Agriculture is the most healthful, the most useful, and the most noble employment of man .— Washington, 
VOL. IV. NEW YORK, NOVEMBER, 1845. NO. XI. 
A. B. Allen, Editor. Saxton & Miles, Publishers, 205 Broadway. 
CELLARS. 
The cellar is really one of the most important 
rooms in the farmer’s house. There are several very 
important qualifications which it may be well enough 
to mention, inasmuch as a great many neglect to pro¬ 
vide them, notwithstanding their great utility and the 
trifling expense of so doing. 
The cellar should be warm in winter, and cool in 
summer. This condition will be secured by having 
it entirely under ground, or banked up on all sides. 
It should be perfectly dry, and if the earth on the 
bottom will not absorb whatever moisture finds its 
way on to it, drains should be made to conduct it off. 
It should be well ventilated, which in winter may 
be sufficiently well done by having a fire-place, or 
large ventilator connected with the chimney. In 
summer open grated windows on all sides should 
allow a free circulation of air. 
It should be light, which may be secured by win¬ 
dows, open in summer, and if the cellar be liable to 
freezing, the difficulty may be obviated, by having 
a double sash to each window. 
It should be clean, every substance, vegetable or 
animal, subject to putrefaction, should be cleared out, 
and especially in the spring, as warm weather ap¬ 
proaches, and the vegetables are used up; there 
should be a thorough overhauling and cleansing of 
every part, and the walls should be white-washed. 
Unslaked lime scattered around the bottom, or in 
shallow vessels, will absorb any noxious air, and 
purify it. 
It should be rat-proof. This is easily enough ac¬ 
complished, by having tight stone, or brick walls ; 
and if inroads are made under ground, they can be ex¬ 
cluded by paving with large flat stones, closely join¬ 
ed. Brick are not suitable for this purpose, for if 
they once get under the flooring and commence their 
burrowing, they will sometimes move earth enough 
to cause the bricks to fall out of place, make the floor 
uneven, and furnish themselves with holes large 
enough to get into the cellar. The increased size of 
the stones will effectually prevent this result. If rats 
are not absolutely excluded, there is no way of avoid¬ 
ing them. They won’t catch themselves in traps, 
and they are too cunning to eat poison long at a 
time ; and as for keeping cats and terriers to catch 
them, one may about as well keep the rats as their 
destroyers. 
There remains but one more essential, and the 
cellar is complete. It should be convenient of 
access, both from the outside for bringing in and de¬ 
livering articles in quantities, and equally so to the 
kitchen and sheds above. The subdivisions and ar¬ 
rangements for accommodating whatever is required, 
may be made to suit the taste or wants of each per¬ 
son as they may choose. 
DRY STABLES FOR CATTLE. 
We believe a dry, naked plank floor is better for 
cattle, even in the coldest weather, than a wet one, 
well littered w r ith straw. This can be easily enough 
secured by having a short length of plank, just long 
enough for the cattle to stand on, resting upon others 
in the rear, which should extend lengthwise of the 
stables, and at right angles with the former. It 
would be still better to have the first plank in the 
rear of the cattle, fashioned into a shallow trough, 
descending gently towards one, or from the centre, 
towards both ends of the stable, where the liquid 
voided would run off at once, and might thence be 
conducted into a reservoir, or on to a muck heap. 
A little regard to the comfort of the dumb beasts, 
will be consulting the owner’s best interest. If they 
must find shelter in the yard, they should be p.roviih 
