TX 309 .D7 Copy 1 Yd illtftllfilfif HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE By A Farmers Wife if ssJ XlPl Book Gopyii^ht N? COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. ' While washing dishes ... A' look past the dining table with its flotoers, and through the wide door to the living room beyond." THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE BY A FARMER'S WIFE HELEN DODD With an Introduction by ELLEN H. RICHARDS WHITCOMB & BARROWS BOSTON, 1906 < LIBRARY of COWGRESS Two Copies Received NOV 16 1906 1 Copyright Entry CLASS /\ XXc, No. COPY B. COPYRIGHT, 1906 HY ELLEN H. RICHARDS 06-4571$ COMPOSITION \NI> BLBCTROTYPING BY 1 Hi IM VS ' 14 beacon Street, boston, mass. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction. By Ellen H. Richards v Foreword ..... i Chapter I. The Kitchen 4 The range — the sink — cupboards — arrangements of tools — floor — furniture — walls — care of it all — dishwashing and care of milk tools. Chapter II. The Shed 17 How to clean it up — painting — drain for washing water — how to make it safe — passages — cupboards — back porch — milk room. Chapter III. The Cellar 26 The need of a cellar — its supply of air for the house — how it should be made — how to make an old cellar safe — how to keep vegetables. Chapter IV. Ventilation Need of definite provision — top outlets — open fireplaces • cross draughts — window screens. Chapter V. The Dining Room "A place for everything " — floor rugs — dish closets — set- ting the table — care of linen — the comfort in daintiness. Chapter VI. The Living Room Large and light — fireplace — furniture — floor — wall paper — curtains — all fit for their uses — care of it. Chapter VII. Bedrooms Simplicity — cleanliness — easily moved fittings — floor — furniture — bedding — airing. 37 43 49 IV THE HEAL I I ! I I I I \ KM HOUSE" Chapter VIII. Hails. Stairways, and Bathroom . . 53 Heating and airing — care — rearrangement of halls — sug- gestions for inexpensive farm bathrooms — need of baths — beneficial results. Chapter IX. General Scheme of Living .... 59 Living among good things — little formalities — influence on children — useless housework — balance between pride and backache — living outdoors. Chapter X. The Opportunity of the Consolidated School. Bv Ellen If. Richardi 66 ILLUSTRATIONS Through the wide door to the living room . . . Frontispiece A convenient arrangement of dishes and tools . . Facing page 6 Hot water within easy reach ..... Facing page 14 The easiest way to set an attractive table . . . Facing page 38 The green bedroom ....... Facing page 50 o INTRODUCTION jNE of my earliest recollections is of my father's reply to my mother's anxiety lest we should get overturned in the sleigh on the snow-drifted country road. He said, "Where any one else has been, there I can go." For ten years we spent the month of March, after his winter school was over and before the spring farm work was begun, visit- ing relatives in New Hampshire and Vermont ; and during that time I remember but once when his confidence was not justified. "What others have done, that I can do," is not a bad working motto. Adventurous spirits go beyond this and do what has never been done before; but the average farmer's wife cannot run too many risks, nor can she take time to undo, when the to-be-dones press so hard. Herself brought up on a farm, having done everything that has to be done indoors or out, except milking, the writer knows very well the old farm spirit, and has depre- cated the spirit of the present generation. It often seems as if our young people everywhere fail of that inner sight which carries one in safety over the most perilous places, as one may cross a stream on a slender plank if one looks only at the other bank. In daily life we are crossing streams all the time, with our eyes on the future and with hope and faith on either side leading us safely. Encouragement rather than criticism we all need in the hard tasks of the daily life. Especially is it needed on the farm, now that so many of the interesting manufactur- VI THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE ing processes arc taken from it. I well recall the excite- ment of candle making — a long, hard day's work, which blotted out for the time the detested drudgery of dish- washing, which never stayed done. It would be a pleasure to help in the infusion of new thoughl into the life of the young people; to make them see the charm of country life when lived for the sake of living, and not for the sake of making money to spend elsewhere than on and for the farm. J. P. Mowbray's " Return to Nature," C. Hanford Henderson's " Education and the Larger Life," E. P. Powell's "Country Home," 1 various other books, and a score of magazines have been lay- ing before us the possible delights of rural living. But there is usually a wide gap between the ideal set before the reader and his actual circumstances. Therefore I have asked a farmer's wife who has been over the road to tell how she and her husband have done it, to give courage to others to follow the same road. It needs courage and knowledge and faith. It needs an aim to achieve — a goal in the mind's eye. I\n miles from a railroad, on the sunny hillside of an old faun that had inherited the collections of many genera- tions of hard-working farmers, this household has had its own problems to solve. It is true that the farmer and his wife have had advan- of training and association with other kinds of life, that they have acquired ideals in other surroundings ; but that makes their lesson a more valuable one for those who find themselves longing, yet fearing, to forsake the bustling, wearing life of the city, with its grinding treadmill giving only just enough for board and clothes, and to adopt the freer, more restful life of the soil. In popular literature on the subject of the farm home J See also, Roberts: The Farmstead, Chap. I. INTRODUCTION Vll the demands seem to be for a new site, with clean soil and newly constructed buildings. But the seekers after advice usually have old buildings on long-occupied sites, and, moreover, are much hampered by local traditions of both craftsmen and neighbors. The woman is not supposed to know anything about construction or about drains or paints or machines. There are unreasonable and ignorant women on the farm as well as in the city, but that is no reason why this generation should continue in blind adherence to tradition. The world moves; some things are found out; and there is a possibility of an interested spirit in the housewife and mother, even though her work is never done. She can learn what things are done because in that house and in the neighbors' houses they always have been so done, and what things are essential. Farming as market gardening is one thing ; farming two hundred miles from a metropolis is another. Resources in one's self, in books, in art, in the doings of the great world without, are requisite ; also, a possibility of abstraction of thought, so that the mechanical opera- tions of dishwashing, sweeping, and dusting may go on unconsciously while the mind is busy with plans for the future. Ellen H. Richards. T s s « --Is E 8S J!— « *" -C — ■£:.£ o •- >.'!/! o S c c 5 a S « S o-o- — « u a o i; <0 -;!! 2 ■= ~ - - = a 2-° 2 !g£| OJ . *- J3 C - " — a « a.* •£ "aJS o j, a" <" - 3 M < « 3 111 Vlll o-— w3 §- P B 5 r * s £ x "re «J1 *J2.£ IIS •ill ■£— £ IX 5£ Z)'sfy shelves irrith ccy>&oa, AeZoou ZJcsiino ta&le. J?zc£e&oarc£ ! JzszJr \ S*< Ql txxsreZ Aot water oo ooo oo CZZJ Dining Room and Kitchen as Rearranged This plan should be used with Chapters I and V. It makes clear the position of t , 1 1 > 1 ._• , sink, stove, etc, shown in the illustrations facing pages G and 14. FOREWORD THIS book is written for the average farmer's wife, from the point of view of one who does all her own cooking, dishwashing, sweeping, and laundry work, yet runs a lawn mower and cares for the flower beds about the house, and does much work in the vegetable garden. It may help, too, on the large and prosperous farm, but the woman who needs it most is the one who, without "hired help," is responsible for the health and happiness of her farmer husband, her children, and herself. Any woman who reads the magazines nowadays is convinced that simple living, a real home, an atmosphere of beauty and happiness are the inalienable rights of every child ; and every farmer's wife wants them for herself. By making a bright and happy spot for the children, you add to your husband's living and tempt him to enjoy it, too. Those of us who have lived in cities, who have studied and worked at professions, and who have come back to live sincerely on a farm, stoutly insist that the farm is the best place to make this happy, healthful life, full of beauty and truth, in spite of the hard work and many responsibilities. The farmer's wife, working alone, has the best opportunity in the world for bringing up her children in the ideal atmosphere. 1 But how can she do it ? No one woman can hope i Roberts: The Farmstead, Chap. III. Powell: The Country Home, p. 23. 