1825.] 



NEW ENGLAND FAR^fER. 



33S 



j)eral)n!i(!:ince of cniv-eKcrempnt, ivhich ii of a 

 toiilirii; ii.iliiro, ;inil les-; li;ilile tn \ iolpiit he'it : 

 (iml oil lli:it iicroiinl, 1 would drpnrl ;i lillle from 

 tho onliiKiry riilp, ami iToonimencI two lo.nls ol 

 (lung; to five ot nin's ; which 1 lio wiih somedil- 

 iilcii<:e, :\- 1 am not in ])n?sossion of any exi)eri- 

 inent of the kiml tli.it has heen tried in this prov- 

 ince, allhoiio-h it is clearly dednciblo from the 

 |)rinri[)l(? laid down. It cannot, however, he a 

 diffiouli task to discover the just pro(M)rtions of 

 the ingredients ; as tlie process itself will soon 

 tc.H-.h an attentive o''Sorver, and lead him infal- 

 lilily to the prcper mixture. fie h;s, on the 

 one hanil, to jnnrd against excessive lieat, which 

 can always he ciieclied by addini^ [ e it ; and on \ 

 the oilier, to bring on and incite termentation, j 

 whicii can be accomplished ly enl:ir,'ing the j 

 <lMantity of dung-. A slig-ht experience will very : 

 soon iiis;ruct our farincr= in the dne medium; 

 and as 1 hare been at pains to set forth the gov- 

 erning princi[)les of the art, (ho plainest dictates [ 

 of the understanding will be a snllicient guide : 

 in all cases ol' cuniposiing. [To be continued. 



-***#@©*<- 

 INSTABILITY OK WRITING INK. 



The I'ldlowing pajier, by Mr H. Palfrey, was 

 read before the " Bith and West of England So- 

 ciety of .Arts, Agriculture," &c. at their Annual 

 ?deeting. the Marquis of Lansdown, President, 

 ill the Chair. 



That the ink made use of ivilhin the few la=t 

 centuries is very difl'orent in durability of col- 

 our, wlien ciimtiarcd to that which was used 

 from the.tJdIi to the fifteenth century, has been 

 fully proved by I'T Blagden ami Mr Astle, late 

 keeper of the Records in the tower of London; 

 and for another proof that the compounds of ink 

 of the present oay are a still farther retrogres- 

 sion, there is the e»idenre ol a number of the 

 principal clerks in the various offices under g^y- 

 ernme.it, as given by them when examined be- 

 fore a Coinm liee of t-lie House ot Commons, ap- 

 pointed in .July 1023, to iuvesligate the slate 

 ii'd manner of keeping the Public Records, the 

 Jia*t 'ulars of which were printed lale in that 

 Sc'S.on of Parliament. It will there be seen to 

 have been the concurring opinion of all those 

 examined on ihe Siibjpct of ink, that the whole 

 of tire ink now in iisa is bad; but the best that 

 is offered to the p.iildic is that wliich is sold at 

 Stationer's IJall, under the apiellalion of Pa- 

 rent Ink. 



H. Palfrey is of opinion that one of the prin- 

 cifial causes of the instability of Ihe dye of the 

 ink of the present day, originates from the al- 

 kaline particles which it meets with in the ma- 

 terials it is written upon, becoming active by 

 Ihe action of the air in the alternate changes of 

 the atmcisuhere ; for in the manufacture of 

 parchment there is a considerable quantity of 

 alkaline lees used, which can never be entirely 

 exhausted. Paper is not free from a portion of 

 the salts, nnr is the atmosphere entirely free 

 from alkali, the chennical qualities of which 

 have an incessant tendency to the decomposi- 

 tion and absorption of all colours. Hence ob- 

 serve its eflects in the bleaching- of cloth. i\n- 

 olher cause of the premature decay of the pre- 

 sent day proceeds from the improper use of 

 metallic sulphali's or other corrosive ingredi- 

 ents in the making of ink, which ink destroys 

 the parchment as far as it peuelrates, and which 

 ia process oJ.liaie will turn to dust, leaviog no 



other tr.-ice of a letter than what may be imper- 



fec'.ly discovered in Ihe exroriated siirfice of 

 ihe parchuient. As it is impossible for human 

 foresight to approach nearer than by mere con- 

 jecture of what will be Ihe probable change 

 produced by the test of lime upon ink written 

 with to (lav, all opininns or conjecluri'S thereon 

 ought to be infliienced by such hy['Oth"ses only, 

 as are deduced from exiicrinients which hear 

 an analogy supported by chemical experience 

 as well as theory. 



In contormity to such reasoning, H. Palfrej' 

 takes upon himself lo prove tho consistency of 

 his opinion, by Ihe following chemical lest : — 

 Take luke warm water three ounces, in which 

 dissolve one ounce of pearl ash, and immerse 

 therein n scrap of [Kuchment previously written 

 upon, and when completely saluraied, the ivrit- 

 ing will assume exactly the appearance which 

 time gives lo inferior ink. Thus, instead of its) 

 remaining to be deprived of its colour by the 

 inniimeralile weak chemical changes of the at- 

 mosphere it would have undergone in any given 

 number of years, say 500 years, it has been 

 proved by one lest made probably 2000 limes as 

 strong or proportionate lo the number of ye irs 

 required lo produce an ap[)roxiinale decay of 

 colour by the action of the air. If a strip of 

 parchment bearing writing of from 50 to 100 

 years standing be immersed in Ihe test before 

 directed, and then wished with soap and water, 

 it is ten to one that the ink and parchment, as 

 l.ir as the ink penetrated will both disappear, 

 and leave nothing- behind but ah imperfect im- 

 pression of letters indenteil upon the parchments. 



