240 



NEV. ENGLAND FARMER. 



JAN. ar. i^4,i. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



QUALITIES OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE 

 FOOD USED IN DIET. 

 Beef. When this is the flesh of a liDllnck of 

 middle agp, it affords jo^ood and .stroiiir nourishment, 

 and is peculiarly well adapted to those who lahor, 

 or take nincli exercisf. It will often sit easy upon 

 stomachs that can diirest no other kind of food ; and 

 its f;it is almost as easily digested as that of veal. 



Vfal is a proper food for persons recoveiinof 

 from indisposition, and may even he jjiven to fob- 

 rile patients in a very weak state; but it affords 

 less nourishment than the flesh of the same animal 

 in a state of maturity. The fat of it is lighter than 

 that of any other animal, and shows th(! least dis- 

 position to putresency. Veal is a suitable food in 

 costive habits; but of all meat it is the least calcu- 

 lated for removing acidity from the stomach. 



Mutton, from the age of four to s:x years, and 

 fed on dry pasture, is an excellent meat. It is of a 

 middle kind, between the firmness of beef and the 

 tenderness of veal. The lean part of mutton, how- 

 ever, is the mo.it nourishing and conducive to health, 

 the fat being hard of digestion. The head of the 

 sheep, especially wlien divested of the skin, is very 

 tender ; and the feet, on account of the jelly they 

 contain, are highly nutritive. 



Lamb is not so nourishing as mutton ; but it is 

 light, and extremely suitable to delicate stomachs. 

 Pork affords rich and substnntial nourishment; 

 and ils juices are wholesome when properly fed, 

 and wlien the animal enjoys pure air and exercise. 

 But the flesh of hogs reared in town.s is both hard 

 of digestion and unwholesome. Pork is particu- 

 larly improper for those who are liable to any foul- 

 ness of the skin. It is almost proverbial that a 

 dram is good for promoting its digestion : but this 

 is an erroneous notion ; for though a dram may 

 give a momentary stimulus to the coats of the stom- 

 ach, it tends to harden the flesh, and of course to 

 make it more indigestible. 



.Smoked hams are a strong kind of meat, and 

 rather fit for a relish than for a diet. It is the 

 quality of all salted meat that the fibres become 

 rigid, and therefore more difficult of digestion ; and 

 when to this is added sn.oking, the heat of the 

 chimney occasions the salt to concenlrate, and the 

 fat between the muscles sometimes to become ran- 

 cid. 



Bacon is also of an indigestible qunlity, and is 

 apt to turn rancid on weak stomachs ; but for those 

 in health it is an excellent food, especially when 

 used with fowl or veal, or even eaten with peas, 

 cabbages, or eauliflowers. 



Goat's flesh is hard and indigestible ; but that 

 of kills is tender, as well as delicious, and aftords 

 good nourishment. 



Ve.mson, or the flesh of deer, and that of hares, 

 is of a iiourishing quality, but is liable to the in- 

 convenience, that, though much disposed to putres- 

 ency of itself, it must be kept for a little time be- 

 fore it becomes tender. 



TiiF. Bi.oon OF ANIMALS is Used as an aliment by 

 the ciimraon people, but tlicy could not long subsist 

 upon it, unless mixed with oatmeal, itc, for it is 

 not very soluble, alone, by the diirestive powers of 

 the hiimaii sloiiiacli, and therefore cannot prove 

 nourishing. 



IMii.K is of very different consistence in different 

 animals: b'lt that i.f cows being the kind used in 

 diet, is at present the object of our attention. Milk, 



where it agrees with the stomach, affords excel- 

 lent nourishment for those who are weak and can- 

 not digest other aliments. It does not readily he- 

 come putrid, but it is apt to become sour on the 

 stomach, and thence to produce flatulence, heart- 

 burn, or gripes, and in some constitutions, a loose- 

 ness. The best milk is from a cow at three or 

 four years of age, about two months after produc- 

 ing a calf. It is lighter, but more watery, than 

 the milk of sheep and goats; while, on the other 

 hand, it is more thick and heavy than the milk of 

 asses and mares, which are next in consistence to 

 human milk. — On account of the acid which is 

 generated after digestion, milk coagulates in all 

 stomachs ; but the caseous or cheesy part is again 

 dissolved by the digestive juices, and rendered fit 

 for the purposes of nutrition. It is improper to 

 eat acid substances v/ith milk, as these would tend 

 to prevent the due digestion of it. 



Cream is very nourishing, but on account of its 

 fatness, is difficult to be digested in weak stomachs. 

 Violent exercise after eating it, will, in a little 

 time, convert it into butter. 



Butter. Some writers inveigh against the use 

 of butter as universally pernicious ; but they might 

 with equal reason condemn all vegetable oils, 

 which form a considerable part of diet in the south- 

 ern climates, and seem to have been beneficially in- 

 tended by nature for that purpose. Butter, like 

 pvery other oily substance, has doubtless a relax- 

 ing quality, and if long retained in the stomach, is 

 liable to become rancid ; but if eaten in modera- 

 tion, it will not produce those effects. It is, how- 

 ever, improper in bilious constitutions. The worst 

 consequence produced by butter, when eaten with 

 bread is, that it obstructs the discharge of the sali- 

 va in the act of mastication or chewing ; by which 

 means the food is not so easily digested. To ob- 

 viate this effect, it would be a commendable prac- 

 tice at breakfast, first to eat some dry bread, and 

 chew it well, till the salivary glands were e.vhaust- 

 ed, and afterwards to eat it with butter. By these 

 means such a quantity of saliva might be carried 

 into the stomach, as would be sufficient fur the pur- 

 pose of digestion. 



