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PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

^ (WOMEN'S INSTITUTES).

BULLETIN No. 35.

THE PLAGE AND PURPOSE OF FAMILY LIFE.

MISS ALICE RAVENHILL,
Fellow of the Royal Sanitary Institute, etc., etc.

THESOVEflrimENTOF
THE PROVINCE OF BRITlSHCOLUKBIfl.

PRINTED J3F A VTHO11ITY OF
THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.

VICTORIA, B. 0. :

Printed by WILLIAM H. CULLIN, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty.

1911.

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA-

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

(WOMEN'S INSTITUTES).

BULLETIN No. 35.

THE PLACE AND PURPOSE OF FAMILY LIFE,

MISS ALICE RAVENMILL,
Fellow of the Royal Sanitary Institute, etc., etc.

THE GOVERNMENT OF
THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH CCLiWBIfl.

PRINTED BY A UTHOKITY OF
THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF JtlilTISH COLUMBIA.

VICTORIA, B. C. :

Printed by WILLIAM II. CULLIN, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty.

1911.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

VICTORIA, B.C., October i>4th, 1911.
The Honourable Price Ellison,

Minister of Agriculture.

SIR, — I have the honour to submit herewith a bulletin com-
piled on behalf of Women's Institutes towards the advancement
of home life.

I have the honour to be.

Sir,
Your obedient servant,

WM. K. SCOTT.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture.

INTRODUCTION.

In submitting for the attention and perusal of the members of
the Women's Institutes of British Columbia this, the first, depart-
mental bulletin issued on behalf of the organization, it affords me
pleasure to state that the efforts of the Department of Agriculture
by the inauguration of Women's Institutes — towards the betterment
of conditions in our rural communities as affecting women — is
meeting with the cordial support and approval of the women of the
Province, as evidenced by the very rapid growth and extension of
this movement since its inception.

It is now two years since Women's Institutes were first
organized in British Columbia, and the growth since then is very
gratifying and encouraging.

There are at the present time twenty-three institutes in the
Province, with a membership of SJT. An Advisory Board, consist-
ing of four members, has been appointed, in order to confer with
and advise the Department as to matters affecting AVomen's
Institute work.

A series of bulletins will be issued dealing with the betterment
of conditions in home life in our country districts.

The motto adopted by the Women's Institutes of the Province
is the same as that adopted by the Province of Ontario, and
explains in four words the chief aim and object of the Women's
Institutes, viz., "For Home and Country."

WM. K. SCOTT,

1 )c]>n t // Minister of Af/riculturc,
Superintendent of Institutes.

THE PLACE AND PURPOSE OF FAMILY LIFE.

CANADA'S PROUD MISSION.

The closing words of Earl Grey's farewell address to the country, for
whose advancement he has laboured with whole-hearted devotion, form a
fitting introduction to this subject. " I beseech you," he said, " to educate
and bring up your children in the faith that Canada is destined to till a
proud and splendid mission in the world."

But what is the connection, you will ask, between the title at the head
of this page — " The Place and Purpose of Family Life " — and the mission
which Earl Grey foretells it is the duty of this vast and beautiful country
to fulfil?

FAMILY LIFE THE BASIS OF NATIONAL SUCCESS.

The reply to your question shall be given by no less a person than our
King. It is not many months ago since he told his people that the stability
and progress of our Empire depended entirely upon the character of the
homes in which its children are reared. Only, said he. if home life be pure
and healthful can prosperity be secured and our great and world-wide respon-
sibilities be fulfilled.

Upon the parents of to-day, upon their methods of bringing up their
families, hinges the future of Canada. Now. one purpose of family life is
to furnish the country with a high-minded, self-su] (porting, healthy population.

Our homes may be fitly compared to the lumber or the stones used in
the construction of some stately public building. If but one piece of lumber
be unsound or but one stone have a flaw, the stability of the whole will be
threatened. That which should last for years, serving many useful purposes
meanwhile, may from causes so small as these, impossible of detection,
collapse even before completion.

Let me remind you that Canada is composed of thousands of homes,
each one of which promotes or threatens its power to " fulfil its proud and
splendid mission to the world."

What is this national mission of which Earl Grey has spoken V Is it
to make money quickly by developing the rich resources of the country, so
that Canada shall become more rapidly a power in polities and in commerce:
or is it to rear up a race of strong, wise, and pure people, who. while working
for the advancement of their native land, will raise its national life to the
highest level of honour and health?

The history of the world bears clear witness to the fact that real progress
and enduring prosperity existed just in proportion as noble ideals and high
standards of conduct were fostered in home life. " It is righteousness that
exalteth a nation."

THE INFLUENCE OF HOME STANDARDS.

The surroundings, moral and physical, among which a child passes the
first eight or ten years of its life are those which colour the whole of its
future. There have never been more profound students of human nature
than the Jesuits. "Give us." they said. " a child for the first seven years
of his life and he i.s ours for always." so deep and firm are the early
impressions received by young children.

A Settler's Homo in British Columbia.

