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AMERICAN FETJITS IN EUROPE. 
Under the title of “Old World Conservatism,” 
the Scientific American gives an article from an¬ 
other journal, which it sajs “forcibly illustrates 
the slowness of the English in adopting any im¬ 
provements from abroad, and especially from this 
country.” It farther remarks:—“ While Ameri¬ 
cans engaged in calico-printing, in ship building, 
in agriculture, in every department of industry,— 
are always on the alert to adopt any improvement 
from whatever source it may come, the French, the 
German, and the English, each deems his own 
nation so superior that it has nothing to learn from 
any other. This contrast between Americans and 
Europeans has been exemplified a hundred times. 
“Some years ago the Messrs. Hovey, of Boston, 
embatked in an extensive series of trials to produce 
an improved strawberry; it was said that they 
fruited over 2,000,000 of new seedlings, and out of 
these they selected two remarkably large and fine 
varieties. Has any one ever heard of these being 
cultivated in Europe ? On the other hand, our 
nurserymen are so eagerly on the watch for any 
new varieties of fruit that may be originated in 
Europe, that, when the ‘Victoria Currant’ was 
first produced, the Messrs. Parsons, of Flushing, 
Long Island, paid $30 for the first bush which 
they could procure.” 
It is not our object to defend Europeans from 
the charges thus made in the Scientific American, 
and other journals, and which are copied and re¬ 
iterated from time to time. But the truth will do no 
hurt, although in some respects it may destroy our 
self-complacence, and cause us to examine the 
foundation on which we build our boastings. The 
same mail that brought us the Journal containing 
the article from which we have quoted above, 
brought us the London Gardener's Chronicle con¬ 
taining Vilmorins’ Catalogue and descriptions of 
Strawberries, and among them we find two Ameri¬ 
can varieties, one of them being Hovey’s Seedling, 
which the Scientific American thinks no one ever 
heard of beiDg cultivated in Europe. 
It would be difficult to find an English Horti¬ 
cultural Journal that does not contain advertise¬ 
ments or notices of American Plants, the Azaleas 
and Rhododendrons, and every garden of any 
pretensions, contains a department for American 
plants, called the American garden. Our Virginia 
Creeper is a universal favorite, and can be found 
much more frequently in English than in Ameri¬ 
can gardens. George the Fourth and Early York 
Peaches are generally Cultivated in England, and) 
the. latter is a gre/.w favorite for forcing. The 
Seckel Pear is acknowledged to be unsurpassed in 
all the long catalogue of European variet ies, while 
our Jefferson Plum stands at the very head of the 
list of fine plums. 
The great California tree attracted attention in 
Europe, and received its name, Gigantea Welling- 
tonia, before it was hardly thought of by American 
horticulturists, who at last awoke to the impor¬ 
tance of the subject, and claimed ilie privilege of 
giving it a new name, Gigantea Washvngtonia. 
Probably more young plants of this tree have been 
shipped from one establishment here to England, 
than have been planted in this country. 
Whatever may be true of England in regard to 
the adoption of the mechanical improvements of 
other lands, the people of that country have always 
evinced the greatest zeal to obtain for their little 
island everything valuable in the World of Nature. 
She has sent her explorers to every laud, and 
every mountain’s side. To the English explorers 
are we indebted for many of the beautiful things 
that adorn our gardens, and the rich stores of our 
own country were first laid open to the world by 
Europeans ? 
HEDGE GEOWING-THE HAWTHOEN. 
I see, too, by “the Register of Rural Affairs, for 
1860,” that the hackneyed tale of the White Haw¬ 
thorn having been formerly tried, had proved a 
failure, and they had been swept off by miles 
together, is now ascribed to the native Newcastle 
and Washington thorns, brought into notice I 
think, by A. J. Downing. There appears to be an 
eminent personage ever at hand, but never seen 
named—“ they say.” Thi3 personage has a great 
influence with some, but you seldom find him 
backing up his adherents. This has been the 
case in the alleged charge of the English Haw¬ 
thorn demise, as was once told by a gentleman, a 
nurseryman. It took place in the unprecedently 
short period of 24 hours time. You know the tale 
of the Three Black Crows. 
