25& 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
The spot of ground set apart for the dry- 
earth harvest should be kept free from weeds 
aud turf, and harrowed as shallow as possible, 
using a harrow with numerous very short teeth. 
The ground should not have been plowed for a 
year, the object being to pulverize it only at the 
surface, for in this way the top soil can be bet- 
ter kept from absorbing moisture from below, 
reversing the usual maxims of tillage. There is 
seldom a summer without several weeks when 
the soil for a couple of inches is almost dry. 
This is the time to proceed with the work. The 
implements used are a wide scraper (fig. 4) 5 
feet x 10 inches, and a shovel (fig. 3) 2 feet 3 
inches x 2 feet. They are made lighter than 
Fig. 4. — SCRAPER FOR DRY EARTH. 
similar ones designed to work among stones 
and gravel, and both are intended to be always 
used in a nearly perpendicular position, aud 
therefore the backs need not be shod for wear, 
as is usual with team shovels and scrapers. 
They are both built of wood, edged aud 
bound with iron. The shovel is made some- 
what concave, being designed to move a pretty 
full load for a short distance ; the scraper which 
only skims the surface is made straight. A rope 
is substituted for the iron bail for draft attach- 
ment in the shovel to make it lighter, and for 
PLATFORM FOR DRYING EARTH. 
the same reason the iron edge and bauds are 
thin. The mass moved being very dry, light, 
and mellow, admits of a rather slight construc- 
tion of the implement; and as this is to be 
used by backing the team at every shovelful, 
and pulling the shovel back by hand, as little 
weight as possible is desirable. The wooden 
rod connecting the two crooked handles of the 
shovel is essential, serving as a convenient 
handle iu backing. Now, during a time of dry 
weather, by harrowing your ground with the 
short-toothed harrow half a dozen times on a 
hot day, the soil will become sufficiently pul- 
verized, and also advanced one stage iu dry- 
ness. The next clay — watching the weather as 
I closely as a hay 
m alter — hitch 
your horse to the 
scraper, and try 
to scrape one inch 
Fig. 6.— BOTTOM OF DRAY. deep> no morej 
and gather the earth into small winrows, 
extending regularly across the field, the oper- 
ation being like raking hay. Next make the 
team follow the winrows, and cock the dirt into 
heaps of a cart-load each. Now, you have 
piles of earth nearly dry, but they will not grow 
any drier until placed, so that moisture cannot be 
absorbed from below. Platforms of boards(fig. 5), 
8 feet square, and built wedge-shaped, aud 14 
inches high at the highest part, are now drawn 
by the team upon the joists which form the 
sides aud serve as runners, aud located one by 
each heap with the thin edge towards it. 
Attach the team to the shovel by a rope 
about 12 feet long, and transfer the earth to the 
platforms, heaping the first shovelful upon the 
edge next the pile to cover it, so that it may 
not obstruct the shovel. The platforms should 
be ou the north side of the heaps at the com- 
mencement, so as to slope toward the south, 
aud afford direct exposure to the sun. Iu two 
or three days of fine weather the piles will be 
nearly as free from moisture as if kiln-dried, if 
the earth has been well pulverized, for it is so 
loose and porous that the moisture from the 
bottom finds its way to the surface 
as fast as the latter dries. If the 
weather becomes threatening, house 
the earth without waiting for further 
gBpf* 55 drying, or cover with hay-caps, ac- 
I T --- cording to circumstances. When 
ready for housing, draw the wagon 
close to the north side of the plat- 
form, and connect the two with a 
skid 5 feet x 14 inches, with teeth 
projecting over the body to hold up 
the shovel, aud let the earth drop 
through. The same length of rope 
between the horse and shovel will be needed as 
when piling earth upon the platforms. Fig. 3 
shows the manner of loading. 
The flooring of the wagon, when used for 
carrying feed and water, consists of movable 
boards, which are taken out with the hind board 
when preparing to haul earth, and l'| 2 -inch 
planks, 5 inches wide, with planed edges fitting 
accurately, are substituted. One end of each 
plank projects a few inches behind the body 
(tig. 6), and is so narrowed that a handspike may 
be inserted between the planks. By prying them 
up one at a time, the wagon 
is readily unloaded. There 
will not be any appreciable 
leakage between the planks in 
hauling 40 or 50 rods, and, to 
save travel, the earth plat 
should not be more than that 
distance from the store-room 
at farthest. An underground basement iu the 
granary of the establishment is the proper 
store-room, and, by driving in above, the load 
may be discharged through a trap-door in 
the floor into a capacious hopper-shaped bin. 
