1879.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



157 



fruit. The BprinR of the eeventh year, he took out 

 every alternate vine, and then had a fine crop. He 

 tried a similar experiment on a large Catawba vine- 

 yard planted eight feel apart; the result was a 

 greatly increased quantltv of grapes. lie also stated 

 that Concord vines covering 54 to 48 trellis, carried 

 by actual measurement more grapes than any ad- 

 joining vines 12 feet apart and occupying the same 

 extent of trellis. An experienced grape-grower has 

 just stated to us that he had planted bis vines 15 feet 

 apart, and had grafted every alternate vine with 

 another sort. The grafts failed to grow, and the 

 old vines, being tlius thinned to one-half in number,, 

 gave a much better crop than the whole did before. 

 We might cite many other cases— all showing the 

 importance of giving ample space to strong growers. 

 And one other precaution should always be observed, 

 never to allow the vines to overbear; thin out the 

 numerous bunches. We do not now hear vineyard- 

 ists, as formerly, boast of the many tons of grapes 

 they have raised to an acre, as they have learned 

 that the fruit is better and the vines less exhausted 

 when the thinning has been properly done. 



Putting Away Potatoes. 



The (icruiantown Telegraph says : "Every method 

 has been tried by farmers to store and preserve their 

 potatoes through the winter, and we may say until 

 potatoes come again. It Is the most valuable of all 

 vegetables, though here._and there we And a person 

 and a writer who undertakes to tell us of its un- 

 wholesomencss. It Is universally consumed in all 

 civilized countries, as where it cannot be grown it is 

 imported, which can be done long distances without 

 injury when ventilation is attended to. In sorting 

 potatoes several methods are adopted, yet they are 

 all practically the same, the object being to protect 

 them against freezing, whether buried in pits or 

 stored in cellars. The first consideration is to keep 

 them in perfect darkness ; the next is the bins should 

 not be too deep— not over three feet— to produce 

 warmth and cause them to sprout. When stored in 

 the field straight trenches are dug, say twenty feet 

 in length and four or five wide, which arc filled to 

 the depth of three feet with potatoes, then well 

 covereii with straw, on top of which put eighteen or 

 twenty inches of earth. In a pit twenty feet long 

 there should be about three gas escapes or ventilat- 

 ing openings, which should be plugged with straw 

 and covered with a board set an angle to turn- the 

 rain. If in cellars, barn or otherwise, the bins should 

 be covered with rugs, old carpetings or strjw . Those 

 intended to be kept for late spring sales should be 

 frequently examined and all sprouts removed, for as 

 soon as a potato begins to sprout it loses its solidity, 

 dryness and quality." 



Beet Sugar. 



Already somi' fourteen companies have been formed 

 In the states and Canada for the manufacture of this 

 sugar, and the demand for seed last spring was so 

 great that immense quantities have been imported 

 from France. Several tons were ordered early in the 

 year for New Brunswick and Delaware parties ; the 

 Maine Beet Sugar Company took three tons on the 

 14th of April, and on the 13th of May an equal 

 amount arrived for the farmers of the Connecticut 

 Valley. These are but a few among the many in- 

 stances which might be named. As six pounds are 

 held to be ample for planting an acre, it can easily 

 be seen that a great area was devoted to this root 

 this year. Good beets ought to yield from nine to 

 ten pounds of sugar, to ten hundred weight, which 

 is rather more than the samequantityof cane will do. 



The effect of beet culture on the prosperity of a 

 community is well exhibited in France. OlHcial 

 records show that the production of cereals and 

 meat has steadily increased in those departments 

 where the roots were regularly cultivated, and the 

 same is true of similar sections of Germany and 

 Belgium. This year's venture in this country will 

 have a more iinpartant influence on the future of this 

 Industry here than any which have preceedcd it. 

 But the complete success which has crowned the 

 efforts of those who have heretofore raised the sugar 

 beet on a small scale cannot well faU to be the reward 

 of those who are now making trials much more ex- 

 pensive. — I'hiladelphia Record. 



Apples— Picking and Keeping Them. 



Stephen Belts, a well known fruit grower of Bucks 

 county, says in an essay read before his county soci- 

 ety: "We think the time to pick apples is from the 

 25th of October to the 10th of November. This may 

 seem too late to some; but our experience is that ap- 

 ples left on the trees late keep much better and are 

 better flavored than those picked earlier. We have 

 reference now to.cider and Kidge Pippin apples, Bald- 

 wins would have to be picked atiout the 10th of Oc- 

 ober. Winesap apples ought to be left out about as 

 long as they will remain on the trees. 



For keeping apples in an ordinary cellar it is well 

 to have the bottom of the bin eight or ten inches 

 from the floor; keep doors or windows open as long 

 as it does not freeze much in the cellar, for we may 

 let it freeze a little without injury; but wh«n we are 

 c ompelled to close the cellar tight there should bo 



some means of ventilation. Probably a board flue 

 placed In the window on cither side and extending 

 above ground two or three feet higher than the first 

 floor, would be as cheap an arrangement as could be 

 adapted to the common cellar. We would prefer a 

 flue, for we cannot always be at home to open and 

 shut windows or doors to suit the weather. 



