A CELLAR STORE ROOM
A CELLAR STORE ROOM
Atleast one-half of the profit to be derived from living in the country materialises in winter when fruit and vegetables can be struck from the family living expenses, so the keeping and storing of the garden and orchard products are of great importance to the housewife who wants to make the home furnish current expenses. To keep well, things must be gathered at the moment between full development and complete ripeness, for, if development is not complete, fruit and vegetables shrink and wither; if completely ripe, they decay rapidly.
The house cellar, attic, or a root-cellar or pit in the garden are all available on a country place, and all suitable for different things. The cellar is best for storing fruits and vegetables. Long ago we had racks made of two-by-two scantling—some six feet long, others three feet, and both two feet wide—to put under barrels and boxes to lift them from the ground and allow a free current of air to circulate underneath them as a protection against damp and mildew. To economise space, we had boxes, ten feet long and ten inches deep, fixed in tiers of three, with one foot of space between. The frames which supported themwere also made of two-by-two scantling, and reached from the rafters of the ceiling to the ground.
The keeping of early fruits, like currants, strawberries, and raspberries, depends principally upon the cook’s skill, for they have to be canned and made into preserves and jellies. Get into the habit of doing such work in small quantities—from a quart to six quarts, or even a pint, as the day’s gathering may provide. The habit of waiting for the height of the season, when a big gathering is possible, is frequently the cause of home-canned goods spoiling, because some of the fruit is almost sure to be overripe, and that means that fermentation or mould will set in, in a short time, and ruin the entire boiling.
After wiping and labelling the jars, they must be kept in a cool, dark place. We have a big cupboard at the back of the outside section of the cellar, where all such goods are kept. Begin with asparagus, which is best packed into jars filled with salt and water, and cooked in a steam boiler for an hour and a half. Peas are shelled, and about two quarts of the hulls and a sprig of mint are boiled in four quarts of water for thirty minutes, then strained, the water brought to the boiling-point, salted to taste, and the peas boiled slowly in it for thirty minutes. Fill the jars to overflowing, and screw down the tops at once. Beans must be strung and sliced and boiled in salted water, as for table, or packed in two-inch layers, with a sprinkling of salt between, in a stone crock. Put a plate or a stone on top of the beans to keep them under thebrine, and cover closely. When wanted for use, soak in fresh cold water overnight and cook in the usual way.
Gathering and packing is of the greatest importance in keeping fruit. The most favourable time is when the fruit has attained its full growth and colour, which is several days before it is quite ripe. All fruit should be handled with the greatest care; the slightest bruise or scratch starts a condition which will develop rot. A high extension ladder, a high step-ladder, and an agile boy are the requisites for picking. When possible, choose a bright, cool day, have the boxes and barrels ready, and press all help into service. Before allowing anyone to pick apples, teach him how. Take the apple lightly, turn it slowly, and press upward, so that the stem is severed from the branch, not from fruit.
Whoever does the climbing should discard shoes, for they are apt to injure the bark of the tree, which always causes later troubles. A shallow bag, slung across the body sling-fashion, is the best receptacle for the picker to use, because it leaves both hands free. The work is greatly facilitated if two people can pick, two pack, and a fifth take the fruit from the pickers to the packers. Have two bag-slings for each person picking, so that the collector can take the full one and hand up an empty one, which saves emptying the fruit into a basket.
The packers and the barrels, or boxes, should stand side by side, with a box of convenient height and sizeturned upside down to act as a table on which to place the sling-bags when full. The best apples are packed in small boxes, with paper between the layers. The second quality are put into barrels. Put a layer of hay in the bottom of the barrel, fill it with the fruit, and end with a layer of hay. The small ones may be used for cider and for feeding stock.
Onions are ready to harvest when the tops fall down and dry. Choose a dry day to dig them up. Leave the bulbs lying on the ground for several days, then carry into a shed, where they can be spread out for two or three days more, while the work of cutting off the roots and tops is being completed. We have a room over the woodshed which we use for onions, as they are apt to sprout in a cellar that is moist enough to keep other root-crops in good condition. We had tiers of shelves, made of slats, put up all round the walls, on which the onions are spread out, and, as a precaution against frost, they are covered with bags or dry autumn leaves as severe weather approaches. Bore holes about nine inches apart in the sides of the barrels; fill with the onions, leaving the head of the barrel off, and stand in any unused room.
Potatoes should be dug as soon as the tops die down. Choose a dry, bright day and cart at once into a dark place to dry. Don’t leave them in the light on the field, but spread out for a few days, then pack them in the cellar in barrels which have a few holes bored in them, or in bins which have a bottom made of slats.
Carrots, turnips and beets should be packed in boxes or on tiers of box shelves. In either case, they should be well covered with sand or soil to prevent the roots shrivelling. Put a few boards in a sunny place, and stand the squash and pumpkins on them. They should stay there about a week or ten days, and be covered at night with bags or an old blanket, after which put them in some dry, cool place.
Cauliflowers are pulled up with as much soil as may be attached to the roots, and hung head down from ceiling of the cellar; Brussels sprouts, the same. Cabbage is pulled up in the same way and packed in rows of two or three abreast on the cellar floor. These are for use in very bad weather. The main quantity is stacked in a pit in the garden and covered with earth, straw and brush.
