Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-04-26
PLASTIC A ROOFING.
letter from Scion Robinson, AEri-
cultural Editor of the New York
Tribune, I'm Answer 10 Inquiries.

70 the newly Ol-COFefeQ material ipF TOUG
ing, called plastic slate. l do not know
who may be advantaged, in a business
point of view, because l do not know who
owns the right to construct roofs in the
domain of the Neiy England Farmer. But
1 do know hat there is not 4 fermer in
all that domain who will not be material
ly benefited, if be believes what l may
say herein; and if he does not it will be
his W fault, for it shall be the tru h., and
although not all, nothing but the truth.
ROOFING MATERIALS COMPARED.
The most terrible lion in the way ~ Of
farmers who desire to erect new buildings
is the manner and material by which they
are to be rooted. First class split shingles
are becoming too costly for any but the
roofs of the best ftrm houses. One half
the men who make sawed shingles ought
to be indicted for getting money under
false pretences. Tin and slate are both
beyond the reach of men of small means
for any building, and quite too expensive
for the ordinary roofs of a farmery. Many
If the patent roofs advertised are miser-
able theGts end decisions. The best OF the
bunch is the gravel and pitch, between
which substances there is no natural af-
inity the gravel being used to hold the
pitch in position, Just us little ripples in
the brook hold the water in placid pools.
The objection to these roofs is their rough
surface, which holds dust, rain, snow and
ice, frequently causing leaks and decay.
DANGER OF IRE
The objections TO shingie roofs are their
first cost, their var of durability, and the
extreme danger of FIRE to which every old
Single roof is exposed. Probably n
half the farm houses are burned by sparks
upon the shingles. 1 know of The de-
struction of one valuable one in my own
vicinity, the present winter, from this
cause. The sparks from the kitchen
chimney in the l. part were blown during
a gale OF wind directly against the roof of
the main building, which, being an old
singled one, lighted and burned with the
rapidity of dry sha7ings.
OBJECTIONS To VARIOUS Roofs.
The objections to a sheet slate roof are
the necessity of a very strong structure,
he cost of the states, the necessity of hav-
ing skilled workmen TO put them on, their
constant liability to break from the halls
in a cold climate, and that they are not a
protection against fire, drift and snow.
The objections to a tin roof are first cost,
necessity OF con tant repair, and liability
to be rolled by high winds and tumbled
into the road or field. There is a large
building within a mile of my residence in
Westchester county, which has been thus
unroofed three times within a dozen years.
There Is still another objection to tin. If
universally adopted for roofs, all the
| known mines in the world could not fur
| nisha sufficient supply. Copper is too ex-
p~ensive, and all other metals are failures.
AN INFORMANT QUESTION.
What, then, shall we use for roofing ?
has become one of the most important
questions with all American farmers.
The aesthetic wants of the people demand
| good roofs and an abundance of them.
No people in the world, of the same
means, cover over so preat a portion eff
their ground with roofs. We have not
vet learned, and l hope we never shall,
to live, pigs and people, under the same
shelter. We do not, as many Europeans
and Asiatics do, stable our stock and
children together. We cannot as they
have through all ages in Palestine, make
| our roofs of earth, on which the grass
grows, and which require repairing before
every rain storm. Our rains are quite too
frequent for that operation. We must
and what is more, we will-have good
roofs over u heads. And what is more
still, we will have them over our hocks
and herds. And 1 tell you, and through
! you, all your readers, that the discovery
has already been made which will enable
the poorest class of men in America to
live under cheap roofs, water-tight, snow
tight, and fre-proof.
PLASTIC sLATE-wHAT IT IL.
1 have before stated, and 1 here repeat,
that 1 consider the discovery of VIM. L.
Potter, of Clifton Park, Saratoga county,
n. Y, one likely to prove most beneficial
20 farmers of any in this wonderful age of
inventions and improvements in agricul-
tural implements and farming facilities.
1t is now upwards of five years since
Mr.. P. began his experiments with plas
tic slate that is, slate rock ground to fine
-four and mixed with coal tar, without
heating, TO any desired degree of consist
ence; either suitable to be applied with a
brush or with a mason's trowel. In this
condition, spread upon wood, stone, earth,
iron, earthen-ware, plastered walls, paper
- GULL II ID - dlltGANH Us 10 Bt h4LtA-
wards absolutely inseparable. And this
soft mastic hardens in time to q stony sub
stance, so hard that it may be used as an
ordinary school slate. 1 hold in my hand
at the time of this writing, a piece of
oaken lath, upon which Mr.. Potter spread
mastic, in some of his first experiments in
trying to make a lath-and-plastered roof
The roof was found liable to crack by the
shrinking and swelling of the wood, and
after being in use a couple of years, was
taken off and a portion of it fell into the
millpond and sunk. The piece 1 have
lay four months under water without in
the least affecting the material. 1t now,
at the age of three years and half, breaks
with a square fracture, about like that of
a sound brick yet it still retains so much
Of its elasticity that it can be slightly i'll
1ented by the thumb nail. If placed in
the fire, the wood will be burned away
and a sheet OF slate left. Now, sir, this
substance, spread upon commOntarred pa
per, nailed upon the roof, will harden like
the specimen described, without cracking,
without being in the least affected by cold
or heat, except, as time progresses, to har-
den and become more like slate in the
quarry-in short, " reconstructed"
This, then, is Plastic Slate Roofing. Is
it good? 1t is fre-proof; it is water
proof. 1t possesses another advantage
which no other material does. 1t can be
joined to other buildings in every possibly
conceived position and made perfectly
tight. The roof upon a new addition TO
my building, joins an upright portion of
the house, directly over the centre of the
parlor. Another joining is against the
butts of the shingles of Il higher roof.
Another small roof is constructed with
the edges turned up, so as to carry the
water down to the gutter. The tin gutter
of the large roof is fastened in its place
by mastic; and to show how firmly it ad-
heres to tin or iron, 1 will mention that
we have repeatedly used it with great
success, in mending decayed coal s%cuttles,
leaky wash boilers, broken earthen and
tinware, and should not have the least
hesitation in undertaking to stop a hole
=" WV ~I"H0I-PVS HfaaO - knocking UuU
a leg.
Such being the character of the mate
rial which 1 have recommended, 1 leave
it to you to say whether ny enthusiasm
in its favor, as a roofing material is
greater than it deserves.
HOW
The roof must be tightly and smoothly
boarded before mailing on the telling. The
proper temperature for MIXING the slate