62 THE FARMER AT HOME. 



the animal equally fast, as well as being favorable to the production 

 of milk ; and is far preferable, as it keeps later in the spring, and 

 thus supplies green food when no other can be procured. Cobbett 

 calculated that one-fourth of an acre will yield cabbage sufficient to 

 support a cow the year round. Burying it in the ground where the 

 earth is dry, is probably one of the best methods of preserving cabbage 

 fresh and in good order. Large quantities are annually made into 

 sour krout, an article which forms an important part of ship stores, 

 destined for long voyages, and to the use of which, much of the ex- 

 emption of sailors from that terrible disease the scurvy, is now to be 

 attributed. There are many varieties of this plant ; but the general 

 properties are the same. 



CABBAGE TREE PALM. The Areca oleracea, is a native of 

 the West Indies, and grows to the height of one hundred and seventy 

 or even two hundred feet. The leaves, for it has no branches like 

 most other trees, are sometimes twenty fret long. The interior of the 

 leaf is used like hemp and flax for cordage ; the fruit, lying towards 

 the top of the trunk, under the leaves, is in thin snowy flakes, sweeter 

 than the almond ; the pith produces a kind of sago, and the nuts, 

 called areca nuts, yield oil by decoction. In short, every part of this 

 tree is useful ; it is esteemed one of the most beautiful of trees. 



CACAO. Chocolate is a kind of cake, or hard paste, the basis 

 of which is the pulp of the cacao, or chocolate-nut, a production of the 

 West Indies and South America. Plantations of cacao are numerous 

 on the banks of the river Magdalena, in South America. They are 

 usually formed in rnorassy situations, and are sheltered from the 

 intense heat of the sun by larger trees, which are planted in them. 

 There are two principal crops of cacao in the year ; the first in June, 

 and the second in December. As soon as the fruit is ripe, it is 

 gathered and cut into slices ; and the nuts, which are, at this time, 

 in a pulpy state, are taken out, and laid in skins, or on leaves to be 

 dried. They have now a sweetish acid taste, and may be eaten like 

 any other fruit. When perfectly dry, they are put into bags, each 

 containing about an hundred weight, and, thus packed, are exported 

 to foreign countries. Previously to being formed into chocolate, these 

 nuts are generally roasted or parched over the fire in an iron vessel, 

 after which process their thin external covering is easily separated. 

 The kernel is then pounded in a mortar, and subsequently ground on 

 a smooth, warm stone. Sometimes the arnatto is added ; and with 

 the aid of water the whole is formed into paste. This is put whilst 

 hot, into tin moulds, where in a short time it congeals ; and in this 

 state it is the chocolate of the shops. 



By the natives of South America, the chocolate nuts are used for 

 food. A white, oily matter, about the consistence of suet, is also 

 obtained by bruising them, and boiling the pulp. The oil is by this 

 means liquified, and rises to the surface, where it is left to cool and 



