498 



NEW ENGLAND FAHMER. 



Nov. 



"Kohl-Rabis" all about, for I rather guessed they 

 were some kind of caulifiower, which I love ; but, 

 Mr. Editor, what am I to do with these critters ? 

 Are they food to eat ? and what part do you eat — 

 the turnip part or the leaves, or is there another 

 story underground ? How do you cook them — 

 with pepper and mustard, or boil them in vinegar, 

 or eat them raw ? I feel like the man with the el- 

 ephant, with all these "Kohl-Rabis" about the gar- 

 den. By throwing light on the subject, you will 

 relieve the mind of your obedient servant. 

 September. Ignoramus. 



Remarks. — Resolve yourself into a "tasting 

 committee," and "smelling" too, if you please — first 

 taste the branch and then the root, in its raw state 

 If not perfectly satisfactory, boil, or bake, or stew 

 If unpalatable in any way, try them with your cow 

 or horse, and you will find that they will eat a "bulb- 

 stalked cabbage" as readily as any other cabbage. 

 It is the caula-rapa of the Germans, and pretty 

 poor fodder at that. 



For the New England Famiet , 



TOMATOES-PICKLES. 



Dear Farmer : — Somebody would lilve to have 

 you tell them how to make tomato ketchup 

 Here is Mrs. Swisshelm's rule, and it is a good 

 one ; she says, " Our plan of making ketchup 

 is to have the tomatoes taken ripe and fresh off the 

 vines, wash them clean in cold water, and put them 

 immediately into the kettle, crushing each one in 

 the hand as it is dropped in; hang them over the 

 fire, and stir occasionally until they boil about five 

 minutes; then strain, first through a colander and 

 next through a seive. Get the liquid over the fire 

 again soon as possible, boil, skim and stir, wliile 

 your patience lasts, or until it is reduced one-half; 

 if two-thirds, all the better. When boiled enough 

 add to every gallon of this condensed liquor two 

 teaspoonsful of salt, an ounce of cayenne pepper, 

 the same of black pepper and cloves, a pint of good 

 cider vinegar, an ounce of mace and four of cinna- 

 mon ; jug or bottle it, and it is ready for use." 



The same body is more fortunate than we, and 

 has cucumbers for pickles ; here is a West India 

 method, and this is a good one : 



To every 100 cucumbers put one pint of salt, 

 and. boiling water enough to cover them, shut them 

 close to keep in the steam ; 24 hours after wipe 

 them dry, taking care not to break the skins, lay 

 them in jars or firkins and pour over them boiling 

 vinegar sufficient to cover them. Cloves, allspice 

 and mustard should be put in a bag and boiled in the 

 vinegar. In a fortnight they will be ready for 

 use. When pickling citrons, alum instead of salt 

 should be used to scald them in, and a large 

 spoonful of sugar to every quart of vinegar added. 

 The citrons should first be cut and the seeds re- 

 moved. This makes " sweet pickles." I tried cut- 

 ting the cucumbers so as to leave a small piece on 

 the stem, and s])lit the pieces according to chrec- 

 tions in the Farmer some weeks since. A fev/ days 

 after I went to see how my little cucumbers were 

 coming on, but instead of finding any, all that was 

 left on the stem had rotted. M. A. K. 



Filzwilliam, Sept., 1856. 



For the New England Farmer. 



MANAGEMENT OF STOCK. 



Mr. Editor : — It seems to me, there is no sub- 

 ject which ought to interest the farmer more at 

 this season of the year, than the management of 

 stock. Yet it teems to me also that there is no 

 subject upon which there is so much ignorance, if 

 we may judge by men's actions. I say ignorance, 

 because it does appear to me that if men were not 

 ignorant, they would adopt a more humane, and at 

 the same time a more economical course in the 

 treatment of their cattle. My object in writing is 

 to call the attention of my neighbors, and brother 

 farmers, to this matter, and see if after a little con- 

 versation they cannot be induced to "turn from the 

 error of their ways." Sometimes for the credit of the 

 race I think it is through carelessness, or for the 

 want of thought, that men will allow (or rather 

 compel) their cattle to stand out exposed to cold 

 and storm, while they themselves are in the village 

 store talking of some late horse trot, or exaggerat- 

 ing the small faults of some neighbor. 



I must confess, Mr. Editor, that I was offended 

 the other day, as I passed by a farmer's, and saw 

 his cattle standing out in the storm and wind, with 

 nothing to eat, while he was away hunting down 

 some stray fox, which had done less mischief than 

 his own dogs. It is the practice of many far- 

 mers in this vicinity to feed their cattle twice in 

 the morning, then carry some hay or straw to the 

 yard, or nearest fence, and after going to the brook 

 to chop the ice, leave them to their fate until near- 

 ly night. And what are the reasons given for this 

 course ? One is, that they will eat better out of 

 doors. Another is, they like to be in the sun. Now 

 if an animal is properly fed and cared for, they will 

 eat all that is necessai-y for them to eat, and all 

 which is fit for them to cat in the barn. And as 

 for being in the sun, I think if the o-.vner himself 

 were to stand out of doors from morning until 

 night, he would prefer to be in the sun. 



But there is another gi'eat error of which I must 

 speak at this time, which is this. If a farmer has 

 meadow hay or other poor fodder, he brings his cat- 

 tle to the barn, and commences feeding it out to 

 them first, and continues the same feed until it is 

 used up, and as might be expected by any thinking 

 man the poor animals look as though they had ar- 

 rived very near the same point. And so I might 

 go on and mention many other things which are 

 little better, but will not contemplate this side of 

 the picture longer, lest this intended criticism should 

 be called a stujjid fault-finder. 



Come, brother farmers, examine this matter, and 

 see if we cannot find out a better way of managing 

 our stock ; one which shall administer greatly to 

 their comfort, and to our own happiness, by seeing 

 them look sleek and fat. If this should meet with 

 a notice from you, I intend to write you a few lines 

 upon the other side of this matter, and state some 

 things which I hope may be of some benefit to 

 those who have not yet given much atteniion to 

 this subject. Amplificator. 



West Brookfield, 1856. 



Remarks. — This article has been delayed too 

 long — shall be happy to hear from the writer again. 



03^ Half an ounce of alum in powder, will purify 

 twelve gallons of corrupted water. 



