348 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



From the London Farmers' Journal. ihole ; the plants make their appearance in n«Oui 



r, f r CI „../;. \f„„„»; ii'„rt^^> 21 days; and when about the size ot cabbage 



^ J o t a I plants, care was taken that only one plant re- 



Ilercdfordshire, Jan. 25, 1822. | gained ;„ ., f,ole ; they were kept clean by a 



Sir — It is rather unusual tor a man to write I si^gig ho^^^ hoe in the rows, and hand weeding 



on a subject which he professes to be 'o'«"y j between the plants ; after having had immense 



ignorant of; and in addition to this, your cor- 1 ygjjjjjjgg of the large leaves taken from them 



respondent Mr. Thorpe, in his letter of January I jy|,jjj„ ^^^^ ^^^^ f^^^. nionths they were in the 



3d, seems disposed to doubt the veracity of one 

 who has planted and used mangel wurtzel for 

 several years past ; however, it is done openly, 

 and in an inoffensive manner, therefore 1 freely 

 forgive him. 



1 have neither leisure nor inclination to enter 

 into a controversy with Mr. T. but i deem it 

 necessary to answer his letter of the 3d inst. 

 and to repeat, for his satisfaction, if he pleases, 

 that " 1 weighed five wether sheep, and put 

 them into a barn, as stated in my letter ot the 

 12th ult. and in that situation they were regu- 

 larly supplied with 25 lbs. o( mangel wurtzcl, 

 (less than tnree roots) and five lbs. of good hay 

 during every 24 hours, for each sheep, and this 

 continued for live successive weeks, at the ex- 

 piration of which time they were weighed out, 

 and had gained upon an average eight lbs. per 

 quarter." It seems to strike Mr. T. with won- 

 der, that animals should gain so much more 

 than he states they would gain, when at grass 

 in the month of .Alay and the followiiia: months ; 

 but when it is considered that the sheep were 

 penned up in a warm barn, and without the 

 possibility of exercise, they were much on a 

 footing with pigs in a stye, fed on barley meal 

 and pease, or like unto turkeys, if crammed 

 with the be^t Carolina rice. It is not at all 

 extraordinary for animals having an aptitude to 

 fatten, to make still greater progress when fed 

 on such a sweet succulent root as mangel wuit- 

 zel, corrected with a little good hay. Mr. T. 

 pleads his being a novice in the cultivation and 

 general knowledge of Ilia root ; therefore, un- 

 der such cucumstancos, it may bo dilhcult for 

 any one to convince him of its extraordinary 

 properties ; it is possessed of greater specific 

 gravity than that valuable root, the Swede tur- 

 nip. Perh3l>s Mr. T. is unacquainted with the 

 fact, that i?-uing the reign of that enterjirizing 

 man, Bonaparte, he passed a law, that all far- 

 mers in Flandois should set apart a poition of 

 their farnii tor the cultivation of this root, for 

 the purpose of making sugar, ami which exper- 

 iment more than ecpialled his must sangaine ex- 

 pectations, (iood sugar was produced at one 

 shilling per pound, when at the 'aine time West 

 India sugar was selling in France at live shil- 

 lings per pound.* This circumstance will give 

 Mr. T. some idea of the nutritious quality of 

 the mangel wurtzcl. With regard to the man- 

 ner of cultivation, I must leave that to the able 

 hand of your coricspnndeut Mr. Addams, who 

 has, I think, promised to give it to us in detail ; 

 but as the method I pursued \:\A seasom may be 

 additional information, 1 will briefly slate it. — 

 The land (a sandy soil) was prepared as for 

 Swede turnips, good rotten dung placed in drills 

 18 inches distance in the rows, and my plants 

 were full 12 inches apart ; the seeds were plant- 

 ed the last week in April, not exceeding two 

 inches under the surface, with a small planting 

 stick, taking care not to put more than one pod 

 (whic+i contains more than one seed) in each 



* Sec that entcrtainiDg work Radcliffc's Agticulture 

 of Flanders. 



ground, they were pulled up about the end of 

 November, (but this greatly depends on the 

 season) and placed in heaps in the open ground 

 and covered with straw and earth similar to 

 potatoes ; some I placed in an out-house, but I 

 think it matters not which. What remained in 

 the month of April following, were as fresh as 

 when taken up ; but what adds greatly to the 

 value of this root is, that it is taken up in time 

 to put in wheat, and the land is in very high 

 tilth to receive it. It gives me pleasure, Mr. 

 Editor, to be the means of drawing forth obser- 

 vations on the cultivation and use of a root that 

 promises to be of incalculable value to the Uni- 

 ted Kingdom, provided we have equal protec- 

 tion with the trading and commercial interests 

 I remain your well wisher. 



From the American Farmer. 



ON THE VARIOUS WAYS OF TREPARING AND 

 EMPLOYING INDIAN CORN. 



