Vol. X.-No. 37. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



291 



crop, and will fiiniJsli vines sufficient to plant, at 

 least, live acres. 



To keep tlicni over winter, or for any length of 

 time for use, tlicy should be packed in such man- 

 ner as not to touch each other, being very liable to 

 beat like corn ; and kept secure from frost. As 

 good a way as any is to set them about half an 

 inch a]>art, covered with dry sand, in a warm dry 

 eel lar. 



By observing the above directions, I have no 

 doubt, they may be raised with great success in 

 this climate. A sandy soil or loam is best adapt- 

 ed to their ctdtivation, but any dry muck ^il will 

 answer very well. I remain, &c, 



R. M. WILLIAMS. 



Middlesex, Jan. 30, 1832. 



Prom Iho New York Memoirs of Agriculliire. 



ON SWINE. 



Little is necessary to be said on this subject, as 

 probably no branch of husbandry is better under- 

 stood in this State, than the raising of pork. As 

 tlie old thin long-legged breed still prevails in va- 

 rious quarters, the sooner another is substituted 

 for it, the better ; besides, it is a gaunt, voracious 

 animal, difficult to fatten, and liaving too large a 

 ])ortion of bone. 



In breeding, the sow should be selected with 

 great care : broad and straight backed, with wide 

 hips ; a great many teats ( short legs and fine 

 bone. Farmers difler much in their plans of rais- 

 ing stock for pork ; some permitting their shoats 

 to run at large eighteen months, till they are pen- 

 ned up to fatten, this is the most troublesome and 

 least profitable way ; others give them a range in 

 clover pastures and begin to fatten them earlier. 

 I apprehend there is a much more profitable way 

 and attended with less trouble, for those who have 

 the right breed. According to the quantity of 

 pork wanted, should be the number of breeding 

 sows kept over, and there should b6 no other hogs 

 on the farm, but the breeding sows. These, when 

 they pig the latter end of March, should be fed in 

 the most attentive manner v,'ith swill and shorts. 

 The pigs, from a full grown sow, will generally be 

 twelve in number ; these should be thinned to 

 eight; as soon as they begin to feed freely out of 

 the trough, should be weaned, and afterwards fed 

 regularly with green tares, clovers, boiled potatoes, 

 ground peas, unmerchantable corn, or any other 

 nourishing food ; turning them out every day into 

 a small yard, where there is a shallow pond for 

 them to lie in. A remarkable breed of pigs which 

 had been treated pretty mucli in this manner, were 

 exhibited at the last Duanesburg Fair ; when eight 

 months old, one of them was slaughtered, and 

 weighed exactly three hundred and eleven poimds; 

 they attracted universal attention, and I certainly 

 never saw such animals before. This method is 

 attended with little trouble, and leaves so small 

 a quantity of stock on hand to winter over, appears 

 to me to be more economical in every point of 

 view, than any other which is practised. 



From the Journal of Health. 



CHOCOLATE. 



The editor of one of the eastern paper expati- 

 ates, in the most eulogistic strains, in favor of 

 chocolate. " The laboring man," he remarks, 

 "and jjarticidarly he who is exposed to the inclem- 

 ency of tlie weather, will find it not only a com- 

 forter, but the firm ally and supporter of his 



strength. He will find it to be worth all the grog 

 ever distilled ; more powerful and bracing than 

 the strong waters of Cogniac ; more nourishing 

 than the rich wines of Madeira and Champaigne. 

 It gives strength and action to the stomach, when 

 distilled spirits have no power to aid either ; and 

 then it brings no evils in its train ; it engenders 

 no evil feelings, beats no wives, starves no chil- 

 dren, and makes beasts of no husbands or fathers. 

 Unlike cold water, it does not chill the vitals and 

 send the blood in a torrent back to the fountain of 

 life, often producing sj)asms and sometimes death 

 itself. Driidi it then, ye that are wise, and be 

 happy." — All this is very well said, and what is 

 far better, it is generally true. There can be no 

 doubt as to the nutritive and wholesome quali- 

 ities of the cocoa nut, and of its being far bet- 

 ter adapted to support the strength of the laboring 

 classes, and to enable the system when exj)Osed to 

 the weather, to resist the effects of cold and fatigue, 

 than either tea or coff'ee. To the traveller, a bowl 

 of good chocolate and a slice of bread, before set- 

 ting forth on his journey of a cold morning, will 

 really f)roduce all the good effects which have 

 been erroneously attributed to ardent spirits, or to 

 wine. 



It is really a subject of regret, that the 'price of 

 good chocolate could not be so far reduced, as to 

 place it within the reach of every poor family. 

