146 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Here is another direction in which we follow a beaten 

 path, not because it is a pleasant road, or leads where we 

 wish to go, but because it is beaten. 



When glass was first used for windows, it was an expen- 

 sive luxury, and, as is quite right and proper for expensive 

 luxuries, was heavily taxed. Then there was an excuse for 

 small windows. Now it is relatively one of the cheapest 

 building-materials we have ; and the man who builds a new 

 house without providing for great floods of sunlight is an 

 ignorant old fogy, or else he prefers darkness to light for 

 scriptural reasons. 



Large windows are cold. There is no denying that ; but it 

 is easy to double them ; and, without introducing the ques- 

 tion of warming, it may be said that the best place for the 

 steam-radiators is under or near the windows, perhaps in a 

 recess contrived to receive them. 



If the walls are thick, and the windows not too near the 

 floor, there will be plenty of ^om, and fresh air can be 

 brought to them directly from out of doors. The nearer we 

 can get to direct radiation from live heat, the better. 



Solid walls of stone or bricks will be damp ; that is, the 

 internal heat will be absorbed by them so rapidly as to con- 

 dense the moisture of the inside air. 



The ideal, incombustible, indestructible house will have 

 detached linings of hollow tiles or bricks, and the partitions 

 will be of the same material. 



For econom3^'s sake an inner lining of wood will answer ; 

 and, if the flues formed between this inner lining and the 

 outer shell are cut off at every possible opportunity, the 

 insurance companies will guarantee against fire for a very 

 small premium, and still pay large salaries to their officers, 

 and liberal dividends to their stockholders. 



Concerning the internal arrangements of farmhouses, only 

 general suggestions can be given, — situation, size, and de- 

 sired cost. The taste, needs, and aims of its occupants are 

 conditions that vary indefinitely, »and should be met with 

 absolute directness and honesty. 



If the peculiarity of the situation requires the kitchen to 

 be in the front corner of the house, that is the right place 

 for it. If it makes the pantry next neighbor to the main 

 stairway, that proximity should be accepted as best for both. 



