22 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
CONSUMPTION OP POOD AT A SINGLE HOTEL. 
The following list of articles consumed at 
one of the hotels in this city, (the Metropolitan,) 
we take from the Tribune. This annual bill of 
fare at a single hotel will give some idea of the 
enormous supply of food required by travellers 
transiently here, who are not numbered in the 
600,000 resident population. It will be remem¬ 
bered that, there are half a score of hotels in 
this city, as large or nearly as large as the 
Metropolitan; the Astor House, the St. Nicho¬ 
las, the Irving, the New-York, besides hundreds 
of other hotels of lesser dimensions. 
During the year ending on the 1st inst., the 
consumption of several articles of provision in 
the Metropolitan Hotel were: Beef, 418,000 
lbs.; lamb and mutton, 3,500 head; veal, 150 
head; fish and lobster, 110,000 lbs.; oysters 
and clams, 626,000; poultry and game, 173,000 
head; ham and pork, 91,000 lbs.; butter and 
cheese, 65,000 lbs.; eggs, 780,000; milk and 
cream, 204,000 quarts; flour and corn meal, 
2,800 bbls.; fruits and vegetables, value, 
$od,/iCid, v._v.- —..1 ..tliei 1 ivjuur>, 0,532 gal¬ 
lons; champagne, 21,160 bottles; sherry, Ma¬ 
deira, &c., 22,912 bottles; claret and white 
wines, 18,942 bottles. This is independent of 
malt liquors, cordials, cooking wines, &c. The 
gross cash receipts for the year were $500,000. 
This is independent of wear and tear, which is 
by no means a small item. The cost of heating 
the house, and the gas consumed during the 
year, was $14,000. Croton water rent, $1,000. 
Here is also, from the same source, a list of 
articles for a single voyage of one of our short- 
trip steamers, the Georgia, running to Chagres. 
45 bbls. Bread, 60 
6 bbls. Coffee, 10 
20 bbls. Flour, 10 
4 bbls. Beans, • 15 
2 bbls. Molasses, 75 
4 bbls. Corn Meal, 50 
1 bbl. Oat Meal, 250 
26 bbls. Beef, 1 
25 bbls. Pork, 1 
4 bbls. Rice, 1 
6 bbls. Brown Sugar, 1 
3 bbls. Crushed Sugar, 10 
2 bbls. Pulverized Su- 18 
gar, 100 
2 bbls. Vinegar, 20 
8 half bbls. Mackerel, 275 
8 half bbls Pigs’ Feet, 6 
5 half bbls. Pickles, 1 
1 half bbl. Preserved Sau- 3 
sages, 2 
2 half bbls. Tripe, 1 
2 half bbls. Almonds, 20 
2 half bbls. Cranberries, 15 
4 half bbls. Filberts, 7000 
4 half bbls. Dr’d Peaches, 600 
4 half bbls. Dr’d Apples, 800 
2 half barrels Eng. Wal- 300 
nuts, 800 
2 boxes Farina, 100 
9 boxes Raisins, 100 
4 boxes Butter Crackers, 75 
4 boxes Water Crackers, 10 
2 boxes Wine Crackers, 4000 
6 boxes Soda Biscuit, 3000 
8 
300 
100 
50 
100 
60 
75 
10 
15 
60 
8 
3 
2 
5 
5 
100 
50 
1 box Anchovies, 
1 boa: Obocoltvte, 
2 boxes Capers, 
4 boxes P. Apple Cheese, 
! 3 boxes English Cheese, 
2 boxes Tomato Catsup, 
1 box Mushroom, 
2 boxes Maccaroni, 
1 box Olives, 
1 box Bologna Sausages, 
2 boxes Vermicelli, 
2 boxes Worcestershire 
Sauce, 
2 boxes Tomato Sauce, 
10 lbs. Arrowroot, 
15 lbs. Black Pepper, 
6 lbs. Cayenne Pepper, 
lbs. Smoked Salmon, 
lbs. Salreratus, 
lbs. Cream Tartar, 
lbs. Spices, 
lbs. Cranberry Sauce, 
lbs. Currant Jelly, 
lbs. Preserves, 
keg Currants, 
keg Mustard, 
keg Pearl Barley, 
keg Tapioca, 
pieces Dried Beef, 
firkins Butter, 
Hams, 
bags Salt, 
dozen Eggs. 
doz.Smoked Tongues, 
jar Ginger Preserves, 
cases Olive Oil, 
cases Sardines, 
case Pickles, 
drums Figs, 
gls. Cooking Wines, 
lbs. Fresh Beef, 
lbs. Mutton, 
lbs. Lamb, 
lbs. Veal, 
lbs. Pork, 
lbs. Sausages, 
lbs. Fresh Tripe, 
lbs. Lobster, 
kegs Pickl’d Oysters, 
Raw Oysters, 
Clams, 
jars Minced Meat, 
Fowls, 
Chickens. 
Capons, 
Ducks, 
Geese, 
Turkeys, 
doz. Pigeons, 
doz. Snipe, 
bbls. Potatoes, 
bbls. Onions, 
bbls. Parsneps, 
bbls. Carrots, 
bbls. Beef, 
bbls. Apples, 
heads Cabbage, 
bunches Parsley. 
All fruits in their season, and many other small 
articles not enumerated. 
Sagacity of the Horse. —Mr. Cunningham, 
in his amusing account of New South Wales, 
relates the following interesting anecdote of a 
horse: “A friend of mine, in the habit of riding 
a good deal, found, that whenever he approach¬ 
ed a gully, his sagacious horse invariably op¬ 
posed his wishes to cross at the particular spot 
he had been accustomed to, always endeavor¬ 
ing to lead off to another part of the gully, 
where no passage was known to exist by his 
rider. Resolving to see where the cunning- 
rogue would go, he gave him the rein, and 
soon found himself carried over the gully by a 
route that he had never before followed. Still, 
however, thinking that the former way was the 
nearest, he was curious enough to have both 
measured, when he found the horse’s judgment 
correct, that way being *the nearest by several 
hundred yards.” 
