A more thoroughly workmanlike way is to groove the bottom into the sides, the upright partitions into the floor boards, and to cut rabbets around on the back edge of the sides, roof, and bottom, into which to set the backboards. This involves a good deal more work and care in laying out the work (see Grooving). If you have the pieces got out at a mill it can be easily done, however.
Fig. 174.
It may be a convenience to screw castors on the bottom. A door (with a door-bell or knocker) can be added to the front of the hall, if thought best.
A house which can be closed is shown in Fig. 174. The construction is quite similar to the preceding. A strip must be fastened above and below the large doors, as shown, that they may open without striking either the roof or the floor on which the house stands. The little door, representing the entrance to the house when closed and shown in the closed half, can be made to open independently and can have a bell or knocker.
If this house is made quite deep (from front to back) it can easily be divided lengthways by a partition and made into a double house, the back side being made to open in the same way as the side here shown.
CHAPTER VIII
HOUSES FOR ANIMALS
The sizes and shapes of these houses and cages will depend upon the animals for which they are built and the places you have to put them. Frequently they can be built to advantage against the side of a building, or a fence, or in a corner, and boxes can be utilised in various ways.