1874.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
145 
rang irousEf ©lb. 
%37~ (For other Household Items , see “Basket ’’ pages.) 
About Earth-Closets. 
Those who live in properly sewered cities give 
but little thought to the disposal of waste matter. 
Each house connects with the main sewer, and all 
offensive substances are carried off at once. In 
villages the accumulations of the household are 
usually deposited in vaults which are emptied 
yearly or less frequently, while upon farms it is 
very often the case that the provisions for getting 
rid of effete matter are often not only inadequate, 
but it is stating it mildly to say that the whole ar¬ 
rangement is a positive nuisance. It is more than 
a nuisance; it is often a crime. This is a subject 
that is not often discussed for the reason that it is 
not a pleasant one, but it is of so much importance 
that we can say that in many cases it is a matter of 
life and death. The great prevalence of typhoid 
fever in agricultural districts as compared with 
cities is traced directly to the general carelessness 
in disposing of that deposit which for the want of 
a better name we call “night-soil.” That many 
privies are in dangerous proximity to wells is a fact 
so well established that we do not propose to dis¬ 
cuss it here. A remarkable instance of the danger 
resulting from this state of things is cited in Ogden 
Farm papers, No. 46, in December last, page 449, 
to which our readers are referred. The object of 
the present article is not to show how privy vaults 
may be properly built and safely placed, but to im¬ 
press upon the reader the fact that there is no need 
of the privy, as now used, at all. The health of 
the household is usually in the especial care of the 
mother, and here is one matter in which she can 
exercise her power for good in establishing an im¬ 
portant reform—a reform not only of the greatest 
moment from a sanitary point of view, but one 
which will add much to the family comfort. It is 
a fact that anyone who goes about with the senses 
of sight and smell ordinarily acute, finds it is the 
exception to come upon a farm privy which is not 
offensive to one or both of these senses—an evil 
that is crying loudly for a remedy. The amount of 
labor required to remedy this state of things is but 
little, and the expense almost nothing. We wish 
every one knew the virtues of dry earth, not dry 
sand, but good loamy earth, and the more clayey 
the soil the better. By dry we do not mean not 
positively wet, but absolutely dust dry. In sum¬ 
mer this is easily secured by laying down a plat¬ 
form of old boards, scraping up the dry surface 
soil and throwing it upon the boards in a thin 
layer. It will become perfectly dry in a few days, 
when it may be sifted and be stored in a dry place 
for use. In spring this can not so readily be done, 
but take the driest earth that can be found, spread 
it on boards under a shed or in any covered place, 
and then thoroughly dry a small quantity at a time 
in a shallow box placed under or behind the kitchen 
stove or wherever else it may dry and not be in the 
way. Those who keep plants know to their sorrow 
how quickly earth will become dry if put where it 
can absorb no moisture. Any one who sets about 
it can get a sufficient supply of dry earth at any 
time when the ground is not frozen hard. Then 
the blessed discovery has been made that coal ashes 
—of hard or soft stone coal—are about equal to dry 
earth for sanitary purposes, and we may make 
ashes, formerly a nuisance to be got rid of, a bless¬ 
ing in the household. Secure a good supply of 
finely sifted dry earth or of coal, not wood , ashes, 
and you have the means of remedying all nuisances 
of the kind already referred to, and of assuring 
safety from all diseases communicated by human 
excrement. Those who have never tried it will be 
surprised to see how small a quantity of dried 
earth or coal ashes will render a deposit entirely 
inodorous. The main thing is to secure the absorb¬ 
ing material; the how of using it is of very little 
consequence so that each deposit is at once cov¬ 
ered with it. Patented appliances are sold for let¬ 
ting a supply of earth or ashes upon the deposit in 
various ways. These are very excellent, and worth 
what they cost to those who can afford the expense. 
Fig. 3 and 4.— sections of commode. 
