No. r>. 



ANDGARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



^87 



down, than he wheeled about, looked at the fence and 

 snorted, ae much as to say, "what do you think of 

 that ?" and trotted off. Ever afterwards, during our 

 journey. Federal was on the look out tor some excuse 

 for leaping. A log, a run of water across the road, 

 even a stone bridge, he uniformly pricked up his ears 

 ot and leaped across — giving a snort each time to an- 

 nounce his joy at having performed a new feat. 



The moral of the matter has been stated at the out- 

 set. Federal only needed to understand what we 

 wanted, to do all in his power for its accomplishment. 

 He was only a hired horse, but we understood and 

 loved each other. He was little, but high-spirited, 

 noble, generous — no whipping on earth could have 

 managed that horse so readily as kindness and encou- 

 ragement. Pulling, jerking, whipping, spurring, 

 might have been tried in vain to make him leap the 

 fence — with a moment to think about it, and a nice 

 dose of flattering applause, he flew over like an expe- 

 rienced hunter. JNIore about this hereafter. — Boston 

 Times. 



Poultry. 



Dear Sir — At your request I furnish for your pa- 

 per a few remarks on the subject of chickens. 



1. Never allow more than twelve hens to one roos- 

 ter, a smaller number, say eight, would perhaps be 

 better. 



2. Never allow the roosters to go together; they 

 are very jealous, and always pugnaciously interfering 

 wiih each other's rights. The strongest load away 

 the hens; the consequence is, the eggs are fewer and 

 do not hatch so well. Hence the universal complaint 

 that a large number of hens are not as profitable, in 

 proportion, as a smaller number. 



3. Chickens require a good deal of water to soften 

 their food, and gravel to grind it. They also require 

 animal food. In winter they often cannot get water 

 nor gravel, nor insects or worms. They are all fed, it 

 may be, with grain, yet do not lay. Supply their nat- 

 ural wants. Give them water, gravel, and animal 

 food, such as fat meat, liver, or indeed any kind of 

 fresh meat. Keep them warm, not permitting them 

 to become chilled, and they will lay as well during the 

 winter as in any season. 



Do not permit your hens to set at different times, or 

 rather only a few at a time. This causes .broods of 

 different ages, and the younger are usually injured or 

 deprived of a fair quota of food by the older. When 

 your hens manifest a disposition to set, let them re- 

 main on chalk eggs until as many asj'ou intend to set 

 are ready. Then place fifteen eggs under each hen. 

 Select your eggs by holding them up to the light. — 

 Those which have bluish, watery specks in them had 

 best be rejected. They do not hatch as well, nor arc 

 their chickens as healthy as the eggs that have no 

 blemish. 



5. When the young are hatching do not interrupt 

 the hen. When hatched, feed them with Indian 

 meal, with a large portion of pounded egg shells. — 

 Hens that set " out," as it is called, generally have 

 healthy chickens. I often have examined their nests, 

 and seldom found any remains of the shell in them. — 

 The little ones eat them up. I have found that egg 

 shells greatly advance their growth and health. 



6. If all the little chickens could be taken from the 

 hen and kept in a room warmed by a stove, I am satis- 

 fied from experiments, that they would do much het- 

 ler than to be with the hen. 



7. Never allow the young chickens to get wet, nor 

 to become cold. See that they are supplied with 

 ground worms (fishing worms.) They will repay you 

 for this trouble. 



8. Three tim'es a year, at leas, grease the head, 

 throat, and under the wing of your chickens. A ve- 

 ry small proportion of precipitate added to the lard is 

 o{ service. You will never have your hens troubled 

 with lice if you follow this rule and keep your hen 

 house clean. 



9. Never allow your chickens to be without food. — 

 .1 have often been asked what is the best food to make 



hens lay ? I have made several and repeated experi- 

 ments to decide this question. The result is, give 

 your hens and rooster, (who, by the way, requires as 

 much, nay more attention than the hens.) water, gra- 

 vel, and animal food, and they will lay os well on one 

 kind of fond as on another. Potatoes, corn, wheat, 

 rye, oats, buckwheat, barley, and any thing that they 

 will eat, will do. Boiled food is cheapest and best for 

 henSf especially if kept up all the year, as they should 

 be. I have fallowed the above rules ever since I own- 

 ed chickens. We have always had more eggs than 

 was required for use; and our chickens have never 

 had any epidemic among them. With the exception 

 of moulting season, that is when thej' shed their fea- 



thers, with judicious management, hens will lay for 

 2(ji) days in the year. 



lU. Hens lay well and do well for four years. How 

 much longer they woiUd continue fruitful, I know not. 



