1864.1 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
23 
lestines, any waste scraps. They will pick bones 
very clean. "VVe depend upon a cake of scraps 
from the bone or glue boiler’s. The hard scrap- 
cakes, of 50 to 100 lbs. each, which are sold at % to 
1% cents a pound, are just the thing. This mate¬ 
rial does not decay, and the hens amuse and feed 
themselves by picking off little bits from time to 
time. The waste vegetables, clippings from cab¬ 
bages, potato skins, cold potatoes left over (if not 
cooked iu salt water,) are relished by the poul¬ 
try, and turned to account. 
The above 6imple directions, if rightly followed, 
seldom if ever fail to secure a full and profitable 
supply of eggs all Winter. In the absence of any 
thing better, a straw enclosed shelter will answer 
for poultry. See description of straw work, page 9. 
To Prepare and Keep Sausage Meat. 
John H., of Cold Spring, L. I., sends the follow¬ 
ing directions to the American Agriculturist: “ To 
season 10 pounds of sausage meat, use 4 oz. salt, 
scant 1 oz. pepper, with sage and thyme to suit 
the taste: it is improved by having about one-sixth 
of the meat lean beef. When the meat is prepared, 
take either hogs’ or beeves’ bladders, and blow 
them while fresh, but not too thin. Let them dry 
a few hours, cut off the neck, wash and soak about 
twelve hours in lukewarm salt and water, then 
scrape lightly with a dull knife, turn them on the 
wrong side, and fill with the meat. Leave room 
enough to draw the edges of the bladder together, 
take a large mcat-skewer or sharpened wood-pin 
made of hickory or locust, strong enough to 
bear the weight of the filled bladder, and pin the 
edges back and forth across the top. Tie a stout 
cord below the stick, draw it together tightly, 
and tie the ends to form a loop ; then hang in the 
garret. The bladders being air-tight, the meat will 
keep until warm weather, as sweet and fresh as 
when first put up. Should the bladders tear a 
little around the pins, fill the places with sweet 
lard, after they are hung up. Calves’ and sheep’s 
bladders are not strong enough to bear filling. 
A Contributor in a “Stew-” 
Mu. Editor.—I don’t live: I board. I have been 
looking over the household department of the Ag¬ 
riculturist in hopes that I might find something that 
I could put iu my landlady’s way <fc> enlighten her 
on the subject of stews. Pieces of indifferent meat, 
such as when fried are uneatable, can be made into 
a most acceptable stew. When I kept house, a 
neck piece of mutton furnished us with a favorite 
meal—cheap, and good enough for any body. The 
meat in a stew should be thoroughly done until it 
is tender. If there is much fat, cook the meat the 
day beforehand with water only, let it cool, and re¬ 
move the fat from the surface. The vegetables 
may be added and cooked just before the meal at 
which the stew is wanted. By managing in this 
way, a thoroughly cooked stew can be had for break¬ 
fast. For a breakfast dish I prefer meat and pota¬ 
toes only—with a seasoning of salt and pepper. 
For dinner the vegetables may be varied ; mutton 
with potatoes and onions, makes the celebrated 
Irish stew; with carrots, a delicious dish; with to¬ 
matoes, it is superb, and with green peas and ten¬ 
der bits of asparagus, it is fit to set before a king. 
Beef instead of mutton, will give another series of 
dishes. Do stir up your readers on the subject of 
stews, and oblige Stew-art. 
ISeefl’. —J. C. Fenn, Litchfield 
Co., Ct., in a note to the American Agriculturist 
says : Beef Will keep well, if packed in a mixture 
of 4 qts. salt, 4 lbs. sugar, and % lb. saltpetre, to 
every 100 lbs. meat. He advises to use no water to 
make brine, as, he says, if properly packed the meat 
will furnish fluid enough for the purpose. With¬ 
out having tried this, it would seem that such an 
abstraction of the juices of the beef would be 
ikely to make it hard and tasteless. 
Ciicsip Crststt for B*iamplk5M. Pies.— 
Contributed to the American Agriculturist by Mrs. 
David Brush, Queens Co., N. Y.: Grease the platters 
thoroughly., and cover with Indian meal. Fill care¬ 
fully with the prepared pumpkin, so that the 
stream in pouring will not wash the meal from the 
middle of the platter. The pie should be baked 
brown on the bottom. This will be found very con¬ 
venient for a washing day, and economical in these 
times when butter and lard are so high-priced. 
Fawners’ — Contributed to the 
American Agriculturist by “ Aunt Phebe,” Perry, 
Ill. Heat one quart of milk to boiling, then stir in 
slowly one teaeupful of Indian meal. Mix with 
this about six good apples pared and sliced, and add 
two tablespoonfuls of sugar, one of butter, and a 
little allspice and nutmeg. Pour the whole into "a 
deep dish and bake until done or about 40 minutes. 
mYB <k (SIEM^ (MWMm 
“ A Happy New Year ” 
To ALL OUR YOUNG Friends ! That the year upon 
which we now enter, may, indeed, be a happy one to each 
of the hundreds of thousands of little ones, and the 
Children and Youth who read these pages, is our earnest 
wish. We shall do our best to add something to your 
pleasure, and hope to not only amuse you by pleasant 
stories, pictures, games, etc., but also to weave in many 
hints, and suggestions, that will improve your minds and 
hearts. But remember that tin- seat of happiness lies 
deep in your own heart. If this be wrong, pleasant 
things on the outside will only cover up a festering sore 
that will ever give pain and discomfort. Start right, then 
at the very beginning of the year—on its first morning, 
and get the heart right. What of strength you lack, the 
Omnipotent, the all powerful One will supply, if you ear¬ 
nestly ash for His aid. But He only helps where our 
power ends. VVe must firstput forth all our own efforts. 
