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 appearance. The outer walls of a stone
house should always be _firred_ 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 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 associated 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 circumstances
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 perishable
material, such as wood or soft bricks; nor build with soft or _unburnt_
bricks in a wall exposed to the weather _anywhere;_ nor with stone which
is liable to crumble or disintegrate by the action of frost or water
upon it. We are aware that unburnt bricks have been strongly recommended
for house-building in America; but from observation, we are fully
persuaded that the