pantries, stove or range, and working-space for all operations in cooking,
be close at hand. The difference between a pantry at the opposite end of
the room, and one opening close to the sink, for instance, may seem a
small matter; but when it comes to walking across the room with every dish
that is washed, the steps soon count up as miles, and in making even a
loaf of bread, the time and strength expended in gathering materials
together would go far toward the thorough kneading, which, when added to
the previous exertion, makes the whole operation, which might have been
only a pleasure, a burden and an annoyance.

Let, then, stove, fuel, water, work-table, and pantries be at the same end
of the kitchen, and within a few steps of one another, and it will be
found that while the general labor of each day must always be the same,
the time required for its accomplishment will be far less, under these
favorable conditions. The successful workman,--the type-setter, the
cabinet-maker, or carpenter,--whose art lies in the rapid combination of
materials, arranges his materials and tools so as to be used with the
fewest possible movements; and the difference between a skilled and
unskilled workman is not so much the rate of speed in movement, as in the
ability to make each motion tell. The kitchen is the housekeeper's
workshop; and, in the chapter on _House-work_, some further details as to
methods and arrangements will be given.




CHAPTER II.

THE HOUSE: VENTILATION.