Seedling Fruits. 

 In raising seedling fruits, wherever it has been 

 attempted, the usual way is to take some kind 

 already superior, and from this endeavor to procure 

 a seedling of still better quality. It is remarkable 

 that all attempts of this kind have failed, so far as 

 we know. No person has ever been known to origi- 

 nate a good variety in this way. All our best fruits 

 are the results of accident. Those who have perse- 

 vered In the old line rarely offer us anything good, 

 while the popular kinds are generally such as have 

 been found In wastes or fence corners. The Seckcl 

 pear is an admirable illustration. This was found 

 wild in a meadow below Philadelphia. It Is the 

 most popular of all pears for flavor, but It Is small, 

 a slow grower, a long time coming into bearing, and 

 ripens at a season when pears are plenty. If these 

 imperfections could be remedied, what a grand thing 

 wc should have 1 So seeds are saved of the Seckel, 

 and in all cases, so far as we have ever known, with 

 results inferior to that of the parent. Most of the 

 seedlings seem to have a tendency to produce earlier 

 fruit instead of later. The Ott, a seedling of the 

 Seckel, is earlier, but not as good, and never will be 

 80 popular. — Oertnantown Telegraph. 



Olives in California. 



Recently Mr. Ellwood Cooper, of Santa Barbara, 

 Callibrnia, shipped to San Francisco 1,000 gallons of 

 well clarifled olive oil, the product of his orchard at 

 Santa Barbara. According to the San Francisco 

 Alia, Mr. Cooper has 6,000 trees, some of them seven 

 years old, and these produce 20 gallons of berries. 

 Trees ten years old in a good soil will average .50 

 gallons of berries in a good year, but sometimes will 

 yield 150 gallons. After a good crop the tree usually 

 takes a year's rest, so that its good years alternate. 

 The whole yield from a mature orchard may be set 

 down at 200 gallons of oil to the acre, and of this 

 50 gallons may be deducted to pay for gathering the 

 berries and making and marketing the oil. 



The Alta believes that the olive should receive 

 more attention in California, since it will bear good 

 crops, on poor soil, with less care than any other 

 plant. The hillsides, now worthless, should be cov- 

 ered with olives. The olives requires no irrigation, 

 grows on clayey or rocky soil without much cultiva- 

 tion, and begins to bear in five years, coming to full 

 bearing In ten years.— ScientiJIr ' -'-■ 



To Prepare a Strawberry Bed. 

 If you want the strawberry bed that has borne you 

 a good crop one season to bear well the next year, 

 you must work it out thoroughly and manure well 

 as soon as it is through bearing. Don't put it off 

 until the bed is filled with weeds and grass. First, 

 plow or spade the ground between the rows, cutting 

 the rows down narrower; then work the rows out 

 well with a fork potato-digger, and scatter in them a 

 good quantity of well-rotted compost, guano, or 

 poudrette. It is a good plan to draw fresh earth in 

 among the plants.— /"cjii^ Recorder. 



Domestic Economy. 



Extravagance of American Housekeepers. 

 Mr. Delmonico, talking about entrees, says that 

 Americans ought to copy "the French method of 

 utilizing small bits of raw meats and fowls, and of 

 recooking all kinds of cold joints and pieces of cooked 

 meat which remain day by day from dinner in almost 

 every family." The success of such dishes depends 

 mainly on the sauce, which is best made from broth. 

 The following is his receipt for a favorite sauce : 

 "Take an ounce of ham or bacon, cut it up in small 

 pieces and fry in hot fat. Add an onion and carrot, 

 cut up, thicken with flour, then add a pint or quart 

 of broth, according to quantity desired, season with 

 pepper and salt, and any spice or herb that Is relished, 

 (better though without that spice,) and let simmer 

 for an hour, skim carefully and strain. A wine glass 

 of any wine may be added if liked." Cold roast or 

 broiled beef or mutton may be cut into small squares, 

 fried brown in butter, and then gently stewed in the 

 sauce above described. Mr. Delmonico describes 

 croquettes as the attractive French substitute for 

 Amcricanhash,and tells how to make them : "Veal, 

 mutton, lamb, sweet-breads, almost any of the 

 lighter meats, besides cold chicken and turkey, can 

 be most deliciously turned into croquettes. Chop the 

 meat very fine. Chop up an onion, fry it in an ounce 

 of butter, add a tablespoonful of flour. Stir well 

 and then add the chopped meat and a little broth, 

 salt, pepper, little nutmeg. Stir for two or three 

 minutes, then add the yolks of two eggs, and turn 

 I the whole into a dUh to cool. When cold mix well 



together again. Divide up Into parts for the cro- 

 quettes ; roll Into the desired shape In bread crumbs 

 again fry crisp, a bright golden color. . Any of these 

 croquettes may be served plain, or with tomato sauce 

 or garniture of vegetables." 



