FARM BUILDINGS. 621 



the first attention; it is better, if we cannot have but one, to have the body properly fed and 

 clothed, than to have a beautiful home. But without pleasant surroundings, life is but half 

 a life, and how few realize at what slight expense a home may be made tasty and attractive! 

 How few understand how pleasant and enjoyable life on the farm in the country can be 

 made, and at what small expenditures the rural home may be rendered convenient, tasteful, 

 and really beautiful! For the exercise of good taste and ingenuity does not necessarily imply 

 extravagance. We have seen houses in the city furnished with the most wanton extrava 

 gance, where money was lavished almost without limit, and yet they were not beautiful, 

 because there was no taste displayed in the selection and arrangement. To be sure, every 

 thing was expensive and rich, but there was a lack of harmony and good taste that offended 

 the eye, as a discordant note in a strain of music offends the ear. 



On the other hand, we have entered many a rural country home a small, bird s-nest 

 kind of cottage, perhaps where everything seemed so neat, tasteful, and perfectly adapted 

 to the place and surroundings, that it possessed a charm and attraction that rendered the 

 term &quot;beautiful&quot; not an inappropriate one to apply to it; and yet, perhaps, many of the 

 furnishings and ornamentations were rustic carvings, or other work performed by the father 

 or boys of the household, on winter evenings or rainy days, when not employed on the farm, 

 while the wife and daughters had beautified each niche and nook within, with specimens of 

 their decorative art and handiwork, and without, with trailing vines, blooming shrubs, and 

 flowers, in a manner that only a certain quality of feminine taste and ingenuity can devise 

 and execute. 



Wealth does not always furnish a tasty, or a happy home, although it may possess the 

 means of doing this, while the lack of a competence need not necessarily prevent the posses 

 sion of a home that is tasteful and attractive, the abode of contentment and happiness. 



Height of Buildings. In the construction of all buildings, adaptation to the pur 

 poses designed, as has been previously stated, should be an important consideration. The 

 area of surface covered by a building is not the only standard by which to judge of the 

 capacity. It requires no extensive knowledge of mathematics to perceive and it may be 

 needless to state that a building two stories high will contain twice the capacity of one 

 covering the same area that is only one story in height, and that although the two-story 

 building will cost more to erect than that of one story, the former is comparatively cheaper, 

 since twice the capacity is secured, with but a comparatively small proportionate increase in 

 cost. It costs no more to cover or lay the foundation of a high building than a low one, 

 other conditions being equal, while the increase in cost of the extra height is small in pro 

 portion to the benefits derived from the increased capacity; therefore, high buildings are 

 proportionately cheaper than low ones. It will be well to bear this in mind in the building 

 of barns for storage, granaries, etc. 



In the construction of farm-houses, the height should be proportionate to the surface of 

 ground covered by the building, in order to look well, while the convenience and other 

 benefits derived from having plenty of room should also be taken into consideration. A 

 small, narrow house, built so high that it seems in danger of being blown over by the first 

 strong wind, represents anything but taste in its style of architecture, while a house covering 

 a large area, and so low that it gives the impression to the beholder that the builder was 

 obliged to cut short his work for lack of means or material, is nearly as objectionable, 

 although not quite as much so as the former. A farm-house should, at least, be two stories 

 high. Sleeping-rooms, on the second orfthird floor even, are much to be preferred to those 

 on the first floor. Such rooms are more healthy, as well as pleasant, since they are more 

 airy and farther removed from the exhalations of the cellar and dampness of the ground. 

 They also afford a finer view of the surrounding scenery. 



In some of the newly-settled sections of the country, where building materials are 