1 2 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE to accomplish all the things she sees about her waiting to be done. There are always so many duties waiting that she is likely to fret all the time she is sweeping or washing dishes because she isn't doing her mending or cleaning the attic ; the time spent in baking seems wasted when she thinks how much sewing she could accomplish in a morning; the daily sweeping does not seem half so necessary as weeding the garden. " But this way madness lies ! " The plain duty of every farmer's wife is to " keep her balance," to open her eyes to the conditions about her, 1 to question every act and every bit of material within her control, to decide whether this is safe or necessary, to say to each process in the housework : "Is this necessary? Does it satisfy me or my pride, or is it done to please my family, or because others have done it ? Docs it really fit our farm life, or would my husband prefer fewer pies and better citizen- ship in his boys as they grow up? Does my husband enjoy better an immaculate house and a tired, discour- aged wife, or a house in sanitary condition, full of happy busy-ness, and a wife keen to enjoy the children and the interests of the farm ? " So the aim of this book is to point out the dangers of the old houses and show the most necessary elements in right living, and to help those starting on a new plan for housework by the experiences of one who has tried it. A farmhouse is always different from other houses, even village houses, because it is more than a dwelling ; it is the heart of the farm, the beginning and the end 1 Richards : The Art of Right Living, pp. 27, 4S. FOREWORD 3 of every day's work. The interest of the work in every field, as well as its dirt, comes into the house with the workers, and upon the healthful ness and the happiness within and about the house depends the welfare of all the family. The principles of sanitation most necessary in farmhouses, and the changes suggested in the follow- ing pages, have all been accomplished without hiring skilled "artisans," with the exception of carpenters on a new shed and a plumber on a new sink trap. The great need is for real intelligence in every day's work, and sufficient skill to make tight and smooth joints everywhere. Any strong woman can remove entirely old wall paper, old paint, and dirt, and replace with new paper, clean paste, new paint, or kalsomine. CHAPTER I THE KITCHEN \I7HEN we talk of the kitchen we mean the woman's ▼ V workshop; that is, the place where food is pre- pared and cooked and where the dishes are washed. If you have a big, old-fashioned kitchen, dining table at one end, with rugs and mirror and rocking-chairs, and per- haps a sewing machine and telephone, you have a real kitchen — the workshop at the other end, with its cook stove, sink, cupboards, and cooking tools. It gives a man a comfortable feeling to step into one of these bi^ old-fashioned kitchens on a winter night and sit in a comfortable chair by the stove while the supper is being "dished up"; but if he ever had to sweep or mop that big kitchen floor, if he measured the distance a woman walks in "doing up the morning work" in it, he'd build a smaller kitchen at once! So study the kitchen end, and call the rest dining room, or living room, as it really is. 1 The first consideration is the cook stove or range. It ought to be a good one. for while cooking the food it must heat all the water for bathing, dishwashing, and laundry work. It need not he a high-priced steel range, but it ought not to be a cast-iron stove loaded with leaves and wreaths and nickel parts full of rough 1 The Country Home, pp. 43-4 \. 4 THE KITCHEN 5 places, holes, or pockets to catch whatever boils over. The most economical range for the average farm is a moderate-priced steel range. Even the small ones have big enough ovens, hot-closets, warming shelf, and, most important, the hot-water reservoir at the fire end. This makes it possible to heat quickly a quantity of water without changing the oven dampers or interfering with its baking. Then, too, these new steel ranges have per- fectly true tops, light covers, and most of the exterior is planished steel, with smooth, nickel edges, which is never blackened, only washed to keep it bright. Their greatest value, however, is in their economy of fuel, the large, smooth flues with asbestos linings holding all the heat and keeping it steady. Between fifty and seventy- five dollars will buy one to fit any farm. Those that cost less are small, or poorly made. The large sizes are often too high for a short woman to work at, so be sure you choose the right thing for you. If the top of the range is too low have it set at the right height, and have the space between it and the floor covered in with care- fully fitted and painted boards. Leave no cracks for dirt or water to find. Such a range will last twenty or twenty-five years without repair, if not abused, and is a good investment. Any tool or appliance that saves a woman daily annoyance or makes the work easier for mind or back is worth all it costs. Increased efficiency is looked for in every bit of farm machinery, why not in the kitchen ? l "From the cook stove to the sink," is the pathetic path of a New England woman, and on most other 1 Clark : The Care of a House, pp. 34-43. 6 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE farms, too. Is the sink near the range ? Is the sink just high enough ? Don't stoop over any work. Have a stool just the right height to use at the sink, and it will save many a backache and dizzy spell, besides being a factor in the real economy of a strong woman's work. In this day of cheap enameled ironware, no one should struggle with an ugly and dirty iron sink. If an iron sink is really clean it rusts ; if it looks black and smooth, it feels greasy and a dish set into it carries a mark to the table. An enameled iron sink or a soapstone sink can be easily kept as clean as a polished table, and costs very little more than an iron one. But whatever its material have an open space underneath. Nothing but the pipes and drain-pipe trap should ever be under the kitchen sink. If the sink is as near the stove and table as it ought to be for your convenience, it will not be the place for everybody to wash faces and hands. Nothing is more annoying than to have to serve dinner with several people trying to wash right in your path, and nothing is further from real cleanliness than the water that spatters a long distance. The sink is to wash dishes in, not men. Take the wash basins and tooth brushes entirely away from the room where food is prepared. 1 If you will keep your kettles in a cupboard have it built at one side of the sink. My kitchen has no cupboards. The big kettles — those seldom used — are kept in a cupboard in the shed. It is best to have the shelf for the heaviest kettles just knee-high ; it saves much lifting. 2 1 Home Sanitation, pp. 59-61. 2 The Farmstead, pp. 232-235. ^ THE KITCHEN 7 The walls are painted a soft, light yellow, and against the wall about the range hang, on brass hooks or wooden pegs, iron and steel spiders, gridiron, toasters, dishpans, drainers, and kettles of blue and white enamel ware. Above and around the sink are more blue and white ware — saucepans, double boilers, strainers, col- ander, graters, potato masher, lemon squeezer, etc. — all near enough to the range so they are hung up as soon as scalded. It seems a waste of time to put such things over the stove to dry, then later walk with them across the kitchen to a pantry to put them away. Near the sink, just opposite the range, is the kitchen table, a wide, fixed shelf, and above it are racks and hooks to hold all the kitchen cutlery — knives, forks, and spoons of all sizes, egg beaters, nutmeg grater, corkscrew, skimmers, funnels, chopping knives — all the tools for cooking. Above these are narrow shelves for spice boxes, seasoning herbs, tea caddy, and any materials that can be kept in a warm kitchen. A modern kitchen cabinet that will hold all these things can be bought for twenty dollars. A farmhouse kitchen should have one, unless a " handy man " can build for you such racks and shelves for your tools as you want there. With shelves built over the table, and bins or boxes for flour, grains, cereals, and other supplies built against the kitchen wall and painted with it, you can have quite as great convenience and often better use of your valuable kitchen space, for you must plan above all things to get your kitchen work into a small space for the sake 8 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE of saving in cleaning and time, as well as saving steps. If you follow the old plan of pantry, buttery, cold closets, cupboards, dish cupboards, and all, study your No water can run under the wood box ZOOOC? st/-LZ> COOOCt \s& Linoleum fitted against the wall-, page 7 1 8 THE HEALTHFU] FARMHOUSE garment out into the sunshine ; clean them and decide which are possible for wear, and throw the useless rubber things into a barrel for the next peddler. Burn the rest. Collect the washtubs, wringer, wash- ing machine, etc, and let them stand outdoors a while. Put the good bottles with the preserve jars for ketchup and pickle time ; gather the hopeless ones for the ped- dler. Put away or destroy everything that is not used at least once a week. Sweep down the dust and cob- webs, pull out rusty or broken nails, and sweep the floor. Then take a pail of clean-looking, light-colored paint (good ready-mixed paint can be bought for $1.25 or $1.35 a gallon, according to the price of oil), and paint. Paint the walls, the window sashes ; paint " every- thing in sight." Paint the underside of every shelf you need (rip off the others). Use the paint thin enough so that it will run into the cracks of your old boards, fill the cracks behind the shelves, and run down into the cracks at the floor. Then paint the floor (a light brown, yellow ocher, or dust gray). The smell of the turpen- tine will drive away every fly and every bug and every ant that threatened you, and rats won't like the taste of the corners. When the paint is dry put up a tew strong hooks lor coats, overalls, and such things near the door, and some brass hooks under a shelf on the other side of the door to hold lanterns ; make a tidy arrangement of starch boxes, soap, etc, on the painted shrives, an orderly row of washtubs, bench, etc, on one side, and some bright, clean windows on the other ; and you'll find no THE SHED l«/S* This window gives more light and air because of the warmth to be gained by a low, in- closed cellar, but such cellars need bigger windows, as illustrated, and often a ventilating shaft would be a safeguard. The best authorities state that the house cellar is no place for fruit or vegetables. Apples require a very cold, moist place to keep well ; potatoes must have a sweet, clean, dry but perfectly dark room ; and all other vegetables will contaminate the air of your house unless buried in sand and kept in a well-ventilated room. Yet the Northern farmer's wife cannot go to the cellar 29 the barn or root cellar for every day's dinner. A large stock of vegetables must be provided for outside the house, but a small store can be kept with safety this way : Shut off one end of your cellar with a tight par- tition covered with wire lathing and Portland cement plaster. Cover the floor beams above with the same; have the door into this small room fit well ; cover part of the window to make it dark ; and outside the other part build a ventilating shaft of wood, air-tight, which will carry away the bad air arising from the decaying vegetables outside the house to the roof, above any win- dows. Then, if your vegetables are kept in barrels of sand, they will keep well, and so will you ! Every spring all boxes, barrels, and vegetables must be taken out and the cellar walls whitewashed. Whitewashing with lime, level- ing the floor, tamping and cover- ing it with several inches of clean, dry sand, and constant ventilation will do much to make an old cellar safe to live over until you can make it better. Lime has wonderful "sweetening" power, and it should be used more all about the farm. The ideal cellar will be as light and dry and clean as any room in the house. The walls and floor are covered with hydraulic cement (Portland cement, the only kind that will keep out moisture). The windows are large, are on different sides, and may be opened The shaft 30 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE easily. The walls are free from dust and cobwebs, and look attractive in their coat of whitewash. It will take much work to achieve such a cellar from the dark, rough stone walls and soggy dirt floor of many farmhouse cellars ; but it is good investment of time and money, for it will be repaid in the better health of the family and the lessened work of the succeeding years. 1 QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER III i. Is there a cellar or ventilated air space under the whole house ? 2. Is the cellar perfectly dry at all seasons of the year ? 3. Are the floors and sides cemented ? 4. If not, is the floor leveled and covered with several inches of clean sand ? 5. Is the cellar thoroughly cleaned and white- washed with lime every spring ? 6. Has the cellar several windows on opposite sides so that it is light and well aired ? 7. Is care taken to keep the ground outside the cellar windows free from any contamination ? 8. Are these windows screened ? 9. If vegetables are kept in the cellar are they in a small room, inclosed, walls and ceiling, with hydraulic cement, and ventilated? J The Country Home, pp. 41-43. CHAPTER IV VENTILATION THERE is no excuse for bad air in a farmhouse. In the open country fresh air at least is easily pro- vided. In fact, in wooden houses too much air is the fear throughout the winter. More air than we realize comes through the walls of the house and around the windows and doors, but the farmhouse problem is how to get the bad air out. An open fireplace is the best solution. An open fire draws the air of the room toward it, and its escape up the chimney keeps the air purer and fresher than is possible in any other way. The main principle of ventilation is circulation ; that is, a constant change of air in any one place. An open fireplace, even without a fire, carries off a large amount of impure air ; but a window open at the top will do it, too. Every room should have at least one window so arranged that it can easily be let down about six inches from, the top. Where there is only one win- dow, as in many farmhouse bedrooms, it should be opened a little at the top to let used-up air out, and at the bottom to let fresh air in. This will make "circulation." In winter it is well to put a board against the opening at the bottom so as to send the current of fresh air up . into the room instead of mak- ing a draught across it ; or coarse flannel, or cheese 32 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE cloth, on a small frame like a fly screen, can be put under the window. There should be, beside the outlets for impure air The flannel or cheese cloth screen in the rooms of the house, a general outlet at the roof. A scuttle, or skylight, is good, except in very windy weather. If on the opposite side of the roof from the VENTILATION 33 prevailing winds, and hinged at the top so as to be opened a little, it will make a very good outlet, and will not generally cause any down draught. In a room that is used by many people, or that is likely to get very hot, as in the kitchen, a cross draught is necessary ; that is, a window should be opened at the bottom on one side of the room, and one should be opened at the top on the other side. Often the kitchen has a narrow window over the door, which with hinges at the bottom and hooks or string at the top will make an outlet for the heated air without any down draught. This top outlet should always be pro- vided when cooking is going on, for it is this heated air at the top of the kitchen that will carry unpleasant odors and smoke all through the house. If the bad air can possibly escape outdoors from the top of the kitchen or living room window, its place is immediately filled by fresh air from the cracks around the windows. 34 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE Strong draughts are to be guarded against, not only because of the discomfort they cause, but because they may keep the used-up air from finding the outlet you have provided for it. If a gust of wind sweeps through the house when the kitchen door is opened, see if the shed doors are shut, or if there are not some big openings in the partitions above the shed door. Keeping the rooms all open throughout the house greatly aids the circulation of air. Warmer bedrooms and cooler sitting rooms would make healthier chil- dren. Besides, it takes less fuel to make fresh air feel warm than to make stale air feel warm. Cold halls make it hard to ventilate a house. Where the upstairs part is little used, or where the upstairs bed- rooms have furnace heat or their own stoves, it is well to make a door across the bottom of the stairway and open the doors into the hall. In that way, by shutting off the draught from the stairs, the whole living floor of the house can be kept at the same temperature. The important objects of ventilation are : I. To provide an abundance of pure air. II. To avoid draughts, either warm or cold. III. To provide means of escape for foul air and odors. Time and money spent in providing good ventila- tion will be well invested, for every member of the family will feel an increase in vigor, comfort, and cheerfulness. VENTILATION 35 QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER IV 1. Are all living rooms and sleeping rooms thor- oughly aired at least once a day ? 2. Are the windows so placed as to make a draught possible when a quick change of air is needed ? 3. Is there a skylight at the top of the house as an outlet for impure air ? 4. If such a skylight is impracticable, can a window in the top story be kept open a little most of the time ? 5. Are the outside or double windows made with movable panes, so as to admit a current of air when desired ? 6. Is at least one window in each room arranged so that it can be lowered easily from the top ? 7. When a sleeping room is used as a sewing room or sitting room during the day, is it thoroughly aired before bedtime ? 8. In cold weather do you hang a piece of cotton cloth over the opening of each bedroom window, or place a board against the window, or put a screen before the window to break the force of the current of air ? 9. Do you open the chamber windows as soon as you are dressed ? Do you at the same time open the closet door ? 10. Are the living rooms kept at a temperature not exceeding yo° F. ? 