818 BOAED OF AGKICULTTJEE. 



tion. The money spent in having it right you can rest assured will be 

 well spent. The best A-eutilation is by use of a chimney starting from 

 the ground and built larger than is customary in many places. It should 

 be at least 20x12 inches inside the flue, with a small register at the 

 bottom. There is no better ventilation made than the old-fashioned fire- 

 place, and one should be in every cellar. In the spring everything likely 

 to decay should be taken out, all the windows opened, and the whole 

 cellar, walls and ceiling given a good coat of lime whitewash. 



Since so much depends on the health of the family from the water 

 supply, we can see the necessity of having the yard surrounding the well 

 kept neat and clean. It has been demonstrated that the well can be con- 

 taminated by leaching whatever may be on the surface within a radius 

 of 40 feet. For this reason it can be easily seen that poultry yards, barn 

 lots and all out-buildings should be adjusted at a sufficient distance from 

 the well and house. The up-to-date well is cemented, so that no surface 

 water can get in. As an illustration of the pollution of water, take for 

 instance the epidemic of typhoid fever at Butler, Pa. On December 5th 

 1,180 cases were reported to the board of health, due to the infection of 

 the water supply. The water was pumped directly from a creek, when 

 there were many cases of typhoid fever on the tributaries of the stream. 

 At Springdale, a part of Butler, only two cases were reported, one a 

 child who had been going to school at Butler and the other a laborer at 

 the same city. The population at this town obtained its water from a 

 number of artesian wells and was not provided with the water of the 

 main city. But very few realize the bad effects of open rain barrels 

 during the warm season of the year in the breeding of mosquitoes, which 

 are the direct cause of malarial sickness. It can be easily obviated by 

 the use of a little coal oil poured in the barrel. 



For the welfare of our animals, cattle and horses, especially the 

 barns and stables should have plenty of light admitted to the rear of 

 the animals. Provision should also be made for abundant fi'esh air. Air 

 which contains 10 to 12 per cent, of carbon dioxide will no longer sustain 

 life. The deleterious effect is due partly to the lack of oxygen in such a 

 re-breathed air, but also to the excess of the poisonous carbon dioxide, 

 volatile organic matter and other injurious products. Air which contains 

 even 1 per cent, of carbon dioxide produced by breathing is injurious to 

 a marked degree. In a perfectly close place where there can be no access 

 of fresh air a horse would contaminate to this extent over 7,000 cubic feet 

 in 24 hours. The dairy department is another very impoi'tant factor 

 in the health of the family. Impure milk is equal to water in the breeding 

 of germs. How can you expect clean, pure milk when your cow is 

 allowed to eat any kind of green feed dumped into a filthy barnyard or 

 to drink from a stagnant pond? Many yards into which dairy cows are 

 turned each day for their drink and exercise are knee deep with mud 



