22 



THE SOUTHE 



RN PLANTER. 



vinegar) is then to be put to them, the jar 

 closed tight, and in a fortnight delicious 

 hard pickles are produced, as green as the 

 day they were upon the vines." 



MODES OF PRESERVING BUTTER. 



In all thai has been written on this sub- 

 ject in this country we have seen no re- 

 commendation to melt and strain it. Yet 

 there can be no doubt that this process 

 proves effectual. We have often told our 

 readers that thorough working is neces- 

 sary, to exclude the buttermilk, and leave 

 the butter pure. We have told them that 

 it has been kept sweet for years without 

 a particle of salt by separating entirely 

 the impurities that are found on churning 

 the cream. But this is not alwa} 7 s an 

 easy matter. Washing with pure water 

 is the best method that we have practised, 

 or known to be practised in this country. 



We have often asked the question why 

 we should not boil the butter that we 

 propose to keep, as we boil the fat of the 

 hog for lard, and the fat of cattle and 

 sheep for tallow ? 



It is well known that lard and tallow 

 will keep sweet for a year without salt. 

 And who can doubt that butter may be 

 kept as long? On examining a recent 

 publication, which we noticed in one of 

 the late numbers of the Ploughman, " On 

 the Food of Animals, by Robert D. Thom- 

 son, of Glasgow," we find the following 

 remarks : 



"Mode of Preserving Butter Fresh, — 

 The cause of the tainting of fresh butter 

 depends upon the presence of the small 

 quantity of curd and water as exhibited 

 by the preceding analysis. To render 

 butter capable of being kept for any length 

 of time in a fresh condition, that is, as a 

 pure solid oil, all that is necessary is to 

 boil it in a pan till the water is removed, 

 which is marked by the cessation of vio- 

 lent ebullition. By allowing the liquid 

 oil to stand for a little, the curd subsides, 

 and the oil may then be poured off, or it 

 may be strained through calico or muslin, 

 into a bottle, and corked up. When it is 

 to be used it may be gently heated and 

 poured out of the bottle, or cut out by 



means of a knife or cheese gouge. This 

 is the usual method of preserving butter 

 in India, (ghee,) and also on the Conti- 

 nent ; and it is rather remarkable that it 

 is not in general use in this country. Bot- 

 tled butter will thus keep for any length 

 of time, and is the best form of this sub- 

 stance to use for sauces." 



NEW WAY TO WASH CALICOES. 



Infuse three gills of salt in four quarts 

 of boiling water, and put the calicoes in 

 while hot and leave it till cold. And in 

 this way, the colors are rendered perma- 

 nent, and will not fade by subsequent 

 washing. 



FOOD OF ANIMALS. 



To Messrs. Nash & Woodhouse we are 

 indebted for a copy of a work that has made 

 some noise in the scientific world and which is 

 certainly worthy of the attention it has attract- 

 ed. It is entitled "Experimental Researches 

 on the Food of Animals and the Fattening of 

 Cattle, with Remarks on the Food of Man; 

 based upon Experiments undertaken by order 

 of the British Government: by Robert Dundas 

 Thompson, M. D., Lecturer on Practical Che- 

 mistry, University of London." 



These experiments seem to have been insti- 

 tuted and conducted with great care upon the 

 animals that were selected for the purpose, 

 and after a careful perusal of the work we 

 shall endeavor to inform our readers of the 

 practical results at which Dr. Thompson ar- 

 rived, without troubling them with the details 

 of the experiments or the scientific theories 

 that may be deduced from them, and for the 

 greater convenience of our readers, we will 

 endeavor to arrange the different subjects of 

 which he treats under their appropriate heads. 



THE ARTIFICIAL DIVISION OF FOOD. 



The Doctor explains to us that all cloven- 

 footed or ruminating animals are provided 

 with an extra pouch or stomach into which 

 undivided food passes without being chewed. 

 Here it undergoes a process of decomposition 

 and is returned to the mouth to be ground over 



