AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
9 
PRESERVING FRUITS. 
Fruit of almost every description may be 
preserved by packing in kiln-dried bran. 
Sand is frequently used for the same pur¬ 
pose ; but it is a ponderous article, and on 
several accounts far less eligible than bran. 
Dr. Undereill, of the New-York Farmers’ 
Club, stated, some years since, that a friend 
of his obtained a quantity of ground cork, in 
which grapes had been imported. He dried 
it thoroughly in a kiln, and packed some 
grapes in it, which kept sound and good till 
the following July. He also remarked that 
he had succeeded in preserving grapes in 
kiln-dried wheat bran, and that in preserv¬ 
ing all fruits, they should be kept as cool as 
possible, without incurring danger from frost. 
The temperature, therefore, should never be 
below 32°, nor above 35°. 
Mr. Hall, at one of the meetings of this 
Club, remarked that the Spanish export 
more grapes than all the rest of the world, 
and that they preserve them by packing 
them in kiln-dried oak saw-dust, and her¬ 
metically sealing the vessels in which they 
are deposited. 
Noah Webster, of Lexicon and Spelling- 
book memory, was accustomed to preserve 
his apples in sand. Plaster of Paris is also 
had recourse to by many for the same pur¬ 
pose ; but it is no less objectionable than the 
latter article, being heavy and difficult to 
handle. I had apples and pears preserved, 
said Mr. Hall, in an excellent state till Au¬ 
gust, in the following manner: As soon as 
the weather becomes cool, pick the fruit 
carefully from the boughs by hand, placing 
them one by one in a basket to prevent 
bruising. Spread them for a week or two 
in a cool place, and then envelop each apple 
closely in paper. Have a clean barrel, well 
lined with cotton batting or old newspapers, 
and pack in the enveloped fruit as closely as 
it can be placed ; head the barrel carefully, 
and set it away, and they generally keep 
sound and good.—Germantown Telegraph. 
KEEPING SWEET POTATOES. 
The time is near at hand when sweet po¬ 
tatoes for next year’s seed should be packed 
away for the winter, and this is a suitable 
time to give the results of our experience 
and observation. 
Select fine days during the first and second 
weeks of October, and take the potatoes 
from the hills, carefully, so as not to bruise 
tham ; let them dry thoroughly, but speedily, 
either in the sun, or spread upon a floor un¬ 
der cover. The boxes or bins for stowing 
will be in size according to the quantity you 
wish to keep, but in no case over two feet 
in depth. 
Gather a sufficient quantity of sand or fine 
road-dust, and have it thoroughly screened 
and dried. Put a thin layer of sand upon 
the bottom of the box, and lay in a course of 
potatoes from 8 to 12 inches thick, then 
pour in more sand until it fills all the inter¬ 
stices between the potatoes to the bottom of 
the box. When this is done, next fill up the 
box with potatoes, and then again pour on 
sand to fill up as before, and fasten on a 
cover to keep out mice if necessary. If 
several boxes are used, they may be piled 
on the top of each other, and in this case 
always with sticks to leave a space between 
of one or two inches to allow a free circu¬ 
lation of air. 
In order to complete success in keeping, 
it is indispensable that the boxes be stored 
in a dry room, where a pretty uniform tem¬ 
perature can be maintained—the safest range 
being between 50° and 60°. A wider range, 
if not of too long duration, may not do much 
harm. Potatoes put up in this manner will 
not be subject to loss of over 5 to 10 per 
cent. 
Sweet Potatoes for winter use can be pre¬ 
served in much the same way, and will keep 
suitable for cooking all winter, with but a 
slight deterioration of quality. To keep 
them from the atmosphere—dry and of an 
equal moderate temperature, are the great 
requisites to complete success.—Ohio Cul¬ 
tivator. 
For the American Agriculturist, 
IMPROVED WELL CURB AND BUCKET. 
Though excellent pumps for use in wells 
are abundant, many still prefer the ‘‘old 
fashioned bucket ” and windlass ; and occa¬ 
sionally a well is so deep that the use of the 
bucket affords by far the most convenient 
means for drawing the water. 
The chief inconvenience that attends its 
use is, in lifting the bucket of water when 
raised to the mouth of the well, so as to 
empty the water into the pail or other vessel 
provided to receive it; and it is to obviate 
this difficulty that the above represented 
contrivance is proposed. One that has been 
in daily use some six or eight months is 
found to work well. 
A box or curb, about three feet square, is 
made in the ordinary way, and to the oppo¬ 
site sides a frame is attached about 8 or 9 
feet in hight, as represented in the figure ; 
it is made of joist or scantling, 8 by 2 inches, 
and has*a cross-piece at' top of the same. 
The windlass is placed at right angles to this 
frame, and a little to the right of the center 
of the box, with the rope attached in the 
usual manner, its end passing over a roller 
above, and connecting with the chain of the 
bucket, as seen in the figure. 
The spout inside the curb—which part is not 
shown in the figure—is made large enough 
to receive the bottom of the bucket, in which 
is placed a large valve with a projection 
downward, so that when the bucket is let 
down in the spout the valve is opened, and 
of course the water discharged. The mode 
of using will be obvious to all, as well as the 
advantage of the contrivance. The bucket 
is represented as standing in the spout; in 
the winter, after using, it should be let down 
into the well, to prevent the valve from be¬ 
ing fixed by the ice. Jay Jay. 
Middletown, Conn. 
To Preserve Plums. —Make a syrup of 
clean brown sugar; clarify it; when per¬ 
fectly clear and boiling hot, pour it over the 
plums, having picked out all unsound ones 
and stems; let them remain in the syrup 
two days, then drain it off; make it boiling 
hot, skim it, and pour it over again ; let 
them remain another day or two, then put 
them in a preserving kettle over the fire, and 
simmer gently until the syrup is reduced, 
and thick or rich. Small damsons are very 
fine preserved as cherries or any other ripe 
fruit; clarify the syrup, and when boiling 
hot put in the plums; let them boil very 
gently until they are cooked, and the syrup 
rich. Put them in pots or jars ; the next 
day secure as directed. 
Dried Peaches. —Peaches as usually dried 
are a very good fruit; but can be made vast¬ 
ly better if treated in the right way. Last 
season the recipe which had quite a circula¬ 
tion in the papers, of drying the fruit by a 
stove after halving it and sprinkling a little 
sugar into the cavity left by the extracted 
pits, was tried in our family. The fruit was 
found to be most excellent; better to the 
taste of nine out of ten persons than any 
peach preserves, by far. The peaches, how¬ 
ever, were good ones before drying; for it 
is doubtful whether poor fruit can be made 
good by that process or any other.—Prairie 
Farmer. 
Drying Pumpkins and Making Pies. —Cut 
them up and stew them till they are soft 
and dry ; pound and strain through a cullen 
der ; then grease pie-pans, and spread it on 
a quarter of an inch thick and dry it; roll it 
up, and put it away in a tight box, or bag, 
from the insects. Each one of these rolls 
will make -a pie. It is very easy now to 
make a pie. Put it in sweet milk, and let it 
soak about two hours; put in an egg, a table¬ 
spoonful of sugar, a tea-spoonful of ginger, 
and one of allspice ; and if you are lovers of 
pumpkin pie, as we are, you will pronounce 
it good.—Ohio Farmer. 
The Winchester bushel, which is the one 
in use in the United States, contains 2,150.42 
cubic inches, struck measure ; heaped meas¬ 
ure, it contains 1,815 cubic inches. 
.. I 
A cord of wood is 128 solid feet in the 
United States ; in France, 576 feet. 
Eat sparingly, and defy the physician 
