220 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Jan. 25, 1832. 



1 the Frugal Houaewifc. 



FISH. 



Cod has white stripes, and a haddock black 

 stripes ; they may be kno«7i apart by this. Had- 

 dock is the best for frying ; and the cod is best for 

 boiling, or for a chowder. A thin tail is a sign of 

 a poor fish ; always choose a thick fish. 



When you are buying mackerel, pinch the belly 

 to ascertain whether it is good. If it gives under 

 your finger, like a bladder half filled with wind, 

 the fish is poor; if it feels ihard like butter, the 

 fish is good. It is cheader to buy one large 

 mackerel for ninepence, tSan two for fourpence 

 halfpenny. 



Fish should not be put in to fry until the fat is 

 boiling hot ; it is very necessary to observe this. — 

 It should be dipped in Indian meal before it is put 

 in ; and the skinny side uppermost, when first put 

 in, to prevent its breaking. It relishes better to 

 be fried after salt pork, than to be fried in lard 

 alone. Peoide are mistaken, who think fresh fish 

 should be put into cold water as soon as it is brought 

 into the house ; soaking it in water is injurious. — 

 If you want to keep it sweet, clean it, wash it, 

 wipe it dry with a clean towel, sprinkle salt in- 

 side and out, put it in a covered dish, and keep it 

 on the ceHar floor until you want- to cook it. If 

 you live remote from tlie seaport, and cannot get 

 fish while hard and fresh, wet it with an egg 

 beaten, before you meal it, to prcveut its breaking. 

 Fish gravy is very much improved by taking 

 out some of the fat, after the fish is fried, and put- 

 ting in a little butter. The fat thus taken out will 

 do to fry fish again ; but it will rot do for any 

 kind of shortening. Shake in a little flour into the 

 hot fat, and pour in a little boiling water ; stir it 

 up well, as it boils, a minute or so. Some people 

 put in vinegar ; but this is easily added by those 

 who like it. 



A common sized cod-fish should be put in when 

 the water is boiling hot, and boil about tweiuy 

 minutes. Haddock is not a.s good for boiling as 

 cod ; it takes about the same time fi) boil. 



A piece of halibut which weighstfour pounds is 

 a large dinner for a family of si.x| or seven. It 

 should boil forty minutes. No fishi put in till tlie 

 water boils. Melted butter for sauje. 



Clams should boil about fitk'cn t\ inutes in their 

 own water ; no other ncved be at ded, except a 

 spoonful to keep the bottom shells from burning. 

 It is easy to tell when they are dont, by the shells 

 starting wide open. After they ire done, they 

 should be taken from the shells, waihed thorough- 

 ly in their own water, and put in i stewing pan. 

 The water should then he strati cd tlirough a 

 cloth, so as to get out all the f -it ; the clams 

 should be, simmered in it ten or t [\een minutes ; 

 a little thickening of flour and wai?r added ; half 

 a dozen slices of toasted bread o^ cracker ; and 

 pepper, vinegar and butter to youi^ taste. Salt is 

 not needed. 



Four pounds of fish are enough to make a 

 chowder for four or five people ; half a dozen 

 slices of salt pork in the bottom of the pot ; hang 

 it high, so that the pork may not burn ; take it out 

 when done very brown ; put in m layer of fish, cut 

 in lengthwise slices, then a layer formed of crack- 

 ers, small or sUced onions, and potatoes sliced as 

 thin as a fourpence, mixed with jjieces of ])ork 

 you have fried ; then a layer of fish again, and so 

 on. Six crackers are enough. Strew a little salt 

 and pepper over each layer; over th'' whole pour 



a bowl-full of flour and water, enough to come up 

 even with the surface of what you have in the pot. 

 A sliced lemon adds to the flavor. A cup of 

 tomato catsup is very excellent. Some people put 

 in a cup of beer. A few clams are a (ileasant ad- 

 dition. It should be covered so as not to let a 

 particle of steam escape, if possible. Do not open 

 it, except when nearly done, to taste if it be well 

 seasoned. 



Salt fish should be put in a deep plate, with just 

 water enough to cover it, the night before you in- 

 tend to cook it. It should not be boiled an in- 

 stant ; boiling renders it hard. It should lie in 

 scalding hot water two or three hours. The less 

 water is used, and the more fish is cooked at once, 

 the better. Water thickened with flour and water 

 while boiling, with sweet butter put in to meltJ is 

 the common sauce. It is more economical to tut 

 salt pork into small bits, and try it till the porli is 

 brown and crispy. It should not be done (oo 

 fast, lest the sweetness be scorched out. ' 



Salt shad and mackerel should be put into a 

 deep plate and covered with boiling water !for 

 about ten minutes after it is thoroughly broijed, 

 before it is buttered. This makes it tender, tajies 

 off" the coat of sidt, and prevents the strong iily 

 taste, so apt to be unpleasant in preseiTed fishj — 

 The same rule applies to smoked salmon. | 



Salt fish mashed with potatoes, with good blot- 

 ter or pork scraps to moisten it, is nicer the second 

 day than it was the first. The fish should be 

 minced very fine, while it is warm. After it kas 

 got cold and dry, it is diflicult to do it lucely, — 

 Salt fish needs plenty of vegetables, such as onioOs, 

 beets, carrots, &,c. 



