NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



103 



the children of the peasantry are very fond, and 

 they do not fail to thrive upon it. In the north of 

 Ireland, a pleasant table beverage is prepared from 

 the roots, brewed along with hops. Parsnip wine 

 is also made in some places; and they afford an ex- 

 cellent ardent spirit, when distilled after a similar 

 pi-eparatory process to that bestowed on potatoes 

 destined for that purpose." It is an excellent food 

 for cows, and its fattening properties I iiave already 

 noticed. — Fanners Guide. 



lUccl)amc3' Di'partincnt, ^rt5, ^'c. 



FLINT ENAMEL WARE. 



Some ten or fifteen years ago, Mr. Fenton, a 

 manufacturer of Fii;e Bricks, &c., at Bennington, 

 Vt., commenced a course of experiments on the li- 

 quefaction by heat and intermingling in various pro- 

 portions, of the flint quartz, &c., used in his busi- 

 ness or existing in the mountains around him, with 

 an eye to the production of wares adapted to house- 

 hold uses. In these experiments he persevered, 

 until at last he was enabled to produce a ware com- 

 bining strength, purity and beauty, — composed en- 

 tirely of flint, feldspar andquaitz, ground together, 

 bolted like flour, then formed into a clay or paste. 

 and moulded into any shape which taste or use may 

 suggest, then covered with a delicate enamel and 

 baked to a consistency exceeding that of marble. 

 The enamel is formed entirely of flhit, without a 

 particle of the metallic bases which renders much 

 of the ware now in use always dangerous and often 

 virulently poisonous. 



The Flint Enamel Ware, though especially 

 prized by us for its capacity to supercede the enam- 

 eled wares now used for milk-pans, stew-pans, cof- 

 fee-urns, &c., is intended to subserve a far wider 

 circle of uses. Among the articles into which it 

 has already been fashioned, are water-jars, stove- 

 urns, mantel and other parlor ornaments, lamps and 

 candlesticks, table-slabs, door-plates, door-knobs, 

 block-letters, daguerreotype frames, inkstands, 

 pitchers, wash-bowls, bathing-tubs, spittoons, &c., 

 &c. 



The usual colorof this ware is a rich, dark brown, 

 shaded and fleckled or mottled with white and blue, 

 though it is made of pure white when desired. It 

 is harder than marble, and a delicate pitcher may 

 be thrown on the floor with violence without start- 

 ing the handle. The point of a nail driven smartly 

 against its side with a hammer makes no scratch or 

 dent of any kind. The enamel stands heat perfect- 

 ly, and all this ware maybe, as most of it is, made 

 absolutely fire-proof, so as to be buried in a pit of 

 burning anthracite and come out of the ashes as 

 good as new. Withal it is nearly as cheap as the 

 "stone ware" now in use. We cannot doubt that 

 it will rapidly find its way into very general use 

 througliout the country. The wan? is patented, 

 and agencies for its exclusive sale, by counties and 

 towns, are being formed throughout the Union. — 

 N. Y. Tribune. 



To Engrave on Steel or Iron. — First cover it 

 all over with beeswax, then write or engrave on to 

 it whatever you wish, with a sharp pointed instru- 

 ment, so that it cuts through the beeswax. Then 

 mix nitric acid and muriatic acid in about equal 

 parts, and put it on the engraving or writing in the 

 beeswax, and let it remain for a short time; then 



wash it off and scrape off the beeswax, and you will 

 find that the acid has eaten the steel or iron, where 

 the beeswax was cut through, so as to produce the 

 desired engraving in the steel or iron. 



MERRYMAN'S BUTTER PREPARING 

 AND PACKING MACHINE. 



In speaking of this machine, the St. Louis Re- 

 publican gives the following particulars : 



We have never seen a process for preparing but- 

 ter for packing so speedy and certain as that of Dr. 

 INIerryman, and noticed a few days since in this pa- 

 per. The machine consists simply of two rollers 

 in immediate contact with each other, and operated 

 by a crank and spur-wheels. They are placed in 

 a vat or trough, and partially submerged in water. 

 The butter passing through so narrow a space, 

 every particle is brought in immediate contact with 

 the water which washes away the butter-milk as 

 fast as it is expressed from the butter. After this 

 it is only necessary to salt and pack it av'ay in close 

 vessels, and it will be preserved sweet and pure for 

 any necessary length of time. The machine is 

 simple and cheap and saves labor, and does not oc- 

 cupy a space larger than four feet by two. With 

 one properly constructed, a single hand can work 

 12 pounds per minute, or seven hundred and twen- 

 ty pounds an hour. We think it ought to be in 

 the hands of every butter maker, and are satisfied 

 that no woman who has to labor over butter for 

 hours, seeing that she could produce better results 

 with comparatively no labor, would be without one. 

 Foi the renovation of butter it would prove invalu- 

 able in the hands of butter merchants. Butler of 

 an inferior quality, may, in a few minutes, be made 

 into good table butter. 



Remarks. — For those who consider it best to 

 wash butter, this machine may be useful. But we 

 have never seen finer butter than that which has 

 been well worked without water. — Ed. N. E. 

 Farmer. 



Cables' ^Department. 



THE HUMANIZING INFUENCE OF 

 CLEANLINESS. 



A neat, clean, fresh-aired, sweet, cheerful, well- 

 arranged, and well-situated house, exercises a 

 moral as well as a physical influence over its in- 

 mates, and makes the members of a family peace- 

 ful and considerate of the feelings and hapi)iness of 

 each other; the connexion is obvious between the 

 state of mind thus produced and habits of respect 

 for each others, and for those liigher duties and ob- 

 ligations which no law can enforce. On the con- 

 trary, a filthy, squalid, noxious dwelling, rendered 

 still more wretched by its noisome site, and in which 

 none of the decencies of life can be observed, con- 

 tributes to make its unfortunate inliabitants selfish, 

 sensual, and regardless of the feelings of each other; 

 the constant indulgence of such passions render 

 them reckless and brutal, and the transition is nat- 

 ural to propensities and hal)its incompatil)lc with a 

 respect for the property of others or for the laws. 



Why did the lady who purcha.^ed a dumb- 

 waiter return it ? Becuuse it did not anMoer. 



