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WELSH RARE-BITS.—BLACKBERRY MUSH.—CULTIVATION OF TURNIPS.—NO. 1. 
First draw out a quart or a gallon, as may be, from 
the cask containing the vinegar, and replace it with 
an equal quantity from that which contains the 
cider. Thus, by continuing the operation daily, 
for some weeks, one or more hogsheads, of good, 
wholesome vinegar may be formed, without the ad¬ 
dition of any foreign or injurious materials. When 
sufficiently sharp, the vinegar should be drawn off 
into smaller casks or bottles, tightly bunged or 
corked, and put away in a moderately cool place 
for use. 
A superior vinegar may be made by filling a bar¬ 
rel one-third full with strong cider, reduced by 
freezing, and letting it stand with the bung-holes 
slightly covered for at least nine months. If the 
fermentation does not proceed with sufficient rapidi¬ 
ty, a few quarts of the liquor may be withdrawn, 
boiled for a short time, skimmed, and then poured 
back into the cask. 
A vinegar of good strength may be produced by 
putting 6 lbs. of sour yeast made of leaven and 
rye-flour, mixed with hot water, into a cask con¬ 
taining 100 gallons of good cider, agitating the 
whole with a stick, and then let it remain for six 
or eight days. It is necessary to draw off this 
vinegar and bung it up close, as soon as it is made, 
otherwise it will quickly grow vapid or flat. 
Those who have not cider, or grape-juice, at 
their command, can make a tolerable good vinegar, 
by any of the following directions, which we copy 
from Cooley’s “ Cyclopaedia of 6000 Practical Re¬ 
ceipts,” but it will be less pure and more liable to 
spoil, than that made from cider, malt, or wine :— 
Sugar-Vinegar .—Add brown sugar, 4 lbs., to 
each gallon of water, and proceed as with cider. 
German Household Vinegar. —Take soft water 
7h gallons; honey or brown sugar, 2 lbs.; cream 
of tartar,2 ounces; com-spirit, 1 gallon. Ferment 
as above. 
To prevent mouldiness in vinegar, the following 
methods have been proposed Concentrate by 
freezing, or by distillation ; put up the vinegar in 
bottles and keep them well-worked; or boil it in 
a well-tinned kettle for a quarter of an hour; put 
it in uncorked bottles; place them in a kettle of 
water with their necks above the surface, and let 
them boil for an hour; then take them out, cork 
them up, and the vinegar will keep for several 
years without growing mouldy or turbid. 
How to Make Welsh Rare-bits.— For each 
person take a quarter of a pound of rich new 
cheese, chop it fine, and put it into an iron or tin 
saucepan. Add a little water or beer, and stir it 
over the fire until the cheese is dissolved. Have in 
readiness a slice of toast on a warm plate, upon 
which the mess should immediately be poured. 
For seasoning, use pepper, mustard, and salt, ac¬ 
cording to your taste. 
Blackberry Mush. —Boil two quarts of black¬ 
berries ten minutes, and add half a pint of molasses. 
When it boils again, dust into it, from the edges, 
three table-spoonfuls of fine wheat-flour; stir it 
all the time, and when the flour is completely mixed 
in, it is done enough. It makes a cheap and health¬ 
ful dessert for the table, and is capital for the chil¬ 
dren to take to school to eat with bread, for dinner. 
CULTIVATION OF TURNIPS.—NO. 1. 
The cultivation of the turnip is of great antiquity. 
It was lauded by Columella, and even in his time 
the ancient Gauls fed their cattle on them in win¬ 
ter. The Romans were so well acquainted with its 
culture that Pliny mentions having raised some 
weighing forty pounds. Turnips were cultivated 
in the gardens of Britain in the time of Henry VIII.; 
but they were not much raised in that country as a 
field crop, until about the year 1730, when they 
were introduced into Norfolk, by Lord Townsend, 
from Germany. Before that time it was difficult to 
manage light soils to advantage, the land becoming 
soon exhausted by the repeated growth of grain; 
and as no regular rotation of green crops was then 
known, the land, when thus worn out, was neces¬ 
sarily left fallow, or thrown into pasture, in order 
to recruit. The soil of Norfolk, being naturally 
very light, yielded but little under this system; but 
turnip-husbandry, in regular rotation, has brought 
that county into a high state of fertility. They are 
now regarded as a fallow crop, and occupy that 
part of the rotation which closes one course, and 
commences another. 
Soil .—Turnips delight in a loose soil, on new 
land, in which they are raised to the greatest per¬ 
fection, and with the least hazard. Sandy loams, 
in good heart, are most favorable to their growth, 
though they will thrive in strong loams if they are 
not wet; but the crops in the latter will be rank in 
their taste, and run to flower at too early a period in 
spring. It is useless, however, to attempt to raise 
them on a stiff, clayey soil, or one that is too wet, 
unless they are perfectly pulverized, drained, and 
rendered fertile, if necessary, by the addition of 
manure; and even then, in the dry, hot climate of 
America, they are a very uncertain crop. No crop 
which is raised, is so well adapted as turnips, for 
the application of every kind of manure. 
Manures. —Wood-ashes, burnt-turf, sheep-fold, 
chalk, sea-sand, lime, rape-dust, guano, broken 
bones, bone-dust, oil-cake, sea-weed, and indeed 
every other kind of fermented manure, are all cal¬ 
culated to produce good crops of this vegetable. 
But nothing hastens its growth so much as liquid 
manures, such as that of bones dissolved in sul¬ 
phuric acid, guano, &c., applied about the roots of 
the plants towards evening, care being observed that 
it is properly diluted. The Scottish farmers have 
a maxim, that, “ The turnip is the mother of the 
dung-heap; and the dung-heap is the mother of 
everything else.” This is literally true, if the cul¬ 
tivation of green crops be the foundation of good 
husbandry, as is undoubtedly so in many cases. 
Hence the turnip should be placed at the head of 
the English system of husbandry the same as the 
corn crop stands at that of the American. 
Varieties. —There are a great variety of this 
valuable root, all of which may be classed under the 
heads of the White , the Yellow, and the Swedish ; 
but to cultivate all is not so desirable as to plant 
such as are the most productive and are best adapt¬ 
ed for use. Those which are deemed best for culi¬ 
nary purposes are the early Dutch and red-top, for 
autumn and early winter supply; and the yellow 
Aberdeen, the golden Maltese, and ruta-baga 
(Swedish), for spring. The latter remain firm, 
solid, and are good quite late in the spring, when 
