106 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



cultivated — neighborly good will encouraged. 

 It will be a sort of farmers' lodge, where all 

 meet on the same level — no one feeling him- 

 self better than his neighbor. 



Familiar farm topics should be selected for 

 discussion and not for debate. One or two 

 members should be appointed to open the dis- 

 cussion. If the person appointed is accus- 

 tomed to putting his thoughts in writing, an 

 elaborate essay can be prepared and read. If 

 this would not be agreeable he can arrange in 

 his mind what he wishes to say and present it 

 by word of mouth. A train of ideas will thus 

 be started which will be taken up by others, 

 who will give their opinions, relate their ex- 

 periences and the conclusions derived there- 

 from, always confining themselves as closely 

 as possible to the subject under discussion. 

 The aim should be, in addition to the interest 

 created, to draw out facts, opinions, conclu- 

 sions, practices, and results. Clubs make a 

 great mistake when they conduct their exercis- 

 es after the manner of a debating society. If 

 there are those among your number who wish 

 to diaplay their forensic powers, an opportu- 

 nity may occasionally be given and a subject 

 relating to the farm be selected and arguments 

 presented pro and con, ever bearing in mind, 

 however, that it is not the proper way to con- 

 duct the exercises of a Farmers' Club. 



The Secretary should be directed to keep a 

 journal of the doings of each meeting to be 

 read at the opening of the next meeting. — Cor. 

 Maine Farmer. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



A COLD CELLAR. 



I have a dry, cold, sandy cellar that freezes. 

 Will it do any good to run a half inch stream of 

 water into a tub in the cellar ? The water is 38° 

 Fahrenheit, in a shed. A Subscriber. 



Ascuttieytille, Vt., Dec. 13, 18G9. 



Remarks. — We have known water to be carried 

 into a cellar by the pailful to keep out the frost on 

 a severely cold night, and your stream of water, 

 6° above freezing, we should suppose would help 

 a good deal. But if the under-pinning or the cel- 

 lar wall is very thin or open, or if the rooms over 

 the cellar are not warmed, such a stream of water 

 may prove insufficient. Is your house banked up ? 

 Have you ever tried evergreen boughs for a bank- 

 ing ? They are neat, and are said to be effectual. 

 Collars, cuffs, bosoms, and other articles of male 

 and female wear, are now made of paper ; and 

 here is what the Scientific American says about 

 protecting cellars from frost : A man who had a 

 cellar that persisted in freezing his vegetables, 

 though thoroughly "banked up," went to work 

 and pasted four or five thicknesses of old news- 

 papers — hope he didn't use the New England 

 Farmer in that way — over the walls and ceiling 

 of his cellar; a curtain of the same material being 

 also pasted over the small low windows at the top 



of the cellar. The papers were pasted to the bare 

 joists over head, leaving an air space between them 

 and the floor. He reports that the papers carried 

 his roots through last winter, though the cellar 

 was left unbanked, and he is confident they have 

 made the cellar frost-proof. Before putting on the 

 paper, it will be necessary to sweep down the walls 

 thoroughly, and to use a very strong size to hold 

 the paper to the stones. It is not necessary to 

 pi-ess the paper down into all the depressions of 

 the wall ; every air space beneath it is an addi- 

 tional defence against the cold. 



PLAN OF A BARN. 



In reply to your Westport, Conn., correspon- 

 dent's inquiry I send you the plan of a barn I in- 

 tend to build next spring. If any one has a better 

 plan for a barn 50x40, 1 should like to see it before 

 I build. 



West. 



Size 40x.50 feet; posts 18 feet long; rise of roof 

 15 feet, covered with shingles ; body of barn cov- 

 ered with inch boards, cTapboarded and painted. 

 The stable for cattle 14 feet wide; floor 12 feet; 

 bay 14 feet ; height of cattle stable 7 feet 6 inches ; 

 horse stable 8 feet 6 inches ; barn floor covered 

 with pine, 1^ inch thick, lined with hemlock one 

 inch thick. Size of timber on lower floor 8x8 

 inches; all above 7x7 inches. Cellar under the 

 whole 8 ft deep with nine posts in cellar. The 

 barn ends to the west ; cellar open to the south. 

 Stairs in one corner of cellar leads to the stable for 

 cattle. I. B. Hartwell. 



Rochdale, Mass., Dec. 25, 18G9. 



TURNIP TASTE IN MILK AND BUTTER. 



What will pi'event milk and butter from tast- 

 ing of turnips when cows are fed with them ? 

 Waterbury, Vt., Dec, 1869. c. R. p. 



Remarks. — We generally feed turnips in the 

 morning soon'after the cows are milked, and, of 

 course, after they have had a foddering of hay. 

 They should not be taken on an empty stomach, 



