90 ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY. 



the stock is considerably below the average of our country. 

 There is no occasion for this deficiency, for any amount 

 of fresh meadows and pastures, of the first quality, could 

 be obtained by banking-iu the salt-marshes. Our great 

 staple, Indian corn, also thrives, and for green or dry 

 fodder for cattle, is unsurpassed ; sown broadcast or in 

 drills, it could be raised so as to be a cheap and excellent 

 substitute for grass. There is an inducement to make 

 this improvement, especially for dairy purposes. Butter 

 commands a price from five to fifteen cents a pound 

 higher than in New York market, and there is always a 

 demand for it in the county. From the want of cool 

 milk-houses, difiiculty is experienced in making good 

 butter. A convenient plan for obviating this difficulty 

 was seen at the residence of Mr. Wm. Few, on the sea- 

 side road, three miles below the Court House. Instead 

 of a spring house, he has an out-of-door cellar dug to 

 the ordinary depth of a well, (nine or ten feet in this 

 case), so that the water stands a few inches deep all 

 over the bottom. This cellar is planked up at the sides, 

 and covered with beams, boards, and earth. The de- 

 scent is by a flight of stairs at one end ; and planks sup- 

 ported just above the surface of the water, furnish con- 

 venient footing about the room. The shelves are placed 

 just beneath the surface of the water, so that pans of 

 milk or plates of butter set on them, may be kept cool. 

 Ventilation is secured by a latticed ventilator in the door 

 of the stairway, and another on the opposite end of the 

 cellar. To have a supply of fresh and cool water, it may 

 be pumped out occasionally, and more allowed to drain in 