A Goose. 



Trussing.— Pick and stub It clean, cut the feet 

 off at the joint, and the pinion off at the first joint. 

 Then cut off ihe neck close to the back, leaving the 

 skin of the neck long enough to turn over the ^ack. 

 Pull out the throat and tic a knot at the end. Loosen 

 the liver and other matters at the breast end with 

 the middle flnger, and cut It open between the vent 

 and the rump. Draw out all the entrails except the 

 soul, wipe the body out clean with a cloth, beat the 

 breast-bone flat with a rolling-pin, put a skewer Into 

 the wing, and draw the legs up close; put the skewer 

 through the middle of the leg, and through the body, 

 and the same on the other side. Put another skewer 

 In the small of the leg, tuck it close down to the 

 sidesman, run it through, and do the same on the 

 other side. Cut off the end of the vent and make a 

 hole large enough for the passage of the rump, as 

 by that moans it will keep in the seasoning much 

 better. 



Roast Goose. 

 Clean and wash the goose, not forgetting to put 

 a spoonful of soda In next to the last water, rinse 

 out well and wipe the Inside quite dry. Add to the 

 usual stufi'ing of bread-crumbs, pepper, salt, etc., a 

 tablespoonful melted butter, a large sized onion 

 chopped fine, a tablespoonful chopped sage, the yolks 

 of two eggs, and some minute bits of fat pork. Stuff 

 the body and craw, and sew up. It will take fully 

 two hours to roast, if the fire is strong. Cover the 

 breast until it is half done with white paper, or a paste 

 of flour and water,removlng this when you are ready 

 to brown. Make a gravy as for roast duck, adding 

 a glass of sherry or .Madeira, or ( if you can get It) 

 old Port. Send to the table with cranberry or apple 



Green Goose, to Roast. 

 Put a lump of butter the size of an orange Into 

 the goose, spit, and lay it down to roast; singe, 

 dredge with flour, and baste well with butter, and 

 when done enough, dredge again, and baste till a 

 fine froth rises on it, and It becomes a nice brown. 

 Gooseberry sauce is the correct one, but apple with 

 a little ginger and sorrel juice answers as well. 

 Roast Ducks. 

 Clean, wash and wipe the ducks very carefully. 

 To the usual dressing add a little sage (powdered or 

 green), and a niluced shalot. Stuff, and sew up as 

 usual, reserving the giblets for the gravy. If they 

 are tender, tlicy will not require. more than an hour 

 to roast. Baste well. Skim the gravy before put- 

 ting in the giblets, and thickening. The giblets 

 should be stewed in a very little water, then chopped 

 fine, and added to the gravy in the dripping-pan, 

 with a chopped shalot and a spoonful of browned 

 flour. Accompany with currant or grape jelly. 

 To Boil Ducks. 

 Let them lie iu hot water two hours. Then wrap 

 in a cloth dredged in flour ; put them in cold water, 

 salted at the rate of half a teaspoonlul of sugar for 

 each pint. Let them simmer half an hour ; then 

 take them up, and pour over them a sauce made 

 of melted butter rubbed into flour, and seasoned 

 (Pith lemon-juice, salt and pepper, and thinned with 

 gravy or hot water. Wild ducks must be soaked iu 

 salt and water the night prevjous, to remove the 

 fishy taste, and then in the morning put in fresh 

 water, which should be changed once or twice. 

 Ducks Stewed with Red Cabbage. 

 Cut the cold ducks Into convenient pieces, and 

 warm them very gradually in a good clear irravy, by 

 the side of the fire. Shred some red cabbage very 

 fine ; wash it, and drain it on a sieve ; put it to stew 

 with a good proportion of butter, and a little pepper 

 and salt, iu a stewpan closely covered, shaking it 

 frequently. If It should get too dry, add a spoon- 

 ful or two of the gravy. When well done and tender, 

 add a small glass of vinegar ; lay it on a dish ; 

 place the pieces of duck upon it, and serve. 

 To Roast Geese and Ducks. 

 Boiling water should be poured all over and inside 

 of a goose or duck, before you prepare them for 

 cooking, to take out the strong oily taste. Let the 

 fowl be picked clean and wiped dry with a cloth, in- 

 side and out; fill the bodv and crop with stuffing. 

 If you prefer not to stuff It, put an onion inside ; put 

 it down to the fire and roast it brow " •"' 

 about two hours and a half. 



iriU take 



Proverbs in Cookery. 



The second of Miss Dods' demonstrative lectures 

 In cookery was given recently. Miss Dods' lectures 

 are full of little bits of information that might 

 properly be called culinary proverbs. Here are a 

 few of them : 



The only kind of a stove with which you can pre- 

 serve a uniform heat is a gas stove ; with it you can 

 simmer a pot for an hour, or boil it at the same rate 

 for twenty minutes. 



Single cream is cream, that has stood on the milk 



