CLEANING THE CELLAR To Clean Cellars.—Begin to clean house with the cellar. It is a hard job, and you may be inclined to neg lect it if you wait till the rest of the work has been done. No part of the house cleaning is so important from the standpoint of sanitary cleanliness or, because it is out of sight, more likely to be neglected.
First sweep all dust and cobwebs from rafters and ceiling; sweep the shelves and wash them with strong suds or soda and water; remove, empty, and clean bins and barrels that have contained vegetables, and set them out of doors exposed directly to the air and sunlight. If the cellar admits of thorough drainage, wash down the ceilings, walls, and floor with a hose, or dash water on them from pails by means of a large dip per. Open the bulkhead windows and sweep the floor, especially digging out the corners. Remove everything that is not necessary. The fewer objects to accumulate dust and to get in the way when cleaning, the better.
Dissolve 2 pounds of copperas in 1 gallon of water, and sprinkle the walls and floor with this solution by means of an old whisk broom or watering pot having a fine spray. This is a good disinfectant and assists in driv ing away rats and other vermin.
Finally whitewash the walls with an old whitewash brush or old broom, and use plenty of whitewash, to which add copperas at the rate of pound to 1 pound for each pailful.
Vegetable Cellars. — If vegetables are kept in barrels or bins in the house cellar, they should be examined from time to time and picked over as soon as they begin to rot. Leaves from cabbage heads, celery tops, and other vegetable stuff not wanted should be carefully removed before they begin to spoil. Decaying organic matter of any kind is the favorite breeding ground of the germs of typhoid fever, diphtheria, and other contagious filth diseases, and decay is much assisted by dampness. Hence unless the cellar is perfectly dry, clean and free from rotten vegetables, those who are re sponsible for its condition cannot in case of sickness have a clear con science. An outbreak of black diph
theria which caused the death of five children in a single family was traced by a physician directly to some de cayed vegetable matter on the cellar floor.
Or make an outdoor vegetable cel lar by sinking a strong cask or box in the ground below the frost line. Knock out the bottom and let the vegetables rest on the ground. Pro vide a water-tight cover in two layers, with sawdust or charcoal between. Or throw over the top straw or hay. Thus cabbages, celery, and the like may be kept fresh in winter without danger of contaminating the air of the house.
To Seep Cellars Warm. — Make a flour paste containing a strong glue size, and with a whitewash brush apply one or more layers of building paper, brown paper, or even newspapers to the rafters of the ceiling, and let it come down over the sills and around the frames of windows to prevent draughts. The thicker the layer or layers of paper the better. This helps to keep the floors warm and to make the cellar frost proof.
Care of Casks. — Keep an empty cask bunged up tight to keep it sweet.
Tar casks slightly on the inside to assist in preserving salt meat.
To sweeten a sour cask that has held pickles, vinegar, or wine, wash it with lime water, or throw in hot char coal and ashes. Add water and let the cask soak.
To remove must or other odors, wash with sulphuric acid and rinse with clear water, or whitewash with quicklime, or char the inside with a hot iron. In all cases rinse thorough ly with scalding water before using.
To Prevent Dampness in Cellars.— To avoid damp cellars furnish jets, gutters, and leaders to carry rain water from the roof to a cistern or away from the foundations of the house. Lay tile or other drains under the cellar floor to carry away water from springs or other natural mois ture. Lay cellar walls in mortar made of water lime, and cover the cellar bottom and walls with hydraulic ce ment, water lime, or concrete made by melted asphaltum poured upon a surface of gravel and tamped hard while hot.