116 



HOME AND FLOWERS 



work necessary in her 

 home, only to realize 

 that the members of her 

 household are still as hun- 

 gry as they have been, 

 and that they will be hun- 

 gry every day of the next 

 year. Her work has be- 

 come routine, yet she is 

 conscious that, unless this 

 same round of labor and 

 each little duty has been 

 carefully performed, there 

 had been a serious inter- 

 ruption to the success and 

 happiness of that home. 

 The dog's work is mechan- 

 ical; hers is intelligent. 

 She finds a pleasure in her 

 effort to conserve time and 

 strength. The pleasure 

 to her family and to her- 

 self is in large degree her 

 reward. 



Forty-eight liours of ivork 

 croioded into twenty-four. — 

 One thing is certain. When 

 a woman has crowded 

 forty-eight hours of work 

 into twenty-four, and still 

 finds the stove is not pol- 

 ished, the windows are not 

 washed nor the sewing 

 touched, to say nothing of 

 her inability to find time 

 to read or return calls, 

 she is required to study 

 what she can best leave 

 undone, and how to do the 

 things she must do, with 

 the least expenditure of time and strength. 



Catch a glimpse of the sunset. — She knows 

 her work will be much like that of the dog 

 on the churn unless she catches a glimpse of 

 the sunset now and then, chats with a friend 

 or enjoys a favorite author. If in the morn- 

 ing she finds her kindling ready, or the fire 

 laid, her table ready set, the potatoes 

 peeled, and in place of going to the well, 

 priming the pump and wielding the handle 

 to get enough water to start her breakfast, 

 she can turn a faucet in her kitchen and get 

 all the water needed, her day is started 

 quite easily. Perhaps the water is brought 

 to the barn by a windmill or by gravity 

 system. Why not into the house? 



Have a tile drain for ivaste liquid. — ^Does she 

 have to carry all the waste water to an 

 outside door, down a flight of steps and 

 to a safe distance from the house where it 

 is thrown on the ground? Could there not 

 be a sink or hopper constructed in the 

 kitchen with trap connection to a tile drain 

 and cesspool and thus save many steps and 

 much hard lifting? Glazed tile, though 

 more expensive, is safer on account of the 

 joints being cemented, which prevents the 

 contamination of well water. How much 

 would it cost? Tile can be had for four 

 cents a foot; the drain will be laid from 

 ten to twenty-five feet from the house, 

 depending upon the situation of the well, if 

 there be one. 



A SIMPLE DEVICE IN THE KITCHEN FOR SAVING STEPS 



The expense is slight. — 



Twenty-five feet of the vitrified tile. .$4.00 



A sink 1.25 



Pipe and trap connection. 1.00 



The drain will probably be dug by the 

 farmer or by his help when other work is 

 not pressing. The actual cost then will be 

 $6.25 for a permanent means of carrying off 

 the waste water used in the kitchen, or if 

 this water can be utilized in the garden, it 

 may, if there be a gradual incline from the 

 house to the garden, empty itself into a 

 barrel through pipes or a trough laid for the 

 purpose. 



An ice hox should he constructed. — Unless ice 

 it brought into the house it is necessary 

 to keep the perishable provisions in the 

 cellar. This necessitates traveling to and 

 from the cellar throughout the entire year, 

 for they must be kept there in winter to 

 avoid freezing. Perhaps the cellar is not 

 conveniently located, nor the stairs easy. 

 With but little expense an ice box can be 

 constructed for use in warm weather. A 

 wooden box lined with oilcloth, zinc or gal- 

 vanized iron, having a hinged cover, and 

 with a hole bored in the bottom for the 

 escape of water, has served many a family 

 for a refrigerator. Shelves may be arranged 

 on the sides so that the ice can be put in 

 at the center. These shelves are perforated 

 or arranged in the form of slats to allow a 

 circulation of cool air. The box should be 



