1864.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
119 
blance both iu thoir composition and their behav- 
ior. In each of them there is only a very Blight 
attraction between some of their numerous Ble- 
ments. The element nitrogen, which enters large- 
ly into their composition, is especially fickle. A 
little too much warmth, or moisture, and it 
seems to becomo restless, and leaving i(s hold 
of tho other elements, allows oxygen ( which 
forms a large part of the surrounding air) to 
seize upon some of them and form an entirely 
new class of compounds. The carbon of the albu- 
men uniting with the oxygen escapes in the form 
of carbonic acid ; part of the nitrogen and hydro- 
gen unite and give oft" the pungent ammonia; the 
sulphur makes an offensive, if not a defensive, alli- 
ance with another portion of the hydrogen, and 
flies away as sulphuretted hydrogen gas, one of the 
worst smelling gases known ; and, by these and 
other combinations, the whole structure of the 
substance is changed ; this is called putrefaction. 
When once putrefaction has commenced in any 
part of a compound, it spreads with great rapidity. 
As in the working of social revolution, every indi- 
vidual atom seems excited with desire for change. 
The smallest portion of putrescent matter intro- 
duced into a mass containing the elements above 
named, will speedily lead to its complete disorganiz- 
ation. Evidently then, one of the first precautions 
snggested to the housekeeper is the necessity of 
entire cleanliness of all utensils and apparatus con- 
nected with provisions. The slightest taint in a 
barrel will communicate itself to the beef or pork 
which may be packed there. A little decomposing 
dongh in the kneading trough will make mischief 
with bread ; uncleanly milk pans will contain 
enough putrescent casein to set the whole contents 
into active decomposition, and thus with other 
articles. Hot water, soap, and the scrubbing brush 
are the efficient guards against insidious attacks of 
the destructive agent, and these should be constant- 
ly on duty where there is exposure to danger. Other 
interesting facts connected with the preservation 
of eatables will be presented when space allows. * 
Spinach at Home and Elsewhere. 
— . 
Hurbcrt 6ays : " When I get spinach at a restau- 
rant or hotel I have a most delicious vegetable, but 
at home, Bridget gives us only a dish of greens ; 
what makes the difference" ? The difference here 
as in many other things lies in the cooking. Spin- 
ach is sometimes utterly spoiled by cooking with 
meat or with other vegetables. At other times it is 
simply boiled and skimmed out of the water and 
sent to the table without other preparation. To 
have spinach nice ; wash and pick it over and then 
throw into boiling water and let cook until done, 
drain on a colander and chop fine. Then put in a 
saucepan a lump of butter as large as an egg for 
each quart of chopped spinach, and when melted, 
put in the spinach, let it simmer until thoroughly 
heated through, and serve with slices of hard boiled 
egg laid over it. Some vary the dish by adding a 
little flour and milk at tho last cooking ; some chop 
the spinach before boiling and proceed as above. 
Hints on Cooking, etc. 
Plain Indian Pudding-. — Contributed 
to the American Agriculturist by Frances W. B. 
Robbins, Suffolk Co., N. Y. Place 2 quarts of milk in 
a vessel over the fire ; into this stir slowly a cup of 
Indian meal, one enp of molasses, and butter the 
size of an egg. As soon as it boils ponr the whole 
into a baking pan. When cold add two eggs, well 
beaten, and bake two houre. 
Rusk.— Contributed to the Agriculturist, by 
Mrs. David Brush, Queens Co., N. T. To 1 pint of 
milk add 1% teacups of sugar, 1 egg, a lump of 
butter the size of an egg, and stir in flour enough 
to make it a little thicker than cream. Set the 
sponge over night, mix it up in the morning. 
Mould into biscuits immediately after mixing, and 
place in the pan for baking. Let them stand in a 
warm place until their size is doubled. Bake in a 
moderate oven half an hour. Immediately after 
liking from the oven wash theirtops with molasses 
and water. 
Corn Cake.— Contributed to the American 
Agriadturitt by Miss L. E. Ilewins, Norfolk Co., 
Mass.: "To 2 cups of Indian meal add 1 cup of 
Hour, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoonful each of saleratus and 
cream of tartar, % cup of sugar, salt to the taste ; 
mix with new milk quite thin (so it will pour eas- 
ily), and bake it well iu a quick oven." 
