FARM MANAGEMENT 115 



exposure to the sun and to avoid flies. These pails should be washed 

 and scalded each time they are emptied, and once a week, especially 

 in summer, they should be rinsed with carbolic acid a teaspoon- 

 ful to a pint of water. Whatever can not be used in this way should 

 be dried and burned. 



Things that the junk peddler will take (old tin, iron, leather, 

 rubber, etc.) should be cleaned and stored in sacks in a dry out- 

 house to await his next visit. No damp or decaying rubbish should 

 be left in dark or out-of-the-way places. 



Decoration of the Home. It is not enough that houses merely 

 be built; after they are built they should be made homelike by 

 means of serviceable furniture and purposeful decoration. The 

 taste and knack of the housewife may make even the commonest 

 home attractive and restful. 



All women cannot be artists. They may have dropped the 

 brush and pencil when they began keeping house, but every day 

 they make a picture; they try to bring their rooms and their fur- 

 nishings into one harmonious effect. It is a great study, bringing 

 zest to the daily work, and adding comfort and refinement to the 

 home. There are principles in decoration that every one can learn ; 

 and good results will follow as the housewife studies nature in or- 

 der to enable her to simplify and elevate her taste and ambitions. 



Decoration is not mere ornament. It contributes to the mak- 

 ing of a home picture. To produce a picture, the artist places on 

 canvas the form and color necessary to bring all things into beauti- 

 ful harmony. In the art of decoration we are constantly produc- 

 ing pictures. The decorator makes use of materials to produce ef- 

 fects, as truly as does the painter, but in a different way. The artist 

 with brush works upon canvas not merely to show certain paints. 

 The one who adorns her home, works for general effects, although 

 attention may be centered on some particular object which is em- 

 phasized by a pleasing relation to its surroundings. 



Comfort and good taste are excellent motives in decoration. 

 The first law of good taste is simplicity. Two kinds of flowers do 

 not grow on the same stem, although we are sometimes guilty of 

 placing a conglomerate mixture of flowers in one vase. The Jap- 

 anese teach us lessons in simplicity of decoration ; their suggestions 

 should do away with complex mingling of materials and arrange- 

 ments. They do not display articles on their walls for mere orna- 

 ment, but place them in cabinets to show to their friends as a mat- 

 ter of interest. Their homes are not overdecorated in order to show 

 off bric-a-brac. 



In seeking materials with which to decorate, combine utility 

 and beauty if possible. This makes the most attractive decoration. 

 As far as possible, avoid objects that catch dust and that need con- 

 stant attention. Modern sanitary home-making avoids dust lines. 

 Such dust-collectors as picture moldings on the walls, deeply grooved 

 and filigreed picture frames, and heavily tasseled thick draperies 

 make much extra work and are unsanitary. Dust is one of the 

 friends of disease. 



