NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



^7 



soil was also dissipaleil, or grcall}' reduced, Li\ 

 evaporation. But the clover, turned under by 

 « simple ploughing-, was cninpleteh' covered with 

 carlli, kept moist, gradually rotted, and so sup- 

 plied food to the wheat plants most plentifully 

 wlien most wanted, that is, in iho ensmng sea- 

 son, when the wheat was attaining its complete 

 growth, and ripening the grain.*' 



IMl'ROVF.MF.NT OF SOILS. 



Soils may be improved by the admixture of 

 earths to alter their texture. This is a distinct 

 thing from applying the substances commonly 

 called manures. A soil may be composed of 

 ni iterials so essentially unfr.endly to vegetation 

 that any attempt to manure it without altering 

 its consti'ution^ or correcting its noxious quali- 

 ties, would lie like feeding a sick man with 

 nourishing things, without removing the cause 

 ■of his disorder. 



Sir John Sinclair says, " Soils with acids, or 

 salts of iron, may be ameliorated by the appli- 

 cation of earthy lime or chalk. The sulphate 

 of iron (copperas) is thus converted into manure. 

 If there be an excess of calcareous matter (lime 

 or chalk,) it may be improved by the applica- 

 lion of sand or clay, or earthy substances. Soils 

 too abundant in sand, are benefitted by the use 

 of clay, or marl, or vegetable matter. A defi- 

 ciency of vegetable or animal matter must be 

 supplied by manure. An excess of vegetable 

 matter is to be removed by burning, or to be 

 remedied by the application of earthy materi- 

 als. The substances necessary for improving 

 ^oils arc seldom far distant. Coarse sand is often 

 found immediately upon chalk, and perhaps al- 

 ways under it, while beds of sand and gravel 

 are commonly below clay, and clay and marie 

 generally below sand.'' 



PRESERVING ME.^TS. 



The following recipes are from Additions to 

 Willich's Domestic Encyclopedia, by Thomas 

 Cooper, Esq. Professor of Chemistry and Min- 

 eralogy. ' 



" If meat be intended merely for family use, 

 and to be u«ed in two or three months, the fol- 

 lowing pickle deserves to be recommended : 

 Water, one gallon ; salt, nineteen ounces ; salt 

 petre, one ounce and a lialf; sugar, half pound. 

 '•The Russians are fond of the flavor of juni- 

 per berries, and add a pound of bruised juniper 

 to a gallon of pickle. 



" A tea-spoonful or two of cayenne pepper to 

 ihe gallon, greatly increa.ses the preserv.ng 

 I power of the pickle. 



; '' To cure gammons, first sprinkle them as 



Ii soon as they are cut and trimmed, with a little 



' (Livcr()Ool) salt. Let them lay together for 



i twelve hours : take them out of the tub. dri.n 



^.^nd wipe them ; then rub them separately '.vilh 



a mixture of twelve parts common salt and one 



part salt petre, well dried and then ground line. 



Hub in this mi>iure well ; lay them in the piok- 



' ling tub, and the next day rub them again with 



a similar mixture. The day after fill up the tub 



^viih a brine made in the proportion of 18 oz. 



salt, 1 lb. molasses, and 1 oz. salt petre, to the 



gallon of water. In this pickle they may stay 



f I r a fortnight. Then take them out, drain. 



wipe and smoke them. 



'■ It they are sulTered to make their own 

 brine by means of dry salt and salt petre en- 

 tirely, t!iey will lose too much of the juices of 

 ihe meatj and become bard and dry. 



'• 1 have successfully cured beef in summer 

 thus : 



" I killed an ox in the middle of .\ugust, at 

 9 o'clock in llie evening ; it was cut up at 3 

 o'clock in the morn.ng. The pieces were 

 (piicklj' rubbed with a mixture of ten parts of 

 salt, and one part of salt petre, and put into a 

 barrel. In the mean time a brine com|)oscd of 

 1 1-2 lbs. of sail, 2 oz. of salt petre, and half an 

 ounce of common pepper, to the gallon of wa- 

 ter, was ready over the fire, and when the beef 

 was all packed in the barrel, it was poured on 

 boiling hot. This prevented and destroyed all 

 lly-liloivs. In a week, the pieces were taken 

 out, drained and wiped ; the pickle was boiled 

 over again, scummed, and again poured boiling 

 hot on the meat when re-packed. The process 

 answered the purpose perfectly." 



A METHOD OF PRESERVING CREAM. 



Take twelve ounces of white sugar, and as 

 many grains of finely powdered magnesia, and 

 dissolve them in a small quantity of water, over 

 a moderate fire. After the solution has taken 

 place, 12 oz. of new cream should be immedi- 

 ately added, and tlie whole uniformly mixed 

 while hot. Let it then gradually cool, and pour 

 it into a bottle, which must be carefully corked. 

 if kept in a cool place, and nol exposed to the 

 air, it may be preserved in a sweet state for 

 several weeks, and oven months. 



Doiiicsiic EncyclopcdUi. 



TO PREVENT BOTTLED CIDER FROM BURSTLVC. 



