VOt. XXf. NO. 30. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER, 



286 



N.\LVSES OF INniAN CORN AND KUTA 

 BAGA. 



the Editor of the New Kngland Farmer: 



Dear Sir — In your last week'a paper, you ex- 

 ■esscd a wisii tor nnnlysca of Indian corn and of 

 ila ba^a. They arc hcrewilli enclosed — and for 

 le purpose of comparison, potatoes are added. 



100 Iba. of — Corn. Ruta Bae;a. Potatoes. 

 Fresli dug. 



2.07 



24.34 

 72. 

 1.39 



99.80 



1.312 1.000 



0.676 

 .391 

 .055 

 .055 

 .008 

 .006 

 .011 

 .090 

 .067 

 .026 



1.386 



The analyses above, compared with your experi- 

 ence, may throw some lipht upon the subject. 

 With regard, I am your ob'l serv't, 



SAM'L L. DANA. 



Lowell, Feb. 28, 1843. 



Q^^We are truly thanltful to Dr. Dana for this 

 communication. It gives the information we asked 

 for in sonic comments upon Dr. Playfair's lecture, 

 in our paper of Feb. 22, and it should be read in 

 connection with that article. It appears from Dr. 

 Dana's analyses, that Indian corn is the poorest, 

 pound per pound, for making T'^*''' ("^ distinguish- 

 ed from fdtj of all the substances named, except- 

 ing turnips and ruta bagas ; and it is but little bet- 

 ter than these. For forming fitt, however, it is far 

 before all the others. Supposing ruta bagas to 

 cost half as much per bushel as potatoes — and es- 

 timating the potatoes at 62 lbs. per bushel, and lU6 

 ruta bagas at .56 lbs., we shall find them very near- 

 ly equal in their /fs/i-foruiing matters ; but the 

 ruta baga has the superiority in its fattening prop- 

 erties. Such is the chemical result; and it differs 

 from our conjecture, that the ruta baga would be 

 found best of all the roots for giving muscle. 



We may extend our remarks upon this subject 

 in some future number. — Ed. N. E. F. 



The acids and the chlorine are combined with 

 le alkalies, metals and earths, and form salts, 

 ailed sulphates, muriates, and phosphates of pot- 

 sh, soda, lime, &c. 



What (you wish to know,) is the action of the 

 ilts ? So far as chemistry has yet gone, these 

 re found combined with the j?es/i-forming princi- 

 les only, and never with the fat-formers. They 

 irm a part of flesh, blood, sinews, bones, gristle, 

 'hey are I'ound in the animal body, only in combi- 

 ation with these tissues, or in certain secretions 

 nd excretions. As the elements of the animal 

 ssues are identical in composition with certain 

 arts of vegetables, which alone form them, we 

 lay infer, that in the animal and vegetable sys- 

 3ins, the salts perform similar parts. Rigid anal- 

 sis would probably show that the salts are always 

 roportional to the fiesh-tormiiig principles. As 

 1 the animal body, the salts form not fat, so in the 

 egetable, they form not a part of starch, gum, su- 

 ar, wood. Essen; ial they are to the formation of 

 he plant, by which the fat-forming principles are 



Horn to Make Good Coffee. — The question is 

 often asked, why is it that good coffee is so seldom 

 found in this country .' The reason is simply this : 

 coffee is spoiled in the burning, and sufficient care 

 is not taken in preparing it for the table. To 

 make colfee equal to the French, is very simple, 

 and very easy, and for the benefit of all good 

 housewives, and all lovers of good coffee, we will 

 state the manner in which it should be done. 

 First, procure the best coffee possible. See that 

 your cook does not burn it, but roast it to the color 

 of a golden brown, and never allow it to remain in 

 its burnt or roasted state for more than three days, 

 as after that time it will lose its strength. 



Secondly, in lieu of the ancient method of boiling 

 your coftee for an hour or more over a hot fire, and 

 then being obliged to settle it with such stuff as 

 fish-skin, egg-shells and the like, procure a biggen, 

 as it is termed, and make a distillation or decoction, 

 by putting the coffee in the apartment in which the 

 strainer is, and turning thereon boiling h/)t ivaler. 

 Take care that the nose of the coffee-pot has a 

 stopper to prevent the steam from esc.iping, and 

 cover the top of your biggen immediately after hav- 

 ing turned the water upon the colfee, as it is a 

 most important requisite to have the steam confin- 

 ed. Judgment is also to be used as to the amount 

 of coffee required, and also as to the quantity of 

 water to be used. The best coffee may be spoiled 



.roduced,and equally essential to the growth of ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^.^(^^ appWsA to it. The cofi-ee 



he animal body. How they act, is unknown. It / , , 



ody. 

