138 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
country may effect tne perfect deodorization and 
disinfection of human faeces, and convert what 
is usually a great source of annoyance and 
waste into a valuable manure and source of 
profit. One great obstacle to the rapid intro¬ 
duction of the earth-closet is to be sought in 
the idea that people dread the difficulty of ob¬ 
taining suitable earth in the proper state of prep¬ 
aration. Wherever coal is used for fuel, this 
obstacle is entirely removed, for the coal re¬ 
quired to heat an ordinary house will yield 
ashes enough to supply the closets of its inmates. 
In our own experience, with a family of six 
persons, the fire of a small furnace which only 
partly heats the house, supplies the three earth- 
closets, which are the only conveniences of the 
family, and a sufficient surplub will be accumu¬ 
lated from that and the kitchen range during 
the winter to carry them through the summer. 
Aside from the ease with which this provides 
the necessary material, there is a further advan¬ 
tage in the regular sifting o.f the cinders that 
the system requires. A great deal of half- 
burned coal, that would otherwise be thrown 
away, is thus economized for a second burning, 
and the ashes themselves, instead of accumu¬ 
lating until the public dustman can be induced 
to take them away, are made very valuable for 
use in the garden. It seems to make no differ¬ 
ence whether the ashes arc made from anthra¬ 
cite or from bitumint us coal. We are using 
anthracite ashes, and fi.ud them as good as the 
best earth, while in New Oilcans, the ashes 
from bituminous coal from Pittsburgh have 
been used five times over, and seem to be per¬ 
fectly inoffensive at the end. 
-• * » m 
How to have Good Mutton. 
The sheep is a delicate feeder, and makes one 
of the most delicious and digestible of all the 
butcher’s meats. Like most animals, it im¬ 
proves in flavor by age, and attains its perfec¬ 
tion, in most breeds, at the age of three years, 
when it makes, in Daniel Webster’s language, 
red-mutton— so-called because the gravy, though 
well done, is red and of hig-h flavor. In feeding 
sheep for the luxurious table, there should be 
but few together, which allows them greater 
variety of food and more repose. In large 
flocks the strong sheep monopolize the best 
herbs and grasses, and the weaker ones are poor 
and mean meat; besides, there are always rest¬ 
less sheep where many feed together, and the 
others of the flock are ill at ease whilst any are 
on foot. Sheep well-grazed a-re better than the 
stall-fed, and have that “gamey ” and juicy flesh 
so liked by epicures. The best table-sheep in 
the British isles are the small Welsh breed, 
which have the wide range of those mountains. 
But the best sheep in the world are often 
spoiled by bad butchering, and I propose to 
show how this should be done. Many persons 
become disgusted with, and never eat, mutton, 
because of what they term the “ wool-taste.” 
Now, a sheep well-dressed, may be wrapped in 
the skin and wool, as well as in the purest 
linen, and never have a “wool” flavor. The 
intestines of the sheep are, like those of all the 
ruminating animals, very long and powerful in 
capillary absorption ; and, if allowed to remain 
in the body after death, infuse the odor and 
flavor of their contents into the meat, and thus 
give that ill taste. Everything, then, depends 
upon rapid dressing. While yet alive, the sheep 
should be suspended by the hind legs, well 
apart, to two pegs, or hooks, to a cross-timber, 
so that the body may be easily reached on all 
sides without turning it. The butcher should 
be prepared, with a sharp knife, ax, meat-saw, 
thread, and water; also, with a block, or low 
stool, to stand upon, if need be; for the sheep, 
when suspended, is too long generally to be 
easily reached in all parts. The throat should 
then be cut, severing both arteries, and the 
blood entirely let out; if Professor Bergh is 
about, the animal may be knocked on the back 
of the head with the pole of the ax, before using 
the knife. The skin should then be rapidly 
taken off, at least from the parts to be cut in 
taking out the intestines, and pinned back, so 
as freely to allow that operation. This fin¬ 
ished, the blood should be well washed out by 
casting on the body clean water freely. Should 
the intestines at any time be broken, let them be 
tied up at once, and the soiled parts well cleansed. 
The body should then hang until it is well dry, 
when it is ready for use. Mutton (and all 
meats) never ought to be salted, if possible, until 
it is ready for the cook. Salt absorbs the juices, 
dries and preserves the meat, but spoils the 
flavor. Meat should be hung in a cool, dry 
place, so that all parts may be aired. Do not 
allow it to become frozen, but if frozen, it should 
be used, at once, if possible. In some parts of 
Mexico, beef will hang in the air for weeks in 
the warmest weather, because of the diyness 
of the climate. The Indians and hunters dry 
their meats with slow fires. 
After large experience in many parts of the 
world, I should say that “flesh, fish, and fowl” 
should be eaten as soon as possible after the 
animal heat is out. Persons in cities learn to 
like “high” and stale meats, because they get 
no other; but it is a depraved taste, as men may 
learn to use tobacco, which will kill most ani¬ 
mals and make a dog sick! C. 