II is command was, not to pray merely, but to “ watch nnd 
pray.” So we must watch, strive, make all the effort we 
can. We commend to the kind care of the Great Shep¬ 
herd, the tender lambs of our flock. May He temper the 
storms and blasts to their strength, and kindly bear them 
in His bosom. 
In the November Agriculturist, page 344, the anecdote 
of Alexander Dumas and the Mushrooms was related, 
wherein the author tried to ask for mushrooms by draw¬ 
ing a picture of them, and the Swiss servant brought 
him an umbrella. We suggested to our young readers to 
try their skill atsketching a mushroom and umbrella. One 
of them sent so neat a drawing, that we have had it en¬ 
graved. The author did not give his name ; he need not 
be ashamed to own the picture—there would be little 
danger of confounding the two articles in such a sketch. 
Some surprise may be excited among the lookers on, 
by a little sleight of hand performance, illustrated above. 
Loosely tie an ordinary single knot in a pocket handker¬ 
chief, give the end out of your right hand to some person, 
and tell him to pull hard when you count three. Just as 
he pulls, slip your left thumb Under the handkerchief, in 
the way shown in the engraving, and at the same instant 
let go the end that hangs over the left hand, and grasp the 
handkerchief with the thumb and finger. It will be drawn 
out quite straight through the hand without any knot. 
Am. AitiMsaMg Toy. 
Copy the images in the above engraving, each one upon 
a circular piece of paper the size of a copper cent. Then 
paste them upon opposite sides of a round bit of thick 
card-board or paste-board. Arrange them so that when 
the head of the woman is upward, that of the child will 
be downward, and let them be both in line. After the 
paste is dry, fasten a string to each side of the card, as is 
shown in the engraving. Now if you make the card re¬ 
volve by twirling the strings between the fingers and 
thumbs, the lady will appear to be holding the child in her 
arms. The effect will be better if pictures of a larger 
size than these are made. Those skilled in drawing 
can contrive other similar toys, as, for instance, a boy on 
one side and a horse on the oilier; or a dog and a rabbit; 
or whatever else may suit the fancy. This little in¬ 
strument well illustrates a fact in natural philosophy. 
How many of the Agriculturist school girls and boys can 
state what that fact is ? 
Alroait fljJoId. Leaf. 
A solid or cubic incli of pure gold weighs 4,882.39904 
grains. At $20 and 260-387, per ounce, (Troy weight,) 
which is the exact value of pare gold, the cubic inch would 
be worth-how much ? Gold when hammered out into 
leaf, such as is used for gilding the backs of books, etc., 
may be beaten so thin that 300,000 leaves will only make 
one inch in thickness. One cubic inch of gold may 
therefore be made into leaf to cover 300,000 square 
inches, or 2083 square feet, or over 7)<f square r'Js. 
This would be enough to gild the entire floor, ceiling, 
and walls of a room 20 feet square and 16 feet high. 
New JPmkzIos to Ire Auswcrctl. 
Nos. 62, 6S, 64. Mathematical Problems .—An item on 
page 10 gives the assessed value of property in New-York 
State as $1,454,454,819. Question 62: If this money were 
all in a solid gold ball, what would be its diameter ?— 
Question 63 : If all in silver, what would be the diameter 
of the ball .—Question 64: If all in one dollar bills, 3 by 
7 inches, how many acres would they cover? Note : 271 
and 41-129th gold dollars or 16 and 32-33ds silver dollars 
weigh a pound Avoirdupois. Silver is 16>£ times and 
gold 19>£ times heavier than water. A gallon, or 8 pounds 
(avoirdupois) of water, contains 231 cubic inches. The 
above three questions will give a good exercise to out 
young readers who are studying arithmetic this Winter. 
Answers to i»rol»Iems and IPeizzles. 
The following are solutions of the puzzles, etc., in 
December No., p. 375.—No. 59.— Puzzling Sentence. In 
1792 France was divided, monarchy obliterated, laws 
overturned, religion set aside, and rebellion sprang up 
in every corner. No. 60.—The Wheel Puzzle. We give 
the answer in the words of S. N. Dexter North, of Oneida 
Co., N. Y. “ The hub, although it rolls an equal distance 
with the felloe, does not revolve through an equal space. 
—-No, 61. Illustrated Rebus. Two in S team B on nest 
man ly re ve rent and love in g ; or, “ To win esteem, be 
honest, manly, reverent and loving.” The following have 
sent in correct answers up to Dec. 12th. The numbers 
indicate the problems, etc., answered by each. S. N. 
Dexter North, 59, 60, 61 ; Isabella Curtis; 57, 58 ; “ C. A. 
11.,” 55 ; Wm. G. Kieffer, 55, 57, 58 ; Phineas B. Davis, 
58 ; Walter A. Carpenter, 57 ; F. M. Smith, 55, 57 ; J. 
Coyte, Jr., 57 ; Lucy and Lewis, 55,56, 57, 58 ; “II. H.” 55. 
Wirt C. Williams, 61 ; George II. Elliot, 59, 60; Thomas 
Ii. Edwards, 61 ; Walter Briggs, 61 ; Wilson Thomas, 81 
