VOL. XVI. NO. 5. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



35 



TriE Tomato. — We are rciuiving n«w evidence 

 &f the utility of this grateful garden veget!il)le, in 

 preserving henhh and in curing indigestion, ; ud 

 diseases of tlje liver and lungs. A writer in the 

 I'^urnier's Register, says it has beeri tried by aev- 

 :;ral persons, to his knowledge, with ilecided sik;- 

 ;ess. They were uffiicted, says he, with chronic 

 ?oiigh, the primary cause of wliich in one case, 

 was snpijosed to he diseased liver — in another, 

 ;liseused lungs. It mitigates, and so'>ietiuies ef- 

 feotnally cliccks a (it of coughing. It was used 

 n a dried stale, with a little sugar mixed with it, 

 :o render it njoje agreeable tn the taste. The wri- 

 er e.\|)resses a CMivietinn, that if freely used in 

 Fitly, August and Septendier, it woidd prove a 

 30inplete antidote to bilious i'evev. The tomato, 

 ;o have it in early use, should be started with us 

 n a hot bed ; though if raised in abundance, it 

 nay be dried, which is our practice, and may be 

 It command through the year. 'I'he niodeofdry- 

 ng is as follows: " Full ri[)e tomatoes are seal- 

 led in hot water, to facilitate the operation of ta- 

 king nif the skin ; when skinned they are well 

 soiled with a little sugar ami salt, but no water, 

 ind then spread in cakes about an eighth of an 

 neh thick, and placed in the sun. They will be 

 Iry enough in three or (our days to pack away in 

 )ags, which should hang in a dry room." We 

 ;onsider the tomato and rhubarb the most liealtliy 

 )roducis of the garden. 



Pof Rafinesque says of the tomato — " It is ev- 

 iry where deeined a very healtny vegetable, and 

 m invaluable article for food." 



Prof. Uickson writes — "I think it more whole- 

 lome than any other acid sauce." 



Prof Dnglison says — " It may be looked upon 

 IS one of the most wholesome and valuable escu- 

 eiiis that belong to the vegetable kingdom." — 

 Phil. Commonwealth. 



A.voTHER ScBAP — Those who have faded Pon- 

 ;ee dresses, which they wish to have colored and 

 Iressed over, and cannot afford to give " seven- 

 md-six," for the doing of it, may substitute a pro- 

 ;ess of their own — far cheaper, and with equal 

 idvantage. 



I will tell you of one metliod — you can try it, 

 f you please, and 1 dare say your fathers or liu*- 

 )ands will be far better pleased with the specimen 

 )f your skill atid industry, than with paying the 

 iilk-dyer. 



Put two lbs. of ground logwood in a bag, boil 

 t well in a bra.ss kettle — drain off the liquor and 

 vash the kettle clean — then pour it back. Wash 

 'onr dress well in strong suds, and rinse it — wet 

 t thoroughly in cider, and then immerse it in tlie 

 ye — stir it well, that it may color all alike — keep 

 t pretty warm, but not (piite boiling, about half 

 n hour — then wring it and rinse it in vinegar, to 

 irevent its smutting. You may press it with your 

 at-iron, and it will have a fine lustre, as bright 

 nd lively as when now. The shade is much the 

 une as common Pongee, but considerably dark- 

 r. This is the way 1 did, and my husband says 

 e color will do very well for farmers' wives and 

 aughters. Lidia. 



-Maine Farmer. 



Wilson's Mowing Machine begins to attract 

 Itcntion, and we think with good cause. The 

 rst experiment made at Flatbush, before a eom- 

 littee, did not turn out quite as successful as was 

 tpected, but this was satisfactorily accounted for. 



Some of the knives got loose — repairs were nec- 

 essary — the machine struck some loose stones, 

 and it came on to rain ; but a seconi) and ihinJ 

 experiment, with tine weather, a smooth field, 

 Hiul the machimi in good order, was entirely sm*- 

 cessful. '! he machine with one horse and a mau 

 can with ease cut live acres per day, and cut close 

 and clean. This is an immense saving of labor, 

 parllcularly when necessary to cut your grain 

 quii'kly, and g :t in yonrcro|i in threatening wea- 

 ther. On the westirn prairies, this machine will 

 be worth its weight in gold, as labor in that re- 

 gion of fertile country, is diliicult to be had, and 

 one man, with this machine, can cut his grain 

 and hay, collect it, thresh it out, house it, and ac- 

 complish the work of five hands. Patent rights 

 for Counties, are selling briskly. — JV*. ,y. Evening 

 Slar. 



