516 BOARD OF AGKICULTURE. 



to correcting serious mistakes. In erecting a building, accurate details of 

 construction are of the first— and last— importance. 



One of the most amazing and dangerous results of amateur architecture 

 is in the two necessary, important, almost vital, matters of plumbing and 

 sanitation. Defects in these regards are of a very serious character, since 

 they interfere with the convenience and comfort of the family, in the case 

 of a dwelling, and are a decided menace to health, resulting often in heavy 

 bills for medical attendance, and often in death and mourning. One of the 

 most useful inventions of man, modern plumbing and sanitation, are a 

 delusion and a snare unless properly and accurately constructed, and to 

 see that this is done is the province of the architect. 



Heating and ventilation, two most important and absolutely necessary 

 features of modern construction, positively demand the care and skill of 

 an architect to render them effective and free from drawbacks and objec- 

 tions. In none of the details of construction have greater advances been 

 made in recent years than in these two branches. If rightly worked and 

 properly applied they insure comfort and health; but where the work is 

 defective they are a menace to health and a danger to be avoided. 



Many other suggestions might be made regarding the employment of 

 an architect. Knowledge of material and workmanship is absolutely 

 necessary. If you have an architect he will see that your contracts are 

 properly drawn. He is not a lawyer, but in the line of his profession he 

 has studied those details of the law of contracts that enables him prop- 

 erly to protect the interests of his client with regard to materials used in 

 construction, practical application and workmanship. 



It almost always happens that one engaged in erecting a building, 

 particularly where it is intended for a dwelling, has distinct, sometimes 

 very valuable ideas that he wishes carried into effect; frequently excellent 

 suggestions come from the wife, who is far more vitally interested than 

 himself. These ideas, if properly worked out and made to harmonize with 

 other portions of the construction and the many details, give an air of 

 originality to the house, and cause the owners to feel that it is, in a certain 

 sense, and within certain limits, a creation of their own. Here an 

 architect is at his best. If suggestions are faulty, he can correct them; 

 if impracticable, he can demonstrate the fact and avoid mistakes. Often 

 he receives suggestions of a decidedly practical and valuable nature and, 

 uniting them with ideas of his own, produces something more original, 

 perhaps more vaulable even, than he would have himself devised. When 

 this is done the practical success of what was originally a ciiide, though 

 none the less valuable, suggestion is due to the appreciation and skill of 

 the patient and practical architect. 



From the foregoing considerations we may conclude; first, that our 

 farm residences should be provided with all the modern improvements 

 and appliances that are found in the town dwelling, and that these im- 

 provements can be placed there effectively and inexpensively; and, second, 



