l8c4. Ohfervai'ions on Boiling Potatoes, ini 



former is more eafily and fpeedily fattened than eiiher of tlie o- 

 ther two, perhaps it may be deemed an obje£l in Scotch rural 

 economy to recover the art of fafely performing the neceflary 

 cpcrntion. That this mud have been generally known and prac- 

 tifed formerly, is evident from this, that kain-capons were paid 

 in many parts of Scotland ; and if it be yet preferved in this 

 country, or can be obtained from any other quarter, you are re- 

 quefted to have the ^oodnefs to make it knov/n, by infcrting it 

 in your very ufeful Publication. 



I have to requed your attention to anotlier fubjecfl, fiiould you 

 think it worthy of notice. I have miore than once feen defcrip- 

 tions of machines for cutting flraw, with explanations of tlie 

 principl'.s upon which they were confl:ru6led j but I do not re- 

 collect to have met with a detailed account of the ufes to which 

 the draw, when cut, ought to be applied, nor of the advantages 

 attending it. W\\\ the Wcpence of the machine, and the labour 

 of the people who woik it, be returned to the farmer wlio ufes 

 it .? In Bengal, where oxen are almolt the only animals em- 

 ployed either for draught or for burden, the principal part of 

 their food is cut draw, to which is often added, a certain daily 

 quantity of a fpecies of pulfe. Indeed, the cattle which are 

 there dall-fed are fattened principally on thefe two articles; and 

 excellent beef they become. Yours, &c. S. T- 



TO THE CONDUCTOR OP THE FARMER's MAGAZINE. 



Ohfervations on the B;J} a?id Mojl Economical Method of Boiling 



Potatoes. 



Sir, 



In your Supplement, a receipt is given for boiiincj potatoes, 

 which I have formerly feen ; and it was then faid to be recom- 

 mended by Count Rumford. Adm.itting it to have been recom- 

 mended by that celebrated economid, I mud affirm, that the re- 

 ceipt is calculated not only to boil, but, at the f^me time, to fpoil 

 the potatoes, cooked in the niode therein recommended, when 

 they are in the fmalled degree of an inferior quality ; particu-^ 

 lariy by putting in cold water from tim^e to time, to leden the 

 heat of the water in the pet, and boiling them with their fkins 

 on. 



The faiTt is, that to render potatoes meally, they mitjl he boiled 

 in the mojl expeditious manner pojjible ; and for accomplilhing this, 

 I give you the receipt followed by my own goodwife at home. 

 ^Potatoes of lad year's growth are generally of aii indidVrenc 



quality ; 



