894 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JUNH aZ, IS3O9 



fii'mness, it is fLimigateri with brimstone. This 

 prOL'ess is called siilpliuring, and is thus ])erforiii- 

 ed: — A high studded room or garret, without a 

 fire place, but with doors and windows which 

 may be thrown open at pleasure for ventilation, is 

 chosen for the operation. The skeins of silk are 

 hung-on poles suspended from above cords, at the 

 height of seven or eight feet from the floor. For 

 every hundred pounds of silk, a (lound and a half, 

 er two pounds of foil hrimstonK! is procureil, 

 placed in a chafing dish, and set on fire. The 

 doors and windows are then closed, as are also all 

 crevices through which the fumes of the brim- 

 stone might escape. Jn this situation it is left for 

 twelve or fifteen hours, generally through one 

 night, when the doors and windows are opened. 

 When the room is sufficiently ventilated to admit 

 of going into it, the silk is taken down, 'i'he pro- 

 cess is sometimes reficated on silk designed for 

 some uses, particularly azure whites. 



ALUMING SILK. 



When silk is to be dyed, it sometimes under- 

 goes a process which is called " aliiming," which 

 is thus performed. A solution of ^lum water is 

 first prepared by dissolving forty or filly pounds 

 of alum, in forty or fifty l>uckets full of water, or 

 in about the proportion of a pound to a bsckct 

 full of water. The alum is dissolved in hot wa- 

 ter, and then poured into the tub, or other vessel 

 containing the cold water. In doing this, care 

 must be taken to stir it liriskly, so that it may 

 mix ; otherwise the coldness of the water might 

 produce a crystalization or congelation, as it is 

 t ermed by dyers. 



The skeins of silk, after being washed and freed 

 of the soap by beetling are strung together by a 

 cord, care being taken that the hanks be not too 

 much rolled up, or folded one upon another, and 

 steeped in the alum of water, lor eight or ten 

 hours. They are then washed and wrung with 

 the hands over the tub, that the alum water may 

 not be lost. Tiiey are then raised in clean water 

 ahd beetled again when necessary. 



In aluming silk, especial care must be taken, 

 that the skeins are not put into the a'um water 

 until it is cohl, as a warm solution would destroy 

 the lustre of the silk. Wheli large quantities are 

 aluriied, it will be necesaary to rep euish the wa- 

 ter with alum occasionally, or the solution will 

 become too weak, to sufliciently saturate the 

 silk. 



In performing this i)roce.ss, particular care should 

 betaken, that the alum used be of the best quali- 

 ty. It is often combined witli iron, which renders 

 it worthless for the dyer. It is however easily 

 detected by dissolving a small piece of it in dis- 

 tilled or rain water, and adding a few drops of a 

 solution of prussiate of potash. If it be a combi- 

 nation of alum and iron, a blue precipitate will 

 immediately take place. — Silk If'onn. 



The Housewife. — A good hottsewife is one 

 of the first blessings in the economy of life. What 

 we mean ^ g-oorf is, that she ])ossesses those quali- 

 fications, and exercises them, which are essential 

 to the good order and econo;ny of a family, the 

 tidy appearance, good manners, and respectablili- 

 ty of the children, and the comfort and enjoyment 

 of the domestic circle. She should understand, 

 practically every branch of household duty, so 



as to be able to perform it on an emergency and 



these emergencies are liable to occur to all and 



at all times be able to superintend and direct. 

 Depend upon it, men put a great value upon the 

 housewife (|ualifications of their jiartners, after 

 marriage, however little they may weigh with 

 them before ; and there is nothing which tends 

 more to mar the felicities of married life, than a 

 vecklessness or want of knowledge, in the new 

 house-keeper, of the duties which belong to her 

 station. We admiie beauty and order, and system, 

 in every thing, and we admire good fare. If 

 these are found in their dwellings, and are season- 

 ed with good nature and good sense, men will seek 

 for their chief enjoyment at home, — they will 

 love their home and their partners, and strive to 

 reciprocate the kind oflices of duty and afi'ection. 

 Mothers that study the welfare of their daughters, 

 will not fail to iiistruct them in the qualifications 

 of married life ; and daughters that appreciate the 

 value of these qualifications will not fail to acquire 

 them. To aid them in doing this, we shall oc- 

 casionally make some extracts that we deem iu 

 point, and perhaps proffer some hints of our own, 

 particularly in the art and mystery of cooking; 

 not that we would discourage epicurism, but that 

 we think there is great room for improvement, 

 both as regard comfort and economy, in the ftsh- 

 ion or )iractice of the day. '-A fundamental er- 

 ror in domestic life, of very serious extent," says 

 the authority which we are about to quote, " in- 

 volving no less the comfort than the health of the 

 family, arises from the ignorance or mistaken no- 

 tions, of the mistress of the house upon the sub- 

 jects of diet and cookery." We begin with the 

 following extracts. 



" Boiling. — Put your meat into cold water, in 

 the proportion of about a quart of water to a pound 

 of meat : it should be covered with water during 

 the whole process of boiling, but not drowned in 

 it ; the less water, provided the meat be covereil 

 with it, the more savory will be the meat, and the 

 better will be the broth. 



