86 



TllK FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



Exportation of Oats from Maine to 

 New Hfimpsiiire. 



" In addition to tlie lumber, ginnite and pota- 

 toes which we export from this Stale, Wv- would 

 mention oats. V/e hive for nome years past r.a:s- 

 cd a surplus of this grain, and quite .a prohtable 

 trade has been driven with them. We dd 

 know unt'l the other day tlial we had the honor of 

 furnishing our near and deiir si!it( r Nov.' Hamp- 

 shire with this article of Ilorsf: diet. Demg at 

 Augusta the otlier day vi-e enquired of the master of 

 a schooner who was nearly loaded v.'ith oats, 

 whither ho was bound, and was much surprised 

 when he answered, to Portsm.outh. 



Indeed, said we, do you not raise your supply oi 

 oats in New Hampshire? Oh no, said he, we brina 

 a great many from Jlaine and some from the South. 

 How is this, friend Hill? Isji't your land fertile 

 enough to raise oats in your State, or is it because 

 the New Hampshire boys sov.- too many wild ones ? ' 



Maine Former. 



We copy the above as well to acknowledge the 

 obligation the stage and stable horses on the easterly 

 line^of ilie Slate of New Hampshire owe to tiie far- 

 mer of Maine that they are enabled tokeep in high 

 flesh and fleet condition, as to impress on the fanners 

 of the Granite State the fact that there is realhj no 

 danirer tlicij eaii raise, too inucli produc-. When the 

 oat crop was coming oif bst year and year before, 

 the remark was common that the article would be 

 so plenty that il would n it pay for the cultivation. 

 Yet we now find it an object for sliip owners to go 

 to the State of Maine to t.hc head of navigation 

 upon the Kennebeck to freiglit v.-itli oats for the 

 New Hampshire market! The soil of the interior 

 of Maine, bcinfj more recently cleared, is probably 

 better adapted to a present oat crop tlian ours ; but 

 the whole of the northerly half of New Hamp- 

 shire that may be cultivated by the plough, is equal- 

 ly well adtipted to the broad cast grains as that of 

 Maine. We need only more enterprise, and no | 

 unnatural stretch of labor to produc.3 wheat, rye, 

 oats, and barley, sufficient for our own consump- 

 tion. Our soil is even better adapted to Indian 

 corn, than that of Maine. 



We want labor and its right application to make 

 the agriculture of the State all it should bo. We 

 want an improving and not an impoverishing cul- 

 tivation. Destitute as we have been of oats suffi- 

 cient for our own consumption, we have heard of 

 some fine intervale farms on Merrimack river being 

 skintied ^'^t their production. The method hns been 

 to plough and sow with oats without th.: applica- 

 tion of manure yearaftei year so long as t!ie ground 

 would bear them. Even this rich foundation, 

 under such culture, will in a very fev.- years 

 become more sterile thin the most barren sinJy 

 plain. We hope the State of Maine is not enabled 

 to sell us oats from pursuing a similar course of 

 cultivation. 



Every cultivator has it in his power to improve 

 his soil. Fields thrown into pasture wiU not dete- 

 riorate — they had better be suffered to grow into 

 bushes, which will not fad ultimately to bfcome a 

 valuable growth of wood, than to continue in a 

 long process of repeated skinning. Tiie farmer 

 who goes over more land tlian he can find manure 

 to feed hud better lessen the quantity one half 

 and even three fourths, so lie can every year make 

 better what he does cultivate. One acre in sucli 

 an improving condition will be worth ten acres of 

 land cultivated with a production constantly de- 

 creasing. 



If a man had no other resource than a simple 

 gwainp, or mud hole, ^e may make an advanta- 

 geous use of that to st^ell the production of his 

 cultivated grounds. Tlicro is generally in mud 

 holes, and peat bo^s^ and black soil wliicii lias long 

 been gatliering in by places, a vegetable substance 

 that will be of nearly as much ultimate benefit to 

 particular soils, as so much warming stable ma- 

 nure. A single hog at work in plenty of this black 

 soil will earn his living in maturing it for early ap- 

 plication. Exposed to the frosts of winter^ 

 the same vegetable matter may be precipitated in- 

 to earlier action. Tlie admixture of linie and wood 

 ashes also contributes to make prat or ctlier vege- 

 table matter early felt on the ground to which it 

 is applied. 



They greatly mistake who evpect all tie good 

 effects of manure upon ground in one, two or e-.'en 

 five years. Cart black soil from a sunken pond, 

 and its effect the first year w.ll be but a triile — the 

 second year it will be more; and the ground for 

 many years will continue to profit fnnn the .appl- 

 cation. As proof that virtue long rer.ia'ns in the 

 ground, tnke a spot upon the pine plains liilherto 

 supposed to be fit only to produce a crop of rve 

 oni:e in two or three years. A coal i)it w:-.siiurned 

 on tins ground forty years ago ; and perhaps twen- 



ty tilled crops besides annual pasturage liavc been 

 taken from the same ground. It will yet be found 

 that in the spot where this pit was burned there will 

 be mure tl'.au a double crop to tliat on the surroun- 

 ding ground. The rye grows green and rank in 

 the"l)ne place, while it is more slender and feeble 

 ,)0l i in the other. 



