The general construction of the frame is shown in Fig. 12. The frame should be of two-by-three-inch spruce and the flooring beams can be of two-by-four-inch spruce or other timber. One or two windows and a door may be arranged in the hut, and tar-paper tacked on the roof will make it water-proof.
Access to the hut can be had by means of a ladder made from two-by-three-inch spruce rails with hickory rungs, or two-by-one-inch hard-wood sticks securely nailed to the rails.
A Brush-house
In nearly every part of the country where there is low ground one may generally find a high growth of plant life having a long stalk, with the greatest number of leaves at or near the top. Artichokes, cat-tail reeds, wild sunflower, and the stronger species of flag have stalks and reeds sufficiently strong from which to make the sides and roof of a hut or small house such as Fig. 13 depicts.
This growth is often ten feet high, and will have a straight and uniform reed at least seven or eight feet up from the ground before the thick top foliage reduces it in size. This last should be cut away and the smaller under branches and leaves trimmed off, leaving a comparatively straight shaft from six to eight feet long. This will be limber enough to be woven basket-fashion, and quite stiff enough to hold the thatching of meadow-grass or cat-tail reeds.
To build a brush-house like the one shown in the illustration, four sticks are to be set in the ground about six feet apart, forming a square. These should be eight feet long and sunk two feet into the ground, the upper ends being bound together with rails two inches wide and an inch thick.
A BRUSH-HOUSE
A pitch can be given to the roof by cutting off the rear posts six inches and leaving six inches more of the front posts out of the ground, thereby allowing a pitch of one foot to the six-toot length of roof. This slant is not necessary, however, and the roof may be flat if it is easier to make.
From the reeds a basket framework with eight-inch meshes is to be woven, as the boys are doing in Fig. 14. Three of these frames are to be made for the sides and rear of the hut, and at the front, above the doorway, a smaller one is to be made to cover the space between the front posts.