166 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



which purpose about 20 parts of water are requi- 

 site for 1 part of borax; pour 40 gallons of clear 

 solution of borax thus made on a bushel of unslacked 

 lime, placed in any suitable vessel; stir the mix- 

 ture, and add to it enough of water to make up the 

 quantity used to 50 gallons. Allow the undis- 

 solved portions in the mixture to precipitate, draw 

 off the clear superlatent solution, and place it in 

 the churn with the starch pulp, prepared in the 

 manner before mentioned. The contents of the 

 churn are next to be subjected to agitation for two 

 or three hours, so as to bring each particle of the 

 starchy matter in communication with the alkaline 

 solution. When the desired effect has been pro- 

 duced, the mixture is to run from the churn into 

 the separating vessel, and about as much water as 

 the churn will hold added to it, (dimensions and 

 capacity of churn not given,) the whole is to be 

 now well stirred, and the starch washed, boxed and 

 dried, in the usual way. Instead of borax and 

 lime, as above mentioned, the same quantity of so- 

 lution of borax alone may be used, or a solution of 

 bitartrate of potash and lime, or a solution of bi- 

 tartrate of potash alone may be employed. In 

 either case, the process is to be conducted as above 

 described. In the case of any other farinaceous or 

 liguminious substance than rice being employed, 

 the material used must be reduced to a fine pulpy 

 state, as in the case of rice, proceeding as above 

 directed. — Fanner and Mechanic. 



WHITEWASHING. 



As the time is now at hand for whitewashing on 

 a large scale, we will give a receipt which is the 

 best known for out-houses. Take half a bushel of 

 good unslacked lime, slack it with boiling water 

 and keep it covered during the slacking process. 

 Strain the liquid through a seive, and add a peck of 

 clean salt dissolved in warm water, add three 

 pounds of boiled rice or wheat paste and half a 

 pound of dissolved glue. Add five gallons of wa- 

 ter to this mixture, and it is best to put it on hot, 

 but in that case use only old brushes, or make al- 

 lowance for the spoiling of them. 



It has been found that our dry winds bite off, as 

 it were, more of the whitewash than do rains. The 

 salt is to obviate this evil. For whitewashing the in- 

 terior of dwellings, do not use any salt, as it ab- 

 sorbs moisture; and to the above lime, add about 

 two pounds of Spanish whiting. It makes the 

 white more clear looking if a little indigo is squeezed 

 through a cloth amongst it. Amongst the lime, 

 Spanish brown or ochre may be stirred to make a 

 colored lime paint. The sulphate of iron (copper- 

 as) makes a buff color; the sulphate of copper, 

 (blue vitrol) a blueish color. — Scientific American. 



Caiilea' ©tpartment. 



The Electric Piano. — Mr. Davenport, of Salis- 

 bury, Vermont, we learn, claims to have made an 

 improvement in pianos, causing the musical chord, 

 by means of electric magnets, to continue an equa- 

 ble and free vibration for any length of time. The 

 perpetual and hitherto incurable defect of the pia- 

 no forte is tlie impulsive and evanescent nature of 

 its tone, and though great improvements have been 

 made upon it, and various devices have been elab- 

 orated to prolong its notes in some degree, yet the 

 want of a sustained vibration is still an inherent de- 

 fect in that beautiful instrument. — Scientific Amer- 

 ican. 



OUT OF DOOR OCCUPATION 



COMPATIBLE WITH INTELLECTUAL REFINEMENT 

 AND CULTIVATION. 



The opinion is too common among females in 

 this country, that intellectual refinement and culti- 

 vation are not consistent with any considerable de- 

 gree of attention to out of door matters; and for a 

 lady to manifest any special interest in, or acquaint- 

 ance with the affairs of the farm, the barn-yard and 

 the stable, is thought by many to be very unbecom- 

 ing if not really vulgar. But surely it is as ap- 

 propriate and decorous to study the works and the 

 wisdom of God in the grain fields and among do- 

 mestic animals, as among the birds and flowers; 

 and no more vulgar to become useful or capable of 

 being so, in these departments, than in the kitchen 

 and garden. 



If our educated and accomplished young women 

 would take a deeper interest in these things and 

 spend more of their time amongst them, we should 

 see less of sickly delicacy and more of healthful 

 beauty than now, and if those whose tastes or situ- 

 ations lead them more or less to out of door occu- 

 pations, would devote a portion of their time to 

 study, and a portion to the cultivation of whatever 

 tends to refine and ennoble them, all classes would 

 be benefited. Many such there are both in our own 

 and other countries, and may their number rapidly 

 increase. 



We find an instance of this, that pleases us much, 

 in the March number of the Horticulturist, by 

 its editor, A. J. Downing, in one of his recent se- 

 ries of letters from England. The wiiter is speak- 

 ing of a visit he enjoyed at the country house of a 

 distinguished authoress, well known both in Eng- 

 land and America; and after describing the scenery, 

 grounds and dwellings, he adds: 



"It would be difficult, perhaps, to have a better 

 opportunity to judge of the life of the educated mid- 

 dle class of this country, than in such homes as 

 this. And what impressions do such examples 

 leave upon my mind, you will ask? I will tell you, 

 (not without remembering how many fair young 

 readers you have at home.) The young English 

 woman is less conspicuously accomplished than our 

 young women of the same position in America. 

 There is, perhaps, a little less of that je ne sais 

 quoi — that nameless grace which captivates at first 

 sight — than with us, but a better and more solid 

 education, more disciplined minds, and above all, 

 more common sense. In the whole art of conversa- 

 tion, including all the topics of the day, with so 

 much of politics as makes a woman really a com- 

 panion for an intelligent man in his serious thoughts, 

 in history, language, and practical knowledge of 

 the duties of social and domestic life, the English 

 women have, I imagine, few superiors. But what, 

 perhaps, would strike one of our young women 

 most, in English society, would be the thorough 

 cultivation and refinement that exist here, along 

 with the absence of all false delicacy. The fond- 

 ness of English women, (even in the highest rank,) 

 for out of doors life, horses, dogs, fine cattle, ani- 

 mals of all kinds, for their grounds, and in short, 

 every thing that belongs to their homes — their real, 

 unaffected knowledge of, and pleasure in these 

 things, and the unreserved way in which they talk 

 about them, would startle some of my young friends 

 at home, who are educated in the fashionable board- 



