28 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ArOTJST a, 1831. 



(Frdtii tlieOf-nesee l-'armer.) 

 COOKERY. 



mdle fValnut PiMes.—Mnke a briiie of salt 

 01,(1 water, in tlie proportion of a pound of salt to 

 a .'allon of water; put the walnnts in tins for a 

 week ; stick a fork throwgli tlicni in lialf a dozen 

 plaees; tliiswill allow llie pickle to penetrate, and 

 they will he iiincli softer and of better flavor, and 

 ready innch soonir for use ; put them into a bell- 

 metal kettle, with such hriue, and give tl em a 

 gentle siiiuner ; put them on a dish in the air to 

 drain, until they turn black ; tliis may take a day 

 or two. Put them into ii stone jar ; have your 

 pickle i)repare(l in the proportion of a <piart of 

 strong vinegar, one ounce of black [)epper, same 

 of ginger, some salt, and half a drachm of cay- 

 enne pepper, if you have it; make it (|uite hot, 

 ami then p'uir it on your walnuts, and then cover 

 them very tight vvith lealhir on the top. The 

 walnuts should be got when soft enough to pierce 

 them witii a pin. 



Pork Pie, — Make a common pie-crust ; put it 

 in an oven or pie-pan ; take the small ends of the 

 chinc-b(me, cut it into small [lieces; heat them a 

 little; season them with pepper and salt, and fill 

 yoi'ir pie; i)ut on the top and clcse it, a«(l pinch 

 k round the edge, and Sake it two honi-s witli pa- 

 per over, to prevent the crust Irom burning; there 

 should be some gravy in it when don«. 



Veal and Lamh Pit can he made in the saufe 

 way, the best end of the neck, and the meat off 

 •of the chine-bone taken away. The yolk of three 

 leggs is an inipioveinent to the veal pie. 



Parsley. — To preserve parsley for the season- 

 ing of meats, &c., let it be gathered on a dry day, 

 and lmme;i;.;;2ly put it in !^ ti.O-pan, and place it 

 close to n lafg" "''''' 5 '^ *^J" ''•'*''' ^""^ '-ecwie 

 brittle, when !t may be J-ilbbe4 fine^ and put into 

 glass bottles for use, 



Raak and Dough-mds.—Ono pint of new milk, 

 one pint of brown sugar, and three quarters of a 

 pounil of butter meltea in the milk until it is quue 

 hot ; beat the sugar and eggs together, until they 

 .appear quite light, then add the milk and butter, 

 with as :uuch flour as will make a stiff batter ; 

 'oeat it well, then put in one spoonful of good hop 

 yeast ; let it stan.l all night in a crock : if raised 

 go,«»* in the morning, add as much fTour as vvill 

 ;mak« it into dough ; put it back into the crock, 

 and let.it raise a second time; tbeii make it out 

 into small cakes, and put them w an oven a httle 

 yvarm not crowded, and le.t them raise the third 

 iime;'then heat your iid aud oven as your judg- 

 ment may dictate, and bake them a piue brown. 

 You can take part of the dough ami cut into any 

 shape you fancy, and fry them in some ^ijce hot 

 lard of u light brown. 



COMFAKATIVE VaLUK Of APPLEB.— Dliring tllC 



two last summerB and falls, my duties called me 

 into the apple regions of the North. The fol- 

 lowing facts were ohtaiuj.d in reference to tlie 

 gnhject : 



Good eating apples are worth on an average, 

 tweniyfive c.enis a bushel, Kight bushels of ap- 

 ples make a barrel of cider, and twelve barrels of 

 cider, make one barrel of brandy. Brandy, at 50 

 cents per gallon, would give but llfteeu cents per 

 bushel. This, on an orchard of one hundred 



trees, in ten years, would be over one thousand 

 dollars ! No allowance is made for ca|iiial and 

 labor connected with (r.-^tilling. Take these into 

 consideration, and the loss is much greater. 



It costs no more to rai.se g( oil apples, suital'le 

 for market, than to raise apples only suitable for 

 distilling. Very often apples are worth one dol- 

 lar per bushel, au<l the loss is immense, by turn- 

 ing them into brandy. 1 am told that at .Mobile, 

 apples are now woit.'i .$10 a bbl. 



Engrafting and budding will change the char- 

 acter of an orchard, and more than compensate 

 for the time and amount lost, in producing the 

 change in ten years. 



Apples make most e.vcelient food for horses. — 

 Several physic'.ans of extensive practice in Con- 

 necticut and IMassacbusctts, feed their horses on 

 apples and hay. 1 have never seen latter horses, 

 more sleek and s|)irited. Their hair is much more 

 lively, and requires less grooming than that of 

 horses fed on giaia. Mr Norton, of Farniington, 

 Connecticut, has about the finest pair of horses 1 

 have ever seen. They are fed mainly on apples 

 and hav. They travel very fast, and seem to have 

 both wind and bottom. It is [iroper, however, to 

 remark, tliat not so much grain is given to horses 

 at the north, as is customary at the south. One 

 thing is worth noticing : horses fed on apples do 

 not «at as much hay as when they are fed on 

 grain. Very sour raw apples injure the teeth of 

 horses ; but when boiled they do not. The rule 

 of feeding is to commence with a small quantity, 

 and gradually increase to a bushel a day for one 

 :year. 