A high standard at home results in noble ideals of national duty when
the inmates of that home assume litV's responsibilities in later years. A low
standard in the home is farreaching in its bad influences on the conduct of
its occupants, long after they have passed out into the world to play their
varied parts as Empire-builders or. dare it be whispered, as Empire-destroyers.

THE TRUE MEANING OF FAMILY LIFE.

The fact is, we are so much accustomed to the existence of homes that
we rarely stop to think of the part each home plays in the national life.
Indeed, there are <|nite a number of young folks to-day who openly express
their wish that home life could be abolished. Home claims are irksome, they
say; home restraints are tiresome. The sooner they can escape — free to
lead their own lives — the better they will lie pleased !

Such selfishness is. however, a danger-signal: it warns parents of their
neglect to train their children in the virtues of loyal obedience and loving
consideration for others: it warns the youth and maiden that no man lives
or dies to himself, hut. that all productive life is based on service.

LIFE AND SERVICE.

Only by mutual service ran home. city, nation, or empire continue to
exist. The King serves his country: the Cabinet Ministers serve the people;
doctors serve their patients; teachers serve their pupils: and parents serve

their children, as they, in their turn, should delight to serve their parents.
Strength is the outcome of mutual service: whereas weakness is associated
with selfish (miscalled) independence. The old fable of the bundle of sticks
holds good to-day. If many sticks are firmly bound into one bundle, the
faggot cannot be broken: leave each stick separate, and a child can break
them across his knee. If we turn to the history of mankind we learn that
family life is the outcome of this experience — the strength of combination,
the weakness of isolation. Duty calls us to serve our King and our country,
and to combine for our mutual advantage with our fellow-men. An added
motive for home service is found in love; which love finds pleasure in mutual
helpfulness — i.e., in service.

THE FUNCTIONS OF FAMILY LIFE.

Just because there is this feeling of irritation among some young folk
against what they call the restrictions of home life, just because of the
importance to the Empire of preserving family life strong and pure, it is
helpful to recall what are its objects — why family circles have existed so
many thousands of years.

Family life fulfils four main functions : —

(1.) It protects children during their years of helplessness and shelters
old people when unable to continue self-supporting labour. Its first
object, therefore, is PROTECTION.

Tho Homo of a Backwoodsman in British Columbia.

(2.) It teaches children how to bear their part in life. From birth
onwards it gradually trains them in all kinds of useful habits and
teaches them how to benefit by the experience of their elders. The
second function of family life, therefore, is EDUCATION.

(3.) Family life also provides opportunities, by example and precept,
for exercise and work suited to the age of each member of a house-
hold. Thus, the little one in its play, the older child in its daily

8

duties, the seniors in the performance of their varied callings, all
use their strength and develop their powers through their contri-
butions to the happiness and comforts of the family circle. DEVELOP-
MKNT — -therefore the development of the bodies and minds of its
members is the third function of family life.

(4.) The fourth function of the family is SOCIAL TRAINING. By the give
and take of home life: by the mutual love which leads to patience,
gentleness, and forbearance; by the union of all in the service of
each; by the unconscious training in self-control, good temper, and
courtesy, the child is prepared for life among his fellows outside
his home.

Could these functions be left unfulfilled? I trow not. All experience
confirms this opinion. What is the result to the children gathered into
asylums and institutions, where, in many cases, they live under conditions
of cleanliness, good food, and regularity, superior to those they would other-
wise know? Without exception, doctors, teachers, and close observers tell
the same tale. These children arc less resourceful and quick, less self-
dependent and progressive in later life, often less healthy (although so well
cared for physically) than children reared in even the poorest homes. Why
is this?

THE TEACHING OF EXPERIENCE ON THE VALUE OF FAMILY LIFE.

Without doubt, children of all ages suffer from the want of " mothering";
nothing atones for the absence of parental care, upon which they thrive as
fruit ripens in the sunshine.

A Well-kept Home in Itritish ('oluiut)ia.

Children also suffer from want of opportunity for personal development.
From the very condition of institution life they have to be treated as a mass,
not as individuals: with the result that the majority grow up more like
well-trained machines than self-reliant, easily adaptable human beings. No

0

advantages of even the most perfect official organization can make up for
the happy freedom enjoyed by the child in a well-ordered home. Here,
under the influence of loving parental discipline, he learns two lifelong
lessons, hy imitation and oliedience: (1.) How to be himself. (±) How
to adapt, himself to others different, from himself.

TWO LANDMARKS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF FAMILY LIFE.

This is a subject of such importance that it is worth while devoting to
it some further consideration. For how long has family life existed? When
did it take its rise? What motives led to its institution?

WHEN DID FAMILY LIFE TAKE ITS RISE?

In the effort briefly to answer these questions we shall find it necessary
to travel back a long road through the ages. The path we must follow leads
through the whole huge world of animal life, away into the dim distance,
where we can just, perceive the beginnings of family life among creatures
so remote from human beings as insects, fish, and reptiles.

LANDMARK (1).— THE GROWTH OF THE SOCIAL INSTINCT.

