Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-11-06


! joyable. according to Farmers Bulle-
| tin No. 607, issued by the U. 5. De-
| partment of Agriculture.
This bulletin, entitled THE Farm
Kitchen as a Workshop discusses
not merely the proper location of the
| kitchen with reference to other parts
| of the house, but gives details as to
the best methods of treating it's floors
and walls, and gives well tested floor
! plans for the step-saving arrangement
of the sink, stove, table, and other kit
! chen utilities.
| The author of the bulletin. in her in
| PRODUCTION, states that a small, COM
pact kitchen saves many steps and
much useless labor in the preparation
of food. This, however. is in homes
where the kitchen is merely work.
shop, and not used also as a general
purpose room where meals are served
and where the family gathers to en-
jow the warmth of the stove. Even
where large kitchen is needed for
such purposes, however, a logical ar
rangement of it's various features with
relation to each other will enable the
housewife to do her work much more
efficiently.
Whether the chief exposure of the
kitchen shall be north, east, south or
west, is a matter governed by indi-
vidual preference and local conditions.
A kitchen which receives the morning
light is usually desirable Effort
should be made, however, to secure
light from two directions and cross
ventilation. For this purpose, the
| kitchen should be located either in a
/ corner of the house or in a narrow
| part where there can be windows on
/ opposite sides. It is well, also to To-
/ cate the kitchen so that clouds of dust
may not be blown in from the road
| and it is of even greater Importance
| that the kitchen be so located with
| reference to barns and other outbuild
! ings that the prevailing winds will no.
| bring unpleasant odors or flies from
! them.
! In many farm houses a very large
kitchen is provided, because it must
| handle the unusual cooking for har-
| vest hands. The writer points out
! that it will be better to provide a
| temporary shed or a kitchen on the
/ porch, with oil stoves or other cooking
/ devices, to handle this unusual rush
and thus allow the housekeeper to
/ have a smaller kitchen during the rest
| of the year.
| The size of the kitchen, unless
! large pantry or storeroom is pro-
vided, is also governed somewhat by
| the amount of supplies which must be
stored. In the case of farm distant
from town. supplies necessarily must
! be bought in bulk and need sufficient
storage space. In such cases, it Is
sometimes wise to provide an extra
| pantry or storage room. In arrang-
| ing the pantry, however, especially If
| it be between the kitchen and dining
room. care should be used not to make
| it too large, as long passageway be
! tween these two rooms adds neces-
sarily to the labor of the woman.
| The kitchen, the writer finds, should
be so located that it will be especially
convenient to the pantry, dining room
/ storeroom, cellar and wood shed. At
| the same time. access to other parts IF
| the house should be easy from the
kitchen, although, as the writer points
/ out, it is unfortunate if the kitchen is
made the principal entryway to the
house. She particularly urges that il
be on the same level with the pantry
and dining room, as steps, even if only
/
lifting and lowering the body up ami
down them many times a day and lead
inevitably to greater breakage OF
crockery The bulletin is very spe-
cific in condemning kitchens in base
ments. 1t very emphatically urges
that general traffic through the kitchen
be reduced as much as possible, and
especially that it be not made a place
| I, al I'M mr.
hung.
For reasons of general convenience,
too, the refrigerator should be on the
same level as the kitchen. Similarly
for much the same reason, the writer
urges that the refrigerator or icebox
be so arranged that it can be filled
from outside. If the rear opening of
the icebox is tightly joined to the
| opening in the wall of the house, and
this opening is screened with strong
wire netting, the back of the icebox
can be left open in winter and the food
kept in cold air without chilling the
rest of the house.
The floors, walls and ceiling should
have a plain surface and be free from
cracks, ridges, mouldings, or other
raised ornaments which catch dust
! anu Olft, are W hecP CiSdil
AMI afford harboring places for in
sects Walls covered with washable
paint or washable wall paper are
easier to clean than those simply
tinted, though the latter can be read
lily renewed. Light colors are pref
cradle, greenish grays being desirable
if the exposure is toward the south,
and light yellows or creams If the
kitchen gets it's light principally from
the northeast.
OF course, thing or vitrified brick or
metallic thing are better than paint
tint, or wall paper. which have to be
renewed, but these are more expensive
| Where the walls are painted, a better
surface results when coat is ap-
piled every year or two than when
several coats are applied at once. A
final coat of enamel paint or outside
varnish is desirable for woodwork that
needs cleaning frequently. The cell
ing may be finished with whitewash or
one of the commercial preparations
| Unfinished Won1ep floors are one of