1847. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



271 



LADIES' DEPARTMENT. 



Pauing Peaches, — I wish to suggest, through 

 the medium of the Farmer, a better way to pare 

 peaches to dry than to scald them. They can be 

 pared with a machine as well as apples ; all that 

 is necessary is a three lined fork, which will let 

 the pit between the tines, and hold the peach 

 firmly. And they should be hard, or not very 

 mellow, to be in a proper state to dry. 



I think this plan much better than " A Sub- 

 scriber's" way of scalding ; for a mellow peach 

 is not as good to dry as a hard one — and if we 

 wait for them to get mellow, we must lose some 

 if we have many. N. Simons. 



Castile, N. Y., Oct., 1847. 



Superior Mode op Curing Hams. — Agreea- 

 bly to your request, I send you the process of 

 curing the hams I sent you in March, which re- 

 cently called forth the admiration of the Ameri- 

 can Agricultural Association, and the Farmer's 

 Club at New York. 



I made a pickle of two quarts of salt, to which 

 I added one ounce of summer savory, one ounce 

 sweet marjoram, one ounce allspice, half ounce 

 saltpetre, and one pound of brown sugar ; I boil- 

 ed the whole together, and applied the mixture, 

 boiling hot, to one hundred pounds of ham, and 

 kept in the pickle three or four weeks. 



My process of smoking was not the most ex- 

 pensive, but may not be the less available on that 

 account. I smoked the hams in a seed cask, 

 with one head in, with a small hole for the smoke 

 to come out, hung my hams to the head, and 

 used about a peck of mahogany sawdust for fuel. 

 I smoked them but one week. — Exchange. 



"Pumpkin Butter." — In answer to the in- 

 quiry of " Mary," as to the best mode of making 

 pumpkin butter, I would send you the following, 

 which is our plan, and which suits our taste very 

 well. Strictly speaking, it is not pumpkin but- 

 ter, but we call it such : — To one barrel of sweet 

 cider, boiled down about one third, take about 

 two bushels of pumpkins, cut in pieces like you 

 would apples, (peeled and cored, of course,) and 

 if your kettle be large you can put them nearly 

 all into the cider at once, but if small, boil a part 

 of them soft in cider in another kettle, (copper 

 or brass,) and as it boils down put the baUnce 

 in, stirring it all the time, until you boil it down 

 to about 10 or 12 gallons. Just before taking off, 

 spice to suit taste. We put in about one half 

 pint of ground cinnamon to the above quantity. 

 If you know a better plan than the above, which, 

 doubtless you do, please throw this under the ta- 

 ble and let us have it. — Ohio Cult. 



Martha. 



Horse-Radish may be kept during winter, by 

 grating it while green, and corking up in bottle? 

 filled with strong vinegar, set in a cool place. 



How to Prepare Superior Mince-Meat 

 FOR Pies. — Take stoned raisins, currants, sugar, 

 and suet, of each 2 lbs. ; Sultana raisins, boiled 

 beef (lean and tender), of each 1 lb. ; sour or 

 tart apples 4 lbs. ; the juice of two lemons ; the 

 rind of one lemon chopped very fine ; mixed 

 spice i lb .; candied citron and lemon-peel, of 

 each, 2 oz. ; brandy one gill ; and chop the 

 whole very fine. The preparation may be va- 

 ried by adding other spice or flavoring, and the 

 addition of eggs, or the substitution of chopped 

 fowl or veal, for beef, according to fancy or con- 

 venience. 



Hints About Food. — Roast meat contains 

 nearly double the nourishment of boiled, but 

 boiled meat is better adapted to weak digestion. 

 Frying is one of the very worst methods of dress- 

 ing food, as broiling is one of the best. Baked 

 meat has a strong flavor, is deprived of some of 

 its nutritious qualities, and is difficultof digestion. 

 Spices, sauces, and melted butter, should never 

 be used by the invalid, and in health they are 

 not required. — KUton's Practical Medicine. 



Facts Useful to be Known. — Water, when 

 hot dissolves more salt, sugar, &c., than when it 

 is cold. Hence the utility of pouring hot salt 

 and water over articles to prepare them for pick- 

 ling ; and hot syrup upon preserved fruits; for 

 the salt or sugar that would crystilize as the li- 

 quid cooled, is taken up by the fruit, &c., which 

 by being heated also, absorbs more than it could 

 be made to do if it were put on cold. 



Female Education. — It was a judicious reso- 

 lution of a father, as well as a most pleasingcom- 

 pliment to his wife, when, on being asked what 

 he intended to do with his girls, he i-eplied ; "I 

 intend to apprentice them all to their excellent 

 mother, that they may learn the art of improving 

 time, and be fitted to become, like her, wives, 

 mothers, heads of families, and useful members 

 of society." Equally just, but bitterly painful, 

 was the remarkof the unhappy husband of a vain, 

 thoughtless, dressy slattern ; " It is hard to say 

 it, but if my girls are to have any chance of 

 growing up good for anything, they must be sent 

 out of the way of their mother's example." 



The Happy Girl. — Ay, she is a happy girl; 

 we know her by her fresh looks and buoyant 

 spirits. Day in and day out, she has something 

 to do, and she takes hold of work as if she did 

 not fear to dirty her hands or soil her apron. 

 Such girls we love and respect wherever we meet 

 them, in a palace or a hovel. Always pleasant 

 and always kind, they never turn up their nosea 

 before you, or slander you behind your back. 

 They have more good sense and better employ- 

 ment. Give us the industrious and happy girl, 

 and we care not who worship fahsionable and 

 idle simpletons. — Selected. 



