FARM BUILDINGS. 629 



luxuries found in the majority of city dwellings, and but rarely in the country, is the facility 

 for warming the building throughout. A good furnace for this purpose costs less than steam 

 apparatus, besides, we think it more desirable, if at the same cost, and although attended with 

 some expense in procuring and supplying with a sufficient amount of coal for the purpose, 

 we believe many farmers would find that the comfort thus afforded the household would 

 amply repay for the additional outlay. 



Windows.^-The importance of an abundance of sunlight in a house can scarcely be 

 over-estimated. Light is a promoter of health, comfort, and cheerfulness. Plants will not 

 attain a healthy growth in a darkened room, neither will individuals that are deprived of the 

 sunlight be strong and healthy. It is a well-known fact, as has been previously stated, and 

 the testimony of prominent physicians that invalids occupying the sunny side of a hospital 

 are more liable to recover than those occupying the side where the sunlight scarcely ever enters. 

 Everyone feels more or less the depres&ing influence of a succession of cloudy days, an influence 

 that is only dispelled when the bright sunlight again floods the earth with beauty. There is 

 too much indifference or carelessness with respect to admitting the sunlight into our dwell 

 ings, or rather it is the common custom to carefully exclude the sunlight; and for fear of its 

 fading the &quot; best &quot; carpets or the upholstering of the furniture, shades are carefully pulled 

 down, blinds tightly closed, until scarcely a ray of light is permitted to enter. The result is 

 that such rooms become damp, musty, and unhealthy, and were a perfectly healthy person 

 compelled to be confined within them for a sufficient length of time they would deteriorate 

 both in health and spirits. For ecme diseases, sun-baths have been found to be one of the 

 most successful remedies. 



Every dwelling, as well as bui ding for sheltering animals, should be constructed with a 

 view to admitting the sunlight, and those parts of the house most occupied by the family 

 should be located on the sunniest side of the house. Ample provision should be made for 

 windows, both in number and size, in planning a house. &quot;When glass was first introduced into 

 use for windows, it was very expensive, consequently small windows were a necessity; but at 

 the present period glass has become one of the cheapest of building materials. 



Very small windows do not look well in any house, whether large or small, while win 

 dows that are too large for the size of the building look almost as badly. We think windows 

 should be made as large as may be without being disproportionate to the size of the house, 

 and as many of them be used as the dimensions of the house will admit, and at the same 

 time keep within the limits of good tasta If it is found that a number of large-sized win 

 dows in a house furnish the opportunity for the cold to enter about the casings during wintry 

 weather, this evil can be easily remedied by the use of double windows on the north and 

 west sides of the building, or throughout during the cold weather. This might be done at a 

 comparatively small expense, and a home once supplied, is permanently furnished in this 

 respect. Such windows could be taken out in summer and be easily replaced for winter use;, 

 by this means, other conditions being favorable, a house can be made very warm and 

 comfortable. 



Small-sized panes look cheap, and are not in good taste ; they are now seldom seen, 

 except in very old buildings. Very large panes are more expensive than those of medium 

 size, and if broken are not as easily replaced. For a farm-house, medium-sized panes seem 

 most appropriate. A good quality of glass should be procured, and the sashes should be 

 made of suitable material, well put together, and painted on both sides. The windows should 

 be made to lower at the top, as well as raise at the bottom, for the purposes of ventilation, 

 and rendering the rooms cooler in summer. They can also be washed easier. The best 

 arrangement for this purpose is a cord, weight, and pulley, by which means the window may 

 be lowered at the top or raised at the bottom at any distance, and held in place without any 

 kind of fastening. 



