96 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



readily come off with a knife. Keep it a fortnight 

 longer in the liquor, and then color ihe skin to your 

 fancy. 



I will send a specimen done in that way, colored 

 •with a yellow flower that grows wild in the moun- 

 tains. My companion always told me that the 

 brains of all animals would tan their own skin. 



Maiden, Dec, 1856. e. w. b. 



TO CLEAN PICTURES. 



Mr. Editor : — In reply to a subscriber's ques- 

 tion, "How shall we clean pictures," which appeared 

 in the Farmer for Dec. 9, I subjoin the following 

 extract from the Autobiography of Goethe ; it be- 

 ing the only method that I have ever seen for ren- 

 ovating engravings. 



"The Roman views which hung for many years 

 on the walls of the old house, had become very 

 yellow through the light and smoke and dust, and 

 not a little unsightly through the flies. My father 

 wished that these engravings might be restored as 

 aiuch as possible. It was well known that this 

 could be done by bleaching, and the operation al- 

 ways critical with large plates, was undertaken un- 

 der rather unfavorable circumstances. For the 

 long boards on which the smoked engravings were 

 moistened and exposed to the sun, stood in the 

 gutters before the garret windows, leaning against 

 the roofi and were therefore liable to accident. The 

 chief point was, that the paper should never thor- 

 oughly dry, but must be kept constantly moist ; 

 this was the duty of my sister and myself, and the 

 idleness which would have been otherwise so desir- 

 able, was excessively annoying on account of the 

 tedium and the watchfulness which allowed of no 

 distraction." A. 



TO KEEP BACON. 



I take it in the spring of the year, before any in- 

 sects make their appearance, and wrap in paper tight 

 as convenient, pack in a barrel and fill in with oats 

 to prevent their touching each other ; then cover 

 the barrel tight so as to exclude air and insects. In 

 this way I have kept hams throughout the "hottest 

 weather." Ontario. 



December 22, 1856. 



fine dust on cheese. 

 The Green Mountain Farmer says — "We would 

 advise oiling them with melted butter, sprinkled 

 with red pepper. A damp, mouldy cellar is favor- 

 able to mites. No cheese should be kept till 'old,' 

 unless it be made of new milk, when it will not be 

 necessary to keep it in a very damp place, and very 

 little trouble will be had with these mites." 



TO CURE pork hams. 



To sixteen pounds of ham, take one pound of 

 good fine salt, two ounces of saltpetre, five ounces 

 of sugar — all pounded together and rubbed on 

 carefully. Turn them and rub them all over, once 

 in two days, for fourteen days, with the mixture, 

 and then smoke them. This methcd has been test- 

 ed by the experience of years. No brine is needed. 

 The process is always successful, and the hams are 

 well flavored. TiMOTHY M. CooLEY. 



Granville, JVov. 24. 



FRENCH merino SHEEP. 



Mr. George Campbell, of Wes^ Westminster, 

 Vt., has recently sold 28 full-blood French sheep to 

 B. F. Dinsmore, of Anson, Maine. Mr. Campbell 

 has visited France and selected stock himself. We 

 met him at the late U. S. Show at Philadelphia, 

 with some of his sheep, where we believe he also 

 effected sales. He knows what good stock is, and 

 sells only the best. 



growth of CATTLE AND IvEEPING. 



I wish to inquire through your columns at what 

 age neat stock can reasonably be considered to be 

 full grown, and also, what is the cost of keeping, 

 during the foddering season, of the various ages 

 from one year old, and so on to their full growth ? 



Rehoboih, Dec, 1856. ii. b. 



SAUSAGE-MAKING — PUMP FROZEN. 



At this sausage-making season, perhaps many 

 of your readers will find it convenient to use the 

 following rule : To ten pounds of meat ; put one 

 gill of salt, one gill of sage and one-half gill of 

 pepper, or, if preferred, one-half the quantity of 

 sage and one-half gill of summer savory. 



Remember, if the pump freezes, pour hot water 

 on the outside. M. a. k. 



Fitzmlliam, JST. H. 



SUGAR C.\NE SEED. 



Alexander S. Phelps, Sharon, Vt. — We have 

 not the seed to distribute, but NouRSE & Co., 13 

 Commercial Street, Boston, to whom we have hand- 

 ed your order, will have a supply by steamer in 

 January. 



BLACK TEETH IN PIGS. 



S. K.. W., of Boston, states that if the teeth 

 which are turned black, in the disease called "black 

 teeth," are extracted the animal will soon recover. 



Mr. B. TiSDALE, of Bradford, Mass., has a calf, 

 native and Durham, six months old, that weighs 

 510 pounds. 



CoL. Poore's Address. — The Address before 

 the Essex County Agricultural Society at its last ex- 

 hibition, was by Col. Ben. Perley Poore, of West 

 Newbury. It is a carefully written historical sketch 

 of the progress of the early settlers, with an Agri- 

 cultural basis. But it has pages of downright practi- 

 cal remarks which the farmer may read and profit by. 

 The Col. does with a will whatever he undertakes, 

 and this production shows that he has plowed the 

 land as well as ocean, and knows something about 

 apples and wheelbarrows, corn crops and cabbages, 

 and that he is really interested in agricultural im- 

 provements. 



^ff^The Journal says that $7000 of the $10,000 re- 

 quired by the Legislature to be raised by the Female 

 Medical College in order to entitle it to receive the 

 ^10,000 appropriation, has already been secured. 



