PRACTICAL FARMER 



109 



have been effected hy frost, Thomas Dallas directs, 

 that when they are slightly touched hy the frost, 

 it is only necessary to sprinkle the roots with 

 lime to absorb the water under the skin ; that 

 when the outer portion of their substance is fro- 

 zen, the tubers may be pared and thrown for some 

 hours into water slightly salted ; and that wVien 

 they are wholly frozen, they will yield, upon dis- 

 tillation, a spirituous liquor resembling the best 

 rum, and in greater quantity than roots which 

 have not been frozen. 



The quotations we have made above are inval- 

 uable to the farmer and house-keeper ; and if the 

 principles which they establish are understood 

 and practised upon, we shall have no cause to 

 regret the length to which we have extended this 

 article. 



Mulberry Trees. We are informed that the 

 Rev. J. Parker has on his premises near the Meet- 

 ing House, in Southborough great numbers of 

 Mulberry trees of different ages and of different 

 sorts suitable for ornament, for fruit or for feeding 

 silk-worms. We are glad to hear that such an 

 establishment exists, in addition to others, in this 

 vicinity, and hope the public as well as the pro- 

 prietor, will be thereby benefitted. 'J he plants 

 can be sent to the Worcester Rail Road about 

 two miles from the nursery or taken from the 

 nursery at the option of purchasers. 



Apalachicola is a flourishing seajort situated ad- 

 vantageously at the outlet of the river of the same 

 name and within St George's sound, protected by 

 St Vincent, St George and Dog Islands : under 

 these last lay the vessels of larger burthen. 

 Those of 11 feet water come within four miles of 

 the town, and 8 to 9 feet can be received at the 

 wharves. During the active season, 13 isteam- 

 boats plied in the rivers as far as Columbus, in 

 Georgia, transj.orting upwards valuable merchan- 

 dise, and downwards 37,000 bales of cotton for 

 exportation from this port — the quantity of both 

 and consequently the business will be consider- 

 ably increased the ensuing season, probably to 

 the extent of 60,000 bales. — Commercial Gazette. 



A young mechanic of Woburn, Mass. has in- 

 vented a machine to peg boots by water. Tiie 

 machine is a very neat piece of work, and is said 

 by good judges, to be a superior invention. 



We examined a few days since (says the New 

 York Commercial Advertiser) a machine for ma- 

 king pins by steam power, which was in operation 

 at the factory of R. Hoe & Co. The machine is 

 one of the most ingenious pieces of mechanism 

 we have ever seen ; it completes sixty pins per 

 minute, and they look better and more perfect than 

 those manufactured in the usual way. 



Vermont sheep and wool. — The writer has 

 noticed a paragraph going the rounds of the pa- 

 pers, in which it is stated that there are in Ver- 

 mont twenty millions of shecj', ]jroducing wool of 

 the annual value of four iriillions of dollars. The 

 statement was so absurd, that their appeared no 

 necessity for contradicting it, but as it has been so 

 often repeated, it may be well to give the actual 

 facts. 



The number of sheep in Vermont docs not 

 much exceed eleven hundred thousand ; the |)ro- 

 duce in wool i.s three pounds to the sht^p, and 

 the average price of the wool is sixtyfive cents the 

 pound, 'i he whole annual value is therefore n 

 little more than two millions of dollars. 'J he pure 

 Saxony sheep, of which the nuirdjer is nof very 

 great, produce about two and a quarter pounds ; 

 the mixed Saxony and Merino about two and 

 three quarter ])ounds ; the Merino about three 

 pounds ; and the mixed Merino and native, about 

 three and a half pounds to the fleece. The aver- 

 age annual expense of keeping sheep in Vermont, 

 is rather less than one dollar the head. — Dai. Adv. 



Recipe for making vinegar. — You have 

 copied from the American Farmer into your pa- 

 per, vol. 4th, page 364, "short directions for ma- 

 king vinegar," which are as follows: 



"To 10 gallons of rain water add one gallon of 

 molasses and one of brandy — - mix them well to- 

 gether, and I lace the cask in a garret or some dry 

 warm place, and occasional y shaking it, in a few . 

 months it will be fit for use." 



Tvi'elve gallons of the aboi»dBpture will cost as 

 follows, viz : "'', 



1 gallon molasses 80 50 



1 gallon brandy (adulterated whiskey) 1 50 



$2 00 

 I would pro])ose a much cheaper way for fam- 

 ilies to be supplied with this indispensable article, 

 viz : — 



Take one bairel of cider — pure juice of the 

 apple — divide it into two parts; add one gallon 

 clean rain water to each part, place the casks and 

 treat them as above directed, and you will have 

 thirty gallons of vinegar, of superior flavor and 

 much more enduring body than that made of 

 whiskey and molasses, and at the same or a much 

 less price. The advantage of dividing the quan- 

 tity is that it will be sooner fit for use. — ^^ Obvious " 

 in Geneseee Farmer. 



In Missouri they have no parsnips. They fre- 

 quently plant them, but they strike so dtsep that 

 the rogues on the other side of the globe lay hold 

 of the roots and pull them through, so that the 

 labor and crop is lost to the rightful owners ! 



