article of commerce, and of home consumption, the building which
contains it should stand above-ground, instead of below it. And the
plainer and more simple it can be constructed, the better.

The position of the ice-house may be that which is most convenient to
the dwelling, or to the wants of those who use it. If it can be placed
beneath the shade of trees, it will so far be relieved from the
influence of the sun; but it should be so constructed that sunshine will
not affect the ice within it, even if it stand unsheltered; and as it
has, by the ice-merchants of our eastern cities, who put up large
quantities for exportation abroad, and others in the interior, who
furnish ice in quantity for home consumption, been proved to be
altogether the better plan to build the ice-house entirely above ground,
we shall present no other mode of construction than this. It may be
added, that five years' experience with one of our own building, has
confirmed our opinion of the superiority of this over any other plan
which may be adopted.

The design here presented is of the most economical kind, yet
sufficiently ornamental to make it an agreeable appendage to any family
establishment. The size may be 12 feet square--less than that would be
too small for keeping ice well--and from that up to any required extent.
The idea here given is simply the _principle_ of construction. The posts
should be full eight feet high above the ground, to where the plate of
the roof is attached, and built thus:

[Illustration: ICE-HOUSE.]

Mark out your ground the size you require for the house; then,
commencing at one corner, dig, opposite each other, a double set of
holes, one foot deep, and two and a half feet apart, on each side of the
intended building, say three feet equidistant, so that when the posts
stand up they will present a double set, one and a half feet apart. Then
set in your posts, which should be of oak, chestnut, or some lasting
wood, and pack the earth firmly around them. If the posts are sawed,
they may be 4x6 inches in size, set edgeways toward each other. If not
sawed, they may be round sticks cut from the woods, or split from the
body of a tree, quartered--but sizable, so as to appear decent--and the
insides facing each other as they stand up, lined to a surface to
receive the planking. Of course, when the posts are set in the ground,
they are to show a square form, or skeleton of what the building is to
be when completed. When this is done, square off the top of each post to
a level, all round; then frame, or spike on to each line of posts a
plate, say six inches wide, and four to six inches deep, and stay the
two plates together strongly, so as to form a double frame. Now, plank,
or board up closely the _inside_ of each line of posts, that the space
between them shall be a fair surface. Cut out, or leave out a space for
a door in the center of the side where you want it, two and a half or
three feet wide, and six and a half feet high, and board up the inner
partition sides of this opening, so as to form a door-casing on each
side, that the space between the two lines of posts may be a continuous
box all around. Then fill up this space between the posts with moist
tan-bark, or saw-dust, well packed from the ground up to the plates; and
the body of the house is inclosed, sun-proof, and air-proof, to guard
the ice.

Now lay down, inside the building, some sticks--not much matter what, so
that they be level--and on them lay loose planks or boards, for a floor.
Cover this floor with a coating of straw, a foot thick, and it is ready
to receive the ice.

For the roof, take common 3x4 joists, as rafters; or, in place of them,
poles from the woods, long enough, in a pitch of full 35deg from a
horizontal line, to carry the roof at least four feet over the outside
of the plates, and secure the rafters well, by pins or spikes, to them.
Then board over and shingle it, leaving a small aperture at the top,
through which run a small pipe, say eight inches in diameter--a
stove-crock will do--for a ventilator. Then set in, 4 little posts, say
two feet high--as in the design--throw a little four-sided, pointed cap
on to the top of these posts, and the roof is done. If you want to
ornament the under side of the roof, in a rude way--and we would advise
it--take some pieces of 3x4 scantling, such as were used for the roof,
if the posts are of sawed stuff--if not, rough limbs of trees from the
woods, to match the rough posts of the same kind, and fasten them to the
posts and the under side of the roof, by way of brackets, as shown in
the design.