About 40 years ago, Col. Livingstone, of this 
place, had over some plants from England for a 
hedge. He employed incompetent persons to 
plant it—now the fences this farmer had been 
used to were Dikes or Ditches, where hedges 
would not grow. The result proved as may have 
been anticipated—even worse, the hedge from 
improper treatment rather retrograded than ad¬ 
vanced. It continued in this tantalizing state for 
years, an eye-sore to the owner, and ominous to 
the beholder. The property fell into the handB of 
a thorough, go-a-head gentleman, who set about 
renovating it, and in a few years it was imper¬ 
vious to man or beast. Some few spots where the 
plants had died out soon after planting, are now 
obliterated by the adjacent plants. It is now a 
formidable fence, but occupies, to my liking, too 
much width—about the same as allowed for an 
Osage Orange hedge. We have good hedges from 
from 24 to 30 inches thick. 
As I expect to give you this coming Winter a 
demonstrable proof of the application of the 
Whiteihorn for hedges/ I will say no more— 
leaving you to contradict or confirm me in my 
confidence in this plant for hedging purposes. 
I think the Viburnum may make a pretty screen 
fence, and perhaps, by interweaving, a sufficient 
barrier against cattle. It is handsome in appear¬ 
ance, and of low size. The English Hazel, too, 
makes a fence almost impregnable, when properly 
managed. W. M. Beauchamp. 
Skaneaie’es, N. Y., Nov. 1859. 
Remarks. —We think our correspondent mnst 
be mistaken, in the statement that he “has seen 
thousands of Englishmen that never saw a Haw¬ 
thorn hedge, or that knew the plant from a 
Gribble.” There is scarcely a square mile of cul¬ 
tivated land in England, where the Whitethorn is 
not found in abundance, and even in copses and 
wild land, the Hawthorn is everywhere to be met 
with. There is scarcely a child in England but 
has gathered its sweet Mayflowers in early sum¬ 
mer, and every school-boy fills his pockets with 
its bright scarlet fruit, after the first frosts of 
Autumn. It is the only plant in general use for a 
good protective hedge, and an English tenant 
farmer, or even a farm laborer, who has.not work¬ 
ed wseVi'tnd months at pruning au^ training 
Whitethorn hedges, must be somejfiing of a 
curiosity. The Blackthorn is but seldom used, 
and then generally as a protection from winds, 
and i 3 not kept closely pruned. 
a few Hyacinths in glasses or pots, as they wil 
afford more pleasure even than costly plants from 
the green houses. The bulbs, fit for flowering, 
can be obtained at most of the seed-stores, and 
from the nurserymen. 
Procure as many pots as you wish to fill, and if 
you desire a succession of flowers the bulbs may 
be planted in the pots at different periods in 
November and December. Prepare a rich com¬ 
post as for out-door culture, only a little richer, 
dll as many pots as you wish very lightly with the 
compost. The pots ought not to be less than six 
inches in diameter. Place the bulb on the soil in 
the centre of the pot and press it firmly down with 
the fingers and thumb, covering it with a little 
more compost, and set the pots away in a cool 
dark cellar, and keep them perfectly dry. In 
about five or six weeks they will be in a fit condi¬ 
tion to remove into the house. Tbe balance may 
be planted at intervals of a fortnight, and treated 
in the same manner. By this means a succession 
of fine flowers may be obtained. 
FLOWEES FOE THE FAELOB. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker: —I did not intend 
when I finished my last to you, to again take the 
trouble of writing on the subject of the so-called 
English, but what is there termed the White¬ 
thorn. The only thorn, I believe, that is truly 
English, is the Blackthorn, which make 3 a for¬ 
midable barrier in the fence line, but is apt to 
throw up Suckers, as do our native thorns here. 
I did not intend writing again on this subject, 
but seeing an article in your last by S. G. Gage, I 
am induced once more to write. He gives the 
opinion of au English Tenant respecting the 
growth of the hedge. Is S. G. Gage sure that the 
said tenant knows any thiDg about the planting 
and management of hedges? I have seen thou¬ 
sands of Englishmen that never saw a hawthorn 
hedge, or that knew the plant from a Gribble, and 
I suppose I have seen ten time3 that number that 
never saw the process of planting. This reminds 
me of a man that applied to me for work—had 
long worked at hedge-planting, and told me he 
assisted in'planting a hedge that I knew had been 
planted 30 years. I asked him his age. He 
answered, 3G ! a fine hedge-planter I found—but 
such an one as expected—I kept him part of a day, 
and then got rid of him. It is such as these 
that profess to know what they do not. I do not 
say that Mr. G’s. tenant is of that sort, but is 
he acquainted with the kind of soil most suitable 
for the Hawthorn, the diseases to which the plant 
is liable and.the remedies? From Mr. Gage’s 
failure, I presume not. From tbe statement, I am 
led to infer that the plants were forced by 
manuring. I may be in error on this head, but I 
think I am not. The plants too may have been 
diseased before their transfer from the nursery to 
the hedge-row. I could give the remedy in all 
such cases, and even now—if no more damage had 
accrued than is stated, a good substantial fence 
may be made, that in two years would create con¬ 
sternation in any biped or quadruped that was 
forced through it, and I think no inducement 
would gain consent to a second trial. 
