14 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[January, 



its pericarp a volatile oil and the seed a fixed oil of 

 the consistency of butter, whieh is employed in med- 

 icinal plasters. Tlie volatile oil of the laurel is said 

 to be fatal to all insects. 



The order Lauraceas, as we have 'seen, affords us 

 some of the most important of active aromatic 

 aifents which we employ. Camphor, cinnamon, sas- 

 safras oil and the oils of classic laurel . It is pleasing 

 to contemplate vegetables asfreein*^ closely in their 

 stiucture and constitution, pioducing materials so 

 widely different in character and properties. We can 

 only refer it to the expression of the will of the Cre 

 ator. He speaks, and it is done. 



The oil of sassafras is obtained by distilling; the 

 roots of the tree. They yield from one to two per 

 cent, of oil . Oil of sassafras, unlike most other oils, 

 is heavier than water, is of a yellowish color, becom- 

 ing reddish by age. It has a pungent, agreeable, 

 aromatic taste. It is used medicinally as a stimu- 

 lant and carminative and diaphoretic, and is often 

 used in the family. For domestic uses the root 

 itself is more commonly employed. In "giving 

 sweats " it is considered highly useful. It is a 

 frequent article In the composition of small beer, and 

 in some sections the "sassafrax tea" runs a sharp 

 competition with the "store tea." It forms a 

 healthful beverage, especially in the spring of the 

 year. Much boiling should always be avoided in the 

 use of sassafras, as the oil might all evaporate. The 

 pith of sassafras is sometimes used as a mucilage, 

 bnt it Is weak, and much less effective than the 

 other gums. Sassafras loses its properties by long 

 keeping. 



Curing Bacon. 



There are two ways of curing bacon — by the dry, 

 and the picking process. The former is the most 

 trouble, but does away with the necessity of a bar- 

 rel. The bacon should be weighed out into lots of 

 100 pounds, and six pounds of salt, one ounce of 

 saltpetre and two quarts of molasses^ should be set 

 apart as the quantity required for curing it. If it is 

 to be pickled, after the ingredients are thoroughly 

 mixed a small quantity should be sprinkled on the 

 bottom of the barrel, and a layer of meat placed 

 upon it ; more of the mixture should be sprinkled on 

 this, to be followed by another course of meat, until 

 the whole is firmly and snugly packed, when well 

 water enough should be put in to cover it. After 

 remaining for six weeks the meat should be taken 

 out and smoked, and then each piece sewed up in a 

 muslin bag and hung up in a dry place, or if it is de- 

 signed to keep the bacon for a considerable length of 

 time, it may be packed in dry salt and the barrel 

 headed up. To cure by the dry proesss the meat 

 should be spread upon the table, and the mixture 

 rubbed in on the flesh 'Side, with as much adhering 

 to the meat as possible, after which it should be 

 piled up snugly with the flesh side up and allowed to 

 remain in this condition for three days, when it 

 should again be rubbed and piled up as before. 

 This process should be followed up until the whole 

 amount of the mixture set apart for the curing is ex- 

 hausted. After remaining in the pile until the salt 

 is absorbed — which may be known by the appear- 

 ance of the meat — it may be smoked and treated as 

 mentioned above. The above receipe is intended for 

 light bacon ; heavy bacon will require a pound or 

 more of salt per 100 pounds of meat, and a longer 

 time for the salt tobe absorbed when cured in the dry 



Cooking Beef. 



A sclentilic writer in the 3Iark Lane Express says : 

 " The flavor of beef is due to the juices, and if during 

 the cooking these be allowed to escape, the beef 

 loses much of its taste. Hence, in broiling, it 

 should from the outset be exposed to a bright, quick 

 fire, which by causing the superficial fibres to at 

 once contract and the albuminous juice near the sur- 

 face to cosgulate, leads to the plugging up of the 

 surface pores, and consequent retention of the juices. 

 Similarly, in boiling, beef should be plunged into 



almost boiling water. On the other hand, in making 

 beef tea, cold water is pourei on chopped beef and 

 gradually heated to draw the nutriment of the beef 

 into the water." 



The Medical Uses of Eggs. 

 For burns and scalds there is nothing more soothing 

 than the white of an egg, which may be poured over 

 the wound. It is softer as a varnish for a burn 

 than collodion, and being always on hand, can be 

 applied immediately. It is also more cooling than 

 the "sweet oil and cotton," which was formerly 

 supposed to be the surest application to allay the 

 smarting pain. It is the contact with the air which 

 gives the extreme discomfort experienced from ordi- 

 nary accidents of this kind; and anything which 

 excludes air and prevents inflammation is the thing 

 to be at once applied. The egg is also considered 

 one of the very best remedies for dysentery. Beaten 

 up lightly, with or without sugar, and swallowed at 

 a gulp, it tends, by its emollient qualities, to lessen 

 the inflammation of the stomach and intestines, and 

 by forming a transient coating on these organs to 

 enable nature to assume her healthful sway over the 

 diseased body. Two, or at the most three, eggs per 

 day would be all that would be required in ordinary 

 cases; and, since the egg is not merely a medicine, 

 but food as well, the lighter the diet otherwise, and 

 the quieter the patient is kept, the more certain and 

 rapid is the recOYety.— American Stockman and 

 Farmer. 



Putting Saws in Cutting Order. 

 The grand secret of putting any saw in the best 

 possible cutting order, consists in filing the teeth at a 

 given angle to cut rapidly, and of a uniform length, 

 so that the points will all touch a straight -edged rule 

 without showing a variation of a hundredth part of 

 an inch. Besides this, there should be just enough 

 set in the teeth to cut a kerf as narrow as it can be 

 made, and at the same time allow the blade to work 

 freely without pinching. On the contrary, the kerf 

 must not be so wide as to permit the blade to rattle 

 when in motion. The very points of the teeth do the 

 cutting. If one tooth is a twentieth of an inch 

 longer than two or three on each side of it, the long 

 tooth will be required to do so much more cutting 

 than it should that the sawing can not be done well. 

