s^ 



THE FARMERS CABINET. 



VOL. I» 



ers, his Milk-house, Smokc-liouse & Clothes- 

 line. I thought much of these, and have in 

 part profitted by my observation. That the 

 readers of the Cultivator may profit also by 

 these improvements, I will briefly detail them 

 in part. 



The Milk-house was built in the north-east 

 Bide of a slope near the well, and not far 

 from the mansion. It was composed of stout 

 stone walls, and the roof, which rose six or 

 eight feet above the surface of the ground, 

 appeared to be covered with earth or tile, and 

 was deeply shrouded with the scarlet trum- 

 pet! creeper, (Bignonia radicans,) then in 

 splendid bloom. The interior of the house, 

 principally under ground, was fitted up with 

 cisterns, in which water stood nearly to the 

 tops of the pans of milk, which were arranged 

 in them. 



The house was entered by a flight of steps 

 on the south, and there was a window on the 

 north, which could be opened or darkened at 

 pleasure, to give ventilation. For want of a 

 natural spring, which many Pennsylvanians 

 consider almost indispensable in a milk 

 house, the water was conducted in a pipe 

 from the well-pump, and after filling the cis- 

 terns to a certain height, passed off" at the 

 opposite side. The object was to obtain a 

 cool temperature, in the heat of summer, 

 which greatly facilitates the separation of the 

 cream from the milk, and this object was am- 

 ply effected, with the labor of working occa- 

 sionally at the well pump. 



The Smoke-hoitse was a wooden octagon 

 building, perhaps 16 feet in diameter, per- 

 fectly tight, except the door-way. The pe 

 culiarities of this building were, it was set a 

 foot or more above the ground, and was 

 perfectly dry, and bacon, hams, &c., were 

 kept hanging around its walls all summer 

 without becoming damp or mouldy, or being 

 injured by flies; and in the second place, no 

 fire was admitted into the building, the smoke 

 being conveyed into it through a tube from 

 the outside,where it was generated in as above. 

 The Clothes-line we saw had been six years 

 in use, without sensible injury, though it had 

 remained all this time in the open air. It had 

 always been wound up, upon a small wind- 

 lass, as soon as the clothes had been taken 

 from it, where it was protected from the rain 

 by a roof. Several posts, with notches near 

 their tops, were placed in a range upon the 

 grass plat, upon which the line could be 

 drawn and fastened in two minutes, and from 

 which it could be loosened and wound up 

 in as short a time. It is but a small afliiir, 

 but such small affairs make a large aggre- 

 gate in ordinary life. " Take care of the cents, 

 and the dollars will take care of themselves." 



Judge Buel. 



Knotvlcdge. 



Why should not a Farmer know a thing or 

 two? — Why should not a farmer know more 

 than other folks'? They certainly ought to, 

 for they have in this country more to do than 

 others. They have to make more use of the 

 powers or laws of nature than other folks ; — 

 they have to use the elements for tools — 

 they are indeed practical chemists (whether 

 they are aware of it or not) for they have to 

 make use of the various substances which 

 Nature gave them — they have to combine, 

 separate, modify and change both simples 

 and compounds. Their farm is at one and 

 the same time a laboratory and a workshop,, 

 and in proportion as they operate in such a 

 way as to afford the several elements of 

 which the substances are composed, and 

 upon which they are operating, to disunite or 

 to combine, will be their success. 



They depend upon the vegetable world for 

 subsistence — their labor is among and upon 

 the plants of the earth — why should they not 

 know the proper names and nature of every 

 tree and herb and plant? They have to con- 

 tend with insects and animals — why should 

 they not know the habits and the natures of 

 these as well or better than any other class 

 of people? They have to work upon the 

 earth, they have to put it in a condition to 

 bear a good crop, they have to change the 

 state of it and adapt it to the various pur- 

 poses and crops — why should they not know 

 more and better respecting the ingredients of 

 their soil — the various mineral and fossil 

 substances which they may find either upon 

 their own or others' farms? They have to 

 "discern the face of the sky," and watch the 

 changes of the atmosphere, and regulate their 

 movements in accordance to the changes of 

 the weather, temperature, &c. — why should 

 they not know as much or more of the com- 

 position of the air or atmosphere, and the 

 science of mineralogy than any other people? 

 They must use tools or implements of labor. 

 They must take advantage of the principles 

 of mechanics to practical life. Is there any 

 good reason why they should not know as 

 much or more than others respecting the sci- 

 ence of Mechanics or Natural Philosophy? 

 In this country they have to contribute large- 

 ly to the support and formation of the gov- 

 ernment, and upon them depends the elec- 

 tion of rulers and lawmakers — why should 

 they not understand the fundamental princi- 

 ples of national law, political science and 

 political economy? Tliey have to adminis- 

 ter to the sickness of animals under their 

 charge — why should they not perfectly un- 

 derstand comparative anatomy, at least, and 

 also, physiology and the symptoms and treat- 

 ment of diseases, as well as any others. 