When the ice is put into the house, a close floor of boards should be
laid on joists, which rest on the plates, loosely, so that this floor
can be removed when putting in ice, and that covered five or six inches
deep with tan, or saw-dust--straw will do, if the other can not be
had--and the inside arrangement is complete. Two doors should be
attached to the opening, where the ice is put in and taken out; one on
the inner side of the lining, and the other on the outer side, both
opening out. Tan, saw-dust, or straw should also be placed on the top of
the ice, when put in, so as to keep the air from it as much as possible;
and as the ice is removed, it will settle down upon, and still preserve
it. Care must be taken to have a drain under the floor of the house, to
pass off the water which melts from the ice, as it would, if standing
there, injure its keeping.

It will be seen, that, by an error in the cut of the ground plan, the
inside line of posts does not show, as in the outer line, which they
should do; nor is the outside door inserted, as is shown in the
elevation. These defects, however, will be rectified by the builder.

We have given considerable thought to this subject, and can devise no
shape to the building more appropriate than this, nor one cheaper in
construction. It may be built for fifty to a hundred dollars, according
to the cost of material and labor, and the degree of finish given to it.

It is hardly worth while to expatiate upon the convenience and economy
of an ice-house, to an American. Those who love well-kept meats, fruits,
butter, milk, and various etceteras for the table, understand its
utility well; to say nothing of the cooling draughts, in the way of
drinks, in hot weather, to which it adds--when not taken to
extremes--such positive luxury. We commend the ice-house, _well-filled_,
most heartily, to every good country housekeeper, as a matter of
convenience, economy, and luxury, adding next to nothing to the living
expenses, and, as an appendage to the main buildings, an item of little
cost, and a considerable degree of ornament.

If an under-ground ice-house be preferred to the plan here shown, a side
hill, or bank, with a northerly exposure, is the best location for it;
and the manner of building should be mainly like this, for the body of
the house. The roof, however, should be only two-sided, and the door for
putting in and taking out the ice may be in the gable, on the ground
level. The drainage under the floor, and precautions for keeping the
ice, should be quite as thorough as we have described; as, otherwise,
the earth surrounding it on three sides, at least, of the house, will be
a ready conductor of warmth, and melt the ice with great rapidity. If
the under-ground plan is adopted, but little more than the roof will
show, and of course, be of little ornament in the way of appearance.

THE ASH-HOUSE AND SMOKE-HOUSE.

These two objects may, both for convenience and economy, be well
combined under one roof; and we have thus placed them in connection. The
building is an exceedingly simple structure, made of stone, or brick;
the body 10 feet high, and of such size as may be desirable, with a
simple roof, and a plain, hooded chimney.

[Illustration: ASH HOUSE AND SMOKE HOUSE.]

In the ground plan will be seen a brick, or stone partition--which may
extend to such height as may be necessary to contain the bulk of ashes
required for storage within it--on one side of the building, to which a
door gives access. The opposite side, and overhead, is devoted to the
smoke-house, in which the various girts and hooks may be placed, for
sustaining the meats to be smoked. The building should be tied together
by joists at the plates, properly anchored into the walls, to prevent
their spreading. A stove, or pans, or neither, as the method of keeping
the smoke alive may govern, can be placed inside, to which the chimney
in the roof may serve as a partial escape, or not, as required. The
whole process is so simple, and so easily understood, that further
explanation is unnecessary.

A great advantage that a house of this construction has, is the
convenience of storing the smoked meats for an indefinite time, even
through the whole season, keeping them dark, dry, and cool; and
permitting, at any time, a smoke to be made, to drive out the flies,
if they find their way into it.

The ashes can, of course, be removed at any time, by the door at which
they are thrown in.

THE POULTRY-HOUSE.

As poultry is an indispensable appendage to the farm, in all cases, the
poultry-house is equally indispensable, for their accommodation, and for
the most profitable management of the fowls themselves, and most
convenient for the production of their eggs and young. Indeed, without
well-arranged quarters for the fowls of the farm, they are exceedingly
troublesome, and of doubtful profit; but with the proper buildings
devoted to them exclusively, they become one of the most interesting and
agreeable objects with which either the farm or the country house is
associated.

