The Farmhouse 1497 



with a register inlet about four feet above the stove top, will relieve the 

 kitchen of odors and of excessive heat, especially if a projecting metal 

 hood is fastened over the range for collecting the rising air. 



The stove or range requires more care and makes more dirt than any 

 other feature in the kitchen. Fuel must be brought in and ashes must be 

 removed. Usually these trips are attended by a trail of chips, dust, or 

 cinders. Whatever can be done to simplify the incoming and the out- 

 going of fuel will obviously make for cleanliness and tor economy of 

 labor. A generous temporary supply may be stored either in a 

 separate fuel compartment next to the kitchen, or in a fuel box fitted 

 with a double-hinged cover and built into the wall in such a way that it 

 may be filled from without and emptied from within. The actual arrange- 

 ment in any case will depend on whether wood or coal is burned and 

 whether the main supply may be stored in or near the house. 



Ashes, which are a worse nuisance than unburned fuel, may be emptied 

 directly into an air-tight metal can in the cellar. This is an easier and 

 cleaner method than removing them by hand. A can of a size that one 

 man can handle easily will probably not need to be emptied oftencr 

 than once a week. Many of the newer ranges are already equipped 

 for this method of ash-disposal, but any stove may be so arranged if 

 there is a careful workman at hand. The ash pan should first be removed 

 from the stove and a round hole cut through the bottom of the ash com- 

 partment and through the floor below ; a stovepipe is then passed through 

 these holes and is flanged over the bottom of the ash pit of the stove. 

 Two precautions must be observed in this piece of work: first, the 

 stovepipe which is to lead the ashes into the cellar can must be provided 

 with a damper near the stove, in order to prevent an upward draught 

 of air from burning out the fire; second, a free air space of at least two 

 inches must be allowed all around the pipe where it passes through the 

 floor, consequently the floor hole must be cut at least four inches larger 

 than the pipe. This open space may be filled with concrete or covered 

 with an ordinary metal collar. 



Measures should also be taken to make the ash can perfectly safe. 

 It should be remembered that a container of hot ashes in a place not 

 frequently visited, such as the cellar, may prove a source of danger unless 

 it is surrounded by a wire cage or in some way protected so that rubbish, 

 paper, kindling, or other combustible material can never be thrown directly 

 against it. 



Fortunately, the newer patterns of reliable ranges are simpler, less 

 bulbous, and less ornate than those of the older stoves. There is less 

 nickel-plate and flourish, and more straight line and plain surface; the 

 stove thus presents a simpler appearance and requires less care. 



