5o6 Reading-Course euk Farmers. 



The problem of plumbing, in an ordinary farm house is altogether a serious 

 one, not so much on account of difficulties in obtaining a water supply 

 and disposing of the wastes, as on account of trouble from freezing and 

 bursting of water pipes in winter. Whenever plumbing fixtures are 

 installed it is necessary, of course, to have water supply and waste pipes, 

 and it is imperative — vmless we wish to invite disaster — to have these 

 pipes, more especially the supply pipes, thoroughly guarded against 

 freezing. In a house heated by a hot air furnace, steam, or hot water, 

 this is a simple problem ; but when the heating is from the more primitive 

 stove the situation calls for the exercise of the greatest care and per- 

 sonal judgment rather than obedience to any possible set of rules. Plac- 

 ing the bath room directly over the kitchen with pipes exposed on walls 

 and ceilings of the kitchen might be a solution in one case ; or running 

 pipes up in interior partitions and wrapping them thoroughly with hair 

 felt or mineral wool, or placing them near a warm chimney, might offer 

 another solution; while still another way might be to have a hot water 

 circulating pipe from the kitchen range boiler and have this circulating 

 pipe run close to the cold water supply pipe. This certainly would keep 

 the water from freezing so long as there was a fire in the range ; but 

 it would also heat the water standing in the cold water pipes, which might 

 be a disagreeable feature of the situation, especially in warm weather. 

 This, however, might be overcome by having a stop or " shut off " in the 

 circulating pipe to cut off the circulation whenever it might be desirable 

 to do so. 



If in taking the first steps in progress toward the " modern con- 

 veniences," the bath room cannot be included, then a water-closet of the 

 Philadelphia hopper type might be installed in a small outer room near 

 the kitchen or wash room. This type of closet has the water supply and 

 trap so arranged that the water flows only when the closet is in use and 

 is then cut off and pipes emptied automatically to a point several feet 

 below the floor level where they may be protected from freezing by the 

 depth of earth or other covering. 



The kitchen sink is one of the things no longer looked upon as a 

 luxury. The cast iron porcelain enameled sink with back of the same 

 material and with roll rim is quite cleanest and best for moderate cost 

 work. It is, for all practical purposes, quite as good as the solid porcelain 

 sink and is much less expensive. Even a very cheap sink of heavy sheet 

 metal with colored enamel is better than a plain cast iron sink and will 

 cost little if any more; but the cast iron with white porcelain enamel is 

 by far the best investment for the housekeeper who takes pride in her 

 work and wants to keep things looking clean and neat. A kitchen sink 

 should not be smaller than 20 by 30 inches, while 22 by 36 inches would 