Make a strong frame of plank, say 1 1-2 or 2 

 inches thick and 9 deej), by locking it together 

 edge-wise, place it in the cellar, and sit the 

 bottles of cider in it, (after being well corked) 

 as close as possible, until it is entirely filled, 

 except the space for one bottle, which must be 

 left to commence taking them from, when want- 

 ed for pse. Then put clean sand on them, and 

 settle it between the bottles, by (hrouing on ^\- 

 teriiately water and sand, until the sand is well 

 settled half Hay up the neck of the bottles. In 

 that situation the bottles will be preserved, 

 filled with the very best cider for any length 

 of time. 



By placing ice on the sand over the quantity 

 of bottles |)roposed to be used a day, it will be 

 as if put into ice water. — imerican Farmer. 



TO rRF.VE.NT SKIPPERS IN B.ir0N. 



Take of red pepper finel}' powdered one ta- 

 ble spoonful for every joint of meat, and rub it 

 on the meat with the salt, when it is first cut 

 up. It has been often tried, and was never 

 known to fail in producing the above effect. — ib. 



EXTIRP.ITING RATS AND MICE. 



Lay bird lime in their haunts ; for though 

 they are nasty enough in other respect.s, 3'et 

 being very curious of their fur, if it is but daub- 

 ed with this stuff, it is so troublesome to them, 

 that they will even scratch their skins from oil 

 their own backs to get it off; and will never 

 abide in the place where they have suffered in 

 this manner. — Farmer's Journal. 



Qitfre. — Would tar answer the same purpose 

 as bird lime ? 



From (he Providence Journal. 

 To those zuho make., and those who love good Cider. 

 A few years ago, I was dining with a friend. 

 who knew my fondness for Cider with my food. 



He remarked, '• my friend, 1 have no cider to 

 otter you. Onr apples have been principally 

 cut off by frosts and insects, for several years 

 past ; but I can give you some cider wineV' I 

 took some of it, and diluted it with water, suffi- 

 cient as I calculated, to reduce it (0 the strength 

 of late made cider. When 1 drank of it, to my 

 surprise, 1 found I had a glass of very excelleiit 

 cider, with only the liistc of a little ajiple bran- 

 dy in it. The discovery of this fact suggested 

 to my mind the following conclusion : — That 

 farmers in a iderdii'ul year of apples, may, with 

 a little care, lay up a supply of good" cider, 

 against a year of scarcity. This niav be done 

 within a small compass, in the following man- 

 ner : — Take your first made cider, which is fit 

 only for the still, and convert it into brandy ; put 

 nine gallons of this brandy into a new barrel ; 

 then fill the barrel with late made cider, well 

 strained, and bung it tight. This gives you the 

 strength of near four barrels of cider, in one. 

 The strength given to it by the brand}', will 

 preserve its sweetness entire, for many years. 

 That which 1 drank was ten or twelve years 

 old ; and it was not impaired by age. When if 

 is used, it only requires a sufficient quantifv of 

 water mixed with it, to render it excellent ci- 

 der. The barrels should be new, and clean. 

 To guard against the rotting which is caused 

 by damp cellars, they should be iron bound, 

 and well painted. In this manner, any farmer, 

 who has the fruit, may put up, in six barrels, 

 the essence of twenty barrels of good cider, 

 and keep it until a time of need. It will Jine 

 itself; and will grow better with an increase 

 of age. Besides, if it is not wanted as cider, it 

 is a very pleasant cordial, when imdllnted; and, 

 with the addition of a bushel of wild grapes, 

 bruised, and put into each barrel, it imbibes the 

 peculiar flavor of the grape, and becomes a 

 very pleasant wine. 



As there is an unusual quantity of apples this 

 year, I have thought this communication might 

 be useful to agriculturists. Now is the time 

 for grinding up the early windfalls ; and the 

 cider, which these produce, if distilled, will 

 furnish the brandy necessary for making the 

 cider wine. And I can assure you, my friends, 

 prepared in this way, it is much pleasanter, and 

 less injurious to health and morals, than when 

 drank, in the usual manner, mixed with wafer. 



Those farmers who are fond of good cider 

 with their food, and who have felt the want of 

 it, in consequence of a scarcity of apples, will, 

 1 trust, feel the importance of attending to this 

 subject, now, when they are blessed with an 

 abundance of fruit. And another season, when 

 their neighbors are destitute, the possession of 

 a plenty of excellent cider in their cellars, will 

 more fully realize to them the value of this 

 communication, if they will make the experi- 

 ment. \. B. 



A correspondent states that the medical qua- 

 lifies of pulverized Charcoal, are daily devel- 

 oping themselves. In addition to its value in 

 bilious disorders, two ounces of the Charcoal 

 boiled in a pint of fresh milk, may be taken in 

 doses of a wine glass full, by adults, every two 

 hours, in the most obstinate dyscntert/. until relief 

 is imparted, which has not failed to be the effect 

 in almost every instance. It is harmless and the 

 experiment maj' be safely tried. Charcoal made 

 from maple wood is the purest that can be read- 

 ily obtained. — Baltimore Chronicle. 