There is no way of preparing salt fish for break- 

 fast, so nice as to roll it up in little balls, after it is 

 mixed with mashed potatoes ; dip it into an egg, 

 and fry it brown. 



A female lobster is not considered so good as a 

 male. In the female, the sides of the head, or 

 hat look like cbeek-s, are much larger, and jut 

 out more than those of the male. The mouth of 

 lobster is surrounded with what children call 

 ' pluses,' edged with a little fringe, if you put 

 your hand under these to raise it, and find it springs 

 back hard and firm, it is a sign the lobster is fresh ; 

 if they move flabbily, it is not a good omen. 



Fried salt pork and apples is a favorite dish in 

 the coimtry ; but it is selilom seen in the city. — 

 After the pork is fried, some of the fat should lie 

 taken out, lest the apples should be oily. Acid 

 apples should be chosen, because they cook more 

 easily ; they should be cut in slices, across the 

 whole apple, about twice or three times as thick 

 as a new dollar. Fried till tender, and brown tn 

 both sides — laid around the pork. If you have 

 cold potatoes, slice them and brown them in tlie 

 same way. 



A ScGGESTiopf. — As this is generally a season 

 of leisure to agriculturists, we would suggest that 

 an hour or two might be profitably employed in 

 recording some of the many observations they may 

 have made during the past season for publication 

 in the Fanner. There is not a farmer or a jjlant- 

 er in the United States but could thus add some- 

 thing useful and valuable to our stock of agricul- 

 tural knowledge. If all our subscribers would do 

 this, the observations of the whole would soon be 

 in the possession of each, and thus their own con- 

 tributions would return to them with several 

 thousand per cent interest. Is not this suggestion 

 worthy of consideration ? — Am. Farmer. 



CULTURE OF RUTA BAGA. 



A wish to have others profit by my experience, 

 induces me to send you, Mr Editor, half a sheet 

 of remarks on the culture of Ruta Baga, as a 

 food for domestic animals. I have cultivated from 

 half an acre to three acres of this root every year, 

 for thirteen years in succession, and feel com- 

 petent to give rules for its culture, and confi- 

 dence in recommending it as a valuable and pro- 

 fitalde crop. 



The soil must be rich and dry ; and the more 

 it inclines to a sand loam the better. Clay is the 

 woist, and wet soils will not answer at all. 



Prcparalions. — My general practice has been, 

 to manure well a piece of pa-sture, or clover ley, 

 from which the hay has first been cut, plough it 

 handsomely over, and harrow it well. 



Smcing, Sfc. — I sow in rows, at two and an half 

 or three feet, with a drill-barrow. The sooner 

 the preceding operations succeed eacli other the 

 better. I have sown broadcast, but the expense of 

 thinning and culture is increased. A man will 

 drdi in three or four acres in a day. We allow a 

 pound of seed to the acre, though half this, proper- 

 ly distributed, is enough. Sow from the 2Gth June 

 to the 10th July. 



Culture. — I use a cidtivator, that may be gradu- 

 ated to the space between the rows, drawn by a 

 horse, as soon as the plants can be well distin- 

 guished. This is repeated In a few days, back 

 and forward, and the implement carried so close 

 to the drills as to leave only strips of from four to 

 ten inches, which are then thoroughly cleaned 

 with a skim-hoc, and the plants thiimed to eight 

 and ten inches distance. The cultivator soon fol- 

 lows, for a third time, and if necessary, the skim- 

 hoe, when the crop is generally left till harvest. — 

 The great aim is to extirpate the weeds, and to d» 

 this while they are small. 



Harvesting is jiostponed as long as the season 

 will permit. The roots are then pulled up, and 

 laid on the ground, the tops of two rows towards 

 each other. The pullers are followed by a man 

 or boy with a bill-hook, who with a light blow 

 cuts the toi)S as fast as three or four can pull. — 

 Three men will in this way harvest, of a good 

 crop, .'500 bushels in a day. The tops are gath- 

 ered into heaps, and taken to the yard, in carts, 

 daily, for the .stock, until they are consumed. An 

 acre will give from five to ten cart-loads of tops. 

 The roots are piled on the field, if di-y,- — the pits 

 two or two and an half feet broad, covered 

 with straw and earth, and as the cold weather 

 approaches, with manure, to j)revent frost.- 

 N. B. With a crowbar make one or more holes on 

 the crown of the pit, which must be left open, to 

 let oft' the rarified air, and prevent the roots from 

 heating. 



Use. — The tops serve for autumn. As soon as 

 the mild weather of spring will justify, I break 

 through the frost, and take the contents of a pit to 

 my barn, and cover the roots with straw or hay. 

 From thence they are fed to my stock, being first 

 chopped u]) with a snick (Dutch meat chopper) 

 or spade. They are excellent for sheep, especially 

 for ewes that have young, — and hogs and horses, 

 eat them freely. Steamed, they are used in the 

 north of England, for horses, as a substitute for 

 grain. I have fattened sheep and bullocks upon 

 them with profit. They constitute, ])i;i vicularly 

 from February to June, an excellent cuUiiary vege- 

 table for the table. A bullock will thrive fast upon 