 3 determined by chemistry, that the salts form cer- 

 ain definite proportions of certain parts of the body. 

 Ve may infer then, that their action is, to form 

 nly the substances of which they are essential 

 lements. If supplied in quantity greater than the 

 ody requires to form these elements, they would 

 robably be excreted as useless. Unless then, you 

 lave some evidence that salts act on animals, as in 

 ome cases on plants, to increiise bulk and devcl- 

 ipeuient, the position that salts exert " a greater ac- 

 ion, in proportion to their quantity, upon the ani- 

 nal system, than the organized matters," requires 

 arther proof Now this proof chemistry expects Folly will always find faith, where impostors 

 rom practiced cattle-feeders and stock-raisers. | will find impudence — Lacon. 



should be made very trong; and if strong enough, 

 its color will bo quite black. Lastly, liaving made 

 your cofTee of great strength, do not use hoi icntrr 

 to dilute it, but take boiling hot milk, and weaken 

 the coffee to your taste. By following these direc- 

 tions, you will have as fine a cup of coffee as can 

 be made in any country. 



The time required for making coffee in this 

 manner, is but a few minutes, the coffee being 

 made as fast as the liquid issues through the strain- 

 er. — Phila. Times, 



.Igriciillure a Subject for Sludy — "If thero 

 was ever a subject presenting food for intellectual 

 inquiry, that eubjeot is agriculture, involving, as it 

 does, the most subtle operations, and the deepest 

 mysteries of nature. It is the mind which consti- 

 tutes the true dignity of our nature. Without it, 

 man would be a mure machine ; with it, he be- 

 comes a divinity. It is for the farmers to come to 

 a knowledge of the true character of their great 

 calling, and place it where it belongs, among the 

 liberal professions, and among the most exalted of 

 sciences. Formerly, whenever there was a lame 

 or deformed child in the family, it was thought he 

 would do for a tailor or a minister; and if he was 

 a dunce or a blockhead, he would answer for a far- 

 mer. These prejudices are gone, and that stock 

 is nearly worked out. Agriculture is assuming ita 

 proper place among the pursuits of men ; and, 

 yielding to none under heaven, in usefulness, in 

 honesty, and intrinsic respectability, let us seek to 

 prove, that while it presents objects to call out and 

 interest, it is every way worthy of the application 

 of the highest talents which ever.fell to the lot of 

 man. 



"I have already said that the glory of man is 

 his mind. If his animal nature is curious, and 

 wonderful, his intellectual nature is transcendent 

 and divine. This places him at the head of the 

 animal creation. In his mind are the secret sources 

 of that energetic authority, which subjects the 

 most powerful elements of the physical world to 

 his sceptre, and makes him the ' monarch of all he 

 surveys.' We see every where, what an influence 

 and standing the high cultivation of the mind gives 

 to every man who has it in community. No oflS- 

 cial station, no mass of wealth so elevates a man ; 

 and even if we were cursed with the aristocratic 

 distinctions which prevail in other countries, such 

 is the spreading influence of intelli^jence, that the 

 cultivation of the mind would enable the man to 

 triumph over them all. To attain excellence in 

 any art, the principles of that art require to be 

 made the objects of specific inquiry and study. 

 "In order to a successful practice, the art must 

 be learnt as well as the science— the execution as 

 well as the theory. The best prospect of success 

 is when they are united ; when science directs the 

 application of art, and art in its turn demonstrates 

 the lessons of science. 



" None of the labors of the farm, excepting 

 where they are excessive, require any intensity of 

 application or any abstraction of mind, which would 

 interfere with the most active exercise of the intel- 

 lectual powers on subjects quite foreign from the 

 farmer's immediate occupation. He may commune 

 intimately with nature even when bending over 

 his hoe; he may talk reverentially with God about 

 his wonder-working providence, from between the 

 handles of his plow ; and he may often in his fields 

 hear the deep voice of a divine philosophy speak- 

 ing to his soul; as the shepherds heard a message 

 from heaven, while they were counting the stars 

 and watching their sleeping flocks upon thn plains 

 of Babylon."— Co/)»an's J}gricul. Address at Roch- 

 ester. 



i 



Ingratitude. — Ingratitude is a crime so shameful 

 that there was never yet one found that would ac- 

 knowledge himself guilty of h.— Selected. 



Vice aud FiV/ue.— Vice is infamou.«, though in a 

 prince ; and virtue honorable, though in a peasant. 

 — Addison. 



