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INDIANAPOLIS, JANUARY 4, 1908.
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Rural Architecture.
Bdltora Indiana Farmer:
It is impossible to ignore the influence
of money as an element in the development of American architecture, and that
it is present, as a fundamental factor, is
one of the facts to be noticed in this discussion.
If a large per cent of our prosperous
farmers would ouly make their homes on
the farm instead of the towns and cities,
if they only felt under obligations to
maintain an interest in the welfare of the
communities in which they have made
their success, and to remain there and
erect dwellings commensurate with their
means, instead of building small tenant
houses, disproportionate in size, style and
treatment to the other buildings, then the
farm home might represent some measure
at least of sentiment outwardly expressed
in artistic embelishment.
Nevertheless it is in the design of country homes of the old colonial days of the
aristocratic eastern and southern homes
that American architecture has achieved
one of its greatest successes, because
rural architecture is almost wholly free
from the usual restrictions and limitations
which render the application of architecture in our cities and towns so difficult.
I deem it unnecessary to go away back
into the dim and misty past to dig up and
trace the history of the abodes of the
human family, to discuss this influence or
that to try to classify the orders and show
the relation to each other, but well discuss the practical present day side of the
question.
In order to systematize our investigations we will discuss the following topics
in the order named:
Site, aspect, exterior treatment, planning landscape effpact, heating and ventilation,  lighting and  sanitation.
In the first place the house must be
adapted to the site.
A plan may be ever so perfect in itself,
and yet unsuited to a particular spot, or
out of harmony with the surrounding
scenery. If a building's sole claim to artistic approval res(s on its harmonious
relation to the surroundings, this fact
alone will insure its builder au honorable
place among lovers of good architecture.
In    modern sized    buildings an    open
house and the highway, with width equal
to or exceeding the length, will give room
for shade trees and an ample grass plat.
The site should be well drained, and the
house if possible: should be on higher
ground than the barn, so that no wash
or  seepage  may  tend   toward  it.
One hundred feet is the minimum distance which should intervene between
thetie structure! except in a very cold
climate, where the house and barn may
bo connected by a covered passage, which
however should be so constructed that it
can be pulled down quickly in case of a
fire.
— The Aspect. —
First the aspect due north is apt to be
gloomy, because no sunshine ever cheers
a room so placed unless from the ends
and that only at one brief time each
morning or evening. Second, the aspect
due east is not much better, because the
front rooms are not the ones occupied during the morning hours. Third, the aspect due west is intolerable from the excess of sun dazzling the eyes in the room
where one's afternoon leisure is spent;
but if we  face  our  house to the south;
we have the most desirable location for
the principal rooms; the dining room can
be located in the east, where it will receive the morning sun, and thus but few
rooms will be left to receive only west or
north light. An added advantage might
be obtained by facing southeast, which
would let sunlight into all the windows at
some hour during the day. It would also admit a front porch sheltered from the
evening rays of the sun.
— Exterior Form and Treatment. —
Of common forms of house building,
the square is the most econmical in point
of outside wall surface, always the most
compact arrangement of rooms, and is
most readily heated; but it cannot be eas-
W'e canuot hope to ever have a style of
architecture  distinctly   American.
Tho fundamental principles which enter
into the different orders or styles possible
are already known; not that todny ideas
ere lacking in our work, but simply that
the possible ways of building and ornamenting are limited and their essential
features are already known. The best
we can hope to do is to take some of the
older styles and adopt theni to the requirements of our American environment.
Absolute originality is not the most essential of architectural accomplishments,
and can only be obtained by absolute disregard  for  historical  precedent.
Style   is   the   outcome   of   genius   and
Farm Home of Walter Ne wkirk,  Bartholomew,    Co.
ily made picturesque, and they furnish at
the minimum expense the maximum
amount of room, but are necessarily uncomfortable iu hot weather in this latitude.
All apartments should have a well ventilated attic between them and the roof.
It is economy in first cost of building
material to build a house of two or more
stories, because roof and foundation are
expensive items; but it is bad enough for
Pjeople who live in cities to suffer from
the  disadvantage of    stairs  without    in-
flictingth*ss»ssMttee\il on  people who live
space of from 100 to 250 feet £s&mimtr thw- -tit ttfecountry,    where economy of space
counts for very little.
I nm convinced that a properly constructed one-story house, with a good
cellar underneath, and on dry soil, is just
as healthful for sleeping on its lower floor
ns a higher house is upon its upper floor.
The economy is only in first cost of building materia], and through all the years
there is a serious waste of effort to all in
the family who are compelled daily or,
perhaps, hourly to ascend to an upper
story to perform necessary household
pint ies. Those  are  practical   considera
tions that tend to produce the comfort
which, after all, is the essential feature
of home.
