No. 2. To Cook Bacon, Ham, <^'C. — Lightning Rods. — Onions. 



59 



report says — dispersed to their respective 

 places of abode, singing as tiiey went a 

 song of joy. 



The above statement may be relied upon 

 in every particular. The many pleasing 

 reflections which it suggests, we leave to be 

 recorded by our friends abroad. — New Ha- 

 ven Herald. 



To Cook Bacon, Ham, Tongues. 



First, well wash and scrape clean. If 

 very salt, it may soak in cold water a few 

 hours; allow plenty of water, fresh rain or 

 river water is best; put it in when the chill 

 is off, and let it be a good while coming to 

 the boil, then keep it very gently simmer- 

 ing. If time allows, throw away nearly or 

 quite all the liquor of bacon as soon as it 

 boils up, and renew it with fresh cold water; 

 jeckon the time from the second boiling. A 

 pound of streaky bacon will require three- 

 quarters of an hour to boil ; a quarter of an 

 hour for every additional pound. If good 

 bacon it will swell in boiling, and when 

 done the rind will pull off easily. Take it 

 up on a common d'sh to remove the rind, 

 and sprinkle it over with bread raspings, 

 sifted through a flour dredge, or grater. A 

 ham of twelve or fourteen pounds will re- 

 quire four or five hours simmering, or four 

 hours baking in a moderate oven. When 

 done, remove the skin as whole as possible, 

 and preserve it to cover over the ham and 

 keep it moist. If to be served hot, strew 

 raspings as above; but if intended for eating 

 cold, omit the raspings. It will be much 

 the more juicy for not cutting hot. Set it 

 on a baking stand, or some other contrivance, 

 to keep it from touching the dish; this pre- 

 serves it from swamping in the tat that drips 

 from it, keeps the fat nice and white for use, 

 and also makes the ham keep the longer 

 from becoming mnuldy, by the outside bemg 

 perfectly dry. Whether hot or cold, garnish 

 with parsley. A neat's tongue, according 

 to its size, age, and freshness, will require 

 from two hours and a half to four hours slow 

 boiling. When done, it will stick tender, 

 and the skin will peel off easily. A dried 

 chine, or hog's cheek, may be allowed the 

 same boiling as bacon, viz: four pounds an 

 hour and a half, and a quarter of an hour for 

 every additional pound.* — Sanderson. 



Lightninsr Rods. 



The wire suitable for licrhtning rods is 

 that known as No. 0, or No. 1, Iron wire. 



* Our cooks are apt to boil a ham, or indeed bacon 

 of any kind, too fast.— Ed. 



six feet of it weigh about one pound, and is 

 sold by Phelps, Dodge & Co., Cliff street, 

 New York, at six cents per pound. This is 

 the size of the wire used in the United 

 States Navy for 74 gun ships. It has never 

 been known to fail of conducting the light- 

 ning where the wire extended above the top 

 of the mast and terminated in the water, 

 nor have the hundreds of tons of metal in 

 guns, chain-cables and anchors on board the 

 ship, ever been known to divert the light- 

 ning from the wire. The protection of a 

 factory from damage by lightning is very 

 simple and the expense but little. A fac- 

 tory 100 feet long and 36 feet wide, should 

 have four lightning wires, and rising a few 

 feet above the highest point of the building 

 and placed at equal distances apart, so that 

 not more thati 20 feet surface should extend 

 in any direction from the rod. The rods 

 should be pointed at the top, and terminate 

 in water — if possible, even if the rod is 

 made to diverge to reach such a termina- 

 tion — if water cannot be reached, let the 

 rod terminate deep enough in the ground to 

 reach permanent moisture. This brief di- 

 rection will be found ample. 



The rod in descending should not be 

 brought in contact with the tin leaders, as 

 is sometimes the case — for the tin leaders 

 may divert the lightning by affording it a 

 more acceptable conductor. Lightning pos- 

 sesses wonderful disconnecting powers and 

 has a great fondness for bright metallic sur- 

 faces, and will pass over such in preference 

 to any other where the various surfaces are 

 in actual contact. — Farmer c|- Mechanic. 



Cultivation of Onions. 



John W. Proctor, Esq., of Massachu- 

 setts, states in the Boston Cultivator, that 

 there are three individuals in his neighbour- 

 hood, each of whom produces annually from 

 two thousand to three thousand bushels of 

 onions. They, in some instances, rent the 

 land at $6 to $10 per acre, and the average 

 product -is three hundred bushels per acre. 

 He says the onions, when ready for market, 

 are worth ilOO more than the rent of the 

 land and the cost of the manure, leaving 

 this sum as the compensation of the labour 

 applied. He does not give the price of the 

 onions per bushel, but we have lately seen 

 it stated that the average in this neighbour- 

 hood is 37| cents a bushel. The same land 

 is continued in onions several years in suc- 

 cession. Mr. P. states, that some lots have 

 borne this crop every year for ten years, 

 without any depreciation in yield. "Muscle 

 bed" and leached ashes are much used for 

 manure. Great pains are taken in the pre- 



