om the service or delivery
entrance to the doorway of the dining room. Be sure, too, that added
working space is available in the event of dinner parties or larger
forms of entertainment. The saving on tempers, fine china, and glass
will be well worth it. In other words, have this most important
working room compact but not too small.

As an example we cite another of our own errors in judgment. Having
been brought up in a house with a large old-fashioned kitchen where
the luckless cook walked miles in performing her culinary duties, we
went to the other extreme. The room originally designed for the
kitchen with its large old fireplace and sunny southern exposure was
immediately chosen for the dining room. Directly back of it was the
old pantry which, without benefit of architectural advice, we decided
to fit up as a kitchen. It was a good idea except for the fact that
the room was really too small, especially for the type of hospitality
that rules in the country. To be sure, by moving a partition a little
and by remodeling a small lean-to that adjoined it, sufficient storage
and working space was added to make conditions tolerable; but it is at
best a makeshift and the answer is, eventually, a properly designed
service wing, architecturally in keeping with the 18th century but
mechanically modern. Even under these makeshift conditions, however,
the assembly idea has been followed and this somewhat mitigates the
drawback of contracted space.

The most important tool in a kitchen is obviously the cooking range.
Here the country dweller has a choice of bottled gas, electricity, or
oil as fuels. What he decides to use may depend on personal
preference, availability, or cost of installing and operating. Where
service is dependable and a reasonable cooking rate prevails, there
is no better method of cooking than by electricity. Clean, odorless
and easily regulated, its advantages are obvious. But no electric
light and power company can afford to run its cables underground in
the country. The service lines are on poles and extend over a large
area. Nature has no regard for the convenience of either the company
or its patrons. A thunderbolt may knock out a transformer, or a tree
may be blown down and carry nearby electric lines with it. Repair men
are continually on the job with a well-run company and work speedily
and faithfully but they cannot be everywhere at once. Service may be
interrupted for ten minutes or for several