36 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[March, 



1 rols more than we are willing to give it credit 

 lor. — February 24, 1879. 



A CHAPTER ON MACARONI. 



Personally we are very fond of mticaroni, 

 and can make a meal on it alone ; (barring 

 perhaps an additional cup of cott'ee,) and 

 practically it is both bread and meat to us ; 

 moreover, it is about as cheap as any article 

 of wholesome food that can be bought. It has 

 no bones in it ; it never stales or taints ; it is 

 simple in its culinary preparation ; it is nu- 

 tricious and always handy to have about the 

 house. Towards spring, when vegetables be- 

 come scarce, or when they begin to sprout, 

 become insipid and wilted or leathery, 

 macaroni is a grand reserve to fall back upon. 

 As we have said before, we have always liked 

 it— liked it these fifty years or more— have 

 relished it whenever it was set before us, and 

 never could understand why that was so 

 seldom. 



But now, since we are compelled to become 

 economical through the pressure of the times, 

 and Miss Corson, through the instrumentality 

 of her cheap Cook Book, is likely to make 

 macaroni eating popular or fashionable, the 

 least we can do for our readers is to admonish 

 them, in this respect, to become fashionable, 

 if they desire to "march along" abreast with 

 the times ; and in order to assist them in doing 

 so we commend the following from the book 

 aforesaid. If our well-fed and well-supplied 

 farmers do not need this advice there are 

 many others who may need it. 



Macaroni and Its Uses. 

 In a notice of Miss Corson's little work on "2.5- 

 cent Dinners," it was stated, as one good feature of 

 the book, that it recommended macaroni, and told 

 how to cook it. This cheap and very nutritious food 

 may be cooked in a variety of acceptable styles, and 

 Is a most excellent substitute for vegetables. Potatoes 

 are iipt to be poor late in the season, and if maca- 

 roni be used instead it will be found vastly more nu- 

 tritious. Macaroni comes in boxes of about 25 lbs., 

 and is sold by the box at an average price of 1.5-lSc- 

 per lb. It is in long pipes, or tubes, sometimes sev- 

 eral feet in length, being bent over and over ; it is a 

 little larger round than a common lead pencil, and 

 has a dull appearance, somewhat like that of a horn. 

 It is imported from Italy, and though it has been 

 made in this country, and perhaps is still made, it is, 

 for reasons to be explained presently, vastly inferior 

 to the imported. Macaroni is really dried flour paste, 

 but there is, as every housekeeper knows, a great 

 difference in Hour, and the kind best for bread is the 

 poorest for macaroni, and vice versa. Flour consists 

 largely of starch. If we mix up some flour with 

 water, to form dough, and tie a lump of this dough- 

 say as big as a hen's egg— in a piece of muslin, and 

 then hold it under a stream ot water, and work it as 

 the water flows, the starch will soon be washed out 

 throufh the meshes of the muslin, when the water 

 runs clear, showing that the starch has been washed 

 out, if we open the cloth there will be found a small 

 quantity of a pasty, stringy mass— this is gluten. 

 It ditfers from starch in containing nitrogen, and it 

 will soon spoil. Starch is a Aea^-producing food, 

 glutt n is a Ihsh- (ormiug food, really the most nutri- 

 tious portion of the flour. Our best wheats make 

 flour with 7 or S parts in the 100 gluten. Other 

 wheats contain about twice as much. It is only 

 wheats rich in gluten that make good macaroni, and 

 while the flour of our wheats make the best and 

 lightest bread, it is only the wheats of the south of 

 Europe, especially some kinds raised in certain 

 localities in Italy, that make the best macaroni. 

