1042 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



are easily washed. They should hang straight to the window sill or be 

 draped back simply. Pictures and bric-a-brac give the finishing touches 

 to the room, but should be used sparingly. A few good pictures, one or 

 two pieces of pottery, and a good clock add character to the room. 

 Embroidered satin sofa pillows set against the table leg have no excuse 

 for being, but two or three plain washable ones will make the couch more 

 comfortable. Whether the home be a cottage or a mansion, the same 

 principles of good taste hold. Simplicity is a good guide, and inexpensive 

 things are often more beautiful than the costly. 



Household Appliances. — To aid in caring for the house there are now 

 many mechanical devices; the vacuum cleaner, the power washing machine, 

 the mangle, the bread mixer, the fireless cooker and the meat grinder are 

 all good investments. Before buying labor-saving devices be sure they 

 save more work than they make. 



Ventilation in most houses is merely a question of opening and shutting 

 windows. The health derived from sleeping outdoors has proved that 

 plenty of fresh air at all times is more to be sought than avoided. The 

 house sealed up from fall until spring is more likely to breed consumption 

 than is cold, fresh air. Let in the air and sunshine; if dust and faded 

 carpets result, they are less to be feared than air which has been breathed 

 over and over and contains many impurities. In winter boards 6 to 8 

 inches high fitted under the lower sash make an opening between the two 

 sashes and let in air without draft. In bedrooms a window screen covered 

 with a coarse muslin allows the window to be kept open, winter and sum- 

 mer, regardless of the weather. Artificially heated air is usually too dry; 

 flat pans or buckets hanging in the registers, kept filled with water, and 

 plenty of fresh air from the outside will help. It is a mistaken idea of 

 economy to re-circulate air through the house and furnace again and again ; 

 open the windows wide and let in the fresh air; it will heat much more 

 quickly than foul air. 



A house planned and furnished with thought for all of these details, 

 provided love dwells there, will be truly a home, a haven for old and young 

 alike, and a joy to the guest who enters its doors. 



CLOTHING 



To the farm woman, because of the simpler social demands, the prob- 

 lem of clothing her family is less trying than to her city sister. It is her 

 duty, nevertheless, to see that those of her household are dressed as well 

 and as economically as can be; and in accordance with the needs of their 

 social environment. She must do the planning, the buying, perhaps the 

 making, as well as care for the clothes. She must set the standard of 

 dress for her own family, and thus help set that of the community. 



Bodily protection, and through it the preservation of health, should be 

 the first consideration in the choice of dress. Clothing to be most healthful 

 must allow perfect bodily freedom, must protect the body from extreme 



