AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
167 
from the same moral circumstances which sup¬ 
ply good and beautiful results—the fragrance of 
celestial flowers—to the daily life of others.— 
Margaret Fuller. 
CAPSICUM PLANT—(Pepper.) 
Mr. Jas. Cutiiill, in the Marie Lane Express 
strongly recommends every person to grow 
their own pepper from the pods or fruit of the 
Capsicum plant. He says : 
The plant is of so easy growth, that little 
need be said about its cultivation. A couple of 
pennyworth to start with can be bought at any 
seed shop. The seed can be sown any time in 
April, in a pot, and slightly covered over with 
the same mold; if the seed pot is placed in a 
moderate heat, it will the sooner come up.— 
When the plants are two inches high, pot them 
off singly into pots, or plant them in a warm 
corner of the garden, a foot apart each way. 
Nothing more is required than to water them 
with a little rich water now and then. Should 
the red spider attack the plant, a little flower of 
sulphur dusted on the under side of the leaves 
kills the spider. The fruit or pods of the Cap¬ 
sicum will be ripe by September ; but if some 
are green it does not signify. The pods are then 
dried in an oven, or before the fire, then pound¬ 
ed, and if you have a mill to grind them smaller, 
so much the better. X few plants will grow as 
many pods as will make enough Cayenne pep¬ 
per to last for years, and one thing you know, 
that the thing is genuine. The green pods also 
make a fine hot pickle, mixed with cucumbers, 
vegetable marrows, &c. 
- • • •- 
THE OLIVES OF GETHSEMANE. 
At the foot of the Mount of Olives we find 
what is considered the garden of Gethsemane, 
memorable as the resort of our Lord, and as the 
scene of the agony which he endured the night 
he was betrayed. There is little doubt that 
this is the real place of this solemn transaction. 
It seems to have been an olive plantation in the 
time of Christ, as the name Gethsemane signi¬ 
fies oil-press. It is about fifty paces square, 
and is enclosed by a wall of no great height, 
formed of rough loose stones. Eight very an¬ 
cient olive trees now occupy the enclosure, some 
of which are very large, and all exhibit symp¬ 
toms of decay, clearly denoting their great age. 
As a fresh olive tree springs from the stump of 
an old one, there is reason to conclude that, 
even if the old trees existing in the time of our 
Lord have been destroyed, those which now 
stand sprang from their roots. But it is not in¬ 
credible that they should be the same trees. 
They are, at least, of the times of the Eastern 
empire, as isproved by the following circum¬ 
stance :—In Turkey every olive-tree which was 
found standing by the Moslems when they con¬ 
quered Asia pays a tax of one medina to the 
treasury, while each of those planted since the 
conquest paj’s half its produce; now the eight 
olive trees of Gethesmane pay only eight 
medina. Dr. Wild describes the largest as 
at twenty-four feet in girth above the root, 
though its topmost branch is not above thirty 
feet from the ground. M. Bove, who traveled 
as a naturalist, asserts that the largest are at 
least six yards in circumference, and nine or 
ten yards high—so large, indeed, that he calcu¬ 
lates their age at 2,000.— Ancient Jerusalem. 
-• • • - - 
CINNAMON GARDENS IN CEYLON. 
Picture a wild plot of fine white sand, in 
which grow, in irregular tufts, bushes of a pe¬ 
rennial green, but of a green of every shade, 
varying from the faintest yellow to the most 
sombre brown. Nothing can be more delicate 
in hue than the first tender leaves of the cinna¬ 
mon-bush, as they shoot forth variously from 
the branches, half opening, half curling up, as 
if afraid to trust themselves to the broad, glarjsh 
light of day, Their flavor, too, is a faint, plea¬ 
sant, aromatic one, that tempts the early wan¬ 
derer to pluck them occasionally as lie brushes 
past; and whilst the dew is rising in vapor from 
the leaves, caught up by the morning sun, it car¬ 
ries with it a delightful perfume of the spicy 
shrub, which makes the air peculiarly pleasant. 
—Forest Life in Ceylon. 
- -• —— 
BLACKBERRY WINE. 
A correspondent of the Southern Planter 
writes as follows: “ It may not be known to 
many of your subscribers that they possess in 
the blackberry, grown so unwillingly in their 
fields, the means at once of making an excellent 
wine as a valuable medicine for home use. To 
make a wine equal in value to port, take ripe 
blackberries, or dew berries, and press them ; 
let the juice stand thirty-six hours to ferment; 
skim off whatever rises to the top; then to 
every gallon of the juice add a quart of water 
and three pounds of sugar, (brown sugar will 
do;) let this stand in open vessels for twenty- 
four hours; skim and strain it; then barrel it 
until March, when it should be carefully racked 
off and bottled. Blackberry cordial is made by 
adding one pound of white sugar to three! 
pounds of ripe blackberries, allowing them to 
stand twelve hours; then pressing out the juice, 
straining it, adding one-third spirit, and putting 
a teaspoonful of finely-powdered allspice in 
every quart of the cordial, it is at once fit for 
use. This wine and cordial are very valuable 
medicines in the treatment of weakness of the 
stomach and bowels, and are especially valua¬ 
ble in the summer complaints of children.” 
-• • •- 
A DINNER AT THE PRESIDENTIAL MANSION 
IN OLDEN TIMES. 
The following letter was addressed by a mem¬ 
ber of Congress to his wife, during the adminis¬ 
tration of President John Adams. It describes 
a dinner at the President’s House, and gives a 
pleasing illustration of the domestic economy of 
that period: 
Philadelphia, .lime 9th, 1797. 
