1863.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
55 
Adulterations. 
Many of the articles in common use in families 
are subject to fraudulent mixture, especially those 
which are sold in the ground or powdered state. 
Ground spices are, from their high price, not only 
adulterated with other substances, but inferior and 
damaged articles, such as could not be sold in the 
whole condition, are made into powder. The additi¬ 
ons made to spices are not generally of a deleterious 
nature, but are simply a fraud upon the buyer, who 
gets much less of the real article than he pays for. 
Old ship biscuit and Indian meal flour, and ground 
oil cake are among the substances used, and tons 
of these are annually sold at the price of spices. 
The value of spices depends upon the oil they con¬ 
tain, in some instances the oil of cloves and cinna¬ 
mons is previously extracted and the articles after¬ 
wards ground and sold. We have known a whole¬ 
sale dealer to keep three sorts of ground ginger, 
which he sold to retailers at as many different pri¬ 
ces, under the names of fresh, pure and extra. 
These differed only in the proportions of meal they 
contained. It is very difficult to find pure ground 
mustards; much of that in the market contains 
very little of the flour of mustard seed, and a great 
deal of the flour of wheat,'■with turmeric to give a 
fine yellow color. Having occasion some time ago 
to make use of a mustard poultice, we were obliged 
to make four trials, with mustard bought at differ¬ 
ent places, before we could find any which would 
produce any redness of the skin, or even a feeling 
of warmth. Cayenne pepper, which, from being 
troublesome to prepare, is usually bought ready 
ground, is much adulterated. This is often mixed 
with harmless substances, but sometimes red lead, 
which is poisonous, is used to bring up the color. 
Pure Cayenne is of an orange red color ; any which 
is bright red or scarlet should be looked upon with 
suspicion. Where a spice is much adulterated the 
lack of proper taste and smell will detect it—but 
such pungent articles can be mixed with tasteless 
materials to a considerable extent without materi¬ 
ally altering the taste or smell. Adulterations can 
be readily detected by the microscope, but there 
are few who have the skill and the means to make 
the examination, and the only safe way is to pur¬ 
chase the articles unground, and pound or grind 
them in the house. 
-----o-- 
Beans and Peas as Pood—Hints on Cook¬ 
ing Them. 
We suspect that economical housekeepers are 
not generally aware of the value of beans and peas 
as a source of nourishment, or these articles would 
be more freely consumed. They are similar in 
composition, both containing a large propor¬ 
tion of nitrogenous compounds, which supply 
direct nutriment to the muscles of the body. In 
fact, they furnish the most concentrated form of 
strength imparting vegetable nourishment. Trav¬ 
elers over the eastern deserts, who have occasion 
to carry the greatest amount of life sustaining food 
in the least weight, take with them the roasted 
chick-peas, which are similar in composition to our 
common beaus and peas. The Chinese prepare a 
cheese from peas, which is quite like a milk cheese. 
The peas are boiled to a thin paste, strained 
through a sieve, and the curd obtained after co¬ 
agulation is treated like that from milk. Beaus and 
peas are by some considered to be difficult of di¬ 
gestion, and constipating. The constipating prop¬ 
erty is probably due to the fact that nearly all the 
substance is converted into nutriment, leaving lit¬ 
tle solid waste material to excite and produce 
evacuations of the intestines. This can be correct¬ 
ed by eating coarse and bulky food with them. The 
difficulty of digestion is due mainly, we think, to 
the method of cooking too often practiced. The 
skin of the kernels is almost absolutely impenetra¬ 
ble to the gastric juise of the stomach. If the skins 
be not thoroughly broken in cooking, or in eating, 
the gastric fluid can not do its work, and heart¬ 
burn or pain in the stomach is the result; while 
the undigested kernels or parts of kernels pass 
into the intestines, and by fermentation these pro¬ 
duce gas, leading to flatulence (colic). Let the 
beans or peas be so thoroughly cooked as to form a 
soft, mushy mass, and they will be easily digested, 
and the evils above referred to, will be obviated. 
