460 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



running from the meat should be poured off before 

 packing the pork in the barrel. This should be 

 done sufficiently closely to admit no unnecessary 

 quantity of air, and some dry salt should occupy 

 the space between the pieces, and then pickle, and 

 not w.ater, should be added. Gi"eat care must be 

 taken to fill the barrel entirely full, so that no por- 

 tion of the meat can at any time project above the 

 surface of the fluid ; for, if this occur, a change of 

 flavor ensues such as is known with rusty pork. 



The pickle, of course, must be a saturated solu- 

 tion of salt and water, that is, so strong that it is 

 incapable of dissolving more salt. It must be re- 

 membered that cold water is capable of dissolving 

 more salt than hot water. — Working Farmer. 



For the Netr England Farmer. 

 HINTS ON BUILDING. 



In the May number of the Farmer I gave a few 

 hints in regard to buying farms, wherein I stated 

 that it was much cheaper to buy a farm with good 

 buildings, than to buy one with poor, or no build- 

 ings, and then erect them. I say so still — but as 

 a large share of the farms for sale have poor build- 

 ings, it is evident that somebody must build them 

 — therefore, a few hints on that subject may not 

 be inappropriate. 



As older people are presumed to know all 

 about these things, I make these remarks for the 

 benefit of young farmers, many of whom already 

 have farms with poor buildings, and others are 

 daily coming into possession of such, by inheri- 

 tance or otherwise. If every farmer who builds a 

 house had a little knowledge of architecture, it 

 would save thousands of miles of unnecessaiy 

 travel for the housewife, and many useless regrets 

 in after years. 



In the first place, do not build until you are 

 able to build a good house ; by which I do not 

 mean an expensive, fancy house, for such is sadly 

 out of place on a farm, but a neat, tasty and sub- 

 stantial one. Many a man has mortgaged his farm 

 to build a large, fine house, to eclipse his neigh- 

 bor, and had the sheriff sell house, farm and all, 

 to pay his debts. In planning your house, keep 

 this old saw in view, "A little house well filled," 

 &c., and then plan your house according to your 

 needs, as a great deal of spare room in a farm- 

 house is so much wasted. Before resolving to 

 build, get some trusty house-builder to make an 

 estimate of the cost of a house such as you require, 

 then add as much more to it, and if your pile of 

 money corresponds with that, go ahead. 



In planning a house, convenience should be the 

 ruling idea, and such an aiTangement of the rooms 

 as will permit the doing the most work with the 

 least travel. The saving of twenty-five or fifty 

 steps a day amounts to a great deal in a life time, 

 and may add some years to the life of the house- 

 keeper, and make her path through life much 

 smoother. It is very much the fashion, now-a- 

 days, to build a large house, and then build a small 

 place, ofl' back out of sight of the higlnvay, to live 

 in. Now, then, as the kitchen, or living-room, is 

 the one the fsimily occupies three-fourths of the 

 time, it should be situated in the pleasantcst 

 part of the house, if possible. As the parlor is 

 seldom used, except when we have company to 

 entert'^an, it matters but little where it is nlaced. 



if it does not interfere with the an-angement of the 

 other rooms. 



One thing beware of, viz., small bedrooms. All 

 rooms used for sleeping apartments should be 

 large and airy. For this reason the chambers 

 should be up square, and not low and sloping, as 

 they are in all stoiy and a half houses. It costs 

 but little more to have the posts long enough to 

 make the chambers square at the top, and the 

 rooms are worth five times as much as the old- 

 fashioned, low chambers. 



The pantry should be large enough to keep 

 flour, meal and such things in, instead of keeping 

 them in some out-building, or in the chambers, as 

 most people used to do, thereby making a vast 

 amount of unnecessary travel every time any of 

 those articles are wanted for use. The cellar 

 should be proof against three things : viz., rats 

 and mice, frost and water. In order to guard 

 against the first and last, after the cellar is dug, 

 and before the wall is started, dig a trench one 

 foot deep, and the width of the wall directly under 

 where the wall is to stand, and fill it with pound- 

 ed stone, and on this commence the wall, which 

 should be lain in mortar from the bottom. To 

 guard against frost, leave a small space in the cen- 

 tre of the wall for three feet from the top in wliich 

 no mortar is put, and have no stone reach through 

 the wall in this three feet, and frost will not be 

 very apt to get in. 



The house should be located as near the Avell, or 

 spring, as possible, or where the water can be 

 brought near, or into the house. 



No man ought to build a house without at the 

 same time building a cistern. If he builds it at 

 the same time he does the house, he is sure of it, 

 and it will not cost as much as it would to make 

 a separate job of it, and what is still worse, if he 

 puts it off, it is very doubtful whether he ever has 

 it. The best place for a cistern is in one corner 

 of the cellar, as it requires no protection from 

 frost, and no separate drain for the waste water, 

 as it can go off in the cellar drain. 



Especial attention should be given to the floors, 

 in order to have them as smooth as possible, for 

 the reason that most farm-house floors have to be 

 mopped more or less, and every farmer's wife can 

 tell how much easier a smooth floor mops than a 

 rough one. Avoid all fancy mouldings in finish- 

 ing off, as every crease and crevice are receptacles 

 for dust and dirt, and increase the labor of clean- 

 ing the wood-work. Use none but seasoned lum- 

 ber, and no poor material of any kind, as a good 

 article is always the cheapest, and then employ 

 good workmen, keep your house painted, and if 

 no accident befalls it, you will never have to build 

 another house, unless you should live longer than 

 most mankind. Another time I may speak of out- 

 buildings. Agriculturist. 



Neio Fork, August, 1862. 



Remarks. — The above article contains several 

 excellent hints, and will be quite likely to save 

 some persons many a hard-eanied dollar. It may 

 appear a little discouraging to the young man Avho 

 is about to build, when he is told to double the 

 cost of his estimates ! This cannot be necessary 

 to him who follows the suggestions of our corres- 

 pnndeTit. Tf be r^pts his estimates from a nracti- 



