To none of the concerns of life is the proverb about "a stitch in time" more applicable than to the matter of keeping a building in repair. The little leak, if not attended to, soon becomes a large one; a spot of dry-rot in a timber soon infects the whole, and the splitting of a shingle, or the rusting of a piece of tin in a roof, by admitting water, may be the source of extensive decay.

A good lesson on the results of neglect may be derived from the inspection of one of the many houses to be found in every neighborhood which have fallen into the hands of mortgagees, or trustees, or careless landlords of other kinds. Visiting one of these structures, even though it may not have been built many years, we shall be likely to observe, as we examine the outside, that the chimneys bend slightly toward the northeast, owing to the washing out of the mortar in the joints of the brickwork by rain, aided by the disintegrating action of frost. Very likely some of the bricks at the top of the chimneys will have become entirely detached, so that they have been blown off, either dropping into a flue and choking it, or falling on the roof below, breaking the slates or shingles, or making a hole in the tin or composition of a flat roof. Possibly the metal flashing at the junction of the chimney with the roof will be found to have been blown out of place by the wind, or, by the rusting of a few nails, a shingle may have slipped down here and there, or the shingles in the valleys may be evidently decayed. In any of these cases there will have been a bad leak in the roof, and the plastering inside at that point will be found stained, if not entirely detached from the laths.

Looking at the foot of the roof, we shall probably find places where the joints of the gutter have rotted, allowing streams of water to run down the wall below after every shower, washing off the paint, and showing the black and decaying wood. A little below this point we shall observe that the blinds, instead of being rectangular, have sagged into a rhomboidal shape, and will no longer close properly, while some of the slats, forced out of place by the distortion of the frame which holds them, have disappeared. In some cases, also, the fasts which hold the blind, either open or closed, have come out, and the blind, left at the mercy of the wind, has slammed against the window, breaking the glass. The entrance porch is provided with a gutter, and a conductor, to carry off the rain-water, the latter having originally had a "shoe" at the foot, to lead what little water would come from the porch roof harmlessly out upon the grass; but the shoe has become detached, probably by the weight of ice in it in winter, and the rain-water, being discharged just at the corner of the porch, has soaked the foundation, besides blowing and spattering over the floor, so that we find the sill of the porch so badly decayed that it will hardly bear our weight; while a portion of the floor boarding has already fallen through.

Entering the house, we find the ceilings and floors stained in various places, where rain-water has reached them from a leak in the roof, or a broken window; the hard-wood floors of the first-story rooms, having swelled, partly from water blown in over them, and partly from the general dampness of the house, have "huffed up," as the carpenters say, in ridges, at the most exposed points; the wall-papers show mouldy streaks, from similar causes; and the concrete floor of the cellar is disintegrated on top, through the freezing of water which has blown in during a winter storm, from a basement window, the fastening of which has disappeared. If the house has been for a long time neglected, still worse disorders will probably be apparent, such as ceilings fallen, floors out of level, and walls and partitions distorted, through the rotting of sills and girders; but it is not necessary here to consider the more serious cases.

Nothing is more discouraging to a householder than to find himself obliged to deal with an accumulation of such troubles at once, although any one of them separately might be of little importance; and it is the part of wisdom, not only to prevent them from accumulating, but to reduce the seriousness of each, by timely application, in every case, of the proper remedy.

Of the way in which leaks in roofs are caused and prevented we have already spoken. The ordinary householder does not often possess materials and apparatus for putting on new flashings, or repairing shingle or slate roofs, or gutters and conductors; but a leak may often be temporarily stopped, until a roofer can be sent for, with a bit of tarred felt, or a little roofing pitch, or elastic cement, and it is very desirable, particularly for large establishments in the country, to keep a supply of these materials on hand.

The repairing of a chimney is also a difficult matter for an amateur; but the householder can at least watch his chimneys, and send for the mason as soon as he sees that the joints at the top are losing their mortar. By doing this, the relaying in cement of a few bricks at the top of the chimney, and the repointing of the rest with cement, inserted into the joints, will be sufficient to keep in good order a chimney which, if left to itself a few months longer, might have to be taken down to the roof, and rebuilt, even if it did not fall, wholly or partially, in the meantime.

In places remote from professional masons, a barrel of Portland cement will be found a very useful addition to the supplies of the establish-ment. With its aid loose bricks, either inside or outside the house, can be permanently set in place; concrete floors can be repaired, stone walls pointed, and even greenhouse pipes, which have begun to leak at the joints, may be made tight. It is not necessary to use any sand or lime with the cement. On the contrary, work done with clear cement is stronger than that in which any mixture is used; and although Portland cement at $1.50 or so a barrel is more expensive material than sand, the difference is a mere trifle where repairs are concerned; and the saving made by employing home talent on such work, instead of sending for a professional mason, will soon pay for many barrels of cement. It may be observed, for the benefit of the owners of country estates who find that the repairs to their cellar walls and fences form an important item in their annual expenses, that the Italian laborers, who are becoming very numerous in the Eastern States, are almost universally tolerably accomplished masons. As farm buildings in their own country, even to the pigsties, are always of stone, they are accustomed from childhood to the use of a trowel; and the Italian traditions of bonding the stones or bricks, and of laying each piece in a bed of mortar prepared for it, are admirable. For laying face-brick or cut stone, a skilled workman is, of course, required; but, for the rough masonry of a farm, most Italian laborers are well qualified.