11. Does the member of the family who is the last to retire thoroughly air the room where the fam- ily have been sitting through the evening, in order 36 THE HEAL'J -I that the foul air may not have a chance to make its way through the house during the night ? 12. Has the kitchen adequate arrangements for constant ventilation and occasional airing? 13. Do you keep a window lowered a little from the top or keep the transom over the door open ? CHAPTER V THE DINING ROOM WHETHER you eat in the kitchen or in a separate dining room the main questions are the same. Often a very big kitchen could be divided into a little convenient kitchen and a more attractive dining room. A separate dining room is much easier to keep clean than part of a big kitchen. See that everything has its place ; that is, the place where it is easiest to put it away, to be reached when needed, to be kept clean. If it isn't easy to keep things clean they gradually get dirty, or the housekeeper grows tired and old too soon. A floor painted all over is surely best where there are children. Older children and grown-ups can have a rug under the table, but it should be frequently cleaned ; wash every place where food drops. The rugs should be small enough to go out of doors easily, and not to be in the way of moving chairs and spilled milk. The woodwork and wall paper should be cheer- ful in color, and with such surfaces as can be easily cleaned ; both painted woodwork and plain-colored pa- pers will stand having grease spots and fly specks removed with sal soda. The table should be solid and level, and not "teetery." When the table top is of smooth-finished hard wood it will look much prettier between meal times if left bare, with a growing plant or a bunch of flowers on a mat in the middle of it. 38 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE Most of the dish closets in the farmhouse are suit- able only for storing little used dishes in. The dishes used every day are much more easily put away and taken to the table if kept on open, narrow shelves against the wall of the dining room. Since they are used every day or two they won't get dusty, and are a great help in decorating the dining room. Even if they do get dusty, it is easier to remove the dust from a dish used only occasionally than to put all the dishes into an inconvenient cupboard. Such shelves should be made just wide enough for the dishes and be at least a half inch from the wall. Corners at the back get dusty, and are hard to clean or paint or stain. Have one of these convenient dish shelves extend across the window which connects with the kitchen. With such an arrangement very little walking to and from the dining table is needed. Under the dish shelves some cupboards, narrow, with shelves just wide enough for your large plates, set out an inch from the wall, will be found most convenient for bread, cake, bits of left-over preserves, etc. They will be cooler and nearer the table than in the kitchen. Such cupboards should be painted inside with light-colored paint. Glasses can be kept behind doors, but be sure you don't have to open and shut too many doors "doing up your work." Just a word against the almost universal farm custom of keeping a table set all the time. It takes no more work, if the shelves and cupboards are near at hand, to clear a table entirely after each meal than it does to "fix up" properly, leaving the cloth and many things NIK DINING ROOM 39 in place. Everything about the table seems fresher and more inviting if it is just laid. What is more dis- gusting than to sit at a table where any sign whatever remains of the meal before ? An accidental spot may be carefully concealed by a cloth laid over it, but one of the children will rub it up and disclose the hidden fact. But changing the cloth seemed to be too much trouble with that assortment of spoonholders, salt shakers, tumblers, etc, in the middle of it. It is a mistaken idea that it saves work to let linen be- come soiled. Better do without tablecloths altogether than to use one soiled or without a "silence" cloth underneath. If the family is not too large and noisy, eating from a bare table is the most attractive and labor- saving fashion possible in the farm dining room. In- stead of a tablecloth have for each place a doily made from outworn white tablecloths, or a long scarf across from "father's to mother's place" and doilies for the others. Little, round, crocheted macrame mats for each plate, for each cup and saucer, and for the serv- ing dishes will keep the table quiet and dainty in appearance. By setting the places evenly, taking pains that the serving dishes, salt and pepper and bread things are in line in the center of the table, and putting a dish of flowers in the middle, a prettier table can be set than is found in most farmhouses ; and after the food and dishes are removed, the little mats shaken and put away, the table is washed or wiped with a damp cloth, no grease spots left, no crumbs under the sugar bowl, no water left soaking 40 THE HEALTHFU] FARMHOl SE into the tabic top, and — no more long tablecloths to "do up!" If you haven't a genius for setting things straight, cultivate it, and practice setting things in line ; but if once tried this plan is never given up. What is good enough for luncheon and breakfast in the finest houses need not look poverty stricken or like camping out in a farmhouse. If the family is too large or too conservative for such a scheme, and you must use a tablecloth, remove it at least once a day, and change it when soiled. Don't try to cover up dirt anywhere. A red tablecloth seems to keep clean longer, but it shows grease spots more than a while one and is much harder to iron. Where there is a washing machine the white cloths seem easier, because more pleasant to handle. Better use a clean cloth without ironing than one even slightly soiled. No two women think just alike about housework, and no woman wants to change "her way"; but many put too much energy into ironing table linen that ought to be spent in studying out easier or better ways of caring for it. Man} - others, however, neglect the making of a table attractive who scrub a kitchen floor oftener than need be. If tablecloths and napkins are brought in with some of the outdoor air and dampness in them, carefully stretched and folded, very little ironing will suffice and it is better to use clean napkins without ironing than none at all. Teach, the children to be careful and dainty and the washing needn't trouble you; and if you show them that you take pains to keep the table tidy and attractive they will respect it and help. Use the children's steps to save yours and to interest THE DINING ROOM 4 1 them. My boy of six will clear away a table as daintily as I, and with a few reminders set it, every fork and spoon straight and in its place. He enjoys it, too, because he knows he can do it "just the way you do ! " We eat three times a day, every day of the three hun- dred and sixty-five, and it seems rather more important to keep the table up to a dainty standard than to wash the parlor windows, clean and dust the room, and then shut it up again ! And don't be in a hurry to leave your attractive table. Take time to eat slowly and show enjoyment of each other's interests. After dinner a bit of rest is good for all, and the pleasantest times for the children to remember in later years are the talks that can come around the table. 1 QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER V i. Is the floor of hard wood or painted? 2. Are the rugs easily moved and frequently cleaned outside the house? 3. Are the walls finished with paint or smooth paper ? 4. Is there a window into the kitchen with a wide shelf on both sides ? 5. Are the dishes on the side of the room nearest the kitchen window, in order to save steps in putting away ? 6. If not, can't you plan another arrangement of dishes that will be more convenient ? 7. Is the table entirely cleared after each meal, or once a day ? 1 The Country Home, pp. 44, 45, 221-228. 42 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE 8. Are the tablecloth and napkins changed as soori as soiled ? 9. Is the dining room cheerful ? If not, what does it lack ? 10. Can you put in another window? Or put a yellow or other bright paper on the walls ? 