A very common process is to boil them for a time, 
and theu complete the cooking by baking them 
with pork. They are then dry, and the skin main¬ 
ly unbroken, except slight cracks or checks upon 
one side, and being coated with baked lard, they 
are in the worst possible condition to be easily 
transformed into nourishment in the stomach. 
Baked “ pork and beans” is with some a favorite 
dish,land those having the “stomach of an Os¬ 
trich” can manage to digest a considerable portion 
of this material, espescially if they take the time 
to chew it finely before swallowing ; but as a rule, 
for children and those having but an ordinarily 
good digestion, it is best to leave out the pork. 
Beans are abundantly rich themselves, without the 
addition of baked or boiled pork fat. The best 
mode of cooking is, to boil them, in soft water only, 
to a mushy condition, so that the skin shall be 
thoroughly broken up. A piece of lean meat 
may be boiled with them to change the flavor, if 
desired, though good beans in a well cooked soft 
state, have a rich butter-like taste of themselves, 
without any addition except salt. Soft water is es¬ 
sential to the good cooking of beans. Pea soup is 
about equally nutritious with that made from beans, 
and their frequent use will render them palatable. 
-«»-»--sou-► -- 
Hints on Cooking, etc. 
Good fiSrealcisast Cakes. —Mrs. M. Hol¬ 
lingsworth, Armstrong Co., Pa., contributes the 
following to the American Agriculturist: Take 
equal parts of wheat flour, buckwheat, and corn 
meai sifted, enough to make a batter with 1 pint 
skim milk (sweet), 1 pint sour milk, or buttermilk, 
1 egg, 1 teaspoonful each of salt and cooking soda. 
Bake and serve up the same as buckwheat cakes. 
©i-idklle Calces s —Preferred to buckwheat 
by the contributor, O. B. Fenner, Marion Co., Ill. 
1 gill of good yeast, % teaspoonful of salt, 1 qt. of 
blood warm water, 1 cup of Indian meal, 1)^ cups of 
rye meal. Thicken with flour. Let the Indian and 
rye meal be sifted through a coarse seive : mix at 
night for the next morning’s use, and set in a place 
warm enough for them to rise. In the morning 
they will be exceedingly light and spongy; then 
add about 1 teaspoonful of saleratus, or enough to 
make them sweet; (a little smart taste before frying 
is not disagreeable or hurtful). Fry on a hot grid¬ 
dle, and eat as soon as fried. 
Coi*BH3Miclfi B EtBMplsiii IBs’cad.—Mrs. Rlio- 
da C. Whitford, Addison Co., Vt.., contributes the 
following to the American Agriculturist. Take 3 
quarts of corn meal, and pour on boiling water 
enough to scald it. Add 3 pints of stewed pumpkin 
(cheese pumpkin is best), 3 pints coarse wheat flour, 
buttermilk or sour milk enough to make soft dough, 
and 2 teaspoonfuls saleratus. Bake 3 hours. 
Sai*atog'aI2oIls. —Contributed to the Amer¬ 
ican Agriculturist , by A. B. Shattuck, Chatauqua 
Co., N. Y.: Take 1 pint sweet milk, 2 pints flour, 
2 tablespoonfuls butter, 4 tablespoonfuls yeast, and 
% teaspoonfnl saleratus. Beat thoroughly and let 
it rise 5 or 6 hours, or all night, if for breakfast. 
Pour in a shallow pan aud bake half an hour. 
Mints on Malcisng,- Tarts. —“Vermont 
Subscriber” in a letter to the American Agriculturist 
about seeds, adds : “ My wife saves trouble and 
patience, things that ought to be saved, thus: In¬ 
stead of cutting out bottom pieces of dough, and 
then sticking on an edging or rim that often comes 
off, she puts the round piece of dough into a small 
scolloped tin plate, about three inches across at the 
top. The dough bended up at the sides for half an 
inch forms a nice edging. If the dough be rich in 
shortening, no greasing of the tin will be needed.” 
Sausage ISecspes. —E. Dexter, Windham 
Co., Conn., sends the following, w'hieh he says is 
pronounced excellent by those who have tried it: 
To 100 lbs. of meat add 9 teacups of salt, 5 teacups 
sage, 3 teacups pepper, 2 teacups summer savory, 
and 1 teacup of ginger. After mixing thoroughly, 
pack closely in tin pans, make the surface smooth, 
and cover with melted lard to the depth of inch. 