" When the pot is coming to a boil, there will 

 always, from the cleanest meat and clearest water, 

 rise a scum to the top of it, proceeding partly 

 from the water; this must be carefully taken off as 

 soon as it rises. When you have skimmed well, 

 p'ut in some cold water when it will throw up the 

 rest of fhc scum. 



'' The water shoidd be heated gradually, ae 

 cording to the thickness, &c. of the article boiled. 

 For instance, a leg of mutton of ten pounds weight 

 shoidd be placed over a moderate f re, which will 

 gradually make the water hot, without causing it 

 to boil, for about 40 minutes ; if the water boils 

 much sooner, the meat will be hardened, and 

 shrink up as if it was scorched; by keeping the 

 water a certain time heating, without boiling, the 

 fibres of the meat are dilated and it yields a quan 

 tity of scum, which must be taken off as soon as 

 it rises. Water never becomes any hotter than 

 boiling heat, 212=', though it boil ever so hard, if 

 the. steam or vapor can escape. 



" Two mutton chops were covered with cold 

 water ; one boiled a gallop, while the other sim- 

 mered very gently for three quarters of an hour ; 

 the chop which was slowly simmered was decid- 

 edly superior to that which was boiled ; it was 

 much tenderer, mere juicy, and much flavored 

 The liquor which boiled fast was in like [iropor- 

 tion more savory, and when cold had much more 

 fat on its surface. This explains why quick boil- 

 ing renders meat hard, &c., because its juices are 

 extracted in a greater degree. 



"The old rule of 15 minutes to a pound 01 

 meat, from the time boiling commences, wethinki 

 lather too little; the slower it boils, the tenderer 

 the plumper, and whiter it will be. 



[I'bese rules apply particularly to dried codfsh, 

 To have this well cooked, the water should not 

 be suffered to boil, but merely to simmer.} 



"Let the covers of your boiing pots fit close, 

 in order to prevent the escape of the nutritive 

 matter, which must then remain either in the mej'.t 

 or broth ; and the smoke is prevented from insin- 

 uating itself under the edge of the lid> and so giv- 

 ing the meat a bad taste. 



" If yon let meat or poultry remain in the wa- 

 ter after it is done enough, it will become sodden 

 and lose its flavor." — -Cook's Own Book. 



To BOIL A HAM. — Put in as little water as will 

 answer, regulate the fire so that it may be an hour 

 in coming to the boiling point, — let it boil two 

 hours moderately ; then take it out without a fork, 

 and plunge it into cold water. When cold take 

 off the skin, and garnish it for table. The cold 

 water fixes the juices in the meat, which conse- 

 quently renders it finer and better flavored. 



dil* 



Destruction OF Trees. — The severity of the 

 winter, or rather the alternation of warm days to 

 start the sap and of cold ones to freeze it, has been 

 very destructive to all kinds of fruit and forest 

 trees. Very few peach trees survive and almost 

 all the old black mazard cherry trees in this town 

 have been killed. We lament to see some beauti- 

 ful Catalpas and Horse Chestnuts, which have 

 been reared with great care, also destroyed. Ma- 

 ny apple trees have died, and although these trees 

 a[)pearcd fresh in the bark, and for a time gave 

 evidence of vitality, yet there has not been sap 

 enqugh left to sustain them. In examining some 

 healthy lookiiig trees which are dead, the other 

 day, the bark was found whole and externally 

 sound, but severed flom the body of the tree. The 

 bark seemed to have lost its adhesion and the sap, 

 consequently cease to circulate. 



The Chinese and White Mulberry trees have 

 fared no better than other trees. In examining a 

 large field of the Morus Multicaulis the other day, 

 which had one year's growth from cuttings, put 

 out last spring, they were found killed down to the 

 roots. But shoots were putting out rapidly at the 

 roots and leaves forming. The quick growth of 

 the plant will furnish abundance of food by the last 

 of June for Silkworms. These plants will this 

 year get some weeks more hard wood than they 

 did last year, and thus be enabled to endure the 

 next winter without serious injury. Some trees of 

 two or three years growth, averaging from four to 

 six feet in height, appear to be vigorous and unim- 

 paired, except at the extremity of the limbs. 



We are informed the White Mulberry has been 

 killed extensively in the towns beyond the Con- 

 necticut Valley; and we notice ourselves that the 

 winter has been equally destructive of native, as 

 of the Chinese Mulberry in Northampton. In re- 

 lation to the destruction of trees experienced indi- 

 viduals say that the severity of the winter is not so 

 fatal, as the occasional mild days which occur in 

 January and February. These cause the sap to 

 flow up, and a sudden change of temperature con- 

 geals it, burst oft' the bark and exposes the sensi- 

 bilities of the tree to fatal rupture. The capri- 

 ciousness of our climate, after all, renders it a mat- 

 ter of entire uncertainty, what trees will, or what 

 will not, survive our winters. — JVorihampton C'our. 



