NgW E!>fGLAND FARMfiR. 



11 



the receipt by which the wine wiis made, that 

 you did me the honour to apeak so highly of. 



Wash your currants, and strain off the juice 

 through a tlannel ba^; to every gallon of juice 

 ^dd three gallons of soft water, and to every 

 gallon of the mixture add three pounds ol Or- 

 leans sugar, and a pint of French brandy ; hll 

 your cask full, and put it in to a cool cellar to 

 ferment; when the fermentation is going on, 

 every morning fill up the cask with cold water, 

 that "the froth and impurities may v/urk out of 

 the bung-hole, which may be lightly covered 

 over with a thin rag, to prevent flies from get- 

 tin<^ in. As soon as the fermentation is over, 

 bung the cask up tight, and lei it remain with- 

 out beinff opened for one year, when it may be 

 either bottled up or drawn on tap. The only 

 m^iterial difference in the above and many other 

 recipes is the addition of thebrahdy before fer- 

 mentation takes place; upon which 1 think the 

 goodness of the wine in a great measure de- 

 pends ; usually the brandy is added after the 

 fermentation is over as is the custom in making 

 grape wine. 1 had observed that currant wine 

 had generally an acetmis smell and not unfre- 

 quently an acetous taste, which 1 thought was 

 owing to the fermintation having proceeded 

 past the vinous point, want of sufficient spirit 

 being evolved to prevent it : I therefore de- 

 termined to add the brandy before fermentation 

 took place, and which I was happy to find had 

 the desired effect ; the fementation proceeded 

 slowly, and without violence, and was just suffi- 

 cient tp throw off the impurities. As soon as 

 the froth disappeared from the bung-hole which 

 was about twenty days, the bung was put in 

 tight, and a gimblet hole bored on the top of 

 the cask in which a peg was loosely put .for a 

 week or two longer, that some of (he fixed 

 air might escape, as still a very slight fermenta- 

 tion was carried on : then the peg was dfiven 

 tight. 



With the highest esteem, 



1 remain your friend, 



JOHN W-DOWELL, Jr. 



[The curr.nt wine made after the above re- 

 cipe, is amongst the very best we have ever 

 seen.] — Ed. Am. Farmer. 



AMERICAN ACADEMY QF ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



Prize Qluestinn. — By a resolution passed at a 

 statute meeting of the American Academy of 

 Arts and Sciences, Nov. llth, 1823, the Acade- 

 my determined to offer to the author of the best 

 Essay on some subject to be proposed, a pre- 

 mium of one hundred dollars in value or the 

 Academy's gold medal. At the same meeting 

 a committee was appointed, consisting of Rev. 

 President Kirkland, Dr. Jacob Bigelow, and 

 Mr. Edward Everett, to report to the Academy a 

 mode of carrying the aforesaid resolution into 

 effect, to make public the regulations for the 

 reception of prize essays, and the adjudication 

 of the prize, and to propose a subject for the 

 present year. The report of thi? committee 

 was heard and accepted by the Academy, at a 

 statute meeting held May the 25th. 



In order to give effect to these doings of the 

 Academy, public notice is hereby given, that a 

 premium of one hundred dollars or the Acade- 

 my's gold medal, shall be awarded to the au- 

 thor of the best Essay, upon the subject hereaf- 

 ter to be named, 



All Essays which may be offered for this 

 prize, must be sent to the Corresponding Secre- 

 tary of the Acadeifiy, on or before the first of 

 March, 1825, accompanied with sealed letters, 

 containing the names of the authors ; and the 

 letters accompahyiog Unsuccessful Essays shall be 

 destroyed unopened. 



Immediately on (he receipt of an Essay, it 

 shall be transmilled bj' the Corresponding Sec- 

 retary to the Commitlce of Publication of the 

 Academy, who shall award (he premium or mo- 

 dal to the best Essay ; but ifno Essay shall be 

 offered, which in the judgment of the committee 

 is worthy of the prize, then the prize shall not 

 be assigned for that year. 



Every successful Essay shall remain at the 

 disposition of the Academy, to be published in 

 the Academy's Memoirs, at the discretion of the 

 Committee for Publication. 



The following subject has been assigned by 

 the Academy for the present year : 



J}n enumeration and an Account of the jnalcri- 

 ols. u-hich exist for the history oj" the native tribes 

 of America before the discovert/ of the continent by 

 Columbus. 



By order of the Academy. 



EDWARD EVERETT, 

 Corresponding Secretary. 



Cambridge, June 1, 1824. 



TO THE EriTrtROF THE AMERICAS FARMER. 



