AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



PUIUJSHED BV JOSKPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NOLITU MARKET STREET, (Aobicoltubai Warehouse.) 



ui..z\ii.i 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 5, 1844. 



CJVO. 4*. 



N. E. F ARAfI E R. 



WOOL WASHING. 



As the time ol" slicaring sheep \a at hand, and 

 3 wool will be more in demand this season than it 

 as been for several years, it behooves the wool- 

 rower to see that it is in the best possible condi- 

 on for the market. This is his duty at all times, 

 ' he desiijns his clip for market ; but if he is to 

 ork it np nt home, it is not so necessary to be so 

 articular with it, as if he were to send it abroad, 

 ccause those who operate upon it, in tlie doines- 

 c line, can cleanse it thoroughly in their own 

 uy and manner. As they do not purchase it by 

 le pound, they run no risk of being cheated by 

 le extra quuntum of dirt which may adhere to it. 

 'n the contrary, there are two reasons why he 

 ho designs to sell the whole to the manufacturer, 

 lould be careful to have his fleeces thoroughly 

 eansed. First, because it is the indispensable 

 uly of every man lo be honest ; and second, be- 

 muse the reputation of the wool growing district 

 1 which he belongs depends upon the good condi- 

 on of the wool which is sent out from it. 



The reputation of the wool of Maine has suf- 

 •red by the inattention of too many of our wool- 

 rowers to cleansing their wool. The manufac- 

 irer soon learns the quality of the wool, and gov- 

 rns hiiiiself accordingly. He makes all due al- 

 iwanco in the price on account of the waste, and 



bile the seller may suppose that he is making 

 real gain by splling the dirt in his wool, at a 

 irge price per pound, the fact is that he does not, 

 1 reality, get so much for his fleece as he would, 

 ad It been sufHciciitly washed. 



The washing of sheep, as at present practiced, 

 I n laborious and uncomfortable job. The opt ra- 

 )r generally stands in the water, and washes the 

 neep by immersing it in the wator with himself; 

 nt those of the flock which come last, are exceed- 

 igly apt to be slighted, for the person becomes 

 eary and cold, and hurries over them without do- 

 ig his whcile duty. In many cases, the sheep 

 re turned out, after beinj washed, into pastures 

 here they can have access to sandy spots, and 

 ley will be sure to lie down on them, and thus 

 le wool becomes hlled again with dirt, and is alm<ist 

 i foul as It was before the washing. A clean grass 

 lat should be devoted to the sheep as soon as 

 ley come from the stream, where they cannot get 

 luch dust or other dirt upon or into their fleeces. 



We have seen a mode of washing sheep in small 

 reams, which we preferred to the common mode. 

 . is as follows : build a box sufficiently large to 

 •)ld a sheep, which may be placed like a flume in 

 le stream, where the waler will run into it and 

 II. A gate may be made near the bottom of the 

 ind which points down stream, out of which the 



ater may be let when it becomes foul. The op- 



ator stands outside and does not get much wet. 



he sheep is put into the flume and washed, and 

 le water can be let out and replenished at will. 



his is an excellent plan. The first one of the 

 ind that we ever saw was got up by B. Naeon, 



Esq., when he carried on the farm that he formerly 



owned in this town, by which he washed the large 

 I flock of sheep that he kept. In situations where 

 ] deep water cannot be had readily, or even where 



it can, it has been found to be an excellent mode. 

 I We hope our farmers will pay attention to the 

 [sobjoct of wool washing, and see that every fleece 



is made perfectly clean and packed in first rate 



order. — Maine Farmer. 



PRBSERVING BUTTER. 



Butler, as we all know, is an article of almost 

 universal use in the United States, and yet it is an 

 article which is ot'lentimes very poorly made and 

 worse preserved. It is not our object now to give 

 rules for making good butter, for almost every one 

 who makes it knows much belter than they prac- 

 tice in regard t i it. Every one, however, docs 

 not know how to preserve it, and we therefore have 

 been in the habit of publishing every thing that 

 we could find upon the subject. We extract the 

 followiiicr from a letter which was communicated 

 lo Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, of the Patent Office, by 

 Mr. G. Fox, of Hartford, Conn. : 



