Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-12-09
Milk Cellars.

NO hhlIy IS wei luIUlbHeu uulcSS
it is provided with good milk.housc.
/ The quality of the butter made de-
pends greatly upon this, and if the
best appliances-such as have been
described-are used, their convent
ence and economy are in proportion
to the good or bad arrangement Of
the milk house.
The first requisite of a milk.house
is evenness of temperature. In a
buildins that is not cooled by ice or
warmed by a stove, the most regular
temperature is secured in a cellar.
The common receptacle for milk is
cellar, because every house is sup
piled with one, or should be, and it is
the most convenient place for it. For
family dairy the cellar will be the
appropriate place for keeping milk
and if it is not fit for this particular
purpose, which requires absolute
cleanliness and purity, it is not fit for
human beings 10 live over. If it is
not fit for this purpose, it should be
made fit by thorough cleansing, and
draining, if necessary; laying floor
of cement, moderate lighting and
ventilation, and the protection of the
windows by wire gauze. A slated
outside door is very suitable for a
milk-cellar, and this should be on the
north side and opened at night. The
walls should be closely pointed and
whitewashcd inside. The common
practice OF protecting cellar from
frost by heaping litter from the sta
bic around it, is very Objectionable.
Nor should turnips or potatoes be
stored in q cellar in which milk is
kept, unless it is divided by a tight
partition and the root cellar abund-
antly ventilated.
Ventilation for a cellar may be
provided by carrying tube or spout
from the floor TO the ceiling, and
through the wall out Of doors, where
it should be protected by fine wire
gauze. The spout is provided with
slides by which it is closed when it
is necessary. The cellar should be
well ceiled with lath and plaster,
otherwise dust will be dropping from
the rooms above; and in any case
this is advisable, for if no other
means of ventilation are provided,
air will pass up and down through
the floor over the cellar and il may
be bad for the milk, and for the oc-
cupants Of the rooms above as well.
The ceiling not only preserves clean
illness, but regularity of tempera-
ture at the same time.
In the Southern and some Western
States the houses are not provided
with cellars. Where an outside cell
lar is desirable, in these and other
cases, an excellent arrangement is as
follows A cellar is dug 2 feet deep;
the walls are built of stone, concrete
or brick. A sub-cellar, at least eight
feet deep, is made by throwing a
floor over the cellar four feet below
the surface. An clubhouse or shed is
built over this as a protection and is
lighted by n sash in the roof. A sash
is placed over raised frame in the
floor, which lights the sub-cellar.
Steps are provided for access to each
cellar. The sub-cellar is furnished
with shelves and bench, and in such
dry soils as will admit of it, a cellar
of this kind is one of the best posi-
BILE for small dairy or, indeed, for
household purposes. 1t is light and
cool, and the temperature will not
vary from about GO degrees, or some
what less, the whole year. 1t should
be kept whitewashed, by which the
light is well difused about it. 1t may
be found convenient to use the upper
portion as churning room and for
storing milk utensils.
Cellars are apt TO be damp. In
this case the air may be dried by
means of peck of fresh lime placed
in box or tub in the cellar. Twen-
ty pounds Of lime Zone peck) will
absorb about seven pounds of water,
and TO take seven pints of water from
the air of n cellar will make it very
dry. The lime will simply fall to
| pO"hti aii may uc Iheu usGu lOE
many useful purposes, or be added to
the garden compost heap.
Where the cellar cannot be used
on account of the wetness of the soil,
an above-ground cellar must be pro-
vided, This may be partly sunk in
the q md, but if there is any dan
ger of ater soaking into it, it should
be wholly above the ground. 1t be-
comes then, properly, a milk-house,
and the description Of such n house
will be undertaken in the next chap
ter.
KEEP fattening hogs in small pens,
a few in each when practicahle,-ob-
serving, as far as convenience will