THE CULTIVATOR. 
109 
PLAN OF A COTTAGE.—[Fig. 63.] 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —As old Neptune and 
myse f have long since fell out, I have concluded that I 
would let the old shark shift for himself, and that I would 
not plow the briny deep for him any more, nor yet go 
alo t to reef and furl top-sails in the cold winter nights, 
when I could lie safely moored in a good warm built 
house, on terra firma. Excuse me for my sentimental¬ 
ity, which is so much the characteristic of old salts, 
whether on sea or on shore. I lay before you the plan 
of a farm cottage, which, were I able, I would knock 
together with all possible despatch, and show the farm¬ 
ers of old Onondaga that there is no use of shivering 
and shaking in cold winter nights like a ship three sheets 
in the wind, when there is so much spare timber in the 
land, and so many noble fellows to splice it together ; 
but for fear I should stern-all a little too fast, I will 
make a short splice of it, while I am about the business. 
So, gentlemen, if you think the enclosed worthy of a 
place in your Cultivator, you are welcome to it, and ac¬ 
cept of it as coming from an old sailor and a young far¬ 
mer. You will please excuse the draught, as I am no 
architect. The front view (fig. 63,) is the outline of the 
most convenient cottage on the banks of Lake Skaneat- 
eles, but as I have drawn it, it is not in proportion, as 
the roof is too peaked. Were I able to build, it should 
be a frame house on this plan, filled in with brick. 
The lower floor of the house to be six or eight feet 
above ground; a wood-house in the rear, ten or twelve 
feet from the cottage, with plates let into the plates of 
the wood-house and into the sills of the cottage, which, 
when floored over, would constitute a back stoop. 
Plan of the lower jioor of farm-house, (fig. 64.) 
A, pantries—B, cupboards—C, an oven >vith an ash 
hole underneath in the cellar—D, doors—E, cellar 
stairs—F, chamber stairs—G, bed rooms—H, wash room 
—J, store-room—K, clothes room—L, fire places—M, 
kitchen—N, parlor—0, piazza in front—P, wood-house— 
2, 2, platform or back piazza from the dwelling-house 
to the wood-house, and could, if closed up at the ends, 
be used as a very cool and airy milk-house for summer, 
a work shop, or any other purpose a farmer thought fit. 
You will see by the plan of the lower floor, that not 
one inch of room is lost. I am well aware, that there 
will be some who will dislike it because there is no en¬ 
try to the house, consequently I have left off two small 
wings on the sides, and have entrances at the sides. If 
that would not suit, shift the front door and the back 
one, and have an entry all through the house fronrS. to S. 
This is a story and a half house, which, should a per¬ 
son wish an entry through, he could very easily have 
two convenient wings added to it, if he had the means. 
As I don’t approve of cellar kitchens, I will dispense 
with one, and have the cellar under the whole body of 
the house ; and have the well and cistern enclosed with¬ 
in the walls of it, with pumps to lead up through the 
floor of the wash room. The ash hole to be under the 
oven, through which the ashes can be emptied into the 
ash-house, which is fire proof, in the cellar. The house 
is intended to be forty feet square. The one I live in, 
on which I have improved, is thirty-six feet square, and 
were it filled in with brick, I would not exchange for 
comfort and convenience, for that costly brick mansion 
near by, which cost twenty thousand dollars or more. 
Skaneateles, Jan. 22 , 1840. A. H. N, 
BOOTH’S CIDER MILL.—[Fig. 65.] 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —Knowing your desire to communicate to the readers of the Cultivator, all useful 
inventions, I take the liberty of informing you of an invention by Mr. Nathan Booth, of this town. It is a mill for 
grinding apples for cider, and all roots for cattle, sheep and swine. I send you a plan of this mill, which is in gene¬ 
ral use in this section, but I believe is not generally known through the country. The plan, or engraving of it, is so 
plain as to need no particular description. It is constructed on the principle of the old and well known box coffee 
mill. It is built of wood, and secured from ordinary wear, by strong iron bars. On the plan, you can see one end 
or the hopper, and the trough left out to show the operation of the mill. I own one of them, and have used it for 
some years. It is the cheapest and most durable mill I have ever seen; and I believe I have seen most of the differ¬ 
ent cider mills in the United States. The expense will not exceed forty dollars. One horse will grind forty bushels 
of apples in an hour, with ease. It has the preference of all other mills, where it has been introduced. Numerous 
recommendations could be furnished, but the unprecedented success of the mill, wherever it has been used, is sufficient. 