The ink of which H. Palfrey now offers s|)e- 

 cinieus, has the following good qualities lo re- 

 commend it to the [lublic use — viz. it Hows free- 

 ly from the jien, sinks quick and deep into the 

 parchment or paper, dries ra[iidly, and when 

 dry forms an inciustation on the surface of the 

 letters which renders them impervious lo Ihe 

 action of the .lir, and doties the power of alkali 

 to affect it. 



GLUE. 



Mr Hatcliett observes, " that glue made from 

 the skins of animals is more tenacious and of a 

 better quality, than that which is made from 

 feet anil sinews. Tho more aged the animal 

 the better the glue, hut a longer continued boil- 

 ing njipears requisite in ordei to extract it. and 

 the more viscid glues are obtained from the 

 substance* which afford them with greater diffi- 

 culty, than those of a less viscid quality, which 

 may more properly be called size. Transactions 

 of the Punjal Society. London, 1800, part 2." 



An excellent glue may be made from cheese. 

 Take skimmed-milk cheese, free it from Ihe 

 rind, cut it in slices, and boil it in warm water, 

 stirring it with a spoon, until it be reduced to a 

 stiong glue which does not incorporate with 

 water. Then throw away the warm water, 

 pour cold water over the glue, and knead it af- 

 leriyards in warm wafer, subjecting it to tho 

 same process several tiines. Put the warm glue 

 on a grinding stone, and knead it with quick 

 lime until you have a good glue. When you 

 wish to use this glue, you must v.arm it : if it 

 be employed cold it is not so strong, thouga it 

 may also be used in that manner. This glue is 

 insoluble in water as soon as it is dry, and it be- 

 comes so in forty-eight hours, it may be used 



for gluing wood and for cemenling marble, Stc 



The jniniog can sf^ucrly be discovered. 



Baits for calrhing (isli may also be made of 

 il. Pish are very fond ot it, and it resists Ihe 

 ivater. — Du/nrstic Kneiichipidia. 



nURAI. SC0370IWI7. 



KNGLISH VVAI.NCTS GOOD FOR FATri.NG TIRKIKS. 

 (["rom a liljlily resptctable Naval Oflicer.) 



Wiien in Barcelona, 1 learnt from a gentle- 

 man there, that the usual way of faltenng lur- 

 kies, was by feeding thi-m with English walnuts, 

 unbroken. 1 tried Ihe experiment afterwards, 

 on several, with entire success — giving one Ihe 

 first day, two the second, and three the third ; 

 never exceeding Ihe latter quantity. They are 

 often given, however, as many as six walnuts a 

 day, and ought to have no other kind of food 

 while fatting in this way. I examined Ihe craws 

 of several, and found the walnuts which had been 

 given Ihein Ihe day previous lo their being kil- 

 led, almost entirely digested. The walnuts must 

 be forced dc wn Ihe throat, which is not so diffi- 

 cult as may be itri igined. The time necessary 

 to fatten 'them, 1 believe, does not exceed ten 

 days. 



For particular directions relative to fattening 

 turkies on walnuts, see New England Farmer, 

 vol II. page 18. 



BAHnF.NNESS OF PEAR TREES. 



A remedy for Ihe barrenness of Pear Tress 

 has been discovered by Ihe Rev. Ct. Swaine ; 

 As has long been known with early beans, haut- 

 bois, strawberries, cucumbers, and melons, the 

 bunches of flowers, or corymbus of the pear, 

 usually contain a greater number of florets than 

 the plant has strength properly to mature; and 

 the remedy in each case is lo extirpate several 

 of the uppermost florets as soon as they appear, 

 A beurre pear-tree, which previously had beeu 

 barren, upon which I\Ir. S. who left only the 

 three lower florets of each bunch, ripened fruit 

 from almost every one of these reserved florets. 



English Journal- 



RICE Spo.NGE CAKE. 



Nine eggs, Ihe weight of them in sugar — th« 

 weight of six in rice flour — have the sugar finely 

 sifled — mix the sugar and rice together — have 

 the whites and yolks beat separately — pour the 

 eggs at the same time into the rice and sugar — 

 beat them together about a quarter of an hour 

 — add of the essence of lemon twenty drops, or 

 rosewater. 



TO CLEAR IRON FROM TiVST. 



Pound some glass to fine powder, and having 

 nailed some strong linen or woollen cloth upon 

 a board, lay upon it a strong coat of gum water, 

 and sift thereon some of your powdered glass 

 and let it dry ; repeat this operation three times, 

 and when the last covering of powdered glass is 

 dry, you may rub off the rust from iron ulee- 

 sils, with the cloth thns prepared. 



TO TAKE MILDEW OUT OF LINEN. 



Take soap, and rub it well ; then scrape fine 

 chalk, and rub that also in the linen ; lay it on 

 the grass ; as it dries, wet it a little, and it will 

 come out at twice doing. 



