54 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
February, 
About Paints and Varnishes. 
Owing to the present high prices of paints and 
oils, several inquiries have recently been addressed 
to the American Agriculturist with respect to sub- 
stitutes for the old materials. After some investi- 
gation, we can not learn of any thing new to take 
the place of Linseed Oil (that made of flax seed). 
This belongs to the drying oils, that is, those which 
when exposed to the air absorb oxygen and harden 
into a kiud of resin-like solid. The chief of them 
is the linseed oil; belonging to the same class are 
the oils of rape seed, cotton seed, poppy seed, and 
of several kinds of nuts. The animal oils or fat 
oils, and the vegetable oils, willnot dry to hardness. 
Some of them evaporate almost wholly. Linseed 
oil is the great basis of all drying paints. This 
dries slowly when raw, but boiling destroys the 
mucilaginous portions, and it then dries rapidly. 
In boiling for painter's use, a small quantity of red 
lead, litharge, or umber, is added to increase the 
drying properties ; and when very rapid drying is 
required, some more of these materials in the form 
of "patent dryers," are added in mixing the paints. 
Various substances are mixed with the oils to in- 
crease the body and to give color, the chief of 
which are white lead (a carbonate of lead oxide) 
and oxide of zinc. Zinc is as yet the most ex- 
pensive, but has the advantage over lead for white 
paint in not being colored by gaseous exhala- 
tions, and is best for painting about sinks, priv- 
ies, stables and such like places. Lead gives a 
heavier body, and is most used for the first coat ; 
but, pound for pound, zinc whitens a much larger 
surface and is therefore not much more expensive, 
while its more permanent retention of a pure white 
makes it preferable for the last coat in all white 
painting. The different shades of color are given by 
small portions of various substances, as lamp black, 
chrome yellow, chrome green, Prussian blue, etc. 
Paints when to be applied, are thinned with 
spirits of turpentine ; but owing to the enormous 
increase in the cost of that article, a substitute has 
lately been discovered and applied, which answers 
moderately well. This is a product obtained in 
refining petroleum or coal oil, and is called by 
various names in different parts of the country, 
such as benzine, benzole, and naptha, all meaning 
the same thing. 
Varnishes are solutions of various resins, which 
are applied oyer paints to give finish and durabil- 
ity. The most extensively used varnish is the copal, 
made by melting gum copal, adding linseed oil and 
spirits of turpentine. In this also, benzine is being 
largely substituted for spirits of turpentine, but 
the varnish is not considered as durable, and until 
this point is settled, the turpentine varnish is to be 
prefered, at least for all good work, even though 
costing much more. The varnish is variously modi-' 
fled by the addition of more or less oil, to make 
outside and inside varnish, or coach varnish, fur- 
niture varnish, etc. 
A Distressing Malady. 
— -*■ — 
The following, which we find in the columns of 
an English journal, accurately delineates the effects 
of a mental malady which, if left uncured, will 
blight the peace of any household or soeiety 
wherein the victim remains. If any reader here 
recognizes features of his own portrait, let him at 
once resolve reform : " Peevish people are al- 
ways unjust, always exacting, always dissatisfied. 
They claim everything of others, yet receive their 
best efforts with petulance and disdain. Such 
men complain, too, of being ill-treated by their 
fellows. Ill-treated! The mildness of an angel 
and the patience of a saint could not treat these 
sour-tempered people in a manner that would 
satisfy Lhem. The habit of peevishness grows 
upon a person until it renders him wholly in- 
capable of conferring any happiness upon others. 
It distorts the imagination, and disorders the 
mind, so that truth cannot be distinguished from 
falsehood, or friendship from enmity. It is one 
great source of envy and discontent, poisoning the 
fountain of life, and scattering ruin and desolation 
on every side. Those who occupy their minds 
about anything serviceable to those around them 
are seldom peevish; it is ouly those who feed a 
disordered fancy with self-generated fiction that 
become misanthropic or grumblers. Then in- 
cessant fault-finding arises, which is as annoying 
as it is unjust. Did peevish people know, or could 
they feel, the effect of their reproaches on others, 
those reproaches would never be made. But the 
possessor of a peevish turn of mind thinks of 
nothing but himself. For others he cares nothing ; 
while he claims the greatest deference for himself, 
he will not defer to others in the slightest degree." 
The Child's Weekly Bath. 
"L. S.," sends the following to the American 
Agriculturist : " Besides your vessel of warm wa- 
ter, eastile soap, brush, and towels, have also a 
small vessel containing a pint of cold water in 
which is dissolved a tablespoonful of salt. As 
each limb, or part of the body is washed, before 
wiping, sponge over with the salt water. After the 
body is dry, rub a little sweet oil upon the chest, 
and upon all the joints, using friction with the 
hand until every part is aglow ; this latter opera- 
tion occupying about five minutes.- Then let your 
child have light suppers, regular sleep, and plenty 
of exercise in the open air, and you probably will 
not see diptheria, blotches on the skin, or an ema- 
ciated face, but instead thereof, a healthful, ruddy, 
cheerful countenance. The very same treatment 
will be worth $50 to any adult over forty years of 
age, as forestalling rheumatism, colds, coughs, 
and fevers." [The bathing, or cleansing the skin, 
the smart friction, the exercise, and the light sup- 
pers, are all right ; but w~e do not see the propriety 
or advantage of the " salt," or the " sweet oil," for 
general or constant use. A very little soap, to be 
washed off well with clean water ; aud a quick op- 
eration, to prevent any chill ; a smart friction to 
remove the loosened excretions from the skin, and 
to start up a glowing circulation, are the essentials 
for the weekly or serni-weekly thorough bath.— Ed.] 
