Perhaps a satisfactory way of arranging these conditions would be to submit all plans of improvement to the censorship of a commission; but it would be wisest to have as little constraint as possible, for men of education and taste in our day seldom go very wide of the mark. No one is expected to grow potatoes on his lawn, or build a barn in front of his house.

In the introduction of this series of cottages it would perhaps be appropriate to commence with the gate entrance (see illustration at the head of this article), in connection, if you please, with the porter's lodge, through which we may pass on entering such a park as we have just described (let us suppose), in which we might expect to find, each on its appropriate site, the following designs.

The lodge should not be too large or conspicuous to be mistaken for the mansion, but should be more simple in its architecture, although according sufficiently with it to show its relationship. For this reason we build the foundation only of brick, while the first story is of a less pretentious material. Here the simple clapboard construction appears, and to give it variety, and at the same time to show its connection with the mansion, the second story is covered with cut ornamental shingles, while the roof should be of slate. One of the most important requirements is that there should be an agreeable effect of color. Let, therefore, the clapboards on the first story be of French gray — a color harmonizing with the brick — the shingles buff, and if the building is well shaded, the trimmings might be of Indian red, with black chamfers. If there is not much shade, however, a kind of salmon-color, with Indian red chamfers, would appear well. The roof, of course, should be of dark slate, and the chimney, being of red brick, unpainted, might be relieved occasionally with brick of dark color, or even black.

The old plan of filling in the frame has proved objectionable, inasmuch as it is found to collect moisture, making the house damp, and thereby hastening decay. Brick filling, therefore, has been abandoned, and the process of sheathing employed. This is simply a covering of hemlock boards, nailed diagonally over the outside, which adds so much to the strength of the frame that it may be made considerably lighter, and consequently less expensive. This sheathing is covered with thick paper or felt, and then is ready to receive the outside shingles and clapboards. In houses built after the old plan, the frame, in shrinking away from the bricks, is liable to leave numerous seams on each side of the studs, through which wind and cold may penetrate, while the felt, a perfect non-conductor, being wrapped around the entire building, serves as a blanket, keeping all warm and dry within.

This cottage, designed for some picturesque site, where the scenery is of an undulating character, and rugged rocks and shady trees blend harmoniously with the ivy-covered walls, is irregular in its plan and somewhat broken in its sky-lines, in order to assimilate the nearer to the nature of the scenery amidst which it is placed.

However plain a structure may be, it is well to have some little extravagance in a prominent part, to which the rest of the work may appear subordinate, like one bright jewel in the firmament, to which the lesser lights seem proud to pay homage.

In the present instance I have selected the column at the entrance, and as there is