62 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



heat that comes out of them. The bats being 

 so loose and spongy, make the comforter a non- 

 conductor of heat. So it confines the heat to 

 our bodies, and keeps them warm. No blankets 

 have been on our beds for ten years, and nobody 

 sleeps cold in our house. 



•Mince-pies, it is thought, can't be made tooth- 

 some without wine or brandy in them. It is 

 not so. No pies of mine have had a drop of 

 any intoxicating liquor for three years, yet the 

 best judges have said, and behind my back, too, 

 that my mince-pies were equal to any they had 

 ever tasted. Besides, Mr. Printer, I have the 

 comfort of knowing, that in these three years, 

 no reformed drunkard has ever tasted relapse and 

 ruin at my table, though several have eaten of 

 my pies, and that no child or servant of ours is 

 ever seen coming from the liquor-shop with a 

 jug or bottle — no liquor-seller can say " the 

 Dumplings are customers" of his. 



This is my 



RECEIPT FOR MINCEPIES WITHOUT WINE OR 

 SPIRIT. 



Take 4 pounds of plums — 1 pound of cur- 

 rants — 2 of cherries — 3 of beef suet — 4 of su- 

 gar — a fresh beefs tongue — ^ a pound of cit- 

 ron — 1 ounce of mace — J an ounce of cloves — 

 1 nutmeg — the juice of 2 lemons- — vinegar to 

 your taste. Make mincemeat of these mate- 

 rials, and put it by for use. When you make 

 pies, add syrup, or juice, of stewed apples to 

 make the mincemeat liquid, and some fresh ap- 

 ples chopped fine. 



In place of citron, marmalade, or preserves 

 will do. 



Dorothy Dumpling. 

 Louisa, January, 1844. 



DECAY OF PEACH TREES. 

 A singular fact and one worthy of being re- 

 corded, was mentioned to us a few days since 

 by Mr. Alexander Duke, of Albemarle. Fie 

 stated, that whilst on a visit to a neighbor, his 

 attention was called to a large peach orchard, 

 every tree in which had been totally destroyed 

 by the ravages of the worm, with the exception 

 of three ; and these three were probably the 

 most thrifty and flourishing peach trees he ever 

 saw. The only cause of their superiority known 

 to his host, was an experiment made in conse- 

 quence of observing that those parts of worm- 

 eaten timber into which nails had been driven, 

 were generally sound. When his trees were 

 about a year old he had selected three of them 

 and driven a tenpenny nail through the body ? 

 as near the ground as possible : whilst the ba- 

 lance of his orchard had gradually failed and 



finally yielded entirely to the ravages of the 

 worms, these three trees, selected at random, 

 treated precisely in the same manner, with the 

 exception of the nailing, had always been vigo- 

 rous and healthy, furnishing him at that very 

 period with the greatest profusion of the most 

 luscious fruit. It is supposed that the salt of 

 iron afforded by the nail is offensive to the 

 worm, whilst it is harmless, or perhaps even 

 beneficial, to the tree. 



THE MEASURING CROSS. 

 A very intelligent and practical correspondent, 

 who is by no means satisfied with the " mea- 

 suring cross," extracted from the " Cultivator," 

 offers as a substitute for it the following simple 

 and convenient mode of measuring heights with 

 a square : 



u The " iron square," or t£ two-foot rule," is 

 in the hand of every timber getter. Let a stick 

 of convenient length be sharp at one end for 

 sticking in the ground, and split at the other 

 end to receive and clamp the rule or square,, 

 with one side of the square horizontal, ranging 

 to the root of the tree, and the other side ranging 

 upward, and toward the tree. At the twelve 

 inch mark, on the long shank of the square, tie 

 a string, or make some distinguishing mark; 

 then recede from, or approach the tree or object 

 to be measured, till you find the position from 

 which the extremity of the short shank of the 

 square and the twelve inch mark on the long 

 shank, range with the top of the object, while 

 the horizontal shank ranges with the foot of the 

 object. Now, the distance to the foot, is the 

 height of the object. 



BEANS FOR SHEEP. 



If you have any beans on hand which are 

 unfit for culinary purposes, in consequence of 

 being mouldy or rancid, wash them carefully 

 and give them to your sheep. There is nothing, 

 perhaps, that sheep more admire at this season ? 

 and a gill a day will be of more benefit, to them 

 than a pint of corn. It is frequently the case 

 that beans are injured by the wet before the 

 harvest, or by being stowed away damp, become 

 mouldy and unfit for use. In this condition, 

 they are often sold for one-half their value, which 

 we consider equal to the best corn in any state. 

 The vines and pods of beans are also excellent 

 feed for sheep, and should be as carefully hus- 

 banded by the farmer, as his corn and hay. 



JWaine Cultivator. 



The Cultivator tells but half the story. Why 

 is a gill of beans better for a sheep than a pint 

 of corn ? This is an important problem in sheep 