The machinery is patented, but dry earth and coal 
ashes are not, and any one can contrive a box or 
other receptacle for the deposit, and have at hand 
a quantity of the earth or ashes with a convenient 
scoop, and accomplish the end without the aid of 
any machinery whatever. The end is to cover each 
deposit with the dry material, and if it is regularly 
done the privy will cease to be a nuisance. Exist¬ 
ing buildings and vaults maybe arranged for this— 
first, of course, removing all previous accumula¬ 
tions. Or a place may be arranged in any shed or 
out-building, and no matter how near the house it 
may be, if each person does his or her duty, it will 
be the cause of no offense whatever. But note 
this: no slops of any kind must be emptied into 
the receptacle of any earth-closet. If this be done 
the whole affair is ruined. While the earth-closet 
is a great blessing for general use, its inestimable 
value is shown when there is sickness in the house 
or where there are invalids or delicate persons who 
are unable to go out-doors. For house use there 
are commodes of various styles and by different 
makers, and all agree in the principle of throwing 
down a quantity of dry earth or coal ashes, though 
they accomplish the end by different mechanical 
means. We use the one first made in this country, 
by the Hartford Earth-Closet Co., and have had it 
some five years, during which time it has been en¬ 
tirely satisfactory. In the house the earth or ashes 
may be used by hand, the same as already men¬ 
tioned, but, besides being more compact, it saves 
trouble from dust to have a closed apparatus of 
some kind. The different patented commodes are 
not very expensive, but one who is ingenious in 
such matters can readily contrive some affair that 
will answer the purpose. We recently saw in the 
English Mechanic engravings and description of a 
commode which was intended to both sift the ashes 
and apply it. We are not sure that this is advis¬ 
able, but we give the illustrations more for the 
purpose of furnishing hints to those who would 
construct something of the kind than as a pattern 
to be followed. The inventor states that it is not 
patented, and does not conflict with any of the 
closets patented in England ; how it may be with 
those in this country we can not say, but as there 
is no machinery about it we doubt if a thing like it 
has been patented here. In this closet or commode 
the cover is made large enough to receive the cin¬ 
ders as they come from the grate, and by the ope¬ 
rations of lifting and shutting it the ashes are 
sifted out and at the same time made to fall upon 
the deposit. Figure 1 shows the commode closed, 
and figure 2 gives the same, open. Figures 3 and 4 
are sections showing the internal arrangement and 
the action when the cover is shut and open. The 
inventor describes the working of the appa¬ 
ratus as follows: “To feed the commode raise 
the lid a of the ash-box, which forms the cover of 
commode (or closet), and contains the screening 
apparatus, c c, and throw in the refuse just collect¬ 
ed from under the fire grate ; fasten down the lid 
tightly, and when you wish to use the commode 
raise the cover, as in fig. 4, the mere doing of which 
causes a certain quantity of 
ashes to pass over the screen, 
the finer portions, d d, drop¬ 
ping through the screen, fall 
upon a shovel or distributor, 
e, and the cinders, D, roll over 
the screen down the sloping 
board C, and into the drawer 
E, to await removal for re¬ 
burning. After using the 
commode, pull down the cover 
(as in fig. 3), when the shovel 
e, before at the horizontal, now 
falls to the sloping position, 
throws the fine ash which 
rested upon it over the soil in 
the receptacle/. The partition 
of tin, B, when the cover was 
upright, held any tine ash that 
wouid otherwise have irixed 
with the unriddled again ; but 
now throws it off, so that at 
the next use it will slide down 
with the rest into the shovel. The wooden stage 
A acts in the same manner, and serves to meas¬ 
ure the ashes that pass over the screen at each 
use. (See fig. 4 for the way in which it holds back 
the buik of the ashes, b b, and fig 3 for the manner 
in which the measuring is done.)” 
We can not too strongly commend t’ is matter to 
the careful considerat ion of every mother and father 
who reads these pages. We may add that the 
deposits from such closets may be used upon 
land, though their fertilizing value has been over¬ 
estimated. Still they are worth using on any farm 
crops. Remember that the earth must be loam , 
and not sand, and if ashes are used as an absorbent, 
they must be from coal and not wood. 
What Shall we Have for Breakfast ? 
BY MRS. THOMAS S. ROBIK, NEW IPSWICH, N. Y. 
Sunday. —Fried oysters or clams; hot white rolls. 
Monday.— Broiled smoked halibut cr salmon ; 
baked potatoes; graham rolls. 
Tuesday.— Beefsteak ; fried potatoes, and milk 
toast. 
Wednesday. —Fried sausage cakes ; baked pota¬ 
toes ; com rolls. 
Thursday.— Beef toast; buckwheat cakes. 
Friday. —Mutton chops ; baked potatoes; fried 
hominy. 
Saturday.— Fish balls ; brown bread toast; 
bread fritters. 
Fried Oysters or Clams. —They should be 
drained over-night. Dip them in pounded cracker 
crumbs and fry in hot fat. [These can only be had 
in perfection by those within easy communication 
with the coast, although in winter oysters go a long 
distance in good condition in sealed cans.— Ed.] 
Smoked Halibut or Salmon.— The fish should 
be put in soak the night previous. To avoid the 
disagreeable smoke which results from broiling on 
the top of the stove, it can be placed in a tot 
oven, on a bake-pan well buttered, and covered 
with another bake-pan. It will soon brown, and 
should have a little butter and pepper put on it 
before serving. 
Sausage Cakes are much nicer than the ordinary 
sausage, and are easily prepared. The meat being 
chopped and seasoned according to taste, it is made 
into little cakes, as fish-balls are made. They will 
