150 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



at the institution with which the Lyceum was 

 connected. The members respectfully solicit 

 the aid ofsrentlemen in increasing their cabinet 

 of curiosities. This society appears to have 

 commenced under lavorable auspices, and 

 will doubtless become eiitensivcly uselid in the 

 cultivation and diffusion of natural science. 



Human Li/e.— According to accurate tables 

 kept in London, it appears that the mean dura- 

 tion of the life of Man is several years longer 

 than it was 100 years ago. It was said by an em- 

 inent physician "ol our country, that according to 

 the principles of longevity in other animals, 

 men ought to live 100 years; and that the 

 abridgement ot that period was owing to 

 their unnatural and luxurious manner of living. 

 — The English calculators attribute the increas- 

 ed longevity of the moderns to better food, 

 warmer clolbing, and more comfortable dwel- 

 lings. No doubt the extermination of the 

 small pox, the amelioration of several other 

 diseases, and the increased skill in the healing 

 art, have also had an etlect to produce the grat- 

 ifying result. 



Method of PoliMng or Cleaning a Stove. — 

 Take 1-4 lb. Black Lead, mix it with water, 

 then put it on the Stove with a paint brush, 

 and after it is perfectly dry, take a stitT brush 

 to it, which in a few minutes will produce a 

 handsome polish. The aliove is recommended 

 by our lirst rate Stove Polishers.— i>o£(o;i Gn^. 



Caution. — It will be seen by our record of 

 deaths, that a man died recently in Massachu- 

 setts, in consequence of drinking oil of tansy, 

 through mistake. Within a few weeks the 

 lives of two ladies, one in this town and the 

 other in East-Greenwich, were endangered, by 

 their incautiously taking with tansy water 

 some portion of the deleterious oil which floats 

 upon the surface. — Rhode Island American. 



The Rabway (N. J.) Advocate mentions, as 

 a great day's work, that Mr. Isaac Thornall husk- 

 ed, for a bet, between sunrise, and sunset, one 

 hundred and thirty and a half bushels of corn. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



S.iTURDAY, DECEMBER 0, 11^23. 



Winter Butter. — If milch cows were fed with roots 

 butter might be made during the winter. Some dairy 

 women, however, complain that it is almost impossible 

 to churn their cream into butter in cold weather. Mr. 

 VanEmberg [See N. E. Farmer, vol. ii. p. l'-'4, 125.] 

 directs to keep the milk till it begins to change, and 

 then to churn it. lie advises to mix the night's milk 

 with that of the next morning, and " in summer thig 

 change generally takes place about ten o'clock; in 

 cold weather it requires to be kept longer for this pur- 

 pose, say in spring and autumn, the milk of the first 

 mess may be kept till the day following, and then re- 

 quires the addition of icarm renter to the viilk to bring 

 jt to the right temperature for churning." Others ad- 

 vise in cold wcatht r to pour as much boiling water into 

 the cream as will bring it to about the temperature of milk 

 just from the cow. It is said that cream managed in 

 that way will require but very little churning, and is 

 attended with no disadvantage except that the butter 

 will be white a day or two. 



it is said in Huntar's Ceorgical Essays that good but- 



ter may be made from cows fed on turnips as fol- 



" Let the vessels which receive the milk be kept con- 

 stantly clean, and well scalded with boiling water. 

 When the milk is brought from the dairy, with every 

 eight quarts mix one quart of boiling water, and then 

 put it up to stand for cream." This it is asserted will 

 destroy the taste of the turnip, and perhaps may facil- 

 itate the process of churning. 



lir. Ueane's N. England Farmer states that "a 

 strong rancid flavor will be given to the butter if we 

 churn so near the fire as to heal the wood in the winter 

 season. In churning for butter always have an orifice 

 sufficient for the air to have access to the cream. Butter 

 is produced by the union of oxygene with the cream, 

 and more butter will be produced, and of a finer flavor, 

 if the churn is sufficiently open. 



It is recommended by some writers to shorten the op- 

 eration of churning hy mixing a little distilled vinegar 

 with the cream in the churn. A table spoonful or two 

 to a gallon of cream is advised, and the acid may be 

 carried off by washing the butter in two or three chan- 

 ges of v/ater. 



In Scotland dairy women give their butter a fine yel- 

 low color by grating some orange carrots, straining the 

 juice and mixing it with the cream previous to churn- 

 ing. Butter thus made acquires not only a beautiful 

 yellow color, but a flavor which adds greatly to its 

 value. The quantity of carrot juice to be used must 

 be ascertained by experiment and the judgment of the 

 manufacturer. 



Although the following mode of curing butter has 

 been published in newspapers and agricultural works, 

 it may he new to some of our readers. 



