■'^wppiB|ipptpiwiop»}v.r.';-w»J^?.™iV^.iji''J?"'i'» 



342 



THE ILLINOIS FAliMEE 



Not, 



and Cyphers. Our space will not admit of individ- 

 ual notice : but we presume when ladies enter the 

 arena of invention the sterner sex will give way 

 and allow us to notice theirs alone. The machine 

 in question has a vibrating motion, communicated 

 from a corrugated round-bottomed box or tub ; 

 this rolls over corrugated surfaces at the bottom, 

 and doubtless does the work satisfactorily. The 

 washing machines present are in operation, and 

 housewives can satisfy themselves of their utility. 

 There are also a number of mincing machines on 

 exhibition, as also a dog power, intended to utilize 

 the hitherto wasted energies of this animal, and to 

 compel him to make the butter of his master by 

 the sweat of his body. Fish's kereosene lamp 

 heater is one of the most popular novelties of the 

 day, to judge of the throng around it: the utility 

 of it is uuquestionable, and a great saving is expe- 

 rienced in heating and cooking small articles. So 

 great is the amount of caloric given off by this oil, 

 during combustion, that the apparatus in question, 

 by a very simple arrangement of heaters and flues, 

 can be made to cook meals for a great many per- 

 sons, and this is actually done on an ambulance 

 car on one of the railroads out of Baltimore. 

 Clothes wringers are also extensively exhibited, 

 and are meeting with a rapid sale. As yet patent 

 churns arc not numerous, but we noticed one 

 which had a novel arrangement for breaking up 

 the butter globules in the cream. It was simply 

 two skeleton screws or ribs, wound spirally around 

 shafts : these screws ran in opposite directions, so 

 that the cream introduced to their attention would 

 doubtless have a very unhappy time. 



-••»- 



From the Country Gentleman. 



How to Keep Sweet Potatoes. 



Eds. Co. Gent. — ^I noticed some time since in 

 your paper, an inquiry, "Eow to keep Sweet Pota- 

 toes." I will endeavor to give the mode practiced 

 in this, the heaviest sweet potato growing county 

 in the IJnion. When it is desired to keep but a 

 few, barrels or dry-goods boxes are used. Place 

 8 by 4 pieces upon the floor, set the box upon 

 them, a few dry leaves in the bottom of the box, 

 pour in the potatoes, which should be exposed to 

 air only long enough to dry off outside moisture, 

 and all cut or eaten ones "taken out. When the 

 box is full, put a few dry leaves on top, cover 

 loosely with the lid, leaving spaces for the moisture 

 to escape. Place another box on top of it, and pro- 

 ceed to fill in the same way. The potatoes should 

 be put at once where they are to remain — not left 

 three or four days and then moved. 



If the desire is to keep a quantity, houses are 

 built of any desirable size, say 30 by 36 feet, of 

 frame, two stories high, brick paned, and plastered 

 — if a very dry situation, a cellar under — the floors 

 not extending out to the walls by four inches - 

 place 3 by 4 pieces against the walls of each story; 

 board up to then 5 or 6 feet high ; put dry leaves 

 upon the floors, and then pour the potatoes upon 

 them to the depth of about five feet, and cover 

 over with dry leaves or straw. It is best to have 

 loose boards the whole length of the room to put 

 Tip to make bins four or five feet wide, for conven- 

 ience in putting in and taking out. The lowest 

 story that is used, must have dead air spaces under 

 the potatoes — 4 by 5 pieces laid down, and loose 



boards laid on them, on which the potatoes must 

 be put. 



The cellar will not keep them well unless very 

 dry. While tlic house is filling, the door and win- 

 dows must be kept open and the fire going. As 

 soon as placed in the house the potatoes will com- 

 mence "sweating," when every effort must be made 

 to keep them well ventilated and dry. After the 

 "sweating process" has gone through with, close 

 the windows and shutters, except one window 

 down a little for ventilation, and keep dark. 



The stove must be placed in the lowest story 

 used ; the heat will flow through the dead air spa- 

 ces between the walls and the potatoes, so that 

 the upper rooms will be warmer than the lower. 

 The heat should be kept at about 60 degrees. 



Dig the potatoes before touched with frost, al- 

 though a slight frost to kill leaves will not hurt. 

 Potatoes to keep well, should be grown upon a dry 

 land. The chief sources of success are — ventilate 

 well while sweating, keep regular heat, and exclude 

 air and light. 



If your correspondent desires to keep hut a few 

 for family use, any room in which the temperature 

 is not allowed to fall below forty degrees will an- 

 swer, although there will be some smell from them, 

 especially if they do not keep well. j. g. vf., 



Gloucester co., N, J. 



Tree Cotton. 



In our dispatch in regard to the frost some days 

 since, in noting the destruction of the " Tree Cot- 

 ton," the types made it read " free cotton," much 

 to the muddling of those who have the idea that 

 there is but one species of cotton. We will there- 

 fore clear up the mystery. Free cotton belongs to 

 the politicians, and is not known on our plantation. 

 Herbaceous cotton is the annual cotton of com- 

 merce grown in what is termed the cotton States, 

 and is a valuable and profitable crop in the south 

 part of our own State, and is becoming one of the 

 staple products of at least the timber portion of 

 Egypt. The Tree Cotton is a native of Peru, and 

 is a perennial shrub producing annual crops of 

 cotton, similar in staple to the common upland 

 annual cotton of the temperate zone, but is only 

 grown in the tropics. 



Some enterprising parties imported a large 

 quantity of this Tree Cotton seed, and by dint of 

 liberal advertising have made extensive sale of 

 dollar packages of the seed, every package "war- 

 ranted genuine, and adapted to the climate, per- 

 fectly hardy and immensely productive." This is 

 the cotton that has, as we predicted, proved a 

 humbug. We have about a dozen plants in the 

 green house, some of which are three feet high, 

 and which we intend shall yet produce cotton, but 

 not by out door culture. It will thus be seen that 

 there is a wide difference in the adaptability of the 

 two kinds of cotton to the North. 



Some few years since a man by the name of 



