APPLICATION OF GYPSUM OR PLASTER OF PARIS- ETC. 
269 
APPLICATION OF GYPSUM OR PLASTER 
OF PARIS. 
Ground plaster, applied as a fertilizer, is so 
well known, and its properties and uses so well 
established, that it is presumed that most intelligent 
farmers are perfectly acquainted with everything 
concerning it. It is extensively used, and is very 
advantageous to clover, beans, peas, turnips, cab¬ 
bages, &c.; but it does not appear to answer so 
well on natural meadows, for grain crops, nor on 
wet, or very poor lands, containing but little vege¬ 
table matter, nor is it thought to be of much use in 
places approximate to the sea. It is extensively 
used in composts in barn-yards and stables, and in 
neutralizing decayed or putrescent substances, in 
vaults, urine tanks, &c.; and is advantageously 
employed with green manures, and as a top-dress¬ 
ing of rotted dung or compost, to which it gives 
remarkable activity. 
The quantity of gypsum used per acre varies 
from half a bushel to five bushels, depending upon 
the quantum of substances in the ground on which 
the component parts of the gypsum operate, or are 
by them operated upon. In proportion as these are 
scarce or abundant, the effects are produced in a 
greater or less degree. And when they are ex¬ 
hausted, or where they do not exist, no quantity 
whatever will produce any agricultural benefit. 
If a greater quantity be used, than is required to 
exhaust the subjects of its operation, the excess 
will remain inert and inactive until new subjects 
call forth its powers. Still the gypsum remaining 
in the soil, on a renewed application of dung, ani¬ 
mal, or vegetable matter, will operate, but less 
powerfully, although it may have remained in the 
ground for years. Therefore, small quantities, by 
frequent applications, are much the best, notwith¬ 
standing the excess, if applied too profusely, or 
beyond what the substances in the earth require, 
will remain in its original state of composition. 
ANDERSON’SPATENT HAMMER. 
Anderson’s Patent Hammer.—Fig. 64. 
This is a recent invention ; the claw, as will be 
seen by the cut, extending to the handle, and clasp¬ 
ing it with a strong ring, which makes it impossi¬ 
ble, in drawing nails, for the handle to give way, 
draw out, or become loose. The face of the patent 
hammer will thus always remain true, it being kept 
at the same angle with the hammer. We consider 
this a very great improvement, and we think it will 
supersede all others now in use. These hammers 
are made of cast steel of the best kind, and in a very 
superior manner. Further description seems un¬ 
necessary, as the cut shows all. Six different 
sizes are now made, weighing from half a pound to 
one and a half pounds. The price varies accord¬ 
ing to size, from 75 cents to $1 each. 
PREPARATION OF TOMATOS. 
We condense the following modes of cooking 
and preserving the tomato from the Ohio Cultivator, 
which appear to us to be worthy of the attention 
of housewives and cooks. 
To make Tomato Omelet.—Take a stew-pan and 
melt a piece of butter the size of a nutmeg. Mince 
up an onion very fine, and fry it until quite brown 
Add ten peeled tomatos, season with pepper and 
salt, and stir them until cooked to a soft pulp. 
Then stir in four beaten eggs, until the underside 
of the mass becomes brown. Lay a plate on top, 
turn the pan upside down, and the dish is ready for 
the table. 
Tomato Marmalade. —Gather full-grown tomatos 
w T hile quite green. Take out the stems and stew 
them until soft, then rub them through a sieve, put 
the pulp over the fire, season highly with pepper, 
salt, and powdered cloves, and let it stew until 
quite thick. The article will keep well, and is ex 
cellent for seasoning gravies. 
French Mode of Cooking Tomatos. —Cut ten or a 
dozen tomatos into quarters, and put them into a 
sauce-pan with four sliced onions, a little parsley, 
thyme, one clove, and a quarter of a pound of 
butter. Set the pan over the fire, stir the mixture 
occasionally for three-fourths of an hour, and then 
strain it through a coarse sieve or colander. It 
may be served with mutton-chops or a beef-steak. 
Dandelion Coffee. —Dr. Harrison, of Edin- 
bugh, prefers dandelion coffee to that of Mecca; 
and many persons all over the Continent prefer a 
mixture of succory and coffee to coffee alone. Dig 
up the roots of dandelion, wash them well, but do 
not scrape them, dry them, cut them into the size 
of peas, and then roast them in an earthen pot, or 
coffee roaster of any kind. The great secret of 
good coffee, is, to have it fresh burnt and fresh 
ground.— Cottage Gardening. 
How to boil Green Corn. —The proper state 
in which to eat green corn, is, at the time that the 
milk flows upon pressing the kernels with the 
thumb nail. It is best w T hen boiled in the ear with 
the husks on, the latter of which should be strip¬ 
ped off when brought to the table. The ears should 
then be covered with butter, with a little salt ad¬ 
ded, and the grains eaten off the cob. Over-refined 
people think this vulgar, and shave them off, but 
in so doing they lose much of their sweetness. 
Best Time to Prune Peach Trees. —The 
most suitable time for pruning the peach, as well as 
for most other kinds of stone-fruit, is in autumn, 
just as the leaves begin to fall, w r hen the sap is in 
a downward motion. At this period, a more per¬ 
fect cicatrization takes place, than when the trees 
are pruned in winter or spring 
