254 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[June, 
THE MtEJSEHOLID). 
JS?” For other Household Items see “ Basket ” pages. 
The Wastes of Country Houses. 
BY L. D. SNOOK, YATES CO., N. Y. 
Much is written at present about the sanitary 
condition of city houses and defective plumbing, 
sewer-gas and sewage are often mentioned in city 
papers. The disposal of the wastes of a country 
house is of as much importance as that of a house 
in the city—in fact more so, since there is no general 
Fig. 1.— CROSS SECTION OF DRAIN. 
system of sewers as there is in cities, and each 
house must provide for itself. Many a neat,look¬ 
ing country house rarely has its front door opened, 
and when it is opened, it is, alas, too often, to 
allow a little coffin to he carried out; the neighbors 
who have gathered in a sympathizing manner, talk 
in an undertone of diphtheria, scarlet fever, and 
reverently speak of the “dispensations of Provi¬ 
dence.” Were these neighbors to go around to the 
back door they would perhaps find its surround¬ 
ings—just like their own. The kitchen slops have 
been, ever since the house was built, thrown out 
from the door. The kitchen sink may empty its 
contents into a shallow drain, which leads no where, 
but the water soaks away as it may, and in either 
case the soil all around the rear of the house is 
reeking with slop water. No healthy growth of 
tree or plant can be had here, and what is worse 
still, the well is usually not far off. As there is a 
reciprocal relation between all the members of the 
body, so there is a direct relation between the 
back door and the occasional melancholy openings 
of the front door. There is no problem—such as 
the simple one of 2 and 2 make 4—more thoroughly 
fixed and established, than that the health of the 
family, whether in the costly city mansion or in the 
humblest cottage or log cabin, depends upon the 
manner in which the wastes of the family occupy¬ 
ing mansion or cabin are disposed of. It is not 
necessary to argue the matter. Now, this very 
month, before the hottest days'come on, house 
slops must be carried off, and all throwing of them 
on the ground absolutely prohibited. To do this 
now, will cost far less than to pay the bills of 
doctor and the undertaker, to take even a low view 
of it. But what shall we do ? Get rid of the slops 
— send them otf to a distance, away from both the 
house and the well. Two things must be done ; 
provide a cess-pool in a suitable place, and a tight 
drain to take all 
liquids to it. The 
cess-pool should be 
at least 40 feet from 
either house or well. 
Make it large, as 
the larger it is, the 
longer it will last. 
A rude way is to get a large cask, which need not 
be tight; such as hardware is packed in will answer. 
Knock out both heads, and dig a hole deep enough 
to hold it; of course, provided the soil is loose 
and sandy. Place the headless cask in the hole 
with its top at least three feet below the surface. 
Into this put all the accumulated stones, bricks, and 
all such material as may be at hand, to at least 
half fill it. Arrange to connect the drain with it, 
lay some stout planks across the top, aud cover 
them with earth. In order to make repairs if 
needed, take the direction and measurement from 
some permanent point, so that it may be found. 
The Drain.— This maybe made of boards, six 
inches wide and free from knots; they are to be 
nailed together to form a square drain, using tar, 
or thick paint, at the joints. If the interior has 
several coats of oil or crude petroleum, it will be 
all the more durable. To receive the slops, a long 
and narrow funnel should be made as in figure 1. 
This is about 14 inches square at top, and tapers 
below to the size of the drain. A piece of plank, 
in which numerous half inch holes are bored, is 
placed at B, above which the funnel is filled with 
small stones. The upper end of the funnel has a 
square frame projecting about four inches above 
the surface as in figure 2. The waste water is to 
be poured into this frame, and the small stones 
will arrest all solid matters, and prevent them from 
passing into the drain. It may be desirable to have 
the kitchen sink discharge into the drain, the funnel 
of which may be in this case quite near the house, 
as shown in figure 3. It is well to cover the top of 
the drain with a screen of wire. It has been as¬ 
sumed that the sole object is to get rid of the 
house slops. If these are to be used in the garden, 
the cess-pool should be located with reference to 
this end, and it must he made water tight with its 
top well below the reach of frost. In some soils, 
an excavation of the desired size may have its 
bottom and sides covered by a coat of cement 
plastered directly upon them. Where the soil is 
not sufficiently firm to admit of this, then the walls 
and bottom must be bricked and made water-tight 
by a coating of cement. The top should be covered 
with strong planks. A pump may be arranged to 
Fig. 3.— discharge pipe at side of house. 
raise the contents of the cess-pool, which, by cheap 
troughs, made of two boards nailed together, may 
be conveyed to every part of the garden, and in 
one season’s increased produce repay all outlay. 
