1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



547 



TO KEEP CELLARS FROM FREEZING. 

 An untold amount of labor is annually ex- 

 pended in New England in banking up with 

 earth about the dwelling to keep the cellar 

 from freezing. That process has already 

 been commenced all about us, and is a dirty 

 and expensive one ; and one which, when the 

 work is well done, does not always accomplish 

 the end sought. 



The method adopted, as described below, 

 was tried by a gentleman with the cellar of an 

 outjiouse, in which, on several occasions, 

 vegetables had frozen, although the cellar was 

 fortified by a process well known to farmers 

 as "banking." The mode of proceeding is 

 given by the Scientific American as follows : 



The walls and the ceiling were pasted over with 

 four or five thicknesses of old newspapers, a cur- 

 tain 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 un- 

 banked, and he is confident they have made the 

 cellar frost proof. We do not counsel the special 

 use of old newspapers for this purpose. It is jast 

 as well or better to use coarse brown paper. 

 Whatever paper is employed, 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 press the paper down into 

 all the depressions of the wall ; every air space 

 beneath it is an additional defence against the 

 cold. 



Banking up a house, is not only laborious 

 and expensive, but the earth coming against 

 the wood work, keeps it wet through the 

 winter. The wood dries when the earth is re- 

 moved, and this change going on from year to 

 year, not only rots the clapboards and board- 

 ing, but it is extended to the sills of the 

 house. They become rotten, give way to the 

 weight resting upon them, and then the floors 

 become uneven, the doors will neither open nor 

 shut, and the whole house is in a state of ruin. 

 Such are some of the results of banking up 

 the house ! 



We have no doubt that the process described 

 above will prove efficacious. Try it. It is 

 inexpensive and easily done. Riding in the 

 cars between Boston and New York on a cold 

 winter night, we suffered exceedingly with 

 cold feet. A fellow-traveller suggested that 

 they would soon become warm if wrapped in 

 a large newspaper ! We did so. In halt an 

 hour they were warm, and we fell asleep. 

 Many times since the newspaper has been 

 used where a blanket was needed, from which 

 decided comfort was obtained. 



Writing the above quite near a large win- 

 dow against which the cold November wind 

 is beating, we became quite chilled, although 

 the temperature of the room is nearly 70 

 degrees in the centre. Hanging a newspaper 

 against the window, we are no longer chilled, 

 let the wind blow as it will. So, if you value 

 your potatoes, apples, and a warm floor under 

 your feet, put the newspapers in place at 

 once, and thank the thoughtful and pains- 

 taking person who made the discovery ! 



Co-OPEEATiVE Drainage. — In 1869 a law was 

 passed by the legislature of New York, which pro- 

 vides that, where there is any low, wet land be- 

 longing to several persons that needs draining for 

 the sake of the public health, or the benefit of ag- 

 riculture, any freeholder interested caa petition 

 the County Judge to have the land drained, and 

 have the expense assessed on the property bene- 

 fited. The County Judge appoints three Com- 

 missioners, one of whom shall be a civil engineer, 

 and none of whom shall be personally interested 

 in the work. These Commissioners shall examine 

 the land, and, if in their judgment the work is 

 necessary, they have power to borrow money and 

 commence operations at once. 



Change of Time.— At a recent meeting of the 

 Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture the 

 winter session at Framingham was changed from 

 the 6th, 7th and 8th of December, to December 13, 

 14 and 15. 



Pork Fattened on Whey. — In some re- 

 marks on feeding hogs at cheese factories, in 

 a late article in the Earal New Yorker, Mr. 

 X. A. Willard says : — 



In feeding whey to hogs, bran, ship-stuffn, 

 or some kind of meal should be mingled with 

 the whey. When this is done, a good quality 

 of pork is made, and considerable profits often 

 are realized from the whey. We do not ap- 

 prove of keeping hogs exclusively upon whey. 

 It does not contain the elements of nutrition 

 in the right proportion to preserve the animals 

 in good health and make the best quality of 

 pork. 



It is true, hogs will live upon whey and 

 take on fat, but the pork is soft, watery and 

 of inferior quality. It is doubtful whether 

 such pork is a healthy article of food, as swine 

 fed exclusively on such watery slop soon show 

 symptoms of disease. StUl, many dairymen 

 keep a portion of their hogs on whey alone, 

 and sell in early fall to the butcher or packer. 

 We notice that those who make a practice of 

 feeding swine exclusively on whey do not 

 generally put up such pork for their own con- 

 sumption. 



