380 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[October, 
Spring-Houses. 
There is no better method of preserving that 
equable temperature, which is necessary for 
the best management of a dairy, than the use 
of a permanent spring of water. In winter 
and summer the temperature of water, which 
The points necessary to look at most par¬ 
ticularly in constructing a spring-house are, the 
coolness of the water, the purity of the air, the 
preservation of an even temperature during all 
seasons, and perfect drainage. The first is se¬ 
cured by locating the house near the spring, or 
by conducting the water through pipes, placed 
be covered with wire-gauze, to prevent insects 
or vermin from entering the house. The house 
should be smoothly plastered, and frequently 
whitewashed with lime, and a large ventilator 
should be made in the ceiling. There should 
be no wood used in the walls or floors, or war 
ter-channels. An even temperature can best 
issues from springs, is constant, or nearly so. 
The temperature, too, is as nearly as possible 
that which causes the cream to rise most rapid¬ 
ly and most completely. This is a very im¬ 
portant point in butter making, and the excel¬ 
lence of the quality depends upon this probably 
more than upon any one other circumstance 
connected with the operation. Besides even¬ 
ness of temperature, pure air surrounding the 
milk and cream, is a necessary thing to secure. 
A stream of pure flowing water insures this in 
two ways. There is no better absorbent of 
disagreeable scents than 
pure water, and the odor 
of milk, fresh from the 
cow, is very disagreeable ; 
if it is not got rid of, it 
remains in the butter and 
cheese, and may be readi¬ 
ly detected in them. This 
animal odor, as it is called, 
is volatile, and is easily 
driven off as the milk 
cools, if there is a current 
of fresh air or pure water 
brought into contact with 
it. A current of spring 
water, flowing around the 
pans of milk, will carry 
off this odor completely, 
and in addition to its own 
absorbent property, it sets 
in motion, through its 
lower temperature, the air 
of the spring-house, and 
causes currents to pass 
continually in and out of 
the house, and over the 
milk. These currents of 
air are also full of moisture, and this moisture 
helps to absorb the odors. At the same time 
there is no evaporation from the milk or cream, 
and in a well constructed and well managed 
spring-house, we never find the cream become 
dry and leathery, as it may do in dry, airy cel¬ 
lars or milk-rooms. Then there is the perfect 
cleanliness, which may be secured, where there 
is an ample supply of pure water, that may be 
added to the credit of a good spring-house. 
at least four feet under ground. The spring 
should be dug out and cleaned, and the sides 
evenly built up with rough stone-work. The 
top should be arched over, or shaded from the 
sun. A spout from the spring should carry 
the water into the house. If the spring is suf¬ 
ficiently high, it would be most convenient to 
have the water-trough in the house elevated 
upon a bench, as shown in fig. 1. There is 
then no necessity for stooping, to place the 
pans in the water, or to take them out. Where 
the spring is too low for this, the trough may 
Fig. 3. —EXTERIOR OF SPRING-HOUSE. 
be made on a level with the floor, as in fig. 2. 
The purity of the air is to be secured by re¬ 
moving all stagnant water or filth from around 
the spring, all decaying roots and muck that 
may have collected, should be removed, 
and the ground around the house be either 
paved roughly with stone or sodded. The 
openings which admit and discharge the water, 
should be large enough to allow a free current 
of air to pass in or out. These openings should 
be secured by building of stone or brick, with 
walls 12 inches thick, double windows, and a 
ceiled roof. In such a house there will be no 
danger of freezing in the winter time. The 
drainage will be secured by choosing the site, 
so that there is ample fall for the waste water. 
The waste water should be discharged into a 
basin, from which a covered drain should be 
constructed. The character of the whole build¬ 
ing is shown in fig. 3. The size will depend 
altogether upon the number of cows in the 
dairy. For a dairy of 20 cows there should be 
at least 100 square feet 
of water-surface in the 
troughs. The troughs 
should be made at least 
18 inches in width, which 
would admit a pan that 
would hold 8 to 10 quarts 
at three inches in depth. 
A house, 24 feet long by 
12 wide, "would give 60 
feet of trough, 18 inches 
wide, or 90 square feet. 
The furniture of the house 
should consist of a stone 
or cement bench, and an 
oak table in the center, 
upon which the cream- 
jars and butter-bowls may 
be kept. It is well lo re¬ 
member, that it is the uni¬ 
versal experience of all 
dairymen, who have tested 
the matter, that cream or 
butter should never be 
placed upon the floor of a 
dairy. The impure air 
always descends to the 
floor, and nothing is more easily injured in flavor 
by any impurity, than cream or butter. Two or 
three feet above the floor is the best place to keep 
either the cream or butter. For this reason we 
would rather have the water-trough in a spring- 
house raised at least 30 inches above the floor. 
In that case a grated opening should be made 
near the floor, for the purposes of ventilation. 
Where the deep-can system is used, a much 
smaller house will answer, with deep troughs. 
