The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1896-12-15
Tomatoes should be closely watched
and never allowed to get a check, as in
the starting of the vines lies ultimate
success or failure.
ROOFING FOR THE BARN.
Five Barns Under One Roof That Needs
NJ Repair.

NJ Repair.
An east III correspondent of The
Prair.e farn or who some tn years
ago Lost ~ Ire live barns W..tes as
follows about how he supplied these
with new ones. He says:
pat all under enc roof, and that
roof e large enough 10 furnish cover for
anything raised, even In the straw. 1t
is SO fcet wide and 100 feet long, with
80 foot posts en- al foot wall. But what
| want to tel about HOW is the Roof. 1t
was an experiment, but has proved very
satisfactory. Instead of using Is or IS
foot posts. with gaabreled roof, | de-
cidcd to use 30 foot posts and "a flat
roof So | NOW have no timbers 10 elut-
ter up the space under the roof, but all
is clear up to the beams, which are only
a foot below the top of the posts. Be
tween the beams there is nothing up to
the roof joiSts, which are = by ~, 20
feet long aud double bridged. On the
jo-t is laid inch matched Norway
pine Hemlock or any other wood would
do rs we'll, only it should be of even
thickness and well mailed. The roof has
a fall Of half an inch to the foot and
should have 10 more.
| procured the best quality of roofing
felt, single ply, aud cut strip long
enough To 20 the whole length of the
roof. | divided this into two parts Ly
cutting one-third the width. This can
be done by rolling the felt very tight
and even, then using a sharp saw, keep
ing il well oiled while saw ing the roll.
| got the best quality of roofing pitch,
which is queer stuff. Even in the cold
est weather two pieces laid side by side
will run together and become one. |
melted this and pitched the boards,
commencing at the caves. A strip one
third the width Of the felt, or as wide
as the narrowest piece cut, was rolled
into the pitch while hot.
| then pitched over the third of the
width of the felt already on and an
equal width by the side, and rolled the
two-thirds width into this. IneXt pitch
ed over these and Il sufficient width of
roofing to equal the full sheet of felt
and rolled the felt into this pitch. | now
bad, commencing at the edge of the
roof, three, two and one tL&knesses
of felt and three coats of pitch. /
now struck u line up onc.third the
width of the sheet of felt from the
edge. Commencing at this line, pitch
ed over the felt and upon the roof
boards the width Of the roll of felt and
followed rolling the felt into the hot
pitch. In this way | continued until the
roof was covered. | then used tin caps
and barbod wire roofing nails and nail
ed the lower edge of each sheet of felt
2l2 inches apart.
1t will be seen that now had my raof
covered with three thicknesses Of felt
and three coats Of pitch. The felt was
put on shingle fashion, or one piece lap
ping over the other each time two
thirds. On this | run hot pitch about
one.twefth Of an inch deep and INTO it
put all the coarse gravel | could make it
hold The gravel should be coarse, from
the size Of wheat up to half an inch IN
diameter. BY using pieces of two inch
plank, cut one foot sCAare and having a
handle put into the middle, the gravel
can be gently rammed intothe hot pitch.
In this way t can be filled full. In such
roof the pitch fills and preserves the
felt. II holds the gravel firmly III place,
and the gravel protects the pitch My
roof, Of course, cost more money than
one Of iron or steel. To all appearances
1t Is as good as the day it was laid Of
course felt. pitch and gravel roofs are
nothing new, but if we'll laid viii give
satisfaction. The new thing about mine
is the use OF three thickncsses and put
ting them on single fashion Although
"a little expensive, it looks as though it
would last 100 years with no repair