 This is why it cannot be made successfully in this 

 country— our flour is in one sense too good. The proper 

 kind of flour is made into a stiff paste with water, 

 well worked by means of a wooden bar, and then 

 put into a mould, in which it is siibjected to great 

 pressure "" ' ~ 



The mould has holes in it, of the proper 

 shape, and the paste is forced out through these as 

 fine as threads, when it is called vermicelli, or as 

 pipes or tubes, when it is macaroni. It is dried by a 

 heat sumciently to slightly bake it, when it is ready 

 to be packed in boxes. The same paste rolled thin, 

 and formed by proper cutters into squares, stars, 

 hearts, etc., is known as Italian paste. Vermicelli 

 and Italian paste are rarely used except in soups. It 

 will be seen that macaroni is the most nutritious of 

 of all farinaceous foods, and one that should be 

 more ireneruUy known and used than it now is. We 

 may add here that it is a most excellent thing for ex- 

 plorers and oilier travellers— as we know from cx- 

 perieuie. Those who go on hunting and other 

 excursions, which take them where vegetables are 

 not procurable, will not miss these if there is a sup- 

 ply of macaroni. Old macaroni is sometimes infested 

 by an insect wliich feeds within the cavity; upon 

 holding the stick up to the light this may be seen as 



a dark spot. Inour first experience with macaroni, it 

 seemed so hard and horn-like that it was put to soak 

 before cooking ; as a consequence it was spoiled . It 

 should be put at once into boiling water. The fol- 

 lowing directions for cooking it are from " 25-ceut 

 Dinners," and abridged so far as they give matters 

 already stated above. Miss Corson gives the follow- 

 ing general directions under t 



J/«c«ro)u.— Wipe it carefully, break it in whatever 

 lengths you want it, and put it into boiling water, to 

 every quart of which half a tablespoonful of salt is 

 added ; you can boil an onion with it if you like the 

 flavor. As soon as it is tender enough to yield easily 

 when pressed between the fingers, drain it in a 

 colander, saving its liquor fcr the next day's broth, 

 and lay it in cold water until you want to use it. 

 When more macaroni has been boiled than is used it 

 can be kept perfectly good by laying it in fresh 

 water, which must be changed every day. After 

 boiling the macaroni, you can use it according to 

 any of the following directions. Half a pound of 

 uncooked macaroni will make a large dishful : 



Macaroni, Farmers' Style.— Boi\ half a pound of 

 macaroni as above, and while you are draining it 

 from the cold water, stir together over the fire one 

 ounce each of butter and flour, and as soon as they 

 bubble, gradually pour into the sauce they make, a 

 pint of boiling water, beating it with a fork or egg 

 whip until it is smooth ; season it with a level tea- 

 spoonful of salt and a level saltspoonful of pepper, 

 and put the macaroni in it to heat ; then cut an 

 onion into small shreds, and brown it over the fire in 

 a very little fat ; when both are done, dish the 

 macaroni, and pour the onion out of the frying pan 

 upon it. It is excellent ; and ten cents will cover 

 the cost of all of it. 



Macaroni with Broth.— Tut half a pound of maca- 

 roni, boiled as above and washed in cold water, over 

 the fire with any kind of broth, or one pint of cold 

 gravy and water ; season it to taste with pepper and 

 salt, and let it heat slowly for an hour, or less if you 

 are in a hurry ; then lay it on a flat dish, strew over 

 it a few bread crumbs, which you will almost always 

 have on hand if you save all the bits I speak of in 

 the article on bread ; then set the dish in the oven, 

 or in front of the fire to brown. It will cost less 

 than ten cents, and be delicious. 



Macaroni iMh White A'ajice.- Warm half a pound 

 of macaroni, boiled and washed in cold water, as 

 above, in the following sauce, and use it as soon as 

 it is hot. Stir together over the fire one ounce each 

 of butter and flour, pouring in one pint of boiling 

 water and milk, as soon as the butter and flour are 

 mixed ; season it with salt and pepper to taste, and 

 put the macaroni into it. This dish costs less than 

 ten cents, and is very good and wholesome. 



Macaroni with CTieese.— Boil half a pound of maca- 

 roni, as above, put into a pudding dish in layers with 

 quarter of a pound of cheese, (cost four cents), 

 grated and mixed between the layers ; season with 

 pepper and salt to taste ; put a very little butter and 

 some bread crumbs over it, and brown it in the oven. 

 It will make as hearty and strengthening a meal as 

 meat, and cost about twelve cents. 



CHEMICAL FARMING. 

 The question of "Fertilizers," or "Arti- 

 ficial Manures, " has become a subject of more 

 earnest discussion in this county at the pres- 

 ent time than, perhaps, at any former period 

 in the agricultural history of the county. As 

 the desire to realize larger crops, and the arti- 

 ficial fertilizing compounds increase, so also 

 increases the anxiety of the farmers in regard 

 to their real value, their component parts, 

 their prices, and when, where and how to 

 apply them ; and also their intrinsic qualities 

 in comparison with good barnyard manure ; 

 and, lastly, how to guard against imposition. 

 We extract the following fi'om an able article 

 on that subject, which we find in the January 

 number of the Scientific Farmer, published in 

 Boston, Mass. We particularly call the atten- 

 tion of our readers to tlie words italicised, 

 from which it will be perceived that the facts 

 as to whether the fertilizing material reaches 

 the plant in such a condition as to be ab- 

 sorbed by it, and whether the .soil just needs 

 the elements it contains, are important factors 

 in the uf;e of chemical or any other kinds of 



crops soon left the land unfit for further plant 

 growth. Analysis showed the elements which plants 

 removed. Ergo supply these elements, and prevent 

 your land from getting exhausted. This was the 

 discovery which it took ages to develop into expres- 

 sion ; this discovery is at the basis of modern farming. 

