346 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



amongst the advocates for the cellar ; it is no 

 lonjrcr thought necessary to dig the cellar very 

 deep, or to arch it over with stone or brick, with 

 an air passage through it for ventilation — a vavll. 

 as it is more propeily then termed : it is found 

 sufficient, if the cellar be sunk a few feet below 

 tlie surface of the earth, witli a wide and shal- 

 low window on each side, the bottom of it level 

 with the ground outside ; \vell protected with a 

 wire guard to keep out vermin, large flies, i5cc , 

 and provided with a close glazed sash, which 

 can be opened and closed at pleasure, by lifting 

 it up to the celling, which ought to be no higher 

 than the top of the windows; so that the air of 

 the cellar can be ventilated by opening the win- 

 dows of the two opposite sides, according to the 

 \vay the wind sets at the time, shutting them 

 quickly when necessary; for in cold, windy, or 

 damp weather, the sooner the windows are 

 again closed, the better. Indeed, to the man- 

 agement of the cellar in this particular, much of 

 the success of dairying is to be attributed ; cold 

 and damp air being unfriendly to the secretion 

 of cream, and its proper and entire separation 

 from the milk. Hence, therefore, it is a bad 

 practice to set the pans on the brick floor of the 

 cellar ; they ought al^vays to be placed around 

 on shelves, about tliree feet in hight, and these, 

 after being well washed with hot water, should 

 be wiped quite diy, that no mouldy evaporation 

 might take place to spoil the butter. The air 

 near the floor of a dairy is always impure, blWng 

 loaded with acid vapors and putrid exhalations, 

 the density of which confines it to the lowest 

 part of the room ; hence it is, that the doors of 

 some dairies are made with lattice wcrk, that 

 the air near the floor, as \%'ell as that near the 

 ceiling, might be ventilated at the same time : 

 these lattices being furnished with sliding pan- 

 el.?, to be kept closed in bad weather. The milk 

 cellar ought always to have a northern aspect, 

 and be well shaded by trees, not growing too 

 near the windows, so as to impede a dry cur- 

 rent of air. or to create a moist atmosphere : this 

 consideration being of more importance than 

 would reailily be imagined. 



" Cellars thus constructed and carefullj' at- 

 tended, will, no doubt, supersede the use of 

 spring houses generally, before many years have 

 pas.'jcd away ; by which the business of the 

 dairy will be rendered more agreeable, less la- 

 borious, and far le.ss inimical to the health of 

 those, particularly of females, who.se occupation 

 it is to attend to its never ceasing duties." 



Note. — On the composition of JJnnrs for Meat Hou- 

 ses, Dairirs Quarters, Poultry Hoa.its, f(r... tn guard 

 against rals, and to promote dryness and cleanli- 

 ness. 



Of what use it, that the good housewife takes 

 pains to .secure a good stock of poultry, and a 

 good supply of the best butter, and bacon of the 

 finest quality, if the husband does not take care 

 that proper hou.ses are constructed for their pre 

 paralion and preservation? Every own knows 

 how liable they are to be infested with rat.s, if 

 pains be not taken to guard against them, espe- 

 cially in niakittsr the floors ral proof. 



To speak now of the meat or smoke house, 

 more particularly, it should stand on a founda- 

 tion of brick or stone, going down helow the in- 

 fluence of frost. Rats, it is well known, will go 

 down on the outside of the wall, and burrow 

 |710| 



under it and come up inside. It is said that if 

 in building the foundation wall, you project it 

 half brick in a continuous line all round, at some 

 distance below the ground on the outside, you 

 will arrest the subterranean operations of the 

 enemy. 'Tis said that the rat always burrows 

 ciosc to the wall, and tliat v/hen he reaches the 

 projecting line of brick, obstructing his perpen- 

 dicular descent, he does not attempt, or cannot 

 burrow round it, but gives up his felonious de- 

 sign as a bad job. ^Ve believe in the truth of 

 this suggestion, but whether or not, his ravages 

 may be prevented, and other great inconvenien- 

 ces avoided, by making the floor to out houses, 

 in the manner described below. We obtained 

 the directions from Col. Tottes, whilst, as will 

 be seen by the date, we were in the Post Oflice 

 Department at \Vashington ; but always giving 

 our leisure time to such service as w^e could 

 render, without fee or reward, to the cause, to 

 which we are now devoting all our time, not 

 only for our own bread, but to teach how bread 

 may be best increased for the commonwealth. 



Of Col. Totten, it would seem vain for us to 

 speak as a ^Vest Point graduate, and one of the 

 most scientific officers of the army ; ■whose at- 

 tainments do credit to that branch of the public 

 service. 



Among the books, by-the-bye, which ought to 

 constitute every Farmers' Librarj-, is " ToTTEit 

 OS MoRT.^RS,'' being " E-'isays on Hi/drau/ic 

 and common Mortars and on Lime burning,'' 

 I^nsrinecr Department. ? 

 Washington, Nov. 11th, 1844. 1 

 Mr. J. S. Skinner, Washington. D. C. 



SiR: In compliance with your request, I send 

 you a description of a concrete that will answer 

 a good purpose for floors, &c. 



The mortar is to be made of one part of sand 

 to one-half part of hydraulic cement, measured 

 in rather stiff paste. Then one part mortar, 

 thoroughl}- mi.xed, is to be united with two and 

 a half parts broken .stone or bricks, the largest 

 pieces not exceeding 4 oz. in weight, or of grav- 

 el of similar size.s, or of oy.ster .shell.s, or of either 

 or all of these mixed together. The.se coarse 

 materials must be free from sand or dirt. The 

 concrete thus made, must be jmt down in a lay- 

 er of not more than G inches, which will be 

 about the proper thickness ibr the floor; ram- 

 med very hard, and until all the coarse particles 

 are driven out of sight ; care being taken to 

 bring the top of the mass into the true place of 

 the floor by the first process ; no .sub.sequcnt ad- 

 dition of piaster being admissible. By the help 

 of a straight edge drawn over guide pieces, the 

 top surface may be made smooth and even by 

 the first operation. 



The concrete should contain no more water 

 than is necessaiy to give the requisite plasticity 

 to the mass. The floor should be covered us 

 soon as finished, with straw or hay, which 

 should be kept wet for several days, the longer 

 the better. 



A little lime in paste, may be substituted for 

 an equivalent part of the cement paste, but the 

 less lime mixed with the cement paste, the bet- 

 ter. 