This landmark is conspicuous all along the road. To it reference has
lieen already made in these pages, for it represents the gradual realization
of the advantages associated with co-operation for comfort and safety. The
perception that in unity lies strength forms the foundation of all social or
community life; and the earliest form of human community is what we call
a family.

HOMKS OF MANKIND IN TIIK PAST.

Overhanging Tret1 Sholtor.

Tiltod Hock Sholter.

The idea of union for mutual (irti'tintaye is so familiar that we rarely
pause to consider it. Children soon observe the fact that insects, birds, and
beasts form themselves into groups: they see swarms of bees and shoals of
fish, flights of swallows, herds of deer and flocks of sheep, at different seasons
of the year or at the different places they visit.

Where numbers are large and the groups are compact, even though the
individual members are as defenceless as fish or as timid as sheep, they are
told that dangers can be faced or difficulties can be overcome which would
otherwise mean injury or death.

Another substantial gain from group life is less generally recognized —
namely, the iKlvuntnyc* ichich folloir tlirixion of labour. Of this fact each
nest of ants or herd of deer serves as an illustration. The setting-apart of
certain ants to tend the larva1, while others gather food, and yet others play

10

the part of soldiers : the relief from anxiety to the remainder of the herd of
deer, who can feed in peace while one of their number is on guard to warn
his companions of approaching danger; the increased speed in the construction
of dams and huts It.v a colony of heavers, where each heaver knows his
particular part in the work — illustrate the advantages of co-operation for
mutual aid through the division of la hour.

WHAT TIIKSK FACTS TAUGHT HUMAN PARENTS.

This principle, observed by parents thousands of years ago, impressed
upon them the great advantages of caring for their children until they grew
up into stalwart sons and daughters, who would aid in the hunt for food.
or assist in the defence of the home against the attack of animals or other
men: who would guard the flocks or till the land in time of peace; who would
cook. brew, and weave: and. finally, who would tend their parents when sick
or feeble. This fact is perhaps the most forcible reason for the existence of
family life.

LANDMARK (2).— THE GROWTH OF AND NEED FOR PARENTAL CARE.

If children are to be preserved, in order, later on, to help their parents,
intelligent care is most important for their protection during their early
years of helplessness.

Overhanging Kock Shelter.

Tree Dwellings.

Where there is no such care, the birth-rate has to be enormous or none
of the offspring would survive, so that a species or family would soon die
out. Take the herring tribe, for instance, where, so far as is known, no
such care exists. Each mother herring must spawn nearly 30.000 eggs a year
in order to maintain this species of fish. More than half this enormous
number of eggs are never hatched, being devoured by other fish or by sea-
birds: and of those which do survive, it is believed that not more than one-
tenth attain the ripe age of six months.

11

THE FIRST EVIDENCES OF PARENTAL CARE.

At first, parental care is concerned only with the care of unhatched eggs.
Among insects a few females give signs of some instinct for the safety of
their eggs, whereas it is an interesting fact that among fish such protection
is more frequently extended to the eggs by the male parent. It is shown
usually by some device for carrying the eggs, corresponding to that of the
female lobster, which secretes a glutinous substance on her swimmerets to
which the eggs adhere.

THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF PARENTAL CARE.

A further step in the care of their offspring is shown by the selection.
and among higher types of life by the preparation, of a particular spot for
the concealment of their eggs. Spiders weave delicate, cocoon cradles for
this purpose; while some moths utilize a special supply of fur to cover their
eggs. There are reptiles, also, which enfold air-bubbles and make a raft of
slime upon which to support them.

Domed Rectangular Tent. (Assyrian.

Hut of Interlaced Boughs.

Ill all its earlier phases this care is purely instinctive and does not
continue after the eggs are hatched. Oalltlies, for instance, show great
skill in depositing their eggs in the living tissue of leaf or stem, exactly
suited to the protection and. later, to the nutrition of their young, but do
not watch the result of this care. Again, the male sticklehat guards his
nest with great courage, but gives no indication of any sense of responsibility
once his offspring is hatched. Indeed, these are practically self-supporting
from that date.

THE DAWN OF PARENTAL AFFECTION.

A further stage of parental care — namely, its continuance after birth —
is illustrated by bees, the complicated construction of whose nurseries is a
byword. A similar instinct is probably responsible for the varied forms and
exquisite skill lavished by birds on the building of their nests, or prompts
the rabbit or the prairie-dog to prepare burrows in the earth, warm and
cosy, for the reception of their families. Such care continues, often at the
cost of much self-sacrifice, for days, weeks, and even months after the young
are born; until among mankind this instinct of care expands into human
and lifelong affection.

12

HKASOXS FOR PROLONGED (\\HK OF OFFSPRING.

One reason is found in their helplessness — in their dependence upon their
parents for food, shelter, warmth, and training. Contrast the independence
of the survivors of the million eggs spawned by a female cod with the
f<K'hleness of newly born kittens, to which the- mother cat devotes her whole
attention for days sifter birth. Their blind helplessness seems strange; for
si full-grown cat is possessed of a greater amount of intelligence than the
Isirgest of codfish. Nevertheless, the cat's care of her kittens does not persist
over a long period, neither does it ripen into pareiitsil love.