Celery is partly protected by being earthed up for bleaching, so it can be left in the garden until the first of October, or even the fifteenth if mild, but it must be brought in before heavy frost. About nine inches of soil is spread on the floor all along one side of the cellar. The celery is dug and brought in with what earth adheres to the roots, and then set in the soil just as if the plants were expected to grow, only they are put very close together and about three abreast. When the row is completed, boards are set upon end, the full length of the row, and another set of heads is packed in the same way, each additional row being divided by boards. This is done to prevent the celery heating, and rot setting in, as would be the case if theentire mass was allowed to touch. After the setting-up is all done, earth is scattered heavily between the heads.
There is usually a large quantity of green tomatoes still on the vines in the fall, and the full-sized ones can be packed in shallow boxes, with paper between the layers, and kept in a cool, dark place. Later in the season bring out a few at a time to ripen in the window of a warm room.
Grapes must be carefully cut, the bunches examined and any faulty grapes removed with a pair of scissors. Put slats across a box about two inches from the top, tying the bunches of grapes to the slats and letting them hang down into the box, leaving a space between the bunches. Fill the box up with finely-cut tissue-paper and keep on the shelf in the cellar.
The cellar for storing fruit must be well ventilated and free from damp, though a cement cellar is apt to be too dry, which causes the fruit to shrivel. In such a case, stand a tub or a couple of pails of water in the cellar, and do not fail to change it once or twice a month. A dry cellar with an earthen floor is usually about right, though, if rapid thaws occur during the early spring, such a floor is likely to become very damp; as a remedy, put one or two wide, shallow boxes, filled with unslaked lime, into the cellar, which will absorb the moisture.
Wehad little more than settled on the farm when I read an article in some farm paper about forcing rhubarb in a dark cellar. There was a lot of rhubarb in the garden, and a lot of room in the cellar. Several roots were dug up and packed in one corner of the section we kept for vegetables, but as the article had not mentioned that any heat was necessary, and that it was necessary to expel all light, the venture was not a success, for there was a window in the wall near the chosen corner, which allowed the light to shine right on the roots, and the temperature was much too cold. There were dozens of spindly little stalks, with large green leaves at their ends, but nothing worthy the name of pie-plant.
However, before the following winter I had secured technical knowledge and vicarious experience, to start on. The window was boarded up, and two lanterns were kept burning near the roots. We had rhubarb charlotte and rhubarb pies, and stewed rhubarb for breakfast, just as often as we liked, from December until March, and what is more to the purpose, we sold eighty-two dollars’ worth.
After we built the mushroom-cellar, a section waspartitioned off for rhubarb and asparagus, and both became profitable adjuncts to our winter income. One great advantage about both of these crops for home use is that there is no necessity to use manure or any great amount of moisture, and for that reason there is no objectionable odour to sift through into the living-rooms.
Naturally, when large quantities are to be raised for market, it is better to have a special room for work, but even that does not necessitate any serious outlay. A neighbour built a house twenty-eight feet long on the dugout plan, on a side-hill at the back of his house; just boarded up the front and ends with rough slabs, which cost him two dollars and fifty cents. Three rolls of tar-paper, at one dollar and ten cents each, were used to exclude light and draft. Stove-pipe cost another two dollars. He had an old stove, but even if he had had to buy one, it would only have meant another eight or ten dollars, and the first crop brought him in one hundred and thirty dollars.
There is often some old building around a farm which can be utilised for this work, but if there is no hillside or building available, it is better to excavate to a depth of three feet, making the house about nine feet wide and as long as you like. This will allow a two-foot path through the middle, and a little more than three feet on each side, in which to store the roots. Side-walls need be only a foot above the ground, but it is best to have a peaked roof, the centre of which is three and a half feet above ground,so that there will be plenty of headroom in the centre of the house.
Place a door at one end, with an extension shed and storm door beyond it, unless the house can be built adjoining some shed or outbuilding into which the door may open. Cover the ends and roof with tar-paper, and bank the sides up with earth. Then in the centre of the house make a pit, about two feet below the floor and large enough for a stove to stand in, and run the pipe from a double elbow to each end of the house.
The reason for making the pit for the stove to stand in is to get the pipe as near the ground as possible. It is possible to do without the stove if the floor of the house is covered with manure and a goodly supply is packed around the sides of the house, but as that would be more expensive and much more laborious, I advise you to adopt the stove plan, especially as it involves none of the harrowing niceties usually attached to running hothouse heating apparatus, there being no water-pipes to freeze or injury to crops if the fire happens to run down or even go out altogether. My neighbour, who built the house on the side hill, tells me that he had no coal-stove at first, and used the kerosene cooking-stove from his summer kitchen.
Having decided where and what quantity is to be raised next winter, the preliminary work must be begun at once. If you have a lot of old roots in the garden, dig up the greater number just as soon as itis possible to put a spade in the ground, and cut the roots into good-sized chunks, being careful to leave from two to four eyes (embryo buds, which are unmistakable) in each clump.
If you have a strip of ground on which corn or potatoes were grown last year, scatter barn-yard manure over it. If it is heavy loam, plough deeply, but if light sandy soil, the furrows need not be more than six inches deep, and in addition to the barn-yard fertiliser it will be well to use a heavy dressing of wood ashes. We spread the barn-yard manure about three inches deep all over the surface of the ground before ploughing, then broadcast ashes, harrowing up and down, leave for about two weeks, and then harrow from side to side.
When in good condition, the ground must be marked off into rows about four feet apart. Run the plough twice in the same furrow, and the trench will be deep enough to admit of a little more manure being scattered, then covered lightly with soil before the plants are put in. Set them three feet apart. Cultivate well through the summer to keep clean and promote growth.