Many plants are kept with difficulty in the par¬ 
lor or sittiDg-room, on account of the dryness of 
the atmosphere, and the irregularity of the tempe¬ 
rature. There are a few things, however, that can 
bear rooms as hot and dry, and ill-ventilated and 
irregular as man. The Cactus family will bear a 
temperature from anything above freezing point 
to more than 80°. They require but little atten¬ 
tion, fresh earth once a year and watering once a 
week in winter and twice or three times in summer 
is sufficient, they are curious and beautiful.— 
The Bulbous Roots, such as the Hyacinth, Crocus, 
Narcissus, Tulip, dec., will grow and flower well in 
a room where there is a stove, if kept near the 
window, and if properly cared for will furnish 
plenty of flowers most of the winter. Those of 
our readers who cannot procure plants from green¬ 
houses, can mostly obtain a few dozen bulbs from 
some nurseryman or seedsmaD, as they can be 
done up in small packages and sent by Express 
safely almost any distance. The Hyacinths and 
Tulips cost from $2 to $3 per dozen, the Narcissus 
$2 and Crocuses about 25 cents. They were ad¬ 
vertised by many dealers in the Rural during the 
month of October. 
culture o w the hyacinth in pots. 
The soil most suitable for the Hyacinth is com¬ 
posed of two parts sandy loam, one-quarter leaf 
mold from the woods, and one-quarter thoroughly 
decomposed manure. The common pots, rather 
deeper than wide, will answer. A succession of 
flowers may be had for two or three months, by 
adopting the following method:—Fill as many 
pots as you desire to have plants with the compost 
already described, in November, insert the bulbs 
and put them in some cool place, where they can 
be kept for some time without being excited into 
growth—a cool, dry cellar is about as good a place 
as any. Then, at intervals of a fortnight, or so, 
remove some of them to the parlor and give them 
a good watering with tepid water, and they will 
immediately commence to grow, and the result 
will be a succession of fine flowers for along period. 
culture of the hyacinth in glasses. 
This is also a very simple way, and one in which 
any person may succeed in having fine flowers. 
The bulb may be either placed in the glasses of 
water at once, or they may be planted in sand until 
they emit roots, and the leaves begin to grow. 
When this latter mode is adopted, previous to 
placing them in the glasses, remove them from the 
sand, and thoroughly wash the roots and straight¬ 
en them. The water in which they are grown 
should be changed, from time to time, as it appears 
to be the least discolored or muddy, which may be 
about once each week. The red and blue flowered 
single sorts are preferable for sitting-rooms, as 
the light colored varieties emit a fragrance far too 
powerful to please many. On this subjeet a cor¬ 
respondent sends us the following: 
Messrs. Editors: —As the winter season is at 
hand, when flowers are scarce and highly prized, 
I wish to recommend all your readers to cultivate 
For Culture in Glasses.— Light colored glasses 
are inferior to dark colored ones, because the roots 
do not bear the light well—place the bulb in the 
glasses and fill up with rain water to within half 
an inch of the bulb. Put the glasses away in a 
cool, dark place. At the end of three or four 
weeks they will have emitted roots sufficient to 
admit of their being removed into the house, 
They must not be placed in the windows immedi¬ 
ately, but be kept in a moderate light until such 
time as the leaves have assumed a fine green color, 
when they may be placed in the windows. Turn 
the glasses frequently round, to prevent their 
growing too much to one s\’e, and chaDge the 
water about once a week. To invigorate them, 
dissolve an ounce of guano in a quart of rain¬ 
water, adding about one quarter of an ounce of 
chloride of lime, and apply about two teaspoonfuls 
twice a week, after the flowers begin to show them¬ 
selves. Hyacinths treated in this manner will 
bloom finely, and amply reward the florist for his 
trouble. 
have not the means or opportunity to obtain them 
in this way, can go to the woods some fine Indian 
summer day, and find knots that will make vases 
as beautiful and more appropriate than anything 
to be found in the stores. 
