VOL. XLVIII. NO. 2047. 
NEW YORK, APRIL 20, 1889. 
PRICE FIVE CENTS, 
$2.00 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, In the Year 1889, by the Rural New-Yorker, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.] 
AN OHIO FARM-HOUSE. 
HE fine house shown at Fig. 92, 
with floor plans at Figs. 93,94 
and 95, is owned by Mr. Geo. 
Dormire, of Champaign Coun¬ 
ty, Ohio. Mr. Dormire writes 
as follows concerning it: 
“The foundation plan shows that the cellar 
is excavated under the entire house, and we 
utilize the entire space. The furnace (a Bar- 
stow wood-burner, see Fig. 93) is admirably 
located and has given us splendid results in 
heating our house this winter. The cold air 
is taken from the north side of the house and 
conducted through a cold-air shaft directly 
under the furnace. We also have an opening 
in the floor directly above the furnace, by 
which we can admit the cold air from the 
floor down between the two walls that inclose 
the furnace at the 
places marked “cold 
air;” then it passes 
under the furnace to 
be heated, and pass- 
es[up into the rooms 
above. This I con¬ 
sider a grand feature 
in heating by a fur¬ 
nace, and I think 
the lack of it is the 
chief cause why 
some furnaces fail 
to give good results; 
for I have sometimes 
found it extremely 
difficult—in fact, it 
was almost impossi¬ 
ble—to force hot air 
into the rooms above 
when they were 
Ailed with cold air, 
but now we can shut 
off the cold air in 
the cold shaft, and 
open the opening 
(which should be a 
register the sime as 
for hot airi above 
the furnace and ad- 
mit the cold air 
from the rooms, 
thereby creating a 
circulation of air at 
once. The cold air 
passing down is heat¬ 
ed and then passes 
up into the rooms, 
and our house is soon 
filled throughout 
with hot air. 
The wood is thrown 
down the trap-door 
opening at the east 
end of the house. It 
is then loaded on a swiugiug car and con¬ 
ducted directly to the furnace along the line 
of track shown on the plan. I intend to take 
our fruit and vegetables down by a hoist at 
the same opening; then by meaus of the car 
all can be taken where wanted for storage. 
The fire-place is intended for soap and ap¬ 
ple-butter making and other like uses. Tne 
sink at the corner is supplied with cold water 
aud conveniently located for all purposes in¬ 
cidental to a fire-place. The sink under the 
pantry is supplied with both hot and cold 
water aud is very convenient. The entire 
cellar is well lighted and ventilated, as shown 
by the windows, which are hung on hinges 
and swing upwards. 
The three chief points considered in the con¬ 
struction of this house were convenience, du¬ 
rability and comfort; but its hygienic and 
sanitary conditions were by no means over¬ 
looked. The first-floor plan, at Figure 94, 
shows the location of the rooms and gives 
their respective sizes. The ceilings are 10 feet 
high in the clear. The plastering is finished 
with a brown or rough coat, and will be either 
painted or papered. The hall, parlor and 
sitting-room are finished in black walnut; the 
bed-room is finished with wild cherry, and the 
dining-room with white walnut or butternut, 
and all wood-work is artistically carved and 
finished in a respectable manner. All the 
wood-work inside (except that in the kitchen, 
pantry and the bed-room over the kitchen) is 
filled and finished with two coats of the best 
varnish. The kitchen, pantry and bed-room 
over the kitchen and the entire outside of the 
house have three coats of the best lead and 
oil paint. 
The kitchen and dining-room are provided 
with a double cupboard accessible from either 
side; and this is quite a convenience, saving 
much running from either the kitchen or 
dining-room. The dumb-waiter or elevator 
cupboard is also arranged so as to be accessi¬ 
ble from either the dining-room or pantry. 
This is one of the most labor-saving arrange¬ 
ments in the house. Whatever there may be 
in the cellar can be placed on the waiter aud 
elevated for use in the diuiug-room, pantry or 
kitchen, thereby saving many trips down and 
up the cellar stair-way, which is very weari¬ 
some, as many housewives can testify. 
