26 The Hoiisiiuf of the Agriculhiral I.ahonrer. 



be dealt with by his spiritual diivctor rather tliaii by his 

 architect. 



Mr. Weaver, although strongly opposed to the provision of 

 parlours in five-roomed cottages, has raised an interesting point 

 in favour of the parlour as such, in his report on the Coimfry 

 Life Competition, " The whole trend of educational opinion 

 is in the direction of advancing the age at which children will 

 be permitted to stop their education. If the scope of primary 

 schools is to be increased in this respect, the higher standard 

 of training will bring with it the need for home lessons in the 

 evening. Anyone who is familiar with cottage life in the 

 country will know how difficult it would be for children to 

 work at their books in the common living-room, and the time 

 is coming, therefore, when a parlour will be an increasing 

 necessity. It is desirable, therefore, that landowners and 

 others who contemplate building shall not rule out parlours as 

 needless luxuries." 



With a good sized scullery-kitchen quite a small parlour 

 would appear to be sufBcient. indeed it might be less than the 

 minimum area of 100 sq. ft. recommended for the larger type 

 of cottage by the Departmental Committee. The room would 

 not be used for living in to the same extent as the scullery 

 usually provided, even when that is used only as a working 

 room, so that the minimum sizes recommended for sculleries 

 might well apply to parlours in five-roomed cottages. Though 

 a room rather larger would be preferable it should be borne in 

 mind that the laboui-er as a rule has not much furniture to put 

 in it, and he apparently does not consider that it is properly 

 furnished until it is quite full. The aspect of the room is of 

 less importance than that of the kitchen. An angle fireplace 

 would perhaps be the most desirable arrangement in a small 

 parlour, as it would occupy less air and wall-space than one 

 with projecting jambs. 



In exceptional cases in which the family would not require 

 a parlour or could not afi'ord to furnish it, the room might be 

 used as an extra bedroom, or let to a lodger, an important 

 consideration in rural districts. Single men employed as 

 railway porters, shop assistants, postmen, &c., and builders' 

 men and other workers employed temporarily in the country, 

 generally find it hard to obtain housing accommodation, so the 

 cottager would seldom have any difficulty in getting a tenant 

 for a spare room. 



The kitchen should be as large as the limits of cost will allow 

 — certainly not less than the minimum area of 1()5 sq. ft. recom- 

 mended for living-rooms. The sink might be placed in a tiled 

 or cement-paved recess, which for all practical purposes could 

 be regarded as a separate scullery with one side open to the 



