90 



Philadelphia Butter. 



Vol. IX. 



to be laid aside, and the cultivator or hoe- 

 harrow used in its place. In wet weather, 

 the plough ought never to be used. Corn 

 is benefited at all periods of its growth, by 

 the application of manure on the surface, 

 over the roots. If the drought is great, and 

 the corn far advanced towards maturity, the 

 surface crust must be broken and the earth 

 frequently stirred lightly, to admit air and 

 moisture to the roots, but care must be had 

 not to disturb or cut the lateral, or surface 

 roots. 



About the time corn is maturing, brace 

 roots shoot out from the joints near the sur- 

 face of the earth. These roots frequently 

 strike deep into the earth, affording both 

 nourishment and support to the plant. If a 

 high hill has been made, these roots shoot 

 out higher upon the stalk where it is brittle, 

 and likely to be snapped oft' the first high 

 wind. If there be little or no hilling, the 

 corn would bend and yield to the storm, and 

 rise again, having sustained little or no in- 

 jury. This would be particularly the case, 

 where the soil is very fertile and highly cul- 

 tivated. 



Well grown corn has from forty to sixty 

 large roots extending from the joints under 

 the ground, which, with the tap-root, pene- 

 trate deep into the soil, if not obstructed by 

 a hard subsoil. From these large roots in 

 numerable small fibrous roots shoot out in 

 all directions towards the surface, extending 

 across the rows five or six feet, in search of 

 nourishment for the plant. The large per 

 pendicular roots afford moisture, and the 

 small fibrous roots food to the plant. The 

 deeper the perpendicular roots penetrate the 

 soil, the less injury the plant will sustain 

 from drought. And the more the surface has 

 been broken up and pulverized, the further 

 the surface roots will extend in search of 

 nourishment, to mature fine and large ears, 

 John H. Tucker, Chairman. 

 June 18th, 1844. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Philadelphia E utter. 



The Best Butter is to be had only in 

 Philadelphia. This may appear to be a 

 rash assertion, but I appeal to all who have 

 travelled over the country, whether there is 

 not a richness and fine fiavour, altogether 

 exempt from any rancidity, acidity, or tal- 

 lowy taste, not to be met with in the butter 

 we get at hotels either north or south of 

 that city! That it should excel Southern 

 butter, is not to be wondered at, because the 

 climate and the grasses are better, but why 

 should it be better than that which we meet 



with in New York, and all through New 

 England, the latter being-, especially, a grass 

 country? It cannot be that the process of 

 butter making is better understood there 

 than elsewhere, for every variety of process 

 aud contrivance for butter making has been- 

 set forth in the agricultural papers. Is it 

 not that there is something peculiar in the 

 pat-tures in the neighbouriiood of Philadel- 

 pliia, which affects the quality of the lacteal 

 secretions — and in what does "that peculiarity 

 consist ? Is it found that the best Philadel- 

 phia butter comes from cows that graze on 

 the old meadows below it ? If the fact as- 

 sumed be disputed, it might be difficult to 

 prove it; — all that could be done would be 

 to leave it to the judgment of those who 

 have had an opjiortunity of forming an opin- 

 ion, and it would not be easy to collect their 

 judgment in the matter; but supposing the 

 fact of its superiority to be admitted, it is 

 worthy of inquiry tvhy it is so? 



After an interval of twenty years, I have 

 been again lately to Boston and that vicin- 

 ity, and although I thought I could perceive 

 some improvement in the quality of the but- 

 ter there, I can safely say that never, either 

 there or in the State of New York, have I 

 met with butter that would bear a compari- 

 son, to my taste, with such as I have oflen 

 eaten at the table dViote of my old friend, 

 at the old Mansion House, Philadelphia. 

 The next best butter decidedly, according 

 to the observation of the writer, is that 

 from the dairies of the Hitlens — of Hamp- 

 ton — of Waverly, and others in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Baltimore. Do your readers 

 believe me to be correct in my impression 1 

 if so, can your correspondents throw any 

 light upon the matter? It would not be 

 worth while to argue and dispute about the 

 fact. S. S. I. 



The Toad. — That poor, despised and 

 harmless reptile, is admirable jn its propor- 

 tions, and has an eye of such transcendent 

 beauty, that when I find one, I place it on 

 my hand to view it more minutely. Its 

 skin too, so completely adapted to the sub- 

 terranean places into which it goes for shel- 

 ter, is well worth the attention of the phi- 

 losopher. As this little animal is innocuous, 

 I feel sorry when I see it trampled under 

 toot by inconsiderate people, who have 

 learned from their grandmothers that it is 

 full of venom. — Waterton''s Ornithology. 



M. Arago says the atmospheric pressure 

 principle maybe so applied, as to insure safe 

 transit at the rate of six leagues a minute, 

 or a thousand miles an hour. 



