along, as if stepping to the tone of the dead 

 march in Saul, examining each plant critically 

 as tl)ey proceed, and devouring the smallest 

 speck of a worm. But for these anuies of tur- 

 keys, so employed, the crop of tobacco in Ma- 

 ryland would be very materially shortened ev- 

 ery year. 



In Uiat State, planters -whose wives are not 

 smai't enough to have the requisite number 

 raised, or who, as most frequently happens, are 

 denied the necessary houses and Jixtnres and 

 help to do it, buy from poor people — often from 

 poor widows — giving, Uiough with veiy unbe 

 coming hesitation and reluctance, as much as 

 50 cents each, when they ai-e as large as par- 

 tridges (which in New- York they call quail, call- 

 ing pheasants partridges), at which tune diey 

 are considered past tlie '-vicissitudes of youth,"' 

 and out of danger. 



When the tobacco crop is housed, the turkey 

 has performed the good ofSce for \vhich he^vas 

 chiefly roared or bought ; and having saved by 

 his services three times what the poor widow- 

 got for it, the planter sends the sui-plus of the 

 gang to Washington to be sold, geneially, for 

 double what he so reluctantly gave, rnost gene- 

 rally to another poor \n idow, keeper of a board- 

 ing-house to be devoured by Members of Con- 

 gress, some of ^^■honl are mean enough again to 

 jew down tliis poor widow to the last farthing, 

 that he maj- clear his ST out of SS per diem. 



But something yet remains — 



Eggs. — Without Poultn- how ai-e w-e to have 

 eggs — and without eggs, how are we to have 

 Poultry .' The two things go together, and will, 

 we may hope, remain mutually dependent on 

 each other, notwithstanding the power of a 

 thing called an Eccaleohiav, by which incuba- 

 tion is performed without the aid of the hen. — 

 There is in fact, no knowing what steam will 

 not do sooner or later ; so far, however, it has 

 left every hen to lay her own eggs. The num- 

 ber of eggs imported into England in 1839, was 

 83,74,'>,7-23, and the amount of the revenue deriv- 

 ed from them to the Government. wa.s SloO.OOO.* 



The specific gravity of new laid eggs, at the 

 first, rather exceeds that of water, varying from 

 1080 to 1090 ; but they soon become lighter, 

 and swim on water, in consequence of evapora- 

 tion through the pores of the shell. 



" When an c^^ is boiled in water, and suffer- 

 ed to cool in the air, it loses about 3-.2 hundredths 

 of a erain of .saline matter, toirethcr with a trace 

 of animal matter and free alkali. The mean 

 weight of a hen's egg is about 875 grains, of 

 which the shell and its inner membrane weigh 



* For the wonderful estimated value of the Poultry 

 raised in the United t^tates and in each State, see last 

 number of the Monthly Journal, page 275 — asgregate 

 19,344,410. New-Yoik. $1,153,413; Michigan, $82,- 

 730; Trunessee. the crack com State, upwards of 

 $600,000. &c. &,c. 

 (703) 



93.7 grains, the albumen or v/hite 5-29.8 grs., 

 and the yolk 251.8 gr.s. The shell contains 

 about 2 jKr cent, of animal matter and 1 per 

 cent, of the phosphates of lime and masmesia, 

 the remainder being carbonate of lime ^^■ith a 

 trace of carbonate of magnesia. Wlien the yolk 

 of a hai-d boiled egg is dige.sted in repeated"j,or- 

 lious of strong alcohol, there remains a \\hite 

 residue having the leaduig charactei-s of albu- 

 men, but containing phosphorus in some pecu- 

 liar state of combination ; the alcoholic solution 

 is yellow, and deposits a cnistalline fatty matter, 

 and when distilled leaves a yellov.- oil. The 

 albumen of the egg contains sulphur. The use 

 of tlie phosphorus is to yield phosphoric acid to 

 form the bones of tlie chick; but the source of 

 the lime A\ith which it is combined is not appa- 

 rent, for it has not been detected in the soft parts 

 of the eps, and hitherto no vascular communica- 

 tion has been discovered between the chick and 

 the shell." [Brande"s Encyclopedia. 



W'e shall conclude this disco-arse with the fol- 

 lowing directions, which we consider the best, 

 for cooking eggs, in several of the most palata- 

 ble forms in which they can be prepared for the 

 table. Man may say, in the pride of his w is- 

 dom, that any fool can poach an es^. or cook an 

 omelette. Very well then ; let him try if! 



M ISCF.lt. ASEOUS PREPARATIO.-fS. 



To Boil Eggs. — The boiling of eggs is a 

 very simple operation, but is frequently ill per- 

 formed. The following is tlie best mode : — Put 

 the egg into a pan of hot water, ju.«t oS the boil. 

 When you put in the ess;, lift the pan from the 

 fire and hold it m your hand for an instant or 

 two. This will allow the air to escape from- the 

 shell, and so the egg wiU not be cracked in boil- 

 ing. Set the pan on the fire again, and boil for 

 three minutes or more, if the es-g be quite fresh, 

 or two minutes and a half, if the egg has been 

 kept any time. 



To Poach Eggs.— Take a shallow saucepan 

 or frying-pan, and fill it about half fnll of water. 

 Let the water be perfectly clean, not a particle 

 of dust or dirt upon it. Put some salt into the 

 water. Break each e^s: into a separate tea cup, 

 and slip it gently fi-om tlie cup into the water. — 

 There is a knack in doing this, without causing 

 the ci:ix to spread or become rairgod. A gooid 

 way consists in allowiug a little water to enter 

 the cup and got below the e^g, which sets the 

 ] egg to a certain extent, before" it is allowed to 

 lie freely in the water. If the water be rtboul 

 boiling' point, one minute is sufficient to (frt'ss 

 the egg; but the eye is the best guide : the yolk 

 must retain its hquid state, lying in the centre 

 of the wliite. Have buiteredto-asted bread pre- 

 pared on a diph. and cut in pieces rather larirer 

 than the i^ss ; then take up the eggs carefully 

 with a small slice, pare off any rage-ed parts 



from the edges, and lay them on the bread. 



They may be laid on slices of fried bacon, when 

 preferred. 



Blttered Eggs.— Put a piece of butter in a 



saucepan, and melt it, adding a little milk, 



Bre.ak the eggs into a basin, and pour them into 

 the saucepan. Season with salt and pepper, 

 and continue stirrins the eggs till they are suf- 

 ficiently dressed. Serve on pieces of toasted 

 bread. 



Omelettes, — Omelettes are composed of es^s 

 and any thimr that the fancy niav direct to fla- 

 vor and enrich them. For a common omelette, 



