94 The Farmstead 



the corner of the house-top than m a wide 

 house" with insufficient means to maintain it. 

 The general plans should be outlined at least 

 a year before a new building or extensive en- 

 largement of the old is begun. The houses 

 which are to be built in the future should be 

 planned with a view to greater economy, con- 

 venience, beauty, and durability. There is now 

 little excuse for erecting poor, uncomfortable, 

 inconvenient houses on the farm. True, the 

 rural population is handicapped, for few city 

 architects have made any study of the plain 

 rural house, and fewer have paid any atten- 

 tion whatever to farm barn construction. Even 

 if architects had given attention to the needs of 

 the rural population, the farmer would feel 

 that he could hardly afford to pay $100 to 

 $200 for the plans of a house costing $1,000 

 to $2,000, exclusive of the labor which the 

 owner, his men and teams were able to per- 

 form upon it. The task of planning a country 

 house is too great for the country carpenter ; 

 he cannot even interpret plans correctly ; his 

 range of observation and training have been 

 too limited. Then, who is to plan the house I 

 Why, the farmer and his family, and it will 

 take at least two years of study and obser- 

 vation of other houses and their modern con- 

 veniences before intelligent, crude plans and 