It is hardly worth while to eulogize poultry. Their merits and virtues
are written in the hearts of all provident housekeepers; and their
beauty and goodness are familiar to every son and daughter of the rural
homestead. We shall, then, proceed at once to discuss their proper
accommodation, in the cheapest and most familiar method with which we
are acquainted.

The hen-house--for hens (barn-door fowls, we mean) are the first and
chief stock, of the kind, to be provided for, and with them most of the
other varieties can be associated--should be located in a warm,
sheltered, and sunny place, with abundant grounds about it, where they
can graze--hens eat grass--and scratch, and enjoy themselves to their
heart's content, in all seasons, when the ground is open and they _can_
scratch into, or range over its surface. Some people--indeed, a good
many people--picket in their gardens, to keep hens _out_; but we prefer
an enclosure to keep the hens _in_, at all seasons when they are
troublesome, which, after all, is only during short seasons of the year,
when seeds are planted, or sown, and grain and vegetables are ripening.
Otherwise, they may range at will, on the farm, doing good in their
destruction of insects, and deriving much enjoyment to themselves; for
hens, on the whole, are happy things.

[Illustration: POULTRY LAWN.]

We here present the elevation of a poultry-house in perspective, to show
the _principle_ which we would adopt in its construction, and which may
be extended to any required length, and to which may be added any given
area of ground, or yard-room, which the circumstances of the proprietor
may devote to it. It is, as will be seen, of a most rustic appearance,
and built as cheaply, yet thoroughly, as the subject may require. Its
length, we will say, is 20 feet, its breadth 16, and its height 10 feet,
made of posts set into the ground--for we do not like sills, and floors
of wood, because rats are apt to burrow under them, which are their
worst enemies--and boarded up, either inside or outside, as in the case
of the ice-house previously described, though not double. Plates are
laid on these posts, to connect them firmly together; and the rafters
rest on the plates, as usual. The chamber floor is 9 feet high, above
the ground, and may be used either for laying purposes by the fowls,
or reserved as a storage-room for their feed. The roof is broadly drawn
over the body of the building, to shelter it, and through the point of
the roof, in the center, is a ventilator, with a covered top, and a vane
significant of its purpose. It is also sufficiently lighted, with glass
windows, into which our draughtsman has put the diamond-paned glass,
contrary to our notions; but, as he had, no doubt, an eye to the
"picturesque," we let it pass, only remarking, that if we were building
the house on our own account, there should be no such nonsense about it.
The front windows are large, to attract the warmth of the winter's sun.
A section of picket fence is also attached, and trees in the rear--both
of which are necessary to a complete establishment; the first, to secure
the poultry in the contiguous yards, and the trees to give them shade,
and even roosting-places, if they prefer such lodgings in warm
weather--for which we consider them eminently wholesome.

The wooden floor is dispensed with, as was remarked, to keep rid of the
vermin. If the ground be gravelly, or sandy, it will be sufficiently
dry. If a heavy or damp soil be used, it should be under-drained, which
will effectually dry it, and be better for the fowls than a floor of
either wood, brick, or stone. Doors of sufficient size can be made on
the yard sides of the house, near the ground, for the poultry to enter
either the living or roosting apartments, at pleasure, and hung with
butts on the upper side, to be closed when necessary.

INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.