Twenty-one of them are in use in this town, and about one hundred and fifty in other places in this state, all in suc¬ 
cessful operation. Apples wil' be in abundance this season, and farmers should soon prepare to take advantage of 
this great improvement. Mr. Booth, the patentee, is now erecting many mills, and has several agents in his employ¬ 
ment. He will erect mills in any of the adjoining states, should early application be made. He will superintend the 
construction himself, or by some experienced agent. Receipts for rectifying cider, and preserving it sweet through 
the summer season, without the use of sDirits, will be given with the patent right for each mill. 
Cheshire, Ct. June, 1840. CLAUDIUS ALLEN. 
BODDEN’S HARROW_[Fig. 66.] 
Messrs. Editors —In your March number of the 
Cultivator, I saw a draft of a harrow something re¬ 
sembling my harrows, which I have used for the last 
five years, but as far as I am capable of judging of 
their structure, I think mine has some advantages over 
Mr. E. Wells’harrow, inasmuch as mine covers a space 
of 8 feet 4 inches between the two outside teeth, which 
space is just right for a man to sow grass seed after the 
harrow; and as Mr. Wells’ is only from five to six feet, 
it is too small for that purpose. The hinges go through 
the' timbers, and are secured with screw nuts; the 
two center timbers are 2-§ inches by 4 inches and 6^ 
feet long, with the inside corners planed oft’ to allow the 
harrow to open freely; the 4 side arms are 2| inches by 
3 inches and 5\ feet long ; the two braces are li by 2£ 
inches, notched out half an inch deep where they cross 
the arms, and bolted on with half inch screw bolts ; the 
timber is all of the best white oak. This harrow has 
26 teeth, the track of the teeth is 3| inches from center 
to center, and it makes very good work at that distance. 
If you deem this worthy of notice in your excellent pub¬ 
lication, it is at your disposal. 
Yours respectfully, 
JOHN BODDEN. 
Springfield , Poughkeepsie, March 25, 1840. 
PLAN OF A PIGGERY. 
Messrs. Editors— I send you a plan of a piggery 
which I had constructed last summer, which I prefer to 
any I have seen or heard of, Mr. Allen’s not excepted. 
Mr. Allen’s piggery is perhaps as near right as maybe, 
for one on so large a scale, but it is rather too extensive 
and expensive for the generality of farmers. The cost 
of his piggery is stated at $365, allowing 10 per cent for 
wear and interest, makes-$36.50 per annum, to be de¬ 
ducted from the profits on your pork. I see no dry place 
for his pigs to sleep in—his yards must be very narrow, 
and when he cleans his pens, he must empty them into 
the yard where his pigs run, which is not well—his pig¬ 
gery lacks a place to keep cooked food in winter, from 
the frost. In Mr. Allen’s plan, the food has to be car¬ 
ried by hand—I would suggest as an improvement, a 
rail road, on which the food might be conveyed and fed 
out by means of a scoop shovel. 
I am not prepared to decide in favor of steaming food 
for hogs, to the exclusion of kettles, but were I to use a 
steamer, I should prefer one on the plan recommended 
in the Cultivator for this month. They are in use in 
this quarter, and answer a good purpose. In my pig¬ 
gery, I have two cauldron kettles set in an arch, which 
I use for cooking the food for my hogs, for butchering, 
for making soap, sometimes for washing; and I am now 
boiling maple sap in them. Instead of steaming a large 
quantity of food, and feeding it dry, I boil potatoes, 
pumpkins, and apples, pound them up fine, with meal; 
let stand one day and two nights, when it will have 
fermented. In feeding, I mix it with milk. I kept 
24 shoats last winter, at an expense of 20 cents per day, 
in the following manner : I put them in four pens (too 
many in a pen will not do well,) and fed them ten pounds 
of hay, half a bushel of potatoes, and four quarts of 
corn meal, daily, and never had hogs winter better. I 
cut my hay fine, boiled it with plenty of water, in one 
kettle ; my potatoes I boiled in the other kettle, pound¬ 
ed them fine, mixed them with the hay and meal in a 
tub which I kept in the vat i, (fig. 67) let stand over 
night, when it will have fermented. I throw out all 
their bedding every 4 or 5 days, and put in new. But 
to the piggery. Let me say, that the farmer who has 
never had a good one, can have no idea of the comfort 
convenience and profit of one. While the person who 
has tried one, I venture to say, will never consent to shut 
up his fatting hogs in a pen made of the length of rails 
joined to the highway fence, without floor or roof; and 
feed them nothing but corn in the ear, (and in the mud) 
washing it down with cold water from the hog trough. 
The frame of my piggery is 18 by 28 feet, and makes 
a cooking room 14 by 18, which answers for an alley to 
