482 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



There is not a pound of power lost, for there is 

 no friction ; and, as can be seen, it is a balance 

 machine, the men having no levers to lift. Three 

 men can carry it about with ease when the levers 

 are slipped out. All parts of this machine can be 

 thrown ajmrt in a moment, and as quickly put to- 

 gether ; there being no bolts about it. 



HOl'JE'2' DE'W — WHAT IT IS. 



In any European journal, it would create sur- 

 prise if the nature of the so-called honey dew ad- 

 mitted of a doubt or dispute. Starch or grape 

 sugar is an essential substance of plants, as much 

 as carbon is, of which sugar is formed in conjunc- 

 tion with acids and salts. Flowers and fruits con- 

 tain this sugar in an eminent degree, as also the 

 juices of the maples, sugar canes, millets, grasses, 

 beets, and thousands of other plants. Animal 

 blood receives its sugar from plants, as it is a life 

 ingredient of both kingdoms. 



Liebig says : "A surplus of saccharine matter, 

 more than leaf and bud consume, will be exuded 

 upon the surface of the leaves and bark. Certain 

 diseases of trees and plants, the so-called Honey 

 Dew, are obviously ])roduced by a disproportion 

 in the quantity of furnished nitrogen free, and 

 nitrogen containing nourishments. The exuda- 

 tions of sound, healthy plants of mannit, gum 

 and sugar, cannot be attributed to any other 

 cause." 



"This case appears analagous to the digestion 

 in the human organism ; if, to every part of the 

 body, there shall be restored what it loses by res- 

 piration and secretion, there must be offered to 

 the organs of digestion a certain proportion of ni- 

 trogen free, and nitrogen containing substances, 

 accompanied by certain mineral salts, which met- 

 amorphose them into blood. Is the quality of the 

 offered nitrogen-free substances in surplus, they 

 will then be either used to produce fat, or they go 

 through the organism unaltered." 



So far says Liebig — besides, it is well-known 

 that saccharine matter is not of a volatile nature, 

 that the air cannot contain it in solution — how 

 then can it rain or dew down from the atmosphere 

 even upon the dusty ground ? The days of the 

 Jews, when tliey imagined that manna, or mannit, 

 fell from heaven for their especial use and merit 

 are past ; that same mannit or gum exudation of 

 the mimmosa and other plants is found and gath- 

 ered yet in great quantities in the same and oth- 

 er similar climates of the globe, so the honey dew 

 or the exudation of sugar. Bees do not produce 

 one atom of honey, but are only the carriers of the 

 starch sugar exuding from plants and their fruits. 

 The so-called honey dew is in substance the same 

 in the floAver as it is on the leaf. Bees and myr- 

 iads of other insects lick it up and exist on it. 

 That rain washes it from the leaves is very plain, 

 as water dissolves sugar. Give the bees plenty 

 of honey-dewed foliage, and they will make plenty 

 of the best honey without sipping a single flower. 



The fibre called silk is in the mulberry leaf ; 

 the milk and cream of the cow, the oily parts of 

 the grass, clover and herbs she eats, as is the wool 

 on the sheep ; or the honey the sugar of plants. 

 The animal body only digests them, thereby com- 

 plicating certain combinations of simple elements. 

 — Valley Farmer.^ 



For Vie New England Farmer. 

 FARM TOPICS. 



Never set a post in the ground, or even stakes 

 for a common fence, without first charring the 

 end. In this practice there is great economy; 

 there is generally brush enough at hand, and the 

 boys like a bonfire. 



Never break your colts to wearing blinkers, if 

 you would have a less number of shying, contrary, 

 skittish horses. The rustle of a leaf at his heels, 

 or a piece of paper, in fact, all sounds from objects 

 which he cannot see or comprehend, being blind- 

 ed as to all, beside and behind, startle and alarm 

 him. Blinkers or blinders are false ornaments, 

 treacherous and dangerous, and cause many fatal 

 accidents. Why not hoodwink the young steers 

 in breaking them ? 



Never use anything but a chain and standard 

 for tying cattle. The comfort of the tired oxen 

 and cows carrying their young, should always be 

 considered. 



Never build your grain bins of any wood but 

 hemlock. It is positively proof against the depre- 

 dations of rats and mice, who never forget their 

 best friends, the farmers. 



Never get up your winter's wood to be chopped, 

 split and thrown into a pile, and lie through the 

 rains and drizzle of the spring months, and then 

 house it at a loss of ten or fifteen per cent. With- 

 out loss of time ha,ve it under cover when ready 

 for use. 



Never keep your winter apples in a cellar where 

 there is a constant opening and shutting of doors. 

 Apples require an even temperature to keep 

 sound. A dry side-hill cellar is best. 



Never despair of getting a crop of winter wheat 

 on light, plain, warm land, even if sown as late 

 as the loth or 20th of this month. See that the 

 seed is well prepared in salt pickle and ashes, and 

 put in two to three inches deep. Prepared in 

 this way, it will come up the fourth or fifth day, 

 if merely harrowed in. H. Poor. 



Brooklyn, L. I., 1860. 



TOMATO KETCHUP. 



A correspondent recently inquired how to make 

 tomato ketchup, and we insert the following for 

 his benefit ; 



Take ripe tomatoes, and scald them just sufl[i- 

 cient to allow you to take off the skins ; then let 

 them stand for a day, covered with salt ; strain 

 them thoroughly to remove the seeds ; then to 

 every two quarts, three ounces of cloves, two of 

 black pepper, two nutmegs, and a very little Cay- 

 enne pepper, with a little salt ; boil the liquor for 

 an hour, and then let it cool and settle ; add a 

 pint of the best cider vinegar, after which bottle 

 it, corking and sealing it tightly. Keep it always 

 in a cool place. 



Another Way. — Take a bushel of tomatoes, and 

 boil them till soft ; squeeze them through a fine 

 wire sieve, and add half a gallon of vinegar, one 

 pint and a half of salt, two ounces of cloves, quar- 

 ter of a pound of allspice, two ounces of Cayenne 

 pepper, five heads of garlic skinned and separat- 

 ed ; mix together, and boil about three hours, or 

 until reduced to about one-half; then bottle, with- 

 out straining. 



