1865.1 
AMERICAN AQRICULTURIST. 
381 
yet it is nevertheless an exceedingly pretty and 
useful climber. The engraving shows a flower¬ 
ing shoot of the natural size. The plant belongs 
to the same genus with the potato, Solarium, 
and its flowers look like small and delicate po¬ 
tato blossoms; they are nearly pure white, hav¬ 
ing the slightest tinge of blue or purple in the 
corolla, against which the cluster of lemon-yel¬ 
low stamens shows conspicuously. The leaves 
are of a fine deep green, and form a dense mass 
of dark verdure; their shape is quite variable, 
the lower ones having two lobes at the base, 
others having only one lobe, while many of 
them are quite entire, as is shown in the figure, 
and some of the larger leaves have even more 
than two lobes. The plant is a vigorous grow¬ 
er, climbing to the hight of 10 feet or more, 
and answers well to cover a trellis, the part of 
a veranda, or any other object which it is desir¬ 
able to clothe with foliage. It climbs by twist¬ 
ing its leaf-stalks around the support. In our 
climate it is only half hardy, but it may be kept 
from year to year with a little trouble. After 
frosts have destroyed the foliage, cut the stem 
off about a foot from the ground, and put the 
root in a. box or pot of earth, and set it in the 
cellar. One hangs in front of our window as 
we write, that has been kept along in this way 
for several years. The plant is propagated with 
great ease from cuttings,'and wherever a branch 
lies upon the ground it will strike root. It is 
besides a very useful plant for in-door decora¬ 
tion, whether of the green-house or sitting 
room, as it stands the unfavorable conditions of 
heat and moisture of our dwellings very much 
better than will most climbers, except the Ivy. 
TOE IHIOlIJSElHIOm 
About Tapioca. 
This Bubtance was formerly used mainly in pre¬ 
paring food for the sick, or convalescent, but is now 
being more widely adopted as an article of diet, as 
it may well be, since it is very nutritious and easily 
digestible, and comparatively economical. Tapioca 
is a very pure form of starch, prepared from the 
root of a tropical plant, which in the "West Indies 
is called “ Cassava," and in South America, “ Man- 
dioca" and ^'■Tapioca." Though a shrub, the plant 
attains perfection in less than a year, reaching the 
hight of C or- 8 feet from a large and fleshy root, 
which often weighs as much as 20 pounds. Botanists 
have given the plant the names of Janipha Manihot, 
and Jdtropha Manihot, the former being the one 
most generally adopted. The shape of its leaves 
and its general habit are shown in the engraving. 
When the fleshy root is grated or rasped, the starch 
it contains is liberated, and this, after washing, is 
dried by artificial heat, which causes the grains to 
cohere and form irregular masses. The character 
of the starch is somewhat changed by heat, which 
causes it to have a peculiar gelatinous character 
when cooked. There arc two varieties of the 
plant, the sweet and bitter, both of which are used 
in preparing tapioca. The root of the sweet variety 
is eatable and harmless, while that of the bitter is 
actively poisonous. This statement need cause no 
one to regard tapioca with suspicion, as all the de¬ 
leterious matter is washed away in preparing it. 
Starch, in whatever plant it may be found, is harm¬ 
less, and we have an illustration in the common 
potato, of the fact that a valuable starchy food may 
be yielded by a plant otherwise poisonous, it being 
well established that the potato vines and fruit, 
or balls contain a powerfully poisonous principle. 
There is a very great difference in the quality of 
tapioca pudding, as prepared by housekeepers. 
Some make a thin insipid compound, while others 
prepare an excellent well flavored dessert, having 
the consistence of a fully baked custard. A 
lady furnishes for the American Agriculturist the 
following two modes of making Tapioca Pudding : 
1. —To a quart of milk add a teacupful of 
tapioca, and let it stand for an hour or two in a 
warm place on the stove or range, to swell out. 
Stir in half a teaspoonful of salt, three well beaten 
eggs, sugar to the taste, flavoring with vanilla or 
nutmeg, or both. Then bake like custard. (Most 
persons do not bake it enough to suit our taste. 
We prefer it pretty well done, and to be eaten 
when partly cold; others prefer it left more moist.) 
2. —The other method is similar to the above, but 
when ready for baking, the bottom of the dish is 
covered with tart apples, pared,and the cores taken 
out without cutting the apples in pieces, or they 
may be quartered, and over them the prepared tapi¬ 
oca is poured and baked until the apples are well 
cooked. This preparation will require a pudding 
sauce of some kind. Beaten butter and sugar (hard 
sauce) flavored, is very good. Some like a wine or 
lemon (soft) sauce with the hard. The hard sauce 
goes well with the simple pudding, first described. 
