If the reader is the happy possessor of some old locust fence-posts, he has the best sort of material for a foundation. Lacking locust, chestnut posts will make a good substitute. Lacking chestnut, some carefully laid and levelled stones or bricks will answer all purposes. I have seen many an old house resting upon four heaps of rough stones, the latter having faithfully supported the edifice for years, and prevented the sills from rotting from contact with the damp earth. Even the ground will answer for A Foundation, if the dirt is properly packed and drained. All through certain sections of this country there are hundreds of humble dwellings built upon “mud-sills”--in other words, with no other foundation or floor but the bare ground. I will, however, suppose that you have secured some posts about two feet six inches long and with good flat ends. [Illustration: FIG. 66.] The better the material you can obtain, the trimmer and better will be the appearance of your house; but a house which will protect you and your tools may be made of the roughest of lumber. The plans drawn here will answer for common or fine material, but we will suppose that medium material is to be used. It will be taken for granted that the reader is able to procure enough two-by-four-inch timber to supply studs, ribs, purlins, rafters, beams, and posts, for the frame shown in Fig. 69. Two pieces of four-by-four-inch timber, each fifteen feet long, should be procured for sills. If this is inaccessible, two pieces of two-by-four nailed together will make a four-by-four sill. Add to this some tongue-and-grooved boarding for sides and roof, some enthusiasm and good American pluck, and the shop is almost as good as built. How to Build the House. First lay out the foundation, eight feet by fifteen; see that the corners are square--that is, at right angles; test this with a tape or string, by measuring diagonally from corner to corner both ways, and if it measures exactly the same you are all right, and may proceed to dig your post-holes. The outside of the posts should be flush, or even, with the outside edges of the sills and end-beams of the house, as shown in Fig. 66. There are to be four posts on each of the long sides of the house, at equal distances apart--a little less than five feet from centre to centre of each post. [Illustration: FIG. 67.] Dig the holes two feet deep, allowing six inches of the posts to protrude above ground. If you drive two stakes a short distance beyond the foundation, in line with your foundation lines, and run a string from the top of one stake to the top of the other, you can, without much trouble, get it upon a perfect level by testing it with your home-made level, and adjusting the stakes until the string represents the level for your sill. When this is done, Set Your Posts