[Remarks. —We commend the above sugges¬ 
tions to the readers of the Agriculturist. They 
are from a gentleman of great experience and 
observation. We think he should have added 
that cooking is also an essential point. The al¬ 
lusion to “ red-mutton ” is very suggestive. It 
is dependent, to some extent, on the age, breed, 
and food of the sheep, and also on so cooking 
the mutton that the juices will be all retained 
in the meat. The flavor of mutton is un¬ 
doubtedly influenced by the food; but we can 
hardly expect farmers to do more than to rid 
their land of all noxious weeds, and encourage 
the growth of nutritious grasses. If they provide 
their sheep with good pasture, on dry upland, in 
summer, and plenty of clover hay, or bright 
straw and grain in winter, with abundance of 
fresh water, the mutton even from Merino sheep 
will not be bad flavored. A well-fatted Merino 
sheep has little of that “ woolly taste” so much 
complained of. The trouble is, that not one 
Merino sheep in a thousand is fatted at all be¬ 
fore being sent to market. It has been proved, 
by the experiments of Lawes and Gilbert, that 
the juiciness of meat is due, in a good degree, 
to the fact that it contains a less proportion of 
water. In a well-fed sheep the water in the 
lean meat is replaced to some extent by invisi¬ 
ble fat. This fat does not evaporate in cook¬ 
ing, as water does, and consequently the meat 
is juicy. Flavor, perhaps, requires age, but 
juiciness and nutriment can be obtained with¬ 
out keeping sheep until they are four j'ears old. 
And it is certain that, in the older-settled parts 
of the country, we cannot afford to keep ani¬ 
mals designed for meat, month after month, and 
year after year, merely to give the meat a little 
higher flavor. We must have early maturity, 
or we cannot afford to keep animals at all. On 
all farms worth $100 per acre, there is no profit 
in raising sheep for mutton, unless they can 
mature before they are two years old.—E d.] 
--—- — Om - , m- 
The Fresh-Water Bass. 
In the newly awakened interest in fish-cul¬ 
ture, and the rage for stocking ponds, there is 
great danger that our waters may be perma¬ 
nently injured by transplanting inferior kinds 
of fish. Immense damage has already been 
done by transplanting pickerel to waters admir¬ 
ably fitted for trout. The rule should be to 
stock with the best varieties of fish that the 
water will sustain. Deep, cold ponds, and 
brooks that are congenial to the Salmonidae, 
should be devoted exclusively to these fish. 
Ponds that are too warm in summer for trout 
should be given up to Black-bass (Gh'ystes ni¬ 
gricans, of Agassiz), the best of all the fresh¬ 
water fishes that go by the name of bass. It 
costs no more to get the best variety, they are 
as easily raised, are better game, and will give 
much better satisfaction in every respect. It is 
a serious matter to introduce a hardy fish into 
new waters. They often take complete pos¬ 
session, and they can only be got rid of by in¬ 
troducing a fiercer and stronger fish. 
We place the Black-bass (Grystes nigricans') 
at the head of the list of fresh-water bass. It 
was found originally in the St. Lawrence basin, 
and from thence probably made its way through 
the Champlain canal into the upper waters of 
the Hudson. It is caught in great abundance 
in the St. Lawrence, and in most of the lakes 
and ponds of Central and Northern New York. 
It has all the good qualities of the other species, 
in addition to the excellence of its flesh, which 
is by many persons considered equal to salmon. 
It runs from three to nine pounds in weight, as 
taken i» its native waters, and in ponds that 
have been long stocked with them. Few, how¬ 
ever, are taken that weigh over five lbs., and six 
lbs. is considered a very large fish of this variety. 
It is readily distinguished by a carmine dot in 
the eye, and by a strong musky odor. This fish 
early attracted the attention of the late Samuel 
T. Tisdale, and was regarded as the only worthy 
substitute for troutin the ponds of eastern Massa¬ 
chusetts. They were transplanted thither from 
Saratoga Lake in 1850, and from thence have 
been widely distributed. Nearly all the ponds 
in New England that contain this fish—and there, 
are over a hundred of them—have received their 
stock directly or indirectly from Saratoga Lake. 
The Black-bas3 of the South (Grystes sal* 
moides) looks much like the northern Black- 
bass to the casual observer. Its habits are simi¬ 
lar, as are its fins and color, but it has a larger- 
head, and grows to a larger size. Its flaky meat 
is soft and watery, and in this respect it is quite 
inferior to the St. Lawrence fish. It abounds 
in the rivers of Florida, and is found in many 
of the rivers of the Western States, as far north 
as Minnesota. It was first introduced to our 
Eastern waters by Mr. Stabler, a conductor on 
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, who brought 
them from Wheeling Creek, in his locomotive 
tank, and put them into the Potomac at Cum¬ 
berland. All the tributaries of this river, down 
to Great Falls,are now abundantly stocked with 
them. Last fall they were planted in the Del¬ 
aware, at Easton, which we consider a very 
serious error, as it must damage the prospect oV 
restoring shad and planting salmon in the up¬ 
per waters of that river. It is well known t& 
sportsmen that there are no finer trout-stream* 
than the tributaries of the Delaware in Penn. 