 The chief aim of the husbiiudman is to supply 

 plant-food. For this purpose he applies his manure, 

 he exercises his skill in culture, he adopts his fal- 

 lows or rotations. Plant-food, how to obtain it for 

 his plant, and how to compel the plant to get the 

 most of it, this is true farming. We propose to offer 

 a few ideas on the subject of plant-food, premising 

 that our statements all seem to have been experi- 

 mentally proven, and to have been practically 

 adopted, here and there, by the most intelligent of 

 cultivaters. 



The elements of plant-food which are most apt to 

 be deficient in our soils are nitrogen, phosphoric acid 

 and potash. To obtain a full crop these have to be 

 present, diffused throughout our land, and must be 

 in that chemical condition which will allow of their 

 being appropriated by the roots of our plant, 

 wherever they are to pass into the plant circulation, 

 become incorporated into its life, and through the 

 most wonderful metamorphoses of growth become 

 part and parcel of the plant structure. 



Now, one pound of soluble phosphoric acid, or one 

 pound of a given condition of nitrogen, or one pound 

 of a potash salt, properly diffused through our land, 

 is as eflficient as another pound of a like substance, 

 without regard to its source of supply. Thus it 

 makes no difference in the amount of the crop 

 whether the pound be supplied in one hundred pounds 

 of dung or ten pounds of a manufactured article. All 

 the plant requires is the presence and accesibility of 

 its food. 



Let us not be understood as saying that one hun- 

 dred pounds of dung, containing one pound of solu- 

 ble phosphoric acid,^is not better than ten pounds of 

 superphosphate containing one pound of soluble 

 phosphoric acid. Nor must we be understood as say- 

 ing even that the same quantity of chemical sub- 

 stances contained in one hundred pounds of manure 

 is necessarily equal to the raw manure in value for 

 application. We are not treating of manures com- 

 paratively, but of plant-food; and hence, ignoring 

 the difference caused by the method of application, 

 and the physical action or chemical action of either 

 after their disposition in the land, we repeat that one 

 pound of plant food absorbed by the plant is just one 

 pound, and is of equal value, without reference to 

 its source of supply. 



These are facts ; now for the application : Plant- 

 food must be furnished by the farmer in order that 

 he may be able continuously to crop his laud. It 

 makes no difference in what form he applies them, 

 provided the plant secures them. Equal quantities 

 of plant-food from one source of supply are equal in 

 effect to the equal quantities of a similar substance 

 in another source of supply, if only the plant gets 

 them We repeat the idea, in order to be understood. 

 Consequently the farmer must study values, and 

 provide for his crops the plant-food from the source 

 whence it can be obtained for the least money. 

 Dung and Chemicals. 

 Is dung better than chemicals? Not necessarily. 

 Are chemicals better than dung ? It does not follow . 

 If dung and chemicals will raise the same quantity 

 of crop year after year, then whichever the farmer 

 wants to supply is the cheaper of the two. It seems 

 ridiculous to claim that if five dollars' worth of 

 chemicals will give as good results as eight dollars 

 worth of dung that dung is better ; or that if five 

 dollars' worth of dung will produce equal results 

 with eight dollars' worth of chemicals that chemi- 

 cals are better. A. chance for difference of opinion 

 can only come in those cases where the decision lies 

 between a dollar's worth of dung and a dollar's 

 worth of chemicals equivalent. 



We have here the whole question of purchased 

 manures in a nutshell, provided our supposition is 

 tenable. Let us show that it is, by the quoting of an 

 actual experiment, which must tend to convince 

 even the most skeptical. „ , ■ 



We will quote results from .Mr. Lawes' experi- 

 ments, at Rothamstead, England: 



HAY. 



,32 tons. 



SO tons, 10 year's average. 



manures. 



Plant-Food. 



It is now but little more than a generation since 

 chemistry came to the farmer's aid, and offered her 

 services to those who would employ them. Not with a 

 halting step, but with the vigor of a god-like birth, 

 agricultural chemistry was born, and soon the Eng- 

 lish speaking world was aglow with the interest 

 which came from the new discovery. Plants fed, so 

 Licbig stated, not on dirt, but on certain chemical 

 substances, which were part of the earth. Earth 

 contained but a limited amount of these substances; 

 and hence the continuous growth and removal of 



Unmanured plot, - 

 Applied chemicals, 

 Dung (14 tons), - 



Unmanured plot, - 



Chemicals, 



Dung, - - - - 



Unmanured, - - 

 Chemicals, - - - 

 Dung, 



- 20'^ bushels. 



48M bush., 24 year's average. 



- 48% " " " " 



WHEAT. 



13 J^ bush., 24 year's average. 



3.5r 



We'thus see that chemicals can produce the same 

 results as are produced by dung. In the experiments 

 quoted we have the average of many years' trials, so 

 that the effect cannot be ascribed to a favorable sea- 

 son, or otherwise. We must consider it proven that 

 chemicals can take the place of dung. It only re- 

 mains to show whether we can afford to use one in 

 preference to the other. Unfortunately we have not 

 in these experimentB quoted the necessary data lor 



