380 



The Lady's Country Companion. 



Vol. X. 



The process of preparing soy consists in 

 boiling the seeds until they become soft, and 

 mixing with them an equal weight ofwheat 

 or barley meal, coarsely ground. This mix- 

 ture is fermented, and, a certain proportion 

 of salt and water being added, the whole is 

 allowed to stand for two or three months, 

 care being taken to stir it daily; at the end 

 of this time it is ready for use, and may be 

 kept in jars or bottles. 



The best soy comes from Japnn. When 

 genuine, it is of an agreeable flavour, nei- 

 ther too salt nor too sweet, of a thick consis- 

 tence, and clear brown colour. When shaken 

 in a glass, it should leave a coat on the sur- 

 face of a bright yellowish brown colour. 



A somewhat similar sauce may be pre- 

 pared in the following manner: boil a gallon 

 of the seeds of the Dolichos Soja till they 

 are soft — and even peas and kidney-beans 

 may be used as a substitute — add an equal 

 quantity of bruised wheat; put this mixture 

 into a warm place for twenty four hours, and 

 add a gallon of common salt and two gallons 

 of water. Shake the whole together, and 

 put it into a stone jar, where it should re- 

 main closed up for two or three months, 

 during which time it should frequently be 

 shaken. After this time the liquor should 

 be pressed out through a seive, and will con- 

 stitute the soy. An inferior kind may be 

 procured by putting salt water upon what re- 

 mains, and treating it in the same manner. 



The seeds or soy-beans are also employed 

 in China and Japan in various ways as food. 

 They are made into a kind of jelly or curd, 

 which is esteemed very nutricious and is 

 rendered palatable by seasoning of different 

 kinds. In Japan, they are put into soups, 

 and are the most common dish of the coun- 

 try, being frequently eaten three times a 

 day. E. 



Philadelphia, June 2Cth, 1846. 

 Dr. E. has left with us a few of the Soy beans, which 

 will be distributed amon? those who may incline to 

 plant them. A3 the season is late, it is doubtful whe 

 ther they would mature this summer; a few how- 

 ever might be tried, and others left to plant next 

 spring.— Ed. 



The Lady's Couutry Companion. 



Mrs. Loudon is following the example of 

 industry, so ably set by her late husband ; 

 and in addition to her numerous works on 

 gardening, in its varied forms, we have now 

 a thorough domestic volume, including ad- 

 vice and instruction in all the duties and re- 

 creations of a country gentlewoman. These 

 are arranged in a series of letters to a young 

 friend about to be married, when they com- 

 mence ; and of these letters, many are easy, 



natural, unstudied, and interesting. The 

 first is a mere introduction, in which the au- 

 thoress, like a good counsel, states the case, 

 which is simply, that, as her friend is going 

 to be married to a country gentleman, she 

 ought to learn how to enjoy a country life, 

 and that the authoress is about to teach her; 

 Mrs. Loudon exemplifying in her own per- 

 son and books — a conclusion to which most 

 rational men have arrived — that the best in- 

 structor of females is woman; and especially 

 when the instructions are founded on what 

 the teacher has experienced. And well 

 does the authoress prepare her pupil — no 

 ideal person — for the reception of her lessons 

 by mentioning the difficulties encountered in 

 early life, under somewhat similar circum- 

 stances: "I was then," says Mrs. Loudon, 

 "young and thoughtless; I had no sisters; 

 and having like you, been brought up in a 

 town, I had no ideas of the country but as a 

 place where eggs, cream, and fruit were in 

 abundance: where I might keep as much 

 poultry as I liked ; and where there were 

 shady lanes and green fields abounding with 

 pretty flowers. 



"The place we went to live at had a good 

 house, commanding a splendid view ; an ex- 

 cellent garden ; three fish-ponds ; and about 

 thirty acres of grass land, which enabled us 

 to keep cows and horses, without troubling 

 us with any of the laborious duties of culti- 

 vating arable land, 



" At first I was enchanted with the change ; 

 I was never tired of feeding my poultry, 

 watching the dairy-maid, and managing the 

 fruit and flowers; but alas! I soon found 

 that there are few roses without thorns. 

 My first trouble, was three gentlemen call- 

 ing on us one day unexpectedly, and my 

 father asking them to stay dinner. We 

 were seven miles from the town where we 

 had formerly lived ; and though there was a 

 small town within two miles of us, the road 

 was bad, and the miles very long ones; 

 while the town itself, when we reached it, 

 was one of those provoking places, the shop- 

 keepers of which never have whaj; is wanted, 

 though they alway say they had abundance 

 of the required article the week before, and 

 believe they shall have it again the week 

 after. I need not enter into details of my 

 troubles in preparing for this well-remem- 

 bered dinner. Meat was out of the ques- 

 tion ; and though I was enabled, by having 

 recourse to the poultry-yard and the dove- 

 cot, to give my father's friends enough to 

 eat, no one but a young housekeeper in a 

 similar situation can have any idea of what 

 I suffered. The lesson, however, was not 

 lost upon me; and you may easily imagine 

 that ever afterwards I took care to have a 



