AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
67 
times the rapidity that it can be done with a 
plow, and without danger of cutting off the 
roots and their fibers. The latter result, 
when the plow is used, forms one principal 
and vital objection to its use. 
(c). Those farmers who have not so great an 
abundance as our correspondent, find it ne¬ 
cessary to economise their corn stalks by 
cutting them. They will go nearly twice as 
far for doing so, and surely the money spent 
in better preparing for consumption what we 
already possess, is as well invested as in 
purchasing extra fodder from our neighbors. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
ROTATION OF CROPS. 
Those plants ought to succeed each other 
which contain different chemical ingredients, 
so that the quantities of each which the soil 
at any given time contains may be absorbed 
in a given ratio. Thus a productive crop of corn 
could not be obtained without the phosphates 
of lime, magnesia, &c., which are present in 
that grain, and the silicate of potass, which 
gives stability to the stalks. It would be inju 
dicious, therefore, to sow any plant that re¬ 
quired much if any of these ingredients, im¬ 
mediately after having diminished the 
amount of their presence in the soil by a 
crop of wheat or any other kind of grain. 
But on the other hand, leguminous plants, 
such as beans, peas, &c., are well calculated 
to succeed any of the grain crops of wheat, 
corn, &c., because they contain no free al¬ 
kalies, and less than one per cent of the 
phosphates. They thrive, therefore, even 
when these ingredients have been withdrawn, 
and during their growth afford time for the 
soil to obtain a fresh supply of disintegration 
of the subjacent rock, or a liquefaction of 
the interspersed sand which the soil con¬ 
tains. 
For the same reason, wheat and tobacco 
may sometimes be raised in succession in a 
soil rich in potass., because the latter plant 
requires none of those phosphoric salts 
which are present in wheat. In order, how¬ 
ever, to proceed upon certain data, it would 
be requisite that an analysis of the plants 
most useful to man should be accomplished 
in the different stages of their growth, a labor 
which has hitherto been only partially un¬ 
dertaken. Though the Royal and Highland 
Societies, and other kindred institutions have 
done much, much is still to be done. 
It is a curious fact that the same plant dif¬ 
fers in constitution when grown in different 
climates. Thus, in the beet-root, nitre takes 
the place of sugar when this plant is culti¬ 
vated in the warmer parts of France ; and for 
the same reason, I am of opinion that the 
beet (even the white Selecian) is not so rich 
in saccharine juices in the southern and mid¬ 
dle States as in some parts of western Eu¬ 
rope. The probable reason of the differ¬ 
ence is this : The beet-root contains, as an 
essential ingredient, not only saccharine 
matter, but also nitrogen, and it is probable 
that the two are mutually so connected to¬ 
gether in the vegetable tissue, that the one 
cannot exist without the other. The nitro¬ 
gen being derived from the decomposition of 
ammonia, must be effected by any cause 
which diminishes the supply of the latter, 
and in proportion as this ingredient is want¬ 
ing, the secretion of sugar will likewise fall 
off. 
It is stated by Leibig that the formation of 
nitric acid is owing to the decomposition of 
ammoni;i, and it is conceived by him that 
the last product of the decomposition of ani¬ 
mal bodies present themselves in the form 
of ammonia in cold climates, and in that of 
nitric acid in warm ones. Hence, in propor¬ 
tion to the amount of nitric acid formed, and 
of nitre absorbed by the plant, that of the 
nitrogen, and, consequently, that of the sac¬ 
charine matter present in it may be dimin¬ 
ished. Whistler at the Plow. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
“ SHE LOOKETH WELL TO THE WAYS OF HER 
HOUSEHOLD.” 
“ Eating,” says the Rev. Leonard With- 
ington, “ is one of the lowest enjoyments of 
a rational being ; and yet necessary to our 
mental repose and our mental speculations. 
If a man will not work neither shall he eat; 
but it is equally clear that, if he does not eat, 
neither can he work. There is no charac¬ 
ter which raises such perfect contempt as a 
glutton ; but this miserable vice is the abuse 
of a natural appetite. Takeaway from the 
astronomer his food, and he will soon cease 
to lift his telescope to the stars. The saint, 
the martyr, the moralist, and the poet all 
pursue their sublime occupations through the 
vigor and animation of the body. Man does 
not live on bread alone, but, in order to live, 
he certainly needs bread.” 
To prepare the food which is to sustain the 
poet, the moralist and the saint is certainly 
the sphere of woman; and she should not 
consider herself degraded by the perform¬ 
ance of duties, which are so essential to the 
comfort and happiness of thos.e she loves. 
These duties should be performed in the best 
possible manner in every household, and if 
they are not so performed the responsibility 
and the blame must rest with the housekeep¬ 
er. She should know how every thing 
should be done in her house, and that it is 
done in the best way. Of course, a young 
housekeeper can not know every thing intu¬ 
itively, but she should make it her object 
to learn, and she should not hesitate to go 
into her kitchen and put her own hand to 
whatever is to be done. A housekeeper 
should never exert herself beyond her 
strength; such efforts are suicidal, and many 
persons have sacrificed their lives to a 
foolish ambition to do every thing themselves. 
