THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



285 



From the Riiral Amtrican. 

 ♦ GOOD AND BAD PLASTERLNG. 

 Mr. Editor: — A rainy day, and one of 

 the delays incident to Western travelling, 

 give me an opportunity to write a few lines 

 for publication. It was nny good fortune 

 to meet with a copy of your excellent pa- 

 per here ; and as it abounded in timely 

 hints on various subjects, T thought I would 

 forward to^you a few notions of my own 

 on plastering. Don't think, sir, that I am 

 joking with you, and am bent on plaster- 

 ing anybody with praises they don't de- 

 serve. I wish to speak of bona fide plas- 

 tering, with mortar made of good sand and 

 lime, and perhaps a little hair, for sake of 

 consistency. 



Why, Sir, let me ask, is itnhat we have 

 such poor plastering now-a-days through- 

 out the country? With whom does the 

 fault lie ? From my own observation — and 

 that has been extensive — I think that me- 

 chanics, especially in the country, pui on 

 their lath too closely together^ Their ob- 

 ject, I suppose, is to save material ; for a 

 very thin coat of mortar serves to cover 

 such lathing. 



Now, as an honest mechanic myself, I 

 protest ag-ainst such work, and for the fol- 

 lowing reasons : 



1. When laths are nailed very close to- 

 gether — and I have often seen them only 

 an eighth of an inch apart — there is no room 

 left for the mortar to Ibrm a chinch. 



2. What little clinch is formed, is in 

 most cases destroyed by the swelling of 

 the lathe caused by the dampness of the 

 mortar, which cuts the clinch off. And 

 then, when the walls become dry, the lath 

 shrinks and the clinch is consequently bro- 

 ken, and the wall is more or less cracked. 



Now what is the^remedy for all this? I 

 will venture a few suggestions : First, get 

 good l^inch, or 1^ inch sawed lath, about 

 one-fourth of an inch thick, nailed on with 

 fine three-penny Fall River lath nails, put 

 on about three-eighths to one-fourlh of an 

 inch apart, or so that you can put the end 

 of your forefinger between each lath. Then 

 take one part of fresh lump lime to two 

 parts of clean, sharp sand, and a suflicient 

 quantity of long cattle's hair; let them be 

 well mixed and slaked, and then coveryour 

 lath with one good coat of the above, well 

 crowded in ; then scratch or broom the 

 same, and let it get thoroughly dry. Af- 

 terwards, take one part of fresh lump lime 



to three parts of clean, sharp sand, with 

 suitable portion of short cattle's hair mixed, 

 for a second coat. Lay this on straight 

 and smooth, and properly hand-plastered. 

 When nearly dry, take a little slaked lime 

 and trowel your walls down smooth. They 

 will then be ready for whitewashing and 

 papering. They will remain firm and 

 smooth for many years. 



I advise all rural Americans and city 

 Americans likewise, to try this plan, and I 

 know they will approve of it. The universal 

 Yankee nation in some things is altogeth- 

 er too fast; and not the least so, in build- 

 ing its walls. At another time I may say 

 something about laying foundations; but 

 just now, I speak of walls. Let them be 

 built slowly, honestly, and firmly ; they will 

 then bear examination, and they will last. 

 But, dropping all figure, let me close by in- 

 sisting that laths should be put on wide 

 enough to ensure a good clinch, and that 

 the mortar be put on as I have said. Of 

 two evils, give me wide lathing and poor 

 mortar, rather than good mortar and close 

 lathing. Yours, Respectfully, 



Geo. R. Jaques. 



St. Joseph, Mich., June. 1856. 



PORTABLE CIDER MILLS. 

 I wish, through the medium of your ex- 

 cellent publication, to solicit attention to 

 one of the most important labor-saving in- 

 ventions of the age — the portable cider mill, 

 by the assistance of which a man and a 

 boy may make seven barrels of cider in a 

 day, and do it with an ease and neatness 

 not attainable by the use of any other me- 

 chanism in use. This mill does not crush 

 the apples, as is done by the nut mills, or 

 the mills having cylinders and driven under 

 horse power. It rasps or grates the fruit 

 into a soft pultaceous mass, which renders 

 the expression of the juice a matter of com- 

 parative ease to the operator, and enables 

 him with the greatest ease, to secure all the 

 cider the fruit contains — the pomace, after 

 the operation of pressing, presenting an 

 appearance of dryness which indicates the 

 perfect efficiency of the apparatus used. 

 It is shown from repeated tests that this 

 mill will save at least two barrels of cider 

 in seven, and that the liquor expressed is 

 much clearer than that produced by the 

 old-fashioned mills, as no straw is used, and 

 no extraneous matter introduced by the 

 process, either before or after pressing. By 



