CHEAP COTTAGES.
[TO TRH EDITOR Or Tay "SPRCTATOR."J SIR,—A little practical experience in cottage-building may be of service. I have built five cottages in a row for 2550, or 2110 apiece. These cottages had two bedrooms, one with a fireplace, and let for £4 per annum. I have never any diffi- culty in letting these cottages ; they seem exactly what the labourers want. I also built a pair of cottages for 2320, or £160 apiece. These cottages had three bedrooms, and were rather larger downstairs. These I let for £6, but not to labourers. Both lots of cottages had pigsties, washhouse, and every convenience attached. The elements of cheap cottage-building were :—(1) I made my own plans; (2) the plans were plain rectangular,—no high-pitched roof or dormer windows ; (3) I contracted with a local bricklayer for labour only, getting my own materials from good sources. These cottages are brick built, with 9 in. walls. Our district by- laws had not been brought into operation when I built. But I know of nothing that would increase the price except a higher lower story. Local authorities seem to forget that no one but the wife and baby are at home in the daytime, and when the husband comes home the children go off to bed.—
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