246 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
fence, with a southern exposure, this forcing- 
house can be more easily made. 
Tint whether this expedient is tried or not, it is 
very beneficial to pinch out the leading shoots of 
such as are wanted early, soon after the fruit on 
the lower branches is half-grown. It will be found 
that too-thirds of the fruit is on the lower part of 
the vine, and the loss from pruning is therefore 
inconsiderable. By this pruning, the forces of the 
plant are directed chiefly to maturing the fruit. 
A portion of one’s plants should be left untrim¬ 
med, so as to furnish a succession of fruit till frost. 
Peabody’s Strawberry—Not a Humbug- 
We are free to say that we are happily disap¬ 
pointed in the results obtained with this plant. 
In the Spring of last year we procured 21 dozen 
plants to experiment with. They were set out 
with too much care, just before the long cold 
rains in May. The soil, for nearly a foot square 
for each plant, was loosened deeply, and mixed 
with bone sawings. The rain settled this loose 
soil so much as to form a basin, and the plants— 
already enfeebled by a long transit from Georgia 
—were nearly drowned out. Only ten of the 
thirty survived at all, and these had not attained 
leaves larger than mouse ears up to the latter part 
of July. About July 1st the whole mass of earth 
around each plant was raised and earth thrown 
under. They grew very vigorously in August, 
sending out large numbers of runners, and be¬ 
fore the season closed we had about 600 plants, a 
part of which had been transplanted from time to 
time, an'’ a part given away. 
The old bed contained about 70 or SO plants 
in the Spring of this year. These bloomed well, 
but the first flowers did not seem to set well, yet 
they continue to bear, and there is still ripening 
fruit (July 12). We have picked from the old 
bed over a measured peck of fruit, besides some 
from the vines transplanted last Fall. 
The fruit is necked, deep colored, very solid, 
averaging as large as the best of several im¬ 
proved varieties we have growing near, and it 
has a very rich pine-apple flavor. For our own 
eating we prefer the Peabody to any other straw¬ 
berry we know of. We do not suppose it will, 
under all circumstances, produce quite so freely 
as Longworth’s Prolific, and some others, but its 
superior quality, and the vigorous habit of the 
plants, incline us to place this variety far up, if 
not at the head of the list of desirable strawber¬ 
ries. In this opinion we are far from being alone, 
though at variance with the judgment of several 
cultivators who have written on the subject this 
season. Mr. Lockwood, of Stamford, Conn., 
brought us a basket of this fruit, which exceeded 
our own in size. He had a dozen plants last year 
which extended to some 70 or 80 during the Sum¬ 
mer. From these he gathered a quart a day for 
some two weeks. He puts it ahead of every other 
variety. Dr. Ward, of Newark, N. J., who grows 
the best varieties largely, says that the Peabody 
quite exceeds all expectations he had previously 
formed. Several others in our acquaintance speak 
in similar terms. 
Speaking of strawberries, we must not forget 
to return our thanks to Mr. Scott, of Plainfield, 
N J., for that great basket of great strawberries 
(Hovey’s) which came to hand last month. Out 
of curiosity we weighed and counted the en¬ 
tire contents of the basket, and found they aver- 
agetl 56 berries to the pound avoirdupois. May 
our triend Scott and his good wife long live to 
cheer not only editors, but many others by such 
fruit 
A Chapter on Meats 
The Composition of Meat—Best mode of Cook¬ 
ing Fresh Meats—Meat Broths — Liebig's new 
Strengthening Broth for the Sick—Salting or Pick¬ 
ling Meat—Boiling Corned Beef and Mutton, dj-c. 
WHAT IS MEAT 1 
We have in most kinds of meat a mixture of 
lean flesh with fat. The fat is a simple substance 
much like oil in its composition. This serves an 
important end as food, since it supplies the fat of 
the body, and at the same time the materials for 
keeping the body warm. Separating the fatty 
portion from meat we have the lean flesh, which 
is a more complex substance than fat, oil or tal¬ 
low. The lean flesh of the body is called muscle; 
thus, when we speak of a strong, muscular man, 
we imply one who has a large amount of lean 
flesh, and one’s strength depends upon these mus¬ 
cles which, by their contraction and expansion, 
move the limbs. A person may have a large, 
heavy body, but be very weak, owing to a lack of 
this lean or muscular flesh. 
The muscles consist, first, of long bundles of 
fibrin. Among these muscles are cells, in which 
are deposited particles of fat or oil. With the 
muscles are mingled nerves which set them in 
action, and also blood vessels. There is also 
much water, amounting to nearly three-fourths of 
the entire weight. 
The muscular or lean flesh taken together, 
is composed of: water; albumen which is like 
the white of an egg in its composition and pro¬ 
perties ; gelatine, the substance which dissolved 
in water forms a jelly when cold; fibrin, the 
substance which coagulates and forms the clot 
of blood leaving the clear albumen—it exists in 
the muscles as long small strings. The albumen, 
fibrin, and gelatine ate somewhat similar in com¬ 
position, and all contain nitrogen. 
The average amount of each of these sub¬ 
stances contained in several kinds of fresh, lean 
flesh, is shown in the following table. 