1 1 . Would a double door into the living room make it more cheerful, or more easily warmed in winter ? CHAPTER VI THE LIVING ROOM THE farmhouse living room ought to be the largest and lightest room in the house. Plenty of sun- shine and plenty of fresh air it needs. Everything in it must have its own place ; a few movable chairs, of course, but "father's chair" and "mother's chair" should have their recognized places near the table and reading lamp. The baby's playthings must go back into their corner at night, the boy's books must have their place on the shelves, the couch or big seat should be kept clear of sewing, books, or coats ; everything should be ready to use, yet not in the way. By study- ing the needs and pleasure of every member of the family, and keeping the living room furniture and fit- tings to conform to them, we can build up a " homey " place that will reflect the atmosphere of the family life, that will truly represent the character of the farm, that will mean " home " to every child brought up in it, and will rest and comfort the housekeeper as no other room can. So choose carefully whatever you put into it. Try to put into it a fireplace, a few good books, some musical instruments, a fine picture, or photographs of tine ones, a big seat or couch, and some comfortable cushions, a steady table, and good lamp ; then, if the room is of fair size, it will look cheerful and like a living room, even with a basket of mending on the 43 44 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE table, the baby's blocks on the floor, and a small boy's soldiers on the window sill. 1 Unless the floor is hard wood, oiled and waxed or varnished, it is better painted all over. Rugs, such as you can make or afford to buy, will be much easier to clean and often prettier than a carpet ; but if you must use a carpet paint the floor first, and tack the carpet about twenty inches from the wall. Dark reds and browns are pleasant to live with, but show dust and tracks much more than greens, greenish-grays, or light brown. Wall paper should be of plain color, or very simple design. When one is tired it "worries him" to follow a pattern ; pictures never look well against uneasy wall papers streaked with gilt, and a room seems much smaller if the walls are confusing. A bright, light color — red, brown, yellow, or green — in cartridge paper costs less than many " patterns," and will do more to make your living room airy and cheerful than any other one thing. Have only a few pictures — those dignified and as good as you can afford. Life-size por- traits are not usually agreeable companions, even if they are fine oil paintings ; they need a big space ; and dorit hang up calendars ! One calendar, easily seen, may be near the desk for convenience, but the magnificent ones sent out every year as advertisements are of little use as decoration. If they please you, and you like the picture well enough to put it on your wall and live with it a year, don't hang it where it looks too big and will be crooked most of the time, but 1 The Country Home, pp. 46-48. THE LIVING ROOM 45 cut it out and tack it on a mat of good color against the wall. Many famous paintings have been repro- duced for calendars, and are well suited to such a use, but be careful that your calendar picture is not too glaring in color and subject for your living room. The farmhouse living room should be different from town sitting rooms. It is the business of the farm to grow things, to produce rather than to buy. It is a great mistake to buy furniture at the store just like that used in small city " flats " because it is cheap. Every bit of furniture in a farmhouse should be simple, strong, restful to look at, and easy to clean. The old Colonial style has never been improved upon. The furni- ture used in fine farmhouses one or two hundred years ago is today the most beautiful and most fitting. Straight, smooth surfaces, removable cushions, strong legs, and well-made joints — how many chairs bought nowadays in country or city stores have them ? Many a man can make with saw, hammer, and chisel chairs better suited to his own and his wife's comfort than any he can afford to buy. If we had fewer chairs, better made, and more window seats (just boxes two feet by five, thirteen inches high, with straw-stuffed cushions on top), we and our children should be more comfortable. Remember, too, that the living room must do more than reflect your life as it is, or make you comfortable; it must hold ideals for your children. A boy does not respect a chair made of "rotten" wood; he doesn't care for books that are too "nice" for him to read at any time (when his hands are clean) ; he doesn't keep news- papers, magazines, and books on the table in order 46 I Hi HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE unless he finds them so ; but he will love a room and the people in it, if he feels that you respect each article and plan for the comfort and pleasure of every one. The less that is hung in windows the better. Lace curtains hanging to the floor have no place in a farm- house. Thin ones that hang straight, not "looped back," just inside the window frame are good, but they should be on rings on a rod that slide easily. Curtains made of thin lawn or dimity are much prettier and often cheaper than "shade rollers," and will entirely fill their place. Keeping such a room clean is a very simple matter. All rugs, chair cushions, pillows, and stuffed chairs, and heavy curtains, if there are any, are carried out- doors on a breezy, sunny day, beaten, swept, and left outside as long as practicable. Enough windows should be opened to make a good draught. Walls are wiped with a wall mop (made by tying a cloth or Canton flannel bag over the broom), shelves and chairs are dusted, and the floor carefully swept. If no carpet or stuffy things are left in the room no dust will be raised. It may seem unnecessary to dust both before and after sweeping, but, as a rule, farmhouse chairs and shelves accumulate gritty dust or ashes that really ought to go out with the sweepings. There must be a final dusting of everything — woodwork, furniture, and floor (wash the floor if it is painted). Then the freshened things from outdoors will fill the room with a sweetness not found in carpeted houses. THE LIVING ROOM 47 It will stay clean long enough to pay for the extra trouble, too. How often this thorough cleaning should take place depends on nearness to the dusty road, on the number in the family, and on the daily care. With daily watchfulness and a small family once a month will do, but I find once a week neces- sary when the room is much used in the winter months. With the children to help tote, it seems easier to sweep with the. movable things outdoors, and there is never any confused house-cleaning. Doing the living room and dining room one day, the bedrooms on another, and the kitchen and shed on still another keeps one from unnecessary fatigue. 1 QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER VI i. Is the floor of hard wood or painted? 2. Are the rugs easily carried out to be beaten and swept ? 3. In case rugs or carpets covering only a portion of the floor are not used, are the edges of the carpet frequently cleaned with a damp cloth after sweeping? 4. Since dust sifts through mattings or loosely woven carpets, are the floors laid with closely matched boards ? 5. Arc the walls frequently dusted with a wall mop ? 6. Are the windows so curtained as to permit free admission of sunlight and to offer scant hospitality to dust ?' J The Farmstead, pp. 193, 203. The Care of a House, pp. 209-222. 48 THE HEALTHFUL FARMH01 SE 7. Are hangings and draperies so arranged as to be easily taken down and shaken ? 8. Are there neither furniture nor ornaments which cannot be properly cared for by daily dusting? 9. If there is a wood box, is it painted or varnished inside and frequently cleaned out ? 10. Is there anything in the room you or the family find inconvenient, ugly, or hard to keep clean? Why not remove it ? CHAPTER VII BEDROOMS SIMPLICITY in furniture and decoration is the first need in a bedroom. Have a painted floor — if you can have hard wood so much the better — with a small rug or two. A carpet under the bed means a back-breaking job of moving the bed or sweeping under it every time you sweep and a struggle at house-cleaning time. Everything in the bedroom should be washable or easily cleaned. If lint flies to the bare floor under the bed, you see it and can clean it up easily ; but in the shadow on a carpet, how can you ? Rugs can go outdoors for sunning, and bedroom fit- tings need sun as much as others. For that reason, if for no other, blankets are better than the "puffs" and "comforters" used. Woolen blankets, or wool and cotton, last for more than one generation if prop- erly cared for, freshen up a room amazingly after hanging outdoors on a sunny, breezy day, and can be easily washed and rinsed in a washing machine. But have soft, light ones ; they are warmer than the stiff, , coarse kind and last longer. If you must use "puffs" have a cheese cloth or thin cover, not a harsh, impene- trable cotton one that sunlight and fresh air can get through. The coverlet or spread should keep the dust out of it. When our grandmothers pieced quilts they used soft cotton stuff and quilted them, instead of making puffs out of stiff prints. 