104 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



installed in the modern kitchen. When the kitchen is also used as 

 the family laundry, stationary tubs of enameled iron or of scap- 

 stone should adjoin the sink. They should be covered to form a 

 table when not in use, but as confined air near plumbing becomes 

 dangerous the covers should close upon rubber knobs or wooden 

 blocks, so as to leave an air space for ventilation. Nickel-plated 

 union strips and hardwood-wringer holders should be added between 

 the tubs and at the right hand end so that a wringer may be used. 

 One of the needs of the ordinary farmhouse is a suitable place for 

 the workmen to wash as they come from the fields. When a separate 

 room is fitted up as a laundry, provision should be made here for 

 the men by adding a large sink and bench. 



The Bath Room. The use of gasoline engines, now so common 

 on American farms, makes it possible for all modern farm houses 

 to be equipped with a bath room, so necessary for the comfort and 

 the health of the family. But even on farms where the engines are 

 not used, it is possible to have a bath-tub. A small tank in the attic, 

 connected with the heater at the range will furnish an abundant 

 supply of water for the bath room. A small hand force pump will 

 refill the tank in a few minutes. 



The bathroom should be a light, well-ventilated room with every 

 facility for cleanliness. Floors and wainscoting of tile or composite 

 material are most desirable, but painted walls are much less expensive 

 and give excellent results. Tile is undoubtedly the most satisfactory 

 material which can be used for the covering of the floors and walls 

 where it can be afforded. Tile floor with covered base and walls fin- 

 ished with cement or hard plaster, painted with enamel paint, are 

 much cheaper. When a tile floor can not be had, linoleum is an ex- 

 cellent substitute as it is practically impervious to water. It should 

 be laid before the fixtures are set, in order that there may be no 

 joints. Cement mixed with small chips of marble well rubbed down 

 after setting makes an excellent floor, one that washes as clean as a 

 porcelain plate and has no cracks to harbor dirt; the cost is only 

 about twice that of a double wood floor, or 50 cents per square foot, 

 including the necessary cement bed on which it is laid. 



A porcelain-lined or enameled-iron bath tub is the best medium- 

 priced tub. For supplying the tub with water a combination cock is 

 best, allowing hot or cold water to enter the tub separately or the tem- 

 perature to be regulated to suit the bather. The cocks should be 

 placed high, so as to allow of water being drawn into pitchers. 



The best lavatories are those of porcelain or enameled iron, with 

 back and overflow all formed as integral parts of the fixture. The 

 basin cocks through which the hot and cold water come are of va- 

 rious shapes, the simplest being the best. 



The water closet is the most important plumbing fixture in the 

 house, and should be selected and put up with particular care. A 

 good closet should be simple, neat, and strong, of a smooth material, 

 with ample water in the bowl. Among the modern closets there is 

 none more satisfactory than the flushing-rim, siphon-jet closet, which 

 can be had, including the trap, in a single piece of porcelain. Force- 



