November i, 1883,] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



357 



HOUSEHOLD RECIPES. 



BY A VIRGINIA LADY FOB THE ''SOUTHERN PLAN'TEtt." 



GiiEEN Tomato Pickle. — Take oue peck green tomatoes, 

 peel, cut ia slices, sprinkle with salt; let them stand 24 

 hours; pour off the water. Take 1 quart chopped onions, 

 1 ounce alspice, 1 of ginger, 4 of white mustard seed, 1 

 of cloves, 1 of black pepper; all beaten fijie except cloves 

 (which must be whole); 2 pounds brown sugar; put the 

 tomatoes and spices alternately in a kettle, cover all with 

 strong vinegar, and boil till the consistency of marmalade. 



Chopped Oaubage I'ickle. — Nine tablespoons mustard 

 seed, one-quarter pound salt, 1 light tablespoon cayenne 

 pepper, 5 ground black pepper, 6 celery seed, 3 alspice 

 beaten fine, 2 teaspoons cloves, 1 tablespoon mace all beaten 

 fine, 3 tablespoons ground mustard, one-quarter pound 

 horseradish scraped fine, 1 pound brown sugar and 12 onions 

 and 6 gallons cabbage shredcd as for slaw; cover with 

 vinegar and stir till done. 



Delicious Pickle. — Drop your cucumbers, etc., in brine 

 strong enough to bear an egg; let them stand sbc days, 

 wash in fresh water, and drain all night. Put them on 

 a slow fire with vinegar and water enough to cover them 

 and for one-half bushel cucumbers piece of alum size of 

 partridge egg; cover closely with grape leaves and let them 

 remain on fire till green, closely covered ; let them remain 

 for a night, and next day drop in spiced vinegar prepared 

 ten d(ii/s before, thus : Five gallons vinegar, 5 pounds brown 

 sugar, 2 pounds white mustard seed, 2 pounds white ginger, 

 one-half pound ground mustard, one-half pound black pepper, 

 one-half pound tumeric in a bag, one-quarter pound nut- 

 megs, one-quarter pound mace, cue-quarter pound alspice, 

 one-quarter poiuid cloves, one-quarter pound celery seed, 

 one-quarter pound angelico, 3 *lozen onions, which must 

 be sprinkled with salt for a day, drain water from them, 

 wash in vinegar, and drop in pickle pot. 



SUGAR AND *OOFFEE IN SAMOA. 

 An interesting oflicial report has been published con- 

 cerning the resources of Samoa (Navigators' Island), and 

 we note that experts both for sugar and coffee planting 

 have favourably reported upon the capabilities of the 

 islands for these industries. The coffee plant has been 

 in existence there for some years, and, growing luxuriantly 

 has proved the suitability of the climate and soil, but 

 it has never been scientifically treated, and in consequence 

 is not as yet an article of commerce. Sugar-cane grows 

 wild all over the islands. Some coffee planters and specul- 

 ators visited Samoa dining the past year with the view 

 of settling, should they find the country suitable for their 

 several purposes ; but the moral impossibility, under the 

 present circumstances, of obtaining an indisputable title 

 to any parcel of land they might bay, deterred them 

 from risking tbeir capit-al. The native tenure of land, so 

 intricate and complicated, and the incUnation of the natives 

 to effect wrongful sales with a view of reclaiming the 

 land subsequently, make speculators very chary of invest- 

 ing money in property that may at any time be dis^Duted, 

 perhaps at one time on account of neglect of some nat- 

 ive custom not noticed at time of sale, and not provided 

 against ; and perhaps at another time by some relative 

 presenting himself, who was absent at the time of sale, 

 either intentionally or accidentally, and questioning the 

 vahdity of sale on account of his not having given his 

 consent, and having received no part of the purchase- 

 money. The total absence of hurricanes, or indeed of any 

 winds strong enough to cause damage, make these islands 

 more suitable for the growth of sugar-cane than many 

 other parts of the worM, where the whole crop is liable 

 to be destroyed in one blow. In starting a plantation in 

 Samoa, after acquiring the land, the greatest difficulty 

 would be in procuring labour. The supply of Polynesian 

 labourers is visibly falling off", through the disinclination 

 of natives to go to Samoa to work, and the greater ad- 

 vantages and comfort off'ered them in other parts, such 

 as Queensland and Fiji. — India Mereiiry. 



weeds. I have, however, about 8 acres of Mangels under 

 experiment, on land which has grown nothing but roots for 

 more than forty yuars, and here, in consequence of the 

 careful attention which it is absolutely necessary to employ 

 in carrying out an experiment, the Slangels are almost en- 

 tirely free from weeds. The farm Mangels have been heavily 

 dunged, aud when the plant was fairly established about ij 

 cwt. of nitrate of soda was applied as a top-dressing. In 

 walking over the two fields I have been very much struck by 

 the more rapid progress of the experimental roots as com- 

 pared with those grown in the ordinary cultivation of the 

 farm, and the fact has led me to consider how far the growth 

 of the latter has been retarded by the presence of the weeds. 

