256 



THE FARM. 



the edges, so that as the ice melts the dust will fall down and protect it. Ice 

 formed in this way will keep better than if sawed and packed in the usual 

 way. We consider this mode of saving ice worth a practical test by all who 

 have running water and sufficient fall. 



Wliltewaslx for Buildings and Fences. — If people knew how easily 

 whitewash is made, and how valuable it is when properly applied, it woiild 

 be in more general requisition. It not only prevents the decay of wood, but 

 conduces greatly to the healthfulness of all buildings, whether of wood or 

 stone. Out-buildings and fences when not painted, should be supplied once 



or twice a year with a good 

 coat of whitewash, which 

 should be prepared in the 

 following way: Take a 

 clean, water-tight baiTcl, 

 or other suitable cask, and 

 put into it a half-bushel of 

 lime. Slake it by poui-ing 

 water over it boiling hot, 

 and in sufficient quantity 

 to cover it five inches deep, 

 and stir it briskly till thor- 

 oughly slaked. "When the 

 slaking has been thorough- 

 ly effected, dissolve it in 

 water and add two pounds 

 of sulphate of zinc and one 

 of common salt; these will 

 cause the wash to harden 

 and prevent its cracking, 

 which gives an unseemly 

 appearance to the work. 

 If desirable, a beautiful 

 cream color may be com- 

 municated to the above 

 wash by adding three 

 pounds of yellow ochre; or 

 a good pearl of lead color 

 by the addition of lamp, 

 vine, or ivory black. For 

 fawn color, add four pounds of umber, Turkish or American— the latter is 

 the cheaper — one pound of Indian red, one poiind of common lamp-black. 

 For common stone color, add four pounds of raw umber and two pounds of 

 lamp-black. 



Smoke Houses— Our first illustration. Fig. 1, represents a smoke house 

 built of brick, 6x7 feet square, and suitable for a large farm. The bottom is 

 excavated the size of the building, two feet deep, filled in with small stones, 

 and on this a brick floor, well cemented, is laid. Tliis insures dryness. 

 The walls are of brick, eight inches thick and seven feet high, with a small 

 door on one side, lined on the inside with sheet-iron or zinc. Hooks should 

 be firmly attached to the joists, on which to hang the hams and shoulders. 

 This style of smoke house is not very expensive, is safe from fire, and when 



SMOKE HOtrSE.— FIG. 1. 