Fruit Cake.— Mix l}-£ lbs. bread dongh, % 
lb. sugar, }.$ lb. butter, 4 eggs, 1 lb. raisins, 1 lb. 
of currants and spice to the taste. 
Fancy Crullers. — Mix 4 eggs, J^ lb. of su- 
gar, % lb. of butter, 1 teacupful of sweet milk, 1 
teaspoonful of soda, and two of cream of tartar, 
the last two dissolved separately in as little water 
as possible ; add sufficient flour to roll well. Shape 
by tying two knots and putting the ends through. 
mdys <& miRLT mLvwm. 
A Garden for Every Child. 
One of the most attractive gardens the writer has ever 
seen, is in a narrow crowded street in New-York City, 
where the land is worth more than a dollar a square foot, 
and buildings are packed together as closely as it is possi- 
ble to plane them. As there is not space for wide houses, 
most of them have been run up four, five or six stories 
high, and every room Is occupied with goods for sale, or 
machinery and workmen, and here and there, clear up in 
the topmost story, live a family of poor people. The gar- 
den we have in mind, belongs to such a family. "Do 
they make it in (he yard V asks some li tile* girl who has 
never visited the City. No, there are no yards there. The 
houses occupy all the ground except the street, and that 
Is covered with paving stones so thickly that you could 
not grow a radish between them. " Where then can this 
wonderful garden be?"— It is on the window-sill in the 
highest story of a house, in front of a room occupied by 
a poor woman and her three little girls. It is only three 
feet long, and about one foot wide, made in a box filled 
with earth and fastened to its place in the window in sum- 
mer, but carried within during winter. From it grow 
two .Morning Glory vines which twine around the win- 
dow frame; a montly rose blooms in the center, and a 
Geranium and a Mountain Daisy complete the garden. 
"Why that is not much !" says some young reader. Per- 
haps not to you, nor to the thousands of people that pass 
that way every day without even caring to glance at it, 
but to those three little girls it brings more pleasure than 
many a rich man enjoys from extensive grounds and costly 
green-houses. They cultivate the flowers themselves. 
They know every bud and leaf and blossom ; they have 
watched them day by day, welcoming each tiny shoot as 
it peeped forth from the parent stem, petting each bud as 
though it could understand their prattle, and a joy has 
sprung from every flower to nestle in their own hearts. 
These children are gentler, kindlier and more loving, for 
their care of their little garden— can you wonder that we 
say it is most attractive? Is it not a beautiful thing? 
Now who can not have as large a garden as this, and 
find it as great a source of happiness ? Most of the girls 
and boys of the A merican Agriculturist family live where 
there is room for them to plant and train many flowers, 
and even fruits, and vegetables. Begin the work this 
spring. Do not undertake too much, ask for the use of 
only so much ground as you can attend to well ; learn, 
by watching others, by reading, and by inquiring what 
and how to plant and cultivate ; and before the summer is 
over you will find more pleasure than a whole candy shop 
or a toy store could give, even If it were all your own. 
A Curious Animal — Trumpet Itat. 
A scientific Frenchman was one day greatly surprised 
at the appearance of a strange looking animal in the pos- 
session of a soldier. It looked like a rat, but had a long 
proboscis or trunk, shaped like a small trumpet, growing 
from the end of its nose. The gentleman immediately 
purchased It at a high price, and his scientific friends to 
whom he showed it were entirely at a loss to what spe- 
cies it belonged. The animal was a male, and the gen- 
tleman anxiously desired a female also, that he might 
breed them, and after some trouble he procured one from 
the same soldier. In due time a litter was produced, but 
they proved to be nothing more than common rats. Upon 
inquiry, it turned out that the soldiers had amused them- 
selves by grafting the tail of one rat into the nose of anoth- 
er, and confining them until the parts had grown together, 
after which the trttmpet was cut off from its original own- 
er, and left as an appendage to puzzle the learned, f?) 
CurioiiM Arrangement of Figure*. 
