VOIi. XIV. KO. a-i . 



•AND G A R D E N E II ' S J O U R N A L 



189 



(From the Ilatlimore I'armcr.) 

 CCRISG MEAT. 



The following r(H-oi|)ts for curing meat we copy 

 from the Genesee Farmer. We approve of them 

 all, except the one for curing Hums, and to that 

 we woulil adil six lbs. of brown sugar to every 

 bushel of salt, ami in addition we would rub all 

 the parts of a ham where skippers usually make 

 their attacks, with a small proportion of Cayenne 

 pepper. And in hanging the meat up, we would 

 always hang" the large part upwards. The pro- 

 portion of salt is for a thousand weight of pork. 



Salting Pork. — The common and simplest 

 method is to imbed the pieces completely in salt, 

 for which purpose a layer of salt should be first 

 placed upon the bottom of the barrel, then a layer 

 of pork placed in the usual manner, and the in- 

 terstices well filled with salt. It is always best to 

 apply plenty of salt, as whatever is not absorbed 

 by the meat is' in good condition for apjilying next 

 year. Saltpetre, unless employed in very small 

 quantities, is injurious to the quality of pork. A 

 small proportion however, (some recommend only 

 a four-hundredth part,) prevents the meat from 

 absorbing so great a quantity of salt, at the same 

 time that it is preserved equally well. Many add 

 a small quantity of sugar to improve its flavor. 



Cdri.ng Hams Mix one bushel of first rate 



salt with one pound of saltpetre, rub the pieces 

 well with the mixture, and put them down. In 

 a few days take them u|) and rub them again, 

 which makes them take the salt evener. In 

 about four week.=, remove them and wash them, 

 when they will be ready to be hung in the smoke 

 bouse. Shoulders and smaller pieces should be 

 taken up and washed sooner, according as they 

 are less in size. The meat should be hung in the 

 smoke house so that it cannot possibly fall, for if 

 a piece should fall in the fire, it would most pro- 

 bably burn the house, or injure or destroy the 

 rest. 



The following has been recommended as a 

 most excellent mode of preserving hams : 'Jake 

 one pound of salt, one ounce of saltpetre, pulver- 

 ize them well and mix them, add about two quarts 

 of molasses, rub the hams thoroughly with this 

 niixtuie, lay them flesh side up and let them re- 

 main eighteen or twenty days. 



Preserving Beef The following method is 



recommended in Deane's New England Farmer : 

 •'For a barrel of beef of the common size, reduce 

 to powder in a common mortar four quarts of 

 common salt ; then eight ounces of saltpetre, and 

 five pounds of brown sugar. Let the salt be well 

 rubbed into the ])ieces, pack them close in the 

 barrel, and sprinkle the saltpetre and sugar evenly 

 over each layer. No water at all is to be applied. 

 The juices of the meat, if well packed, will form 

 a suflicicnt quantity of brine ; and the beef will 

 keep sweet and good through the following sum- 

 mer, supposing it killed and packed in the begin- 

 ning of winter, or late in autumn ; and will not 

 be too salt to he palatable. Draining off the brine 

 and purifying it by boiling and scumming, with 

 the addition of a little salt in the beginning of 

 summer, and returning the brine upon the meat, 

 will be a real improvement. 



Another method for pickling beef, is recom- 

 mended in the same work, in substance as follows : 

 For every 100 lbs. of beef, take 16 lbs. fine salt, 2 

 lbs. brown sugar, 4 1-2 gallons of water, and 6 oz. 



of saltpetre. The salt, sugar and \\:\{6r are to be 

 put into a bra.ss or copper kettle ov(T a fire. 

 Continue to stir the salt frequently until it is all 

 dissolved, ami the scuju ceases to rise, which 

 should li(< skinnncd off as it appears. After this 

 add the saltj)etro. Let the pickle stand till it is 

 about cold, or blood warm. Have the beef cut in 

 smallish pieces and packed closely, free from any 

 bloody pieces. Adcl the pickle, and cover it tight 

 from the air. Should there be any a|i|)earance of 

 mould on the surface of the pickle, at any time, 

 add a handful or two of fresh salt. 



(From tlie Mains Fanner.) 

 A WORD TO FARMERS. 



HoRSF. Rakes. — Mr Holmes: As our farrfiers 

 have had a remarkably fine fall for business, and 

 probably completed their ploughing, hauling man- 

 ure, &c., those who have been in the practice of 

 piling up stone heaps on their mowing lands, and 

 covering from a sixteenth to an eighth of the land, 

 would find much benefit from the removal of 

 them and fitting their mowing land for using a 

 horse rake, thereby saving much hard labor, and 

 frequently hay from getting wet. I have used 

 one of the revolving horse rakes three seasons, 

 and should not be willing to exchange it through 

 the season of haying for one of the best of hired 

 hands. This perhaps some may think rather 

 wild, but I have only to say — try it, prove it,, and 

 then you will be prepared to judge correetly. 

