and adequate treatment.  In times past it was considered inevitable that the country-dweller should lack the advantages, found in most city houses, of a plentiful supply of water, radiated heat for the whole house, proper disposal of waste, and arrangements for cold storage.  We know now that these things are obtainable at less cost than we had supposed; and we know also that it is not lack of means, but lack of knowledge, which forces many to do without them.  In many a farm home the doctor’s bills for one or two winters would pay for installing proper systems of heat and ventilation.  Everything that tends to increase the comfort and safety of home life must be taught, as well as everything that tends to lessen the labor of keeping a family clean, warm, and properly fed.

Accurate figures should be obtained to set before the boys and girls who will be homemakers, showing the cost, in time, labor, and money, of running a heating plant for the house as compared with several stoves scattered about in the dwelling.  To accompany these we must have more figures, showing the comparative time spent in doing the necessary work incidental to the operation of each type of apparatus.  We must consider the comparative cleanliness of both types of heating plants, with their effect, first, upon the health of the family, and secondly, upon the amount of cleaning necessary to keep the house in proper condition.  We must compare types of stoves with one other, hot-air, steam, and hot-water plants with one another, and various kinds of fuels, both as to cost and as to efficacy.

The water question is one of real interest to both city-and country-dweller, although the chances are that the country-dweller knows less about his source of supply than the city-dweller can know if he chooses to investigate.  The city-dweller should know whence and by what means the water flows from his faucet, if for no other reason than that he may do his part in seeing that the money spent by his city or town brings adequate return to the taxpayer.  For the rural homemaker, of course, the problem usually becomes an individual one.

[Illustration:  Photograph by Brown Bros.  A dangerous well.  The rural homemaker must make sure that his water supply is at a safe distance from contaminating impurities]

Is the water supply adequate?  Is the water free from harmful bacteria?  Is the source a safe distance from contaminating impurities?  Are we obtaining the water for household and farm purposes without more labor than is compatible with good management?  Is not running water as important for the house as for the barn?  How much water does an ordinary family need for all purposes in a day?  How much time does it take to pump and carry this quantity by hand or to draw it from a well?  How much strength and nerve force are thus expended that might be saved for more important work?  Does lack of time or strength cause the homekeeper to “get along” with less water in the house than is really needed?  Is there any natural means at hand for pumping the water—­any “brook that may be put to work,” any gravity system that may be installed?  If not, are there mechanical means available that would really pay for themselves in increased water, time, and comfort for all the family?