VOI,. XV. MO. 45. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



355 



From the New \'(irk Farmer. 

 DOMESTIC E!:OJfOMr. 



Hung or DiHei) }5EF.F.^-Tnke eight ounces of 

 comtiioii Silk, two ounces of saltpetre, made into 

 brine. Tiiis quantity to be applied to 10 pounds 

 of i>eer. It slioiild lay in the brine four weeks; 

 and then hung up in the kitchen or some warm 

 apartment to liecome dry. In oriler to preserve 

 it fro'.ii insects in summer, it should be tied up in 

 a linen cloth. 



'1 he above rec£i|)t was given nie by an excel- 

 lent farmer and niaiiRger in Massachusetts ; and 

 the beef cured by it was of the finest descrip- 

 tion. H. C. 



'Salt or Cor.ved Beef. — One peck of coarse 

 salt, four ounces of salti'etre, one and a half pound 

 of coarse brown sugar. Add to the above ingre- 

 dients, foui' gallons of spring water; boil and skim 

 it until it is quite clear ; uhnn cold it is fit for use. 

 The meat, either beef or pork, sliould be salted a 

 few hours before it is put in the .pickle. Hams 

 and Tongues are very fine cured with the same 

 pickle. 



The above receipt is called Admiral Pococke's 

 pickle, and is much approved and generally used 

 in the British Navy. I have succes.sfully tested 

 its value. H. C. 



HousFiriLD Soap Put fourteen lbs. of Pot- 

 ashes to twenty !bs. of good grease for one barrel. 

 Put the jiotiislies into two pails of water over 

 night ; |)Ut the grease into a kettle and pour the 

 poiashe* over it ; let it boil moderately, filling it 

 U|) vvith cold water until it thickens ; then put it 

 into the barrel, and fill it up, (a pail full at a time) 

 stirring it about until the barrel is full. 



Soap Makf.vg. — The sulijoined is from a friend 

 as well skilled in all tnatters of domestic economy 

 and household management, as any one I have 

 ever ki.owii. )(. C. 



The last Soap I made, we used 20 lbs. of pot- 

 ashes and 25 lbs. of grease to a barrel ; and it 

 made excellent soa|i. Success much depends on 

 having the best quality of potashes. I have a set- 

 kettle in which I dissolvcil the potashes and piil 

 it into the trough in which ive keep the soap ; 

 then meit the grouse and put to it, the mass is 

 then hot ; having conveniences for heating the 

 water, 1 have generally filled it up keeping the 

 whole hot ; by this means the ingredients incor- 

 porate quickly ; and I have but very little to do 

 after the first day. But I do not add the whole 

 of the water at once. I [trefer iloing it by de- 

 grees, and stirring well at each time. There will 

 be no diSiculty, if you have good materials; and 

 get them thoroughly incorporated. 1 fiave no 

 doubt it may be effected as surely with cold wa- 

 ter after the ingredients are mixed and put to- 

 gether; hut it will require longer time and more 

 labor to stir it. 1 have been troubled a little once 

 or twee by getting weak potashes; and have been 

 obliged to add more, hut have always succeeded 

 in the end. Once 1 recollect I put more potash- 

 es than usual, and it was too jiowcrful. I then 

 added more grease and water and reduced it ; — 

 the above proportion, I think, is about right, if 

 the materials are good ; if the potashes should 

 prove otherwise, more may be added. — [Brook- 

 line.] ■ B. G. 



Salt Hat for Mandre Mr E. B., of Lynn, 



l\3ass., is of oiiininn that Salt Hay is v\' )rth five 

 dollars per ton, for manure, to he spread on mow- 

 ing land. He says he once spread a quantity of 

 salt hay in the spring of the year on some low 

 grass land, and the yndd of grass was as great as 

 ever had been under any Circumstances. It is 

 very valuable as litter under catjle, and forms a 

 most valuable ingredient in compost. The above 

 authority is that of a most careful and honest far- 

 mer ; aiul deserves entire confidence. Salt bay 

 is generally estimated at two-thirds the value of 

 I'lnglish. There are several kinds of it; siune of 

 it too coarse f >r any purpose but that of litter. — 

 We speak of the finest quality ; when well cured 

 it is eaten with gient avidity by the cattle, and is 

 substantial and nutritious. It will not answer for 

 milch cows, as it very soon diutiiiishes the secre-" 

 tions of ittilk. Of course it cannot be often affor- 

 ded to use it for maniu-e. In cases of extraordi- 

 miry abundance, however, or low price of Eng- 

 lish hay; or of dam.i.ge to the salt hay in curing 

 from the tide or rains, it may sometimc-s be pro- 

 fitably applied as manure. The fiict of its suc- 

 cessful a|iplication in this way is at least worth 

 recording. H. C. 



