The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1861-05-14 00:00:00

a -

Sllgriculturt.

OCCASIONAL NOTES ON THE BUILDINGS
OF THE FARM.—No. IL

COTTAGES.

WINDOWS. - Judging from the miaerably small
windows—if indeed tley are worthy of the name—
which are put in some cottages, it is to be presumed
that their designers have not thought light in ample
abundance necessary either for the promotion of health
or cleanliness. No longer need the window-tax be
pleaded as an excuse for insufficient light being given
now to cottages, for that has long been repealed, and not
a few buildings have been erected since it was so, show-
ing " lighting" arrangements as defective as ever
'elated under the old regime. There is • vast deal of
red-tapennu, so to speak, existing amongst oar trades-
men.• Our fathers did it before as, are we wiser than
they?' seems rot seldom to be in their mind, and "wee'
regulation windows, like many other regulation things,
though fiercely denounced, still hold on:their way
thelesa Tu put • window frame of a certain sire in all
cottages alike, seems to have been the rule in
malty districts, a rule with too few 'scepticism
The size of the room to be lighted, or the position of
the window, with relation to external objects, as •
clamp of trees, • rising bank, a wall, or the like' evi-
dently being put out of iniad altogether, as data from
which to regulate the sire of the window.
. . .

We have ismd that light in abundance is promotive of
health and of cleanliness; while people may be well dis-
posed to admit the forever, some we have met with,
base scarcely seen the force f the latter statement.
But • little consideration will show that • dark or
dindy lighted hours cannot be a clean one. Dirt to be-
come tedious to the mind of the housewife must be seen;
onee seen, and not swept off; without hesitation we
decide that, in this case, the wretch is a slattern, and
deserves • lightless dungeon to dwell in, and is iu
aense of the teeur worthy to bedignifled with the honour-
able tido of housewife. The darkest earners of • house
are invariably the dirtiest; what the eye sees not
thimbles not the mind—and careless cleaners are too glad
of any excuse for neglected work to overlook the force
of such an arguments. this, that "they could not soe
to do it." Whether these statements are correct or not,
we willingly leave to the decision of competent house-
wives; but sure are we that • light house has • better
chance—to put the case in its mildest form—to be kept.
clean than a dark one. Dirt flies from the march of
light as fire from water. Soule canny folks, however,
there are who do not think, or who do not seem to
think, that cleanliness is a matter of great concern
after all. But this is quite &different point, with which
we have nothing to do here—tastee differ, they say, and
the proverb probably applies in the matter of dirt as well
as in other things. "Ohm, bless )ou, they likes it," we
have heard said more than once with reference to the
filthy condition of house and person of certain folks, in
certain districts. On the importance of an ample supply
of light as promotive of health, there surely cannot be
two opinions. It is now admitted that the continual
absence of light induces diseases absolutely yeeuliar to
this condition of things. We see the effects of darkm-ss
in the half-devehped vitality of vegetables grown in it.
A light house, moreover, has always a cheering influence
on the mind and spirits, while a dark one has invariably
• depressing one ; and mental inflnenoe over the physical
condition of man plays too important a part in the animal
economy to be lightly psssed over. There may be some
excuse offered for having small windows in old houses;
there can or should be none in the case of new erections.
Let the supply of light be sufficient to lighten up all the
corners of the room, those remote from, as well as those
near to the window.

FORM OR OUTLIMR OP TB! COTTAGER.—A bowie of
which the outline is square can undoubtedly be built
for less money than one oi whieb
irregular ; the niece enclosed being larger and the cost
of roofing less. From lack of picturesque or pleasing
element in the square form, this hes been eel-lons
adopted in cottages of the better class, irregular out-
lines baring generally been carried out. Nor are the
latter so expensive as might be supposed, besides they
afford in the projection and offsets which they
present, space for closets, pantries, end the like con-
veniences, no email matters in is fsmily cottage. In a
recent pamphlet by Dr. A. W. Wemyss of Pitkemy
and Dembrae, Fife, the subject of form is gone into,
and it may be suggestive if we give his remarks here.
"It admits," he says, "of mathematical demonstration,
that a rectangular building, formed by four equal sides
(or square form), encloses a larger space than any other
rectangular form, and that as the square form is
deviated from, • loss of space enclosed, or super-
ficial area is the consequence, in rapid proportion as the
length exceeds the breadth. Thus, a line one hundred
feet in length, made to form • immerse( 55 feet In length
by 2.3 feet in breadth will oontsin or enclwe a superficial
area of 625 square feet. But if the same line be
unequally dividod so as to form si rectanglo,
such as thirty-five feet boas by fifteen broad,
the area thus enclosed will only be 5/3 square feet,
hence, by simply altering the form of the spice or area
(not the extent of the wells), one borrasca lumen, feet of
it are lost. Now, in the car of a louse enclosed by
any length of will, and in a minder manner the loss of
space would be in the lame proportion, which lost space
might have been secured by being enclosed by the mune
length of wall and for the same cost if • different form
(the square) had bees adopted. The circumstance is
obviously one of great importance in the economical con-
struction of houses, although it does not seem to have
been atended to as it deserves. It forms, however, a
rule to be kept in view, where the greatest extent of
space is desired at least cost. . . . Any deviation
from the square form leads to another problem in regard
to this matter of such importance, namely, when two
houses are built contigiously, i. e., so that one wall is
common-to both, to find the most economical length and
breadth for the two? This will be found to be as three
to two But it is not expedient to apply this rule uni-
versally to the homes under consideration, for when
they are above a certain dm its application might not
suit so well for several of the details, (such as the forma.
tion of the roof, the division of the house into apart-
ments. the situations of the windows, fire-places, and
offices), as • modification of it does. As, general rule,
however, such a house should either be of a square form
or as near an approach to it as possible; or if two are
built together, their form should be, as nearly as possi-
ble, in the proportions above specified.