" Take two parts of the best common_salt, one part 

 of sugar, and one part of salt petre, beat them up to- 

 gether so as to blend the whole completely: take one 

 ounce of this composition for every sixteen ounces of 

 butter. Mix it thoroughly with tlie butter, as soon as 

 it has been freed from the milk (which should be done 

 etfectually,) and put it without loss of time into the ves' 

 sels prepared to receive it, pressing it so close as to 

 have no air holes, or any kind of cavities within it ; — 

 smooth the surface, and if you expect it will be more 

 than two days before you add more, cover it close up 

 with a piece of clean linen that has been dipped in 

 melted butter, that is exactly fitted to the edges of the 

 vessel all round, so as to exclude the air as much as 

 possible, without the assistance of watery brine. — 

 When more butter is to be added, remove the 

 covering, and let the butter be applied close above 

 the former, pressing it down, aiad smoothing it 

 as before, and so on till the vessel is full. When 

 full, let the two covers be spread over it with 

 the greatest care, and let a little melted butter be 

 poured round the edges, so as to fill up every cranny, 

 and cfl'ectually exclude the air. A little straw may 

 then be strewed over the whole, and the cover firmly 

 fixed down, to remain closely shut till opened for use. 

 " Butter cured in this manner, does not taste well till 

 it has stood at least a fortnight after being salted : af- 

 ter that period has elapsed, it eats with a rich marrowy 

 taste that no other butter ever acquires. Butter thus 

 cured will go well to the East or West Indies." 



ous sizes, and we are informed are afforded at a cheap^ 

 rate than those of a similar quality manufactured i^ 

 Great Britain. Pipe of a diameter sufficient for supplyt 

 mg water for a common family, including what would b{ 

 necessary for a barn yard, well stocked with cattle, j 

 furnished, and placed in the ground, (after the ditch i 

 dug) for $1, 25 a rod, which is cheaper, we are toM 

 than wooden pipes can be bored and laid. The dur 

 tion of these pipes has no assignable limits, as they a 

 not liable to rnst or decay in the ground ; and are wai 

 ranted to withstand the pressure of the earth and wf 

 ter. 



Specimens of this pipe, of different diameters, wil 

 the different prices marked on them, are left at the Ajj 

 ricultural Warehouse of Lincoln, Fearing & Co., Nq 

 20, Merchants' Row, Boston ; where they may be inj 

 spected by any persons who may wish for further infor- 

 mation ou this subject. 



Rapid Growth of a Swine. — A friend writes to us that 

 he "sold a pig last spring, which was slaughtired se- 

 ven months after the sale, and had gained oyie pound 

 and one third a day, without making any allowance for 

 his being weighed, in the first instance, when alive, and 

 killed and dressed when he was weighed last." 



rOR THE NEW EKGLAND FAKMER. 



Mr. EriiTOR, 



Sir — I noticed in your paper of the 15th inst. a com- 

 munication from "»4 A'tffcsf ' (fcer," ou the subject of cut- 

 ting hay and straw. As the communication ap];enrs lo 

 be made from disinterested motives, 1 hope it will rx- 

 cite the attention, which it merits, not only fjnni our 

 wealthy farmers, but from those to whom it would be 

 of the utmost consequence in point of tconomy. I li:ne 

 been long in the habit of cutting not only straw, but 

 common hay and cornstalks, and have expc rienccd 

 the good effects in the appearance of my slock ; and 

 have provtd beyond a doubt that the greatest saiing 

 may be made in this mode of expending fodder. The 

 present season is a lavorable time for those unacquaint- 

 ed with the profit and advantage to be derived fioin 

 this mode of feeding. Although hay may not be 

 scarce, nor uncommonly dear, yet it is not so abundant 

 as we frequently have had it for seasons past. From 

 this circumstance, 1 think many farmers may be induc- 

 ed to try the experiment, which if fairly tested would 

 never be abandoned. 



One great and principal reason, which I have oftea 

 heard assigned by many of my neighbors for not adopt- 

 in » this practice is the hard labor it occasions, and the 

 want of a suitable machine for the purpose, 'i'o re- 

 move these objections, I will take the liberty to recom- 

 mend a new and useful machine, now manufactured, 

 and for sale at the Agricultural Establishment, (so cal- 

 led,) in Merchant's Row. This machine appears 10 

 comtiine every qualification necessary to rfmovi-the 

 objectionable points. It does not require haid labor, 

 is not an expensive machine, is simple and plain in its 

 construction, easy in its operation, and every way well 

 calculated for hand labor. W. 



Jlmerican Manufactured Leaden Pipes for Aque- 

 ducts, — We have before us some specimens of leaden 

 pipes, manufactured by Mr. David Loring, of Concord, 

 Massachusetts, which are neatly wrought, and have 

 every appearance of being fully equal to any leaden 

 pipe imported from England. These pipes are of vari- 



FOREIGN. 



Spain. — The last accounts from that unhappy coun- 

 try are, as usual, confused and contradictory. Some 

 reports represent the country as still in a state of agita- 

 tion ; and that the constitutional leaders still keep the 

 field. A private letter from Bayonne of the 14th uJt" 

 states that " the impulse has been given by Ballastt rot, 

 who is with a respectable force in the ncighbourinj 

 mountains. The cry in all that country is ' the Con- 

 stitution or death,' and Ibey wear the green ribband. 

 ,Iaen is not tranquil. The desertion is considerable, 

 and the prisoners of Riego's corps escape as if by a mi- 

 racle from prison." It is also .'aid that the proclama- 

 tion of the King, declaring all the acts of the ConslitO- 

 tional Government null and void including all (helrans 

 made by that government, continues to create much 

 excitement among the capitalists, who have been deal- 

 in" in Spanish Bonds. It is rumoured that France, 

 Spain and Portugal intend to join their efforts torcstM* 



