1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



14:5 



plete success, and that not only this room, but 

 the skill with which he has projected, and is exe- 

 cuting his plans, redound to his fame as an Engi- 

 neer of no common order. He is a gentleman of 

 commanding personal appearance, of great ur- 

 banity of manner, quick to comprehend and sug- 

 gest, and an able and faithful piiblic officer. 



The Library of Congress is on the west front 

 of the capitol, from the piaaza of which there is a 

 commanding view of the cities of Georgetown 

 and Alexandria, and a long reach of the Potomac 

 river and valley, and the forests that skirt the 

 western shore, as far as the eye can reach. Large 

 additions are annually made to the Library, and 

 since its destruction by fire a few years since, it 

 has been rebuilt with considerable splendor, and 

 highly finished in every part. Mr. Meehan, Li- 

 brarian, and his Assistant, Charles Y/. Hinman, 

 Esq., are entitled to my thanks, for kind personal 

 attentions during my perambulations over the 

 Capitol. 



In the process of constructing this massive 

 pile, I was informed that every stone that is laid 

 into the face of the walls is sketched upon paper 

 before it is cut, thus giving the workman an ac- 

 curate idea of what he is to bring out of it. — 

 Every part of the outside of the Avork is also pho- 

 tographed as the work progresses, so that the 

 appearances of the building in its ditferent stages 

 are all preserved, and, perhaps, may hereafter be 

 published. INIr. Wood conducts the op- 

 erations of this beautiful art, and it will afford me 

 sincere pleasure to reciprocate his kind attentions 

 whenever he may visit our city of notions. 



Delegations of the Pawnee and Sioux tribes of 

 Lidians are here, and are large, well-formed and 

 fine-looking men. They are dressed in blankets 

 ■with broad red stripes, their faces painted in In- 

 dian Chief style, and their heads decorated with 

 the feathers of various birds. Their chins are as 

 innocent of beard as that of a woman, but their 

 countenances betoken energy and a stern will. 

 They are treated with marked attention by the 

 government, and everything is done to impi-ess 

 upon their minds the power of the pale faces 

 whose guests they are. 



The government Botanical Garden is situated 

 west of the Capitol and immediately across the 

 Avenue from the Capitol grounds. It is neither 

 large nor extraordinary in any respect, otherwise 

 than as containing a collection of the plants 

 brought by Commodore Perry in the Japan ex- 

 pedition. These, of course, are new to our peo- 

 ple, and are therefore interesting. Among the 

 plants there I saw the cinnamon and breadfruit 

 trees, the India rubber and palm trees, the guava 

 tree, from the fruit of which the excellent jelly of 

 commerce is made, several species of pines un- 

 like any of ours, the rose wood tree and the tea 



plant, some of the latter being in blossom. The 

 plants, grounds, &c., are in the care of Mr. Wil- 

 liam R. Smith, a gentleman educated in the 

 Kew gardens, in England, and to whom I am in- 

 debted for kind attentions. 



! I shall leave here to-morrow and after spend- 

 j ing a few days in New York, be at my post again, 

 as usual. Yery truly yours, 



Joel Nourse, Esq., Boston. SiMOX BnowN. 



Fur the Netv England Furmer. 



"WINTER BUTTER AND DE. ALCOTT. 



Mr. Editor : — I saw an article in the Farmer 

 of Jan. 2d, from the pen of Mr. Silas Brown, in 

 Vegard to making winter butter. AUovv me to 

 add a word of my experience. He says, "we set 

 , the pans on the stove or some other hot place." 

 [Now I much prefer to place them over a kettle 

 of boiling water, as then there is no danger of 

 [burning the millc or melting the pan, which is 

 j frequently done when set on the stove, unles>i 

 j great care is used. In regard to churning as 

 often in winter as in summer, I think those M'ho 

 ■have but a small dairy, say but one cow, would 

 [find it quite impracticable, as they would often 

 find themselves minus the cream. My plan is, 

 when I gather cream but slowly, to set it where 

 it will freeze and keep so, till I get enough for a 

 good churning, then thaw it gradually and bring 

 it to the right temperature ; to it may be add- 

 ed carrot juice if you choose. I do not think 

 that freezing the cream after it has once been 

 scalded, detracts one iota from its goodness or 

 adds in the least to the labor of churning. 



After all, if we would only take Dr. Alcott's 

 advice in another column, we might save our- 

 selves all this labor and trouble. I think we 

 women ought to go down on our knees to thank 

 ihim for his efforts in striving to lighten our Inir- 

 dens — and yet, when I eat bread and milk Avith 

 a knife and fork, I always want either tlie cream 

 or a little sprinkling of sugar added, and a hasty 

 pudding made of corn or rye meal, and boiled 

 rice, occasionally, by way of variety. 

 Gardner, Mass., 1858. Mrs. H. Barlow. 



HORN AIIi...HOIiIiO"W HORN. 



There is no such thing. This is our settled be- 

 lief; or at most it is merely an incorrect name 

 for some ailment, which has no more to do with 

 the horns than with other parts of the body not 

 particularly diseased. The horns are at the base 

 exceedingly thin as we all know, they are very 

 good conductors of heat, and they cover a bone, 

 the pith, which with its integuments is exceeding- 

 ly vascular, as is evinced when a horn is broken 

 and the blood-vessels ruptured, the flow of blood 

 is vastly greater than when any other bone is. 

 broken or bruised. Hence it is that by feeling- 

 of the horns it is easy to ascertain the general 

 temperature of the animal — if it is feverish and 

 heated the horns are hot, if debilitated its ener- 

 gies in a measure prostrated, the horns will not 

 be so warm as usual. Standard writers on vet- 

 erinary practice either deny the existence of the 

 disease or say not a word about it. 



