FARMERS' REGISTER 



167 



been afiorded by the emancipalion bill: since 

 tlio?o on tlie part of the persons of color, who at- 

 tain anv conventional distinction amongj the whites 

 of the- island, stand aloof from those havino; the 

 hue of ihern^-elves, and consort with the whites as 

 instruments, merely, and proud of that distinction. 

 Colored ma<j;istrates sit with white ones on the 

 bench judicial, thoufrh their expoundings and ex- 

 planations are doubtless much guided by the latter. 

 Real estate has not been materially affected by the 

 bill in question : but the likelihood of no indefinite 

 continuance of the whites on the island in after 

 times, would seem to make it more an object with 

 them, to dispose of it brisklj' to those of means 

 and influence among the citizens of color who 

 may thus finally acquire by purchase, or conduct 

 with honorable agency, all the interests of the 

 whites now on the island, who may receive the 

 benefits of their properly on absenteeism principles, 

 after they shall have lelt it alone in its glory, until 

 fully paid.— P/ii7arf. Gaz. ( Whig.) 



CHEAP STEAMER FOR ROOTS. 



From tlie Cultivator. 

 The best and cheapest apparatus for steaming 

 roots, &c. we have yet seen, is made, by putting 

 to a box of the required dimensions for cooking 

 or steaming, a bottom of sheet iron, and setting 

 this box on an arch of brick or stone work, allow- 

 ing about four inches of each side of the box to 

 rest on the brick work. Let the box be made of 

 inch and a hall" or two inch plank ; the sheet iron 

 with a double row of holes for nails, secured to 

 the bo-'.tom of this, will be water tight, and a false 

 bottom made of a board, and perforated with nu- 

 merous liolcs, with deals nailed on it to lie on the 

 iron bottom, and prevent the roots burning on it, 

 completes the steamer. We have used one made 

 on this pinciple, for several years, and know of no 

 plan which will cook food with equal rapidity and 

 cheapness. Our steamer holds 15 bushels, and 

 the fuel required is but a trifle. 



METHOD OF PRESERVIKG CP^LERY THROUGH 

 THE WINTER FOR FAMILY USE. 



From Uic Magazine of Horticulture. 



As a completion of my article on celery, publish- 

 ed in your Januaf}' number,* I send you my 

 method of preserving it for use through the winter. 

 Celery must be taken up in the autumn, before it 

 has been, in the least possible way, injured by 

 frost ; as I am confident that, if the lops are frozen, 

 it affects, directly or indirectly, the whole root. 



A fine dry day, of course, must be chosen for the 

 above mentioned purpose. When the celery is 

 all taken up, cut off all the fibrous roots and all 

 the green tops, and lay it singly on boards, in an 

 airy shed, to dry, two or three days ; turning the 

 vvhole over once or twice a day will be necessary, 

 in order that every part may be as free from mois- 

 ture as possible; if this part of the process has 

 been duly attended to, after the third day the celery 



*And thenco copied into thn Farmers' Rcsjister. — 

 Ed. F. R. 



will be in good order for the next and last opera- 

 tion, which is as follows: — 



Having plenty oi' dry sand at hand, place about 

 three inches, in depth, of the same, at the bottom 

 of a flour barrel, or any other kind of barrel will 

 answer, provided it is clean and dry ; then lay the 

 celery flat on the sand, and so continue on, with 

 the sand and celery allcrnately, until you finish at 

 the top with sand, about lour inches of which 

 should be placed over the last layer of celery, and 

 the work is completed. A dry, cool place, where 

 it never freezes, is to be preferred to keep it in. 

 The operator need not be in the least alarmed, if 

 he finds that it has shrunk a little from the opera- 

 tion of drying: for it will immediately become 

 plump again after packing. He should have faith 

 in the method, and he will be sure to succeed. 



J. W. Russell. 



Mount Auburn, Cambridge, Feb. 1840. 



The above method of keeping celery, by Mr. 

 Russell, is probably as new to most of our readers 

 as it is to ourselves ; but we doubt not it will suc- 

 ceed : indeed we have never found much trouble 

 in keeping celery, provided it was not ruined by 

 repeated freezing and thawing of the foliage and 

 stems, before it was dug up in the autumn. This 

 part of Mr. Russell's remarks should be kept in 

 view, as without strict attention to this, the object 

 will not be accomplished. 



Mr. Russell's remarks, we apprehend, apply 

 only to preserving celery lor family use during 

 the winter. When a large quantity is grown, 

 and it is desired to keep part of it until spring, 

 before it is wanted, the best method will then be to 

 protect it in the situation where it was grown. 

 This, at least, has been our plan, and we have 

 found it to be attended with complete success. 

 The manner in which we have proceeded to do 

 SO, has been as follows : — Before frosts, severe 

 enough to injure the tops, occur, we cover up the 

 ridge formed by the earthing up of the stems, 

 wiih leaves, sea-weed, or coarse straw, preferring 

 either of the two first to the latter: this covering 

 should extend down the sides of the ridge, and 

 should be about six inches thick, and should be put 

 on in rather a dry state. This covering is to be 

 immediately protected with boards, put up in the 

 form of a ridge also, so as to carry off all the rain, 

 or water which may be formed from the melting 

 snow, in the months of February and March. 

 The top board on the east side, if the rows stand 

 north and south, as they always should do, un- 

 less very inconvenient, should project over that, 

 on the west side, from half an inch to an inch, 

 thus allowing no chance for the water to find 

 egress immediately over the roots. Ey this means, 

 it win be carried awaj'^, and if the surface of the 

 garden admits, theearih should be so thrown out 

 in the autumn, as to allow the surplus water in the 

 spring to be carried ofl' from the ground in which 

 the celery is planted. 



By the middle of March, unless that month 

 should be very severe, the ridge maybe opened 

 at one end, and the celery dug for use ; and it may 

 afterwards be dug from time to time, as it is want- 

 ed, and it will be Ibund as I'resh as if it had been 

 dug in the preceding autumn. We have fully 

 tried this plan, and can recommend it from our 

 own experience. 



It should be always borne in mind, that celery, 



