76 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



tirely destitute of any profitable late-keeping varie- 

 ty of the apple. 



You are well aware that a list of apples for mar 

 ket is one thing ; a list for home consumption is 

 quite another ; a list for an amateur, still some- 

 thing else. The first class must be handsome, 

 productive and popular ; the second must be vari- 

 ous in flavor and in season of ripening ; the third 

 class must be — every thing. 



A list of market apples is already given above ; 

 I would recommend for home consumption, (flavor, 

 productiveness, &c, taken into account,) the an- 

 nexed list. 



Sweetings. 

 Early Sweet Bough. 

 Pumpkin Sweeting. 



Season. Dessert. 



Summer, — Early "Williams 



, Porter. 



- . ) Gravenstein. 



Autumn, I „ b Nonsuch< 



*- Leland's Spice. 



{Northern . Danvers Winter Sweeting. 

 Baldwin. Ladies' Sweeting. 

 R. I. Greening. 

 Spring, — Roxbury Russet. 



(perhaps,) N. Spy. 



In the present state of information in regard to 

 this noble but neglected fruit, I should hardly feel 

 inclined to extend the list farther, promological 

 conventions to the contrary notwithstanding. 



Should the above prove acceptable, I shall at 

 some future time send you some notices of pears 

 and other fruits. Truly yours, 



George Jaqtjms. 



Worcester, Mass., Nov., 1851. 



MIDDLESEX CO. AGRICULTURAL SO- 

 CIETY. 



The Trustees of this old and time-honored soci- 

 ety met at Concord on the 3d inst. and made partial 

 arrangements for their operations during the coming 

 year. No place was decided upon for holding the 

 Exhibition, but it was voted that it be held 

 at the place which the largest number of new 

 members shall designate as their choice. This 

 opens a fine field for competition, and we hope our 

 Midddlesex friends will improve it by increasing 

 their numbers and funds so as to enable them to 

 effect some improvements which they have in con- 

 templation. 



In addition to their usual list, the society will 

 offer premiums this year on wheat nndflcuc. There 

 is now a new demand for flax on two accounts. 

 One is the discovery of a process whereby the fibre 

 is brought into a cotton-like state, so that it may 

 be spun on the ordinary machines for spinning 

 cotton. Two or three establishments have already 

 sprung into existence in this State for the purpose 

 of manufacturing linens, and with encouraging 

 prospects of success. The other is the great de- 

 mand for the crushed seed, or oil cake, as food for 

 stock. 



New efforts to raise wheat in this county, and 

 we believe in other portions of the State, have been 

 quite successful for two or three years past, and 

 i . • Board of Trustees was induced to encourage 



them by the offer of premiums. A fine spirit pre- 

 vailed at the meeting, with a determination on 

 the part of the Trustees to infuse new life and en- 

 ergy into all the affairs of the society. 



E. R. Hoar, Samuel Chandler and Simon Brown 

 were elected delegates to the Central Board of 

 Agriculture for the ensuing year. 



HEAT AND COLD. 



The effects of Cold on Wine and Vinegar— On Seeds of Fruit 

 and Trees — On certain Vegetables — Peculiar effect on the 

 Potato and Pumpkin — A Valuable Fact. 



Cold is supposed to be a negative property — the 

 absence of heat — and the terms heat and cold are 

 only relative, as compared with the sensations of 

 animal heat ; yet cold has some singular effects up- 

 on vegetable matter and 'fluid compounds. The 

 peculiar properties of wines and vinegar are de- 

 stroyed by freezing, as are many other articles. 

 Many of the seeds of fruit and forest trees will not 

 vegetate until they have undergone the action of 

 frost, while the seeds of the locust and a.variety of 

 others, will not grow the first yeat they are planted, 

 notwithstanding they are exposed to cold, unless 

 they are scalded. All of these peculiarities may be 

 owing to some mechanical effect, rather to any 

 radical change on the chemical decomposition or 

 composition of its constituents. Many vegetables 

 may be entirely frozen, and if the temperature is 

 raised slowly under water, or even in an air-tight 

 vessel, no change can be discovered. A singular 

 change takes place in freezing the pumpkin. The 

 saccharine principle is so developed, that the con- 

 centrated juice is a very fair molasses, and as such, 

 was extensively used during the revolution. The 

 effect of both heat and cold upon the potato is alto- 

 gether the most singular, and we began this article 

 to mention this fact. 



The potato contains a great deal of body — of pos- 

 itive animal nutriment, composed, like the bread- 

 stuffs, of farina — starch and gluten, and a large 

 portion of water. A potato, if frozen, and instant- 

 ly put into cold water, does not recover, but is to- 

 tally changed and lost ; bvit if while in the frozen 

 state they are thrown one by one into water con- 

 stantly boiling, they are in no way affected, and 

 are as edible as when first taken from the earth. 

 This is an anomally in the action of cold, winch 

 may also be true when applied to other vegetables, 

 of which we are not advised ; but it is a fact worth 

 knowing, as it may on some occasions meet the 

 necessities of almost any family — especially in those 

 flat countries where cellars are difficult of construc- 

 tion. — Rural New-Yorker. 



The Tomato in Virginia. — I note, also, a favor- 

 ite mode of dressing the tomato in Virginia, is to 

 bake it, without suffering the skin to be broken. 

 The tomato is neatly browned, and is a very toler- 

 able vegetable in this fashion. Here it is quite 

 popular. I have seen a small man eat a peck or 

 more at a sitting — in round quantities — then turn 

 in upon the raw. At Barnum's the colored waiter 

 corrected my English, when I called for " tomato. 

 "Tom — " quoth he, dubitatingly. "Tomato! 

 Oh! tomatusses, you mean." "Yes," said I, 

 quite modestly, " it must be tomatusses !" 

 Thereupon, with an indulgent smile, he supplied 

 me. — Correspondent of the Charleston Evening 

 News. 



