-1838] 



FA RM CRS' RCtilSTIiR.. 



'19. 



i iiiu (5ensil)le ul' li:iviiii>- exieiiJoil one branch 

 •ol' the subject propo!?cJ, lo a leii<fih which h-avcs 

 thi! oiher short ot" iis h'lritimaie |)ro|)orlioiis. I 

 shall, Iherelijre, wilhyniir leave, resiiuie it ai a lu- 

 ture Jay, aiiii lietail various ex|jeriuK*nte wiiii nia- 

 ■nures, lesiiii^ iheir benefiiial iijipiicaiion and rela- 

 tive qualifies. 



A Fredekick Fa113IER. 



ECOJVOMY IN FUEL, &C. 

 To the Editor of the farmers' Ucgi^tcr. 



Montgnnery county, j\Id. Jan. 22i, 1838. 



Dear Sir— Having a lit;!e leisure, and feelino^ 

 ■disposed lo make a small return lor the many use- 

 ful hint: thai 1 have derived i'rotu your valuable 

 publication, I ain induced to oiFe.r the result of an 

 experiment made a lew years since, wiih a view 

 to the i^reaier comfort and bi'tler acc.>nitno,lation 

 ol" ray servants, and the economy of fuel, time, 

 and labor. 



I am aware thnt I shrdl be met at the onset 

 with an objection, too common with the larniitiii' 

 community, to all improvements, " that they can'i 

 alford ii;"' but havin-r he^a taught to believe, that 

 economy consists in judicious expenditure, and 

 that tiin:^ saved was money gained, I was in- 

 duced aiiout three years since, to make an improve- 

 ment at an expense of >Ji500, that has more than 

 realized my most sanguine expectations. It con- 

 sists of a substaucial. well built stone house, in 

 size 38 by 18 leei, a story and a iialf high, with a 

 kitchen attached, IS fieet square; the whole cover- 

 ed with the best cypress shingles. The lower story 

 of the main house, wliich is appropriated to my 

 farm hands (in number eiglit men and boys) has 

 a plank floor, sutfioiently elevated to prevent any 

 dampness arising — and is divided into a larire 

 room in the centre, with two large windows fur- 

 nished with glass, and two doors, one leading im- 

 mediately into the kitchen. In this there is a 

 large ten-plate stove, a table and benches; here 

 they eat their meals; do any little in-door work in 

 bad weather; and here they may comfortably 

 work for themselves at niL^ht, if I hey feel disposed. 

 On either side of the large room are two small 

 rooms, with a window in each, intended as bed 

 rooms, and to each two servants, one of these is 

 allotted. The lialf story is all in one room, with 

 a window in one end, and a door in the other, 

 with steps on the outside, so that it has no com- 

 munication with the servants' apartment. This 

 I use as a store room. Being perfectly tight, the 

 heat communicated from the stove below, has 

 enabled me for the last two extremely cold win- 

 ters, to keep apples and any vegetables, however, 

 delicate and tender, from the slightest injury from 

 frost. The convenience and accoaiodalion fur- 

 nished by this room alone, I estimate: at thirty dol- 

 lars, the interest on the whole expenditure. The 

 kitchen, which is appropriated exclusively to the 

 cook and her children, is but one story high, a 

 bed room within it, and an open fire place. It is 

 her business to cook the meals of the other hands, 

 and have them ready on the table at fixed hours; 

 to sweep and clean their house, and wash and 

 mend their clothes; and, when not so employed, 

 to spin, knit or sow, so that she is always about 

 the house to take take care, and guard against ac- 



cidentfl. In cooking their meals, the only re- 

 striction enforced, is against wasie. Every day, 

 lor dinner, i!iey have as much meat, and as 

 many vei;eial)les throu!j:lu)ui llife year, calibaire, 

 potatoes, or b'juus, asthey can eat. Fish without 

 limit, a.< to numiier, lor bre:ikliisl and sii|;per, with 

 an abundance of milk in ilie summer season, and 

 cider in ihe iall and wiiiier, when furmsheil by an 

 exiensive orchard, which seiilom (i>i!s. There is 

 no allowance ol bread. Each hand is furnished 

 in ihe monih of November, with a suit ofsubstan- 

 lla! home-made flilled cioih-elockings, and ii pairof 

 the best double-soled shoes. In the suauuer, 

 with two suits of linen; blankets, lia's, &;c. and 

 m return, I expect a failhtui da\'s work, bei ween 

 sun and sun — never requiiinix ihem to vvoik alier 

 sun-doivu at any season of the year. Comlijiia- 

 hle servitude, I should say, (or an aboliliouist. 

 But to return to the economy of the expenditure. 

 St will be recollected, that I value ihe use, or rent, 

 if you please so to term it, of the .store room at 

 thirty dollars, the interest of the expenditure. 

 Having an extensive orchard, in the preservation 

 of apples alou*', ! should more than realize ihi.s 

 amount, independent of the other conveniences it 

 atl()rils. The interest being antuially paid, the- 

 iurreased value of the larm, by such an impiove- 

 menr, miyhi tie considered a valuable invesiment. 

 B;ii I am fully convince;!, by the ex; erience of 

 three winiers, that the economy in fuel, time and 

 labiir, will, iu less than len years, more than reim- 

 burse the whole expenditure. The house being 

 perfectly tight, and furnished with glass ligh-s, 

 ieav(^s no necessity for open doors, and other open- 

 ings lor the admission of lisrht; the subsiitution of 

 asiove tor an open fire-p'ace, diminishes the con- 

 sumption of fuel very consideiably; andihelwo 

 combined have. I am satisfied, reduced it one half! 

 With me, and I have no doubt, it is the case wiih 

 many others, the consumption of wood alone, has 

 become an importaiit consideiation. But with all 

 who value time and labor, the saving must 

 be manifest and important. As to an objec- 

 tion that I had heard stated, and may be again 

 urged, airainst close houses and stoves lor servants, 

 as rendering them more liable to colds and other 

 diseases — my experience for the last three years 

 has proved that in liiis instance it is wholly with- 

 out foundation. JVIy servants were never more- 

 healthy; and from their own declaration, were lie-. 

 verbal!^ so comfortable. 



The great error in the southern system of farm- 

 ing, I have long since been satit^fied consists, JVlr. 

 Editor, in an undue estimate of ihe value of time 

 and latior, and the want of proper fixtures with a 

 view to its econmy. The log cabins which pre- 

 vail in a majority of the southern plantations 

 appear to have been constructed expressly with a 

 view to the consump'ticm of i'uel, and the occupa- 

 tion of time and labor in providinir it. At this 

 season of the year, ihe whole force of the liirm, both 

 man and beast, is in the woods, perhaps detract- 

 ing from its value by every tree they remove; and, 

 in being necessarily abstracted from the improve- 

 ment of that portion which has been too long neg- 

 lected, briniring poverty anddi^imay upon the pro- 

 prietor of the whole. Upon a large estate, the time 

 and labor saved by a reduction of one half the fuel 

 they now consume, if applied to the collection of 

 materials for manure, of which there are few that 

 do not abound in some description or other, and its 



