1864.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
33 
teatlnes, ahj waste scraps. Tliej will pick boues 
very clean. Wo depend upon a cake of scmps 
from too b li r's. Die liard Bcrap 
j, of 50 1" li" 1 lbs. each, wlm-h lire sold ul : ■, to 
i 1 , cents :i pound, are j">i tae tiling. This mute- 
rial does no! decay, and the Lous amoso and feed 
themselves by picking uir little bits from time to 
time The waste vegetables, clippings from cab- 
bage . potato skins, cold potatoes lefl over (If ""t 
.1 in s.ilt water,) are rolishod by the poul- 
try, anil turiKil to ncoouut 
Tbe abinto simple directions, If rightly followed, 
hi if ever tail to secure a full and profitable 
supply of eggs all Winter. In tuo absence of any 
thing better, a straw enclosed shelter will answer 
for poultry. See description of straw work, page 9. 
To Prepare and Keep Sausage Meat. 
John H., of Cold Spring, L. I., sends the follow- 
ing directions to the American Agricuttvritt: "To 
aeaaon 10 pounds of sausage meat, use 4 oz. salt, 
seaut 1 oz. pepper, with Miije and thyme to suit 
the taste: it is improved by having about one sixth 
Of the meat lean beef. When the meat is prepared, 
take either hogs' or beeves' bladders, and hlow 
them while fresh, but not too thin. Let them dry 
a few hours, cut off the neck, wash and soak about 
twelve hours in lukewarm salt and water, then 
scrape lightly with a dull knife, turu them On the 
wrong side, and fill with the meat. Leave room 
ugh to draw the edges of the bladder together, 
take a large meat-skewer or sharpened wood-pin 
made of hickory or loeust, strong enough to 
hear the weight of the tilled bladder, and pin the 
edges baek and forth across the top. Tie a stout 
cord below the stick, draw it together tightly, 
and tie the ends to form a loop ; then hang in the 
garret. The bladders being air-tight, the meat will 
keep until warm weather, as sweet and fresh as 
when first, put up. Should the bladders tear a 
Little around the pins, fill the places with sweet 
lard, after they are hung up. Calves' and sheep's 
bladders arc not strong euough to bear filling. 
A Contributor in a " Stew" 
Mb. Editor.— I don't live : I board. I have been 
looking over the household department of the Ag- 
riculturist in hopes that I might find soinethiug that 
I could put in my landlady's way to enlighten her 
on the subject of stews. Pieces of indifferent meat, 
such as when fried are uneatable, cau be made into 
a most acceptable stew. When I kept house, a 
ueck piece of mutton furnished us with a favorite 
meal — cheap, and good enough for any body. The 
meat in a stew should be thoroughly done uutil it 
is tender. If there is much fat, cook the meat the 
day beforehand with water only, let it cool, and re- 
move the fat from the surface. The vegetables 
may be added and cooked just before the meal at 
which the stew is wanted. By managing in this 
wav, a thoroughly cooked stew can be had for break- 
fast. For a breakfast dish I prefer meat and pota- 
toes only — with a seasoning of salt and pepper. 
For diuner the vegetables may be varied ; mutton 
with potatoes and onions, makes tbc celebrated 
Irish stew ; with carrots, a delicious dish ; with to- 
matoes, it is superb, and with green peas and ten- 
der bits of asparagus, it is fit to set before a king. 
Beef iustead of mutton, will give another scries of 
dishes. Do stir up your readers on the subject of 
. and oblige Stew- art. 
Dry-Salting' Beef. — J. C. Feun, Litchfield 
i .. Ct., iu a note to the American Agriculturist 
says : Beef will ksep well, if packed in a mixture 
of 4 qts. salt, 4 lbs. sugar, aud )£ 11). saltpetre, to 
every 100 lb?, meat. He advises to use no water to 
make brine, as, he says, if properly packed the meat 
will furnish fluid enough for the purpose. AVith- 
out having tried this, it would seem that such au 
abstraction of the juices of the beef would be 
likely to make it hard and tas' 
< 'li«-:i|» Crust lor I'm in |.l. i ,, IMew. — 
Contributed to the American Agriculltiriii by Mrs. 
David Brush, Queens Co., N. V. : Grease the plnttors 
thoroughly, and cover with Indian meal. Kin i ire* 
fully with the prepared pnmpkin, so that the 
si ream iii pouring will not wash the meal from tbe 
middle of the platter. The pie should be baked 
brown on the bottom. This will be found very con- 
venient for a washing day, and economical in these 
times when butler and lard are BO high priced. 
FarmcrV I*ud«liii;j.— Contributed to the 
Atneriaut AffrieuUurisi by "Aunt IMicbc," Terry, 
III. Heat one (plait of milk to boiling, then stir in 
slowly one teaeiipful of Indian meal. M'in with 
tlii- about six goodapples pared andslleed, and add 
two tablespoonfuls of sugar, one of butter, aud a 
little allspice and DUtUlCg. I'our the whole into a 
deep dish and bake until done or about 40 minutes. 
I80YS <k (MIM^ (BflMfVlffNfc 
♦* A Happy Kew Year " 
To all oua young FsiENDS ! That the year upon 
which wc now enter, may, indeed, be a happy one to *wh 
of the ■ hundreds of thousands of linle ones, and the 
Children and Youth who read these pages, Is our earnest 
Wish. We shall do our best to add something to your 
asure, and hope to not only amuse you by pleasant 
stories, pictures, games, etc., but also lo weave in many 
hints, and suggestions, that will improve your minds and 
he iris. But remember that the seat of happiness lies 
deep in your own heart. If this be wrong, pleasant 
things on the outside will only cover up a festering sore 
that will ever give pain and discomfort. Start right, then 
at the very beginning of the year— on its first morning, 
and get the heart right. What of strength you lack, the 
Omnipotent, the all powerful One will supply, if you ear- 
nestly ask for His aid. But He only helps where our 
power ends. We must first put forth all our own efforts. 