Proverbial, too. as is the parental devotion of birds, once a brood can fly
the family life concludes. Even the most devoted canine mother will quickly
forget her own puppies and greet them with si snarl soon after they are
independent of her care. Pathetic, too. as is the grief of ;\ chimpanzee over
the death of her offspring, which often remain two years with their parents,
recognition after prolonged sibseiice is unusual. Bit by bit. however, the fact
becomes apparent that, the more helpless the offspring at birth, the more
exacting the care it demands, the more enduring is family life, the greater
is parental love; until among human beings both persist throughout life.

Reference to one further point of interest may be fitly made at this
point — that, just in proportion as sinimals when full grown show intelligence,

so sire they the re helpless sit birth: while those which sire self-supporting

from the date of hatching remain throughout their lives sit practically the
same level of intelligence. Briefly, in the one case there is capacity to
progress; in the other there is none.

SO.MK KKSCI.TS OF PAKKXTAI. ('ARK.

The reason for the relsition of the number of offspring to the degree of
parental care will be now esisily perceived. It hsis been alresidy pointed out
that, in order to preserve their species, fish must spawn enormous numbers
of eggs; but in the case of frogs, where the germs of paternal instinct can

13

be traced, the mother frog need only supply 4(Kl eggs ;i year to maintain that
particular frog family: so much larger is the proportion of eggs hatched
and so numerous are the tadpoles which survive to become frogs.

T'nder the improved conditions of bird life parents can successfully rear
all their fledgelings; consequently not more than five or six eggs need lie laid
each year. The careful farmer can not only maintain the numbers of his
flock, but increase them, if each ewe bear him but one or two lambs every
spring; for he supplements her care with his own; lambs are too valuable
to be lost through carelessness.

Lake Dwelling.

The numbers of the human race will multiply apace if a baby be added
every two years to each family circle over a period of ten or twelve years
in the married life of the parents.

SOME KKSULTS OF TIIK AIJSKNCE OF PARKNTAI, '.'AHK.

But these remarks do not apply in the absence of ordinary care. The
high rate of infant mortality in the civilized world to-day is not only a grave
reflection on the parents, but a serious menace to the future of the Empire.

To insure national and Imperial stability each home should contribute at
least four healthy young people to the population. That thousands of infants
are allowed to die annually from sheer absence of intelligent care is no sign
of progress; rather it indicates a falling back to lowlier, less highly developed,
phases of existence.

THE MEANING OF INFANCY.

What, now, is the real connection between —

(a.) Increasing helplessness at birth or infancy:

(&.) A higher level of intelligence when grown up; and

(e.) Enduring family affection;

and what has all this to do with the place and purpose of family life in
Canada?

As a matter of fact, infancy is the sign of power to progress — to pass on
from the lowest to the highest things of which life is capable. That their
children should thus progress is the ambition of all normal parents, who do
not grudge the care needful to protect their offspring through this period of
their lives.

14
INFANCY AND EDUCATION.

Thus, infancy means the capacity for education and instruction. No
animal that does not pass through even the shortest i>eriod of infancy can
he educated or trained. The longer the period of infancy, the greater the
capacity for progress.

By education we mean the process of drawing out all the hidden powers
of brain and body. Instruction is the art of teaching others to use the
experience man has gained in the past, and of providing for them oppor-
tunities to acquire the knowledge possessed at the present time, in order
that both experience and knowledge may be employed for the benefit of
the future.

Primitive Trnt of Skins.

All mammals have at least a very short period of infancy; even guinea-
pigs, for instance, are no exception to the rule, though their period of heliv-
lessness is so brief that they have remained at the same level of life ever
since they have been known to mankind. But then they attain maturity
seven months after birth : whereas with mankind a quarter of a century lias
to pass iH'fore his body is full grown.

Compare the intelligence of a guinea-pig with that of a horse, who is
mature in live years, and the advantages of a prolonged period of immaturity
are obvious. The horse can be trained in a variety of ways, and counts as one*
of man's most valued servants. But the cleverest horse is far behind normal
human beings in his capacity for education and moral training. Always
supposing a child is born of a healthy stock and reared under favourable
conditions, there is no known limit to his intellectual development, no fixed
age at which brain-growth must cease.

15
SOME REASONS FOR THIS POWER TO PROGRESS.

It is not. unfortunately, possible to give here in detail the reasons for
the facts just stated; but. briefly, it may be said that capacity for education,
and. by means of education, to make progress, depends upon the quality of the
nervous system; that is. of the special part of the body set apart to direct its
activities. The nervous system consists of the brain, the spinal cord, and of the
thread-like nerves by which every part of the body is Connected with the
brain. That the lives of the lower animals are guided by a few deeply seated
instincts only is the consequence of their very simple nervous systems. The
few powers they exercise are wrought deeply and unchangeably into their

Domed Tent. (Turcoman.)