Potatoes for Seed. — " For years past," says 

 one, "I have observed in my fields of potatoes, 

 some to come tq> with a large and thrifty stock or 

 shoots, and others that were small and feeble; — 

 and all in the same hill ; ami when dug, I feared 

 as much difference in the potatoes as in the lops, 

 which caused me to bestow some thought on the 

 subj('rt ; and I concluded it would not be in the 

 soil, hut in the seed. In order to bring the sub- 

 ject to the test as well as I knew how, I took a 

 parcel of potatoes all of one sort the last spring, 

 cut off the seed ends enough for two rows ; the 

 other part of the potato I cut sufficient for two 

 rows more ; and planted them side by side at the 

 same time. Those from the seed end liad, as 

 might be supposed, the greatest number of shoots, 

 but much smallerand less vigorous,and continued 

 so until harvest. Those (rom the stem ends pro- 

 duced the largest, fairest, tnd most in measure, 

 but not most in number. Fair, good sized pota- 

 toes should always be selected for seed ; ami if 

 the seed ends be avoided, I think it the better. — 

 As to the best soil for good table potatoes, I have 

 no hesitation in saying, thiit good, light, loamy 

 land is the best ; a moist, strong soil may, and 

 doubtless will, produce the most in quantity. — 

 Fresh or green stable manure should never be 

 put into the hill ; if used al all, it should he spread 

 and ploughed, and harrowed in." 



1 give the above account and directions only 

 upon newspaper authority. They seem to me 

 i]uite worth verifying by careful experiment. The 

 use of stable manure in the bill for ])Otatoes, de- 

 signed for the table, is to be entirely disapproved. 

 Plaster of Paris applied in small quantities in the 

 hill, we have found serviceable ; and the experi- 

 ments of others have confirmed our experience. 

 Sea sand in the hill, where the potatoes were 

 planted in a peaty soil, moist and heavy, has prov- 

 ed an excellent manure. !n our old lands, which 

 have been long cultivated and highly manured, it 

 seems diflicult to raise potatoes of a very good 

 qualitv for the table ; and they are seldom com- 

 parable to potatoes grown on a new soil ; and es- 

 pecially on land recently cleared and in a moist 

 climate. This fitct is well settled, but the jihi- 

 losophy of it is yet undetermined. ■ 



Pouitocs are one of the most valuable of our 

 agricultural products; and in s|)'ti' of all that the 

 sarcastic ]ien of (.'obbett has uttered against them, 

 there is no product cultivated among us that yields 

 more in quantity, or more nutritious food, for man 

 and beast, per acre. There is no croj) grown 

 among us, cidtivated with more slovenliness. In 

 general, little atienlion is paid to the selection of 

 potatoes of the hist kinds for eating ; and to the 

 selection of the best seed of the best kinds. They 

 are taken indiscrinjinalely from the heap ; or of- 

 tentimes the most worthless, those which are too 

 small to be eaten, are chosen for planting ; and 

 the different kinds are often intermixed in the 

 same hill and field without any regard to the dif- 

 ferent times of ripening ; and at harvest, some 

 will be ripe and ollurs not ripe, from not being 

 seasonably planted ; whereas, it is as desirable that 

 a potato should be ripe, as that an a|qjle should 

 be ripe. 



Experiments made in E.igland, some years 

 since, are confirmatory of the comparative impor- 

 tance of the difterent parts ol the seed as used for 

 planting, which has been stated above. The Brit- 

 ish Farmer's Magnzine says, " that it has been 

 foimd that seeds from the top end of the potato, 

 yielded the largest and the earliest crops ; that 

 seeds from the middle jiortion gave two-thirds of 

 the former, and that those from the smaller or 

 root end, gave less than one-third of the first. It 

 follow.s, thwt if only the root ends had been rejec- 

 ted, the wlntile crop would have been increased at 

 least at therate of seven to nifie. In some parts 

 of Ireland, where thcculttire of the potato is care- 

 fully studied, it is common to reject seeds from 

 the root end." 



It is stated likewise in Silliman's Journal, and 

 in the British Farmer's Magazine, " that from ex- 

 periments made in Holland, when potatoes are 

 planted, the germs of which are developed as hap- 

 pens occasionally in. late operations, or in open 

 mild winters, tfiat the produce difliers in quantity 

 by more than a third, to what it would be if po- 

 totoes, which had not advanced, had been used; 

 and further, that besides this diminished ju-oduct, 

 the quality is inferior." 



All these circuujstances go to prove that this 

 crop admits of great improvement. In several 

 districts in England, they have suffered for two 

 or three years past from a most remarkable fail- 

 ure of their seed to germinate. Various animated 

 and long discussions have been had in the agri- 

 cultural periodicals and newspapeis as to its cause ; 

 as yet, however, it remains undetermined ; and 

 considerable uneasiness and even alarm has been 

 excited. Potatoes with us, are subject to no se- 

 rious diseases ; but suffer mainly from the tiiuck- 

 worm, whose ravages are sometimes considera- 

 ble. II. c. 



Mammoth White. Silk Worm Eggs. — We 

 mention for the information of those engaged in 

 the culture of the mulberry and silk, that a few 

 ounces of the above mentioned article may be eb- 

 tained at No. 21, Arcade, West Avenue, with trea- 

 tises on the raising of the worm ; also, the gen- 

 uine White Italian and Dwarf French Mulberry 

 Seed. Specimens of the Cocoons may be seen 

 there. 'Ihe Silk, in richness, is not to be surpas- 

 sed. Sold in quantities to suit purchasers. — U. 

 S. Gazette. 



Nothing will fatten sheep quicker thau apples. 