There are many things the rich have no 

 need to think of, which would be of inhnite ad 

 vantage to the poor, if they had the knowledge 

 necessary to turn that product of their labor 

 they have most in their power, to their own 

 comfort. You may perhaps smile when yon 

 perceive tiiis preamble is to usher into notice 

 the virtues of Indian Corn. I will allow you to 

 do so, if you can find in my enumeration one 

 use to which I put that valuable grain, worthy 

 of being more generally known. In order to 

 swell the list, I mention some of the purposes 

 for which it is used, that are known to e\ery 

 one, before I enter into the detail of preparing 

 a dish which I consider tiie best, healthiest, and 

 most palatable food we have. I will begin with 

 it before the seed is perfectly formed ; it can 

 then be made, if properly done, a fne pickle. 

 We all know how delicious roasting tars are ; 

 when fit for this use it will make a superioi- 

 starch; if scalded and dried you may have roast- 

 ing cars in the middle of winter. When the grain 

 is hardened, you have food for all the domestic 

 animals in the shocks, tops, &.c. The leaves of 

 the shock or husk, by slitting them finely, make 

 excellent matrasses or under beds. The flour 

 or meal of the grain is the most wholesome we 

 use ; 1 need inly mention a few of the ways in 

 which it is ni.maged in this state, for I should 

 never have done were I only to give you the 

 receipts lor making the various kinds of corn 

 bread common in this part of the country. A 

 favorite way of making corn bread with us, is 

 to make a batter with meal, milk, eggs, and a 

 little shortning,* about the consistence of that 

 for pound cake, which it resembles in appear- 

 ance when baked in tins commonly used for 

 that purpose. In making light bread by mixing 

 the wheat flour and yeast with mush, we con- 

 sider it adds much to the sweetness and whole- 

 someness of the bread ; we likewise in all grid- 

 dle cakes, mix meal with wheat flour as tending 



ies 

 » 



lit 

 Cll 



\[ 



* A word in Domestic Cookery which implies that 

 butter, lard, or oil, may be used. 



iv make them lighter, with fewer eggs that '•' ' 

 they would take with wheat flour alone — h i'" 

 short, we use corn meal on all occasions eithe] ^^ 

 with or without wheat flour — not because w< "I 

 have not flour sufficient, but because we prefei ^':' 

 meal. 1 can assure my fair countrywomen the} 

 need not apply to quacks or perfumers, or (1 -s 

 forget what they call them,) I mean those tor Djti 

 eigners who vend poisons, under the pretenc< leW 

 of rendering those that use them more beauti iBti 

 ful ; and recommend them, because a few won is«' 

 out old women have made out, by attending t< ita 

 nothing else but the application of various art! ten 

 to hide their deformity for a short time, wh( [)Ii 

 having no beauty to endanger, cannot fear tht iln2' 

 consequences. 1 say those who do believe ir |siil 

 the virtues of cosmetics will find ray favorite sen 

 corn meal superior to all the washes, de Main- b, [ 

 tenon, &;c. kc. It will render the skin smooth, m 

 transparent and white — and withal it is perfect- itlii 

 ly safe. Only let them try it instead of going ku 

 to one of those venders aforesaid, and spending ijl 

 two or three dollars for a nostrum, which al mf 

 best will onlv be of transitory benefit, leaving 3» 

 t lasting ill effect ; let them put over the fire a ;;: 

 pint of water, when it boils stir in as much fine iiai 

 corn meal as will make it the consistence ol 

 paste — when cooling they may add a spoon full 

 of honey and a little rose water, though the 

 latter articles are not necessary — let them use 

 this paste, or as I vulgarly call it, mush, instead 

 of soap every time they perform their morning 

 and evening ablutions, or, in other words, wash 

 themselves. I venture to affirm their complex- 

 ions will derive more advantage from the ap- 

 plication of this paste, than any of those washes 

 ivhich they pay so high for. 



I come now to the preparation of the grain, 

 which 1 believe is not as generally known as it 

 o»ght to be, considering its excellence. It is 

 wfiat we call lyed hommony ; we likewise have 

 the best hommony and small-hemmony, both ol 

 rvhich are common, are fine dishes, and supe- 

 rior to rice, when properly managed ; but the 

 lyed hommony is preferred by every one whop 

 is accustomed to it, as being more wholesome 

 and more palatable. It is prepared by boiling 

 the white fielil corn in ashes and water, until 

 the husk or skin of the grain is loosened, which 

 will be the case in a few minutes, and it is ne- 

 cessary to pay attention that it does not remain 

 too long in the ashes, as it will by that means 

 taste of the lye ; so soon as the husk is loosen- 

 jd, it must be washed and rubbed through the 

 lands in cold water until the grain is cleansed 

 rom the ashes and skin ; it may then be dried 

 o make use of at any time, or boiled immedi- 

 itely if wanted. When ready to be cooked for 

 the table, it must b^ scalded and put over to 

 lioil in jilenty of water, observing always to 

 keep sufticient hot water ready to add to it as 

 the first boils away. The grain bursts open 

 info a white ball and becomes soft when suffi- 

 ciently done. This is the manner we boil it 

 to eat with milk or cream, either warm or cold. 

 It is also used in this country by the Indians 

 and Creole boatmen, who prefer it to any thing 

 else in a soup, by putting the com over with a 

 piece of beef or pork, leaving the water in it 

 which makes the soup — in the other case the 

 grain it taken out of the water. A yankee ac- 

 quaintance of mine who knew nothing of hom- 

 mony, has become so fond of this dish as to de- 

 clare lyed hommony and milk to be preferable 



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