1869.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
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upright post of hard-wood is morticed and 
braced forward. This should be short, and 
have a notch in the front side at the top of such 
a form, that when the shafts are lifted np, the 
cask having proper trunions may be set down, 
Fig. 1. — HORSE WATER-BARROW. 
and when the shafts are brought down the cask 
may be lifted and suspended upon the* barrow. 
The cask must be a strong one; well hooped, 
and provided witli trunions or ears, such as a 
church bell or a cannon has, attached by means 
of an iron band going from one to the other 
under the cask, and a cross-piece besides, screw- 
ed or bolted to the staves. It would be well to 
have several casks, for different purposes, in 
case they could be used; and each should have 
a tight fitting cover with a lid of some sort. 
Fig. 2.— SECTION OF WATER-BARROW. 
They must be hung above the middle, and it 
would be well to bear in mind that the shorter 
the upright posts are on which they swing, the 
less. liable will the barrow be to injury from 
rocking sideways in going over uneven ground. 
A Comfortable Farm-House. 
The ideas of different people in regard to 
comfort vary greatly. One class which builds 
country houses demands a hot-air or hot-water 
furnace for warming the house, hot and cold 
water in every room, dressing-rooms attached 
to all the principal bedrooms ; gas, inside shut- 
ters as well as outside blinds, very high ceilings, 
and broad piazzas running all around the house. 
Others are content and very comfortable in 
houses not only lacking all "modern conven- 
iences," but positively inconvenient for any 
housewife who, from sickness or other cause, is 
obliged to be careful about taking many steps, 
or making extra work in any way. The fact 
''I 
is bliss 'tis folly to be wise," we believe fully in 
introducing all the comforts and conveniences 
possible into our dwellings, particularly such as 
will save steps and labor. 
The kitchen and sleeping-rooms are prime 
necessities ill the rudest dwelling. The rough- 
est log-cabin has these, and nothing else, and 
upon every farm the kitchen is 
the most important room of the 
house. It must not be put un- 
derground, nor cheated of light; 
it must be accessible, have plenty 
of store and closet room, a good 
flue for stove or range ; water 
must be near, and fuel close by. 
The rest of the house may be 
elegant or common — rooms may 
be numerous or few — in propor- 
tion as it is useful the kitchen 
must be convenient. We think 
architects are prone not to give 
weight enough to this idea, and 
many a farmer's wife knowing 
what she wants will draw a plan, 
using the kitchen as the nucleus 
on the left of the chimney. From the kitchen 
it is but a step to the Wash-room ( W), or Laun- 
dry, and but a step further to the Dairy-room, 
(-D). This has windows on three sides, and a 
chimney affords opportunity to make a fire 
either iu the dairy or wash-room. In fact the 
latter might be conveniently used as a summer 
Fig. 2.— PLAN OP FIRST STOUT. 
Main home, 86x40 feel; ceiling, 10 feet high'. Wing. 1SX28 feet; ceiling, S 
or starting point, which for con- feet high.— References : V, Vestibule: H, frail: P. Parlor; ,1, Sitting-room ■ 
venience will beat that of the city °' Bedrmnl •' **Eitchen ,• E, Entry ; P , Pantry ; W, Wash-room ; 1>. Dai. 
n ' n IE. 
Fig. 1. — ELEVATION. 
Hight of cellar throughout 8 feet, the home being set higher or lower, according to 
the site and nature of lie ground. 
is, we are comfortable if we have contented 
minds and good health, under almost any cir- 
cumstances. Nevertheless, while we cannot 
subscribe to the sentiment " where ignorance 
architect out and out. The architect who studies 
these little conveniences and comforts from the 
farmer's wife's stand point will furnish house 
plans, combining elegance and true economy. 
The accompanying plans and elevation are 
furnished by Mr. C. Arthur Totten of New York. 
At our request he has drawn them altogether 
without what are called the "modern con- 
veniences " of city houses, and so constructed 
the building that a part of it may be built at 
first and the house completed 
subsequently. In fact, with the 
insertion of a door or two, the 
ell, alone, would afford quite 
comfortable accommodations for 
a year or two on many a new 
farm. The house fronts the east. 
It has a stone foundation, with 
a cellar under the whole. Enter- 
ing at the front door, on eacli 
side of which is a narrow win- 
dow, we come into the wide 
hall, (H\ running through the 
house with a west door. The 
staircase is open to the hall, as Linen Closet ; 
drawn, but at the point indica- 
ted, by projections from the sides, as the bases 
of an arch, a partition might be made to shut 
off the stairs, which is often a great conven- 
ience, and economises heat. The front rooms 
on eacli side open into the hall by double doors. 
The kitchen, (£), is on the northwest corner, 
opening into the hall by a 
door under the stairs. This 
room is always warm, in 
summer often too warm; 
hence it is placed on the cool 
corner, yet it is sheltered by 
the ell. It is lighted by one 
LU rp large double window and 
provided with a cooking 
range, which should have a 
waterback and a reservoir 
for hot water, holding at 
least half a barrel. The in- 
side cellar stairs are entered 
from the kitchen under the 
main stairway. There is a 
store-room or large pantry, (P'), in the ell open- 
ing close to the kitchen door ; and besides the 
kitchen is well provided witli closet room in 
the dresser, and in the glass-doored closet 
kitchen under some circumstances. Over the 
dairy is the men's room, shut off from the rest 
of the second story — and over the wash-room 
is the girls' room accessible only through the 
main house; an arrangement which, for many 
reasons, will commend itself to good house- 
keepers. The place for a cistern is iu the cel- 
lar under the wash-room, or in the ground just 
outside. The piazza on the west affords a tol- 
erable place for the housewife to sun her tins, 
-ft 
Fig. 3. — PLAN OP SECOND STORT. 
Main house ceilings, 9 feet high. Wing ceilings, S feet high. — IT, Hall ; L C, 
GS, Ga'rnt Stairs ; E, Entry; B, Bedrooms ; B It, Bath-room; 
G B, Girls' Boom ; M B, Men's Boom. 
but not equal to a southern exposure. This 
would be gained by what would doubtless be 
considered an essential addition to the house, 
namely, a wood-shod, enclosing the outside 
kitchen door and extending westward as in- 
dicated by dotted lines on fig. 2. This expla- 
nation concludes aril that pertains to the kitchen 
and its appendages. The engravings need little 
explanation as regards the rest of the house, ex- 
cept the mere naming of rooms, etc., which is 
done in the references. The sitting-room or 
dining-room is oil the north-east. It has good 
closets, a fire-place, and abundant light. The par- 
lor and parlor-bedroom which would probably 
be used as a guest-chamber, or for grandpa and 
grandma, are in that portion of the house which, 
might be omitted, and built when times are easy. 
The architect has provided a good-sized hall- 
closet. A stove in the hall would keep the 
whole house warm except in severe winter 
weather, and a pipe might be carried either to 
the kitchen chimney or to the parlor chimney, 
an earthen-pipe flue being laid in when the 
house is built, to avoid cutting partitions. 
Up stairs, we have the principal bedrooms 
connected ; each furnished with a flue for a 
