Ch. XXXVII.] 



ON THE DAIRY. 



405 



Of these, the middle apartment, in which the milk is preserved, is the 

 most important ; and therefore, in order to secure as equal a temperature as 

 possible at all seasons of the year, by excluding all direct communication 

 with the external air, the outer walls — as marked black in the plan — should 

 be made of sod and earth rammed firm to the breadth of full four feet in 

 thickness, while the other walls of the building need only be constructed 

 of a single brick, or even with lath and plaster, boarded on the out- 

 side ; nor is it necessary that they should be more than seven or eight feet 

 high at the sides, A funnel should also be run through the centre of the 

 roof to a couple of feet above it to act as a ventilator ; a valve being fitted 

 to it, which, by means of a pulley, can be shut or opened at pleasure. The 

 arrangement of these rooms will therefore be thus : — '; 



A, the milk-house, with broad shelves all around, for holding thevessela 

 which contain the milk and cream ; and in the middle is a table for prepar- 

 ing the butter for market. The windows are closed with lattices covered 

 with gauze wire to prevent the entry of flies, and double shutters of wood 

 to guard against cold in winter ; for if glazed, they are subject to duty. 



B, the churning-house, with a boiler in one corner, and on the sides 

 frames'^for cheese-presses and vats, with large vessels of lead, or slate, for 

 holding the whey, and pipes for conveying it to a cistern outside for the use 

 of the pigs*. 



C, the wash-house for the cleaning and care of the utensils ; it therefore 

 contains a furnace with a cauldron for scalding the vessels, and a pump 

 communicating with a well. The outer door or entrance is here, and 

 adjoining it are placed stands under the verandah formed by the projection 

 of the roof, for exposing all the wooden implements which may have been 

 washed to be dried and sweetened by the sun and air. 



In cheese dairies the store-loft may be placed immediately below the rise 

 of the conical roof, a communication being made by a staircase in a corner 

 of the wash-house ; but many farmers prefer having the loft over the cow- 

 house, with the intention of forwarding the maturity of the cheese by its 

 warmth. Some large dairies, however, have roofs in the common form, with 

 lofts and sleeping rooms for the dairy-maids over them ; and one which we 

 have seen of a moderate size has the milk-house sunk about three feet 



* Leaden vessels are by many objected to, in consequence of the bad effects which they 

 occasion wlien any sour liquid is allowed to remain in them ; but tlie whey keeps longer 

 sweet in them than in wooden vessels, and they are much easier kept clean. Slate, is, 

 hovveverj more easily cleansed, and is far cheaper. 



