CELLARS, VS. SPRING HOUSES FOR DAIRIES. 



345 



CELLARS, versus SPRING HOUSES FOR DAIRIES. 



preserve an even temperature ; a stone or ce- 

 ment fioor, well di-ained below ; and windows 

 on each side to afford ventilation. Plaster the 

 ceiling, and avoid as much as possible the use 

 of wood in all the structure. It is needless to 

 add that nothing but milk and butter, and tlie 

 vessels or implements used therewith, should be 

 admitted into the milk room. Any article or 

 sub.stance that is liable to contract mould, or 

 cause the least smell, will affect more or less in- 

 juriously the flavor of the milk and butter. 

 Hence, too, the indispensable necessity of pe>-- 

 feet CLEANLINESS — the great c.\kdinal viiitue 

 of all good dairy management. (The water that 

 Hows from an ice house in summer, has always 

 a musty smell, that would ruin the milk and 

 butter in a dairy.) 



We shall have more to say on this subject at 

 some other time, and shall be happy to have our 

 correspondents express their opinions, or give 

 us the results of their experience in relation to 

 it. In addition to what has been said, the fol- 

 lowing excellent article, from the (Philadelpliia) 

 Farifters' Cabmet, will suffice for the present: 



" The Milk Cellar. — It is a curious fact, 

 but by no means unaccountable, that in many 

 parts of the country the milk cellar is superced- 

 ing the spring house, — an appendage that has 

 always been considered iudispensible for the 

 production of good butter, be the other qualifi- 

 cations of a farm and its appurtenances what 

 they might. While on a visit to Wilmington, 

 Delaware, I had occasion to remark the excel- 

 lence of the butter at my friend's table, when he 

 replied, he always selected the best cellar but- 

 ter at market, for the use of his family, giving it 

 as his firm conviction, that butter made in a cel- 

 lar, was far preferable to that made in a spring 

 hou.se, its gi'eat recommendation being, in keep- 

 ing sweet and good much longer, and retaining 

 its fine flavor and color to the last, which spring 

 house butter would not do. And he observed, 

 it is customary to account for the greater price 

 which some dairymen obtain for tlieir butter in 

 the market, by saying it is cellar butter. 



Of course, it is readily admitted that much de- 

 pends on the mode that is adopted in the man- 

 agement of the dairy, commencing with the 

 breed and feed of the cows, and ending with the 

 mani[iulations of the butter; but the idea is 

 gaining ground, that the be.st butter is to be 

 made in a cellar, all other circumstances being 

 equal 



On reconnoitering among.st my friend.s, I 

 found that several of them liad suljstituted the 

 cellar for the spring house ; and I do not know 

 one v» ho is not satisfied with the arrangement, 

 except it he where the cellar is dug in a damp 

 soil, or has been most injudiciously opened to 

 the well, the evaporation from which fills the 

 room will) constant luoi-sture, which may be 

 found adhering to the walls, the ceiling and the 

 \yood-work, the .shelves, and particularly the in- 

 side of the door, causing a damp and clammy 

 feel, and a nauseous, mouldy smell, which the 

 butter imbibes, to its lasting injury ; indeed no 

 good butter can be made in such places. 



But another revolution is taking place even 



The following is taken from the Ohio Cul- 

 tivator, which we may presume forms a part 

 of the reading of every farmer, at least in that 

 populous State, a State of which it is needless 

 to say any thing, except to note the naked fact, 

 that from a population in 1790 of 45,365 (half the 

 number of the State of Delaware,) she has gone 

 up in fifty years, (1840) to 1,519,467, solid, sub- 

 stantial, working men and women, boys and 

 girls. 



If it would not savor of presumption to speak 

 more particularly ofa work so much better known 

 than this is, we would add, as to the Cultiva- 

 tor, that it is edited with much zeal and ability 

 — its whereabouts is Cohimbus, and the price 

 $1 — published 1st and 15th of every month. 



The number for 15th Nov. thus corroborates, 

 on editorial experience, what has been a-sserted 

 in other papers, and is well worthy of attention 

 on such authority; by-the-bye, our Wotlier Ed- 

 itor of the Cultivator ought to be a happy man, 

 considering that he is — a Bachelor ! We see 

 him on all occasions associated with young la- 

 dies in charge of the Floral Departments at the 

 Agricultural Exhibitions — a department whicli 

 is sure to attract and be surrounded by \he fair- 

 est of the Fair — and now, v.e have his own con- 

 fcs.sion, that he has been " prying into the mys- 

 teries of quite a number of good dairy maid's 

 milk-houses !" If such are Bachelor s privileges, 

 we shall cease to wonder that Benedict is not a 

 mamed man ! 



We are inclined to believe, however, that the 

 kind of house he proposes to make will not fully 

 answer his expectations. In our rambles among 

 the farmers for a number of years past, we have 

 pryed into the mysteries of quite a number of 

 good dairy women's milk houses, aud the result 

 has been a conviction that the introduction of 

 running or standing water into the milk house 

 is more injury than, benefit. We are aware 

 that this is contrary to the opinions of the ma- 

 jority of housewives. They think a good sprins^ 

 house is almost indispensable for producing good 

 butter in summer ; and yet we have never found 

 on the tables of those who po.ssess this much en- 

 vied advantage, as good butter as where a well 

 constructed cellar is used for the milk room. 

 The reason is. the dampness occasioned by the 

 water, is more injurious to the milk and butter 

 than is compensated by the coolness it occasions. 

 It is found that a dr^, as well as cool, atmo- 

 sphere is needed for thi.« purpose ; and it is bet- 

 ter to dispense with some of the coolness than 

 all of the dryness. 



Our advice to ' a subscriber' would there- 

 fore be, abandon entirely the idea of bringing 

 water from a well, a cistern or an ice house, and 

 construct a good dry cellar on your northern ex- 

 posure, with thick walls of brick or stone, to 

 17091 