Framework of Domed Tent. (Turcoman.)

nature. They cannot learn by experience, consequently they cannot be
educated. Incapable of progress, their capacity for self-support is necessarily
almost complete at birth, and the instinct to perpetuate their kind develops
automatically; whereas, gradual development of the brain and nervous
system after birth is associated with power to learn by imitation and to profit
by experience, to a more or less extensive degree. Among all the higher
animals, where this capacity for progress is present, the brain is incompletely
developed at birth, and takes a longer or shorter time to develop subsequently,
in response to instruction and to what is known as " stimulus " or " suggestion."
which calls its latent powers into activity.

THE PURPOSE OF THE FAMILY.

Now, during this time of brain-growth, young animals must be sheltered
and protected from harm. They mrst be trained in self-protection; they must
be supplied with suitable food until they know how to select it ; they must
be given opportunities to use their hidden powers or they will not be aware
that they possess them — i.e., they depend upon parental care and loving
discipline, ui>on shelter, and the educational opportunities offered by family
life, for their full development.

FACTORS IN THE BABY'S FUTURE.

The most helpless thing in the world is a new-born infant — blind, deaf,
defenceless. It is hard to realize that, concealed within that tiny form, are
the promise, the seeds, so to speak, of all its future moral powers, intellectual
growth, and physical beauty. But — and here is another reason not only for
parental care, but for the intelligence of that care — the bright promise for the
future may never be fulfilled, the precious seeds may never ripen.

Errors of diet and dress; overfatigue: premature work; insufficient
opportunities for the exercise of latent powers: bad examples; unhealthy
surroundings: and this creature, so full of possibilities for good, may have
them warped, checked, destroyed: with the result that, instead of being a
blessing to the world, the baby may only too easily become a burden. How
many children attain maturity in full possession of their birthright of health
and of intellectual and moral ability?

SOME STATISTICS OF INFANT MORTALITY.

It is calculated that, after allowing for all causes, it may he fairly
expected that, of every thousand infants born, ninety will die before they
see their first birthday.

How is it then, that in Ottawa W> babies out of every thousand born are
allowed to die before they have lived a year'.' Why is it that at Port Arthur
"4-> infants die of every thousand born before they are twelve months old?
It has been said by an expert on the subject that such carelessness is a sign
of degradation and degeneration.

Krcl angular Tent. ( Hebrew. I

Xo one concerned in the care of child life — and who of us is not? — can
afford to forget that the longer the period of immaturity, the greater the
promise for the future; but. also, the greater the need for and dependence
upon judicious care; so again we come back to our subject — the purpose of
family life.

FAMILY HOMES IN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT.

Most probably the earliest homes of human beings were no better than
those of many animals. It is believed that the savage man of long ago took
shelter within a hollow tree or beneath some overhanging cliff, until it occurred
to him to bend the young boughs and weave them roughly into a sort of hut,
or to pile up the rocks around him until he formed a rude shelter from the
wind and rain.*

• Thin Intpreetlng scries of sketches of the homes of mankind in the past is repro-
duced, by the kind permission of the author, from " Public Health and Architecture,"
by .John K. .!. Sykes, M.1>., I>.Sc., Medical Ollieer of Health. St. Pnnrras. London,
loigland.

17

The comparative ease with which young, flexible branches could be bent
to meet this need for protection from the weather led on to their preparation
by different methods, so that they could be used for the construction of a kind
of wattle-work, which, when daubed with mud, appealed to the desire for some
more efficient protection; such huts formed the early homes of men all the
world over.

Caves also offered attractions so strong that cave-dwellers are still to be
found in some European countries to-day, dark and ill-veutilated as they are.
But primitive man rarely attempted a fixed dwelling. Not that he troubled
himself with questions of sanitation ; though traces of drains to carry off
rain-water have been detected round the remains of these huts in England.
Shelter, safety, and food-supply were the chief motive for choosing the position
of a home in those days, as they have been more or less ever since. To be
near wood and water for fuel, food, and drink — to be secure from prowling
animals or enemies — governed the choice. When no more fish could be caught.
no more game snared, or when the stream ran dry. primitive man moved on
elsewhere.

In order that this nomadic life might be as free from trouble as may be,
all sorts of tents were devised by different nations, of which one form is still
in use in logging and other camps to-day. The Jews pitched one kind of tent
during their long sojourn in the wilderness; the Assyrians found another
which suited their purpose better; while the Huns, in later times, stretched
the skins of the wild beasts they slew for food over wicker frames. There
was also a period when men built dwellings on large rafts, as did the Lake
dwellers of Switzerland. These dwellings were not unlike the log-huts familiar
to every Canadian settler, more especially in the early days of the back-
woodsmen.

THE GROWTH OF THE MODERN HOUSE.

Gradual progress was made in comfort and in durability as men learnt
to control the materials at their disposal, such as sand, reeds, clay, wood, and
stone; so that in Egypt and Rome. Babylon and Athens, buildings were erected
of which the ruins excite our lively admiration at the present time.