Inquiries cmft ^Insuicrs. 
CRANBERRY CULTURE. 
Eds. Rural New-Yobker :—Having noticed in your 
most valuable paper, of November 12;h, an iiem In 
regard to tbe enormous yield and profits of the Cran¬ 
berry, it led me to refer to tbe number of March 19th, 
which gives direction as to the soil and mode of cul¬ 
ture best adopted to it; but not being satisfied, and 
wishing for further light upon the subject, I thought I 
would trouble you-one of the most patient of all men 
—with a few inquiries. 1st. How many varieties are 
there, and which is the most prolific? 2d. Where can 
they be obtained, and at what price per hundred ? 3d. 
Does once setting suffice, or will they run out? 4th. 
How are they propagated ? 6lh How soon will they 
come into full beariDg ? If yon, or some one of your 
numerous correspondents, who has had experience in 
the matter, will answer the above, you will oblige many 
readers of the Rural.— W. F. 8., Maple Grove, N. Y. 
Will yon be so bind as to inform me, through the 
pages of your excellent paper, where Cranberry bushes 
can be obtained, the prico, the manner of culture, and 
what soil is best adapted, &c., &c. ?-A Subscriber, 
Durham , N. Y., 1859. 
1st. There are several varieties of Cranberries, 
how many we cannot say. We planted a variety 
called the Cherry Cranberry, and another named 
the Loco Land Belle, boih were productive, but 
our experience with the Cranberry is not very 
extensive. 2d. Plants, we think, can be obtained 
of D. L. Halsey, of Victory, Cayuga county, and 
Noble Hill, of Caton, Steuben county, in this 
State. The latter advertised plants in the Rural 
last year at $1 per hundred. 3d. Once setting 
plants is sufficient, as, if taken care of, they grow 
and increase very rapidly, and even if entirely 
neglected they struggle manfully for an existence 
among the weeds. Good plants can generally be 
found in an old bed that has been neglected for 
maDy years. 4th. The vines run on the ground a 
great length, and throw out plenty of roots, so 
that each branch can be cut into several pieces 
and transplanted. 5th. About the third year a 
full crop may be expected. We have had some 
fruit ripen in the autumn on plants set in the 
spring, and the second autumn a pretty good crop. 
Mr. Hill, who is an extensive grower andmsu- 
ally exhibits fine fruit at our State Fair, sends us 
the following in regard to soil and mode of culture: 
Soil Best Adapted to Cranberry Raising.— Low, 
swampy lands, in my opinion, are preferable.— 
Nature herself seems to teach this lesson. Travel 
from Maine to Minnesota and you will meet with 
the Cranberry growing in a state of nature only in 
some swamp,or on its margin. You will also find 
that it has selected a swamp which is likely to be 
moist throughout the season, thus showing its 
great affinity for water. The swamp commends 
itself ti> the weuld-i^j-cultivator of the Cranberry 
(for another reason, >v. :—‘.uat in its natural state ltq 
is generally useless for other purposes; and to fit it 
for other purposes would require a greater outlay 
than to fit it for Cranberry raising. For the latter, 
you need only a sufficient number of drains to re¬ 
move surface water; more are not only unneces¬ 
sary, but, in my opinion, detrimental. Then 
again, the ease with which most swamps can be 
flowed during fall, winter and spring, gives the 
cultivator an advantage over weeds, which, on dry 
land, are not only more annoying, but can only be 
kept in check by a persevering use of the hoe or 
some equivalent. To accomplish this, one has 
only to close the outlets of his drains in fall as 
soon as the crop is gathered, and let them remain 
closed until the return of warm weather in the 
spring—a course which I would recommend where- 
ever it is practicable. When this can be done, 
very little, if any, weeding or hoeing will be needed. 
Mode of Culture. —Having drained the land as 
already intimated, those portions on which the 
water formerly remained most of the year, will 
usually be sufficiently clean for the immediate in¬ 
troduction of the plant. That part covered with 
a thick sod, I pare off, and throw the sods into 
heaps for decomposition, — the result of which 
forms an excellent manurial preparation for fruit 
trees. In the clean surface thus exposed, I make 
shallow parallel trenches eighteen inches or two 
feet apart, and in the trenches place my vines, 
varying from one to eight feet in length. A slight 
covering every six or eight inches, completes the 
work of transplanting. At each point so covered, 
roots will be formed, and new vines will shoot off'. 