" There are many things required to insure 

 good butter. The butter itself must be well made ; 

 that is, worked enough and not too much, and salt- 

 ed with rock salt. This being well done, and the 

 butter milk all expelled, the butter may be packed 

 in good white oak casks well seasoned, well filled, 

 [n cool climates larger casks can be used. In hot 

 climates it is best to have small casks — scy from 

 25 to 30 pounds — so that too much need not be 

 exposed while using. Then put these small casks 

 into a hogshead, and fill up the same with strong 

 pickle that will bear up an egg, and the butter 

 may be shipped to the West Indies or Europe and 

 kept perfectly sweet. I have never found saltpe- 

 tre or sugar of any benefit. Butter of my packing 

 has opened as good in the W. Indies as it was in 

 Connecticut. I will remark that lo keep butter in 

 ice houses, when it remains frozen, will answer, if 

 the butter is to be continued of the same tempera- 

 ture ; but if it is exposed to warm weather after 

 being taken from the ice house, it will not keep as 

 long as if It had not been exposed to so cold a 

 temperature." — Ibid. 



NOVEL METHOD OF WORKING BUTTER. 



A correspondent of the American Agriculturist, 

 writing from Montpelier, Vermont, says: "A very 

 ingenius mode of extracting whey from butter, 

 was recently related to me by a gpntleman who 

 had resided many years in the grazinrr districts of 

 France ; and he informs me that a similar apparatus 

 is in successful operation, near by here, in this 

 State, although ( have not yet seen it. He de- 

 scribed it in a manner that could not fail to be 

 understood by any farmer in the Union. 



The machine he represented as being made of 

 wood, in form not much unlike a grindstone, close, 

 ly fitted into a trough, leaving a space between the 

 stone and bottom of tie trough not exceeding a 

 sixteenth of an inch in lliickness. The trough is 



first filled with clean water saturated with salt, 

 one end of which is crowded full of newly churn- 

 ed butter. Then the stone is put in motion by 

 means of a crank or otherwise, and the butter la 

 drawn beneath it and comes out at the other end 

 of the trough in thin sheets, not more than one 

 sixteenth of an inch in thickness, almost entirely 

 freed from the whey, and for ccMiinion use requires 

 no further salting. The brine thus prepared has 

 another very important oflice to perform. It im- 

 bibes, by chemical afiinity, all the whey with 

 which it cornea in con'act, and leaves (he butter 

 by itself. 



Although this apparatus is extremely rude and 

 simple, it is obvious to an ingenious mechanic, how 

 easily such a machine could bo improved mjon, 

 and answer a twofold purpose." 



TO PREVENT WOOD DECAYING. 



Take twelve ouncea of rosin and eight ounces of 

 roll brimstone, each coarsely p wdored, and three 

 gallons of train oil. Keat thi-m slowly, gradually 

 adding four ounces of bees wax, cut in sinaM bits. 

 Frequently stir the liquor, which as soon as the 

 solid ingredients are dissolved, will be fit for use. 

 What remains unused will become solid on cool- 

 ing, and may be remelied on subsequent occa- 

 sions. When it is fit for use, add as much Span- 

 ish brown, or red or yellow ocher, or any color 

 you want, first ground fine in some of the oil, as 

 will give the shade you want; then lay it on with 

 a brush as hot and thin as you can ; some days 

 after the fir.-t coat is dried give it a second. It 

 will preserve plank for ages, and keep the weather 



from driving through brick work Common white 



paint may be used on top of it, if required, for the 

 sake of appearance. Two coats should always bo 

 given and in compound machinery, the separate 

 parts should be so varnished before tliey are put 

 together, after which it will be prudent to give a 

 third coating to the joints or to any other part 

 which is peculiarly exposed to the action of mois- 

 ture, such as waier-shoots, flood-gate^, the beds of 

 carls, the tops of posts, and all the limbir which is 

 near or within the ground. Each coat should be 

 dry before the parts are joined or the last coat ap- 

 plied. The composition should be applied *hcn 

 the wood is perfectly dry. It is necessary to 

 mention that compositions made of hot oil, ahould, 

 for the sake of security, be heated in metalic 

 vessels, in the open air, for when the oil is brought 

 to the boiling point, or (500 of Fahrenheit, the 

 vapor catches fire, and (hough a lower degree of 

 teniperature should be used in this process, it is 

 not always possible to regulate the heat, or to pre- 

 vent the overflowing of the materials ; in either of 

 which cases, were the melting performed in a house 

 fatal accidents might happen. — Archives of Useful 

 Know'tdge. 



C. N. Bement, Esq., we see it stated, haa lo 

 press a work on Poultry — a subject in which he 

 has had much experience. 



Let those who wish to be very singular, resolve 

 to be very virtuous : then they '11 be singular indeed 