England owes much to the teaching of the Romans in this matter of
house-construction; though, in consequence of the wars which absorbed all
men's energies for hundreds of years, it was a long time before the Saxon hut
developed into the Norman castle, with its walls of stone 4 or 5 feet thick,
built to last through centuries of use. The conveniences so familiar to us in
the twentieth century were introduced to the West very gradually from the
East; such as bricks for chimneys, glass for windows, baths and furnaces for
the supply of hot and cold water; until the sixteenth century is associated
with the most beautiful, convenient, and comfortable period of English
domestic architecture, known to most of us by pictures and description. Then
dawned the first real conception of our modern ideas of comfort, which
further developed in the reign of Queen Anne, and have reached a climax
of luxury in the modern palaces erected in many cities at the present time.

THE SCIENCE AND ART OF HOUSE-CONSTRUCTION.

The home-maker of to-day can, if she clux>se. avail herself of the whole
past experience of the human race in their efforts to provide a suitable
resting-place and shelter for their families.

18

To the dweller in a remote farm-house the idea of acquiring such
information may appear ludicrous ; to the thoughtful observer of what makes
for family health and happiness, the necessity for some study of the conditions
upon which these depend and of the causes which wreck them appears urgent.

It is true that a house, whether it be a log-hut, a frame-house, or a marble
palace, is but a box: but upon the structure of that box depends the welfare
of its occupants.

FAMILY NEEDS.

At least eight needs must be taken into account when the making of a
home is under consideration: —

(1.) There must be ample provision for a constant supply of fresh air.
To breathe stale, impure air means a process of slow poisoning for the family,
if not the loss of some of its members from consumption or pneumonia.

Cliff Dwellings.

Anciont Saxon House.

People do not usually die dramatically as the result of this slow poison-
ing: but they constantly "catch cold." or suffer from headaches or indigestion,
or o'lier quite unnecessary minor miseries of life. Windows, therefore, must
be numerous and made to open top and bottom. Windows which open only
at the bottom are not worth, from the health point of view, one-third of
those opening both top and bottom. A result of the crusade against consump-
tion, waged under the direction of Lady Aberdeen in Ireland, is that it is
now proudly described as "the land of open windows."

< 1'. > There must be abundance of liyht in every room. and. if possible,
in large cupboards and storerooms, too — by means of skylights, if windows
are unfeasible. Sunlight purifies and strengthens; also, it is our cheapest
disinfectant. Human beings fade in the dark, just as vegetables bleach when
trenched. Especially must light be admitted freely to bedrooms. Light is
life-giving and is indispensable to the next home need.

(.'».» Clcanlincxx. — Whatever the amount of labour expended, there can
lie no absolute cleanliness without bright light to show up the dirt, together
with careful training in orderly habits.

"Cleanliness is next to godliness." said John Wesley. Sometimes, I
confess, it seems to me harder work to be clean than godly! Domestic
cleanliness is one of the most difficult things in the world to practise con-

19

tinuously and consistently, even when there is an ample supply of water.
" elbow-grease," and intelligence. But the reward is worth the labour, for
it is that of good health, bright brains, and cheerfulness.

Much depends upon the standard of the house-mother and upon her skill
in training the members of her household in the necessary good habits. Who
cannot call to mind any number of slovenly ways which make for dirt and
dirt's cousin, disease; such as, for instance, throwing the slop-water in the
back-yard instead of using it to fertilize the soil in the garden? But this
subject with all the other family needs demands a bulletin all to themselves.

(4.) Warmth. — The human body manufactures its supply of heat from
its food and its exercise. It preserves its heat by its clothing. It loses heat
into the surrounding air. The colder the air the greater the loss of heat,
especially if the body be ill-fed or poorly clothed. Consequently among the
starving and insufficiently clad there is a craving for close, stuffy rooms.

Where suitable food is plentiful and the supply of clothing adequate,
the wise house-mother never allows rooms to be stuffy or overheated — i.e.,
above 62° Fahr. She knows the results to her family are colds, anannia,
irritable temper, and susceptibility to infection. This is not always easy to
accomplish; but suggestions on this subject also will be given in a future
bulletin.

(5.) Space is the next requirement for healthy family life. Where
several children are crowded into one bedroom or spend many hours shut
up in a small, stuffy living-room, poor health and quarrels are bound to
result.

About four years ago, 72,000 children were carefully examined in a large
city as to height, weight, and nutrition. The results showed that the average
boy or girl, living with its parents in a house of only two rooms, was distinctly
smaller and lighter at the same age than was its companion who lived in a
house of three rooms. The report says: "Boys from two-roomed houses were
11.7 fix lighter than boys from four-roomed houses, and 4.7 inches shorter ;
while girls from two-roomed homes averaged 14 ft), lighter and H.3 inches
shorter than their fellows from four-roomed houses." There is much over-
crowding from sheer ignorance and carelessness. It is always associated
with feebleness in some direction, not always obvious at the time, but bound
to show itself sooner or later.

There must be adequate space to permit of health, of order, of cleanliness,
and, last, but not least, of room to play.

(0.) Food is of so great importance to the well-being of the race at all
ages that three bulletins will be devoted entirely to its selection, preparation,
and preservation in the home. All that space permits to be said now on
the subject is that, in the planning of a home, however simple, suitable
provision must be made for these purposes.