49 SO THE HEALTHFU] FARMHOUSE An old-fashioned, painted vvashstand, open all around, is much more sanitary than the more modern com- mode. If a closed-in stand or commode is used it should go outdoors occasionally for a careful cleaning, drying, and sunning. When dry and sweet-smelling, paint and varnish it inside. It will be less likely to hold bad odors. The average bedroom is an uncom- fortable place in which to bathe, so the washing ac- commodations should be small and simple. The white enameled iron stands, such as are used in hospitals, are most sanitary, but if you buy cheap ones you must keep them in repair and repaint them occasionally. The most important part of the care of the bedroom, however, is the daily airing and constant ven- tilation of it. This point is where farmhouse keepers fall below their city sisters' standards. Because the farm bedrooms are often cold the bad air is not noticeable, but unless ventilated as described in Chap- ter IV no room that one or two persons have slept in is fit to use again until all the air has been changed. One of the first lessons physiology teaches us is that our bodies rebuild themselves during sleep. This repairing of the body through the breathing fills the air with carbonic acid gas and organic impurities. The night clothing and bed clothing hold such im- purities as come from the breath and the perspiration, and the impure matter in the air of the room will "settle" and stick to the walls and furniture, as well as to the clothing. Fresh air, frequent dusting, and much sunshine entirely remove and destroy such im- purities. A well-known authority states that "breath- ing impure air is a prolific cause of catarrhal colds IT — ■-■ ■ ■ ■ I' mj " ' — — - — i BEDROOMS 51 and sore throats ; it predisposes a child to tonsilitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia ; and as a result of lowered vitality there is less resistance to the contagious dis- eases." So in your bedrooms, especially, keep plenty of fresh air ; sun the night clothes, pillows, and other bedding out of doors, and don't shut the bedroom doors, even at night, unless you have provided for good ventilation. Some one will say, "If we do everything as carefully as we are told we can never get our work done." True, too. But keep a high standard before you. If the family is large, and one woman works alone, she cannot do everything as well as her neigh- bor, whose "big girls" help. Then teach the children to open their beds, put the pillows in chairs near the open windows, and open the closet door as soon as they are dressed. Even the hired man will do this much for you if he knows it is the "rule of the house." At all events, try to do the thing that is of great importance to the welfare of your family. Fresh air and sweet-smelling bedclothes are worth much more to them than pies ; and if you can keep them well they will be hungry enough to "eat any- thing." But "there are times" —of course, there are — and you can't take all the night clothes of a large family out of doors every day, but if you begin doing it once or twice a week you'll find it possible to do it oftener ; and the children love to carry pillows back into the house — if you don't ask them to! More than this, when you keep a simpler furnished bedroom in what is the most healthful 52 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE fashion you will find it rarely needs a house-cleaning, and really saves in the year's work. Insist on the children's changing their underclothes at night. Little children in cold weather need as much warm clothing when asleep as when moving about, but it should be loose and comfortable, and not that worn through the day, which is moist and more likely to give them colds than a window opened at the top. Less bedding and warm night clothes will make them sleep more quietly than with heavy bed clothes. " One-third of our lives is spent in bed," one-half of a child's ought to be, so you cannot be too careful of the bedrooms. They need much reform in the average farmhouse. QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER VII 1. Is the floor of hard wood or painted ? 2. Are the rugs movable or tacked down ? 3. Have the windows only such curtains as can be washed ? 4. Are mattresses substituted for feather beds? 5. Are mattresses and pillows aired daily, often turned and dusted, occasionally cleaned carefully, and frequently exposed in the open air on a sunny day for several hours ? 6. Are the bed coverings washable ? 7. Are they, and the night clothes, aired every morning ? 8. Are soiled clothes removed at once from the bedrooms ? 9. Are the clothes worn through the day aired at night ? 10. Can one window, at least, open from the top? CHAPTER VIII HALLS, STAIRWAYS, AND BATHROOM A FARMHOUSE has little need of a formal en- trance hall. A vestibule for protection against the cold in winter, with provision for hats and wraps, an umbrella holder, and a seat (a low locker in which to keep overshoes), is all that is needed. Big halls with staircases are hard to heat ; the warm air rushes up or the colder air from above will settle, so that the doors are usually kept closed in cold weather. A cold, shut-up hall upsets the ventilating plans for the whole house, and makes a cold, cheerless place. Keep the hall doors open to insure a circulation of fresh air throughout the house. At all events, open the outside door for a while every morning to change the air entirely. If the hall is much used as an en- trance the outdoors dirt should be removed every day, for it is the dust from the street that brings in many disease germs near a town. A little used hall, how- ever, should be provided with an outside vestibule and kept open. If it is impossible to heat it, then the stairs may be shut off with a door (either at the top or at the bottom). The uncomfortable halls may always be made into useful space with a little inge- nuity and change of partition walls, either taken into the adjoining room or the space behind the stairs used for another purpose. 53 54 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE By putting a partition across the foot of the stairway and a window under the back a most con- venient bathroom may be made. Somehow the farm- house must make possible a comfortable bathroom. Cleanliness is of more importance than variety in fond, and personal cleanliness means more than clean- liness in clothing. Hearty old men may tell you that they have drunk the water from an unsafe well " for forty years " ; a well man may prove to you that he "would get his death of cold" if he bathed every day ; healthy families may live in houses that are not ventilated ; but the younger men and women, the children growing up now, have to pay for the neglect or the ignorance of their elders. Weak lungs, weak hearts, weak backs, colorless faces, and many an in- herited disease are the punishments that are "visited upon the heads of the children " ; and in order to make our children strong and well we must teach them the laws of health and right living. Bad teeth, weak digestion, sluggish circulation of the blood, stoop- ing shoulders, lack of vitality, and many other weak- nesses noticeable in the rising generation can be avoided by clean living and simple, wholesome food. Both these are within the mother's control. Next to pure air ami wholesome food a child needs instruction in personal cleanliness. Not only to wash his hands before touching food, to wash his sticky hands rather than wipe them on his clothes, to clean his finger nails properly — in short, to keep his body clean — he must be taught to bathe regularly, and it must be made easy for him to do so. " Cleanliness is next HALLS. STAIRWAYS, AND BATHROOM 5 5 to godliness," and why ? When a man or a child is tired out, nervous, or irritable a good bath will give energy and a different turn to the thoughts. A man will have more self-respect when he has bathed; the child is happier and better tempered. Sensible rules for bathing have not yet been made for the farmer's family. Each family must make its own. The college professor or energetic business man from the city will find great benefit in a cold morning bath, but not the farmer. His bath had better be warm and at night. Then the dirt and fatigue of the day are removed, and give him the best chance for a restful sleep. His morning chores give him outdoor air, exercise quite sufficient for his cir- culation, and appetite for breakfast. Some children will sleep better for a warm bath at night ; but when- ever it comes teach them to bathe daily. It is hard for the person of middle age to acquire such a habit, but a child trained to it will not change as he grows up. A prominent physician, in a recent magazine article, says the reason for daily bathing is " not for the body, but for the soul " ; and also, that " people who are down with the blues have often got over them by taking the right kind of baths." A good thing for farm women to note. A reasonable bathing room, then, should be found in every farmhouse 1 — "reasonable," not an extrava- gant bathroom with plumbing, unless you have water and fuel for its maintenance, but at least a room iThe Farmstead, pp. 208-211, 213-217. The Country Home, pp. 67-68. 