1875.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
469 
packing them with alternate layers of salt in a 
clean, sweet barrel, and placing a weight upon the 
top of the mass. In a short time the cut cabbage 
ferments, and parts with a quantity of water, which 
forms a brine and covers it, that is as long as it is 
kept down by the weight. To do all this by hand, 
or without proper appliauces, is laborious and slow. 
There is, therefore, in use a set of 
tools and implements specially 
adapted for the business. There 
are the eorer, fig. 1, by which the 
stalk is taken out quickly and with- 
out splitting the cabbage, the 
slicer, fig. 2, and the vat, fig. 3. 
The corer is something like a 
cheese or butter trier, sharp on the 
end and the edges. It is thrust 
into the cabbage at one side of the 
stalk and twisted around, and thus 
brings out the hard core. The 
slicer is a table, in which some 
long knives are placed diagonally about a quarter 
of an inch apart. A box-frame, without any 
bottom, is made to fit in grooves upon each side 
of the table, and slide up and down. This box is 
filled with cabbages, which are pressed down by 
the hands as it is slid back and forth over the 
knives, and the shredded cabbage falls into a basket 
or tub beneath the table. A heavy sprinkling of 
salt is then thrown on the bottom of the vat, and a 
layer of about six inches of the cut cabbage is 
placed evenly upon the salt. If desired, some 
^ caraway or coriander 
seeds are added. Then 
another layer of salt is 
spread over the cabbage, 
and thus alternately until 
the vat is filled. A loose 
head is then laid upon 
the cabbage, the follower 
shown iu the engraving is 
laid across the head, and 
the screw is applied. In 
a few days the brine ap- 
pears on the top, when 
the screw is turned a few 
times, so as to get as much 
as possible to the surface, 
after which most of the 
Fig.3.-VAT FOR KROUT. j,. j^^ ^^y ^e dipped off, 
leaving only enough to cover the krout and pre- 
vent access of air. The fermentation removes most 
of the strong flavor of the cabbage, and leaves it 
very sweet and agreeable. 'VNTien the krout is 
taken out for use, it should be rinsed in clean wa- 
ter, but does not require the soaking or washing 
needed by that made in the ordinary manner. 
BDYS 4 ©HiaiLS' (C®IL¥MHS, 
I>eceml>er. 
When you know that the Latin word decern means ten, 
you will infer from what has been already said, that thia 
was the tenth month of the Romans. This, by the Al- 
manac, is the first month of winter, and the Almanac is 
more nearly right than when it calls March the first month 
of spring. In December we have more short days and 
long nights than in any other month. We here have the 
grand long evenings, so fine for study and for play, and 
we think that winter is not so bad a season after all, as 
it brings us many pleasures, and those are generally the 
pleasures of home. Then above all, this is the month in 
which Christmas comes, which, as the old song says, 
"c»me9bnt once a year."— Do yon know what Christ- 
mas is, the day enjoyed by young and old, the day on 
which the saddest ia glad, and on which the poorest 
heart rejoices? What Christmas is can hardly be told 
more briefly, and at the same time give the whole of it 
more in fall than in the pleasant story, by a young lady, 
given elsewhere, called "The Night before Christraas." 
To New England people and their descendents. this 
month brings to them another anniversary which they 
delight to obser^■e. On December 2-2d. 1620. the Pilgrims 
landed at Plymouth, and the Anniversary of "Fore- 
fathers' Day" is by many carefully observed. When 
3'on get older, if you have not already done so. you will 
read of all this, and learn how much this little hand of 
people had to do with making our country what it now 
is. But Christmas overshadows this and all other anni- 
versariea; it is kept nearly all over the world, and deser- 
vedly, as it celebrates the great event of history, and a 
joyous one, for from sunrise there will, on that morning, 
run round the world, a greeting in which we shall all 
join in wishing you and every one A Merry Christsias. 
Some Fine Xliiu«^s for Roys and 
Oirls. 
Probably our young readers do not often look at the 
business columns of the paper, and we would jnst hint 
to them that tlioy may be interested in looking into the 
Publishers' Preinium List. They will find that a great 
many fiue and useful things arc there ofi"i;red iu such a 
manner that young people can get them free— that is 
without paying out money, but only by expending a lit- 
tle time. If yon read what is said in the premium list 
you will see that not only young men and women, but 
even email Boys and Girls can get up clubs of subscribers, 
which wore away all the rest, and left tliis fragment 
standing alone ! Yuu can judge of the size of the rock by 
tliat of the man who stands near it. The Egyptian 
Sphinx, yon know, has a.huniau face, and viewed from a 
certain point, this rock shows onu also. If you look 
sharply at the picture, you will see that our American 
Sphinx is not, if we may judge from the pictures, much 
behind its eastern namesake in good looks, but this was 
probablj' made ages befoi-e the Egyptian thing was 
thought of. That which travelers go so far to see. may 
after all be looked upon as only a modern imitation. Let 
us thank Mr. Fargo for thinking of the boys and girls. 