A Musical Mouse. —A correspondent, writing 
us from the southern part of the State, says he 
has in his possession a very extraordinary 
mouse , recently caught by his overseer. In 
general appearance the little animal does not 
differ from others of its species; what renders 
it extraordinary is its musical gifts. “To hear 
the little creature warbling the exquisite notes 
of the canary-bird, its imitation of the quail or 
partridge, the peculiar yelp of the wild turkey, 
with an occasional imitation of the mocking¬ 
bird,” says our correspondent, “ is truly 
wonderful. Its notes are very sweet, but not 
very loud, though sufficiently so to be heard 
distinctly in any ordinary-sized room.” 
THE OLD GRIST-MILL. 
BY R. H. STODDARD. 
The grist-mill stands beside the stream, 
With bending roof and leaDmg wall; 
So old, that, when the winds are wild, 
The miller trembles lest it fall. 
But moss and ivy, never sere, 
Bedeck it o’er from year to year. 
The dam is steep, and weeded green; 
The gates are raised, the waters pour, 
And tread the old wheel’s slippery steps 
The lowest round for evermore. 
Methinks they have a sound of ire, 
Because they cannot climb it higher. 
From morn till night, in autumn-time, 
When yellow harvests load the plains, 
Up drive the farmers to the mill, 
And back anon, with loaded wains; 
They bring a heap of golden grain, 
And take it home in meal again. 
The mill inside is dim and dark, 
But, peeping in the open door, 
You see the miller flitting round, 
And dusty bags along the floor; 
And by the shaft, and down the spout, 
The yellow meal comes pouring out. 
And all day long the winnowed chaff 
Floats round it on the sultry breeze, 
And shinetli like a settling swarm 
Of golden-winged-and belted bees, 
Or sparks around a blacksmith’s door, 
vvnen oeilows blow and forges roar. 
I love my pleasant, quaint old mill; 
It ’minds me of my early prime. 
’T is changed since then—but not so much 
As I am—by decay and time. 
Its wrecks are mossed from year to year, 
But mine all dark and bare appear. 
I stand beside the stream of life ; 
The mighty current sweeps along; 
Lifting the flood-gates of my heart, 
It turns the magic wheel of song, 
And grinds the ripened harvest, brought 
From out the golden field of thought. 
m 
CHAPTER ON BREAD-MAKING, 
CONTAINING SOME SCIENCE AND SOME PRACTICAL HINTS. 
Our most common pursuits of every-day life 
involve some beautiful scientific principles, 
which, if studied and thoroughly understood, 
would give an increased interest to our labor, 
and very often lead to improvement. This re¬ 
mark applies quite as much to household and 
farm operations as to mechanical trades. We 
now confine ourselves to one illustration, that 
of bread-making. 
The good housewife depends for good bread 
upon having the best flour, and then upon her 
judgment and her practical skill in yeasting, 
kneading, and baking. She seldom thinks that 
she is actually performing chemical manipula¬ 
tions, and that her success depends entirely upon 
the accuracy with which she follows certain 
laws. The yeasting, kneading, and heating- 
bread are as much chemical operations as the 
mixings, filtrations, and evaporations of the 
operative chemist. Let us study this matter a 
little. 
The good quality of flour depends entirely 
upon the relative proportions of the two princi¬ 
pal chemical constituents—gluten and starch. 
One hundred pounds of the best flour contain 
about seventy-two pounds of starch and eleven 
pounds of gluten. If the flour contains a large 
proportion of pure starch, it will produce a white, 
tender bread; but, if gluten is in excess, the 
bread will be darker and tougher or stronger. 
These two substances, gluten and starch, exist 
in the flour in distinct little sacs, not visible to 
the unassisted eye ; and the more the dough is 
kneaded, the better will these little sacs be 
broken up and mingled together. Working the 
dough especially breaks up the starch sacs or 
globules, and diffuses the starch throughout the 
whole mass. The gluten is what gives strength 
or toughness to the bread, while the particles 
of starch do not cling together. If, then, these 
are well mingled with the gluten, they tend to 
diminish its stickiness. The reason why crack¬ 
ers are so brittle is, that by long-continued 
beating and working the starch has become so 
thoroughly mixed with the gluten as to prevent 
it from scarcely adhering together at all. We 
see, then, why the tenderest bread is made by 
those having the strongest arms, and the most 
patience in long-continued kneading. 
■ The dough being property prepared, the next 
thing is to have it rise well. If the dough is 
baked without rising, the heat hardens the glu¬ 
ten into a kind of horn-like substance, which 
embraces the starch within it, and forms a hard 
mass, of tough, heavy bread. The less the 
dough has been worked, the harder will bo the 
bread, for the reasons before given. Raising 
broad consists hi forming’ within it, ill every part, 
little air-chambers or openings, which break up 
the mass of gluten, and keep its particles from 
adhering. Some oil or greasy substance (short¬ 
ening) produces the same effect as the enclosed 
portions of air; and pie-crust, cakes, &c., may 
be made tender either with a fatty substance or 
by raising; though plenty of shortening does 
this the best. These air or gas vesicles, or lit¬ 
tle holes in the dough, are filled, not with air, 
but with a gas resembling air, called carbonic 
acid gas. This gas is heavier than air, and is 
the same that bubbles up in soda-water or beer, 
It may be produced by putting- together two 
