J60 
TO KEEP MEAT FRESH IN SUMMER. 
may be in some of the Eastern States, I could 
never recommend farmers to try it for feeding 
stock, where they raise corn for ten or twelve cents 
a bushel, as is the case upon millions of acres 
west of the Alleganies. Where roots must be 
grown, I have no doubt that parsnips would be 
found a valuable crop. But the soil must be very 
rich, and very deep and mellow. For a field crop, 
one of my neighbor Buggies & Co.’s biggest sub¬ 
soil plows should be used.There is one 
more valuable property of this root which you have 
not mentioned. A field of them is worth all the 
recipes in creation to keep the rabbits away from 
the young fruit trees. Let them have plenty of 
parsnips to eat, and they won’t gnaw the trees. . . . 
Has any one ever attempted to make sugar 
from parsnips? They certainly contain much 
saccharine matter, and in that consists their great 
fattening qualities. With the “potato cholera” 
spreading through the country to an alarming ex¬ 
tent, it is full time for us to look for a substitute, 
both for man and beast. For the latter it may be 
found in the parsnip, probably better than either of 
the other esculents. If we could at the North 
adopt that universal dish of the South, it would 
suit our money-saving propensities to eat hommo- 
ny, while Irish potatoes (what a bull to call them 
Irish) were selling at a dollar a bushel. But habit 
and fashion are both tyrants. But let us quit the 
field, and go to— 
The Stable, No. 8. —The first thing that catches 
the attention of nearly all readers of taste is, 
the picture. Pray, Mr. Editor, what is that 
bird-cage looking thing, up in one corner of the 
stall, high over the trough? Is it intended to put 
hay in ? If so, it is well called “ a rack defined 
in my dictionary as “ an engine of torture.” . . . 
If your horse is a very bad kicker, and can kick 
high enough to reach that “ engine of torture,” for 
mercy’s sake turn him around and let him expend 
his “ excess of nervous energy,” till he kicks that 
o.bomination of the horse stable out of fashion. 
. . . Whenever I discover that it is natural for 
a horse while feeding in the pasture, to constantly 
stretch his neck giraffe-like, into the top of the trees 
to look for grass, then, and not till then, will I in¬ 
sist that my noble friend shall pursue the same 
course in the stable. Until then he shall be allowed 
the privilege of stretching his neck down instead 
of up for his hay.There is one othe«r 
method to prevent kicking. It is the Indian mode; 
and can be adopted in situations where there are 
none of the appliances of the stall which you de¬ 
scribe—that is, on the road, or in the camp, where 
the malicious kicker will often injure his fellows. 
This method is the hobble, or fetters. They need 
not be so short as to impede the movement of the 
horse around his feed ; but if he attempt to kick, 
he finds there is a limit to his heels, and he will 
soon desist, and perhaps be cured in time of the 
habit.Your recommendation “ to shoe 
all kickers with flat shoes, without corks,” is cal¬ 
culated for a “ Southern latitude.” And, generally, 
there they are not shod at all. In fact, all the re¬ 
commendations of the article are better suited to the 
operations of a large stable than to the wants of 
“ American Agriculturists.” 
Alpacas. —This is a Peruvian product, which I 
certainly shall not object to see imported in any 
quantity; and I have not the least doubt but the 
contemplated importation will prove one of the 
most valuable for this country that ever took place; 
and I most sincerely hope it will turn out as pro¬ 
fitable as it is honorable to the gentlemen engaged 
in the enterprise. I should like to be personally 
engaged in the voyage, where I could see and note 
the habits of the animals upon their own native 
hills.But let me inquire, is it the best route 
to bring them around Cape Horn ? Cannot they 
be shipped to Panama, in smaller and cheaper 
vessels, with much less fitting for the boisterous 
passage of the Cape ? From Panama to Porto 
Bello it is 60 miles; and formerly there used'to be 
an immense trade carried on between the two 
cities, and I suppose there is still a passable mule 
road across the mountains, over which the Alpa¬ 
cas could be driven, and at Porto Bello take a 
first class vessel, and short run to New York. 
As this would so greatly shorten the passage, 
which is usually the greatest difficulty with ani¬ 
mals on ship-board, and if feasible would also be 
less expensive, it is perhaps worthy of considera¬ 
tion. I feel very anxious that the first experiment 
should be successful, and that it will prove that 
these valuable animals can be introduced into this 
country at a moderate price, and thereupon thou¬ 
sands will follow; and I fully believe that they 
will be found among the most valuable of our do¬ 
mestic animals. I love them, too, because they are 
Americans. 
American Agricultural Association. —“ What’s in 
a name ?” Why, much in this to make us hope 
that it is not like that whilom got up at Washington 
city, a mere “ sounding brass and tinkling cymbal.” 
Verily nothing so good as a “ National Agri¬ 
cultural Society” could flourish in so sterile a soil 
as that of Washington. I hope the “American 
Agricultural Association ” will grow, if nothing 
else, at least a cargo of Alpacas. Reviewer. 
We think the above review in part of our March 
No. a racy and agreeable article, and we regret that 
it came to hand so late that we cannot give the 
whole of it. Reviewer promises, if our readers 
like him, to continue the subject. Will they let 
him hear from them anent this matter? He is 
welcome to criticise any articles which we write to 
his heart’s content—we promise, for one, to take 
no exception to them. Our readers will understand 
that the matter interpolated in brackets is ours. 
To keep Meat fresh in Summer. —A cheap and 
simple refrigerator, for keeping perishable articles 
sweet during hot weather, may be thus constructed • 
Take plank ( hemlock is best to resist rats), plaije 
one side, and form a hollow trunk about 30 inches 
in diameter, open at the ends, and as long as youi 
ice-house is deep. Place it erect in the centre of 
the ice-house, and fill in the ice around the hollow 
trunk. Into this ice-well meat may be let down by 
cords and hooks. Or, what is a better plan, a box 
maybe suspended from a little windlass fixed to re¬ 
volve at the top, and meats, butter, &c., se¬ 
curely kept; and, if desired, they may be lowered 
deep enough to freeze them. Q. E. D 
