'/dO 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[June 24, 



Si;X.ECTX0275 



FROM LATE EUROPEAM rUBLICATIOKS TOR TIIK 

 NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SIEMEN'S IMPROVEMENT ON THE PROCESS 

 OE MAKING ERANDY FROxM POTATOES. . 



The inlrodiiclion of this process, uhich has 

 been adopted in many purls of Germany and in 

 the north of Europe, h;is been reconimcnded to 

 the Swedish government hy i\I. Berzeiiu?, and 

 to the Danish government by Professor Oersted. 

 From the trials made at Copenhagen, it would 

 appear that one third more brandy is produced 

 than by the usual processes, in Professor Oer- 

 sted's report we find the following account of 

 the process: — The potatoes are put into a close 

 wooden vessel, and exposed to the action of 

 steam, which heats them more than boiling 

 water. The potatoes can thus be reduced to tiie 

 state of the finest paste with facility, it being 

 only necessary to stir them with an iron instru- 

 ment furnished with cross pieces. Boiling water 

 is then added to the paste, and afterwards a lit- 

 tle potash rendered caustic by quicklime. This 

 dissolves the vegetable albumen, which opposes 

 the complete conversion of the polatoe starch 

 into a fluid. Professor Oersted frees the pota- 

 toe brandy from its peculiar fravour by means of 

 the chlorate of potash, which is said to rrsake it 

 equal to the best brandy made from wine. 



Gilfs Technical Repository. 



ON THE FARINA OF POTATOES, AND THE 

 MEANS OF PRESERVING TUEM.—By Mr 

 TVm. Pope, of Gartyviare, Sutherland. 

 Tiie farina of the pnfatoe, commonly called 

 Polatoe Slarcl;, is readily obtained by previoiis- 

 "y washing the potatoe, and grating it line, and 

 then washing the graisd substance in pure wat- 

 er. This water ic to be carefully decanted off; 

 and three or more washings in the same manner 

 -.vill be found sufticient to purify the farina ef- 

 fectually. It is then to be dried upon clean can- 

 vas sheets, or hair-cloth, in the sun and air, with 

 attention ; and when perfectly dry it will keep 

 for any length of lime. This farina, put up in 

 tin cannisters, it is humbly conceived, would 

 prove a most valuable article in long voyages, 

 particularly as it would furnish a very desirable 

 nutritive article, fierha[if not inferior to arrow 

 root powder, prepared as sago is dres^scd, with 

 a little sugar and a glass of white wine. Let a 

 small portion of this farina, (say two ounces) be 

 jiut upon a pLile in a well aired room, and upoa 

 another plate put two ounces of fine wheaten 

 flour; and at the distance of 48 hours, let both 

 articles be weighed again. The potatoe farina 

 will be found of nearly the same weight as when 

 it was laid down, but the wheaten flour will be 

 found considerably heavier, particularly if the 

 weather is moist. From this experiment it is 

 very evident tluit the wheaten flour absorbs 

 moisture from tht; aii' of the atmosphere more 

 readily than Uio potatoe farina. ]iy this simple 

 discovery, it is humbly conceived that the pola- 

 toe farin.i po.isesscs extraordinary anti-putres- 

 cent properties. For distant voyages, in par- 

 ticular, (liis valuable roof may be prepared in 

 nnollier manner, to furnish desiiablo arlicles of 

 food fur the heallliy as well as convalescents. 



Let the potatoe be folly boilnl, skinned, and 

 iheji bruised to small piece?, and dried upon hair 

 ^loth, or coinnion malt-kiJn?, till it gets dry and 

 lia:d. It will keep sweet a very lorlg time, put 



up in good flour barrels. This preparation of 

 the potatoe, after being pounded in an iron 

 mortar, will make an excellent mess of soup, 

 and will likewise make a very palatable plum- 

 pudding with the addition of a little lemon or 

 Hine' jb?ce, or even good vinegar and a little 

 sugar. 



Lastly, in December or January, in soft weath- 

 er, before the jiolaloe begins to sprout, let them 

 be put in a large tub, and cover them with boil- 

 ing water. As soon as the wafer begins to cool, 

 let it he poured off, and the potatoes spread 

 upon a boarded floor, uritil they are dry. Then 

 put them into casks, mixeil with some line sand, 

 and they will keep perfectly sweet during spring 

 and summer, without losing their substance by 

 vegetating The sand will contribute to save 

 them from being injured by frost. — Transactions 

 of the Highland Society of Scotland. 



PUSTULES FOUND UNDER THE TONGUE, IN 

 CASES OF HYDROPHOBIA. 



The inhabitants of Gadier have made the dis- 

 coverj', that near Iho ligament of the tongue of 

 the man or animal bitten by a rabid aninial, and 

 becoming themselves rabid, pustules of a whit- 

 ish hue make their ajipeai-ancc. They open 

 spontaneously about the thirteenth day afier the 

 bite, and at this time it is that the first symp- 

 toms of hydrophobia occur. The method of 

 cure consists in opening the pustules, and mak- 

 ing the patient spit out the ichor and fluid of 

 which they are then formed, often washing the 

 mouth with salt water. This operation shouli! 

 be perlijrmed the ninth day after the bite. The 

 rcmed}' is so effectual amongst this people, that 

 this hitherto incurable disease has entirely lo.st 

 its terrors. — Dr Davis' Travels m Africa. 