 Hence the saw goes jumping along, working hard 

 and cutting slowly. If one tooth is longer than 

 those on cither side of it, the short ones do not cut, 

 although the points may be sharp. When putting a 

 cross-cut saw in order It will pay well to dress the 

 points with an old file, and afterward sharpen them 

 with a tine whetstone. Much mechanical skill is 

 requisite to put a saw in order. One careless thrust 

 with a file will shorten a tooth so that it will be 

 utterly useless, so far as cutting is concerned. The 

 teeth should be set with much care, and the filing 

 should be done with great accuracy. If the teeth 

 are uneven at the points a large flat file should be 

 secured to a block of wood, in such a manner that 

 the very points only may be jointed, so that the 

 cutting edge may be in a complete line for circle. 

 Every tooth should cut a little as the saw is worked. 

 The teeth of a handsaw, for all sorts of work, 

 should be filed Beaming, or at an angle on the front 

 edge, while the back edges may be filed fieaming, or 

 square across the blade. The best way to lile a cir- 

 cular saw for cutting wood across the grain] is to 

 dress every fifth tooth square across and about one- 

 twentieth of an inch shorter than the others, which 

 should be filed fieaming at an angle of about forty 

 degrees. — Mechanical News . 



Hard and Soft Water. 



All housewives may not know how materially the 

 efiects of hard and soft water differ in the cooking 

 of various vegetables; while one species of vegeta- 

 tables requires hard or soft water, as the case may 

 be, another species becomes sensibly deteriorated by 

 it. For instance peiis and beans cooked in hard 

 water, containing lime or gypsum, will not boil ten- 



der because these substances harden vegetable 

 caseine. In soft water they boil tender, and lose a 

 certain raw, rank taste which they retain in hard 

 water. Many vegetables (as onions) boil nearly 

 tasteless in soft water, because all the fiavor is dis 

 solved out. The addition of salt often checks this, 

 as in the case of onions, causing the vegetables to 

 retain their peculiar flavoring principles, besides 

 their nutritious matter which might be lost in soft 

 water. Thus it appears that the salt hardens the 

 water a degree. 



Cheshire Cheese. 



In Cheshire, England, milk is set for cheese at a 

 temperature of about SO degrees Fahr. The rennet 

 is commonly made fresh daily, a sufficient quantity 

 added to the milk to cause the curd to set in an 

 hour, or less. The curd is cut with a breaker, great 

 care being taken not to mix the cut up with the 

 whey. Heating the curd to a temperature of from 

 90 to 100 degrees is practiced by some makers. The 

 curd is piled up in the cheese, tubs, cut and turned 

 over, and allowed to remain for half an hour, when 

 a certain degree of activity is developed. The whey 

 is drained away, and tlie curd left to get firm. 

 When sufficiently firm, it is cut into cubes of about 

 one pound weight, ana lifted on to a drainer or rack 

 covered with a cloth, where it remains for three 

 quarters of an hour, or more. When dry enough, 

 it is brokeu up by hand, and from three to four 

 pounds of salt to the lOU pounds well mixed with 

 the curd. It is afterwards twice poured through 

 the curd mill and put in a vat, with a weight upon 

 it, for from one to two hours. It is then put in an 

 oven or warm chamber provided for the purpose 

 close to the fire of the dairy room, where it remains 

 until the following morning. The warmth of the 

 oven— say 80° to 90°, promotes the separation of th^ 

 whey, and skewers are used to pierce the curd 

 through the holes of the vat, to cause the escape of 

 the whey. Some degree of acidity is developed in 

 the cured, and it settles down into a compact mass. 

 The cheeses are turned upside down in the vat with 

 a fresh, dry cloth, and put in the press for about 

 three days, being turned and dry-clothed once or 

 twice daily, afterward less frequently, until ready for 

 sale. As a rule, Cheshire cheese ripens quickly, and 

 is sold for consumption from one to three months 

 after it is made. 



Household Recipes. 



Soup a l'Italienne. — The stock of Sunday's 

 soup strained from the carrots ; half a cup of 

 grated cheese and a cup of milk ; two tablespoonfuls 

 of corn-starch wet up with water ; two eggs beaten 

 light. 



Put the soup on fifteen minutes before dinner, 

 where it will heat quickly. The moment it boils, 

 draw it to one side, stir in the corn starch and milk 

 and heat anew, stirring constantly until it begins to 

 thicken. Set it»again upon the side of the range, 

 and add the beaten eggs. Cover and leave it where 

 it will keep hot, but not cook, while you scald th e 

 tureen and put the grated cheese in the bottom. In 

 five minutes pour the soup upon the cheese, stir all 

 up well, and it is ready for the table. 



This is a delicious soup and easily made. 



Bkeaded Mutton Chops— Baked.— Trim the 

 chops neatly and put aside the bones and bits of 

 skin for the sauce for marcaroni. Pour a little 

 melted butter over the meat. Do this as early in the 

 day as convenient, cover them, and let them stand 

 until an hour before they are to be served. Then, 

 roll each in beaten egg, next, in fine cracker dust, 

 (you can buy it ready powdered) and lay them in 

 jour dripping pan with a very little water in the 

 bottom — just enough to keep them from burning. 

 Bake quickly — covering the dripping-pan with an- 

 other — for half an hour. Then remove the upper, 

 baste the chops with butter and hot water, and let 

 them brown. When done, lay them upon a hot dish 

 and set in the open oven to keep warm. Add to the 