Hay Making. — It is now tlie busy and labari- 

 (iiis, but exceedingly rural season of hay making 

 with onr farmers ; and excellent weather tliey 

 have for the purpose. The newspapers, in speak- 

 ing of the prospect of the crops, from all parts, 

 e(.ncur in the opinion that they promise abund- 

 anlly in most things. This has been the repre- 

 sentation in regard to this vicinity ; hut in respect 

 to the crop of hay, v/e are persuaded from what 

 we hear and have seen, that it will be on an av- 

 erage, light — considerably short of that of last 

 year. The excessive frost of last winter, before 

 the ground was at all protected by a coat of snow, 

 has destroyed the vitality of the roots, of the grass 

 to a considerable degree — winter killed, \n the cur- 

 rent [)hrase. 'J'his is the case to a considerable 

 extent with winter grain. Indian corn is in a 

 fine growing condition ; but backward, — 2 weeks 

 at least in the rear of what it has been in some 

 former seasons. Vegetation, however, is now ad- 

 vancing at a rapid rate. — Salem Obs, 



The Blulticanlis Trees for feeding Silk worms, 

 continue to be in great demand. Contracts tor 

 l;^rge quantities have recently been made here, 

 and the supply is not yet equal to the demand. — 

 The great importation of trees from France, last 

 spring, by Mr Whitmarsh, ilid not admit of his 

 meeting all contracls, as it was found many of 

 them were worthless, in consequence of del'ective 

 packing. The continued and increased demand 

 (or trees argues well for the silk business, which 

 is gradually infroifuc.ng itself in every section of 

 the Union. In Weti.ersheld in Connecticut, the 

 other day, we saw some of the finest looking 

 plants from cuttings and layers, we ever saw. — 

 They occupied a poTtion of friend Comstock's 

 garden, the worthy and intelligent Editor of the 

 Silk Culturist, who had been offered something 

 like a thousand dollars for the lot, but preferreil 

 keeping them. — JVorlhampton Cou. 



Packing Butter. — During the summer months 

 butter is usually lower in price than at other sea- 

 sons of the year, and hence its preservation sweet 

 and good when packed, may be an object, in an 

 economical point of view, at this pinching time 

 for cash. Take a stone pot or jar that will hold 

 thirty or forty pounds, clean it thoroughly, and 

 wash it in strong cold brine. Jake of new sweet 

 butter, well made, and free from buttermilk, (if 

 enouffh to (ill the [»ot at once so much the belter), 

 work it well, and put a layer of it a few inches in 

 thickness in the jar, beat it down solid with a 



wood.'U beater, turning off the milk that will es- 

 cape oecasionally, then repeat the proce.=s until 

 the pot is filled within an inch and a half of the 

 top, with butler ihoroughly pounded down. On 

 the top of this mass, pour one inch of clear, pure 

 brine, tmule by di-iscdving salt in warm water, un- 

 til saturated, ;inil then cooled. Over this lay a 

 clean cloth, and if ibis is secured by a smooth 

 stone, it will be better thiiii a board. Keep the 

 jar at a low temperature, :ind the butter will ki^ep 

 good for an iiulefinite length of time, only exam- 

 ining it occasionally, to see that it is covered with 

 the brine, and renewing it if necessary. Last 

 summer we put down some jars in this ".vay, and 

 they kept perfectly fine for winter's use. Judge 

 Buel has preserved butter in this way for twenty 

 months in good cimdition. The only requisites 

 appear to be pure sweet butter to pack, solidity 

 in the mass by beating, total exclusion of the air 

 by brine, and the lowest temperature possible. — 

 Geniiantown Tel. j 



Farms in England. — -The farms are regularly 

 laid, out in squares and parallelograms, of from 2 

 to 40 acres, and in general, they are laid down as 

 srii'joth au<l level as the roller can make them. — 

 Mere is a lu.xuriaut wheat field, and there a fine 

 meadoiv, and next a rich pasture, and there busy 

 preparations for putting in (lotaloes or turnips, 

 and ihere barley or o.-us just shooting u[) from the 

 dark and ivch soil. But scarcely a rod of fence, 

 such as v.e meet every where in the U. States of 

 America, do you see in your 2(10 miles ride from 

 Liverpool to the Metropolis. All is hawthorn ; 

 and {^le-e hedges, which are, for the most part, 

 neatly triinmed about the gardens and farm hou- 

 ses, and by the roadside, add more to the beauty 

 of the country than any description had pictured 

 upon the mind. The common method of making 

 hedges is this : first, a ridge is thrown up, per- 

 haps a foot froni the level of the fields which are 

 to be fenced off, then the young thorn is to be 

 planted in two parallel rows, about a foot or 18 

 inches a|)art. The growth is not very rapid, but 

 when it has attained the heighth of four or five 

 feet, iu about as many year.s, it become-s so dense 

 that no domestic animal would think ol breaking 

 through it. 'I he leaf is small, deeply verdant, 

 and beautifully scattered. In the month of -May, 

 these hedges are clotlie<l with a white, fragrant 

 blossom, very much resembling that of the thorns 

 of our own country, and it is then that the honey- 

 suckle and other wild flowers unfold their wild 

 hue.t and mingle their sweetness with the haw- 

 thorn. In the heilges, trees, such as the oak, the 

 elm, and the horse chestnut are planted, some- 

 times in rows near together, but oftener far apart, 

 so that each one rises and waves by itself, over 

 the humble, but not less eharming growth below. 

 Single trees of gieat age, are very large, sprinkled 

 here and there in every <liiection, and every now 

 and then you catrh a glimpse, in the distance, of 

 a grove or circular clump, which adds not a little 

 to the beauty of the landscape.— Z>r Humphrey's 

 Tour. ^ 



The Crops.— The Easton (Md.) Gazette of 

 Saturday says : ' Our farmers say theie is now a 

 fair prospect for a crop of wheat in this country.' 

 The llagerstown i orch Light of 1 hursilay last, 

 speaks of the improved appearance of the crops 

 in that region, under the iiiHueuce of the late fa- 

 vorable weather. 



