NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



,'hich may be wautej, will be sufficient. U will re- 

 uire some hours for lime wat..[-, thus prepared, to 

 •ttle, so as to become sufficiently clear for use, when 

 should be carefully poured from the sediment. We 

 not pretend to vouch for the efficacy of limc-watei; 

 lus prepared, and made use of. We JUerely suggest 

 le thing as worth an experiment. 



YEAST. 



The following methoils of maldng Yeast have been 

 commended, but we have never known their eljicacy 

 sted by actual experiment. 



Take a quantity of hops suitable to the quali- 

 ty of yeast vou intend to make, boil them well, 

 id strain off the water in which they are boil- 

 i ; into this water stir a suitable quantity of 

 uur, and consiiierable salt, and then add to this 

 proportionate quantity of sjood yeast ; let this 

 ass rise as much as it will ; then stir in fine 

 ulian meal till it is so thick that it can be made 

 to small cakes of the size of a dollar or larger, 

 ■^hen the cakes are thus made, dry them in the 

 n till they are hard, mindin? to turn them 

 equently to prevent their moulding', and then 

 V them by, in a dry place, for use. 

 When you wish to have yeast, take one of 

 ese cakes, crumble it to pieces, pour warm 

 iter on it, and let it stand in a warm place, 

 d it will soon rise sufliciently to make good 

 ast. A quantity of these cakes may be thus 

 ide at once, which will last for six months 

 more. 



™ Art of making Yeast tsith Peas in Persia. 

 Take a small tea cup or win.e glass full of 

 it or bruised peas, pour on them a pint of 

 iling water, and set the whole in a vessel all 

 fht on the hearth, or in any other warm 

 ice ; this water will be a good yeast, and 

 ve a froth on its top the next morning. In 

 s cold climate, especially in a cold season, it 

 )uld stand longer to ferment ; perhaps twentj 

 ir or fortj-eigiit hours. The above quantity) 

 's Mr. Eaton, made for me as much bread ;b 

 lalf quartern loaf, the quality of which wap 

 ry good and light. It may be necessary thai, 



i, I this country in winter it should be put to 



)ro- 1 ment in a coo) oven. 



Substitute for YeasU 

 L patent was granted, in England, to Mr. Richard 

 Iyer Blunt for his new invented composition to be 

 d instead of Yeast. The substance of the speciiica- 

 i, according to the Repertory of Arts, is as follow; 

 To make a yeast gallon of the above men- 

 led composition, containing eight beer quarts, 

 1 in common water eight pounds of potatoes 

 for eating ; bruise them perfectly smooth, 

 1 mix with them whilst warm, two ounces of 

 ley, or any other sweet substance, and one 

 irt (being the eighth part of a gallon of yeast) 

 common yeast. And, for making bread, mis 

 ee beer pints of the above composition with 

 ushel of doiir, using warm water in making 

 : bread ; the water to be warmer in winter. 

 I the composition to be used in a few hours 

 ;r it is made ; and as soon as the sponge (the 

 sture of the composition with the tlour) be- 

 s to fall the first time, the bread should be 

 de, and put into the oven. 



FACTS AND OB:^KRV AXIOMS 



KEL.^TING TO 



Agriculture and Domestic Economy. 



MUSQtETOES. 



To prevent the bite of Musquetoe.'?, rub the 

 of pennyroyal, a little weakened on the 

 ids and face. 



Under this head, we propose, from time to time, to 

 publish such articles, relating to agriculture and rural 

 economy, as we may be of opinion will prove useful. 

 ?ome of our statements wilt not, probably, be new to 

 many of our readers, and others, perhaps, will not be 

 found correct. But those to whom our observations 

 may not convey new iileas, will, we hope, endure 

 theni for the sake of the benefits which may accrue to 

 such persons as are destitute of the information they 

 contain, which will be in part derived from writers of 

 acknowledged merit and standard authority. .Should 

 our assertions or theories be found erroneous, we should 

 be happy to stand corrected by our friends and corres- 

 pondents. Our statements may, at least, suggest hints 

 and processes which may lead to valviable improve- 

 ments. And, as happily expressed in the last No. of 

 the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, " the cau- 

 tious farmer, if he is struck with their novelty, may 

 try them for himself. If they are found to fail, he will 

 not repeal the experiment, but he will be very careful 

 to inquire, whether he has faithfully followed the in- 

 structions of the first essayist, ^^^le(her the soil was 

 the same as that in which the experiment was made, 

 and whether he has taken the same pains to prcdiice 

 the proposed result. If he is satisfied that he has -o 

 done, and that the novelty recommended is not entitled 

 to his confidence, he will abandon it." 



POTATOES 



May be spoiled by bad management in har- 

 vesting. They should be dug in cool over cast 

 weather, and picked immediately after the hoc 

 free from sun and air, and kept moist with much 

 dirt about them. If dug in fine weather, and 

 thev remain exposed to the sun, they will sweat 

 in the summer, and be soft, waxy and itronu^. 

