342 
ROUGH NOTES BY THE WAY.-NO. 3. 
ferior kinds, however, that are thus made. In 
order to detect earthy matter in chocolate, a con¬ 
siderable quantity of the suspected article must be 
finely scraped and steeped in hot water for some 
minutes, stirring it well during the time. After 
about a quarter of an hour, the supernatant liquid 
may be poured off, and the residual matter again 
treated with hot water until nearly tasteless. The 
liquid part must then be poured off, and the remain¬ 
der, or mineral portions, collected and dried. 
ROUGH NOTES BY THE WAY.—No. 3. 
On my way to Newcastle, in order to take the 
steamboat, I stopped at the farm of Hon. John M. 
Clayton. This farm consists of a part of one of 
those large worn-out estates of which I have often 
spoken, containing too much land, entirely run out 
by bad husbandry. It is only three years since he 
urchased, so that he has only had time to make a 
eginning. He has set out a large apple orchard, 
together with considerable other fruit, which ap¬ 
pear to be doing well; but he has not been the 
most successful in planting trees for ornament and 
shade. About his mansion, which is new and 
quite spacious, there has been some mismanage¬ 
ment in this respect. No one ever need lose a tree 
by transplanting. 
As to Mr. C.’s politics, it is not for me to say 
whether I approve or condemn; but there can be 
but one opinion as to his talents, and l hope they 
may be brought to bear upon practical agriculture 
in improving his own farm; and whenever the 
subject of establishing an agricultural college is 
brought before Congress, I trust he will be found 
first and foremost in advocating its importance. I 
am told he has a son, who has, also, a fine taste 
for agriculture, with all its modern improvements, 
now travelling in England, and who, doubtless, 
will learn, while in that country, something con¬ 
cerning English stock and the manner in which 
they “ do up things” there. Although they may 
not be applicable, in all respects, to the United 
States, yet they may create new ideas, and stir up 
a disposition to make the most of our privileges as 
well as of our resources. 
While on Mr. Clayton’s farm, I asked the old 
colored woman, who appeared to be mayora gen¬ 
eralissimo, of the establishment, to show me the hen 
house. This is constructed of bricks or stone, well 
stuccoed, inside and out, sixteen feet high to the 
eaves, and well ventilated, with nests for laying and 
sitting all round the sides. Well, Dinah, said I, 
what luck in raising chickens'? “Ah,” said she, 
4 I’ve had bad luck with my hens.” Why so % said I. 
You have lots of chickens all about you ? “ True,” 
said she, “ I might have had a great many more. 
See, how they act—two or three trying to get on 
one nest—when they run out and steal their nests, 
they do a great deal better.” Here, I will suggest 
an improvement for the benefit of Mr. Clayton, or 
any others. J will suppose his house to be thirty- 
six feet long, twenty-four wide, with a paved or 
plastered floor, perfectly rat proof. Partition off a 
room six feet wide, for sitting, the whole length of 
the building. On each side of this partition, erect 
a table, or platform, say two feet wide. Then 
make twenty-four sliding nest boxes, or drawers, 
three feet long, eighteen inches wide, and ten 
inches deep, partitioned in the middle, so as to leave 
two compartments in each, eighteen inches square. 
On a level with the tables, let there be cut through 
the partition an aperture the whole length of the 
room, ten inches high, or sufficiently large to receive 
the nest boxes, or drawers, so that one half of each 
will be in the laying room, and the other half in 
the apartment designed for sitting, leaving a space 
of six inches on each table, for the hens to alight 
and enter deliberately their nests without breaking 
their eggs. When a hen is disposed to sit, put the 
eggs under her, and one or two nights after, shift 
ends of the nest box, so that they will be in the 
setting, room where she will remain in perfect 
quietude until her brood is hatched. Your readers 
may make whatever improvement they please, 
upon my suggestion. I have something similar, 
myself, and find it works well, saving a great deal 
of contention among the hens, especially from the 
annoyance of the roosters when they come off 
their nests for food. 
I find an increasing sentiment prevailing through¬ 
out this region, that more barn room is necessary, 
and that a great deal more is lost in having hay 
spoil in ricks and stacks, than the interest, and de¬ 
cay on the cost of barns, many large ones of which 
are now erecting. 
The crops all along the Delaware, look well; the 
lands generally under excellent cultivation, with 
good fences, mostly post and rail, and hedges, the 
latter of buckthorn and the Virginia white thorn. 
The last-named plant, 1 like much the best, 
although less thrifty in its growth. It makes a 
complete low fence, which no animal will be like¬ 
ly to pass, and even it would be impossible to be 
penetrated by a mad bull. AH, however, with 
whom I conversed, are tired of division fences, 
which impose an enormous tax of no earthly use. 
The farms are mostly large, and if any one chooses 
to pasture his cattle, let him fence in 100 acres, more 
or less, and sub-divide it into smaller lots by iron- 
wire hurdles, or some other kind of portable fence, 
so as to afford fresh pasture to the animals, if neces¬ 
sary, every day in the week. Soiling, however, is 
decidedly preferable for horses, oxen, and cows; 
but all young cattle, as well as sheep, ought to be 
driven to the mountains to summer, as the land 
along the river is all too valuable for cultivation. 
Samuel Allen. 
Newcastle , Del., July 2 0th, 1848. 
Buckwheat Cakes. —The griddle on which 
cakes are baked should never be touched with 
grease. Firstly, because it imparts a rancid taste 
to the cakes. Secondly, if a cooking stove be 
used, it fills the kitchen, if not the whole house, 
with the smell of burnt grease—to say nothing of 
the parade, and boasting to one’s neighbors, by be¬ 
traying what we are to have for breakfast. Wash 
the griddle with hot soap suds; scour with dry 
sand, and when heated for use, rub it well with a 
spoonful of fine salt and a coarse cloth. It will 
then be ready to receive the cakes. After each 
cake is removed, the salt rubbing must be repeated. 
If the first doe6 not succeed, try it again, and you 
will ever after follow this advice of an 
Old Housekeeper. 