(7.) Shelter, rest, and sijmi>athi/ come next on the list of home needs.
Home is essentially the place to which the members of a family turn when
joyous or sad, wet, sick, or weary. The home-maker has her work cut out
to scheme how to insure a warm welcome for her romping children or their
tired father, while she gently checks the careless bringing-in of dirt or snow,
or the throwing-down of drenched gloves or coats on her freshly scrubbed
floor or spotless table. What a fruitful source of extra work and family jars
is just such thoughtlessness !

In habit-formation lies the secret of success ; also in the provision of
porch or verandah, where outer garments and mud-caked boots can be thrown

20

off. Little children imitate so faithfully the doings of their seniors that
parental habits quickly become to them second nature. Children soon learn
that there is a time and a place for everything, and the earlier the lesson
is learnt the easier and the move enduring it is.

( s. ) /{ccrcatiun is the last need to be mentioned. For this home pro-
vision mu*t be made. One reason for youthful restlessness is the repressed
but natural craving for mirthful amusement. It will assuredly be sought
elsewhere if not permitted or possible at home: and the thirst is too often
quenched under most undesirable conditions. " All work and no play makes
Jack a dull boy." Active brains and growing bodies need to recreate their
powers.

Rest in sleep and innocent amusements are Nature's means to this end.
(Jive the young folks space and time for play at home: show interest in their
games, their books, their hobbies, and family links will be forged of a thick-
ness no time can rust and no jar can snap.

THE HARMONIES OF HOME LIFE.

These are based upon a chord of three notes. They are those of health,
good habits, and helpfulness. Each depends for its sweetness, power, and
harmony upon the other two.

The well-planned home makes for health.

The well-ordered home trains in good habits.

The economical home depends upon helpfulness.

A Convenient Hack Verandah.

I do not here refer only to the meaning usually attached to the word

" economical"— frugal, careful management of money— important and right

But I include its wider meaning— the careful expenditure of

health, of time, and of energy.

••Team-work" among the members of a family is economical in this

use of the word. Where, for instance, one member of the family scrapes

the dirty plates after a meal, another washes them, and a third wipes, time

21

is distinctly saved over that spent by one person single-handed. The few
minutes spared by a son to turn the mangle while his mother passes the
folded linen through the rollers saves far more than half the time otherwise
expended by the busy house-mother, besides refreshing her spirit with this
little token of kindly feeling.

Too much emphasis cannot be laid upon the following facts : Where the
daily work is divided according to the age. sex. and strength of the members
of a household, health is saved. Many girls and women suffer from ill-health
and overfatigue for years on end. because it does not occur to their inenkind
to lend a helping hand in lifting heavy weights. For example, how many
women have lost their capital of health by the constant calls made upon it
when cari'ying wood or water, of which the weight would be a mere nothing
to the father in his prime, or to the son in the full vigour of early manhood.

Where, in the desire to make money, hours of work are unwisely pro-
longed, or where work suited only to an adult is demanded of a child, false
economy of the most short-sighted description is being practised. Again, if.
from the same or corresponding causes, sleep is curtailed and recreation is
not allowed, the store of energy, a strictly limited quantity, is wasted: and.
whatever the amount of our health account, we are no better than spend-
thrifts, and. like them, must pay the penalty.

(Occupied. I Knjdisli Cave Dwellings. (Dt-sortod. I

All practical tools or devices for the intelligent saving of labour and
energy, indoors and out. are a first-rate investment of money: yet in what
numerous cases new suggestions for thus economizing our capital of health
are regarded with suspicion and dismissed with ignorant contempt !

The whole of a later bulletin will deal with this subject.

THE ART OF THE MODERN HOME-MAKER.

This may be described as that of beautifying human lives: of placing
those over whom she exercises control under conditions which will permit

22

all the possibilities innate in each of them to become actualities. How is this
art to be acquired? By similar means to those adopted in the acquirement of
skill in any other occupation — by training and practice.

The world has taken a long time to awaken to the facts that the care
of human lives in the home calls for preparation, and that the character of
that care must vary as conditions change within and without the family circle.
With all respect for the housewifery practised by our great-grandmothers,
much of it calls for revision in the light of modern knowledge, in order that
it may mtH>t modern requirements and utilize modern conveniences.

The right management of a house has been assumed to come to all
married women by instinct; and. though infinitely more knowledge is neces-
sary for this purpose than for the successful care of poultry or cattle, far
more study and thought is habitually given to the feeding of stock than to
the feeding of young children ; at what cost of health, happiness, and human
lives statistics bear record.

THE NEED AND TIME FOR TRAINING.

But the key-note of the twentieth century is iti-ogres*. The errors of the
past are to be used as stepping-stones for present improvement. Civilized
man has learnt that every effect must have a cause; consequently xinsatis-
factory effects must now be traced to their causes, and these causes promptly
removed.

THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT.

