84 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



are past, let all of us, who are engaged in 

 this laudable enterprise, return thanks to 

 the Author of this good and perfect gift, 

 even the gift of the silk culture, which is 

 to produce a moral reformation in our 

 country, enabling its juvenile members to 

 acquire habits of industry, which alone can 

 redeem us from turmoils, strife, and do- 

 mestic broils. 



EARLY CORN. 



It is suggested to those who are fond of 

 boiled corn, that they cultivate the kind 

 called Canada Corn, which is said to 

 yield well in quantity, and ripens suffi- 

 ciently for boiling in seven weeks from 

 the time of planting. 



pound — the silk being reeled into small 

 skeins of three hundred to the pound, the 

 reeling process being performed by the 

 machine at the same time it twists the 

 silk. 



It was the intention of Mr. Dennis to 

 procure a patent for this invention, and 

 also to commence a manufactory of ma- 

 chines to supply the demand that is likely 

 soon to arise for them. — Weekly Messen- 

 ger^, February 21th, 1839. 



POTATOES RAISED FROM CUTTINGS. 



An English farmer, Mr. Cotsell of Sta- 

 pleton, near Bristol, has succeeded in 

 raising potatoes from cuttings. We do 

 not know that the attempt has been tried 

 in this country. Reasoning upon the ana- 

 logy of the potatoe to the dahlia, I was 

 induced, in the spring, to try the experi- 

 ment on cuttings, and have succeeded ad- 

 mirably; having, from White Apple and 

 Fox's Seedlings, an early potatoe, pro- 

 duced a lull crop of good sized potatoes, 

 many of which weighed half a pound. 

 The method was thus: — When the pota- 

 toes were about nine inches high, I cut off 

 the tops, about six inches long, planted 

 them in a line about eight inches apart, 

 with a flat dibble, pressing the earih care- 

 fully against them, gave them water, and 

 afterwards hoed them as an ordinary crop. 

 I produced in this way 140 pounds the 

 rod. — Weekly Messenger. 



Silk Manufacture. — The Masillon 

 (Ohio) Gazette of Monday contains a no- 

 tice of the successful operation of a ma- 

 chine lately invented by a Mr. Dennis of 

 that town, for making sewing silk, direct 

 from the cocoons, at one operation. The 

 Gazette speaks highly of the nicety and 

 ease with which the cocoons were manu- 

 factured by this machine into sewing silk 

 of a superior quality. The culturers of 

 the neighbourhood pronounce this ma- 

 chine superior to any thing of the kind 

 now in use. With its aid, it is stated, 

 that sewing silk can be manufactured from 

 cocoons at an expense of fifty cents the 



Useful Hints. — To preserve fresh 

 meat, killed early in winter, through cold 

 weather, bury it in snow. The best way 

 is to place alternate layers of meat and 

 snow in a tub or barrel, and keep it in a 

 cool place. The meat should be a little 

 frozen first. Several days warm weather 

 will not affect it; and if it be kept in an 

 ice house, it may not only be preserved 

 through winter, but during the following 

 spring. 



Hams cannot be kept with ease or cer- 

 tainty, unless the flat bone near the centre 

 of the inner side, which joins on the other 

 bones of the ham by a ball and socket, be 

 first carefully removed. Where this has 

 been neglected, although every other care 

 has been taken, failures and loss have fol- 

 lowed. — The best way to keep winter 

 apples is to barrel them. This perfectly 

 excludes rats and mice, and preserves 

 them in a great measure from the air. 



Where corn is fed out to cattle, and 

 other domestic animals^ it is much the 

 best, where practicable, to grind it with 

 the cob. 



Oats are more beneficial to horses if 

 ground; and hay, if chopped fine. — Dry 

 wood will produce, on a moderate esti- 

 mate, twice as much heat as the same 

 amount of green wood, and saves much 

 trouble in kindling fires on cold morn- 

 ings. To prevent its burning away too 

 rapidly, the sticks should be large. 



[Recent experiments show that a given 

 quantity of both wood and anthracite coal 

 reduced to small dimensions, will produce 

 more heat than when large. It is recom- 

 mended, to cause them to be burned as 

 rapidly as possible, so that the heated ox- 

 ygen of the air will cause the gas from the 

 fuel to be consumed before it leaves the 

 stove, drum, and pipe. The theory is the 

 heated oxygen of the air passing upwards, 