Till 



FRSTGAL HOUSEWIFE. 



Puiidings. 



Bahcd Indian Piuldini;. — Indian pudding is good 

 baked. Scald a quart of milk (skimmed milk will 

 do) and stir in seven heaped table spo.nsluls of sil- 

 ted Indian meal, a tea-spoonful of salt, a tea-cupful 

 of moli.?5es and a great spoonful of ginger, or S'fted 

 cinnamon. Baked three or four iiours. If you 

 want whey, you must be sure and pour in a little 

 cold milk, al'terit is all mixed. 



Boiled Indian Pudding. — Indian pudding should 

 be boiled four or five hours. Sifted Indian meal 

 and warm milk should be stirred together pretty 

 stiff. A little salt ond two or three great spoonfuls 

 of molasses, added ; a spoonful of ginger, if you 

 like tliat spice. Boil it m a tight covered pan, or 

 a very thick cloth ; if the water gets in it will ruin 

 it. Leave plenty of room; for Indian sv,-ells very 

 much. The milk with which you mix it should be 

 merely warm ; if it be scalding, the pudding will 

 break to pieces. Sjuie people chop sweet suet fine, 

 and warm in the milk; others warm thin slices of 

 sweet apple to be stirred into the pudding. Water 

 will answer instead of milk. 



Flour, or Butter Puddimr.—Co-.nmrin floor pud- 

 ding, ov bitter pudding is easily made. Tliose who 

 live in the country can beat up five or six eggs with 

 a quart of milk, and a little salt, with ilourtomake 

 it thick enough to pour without difficulty. Tliose 

 who live in the city, and are obliged to buy eggs, 

 can do with three eggs to a quart, and more Hour in 

 proportion. Boil about three quarters of an hour. 



Bread Pudding. — A nice pudding may be made 

 of bits of bread. They should be crumbled and 

 soaked in milk over night. In the morning beat 

 up three eggs with it, add a little salt, tic it up in a 

 bag, or^in a pan that will exclude every drop of 

 ■ivater, and boil it little more than an hour. No 

 puddings should be put into the pot, till the water 

 boils. Bread prepared in the same way makes good 

 plum-puddin;'-s. Milk enough to make it quite soit; 

 four eggs; a little cinnamon, a spoonful of rose- 

 water, or lemon-brandy, if you have it; a tea-cup- 

 ful of molass s, or sugar, to your tnste, if you prefer 

 it, a few dry, clean raisins sprinkled in, and stirred 

 up thoroughly, is all that is necessary. It should 

 bake about two hours. 



Rennet Pudding. — If your husband brings home 

 company v.-hen you are unprepared, rennet pud- 

 ding mav be made at five minutes notice ; provided 

 you keep a piece of calf s rennet, ready prepared 

 soaking in a bottle of wine. One glass of this wine 

 to a quart of milk will make a sort of cold cus- 

 tard. Sweetened with white sugar, and spiced 

 with nutmeg, it is very good. It should be eaten 

 immediatelv ; in a few hours it begins to curdle. 



Custard Puddings. — Custard pudd ngs sulHcient- 

 ly good for common use can be made with five 

 eggs to a quart of milk, sweetened with bi'own su- 

 gar, and ypiced with cinnamon, or nutmeg, and ve- 

 ry little salt. It is well to boil your milk, and set 

 it away till it gets cold. Boiling milk enriches it 

 so much that boiled skim-ijillk is about as good as 

 new milk. A little cinnamon, or lemon peel, or 

 peacii leaves, if you do not dislike the taste, boiled 

 in the milk and afterwards strained from it, give 

 a pleasant flavor. Bake fifteen or twenty minutes. 

 Hice Pudding. — If you wish a common rice i>ud- 

 ding to retain its flavor, do not soak it, or put it in 

 to boil when 'he water is cold. Wash it, tie it in a 

 ban-, leave plenty of room fiir it to swell, throw it 

 in when the water boils, and let it boil about an hour 

 and a, half. The same souce answers for all these 

 kinds of puddings. If you have rice left cold, break 

 it up in a little warm milk, pour custard over it and 

 bake it as long as you should custard. It makes 

 very good puddings and pies. 



Bird's-.Vest Padding. — If you wish to make what 

 is called ' Blrd"s-nest puddings,' prepare your cus- 

 tard, — take eight or ten pleasant apples, pare them, 

 and dig out the c.:;re, but leave them whole, set 

 them in a pudding dish, pour your cuslard over 

 them, and bake them .about tv.'eiity or thirty min- 

 utes. 



.■jpple Pudding. — A jilain uncxpensivo apple pud- 

 ding m.a.y he made by r dling out a bit of common 

 ple-oru3t, and fiUin';; it full of quartered apples ; 

 tied up in a bag and boiled an hour and a half; if 

 th:; apples are sv.^cet, it v.'iil lake two licur.T: for a- 

 clil tilings cook ea.5.1y. Same people like little 

 dumplings, made by roll ng i:ry one a*.]de, pared 

 and cored, in a piece of crust, aud tying them up in 



spots all over the bag. These do not need to be 

 boiled more than an hour; throe quarters is enough 

 if tiie apples are tender. 