By thus excluding the air it will keep for several 
months as fresh as when first made. 
The above directions appear to us to be too spicy 
and not sufficiently definite. The pepper and sage 
should suffice, we think, without the summer sa¬ 
vory and ginger. However, tastes differ, and the 
mixture may suit many. The amounts of ingre¬ 
dients should always be stated in pounds and oz.: 
some teacups contain nearly twice as much as oth¬ 
ers. The following proportions for sausages were 
furnished at our request by Mr. W. H. Cady, Co¬ 
lumbia Co., N. Y., one of the best sausage-makers 
that ever supplied the writer’s table. They are : 40 
oz. salt, 8 to 10 oz. pepper (according to taste), and 
8 oz. sage, to every 100 lbs. meat. * 
SEijjci’Ior jPwdKSiaig'.—Contributed to the 
American Agriculturist, by Mrs. E. E. Vedder, Mar¬ 
quette Co., Wis. Boil two quarts of milk; rub one 
egg in flour sufficient to make it dry enough to rub 
through a sieve. Stir the egg and flour in the boil¬ 
ing milk; cool, and add four eggs well beaten, aud 
one tablespoonful of sugar. Bake the same as cus¬ 
tard. Serve with a sauce of brrtter and sugar well 
beaten ; use any flavoring desired. 
IPeppeir on Salt IPos-Ir.— A subscriber 
writes : After a layer is packed, with an oak stave 
press the pork from the side of the barrel and fill 
the space with salt. On every layer put fine ground 
black pepper enough to make the pork look black. 
Any person who tries this will never after omit it. 
[This may impart a better flavor to the meat, but 
the use of so much pepper is objectionable.— Ed.] 
Stnffiecl ISeef Steak.—Pronounced supe¬ 
rior, by the contributor of the directions for cook¬ 
ing it, Mrs. H. L. Johnson, New-Haven Co., Conn. 
Take a large round steak free from bone; make a 
dressing the same as for turkey, and spread it on 
the meat. Boll it up tightly, put it in a cloth and 
boil for one hour in just enough water to cover it. 
SBiett —For competition with the 
Queen of Puddings, described in the December Ag¬ 
riculturist, page 372. Contributed by O. B. Fenner, 
Marion Co., Ill.: 1 cup of suet, 1 cup of molasses, 
1 cup of raisins, 1 cup of sweet milk, 3 of flour, 
teaspoonful of saleratus, and a little salt. Any spice 
added, the writer thinks wasted, but others can spice 
to their taste. After mixing, place the pudding in 
a tight tin kettle, set the latter in a boiler, aud 
steam from 3 to 4 hours. 
Waffles.— 1 qt. of’sweet milk, 2 eggs, tea¬ 
spoonful of saleratus and a good pinch of salt. 
Thicken with flour to a batter. Bake in waffle irons. 
-* .—-►«=- 
Good Cough Medicine for Children. 
We have little faith in “ universal remedies,” and 
seldom publish in the American Agriculturist either 
prescriptions or advertisements for medicines of 
any kind. What is one man’s meat is often anoth¬ 
er’s poison. In giving the following cough remedy, 
we therefore offer it only as one that for seven 
years has almost always proved effective in our own 
family. Put into a vial equal proportions by meas¬ 
ure of Syrup of Ipecac, Paregoric, and Castor oil. 
Shake well together, and always shake before using. 
From half a teaspoonful to a full teaspoonful given 
to a child on going to bed, or at other times, usually 
checks coughing after a few minutes. If needed, 
the dose is repeated after three or four hours. 
It is well to begin with half a teaspoonful and in¬ 
crease the quantity if needed. The food should be 
light, or the syrup of ipecac may produce a little 
nausea. 
“ Figures won’t lie,” is an old ai)d homely expression ; 
yet few can look on a fashionable woman’s figure now-a-' 
clay’s and say as much. 
The coat of a horse is the gift of nature. That of 
many an ass is often the work of tiie tailor. 
Beauty without virtue, is a flower without perfume. 