But a housekeeper can learn how every 
thing is to be done by a little practice each 
day. She can go into the kitchen and make 
the bread herself; she can make cake and 
pastry, and she can wash dishes, &c. She 
will find that her physical health and 
strength are increased and not diminished 
by such efforts. It is very important that 
she should know how to direct her ser 
vants. If she is not able to do it, it is gen¬ 
erally pretty certain, in our country, that 
they will not know how to direct themselves, 
and every thing in the house will be in dis¬ 
order and confusion. She must not allow 
any thing to be wasted. It is really sinful 
in these days, when provisions are so ex¬ 
pensive, and so many persons are suffering 
from hunger, that food should be badly pre- 
jared, badly cooked, and then thrown away 
jecause it is not eatable. A housekeeper 
should know how to work that she may be 
able to sympathize with her servants, other¬ 
wise she may require more of them than is 
reasonable, or, on the other hand, she may 
not require enough, and thus leave them to 
spend their time in idleness and folly. 
She must look after the comfort and hap¬ 
piness of her servants. If a woman is hired 
for a day’s service, it is necessary not only 
to see that her work is properly done, but 
that she is properly cared for. I know a 
country housekeeper who, when ever she 
hires a woman to wash, she does not see 
her for the day, and she is left to the mercy 
of the servants, who are too lazy to do the 
washing themselves. At one time, when a 
person so employed was suffering from a 
severe cough, she was required by the ser¬ 
vants to wash in a cold room, in mid-winter, 
because the washing would disturb them in 
the kitchen. They gave her no breakfast, 
so that she nearly fainted before dinner was 
ready for her. 
A little attention from the housekeeper 
would correct many errors. A lady of cul¬ 
tivated mind and good judgement can, of 
course, devise “ ways and means ” of over¬ 
coming difficulties, and executing necessary 
duties, which would not occur to an unculti¬ 
vated, illiterate girl. A servant may make 
the same mistake year after year, which her 
mistress could rectify with a moment's time. 
I do not advocate the idea that a housekeep¬ 
er should, in all circumstances, “ do her own 
work.” If she can afford it, it is perfectly 
right that she should hire the work of the 
family done by servants, especially ifshehas 
the skill and tact to make others execute her 
wishes. She has various duties to perform 
besides those of the kitchen. She is to be 
the companion of her husband, and the edu¬ 
cator of her children, and she must not neg¬ 
lect to cultivate her own mind by reading and 
writing. A good housekeeper, “Looketh 
well to the ways of her household, and eat- 
eth not the bread of idleness.” 
Mary H. 
SPONGE-CAKE. 
13 eggs, 1£ lbs. of sugar, £ lb. of flour, the 
rind of 1 lemon, 1 tablespoonful of lemon 
juice. The eggs should be beaten a long 
time, and the sugar should be put gradually 
into the egg. The nicest sugar should be 
used for sponge-cake. The tins in which 
the cake is to be baked should be lined with 
a hard paste made of flour and water, and 
rolled out very thin. The flour should be 
added just as it goes into the oven, and the 
cake should be stirred as little as possible 
after the flour is put in 
CIDER-CAKE. 
1 cup of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups of 
flour, 4 eggs, 1 cup of cider, 1 teaspoonful of 
soda* a little nutmeg. 
WHITE-CAKE. 
1 lb. of white sugar, i lb. of flour, 6 oz. of 
butter, the whites of 14 eggs beaten to a stiff 
froth, a little mace and citron. This cake 
should be frosted. It is nice and delicate. 
__ M - H - 
For the American Agriculturist . 
PLOWING DEEP OR SHALLOW. 
I am, and always have been, an advocate 
of deep plowing. So far as my experience 
and observation go, deep and thorough till¬ 
age have ever been attended with paying 
crops. In 1851, I tried an experiment to 
test this question, and raised as much corn 
on five-eighths of an acre with 111 cords of 
manure, as I did on an acre with 15 cords. 
The five-eighths was plowed twice, nine 
inches, and the acre once, six inches deep. 
I would not advise any one to turn up more 
subsoil at once than can be manured so as to 
make the whole fertile. 
I consider autumn the best time for deep¬ 
ening the soil, for two reasons : First, teams 
are stronger, and work is not so hurrying ; 
second, the subsoil is left exposed to the ac¬ 
tion of the frost, which will do much toward 
pulverizing it. Deep and thorough pulver¬ 
ization is a good safeguard against an excess 
of wet, and also against severe drouth. All 
the food taken from the soil by vegetation is 
in a liquid state, and the finer the soil is pul¬ 
verized the belter its condition for a crop. 
No part of farm-work pays so well as this 
for the extra labor, when thoroughly done, 
and yet none is more neglected. 
A series of carefully-conducted experi¬ 
ments is needed. Let no one excuse him¬ 
self because he does not understand how to 
mange, but go to work and learn for himself. 
Experiment alone can decide the practical 
part of this question. S. T. 
