Ch. XXXVII.] ON THE DAIRY. 407 



Tlie floors should be raised a few inches above the level of the outer 

 ground, with slanting gutters to carry off the water used in washing, wliich 

 is frequently done both for the sake of cleanliness and coolness. On this, 

 however, it should be observed — that although every particle of milk that 

 happens to be spilled upon the floor should be carefidly washed oft", or its 

 sourness will soon impart an unpleasant odour which will infect the entire 

 of the house, yet it is also extremely material that the building should be 

 kept as dry as possible, as damp is also highly prejudicial to the operations 

 of the dairy. The floors of most dairies are now paved with either brick or 

 tile, neither of which can be recommended ; for brick is rarely laid so level 

 or so closely cemented as not to admit of crannies in which the spilled milk 

 remains without a possibility of effectually removing its unpleasant odour ; 

 and tiles, unless they be glazed, also absorb a great proportion of any mois- 

 ture to which they are exposed. Slates, however, besides being more im- 

 perishable, have been found, on comparative experiments, to imbibe only the 

 two hundredth part of their weight, while tiles absorb one seventh; and 

 slates, when afterwards exposed to 60° of heat, became dry in a quarter of an 

 hour, while tiles retained some portion of damp during six davs*I 



These advantages are so important, and render the superiority of slates 

 so manifest in the construction of a dairy, that we strongly recommend them 

 in the erection of all new buildings of that kind ; and, indeed, considering 

 the various other purposes for which they may be employed in farming mat- 

 ters, we think great merit is due to Messrs. North and Co. for their perse- 

 vering exertions in manufacturing articles of a material till lately but little 

 used in any other way than that of roofing. 



wood work, the finishing to the hips and ridge, and fixed complete ; at which calcula 



tion, a roof 30 feet by 24 feet contains 7 20 feet superficial and costs £35 



J, 24 feet square „ 576 „ „ „ 2S 16 



„ 24 „ by 18 feet „ 432 „ „ „ 21 12 



„ 18 „ 12 „ „ 216 „ „ „ 10 16 



The slate floors laid by North and Co., at the London Docks, and at Mes>-rs. Currie's 

 Granary, Bromley, Mi'ldlesex, are liighly recommended by the warehousekeepers, and 

 are proved by experiments of Mr. George Rennie, the engineer, to be five times as 

 strong as stone. They are well adapted fur dairifs, and are sold in plates of about 3 feet 

 square, sawed ready for laying, at Scl, per foot superficial, for ^ inch thick ; 7^d. for 

 ■| inch ; and lOd. for one inch thick. 



The slates are laid in a bed of mortar upon the ground ; but in situations where the 

 ground is loose and gives way, a bottom of concrete, of at least four inches thick, must 

 be laid, upon which the slates are laid in a bed of mortar. 



The concrete consists of stven measures of gravel and one measure of pounded quick 

 stone lime, mixed with '.vater at the time of using it to the consistency of stiff mortar. 

 Thames gravel is always used about London; but any gravel that is free from clay or 

 loam will answer the purpose. 



If slate colour be ohjecte<l to, the sbites may be rubbed with coarse grit sand to a 

 porous face and painted with thin flatting paint, or the floor may be whitened with a hall 

 made of dry white lead, mixed with turpentine, in the same manner as hearth-stone is 

 used for whitening hearths and steps. 



For dairy shelves, slate is certainly the best material in use. Fishmongers find that it 

 preserves fish twentv-four hours longer than marble. The proper thickness for shelves 

 is one inch, which costs \s.2d. per toot superficial, without fixing; and if polished, ls.6cl, 

 per foot. The brackets or cantilevers may also be slate, having one end let into the wall, 

 and the other end moulded. The size of them should be four inches deep, and two inches 

 thick, fixed edgewaj'S. 



A dairy may be built very economically with timber quartering, cased outside with plates 

 of half-inch slate rubbed to a jxirous face, and painted slonb colour, the cavities between 

 the quarters being filled up solid with concrete, or lime and hair-mortar, with rubble of 

 bricks or stone, and trowelled smooth inside. The lime would preserve the timber from 

 decaying. 



* See note vol. i., p. 88. 



