In order to finish the ridge of the roof, a _cap_ of straw is adjusted to it in a very careful manner. In this operation the workman begins by bringing the ridge to a sharp angle, by laying straw lengthwise upon it: and to keep this straw in its place, he pegs it down slightly with “double-broaches,” which are cleft twigs about two feet long and half an inch thick, sharpened at both ends, bent double and notched, so as to clasp the straw on the ridge. This done, the thatcher lays a coat of straight straw six or eight inches thick across the ridge, beginning on either side at the uppermost butts of the reeds, and finishing with straight handsful evenly across the top of the ridge. Having laid a length of about four feet in this manner, he proceeds to fasten it firmly down, so as to render it proof against wind and rain; this is done by laying a “broachen-ligger” (a quarter-cleft rod, half an inch thick and four feet long) along the middle of the ridge, pegging it down at every four inches with a double-broach, which is first thrust down with the hands, and afterwards driven with the legget or with a mallet. The middle ligger being firmly laid, the thatcher smooths down the straw with a rake and his hands, about eight or nine inches on one side; and at six inches from the first, he lays down another ligger, and pegs it down with a similar number of double-broaches, thus proceeding to smooth the straw and to fasten on liggers at every six inches, until he reaches the bottom of the cap. One side being thus finished, the other is similarly treated; and the first length being completed, others are done in like manner, till the farther end of the ridge is reached. He then cuts off the tails of the straw neatly with a pair of shears, level with the uppermost butts of the reed. When straw or heather is used for thatching, the material is laid on in parallel rows, much the same as the reeds, but the mode of fastening is generally somewhat different. CHAPTER V. THE WOOD-WORK. GROWTH AND TRANSPORT OF TIMBER. The operations of the carpenter and joiner in the preparation of the wood-work of a house are quite as important as those of the mason or bricklayer. It would not be possible in this little volume to trace clearly all the different processes connected with the building of a house as they occur in practice; for the bricklayer and the carpenter combine their work, as it were, step by step. But as the bricklaying and the slating, or tiling, relate principally to the exterior of the house, and the carpentry work to the interior, we have thus a line of separation, which will greatly contribute to the clearness of these details. As on a former occasion we noticed the operations of the quarry, whence the builder is supplied with stone, slate, &c., it will now be interesting to give a few details respecting the growth and transport of timber. The Oak as a Timber Tree.