.NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Puhlished by JOHN B. RUSSKLL, at th e corner of Ciingrrpss and l.indall Strcftg. (?i x door? from tin- Post Offico) Roston TFIO\HS <~r. FK^^F.XDKV, F.niroB. 



~VOL. IV. FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 1825. " ^~ 



No. 4. 



RURAIi ECONOIVET. 



From the American Farmer. 



where it will nol be disliirbecl, tor the fining to 

 settle. Cider ()re|i<ire(l io thin manner will keep 

 swfiet for years. 

 ,.| It is certainly of ijreMt imporlnnce to the peo- 

 Direciions for making sweet, clear Cider, that shall ^^^ ^f- America Io cnllivate the fruit that is na- 

 rctainitsfincvinousflavoi,r,andkccpgooiljora ,,,^_,| ,„ ,|,g ^.^j, ^|- ,|,^,j^ country, ami to make 



loit<^ time in casks, like wine 



It is of importance in making ciiler, that the 

 mill, the press, and all the materials be sweet 

 and clean, and the straw clear from must. To 

 make good cider, fV'iit should I'e ripe, (but not 

 rotten) and when the apples are ground, if the 

 juice is left in the pumice twenly-fmir hours, 

 the cider will be richer, softer, and higher col- 

 oured; if fruit is all of the same kind, it is gen- 

 erally thought that the cider s\\\\ ne belter; as 

 the ferineulalion will certainly be more regular, 

 which is ot importance. The gathering and 

 grinding of the apples, the pressing out of liie 

 juice, is a mere manual lalionr, jierloimed with 

 yery liltle skill in the operaiioii ; but hire the 

 great art of making good cider commence- ; fora.- 

 aoon as the juice is piessi d out, nature begins 

 to work a wonderful change in it. The juice 

 of fruit, if left to itself, will undergo three dis- 

 tinct fermeiitttions, all of which change the iiual- 

 ily and nature of this fluid. The first is the 

 vinous ; the second the acid, which makes ii 

 hard i-.nd prepares it for vinegar l>y the third it 

 becomes putrid. The first fermentation is the 

 only one the juice of apples should undergo, to 

 make good cider. It is this operation tliat seji- 

 arates, the juice from the tilth, and leaves it a 



the most of the fruit which the soil produces 

 especially, whenil* [iroduce is an article of val- 

 ue and of great cons'iniplion in this country. 



A LOVUn OF GOOD CIDER. 



From. Vu JV. 1'. S:alesman. 



SUMACH. 

 I observe, from an extract in your paper, that 

 a Mr Foley, of Louisiana, 13 desirous of having 

 some inloi nialicn relative to tl e shrul> called 

 ^'iniarb. It Is an article which liiis come imder 

 lay notice tor many yt'ars, as a dealer and as a 

 dyer. Tiie consumption of sumach in this coii\i 

 l:y IS a'roady Consideraldf , and is mucli iiicica* 

 ing il is used by the dver, and for tanning of 



I'.ilhor; and Turkey leather is all tanned with 

 this shrub. 



I am not prepared to give information on the 

 proper time of gathering the shrub, nor have I 

 born able to collect any instruction relative to 

 it from works published on the subject. I 

 should presume, however, that the proper time 

 would be when the annual shoots arrive at their 

 lull degiee of foliage. I should deem the .most 

 imporlant fact to the cultivator to be the obtain- 



ng ol the right species, for the varieties are 



clear, sweet, vinous liquor. To preserve it in numerous, and ara"'nar them only one appears to 

 this state is the grand secret ; this is done liy fu- i l)o culti* -.ited on \hc European continent for the 



migating it with sulphur, which checks any fur- 

 ther fermentation, and preserves it in its tine 

 vinous state. It is to be wished that all cider 

 makers would make a trial of this method ; il !■< 

 attended with no expense, and but little troutile, 

 and will have the desired ellect. 



I would recommend that the juice as it come^ 

 from the press, be placed in open heailed cask^ 

 or vats : in this situation it is most likely to un 

 dergo a proper fermentation, and the peiMjn 



e of the i^yer and tanner. When the right 

 kind has been obtained, and the shoots gathered 

 and well dripil, it will be necessary, in order to 

 giie to it the European value, that it should be 

 ground to a fine powder. 



There are several species of sumach in this 

 country. The rhns coriaria, or elm-leaved ; the 

 ihus giabriim, called scarlet suinacb, from the 

 colour of its icid berries — the rhiis tyhinum. 

 ;alleJ Virginia sumach — the rhus copallinum. or 



are cut down to the root every year, then dried, 

 that they may be ground to powder in a mill. 



Ai the cultivation nt' sumach is become impor- 

 tant from its great consumi)tion, I have taken 

 some pains to collect the following botanic de- 

 scription, that no mistake may be made by our 

 patriotic cultivators. 