Apples are most excellent food for beeves. — 

 X)je fattest beef 1 have seen, was made so with 

 sweet ^jjples. 



Notjsing will fatten mutton quicker than apples. 

 It is necessary, or best, to cut up the apples when 

 fed to sheep. 



Hogs care nothing for corn, if they can get ap- 

 ples ; if sweet the apples may be given without 

 boiling; if sour they must be boiled. Mixed with 

 corn meal the flesh is firmer. 



Apples increase the quantity and quality of 

 milk. At first there was a prejudice against giv- 

 ing apples to milch cows, because it was thought 

 they diminished or dried up the milk. It is true, 

 that a gorge of .'ipples, or any other green food, 

 will cause a fever, and dry up the milk ; but giv- 

 en in proper quantities, the effect is quite diH'er- 



ent. 



Cattle and bogs are purchased and fattened on 

 ap|)les, and sold to a fine profit — when to fatten 

 ihem on corn would ensure a loss. 



Sweet apples and good eating apples, are to be 

 preferred as food for horses, sheep and cows ; al- 

 so for hogs ; though some recommend a mi.\ture 

 «f sour and sweet apples for hogs. 



If these remarks should induce any to test their 

 correctness by making a fair experiment, the ob- 

 ject of my writing will lie fully answered. 



'i HOJIAS 1'. 11 I'M-. 

 — JV. 1'. Farmer. 



The Wilmington Advertiser slates, that the 

 proprietors of six steam saw-mills in that town, 

 have effeoled a saving of $12,000 per annum, liy 

 burning saw-dust instead of wood. 



Kektile Country The Isle of Wight, pro- 

 duces in one year, sufficient grain to maintain the 

 inhabitants seven. 



CURING CLOVER HAY. ' 



Clover hay should never be scattered out of the 

 swath, because in addition to the labor in scat- 

 tering and again raking up, the hay is thereby 

 gieatly injured. Indeed, if the weather be favor- 

 able for curing, neither timothy nor any other 

 kind of hay should be scattered, because the less 

 any green grass is exposed to the sun and air in 

 the process of curing, the greater will be the val- 

 ue of the hay, and the less the labor required. 



Let the clover lay in the swath untouched, un- 

 til about two-thirds of the upper part be suflicient- 

 ly cured, whiidi in gooil weather will, if the swath 

 be tolerably heavy, he effected in eight or ten 

 hours; if the swath be light, in a proportionahly 

 shorter time. When thus fi'.r cured, turn the 

 swath bottom upwards with the fork, an opera- 

 tion speedily performed. Let it then lie exposed 

 to the sun until the under side be cured, which 

 will be, accoiding to the thickness of the swatb, 

 in from four to six hours; then throw 3 swaths 

 together in winrows, and commence hauling in, 

 the wagon running between two wiiirows and 

 loading from each. It can hari'ly be necessary 

 to observe, that all these opeistions must be per- 

 formed after the dew has dried off. It is to be 

 recollected that clover will keep with less drying 

 than almost any other grass. A common test is, 

 to take up a hunch of grass and twist it, if no 

 juice exudes, the hay maybe hauled in witli safe- 

 ty. We have often hauled in clover cut in the 

 morning, in the evening, and always ihe succeed-, 

 ing day, unless prevented by bad weather. Sprink- 

 ling every layer of hay with salt, at the rate of 

 twelve or fifteen pounds to the ton, or intei pos- 

 ing a layer of dry straw, from six to twelve in- 

 ches thick, between every two layers of clover of 

 the same thickness, we found a great preserva- 

 tive ; and especially the latter mode will enable 

 the farmer to put up the hay in a greener state 

 than could otherwise be done vvith safety. Be- 

 sides this advantage, the straw interposed betweeii 

 the layers of hay, by absorbing its juices, will be 

 rendered much more valuable as provender, and 

 if salt be sprinkled on the bay it will be greedily 

 consumed by both cattle and horses. From the 

 great quantity of this grass produced on an acre, 

 its higiily nutritive quality, the ease with which 

 it is cut and cured, farmers will find that clover 

 hay is the cheapest food on which they can keep 

 their stock in good order during the winter. If 

 put up in good order in the fall, sheltered from 

 bad weather, and salted, both horses and cattle- 

 will keep faton it alone through the winter, witli-jj 

 out the aid of grain, unless when v/orkcd. 



The pievalent notion of the difficulty of curing 

 clover bay, is entirely erroneous. In a climate 

 like ours, there will seldom be found any ; in a 

 wet and cool climate, like that of England, the 

 difiiculty may exist to si nie extent, as clover wheai 

 put in cocks will not resist rain as well as timo- 

 thy and some other grasses ; but in the course o^ 

 fifteen years' experience, we have seldom lostanj* 

 or bad "it much injured by the weather ;—indee(| 

 we have found it comparatively easier to savej 

 clover hay than corn blades, and as three or fou^ 

 tens of the former, with the aid of plaster, cal^ 

 be made at less expense than one ton of the latf 

 ter, the farmer must lie blind indeed to his own 

 interest, who does not take care to provide him: 

 self with at least as much clover as will futjl 

 nisb an abundant supply of provender for liM 



Stock. 



i 