-»-. — =.»»- . • 
Various Customs— Forks versus Knives. 
A lady contributor writes to the American Agri- 
culturist ; "In Henry the Eighth's time, a porpoise 
was a favorite dish in aristocratic circles ; to-day, 
the meanest English beggar would disdain to par- 
take of it. In our grandfather's time, a dinner of 
horse-flesh offered to a friend would be considered 
equivalent to an insult ; to-day, many of the elite of 
Paris have it on their tables. As to frogs, we cease 
to ridicule the French in using them, for they are 
no longer a forbidden dish among Americans, but 
are found on the bills of fare at many eating 
houses. In our grandmother's time, people ate 
with their knives or forks or spoons, just as they 
pleased ; it was etiquette to do as they liked — as it 
is said to be in the Court of Austria, at present. In 
this country, refinement has progressed so far that 
it is considered vulgar for a person to put his knife 
to his mouth. I have been amused to see the 
stress writers on etiquette lay on this little point. 
Half in earnest, and perhaps half in satire, is a so- 
liloquy of the ' Autocrat of the Breakfast Table,' in 
one of his briUiaut essays which says : ' In this 
democratic American republic, it is not improbable 
— though we have never yet had any President save 
of good family and high standing in society— that 
the people may raise up one of the common class, 
one of themselves, in fact, to the highest office in 
the nation. We will suppose it to be the case, and 
that this President should have as a wife, a refined 
and highly cultivated woman who tries in vain to 
have him overcome the little vulgarities that still 
cling to him ; he will eat with his knife, and the lady 
wife in despair, puts her knife to her mouth too. 
How much easier to put it to her heart,' he adds 
tragically." [The custom of carrying food to the 
mouth with the fork, came with more general use 
of silver or plated forks, made in convenient form 
for the purpose. Where these are not on the 
table, it would seem to be a matter of indifference 
which implement is used. It is absurd to attempt 
to rule any out of the pale of society merely because 
they have not kept up with all the changes and 
whims of fashion ; for such a reason as this, none 
will be excluded but those whose only claim for 
admission is based upon their knowledge and 
observance of such trifles. — Ed.] 
How to Cure Hams and Beef. 
Joseph K. Hulme, Burlington Co., Iowa, con- 
tributes to the American Agriculturist, the follow- 
ing directions for curing hams and beet, by which 
he says he has satisfactorily treated many thousand 
pounds of meat for home use and .for market: 
Provide a sweet, clean, tight cask or tub. Weigh 
the meat, pack it neatly but not too closely, sprink- 
ling a few grains of coarse salt upon each piece, and 
cover with a weight to keep the whole in place. 
Take enough clear soft water to cover the whole, 
and dissolve in it good Turks Island salt until a 
fresh laid hen's egg will float enough to show the 
size of a dime above the surface. For every 16 lbs. 
of meat, dissolve 1 oz. saltpeter in hot water, add 1 
gill of molasses for each oz. of saltpeter, stir the 
mixture into the pickle, and pour the whole upon 
the meat, which should be entirely covered. Hams 
should remain in this pickle three weeks ; then take 
them out to drain. If the brine be not strong 
enough to float the egg as before, add sufficieut salt 
to bring it up. Replace the hams and let them 
remain four weeks longer. Then hang to drain, and 
afterward smoke them with hickory or apple-tree 
wood, until they are about the color of mahogany. 
Beef should remain in the pickle six days, at first ; 
then be removed and drained, and again replaced 
for six days longer. After this draiu, and smoke, 
the same as hams. Meat so prepared is known in 
many places as "Jersey;Red," and is of first quality. 
Another Beef IMcfcle.— Mr. David Gar- 
rigus, of New-Haven Co., Conn., sends to the Amer- 
ican Agriculturist the following : To 100 lbs. beef, 
take 4 quarts salt, and % an oz. saltpeter ; rub the 
beef well with it, and pack closely, in clean barrels ; 
let it stand a few days, and then draw off all the 
brine which has formed. (This first brine is bloody 
and would hurt the beef if left on.) Then make 
cold brine strong enough to bear an egg, adding 
% an oz. saltpeter and cover the beef with it. 
*-• .no u»— •-*. ■ 
Improved Buckwheat Pancakes. 
"F. G." writes to the American Agriculturist: 
"The finest, tenderest pancakes can be made by 
adding a little unbolted wheat (or Graham) flour to 
the buckwheat. Less than a quarter will do. Mix 
with cold sour milk, or fresh (not sweet) butter- 
milk, which is best. The soda, (emptyings are 
dispensed with,) when put into cold batter, will 
not act satisfactorily. Bake at once. The heat will 
start the effervescence, and as the paste rises it will 
bake, thus preventing it from falling. Hence the 
culminating point of lightness is attained. The 
batter rises snowy and beautiful, and the pancake 
will swell to almost undue dimensions, absolutely 
the lightest and tenderest that can be baked, with 
not a touch of acid. More salt, however, must be 
added than is usual, to counteract the too fresh 
taste when soda alone is used. Thus the bother of 
emptyings is all dispensed with. Pancakes in this 
way can be baked at any time, and on the shortest 
notice. We keep our flour mixed, the Graham with 
the buckwheat, ready for use." 
Tainted Barrels Again. — The following method 
sent to the American Agriculturist by James Parpet, 
Warwick Co., Ind., is warranted by him to cleanse 
any vessel however strongly tainted. For a 40-gal- 
lon cask use 1 peck of unslaeked lime, or about in 
that proportion. Place it in the cask and pour 
water enough upon it to make it the thickness of 
eream. Stir it well as it slacks, and turn the barrel 
to cover every part. After it has stood 34 hours, 