[The above omits one important point. As 
described, the drain furnishes a sort of conductor 
to convey noxious gases from the cesspool back 
to the house. This source of trouble can be 
guarded against by putting a trap or downward 
bend in the drain, near its upper end, to always be 
filled with the fluid, and prevent the return of 
gases. It may be partially remedied, and only par¬ 
tially, by having the drain enter near the bottom of 
the cesspool, and always leaving it covered by the 
liquid in the receptacle. The materials caught on 
the filter of stones must be almost daily cleaned 
out in hot weather, or they will decay there.-— Ed.] 
A Favorite Way ofCooking and. fflress- 
lug Beefsteak : Heat a flat spider or frying-pan 
thoroughly over a hot fire. Then unless the steak 
is tender, pouud it well, using a hard-wood board, 
and a common potato masher, striking with the 
edge so as to break the meat fibre. Sufficient 
pounding will make a tough steak seem quite ten¬ 
der. When the meat and spider are ready, quickly 
cover the spider bottom with the meat, and let it 
sear well, but turn before it burns. If is well to 
cover the spider to retain the heat. Do not salt 
until the meat is nearly done. When cooked 
through and salted, add a teacupful of thin cream, 
and let it come to a boil. Good milk will do if one 
has no cream, but in this case, spread a little good 
butter upon the meat before adding milk. Use but 
little, and let it get thoroughly heated. Lay the 
meat on the platter, and pour this dressing over it. 
Meat cooked quickly in a hot spider, throws out a 
fine juice at the last, and this will not dry away or 
burn so easily, if the spider is covered. While the 
meat cooks, the cream or milk mixed and heated 
with it makes more gravy, and has an excellent fla¬ 
vor. It is certainly more wholesome than a dress¬ 
ing of melted butter. 
Our Daily Bread. 
BY A MINNESOTA HOUSEKEEPER. 
The great scarcity, high price, and poor quality 
of our potatoes, east and west, make it unusually 
important to have good bread. Potatoes are not 
very nutritious, and by no means an essential diet; 
but “meat and potatoes” seem made to go to¬ 
gether, the starch of the potatoes balancing the 
fibrinc of the beef or other lean meats.. But pota¬ 
toes are over four-fifths water, by weight, and easily 
dispensed with when we get used to it. We can 
also live comfortably, healthfully, and satisfactorily 
without meat, if we have nourishing bread pleasant 
to our taste. Many think we have this in Graham, 
but genuine Graham is hard to find now-a-days. 
It has been suggested that we secure small hand- 
mills, strong coffee mills, for instance, and grind 
our own wheat. This would be well, if we could 
not do better. But I would gladly dispense with 
bran as an article of diet. It affords no nourish¬ 
ment that is not now perfectly obtained by the new 
process of grinding, and it is quite doubtful whether 
all of the food elements once left clinging to the 
bran could easily be digested and assimilated when 
taken in that condition. It is claimed by some of 
our best authorities that bran, in its haste through 
the digestive organs, carries along with it much 
that would be assimilated and used as good build¬ 
ing and-strengthening material. This action of the 
bran makes Graham flour an excellent food and 
medicine for pampered appetites. The poor and 
ill-fed cannot afford to eat it. 
But we need something besides white flour in our 
daily bread if we rely upon it as food—especially 
if we would have gems. Though very light white 
flour gems can be made, much as you would make 
muffins, they would prove a “ slender staff of life.” 
I was glad to note in the April American Agricul¬ 
turist the call of our English neighbor for gems. 
I suppose he wants the genuine light and sweet 
cold water Graham gems, now only a pleasant 
memory to most persons who tasted them years 
ago, before the adulteration of Graham became 
common. We have been using for a few weeks a 
flour purporting to be the whole wheat ground to a 
fine flour with only the bran removed, and it pro¬ 
fesses to contain all of the nourishment originally 
stored in the wheat in a form easily assimilated. I 
believe in the theory, but lost some enthusiasm 
when testing it practically^. It had an odd taste, 
especially when made with yeast, which we called 
bitter at first. But we have got used to it, and 
prize it especially on account of the delicious water 
gems it makes. After a month’s trial we deem it a 
very satisfactory food in all respects. We liked 
our water gems from the first, and have hardly 
eaten a breakfast without them for over three 
weeks, liking them better and better as we mix 
them thinner and thinner. I find the best propor¬ 
tions three cups of water, and four cups of sifted 
“Entire Wheat Flour,” sifted in a little at a time. 
Have the gem irons very hot, butter them, fill nearly 
level with the batter; bake partly on the oven rack, 
and partly on the bottom, baking thoroughly. 
Sweet milk is better than water, but the water- 
mixed gems are a daily delight in our house just 
now. They rise but little, the flour swelling in the 
thin batter as it cooks ; they are not the least sticky 
when fully done, but have a fine spongy texture 
and excellent flavor. Those unused to water gems 
may prefer using sour milk ; with eggs freely added, 
the best possible pancakes are made from this flour. 
I disagree with those who think that white bread 
