llie Housiny of the Agricultural Labourer. 27 



kitchen, and the draining-board and a cupboard with a small 

 dresser for pots and pans inight be fixed at the side, in addition, 

 of course, to the usual kitchen dresser, and as much shelving as 

 possible provided, so that as far as may be washing operations 

 would be kept clear of the " sitting-room " part of the kitchen, 

 and every facility afforded for keeping the room clean and tidy. 

 Objection may be raised to having the sink in a living-room, 

 but without very much reason. There is nothing particularly 

 obnoxioiis about the w^ashing of pots and dishes, &c., or vege- 

 tables, and on sanitary grounds there can be no objection 

 provided that the waste pipe be fitted with a proper stench trap, 

 as it always should be wherever the sink be placed. The 

 ol)vious advantage of this arrangement would be that the 

 woman and children would do almost all the household work 

 in a lai'ge room, which really would be a " living-room." 



The practice of omitting to provide a sink, or a drain with 

 an open trapped gully outside to take the sink waste, is much 

 to be deprecated. It offers every temptation to a slovenly 

 woman to tlii-ow greasy water and household slops just outside 

 the door, thus rendering the ground immediately about the 

 house foul and unpleasant. The cost of a short length of 3 in. 

 stoneware drain to a soakaway is comparatively small, and the 

 saving effected by omitting it is not justified. 



The position of the washing copper presents a difficulty. 

 It cannot be placed in the kitchen if the room is to be kept 

 clean and pleasant to live in, and it would appear desirable 

 to plan a separate w^ash-house. Some authorities on cottage 

 planning strongly advise that the copper should be placed in an 

 outbuilding, and when the only alternative position for it is in 

 the scullery no doubt this is the better plan to adopt. But if a 

 small separate wash-house be provided it seems preferable to 

 have it under the main roof. The housewife finds the outside 

 wash-house a continual source of colds in bad weather, when 

 she has frequently to pass through the open air to and from a 

 steaming w"ishing-tub. It is also very difficult for her to look 

 after the children while she is washing. The writer's attention 

 was lately called to a case in which a child was burnt in playing 

 with the kitchen fire while the mother was working in an 

 outside wash-house. Accidents of this kind might be avoided 

 with a wash-house under the main roof, especially if a small 

 pane of glass were fixed in the door or wall in such a position 

 as to enable the kitchen fireplace to be seen by the worker. 

 Perhaps the best arrangement would be to plan the wash-house 

 adjacent to the "scullery" part of the kitchen, contriving it so 

 as to form the recess in the kitchen for the sink, &c. The copper 

 Hue could then generally be arranged to join one of the main 

 chimney stacks. The wash-house need only be large enough 



