300 Our Farming. 



glycerine, if but to make mistakes is human, and no fluid as 

 dangerous as this can come into my home. Lives are constantly 

 being lost by its use. 



Screen doors and screens for the windows are among the 

 conveniences that one can hardly do without nowadays, both for 

 the kitchen and all the rest of the house. Flies are good scaven- 

 gers, but they are very annoying to the good housewife, and 

 cause her much extra trouble in the way of cleaning up after 

 them. Kvery door and window in our house has a screen in it. 

 I am writing now in our room (wife and I) upstairs, in August, 

 and not a fly in the room perfect comfort. I would not like to 

 go back to flies again on my head, all over the victuals, on the 

 table, etc. What a comfort it is to sit down in the house with no 

 flies, and sleep with no mosquitoes in the room ! But I have 

 known farmers who had nets to keep flies off of their horses when 

 at work, who thought it extravagant when the wife wanted some 

 screens to keep flies off of her when she was at work in the 

 kitchen. It would not do to say they thought more of their 

 horses than of their wives ; oh, no ! 



Some rooms can be shut up, and, by keeping them dark, the 

 flies do not come in. Wise flies! May we not learn a lesson 

 from them ? They know it is not a healthful place in a dark 

 room. Instinct teaches them what we, with all our boasted wis- 

 dom, sometimes do not seem to know. Far better buy screens, 

 and throw open blinds and shades, and let in the bright sunshine, 

 at least part of the time, and, with it, health, happiness and good 

 temper. Where house plants grow spindling and do not flourish, 

 even close to the windows, getting all the light there is, we 

 humans expect our families to thrive oftentimes. This is bad 

 enough for grown people, but far worse for little children. It is 

 well, perhaps, to close the blinds in the heat of the day in sum- 

 mer, but for perfect health the sun should shine into every room 

 in the house a few hours, at least, morning and night of every day 

 it comes out. I know how ladies object to this. They say it 

 will fade the carpets, and fear, perhaps, too healthy a tinge on 

 their cheeks and hands. Never mind the carpets and furniture ; 

 the best welfare of human beings is more than these. Give us 

 bright, cheerful rooms to live in always. It will help the temper 

 as well as the health. Rheumatic troubles have been cured by 

 simply sleeping in a room where the sun shone in all day, and 

 there can be no better preventive than a sun-bathed bedroom, as 

 well as living room. I would never have large trees standing 

 near the house, so as to shade it and keep sun out of windows. 

 Give me, first, a dry location, well drained, naturally, if possible 

 if not, then with tiles, and trees, and shade about the outskirts 

 of the yard and house so arranged that the sun can find its way 

 into every room, more or less, every day it shines. There are 

 four large windows in the room where we sleep and I do my 