How to Carve Well, 
The short article on page 286 (September) an¬ 
swers so well as preliminary to what we now write, 
that a reference to it is a suffleient introduction. 
At this time of the year most country people are 
supposed to have roast turkeys to carve, and though 
we ought logically to select a simpler subject at 
first, upon which to give a lesson in carving, a more 
attractive one it would be hard to find. A roast 
turkey should come to the table on its back, with 
its wings close to the body, not turned upon the 
back; with its legs also close to the body, the ends of 
the “drum-sticks” being close together, one on each 
side of the tail, or “ Pope’s nose.” The carver 
should insert firmly the 2-tined carving fork, held 
with the guard away from him, one tine going 
on each side of the breast bone about an inch back 
from the front end. Here it penetrates the bone 
easily and holds well, so well indeed that the bird 
may be safely lifted by it. It is usually an object to 
help every person at the table to a satisfactory 
piece. Almost every one likes the breast, some 
prefer the brown meat. The wing, if crisp and not 
too dry, is a favorite part with many, but the drum¬ 
sticks few take of choice—though, if well cooked, 
having been properly basted and not allowed to 
dry hard, they are very delicious. A good carver 
will cut off but little of the breast with the wings, 
nor will he leave so much meat on the thighs that 
METHOD OP CARVING A TURKEY. 
ho will not be able to give brown meat to those 
who do not get either a thigh or a side bone. It is 
a very awkward thing sometimes to trim and reduce 
the size of a piece of meat, before placing it upon 
the plate of a guest, hence it is best to cut off from 
the fowl just such pieces as you wish to help to. 
The fork being firmly in the left hand, with a 
sharp .and pointed knife, the carver may cut down 
and open the joint a little at B, then passing the 
knife under the wing and up to the joint, cutting 
the tendons, turn the left wing off with case; or he 
may first remove the flight p.art of the wing, p.as- 
siug the knife from G up to the second joint of the 
wing, and turning this part off first, afterwards re¬ 
moving the other part at B, as described. If it is 
desir.able, a portion of the breast may be easily re¬ 
moved at the same time with the wing. 
The carver next removes the thigh on the same 
side. The knife, pointing forward, may be passed 
down between the thigh and the carcass nearly to 
the joint, and then turned so as to separ.ate at one 
movement “ drum-stick,” thigh, and almost all the 
brown meat on one side of the bird ; this involves 
subsequent dissection and cutting up on the platter, 
or upon another plate. It is much neater to take 
off the drum-stick first, which is done by strik¬ 
ing a light but true blow .at E, cutting the joint 
on the top, then passing the knife under the joint 
and turning it off; and then, to remove the thigh, 
first cutting down on e.ach side of it, so that it will 
not tear aw.ay much meat with it when it is taken off 
One side is now clear, and the whole of the breast 
untouched. Holding the sharp knife obliquely, 
beginning just above A, and cut thin slices down to 
the bone, following pretty nearly the lines drawn— 
according to the size of the bird. 'When the slices 
are all cut, the knife m.ay be slipped down under 
them, and remove them all at once. Now, turning 
the fowl on the untouched side, the carver puts his 
knife by the side of the tail, and about half an inch 
from the line of the back bone ; he forces it along 
nearly to the thigh joint B, through the thin bone 
which lies before it, keeping about the same dis¬ 
tance from the back bone, when a slight twist 
throws off the “ side bone ” clear, with the most 
delicate meat of the fowl upon it. All this is done 
without removing the fork. If the supply cut off 
is likely to be sufficient, the fork is withdrawn and 
the guests served. It will be very easy to select a 
piece of white and of brown meat for each one, or 
to give each his favorite piece, and not overload 
any phatc with bones. The bird being Laid upon 
the carved side, makes a htindsome dish for a cold 
lunch. When the whole turkey is needed at once, 
it is usually best to carve h.alf at first and dispense 
it, then to dispatch the other half in the same w.ay. 
. Many carvers attempt to remove the “ wish¬ 
bone,” or “ merry-thought,” as they would that of 
a chicken. It is not worth while, but it may be 
taken off after the white meat of both sides is 
chiefly removed, by passing the knife down in front 
of the fork towards the neck ; and after its remov.al, 
the “key-bones” may be taken off b}' passing the 
point of the knife under the joint at B, and up 
towards the fork some 3 inches, or more, and then 
breaking the bones from their attachments by 
prying them up. In a young bird this is easy, but 
in an old one hard and awkward. The operation, 
however, rescues some very nice white meat, which 
might be overlooked and left upon the carcass. 
Coni. Bread.— Take three pints of water, 
put in a vessel, let come to the boil, put in a table- 
