The Farm Table. 641 



The woman who finds her cucumbers softening either before or after 

 they are in vinegar may well think how she could have prevented the 

 molds from settling there. Possibly, if she scalds the vinegar and pours 

 it back over the pickles, she may kill the plants which are doing such 

 work. 



We cannot expect to be able to keep bread from molding in the jar 

 or box which is not frequently scalded and sunned. The mold spores, 

 ready for work, will lurk in the corners and the angles. 



All food storage places should be kept as free from dust as possible, 

 dry, cool, and supplied with fresh air, if we do not wish to lose the food 

 by mold or decay. 



If the drops of milk, gravy, molasses and other liquids, crumbs of 

 bread, bits of meat, grains of sugar, etc., are not wiped from the shelves 

 and floors, bacteria and molds will soon be so plentiful in such rooms that 

 no foods can be kept there long without souring, fermenting, molding, or 

 becoming rancid. 



One common place for the storage of food supplies is the house 

 cellar. If the celler were always light and dry, sunny and well aired, 

 there would be much less danger from molding squashes, rotten potatoes, 

 turnips, cabbages, apples, onions or other vegetables and fruits ; but too 

 often this hole in the ground has only an earth floor with boards put 

 down to walk on, possibly no windows, or a small one closed in win- 

 ter by the " banking " outside. Never a ray of sunshine to kill the bac- 

 teria and molds — fortunately the wild beasts do not like such dismal 

 quarters ! The decaying vegetables in these cellars are thus constantly 

 " weaving shrouds for the upper chambers." The farmer has these vege- 

 tables in such quantities that he does not always feel his loss of food 

 supply, but this is joined with dangerous conditions for the health of him- 

 self and family. Sometimes the conditions are so bad that from the open 

 cellar door there always comes the smell of rotting potatoes, squashes or 

 carrots. This, then, is not only wasteful, but criminally careless of human 

 lives and health. We ought either to keep such supplies away from our 

 house cellars or keep the cellars in such condition that these dust plants 

 cannot thrive. They love darkness, and their deeds are always evil under 

 such conditions. Some of the foreign cheeses which " smell to Heaven " 

 are really made to putrefy in similar damp, dark, mold-infested caves. 



Suggestions as to cleanliness and germ-prevention 



All spores are so light that a slight wind will blow them about ; but 



they are heavier than air. They will therefore settle, and in settling will 



be caught by any exposed surface. This shows us how foolish we are 



when we sweep the floor just before we take the bread or pies from the 



