fertilizer
is secured, and one of the great agricultural duties of man
fulfilled,--that of "returning to the soil, as fertilizers, all the salts
produced by the combustion of food in the human body."

Where the water-supply is brought into the house from a common reservoir,
much the same rules hold good. We can not of course control the character
of the general supply, but we can see to it that our own water and waste
pipes are in the most perfect condition; that traps and all the best
methods of preventing the escape of sewer-gas into our houses are
provided; that stationary or "set" basins have the plug always in them;
and that every water-closet is provided with a ventilating pipe
sufficiently high and long to insure the full escape of all gases from the
house. Simple disinfectants used from time to time--chloride of lime and
carbolic acid--will be found useful, and the most absolute cleanliness is
at all times the first essential.

With air and water at their best, the home has a reasonable chance of
escaping many of the sorrows brought by disease or uncertain health; and,
the power to work to the best advantage being secured, we may now pass to
the forms that work must take.

CHAPTER IV.

THE DAY'S WORK.

It is safe to say that no class of women in the civilized world is
subjected to such incessant trials of temper, and such temptation to be
fretful, as the American housekeeper. The reasons for this state of things
are legion; and, if in the beginning we take ground from which the whole
field may be clearly surveyed, we may be able to secure a better
understanding of what housekeeping means, and to guard against some of the
dangers accompanying it.

The first difficulty lies in taking for granted that successful
housekeeping is as much an instinct as that which leads the young bird to
nest-building, and that no specific training is required. The man who
undertakes a business, passes always through some form of apprenticeship,
and must know every detail involved in the management; but to the large
proportion of women, housekeeping is a combination of accidental forces
from whose working it is hoped breakfasts and dinners and suppers will be
evolved at regular periods, other necessities finding place where they
can. The new home, prettily furnished, seems a lovely toy, and is
surrounded by a halo, which, as facts assert themselves, quickly fades
away. Moth and rust and dust invade the most secret reces