Cut out any flower-stalks which may appear, for one flower-stalk takes more strength from the root than twenty fruit-stalks, so they should never be allowed to mature, even in the ordinary garden-beds.
The clumps left undisturbed for the summer supply should have a good dressing of manure worked into the ground around them now and again afterthe gathering season is over, so that they will be in good condition to go into the cellar in December.
When old clumps have been divided and set out in April, they will be large and strong enough to use for forcing the following December, but if young nursery plants have to be bought, it is better to defer forcing until the second winter.
About November 15th we dig up the roots and leave them to be frozen; then about December 1st, or even a little earlier if the nights have been frosty, one-half the roots are piled up in a shed, and the other half packed on the earth floor of the forcing-house. A little earth is scattered between them, and then they are sprinkled with water in which nitrate of soda has been dissolved, one ounce of the latter to one gallon of water.
The stove is started, a wash-boiler of water put on, and then the work simply consists of shaking down the stove, putting on half a scuttle of coal and filling up the boiler night and morning.
In from three to four weeks the first gathering is made. Stalks should be from twelve to fourteen inches high, and four usually go to a bunch. The roots will yield good crops for from three to four weeks, but gathering should cease when the crop shows any sign of declining.
When you decide that the roots shall stop bearing, let the fire go out. Three or four days later the roots can be removed and piled in a shed, and those that have been held dormant brought in and spread on the cellarfloor. Proceed as with the first lot, and at the end of the season simply let out the fire again and wait until the weather will permit outside planting. Then divide the roots into two or three pieces, according to size, and plant in rows as before. They will be ready for forcing again the second winter, so that, once started, the supply is always on the increase.
Asparagus can also be forced in the same manner as rhubarb, the only difference being that asparagus roots don’t divide well, so seed has to be sown each year to keep up a stock for forcing. Plants cannot be used until the third season, and they are not supposed to be worth replanting for forcing.
Asparagus can also be forced by placing hotbed frames and sashes over the plants, and banking up all around the frames with stable manure, to generate heat. This method only slightly hastens the crop. There is nothing quite as satisfactory or profitable as the dark house or cellar, because growing roots from seed is comparatively little trouble, and the supply once started, it is an easy matter to keep up a succession of three-year-old roots. Time can be saved the first year by buying one- or two-year-old plants from a nursery, planting them in the garden, and the following year use for forcing.
A countryhome large enough to maintain a cow should certainly keep a pig, if things are to be run on a profitable basis, for the skim-milk, buttermilk and waste vegetables cannot be satisfactorily disposed of, unless there is a pig to consume them. Build the sty first. Ours is built on the English plan, a sleeping-compartment six feet square, five feet high in front, three feet at back. Outer compartment of same size, with walls three feet high, floor slanting slightly to the front. There is a trough in each corner of the open compartment. The floor of the sleeping-room is six inches higher than the outer compartment, and the whole building, except the roof, is made of concrete, so can be easily and thoroughly cleansed.
If several sows are to be kept, each must have a sty, and there should be one or two large ones for young stock. The piggery should be as far from the house and water-supply as possible.
If funds have to be very carefully dispensed, start with a pair of young ones, which usually can be bought in any farming district in the spring for about six dollars a pair when six weeks old. They will need a little extra care at first, a warm bed of common hayor dry leaves over straw. It is advisable to watch them at feeding-time to see that they eat. The first week boil a quart of wheat-bran, pounded oatmeal (hulled oats very coarsely ground), coarse corn-meal and white middlings, and twelve quarts of water for half an hour. Let stand until cold, then add skim-milk sufficient to make it like rather thick gruel. Give four quarts three times a day for two pigs. Gradually accustom them to vegetables. Outside leaves of cabbage, lettuce and other greens, potato-peelings and peapods can all be utilised. Boil until tender, mix a little bran or round oats with them, and feed once a day. After a week or ten days gradually reduce the gruel and substitute regular feed, bearing in mind always that frame must be built before fattening is attempted.
If there is plenty of cash in the exchequer, time can be saved by purchasing a mature sow due to farrow in April. When making your selection, choose a placid-looking animal with a reputation for being a good mother. A vicious, bad-tempered pig is a menace on a home farm. Moreover, the vicious sow is generally a bad mother. Probably no animal is more easily affected by the treatment it receives when young than a pig. Treated kindly, they become tractable, gentle creatures; if abused, surly and dangerous. For this reason it is perhaps better for the amateur to commence with a pair of little ones, or one old sow. Suppose you have bought a sow after breeding; you may expect little ones in sixteen weeks. Her litter may consist ofany number from six to fourteen. Let her have plenty of exercise until a few days before she is due, then restrict her range to her own sty.
For safety, it is well to make a fender-like frame that will stand about six inches above the floor and the same from the side-walls. Then if Mrs. Mother is careless enough to roll over, any baby that happens to be in danger of being crushed can escape under the fender. We used some old oak fence-rails, cutting them to fit snugly across from wall to wall, and bored large auger-holes seven inches from each end. Strong bolts and nuts were put through the corners, and blocks of wood six inches square are placed for it to rest on; being bolted together, they are easily taken apart and in and out of the pens, as they are not wanted after the little ones are a few days old.