My dear Maria: l wrote you a few lines yes¬ 
terday, and promised you a long letter by this 
day’s mail. The grounds of my promise were, 
that, having dined at the President’s, I certainly 
could not lack for materials to compose a very 
handsome letter indeed, and one of no small im¬ 
portance. Our House were so earnestly en¬ 
gaged in debating the question u iohcther a mart 
has a right to defend himself when attached by 
robbers or assassins ,” that we did not adjourn 
until after 4 o’clock (the hour at which we were 
to dine.) We therefore went straight from the 
House of Representatives to the President’s, and 
were introduced by name to the President, who 
shook hands with us, and introduced us to Mrs. 
Adams, who rose to receive our bow. We then 
sat down, and the waiter handed round a glass 
of punch, which, permit me to say, was very 
agreeable, after having sat for five long hours 
hearing a very dry debate on a very clear sub¬ 
ject. 
In a few minutes dinner was announced, and 
one of the gentlemen handed Mrs. Adams into 
the dining-room. The President followed, and 
the company followed him. Mrs. Adams sat at 
the head of the table, and the Secretary at the 
foot, and the President sat at one side near the 
middle. The company took their seats alto¬ 
gether promiscuously, except that the Chaplain 
of our ‘House, who said grace, sat at Mrs. 
Adams’s right hand. Grace having been said 
before we took our seats, we had nothing to do 
but to attend to our business. But here it is 
necessary to give a description of the bill of fare, 
and the arrangement of the board; but I am 
very much afraid that I shall not only be inac¬ 
curate, but that I shall fail in giving a brilliant 
and interesting description of this important 
subject. As I wish, however, to be as good as 
my word, T shall attempt it. There were about 
twent}' persons at table. The utensils were 
only common blue china plates, glass tumblers, 
and wine glasses. The table was decorated or 
garnished with glass stands, five in number. 
On the two extremes were only dishes of com¬ 
mon lettuce or salad; next to these, towards the 
center, at each end, was a piece of pastry work, 
resembling a large cake baked in a tin pan, and 
turned up side down and decorated with rose¬ 
buds just opening. In the center there was a 
large cake of the same form, but it was incrus- 
tated on the outside with a fine white frosted 
surface, spangled with sugar plums in the shape 
of cocked hats, shells, radishes, &c. 
The dishes were nine or ten in number, viz.: 
at the head, a piece of beef a la mode; at the 
foot, a large roast pig; then, alternately, fish, a 
leg of mutton, tongue, boiled fowls, ham, corned 
beef, a dish of small birds, chicken pie, and per¬ 
haps two dishes more—I cannot be certain. 
All these, however, were preceded by soup, not 
calf’s-head, but common. The vegetables were 
peas, salad, potatoes, (new ones, but very small,) 
cranberry sauce. The dessert: tarts, custards, 
jellies, ice cream, blanc mange, strawberries, 
cherries, (very poor,) raisins, almonds, &c. And 
the wines : Madeira and port. 
Mrs. Adams was very sociable, and helped to 
carve, &c. The President carved the ham, 
which was before him, and was very attentive 
to all the guests. After a few glasses, Mrs. 
Adams withdrew, with her daughter, Gol. W. 
S. Smith’s wife, who said nothing, that 1 heard, 
all the time she sat at the table. We drank the 
United States, and no toasts or sentiments, but 
did just as we pleased, and took a French leave 
when it suited. The President told the gentle¬ 
men, as he saw them retire, that there was 
coffee above, if they chose it. The day was hot, 
and I believe but few went up. I sat until there 
were but three or four left, and then retired. 
- • © »- 
WOOLEN AND COTTON MIXED GOODS. 
There are many who think when they have 
purchased a piece of “ cheap woolen goods,” 
they have made a great bargain. There never 
was a graver mistake committed. Thousands 
and thousands of pieces of goods are sold in the 
shape of narrow and broadcloths, as being all 
wool, while in fact they are composed of at least 
twenty per cent, of cotton. The latter is mixed 
and carded with the wool, and all being dyed 
with the same color, it is very difficult to detect 
the imposition. We presume that many mer¬ 
chants sell such goods under the belief that 
they are genuine—composed wholly of wool. 
The manufacturers know all about the decep¬ 
tion, and no doubt the great majority of the 
large merchants are aware of the fact also. 
Any imposition practised upon the community 
in the shape of an article of manufacture, de¬ 
serves the severest censure. 
Cotton can easily be detected in any piece of 
goods, even when mixed in the process of card¬ 
ing, by submitting a small strip of the goods to 
the action of a little sulphuric acid, mixed with 
very hot water. The acid will discharge the 
color from the cotton, while the color of the 
wool will remain almost unchanged. There are 
very few colors, in cotton, but what are far 
more fugitive than those on wool; this is the 
reason why the warm sulphuric acid solution is 
a good test for cotton in cloth. 
Land in Western New-York.— The Roches¬ 
ter American states that Hon Samuel Rich¬ 
mond, of Bergen, Genesee county, harvested 
last season a field of wheat of nine acres, aver¬ 
aging forty-two bushels to the acre. Recently 
he sold the wheat at two dollars per bushel. — 
Thus he pocketed eighty-four dollars for the 
produce of each acre. Farms in Bergen are 
said to be selling at $100 to $150 per acre. 
You may glean knowledge by reading ; but 
you must separate the chaff from the wheat by 
thinking. 
