1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



113 



a cosy, comfortable, home-like appearance, 

 quite in contrast with the shingle palaces of 

 late so fasliionable among us. 



Our plan comprises the following accommo- 

 dation : No. 1, hall 7 feet 8 inches by 19 feet, 

 opening into No. 2, parlor, 15 feet by 16 ; No. 

 h, bed-room, 15 feet stjuare ; No. 3, living- 

 room, also 15 by 16 feet, opening into a back 

 entry, No. 13, and across it into the kitchen, 

 No. -1, 15 feet by 20 ; this kitciien contains two 

 large closets and connects M'ith a pantry, No. 

 7, which measures 7 feet by 10, and is fitted 

 up with a sink and shelves. The next room 

 eu suite is the back kitchen and wash-rooms ; 

 it contains two closets, a large oven and boiler, 

 and raeasm-es 1 6 feet by 1 2 ; it opens into the 

 back entry, through which we pass to the 

 wood-room. No. 8, 14 feet by 15 ; No. 10, 

 carriage shed, and No. 9, work shop. The 

 back entry is 4 feet wide, and contains stairs 

 to the chambers and cellar. On the front, 

 doors open into the dairy. No. 11, 7 feet by 

 14 ; the store-room, No. 12, 7 feet by 13, and 

 upon the sheltered porch. No. 14. 



The second floor contains eight chambers, 

 besides bathing-room, dressing-rooms and clos- 

 ets. The attics may be left unfinished. 



Construction. — This house may be built of 

 wood, and covered in the common manner 

 with clapboards. 



The roof of the main house projects 2^ feet, 

 and that of the L, 1^ feet; the cornices are 

 supported in brackets 3 inches thick. The 

 windows and doors, inside and outside, have 

 plain architraves, 5 inches wide. 



Cost in New England, at prices previous to 

 the late war, about $3500. 



FARMER'S "WIVES. 



The reading of essays by the ladies is one of 

 the exercises which give life and interest to the 

 meetings of the Springfield, Vt. , Farmer's Club. 

 From one of the essays by Mrs. Daniel Rice, 

 published in the Vermont Farmer, we copy the 

 following paragraphs : 



Did you ever think of the amount of thought 

 requisite to 2'>lan three meals a day for three 

 hundred and sixty-five days in succession ? To 



f)repare enough and nottoo much, and for those 

 iving at a distance from the village, to remem- 

 ber that the stock of Hour, sugar, tea, etc., etc., 

 is replenished in due time ? Do you ever think 

 of the multitude of her cares and duties P She 

 must rise early to prcjiare breakfast or oversee 

 it. Perhaps (here are children to Avash, dress, 

 and feed, or to get ready for school with their 

 dinners. There is baking, sweeping, dusting, 

 making beds, lunch for the men, may be — din- 

 ner and supper to be made ready at the proper 

 time — the washing, starching, folding, and iron 

 ing of clothes — the care of milk, including the 

 making of butter and cheese — and the inevita- 

 ble washing of dishes. In antumn there is the 

 additional work of picking, preserving, canning 



of fruit, drying apples, boiling cider, making 

 apple sauce, with tlie still more impleasant task 

 which falls to her lot at butchering time. Then 

 there is haying, harvesting, sheep-shearing, etc., 

 when more help is needed, bringing an increase 

 of her labors. Twice a year comes house- 

 cleaning. By the T;ay, of all the foes a 

 housekeeper has to contend with, dirt is the 

 greatest. She may gain a complete victoiy and 

 think to repose upon her laurels after her semi- 

 annual engagements — but it is only temporary. 

 The enemy soon returns, and even daily skir- 

 mishing does not keep it at bay. 



There is the mending too. Sewing machines 

 are great blessings, but they can't set in a patch 

 or darn the stockings. I do not mention these 

 things by way of complaining of woman's lot in 

 general, or asking for her any rights wliich she 

 does not possess, I don't know as there is anv 

 remedy in the present state of the world. It 

 seems to be one of the evils of life which must 

 be borne as we bear other ills — but what I do 

 ask is a due appreciation of the important part 

 that woman acts and a concession that her la- 

 bors, mental and physical, are as great, all 

 things considered, as those of the other sex. 

 Women are not so childish that a little sympa- 

 thy now and then or acknowledgment of their 

 efforts and sacrifices makes them imagine their 

 case worse than it is. I tell you, men and hus- 

 bands, "It doeth good like a medicine," and 

 many a poor, crushed, broken-down wife and 

 mother is dving for want of it. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 THE EIGHT HOUR SYSTEM OF LA- 

 BOR.— No. II. 



We have seen that the reduction of the hours 

 of labor one-fifth, will be equivalent, so far as 

 the employers are concerned, to raising wages 

 one-fifth. This is unquestionably' the chief ob- 

 ject of the agitators of this question. They 

 expect, if they succeed, to obtain the same re- 

 numeration for eight hours' labor which they 

 now receive for ten. 



But if the profits arising from hired labor are 

 to be reduced one-fifth, how will this effect ag- 

 riculture ? who will be able to undertake any 

 more farming than he can do with his own 

 hands ? 



Nature has provided long days and many 

 hours of sunlight during the gi'owing season, to 

 hasten forward the growth of vegetation, and 

 to enable the farmer to cultivate and harvest 

 his crops, — thus indicating that more hours are 

 to be spent in labor at that season than in those 

 portions of the year when the facilities for la- 

 bor are more limited. These portions we oc- 

 cupy largely in consuming the products of the 

 summer, and m,ay improve them for the pur- 

 poses of intellectual culture, and social enjoy- 

 ment. Nature thus points out to the husband- 

 man that he should employ the long hours she 

 has provided for him, in cultivating the earth 

 and aiding the growth of vegetation and seem-- 