His command was, not to pray merely, but to " watch and 
pray." So we must watch, strive, make all the effort we 
can. We commend lo the kind care of the Great Shep- 
herd, the tender Iambs of our flock. May He temper the 
storms and blasts lo their strength, and kindly bear them 
in His bosom. 
XIic Mushrooms and tlie Umbrella. 
In the November Agriculturist, page 344, the anecdote 
of Alexander Dumas and the Mushrooms was related, 
wherein the author tried to ask for mushrooms by draw- 
ing a picture of them, and Ihe Swiss servant brought 
him an umbrella. We suggested to our young readers to 
try their skill at sketching a mushroom and umbrella. One 
of them sent so neat a drawing, that we have had it en- 
graved. Tjje author did not give his name ; he need not 
be ashamed to own the picture— there would be little 
danger of confounding the two articles in such a sketch. 
The deceptive Knot. 
Some surprise may be excited among the lookers on, 
by a little sleight of hand performance, illustrated above. 
Loosely tie an ordinary single knot in a pocket handker- 
chief, give the end out of your right hand to some person, 
and let! him to pull hard when you count three. Just as 
he pulls, slip your left thumb under the handkerchief, in 
the way shown in the engraving, and at the same instant 
let go the end that hangs over the left hand, and grasp the 
handkerchief with the thumb and finger. It will be drawn 
out quite straigltt through the hand without any knot. 
Au Amusing 'Vvy. 
Copy the Imago* in the above engrafting, each one upon 
a circular piece of pupci (lie size of a copper cent. Then 
paste them upon. Opposite hides of a round bit of thick 
raid-board or paMe-buaid. Airani-e them 10 that when 
the head of the woman Is upward, thai of the child will 
be down WMgl, and let them be both in line. After the 
paste is dry, fatten ft tiling lO each side of the curd, a> is 
shown in tiioen^iaiiii'-i. Now if you make the card re- 
volve by twirling the strings between the fingers and 
thumbs, the lady will appear lo be holding the child in her 
arms. The effect will be better if pictures of a larger 
size than lliese are made. Those skilled In drawing 
can contrive other similar toys, as, for instance, a boy on 
one side aud a horse on the other ; or a dog and a rabbit ; 
or whatever else may suit the fancy. This little In- 
strument well Illustrates a fact la natural philosophy. 
How many of Hie Agriculturist school girls and boy* cau 
stale what that fact is ? 
About Gold C,< nl'. 
A solid or cubic inch of pure gold weighs 4,682.39904 
grains. At $20 and 200-387, [-er ounce, (Troy weight,) 
wiiich is the exact value of pure gold, the cubic inch would 
be worth how much ? Gold when hammered out into 
leaf, such as is used fur gilding the backs of books, etc., 
may be beaten so thin that 300,000 leaves will only make 
one inch in thickness. One cubic inch of gold may 
therefore be made into leaf to cover 800,000 square 
inches, or 20S3 square feet, or over 1% square rods. 
This would be euough to gild the entire floor, ceiling, 
aud walls of a room 20 feet square and 16 feet high. 
New Puzselcs lo be Answered. 
Nos. 02, 63, 64. Mathematical Problems.— An item on 
page 10 gives the assessed value of property in New -York 
Slate as $1.454. 45-1, H9. Question 62: If this money were 
all in a solid gold ball, what would be its diameter? — 
Question 63 : If all in silver, what would be the diameter 
of the ball. — Question 64 : If all in one dollar bills, 3 by 
7 inches, how many acres would they cover? Note : 271 
and 4I-129lh gold dollars or 16 and 82-33ds silver dollars 
weigh a pound Avoirdupois. Silver is 16 l ; times and 
gold 19, l 3 ' times heavier than water. A gallon, or 8 pounds 
(avoirdupois) of water, contains 231 cubic inches. The 
above three questions will give a good exercise to out" 
young readers who are studying arithmetic this Winter. 
No. 65. Illustrated Rebus. — Worth reading by soldiers. 
Answers to Problems ami l'nzzlcs. 
The following are solutions of Ihe puzzles, etc., iu 
December No., p. 375.— No. 59. — Puzzling Sentence. In 
1792 France was divided, monarchy obliterated, laws 
overturned, religion set aside, and rebellion sprang up 
in every corner. No. 60. — The Wheel Puzzle. We gire 
the answer in the words of S. N. Dexter North, of Oneida 
Co., N. Y. " The hub. although it rolls an equal distance 
with the felloe, does not revolve through an equal space. 
—No. 61. Illustrated Rebus. Two in S team B on nest 
man ly re ve rent and love in g ; or, " To win esteem, be 
honest, manly, reverent and loving." The following have 
sent in correct answers up to Dec. 12th. The numbers 
indicate the problems, etc., answered by each. S: N. 
Dexter North, 59, 60, 61 ; Isabella Curtis, 57, 5S ; *Cj A. 
H.," o5 ; Win. G. KiefTer, 55, 57, 58 ; Phiueas B. Davis. 
58; Walter A. Carpenter, 57 ; F. M. Smith, 55, 57 : J. 
Coyte, Jr., 57 ; Lucy and Lewis, 55, 56, 57, 5S ; "H. H."55. 
Wirt C. Williams. 61 ; George H. Elliot, 59, 60 ; Thomas 
H. Edwards. 61 ; Walter Briggs, 61 : Wilson Thomas, 61. 
