278 
FRENCH BREAD-HOW TO MAKE SUCCOTASH-ETC. 
FRENCH BREAD. 
The bakers in France commence their operations 
at five o’clock in the morning, by mixing 5 pints of 
water, and 3 lbs. of leaven, reserved from the last 
baking, and as much flour as will make a paste, 
weighing 17 lbs. Ten hours afterwards they add 
10 or 11 pints more water, sufficient flour to 
make a paste of 40 lbs. weight; two hours after¬ 
wards 24 pints more water, and flour enough to 
make a paste of the weight of 120 lbs. From this 
paste they cut off a portion of three pounds in 
weight, to serve for the leaven of the next day’s 
baking. Then, four hours afterwards, they make 
a new addition of 100 lbs. of flour, and from 70 to 
80 pints of water, and which will yield a mass of 
about 300 lbs. weight. They then begin to beat 
the paste, and when it is well kneaded, they sepa¬ 
rate about 80 lbs. of it, which is to serve as the 
leaven for the next baking. This paste is so fluid, 
that the loaves cannot preserve their form before 
they have been exposed to the heat of the oven. 
For the second baking, after having mixed the 
quantity of flour necessary, by kneading it, they 
add the paste reserved from the former baking, and 
when the mass is finished, they cut off a part weigh¬ 
ing 80 lbs., and thus they proceed a third time, a 
fourth, and so on, until they have made twelve 
bakings. They thus continue to work for several 
days together, only they modify it after every fourth 
baking, by adding what they term a young leaven 
to the paste which each baking had impaired or 
weakened. If they would introduce into the paste 
either salt or yeast, they thin it in a proper man¬ 
ner with water, which contains yeast or salt in so¬ 
lution. They also use yeast for the soft bread. A 
quarter of a pound of the yeast from beer is equal 
to 8 lbs. of the paste leaven, so that 4 ounces of 
yeast are equivalent to 20 lbs. of the paste. The 
paste in which they have mixed the yeast, must 
not, however, be mixed with that containing leaven. 
—From the French. 
Succotash in Winter. —Take, when green, 
your corn either on the cob or carefully shelled, and 
your beans in the pod, dip them in boiling water, 
and carefully dry them in the shade where there is 
a free circulation of air. Pack them up in a box or 
bag, in which they should be kept in a dry place ; 
and succotash may be made from them as well in 
winter as in summer. 
How to make Succotash.— To about half a 
pound of salt pork add three quarts of cold water, 
and set it to boil. Now cut off three quarts of 
green corn from the cobs, set the corn aside, and 
put the cobs to boil with the pork, as they will add 
much to the richness of the mixture. When the 
pork has boiled, say half an hour, remove the cobs 
and put in one quart of freshly-gathered, green, 
shelled beans; boil again for fifteen minutes ; then 
add the three quarts of corn and let it boil another 
fifteen minutes. Now, turn the whole out into a 
dish, add five or six large spoonfuls of butter, sea¬ 
son it with pepper to your taste, and with salt, also, 
if the salt of the pork has not proved sufficient. If 
the liquor has boiled away, it will be necessary to 
add a little more to it before taking it away from I 
the fire, as this is an essential part of the affair.— 
Western Farmer and Gardener. 
MR. RANDALL/S MERINO SHEEP. 
On reading Mr. Bingham’s last communication, 
I addressed a note to Col. Randall, desiring him to 
signify what answer he wished me to make to Mr. 
B.’s proposition. I received the subjoined reply ; 
“ I decline Mr. Bingham’s proposition to send 
fleeces to Lowell, there to be compared with those 
of his Rambouillets, by Mr. Lawrence ; first, be¬ 
cause it would not comport with arrangements 
which I have made for the disposal of my wool; 
and, secondly, because having consented at your 
instance to show at the State Fairat Auburn, I can¬ 
not see any good reason why Mr. B. should object 
to either the place or the tribunal. The viewing 
committee at Auburn, to which the wool would 
have been submitted, consists of Robert A. Reed, of 
Washington, Pa.; Edward A. Leroy, of New 
York; William B. Smith, of Woodbury, Conn.; 
Samuel Lawrence, of Lowell; S. Newton Dexter, of 
Oriskany. With the exception of Mr. Reed, I 
never have seen any of the above gentlemen, and 
I know not that any of them, including Mr. 
Reed, have ever seen any of my sheep, or any of my 
wool, or expressed any opinion in relation to either. 
Before such a committee,—deciding where assem¬ 
bled thousands could examine and review the 
grounds of the decision, I should have been happy 
to have compared specimens of wool, or if desired 
by Mr. B. the entire fleeces—orth e sheep themselves. 
I entertain no suspicion of the integrity of Mr 
Lawrence, nor do l know that he is any way preju¬ 
diced in the premises, but I must confess that I am 
somewhat surprised that a proposition of this kind 
is made in answer to mine. Henry S. Randall.” 
In closing this correspondence with Mr. B., I 
have only to say, that I have entertained no preju¬ 
dice against the Rambouillets; nor am I in any 
way interested in decrying them. I did believe, 
and now believe, that even taking the statements of 
their friends, so far as any have been made, we 
have better American sheep. 
The average weight of these Rambouillet. sheep 
has never been given ! Why is this ? If Mr. B. 
is perfectly willing, we should like to have the 
average clip this year stated, giving the number of 
ram’s fleeces of two years’ growth, &c L. 
Cortlandville, July 31st, 1846. 
ADULTERATION OF MILK. 
The subject of the adulteration of milk was some 
time since investigated with great care, by M. 
Barruel of Paris. Although his observations were 
intended to apply only to the milk of that city, yet 
there is little doubt that they will also be found ap¬ 
plicable, in a greater or less degree, to all large 
towns and cities. He commences in stating that 
all instruments for ascertaining the purity of milk, 
which are designed to attain this end by indicating 
differences in its density or specific gravity, are in¬ 
accurate and useless (a). For, on the one hand, 
pure milk differs much in its density, according to 
the fodder used by the dairy-man for his cows, the 
butyraceous matter which imparts lowness of den- 
I sity, being made to preponderate by some kinds of 
