AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
311 
united in bread or cake produce a double salt called 
“ Siegnelte or Rochelle Salts," (i. e. tartrate of po- 
tassa and soda), and not simply ‘-tartrate ofpot- 
ash,” as stated by M. D. The Rochelle salt thus 
formed by using cream of tartar and soda, in 
bread, cake, etc., is a neutral one, being neither 
acid nor alkaline. It is mildly purgative (physic- 
ing), well suited to delicate and irritable stomachs. 
The dose required for cathartic effect is from 
half an ounce to an ounce, which is more than 
would be produced in raising forty or fifty ordina¬ 
ry biscuits with cream of tartar and soda. There¬ 
fore the amount consumed by a person at a meal, 
is too small to produce material injurious or ben¬ 
eficial effects, and we have never condemned its 
use in any kind of bread or pastry. As far as 
health is concerned we would prefer pie crust, 
for example, raised with cream of tartar and soda, 
to that made “crisp” with hog’s fat. We think 
the chief injurious result from soda raised biscuits 
and bread arise from the fact that, when made 
light and palatable, persons eat double or treble 
the quantity which the stomach can digest, or 
which the system requires as nourishment. It 
is certain that most persons eat a much larger 
bulk of new bread or biscuit than of that a day or 
two old, though bulk for bulk, they both contain 
an equal quantity of nutriment. 
But while we do not fear any material injury 
from the small quantity of cream of tartar and soda 
now used in cooking, we would not advise its in¬ 
crease, for even a small quantity is absorbed into 
the system and renders the urine slightly alkaline. 
Perhaps, everything considered, it is better to use 
bread raised by the usual yeasting process, and 
resort to cream of tartar and soda, only for occa¬ 
sional convenience. Whatever the “ editors, 
lecturers,authors or dentists” may say on the sub¬ 
ject, we shall not fear any evil effects, any short¬ 
ening of life, or any teeth spoiled from eating two 
or three times a week, a proper quantity of bread, 
aiscuits, etc., raised by cream of tartar and soda. 
The case is somewhat different, if cream of 
.artar and soda be not used in due proportions. 
If there be an excess of soda, not only will the 
dough turn yellow, when baked, but the excess of 
soda will disturb the digestion by neutralizing the 
natural acid of the gastric juice. The ordinary 
rule in cooking, is to take one spoonful of soda to 
two of cream of tartar. This is nearly correct. 
The true mixture, in order to have them exactly 
combine and neutralize each other, is to weigh 
them, and mix 75 parts of cooking soda (the bi¬ 
carbonate) with 187 parts of cream of tartar;* 
or about 1 ounce of soda to 2£ ounces of cream 
of tartar.— Ed. 
* The chemical reader will understand that cream of 
tartar is a combination of tartaric acid and potash. Tar¬ 
taric acid is represented by C 8 H 4 0|o, and potash by KO- 
Cream of tartar istherefore=KO, Cgt^O^+HO, the HO 
standing for one equivalent of water which combines in 
crystalization. Bi carbonate of soda is NaO, 2CCT,. On 
uniting these two substances the carbonic acid escapes, 
producing the rising, or effervescence,and in the remain¬ 
ing (Rochelle) salt we have the double compound (KO + 
NaO)C 8 II 4 O 10 . 
The chemical equivalents areC=6; 0=8; H=1 ; Ii= 
39.2; Na=23. By adding and multiplying the equivalents 
and number of atoms in bi-carbonate of soda and cream 
of tartar respectively, it will be seen that the combining 
numbers or equivalent are as stated in the text, viz: 75 
for hi .carbonate of soda, and 187.2 for cream of tartar. 
----- o--- 
The Vainest Fowl— The general opinion is 
that the vainest of all birds is the peacock. We 
think the goose, is. A goose, when entering a 
barn through the doorway, invariably bobs her 
head to avoid hitting the top. Evidently every 
goose thinks herself at least fifteen feet high. 
Concentrating Manure. —Lord Karnes, in a 
conversation with his gardener one day, said, 
“ George, the time will soon come when a man 
shall be able to carry the manure for an acre of 
land in one of his waistcoat pockets to which 
the gardener replied, “ I believe it, sir; but he 
will be able to carry all the crop in the other 
pocket.” 
Making- Good Butter. 
The making of good hitter, is a great art, one 
of which any woman who possesses it may be 
truly proud ; for there are few things which go 
so far to make up the daily comforts of good liv¬ 
ing as good butter. The art of making it is one 
of the essential processes of domestic rural econ¬ 
omy in our day. But the ancient Greeks never 
employed the article ; the old Romans knew noth¬ 
ing about it, until taught how to make it by the 
Germans. When Julius Ciesar invaded England 
he found that the inhabitants had an abundance 
ofmilk from which they made butter, but the art 
of making cheese was taught them by their in¬ 
vaders. 
