310 Our Farming. 



The pantry is in the coolest corner of the house. The sun can 

 only get to it just at night, and then only shines on the window 

 under the porch. 



We have a cellar eight feet deep under the three front rooms. 

 This is cellar room enough, but still I would build one under 

 kitchen also if I had it to do over. The cost would be little more, 

 and then, for one thing, I could have a dumb-waiter running 

 down from the kitchen into cellar. This we cannot have now, 

 and there is no place for it in the pantry or dining room and we 

 have to go without it. I would make this change and one other 

 if building again, otherwise we have everything just right now. 

 I would make the wood shed slightly larger next time and put in 

 a cheap back stairway to room above. Once in a while it w r ould 

 be pleasanter to go up that way when company happens to be in 

 the dining room. We can make these changes now, and possibly 

 may. Wife and I studied over the plan day after day, until we 

 got everything else just exactly right. Every door and window 

 is just in the right place. It was no small job to do this, and 

 then to see that the plan was exactly followed by the carpenters. 

 I came in once, and found they had made a slight mistake in the 

 cellar stairway, opening in floor that would take off a hat from a 

 tall man when he went down. The carpenter said: "Oh, that 

 will be all right. You won't often have a hat on, or can just 

 stoop a little, etc.'' I said : " No sir. There is the plan. It is 

 your mistake. I will not dodge all my life; out with it and fix 

 it right." He looked just a little sour, but found we knew just 

 what we wanted and would take no hit-or-miss work. 



The outside cellar door is at O, just north of the bay window. 

 We store our coal in the bay window in cellar, close by the foot 

 of stairs. Of course, the men fill the stove morning and night. 

 Our cellar is built of hollow bricks. They make a very nice 

 cellar wall. No banking up of windows even is ever required. 

 The east window where coal is thrown in is seldom shut. I be- 

 lieve I have spoken of it before, when writing about storing pota- 

 toes, but it will not do harm to repeat that where vegetables are 

 stored in the cellar, one wants to fix it so the air cannot be drawn 

 into the living rooms above. It will come through a single board 

 floor. As the fire takes the air out of a room, it will be drawn in 

 some from the cellar. To make sure that ours would be safe, we 

 plastered it overhead and covered floors of the rooms with building 

 paper well lapped under the carpets. No air can be drawn up, 

 foul or otherwise. Air brought in must come from out doors. 

 This is a matter of not a little importance. Of course, a cellar should 

 be kept clean and pure, and no decaying vegetables in it; but 

 things will be overlooked sometimes. To make us doubly secure 

 we have the cellar ventilated by a flue running to the top of the 

 chimney by the side of stove flue, which warms it and creates a 

 draft. See the corner of bedroom back of dining room stove. 



