FARMERS' HOUSES. 331 



than any ordinary compost. In addition, for the seven warmer months of the 

 year, lime or fresh ashes of wood should be scattered around the receptacle 

 every fortnight, while a gallon or two of the following solution should be 

 thrown into the receptacle itself every week or two : one pound of copperas, 

 known as "sulphate of iron," costing but a feAV cents, dissolved in four gallons 

 of water, will most completely destroy all offensive odors, whether in sinks, 

 privies, or cellars. The warmer the weather the oftener must the application 

 be repeated. Sprinkling the copperas itself is advantageous, and, if in cellars, 

 is one of the best means of keeping rats away. 



One of the most sensible thoughts in this connexion, and one which could 

 scarcely occur to any other than one of the members of the Society of Friends, 

 so remarkable for their thoughtfulness and happy talent of having about them 

 all the conveniences and appliances which so much add to the comforts and 

 enjoyments of domestic life, was in having a privy connected with his barn, 

 for the convenience of his gentlemen friends who visit him in the summer at 

 his delightful mansion on the banks of the Hudson. This is one of the earliest 

 pieces of information given to those coming for the first time. To this they can 

 repair at any hour with a feeling of perfect privacy. 



PIAZZAS. 



There can be no good reason why a piazza, from eight to twelve feet broad, 

 should not extend the whole front or end and part of the rear of every farm- 

 house ; and considering the personal advantages of such an arrangement, and 

 the air of coolness and beauty and liveliness which they present in summer, it 

 must be put down as a great oversight in that they are not more common than 

 they are. It cannot be denied that they contribute greatly to the coolness of 

 the lower rooms in warm weather, and afford facilities for play to the children 

 in inclement or muddy weather, and for exercise to grown persons, which are 

 of inestimable value in promoting health. It would surprise most persons 

 greatly to know how many girls in the country have fixed diseases grafted in 

 them before they leave their teens ; this is most strikingly the case with the 

 daughters of farmers who are "well off" and actually rich. This comes about 

 largely from the fact that they have not the inducements of exercise half equal 

 to similar classes in large towns and cities. They, perhaps, sweep a room, or 

 dust the parlors, or make up a bed or two in the morning ; and that is about 

 all the exercise they take on foot during the day, except when they have visi- 

 tors ; the remainder of the time they sit and sew, or read, or loll about, not 

 altogether because they do not want to exercise themselves, but because there 

 are not the facilities of doing so in the way most agreeable to them. Few 

 farmers have a spare horse suitable for a girl to ride, and if they did, she must 

 have some one to ride with her ; that requires a second horse, and the brother 

 or father must accompany her. These circumstances narrow down the chances 

 of horseback exercise, exclusive of church-going days, to about a dozen or 

 two hours in a year to eleven farmers' daughters in a dozen. And however 

 inclined to walk, it is impracticable in winter, because they must step from the 

 dooi--sill into mud, or slush, or snow. In summer it is too hot in the middle 

 of the day ; in the morning the grass is bedewed; and so in the evening, un- 

 less it is early — say just before sundown — when it is not altogether safe to be 

 out of sight of the house. All these are deemed satisfactory excuses for ne- 

 glect of a plain duty. If there were commodious piazzas, there would be ad- 

 mirable facilities for walking at all seasons, and every day for games, rope- 

 jumping, plays, and promenades of every description ; and by reducing it to 

 a system, an amount of exercise in the open air could be taken every day, the 

 value of which upon the physical health, the mental power, and general vivacity 

 cannot be readily estimated. 