The front door opens into the main living room. At each end, and in the
rear, are tiers of boxes, one foot wide, one and a half feet long, and
one and a half feet high--the lowest tier elevated two feet above the
ground--and built one tier above the other, and snugly partitioned
between, with a hole at one corner of each, ten inches high, and eight
inches wide, for passing in to them; and a shelf, or passage-board, nine
inches wide, in front. These are the nesting boxes, and should be kept
supplied with short, soft straw, or hay orts, for that purpose. Hens
love secrecy in their domestic economy, and are wonderfully pleased with
the opportunity to hide away, and conceal themselves while laying.
Indeed, such concealment, or the supposition of it, we have no doubt
promotes fecundity, as it is well known that a hen _can_ stop laying,
almost at pleasure, when disturbed in her regular habits and settled
plans of life. Burns says--

"The best laid schemes of _mice_ and _men_
Gang aft agley;"

and why not hen's? We think so. If turkeys be kept in the premises, the
females can also be accommodated in these boxes, as they are fond of
laying in company with the hens, and frequently in the same nests, only
that they require larger entrances into them; or, a tier of boxes may be
made on the ground, for their convenience.

A door leads from the rear of this room into the roosting apartment,
through which is a passage to the back side of the building, and a door
opposite, leading out into the yard. On each side of this passage are
roosts, rising, each behind and above the other, 18 inches apart. The
lowest roosts may be three feet from the ground, and the highest six
feet, that they may easily fly from one to the other; and in this way
they may all be approached, to catch the fowls, when required. For the
roosts, slender poles, two to three inches in diameter--small trees, cut
from the woods, with the bark on, are the best--may be used; and they
should be secured through augur holes in board slats suspended from the
floor joists overhead. This apartment should be cleaned out as often as
once a fortnight, both for cleanliness and health--for fowls like to be
clean, and to have pure air. A flight of stairs may be made in one
corner of the front room, to go into the chamber, if preferred; but a
swing ladder, hung by one end, with hinges, to the joists above, is, for
such purpose, a more cleanly mode of access; which, when not in use, may
be hooked up to the under side of the floor above; and a trap door,
shutting into the chamber floor, and also hung on hinges, will
accommodate the entrance.

For feeding troughs, we have seen many ingenious contrivances, and among
them, possibly, a Yankee patent, or two; but all these we put aside, as
of little account. A common segar box, or any other cast-off thing, that
will hold their food, is just as good as the most complicated invention;
and, in common feeding, there is no better mode than to scatter abroad
their corn, and let them pick it up at their pleasure--when spread on a
clean surface. We think, also, that, except for fattening poultry,
stated hours of feeding are best for the birds themselves, and that they
be fed only such quantity as they will pick up clean. Water should, if
possible, be kept constantly by them; and if a small running stream
could pass through the yard, all the better.

If it be desirable to have fresh eggs during winter--and that is
certainly a convenience--a box stove may be set in the living room, and
properly protected by a grating around it, for warming the living
apartment. It may be remarked, however, that this winter-laying of hens
is usually a _forcing_ business. A hen will lay but about a given number
of eggs in a year; say a hundred--we believe this is about the number
which the most observant of poultry-keepers allow them--and what she
lays in winter must be subtracted from the number she would otherwise
lay in the spring, summer, or autumn. Yet a warm house will, laying,
aside, keep the fowls with less food, and in greater comfort, than if
cold, and left to their own natural warmth.

There is usually little difficulty in keeping hens, turkies, ducks, and
geese together, in the same inclosure, during winter and early spring,
before the grass grows. But geese and turkies require greater range
during the warm season than the others, and should have it, both for
convenience to themselves and profit to their owners. For winter
quarters, low shelters may be made for the water-fowls in the yards, and
the turkies will frequently prefer to share the shelter of the hens, on
the roosts in the house. Guinea-hens--cruel, vindictive things, as they
are--should never be allowed within a common poultry yard. Always
quarrelsome, and never quiet, they should take to the farmyard, with the
cattle, where they may range at will, and take their amusement in
fisticuffs with each other, at pleasure. Neither should peacocks be
allowed to come into the poultry inclosures, during the breeding season;
they are anything but amiable in their manners to other birds.

