supplement. AGRICULTURE AS PRACTISED IN BRITAIN. 



1351 



usual way, yeast added, and fermentation induced. The liquor thus produced, after being bottled, wai 

 found greatly to resemble the Paris beer. (Dam. Earn, in I.ardner's Cyclupiedia.) 

 8390. Beer may be made from parsneps in a similar manner to that from potatoes. 



8391 — 5364. The distillation of spirit from potatoes is thus practised th France : The potatoes are 



boiled by means of a steaming apparatus ; and, where the apparatus is good, will be prepared sufficiently 

 in ten minutes. As soon as they are in a proper state, they must be bruised when at as high a degree of 

 temperature as possiile, and then thrown, for the purpose of fermentation, into a tub or other vessel con- 

 taining, for every 1000 pounds of potatoes, 416| pounds of cold water ; the temperature of winch, how- 

 ever, should not be below 14° of Reaumur (63^° of Fahrenheit). The whole must then be covered up, and 

 allowed to remain. Tnere will be 750 pounds of sediment contained in the quantity of potatoes which 

 has been mentioned ; and this proportion, with the 416J pounds of water, will be quite sufficient to pro- 

 duce a mass, of which the consistency will be that of pap or curdled milk, and the temperature from 48° 

 to 50° Keaum. (140° to 144^° Fahr.) There are then taken 31± pounds of the malt of barley, which is 

 steeped in 250 pounds of water that has been previously heated to the height of 60° Reaum. ( 167° of Fahr.), 

 and the whole is allowed to remain until it shall have cooled to the temperature of 22° of Reaum. (81±° 

 of Fahr.) There are then added 22J pounds of yeast, which is mixed by being actively stirred, and the 

 whole is then well covered and allowed to remain. When the mass of fermenting potatoes is cooled to 

 the temperature of 38° of Reaum. ( 1 17A° of Fahr.), the fermentation is stopped by adding 416§ pounds of 

 cold water, and the whole is well stirred together. This mass having fallen to the temperature of 25° 

 Reaum. (88±° Fahr.), the prepared malt, which has already begun to ferment, is added ; the whole is 

 again well stirred together, the vessel very lightly covered, and the fermentation allowed to proceed. 

 This latter operation takes place very regularly, and terminates in from forty-eight to sixty hours. The 

 fermented mass assumes a spirituous odour, and furnishes, on distillation, so abundant a quantity of spirit, 

 that, for every 100 pounds of potatoes, there are obtained eight French pints of spirit, in which, ac- 

 cording to the scale of Rich ter, there are thirty per cent, of alcohol. If, before carrying the fermented mass 

 to the still, it is passed through a sieve of iron wire of close meshes, the pulp of potatoes is kept back, and 

 the spirit is then more pure, and more pleasant to the taste and smell. This will be still more the case, 

 if there be added to this mass half a pound of potash for every 100 pounds of potatoes, before submitting 

 it to distillation. If it is wished to have a spirit analogous to that obtained from wine, it must be rectified 

 accordingly. ( Mo/eon's Ilecueil Industrial, and Quart. Jour. Agr., vol. iii. p. 321. ) 



8392 — 5365. Mincing potatoes, and mixing them intimately with straw cut into chaff" completely pre- 

 sents the fermentation of the potatoes in the paunch from injuring the cattle. They eat up the prepared 

 mess with relish, are soon satiated, and then lie down with ease and comfort, and of course fatten rapidly.'* 

 (Q. J. A., vol vii. p. 244.) 



8393 — 5369. Frozen potatoes. When frozen potatoes are thawed, they frequently do not give a fourth 

 part of the starch which they give before being frozen. The cause of this, it appears, is, that the starch, 

 being contained in the cells, or vesicles which constitute the principal part of the parenchvma of the 

 potato, is, in the case of potatoes not frozen, set free by the operation of the rasp or grater in grating 

 them down for starch. When the potato has been frozen, however, and is afterwards thawed, the cells 

 are no longer firmly fixed in the fibrous matter of the potato, and the grater has no longer any power to 

 tear them to pieces. Every one knows that the most mealy part of a potato is immediately within the 

 skin ; and M. Payen has discovered that by far the greater number of cells of starch are in that part of 

 the tuber, and that there are comparatively few towards its centre. M. Payen also found that the freezing 

 of the outer part of the potato, and the subsequent thawing, cause that bitterness which is invariably 

 found in frosted potatoes. Before the potato is frozen, the bitter principle, being contained in the skin, 

 is readily removed by paring or peeling ; but, when the structure of the parenchvma of the potato is 

 deranged by freezing and thawing, the bitter matter is communicated to the adjoining parts of the 

 potato, in consequence of their comparatively fluid state. The inhabitants of Peru dry their frozen po- 

 tatoes, and thus preserve them for food for an indefinite length of time. (G. M. 1839, p. 186.) If gradu- 

 ally thawed in cold water, and cooked immediately afterwards, they are eatable, but in a few days become 

 bitter, from the diffusion of the bitter of the skin. (G.C. 1841, p. 116.) 



8394 — 5377. Dale's hybrid turnip was originated, about 1828, by Mr. Robert Dale, of Libberton West, 



near Edinburgh. It is tankard-shaped, and resembles the Swedish or yellow turnip in colour. It is equal 



in size to the white globe, superior in size to most other varieties, whether of white, yellow, or Swedish 



turnips, and is found to produce a greater weight in a given space, and at a given expense of manure, 



. i o n ,. than any other turnip hitherto 



A. JL, - | L» introduced. It is not so hardy as 



the Swedish, and it runs to flow- 

 er rather sooner in the spring ; 

 but, with these exceptions, it is 

 the best of all field turnips. 

 (Quart. Journ. Agr., vol. iii. 

 p 578.) 



8395 — 5410. The most economt. 

 cal mode of dividing a field of tur- 

 nips which is to be eaten off' with 

 sheep. I have this year two pieces 

 of turnips, of ten acres each, 

 nearly square, which I intend to 

 divide by hurdles into eight di- 

 visions each, for eating on the 

 ground by sheep and young cat- 

 tle : now it is plain that if I divide 

 them straight across the Geld, 

 from hedge to hedge, I shall h tve 

 seven settings of hurdles, of 220 

 yards in length, in each field, 

 making in the whole a length of 

 3080 yards for setting hurdles at 

 different times. 



To save labour, I therefore 

 adopt the method explained in 

 the annexed diagram, fig. 1 1 B0, 



Suppose the figure, A B C I), a 

 square field of ten acres, then 

 a b will be the first sitting of 

 hurdles, cd the second, be the 

 third, rj the fourth, 6^ the tilth. 

 tz L h i the sixth, b k the seventh, and 



/ in the eighth ; in the whole, 

 eight settings of 1 10 yards each, or 880 yards ; in both pieces 1760 yards, or one mile -, and the turnips 

 will be eaten in rotation, as the plots of ground are numbered. 



4 R 4 



/ 



(' 





y 



% 



6 i 



7 



8 



D 