Set in such soil, no loss from drouth need be 
feared. In two or three years they will cover the 
ground. BeiDg an evergeen, the month of May is 
a very good time, if not the best, for transplanting. 
If set in the fall, having no time to root, they are 
liable to be thrown out by frost. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker: —In reading recipes 
in your valuable paper, particularly in the “ Cake 
Department,” I-observe that all, with scarcely an 
exception, contain a quantum of soda, saleratus, or 
cream of tartar. Now,'why this should be I have 
ever been at a loss to imagine. By using a few 
more eggs, (and are they not as plenty as anything 
else?) the cakes, &c., will be quite as light, and 
far more nutritive and healthy than with such an 
eternal puttmg in of soda, etc. Eggs are as cheap 
as butter, and those who make cake at all, ought 
to afford to use them, and their cake will taste and 
be much better for it. A great deal has been writ¬ 
ten against the use of saleratus, and yet it seems 
indispensable, judging from the many recipes 
recommending it. For my part, I am afraid of it, 
and prefer doiDg without cake if I ean’t afford 
eggs. Besides, if a housekeeper has it in her 
kitchen, the girl or help she has, will, without her 
knowledge, clandestinely put it into the bread, 
under the idea that it makes it lighter, prevents 
sourness, and, thereby, will spoil many an other¬ 
wise good batch of bread. Though not partial to 
sour bread, I prefer it to saleratus bread. 
Tea Cake. —Take one pound of flour; one pound 
sugar; three-fourths pound butter, and ten eggs— 
cream the flour and butter together, beat the eggs 
light,—the yolks and whites separately,—leaving 
out the whites of two eggs. Mix and beat well. 
Take one-third of the mixture and put it in a 
square pan and hake it plain,—take another third 
and mix with it slips of citron, and bake in a 
square pan,—with the remaining third put French 
currants, well washed, dried and rolled in flour, 
and bake as above. Take a cup of sugar to the 
whites you reserved, and make an iciDg for your 
cakes, which spread on while warm, and maik 
into squares or diamonds with a knife to make it 
cut better. This will make two cake baskets full 
for a tea-drinkiDg, and is a good and easy recipe. 
French Loaf Cake. —Eight eggs; 3 cups sugar; 
1 of butter; 4 of flour; half cup sweet cream; 1 
lemon, and a glass of brandy — with or without 
fruit. 
Queen Cake. —Two enps sugar; 1 of butter; 1 of 
sweet milk; 4 of flour, and 6 eggs. 
Rural Reader. 
ROASTING CHESTNUTS. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker.' —This favorite nut is 
abundant tbis season. Most people are very fond 
of them, especially children. They delight to 
have a chestnut roast, and when fire-places were 
in common use the hot ashes was a favorite place 
to cover up the nuts to get “ done brown.” Now 
stoves are in general use, and this favorite plan is 
obsolete. The best way to serve them under the 
existing state of things, is to cut a small piece off 
from the shell—just enough to show the meat,— 
then place a cup full in a corn-popper, and shake 
over a clear fire, or hot coals. They will soon be¬ 
come mealy, and when thus roasted are truly de¬ 
licious. Every family who have not thought of 
this method should adopt it? Raw chestnuts are 
extremely hurtful, particularly to children, but 
when roasted this objection is entirely done away 
with, and old folks can enjoy a chestnut roast with 
the young ones, and all have a good time, and pass 
an hour of an evening with pleasure and delight, 
these cool nights. They make a palatable desert 
after dinner. Serve warm from the corn-popper. 
Box 1,334, Syracuse, N. Y, 1859. 
CULTURE O'.' THE CROC I S IN POTS. 
Crocus Pots are now in common use, and are of 
various patterns, and may be obtained at almest 
every seed store and at some of the crockery stores. 
The most popular is the kind in imitation of a 
hedge-hog, and theije are also olher patterns, two 
of which we give. It is perforated throughout its 
outer surface with holes, large enough to admit 
the bulbs, so that thp pots after being tilled with a 
compost such as is recommended for Hyacinths, j 
may have the bulbs or tubers inserted through the 
holes. There are i large number of varieties of 
the Grocus, some of the best of which are, Crocus 
Versicolor, or Feathered Purple; Suisians, or 
Cloth of Gold, striped orange and purple; Biflorus, 
striped, white and purple ; Sulphurous, or Cream 
Colored; and Luteis, or Common Yellow. These 
require about the sime treatment as Hyacinths in 
pots. The Crocus |s very pretty when grown in a 
common pot, the surface being covered with moss. 