With the care and management of the poultry department, after thus
providing for their accommodation, it is not our province to interfere;
that is a subject too generally understood, to require further remark.
Nor need we discuss the many varieties of poultry which, at the present
time, so arrest the attention of many of our good country people; and we
will leave so important a subject to the meditations of the "New England
Poultry Society," who have taken the gallinaceous, and other tribes
under their special cognizance, and will, doubtless, in due time,
illumine the world with various knowledge in this department of rural
economy, not yet "dreamt of in our philosophy." The recently published
poultry books, too, with an amplitude and particularity in the
discussion of the different breeds and varieties, which shuts all
suspicions of _self-interest_ into the corner, have given such a fund of
information on the subject, that any further inquiry may, with entire
good will, be turned over to their pages.

THE DOVECOTE.

This is a department, in itself, not common among the farm buildings,
in the United States; and for the reason, probably, that the domestic
pigeon, or house-dove, is usually kept more for amusement than for
profit--there being little actual profit about them--and is readily
accommodated in the spare lofts of sheds and out-buildings devoted to
other purposes. Pigeons, however, add to the variety and interest of the
poultry department; and as there are many different breeds of them, they
are general favorites with the juveniles of the family.

Our present object is, not to propose any distinct building for pigeon
accommodation; but to give them a location in other buildings, where
they will be conveniently provided with room, and least annoying by
their presence--for, be it known, they are oft-times a most serious
annoyance to many crops of the farm, when kept in any considerable
numbers, as well as in the waste and havoc they make in the stores of
the barns and granaries. Although graceful and beautiful birds,
generally clean and tidy in their personal habits out of doors, they are
the filthiest housekeepers imaginable, and no building can be especially
devoted to their use, if not often swept and cleaned, but what will soon
become an intolerable nuisance within, and not much better without, and
the ground immediately around the premises a dirty place. The common
pigeon is a pugnacious cavalier, warring apparently upon mere punctilio,
as we have often seen, in the distant strut-and-coo of a stranger bird
to his mate, even if she be the very incarnation of "rejected
addresses." On all these accounts, we would locate--unless a small and
select family of fancy birds, perhaps--the pigeon stock at the principal
farm-yard, and in the lofts of the cattle sheds, or the chambers of the
stable.

Wherever the pigeon accommodations are designed to be, a close partition
should separate their quarters from the room occupied for other
purposes, with doors for admission to those who have to do with them,
in cleaning their premises, or to take the birds, when needed. A line of
holes, five inches high, and four inches wide--the top of the hole
slightly arched--should be made, say 18 inches apart, for the distance
of room they are to occupy in the building. A foot above the top of
these, another line may be made; and so on, tiering them up to the
height intended to devote to them. A line of shelves, or
lighting-boards, six to eight inches wide, should then be placed one
inch below the bottom of these holes, and firmly braced beneath, and
nailed to the weather-boarding of the house. Inside, a range of box
should be made, of corresponding length with the line of holes, to
embrace every entrance from the outside, 18 inches wide, and partitioned
equidistant between each entrance, so as to give a square box of 18
inches to each pair of birds. The bottom board of each ascending tier of
boxes will, of course, be the top of the boxes below, and these must be
made _perfectly tight_, to prevent the offal of the upper ones from
falling through, to the annoyance of their neighbors below. The back of
these boxes should have a line of swing doors, hung with butts, or
hinges, from the top, and fastened with buttons, or hooks, at the
bottom, to allow admission, or examination, at any time, to those who
have the care of them. This plan of door is indispensable, to clean them
out--which should be done as often as once a week, or fortnight, at
farthest--and to secure the birds as they may be wanted for the table,
or other purposes--for it will be recollected that squabs, just
feathered out, are considered a delicious dish, at the most sumptuous
tables. It will be understood, that these boxes above described, are
within a partitioned room, with a floor, in their rear, with sufficient
space for the person in charge of them to pass along, and to hold the
baskets, or whatever is to receive the offal of their boxes, as it is
taken out. This offal is valuable, as a highly stimulating manure, and
is sought for by the morocco tanners, at a high price--frequently at
twenty-five cents a bushel.

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