mtmm 



®l)c faxmtx's ilTontl)!]) Visitor. 



39 



ill no irioie of it than will be <li!>Kolve(l — where 

 uny of it is left umlissolveil, it clostioys that deli- 

 c;itp, rosy (l;ivor whicli remleis the article most 

 (lesiralile, and its value diiniuislies in pioportiou 

 to the excess of salt. 



Of the packing they recommcnil two kinds, 

 viz: firkins and Welch tiihs. 'I'lic firkins slionld 

 be of seasoned white oak and walnut hoops. — 

 Where white oak cannot be iirocuied they should 

 be made of heart stulT of white ash, and hoojis 

 of while or black ash, or elm, of good shape, 

 (lerfectly stnooth ; have on at least ten good hoops 

 smoothly shaveil, lie perfectly ti(,'lit, and to con- 

 tain at least 100 poinxls. Welch tubs should be 

 made of seasoned white ash, hooped with seven 

 substantial split ash hoops, to contain 100 to ViO 

 lbs. Both firkins and tulis shouhl be soaked with 

 n strong pieUIe, in order to saturate the wood 

 before the butter is laid down, (but never put any 

 salt on the bottom or on the top of the butter.) 

 Great rare should be taken to put it down solid ; 

 never fdl the packages so full as to have the head 

 or cover touch the butter, ami always make a 

 smooth surface on the top of the ladle. The 

 tubs or firkins should be weinhed, and their actu- 

 al dry weight marked upon them in such a way 

 as not to be obliterated." 



These directions, with some others not partic- 

 iilailyapplicable to our section, were published 

 in the Cultivator at the above time, and were the 

 cause of considerable improvement. We trust 

 that the publication of these hints, at the present 

 time, will not be amiss, as the dairy season will 

 soon be at hand. 



From Ihe Lowell Journal. 

 A liOudon Brewerf. 



I intended to have written to-day a brief de- 

 scription of my visit to tlie Colosseum and the 

 wax works of Madam Tiissaiid, but I have con- 

 cluded to change my ground, and give yon an 

 account of a visit I made the other day lo the 

 great Brewery of Me.'ssrs. Barclay and Perkins, 

 which is perhaps, after all, one of the greatest 

 wonders of London. This Brewery is situated 

 on what is called the Surrey side of the Thames, 

 about five minutes walk from London Bridge. 



] had been with a friend down to St. Catha- 

 rine's docks to see the shipping; and on my re- 

 turn I crossed over the bridge and made my way 

 toihe Brewery. Tliis iuitnense eslalilisljineiic 

 rovers fifteen acres of ground, every foot of 

 which is worth two or three dollars. I present- 

 ed ttiyself at the offi('e with a written permit, 

 and after waiting about ten minutes, was conduc- 

 ted by a person who is engaged for the purpose 

 of showing visitors around the works, all over 

 the establishment. It occupied a good hour and 

 a half, and 1 felt tired enough when 1 got through. 

 The water used (or making Beer and Porter is 

 taken from the Thames, which just in this vicin- 

 ity is not of the purest descj iption. The water 

 used for making the Pale Ale is taken liom a 

 well in the yard, which is three hundred and 

 sixty-seven feet in depth. In one department 

 they have five copper boilers, which hold four 

 hundred and sixty barrels each. Then they have 

 immense cisterns called coolers, into which the 

 liquor when hot is drawn and ko^it until cooled 

 off". The bottom of these coolers is traversed in 

 every direction with iron pipes, through which 

 cold water is forced, which assists to cool the hot 

 lirpior. In eacli of these vala a coach ami foiu' 

 could turn round, so the guide told me, and my 

 judgment does not conflict with his assertion. In 

 uiioilier department there was a great number 

 of immense cisterns, not sunken in the ground, 

 but standing on the surface of the flour, which 

 were all filled with Beer or Porter, and kept air- 

 tight. Seven of the largest of these vats are 

 each thirty-six feet in diameter at the top, forty- 

 three feet at the bottom, and are twenty-one feet 

 deep — each vat holds three Ihousandjive hundred 

 barrels of Ale ; indeed, theje is one a little big- 

 ger than the rest, wliicli holds four thoUHand bar- 

 rels ! The stout iron lioops around each vat 

 weigh seventeen tons. They use on an average 

 every day in the year ten hundred and sixty 

 sacks of malt, and they have now on hand lour 

 hundred thousand sack.s — a sack holds four bush- 

 els, which makes the stock of malt now on hand 

 one million six hundred thousand bushels; and 

 the stock of bops now on hand is in proportion 

 to the stock of malt. In the summer months 

 they brew in this estabiiBliment 2000 ban-els 



of beer every day ; during eight months in the 

 year they brew three thousand barrels of beer 

 every day. Von may ask, what in this world be- 

 comes of all this li(|Uor? — whicli, however, when 

 we consider how many more establishments 

 there are of a similar character in Great Britain, 

 lo say nothing of the (luanlity " home-brewed," 

