Home Industry—-Coloring tlicese—Cutting Hay* 
109 
Home Industry.— The communication of 
W. S. F., on this subject is received, and though 
a well digested, able article, is inadmissable 
with our present limits. We have deemed it a 
■duty to our farming interest, from which we 
had no right to shrink, to say as much as we 
have done, but having expressed our opinion on 
the general principles of the subject, we do not 
feel at liberty to persue it. The few pages of 
our sheet are required exclusively for such mat¬ 
ters as pertain to the farmer’s peculiar occu¬ 
pation, and such as he can expect to find in 
agricultural journals only. It is the proper 
duty of the miscellaneous papers to attend to 
this subject in its details, and to them we 
must leave it. 
Coloring Cheese. —It was generally the 
practice some 20 years ago to color cheese with 
what was called Annatto. We are happy to 
say however, this absurd, unmeaning, filthy 
and abominable practice, has fallen into almost 
entire disuse in this country; but for the benefit 
of the few who may yet continue to use it, we 
are induced to expose the manufacture of this 
pigment, though we very much fear such will not 
be reached through the medium of book-farm¬ 
ing. These are not the persons to be taught 
by book-farmers , yet we may hope to benefit 
them indirectly by such of their neighbours as 
have intelligence enough to take information from 
every source through which it can be obtained. 
From a foreign paper we glean some of the 
facts we detail below. Pure Annatto is the 
product of a plant indigenous to S. America, 
but recently cultivated to a considerable extent 
in the West Indies. It is a tropical shrub or tree 
which retains its leaves through the year, and 
produces its fruit in the season answering to 
our spring. It is a species of the Bixa, and its 
botanical name, Annatto Orrellana; grows about 
10 feet high, sending out elm shaped branches, its 
flowers afe of a pale peach colour, and the seeds 
when ripe, being surrounded by a red waxy 
pulp, from which the annatto of commerce, 
(such as imported,) is extracted. Francis Her- 
nandiz, in his Nova Plantarum, published in 
1651, says, c; the coloring matter is so tenacious, 
that when applied, it can scarcely be obliterated, 
and if mixed with urine is indelible: it yields 
a red colour for painters, possessing a dryness 
and astringency, assists in dysentery and res¬ 
trains belly flux.” Miller says” it is used by 
the natives medicinally in the bloody flux and 
disorders of the kidneys.” Dr Hooper says, 
tf in hot climates it is considered a useful remedy 
in dysentery, and is astringent and stomachic.” 
Nothing is more obvious from the above quoted 
indisputable authorities, than that those who 
have the belly flux, the bloody flux, and disor¬ 
ders of the kidneys, should take Annatto, though 
there are few doctors who would prescribe it to 
be taken then, prepared in cheese , or mixed with 
the detestable ingredients that poison it. It being 
a stomachic, however its use in the smallest quan¬ 
tity would not be so pernicious as might be 
inferred from the effects sometimes produced 
from the spurious article. It is the imitation 
we object to principally, as the genuine is in 
too much demand among the painters, to allow its 
general use by the farmers. The ingredients 
to make the most approved modern Annatto are , 
old bricks reduced to powder , starch tumeric 
powder , train oil , potash , soft soap , quick lime , 
chalk and pipe clay , with a slight addition 
sometimes of the genuine vegetable extract .—• 
Yet this“ villanous compound” has been in so 
great demand in England, that it was computed 
30 years ago, there was consumed in Cheshire 
alone what cost the farmers $30,000 annually,, 
and in Gloucester $60,000 
Cutting Hay. —We intended giving a detailed ar¬ 
ticle on this subject in the present number, but we 
have not room. We will say briefly, that clover 
should not be cut till a portion of the flowers have 
assumed a brown color, thereby allowing the more 
backward buds to develop themselves as fully as 
possible. It requires to be cut before the leaves have 
begun to wither. We prefer to have clover cured 
without exposure to the sun beyond lying in the swath, 
but those desirous of avoiding the hazard of showers, 
may facilitate the drying by opening the clover par¬ 
tially. The plan of curing is however preferable, 
which takes a longer time and exposes the clover as 
little to the direct influence of the sun as possible. 
After wilting in the swath for a short time, it should 
be laid into high cocks of small diameter, and there 
allow it to remain till sufficiently dried to put into the 
barn. The cocks should be made with the fork en¬ 
tirely, by laying one forkful on another, not rolling 
into aheap.* This allows the air to circulate freely 
through the heap, and it will be cured without injury 
from sweating. 
Timothy and Redtop ought to be nearly ripe be¬ 
fore cutting; sufficiently so at least, that a part of 
the seed will fully ripen after being cut. There is 
less injury to the grass from exposure to the sun than 
from clover, but there is no doubt that if cured in the 
swath or cock like clover, it would be more valuable 
for feeding than when exposed to the scorching effects 
of our July sun. It would require a longer time to 
be sure, but if laid up trimly in cocks, it would 
scarcely suffer from rains, and it would expose but a 
small portion to the influence of dews. 
Some of the natural grasses, such as are to be 
found in old meadows, require to be cut before the 
seed is matured, and with many it is an object to cut 
sufficiently early to secure a second growth of after- 
math or rowen.' But as a general rule, the sap of all 
grasses cut before the sacharine matter is pretty 
well matured, is thin and watery, the hay conse¬ 
quently is much less nutritious than in the more 
ripened grass., and is not as well relished by stock. 
The proper period for cutting is best indicated by the 
gumming of the scythe. When this is the case, it 
indicates a sufficient maturity of the sap. 
When taken to the barn or stack, all hay should 
have a plentiful supply of salt; if quite dry, a peck to 
a load is sufficient, if damp or not thoroughly cured 