AN IMPROVED METHOD OE OBTAINING EAR- 

 LY CROPS OF PEAS AFTER SEVERE WIN- 

 TERS.— 5j/ Thomas Jlndrcio Knight, F. R S. 



Considering even trivial experiments to be 

 important relatively to the management oithose 

 species of plants, upon the culture of which 

 much labour and capital arc annually expended, 

 for private use and for the supply of the public 

 markets, I address to the Horticultural Society 

 the followinar account of a mode of obtaining an 

 early crop of peas, which 1 have practised with 

 success the present spring. 



When severe winters have proved fatal to 

 crops of peas sowed in the preceding a\itumn, 

 many gardeners have experienced the advanta- 

 ges of raising other plants in pots with artificial 

 heat, early in the spring, and subsequently 

 transplanting them info the common soil ; and 

 the object of the present commimication is only 

 to describe an improvement in the mode of re- 

 peating ;his operation. 



In the present spring my garden, owing to its 

 soil being cold, and the climate rather inhospit- 

 able, did not contain, in ihe end of February, a 

 single living pea-plant ; and I purposely delayed 

 the experiment, which 1 proceed to relate, till 

 the ]sl d.iy of March. Upon that day the ground 

 was prepared, and part of the seed sovvn as usual, 

 in rows, where the plants were to remain ; at 

 Ihe same time other peas, of the same early 

 kind, were sown in circles within the circnm- 

 ference of pots of ten inches in diameter, inside 

 measure. 'I'hese pots were nearly filled with 

 a compost of a [leculiar kind, from Ihe highly 

 nutritive and stimulating qualities of which 1 



anticipated much acceleration in the growth of 

 my plants, with the advantages of being able to 

 remove them, at the proper period to the open 

 ground, without having their roots at all detach- 

 ed from their pasture, owing to Ihe fibrous or- 

 ganic texture of the compost. This was made 

 of equal parts of thin turf, to which much life- 

 less herbage was attached, and unfermented 

 horse dung, without litter; nnd a quantity of Ihe 

 ashes of burnt weeds, containing as usual, a good 

 deal of burnt mould, equivalent in bulk to al.'out 

 Onc-twelflh part oi^lhe other materials. Equal 

 parts of fresh soil will'> unfermented horse dung, 

 with litter and a small quantity of quick-lime, 

 or wood ashes would prebably operate as pow- 

 erfully as the compost above described. The 

 whole was reduced to small fragment*, and well 

 intermixed; and the pots were filled with it 

 within an inch of the lops. The peas were 

 then sov;n upon the surface and covered with 

 common mould ; and the pots were placed in 

 my peach house. In this they remained till the 

 plants were an inch high, when they were re- 

 I moved into Ihe cpen air ; but they were pfo- 

 tecteil during the night, and particularly when 

 the character cf the evening indicated the proh- 

 ahilily of fro.'-l. 



In the last week of March the plants were 

 taken from Ihe pots, and planted in rows in the 

 open ground ; and I have the satisfaction to ob- 

 serve that very nearly the whole of the com- 

 port adhered firmly to their roots ; ami that their 

 grouth subsequently was not apparently check- 

 erf, ill any degree by their transplantation. — • 

 They were placed in rows contiguous to those 

 wl'.icii had been previously sown, a small quati- 

 lily of compost, similar to that put into Ihe pots, 

 being added; and the common mould was then 

 closed round their roots, and raised upon each 

 side of Ihe rovi:s. Sticks to support and protect 

 the plants were immediately added, in raliier 

 more Ihan the ordinary number and quantity ; 

 and subsequently no particular care or attention 

 was paid to them. 



On the morning of Ihe 2Gti) cf April, I ascer- 

 tained the comjiarative groHth of my plant.-', 

 which had been subjected to the different modes 

 of treatment abovemenlioned, in two rows w hich 

 gretv contiguous to each other: when I found 

 Ihe height of those which Jjad been raised iti 

 pots to be 15 inches, and tliat of the others to 

 be scarcely 4 inches; and i much doubt wheth- 

 er 1 ever possessed, in the most favourable sea- 

 son, as lorward a crop of peas as ray garden now 

 contains. 



IMany causes appear to me to have operated 

 in conjunction, to produce Ihe foregoing effects. 

 It has long been known Ih?' snow does not, in 

 winter, lie so long upon g.ound which has been 

 manured in Ihe same .c-'asou with fresh unfer- 

 mented horse dung as upon unm-.nured ground ; 

 and therefore I co-iclude that some degree of 

 heat existed in, and emanated from the com- 

 post, though prvjbably never in sufficient degree 

 to be sensible to Ihc touch of any warm-blooded 

 animal. If placed in any fonsiderable heaji, 

 such a compost as that described, and even wfien 

 the horse thing is mud) less in quantity, will 

 heat violently. 1 have often suflpred the com- 

 post of this kind, which 1 employ for pine ap- 

 ples, to become hot, to prevent the subsequent 

 appearance of earth worms ii if. 



llheatwasin any degreegenerated bv"*. 

 compost in which llic peas frew, the cs'-l'* <'' 



