200 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Apbil 



a moderate descent to the north ; it has, how- 

 ever, always borne good crops of pears. 



4. What amount of fruit will a well-grown 

 pear tree produce as compared to an apple tree 

 in similar circumstances ? 



5. Is there any very late keeping apple which 

 comes so near to the Baldwin in productiveness as 

 to make it profitable for extensive culture ? 



Ashfield, 1855. M. F. Bassett. 



Remarks. — 1 and 2. In addition to the four 

 varieties named we would recommend the Napo- 

 leon Bigarrcau and Black Eagle — the last we con- 

 sider indispensable ; the Early Purple Guigne is 

 a good early cherry, and of course apt to be tak- 

 en by the birds. 



3. We should recommend as additions to the 

 list of pears, the English Jargonelle, Beurre Diel, 

 Glout Morceau and Winter Nelis. 



4. The pear will not compare with the apple 

 for bearing. 



5. We consider the Hunt Russett to be the 

 best late keeping apple. It is prolific, excellent, 

 and may be kept through the year under favora- 

 ble circumstances. 



SPRING WORK. 



Trees. — Make all necessary preparations for 

 transplanting ; do not delay it until the trees are 

 swollen, for to remove a tree then, gives it a 

 shock which it will scarcely recover from through 

 the season. Be generous with the spade — loosen 

 and pulverize the earth over a liberal breadth, 

 working in a little well decomposed compost. 

 Transplant early in April, if the ground is suit- 

 able. 



Spring Rye. — More profit maybe realized from 

 one acre thoroughly plowed, 10 inches deep and 

 well manured, than to skim over two acres of 

 old fields indifferently. A bushel and a half of 

 good seed on the best land will be sufficient, while 

 on the poor, two bushels will be required. 



LADIES' DEPARTMENT. 



The Peach Crop. — The temperature falls in 

 Connecticut and Massachusetts to 12 and 15 deg. 

 below zero every few years, without injuring the 

 peach crop. In 1834, at Windham, Conn., one 

 morning, on the high hills, the thermometer in- 

 dicated 18 deg. below, while on the plains and 

 valleys it was 22 ; yet there were plenty of 

 peaches the following season on the hills, and 

 none in the plains and valleys. A year or two 

 after, the temperature, one windy night, was ex- 

 actly teversed. The next year there was not a 

 peach on the hills, but a full crop in the val- 

 leys ; the tree buds were not injured. Who will 

 inform the public Avhere the exact frost-line of 

 the peach is ] Another question to the curious is, 

 at what temperature the peach-tree is killed bv 

 frost? ^ 



W" The particular attention of the reader is 

 called to the article by Dr. Reynolds, on Re- 

 claiming Swamp Lands. 



DOMESTIC RECIPES. 



Best Bread. — The best bread is that made of 

 unbolted loheat flour. In some cases a small por- 

 tion of white bread may be desirable, but the 

 brown, after a short time, will be found more 

 palatable, and conducive to a more regular and 

 healthy condition of the system. It has been as- 

 certained that even dogs cannot live over fifty 

 days fed upon fine flour bread and water ; when 

 fed upon such as contained the whole or a large 

 portion of the bran, they are found in no respect 

 to suffer. — Water-Cure Journal. 



To make fine P.iNCAKES FRIED WITHOUT BuTTER 



OR Lard. — Take a pint of cream, and six new- 

 laid eggs ; beat them well together ; put in a 

 quarter of a pound of sugar, and one nutmeg, or 

 a little beaten mace — which you please, and so 

 much flour as will thicken — almost as much as 

 an ordinary pancake flour batter ; your pan must 

 be heated reasonably hot, and wiped with a clean 

 cloth ; this done, spread your batter thin over it, 

 and fry. 



Indian Muffins. — A pint and a half of yellow 

 Indian meal sifted. A handful of wheat flour. 

 A quarter of a pound of fresh butter. A quart 

 of milk. Four eggs. A very small tea-spoonful 

 of milk. Put the milk into a saucepan. Cut the 

 butter into it. Set it over the fire and warm it 

 until the butter is very soft, but not until it 

 melts. Then take it off, stir it well till all is 

 mixed, and set it away to cool. Beat four eggs 

 very light ; and when the milk is cold, stir them 

 into it alternately with the meal, a little at a 

 time of each. Add the salt. Beat the whole 

 very hard after it is all mixed. Then butter some 

 mufiBn-rings on the inside. Set them in a hot 

 oven, or on a heated griddle ; pour some of the 

 batter into each ; and bake the muffins well. 

 Send them hot to table, continuing to bake while 

 a fresh supply is wanted. Pull them open with 

 your fingers, and eat them with butter, to which 

 you may add molasses or honey. — Farm Journal. 



Mode of Making Yeast. — The following mode, 

 which was found very convenient in practice, 

 was stated to us by a notable house-wife. One 

 quart of hops is boiled about three hours with 

 about seven gallons of w^er ; after that the re- 

 sulting liquid is passed through a cullender on 

 three quarts of Indian meal, or so much that the 

 mixture will be like batter. Half a tea-cup of 

 salt is added, and when cooled to new milk 

 warmth, half a pint of yeast. After stirring 

 well, it stands fifteen or twenty hours, and In- 

 dian meal added till of the consistency of dough, 

 when cakes, three inches in diameter and half 

 an inch thick, arc made from it, and dried on a 

 board by the fire ; much heat will destroy the 

 yeast, and if not dried in two or three days, fer- 

 mentation will proceed so far as to destroy it. 

 These cakes will be good for three months ; one 

 of them soaked half an hour in warm, not hot 

 water, will be enough for a large loaf. 



5^^ When friends come to see you uninvited, 

 do your best to entertain them, but make no apol- 

 ogy or comment ; it sounds to your guest like a 

 reproach for taking you unawares. 



