lyo 
ladies’ department.—boys’ department. 
quantity of syrup, as before directed, very dear and 
rich. Put in a six gallon kettle about a quart of 
syrup and plum juice, in the proportion of two mea¬ 
sures of syrup to one of juice—in this the taste and 
judgment of the person making must be used, to de¬ 
termine the proportion. Have a clear charcoal fire 
in the furnace, on which place the kettle; allow the 
mixture to boil briskly for about fifteen minutes—the 
best guide in this is a little experience. The great 
secret in making jelly, to have it perfectly clear and 
firm, is to boil a small quantity at a time, so that it 
may be done quickly. If boiled long, as must be the 
case when the quantity is great, the color must darken. 
The plum here spoken of is a native of the South ; 
and not, I presume, peculiar to this part of it; al¬ 
though I have never, in all my peregrinations, seen 
it elsewhere. The fruit has a singular dark red 
color, with a whitish bloom; larger than the dam¬ 
son; flesh coarse-grained, firm even to hardness, and 
excessively sour; skin tough and astringent; ripens 
in August; some trees retaining their fruit until after 
frost. The tree is of vigorous growth, and makes an 
excellent stock for working other sorts on. It is 
most commonly found in old pastures. I presume it 
is allied to Kenrick’s Canada plum, though not at all 
to any of our delicious varieties of the Chickasa w 
plum. 
Plum Marmalade. —Take the plums from which 
the juice has dripped for making jelly, and add them 
to a syrup, made as before, in the proportion of one 
part of sugar to two of plums. Boil an hour, until 
the syrup and pulp become one stiffish mass; then 
strain through a colander. Put the strained pulp 
again in the kettle, and boil until thoroughly done, 
stirring with a paddle all the while, and you will 
have a fine marmalade. The residue, left in the co¬ 
lander, is spread on shallow dishes and dried in the 
sun, then packed away in jars for making tarts. 
lngleside, Adams Co., Miss., Jan. 17, 1845. 
Preserving Fresh Meat. —We gave a very 
good article on this subject in our last, and now add 
another. But, first, animals should be properly 
butchered, or it is of no use to attempt to keep the 
meat. They must fast at least one day in the winter, 
and double that time in the summer, before being 
killed ; for when not tolerably clear of food the flesh 
will almost immediately spoil in hot weather. As 
soon as the meat comes into the house let it be care¬ 
fully examined and wiped, and if it has been blown 
by flies, that part must be cut off and thrown away. 
It should then be kept covered with a cloth, first 
scattering a mixture of salt with pepper, or ginger, or 
mustard, or any spices over it inimical to the fly. 
Now put it into the ice-house, the well, in the 
cellar, or a wire sieve, hung up in as cool, dry, and 
windy a place as can be found. Pieces of charcoal, 
or a complete envelope of it, is a very good method to 
preserve fresh meat. 
Economical Mode of Cutting Cauliflowers.— 
Instead of cutting off the whole head of a cauliflower, 
leave a part on, of the size of a gooseberry, and all 
the leaves : second, and even third heads will be 
formed, and thus they may be eaten for two or three 
months; when, at present, by cutting the head com¬ 
pletely off, the bed of cauliflowers are gone in two 
or three weeks. 
Bogs’ ^Department. 
Another Great Egg Laying Story. —You will 
see, boys, that we are now getting on very swim¬ 
mingly, as the Polar Bear said, when he mounted a 
huge floating iceberg to breakfast on a seal he had 
just entrapped with his huge claws; for what be¬ 
tween eggs and poultry, and other important matters 
monthly discussed in your department of the AgricuL 
turist, we doubt whether there is so improving a set 
of boys in the country, as those who regularly con 
our journal; and if some of them don’t turn out Gov¬ 
ernors and Presidents one of these days, and give 
credit to these pages for a part of their greatness, 
then all is, we shall be most egregiously mistaken 
Now for the egg story. 
Rahway, N. J., April 19, 1845. 
For the benefit of the Boys’ Department, I herewith 
send you a copy of my poultry account for 1844, as 
a match (and rather more) to that of my friend Car¬ 
penter’s of Poughkeepsie, which appeared in your 
February number. I give it as it stands on my book. 
The form may be of service to some of your young 
readers. I would say, that there is no estimate or 
guess about it; all the details are matters of actual 
measurement and daily record. 
Cr. 
3063 Eggs used or sold, at 1 c.. $30.63 
26 Turkeys, ditto, 216 lbs. at 8 c..17.28 
20 Chickens, ditto, at 25 and 31 c..6.06 
4 Geese, ditto, 51 lbs., at 5 c..2.55 
10 lbs. do. Feathers, at 75 c..7.50 
$64.02 
Add valuation, Dec. 31, 1844, viz.:— 
6 Turkeys, at 62£ c..3.75 
4 Geese, at 62£ c..2.50 
- 18.75 
$82.77 
Dr. 
* dlUclllUllj i/dll* J. •) AVILi • " 
28 Hens and 3 Cocks, at 25 c..$7.75 
16 Turkeys,at 62* c..•••••10.00 
1 Pair Geese purchased,.1.75 
35£ Bushels Com consumed, at 50c.-17 75 
-37.25 
Profit, $45.52 
The Manure. —Respecting the value of this last 
item, I intend trying some comparative experiments 
during the present summer, the results of which will 
be at your service. I should state in my account 
that 3 hens were killed by accident early in the 
spring. The hens have comfortable quarters with 
corn and water always oy them. L. 
Be kind to the Birds. —It has been ascertained 
that a pair of little sparrows, with young to maintain, 
will destroy 3,360 caterpillars per week. We have 
no doubt that the birds of every country town destroy 
tons of insects, which, if left to grow to maturity, 
would devour all our grain, roots, and grass crops, 
and ultimately make a famine in the land. Consider, 
then, that birds are among your best friends, and that 
they should be cherished and protected, instead of 
stoned, shot at, and tormented in various ways. 