The hot-water boiler is placed between the 
kitchen side of the cupboard aud the kitchen 
flue, close by the cook-stove, which heats the 
water in the boiler by means of pipes intro¬ 
duced into the fire-box of the stove. The 
kitchen sink is supplied with both hot aud 
cold rain water as well as well water. The 
pantry is furnished with all the conveniences 
that are needed in a well arranged pantry 
and they are shown at Fig. 94. The work-table 
has six drawers underneath. The swinging 
shelf above and rather to one side of it, is 
provided with small shelves for spices and 
other such condiments. The shelves over the 
meal-chest are larger and extend to the ceil¬ 
ing. The cupboard is amply large and con¬ 
venient. The pot cupboard is convenient for 
concealing pots, skillets, etc., that housewives 
do not wish to have exposed when they are 
not in use. 
The kitchen stairway is very convenient, 
either for going upstairs the back way, or 
down to the cellar. The wood-house adjoins 
the kitchen, and there is no need of going out 
from the hot kitchen into the cold storm or 
during inclement weather at the risk of health 
and life, to an outside wood-shed for fuel, for 
the wood is as close as it can be to the kitchen, 
and there is no exposure or a long trip to get 
it. The wash-house is also conveniently lo¬ 
cated to the wood-house and kitchen, and 
arrangements have been made to have it sup- 
Fig. 92. From a Photograph. 
plied with all the necessary equipments ^when 
it is to be used for purposes for which it was 
intended. At present it is used for a living- 
room. Both the f rout and rear porches are sup¬ 
plied with sinks. All of the rooms on the first 
floor are supplied with ventilators both near 
the floor aud near the ^ceiling, tor cont rolling 
the temperature, and all of the|roonis,through- 
out the house are provided with proper open¬ 
ings in the floors for the admittance of stove¬ 
pipes, to be used in case the furnace should 
be disabled by some'Jaccideut. Stoves will be 
used here only in^case of such an emergency. 
All of the rooms )on the second floor—see 
Fig. 95—except the bath-room are bed-rooms, 
and all are accessible’from the hall above. 
Each room is finished in a different kind of 
wood, and all bed-rooms, except one, are^sup- 
plied with wardrobes built in the walls. The 
spice under the attic stairs is a receptacle for 
bed-clothes. The bath-room has a bath-tub, 
wash-stand and water-closet. The bath-tub 
and wash-stand are supplied with both hot 
and cold rain water, which we think is more 
desirable than well water. The water is 
heated by the boiler in the kitchen. All of 
tne rooms on th9 second floor are warmed by 
the furnace. Tne locations of the registers 
are shown in the plan. The balcony is ac¬ 
cessible from one of the hall windows. Its rail¬ 
ing and the upper decx of the roof will ho ve 
suitable cresting, which will give the house a 
more complete appearance. The water is sup¬ 
plied from tanks in the water-house located a 
short distance east of the dwelling-house. The 
rain water runs directly into a tank from the 
water-house roof and furnishes all the rain 
water that we need without any pumping or 
much further attention. The well water is 
pumped into a tank on the same leveHwith 
and by the side of the rain water|tank. From 
there the water is distributed wherever.dt is 
needed.by_means.of 
pipes. A The water,is 
pumped by a Hala- 
day wind-engine 
(13 feet). The same 
power does churn¬ 
ing and washing, 
saws the wood and 
grmds the feed. It 
has given] us grand 
results, and at pres¬ 
ent is undergoing 
some changes. When 
these are completed 
it will give us still 
better satisfaction. 
This house is not 
quite completed. It 
will cost not far 
from $4,500 when 
done. The cost may 
vary, depending up¬ 
on the price of lum¬ 
ber and labor. The 
lawn is not laid out, 
and 1 want advice 
trom those who have 
had experience in 
landscape garden¬ 
ing. It will be use¬ 
ful to have others 
tell me what trees, 
shrubs and vines to 
procure, and how 
to arrange them so 
as to produce a good 
effect. We have, or 
think we have, a 
substantial and 
handsome house, 
and now we want 
the grounds to help 
it out. 
The R. N.-Y. in mentioning lines of work 
in which the various experiment stations 
could interest aud instruct farmers, has fre¬ 
quently urged the stations to prepare plans of 
good barns and other farm buildings. 
It is very gratifyiug to see that some of the 
stations are acting upon these suggestions and 
presenting excellent plans for barns, silos, 
piggeries aud other useful structures. The 
stations at Cornell aud at Madison, Wiscon¬ 
sin, lead in this work, and we think the plans 
they have submitted will be found useful by 
farmers. The West Virginia Station has is¬ 
sued a pamphlet on creameries that gives de¬ 
tailed plans and specifications. This is a most 
commendable enterprise. 
AN OHIO FARM HOUSE. 