 Assuming that the soil contains a sufficient supi)ly of alkalies 

 and phosphates, it may be said that the weight of the crop 

 would depend upon the amount of nitric acid which the 

 Mangels coidd take up from the soil. The nitric acid may 

 be derived from various sources — (1) from the stock of 

 organic nitrogfu in the soil; (2^ from previous applications 

 of manure; (3) from the manure applied in the present 

 season ; (4) from the nitrate applied as a top-dressing. Now 

 as weeds take up large amounts of nitric acid, their roots 

 and finer fibres when destroyed uuderground may nitrify 

 and serve as food for the Mangels grown this year. Rut 

 the bulk of the weeds which are destroyed by baud, or 

 by horse-hoeing, remain on the sui-face, and do not nitrify 

 until they are ploughed under the soil. This conver- 

 sion of nitric acid into organic nitrogen in the form 

 of weeds, instead of crop — although in some cases unavoid- 

 able — becomes a source of considerable loss, and in my own 

 case I have very little doubt that on .some parts of the field 

 the weeds have taken up as much nitric acid as was con- 

 tained in the nitrate of soda applied as a top-dre.ssing, and 

 that the crop of JIaugels will be so much the lighter for 

 the loss. The rapid appropriation of nitric acid this year 

 by wueds is very apjiarent in our AVlieat fields wht're the 

 plant is thin. AVhen the crop is hi bloom it usuatly takes 

 liut little nitric acid from the soil, but if at this time the 

 surface soil is moist, nitrification takes ])lace rajjidly, and a 

 fi«ld which was comparatively clean when the Wheat was 

 in bloom, may have become one mass of luxuriant weeds 

 when the crop is cut. — -SV/* J. B, Lavva^ In the '■'• Af/yicultumC 

 (uizettey 



WEEDS. 

 In common with many other farmers, I have found it 

 exceedingly ditficult to keep my Blangels — under which crop 

 I have at present on the farm about 30 acres — free from 

 46 



HOAV^ TO FEED POULTRY. 



BY R. EDMUXDS, ORLEANS CO., LA. 



It is a very easy matter to incur a serious loss annually, 

 where a good nuniber of fowls are kept, by injudicious feed- 

 ing. All Irinds shoidd liave a sufficiency of food without 

 being overfed. If the birds are kept in a state of semi- 

 starvation, the hens lay but few eggs, and those intended 

 for killing become so very atrenuated that a very consider- 

 able outlay is necessary before they can be brought into 

 proper condition for the table, and when there they lack 

 tenderness and delicacy. To feed too liberally is wasteful, 

 aud in the case of laying hens decidedly objectionable; 

 for a hen, when it becomes very fat, ceases to lay freely, 

 and is subject to various ailments, and an overfed cock 

 becomes lazy and subject to death from apoplexy. 



Full grown fowls should have just as much as they will 

 readily eat and no more. Barley, either whole or in the 

 ground state, is fairly acconomieal, used either alone or 

 in combination with other food. Oats and oatmeal are 

 of especial value for fattening for the table. Indian com 

 or maize is, perhaps, oue of the most economical foods 

 for poultry, and has the advantage that, owing to the 

 size of the corn, sparrows are unable to rob the fowls. 

 Pieces of bread and vegetables of all kinds may be util- 

 ized, and scraps of meat chopped up rather small are 

 of great value in feeding fowls shut \\\i in the small 

 yards where they are unable to obtain worms aud insects. 



Potatoes well builed and mixed up with sutficient coarse 

 pollard or l)ran, when scalded to form a i-ather stiff' paste, 

 are useful for helping out the corn. 



As a rule, fowls kept entirely in enclosed yards should 

 have three meals a day; the first to consist of soft food, 

 prepared by the admixture of l)oiled potatoes, kitchen 

 scraps, bran or pollard, and barley or oatmeal, and for 

 the other two meals corn of some kind is decidedly pre- 

 ferable. The soft food will be all the better if it is 

 mixed over night and placed in an oven, so that it may 



