66 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Februabt, 
to heat, and have the effect of rendering it insensible 
to clianges of temperature witliin all re:»sonable lim- 
its, and allowing it to be ■\vorked with great facility. 
Another process produces the hard or bone rubber, 
which is now much used to make articles for which 
bone, horn, ivory and glass were formerly employ- 
ed. India rubber is often called Caoutchouc (pro- 
nounced Ko-chook), a name of Indian origin ; and 
also gum-elastic, a term In part descriptive of one 
of its most striking properties ; though it exudes 
from a tree, it is not a gum in the proper mean- 
ing of the word, but a peculiar subataneo. 
Fig. 1— SIRLOIN BOASTING PIECE. 
How to Carve Roast Beef. 
There is probably no meat which is so much 
changed in quality, not to say flavor, hy the man- 
ner of carving, as Roast Beef. The choice roasting 
pieces, according to our American notions, are cut 
from the Sirloin. Englishmen prefer for their na- 
tional dish a cut from the fore-quarter, just back of 
the shoulder blade, called by the butchers the 
" middle rib roasting piece," in which all the meat 
lies upon the outside of the ribs. The Sirloin roast- 
ing pieces contain portions of the powerful muscles 
of the loin upon the top of the ribs, and of the 
tenderloin which lies beneath them and close to 
the backbone. AH parts are well interlarded and 
coated with fat, of a very delicate quality. The 
quantity of tenderloin is less than that of the 
other meat, but the proportion increases as we ap- 
proach the " flat bone." This portion is usually cut 
up into what arc called in New-Tork Porter-house 
stcakE. For real juiciness and high flavor no good 
judge of beef prefers the tenderloin, but there are 
many who do on account of its tenderness. 
When the beef comes to the table, the tender- 
loin may be easily removed by turning the joint 
a little to one side, and passing the Jcnife close to 
the ribs over the teuderloin, which, being drawn 
out, may be sliced lengthwise or crosswise, as the 
carver prefers. This is the oiily part of the beef 
not seriously injured by cutting it iu the same 
direction with the fiber, that is, lengthwise. 
Roast beef should be done through, so that no 
soft purplish red spot can be found when it is 
carved, but it should be bo slowly roasted, thor- 
Fig. 2. — MIDDLE RIB RO.VSTINO PIEGE. 
oughly basted, and cODSt.intly turned, that, while 
the outside is only of a delicata dark brown 
color, the clear, almost scarlet red of the beef shall 
be disclosed by the knife close to the surface. So 
roasted, the beef is tender, juicy and toothsome as 
possible. The joint should be taken from the spit 
or bake pan and placed, after any little trimming it 
may need, upon the previously warmed platter, 
and sent directly upon the table. Not a drop 
of the drippings should be poured over it, but 
they should (if sent to the table at all) be thickened, 
made into a rich gravy, and served in a gravy boat. 
The carver needs a sharp-pointed knife with a 
keen edge extending quite to the point, otherwise 
he will find difficulty in cutting thin slices, and in 
separating them from the attachment near 
the backbone. He begins to cut at one 
end, cutting in the direction the ribs run, 
which is exactly across the grain of the 
meat, removing as thin slices as he con- 
veniently can. If the knife is sharp, it will 
not press out much of the juice of the meat, 
but if dull, the carver will be obliged to lay 
out the more strength, which will not only 
necessitate the cutting of thicker slices, 
but will squeeze out much " red gravy," and 
leave the pieces thick and ragged. The red 
eravy will flow freely enough at any rate, if 
the meat Is rightly cooked, and a portion 
of it should be served to each guest, a 
spoonful or two being poured over the 
slice of beef when placed upon the plate. 
When beef is cooked so that the juices will not 
follow the knife freely, it is nearly spoiled for us, 
unless we can get an outside piece to which the 
juices have been drawn during the roasting, and 
have dried there, rendering it, if not over-done, 
very rich and high flavored. 
Each guest should h.ave, unless preferences be 
otherwise expressed, a slice of rare meat, with a 
portion of the fatter and usually better done part 
toward the flank, with a piece of tenderloin, and, as 
already said, a spoonful of gr.avy from the dish, 
which, for this reason, ought to contain no drip- 
pings whatever. This red gravy, which is the very 
essence of the beef, will not flow from any parts 
not thoroughly cooked, nor from those over-cooked, 
and it is greatly enjoyed by many who can not cat 
or digest grease or greasy gravy in any form. 
For any one who appreciates this quality of 
juiciness in roast beef, on which we dwell so much, 
it is enough to know that when the beef is cut with 
the flber, it exhibits very little of it. The juice re- 
m.iius in the flber, and, strange enough, even mas- 
tication does not seem to develop it. The beef is 
a different article. The thorough enjoyment of food 
is promotive of health .aud good feeling. Those 
who neglect their food, or who eat for the sake 
merely of filling their stomachs with something, 
lose much real pleasure, and usually have finally 
bad digestion and consequent poor he.alth. 