56 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE that can be easily aired, cleaned, and warmed, in which there is a bathtub and wash basin, connected by pipes and traps with the tile drain. In many farmhouses there is a small room leading from the kitchen, used as a bedroom, which might easily be made into a bath- room and dressing room. It isn't necessary to have running water at first. The fetching of warm water is not what keeps children and others from bathing. It is the standing in a cold room to bathe, and the carrying away the water afterward. If there is pro- vision for waste water and for warming the room, the running water can come after the whole family deems it necessary. Without any plumbing at all the bath- tub may be emptied into a low hopper leading to a tile drain. A wooden cover and a rug on it will keep out the cold. A fair-sized tin bathtub can be had in the East for fifteen dollars ; a stationary enameled iron one, "good enough for anybody," for about thirty dollars. The portable English tub — the "hat" tub — can be bought for five dollars. For summer bathing a " splash room " in the shed is a good solution of this problem. A little room, four feet square or thereabouts, with the floor inclined to let water run into a tile drain, and a tank overhead with a "shower," gives great comfort for very little expense. A corner of a large room used for other purposes may be shut off with a wooden screen to make a bath- room. Simply a bathtub with its drain, and a small stove for warmth and for heating water, is better than none. Many ways and contrivances are possible. HALLS, STAIRWAYS, AND BATHROOM 57 if one only wants the bathroom enough to plan for it. Where a complete installation of good fittings by a responsible plumber is possible, it is the best way in the end ; but for those who can't afford it, or whose water supply is insufficient, the simple bathtub, set bowl, and hopper in a room near the kitchen stove make a good substitute. Paint the walls, ceiling, and floor of the bathroom, and you will have no trouble in keeping it clean, even if it is general wash room. Because the farm bathroom should be in use so much of the time, it is better to keep the water-closet in a space by itself. Take special pains to have it " sanitary." ' Bad plumbing does a house and its inmates more harm than none at all. Choose the fixtures care- fully ; be sure of the workmanship of the plumber who does the fitting, and keep constant watch of the working parts and the water supply. Unless you have an abun- dant water supply and a good drainage system, don't have a water-closet in the house. A well-made earth closet painted throughout (underside of seat boards and inside of box), kept clean and fly-tight, may better be under the house roof than cheap plumbing. QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER VIII 1. Is the hall kept free from street dirt? 2. Is the hall aired daily ? 3. Is the hall kept warm and open ? 4. Is the stair carpet kept several inches away from the wall and balusters ? 1 The Care of a House, chapter on Plumbing, especially, pp. 1 15— 121 Home Sanitation, pp. 59-61. 58 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOtS! 5. Has the bathroom an oiled or painted floor, with no other carpet than a small rug, which is often aired outdoors ? 6. Is the space about the tub and bowl quite open, using a wall cupboard instead of drawers ? 7. In summer does the fly screen cover the whole window, so that the upper sash can be lowered as well as the lower one raised ? 8. In cold weather is the bathroom window opened frequently, top and bottom, for a few minutes at a time ? 9. If you have no bathroom, do you have a big portable bathtub ? 10. Is it arranged so that you can easily empty the water into a safe drain ? CHAPTER IX GENERAL SCHEME OF LIVING THERE are still to be found farms of the old- fashioned sort, where the life of the different members of the family is so mingled with that of the farm that a visitor finds strength and peace and comfort such as can be found in no other home. But it is too often otherwise. A large farm means much labor, and the mother must admit into her family circle at least one hired man ; then there comes a time when " help in the house " is needed ; from there on the farm home loses its significance. It may be that the family can live by themselves and the "hired help" are in another house, or can amuse themselves and eat in another room. Most parents have their hands full caring for their children, and are wise if they plan their farming operations and their general life so that they may keep their homes to themselves. We should try, not to make money, but to get away from the need of it. As this book aims to help those who do all, or nearly all, of their work alone, we have not considered the mixing with "hired help." The ideal farmhouse means a family working all together to gain a living from the soil, to make a house that is suited to their needs and pleasures, and to live in such fashion as shall make their surroundings seem a part of their life while affording inspiration to the grow- 59 60 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE ing children. Living on a farm does not mean isolation, nowadays; there are books, magazines, and newspapers, telephones and interested visitors in many a farming community ; but sometimes it seems as if the older con- ditions brought up sturdier and more independent men and women than are found in some of the more conven- tional neighborhoods. Each family ought to live in the way its members see fit, at peace with their conscience and their pocketbook, not struggling to build a bigger house than the one on the next farm, not trying to dress as well as the people who have the pew in front, not uncomfortable and ashamed because the work is not done up as early as Mrs. So-and-So's who comes to call. It isn't the measure of right living to compare the state of your own windows or curtains, the number of pies you make, the time you start the fire in the morning, the magnificence of the new chamber set, or the time you get your dress changed with anybody else. The ques- tions that ought to concern the farm mother are: Is the house healthfully clean ? Does the family have the right sort of food ? Are the children growing in as healthy a way as they should ? Is the house comfortable and attractive to every one in the family ? Are there things they want done more than the things you are doing? If so, can't you plan your living and working so as to make more out of your time and strength? Do the work and live as your people want you to live, not to satisfy any custom or habit that has grown up in other people's lives. Most farmers' wives have more work than they can do. No one woman can keep every one of the depart- GENERAL SCHEME OF LIVING 6 1 ments she is responsible for up to her standards. It is the aim of this book to show her what standards are neces- sary for health and how she can accomplish these ends with more reasonable effort than she puts into dragging work. Effort wasted is a loss to your family as well as to yourself. Try to study out an arrangement of your rooms and tools that will enable you to shorten the time of any one ''job," like baking or dishwashing. But try, at the same time, to enlarge your outlook a little ; do it first by keeping the doors of all your rooms open, so that you can see the whole house as you go about your morning work. One of my greatest comforts is a large window between the kitchen and dining room through which the dishes go ; but incidentally it allows me to see, while washing dishes, the dining room, with the flowers on the table and the row of platters on the wall oppo- site, and the wide doorway into the living room beyond, where the flames of the open fire are giving comfort, too, to the little boys building block houses. The warm colors, the cushions, the sunshine across the floor, the feeling of distance, and its being mine are enough to take the mind off the endless task and give fresh incen- tive to finish quickly and be in there too. Of course the basket of stockings is waiting ; but there are also the new magazines we were reading last night, and, while darning, their covers remind me of another world and the thoughts are full of interest. There is more than good ventilation in having the rooms all open. The children move about more and do not feel "shut in" in the winter, as they would if they had to stay in the kitchen. If there is a pretty 62 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE picture, or a nice clock on the mantel, or a new chair you like to look at, you don't want it shut away in the parlor. Have the best things you own where you can see them every day. If there were no pretty things about us, nothing but the tools of our life, we should be dulled, stunted in a part of our growth, and the children would miss the training they need in being taught to respect the good things, to touch books only with clean hands, to keep their feet off the cushions and polished chairs. If the farmer and his boys change from boots to slippers they will enjoy their evenings in the pleasant room much more. If you teach the boys to sit politely, not to lounge or go to sleep in the presence of others, it is good training against the time when they want manners. If you can bring into every day's life such little formalities as are founded on consideration for others, like looking out for each other's light in reading, keeping the feet or the chair rockers out of the way, giving up a comfortable chair to the mother just enter- ing the room, the life together will have much more meaning to your children. Such formalities do good, and the good things in the best room help train the children ; but a conventional parlor is only a burden on the housekeeper and an occasional satisfaction when outsiders are present. Don't buy chairs the children can break ; if they are heavy and strong they will be respected even by a small boy wanting a horse. Don't make cushions of stuff that soils too easily, like dainty silk ; stout materials in warm colors are more livable for any of us. GENERAL SCHEME OF LIVING 63 The dainty things are only for show-off parlors. Don't fret if the windows do have finger marks on them ; better have happy boys than clean windows. Wash off fly specks, because they are dangerous. Don't think that your