THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



105 



Because they can move their lower jaw backwards 

 and forwards, and to either side, so as to produce a 

 grinding etTect, necessary to bruise grass and to 

 pulverize grain. Tlie teeth may be compared, in 

 the carnivorous animals, to scissors; in the other 

 animals, lo the stones of a mill. — Bbimenbarh. 



Why do carnivorous animals prey on those 

 which derive tlieir food from the vegetable king- 

 dom ^ 



Because the food of all animals, either mediately 

 or directly, is derived from the vegetable kingdom. 

 Why are the teeth of some animals, as the cow, 

 and sheep, darker in the centre than elsewhere ? 



Because the eement which should fill up the 

 teeth, is sometimes not completely deposited before 

 the tooth cuts the gum ; hence cavities are left in 

 the centre of the tooth, which become filled with a 

 dark substance, composed of the animal's food. — 

 Blumenhach . 



Why are bullets sometimes found imbedded and 

 concealed in ivory tusks ? 



Because they have been lodged there by the 

 muskets of the hunters ; and as the tusks are con- 

 tinually growing during the animal's life, the bul- 

 let becomes surrounded by new layers of ivory, 

 while no opening exists between it and the sur- 

 face, to account for its entrance. 



Why does the dog, while changing its teeth, ap- 

 pear to have the canine teeth doubled .'' 



Because the permanent ones cut the gum before 

 the old ones have fallen out. 



The Stomach. 

 Why are certain animals called ruminating ? 

 Because they first imperfectly chew and swallow 

 their food, and subsequently return it through the 

 CRSophagus or gullet, in small quantities at a time, 

 to the mouth, there to be thoroughly masticated, 

 and then swallowed a second time. 

 Why do certain animals ruminate.' 

 Because, it is supposed, of a voluntary power in 

 the oesophagus; and, imleed, the influence of will 

 throughout the whole process, is incontestible. It 

 is not confined to any particular time, since the 

 animal can delay it when the paunch is quite full. 

 Blumenbach knew four men who ruminated their 

 vegetable food, and assured him they really enjoy- 

 ed the process ; and two of them had the power of 

 doing, or abstaining from it at pleasure. The final 

 purpose of rumination is, however, unexplained. 

 — Blumenbach. 



Why do some animals, as the dog, vomit very 

 easily, while others, aa the horse, scarcely ever can 

 vomit .' 



Because of a peculiarity of the opening of the 

 (Esophagus or gullet, into the stomach, both in size 

 and mode of termmation. — Blumenbach. 



Why are hair balls found in the stomachs of 

 some animals ? 



Because the animal has licked oflf his own hair, 

 which thus gradually accumulates in the stomach. 

 Why is hair found in balls ! 



Because the motion of the intestines in which it 

 is found is rotary. 



Clothing. 

 Why docs the fur, wool, or feathers, of quadru- 

 peds and birds, vary in quantity and quality, in dif- 

 ferent countries.' 



Because, generally, nf the temperature of the 

 region which the animal inhabits. Thus, the dogs 

 of Guinea, the Indian sheep, and the African os- 

 trich, are so thinly clotlied, that they may be con- 

 sidered almost naked. The temperature of their 

 bodies is thus necessarily diminished in proportion 

 to the heat of the climate in which they live. The 

 Iceland sheep and the Flsquimaux dog, on the 

 contrary, are covered with a warm coat both of 

 hair and wool, which enables them to bear the most 

 intense cold, without much inconvenience. 



Why are the skins of hares and rabbits seldom 

 ripe in their fur till frosty weather has set in.' 



Because the growth of the hair -is dependant 

 upon the temperature of the atmosphere : previous 

 to the winter, the hair of all animals is increased 

 in quantity and length, and the more they are ex- 

 posed, the greater is the increase. — Zoological Se- 

 ries. 



Fruiu the fhiluj. Fanrier'a Cabinet. 



Manufacture of Cider, 



(From the papers of the late Joseph Cooper, Esq.) 

 Cider is an article of domestic manufacture, 

 which is, in my opinion, the worst managed of any 

 in our country, considering its {usefulness ; and 

 perhaps the best method to correct errors is to 

 point out some of the principal ones, and then re- 

 commend better. 



One of the first is the gathering of apples when 

 wet; the next, to throw them together, exposed to sun 



and rain, until a sourness pervades the whole mass ; 

 then grind, and for want of a trongh'Or other ves- 

 sels .sufficient to hold a cheese at a time, put the 

 pomace on tlu^ press as fast as ground, then make 

 so larire a cheese as to take so long .a time to com- 

 plete' and press off", that fermentation will come on 

 in the cheese before the cider is all out ; and cer- 

 tain it is, that a small quantity of the juice pressed 

 out after the fermentation comes on, will spoil the 

 product of a whole cheese if made tlierewith. 