Have the sleeping-compartment thoroughly cleaned out and bedded with straw and the fender put in place four or five days before the litter is expected, and don’t disturb it after that until they are four or five days old. Put a small quantity of clean straw in the outer compartment during the last week. About a month before farrowing-time let bran and ground oats predominate in the sow’s rations, and add a little linseed-meal. She should be kept in full vigour, but not allowed to get fat, for which reason corn is best eliminated from her food. After the litter has arrived give nothing heavier than a little bran-gruel for twenty-four hours. Feed lightly for two or three days, then increase, giving her about all she wants;at the end of ten days commence to add corn-meal in limited quantities and green food of some sort, unless the weather is such that the family can go out to pasture. There should be a little opening in the outer compartment large enough for the youngsters to creep through, and outside a fenced-in yard, in which there is no trough. When the babies are two weeks old give them a little grain. They will soon learn to help themselves, and so reduce the trouble at weaning-time. We take the mother away when they are six or seven weeks old and let her run with the herd until again near farrowing-time. If a boar is kept, he should have his own sty and a separate yard. His food should be good, but not too fattening. The best age is between one and five years.
To keep pigs successfully on the home farm, you must disabuse your mind of the idea that they are naturally dirty creatures, for they really are not. Given clean quarters, a stream to bathe in, and wholesome feed, they are as self-respecting as any animal on the farm. If there is no brook nor spring-place near the pasture, a large patch of sod should be removed, and the hollow filled with water. After a few weeks let it dry up, and make a new bath.
See that no horrible half-mouldy swill-barrels are kept around. Table scraps, excepting meat, vegetable peelings, small potatoes, apples, in fact all unmarketable vegetables, are boiled in the food-cooker with about the same amount of salt that we should use in cooking for the table. When everything is soft, bran,crushed oats, shorts or middlings are stirred in to make it into a thick porridge, the whole being closely covered and allowed to stand until cold. Sometimes cornstalks are chopped and boiled in the same way. When a feed-cooker is used, preparing the food is very little trouble, and most certainly it goes further than uncooked. Each animal has a pailful night and morning. Skim-milk and buttermilk, when there is any to spare, and a forkful of ensilage in the winter when there is no pasture. Water stands before them all the time in one of the cement troughs, into which twice a week a pailful of coal-ashes is put to aid digestion, and once a week an ounce of sulphur and charcoal is added to the feed. When pigs weigh about one hundred pounds, corn can commence to take the place of their grain, for from then on fattening is the one end and aim of management. The fleshy, small or medium pig, which weighs from two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds brings a better price in the Eastern markets nowadays than the large greasy pig, so that returns are realised more quickly, and it pays to force them with the best of food. If by any chance a sow should farrow late in November, it is more profitable to market the little ones as sucking pigs than to try to keep them through the cold of January and February. Ham and bacon is necessarily a staple in country households, and a real luxury when home-cured. As soon as the meat is cool, it must be cured, for should it become frozen, it is impossible to turn it into good ham and bacon. Sugarand Wiltshire are the two preferred methods. There is a small hand-machine on the market, specially made for injecting the liquid for the Wiltshire method. The positive price I don’t know, but I believe it is about ten dollars. However, I have used a white metal syringe, which holds thirty-six ounces and answered very well for the small quantity undertaken. The process given in an old English receipt is as follows: Add to five gallons of water, twelve pounds of salt, one pound of saltpetre, one ounce of salt prunella, two pounds of brown sugar. Bring slowly to the boiling point, let simmer for fifteen minutes, skim; when cool it is ready to use in the injecting machine or syringe. Insert the syringe in the flesh, and inject the pickle. This is to be done every few inches over the entire surface of the meat, to insure the full piece being permeated with the liquid. Lay the meat on the slab, powder with saltpetre, lay the rind side downwards and cover the cut side with a thick coating of salt. The work should be done on a stone slab, or hardwood bench with raised edges. Let the meat remain fifteen days, and recover with fresh salt. After seven days more, wash the meat with clean cloths, and hang up to dry for several days before smoking. The dry sugar-cured method, is, I think, to be preferred in this country, because it is more generally liked. Place the hams and sides on a slab, and proceed as follows: Mix five pounds of salt with three pounds of brown sugar and two ounces of saltpetre. Thoroughly rub all parts of the meat, every third dayfor three weeks, after which, wash and wipe and dry for smoking. Of course, you know that nothing but hard wood must be used for the fire. Green hickory is the best. Sausages should be composed of one-third bread—stale bread grated. Never use new or moistened bread. Casings only cost five cents a pound, so it is better to buy them already prepared. A good mixture is five parts lean pork, one part fat, two parts veal or mutton. Pass through the chopping machine, then to every eight pounds add one teaspoonful of dried and finely powdered sage, thyme, and marjoram, two teaspoonfuls each of mustard, pepper and salt. Add the bread-crumbs last, thoroughly mix, and fill the casings. Make short, fat links.
Inall probability no creature on earth suffers so desperately from human ignorance as the house pet. People who keep horses, cattle or even poultry consider it necessary to know something about their wants and requirements, but the poor pet animal is the recipient of much affection and many cruelties, for it is cruel to ruin the health by injudicious feeding, and vitality and happiness by want of exercise. A wholesome, happy dog or cat is the best playfellow children can have; an entertaining companion for any member of the human race, but an ailing, unhealthy animal is a positive menace to the family.
The young dog just taken from its mother requires special care and patient training, or it will not develop into an intelligent companion. Even an older dog who comes from kennels of repute will require careful guiding. Of course, I refer to the general house-dog; hunting-dogs are usually broken to their special duties before being sold. But the house or pet dog must understand a multitude of things, all of which vary according to the idiosyncrasies of the family who adopt it, so it has to readjust its habits to new owners and environment.