Nothing could loot liner than a wire basket sus¬ 
pended and filled with moss, in which the bulbs of 
the Crocus may bq planted. If the moss is kept 
constantly wet they will flower beautifully. • Those 
who live near cities can obtain hanging vases of 
porcelain and othet materials, in which the Crocus 
may be grown in earth, as in pots; and those who 
Onondaga Pears and Isabella Grapes from 
Onondaga.— Incoseil I send you ilie compliments of 
Mr. Allen Corey, of this city, in a specimen of h ; s 
Isabella Grapes, which I have before referred to. And, 
lastly, I thought perhaps you would not object to an 
Ouondaga Pear, of my raising.— S. N. Holmes, Syra 
cuse, N. Y., 1859. 
With the above we received a box of Isabellas, 
very large, well ripened and well preserved; and 
some fiue Onondaga pears. 
"Willow, Strawberries, &o.—I received the inclosed 
willow some years since, from Joseph Frost, to grow 
stoefis, on winch to graft the New American Weeping 
Willow. 1st. Is this “Salix Purpurea” so much ap¬ 
proved for hedges? 2d. I have some thousands of 
strawberry plants which I necessarily have to taKe up 
this fall - what is the best method of wintering them ? 
3d. I wish to prepare a piece of land next season to 
plant, lu 1861, with new native grapes. If I should 
buy the young vines now, could I forward them by 
growing them in a nursery row, and their future vigor 
and fruitfulness be unimpaired by removal? Your 
advice in next Rural, on these three quesiions, will 
greatly oblige — A Constant Reader, Woodstock, C. 
IK., 1S59. 
1st. The willow you sent us is not the purpurea, 
but the Black Willow, (Salix nigra,) which makes 
a good, strong, stock. 2d. We would heel in the 
strawberry plants in a dry place, and then cover 
them with leaves. They will come out all right 
in the spriug. 3d. By obtaining small plants, 
and giving them good culture in nursery rows for 
one season, you will make good plants, just right 
to transplant into the vineyard, and they will 
hardly notice the second removal. 
INQUIRY-ROLLED JELLY CAKE, &c. 
Dear Rural: — Allow a young housekeeper, 
who has been greatly aided in learning the art of 
cookery by your valuable recipes, to add two 
others which cannot fail to please the taste of 
the most fastidious. Also to ask through your 
columns the best methods for making almond 
custards. 
Rolled Jelly Cake.— One cup sugir; 3 eggs; 
1 cup flour; half cup butter; half teaspoonful of 
soda; teaspoonful cream tartar. Dissolve the 
soda and cream tartar in half a teacup of sweet 
milk. Bake on two flat tins. Spread each cake 
with jelly and roll when hot. 
Composition Cake.— One-half pound butter; 
three-fourths do. sugar; 2 do. flour; 6 eggs; half 
cup of sweet milk ; 1 teaspoon cream tartar; half 
teaspoon soda. Bake in a slow oven one hour and 
a half. mrs. f. t. 
Westfield, N. Y., 1S59. 
Pork Cake. — I have a long time been a reader 
of the Rural, and its recipes have helped to fill 
my book. Please accept one from me which I 
assure you is very good. One pound salt pork, 
chopped very fine, dissolved in 1 pint of boiling 
water; 2 cups of brown sugar; 2 do. molasses; 2 
tablespoons cinnamon; I do. cloves; 2 grated 
nutmegs; 1 pound of raisins, seeded or chopped 
fine; 1 heaping teaspoon of soda.— Myra, Ham- 
mondsport, N. Y., 1859. 
Potatoes. —How few cooks know how to fry 
potatoes. There is nothing so easy to get and yet 
so palatable for breakfast, with a thick, tender 
beef steak, or a mutton chop fizzing from the 
gridiron. To fry raw potatoes properly, they 
should be pared, cut lengthwise into slices an 
eighth of an inch in thickness, dropped into a pan 
over the fire, containing hot beef drippings, turned 
frequently, nicely browned all over but never 
burned. The addition of a little salt and pepper 
while in the pan, and a little flour dredged over 
them, is an improvement.— Selected. 
Tir-TOP Cake. —One and one-half cups of sugar; 
1 cup of milk; 2)^ cups of flour; I egg; 1 table¬ 
spoon of butter; 1 teaspoon of soda; 2 teaspoons 
of cream tartar.—B., Hampton, N. Y., 1859. 