 is but a drop in the ocean. Tlic fact is John Bull 

 is a beer-drinking animal, a tliirsly sonl. Biirclay 

 & Perkins send their Ale and Porter all over the 

 civilized world — much of it finds a market in the 

 Colonial ])ossessions of Euglainl, particularly in 

 the East and West Indies. The great bulk how- 

 ever, is sold at home, and no small proportion of 

 it is sold in the cily of London, as you may see 

 from this fiict ; I know not how many licensed 

 ale-bouses and lap-rooms there are in this im- 

 mense place, but they are legion. Well, Barclay 

 &. Perkins supply a vast many of them with the 

 liipior they sell. They agree to receive in pay- 

 ment for the same, one-third in gold, oiie-thiid in 

 silver, and a third in copper coin ; and so extensive 

 is the sale, that two men, each with a stout horse 

 and cart, do nothiug from Monday morning till 

 Saturday night, from .lanuary to December, but 

 go round lo the customers and gather in the pen- 

 nies, which are tied up in small bags, and wiiich 

 contain each a couple hundred pennies. When 

 the collector lias his horse-load, he drives back 

 to the comiting-room, deposits his burthen and 

 goes off for more. Others are engaged to bring 

 in the silver and gold. 



There are employed in this establishment about 

 400 men, and 187 horses, immense animals.— 

 " Big as a brewer's horse," has long since passed 

 into a proverb in England. One of the greatest 

 curiosities in the works was The stable where 

 these animals are kept. Most of them were in 

 their stalls when I went in. We have no such 

 horses in America. Where the breed came from 

 I'm sure I don't know. Each horse is v.ilued at 

 sixty-five pounds, about KO dollars. The lar- 

 gest horse of the lot is 18^ hands high, and is 

 large every way accordingly, and the men who 

 drive these horses seem to have been selected 

 upon the principle " of the eternal fitness of 

 things," for they are as large and .stout for men, 

 as the horses are for horses. Tlieir dress is also 

 niiilijrm. They all wear brown linen frocks, with 

 a sort of crown embroidered around the collar 

 and ill (I'ont. They wear corderoy breeches fas- 

 tened at the knee with some lialf a dozen brass 

 buttons. Their stockings are white cotton, and 

 their feet are adorned with a pair of thick soled 

 bootees, laced up in front with a leather string. 

 They are indeed bold, brawny samples of lieavy 

 yeomanry, and appeared to ine as a class, the 

 strongest and most athlelie men I had ever seen. 

 Talk to those men about drinking pure cold wa- 

 ter as a beverage, in |ireference to ale, and they 

 would eye you with amazement, not to say con- 

 tempt. They are the true beer drinking, beef 

 eating Englishmen. 



In this establishment there are two steam en- 

 gines of about 100 horse power, which arc used 

 for various purposes, such as griiuliiig the malt 

 for the vats, and the food for the horses. In this 

 place there is no loss, even the scum and dirt 

 which arises from the fermentation of ibe liquor 

 is carefully preserved, and is sold to the gin dis- 

 tillers, trom which to distil the most horrid bad 

 liquor, which is consumed in this city in great 

 abundance. Speaking of gin reminds mc of the 

 immense number of gin palaces, as they are here 

 called, which are located in the various jiarts of 

 London. It would seem that the gin palace 

 shines forth in its greatest splendor in those sec- 

 tions of the city where the greatest amount of 

 poverty and wretchedness is congregate<l. You 

 vviil see them in all the gorgeous attractions of 

 gas lights and 'oflectors, and magnificently deco- 

 rated l;imps, f. liout the purlieus of Covent Gar- 

 den and St. Giles', receiving additional altrac- 

 lioiis from the xyrelcheduess whiph, surrounds 

 them. In the evening they appear to reap their 

 richest rewards, say fioiji cau(}le light t» one or 

 two o'clock in the morning. There is a continu- 

 al influx and reflux going on. If you do not wish 

 to enter one, just watch when the door opens, 

 and yoit will see the long counter guarded all the 

 way along with customers calling for or drinking 

 their gin, men, women, and children. And with- 

 in the counter yon will perceive some half doz- 

 en handsome looking young women serving the 

 customers, making change, and talking and chat- 



tering merrily w ith those outside the bar. 1 have 

 been told that even the " dribbles," by which 1 

 mean the droppings and slops from the timdilers 

 on the counter, are preserved and sold to the in- 

 ferior gin shops at reduced prices. But I must 

 close this letter and the subject without further 

 remark. W. S. 



