1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARiMER. 



21 



kitchen is a pantry, E, 6 by 8 feet, with sink, 

 pump, cupboard, &c. This pantry opens out 

 upon a platform at the rear of the house. 

 The plan of the milk room, F, was invented 



necessary to enter into the particulars of Gnish, 

 height of rooms, cost, &~i., as all of these can 

 be varied to suit individual taste, convenience 

 and circumstances. 



by H Wing, of Morris, N. Y., and applied to 

 his own bouse. A window on the north ad- 

 mits cold air. The room is over a cold cel- 

 lar, from which air is admitted by slatted 

 openings running nearly the entire length of 

 the room under the shelves, and of about the 

 same width, closed by a board with hinges 

 like a trap door. Near the ceiling, and open- 

 ing outward and upwards on the north side of 

 the house, is a similar trap door, three or four 

 feet long, and about a foot wide, with an ele- 

 vating stick with notches, by which it may be 

 raised as desired. When the upper ventila- 

 tor is opened, the heated air passes out, and 

 cold air from the cellar rushes in to fill its 

 place. A ventilated space of about seven 

 inches surrounds the room, and prevents the 

 heating so often resulting from confined air 

 in the adjacent walls. The shelves are not 

 flat boardi, but are formed of strips, to get 

 a free circulation of air on every side. 



The second floor of the house contains two 

 fnont chambers, each fourteen feet square ; a 

 kitchen chamber, twelve by fourteen ; another 

 chamber over the pantry and entry, nine feet 

 square ; and a small room over the dairy. 



As these pl?ns are designed to be sugges- 

 tive, — to afford hints rather than to furnish 

 models or working plans, — we do not deem it 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



VALUE OF OYSTER SHELL BEDS LEFT BY INDIANS. 



I saw it stated in the last Monthly Farmer 

 that oyster shells were of no account to the far- 

 mer. To me it does not seem as if that was so. 

 In the past twelve years I have carted more than 

 one thousand loads of oyster shells, from an old 

 deposit left by the Indians. I have always raided 

 good crops ; better thL.n could have been expected 

 from my land without them. The shells have 

 been put into a barn cellar and mixed with other 

 manure. I have never tri xl them alone. But this 

 is a fact, that wherever we had shells, the grass 

 grows much better and keeps green through the 

 season, and this year I have raised go >d corn, 

 without any dressing, in almost a solid heap of 

 shells. Now on the Uape there are numerous de- 

 posits of shells, and 1 think it will pay lo cart 

 them. I think the Indians roa-tcd the oysters, as 

 the shells have that appearance, and crumble at 

 the touch. A few bones, ashes and coals are found 

 with them, and if the shells arc a foot under 

 ground the soil will be as black as any Western 

 land. I would hke to see what some others think 

 about it. SuissCKiBER. 



Osterville, Mass., Oct. 18, 1869. 



Remarks. — As the article alluded to by our 

 correspondent was written l)y Dr. Jas. II. Nichols, 

 of this city, the above communication w^as sub- 

 mitted to him, and ho has furnished the following 

 reply :— 



"As regards the remarks of your correspondent 

 at Osterville, it may be said, that there are but 

 one or two points worthy of comment or reply. 

 He says he has carted thousands of loads of oyster 

 shells upon his land, and has raised 'good crops.' 

 lie has 'never used oyster shells alone,* but al- 



