In the future as in the past, most farm houses, without doubt, will be heated by stoves. However, some farmers will desire either an air, water, or steam heater. Air heaters are dangerous, because if the valves are not properly managed, the pipes may become superheated and may set the building on fire. They carry fine dust into the rooms, and the heat cannot be evenly distributed when the house is exposed to the full force of the wind, as it usually is in the country. The system of heating by means of hot water has many objections when used in the farm house. The water in the pipes is likely to freeze at night in the unused rooms if it is cut off; if it is left on, all the rooms must be heated, which is frequently not desirable. Then, too, heat cannot be secured as quickly in the morning as desired, and in case of too much heat, the rooms cool slowly unless doors or windows are opened. The first cost of placing a steam heating plant is expensive, but once in place it is most satisfactory. Wherever steam power can be used to advantage in the dairy, the steam plant might well be placed in one end of the summer kitchen or in the wood house, where it may be separated from the balance of the room by a partition. There is no more danger of fire from a boiler than from a stove. The one plant which furnishes steam and hot water for various purposes, such as churning, sawing wood, and pumping water, need not be more expensive if it also is made to serve for heating the house.

A simple contrivance now in common use,—when several buildings are heated from a central station,—serves to govern the amount and pressure of steam introduced into the building. The farm steam plant should be situated, when possible, below the level of the radiators on the first floor, that the warm water from the condensed steam may be used again in the boiler instead of cold water. In the long run, this system would heat the house more cheaply than stoves, require less care-taking, and be cleaner and more satisfactory in every way.

Much has been written about ventilation; and too often the systems applicable to ventilating large, overcrowded rooms and public halls have been applied to dwellings. However complex and difficult the ventilation of large buildings may be, the ventilation of a room in a dwelling is simple. If there are two or more windows in a room, ideal ventilation can be secured by raising the lower and lowering the upper sash as much as desired. By this method three streams of air are allowed to enter or leave the room, as there will be openings at the top, bottom and middle of the windows. The impure air is largely found at the top of the room and at the bottom. If, then, the warmer and lighter air is allowed to escape at the top, the colder air will rush in at the bottom, which will result in keeping it moving as water moves when the inflow is at or near the bottom of a vessel and the outflow near the top. Whenever only one window can be secured in the sleeping room, large transoms should be placed over the doors into the hall. While this method does not ventilate as well as the other, it serves to keep the air pure in the chamber. When there are many rooms situated on one hall, the hall should be ventilated by means of windows at its end, or at the top of the house. Many farm houses are over-ventilated in winter, the cold air entering the loose casements until the wash water expands and breaks the pitcher. In such cases storm sashes are a necessity, and are more economical than feather beds or coal in preserving a living temperature.