Underneath the bin should be space to drive in 
winter the wagon or sled, and, by pulling a 
slide, let the earth fall until a load is obtained to 
be carried to the stations. In this way the 
earth is pulverized, heaped upon the drying 
platforms, loaded upon the wagon, transferred 
to the bin, and re-loaded, without touching a 
hand-shovel to it at all. The wagon may be 
loaded with the aid of the team shovel in less 
than three minutes. The farmer may make an 
earth-bin, of the kind described, iu his barn 
cellar under a trap in the barn floor. The 
earth, upon a tract of such mellow loam as is 
suitable for poultry, will become, by pulverizing 
and drying, reduced completely to dust. The 
1 1 lading and unloading by team power not only 
S; res labor, but overcomes the difficulties in- 
se arable from shoveling such a light powder, 
Hi t flies at the least wind. Of course only 
slij.it pulverization will be best in preparing 
dirt for the earth-closet aud stable, but for 
poll ry the finer the better. In the fall, when 
dry weather gives opportunity, labor may be 
still further saved by scraping heaps of dry 
earth directly upon the winter sites of the fowl- 
houses, and drawing as manv of the latter as 
are rendered teuautless by the sale of the old 
stock upon the heaps, where the earth can re- 
main sheltered awaiting the new flocks of pul- 
lets, and no wagon is needed at all for the 
earth in that case. 
After the dry earth has been used in the 
houses through the wiuter, the final disposition 
of it must be made iu the spring, as much with 
an eye to labor-saving as in collecting it. The 
fowl-houses are to be pried up to loosen their 
sills from the dust-heap in which they are em- 
bedded, aud drawn off to summer quarters. 
Then the earth, mixed with the manure, is to 
be first moved with the shovel, and scattered 
about the immediate vicinity, one shovelful in 
a place. The scraper is next in requisition to 
spread these heaps, and the harrow comes last, 
reversing the order of gathering. 
Cheese-Press. 
A small family cheese may be made on any 
farm, where two or more cows are kept. The 
night's milkiug may be kept over, and added to 
that of the morniug, about fifty to sixty quarts 
being sufficient. Bring the milk to blood heat, 
that is, so as to feel warm to the hand. A piece of 
well-saved rennet, two inches square, is to be 
soaked over night, in a pint of warm water, and 
the liquid from it added to the warm milk, 
which may be left for half an hour to set. 
A small tub, or a common wash-boiler well 
scoured, may be used for this purpose. When 
well set, the curd should be cut across both 
ways, iuto small squares, of two or three inches, 
with a long bladed knife, to facilitate the sep- 
aration of the whey. Lift the curd out care, 
fully with a strainer, and place it iu the hoop. 
This may be of tin, eight inches in diameter. 
A six-quart pail, which has become useless for 
other purposes, will serve. Punch the bottom 
full of holes for the whey to drain off. Set the 
hoop on a staud for pressing. A handy press 
may be made as in the engraving. A piece 
of l'li-inch board, will make the bench; 
four legs are put beneath, fitted into holes bored 
to receive them. An upright, a, is put through 
a hole in the end of the bench, and a 
pin passed through underneath to prevent it 
from being drawn out. A lever b, is fitted on a 
so as to work up aud down, as may be neces- 
h 
HOME-MADE CHEESE PRESS. 
sary. The hoop c, is set on the bench, a wooden 
follower fitting loosely) is laid on the curd, and 
a sad-iron is hung on the end of the lever. The 
weight can be increased as desired by shifting 
the cheese nearer to the post a. A few grooves 
are necessary to carry off the whey which 
drains from the curd, and drops into a pan un- 
derneath. As soon as the cheese is sufficiently 
pressed to handle, take it out, wrap a bandage 
of fine muslin round it, and sew the edges. 
Butter the cheese all over, and put it away in 
a cool, dry place to cure. The next week make 
another, and repeat the process as often as de- 
sired. A very palatable cheese may be made 
