Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1883-08-04
Neatness on the Farm.

"Why is it that when l come here to see
you and sit at your table with your
linen folks" never notice that pecu-
liarly disagreeable barn smell that
makes me feel so sick when l 60 to see
some of my other country acquaint-
ancesP" We did not hear the reply,
but can well imagine what it might
have been. First, the barn was far
enough away from the house so that
free current of pure air was constantly
passing between. 1t is possible to have
house and barn habitable, both under
the same roof, but the partitions must
be tight and the barn must be kept
much cleaner and sweeter by the free
use of absorbents, than is the custom on
the majority of FARMS 1t is very
great convenience, especially in stormy
weather, to have the house and barn
connected, but the connection should be
as open as may be, so that the air OF
the barn shall not be drawn into the
house every time door is thrown open.
A covered walk, open at the sides, will
afford protection from rain, while it
will permit the freest ventilation.
The barn, too, must itself be well
ventilated. Some of the old style barns
were sufficiently ventilated by the wide
cracks between the covering boards;
but since it has become the fashion to
build barns so tight and warm that
water will seldom freeze inside dur
ing the coolest weather, some prac-
teal system of ventilation is abso-
lutely necessary, both to the health of
the animals and the comfort of the at
tendants. But ventilation is not suf-
ticient without cleanliness, and cleanli-
ness in barn or stable means the fire.
quent removal and covering by absorb
ents of everything that, if allowed to
accumulate in heating masses, would
soon fill the air with foul and unpleas-
ant gases. Dry earth of any kind,
loan, meadow mud, sand, or sawdust,
or fine shavings from the planning mills
will, if used freely, keep the air of
stable pure enough so as not to be re-
pulsive, even to the olfactories Of village
residents
In matters of personal cleanliness, a
great deal can be done to prevent ones
work, whatever it may be, from render
ing ones presence repulsive to others.
Clothing suited to labor in is not neces-
sarily suitable to wear in society or even
at ones own table. No man should
clean his horse while dressed in his so.
ciety clothes, nor is there any occasion
for so doing. Nor should mixer
clean his COW stable with his boots,
when hoe or shovel is so much more
effectual, if not handler. Nor should
one sit down to milk until the stable
L. Il he 80.
sprinkled over the floor. The stable
and COWS having been made reasonably
clean, one should then have a loose
fitting pair of cotton overalls, that can
be easily drawn on, to protect the ordi-
nary clothing from getting spattered
while milking. With some cows this
might not be absolutely necessary, but
it would be difficult to find half dozen
among which there is not at least one that
can not be MIXED without subjecting
the mixer to more or less scattering. A
loose cotton blouse with tight fitting
sleeves will also protect the upper part
of the body. This, with the Overalls,
should be Kept in the stable to be used
at milking time, and perhaps while
cleaning horses and doing other stable
CHOiCS, Oub SilOulO nOt NC Will LII bhC
house. Such suit will catch the una
voidable dirt and keep it where it be-
longs. Milking boots also ought to be
left in the barn, unless one can keep
them cleaner than the average mixer
is apt to do.
Dress yourself in heavy wooden
cloths and pair of rubber boots; wear
them all winter long, without changing
or washing, and when you come in from
the stable on cold morning, go and
yourself around hot sitting
room stove, and If you don't find your
self the perfection of stinks, others
doubtless will. Butchers, blacksmiths,
masons and coal beavers
are all expected to show evidences in
their clothing of their respective occu-
pations while at work, but they usually
do not wear such work clothes ON the |
street, when not at work, nor at church
nor even at table i'm their own homes.
There is very little farm work that is
necessarily more dirty than the work
done by men engaged in many other
occupations, and there is no reason why |
the average farmer may not keep him.
self and his surroundings so as not to |
be repulsive to sensitive companions or |
visitors. The atmosphere of the farm
can not at all times be filled with the |
perfume of roses or apple blossoms, nor |
Is the air of a city with its smoke, its
gas, its sewers, and its whisky cellars,
always particularly attractive to one
who is not stepped i'm such Odors. The
earth and everything in it is dust, and
it is but a step from poetic dust to
prosaic and filthy dirt. Let us keep the |
two distinct as far as practicable.-Ne,0
England Farmer.
At n Loss.