Have a kennel ready before the dog arrives. A dry-goodscase covered with roofing-paper will do if it has two heavy pieces of scantling nailed across the bottom, to lift it three or four inches above the ground, so that the air can circulate under it and prevent moisture from the ground making the floor damp. Place it in a sheltered position, out of winter winds or the glare of a summer sun. A good straw bed every week in cold weather and a good scrubbing in warm weather are sanitary precautions which should be observed. Have a strong screw-eye at one side of the kennel and a chain with a swivel snap at each end to prevent the chain getting twisted up to half its length, and for convenience when handling a strange dog.
If the dog has been crated and expressed, remember that in all probability the poor beast will be frightened, tired and cross. Talk to it for a while, and manage, if possible, to get a collar on and a chain attached before opening the crate. Then let Mr. Dog get out by himself, at his own time. Walk him about for some time and let him inspect the premises in the neighbourhood of the house. Naturally cleanly dogs will need the exercise, so don’t curtail it. If there are any signs of constipation, a dish of sour milk will usually correct the trouble. If, however, the journey has the reverse effect, which is very likely to be the case in summer, scald milk, pour over some stale bread which has been toasted and feed when quite cool.
When the dog has finished his inspection of the premises, fasten him to the kennel and be sure to provide a solid, heavy water-pan that cannot easily beknocked over. Leave him to become accustomed to his new home and to sleep off the nervous strain of the journey. Should he whine or bark, don’t go near him. He is too excited and upset to be disciplined, and sympathy and petting at this point would mean a prolonged fight later.
Feed him yourself and take him for a run on chain in the evening, early in the morning and at noon. Decide which will be the most convenient hours and try not to change them. Two or three days are usually sufficient to make the average dog accept a new master and claim the kennel as his castle, so after that time he can be allowed freedom.
If the dog is young and is to sleep out of doors, he should be chained at night, otherwise he will be apt to form the habit of wandering off in the early morning hours or moonlight nights, but no dog, young or old, should be kept perpetually chained. Young dogs, especially of the terrier class, are benefited by being chained in a cool, shady spot during the middle of the day, as they are apt to rush about and be overcome by the heat, which often causes fits and terrifies the family into believing that it is a case of hydrophobia.
If the new dog is under nine months of age, feed him three times a day. Bread and milk, oatmeal, hominy, or any such food which has been well boiled, allowed to cool and covered with milk, makes a suitable breakfast. Lunch may be half a puppy-cake or a slice of brown bread. The main meal should consistof boiled meat, onions and rice, mixed with some cooked green vegetable.
After the ninth month two meals a day are sufficient. Be as careful not to overfeed as not to underfeed. A dog should be ready for each meal, but never ravenously hungry. Don’t give milk which has not been scalded or potatoes in any form, if you wish to keep the puppy free from worms. Sour milk once or twice a week is beneficial, but must not be given oftener. Twice a week a bone with some meat on it is needed. Some people think that raw meat is bad for dogs, but a limited quantity of fresh lean meat is really necessary for growing dogs, and being on the bone necessitates a lot of gnawing, which is good for the teeth and encourages the flow of saliva which aids digestion.
If you should have a mother-dog with puppies, give her a large sleeping place; dry and comfortably warm in winter, dry and cool in summer. Puppies should be taught to drink as soon as possible after they are six weeks old. Condensed milk saves the trouble of scalding cow’s milk. Whichever is used should be given warm; never hot or cold. The puppies will learn to eat more quickly if the mother is taken away for about an hour before offering food. Gradually increase the length of her absence until she spends only the nights with her babies, and weaning will be accomplished without any trouble.
To prevent worms, the one great trouble which attacks all dogs, give the mother a dose of worm medicinethree or four weeks before the babies are expected, and give the babies very small doses when they are three weeks old, six weeks old and nine weeks old. After that time I depend on sour milk, and an occasional dose of castor-oil.
House-breaking should be attended to as soon as the puppies commence to run about. Never leave a puppy alone in a room, for one mistake prompts others. Be watchful, and the moment a puppy begins to fidget or to run about, put it outside or in a box containing sawdust. Patience and perseverance are necessary at first, but in two or three weeks the lesson will be perfectly learned, especially if the hours of taking the dogs out are strictly adhered to.
Old dogs, whose education in this respect has been neglected, can be taught tidy habits if fed at regular hours, the last meal not later than three o’clock in the afternoon, the evening exercise being postponed till about eight, after which they should be fastened to the box or basket which acts as their bed by a chain not more than two feet long. Release early in the morning and take out at once. They will soon understand the discipline of enforced hours, for the close proximity of their bed calls natural instinct to their assistance. The habit once formed, it will prevail when allowed to sleep in any part of the house.
Bathing dogs of any kind or size I don’t believe in very much, for it robs the skin of the natural oil which is required to feed the hair and keep it in condition. Brushing, however, is quite necessary, especiallyin the summer, when fleas may be about, and it is well to begin early in the season to rub some good insect-powder into the hair, then after about half an hour brush it out thoroughly.
Delicate small dogs with long hair can have a mixture of cocoanut and sweet almond-oil rubbed into the hair once a week and brushed out again.
