424 AGRICULTURE. 



mer. ; Lima beans are so easily grownJand prepared for ■wiritei' use, 

 and are so truly excellent, that my "family usually dry enough for 

 use every other day all winter ; and they are so fresh and tender 

 (being soaked in warm water for twelve hours before cooKng), that 

 I have frequently some little diflSculty in persuading my guests at a 

 dinner in ttie holidays, that I have not a forcing house for beans, 

 with the temperature of Lima all winter. 



Ed. That is an easy and simple profcess, and its excellence we 

 well Know from experience. But, best of all, and most rare of all, 

 is the tomato, as we have eaten it here, iii mid- winter. As we have 

 seen itiany trials in preserving this capital vegetable for wipter use, 

 nearly all of which were partly or wholly failures, prky let us into the 

 secrel of your tomato formula, which we promise not to repeat to 

 more than eight or ten. thousand of our particular friends; and 

 readers. ' - / . 



Sub. You are heartily welcome to tell it to twenty thousand^ 

 It is a real discovery for the gourmand in winter, who loves* the 

 pure, gejmine, unalloyed and delicious acid flavor of the Solatmrn 

 Zycopersicum, and knows how greatly it adds to the piquancy of a 

 beef-steak, done to a second, and reposing, as Christopher North 

 would say, in the mellow richness of its own brown juices. 



Hd. Don't grow so eloquent over the remembrance as to forget 

 the modus operandi of drying. Eemember We must stake our repu- 

 tation on its being equal to the genuine natural beriy, when it is of 

 the color of cornelian, and plucked in the dew of a July momirig. 



Sub. I remember. First, — gather the tomatoes; 



m. When? 



Sub. When they are quite ripe, least full, of water, and most 

 , fuU of the tomato principle ; that is to say, in sunny weather in 

 July or Au^st. If- you wait till September, or, rather, till the 

 weather is so cold that the fruit is watery, yon will fail in the pro- 

 cess for want Of flavor. ^ 



JEd. Go on. * , ■ 



Sub. Ohbose tomatoes of small or' only^ moderate size. Scald 

 them in boiling water. Next, — peel themj and squeeze them 

 slightly. Spread them on earthen dishes, and place the dishes in a 

 brick oven, after taking the bread out. Let them remain there till 