Coriaria — elm-leaved sumach — leaves pen- 

 nate; leaflets oval, bluntly serrated, down\ be- 

 neath ; their common stalk winged in the iii)per 

 part ; flowering in July, and retaining its dense, 

 branched, ample, u[)right clusters, of deep red, 

 rough, coriaceous berries, even till winter, after 

 the leaves are fallen. The tree is of a dwart' 

 bushy habit, with spreading, ascending, round, 

 downy branches, of a soli spongy text me. — 

 Leaves from eight inches in a foot Inng, of about 

 Jive pair of lei'Jlels, with an oiifl one ; pait r, downy 

 md veiny beneath. Flowers greenish, each i\ iih 

 a large hoary germen, which becomes a o-lobu- 

 lar, ciimson. hair berry, thp size of an eldei tier- 

 ry. The taste ol this fruit is veiy arid and as- 

 tringent. ■ HOi^iiON. 



WIND CHURN. 



The editor of an Ithaca paper has discovered 

 in the course of his rambles n wind churn. Two 

 pair of lofty wings are expanded to the breeze 

 and by their revolutions turn a crank, to which 

 is attached a rod ; to the end of this rod a lever 

 is joined, and to this lever the dasher of a com- 

 mon churn. The owner declareil to him that 

 not a day, with the exception o( the Sabbath, 

 was sufifereii to paSo by, in which this invisible 

 agent did not perlorm its daily task. 



This is certainly a valuable irnprovement in 

 domestic economy, as the business of churning 

 by hand is one of the most troublesome and te- 

 dious duties of housewilery. 



attending may with correctness ascertain when the lenli-cus leaved sim.ich, fcc 

 this fermentation ceases; this is of great inipor- The rhus cotinus, or Venice sumach, is also 

 tance, and must be particularly attended to. The an important article in dying. It is commonly 

 fermentation is attended with a hissing noise, called young fustic, the stem and trunk of the 

 bubbles rising to the surfice and there for.ming a |shrub, and the root, are bought and employed 

 sott spongy crust over the liquor. When this lor dying an orange yellow. The leaves and 



crust begins to crack, and white I'roth appc.irs 

 in the cracks level with the surface ol the bearl, 

 the fermentation is about slopjiing. At this time 

 the liquor is in a fine, genuine, clear state, and 

 must be drawn olT immedialtly into clean casks ; 

 and this is the the time to fumigate it with sul 

 phur. To do this, take a strip of canvass or ra;; 

 about two inches broad and twelve long; dip 

 this into melted sulphur, and when a few paiN 

 of worked cider are put into the cask, set tlu- 

 match on fire and hold it in the cask, till it is 

 consumed, then bung the cask and shake it, that 

 the liquor may incorporate with and retain the 

 fumes; after this fill the cask and bung it up. 

 The cider should be racked off airain the latter 



sialk, when bruised, have an aromatic but pun- 

 gent and arid scent. 



The sumach called Sicily and Malaga, is the 

 most poua;lil after, and produces the greatest 

 [irice. It looks much yellower when ground 

 than the American, and works more powerlully. 

 It is the rhus coriaria, which grows naturally in 

 Syria, Palestine, Spain and Portugal, as well as 

 n this country, yet the .American is very infe- 

 rior to that obtained from Spain and Sicily. It 

 Is altogether probable that the deficiency in the 

 ^merican sumach arises from their gathering 

 irom the wrong species, from the mode of culti- 

 Fating il, from the quality of the land, or from 



i'avmg been grown in too northerly a climate, 

 should consider that Louisiar>a would be admi- 

 ably calculated for raising it. It is diligently 

 ullivated in Spain and Portugal. The bhoots 



WORCESTER CATTLE SHOW. 



The Committee of Arrangements for the Cat- 

 tle Show and Exhibition of Manul'actured Arti- 

 cles, &c. in V.'orcestcr, on the l£lh day of Octo- 

 ber next, have much pleasure in being able to 

 state, that, by information from various quarters, 

 the Exhibition and Show of this year, will be 

 very interesting, both from the character and 

 number of strangers who will be present, and 

 from the increased numlier and quality of the 

 Stocks and Goods to be exhibited. 



The Ladies of the County will greatly in- 

 crease the interest of the Exhibition, by a more 

 general display of the product of their labour 

 and skill. 



Suitable places of safe deposit will be provid- 

 ed for all Articles exhibited for Pitmiuin or 

 Show.- And suitable Pens will be put up for the 

 Cattle — a PiiI'lic Address will be delivered, bj 

 a member of the Society. 



Arrangements are made with Mr Slorkwell 

 for a public Dinner, to be prepared, and served 

 up in his best style, nt the moderate price of 

 seventy-five cents each, including wine and li- 

 quor at the table. — Arrangements are also made 

 with the Keepers of Public Hotises in Worces- 

 ter, that entertainment at their houses, on tba* 