If any accident makes washing unavoidable, stand the dog in a small tub half filled with warm water, rub white soap on a flesh-brush, and brush from the center of the back with straight strokes to the end of the hair on each side. Take the front paws in your left hand, letting the dog stand on his hind legs, and brush from the neck down to clean the under part of the body. The head should come last. Wash the ears first, being careful not to let water run into them. Hold the nose up and wash the top of the head and sides of the face, so that the water runs backward and not into the eyes. Last of all wash the muzzle, being very careful about soap. Rinse in two clear waters, then wrap the body in a warm towel while you wipe the face and the inside of the ears.
When about half dry let him down for a shake, but be careful he does not escape under a piece of furniture and roll, as he will probably try to do. Brush until quite dry, rubbing a little oil onto the bristles, at the end of the dressing.
Treat your dog at all ages with kindly consideration. Be patiently and considerately firm, remembering that you must rule through affection and respect.Don’t hector or worry all the time. Be your dog’s playfellow as well as master, and he will soon become an intelligent and faithful protector.
Cats can be kept in a city home with less trouble than dogs, because they haven’t got to be taken out to exercise, a duty which can’t be shirked with Mr. Dog. Cats are needed in suburban or country houses at least as much as dogs. The master of the house can usually guard against the rarely met burglar, but no human vigilance is adroit enough to fight four-legged pantry thieves, and a farm must have a good-sized tribe of felines to prevent loss in the barn, poultry house and corn-crib.
Well-bred cats are just as good hunters as common ones, so it is wise for the self-supporting home to keep aristocratic cats for the house, as there is no occasion to do violence to your feelings when kittens arrive, because they can always be sold at fairly good prices.
In the outbuilding we keep Maltese and very large blacks. We have so many requests for the Maltese and blacks that even the plebeian mothers are allowed to keep one or two kits of every litter, for having children to provide for is a great spur to Mrs. Cat’s hunting proclivities.
Considering the service cats perform for humanity by keeping in check the numerous varieties of rodents which abound in cities no less than in country places, they should be the most highly prized and cared-for small animals we have instead of the most abused.
There seems to be a prevailing but erroneous idea that cats are neither affectionate nor companionable. Treat a cat as you would an intelligent dog and she will compare so favorably that Mr. Dog will have to be extremely gifted to retain his superiority.
The outside cats should have plenty of fresh milk night and morning when the cows are milked, not only as food, but to counteract the injurious effect of the number of mice they eat. New milk is rich in cream fats, and acts as an antidote to the poison contained in the gall of the mice. Twice a week we give them a feed of raw meat, on the bone if we can get enough bones, for even the rat-catchers must be well fed, or they lack the vitality to hunt.
Having plenty of exercise, and being able to find grass and herbs for themselves, barn-cats are usually normal, healthy creatures, and need little dieting or doctoring from their owners, but they should always have a good, warm place to sleep in.
The city house-cat leads such a semi-artificial life that she needs more care. Milk which has stood several hours and been skimmed is not an especially good food. It should be scalded and allowed to cool before it is given to kittens.
People rarely think to provide water for cats, yet they really prefer it to milk, and drink a surprising quantity when a dish of it is kept in one regular place. Potatoes should be as rigidly tabooed in the kittens’ diet as in the puppies’. Accustom a cat to eat cereal or bread and milk in the morning.
Our house-cats always have a little strip of fat bacon when it has been cut for breakfast, and I am sure that the fat and salt are useful worm preventives. At noon they have liver or beef which has been stewed with onions and any green vegetable which we may have; for supper a saucer of milk.
It is very easy to teach a kitten to be cleanly if you exercise vigilance at first and provide a shallow box or pan half filled with ashes or sawdust. One thing which must be understood by the city housekeeper whose pet has to depend entirely upon the box is that it must be emptied regularly, at least once a day, and, if necessary, twice. Neglect it and the animal’s instinct of cleanliness is offended, and it will select some place for itself, thereby falling into untidy habits.
Canariesare dear, fascinating little creatures to keep, and no special conditions for raising which cannot be successfully accomplished in a limited space. The most fastidious woman cannot object to caring for a few families. One male and two females will start a profitable flock. The male bird should be selected for his voice, regardless of his color or shape. The two other birds, on the contrary, should be selected for those very qualifications. The male should be darker and deeper in colour than the female. In fact, male birds, with green on their wings and heads, mated with pale females, produce the best-coloured young ones. Never allow two top-knot birds to pair, for, oddly enough, the progeny will usually have bald or deformed heads. A breeding cage with separate compartments costs at least $4, but a very good one can be made at home out of empty dry goods or grocery boxes. Of course, it must be a well-made, smooth one, otherwise it might hurt the birds. Painting is not advisable, but it is well to rub off any rough surfaces with coarse sandpaper. Remove the lid and one side of the box. Leave the bottom, one side and ends intact. Turn the box so that the remaining side becomes the bottom of thecage. Next get a piece of sheet zinc, nick the corners, and turn them up all around, to form a tray an inch deep. This is to fit inside the cage. Square-meshed, galvanised cloth is the best for the front and top. Fasten it to the back, ends and front with matting tacks, leaving a space at the bottom in front for the tray to slip in under. Put a partition through the middle of the cage, with a small door in it. A door is also necessary in each compartment. The ordinary seed and water dishes can’t be improved on by home contrivances, so add them to the purchased list.
Two half cocoanut shells, or small boxes, must be hung up on the end or back of each compartment as foundations for the nest. Cover the bottom of the tray with a thick layer of bird-gravel, and hang up materials for nest-building in each compartment. Dried moss, bits of raw cotton, or short fine hay, are all suitable. The material for a cage three feet long, eighteen inches high and deep, will only cost a dollar, so the homemade cage, in addition to being an economy, has the advantage of size, which means a great deal in a breeding cage, as it allows the birds so much more exercise.