Some effects have obvious causes. If the kettle boils over, a child soon
learns that, the cause is found in the overfilling of the kettle; or, if the fire
goes out. it is because no one has fed it with wood. Unfortunately all the
causes for effects we deeply deplore are not so easily found ; in most cases
we are only on their track : such as. for instance, the cause why some meat
and fish cause severe illness to those who eat them, yet show no outward
signs of being unwholesome. Other causes are known to the few, but ought,
to be known to the many : such as the fact that the milk of a tuberculous
cow may infect the infant or child consumer, while the adult escapes.

WHERE TO SECURE TRAINING FOR HOME-MAKING.

These and many kindred facts ought to be common knowledge to all
parents: consequently, in every progressive country each girl attends classes
in housewifery during a part of her school or college life. In the United
Statt-s. in one or two European countries, and at a few schools in England,
boys also study hygiene (or the right conduct of human life), in order that,
through mutual interest, both man and woman may co-operate in the neces-
sary efforts to render the family and community life of each nation sounder
and purer.

A further result of this training may be described as

THE FREEDOM OF EFFICIENCY.

In a motto for kitchen walls recently issued by Mr. Charles Barnard
(The Housekeeping Experiment Station. Darien, Conn.. U.S.A.) words occur
which illustrate my point. "Cleanliness, order, and know-how." it runs;
"these three, but the greatest of these is kn(nr-h«nr." It is by "knowing

23

how," in the light of modern progress, that the housekeei>er will solve many
perplexities and lift her daily " chores " from the depths of drudgery to the
level of a skilled and honoured profession. It is by a right training in parent-
hood that its obligations will be fulfilled and family life adjusted to the new
conditions, to which, if it is to be preserved, it must adapt itself. " Efficiency
is the power to produce results at the smallest cost of time, labour, and
materials."

"THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE."

Freedom is found in facing the truth about the facts of life, not in
clinging blindly to often misleading traditions. By the clear light of truthful
knowledge, not by groping in the twilight of fads and fallacies, is efficiency
attained.

But how about those whose school-days are long past, or whose homes
are remote from centres where up-to-date information can be obtained? Just
here comes in the invaluable work of the

WOMEN'S INSTITUTES.

These institutes are organized to carry useful knowledge to the most
remote homes ; to encourage the revision of home methods by the stimulus
of mutual co-operation ; and to afford opportunity for the interchange of
experience on all matters pertaining to home and family life.

RESULTS OF INSTITUTE WORK.

The results of the organization of Women's Institutes, where they have
been long and firmly established, have been —

(1.) Intelligent revision of the methods of home management, attended

by an improved standard of family health and morals:
(2.) Co-operation in the fulfilment of social obligations, with, among
other results, the improvement and protection of the food-supply
and the cleansing and beautifying of yards and streets :•
(3.) Growth in neighbourliness. shown by the welcome offered to new-
comers, the advantages derived from an interchange of opinions
and experience, and the character of social recreations.
Seeing that the place of family life is to maintain an Imperial race and
that the purpose of family life is human co-operation, growth, and progress,
and that these objects are promoted by the organization of Women's Insti-
tutes, those newly formed in British Columbia should, through their develop-
ment and activities, constitute a main bulwark in the stability of Canada,
and thus enable this country to " fulfil through its children its proud and
splendid mission " in the world.

ALICE RAVEXIIILL.

Fellow of the Royal Sanitary Institute: Certificated Lecturer

National Health Society, Great Britain and Ireland.
Author of " 1'racticdl Hyf/iene for Use in Schools";
"Elements of Sanitary Lair"; "Some Gharactcr'wtic*
and Requirements of Childhood"; " Household Admin-
istration"; "Household Foes," etc.

Late Lecturer on Hygiene, Klnf/'s College for Women, Uni-
rerxity of London.

NOTICE.

The Department of Agriculture will issue the following series of bulletins
prepared by Miss Alice Ilavenhill. Shawnigan Lake. B.C.. to be available for
distribution among the members of the Women's Institutes throughout the
Province : —

1. The Place and Purpose of Family Life.

2. The Preparation of Food.
.'>. The Preservation of Food.

4. Some Labour-saving Devices in the Home.

.">. Food and Diet.

(5. The Art of Right Living.

7. The Care of Children.

BULLETINS ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Xo.

7. Flax.

s. Feeding Farm Animals.
12. Information for Fruit-growers.
20. Varieties of Fruit Recommended (revised).

24. Farmers' Foes and their Remedies.
2.~. Orchard Cleansing.

2<>. Practical Poultry-raising (revised).

25. Production of Eggs.

2!>. Poultry Industry on the Pacific Coast.

.'{(). (Juide to Bee-keeping in British Columbia.

:tt. Foul Brood among Bees.

.'$2. Control of Bovine Tuberculosis in British Columbia.

.'{.'». Fruit-growing Possibilities. Skeena River and Porcher Island

Districts.

.'J4. Fruit-trees and Black-spot Canker.
.'!.">. The Place and Purpose of Family Life.

Applications for bulletins published by the Department of Agriculture
should be addressed to the Secretary. Department of Agriculture, B.C.

VICTORIA. I!. C. :

Printed Ity WIU.IAM II. Cri.i.ix. Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty.

A!
AP

LD 21

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