214 STABLE ECONOMY. 



• 



ley, carrots and turnips more than potatoes. To have none 

 overdone, the articles which require the most should be put 

 on some time before the others. 



There are some other things connected with boiling which 

 I have not been able to learn. It would be well to know how 

 much each article gains or loses in M^eight and in bulk, and 

 in what time it may be sufficiently boiled. A few simple and 

 not costly experiments would decide these, and they may be 

 made by any person who has time to perform them. The 

 following table taken from the Quarterly Journal of Agricul- 

 ture, shows only the increase of bulk which certain grains 

 suffer in boiling : — 



4 measures of oats, boiled to bursting, fill 7 measures. 



4 of barley, 10 



4. of buckwheat or brand, .... 14 



4 of maize, rather more than . . • 13 



4 of wheat, little more than . . . 10 



4 of rye, nearly 15 



4 of beans, 8^ ^ 



Steaming. — In some places the food is cooked by steam. 

 Whether it be better to steam it or to boil it, must depend 

 upon circumstances. In a large establishment, if the food 

 be very bulky, consisting chiefly of roots, it may require a 

 vessel inconveniently large to boil it all at one time ; and in 

 such a case steam is to be preferred. But where roots are 

 not used, and the number of horses does not exceed fifty, the 

 ordinary iron boiler answers the purpose well enough. 



As far as the food is concerned, I believe it is, with one 

 exception, a matter of indifference whether it be cooked by 

 steam or water. This exception refers to potatoes, which 

 are drier, and according to some people more, wholesome 

 when steamed than when boiled. With the other articles I 

 do not know that there is any difference. 



In favor of the steamer, it may be urged that it does all 

 that the boiler can do ; that it never burns the food ; [that it 

 does not require the labor of stirring ;] that it is more easily 

 managed than a very large boiler ; and that it admits of the 

 best mode of cooking potatoes, which the boiler does not. 



The apparatus may be very simple ; and after the attendant 

 has had a little practice, it is easily worked. A steam-tight 

 boiler is erected, having a funnel and stop-cock for admitting 

 water ; a pipe for conveying the steam to its destination ; and 

 a safety-valve to prevent explosion. Sometimes the valve is 