Put a female in each compartment, so that they may become accustomed to each other. In about a week, the door in the partition can be opened, and both birds allowed the freedom of both compartments. During this time, the male bird must be kept in his own cage, and in another room. During these preliminary stages, which should run from three to fourweeks, the three birds must have, in addition to their regular food, a small dish of mash every morning, made of hard-boiled egg chopped very fine, stale bread-crumbs, and hulled oats ground (not oatmeal or rolled oats), equal parts of each, just moistened with scalded milk, and, of course, allowed to cool before being fed to the birds.
After the two females are on friendly terms, bring the male bird’s cage into the room, and hang it before the breeding-cage, and out of sight, if possible. Curiosity will be aroused, and the birds will spend most of their time talking to each other, and endeavouring to see each other. A week later, close the door in the partition, leaving a female in each compartment. Put the two cages on a level; two or three days later, open the door of one compartment, and the door of the male bird’s cage, placing them close together. He will soon commence going in and out of the breeding-cage, and in a day or so his cage may be removed. After the hen-bird commences to sit, open the door in the partition, and let the male into the second compartment. When the second hen commences to sit, the door in the compartment can be left permanently open, as there is little fear of the birds’ fighting, and the male will divide his attention between the two families, helping to feed and care for the nestlings.
Special care is necessary during the incubating period, for the eggs of these little songsters are exceedingly fragile, and a loud noise to which they are unaccustomed, even the slamming of a door, will sometimesaddle them. Too bright a light is also annoying, so a piece of green baize pinned around the corner of the cage will give a sense of seclusion which will keep the bird tranquil and happy. Allow nothing to worry or trouble them while sitting.
Fourteen days after the first egg is laid, the young appear. The tiny creatures are a great disappointment to those who see them for the first time. Chicks and ducklings are lovely from the time they first emerge from the shell; but a young canary is featherless, blind, and has the longest neck imaginable. In a short time, however, it becomes a golden ball of down, and its early unattractiveness is forgotten in admiration.
Continue the mash food, but after the little ones are hatched, feed night and morning. Add rape seed which has been boiled a few minutes, and then rinsed through cold water. The nestlings’ eyes open about the sixth day. After the thirteenth day they will begin feeding themselves in the most independent manner. When the brood is a month old, remove them to another cage. They will then begin to lose their first crop of feathers, and must be carefully protected from draughts, lest they take cold. At the end of this first moulting period, you can tell how the young will develop, both for shape and song.
The mother bird will usually begin to build a second nest when the babies in the first are about fourteen days old, sometimes keeping up this double family from February till June; so that with good birds youcan count on having eight broods from the two females, with an average of sixteen male birds. If the trainer—that is to say, the bird who teaches the young ones to sing—is a good songster, the males should bring two dollars apiece when sixteen weeks old.
The young females can, with a little patience, be trained and taught tricks, which will make them worth as much or more than their brothers, who have only voice to recommend them; but if the female’s education is ignored, they are not worth more than fifty cents apiece, unless kept to breeding age. Cages must be kept scrupulously clean, with plenty of sand on the floor. Accustom the birds to having a bath dish put in for a time every morning. Should the feet look soiled, or the nails be too long, take the bird firmly, but gently, in your hand, and hold the feet in warm soap and water, to remove all dirt and soften the nails, the extreme points of which can be cut with a pair of sharp, fine scissors. Take care not to go above or too near the end—the end of the nerve that can be seen running through the upper part of the nail; for if you do, it will be painful to the bird, as cutting into the quick of your finger-nail would be. If you are a real bird-lover, and have time and patience, you can accustom a flock to your presence until they will let you go among them in a flying-room and handle them at your pleasure; for they are naturally most affectionate, gentle little creatures, as full of playfulness as a kitten. A solitary songster will feel neglect and loneliness to a pitiable degree, but will respond to pettingas readily as a child. A canary from the general stock of a bird-store is timid and reserved at first, but will soon establish friendly relations between himself and his owner.
Tomake the home profitable, there must be some system of bookkeeping instituted, no matter how simple, also there must be some ingenuity exercised about marketing. Take advantage of the long evenings to start books and lay plans for the disposal of surplus products to the best advantage. Unless you know what each animal costs to keep, and what returns you are receiving from it, you can’t be sure what your profits really are. I know how most amateurs hate to be bound down to the actualities of a balance-sheet with its cold facts on what it costs to produce this, that or the other thing. But experience has taught me that it is the crucial point and must be ascertained. Your accounts need not be elaborate but they must be clear and accurate. Establish some simple system of bookkeeping and after you have once overcome prejudice and made the plunge, it is really gratifying to know, for a positive fact whether things are really paying or not.
The first step toward general order is keeping records of individual animals or flocks, as the case may be, and also of the farm and garden crops. Bestow a name or number upon each animal, and if you are going in for husbandry in an extensive way, have abook for each variety. If only two or three animals are to be kept, a general stock-book will do. Each field and meadow should be named or numbered, and a book devoted to work done on each.
Poultry also needs a special book; so do expenses.
My plan is to head a page in the cattle register with the animal’s name or number; date of birth or purchase, with price; followed by when bred, to whom, when due, actual date of event, sex of offspring and name or number bestowed upon it. On the opposite page, if the animal is a cow, the amount of milk she gives, a week after calving, and at one measuring every month until we cease milking her. Milk is tested for butter-fats once in every three months and the result recorded.
