THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



413 



land, and 7 or 8 in pasturing and brush. I 

 was more plagued to carry on that than I am 

 now with 2 or 300 acres. I could keep a horse 

 and cow. I could not afford to have tools — no 

 small farms can. It was borrow, borrow. Capt. 

 S., can you let me have your cart to-day? Dea. 

 E., can you lend me your plow, your harrow, or 

 something? No team, no tools; I was soon 

 gick of that, and I bought more land. 



Give me a good large farm, and then I can 

 have every thing that a farmer wants, and have 

 something to sell. Can buy,a dozen head of 

 cattle at any time, or sell 20, just as fancy or in- 

 terest may 'dictate. I want an orchard that 

 would coyer a little farm all over. If it is pro- 

 fitable to cultivate one acre, it is profitable to 

 cultivate one hundred well. I know of no way 

 that a man can make a little farm rich, but 

 what could be adapted to a large farm. If there 

 is, I wish your correspondent would point it 

 out for the benefit of X. 



Hollis, if. H., 1857. 



Healthy Houses. 



Recent occurrences in Washington City prove 

 the truth of an article we published two years 

 ago, on " Health and House-Hunting." It is 

 estimated that not less than a thousand persons 

 had their health seriously impaired while at the 

 National Hotel, in consequence of the drain- 

 ings of the immense establishment having been 

 prevented from passing off,, allowing no escape 

 for their destructive effluvia, except upwards 

 through the building, first saturating the meats 

 which were eaten, and then the atmosphere 

 which the guests were compelled to breathe 

 every moment they were on the premises ; thus, 

 at least, reported. 



There can be no doubt that millions of peo- 

 ple die every year from similar causes, but be- 

 ing less concentrated, the work is done in too 

 gradual a manner to excite suspicion. In Bos- 

 ton, a number of years ago, very special pains 

 were taken to keep the city in an unexception- 

 al cleanly condition, to prevent the advent of 

 cholera. 



Every privy, every back-yard, every gutter, 

 was scrupulously examined, and the occupant 

 of each house was enjoined to keep the kitchen 

 and pantry scrupulously free from dirt and 

 dampness. Yet, after all this precaution, the 

 cholera did appear in one street with great ma- 

 lignity, and a severe disappointment and dis- 

 couragement was the result as to the efficacy of 

 such sanitary measures. All was explained, 

 however, when the visiting committee entered 

 the cellar of an indicated house, aud there, in 

 its darkest corner, was the festering mass of 

 corruption— the house offal of a whole winter. 

 With its removal, the epidemic ceased. 



As this May moving season is the time for 

 changes, when many enter new purchased 

 homes and all begin to ' improve' more or less, 

 we crave a mature consideration of the sugges- 

 tions made, believing as we do, that it concerns 



the health of many families. And on all who 

 change their habitations, we urge the bestowal 

 of a large, a very large share of attention, first 

 of all, to the cellar ; remove every movable 

 thing ; open every door and hatchway ; sweep 

 it, yes, sweep it half a dozen times — floor, sides, 

 ceiling ; then give a plentiful coating of white- 

 wash, made with unleached lime, and in all 

 other respects, attend to the suggestions made 

 a year ago, for the obvious reason, that what- 

 ever of filth is in the cellar, rises upwards and 

 saturates the atmosphere of the whole building, 

 not to kill you in a night, not to poison your 

 system in so short a space as a few days, as at 

 the National Hotel, in Washington City, but 

 which in its more insidious workings, saps by 

 slow degrees the health of those who are dear- 

 est to us, draining them of their vitality until 

 none is left, and before we are aware, we find 

 them a wreck, the mere shadow of what they 

 were a few years before, in spite of their living 

 in unexceptionable (outside) brown stone build- 

 ings, up .town, in one of the best ventilated 

 spots on the globe, with broad rolling rivers on 

 either side, and an ocean at the foot, all owing 

 to careless servants, their master setting the 

 example, making the cellar the receptacle of 

 all that is foul and filthy. There is more sound 

 practical hygiene on this subject of healthy 

 houses in the fourteenth chapter of Leviticus, 

 from verse thirty-four, than in all the skulls of 

 all the health commissioners and common coun- 

 cils of all the cities of Christendom. — Journal 

 of Health. 



From the Scientific American. 

 Syrups. 



Although these preparations are so little used 

 in England, there is no reason why they should 

 not become a regular article in the housekeep- 

 er's store-room ; they are easy to prepare, and 

 are very agreeable to the palate, also economi- 

 cal, as they supersede the use of ardent spirits 

 and wine. On the Continent it is a common 

 practice to drink simple syrup (which is called 

 eau sucree, but which we term capillaire,) dilu- 

 ted with water to the taste of the drinker. 



Capillaire is 1 made thus : — Dissolve about two 

 pounds of the best refined white sugar in one 

 pint of water ; boil the mixture for five or ten 

 minutes, then strain it through lawn, or a hair 

 sieve ; when cold it is fit for use. 



Syrup of Cloves. — Proceed in the same way 

 as for making capillaire, but with the sugar add 

 thirty to forty cloves that have been broken or 

 ground. 



All the syrups of spices, as cinnamon, nut- 

 meg, ginger, &c, can be made in the same wa} r . 



Syrwps of Fruit. — These are prepared in a 

 similar manner to capillaire, substituting the 

 juices of the fruit in place of the water; in 

 this way it is very easy to make syrup of oran- 

 ges. Before the oranges are squeezed, to ex- 

 press their juice, each orange should be well 