Ice-Houses. 



We have had an enquiry as to the tnode of 

 building ice-houses. They may be made abova 

 or below ground. They are generally made a- 

 bove ground when made on an extensive .scale 

 for the storage of ice on the margin of ponds. — 

 This mode of construction is the cheapest and 

 generally the best; and it is the only mode that 

 can be used on wet lands. Many fanners and 

 others, who preserve ice in a small way for their 

 own use, make their houses below ground. 



To make an ice-house below ground, build a 

 good tight wall of bricks or stone.s, and a little 

 inside of that, make a partition of plunks, boanls, 

 slabs or other timber. Some put the ic^e directly 

 against the wall, l)Ut in that case the heat of the 

 wall, which is in contact with the earth, is con- 

 stantly conducting ott" the cold and melting away 

 the ice. 



Lay at the bottom some Elones or timbers, of 

 any form, in a rough manner, then lay on sha- 

 vings, and then a flooring of planks, boards or 

 slabs to lay the ice on. 



After putting a floor over the top, cover it two 

 feet or more with tan, saw dust, or fine charcoal 

 powder. Shavings will answer, but they are not 

 so good ; and make a roof over the whole. In 

 hot weather, Ojien a window, from the sun, to let 

 out the hot pent up air. A door may be made 

 through the side or top as most convenient. 



To make an ice-house above ground, make a 

 double wall or boarding about two feet apart, of 

 bricks, planks, boards, slabs, or split timbers, tol- 

 eral)ly tight, if quite open it should he battened, 

 and lietween these walls or |)artilions put tan, 

 saw dnst or charcoal powder. Lighter materials 

 such as shavings, hay, straw, &c., may answer, but 

 they are not so good. Cover over as mentioned 

 ill case the house is below ground; and fix the 

 bottom in the same way. In either way, if the 

 ground be pot porous to absorb the water from 

 the melting ice, a drain must be made to conduct 

 it oft". 



The door should be double. By wetting the 

 materials between the walls, as cold weather 

 comes on, it will fl-eeze in a mass and keep the 

 ice cooler. The colder the weather Is when the 

 ice is put into the house, the better. 



These are the general principles, and may be 

 varied according to the circumstances, as to lo- 

 cation, materials, &c. Ice-houses are very use- 

 ful, particularly to those who have large dairies, 

 or sell milk. They are excellent for preserving 

 meat, fruit, &c. Almost every fanner would find 

 it profitable to have au ice-house. It costs hut 

 little, where materials are bandy. There is a 

 very spacious ice-house at Fresh Pond, in this 

 vicinity, made of bricks, that covers almost an 

 acre of land. — Boston Cultivator. 



From Downing's N. Y. Horliculturist. 

 Apples iu Vermout. 



Start not, gentle reader, at our title, if you have 

 supposed that " out of the worhl and in Vermont," 

 we really " never use snow until two years old," 

 and that" we subsist much like the natives of Lap- 

 land. Just visit us next season, and you will see 

 a little State, though nsiially called the Switzer- 

 land of America, v^hose agricultural products are 

 greater in proportion to her population than that 

 of any other Slate in our Union, and among them 

 a few apples besides other fruit. 



A large portion of our State was settled imme- 

 diaiely after the close of the war of the revolu- 

 tion, and among the settlers were great numbers 

 of the ofjicersand soldiers of the continental ar- 

 my, who, destitute of any means except conti- 

 nental inoney^not then current, came here, where 

 they were &ure of obtaining plenty of wild land, 

 and a hearty welcome from the hardy Green 

 Mountain boys who had so recently absolved 

 themselves (rom all foreign control, and estab- 

 lished a government of their own. 



Most of them, like the honest Germans from 

 Fader Land, brought seeds wiih them, and among 

 these always a small bag of apple seed, as cider 

 was then considered alinoBt an article of neces- 