Cheese is likewise reprobated by many as ex- 

 tremely unwholesome. It is doubtless not easy o' 

 digestion : and, when eaten in a great quantity, 

 may overload the stomach ; but if taken sparingly, 

 its tenacity may be dissolved by the digestive 

 juices, and it may yield a whcdesome, though not 

 very nourishing chyle. Toasted cheese is agreea- 

 ble to most palates, but is rendered more indiges- 

 tible by that process. 



Fowls. The flesh of birds differs in quality ac- 

 cording to the food on which they live. Such as 

 feed upon grain and berries, afford, in general, 

 good nourishment; if we except geese and ducks, 

 which are hard of digestion, especially the former. 

 A young hen or chicken is tender and delicate 

 food, and extremely well adapted where the diges- 

 tive powers are weak. But of all tame fi)wls, the 

 capon is the most nutritious. 



Turkeys, &c. Turkeys, as well as Guinea or 

 India fowls, afford a substantial nutriment, hut are 

 not so easy of digestion as the common domestic 

 fowls. In all birds, those parts are the most firm 

 which are most exercised : in the small birds, there- 

 fore, the wings, and in the larger kinds the legs, 

 are commonly the most difficult of digestion. 



VVii.n FOWLS. The flesh of wild birds, in gene- 

 ral, though more ea.-;ily digested, is less nourishing 

 than that of quadrupeds, as being more dry, on ac- 



count of their almost constant exercise. Those 

 birds are not wholesome which subsist upon worms, 

 insrcts and fishes. 



Eggs. The eggs of birds are a simple and 

 wholesome aliment. Those of the turkey are su- 

 perior in all the qualifications of food. The white 

 of eggs is dissolved in a warm temperature, but by 

 much heat it is rendered tough and hard. The 

 yolk contains much oil, and is highly nourishing, 

 but has a strong tendency to putrefaction ; on 

 which account, eggs are improper for people of 

 weak stomachs, especially when they are not quite 

 fresh. Eggs biuled hard or fried are difficult of 

 digestion, and are rendered still more indigestible 

 by the addition of butter. All eggs require a suf- 

 ficient quantity of salt, to promote their solution in 

 the stomach. 



Fish, though some of them be light and easy of 

 digestion, afford less nourishment than vegetables 

 ov the flesh of quadrupeds, and are, of all the ani- 

 mal tribes, the most disposed to putrefaction. Salt 

 water fish are in general the best ; but when salt- 

 ed, though less disposed to putrescency, they be- 

 come more difficult of digestion. Whitings and 

 flounders are the most easily digested. Acid 

 sauces and pickles, by resisting putrefaction, ore a 

 proper addition to fish, both as they retard putres- 

 cency and correct the relaxing tendency of butter, 

 so generally used with this kind of aliment. 



Otsters AND COCKLES are eaten both raw and 

 dressed ; but in the former state they are prefera- 

 ble ; because heat dissipates considerably theirnu- 

 tritious parts as well as the salt water, which pro- 

 motes their digestion in the stomach : if not eaten 

 very sparingly, they generally prove laxative. — 

 Mtdical InlMisenr.er. 



POt'DRETTE. 



The subscribers resitle in the slate of New Jersey, many 

 of us in the vioiinly of the works erecl^d by Anthony Dey, 

 of the city of New Vork, on the Hackcn^ack river, in New 

 Jersey, for ibe monufactory oi Urate anti Poudrelle, called 

 " 'The Lodi Mdmifadurwo- Company " We have used the 

 poudrette on ihe Spring Crops this year, 'S40. We find it 

 a valuable manure, superior to any other kind thai we have 

 ever used, and considering the facility of its transportation 

 to the field, the small quantity required in the application to 

 the crops, the quickness of ils operation on re^eiablc matter, 

 and the case with which it can be applied,-~au lend !o recom- 

 mend ils use to the farmer and gardener as the cheapest and 

 best manure, and we recommend it accordingly. 



Those of us who have applied it to corn and potatoes think 

 that it ripens those vegeial.les quicker than anv other ma- 

 nure bv several weeks. 



Dated New Jersey, October, 1540. 



Jacob D. Van Winkle. P. P. Welsh. 



John J: S'e^ckirk. G. C. Van Riper. 



John Tise. George Tise. 



Daniel Van Hiper. William Wood. 



George Demoli. John Duryee. 



Henry Drayton. George Tiewkirk. 



Josiah Hornblnwer. Garret Aewkirk. 



Corns. Van Winkle. Daniel Vreeland. 



Shares in the above company are SioO each, and may be 

 had by applying to Anthony Dey No. 73 Ueriar St. JVew 

 York. — The'owner will receive 20 per cent, per annum, 

 payable in money, or 5(1 hushels of Poudrelte. The price to 

 those wlio buy Poudrelle is 40 cents a bushel. It costs the 

 Stockholders 12 cenl.^ a bushel. One cents worth, that is, 

 20 Gills, will mannie 20 bills of corn, and the like quantity 

 15 hills of Potatoes. 



Newspapers friendly to agriculture will confer a favor on 

 the Karmers and Gardeners hy publishing Ihe above. 



Dec. 22. 



GKINOSTONIiS. 



.\n extensive assortment of Water and Hand Grindstones 

 coniiautly on hand mid Inr salebyAMMlC. LOAIUARl) 

 & CO. 13 Lewis's Wharf. i.-ly. Nov. 17. 



TRACE CHAI.XS. 



Just received, direct from the English mnnufactiiresr. a 

 casks of Trace Chains, from 5 to 1 1 I'eet Iniiii, suitable ior 

 ploughing or draft chains. JOsKPH BRIiCK & CO. 



