362 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No, 6 



ashes from Iklling through. Put in a pailful of 

 ashes and pack it. down. Then put in two quarts 

 of quick-lwie ; fill the tub with ashes, packing 

 it closely wilh a pounder, and leaving the upper 

 surface concave so as to hold two or three pails of 

 water. Fill this caviiy with hot water aa fast as 

 it soaks in the ashes, till ten or twelve ^jails have 

 been poured in. Let Ihis be done in the evening. 

 Let it remain about 12 hours. If the ley begins 

 to run from the leach-tub in this time, try it wilh 

 an ecor ; ii'ii bears the egg, it is strong enough. 

 If it has not begun to run at the expiraiion of the 

 twelve hours, add cold water until it does. If it 

 will not bear an egg, pour the ley upon the ashes 

 again, until it becomes sufficiently strong. If the 

 ashes are good, this quantity will make a barrel 

 of soap. 



Put the soap-grease into a vessel over the fire, 

 stir it frequently until it boils, then add a small 

 quantity ol" ley and make it boil. Add sufficient 

 ley at intervals of about two or three hours, to have 

 two gallons of ley to four pounds of grease. Ii'lhe 

 ley stiould begin to run weak before a sufficient 

 quantity is obtained for this purpose, do not add it 

 until the previous contents oi'this kettle have boil- 

 ed nearly enough, except a little should be neces- 

 sary to prevent its boiling over. To ascertain 

 whether it has boiled sufficienily, mix a small 

 quantitv of the newly made soap with an equal 

 bulk of water, and let it cool. The appearance 

 will at once show il the soap be good. When 

 this is found to be the case, add as much cold wa- 

 ter as there is ley, stir it well, and the work is fin- 

 ished. 



If the ashes are not packed closely enough, the 

 water passes through too rapidly and the ley is 

 weak. If packed too closely, the water cannot 

 get through during the twelve hours. There is 

 however, little danger of the latter. 



If the ley is not strong enoujxh, it will require 

 sometimes a day or two of boiling before good 

 soap can be made. This should, therefore, be 

 previously well attended to. 



If the ley should stand a day, it will not unite 

 with the grease ; or if it should, they will separate 

 when they become cold. This appears to be ow- 

 incT to the combination of the carbonic acid of the 

 air" with the potash o4" the ley, rendering it less 

 caustic. If so, the evil miixht at once be removed 

 by the addition of quick-lime to the ley. 



It appears that ihe corroiling quality of soap is 

 owing to a deficieJicy of grease. If this is the case, 

 the addition of an excess ol lime, in making the 

 potash caustic, would not produce any bad eflect. 



Good soup is eouieiimes made from ashes of the 

 maple without any lime, but beech ashes abso- 

 lutely require it. 



The consistency of the soap is in a great mea- 

 sure rc^J^ulated by the addition of water at the end 

 of the process. If the soap is too thick and brittle, 

 it ia very liable to become wasted in using. To 

 be in the best condition, it should be quite tena- 

 cious. 



To preserve the grease from becoming mouldy 

 or ipoiling, it should be kept in weak ley. 



A pine tub is the best thing to keep the soap in 



^an old tar barrel answers admirably although it 



imparts a dark color to the soap at first, but does 

 not irijure it. Oak has the texture gpon destroyed 

 by the soap-, and the tub bursts open. 



THE AGRICULTURAL INTEREST. 



From tlie Genesee Farmer. 



We are happy in giving the following extract 

 from a letter to us, from Mr. Tripleit, of Kentuc- 

 ky, on the important subject of legislative aid to 

 agriculture. VVe have the more pleasure in doing 

 this, as the aentimenls are just and Ibrcibly ex- 

 pressed, and agree wilh the opinions so often ex- 

 pressed by us in the Farmer, and which we are 

 confident will ultimately prevail. It is but a few 

 days since an honorable senator, in his place at 

 Albany, declared, that the project of aiding agri- 

 culture by legislative enactments, was "■the most 

 arrant quackery.'''' If quackery, in this case, why 

 is not aid ti-om the same source, quackery in other 

 cases? It was this legislative quackery, that in- 

 corporated our colleges, and endowed them; that 

 surrounded the prolessorof the law wilh exclusive 

 privileges and- numberless ways of acquiring 

 wealth and power, that are forbidden to the peo- 

 ple; and by so doing, placed that man in a suita- 

 tion to sneer at, and injure those who aided his 

 rise. When what are termed the professions ask 

 for aid, the vaults of the treasury are thrown open; 

 when those who have de|)osited the cash there, 

 ask for the use of a lew thousand dollars of their 

 own money, they are repulsed with taunts and 

 sneers. The evidence is daily becoming more 

 clear, that farmers must see to their own legisla- 

 tion, or it will be left undone. But to our corres- 

 pondent:— 



"Considering the vast importance to our coun- 

 tr}^ of the agricultural interest — it being the very 

 basis of all others — without the prosperity of 

 which all oihers dwindle — il is strange that it is so 

 overlooked and neglected in the legislation of our 

 country. 'Manulactures, commerce and naviga- 

 tion, are all found to be benefited by a little legis- 

 lative aid, but agriculture is supposed not to need 

 it. 1 am against too much legislation. It is one 

 of our errors, and ever will be in a republic. But 

 while there is too much on other subjects, there is 

 too little on agriculture. I will illustrate the evil 

 felt in some instances, and show how legislation 

 might remedy it. We see accounts in the jour- 

 nals, of the day, of improved farming implements, 

 and labor saving machines, &c. A farmer pur- 

 chases, say, a reaping, machine. It does not an- 

 swer. He curses the impostor, and forswears 

 all humbugs. He is told he did not get the right 

 article. But how is he to know the right one? 

 Certificates have little value ; we believe in none 

 of them. In the course of time perhaps a neigh- 

 bor gets the right implement, and when he sees 

 its operation, he will buy one. I have had my- 

 self a knowledge for several years of various im- 

 provements, which I have been anxious to adopt, 

 but have waited to see them introduced and 

 proved by others; not wishing to be humbugged 

 myseli". In these improvements, real ones spread 

 but very slowly. How rapidly would our pros- 

 perity advance, if the march of those improve- 

 ments could be expedited, and show how much 

 could that be done, if each state would haveamofZeZ 

 farm, where all reported improvements could be 

 fully tested, and reported on by authority that could 

 be confided in ; and where the operation of the 

 thing itself could be seen. There, too, manufac- 

 tories of the most improved articles could be es- 

 tablished, and the implements or machines fur- 