 When either of the above circumstances will spoil 

 the cider, which I knsw to be the case, don't won- 

 der at the effect of a combination of the whole, 

 which is freiiuently the case. 



As 1 have veiy often exported cider, and sold it 

 to others for that purpose, to the West Indies and 

 Europe, witliout ever liearing of any spoiling, and 

 as it is my wish to make the productions of our 

 country as useful as possible, I will give an account 

 of my method. I gather the apples for good cider 

 when dry, put them on a floor, under cover, have a 

 trough sufficient to hold a cheese at once, when 

 the weather is warm ; grind Uiem late in the even- 

 ing, spreading the j)oinace over the trough to give 

 it air, as that will greatly enrich ffle cider, and give 

 it a fine amber color ; then early in the morning 

 press it off, the longer a cheese laysbefore pressing 

 ofl', the better, provided it escapes fermentation un- 

 til the pressing off is compk'ted. The reason is ev- 

 ident from the following circumstance, take a tart 

 apple and bruise one side, and let it Lay till brown, 

 then taste the juice of each side, and you will find 

 the juice of the bruised part sweet and ricli, though 

 a tart apple. So, if sweet and sour apples are 

 ground together, and put immediately on the press, 

 the liquor therefrom will taste both sweet and tart, 

 but if let lie tiil brown, the cider will be greatly 

 improved. 1 always take great care to put cider 

 in clean sweet casks, and the only way to etfect 

 this is to rinse or scald them well as soon as the ci- 

 der is out, and not let them stand with a remnant 

 or lees to make them sour, must or stink. When 

 my casks are filled, I place them in the shade, and 

 exposed to the northern air. When fermentation 

 takes place, fill them up once or more a d.iy, to 

 cause tts much of the filth as possible to discharge 

 from the berry bung ; when it discharges a clear 

 white froth, put in the bung stack, or bore a hole 

 and pat a spile in it, and thereby check the fermen- 

 tation gradually; and when it has subsided, take 

 the first ojiportunity of clear cool weather, and 

 rack it off" into clean casks ; to effect which, when 

 I have drawn the cider out of a cask in which it 

 has fermented, I first rinse the cask with cool wa- 

 ter, then put into a hogshead two or three quarts 

 of fine gravel, and three or four gallons of water ; 

 work it well to scour off* the yeast or scum, and se- 

 diment which always adheres to the casks in which 

 the cider ferments ; and if not scoured off as above 

 directed, will act as yeast when the cider is put 

 in again, and bring on fretting, and spoil or great- 

 ly injure the liquor; after scouring, rinse aa be- 

 fore. 



1 find benefit in burning a brimstone match in 

 the cask, suspended by a wire, after putting in two 

 or three buckets of cider; the best method for 

 wliieh jirocess is to have a long tapering bung, 

 with a large wire drove in the small end witli a 

 hook for the matcii, which for a hogshead should 

 be sufficient to kill a hive of bees. W the cider 

 stands a week or m<jre after racking, previous to 

 its being put into the cellar, rack it again and rinse 

 the casks, but not with gravel, and put it immedi- 

 ately into the cellar. Tlie late made 1 jnit in the 

 cellar immediately after or before the first racking, 

 agreeable to circumstances as to the weather. The 

 eider I wish to keep till warm weather, 1 rack in 

 clear cool weather the latter part of February or 

 March ; it is best lo keep the cask full and bunged 

 tight as possible. 



To refine cider for e.\poitation or bottling, take 

 of Russia Isinglass about an ounce to a barrel, 

 pound it as soft as possible, pick it into fine shreds, 

 put it in a cleon earthern pot, pour on about half a 

 pint of boiling w.iter, slir and beat it with a stick 

 split in four parts at the end, and something put 

 in to keep it apart; when it has got thick add a 

 pint nf good souiivl citler, set the j)ot in a plac the 

 most safe? and handy, but not too warm ; as it 

 grows stiff, add cider as before in small quantities, 

 and re|ieat the stirring, the oftener the better, if 

 fiftv times a day ; in two or tliree days, if it is 

 well dissolved, rack off the cider which is for re- 

 iin'nrr, add of it to the isinglass prepared as above, 

 .-:!.ri-:iiir it well till fit fiir straining, which do 

 tbi-oiigli a linen elolh; then mix the fining and ci- 

 der tngetii'M' as well as possible, and set it in a pro- 

 per place for drawing off, giving some vent for 

 some days. If it is not sufficiently fine in ten 

 days, rack it off and repeat, the fining as before ; 



but it is best to rack it, fine or not, in ten or twelve 

 days, lest the sediment should rise, which 1 have 

 known to be the case. 



