439 



fluid. A few seconds suffice for tte brine to infuse the whole body, when by 

 cutting the ear or hoof of the animal, a stream of clear pure brine, untainted by 

 a single particle of blood, will instantly be seen to flow. 



Liebig's process reduces the meat to an " essence of beef," requiring thirty- 

 three pounds of meat to make one poimd, which is assumed to be sufficient for a 

 Boup for one hundred and twenty-eight men. The flesh of the animal is left 

 twenty-four hours after killing to cool, then reduced to a pulp between round 

 iron rollers armed with points, and turned by steam power, and afterwards steamed 

 an hour in a vat of water. A trough -shaped reservoir with a sieve at the bottom 

 draws the juices into a vat, from which the fat is drawn o£F, and after passing 

 through a filtering vat it is packed in tins as extract of beef. It brings three 

 dollars and upwards per pound in London. 



The process of Messrs. Paris and Sloper aims to preserve the meat in the 

 condition of fresh beef, by the destruction of oxygen in the vessel in which it is 

 packed. The bone is extracted, but fat remains. This meat is sent to Eng- 

 land to supply the meat deficiency produced in part by the prevalence of the 

 rinderpest, where it is sold for four to five pence per pound, or eight to ten cenis 

 of our money. It seems to give pretty good satisfaction. The report explains 

 that "from the tins in which it is placed the air is exhausted by means of water 

 forced in at the bottom, which, when it reaches the top, is allowed to redescend 

 and run off, and the vaciium thus left is lilled from above by a certain gas, the 

 composition of which is kept a profound secret. The two holes at the top and 

 bottom are carefully soldered down, and the meat is then ready for exportation. 

 The only risk it runs is from leakage, the smallest opening in the tin case prov- 

 ing destructive, by allowing the gas to escape and the air to get in." 



Several processes have also been discovered in this country for the reduction of 

 the nutritive elements of beef to convenient portable bulk, among which may be 

 mentioned that of Gail Borden, of Texas, of "condensed milk" celebrity, who 

 gave us the meat biscuit, but which appears to have been practically discarded. 

 A few years since. Professor Horsford, of Harvard College, invented a process of 

 desiccation, whereby many rations of beef might be carried by the soldier in his 

 haversack, but the condensation did not become popular with the army, and can 

 scarcel}^ be called a success, though modifications may yet render it such. 



Prior to the late war. Dr. N. B. Marsh, of Ohio, devised a system of embalm- 

 ing beef, and removed to Texas for the purpose of engaging in the enterprise. 

 He soon after died, however, and the patent was neglected until recently, when 

 it was purchased by Colonel W. C. Alberger, of New York. By this process 

 the animal is killed by a blow on the head, the breast-bone is lifted, both sides 

 of the heart opened, and as soon as the blood ceases to flow, a pipe is inserted 

 in the left side of the heart, connected with a tank of cold brine. The brine is 

 forced through the arteries and capillaries, and in a few moments it is found 

 pouring out from the right side of the heart. The meat is thus chilled and can 

 be immediately cut and packed. The animal is dressed after the curing. 



EITRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. 



Smyth county, Virginia. — Sorghum is becoming an important crop in this county. 

 From close observation I think there will be 25,000 or 30,000 gallons of mo- 

 lasses made the present year. No sugar is made from it ; the impossibility of 

 getting molasses during the war compelled the people to make their own, and 

 this has proved that it is a profitable crop. If well made and properly cleansed 

 it makes a superior article to New Orleans sirup. 



Liberty county, Florida. — Our sugar-cane has become so hard and woody that 