Take a sweet, cr pleasant flavored apple, pare 

 them, and bore out the core, without cutting the 

 apple in two. Fill up the holes with v.-ashed rice, 

 boil them in a bag, tied very tight, an li.aur, or hour 

 and a half Eacii apple should be tied up separate- 

 ly, in difi'ercnt corners of the pudding bag. 



Cliirnj Pudding.— Fur cherry dumpling make a 

 paste about as rich .13 you make short cake, roll it 

 out, and put in a pint and a half 01 a quart of cher- 

 ries, according to the size of your family. Doub- 

 le the crust over the fruit ; tie it up tight in a bag, 

 and boil one hour and a half. 



Crauberrii Pudding.— A pint of cranberries stir- 

 red into a quart of batter, made like a batter pud- 

 ding, but very little stiffer, is very nice, eaten with 

 sweet sauce. 



Whortleberry Pudding.— VC\wrl\<:hc.n\es are good 

 both in flour and Indian puddings. A pint of milk 

 Vv-ith a little salt and a little molasses, stirred quite 

 stiff with Indian meal, aud a quart of berries stir- 

 red in gradually with a spoon, makes a good sized 

 pudding. Leave room for it to swell ; and let il 

 boil three hours. 



When you put them into flour, make your pud- 

 ding just like batter-pudding; but considerable 

 thleiier, or the berries will sink. Two hours is 

 plenty long enough to boil. No pudding should 

 be put in tdl the waterboils. Leave room toswell. 

 Pi-um-Padding. — If you wish to make a really 

 nice, soft custard-like plum-pudding, pound six 

 crackers, or dried crusts of light bread, fine, and 

 soak them over night in milk enough tocover them, 

 put them in about three pints of milk, beat up with 

 six eg.qs, put in a little lemon brandy, a whole nut- 

 meg, and about three quarters of a pound of raisins 

 which have been rubbed in flour. Bake it two 

 hours, or perhaps a little short of that. It is easy 

 to judge from the appearance whether it is done. 



Th(°surest way of making alight rich plum pud- 

 dim, is to spread slices of sweet, light bread plen- 

 tifully with butter ; on each side of the slices 

 spread abundantly raisins, or currants, nicely pre- 

 pared ; when they are all heaped up in a dish, cov- 

 er them with milk, eggs, sugar and spice, well beat 

 up, and prepared just as you do for custards. Let 

 it bake about an hour. 



One sauce ansvrers for common use for all sorts 

 of puddings. Flour and v.'ater stirred into boiling 

 water sweetened to your taste with either molasses 

 or sugar, according to your ideas of economy ; a 

 great spoonful of rose-water, if you have it, butter 

 half as big as a hen's egg. If you want to make it 

 very nice put in a glass of wine, and grate nutmeg 

 on the t p. 



When you wish better sauce than common, take 

 a quarter of a pound of butter and the same of su- 

 o-ar, mould them well together with your hand, add 

 a little wine, if you choose. Make it into a lump, 

 set it away to cool, and grate nutmeg over it. 



Cheap Cvsturds. — One quart of milk boiled; 

 when boiling add three table spoonfuls of ground 

 rice, or rice tiiat is lioiled, mixed smooth and ^\ne in 

 cold milk, and one e^g beaten ; give it one boil up, 

 and sweeten to your taste. Peach leaves or any 

 spice vou please, boiled in the milk. 

 Conimou i'ie^. 

 Minee Pies. — Soil a tender, nice piece of beef — 

 any piece that is clear from sinews, and gristles; 

 boil it till it is perfectly tender. When it is cold, 

 chop it very fine, and be very careful to get out ev- 

 ery particle of bone and gristle. The suet is sweet- 

 er and better to bcil half an hour or more, in the li- 

 quor the beef has been boiled in; but few people 

 do this. Pare, core, and chop the apples fine. If 

 you use raisins, stone them. If you use currants, 

 wash and dry them at the fire. Two pounds of 

 beef, after it is chopped ; three quarters of a pound 

 of suet; one pound and a quarter of sugar; three 

 pounds of apple ;. two pounds of currants, or rai- 

 f-ins. Put in a gill of brandy ; lemon brandy is 

 better, if you have any prepared Make it quite 

 moist with new cider. I should not think a quart 

 would be too much ; the more moist the better, if 

 it does not spill out into the oven. A very little 

 pepper. If you use corn meat, or tongue for pies, 

 it should be well soaked, and boiled very tender. 

 If you use fresh bc.-f, salt is necessary in the sca- 

 .sminj'. One ounce of cinnamon, one ounce of 

 cloves. Two nutmegs add to the pleas.antness of 

 the flavor ; and a bit cf sweet butter put upon the 

 top of e.ach pie, makes them rich ; but these are 

 not necessary. Baked three quarters cf an hour. 

 If your apples are rather sweet, grate in a whole 

 lemon. 

 Pumphi 



Pie. — For common family pumpkin 

 pics, three oggs do very well to a quart of milk 