The chief causes of poor butter are : 1, want 
of perfect cleanliness of everything used in and 
about the dairy ; 2. want of a cool, light and airy 
place to set the milk; 3, a neglect of constant 
attention and frequent examinations of the milk, 
so that the cream may be removed at the proper 
time, for every good butter maker knows that if 
allowed to remain long after the milk becomes 
thick, it loses its fine flavor ; 4, suffering the cream 
to stand too long before it is churned, or to get 
too warm, causing the butter to become sour, soft 
and obnoxious to the taste of all lovers of good 
butter. These are the main causes of so much 
inferiority in the quality of this important article. 
Imperfect working and overworking are also very 
common errors in butter making. On the whole 
there seems to be too little system, or too much 
hap-hazard work, generally, among those who 
make butter for our great public markets. 
The milk should be strained, as soon as brought 
in, through a fine linen cloth strainer—into pans 
holding six quarts each—a wire strainer will not 
keep all the particles of dirt out which unavoid¬ 
ably get into the milk-pail. The temperature 
of the room should not fall below 50° nor attain 
a warmth over 60 degrees. At this temperature 
the cream will all rise before the milk coagulates, 
or thickens, and the milk may safely stand 24 to 
30 hours before skimming. It should be examined 
however, twice a day, and when on the point of 
changing the cream should be taken off. No 
more cream will rise after the milk is once 
soured. 
Churning should be done every day, if suffi¬ 
cient cream is obtained. If not the cream in the 
pot should be thoroughly stirred whenever any is 
added. Cream just taken from the pans should 
not be churned, but kept over till the next churn¬ 
ing. The butter should be taken out immediately 
after it is gathered, and thoroughly freed from the 
buttermilk, salted, and set away for 24 hours, 
when it should be again worked until it presents 
a firm and uniform appearance. An ounce of 
salt to a pound of butter for market, but a little 
less for home use, is our rule. If the butter is 
packed in firkins, or jars as fast as made, a cloth 
wet in strong brine is pressed down closely over 
each layer as it is put in, and when filled the 
cloth must be covered with salt two inches in 
depth and kept moist. The room in which the 
butter is kept should be dry, airy and cool, and con¬ 
tain nothing save what belongs to the dairy. 
It is only by the constant observance of such 
necessary rules as the foregoing, that butter, pos¬ 
sessing that excellence of flavor and uniformity 
of color, so desirable, can ever be made ; and if 
these rules are adhered to, there is no danger 
whatever of producing a poor article. 
Michigan. 
Hams—A Good Pickle. 
Having recently tried, proved and approved 
the excellent quality of a ham obtained of Haight 
and Emens, 226 Front-street, in tlii-s city, we 
solicited from them the best directions for pick¬ 
ling hams, and they have consented to give their 
method to the readers of the Agriculturist, thougn 
the process has hitherto been a private matter. 
For 100 Ihs. of Hams .—Pack them in a barrel 
or cask, and pour in water enough to cover them. 
Pour off the water, and add good rock, or TurlFs 
Island salt, enough to make a brine that 
will just float potatoes. Two or three kinds of 
potatoes should be dropped in, as some varieties 
are much heavier (of greater specific gravity) than 
others ; about the average weight is desirable. 
To the brine for the hundred pounds thus pre¬ 
pared, add one pint of good molasses, and six to 
seven ounces of saltpetre, using the large, clear 
crystals, as being the purest. Make and use the 
pickle cold. Then pour the liquid back upon the 
hams, and let them stand six weeks, when they 
will be ready for smoking, though they may stand 
as much longer as may be desired, as they will in 
the first six weeks take up all the salt that they 
will absorb. When removed finally for smoking, 
they should be thrown into fresh water, and stand 
24 hours. 
Take notice, that the position of the hams in 
the barrel should be changed once in 10 or 12 
days, to let them lie upon each other at new 
points, and allow- the brine to come in contact 
with the parts which had previously lain together. 
This is an important hint in pickling hams, what¬ 
ever kind of pickle may be used. 
Plea for Flies and Spiders. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
I do protest against all your fly traps and fly 
poisons. They are ‘agin nature,’ as Tim Bunker 
would say. Does a common observer know what 
the flies do! Let the merchant protect his goods 
with gauze, but do not destroy the flies. Think 
how many little specks of grease, sugar and other 
matter would undergo decomposition if not 
removed with the delicate swab of the fly. I have 
been almost nauseated by offensive smells on 
premises where cobalt had done the work. Put 
away that trap and cobalt; go to scrubbing and 
cleaning every nook and corner, and you will have 
few flies, if any. And I here put in a plea for the 
spiders. Good housewives—did you ever live 
in a musketo country, where the little pest blows 
his shrill horn about your ears for half the night, 
and then penetrates your skin ; and filling himself 
with your precious life stream, flies away and 
hides himself in the angles of the ceiling, till the 
next night! But if my friend the spider has not 
been thoughtlessly swept away, he has his net 
spread, and that musketo will trouble you no 
more. Give me friends that will defend me when 
assailed unjustly or ignorantly. So the fly shall 
find a champion in me, and the little tiger spider 
too. Alabama. 
Tuscaloosa Co., Ala , Aug. ’58. 
Of all poverty, that of the mind is the most de¬ 
plorable. 