Xlie First Passenger Xrain. 
When you look at a railroad train, do you ever think 
what a wonderful thing it is ?— Prohably not if you see 
one often. If the stars should shine only once in ten 
years, what a wonder they wotild be, but now starlight 
THE FIRST RAILBOAD PASSENGER TRAIN IN AMERICA. 
and receive a premium for doing so. Many thousands of 
persons have become subscribers to the American Agn- 
cnlturUt. through the agency of boys and girls from S to 
15 years old. Children ai-e usually very successful in get- 
ting subscribers, for when a child goes to an older per- 
son and respeclfnlly #Aoir5 him or her the paper, the 
older person is very apt to look at it, for there are few 
who do not like children, and those who would at once 
say " no" to a man, without looking at the paper, will 
examine it if presented by a boy or girl, and there are 
few who once fairly look at the paper, who do not want 
it. You should know enough about the paper yourself^ 
to be able to show the person what is in it, and how it 
tells something about almost everything, and that it has 
articles suited to all parts of the country. If the man is 
not a farmer, show him that the Ilonschold and Boys and 
Girls' Departments are such as he wants for his family, 
wherever they may live. 
If you interest other boys and girls in the paper, they 
will tell their parents of it and thus help make it known. 
Most 5'oung persons can gather three, five, ten, or more 
subscribers, and thepremium list will tell you what arti- 
cles you are entitled to as a reward 
for your trouble. Besides the premi- 
um yon will gain something else of 
value, because you will be learning 
how to do business ; to approach others 
respectfully, to show what you have to 
dispose of to the best advantage, and 
to keep proper accounts, will all be of 
use in after life. Tlie present month 
is one of the best for getting sub- 
scribers, and the premiums will be 
especially useful for the Holidays. We 
know seveml whose first earnings 
were in getting subscribers for the 
American Agriailfuii-sl, and though 
now grown up, they keep on and send 
a list every year. 
The Spliinx Rocl*:. 
Perhaps you will think this i~ 
"puzzle picture," such as wc have 
shown you in former months. It is, 
and is not. In one respect this differs 
very much from tlie others, which were 
mere fancies of the artist: this is not 
a fancy, but a real thing made by the 
Great Arlistand Architcctof all things. 
You arc indebted for this to J. G. Far- 
go, of Genesee Co., N. Y., not far from 
whoso farm this remarkable rock is 
situated, and he sent a very excellent 
photographic portrait of it. He thinks that ''The 
Sphinx'' is a very appropriate n.ame for this rock; we 
do, too, and if you have read about Egypt, you will agree 
with him that this natural monument greatly resembles 
the noted artificial Sphinx, now partly buried iu the sand 
in that country of wonders. The picture shows that the 
Sphinx consists of two. if not three, different kinds of 
rock. What an astonishing power it must have been, 
is a matter of course. So with the railway train— could 
we see it only at long intervals, how we would study all 
its parts, and admire its mechanism, and be almost awe 
struck that a small quantity of water, boiled on the lo- 
comotive, could exert suflBcient power aa to move such a 
weight with such speed I But familiarity with all grand 
things makes us regard them as matters of course. 
When you look at a train upon a first class railroad of 
the present day, its 'palace cars" like parlors on wheels, 
its monster locomotive, all built for strength and speed, 
with every bit of steel and brass shining like silver and 
gold its great head-light, its screeching whistle, the cab 
for the engineer, with all Us curious contrivances, its air- 
break, which allows the driver to stop all the cars at once 
— when yon look at all this, do yon suppose it was so 
from the beginning? Do you think that when railroads 
were first m use that the trains were in all things like 
those we have at present ? Not at all ; like all other great 
inventions— such as mowers and sewing machines, the 
perfection in railroad-trains of the present day has gone 
on by gradual steps from very nido beginnings. We 
came across the other day a picture of the first paesen- 
THE &PHLNX iiOCK. 
gcr train ever run in this country, in 1831, and give you 
a copy of it that you may see how great have been the 
changes and improvements. The passenger car, you will 
see, is just an old fashion stnge-coach put upon a truck. 
Even to this day the cars iu England are made like three 
coaches together, with entrance from the sides. The 
tender looks much like the modem express wagon, and 
the wood is some of it in barrels, and some stacked up- - 
