1846. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



161 



Inquiry. Preparing Rennet. 



Mr. Editor: — I wish to inquire, through the 

 medium of your paper, respecting a certain weed 

 found to some extent in fields of winter wheat, 

 in this and adjoining counties, called by many 

 red root. I am almost entirely unacquainted 

 with it, and would be glad to know in what way 

 and during what season of the year, farmers are 

 most successful in destroying it. In the portion 

 of Wayne county in which I reside, the weed is 

 in its infancy, as it were, and any information 

 or advice respecting it will be very acceptable 

 as well as timely. 



In your Ma}' number I noticed directions giv- 

 en to the Michigan Farmer, by a Herkimer Co. 

 cheese manufacturer, relative to preparing a 

 rennet. Believing that I can communicate to 

 you a better way (having tried both thoroughly, 

 I think,) of preparing rennet, given me by one 

 of the most successful cheese makers in Wayne 

 County, of more than thirty years experience, is 

 my only apology for troubling you with another 

 communication upon that subject. 



After having emptied the stomach, and rinsed 

 it very slightly, saturate it with salt, inside and 

 out. Then put it in a shallow dish, throw in a 

 small handfull of sage, and set it in a temperature 

 of say 80 ^ — being careful to turn it daily, that 

 it may absorb all the juices extracted by the salt, 

 which will unavoidably be lost if the rennet is 

 allowed to hang, (as the article alluded to directs.) 

 When thoroughly dried, wrap it in a cloth closely 

 to keep it free from insects. 



Yours respectfully, E. C. W. 



Wolcolf, June, 1846. 



Making Rennet. 



Mr. Editor : — I noticed in your April num- 

 ber an article on the subject of preparing ren- 

 net. Having tried that method as well as the 

 one below given, I am satisfied the latter is far 

 preferable. It is more economical, and will 

 make much better flavored cheese. 



To six gallons of water add salt enough to make 

 a brine sufficient to bear up an egg ; scald it 

 and skim it. Let it cool and settle, and then 

 turn it off' from the settlings. Then add 12 ren- 

 nets ; 6 lemons cut in slices ; an ounce each of 

 cinnamon and cloves, unground. 



It is better if made the fall previous to using — 

 but will answer if made two or three weeks be- 

 fore used. 



A Dairy-woman op Wayne Co. 



Wahvorth, N. Y. 



S. Long, in the Prarie Farmer, says he once 

 lost a number of valuable hogs soon after giving 

 them siveet tvhey. They became swollen and 

 died. Whey if left to sour, or mixed with sour 

 swill, is harmless. He also cautions against giv- 

 ing them brine in which there is saltpetre. 



"How to Make Soap." 



The soft soap of the farmers is an article of 

 great consequence. The manufacturer commonly 

 successful, especially if the directions copied into 

 the May number of the Genesee Farmer, from 

 some agricultural paper, are followed. Those 

 directions give the true process, always pursued 

 by the farmers of my acquaintance. Unless, 

 there is something peculiar in the ashes, the use 

 of unslaked lime is essential. The reason is, 

 that potash in ashe.s is a salt, or carbonate, and 

 that the carbonic acid is taken from the potash 

 by the lime ; ■ thus caustic potash is formed, and 

 unites readily with grease, while the salt or car- 

 bonate of potash does not. The lime is of no 

 consequence in straining the lye, but of essential 

 importance in obtaining caustic potash, and sliould 

 be placed at the bottom of the ashes. In this 

 state it will convert shearings of wool, and worn 

 out woolen cloths into excellent soap. The lime 

 should be good, fresh from the kiln, or not hav- 

 ing been long air-slaked and exposed to the at- 

 mosphere. The lye is sometimes left out, and 

 the labor and materials chiefly lost. 



June, 1846. Soapy. 



Vermin in Corn and Grain Houses. — I have 

 never yet seen in any papers the way we here 

 prevent rats and mice troubling our corn and 

 grain houses. We raise our building about 20 

 inches from the ground, by setting posts firmly 

 in the ground, and inverting a common worn out 

 milk pan on the top of each post, and set the 

 building on top of it. There is corn in cribs 

 in this place four years old, that has not had a rat 

 or mouse in it. 



If this is of any service, you are welcome to 

 the use of it, as I presume there are many far- 

 mers that have not yet found it out. 



A Subscriber. 



A large flat stone, [jlaced as a cap on each post, 

 will answer the same purpose as the 'pans.' — Ed, 



New Invention. — The St. Louis Republican 

 of a late date, says: — '-Mr. John Lightburn, of 

 Clay county, Missouri, has invented a new press, 

 for the purjiose of compressing liay, hemp, to- 

 bacco, cotton, &c., which, from the model, ap- 

 pears to be well adapted to the purpose. It is 

 constructed upon the principle of the double lever 

 applied to both sides of the press, and we under- 

 stand is highly approved by the practical men 

 who have examined it. The facility with which 

 it can be worked, is one of its strongest recom- 

 mendations ; a bale may be pressed in it in about 

 two minutes and a half. The model and speci- 

 fications have been sent on to secure a patent." 



Draining low lands will contribute to promote 

 health and profit. Generally speaking, our wet 

 and marshy lands are the richest in organic mat- 

 ters, and beconi^ the most profitable to the own- 

 er, when thoroughly drained. — BueVs Far. Com. 