Dear Sir — In my communication toyon of the 

 2Cth ull. 1 hastily called (he attention of the agri- 

 culturists of our country, to the valuable proper- 

 ties of a description of turnip which I purchased 

 last fall imder the denomination of the " White 

 Norfolk." The facts, as there set forth, can be at- 

 tested by many of my neighbours and accjuaint- 

 ancos, who had occasion to observe the cro[> 

 in ils various s(ages. I will now only add, that 

 the product there mentioned was from 5 lb. ol 

 seed — which of itself will prove beyond any 

 doubt its value, if sowed simply with a view 

 to use the seed for crush. It might be ad- 

 vantageously sowed wi(h timothy, during any 

 part of August or the first week of September. 



The mode 1 adopt is, to prepare the ground 

 well, have it highly manured, and before the 

 last harrowing, sow the seed across the timothy 

 and harrow in the whole with a heavy harrow. 

 The turnip seed coming off early in (he follow- 

 ing June, allows the timothy to shoot up hand- 

 somely, and furnish a good crop by the end of 

 July or first of August. I calculate on cutting 

 from the same ground that produced the turnip 

 seed, at least 1 1-2 tons of hay. The weight 

 of the seed is 55 a 57 lbs. per bushel. 



D. WILLIAMSON, Jr. 



Lexington, July 24, l'>»4. 



Good Crops. — The Central Gazelle (printed 

 at Charlottesville, Va.) of the 23d, gives the 

 following animating account of the crops. 



" The Harvest is now over, and we have 

 been intormed by several intelligent farmers 

 that the crop of wheat is more abnodanl than 

 it has been for several years. We have heard 

 no complaint of its having been injured by the 

 rust, rot smut, &.c. as is generally (he case in 

 this section of the country. The grain is excel- 

 lent in quality as well as abundant in quantity. 

 The rye crop is also good — the oat tolerably so. 

 We have cheering accounts of the crops in the 



Lj . ■ ■ ^- ■ ■ - - I . 1 .. ... t 



I other parts of the country — an intelligent gen- 

 tleman who lately travelled through the Valley, 

 informs us that an unu-iually largo crop of Wheat 

 I had been made. A Leesburg, (Loudon,') |)a- 

 : per sav9, the present harvest greatly surpiTs^Rg 

 any previous crop in \ irgmia. The Hagers- 

 town papers state that the wheal is better in 

 that part of Maryland than it has been for seve- 

 ral years [inst. From these and other accounts 

 it would appear that (he labors of the husband- 

 man have boon richly rewarded. Should the 

 prices be tolerably good, wc anticipate that the 

 abundance with which a Boundful PioviJence 

 has favoured us, will in a great degree extri- 

 cate our citizens from the difficulties which 

 have for three or four years, so heavily pressed 

 upon our counlry." 



The Crops. — From inform.->tion which we con- 

 tinually receive from all the circnmjacent coun- 

 ties, we feel authorized in stating, that never 

 has a richer prospect of abundant rclnrns pro- 

 mised to reward the labours of the husbandman. 

 The gratification derived from this source is 

 greatly enhanced by observing how general 

 this good report is throughout the counlry. The 

 Alexandria Gaz.etle of Saturday, says, " Ac- 

 counts are received from all parts of the coun- 

 try, stating that the harvest will be abundaiit, 

 The rain which we had some time ago injured 

 the hay and grain in some places, but as it did 

 not extend far into the country, very little da- 

 mage could be done. The weather is now de- 

 lightful. Fine roasting ears are getting quite 

 common in our market." Beacon. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



Brooke Grove, Ithmo. 24ih, 1824. 

 DeaK Friend, — I have seen in the last Farmer 

 which has come to hand, the root of Hellebore 

 recommended to destroy roaches. I believe it 

 effectual, but think it necessary that those who 

 use it should be cautioned to be careful that 

 children, poultry, &.C. be prevented from access 

 to it, as it would be equally destructive to them. 

 I have known one instance of 15 chickens being 

 killed by picking up a few shreds of the root 

 that remained after the roaches had fed on it.^ 

 In haste and with respect, thy friend 



ROGER BROOKE. 

 John S. Skutner, Esa. 



Chelmsford.— This town, sitoatecT On the Mef- 

 imack, is becoming one of the most important 

 manufacturing towns in Massachusetts. Cotton 

 cloths, glass, and powder are made there in 

 great quantities. The powder factory manu- 

 factures half a ton of powder daily. The com- 

 position is not pulverized by pestles and mor- 

 tars, hot is ground by heavy rotters 6 feet ia 

 diameter. Hampshire Gazette. 



Sweet Potatoes. — A person in South Carolina 

 raised the past season 800 bushels of sweet po- 

 tatoes on an acre! placing the vines singly in 

 (heir beds, an inch apart. The same person 

 had one potatoe 2 feet 9 inches long, and anoth- 

 er which weighed 12 1-4 pounds! [Raleigh Reg. 



Seeds of Indian Corn.— Gather your seed corn 

 I'rom such stalks only as produce two ears, and 

 the crop will be more abundant. 