 It has been calcidated that one ounce of it, in sub- 

 stance, affords equal nutriment with one pound of 

 meat. This is probably, however, overrating its 

 value as an article of food. Nevertheless, when 

 properly jirepared, particularly when a large por- 

 tion of milk is added to it, it is equally pleasant to 

 most palates as coffee or tea, and affords what the 

 lattiT does not, a solid support to the system. — 

 From the very circumstance of its nutritive prop- 

 erties, it should, be taken with bread, either at 

 breakfast or at dinner, and but seldom in the even- 

 ing. It is, also, a more appropriate food for those 

 engaged in active pursuits in the open air, than for 

 the sedentary, or those confined within doors. It 

 should especially be avoided by those of full hab- 

 its and those who are inchned to an excess of fat. 



The best way to prepare chocolate for persons 

 of delicate habits, or valetudinarians, is to boil it in 

 water, and allow it to grow cold ; then to take off" 

 the fat which forms on the surface, to reboil the 

 chocolate, and to pour it on cream and sugar — 

 made in this manner, it is much lighter and more 

 generally agrees with weak stomachs, than when 

 prepared in any other. 



Some persons with very weak digestion, make 

 use advantageously of the shells of the cocoa, boil- 

 ed in milk, or even in water, if a still lighter bev- 

 erage be wanted. 



ON PACKING ACORNS FOR TRANSPOR- 

 TATION. 



Mr Smith — I take the liberty of proposing to 

 you, the publication of the following addition to a 

 piece signed "Jesse Buel," in the American Farm- 

 er of the present year. No. 2(), page 208, the ne- 

 cessity of which, that gentleman probably over- 

 looked. It is, that in order to secure the growing 

 of acorns sent abroad, they ought to be packed in 

 sand, moss, or any other substance likely to keep 

 them from drying, and this ought to be done very 

 soon, say within two or three weeks, at farthest, 

 after they have been gathered. Without this pre- 

 caution, not ten in a thousand will vegetate. This 



is the case with many other kinds of seed, such as 

 chesnuts, walnuts, and other oily nuts. For want 

 of attention to this object, the kind intentions of 

 many persons are very frequently defeated. 



Yours, with res|)cct, N. II. 



ELA.STICITY OF FEATHERS. 



The elasticity of feathers was well illustrated 

 by an experiment lately performed in the library 

 of the Royal Institution, London, of immersing 

 feathers, rumpled and bent in almost every direc- 

 tion, in boiling water, and on withdrawing them 

 they were seen to have resumed their regular and 

 natural form. This was accidentally discovered 

 by a specimen of a foreign bird, the plumage of 

 which had been very much rumpled, falling into 

 some hot water, which restored it ; and the pro- 

 cess ajiitears to be one that may prove of much 

 advantage to the preservers of those beautiful an- 

 imals. — Soutliei'n Agriculturist. 



DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



From a series of observations made on the dis- 

 eases of domestic poultry, Mr Flourens makes tlie 

 following conclusions : — 



1. In these aninuds, cold exercises a constant 

 and determinate action on the lungs. 



2. The effect of this action is the more rapid 

 and more severe, the younger the animal is. 



3. When cold does not cause acute and speed- 

 ily fatal inflammation of the lungs, it produces a 

 chronic inffamination, which is pulmonary con- 

 sumption itself. 



4. Heat always prevents the attack of pulmon- 

 ary consumption ; when the latter has taken place, 

 heat suspends its progress, and even some times 

 arrests it entirely and efl^ects a complete cure. 



5. Pulmonary consumption is never, in any 

 stage, contagious ; fowls aff<;cted with that disease 

 were not only all day long with the healthy fowls, 

 but at night roosted in the same places, without 

 communicating their disease to them. 



6. Lastly. The action of too long confined air 

 exposes these animals to abscesses of the cornea, 

 aud inflammation of the ball of the eye. These 

 abscesses and inflammations are also caused in a 

 still more cruel manner, by cold, especially when 

 accompanied with moisture. — Annales des Sciences 

 JVatwelU'S. 



Prevention of the Mildew on Peach and JVectarine 

 Trees. — The following preventative of mildew on 

 peach and nectarine trees, has siniplicity, as well 

 as the experience of many years, to recommend it: 

 Take of sulphur and rain or river water, in pro- 

 portion of two ounces of sulphur to every four 

 gallons of water ; put the quantity which may be 

 required, into a copper or boiler, aud let it (after 

 it commences boiling) boil for half an hour; after 

 which, it may be taken out, or sutli'rcd to remain 

 until it becomes of a tepid state, when it ought to 

 be api)lied to the trees by means of the garden en- 

 gine or syringe, as in a common washing with 

 water. The time for applying it, annually, as soon 

 as the fruit is set and considered out of danger. — 

 Gardener's Mas;azine. 



He that hath a trade hath an estate ; and he 

 that hath a calling hath a place of jirofit and honor. 

 A ploughman on his legs is higher than a gentle- 

 man on his knees. 



If you do not hear reason, she. will surely 

 rap your knuckles. 



Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt. 