The record of pigs and sheep is not so elaborate, because, of course, there is only breeding and arrival of offspring to be noted. For poultry, the number of pens heads the page, followed by the number of birds it contains, and the individual numbers, and on the opposite page the number of eggs gathered each week.
The feed-book contains the amount of grain, etc., used for each variety of stock.
The farm-book is kept in a like manner, the field number heading the page; then, when ploughed; how and to what extent fertilised; with what variety of seeds sown; number of times cultivated, when harvested and the amount of the crop.
On the opposite page, in pencil, are suggestions forcatch crops and rotation for main planting for a period of five years. Small note-pads with pencils attached are fastened up in every stall or pen of each outbuilding, and events are jotted down as they occur, so that there is no chance of forgetting or getting things mixed. Every Saturday the sheets are torn from the pads and brought to the house, for the items to be transferred to the different books. It does not take half an hour each week to do the clerical work, and it saves innumerable mistakes and accidents, besides furnishing proof of the relative value of each animal and piece of land.
On one side of the expense book all money spent is entered; on the other, all moneys received. A balance is struck every month and transferred to a general ledger, which, in turn, is balanced once a year.
Another thing that must be understood is that all profits must not be considered as a bonus to be used for personal pleasure. Some part of all moneys received should be set aside as working capital, otherwise improvement and extension are simply impossible.
Marketing home products advantageously is of paramount importance, and seems to be the point on which many beginners fail. Commission men and wholesale markets should not be resorted to, because home-grown products of all descriptions excel in quality and not in quantity; therefore, appeal to high-class private custom, who desire the very best, regardless of price.
I have never sold through any of the ordinary market channels, yet have always had more orders than Icould fill and received a little more than the ordinary prices. Naturally the location of the home and the quality of the wares must influence the returns to some extent, but not half so much as the method of packing and shipping. Nicety in these respects captures the favor of customers and they take pride in exhibiting things to their friends—which is the very best sort of advertising a home business can have.
When I had reached the point where I knew that I could depend on a certain number of eggs regularly, I wrote to a doctor friend in the city and told him that I could promise to deliver six dozen strictly fresh-laid eggs twice a week for the whole year, at a uniform price of forty-five cents a dozen; customers to pay the express charges, which would be twenty-five cents on each six dozen. (Express companies return empty packages free of charge.) Within a month he had found four customers for me, who would take two dozen a week each, the box to be delivered at his house, where the other three customers were to call every Saturday and Wednesday.
All poultry-supply houses have wooden boxes for sale with divided trays, made to hold three, six or twelve dozen eggs, for about two dollars apiece. Before the year was out each of the three other customers had interested one or two friends, with the result that three six-dozen boxes were shipped three times a week, and the following winter I had orders from the same people for butter and table poultry.
In this way my market grew, as did my stock, and I never had any surplus to worry about. Of course, I realise that there was an element of good luck in having a doctor for a friend, but when there is no good Samaritan to start a clientele for you, energy will surely accomplish it; for every housekeeper longs to get good, fresh-delivered table delicacies which have not passed through a dozen hands.
I know one woman who got her first customer by writing personal notes to women of social prominence in a near-by town, whose addresses she got from a directory. From twenty letters she received two replies, but they both became regular customers, and recommended friends.
Another instance of personal effort took the form of calls upon doctors and clergymen. Still another woman interested the fashionable milliner of her town to canvass orders among her customers, and paid for the favour with eggs and butter.
A more impersonal way of gaining customers would be to arrange with one or two well-located drug or stationery stores for the display of large cards bearing notices of the things for sale and your address; but, of course, there are dozens of ways to find customers. Advertising in newspapers will do as a last resource, but strictly personal methods are the best.
Now about packing. Eggs should never be more than two days old and must be sorted into lots of uniform color and size. If the eggs should become soiled in muddy weather, wipe them with a damp cloth assoon as gathered, so that the shell does not become permanently stained.
For private customers, table birds should be especially fattened and dry picked, which means that the feathers are removed as soon as the bird has been killed, without its being dipped into scalding water. As the scalding spoils the flavour, birds so dressed are only accepted by third-class market.
After the feathers and pin-feathers have all been removed, the bird should be drawn, washed in cold water, wiped quite dry, a piece of charcoal or peeled onion put inside the body and then trussed, for they look so much more attractive than when shipped in a sprawling condition.
Drawing and dressing for market is not the custom for general marketing in this country, but it is universal in Europe, and private customers always appreciate the improvement such rigid cleanliness necessarily makes in flavour. Wrap each bird in a square of new cheese-cloth. Place a few sprigs of parsley, thyme and summer savoury at one side, for the convenience of the cook; then put on an outer wrapping of white paper and tie with clean, fresh string. Things going from a home should look dainty.
Don’t try sending butter by express unless you have orders enough to make it worth while to buy one of the refrigerator hampers which are now used for automobiles. A hamper which costs about four dollars will hold five or six pounds of butter, so it is not a very great outlay when you can get forty-five cents apound for your butter. In making up hampers of fruit and vegetables, use small grape-baskets to divide the different varieties. Line them with green leaves. Pack everything with dainty care and reject everything which is not in perfect condition. Don’t let anything interfere with the arranged schedule for shipping. Gain a reputation for uniform excellence and punctuality, and success is sure.
THE END