1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



523 



are here in a position where they can be much 

 more easily composted than when they are both 

 to be wheelbarrowed to a separate room and 

 there mixed. When "J. W. K." has taken care 

 of a stock equal to his 500 tons of hay one winter, 

 won't he bless the institution of wheelbarrows? 

 Drop the manure from the stable upon the muck, 

 and then throw in more muck, and the work is 

 done until overhauled. The space for muck may 

 be under the floor, and by dumping it through 

 the floor the labor of shovelling it into "J. W. 

 K.'s" muck room is entirely saved, while it will 

 be exactly where wanted for composting. 



'The cost of digging and stoning a cellar, and 

 building a floor over it, is as much as a good 

 barn with ten times as much convenience for 

 making and saving manure ought to cost." 

 In most of our New England towns, a good 

 cellar, fifty feet by seventy, and eight feet high, 

 may be dug and stoned in a safe and durable 

 manner, open on one end or one side, at a cost 

 of from one to three hundred dollars. Will "J. 

 W. K." build his great box 30 ft. high and 80 lo 

 100 feet square, of stone, sand and gravel, with- 

 out either floors or conveniences, for ten times 

 this cost ? "We say then the most approved 

 plan of barns in New England is" not "defective 

 in these two requisites of a good barn." 



3. The height of our barns. Where we can so 

 arrange as to drive in above the sills we may 

 build higher. But where the ground is level, 

 and we \\u\ti no "horse-forks," &:c., this is about 

 as high (fifteen feet) as is convenient. 



4. The roof. Our barns, generally, are not 

 roofed at an angle of 45°, but about 40° to 42°, 

 and nearly every foot of the space covered is 

 available for storage, especially if we have the 

 horse-fork, and can pitch as easy 30 feet, as 15, 

 while the cover to "J. W. Iv.'s" being flat, will 

 render a space of several feet useless for want of 

 room to work his pulleys and ropes. The cost of 

 our friend's roofing, when he takes into account 

 the shovelling ofl'snow and the extra number of 

 posts, and strength of inside supports to his flat- 

 topped barn, will be found to be no less, either 

 in first cost or future repairs, than a good 

 shingled or slated roof. Comp'^sition roofing is 

 far more expensive than shingles, or even slating 

 in most sections of New England, and so far as 

 experience proves, is not so durable as either, 

 for common buildings. 



5. "The walls shall be of stone, &c., 30 feet 

 high, with convenient doors, &c." Now let any 

 experienced mason calculate the cost of these 

 huge walls, and report the same to "J. W. K.," 

 an(l his barn v;ill be built — never ! 



Now, considerate readers of the Farmer, for 

 such by personal acquaintance I know fousands 

 of you to be, will jou take the trouble to read 

 over "J. W. K.'s" plan of a (cheap) barn. See 

 how easily he can "drive all over the barn and 

 into every corner of it (when empty !) and with a 

 horse pitch-fork, &c." Imagine you see him un- 

 load one tier of loads over the sand floor, and 

 where will he drive next ? No floor-way, no win- 

 dows. What, then, but to his ever ready wheel- 

 barrow ! Wheel in and wheel out ! Well, this 

 is an age of improvement. Won't that hay be 

 musty when taken out next spring from his damp 

 mud floor? Finally, look over his summing up 

 of advantages. "I can take the dry muck," &c. 



As he has no floor, his muck has been wheel- 

 barrowed into its room, and then so re-wheeled 

 out. Look, also, to the fact that he is going to 

 sell his hay, after making all this preparation for 

 keeping stock, and tell me if our cautious editor 

 has not admitted to his columns one chapter on 

 "Book Farming," from a man whose theory will 

 not b&ar to be carried out in practice, except by 

 those whose cash is more plenty than ours. Yet 

 we need an occasional antagonist in order to 

 wake up sluggish energies, and set us to think- 

 ing. 



And now, Mr. Editor, if you can find time and 

 space for this hasty review, please do so, and after- 

 wards give us your views upon the most conve- 

 nient plan of a common barn for common New 

 England farmers. p. j. 



Glover, VL, Sept., 1859. 



Remarks.— "J. W. K.'s" article has had the 

 efi'ect we expected from it — roused up one mind, 

 at least, to the important subject. But 'P. J." 

 has found it easier to pull down than to build 

 up. What is his plan for the "most convenient 

 and economical plan of a common barn for com- 

 mon New England farmers ?" That question 

 settled beyond cavil, will be of great value to the 

 world. 



EXTRACTS AND KBPLIE3. 

 SOFT, INTO HARD SOAP. 



Can you, or any of your readers, give a receipt 

 to change common soft soap into hard soap ? By 

 what means is it done ? A Subscriber. 



East Wullingford, ft., 1859. 



REMARKS. — We find the following in Miss 

 Leslie's House Book. 



Having made from hickory ashes, or the best 

 oak, a sufficient quantity of lye, which must be 

 strong enough to bear up an egg, allow to each 

 gallon three-quarters of a pound of clean kitf h- 

 en fat of the best kind, (that has been clarif'^d 

 by melting it with water,) and a bit of lime the 

 size of a large hickory nut. Put it into a lar.,:e 

 kettle, boil it very fast, and stir it frequently, it 

 must boil hard for several hours. Try it by tak- 

 ing out a little and cooling it on a plate. Whtn 

 you find that it becomes a thick jelly, and no 

 grease appears about it, stir fine salt into the 

 kettle, allowing a pint of the salt to three gal- 

 lons of the soap. Let it boil for ten minutes af- 

 ter the salt is in. Then take it out of the kettle, 

 and put the soap in tubs to cool, and wash the 

 kettle clean. Next day cut the soap out of the 

 tubs, and melt it again, and cool it in wooden 

 moulds, if you have them. When it is firm, cut 

 it into square j)ieces of convenient size for wash- 

 ing, and place it on the shelves lo harden, not 

 allowing the pieces to touch each other. 



The best kitchen fat for soap is that of beef 

 and pork, or bacon. Should any pork or bacon 

 skins be among it, you must allow a^ pound of 

 fat to each gallon of lye. 



If in tr}iiig it in the plate, before putting in 

 the salt, you find the soap too liquid, add a little 

 water to that on the plate, for ihe purpose of 

 making it jelly. You will then be able to a«cpr- 