 By lying to dry in the sun, they turn green, be- 

 come in a degree poisonous, operate as ph^'sic 

 of a purgative nature, and, it is said, sometimes 

 prove fatal. 



In gatherino: a crop of potatoes it has been 

 recommended to run furrows on each side of the 

 rows, and then a pretty deep one in the middle, 

 which turns up most of the roots to the surface. 

 A fork, with four prongs, with the addition of 

 what may be called a tulcrum, fastened by a 

 pivot to the back part of the handle may be 

 used for raising the potatoes, not turned by the 

 plough. 



In the report on the agriculture of the coun- 

 ty of Hereford, drawn up for the British Board 

 of Agriculture, is a description of an excellent 

 implement, invented by Mr. Yeldall, for taking 

 up potatoes, having four prongs, or barbs of iron, 

 with a fang, in the form of a double mould 

 board, drawn by three horses or four oxen. It 

 enters the ground, under the bed of potatoes, 

 and throws them to the surface. 



In feeding stock on potatoes it is best to steam, 

 boil, or bake them. Sir John Sinclair, a fa- 

 mous English Agriculturist, (v/ho, we believe, 

 has corresponded with Gen. Washington on sub- 

 jects of rural economy,) in his celebrated Code 

 of Agriculture, asserts, that "there issomethinsr 

 injurious in the juice of the potatoe in a raw 

 state, which cooking eradicates, or greatly dis- 

 pels." 



We have, however, heard it asserted by far- 

 mers that raw potatoes, given, in moderate 

 quantities to working oxen in the spring of the 

 year answer a valuable purpose. They are 



said to prove cooling, and opening, and serve at 

 once for food and physic. Where cattle are fed 

 in part on Indian corn or meal, which is in some 

 dogrec astringent and heating, raw potatoes 

 given occasionally, we have been told, promote 

 the health, and add to the appetite of the .tni- 

 mals. 



The Farmer's Assistant .says, " We never 

 should advise to feed milch-cows with potatoes, 

 either boiled or raw ; as we have frequently 

 known cows to be greatly lessened in their 

 quantity of milk, by being fed on tliis root." 



POULTRY. 



Mr. Wakefield, a spirited farmer near Liver- 

 pool, say the compilersof " The Complete Gra- 

 zier," keeps a large stock of poultry in the 

 same enclosure with singular success. He has 

 nearly an acre enclosed with a close slab fence, 

 about seven feet high. The top of the fence is 

 everywhere sharp pointed like pickets, though, 

 perhaps, this may not be necessary. Within 

 this enclosure are put up slight small sheds, 

 well secured from rain, however, for the differ- 

 ent kinds of poultry, and it is supplied with a 

 small stream of water. The poultry are regu- 

 larly fed three times a day with boiled potatoes, 

 which is their only food, except what grass may 

 grow within the enclosure. 



The dung of the poultry, which is exceed- 

 ingly rich, is carefully saved for use ; and the 

 lurf of the enclosure is occasionally pared ofi 

 for mixing with composts. 



We have heard it asserted that a little molas- 

 ses, or any other saccharine substance is very 

 useful to mix with the food of poultry, which it 

 is intended to fatten. Perhaps it might be well 

 to boil a proportion of beets, ripe and sweet 

 pumpkins, or squashes with potatoes, for the 

 food of poultry. When corn is given to fowls 

 it hould be crushed or soaked in water. Hens 

 it is said should have access, in winter, to slack- 

 ed lime, or oyster shells, otherwise they will 

 afford no eggs, as something of the kind is ne- 

 cessary to form the shells. Wheat, however, if 

 given to fowls lor food, will afford the substance 

 (phosphate of lime) which is necessary to com- 

 pose their shells. 



BEES. 



Dr. J. Anderson in one of his papers on hus- 

 bandry observes, in substance, that bees are 

 frequently induced by mild weather in the win- 

 ter, and early in the spring to leave their hives 

 and by sudden changes to cold or wet become 

 chilled, unable to return, and perish. And 

 when they do not venture abroad, warm 

 weather, out of season, often rouses them from 

 their torpid state and obliges them to consume 

 their stores, and they are then starved with 

 hunger. 



To prevent such accidents. Dr. Anderson is 

 of opinion, that " no method would be so effec- 

 tual as that of placing the hives in an ice house 

 at the approach of winter. Here they may be 

 kept till the spring is so far advanced, that no 

 danger is to be apprehended from bad weather. 

 During the whole winter they will remain in a 

 state of torpor and require no t'ood. As soon as 

 the mild weather invites them to appear, tney 

 will commence their labors with vigor. The 

 intense degree of cold which bees sustain with- 

 out the least injury in Poland and Russia, where 

 even quicksilver is sometimes frozen, removes 

 every doubt or anxiety, coaceruing the safety 

 of bees in an ice hoase." 



