Put the flour into a large pan; mix in a dessertspoonful of salt; make a hole in the middle, and pour in the yeast (half a teacup of yeast to two quarts of flour), with about a pint of water or milk (which use warm in winter, and cold in summer), not mixing in all the flour; then put a blanket, or towel, over the pan, and let it stand to rise near the fire, in winter. This is "putting bread in sponge." When it has risen, mix all the flour with the sponge; knead it well, and let it stand 2 hours till quite light. Then mold the dough on a board till elastic, and put the loaves into greased or floured baking-tins; prick them two or three times through with a fork; let them rise again for a quarter of an hour, and bake them in a quick oven.