190 



SILKMANUAL, AND 



sold af auction, and I purchased two pecks at one 

 dollar the peck. As they arrived late I was obliged 

 to sow tliem late in the season. I put them upon 

 good land, and they grew large in the straw, but 

 before they ripened were nearly all lodged down. 

 On threshing them out I found that 1 had eleven 

 bushels, notwithstanding, compared with those 

 sovyn they were very much shrunk and shriveled. 

 Last spring i sowed five bushels on two acres and 

 fifteen rods of land, in three several pieces, to try 

 what they wouJd do. The land was in various 

 states of richness, some of it in good order, and 

 some of it poorer, some on a spear grass sod 

 ])loughed eight inches deep — with little or no 

 dressing of any kind, the land having been mowed 

 as long as it would give any burthen worth mow- 

 ino". J raised between seventy and eighty bushels. 

 From my experiments I think }' may safely make 

 the following statements — viz: That they pro- 

 duce larger and more straw per acre than the 

 common oats. That they produce as many or 

 more oats. That they are this year about five 

 pounds in the bushel heavier though not entirely 

 full, as part of iny crop lodged and ail were cut 

 too green. That they ought not to be sowed late. 

 That they will produce more of oats-and straw on 

 land that is in rather pooi- condition. 



'fliat a decaying or rotten sward of any kind is 

 sufliciently rich to ensure a good crop. That they 

 Avill probably bring in the market 12^ cents ])er 

 bushel more than the conunon oats of this country, 

 and that it will prove a change of seeds that will 

 be of much benefit to the farmer for a number of 

 years to come. 



I have fifty bushels wiiich I wi 1 sell at a fair 

 price compared with the price of other oats if 

 applied for at my house soon. '^I'he oats imported 

 weighed 44 [lounds to the bushel. 



Elijah Wood. 



Winlhrop, Feb. 27, 1836. 



Caulion against Poisons. — Housekeepers should 

 be cautious about using glazed earthen vessels for 

 holding confections, either preserved in acids, or 

 iial)le to undergo acetous fermentation. The lead 

 used in the process of glazing is deadly poison. 

 It is disengaged by the action of the acids, and 

 iliffuses itself through the entire contents of the 

 vessel from vvliich it is corroded. Alany persons, 

 not aware of this fact, preserve pickles and sweet- 

 meats in glazed earthen jars, and from the dele- 

 terious change which the confections undergo, in 

 consequence, lose their health, if not their lives, 

 without ever suspecting the cause. 



Tomato. — It is said that the juice of the tomato 

 vine contains a most superb innate green coloring, 

 which is said to have been used as a -dye, and may 

 be made of all the various shades of green, from 



the dark to light pale gfeen, and when mixed witli 

 other coIorSj this green coloring is thought to have 

 a stronger basis than any other vegetable. 



Cotton Jor Tooth-ache. — Among the beat reme^ 

 dies for tooth-ache, and swollen face, is cotton ; 

 put as much into the niouth as can conveniently 

 be kept in, and in a few hours the pain and inflnra- 

 ination will be gone. If the swollen ])art of the 

 face is covered with cotton, the swelling will soon 

 disappear. 



Vinea;ar in Cream. — Sir : The difiiculty and 

 labor frequently attending the churning of butter, 

 l«d me to try a variety of experiments ta ascertain 

 if a method could be discovered for making butter 

 come quicker than tlie usual mode. After trying 

 several things, I found that by adding a table 

 spoonfull of good vinegar to four gallons of cream, 

 when ])ut into the churn, I obtained butter in from 

 seven to eight minutes. If this information will 

 be of any service to your subscribers, you are at 

 liberty to })ublish it.— Far. and Mec. 



Potato Balls. — x^ lady of our acquaintance re- 

 comrhends tlie following j)reparation : Mix mashed 

 potatoes with the yolk of an egg — roll them into 

 balls — flour them, or egg and bread cruuj them, 

 and fry tiiem in clear drippings, or lard, or brown 

 them in a Dutch oven. - 



To preserve Books. — A few dro])s of any per- 

 fumed oil will secure libraries from tlie consuming 

 effects of mould and damp. Russian leather 

 which isi perfumed with the tar of the birch tree, 

 never moulders; and merchants suffer large bales 

 of this leather to remain in the London docks, 

 knowing that it cannot sustain any injury from 

 darap This manner of preserving books willi 

 jjerfumed oil was known to the ancients. The 

 Romans used oil of cedar to preserve valuable 

 MSS. Hence the expression used by Horace, 

 " Digna cedro,'^ meaning any work worthy of 

 being anointed with cedar oil, or, in other words, 

 worthy of being preserved and remembered. — 

 Green. Gaz. 



Chinese Mulbekry. — A remarkable instance 

 of this plant's tenacity of life was mentioned to 

 us the other day by Dr Stebbins, of this town. — 

 Dr S. last autumn sent several boxes of the cut- 

 tings of this plant to Illinois. One of them was 

 69 days on its passage, and when received the 

 earth in which the cutting^s had been deposited 

 was as dry as powder, yet the buds had started 

 and were shooting forth iis luxuriantly as if enjoy- 

 ing the choicest advantages of sun, sky, and soil. 

 No doubt the cuttings of the multicaulis can be 

 sent the world over without killing them. — Hamp. 

 Gaz. 



