Few things tend so much to peace and comfort, making all laboring for the family contented and comfortable, as a bright, pleasant, well furnished kitchen. In no other room in the house are sunlight and fresh, pure air so indispensable as in the room where some of the most important work must be done. We have not the least desire to be thought superior, as a general thing; but in building a house, no man, be he architect, brother, son, or husband, should have the control of planning the kitchen, store closets, or laundry. They are influenced in the construction by considerations for the beauty or artistic appearance of the house, as a whole, with little thought and no practical knowledge of what will make work easy and servants happy, or what will most conduce to the neatness of their work or the promptness of its execution. But a woman who understands what it is to do the work, or arrange for others to do it, naturally realizes, as a man cannot, that in building a kitchen, whenever beauty, in the artist's sense of the word, and utility are not compatible, utility must be the major, and beauty the minor, consideration.

A long, narrow, dark kitchen is an abomination. In some city houses we suppose it cannot be avoided; at least so the architect will affirm. Ranges or cook stoves should not be placed opposite a door or window. A good ventilator is important over the range or cook stove, by which the steam and disagreeable odors from cooking can be carried off without pervading the house. Three large windows are always desirable, and for a very large kitchen four would be better. If the architect refuses so many, endeavor to compromise by having the outside door half glass. If possible, arrange to have the windows wide, with large panes of glass, and reaching down to the floor, so as to give more light. A sink should be on the left hand side of the range, and as near a window as possible, to secure good light. Porcelain washtubs are one of the last improvements, and if the inventor will now arrange for a porcelain sink, with the proper fixtures, it will be an improvement; but until that is done, marble or soapstone is the next best - far better than wood or iron. A large soapstone or marble bowl, for washing dishes, set permanently at the left hand corner of the sink, with a very fine drainer at the bottom, connected with the waste pipe beneath the sink, is a greater convenience than any can realize until they have tried it; also, a marble or soapstone drainer, with grooves, for rinsing and draining dishes. It should be fixed to the table connected with the sink, and set a little inclined, so that the water shall drain into the sink. A moulding about an inch high will be needed around the edges of the drainer, to prevent the rinsing water from flowing over on the floor, and also to keep the dishes from sliding off. With a sink thus furnished, no dish pans are needed, except to wash pots and kettles. It is a simple thing, but very useful, because it compels the one washing to put her dishes into this drainer one by one, as she washes them.

There are many more items connected with the kitchen which we would like to notice, did space permit, as the table adjoining the sink for washing game and vegetables, the small drawers underneath, for scouring and polishing material, and various little conveniences.