1861. 



NEW EXGLAXD FARMER. 



145 



door is shielded by a veranda eight feet wide, 

 supported on heavy posts and guarded by a bal- 

 ustrade. The upper panel of the front door is 

 glazed to admit light into the hall. This hall is 

 6iJ feet wide and 13 feet long — contains a flight of 

 stairs to the second story, the only chamber flight 

 in the house — and opens into the several rooms. 

 The parlor (P) is 14 feet by 15 feet 8 inches, and 

 is lighted by the bay window in front, and two 

 single windows on the sides. It also contains a 

 closet on the side of the chimney breast. 



The bed-room (A) is 9 feet by 14, and is fur- 

 nished with a large clothes-press ; a flue runs from 

 the room through this closet into the chimney. 



The kitchen (B) measures 13 feet by 14 feet 6 

 inches, and opens into the pantry, which has on 

 the left side a pump, and sink, v/ith a closet un- 

 derneath, and is fitted up with shelves for stores; 

 it opens out upon a platform, from which steps 

 descend to the yard. Under this platform is an 

 entrance to the basement, which may contain 

 a cellar kitchen with oven and boiler, closets, 

 store-rooms, and fuel rooms. 



On the second floor are three good-sized cham- 

 bers, well lighted, and supplied with closets. 



The height of the first story is 10 feet 6 inches, 

 and that of the second is 4 feet at the eaves and 

 10 feet in the centre of the rooms. 



This cottage could be built for about $1500. 



HOW TO DISSOLVE BONES. 

 The following is a copy of a private letter writ- 

 ten by the Editor of the Southern Field and Fire- 

 side to a friend who wanted to dissolve a quantity 

 of bones for raising root crops : 



•'To make a good article of superphosphate 

 from bones, you should use about half as many 

 pounds of sulphuric acid as of bones, (dry 

 ■weight ;) break the bones as fine as you can with 

 an old axe or sledge hammer, (they ought to be 

 ground, if practicable with you,) when they should 

 be wet by the free use of water boiling hot, add- 

 ing half as many pounds as there are of dry bones. 

 The half of a molasses hogshead will perhaps be 

 as convenient and cheap for operating in as any 

 thing. To the bones and boiling water in this 

 vesscd or some other, add slowly the acid, and stir 

 the mass constantly as the acid is poured in. A 



powerful boiling takes place from the escape of 

 carbonic acid from the bones, which gradually 

 subsides by occasionally stirring ; the bones in a 

 week or ten days become like j)aste, when the 

 whole could be taken out and mixed with perfect- 

 ly dry loam, or charcoal dust, to fit it for drilling 

 with a machine. Where bones are large, or the 

 acid weak, it may take a month to dissolve their 

 earthy matter ; and this end is promoted by cov- 

 ering the large tub or half-hogshead holding the 

 bones and acid, with several loads of fermenting 

 loose dung to increase the temperature, where 

 heat is an important element of cl;i mioal action. 

 I should not use over 100 Ihs. to 300 lbs. of dry 

 bones. Any bones or pieces not softened, 1 

 would compost with fermenting stable manure, 

 whose heat and carbonic acid will slowly dissolve 

 them." 



IjEgislative agkicultural society. 



[Kepoeted for the N. E. Faemer, bt Thomas Uradlet.] 

 The sixth meeting of this Society was held ia 

 the Representatives' Hall on Monday evening, 

 and was quite fully attended. SxVNFORD How- 

 ard, editor of the Cultivator, presided. 



On taking the chair, Mr. Howard announced 

 that the subject for discussion was, "Sheep Hus- 

 bandry — its advantages compared with other 

 branches of agriculture in Massachusetts." He 

 said the sheep was the most indispensable of all 

 domestic animals to civilized man, as it supplied 

 both food and clothing. Its domestication was 

 of great antiquity, and all civilized, and even bar- 

 barous people, have kept it for its meat and wool, 

 and sometimes for its milk. Speaking of the ad- 

 vantages of sheep husbandry, he said they were 

 numerous ; 1st, Mutton can be produced at less 

 cost than either beef or pork, and if of proper 

 quality, will command as high, if not a higher 

 price, leaving the wool a clear gain. 2d, Sheep 

 can be kept where no other domestic aninials, ex- 

 cept goats, can maintain themselves, as on moun- 

 tains or hills, where the surface is rocky and 

 rough, and where vegetation is scanty. Sheep, 

 said he, eat a much greater number of plants than 

 cattle or horses, and on this account, and on ac- 

 count of being able to obtain food under unfa- 

 vorable circumstances, they will live and thrive 

 where larger animals cannot. 3d, They aid more 

 than other animals in improving the fertility of 

 land, are more or less useful on arable farms, 

 whatever may be the staple crops, and are partic- 

 ularly beneficial in wheat culture. Clover or grass, 

 fed off by sheep, furnishes an excellent prepara- 

 tion for wheat — better than when those crops are 

 turned in green — and light soils,when fed by sheep, 

 are better fitted for the production of grain crops. 

 Pastures which are generally grazed by cattle 

 and horses are benefited by being occasionally 

 fed by sheep, as they kill out the wild vegetation, 

 and promote the growth of a better species of 

 plant. Permanent meadows, and all mowing 



