158 
editor’s table. 
faded or very bad in the flavor. Though,cheese should 
not be kept in too high a temperature, yet they will 
bear the summer heat tolerably well, provided they 
have a constant supply of good air. There is no ob¬ 
jection to a little artificial heat, in winter, from a stove 
or a fire, but this should always be accompanied with 
a supply of pure air. The difficulty to contend with 
is twofold: first, the want, in many farm-houses, of a 
suitable cheese-room; and, secondly, the prejudices of 
the dairymaids. They have a long-cherished idea in 
favor of closed doors, and closed windows, and dark 
rooms. To prevent flies, they sometimes say, is the 
reason for keeping the room dark and close; but this 
is the best plan for increasing them, by producing pu¬ 
trid matter in the cheese. And as for flies, a penny¬ 
worth of quassia chips, boiled in a pint of water, well 
sweetened, and put on plates, will kill thousands di¬ 
rectly. As I have this week seen several lots of new 
cheese, in close-confined rooms, which, if they are kept 
for any length of time, are sure to rot, I am the more 
anxious to warn the cheesemakers in time, now that 
hot weather is approaching, to open the doors and win¬ 
dows of their cheese-rooms; and, in cases where there 
are no openings, either to set their husbands or the 
joiners at work, immediately, to make them. 
The Edinburgh Journal of Agriculture for July 
is an excellent number, from which we have space to 
merely condense a paragraph or two. 
The Decomposition of Manure mainly depends upon 
the presence of moisture, and, during the process, a 
certain degree of heat is created. Water, therefore, is 
decomposed in the first instance, and experiment has 
proved that, during that phenomenon, a stream of elec¬ 
tricity passes, to an extent so vast as to strike one 
with awe. It is fair, then, to infer that electricity, re¬ 
vealed by the decomposition of water, disturbs all the 
elements of the manures, and induces them to recom¬ 
bine in the form of ammonia, carbonic acid, and humus. 
Night Soil contains all the elements of every plant, 
and in a state of combination which proclaims it to be 
superior. Why do we neglect it ? Why, on the con¬ 
trary, do we divert it to the worst of purposes ? Were 
it duly collected, condensed, and applied, our farms 
would require no foreign appliances, no expensive im¬ 
portations, or spurious attempts at imitation. 
Potato Starch .—We find in the Cleveland Herald 
the following method of making potato starch, and it 
says it is the veritable Bright Farina and Arrow-root 
which we see so highly lauded in the London papers. 
Take half-a-dozen large and smooth potatoes, wash 
them in clear fair water, and then carefully pare off 
all the rind. Next grate them fine with a suitable tin 
grater. The pulp must be mixed with a pailful of 
cold water, and thoroughly agitated and squeezed by 
the hand or any suitable instrument, at the same time 
throwing away the fibrous matter, and permitting the 
starch to subside to the bottom of the vessel. To this 
must be repeated fresh washing of cold water, till the 
pure Farina is obtained free from all other matter. 
This should then be spread on earthen dishes, and dried 
in a warm airy situation. 
The good housewife will exclaim, ec Why this is 
nothing but potato starch.” True, it is not, nor have 
you used any other article under the name of arrow-root 
for the sick members of your family, though you may 
have purchased it at the rate of several shillings per 
pound. 
By proper modes of cooking, known to every nurse 
and housekeeper, this article becomes a delightful bev¬ 
erage for invalids weak of digestive powers; while as 
a pleasing dietary, even to persons in good health, it 
possesses a strong attraction. 
actor's Stable. 
NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 
It is proposed to publish the following national work, viz: 
The Trees of America, pictorially, botanically, and en- 
tomologically delineated ; embracing a Complete Descrip¬ 
tion of the Forest Trees of North America, their culture, 
management, and propagation ; uses and economy in the 
arts; introduction into commerce ; and their application 
in useful and ornamental plantations, and in landscape 
gardening. By D. J. Browne, author of the Sylva Ameri¬ 
cana. This work has been prepared, as far as practicable, 
in accordance with the plan proposed by the author in his 
Memorial praying Congress to adopt measures for procu¬ 
ring and preserving a supply of timber for naval purposes. 
—[Doc. 241, 25th Congress, 2d Ses.] 
Conditions of the Subscription. —The work complete will 
form a beautiful imperial 8vo volume of 500 pages, orna¬ 
mented with 300 fine wood engravings printed in the text, and 
ublished in ten numbers at 50 cents each, or $5 a volume, 
ound in cloth. Mr. Browne for a long number of years, 
has been devoting his attention to the subjects of the above 
work ; we have seen a part of it in manuscript, and can 
assure the public, that it will undoubtedly be the best and 
most complete book ever published on the Forest Trees of 
America. 
Economy of Farming. —We are glad to learn that a 
work called Economy of Farming, translated from the Ger¬ 
man Manual of Land Husbandry of J. Burger, Professor 
of Agriculture in Vienna, with notes from the works of 
Thaer, Veil, Schwertz, Sprengel, Petri, and others, with 
an index by E. Goodrich Smith, will soon be issued from 
the press of Leavitt & Trow, of this city. From the spe¬ 
cimen we have seen of the work, we think it will prove a 
valuable addition to the works of agriculture already 
offered to the public; as it contains a great variety of 
estimates of the proportions of labor, fodder, and manure, 
and the relations of the different parts of the farming op¬ 
erations to each other. We understand the work will be 
published in an octavo form, on good paper and type, with 
a large page, and that it will make a pamphlet of 130 or 
140 pages, and will be sold by the single copy at a price 
not to exceed 50 cents. It contains much curious and use¬ 
ful practical knowledge, as the results of numerous experi¬ 
ments of a practical kind are given with great accuracy. 
The original work from which it is taken, has passed 
through nine editions, in Germany. The translation and 
notes have cost much labor, and the value of the work has 
been enhanced. The translator was employed in the prep¬ 
aration of the late Reports on Agriculture by the Com¬ 
missioner of Patents, and the present work has Mr. Ells¬ 
worth’s commendation. 
The Western Farmer and Gardener, published in 
Cincinnati, Ohio, edited and illustrated by Charles Foster, 
assisted by M. W. Philips, of Miss.—24 pages, double 
columns octavo, monthly ; price $1 a year. We are glad 
to see this excellent work revived, and wish Mr. Foster 
all possible success in it. He is in the centre of a broad 
and fertile country, whose principal products are those of 
agriculture, and such journals as these should receive a 
liberal support. It is a double number—11 and 12 of Vol. 
III.—which we have received. The matter is good; the 
cuts numerous and appropriate. That of the Cotton 
planter, or Sand-hill Hog, is a caution to all beholders . 
and in gazing upon his delectable proportions, our optics 
11 acknowledge the corn,” as they say at the west, for this 
certainly beats our immortal Land-pike and Alligator “ into 
fits.” 
Lectures on the Application of Chemistry and 
Geology to Agriculture, by Jas. F. W. Johnstone. 
Published by D. IC. Minor, 23 Chambers street; Saxton & 
Miles, 205 Broadway; and Saxton, Peirce, & Co., Boston. 
ISO pages, price 37£ cents. This is Part III. of these abia 
and lucid lectures, the very best, certainly, upon these sub- 
jects. The public may well be obliged to the publishers* 
for issuing it in so portable, neat, and cheap a form. Nc 
farmer should be without this work. 
The Encyclopedia of Geography, by Hugh Murray 
Part XI. is out, price 25 cents. Lea & Blanchard, Phila¬ 
delphia, publishers. C. S. Francis & Co., 252 Broadway. 
