18 inches lengths, random widths, laid 5½ inches to the weather, and 5 butt ends to 2½ inches. 24 inches lengths, random widths, laid 7½ inches to the weather, and ½ inch thick at the butt ends. There are about thirty varieties of colored stains to select from, and special shapes are cut for constructing the so-called thatched roof, the shingles being bent to a curve of about 20 inches radius. The pitch of wooden-shingle roofs should not be less than 8 inches rise per foot for the ordinary weathering shown in the above statements. The tops of rafters are covered with shingle lath, with a spacing suitable to the weathering arrangement of the shingles. There are some who advocate the use of sheathing to cover the rafters in a tight manner and also the use of building-paper underneath the shingles, but, although this gives a tighter and warmer roof, dry rot attacks the shingle much quicker because of the accumulation of dampness on the under side of the shingle courses. The first course of shingles at the eaves should be a double course with the upper layer breaking joints with the lower, and the shingles should project about 2 inches beyond the mouldings of the eaves and about 1½ inches beyond the edge of the gable ends of the roof. Hips may be finished either with the saddle-board or with a row of shingles running parallel to the line of the ridge. Hips are best finished with a row of shingles running parallel with their edges, which treatment is called the Boston hip. If the courses are carried to the hip line and mitred, then the joint must be waterproofed by using tin shingles underneath the wooden ones, these tin shingles being folded over the hip. The method of flashing around chimneys, at the base of dormers, and in open valleys will be more fully discussed in connection with slate roofs, and, since the principles are the same, what is said for slate roofs in this connection is true for wooden-shingle roofs. _Method of Laying Roofs_ SLATE There has been much made of the so-called European method of laying slate roofs in recent years, but this type of roof costs more than the ordinary slate roof, since special heavy slate is used at the eaves, and the weathering is reduced as the courses approach the ridge, and special care is taken in blending colored slates. While this type of roof is very beautiful, it is really, from a point of view of cost, rather out of the race when applied to the small house, for it will be hard enough to stretch the estimates of the small house to include even the ordinary slate roof.