SALT AS A MANURE.
Much hu been written lately on the use of common
salt (chloride of sodium) for manuring purposes ; and
opinion seems pretty equally divided as to its merits.
Its action is singularly variable, and it is iiifficult to
predicate what results will be obtained from its use
even in soils where before it has been tried with success.
It is to be wi-hod, in view of the very contradictory
evidence which is sometimes given as to the results of
trials made with it, that some definite and well arranged
experiments were instituted in connection with its use
as a manuring agent. As to whatever crops it may be
considered unsafe to apply it, all authorities seem pretty
well aimed on on• point —namely, that it is highly
valuable for the mangold crop, and for all plants of the
Brassies tribe.

In detailing expetimenta with different manures on
mangold•wartael, in the journol of the Royal Agri-
csatteral Society of England, vol. 17, part 2, p. 400. Mr.
eaird gives a very full statement of results. From this
we take the following :—" The experimental crop of
mangold varied from n ton. 18 cwt. up to 30 tons 12
cwt. an acre. The best acre being thus nearly three
times as productive as the worst. The beat and worst
are thus brought together
best reccivwl
20 cubic yards of dung,
4 cwt. of Peruvi o, an oan and produced 30 tans 12
5 cwt. of common salt_ Icw t.

The worst,
8 cwt. of superphosphate alone, and produced 11 tons 18
cwt."

The value of salt for a good loam for nuingolds is
clearly established by the experiments. Thus, while
with 20 cubic yards of dung and t cwt. of Peruvian
guano, the produce was n. tons 16 cwt. with the
addition of 5 owl, of salt, 30 tons 12 cwt., was the
produce.
In • meant letter to the Mart Lane Exprus by the
well-known writer on agricultural subjects, "
there are some interesting points touched upon in con-
nection with the use of salt • of which ho ears "few
farmers know the value, and with its powers alike to
destroy and revive we are alike unacquainkd."
"P. it. 8." dates that, being troubled in his grass
land with a weed which no mechanical means could
eradicate, Le sowed it liberally with salt, which at
once got rid of it. Deriving from this neonatal ex-
perience a hint to make furthar trial el its powers, he
tried it for the purpose of getting rid of the weeds
generally, in his arable land. In autumn the fields in-
tended for fallow received a heavy dressing of salt—
the common refuse of the pans—quite 12 cwt. (per acre,
we presume.) One field in which it was tried had long
poisoned • reputation for being infested with couch
grass—and that word and most troublesome species of
it the water-grace—of which the writer graphically
dates that "ho. would not kill it, and twain-rain
would not gather it, and the children seeking it upon
the surface after the harrows had left it expend,
usually secured half of it, and stamped the rut of it
Into the soil to perpetuate its kind." But the salt and
the Rods of winter combined, conquered this trouble-
some enemy; "and when the first spring furrow was
turned, the view," says "F. R. 8." " of the shrivelled
enemy—the cowry which hod balled all my ingenuity
and kept my exchequer low—was cheering indeed."
The land thus treated received one or two furrows to
incorporate the salt with the soil, and at the proper
time, and without further preparation, mangold was
isown, which yielded a crop 25 per cent, heavier than
aver before had grown on the land, even when It was
mitered with several loads ot dung, and had an ha-

manse amount of labour bestowed upon it. The follow-
ing year, a change wns introduced in the mode of treat-
ment—just as the last furrow was turned, 4 cwt. of salt
was sown, and eU harrowed in moat before the mangold
seed was dibbled. The crop was healthier and heave•
than where the halt was applied in the autumn merely.
The fg,noWitlg ig the concluding portion of the intereet-
log
.and valuable letter of "F. it. S. :"-
- .

_ ......... -
It strikes me that our Irian:olds are freed also from
another enemy by the use of salt. I mean insects.
Slugs and wire-worm, both very destructive during cer-
tain seasons, are certainly banished by salt, if not
Salt appears to be one of the cheapest and safest
manatee we can use. No soils naturally have too much
of it, excepting perhaps those directly influenced
by brine springs, One of its most valuable properties
is its power to attract moisture. For this reason
it may be sown when the soil is perfectly dry, a
condition fatal to so many manures, and will absorb the
moisture from the atmosphere, and convey it to the
root of the plant. Its pnncipal offiee is to keep every-
thing in the soil in • soluble state, and consequently in
a state fit for the nourishment of vegetable life. Its
benefit is not alone experienced ny the root crop, bat by
the grain crop which follows, for iL4 presence checks a
redandanes of straw, and enables that straw to
strengthen itself by assimilating from the soil the adieu,
of which, in certain combinations, it is a solvent.
"I have tried the virtue of colt also for grass land, for
wheat aud spring crops, and have arrived at curious
results it may be well to publish at some future time.
My object now, however, is to state the jai pertains of
salt for the coming mongol,' crop; and I shall be glad to
kuow that my advocacy for its UNO hauled any nuather
of gentlemen to make • trial, which is BUM to cud to
their satisfaction."
With reference to the use of salt u • top-dmaiing for
grass lands, above alluded to, we can speak frotn
experience favourably of it. Mixed with nitrate of soda
in about equal proportions, and applied in early spring,
the effects of salt we have found to be very striking and
beneficial.—The Scottish i Fanner.