Agriculture is the most healthful, the most useful, and the most 
noble employment of Man.— Washington. 
VOL. 1 \ L NEW YORK, FEBRUARY, 1844. 
A. B. Allen, Editor. 
HINTS FOR CHOOSING MEAT AT MARKET. 
We have often been surprised at the ignorance 
displayed by housekeepers, in the selections which 
they frequently make at the market for their fam¬ 
ily supplies. Many seem to think if they have 
qhosen from an overgrown beast, or bird with 
large bones, and loaded with masses of fat upon 
its flesh, that they have been particularly lucky, 
aj$l secured an excellent dish ; when, in all prob¬ 
ability, they have taken the very worst, and the 
least profitable for consumption. In purchasing a 
quarter of any animal, or pieces from it, we should 
select ^ich as have the smallest, thinnest, and flat¬ 
test bones; covered by the finest-grained flesh, 
with the fat Intermixed in thin streaks or layers 
with the lean. This will almost invariably be 
found tender, juicy, and profitable. On the con¬ 
trary, meat with large, round, thick bones, of a 
coarse grain, and showing the fat in thick slices 
or large lumps, will prove tough, unsavory, and so 
far as the profitable part of it is concerned, not 
worth so much by 25 to 50 per cent, as the finer 
bone qualities. Poultry which has long, coarse 
legs, neck, and head, ought to be avoided; while 
that with short, fine legs, long, round, and plump 
bodies, and a fine, short neck and head, if of a 
waitable age, should be preferred. These remarks 
NO, II. 
Saxton & Miles, Publishers, 205 Broadway. 
do not apply with the same force to fish ; for sev¬ 
eral kinds of the most bony are very good eating, 
although they may not be as profitable as those 
with fewer bones. The most delicate, however, 
have rather a small number of bones compared 
with the amount of meat they give; for example, 
the salmon, bass, cod, and mackerel of the salt 
water; and the Mackinaw trout, muscalonge, and 
white fish, of the fresh water. Very large vege¬ 
tables are not usually as delicate as those of me¬ 
dium size; but to this rule there are many excep¬ 
tions. As for fruits, the largest are usually the best. 
THE ENGLISH OAK IN AMERICA. 
We have been kindly favored by Mr. D. Jay 
Browne, who is about to publish a work on the 
“ Trees of America,” with the following informa¬ 
tion respecting the English oak, (Quercus robur,) 
as successfully cultivated in this country. 
This noble, beautiful, and useful tree was first 
introduced into the United States in 1802, by Mr. 
E. H. Derby, of Salem, Massachusetts. He im¬ 
ported six small plants in garden-pots, about eigh¬ 
teen inches in height, which are now tall trees of 
nearly as many inches in diameter. They have 
long borne acorns, from which other trees have 
grown more than forty feet in height, and nine 