 Since procuring a horse rake I have taken more 

 care in preparing my mowing lands than before ; 

 laying them down smooth by using the roller, and 

 removing stones, stumps, &c. so that now I can 

 cut considerable more gra.'s from the same ground 

 than before, when I had to mow over hummocks, 

 stones and stumps; besides, I am not afraid to 

 mow down as much grass as I can rn the fore- 

 noon, for the reason of not being able to rake and 

 take care of it in the afternoon. Some persons 

 have used the drag horse rake, and think they find 

 quite an advantage in it. But reason would con- 

 vince any one that the revolving rake possesses 

 decided advantages over any other, for instead of 

 stopping a horse at every winrow and taking up 

 the rake, and throwing it over the winrow, with 

 the revolving rake a horse may keep upon the 

 quick walk from one end of the jiiece to the other, 

 and the labor for the person holding the rake is 

 much lighter. Any one can form a pretty correct 

 idea of the time it would take to rake an acre in 

 this way, when the rake takes a breadth of about 

 nine feet. Would farmers only try the experi- 

 ment, I am satisfied they would never want to 

 drag the hand, rake where a horse would rake 

 more than eight men in a given time, and the ex- 

 pense for rakes for six or eight years, I think 

 would be about equal, of either kind. 



Economy. 



Vassalhorough, llth month, 5th, 1835. 



An exuberant Orchard Toward the close 



of last simimer we visited several times the or- 

 chard of Mr Thomas Greene, of Pawtuxet, as one 

 of the most beautiful and gratifying exhibitions of 

 fructification ^ve had ever beheld. Most of the 

 trees were so laden with apples of the fairest 

 quality as to require a prop under each limb, and 

 some of them were so entirely curtained with 

 fruit as to resemble a heap of apples resting upon 

 columns. The orchard stood U|)on about an acre 

 of ground, and contained thirtyfive trees. Eight 



of these trees were small, from wl'"' '- ^'"'}"Za 

 since been informed by Mr C-ccne, he ga hereU 

 only from a bushel to a bushel ami a halt to a 

 tree. Fro.n three of the ot her ti'CCB he 8™'"''^'* 

 27 bushels each, and from two oth«" 30 buh>'e 

 each.. The whole product of the or'Aard was » 

 little over four hundred bvwhels, out "^ h re\'» 

 after having dried 12 bu.shch, mad.'' ^" ,, 



of cider, and sold 60 bushels of fall aPl'>f*'. "^^. 

 Greene informs us he has 220 hoshcls C' ^' . 

 apples in his cellar. During the- Wmmer . /• 



took two tons of millet hay Irom; the saime ai _ . 

 land. But what is the most remarkable fecv ^i 

 the history of this orchard is, as we are assOTXv 

 by Mr Greene and some of his neighbors, tfia. 

 when the land upon which this orchard standi 

 came jnto his possession, it was an unproductive,, 

 drifting sand flat, upon which there was no vege- 

 tation, except such bushes as had been ])!anted 

 upon it by his father to prevent the wind from 

 blowing the sand about. Outside of the orchard 

 fence the land is still a naked white sand. But 

 this sterile waste has been brought to its present 

 state of almost unexampled fertility, solely by the 

 application offish as a manure.. Mr Greene says 

 he ploughs in about 45 barrels of fish per year, 

 costing generally from eight to nine, dollars, and 

 that if he should omit this application of manure 

 for a few years, the soil, which is now of a dark 

 yellow color, would doubtless bleach out again to 

 the quality of white sand, and become as unjiro- 

 ductive as ever. So much will good husbandry 

 do towards causing " the desert to blossom like 

 the rose." — Prov. Her. 



Cultivation of Corn. — ^We take time by the 

 forelock, to suggest to our subscribers and other 

 readers, the propriety of saving all their ashes, 

 through the present fall, ensuing winter, and 

 spring, from the weather, with a view of manu- 

 ring their corn in the hill the next season. The 

 effect of a half pint or pint of ashes upon a hill of 

 corn, must be seen to receive credence ; but we 

 feel certain that we hazard nothing in saying, that 

 the yield of an acre thus stimulated to vegetable 

 luxuriance, will yield thirtythree and a third per 

 cent, more than one which is not, though both 

 may be in equal tilth at the outset. We do not 

 pretend to comprehend the modus operandi, or- 

 specific action of ashes, in pijomoting vegetable- 

 growth, whether it be by meliwating the superin- 

 cumbent materiel, and converging it into a pabu- 

 lous substance ])eculiarly adapted to the purposes, 

 of vegetable food, or whether it acts' more directly,. 

 and merely as a stimulant ; but of ijts effect, front 

 long and close observation, we are enabled to- 

 speak with certainty. It is, beyond all comj)ari- 

 son, the most efiicient manure for present [jurposes, 

 that can he used in the cultivation of almost any 

 crop. And we would venture this opinion: that 

 corn manured with unleached ashes in the hil' , 

 would be less annoyed by the cut worm, than tb. at 

 to which other manure had been applied. VVe 

 recur to this subject thus early, because we desire 

 that some of our public spirited and intrjligent 

 farmers, should prepare themselves to mJUke such 

 experiments as may silence all cavilling upon the 

 subject. — Far. ^ Card. 



About $200 hav« already been subscribed by 

 the merchants and mechanics of Indianapolis, 

 Ind. to be distributed in premiums at \he AgricuU 

 tural Fair of the fall of 1836. 