The foregoing operation should be performed 

 jtrcvious to the nppli' trees being in bloovi; but 1 

 have succeeded best in the winter, in steady cool 

 weather. 1 liave likewise had good success in put- 

 ting the fining in the cider direct from the press, 

 and set in casks with one head out, taps put in and 

 set in a cool place properly fixed for drawing, and 

 covered ; when the fermentation subsides, and the 

 scum begins to crack, take it off carefully with a 

 skimmer, then draw it carefully from the sediment. 

 If it is nnt sutriciently fine by the middle of win- 

 ter proceed as before directed. 



The settlings of cider sprits, reduced with wa- 

 ter cider, being put into cider, in proportion of 

 from two to tliree gallons to a hogshead, answered 

 the purpose of fining, full as well as the isinglass. 



3nd ino. 1803. JOSEPH COOPER. 



Book farming. 



Do the words produce a sneer .' Be that as it 

 may — the thing, or what is often stigmatized as 

 that thing, is not contemptible. For, what is it .' 

 Not an attempt to comply with the advice and 

 copy the example of every one who furnishes an 

 article for an agricultural journal ; not the adoption 

 of every method of husbandry that is recommen- 

 ded in print ; not a departure from all the usages of 

 our fathers and neighbors ; not a preference of the 

 theories contained in books, to the results of expe- 

 rience. No ! I pity the stupidity of the man 

 who thinks that if we use books, we must close 

 our eyes against the light that is beaming upon us 

 from other sources ; or that wc must become mere 

 theorisers, and the victims of ruinous experiinents. 

 What ! does a man lose his own common sense, 

 his prudence and his judgment, whenever he takes 

 up an agricultural paper, or opens a book upon 

 husbandry.' Cannot one make himself acquain- 

 ted with the doings of others, without losing his 

 power to judge whether it would be well for him, 

 in his circumstances, to copy their examples .' Our 

 brains are not so weak as this. The knowledge 

 acquired from books does not make us all mad. 

 But if it" did, there would be more zest, and true 

 enjoyment in the learned mad-man's course, than 

 in that of him who has learned out, and who thinks 

 that books cannot make him wiser. 1 ask what 

 book-farming is.' Common book-farming is, 

 learniiii; by means of books, new facts, opinions, 

 results of experiments, modes of operation, and 

 the usiivg such parts of the information as can be 

 turned to profitable account in our individual sit- 

 uations. If tills be folly, wc are content to be cal- 

 led fools. An agricultural paper will be worth to 

 you every month, if not every week, more than 

 its annual cost.— ReiK Mr. Putnam's Jlddress. 



From the Philadelphia Fariuei's Cabinet. 



Sir, — Permit me to call your attention to the 

 following interesting remarks on the seasoning of 

 wood — they contain the most valuable information 

 based upon purely scientific principles. Your sub- 

 scriber, ■ JOHN REDMOND. 



Montgomery county, oth April, 184fl. 



" Wood, when seasoned by the air, is left in the 

 same state as when seasoned by water, which is, 

 with the loss of its sap or juices, these being wash- 

 ed eir evaporated away : and this is sooner efl"ected 

 liy water than by air. The wood then, only con- 

 sists of its fibrous and solid parts, which are con- 

 siderably concentrated by being dried; yet the 

 mass is not without numerous interstices or cells, 

 from whence the sap has been e.tpellcd by the air 

 or water, and in dry weather these contain little 

 else than drtj iiir : but in moist weather, they be- 

 come charged with humidity i'rom the atmosphere, 

 to such a degree at times as to swell and even 

 burst the boards so seasoned. Now, the shrinking 

 and swelling of boards happen according as mois- 

 ture is absent or present; but if seasoned wood can 

 be defended from the impressions of water, it nev- 

 er will swell. "1 effected tlii.s while painting a 

 landscape on seasoned poplar, which warped or be- 

 came strait according as were the changes in the 

 state of the atmosphere, by covering the back, 

 sides and ends with painter's drying oil, at a time 

 when file board was straight, and it never after- 

 wards warped. 



Kqual parts of rosin, turpentine and bees wax 

 were melted together, well skimmed, and with a 

 brush laid boiling hot on a board six feet long and 

 eighteen inches wide, which was then kept in wa- 

 ter nineteen months, without having imbibed any 

 water, or having its coat of cement damaged. 



Wood seasoned quickly by fire whilst green or 

 full of sap, does not afterwards imbibe water, as 

 air and water scasonad wood does, because, as it 