But it is not enough thnt a house
bhould posses* this materia] comfort; it
■must alspp appear comfortable, ami die eye
must he soothed and satisfied as well as
the body.
'I'Iip- simp!? dignity, reno-pc ami absence
o'' all straining nfter effect, which mark
,,.,| .,,.,, nre rarely t.p he seen, atul are
Often replaced by a striving fp.r originality
—fppr tlic passing sIippw ppf tp.ilay. which tomorrow "ill be hopelessly out of date.
— Stvle  in    Architecture. —
study of great minds, so let us apply the
plassic standards of ages to our houses
of today.
We need not ignore the past, but let us
seek the spirit of tue best old days, and
let the letter pass—that "letter" which is
so dear to many who have never known
the spirit. Seek first good construction,
and if this be the ouly factor considered,
the  result will often  be satisfactory.
An experienced architect will give you
first a sanitary, substantial and comfortable house, and in so doing, with no ex
tra expense, but often with unusual econ
omy and will manage to make a really
artistic building at the same tim.
sup-Ii houses you will discover, not merely
style, but home building, pure aud sim
pie.
— Planning. —
But it is not alone to the outward ornamentation of the fnrm home that art
and  skill   should   be  directed.
The influence of these should be shown
as well in the internal arrangement and
adornment. Two. unfortunate characteristics of modern house planning are
multiplicity of rooms and general isolation of the several parts. I think it a
question, however, whether such a multiplicity of the number of rooms, all free to
the family and visitors, adds anything t.i
tlip' real eomfort ppf living.
We can. after all ppuly be in one place
at a tine. Empty loons make a dreary
I'.ppuse. What is more dreary and ghost
like than a spare room, seldom if ever
ip.p'pI p.r entered? Xp>i- ilo a great nnm-
1 er of public rooms contribute to priyacjr;
spp is it not bp'tt.T with the increase .if the
hoiiseholil t'i increase the size rather than
the number of public' rooms'.' If pine examine   the  average   modem   Iippiisc   it   will
be found to consist of a series of rectangular boxes. These are the parlor, dining room, sitting room, etc., and when
the house is small these are correspondingly contracted, till the minimum size
nnd maximum of discomfort is reached,
cud one often finds all the family crowded
into one of these boxes.
Benton Steele, Architect.
Pendleton,   lud.
To be continued.
TESTING SEEDS.
Bdltora Indiana Farmer:
In the growing of field and garden
crops, the same as in the growing of the
best beef or dairy herd, the best individual is not the result of luck, but his
strength and vitality are the result of
careful study, on the part of the producer.
Careful selection and mating of ancestors
is necessary if we expect the best results
with the herd, careful selection and testing the parent ear, is necessary if we may
expect the best crops.
There is no method by which we may
examine an ear of corn and tell positively as to its fertility and vitality, without
a practical test.
A tester that we have used for several
yp:irs with gpp.ipl results. »a< nude from a
small box, about thirty inches square and
three inches deep. At intervals of one
and one-half inches, small holes were
lrored. nnd through these holes, binder
twine was laced four hundred small
squares, one and one half inches on the
si.le. amply large enough for five or six
kernels of fairly good sized corn. The
box was next filled with fine moist sand,
just deep enough to let the strings, across
the box, lay lightly on top the sand. I
prefer sand to earth as it is not so stick j
to handle.
After having selected the ears of corn
that suit my fancy, I take a knife blade,
aud, from different places on the ear, take
out five or six kernels and sink them in
the sand in one of the squares until they
are deep enough to be easily covered. I
then number the ear by pinning a number on the end, corresponding with the
number of the square in which the kernels have been placed.
Whon as many ears have been "set"
as is desired, the box should be placed in
a room kept at a moderate temperature,
until the kernels begin to germinate,
which should be nt the end of five or six
extract the kernels from the
san.l, square
fully the fertility
sprout, if auy. If less than four of the
five fail to germinate, I discard the ear.
as returns are too valuable to risk an uncertain ear.
Garden seeds may be tested in practi
cally the same way, using the squares for
different varieties of seed. G. II.
Clinton Co.
nn.l  notice  ear.'
r of      eio b
Africa may help to save our forests
from being demolished for wood pull
There is a grass, known as alfa, which
can be grown in the desert region to an
unlimited extent It is cut and harvested
like hay A London daily has for some
years been printed on paper made of thi*
material.
1
The eleventh annual meeting of th-
Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company will
be held at room 12, State House, this
city. January 0 aud 10. Aaron Jonr
South Bend, is the President and II. 1,.
Nowlin,   Guilford,   Secretary.