From a sanitary point of view, the drainage should be as perfect as it is possible. There should be windows on two sides of the room, to allow the sun free access, and to allow frequent change of air, which is most essential in a kitchen. An excellent plan has been adopted 'by a number of business firms, who have placed the kitchens at the top of the house, where there is usually ample ventilation to take away all odours with which boiling, roasting, and other cooking processes invest the kitchen and other parts of the house. KITCHEN OF THE HOTEL REGINA, PARIS (ERECTED BY THE MAISON BRIFFAULT OF PARIS) Persons about to build houses should direct the attention of the architect to these matters ; it would save much annoyance and disappointment. In many houses and hotels the first thing that goes wrong is something in the kitchen, and the cook is often blamed for the fault of others. In planning the kitchen of a good house an expert cook should always be consulted. Kitchen Floors and Walls. The floor of a kitchen should be of concrete coated with cement, or laid with tiles, so as to make it impervious to moisture. If the floor is made of wood, birch makes the best flooring, though liable to shrink. Maple is also considered a suitable wood. A plain brown linoleum makes an excellent covering for a kitchen floor. 40 THE NEW CENTURY COOKERY BOOK Wooden floors are best if saturated with hot linseed oil, which must be well rubbed in, so as to give polish to the surface. The boards must, of course, be closely joined together, before oil is applied. The walls of a kitchen should be either entirely lined with white- glazed tiles or else have a high tiled dado. They can be kept much cleaner than distempered walls, which show every mark — a great disadvantage to any kitchen. Kitchen Furniture.— The furniture of a kitchen should be plain, neat and well made, yet not cumbersome ; it must be so constructed as to be easily cleaned. The stoves, ranges, grills and ovens, being the all-important fittings upon which so much, of the success of a kitchen depends, should be of the very best quality. The fixing of these ought to be done by the respective makers of the apparatus, for they will better understand the work, and it is to their interest to see that everything is carefully done. This applies especially to coal ranges, where the flues must, as everyone knows, be correctly fixed ; if the flues do not work properly, the most expensive stove is useless. Next to the stove the most important piece of furniture is the kitchen table. There are many dresser boards, shelves and flaps, but they are useless to the. cook as compared with a good kitchen table. It should be made of stout deal, as large as the size of the kitchen will permit, fitted with a convenient drawer for holding knives, forks, spoons, clean kitchen cloths, and other necessaries. Not only should the table be the most prominent of the furniture in the kitchen, to which ^11 other fittings must play a subordinate part, but it should be kept at all times ready for immediate use, uncovered and scrupulously clean. The practice of using the table for a chopping-board, trimming-board, pot-board, or for making paste, cannot be too care- fully avoided. In such cases the surface soon becomes scratched and unsightly.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

From a sanitary point of view, the drainage should be as perfect as it is possible. There should be windows on two sides of the room, to allow the sun free access, and to allow frequent change of air, which is most essential in a kitchen. An excellent plan has been adopted 'by a number of business firms, who have placed the kitchens at the top of the house, where there is usually ample ventilation to take away all odours with which boiling, roasting, and other cooking processes invest the kitchen and other parts of the house. KITCHEN OF THE HOTEL REGINA, PARIS (ERECTED BY THE MAISON BRIFFAULT OF PARIS) Persons about to build houses should direct the attention of the architect to these matters ; it would save much annoyance and disappointment. In many houses and hotels the first thing that goes wrong is something in the kitchen, and the cook is often blamed for the fault of others. In planning the kitchen of a good house an expert cook should always be consulted. Kitchen Floors and Walls. The floor of a kitchen should be of concrete coated with cement, or laid with tiles, so as to make it impervious to moisture. If the floor is made of wood, birch makes the best flooring, though liable to shrink. Maple is also considered a suitable wood. A plain brown linoleum makes an excellent covering for a kitchen floor. Wooden floors are best if saturated with hot linseed oil, which must be well rubbed in, so as to give polish to the surface. The boards must, of course, be closely joined together, before oil is applied. The walls of a kitchen should be either entirely lined with whiteglazed tiles or else have a high tiled dado. They can be kept much cleaner than distempered walls, which show every mark — a great disadvantage to any kitchen. Kitchen Furniture.— The furniture of a kitchen should be plain, neat and well made, yet not cumbersome ; it must be so constructed as to be easily cleaned. The stoves, ranges, grills and ovens, being the all-important fittings upon which so much, of the success of a kitchen depends, should be of the very best quality. The fixing of these ought to be done by the respective makers of the apparatus, for they will better understand the work, and it is to their interest to see that everything is carefully done. This applies especially to coal ranges, where the flues must, as everyone knows, be correctly fixed ; if the flues do not work properly, the most expensive stove is useless. Next to the stove the most important piece of furniture is the kitchen table. There are many dresser boards, shelves and flaps, but they are useless to the. cook as compared with a good kitchen table. It should be made of stout deal, as large as the size of the kitchen will permit, fitted with a convenient drawer for holding knives, forks, spoons, clean kitchen cloths, and other necessaries. Not only should the table be the most prominent of the furniture in the kitchen, to which ^11 other fittings must play a subordinate part, but it should be kept at all times ready for immediate use, uncovered and scrupulously clean. The practice of using the table for a chopping-board, trimming-board, pot-board, or for making paste, cannot be too carefully avoided. In such cases the surface soon becomes scratched and unsightly.

The new century cookery book