Albumen and Gela- 
Total Solid 
100 lbs. 
Water. 
Fibrin. 
tine. 
Matter. 
Lean Mutton. . 
... .71 lbs. 
22 lbs. 
7 lbs. 
29 lbs. 
“ Chicken . 
... 73 
20 
7 
27 
“ Beef. 
....74 
20 
6 
26 
“ Veal. 
19 
6 
25 
‘ Pork ... . 
. . .76 
19 
5 
24 
“ Codfish (fr’h) 79 
14 
7 
21 
In the above table it is assumed that all the 
fat or oil has been separated. Usually, however, 
there is an average of about 8 lbs. of fat left in 
100 lbs. of lean meat, after all the visible fat is 
removed. 
If we take a quantity of fresh lean meat and 
cut it into small bits, then soak in water and press 
it, a peculiar liquid will be obtained which con¬ 
tains the elements that give taste or flavor to the 
meat. Eighteen pounds of this liquid contains 
about one pound of rich food. It is the loss of 
this savory element which renders salted meat, 
or that improperly boiled in the open air, so com¬ 
paratively tasteless. 
COOKING FRESH MEATS. 
We are now prepared to understand how to 
cook meat in the best manner. If we put it into 
cold water and let it stand only a little time be¬ 
fore boiling, the water will abstract much of the 
juices of the meat. If, on the contrary, we drop 
meat into water already boiling, the high heat 
will at once coagulate or harden the albumen up¬ 
on the surface, just as boiling hardens an egg. 
The hard coat thus formed upon the surface pre¬ 
vents the juices from flowing out, or the water 
from entering to soak them out, and the meat re¬ 
tains its good flavor. 
After a brief cooking of fresh meat there is no 
further necessity for keeping up the boiling heat 
of 212°. A temperature of 170° is amply suf¬ 
ficient to coagulate or cook the blood. Consider¬ 
able time is required for the heat to penetrate en¬ 
tirely through the substance of the meat, which is 
a slow conductor of heat (caloric). 
The same rules apply to baking meats. They 
should at first be put into a hot oven to form a 
coating of albumen to retain the juices, and then 
lower the heat before a hard burned crust is pro¬ 
duced, but keep just hot enough to prevent any 
charring, and allow time for the heat to pene¬ 
trate to the center. Few persons cook steak or 
mutton chop well, simply because they slowly 
heat it in a frying pan or on a broiler, and allow 
the rich, savory juices to ooze out and escape. 
The fire should be a brisk one, and the supporting 
irons hot before the meat is put on, and then let 
it be cooked as quickly as possible without 
scorching. 
BROTHS, SOUPS, BEEF-TEA. 
Just an opposite course to the above is to be 
pursued, when it is desired to extract the nutri¬ 
tious juices of meats. In this case, cut the meat 
into very thin pieces, or better, chop it as fine as 
possible, and place it in cold water, allowing it to 
stand for a short time before heating; heat 
gently, and after a time boil for a few minutes ; 
then remove the meat by straining and pressing 
in a cloth. Liebig directs : “ Take one pound of 
lean beef, free from fat and bones, anfl reduce it 
as fine as sausage or mince meat; mix it uni¬ 
formly with boiling water ; slowly heat it to boil¬ 
ing ; after boiling briskly for a minute or two, 
strain it through a towel from the coagulated 
albumen and fibrin, which have now become hard 
and horny, and we obtain an equal weight of the 
most aromatic soup, of such strength as can not 
be obtained by boiling even for hours, from a 
piece of flesh.” 
An aged matron of our acquaintance, in repute 
for her good preparations in the cooking line, 
makes beef-tea by cutting fresh lean beef into 
fine pieces, and inserting them without water in 
a common junk bottle. This is corked up and 
put into cold water which is gradually heated and 
then boiled for some hours. The contents of the 
bottle are then pressed to extract the juice. This 
mode of cooking in a close bottle prevents any es¬ 
cape of flavor, while the slow conducting power of 
the glass prevents a rapid heating at first. 
liebig’s strengthening broth for tub sick. 
In addition to Liebig’s common broth described 
above, we give his prescription for making a cold 
broth which shall contain the nutriment of meat, 
without coagulating the albumen by heating, which 
renders it less digestable for persons debilitated 
by fevers and other diseases.—Take of perfectly 
fresh lean beef or chickpn, say half-a-pound, and 
cut in small pieces. Put this in lbs. of 
cold, distilled or pure soft water, to which there 
has previously been added lialf-a-teaspoonful 
drachm) of common salt, and four drops of mu¬ 
riatic acid. Mix these materials well together 
and let them stand half-an-hour. Then strain 
through a hair sieve, or coarse linen cloth, with¬ 
out pressing or squeezing. The first portions 
coming through will appear cloudy, and these 
may be poured back upon the sieve several times 
if need be, until it passes through clear, but of a 
red color. Upon the meat left in the sieve pour 
half-a-pound more of water, a little at a time. 
About a pound of cold extract of meat is thus ot> 
tained ; and if made perfectly cold, and kept so 
