104 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



Prolonging the Beauty of Cut Floweus. 

 — A recent author, E. A. Maling, states that for 

 keeping flowers in Avater, finely-powdered char- 

 coal, in which the stalks can b? stuck at the bot- 

 tom of the vase, preserves them surprisingly, and 

 renders the water free from any obnoxious quali- 

 ties. When cut flowers have faded, either by be- 

 ing worn a whole evening in one's dress, or as a 

 bouquet, by cutting half an inch from the end of 

 the stem in the morning, and putting the freshly 

 ti'immed end instantly into quite boiling water, 

 the petals may be seen to become smooth and to 

 resume their beauty, often in a few minutes. Col- 

 ored flowers, carnations, azaleas, roses and gera- 

 niums, may be treated in this way. White flow- 

 ers turn yellow. The thickest textured flowers 

 amend the most, although azaleas i-evive M'onder- 

 fuUy. The writer has seen flowers that have lain 

 the whole night on a table, after having been worn 

 for hours, which at breakfast next morning were 

 perfectly renovated by means of a cupful of hot 

 water. 



Steamed Brown Bread. — Take two quarts of 

 sweet skim milk, one tablespoonful of saleratus, 

 one of salt, half a cup of molasses ; put in equal 

 quantities of rye and Indian meal until the dough 

 is as stiff as can be conveniently stirred with a 

 spoon, then put it in two two-quart tins. Place 

 sticks across the bottom of the kettle to keep the 

 water from the bread ; place one of the tins on 

 these, and the other in a tin steamer placed on the 

 top of the same kettle, and let it steam three hours. 

 Care should be taken to keep the water boiling, 

 while the bread is cooking. When done, put it in 

 a warm oven long enough to dry the top of it, not 

 bake it. Yeast can be used instead of saleratus, 

 if any prefer it, but the bread must rise well be- 

 fore putting it in the kettle. — Selected. 



Bleaching Flowers. — Light is as much a 

 necessity to the healthy development of plants, as 

 is a due supply of heat and moisture. In darkness, 

 the green coloring matter, "chlorophyl," can not 

 be developed, Advantage is taken of this circum- 

 stance in the bleaching of salads and vegetables, 

 and the same process is now being applied to flow- 

 ers. It appears that in Paris there is a great de- 

 mand for white lilacs for ladies' bouquets in Win- 

 ter, and as the common white lilac does not force 

 well, the purple "Lilas de Morly" is used. The 

 flowers of this variety, Avhen made to expand at a 

 high temperature, in total darkness, are of a pure 

 white ; those of the Persian lilac will not whiten. 

 London lieview. 



Yeast. — A baker in the army, celebrated for 

 his excellent bread, gives the following receipt for 

 maldng yeast : Boil one pound of flour, one- 

 fourth pound of brown sugar and a little salt, in 

 two gallons of water, for one hour. When milk 

 wami, bottle and cork it close. It will be ready 

 for use in twenty-four hours. 



THE CATTLE MABKETS FOB JAITUAKY. 



Believing that a brief summary of the weekly 

 reports of the cattle markets will be convenient 

 for reference and comparison, we publish the fol- 

 lowing abstract for January, and propose to give 

 similar tables for each month during the year. 



NUMBER at market. 



Catt'e. Sheep, Shoies. Lite Fat Hngs. 



January 2 1053 2600 500 2500 



" 9 1964 3428 230 2000 



" 16 1332 3328 100 1800 



" 23 1084 2058 300 2000 



Total for Jan 5433 11414 1150 8300 



PRICES. 



Jan. 2. Jan. 9. Jan. 16. Jan. 23. 



Beef cattle, ■^ B) 4iS7c 4Jg6.i 4ia6J 4.V56i 



Sheep, live weight 4Jfl5| 41.it5.^ 41fT5i 4\;j5i 



Swine, stores, wholesale 3 @4 SkQi^ HU^i 3\ni\ 



Stores, retail 4 <nb 4 g6 5 (R6 4 @6 



Livefathogs 4Vg4J 4JQ4J 4 (g4J 3^g3| 



Remarks. — Many more of the Western than of 

 the Northern cattle are thoroughly fatted, conse- 

 quently but few of the latter sell at the highest pri- 

 ces quoted, wliich are those for extra beeves. A 

 few, and but a few Northern oxen, were sold for 

 over 6c per lb. at the two last markets in January. 



AVorking oxen and stores have not changed 

 much in price during the month, otherwise than 

 as their value has been aff'ected by the price of 

 beef, for Avhich most of this class of stock has been 

 purchased for the last four weeks. The range of 

 our quotations is from $G0 to $140. 



Milch cows have sold better, perhaps, than most 

 other kinds of stock, but at a very wide range of 

 prices, say from $20 to over $50. 



THE ERUPTION OF MT. VESUVIUS. 

 A whirlpool, some three hundred and sixty feet 

 in diameter, has been formed in the sea near Toitc 

 del Greco, by the late eruption of Vesuvius. The 

 sounding gave twenty-three fathoms of water, and 

 the plummet brought up sand and sulphur. From 

 a part of the circumference a tail, so to call it, 

 about sixty feet in width, runs away in the direc- 

 tion of Sorrento, and is of a beautiful light green 

 color. All the Avater here was tepid, had a strong 

 sulphurous smell, and many fish have been des- 

 troyed. The eruption of Vesuvius appears to be 

 increasing at latest dates instead of subsiding. 

 There are eleven craters above Torre del Greco, 

 all emitting sulphurous vapors, and the largest is 

 from seventy to eighty feet deep and one hundred 

 feet wide. From this point, after heavy rumblings 

 and heaving of the surfoce, the ground was split 

 open, and a fiery fissure was made almost to the 

 outskirts of the city, through which the dread un- 

 seen power passed, opening the streets and laying 

 bare some parts of the former buried town, and 

 then running into the sea. Strangers are coming 

 from all parts of Europe to Naples to behold Vesu- 

 vius in its glorious burning and devastating anger. 