housekeeping is all awry because the chairs look "ready to ride out" and bits of paper are all over the floor ; make the children pick up the scraps and put back the chairs as best they can "to be ready for papa at dinner time," and you'll find that only a few touches of yours will make it look cheerful again. After all, the rooms and the furniture are for your family, not for your pride to show off to a visitor. There is a great difference between keeping a room or a house in apple-pie order and keeping it livable. If you know that the room was "clean last Saturday," that is, really clean, with no dust left in a carpet, but a rug taken outdoors and the bare floor washed, the simple chairs all stripped of their cushions and the frames wiped clean, and so on, you ought to be able to stand the ruction the little folks make and the confusion among the magazines the older ones left. The dirt they brought in is quickly brushed up, and a real cleaning is coming again. It is a consoling fact that by caring constantly for the trifles that go to make a sanitary house, you "keep things up" in such a way that your pride need never be hurt. What is "good enough" for your folks will surely do for others, and if there is no unsanitary dust around there is little to impress a visitor. The little confusion that comes from daily living is very different from the disorder that collects 64 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE in a room seldom cleared out. A room " feels better " all the week through for the airing and cleaning that we insist on. The most conventional customs cling to the table. Farmers who wouldn't drive a horse too hard expect pie three times a day ; women who make their men folk "wear their bedclothes a little longer" dare not offer a dinner without dessert ; and the staple dinner of fried meat, potatoes, and pie goes on day after day, when the farmer, his wife, and his children would be better off for a dinner of eggs, potatoes, squash, salad, and a bit of jelly for fruit flavor and sweet. The most healthful food, fortunately for the farmer's wife, is made from materials grown on the farm, and is much easier to prepare than fancy baking. It may take some time to convince the men folk that clean- liness is more important than kinds of food, but it is worth trying. Men are generally much more ready to take useless or fussy furniture from a living room than women, and it is only a matter of months before you, too, will find sanitary housekeeping much pleasanter and easier than the old-fashioned sort. Better standards of living throughout the house are worth working for. But while working for them we must not forget that the great beauty out of doors is, after all, the wellspring of health on the farm. The children who run barefooted, bareheaded, and care free all summer in fields and pastures never suffer from sunstroke, can eat much fruit with safety, and do many things the carefully housed children cannot. And the mother, in order to meet the great GENERAL SCHEME OF LIVING 65 demands on her strength and nerves, must follow the children's example, and gather into herself all the sun- shine and healthful repose of the soil that she can. Two hours' work in the vegetable garden or among the flowers or in the hayfield will often make the worries of the house seem very little. Coming in from outdoors, the house will seem restful in spite of work undone, and the mother is likely to say to herself, " I don't believe the men folk know whether I swept that room or not." And the probabilities are they don't. In the summer, when all are out of doors most of the time, the pursuit of dust may well be relaxed. It is in the winter, when all are housed, that the condition of the cellar, the purity of the air, and the dangers in dust force themselves upon our attention. Eating out of doors has been for me the most restful relaxation. A simple meal served on a rough table under the apple trees delights the children, rests one, and has hearty masculine approval because of the evident relief to me. Even a large family can easily eat out of doors if there is a piazza fairly near the kitchen stove. Some rough seats or old chairs, an old table, a tray or two, a tea cozy, and covered dishes make it practicable to serve hot dinners on the piazza and give every one a new pleasure. CHAPTER X THE OPPORTUNITY OP' THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL T T 7K are well aware that these pages assume a skill * * of hand in both men and women that is too often lacking, and that will not be acquired after middle life. To use one's hands and brain together is one of the ideals for the future happiness and welfare of mankind, and the way to its realization is through the school by- practice during the acquisitive years of life. The consolidated rural school offers possibilities for the requisite early training of hand and eye in wood and metal, in color and texture of paint and fiber, which may make it feasible to carry out in all homes the sug- gestions given here. Both boys and girls should have as much wood working as will make them independent in the matter of simple shelves, doors, and bookcases. While it is possible for the boy to learn from his father, the teacher should have better tools, more labor-saving devices, and above all an aesthetic ideal for even door buttons and drawer handles. It is also of great advantage to the development of tin' girl's character to he obliged to work with a material that will neither pucker nor pull. A small but effective plane, a sharp chisel, a box of screws and one of assorted nails, a set of drills, a screw- driver, small saw, hammer, jackknife, and sand paper 66 OPPORTUNITY OF THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL 6j should have their place in the housewife's domain as much as needles' and emery ball. The elder generation of women often prided them- selves on not knowing how to wield saw and screw- driver. Perhaps the men were then inclined to be more helpful, but today we cannot count on them. When they are competent they, as a rule, take the tools out of our hands and do the work as they please, not al- ways as we would like it done. Closet shelves are always too high. In any case, there is an intense gratification in being able to translate the wish into the fact. It gives a sense of power that makes the greatest difference in the aspect of life. It gives a feeling of control, a will- ingness to attack problems with a reasonable assurance of getting them done. 1 Therefore let there be a well-equipped workshop in the consolidated school, with drawings, models, and suit- able material for substantial construction and decorative effects. In most of us, appreciation of beauty of form and harmony of color must be developed by definite training and by the pervasive influence of beautiful surroundings. We have been learning that the eye as well as the ear may be trained to perceive more and deeper meanings. We believe that color has far-reaching mental and moral effects. 2 We are sure that a life lived in the midst of sham furnishings and make-believe ornaments tends to lower moral ideals. Flimsiness has no place in a livable x The Country Home, pp. 51-54. The Farmstead, pp. 2-6. -The Country Home, pp. 312-317. 68 THE HEALTHFUL FARMHOUSE home. Not as mere luxury, but as a real necessity of life, we must have beautiful things about us suggestive of ideals. We need something to serve the purpose of the old-time sampler, something to bring back that former pride in skill which has been so nearly lost. A familiarity with samples of textiles, photographs of good interiors, a few well-chosen articles of genuine suggestiveness, without prohibitive expense, will do much toward raising the standard of taste. Local loan exhibitions serve a double purpose : to educate the people, and to bring out the valuable things stored away in chests and closets, often unappreciated by their owners. Why should the country farmhouse despoil itself of grandfather's clock or grandmother's brocade ? What better decorative material will the few dollars the collector pays purchase? Besides, the ap- propriateness of the old material, to say nothing of the spirit of the old life shut up within its very pores, adds a value to things in their own place. If a town is so new as to have no old things let some one " send back home " or ransack the country about, or even secure photographs of good designs, small samples of good fabrics. Set the young people to studying the qualities winch make these articles of value, and spur them on to create new designs appropriate to modern life. The first and last word on value is the time and thought put upon the work. Any rural community could find enough treasures to start its consolidated school museum, and a few dollars a year will secure permanent examples of the more important suggestions. OPPORTUNITY OF THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL 69 These endeavors will add interest and unity to the social relations of the community, and give healthful occupation to mind and body without resorting to expensive visits to the neighboring city in quest of amusement which leaves nothing tangible behind. Let us develop the workshop and the loan museum in the consolidated rural school. NOV 16 1906 ' . ; : V;i= : ;! : '.?i:i!;.l lis \