No. 8. 



Extracts from Thorjie's Address. — Potatoe Jelly. 



243 



Extracts from au Address 



Before the Agricullnrisls' and Mechanics' 

 Association of Louisiana, January bth, 

 1846 ; hij T. B. Thorpe. 



"The foundations of productive wealth, 

 may be said to rest upon the pursuit of ag- 

 riculture and the perfection of the mechan- 

 ical arts. Commerce, superficially, seems 

 to be productive over the tilling of the soil, 

 yet it is not the case. There is something- 

 attractive about the large city, the crowd of 

 ships, the well-filled stores, and the state of 

 the successful merchant, that belongs not to 

 the more quiet pursuit of agriculture. The 

 wealth of the soil, however, when under- 

 stood, amazes; it seems impos?;ible, that 

 grains and glasses, that so quietly perfect 

 in the sunshine and rain, should bear among 

 their trembling leaves, value, that the ever- 

 yielding mines of Golconda and Potosi can- 

 not purchase. The value of all the com- 

 merce Great Britain has with our country, 

 is shown to be worth only 'her annual crops 

 of oats and beans ;' and ' the whole foreign 

 commerce of Great Britain, in the pursuit 

 of which she overshadows the ocean with 

 her fleets, and plants her colonies in the 

 most distant islands, is actually less in value 

 than the annual grass crop of the British Is- 

 lands.' 



" Louisiana contains within her territory, 

 we should judge, nearly as much cultivatable 

 land as the Island of Great Britain, and by 

 a moment's reflection, we can form some 

 crude estimate of the capability of our State 

 for great wealth. It is a startling thought, 

 and yet it is a true one, that the whole popu- 

 lation of the Union might comfortably sub- 

 sist within the limits of Louisiana. We 

 have been singularly blessed by Providence 

 with every possible advantage. Our coun- 

 try is naturally level beyond the attempt of 

 art; it is encircled and threaded by running 

 streams, that need but little care to form 

 them for every purpose of internal naviga- 

 tion. Upon our Southern coast, washes the 

 sea; through our centre runs the great Mis- 

 sissippi. Our soil is beyond comparison, 

 rich ; our climate is free from the heats of 

 the more tropical latitudes, and also free 

 from the frigid blasts. 



" The immense resources of our State are 

 almost as undeveloped as they were on the 

 discovery of our continent. We may be 

 said to carry on our agricultural, and until 

 recently, the mechanical arts, with almost 

 rude simplicity. We have done, compara- 

 tively speaking, nothing for their improve- 

 ment. There has been no concentrated ac- 

 tion, no intelligent discussion among our 



citizens for the general good. The planter 

 has pursued his business, liis plantation his 

 little empire, and beyond the lines of his 

 own boundaries, he has seldom gone in pur- 

 suit of pleasure or information. 



"Agriculture finds a right hand in the 

 mechanical arts. The genius of Whitney 

 added to the value of cotton a thousand fold, 

 by reducing its price and extending its cul- 

 tivation. The intelligent action of the 

 never-tiring spindle, gives to the ricliest 

 and poorest of our citizens an apparel that 

 kings could not command, in the historically 

 glorious days of Alfred or Charlemagne. 

 The researches of Packwood and Rilleaux 

 have made sugar, beyond question, a perma- 

 nent, profitable, staple of our State. Sci- 

 ence has overcome the disadvantages of 

 climate, the vacuum-pan detects sweets in 

 the frosted cane, that a few years ago was 

 left in the field as worthless. 



" The mechanical arts assist and amelio- 

 rate agricultural labours, from the mighty 

 steam-engine, with its multifarious offices, 

 through every contrivance, down to the 

 simple gin-band. In the support of this As- 

 sociation will the mechanical arts find the 

 fittest place for representation. Here should 

 be annually exhibited its improvements, and 

 its new offices. Here should be displayed 

 its wonderful results, and the busy hum of 

 its wheels, as it performs its various func- 

 tions, should here greet the assembled citi- 

 zens of our State." 



Potatoe Jelly. 



The readiness with which a good-sized 

 basin-full ofthick jelly may be procured from a 

 single moderate sized potatoe, is a fact worth 

 knowing. I have several times repeated the 

 experiment, and find that it does not require 

 more than eight minutes to change a raw 

 potatoe into a basin full of most excellent 

 jelljr, which has only to be seasoned with a 

 little sugar, nutmeg, and white wine, to 

 please the most fastidious palate. To obtain 

 this jelly in perfection, let a potatoe be 

 washed, peeled, and grated; throw the pulp 

 thus procured, into a jug of water and stir 

 it well. Let this stand for a few minutes, 

 and a sufficient quantity of starch will fall 

 to the bottom for the purpose required — pour 

 off" the water, and then keep stirring up the 

 starch at the bottom of the basin, while boil- 

 ing water is poured upon it, and it will soon 

 and suddenly pass to the state of a jelly. 

 The only nicety required is to be careful 

 that the water is absolutely boiling, other- 

 wise the change will not take place. Mr. 

 Darwin has recorded an instance of some of 

 his attendants being unable to boil potatoes 