11. There is a great difference in hens. Some 

 lay every day until they empty the ovary. Others 

 twice in three days. Others only every other day. — 

 The Creole breed are the best layers I have seen, ex- 

 cept a breed of Judge Burr's, in New Jersey, called 

 Buoby chickens. They (ay every day. Eggs large; 

 chickens strong, large, and of quick growth. Hens 

 sel well. 



12. Never frighten nor chase your chickens, unless 

 they get into your garden. In that case I have found 

 the crack of a whip more effectually deterred them 

 than any thing else, from venturing into forbidden 

 ground. I do not know why it is, but they seem more 

 afraid of the smack of the whip than any one would 

 suppose who never tried it. 



If these remarks are not deemed sufficient, any oth- 

 er addition will be cheerfully made when required, by 

 THOMAS P. HUNT. 

 Wyoming, Penn. 



.}. 



Tlie Birds of America* 



From Drawings made in the United States. By 3 



Audubon, F. R. S. J. P. Beile, Agent. 



It is now admitted in Europe, that the Birds of 

 America are better figured and described than those 

 of any other portion of the world. The labors of 

 Wilson and Bonoparte were succeeded by those of 

 Audubon, whose inimitable drawings and accurate des- 

 criptions have brought this branch of science to a high 

 state of perfection. He has now commenced publish- 

 ing his great work on American Ornithology, in a re- 

 duced size, and according to a scientific arrangement, 

 giving good figures on elone, and all the information 

 contained in the larger work.. With this book in his 

 hands the school boy may become an ornithologist. 



The drawings, coloring, and printing are all execu 

 ted in America: the former reduced by Audobon from 

 his large plates; the figures, although in miniat'ire, 

 are the same. It is published semi-monthly, atone 

 dollar per number, and is decidedly the cheapett work 

 on natural history ever published in any country. 



The advantoges possessed by this work over all oth- 

 ers of the kind are the following ; — It contains nearly 

 double the number of species than are found in Wil- 

 son and Bonaparte. These naturalists omitted many 

 species which have since been discovered by the in- 

 dustry and discrimination ot Audubon. Whether 

 these species existed at the time their works were pub- 

 lished, or have since taken up their residence in our 

 country, cannot, with certainty, be decided; but it is a 

 notorious fact, that species which were never given till 

 Audubon's work appeared, are found in the vicinity of 

 Charleston. That this work may be relied on as au- 

 thentic, the following facts will shew: — The speci- 

 mens were carried to Europe and submitted to various 

 societies and learned naturalists, and all the species 

 Were admitted to be genuine. Waterton, a violent 

 opponent, who has no knowledge of natural history, 

 was proved to be in error, and his subsequent papers 

 refused admittance into the Zoological Journal. In a 

 recent catalogue of the birds of Europe and America, 

 published in London, by Bonaparte, all the species of 

 Audobon are admitted, and he refers to that work as 

 the only standard. The specimens are found in the 

 British museum, and those of Paris and Lyden are 

 labelled with the names given by Audubon. 



Some additions will probably be made to our num- 

 ber of species of birds, and these may from time to 

 time be added in future additions, but the work can- 

 not be superseded by any other, and it will remain n 

 standark work for ages to come. — Southern Cabinet. 



Salting Butter. 



On some occasions, a part or a whole of the butter 

 may, perhaps, be disposed of fresh; but in general it 

 must be salted before it can be carried to market; and 

 as this part of the process requires as great nicety as 

 any other, a few remarks on the subject shall be added. 



Wooden vessels are upon the whole, most proper to 

 he employed for containing salted butter. These 

 should be made of cooper work, very firm and tightly 

 joined with wooden hoops. It will be advisable to 

 make them verj- strong where circumstances permit 

 them to be returned to the dairy; fo' as it is a matter 

 of considerable difficulty to season new vessels so well 

 that they shall not afiect the taste of the butter, it is 

 olways advisable to employ old vessels rather than 

 make new ones, as long as they continue firm and 

 sound. Oak is the best wood for the bottom, and 

 staves and broad Dutch split hoops are to be preferred 

 10 all others when they can lie had. Iron hoopesho'd 



be rejected, as the rust trom them will in lime sink 

 through the wood, though it be very thick, and injure 

 the color of the butter; one iron hoop, however, 

 should be put at the top, and another below beyond 

 the bottom, the protection below the bottom being 

 made deep for this purpose. No form is more conve- 

 nient than that of a barrel, unless, perhaps it be that 

 of a truncated cone, with the apex uppermost; as in 

 this case the butter can never rise from the bottom 

 and float upon the brine, which it will sometimes do 

 in the under part of a barrel when brine is necessary. 