A correspondent at Marlon. O., asks the arithmetical 
readers of the American Agriculturist to explain 
principle or reason for the following results: Multiply 
12,316,679 by each of the following numbers: 63 
18-36-15-9-81 and 72; then add the products of multipli- 
cation, then add 5. Now If one figure be dropped, tho re- 
mainder will be nothing. This, however, is ih< 
curious part of the result. Each product will bod 
the repetition of a single figure, and that figure "ill be 
greater by one than the tens figure of the multiplier. 
Again, the figures ofeach product added together will 
give the multiplier. And still further, when the products 
are arranged in columns for addition, the sum of each 
single column will be the same, and will equal the sum 
when the figures are added diagonally. 
Answers to Problems and Puzzles. 
The following are the answers to the Puzzles Nos. 72-„ 
73. 74, 75, and 76 in March No., page 87. — No. 72, Math-, 
ematical Problem.— Length of the smaller circular track* 
31.416 ft. ; of the larger, 62.832 ft.— No. 73, Fig. I. A eoa~ 
comb is a vane {vain) man.— No. 74. Fig. 2. Soldiers i-* 
pleased with a fur low {furlough).— No. 75, Fig. 3. 1% 9 
prickly pair (pear) is abundant at the South and West.— 
No. 76. Illustrated Rebus.— Bear miss four tune with 
forty two d— or Bear misfortune with fortitude. The fol- 
lowing have sent correct answers to March 5th : John Cot- 
ton 76 ; J.Rogers, 66; Bertha De Terry, 67; •■ i ' 
71 ; Walter M. Belden, 66, 69 ; Justin Britton, 66 ; Enoch 
Hayes, 66; Fred. J. Newman, 66 ; G. A. Penniman, 66, 
68, 71 ; E. X. Jones, 66 ; Frank Ferris, 66 ; Reader at As 
sumption, III., 60, (why did you not sign your name?); 
C. W. McComb, 66; Wm. C. Johnson, 64, 66, G9 ; " B. 
K. N.," 66, 69; Pulver Husted, 66; David K. Merri- 
man, Jr., 70 ; Wm. H. Hollister, Jr., 66; A. L.Green, 
69; Leslies. Fields, 66; George Almon Giddings, 66; 
Wm. L. F. Fox, 66; David Edwards, 69; Ermon A. 
Hull, 64, 69; llattie E. Turner, 66; Ellen Taber, 66; 
Geo. W.Morse, 66; Robert Markwick, 66, 6S ; "II. s. 
W.," 64, 66 ; John F. Holmes, 66 ; " Hans," 69 ; H. H. 
Rudolph, 66. 71 ; J. N. Insley, 66 ; Louis H. Jackson, 66 ; 
John A. English, 66 ; Dora and Ada, 66; W. Wetmore, 
66; George M. Gould, 66; A. F. Bradley, 66; Fannie J. 
Minor. 66 ; Reader at Palmyra (no name) 66, 69 ; G. II. 
Hays, 66, 69 ; Richard H. Wilson, 66, 69 ; S. P. Bosley, 
66,69; D. H. Trently, 62, 63, 64,66; " Subscriber," 70 : 
H. H. Osgood, 66, 69 ; J. Wittmer, 66 ; G. Wachter, 66. 
i>ew Puzzles to be Answered. 
No. 77. Illustrated Rebus.— Good advice for all. 
No. 78. Pictorial Proverb.— This is the first of a series 
of proverbs, most of 
?A them pretty generally 
d ^iiiiiHM- known > which we pr °- 
M rillill m pose to Illustrate in the 
American Agricultur- 
ist for the amusement 
and instruction of our 
young readers. To 
discover what the pro- 
verb Is, stiuly the 
whole picture, anil 
when you have found 
the answer, you will 
perhaps wonder that 
you did not call it to 
mind at the first 
glance. Puzzling 
over the subject will 
not only quicken and strengthen the observing powers, 
but will help to fasten the truth contained in the proverb. 
No. 79. The Puzzling Dots.— Draw a figure similar 
to this one, on a slate. You 
notice that there are four 
dots in each square, and 
three squares on each side. 
making twelve dots on a 
side. The puzzle is to rub 
out eight of these dots, ant 
then replace only four of 
them in some of the squares, 
so that they shall still count 
twelve on a side, althoug^ 
four of the whole number have been removed. Please 
try it, and explain how it can be done. 
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