Borden's Condensed Xteef. — Mr. Gail 
Borden, who perfected the process for condensing 
milk, has for a long time been at work upon con- 
densing beef. He has associated with him Mr. J. 
H. Currie, a well known manufactur- 
ing chemist, and S. L. Goodale, Esq., 
for a long time Secretary of the Maine 
State Board of Agriculture. Their es- 
tablishment is at Elgin, 111., where they 
] rocure the best fresh beef and prepare 
an extract with the greatest care. It is 
put up in packages of 3 ounces, each 
cake representing 2\{ pounds of beef. 
A sample was referred to "the Bach- 
elor," who has not of late appeared 
in our Household Department, and 
he report* as follows: "Gail Borden 
should be called the ' Great Condens- 
er.' He evidently has designs ujion the 
bovine (»ce, as he began by squeezing 
a quart of milk into the smallest pos- 
sible compass, and now he has brought 
the old cow herself to terms. Two 
and a half pounds of beef are condens- 
ed to the size of, and appear and feel 
very much like a »t.ationcr'BCakc of Indian-rub- 
ber ! We Jiscdjin war times, to laugh at the tale told 
of the Richmond people, who went to market with 
their money iu the market basket, and brought their 
meat home in the pocket book. This would h.avc 
been possible had Gail Borden been on the other 
side of the line. But he was on this side, and thou- 
sands of soldiers have blessed him for his condensed 
milk, and now thousands of others shall bless him 
for beef tea. Were you ever sick away from home, 
and needing beaf tea ? The demand was answered 
by a dubious liquid, upon which floated a covering 
of melted tallow. With Borden's condensed meat, 
beef tea becomes possible even in a country tavern, 
the worst place in which a man was ever sick. 
Slice off a little from the cake, dissolve in a cnp of 
boiling water, salt .and otherwise season, and you 
have a clear, greascless liquid with the full flavor of 
the richest beef. But few persons know what Ti 
restorer beef tea is after great fatigue. Some years 
ago one of the Diplomatic corps in Washington did 
a sensible thing, and at the same time made an in- 
novation upon established customs, by presenting 
each guest, as he left the house after a prolonged 
party, with a cup of strong beef te.a. They do the 
same thing in San Francisco. If there is any thing 
exhausting, it is an evening party, and if .any thing 
can restore one after being a few hours in rooms 
crowded with stupid people, it must be beef tea. 
Then such soup as can be made with this ! I tried 
it and know that nothing outside of Delmonico's cap 
be half as good. Most people make agreasy porridge 
of rice and vegetables with just a suspicion of 
meat, and call it soup. Boil a carrot and a bit of 
celery in w.ater until done, have an onion roasted 
until brown, and boil this in the liquid until it im- 
parts a rich brown color. Put in half an ounce of 
the condensed beef to the quart of water, salt and 
season as may be desired, strain and serve. Tou 
have a soup as clear as wine which has the only fault 
that it is so good that it takes off the edge of the 
appetite for the rest of the dinner. (Jail says the 
condensed beef will keep forever, ' for he has tried 
it twice.' I don't believe it, for I bad a cake and 
it did'nt keep but two days — reason : the soup was 
so good the first day, that it had to be repeated." 
Excellent I^emon Pies. — As usually 
made, lemon pies, however palatable, are indigest- 
ible and not to be recommended. The pieces of 
lemon rind in them are as bad for the stomach as 
so many gravel stones. The following directions 
furnished for the Americaii Agriculturist, have been 
several times tried, and we find the pies both 
digestible and delicious : For two pies, take two 
lemons, grate aw.ay the outer yellow coating and 
chop the rest very fine. Into two teacupfuls of hot 
water, stir well two tablespoonfuls of com starch, 
and boil ; add two teacupfuls of white sugar ; when 
cool, add the beaten yolks of four eggs ; then add 
the chopped lemons with their juice, stirring the 
whole well together. Line two tin or carthen-~ware 
pie plates with pie crust, pour in the material and 
bake until the crust is done. Beat the whites of 
the four eggs to a froth, adding five or six table- 
spoonfuls of white sugar, and pour over the pies 
while hot ; return them to the oven, and bake to a 
delicate brown. We have never eaten anything 
of the pie kind superior to the above preparation. 
Soda-Ash, Saleratns, etc. 
A correspondent s.ays, "Will you please tell me 
the composition of Soda Ash, Carbonate of Soda, 
Saleratus, and Sal soda. What are they made off" 
Questions like these arc easily answered if the in- 
quirer has some knowledge of chemistry, and are 
rather difficult if he has not. However, we will 
try. When wood is burned, .all the combinations 
of potash with org.inic acids are converted into 
carbonate of potash, which remains in the ashes. 
The ashes are leached and the carbonate of potash, 
together with other soluble m.atters, .are dissolved 
out and form a ley, which, when evaporated and 
the resulting dry miss melted, forms the potash of 
commerce. If the ley be simply boiled to dryaesa, 
without melting the mass, and this be exposed to 
heat and air suSieient to burn out some coloring 