 But this inconvenience may be easily obviated, by dri- 

 ving a wooden peg with any kind of a head, into the 

 bottom, before it be filled with the butter, closely em- 

 bracing the butter all round, will be kept perfectly 

 firm in its place. An old vessel may be prepared for 

 again receiving butter, by the ordinary process of 

 scalding, rinsing, and drying; but to season a new 

 vessel requires greater care. This is to be done by 

 filling it frequently with scalding water_, and allowing 

 it to remain till it slowly cools. If hay or other sweet 

 vegetables arc put into it along wilh the water, it is 

 thought to facilitate the process. But in all cases fre- 

 quent effusions of hot water are very necessary, and a 

 considerable time is required, before they can be ren- 

 dered fit for use. The careful dairyman ought to bs 

 particular or he will soon lose his character in market. 

 After the butler has been beaten up and cleared 

 from the milk, as before directed, it is ready for being 

 salted. Common salt is almost the only substance 

 thot has hitherto been employed for the purpose of pre- 

 serving butter; but I have found by experience, that 

 the following composition is, in many respects prefer- 

 able to it, as it not only preserves the butter more ef- 

 fectually from any taint or rancidity, but also make* 

 it look better and taste sweeter, richer, and more mar- 

 rowy, than if the same butter had been cured with 

 common salt alone. I have frequently made compar- 

 ative trials with the tame butter, and always found the 

 difference much greater than could be well conceived. 

 The composition is as follows: — Take of sugar one 

 part, of nitre one part, and of the best Spanish great 

 salt, or best rock salt, two parts: beat the whole into a 

 fine powder, mix them well together, and put them by 

 for use. Of this composition, one ounce should be 

 put to every sixteen ounces of butter. — Anderson' s 

 Essays. 



Machine for Husking, or Shucking, and SlieU 

 ling Com. 



It is stated in the Maryland papers that a machine 

 has been introduced for husking, or (as we Tnckahoea 

 say) shucking corn. A correspondent of the Ameri- 

 can Farmer saj's that this machine "which has excited 

 much admiration on the Eastern shore of Maryland 

 for two years past, was invented and put in use by Mr. 

 Huesey, the inventor of the reaping machine," of 

 which statements have been given in the Farmers' 

 Register. The same writer says that many farmers 

 there, with the former machine, have shucked and 

 shelled their coin, "at the rate of 40 bushels of shel- 

 led corn per hour; and of 100 bushels per hour of corn 

 previously husked." This, if correctly describsd, 

 must be a very cnrious as well as valuable machine; 

 and we are surprised that so little progress has yet 

 been made in extending information concerning, as 

 well as the use of, both those machines of Mr. Hus- 

 sey's. If he will bring them and exhibit them in op- 

 eration in lower Virginia, and they prove deservingof 

 their recommendations, he will find many purchasers. 

 — Farmers' Register. 



Labor-saving Soap. 



The following is a recipe for making the labor-sa- 

 ving soap, (so called,) which is an excellent article 

 for washing, and a saving of labor. The recipes for 

 making have been sold at from $5 to $10, and the 

 soap seven cents per pound; but can be manufactured 

 for about two cents. Take two pounds of sal soda, 

 two pounds of yellow bar soap, and ten quarts of wa- 

 ter; cut the soap in thin slices, and boil all together 

 two hours, then strain it through a cloth; let it cool, 

 and it is fit for use. Directions for using the soop: — 

 Put the clothes in soak the night before you wash, and 

 to every pail of water in which you boil them, add one 

 pound of soap. They will need no rubbing; merely 

 rinse them out, and thej will be perfectly clean and 

 while. 



It is estimated that 100,000,000 pounds of Beet 

 Root Sugar has been manufactured in France the lasl 

 year, ond in Prussia and Germany 30,000,000 pounds. 

 The Troy Whig states that in the Western pa< o 

 Michigan, 240,000 pounds were manufactured the- 

 past season. 



