1 
r 
>BOs H 
| domestic feronomn. 
-S’ 
CONDUCTED BY MARY A. E. WAGER. 
BREAD CRITICISMS — FERMENTA¬ 
TION. 
I wish Mr. Devinny were half as precise 
in his article in the Rural of November 6th 
as he pretends to he. I never thought that 
common fermented bread was not nutritious, 
and I never heard before that any one; ac¬ 
cused me of saying so. Further, any one 
cun see, by referring to my article of Sep¬ 
tember 18th, that I did not say that “starch 
and gluten when changed into sugar by fer¬ 
mentation are lifeless.” Again, I shunned 
nothing; I answered the very argument he 
accuses me of shunning. 
Mr. Devinny commenced by quoting 
“definitions,” and if I chose to discuss them 
I innocently supposed I was as free to do so 
as he was. iu the first place, to discuss my 
method of making bread, or to write on any 
other subject. For my part, I think it quite 
important to have definitions and quotations 
corn'd , for, after what the Rural renders 
have seen of Mr. D.’s scientific explanations, 
I do not think they will be quite willing to 
accept him as original authority on scientific 
questions. Neither do I ask them to accept 
my dictum on so important a question. I 
could quote many authorities, but 1 will 
select only the most clear and concise. 
Giunduod says:—“Fermentation is now 
known to be one of the first results of the 
partial decomposition of vegetable matter.” 
(Bacchus, Am. Ed., p. 224.) “Fermentation 
is the death principle at work on the sub¬ 
stances which have constituted the elements 
of' vegetable life.” (Temp. Cyclopedia, 
Scotch Ed., p. 420.) Liebig says, in various 
places:—“Fermentation, Putrefaction, De¬ 
cay. These are processes of decomposition, 
and their ultimate results are to reconvert the 
elements of organic bodies into that state in 
which they exist before they participate in 
the processes of life.” “ Fermentation is 
nothing but the putrefaction of a substance 
containing no nitrogen.” “ Ferment or 
yeast is a substance in a state of putrefac¬ 
tion the atoms of which are in a continual 
motion. This motion or conflict of the ele¬ 
ments communicating itself to the sugar 
destroys the equilibrium of its atoms.” 
“ Life is opposed to putrefaction.” “ Fer¬ 
mentation and putrefaction are stages of 
their return (speaking of the constituents of 
vegetable tissues,) to less complex forma¬ 
tions." I further inter, from my daily read¬ 
ing, that these facts are commonly received 
among intelligent people. 1 can refer your 
readers now to an article in the Rural just 
received, (Dec. 4,) on the fourth column of 
page 779, under the sub head of “Ferment¬ 
ing Food.” 
Now I doubt if Mr. Devinny can produce 
a single respectable authority to prove that 
fermentation Is a vital process, or that fer¬ 
mented eggs will bring forth anything of 
vital importance. For my part, I should be 
perfectly willing to relinquish in his behalf 
all claims I might ever happen to have to 
eggs which have gone through that process. 
After all, I am not so much of a bigot on the 
subject of fermented bread as Mr. Dkvinny’s 
remarks might imply. I do not think we 
injure or waste it nearly so much by fermen¬ 
tation as wo do by bolting—taking out the 
nutritious crust of the perfect kernel. If 
people will have fermented bread, 1 should 
say make it by all means of good wheat 
meal, but the dough should not. be made so 
stiff, it should not be allowed to rise so long, 
(no sweetening should be added,) and it re¬ 
quires more baking than for bread of bolted 
flour. 
The importance of understanding the de¬ 
structiveness of fermentation bears much 
harder on other things. I have yet to learn 
that it is a process necessary, or even desira¬ 
ble, for the preparation of any wholesome 
article of food. I think, too, that if its na¬ 
ture were better understood, that would go 
far toward banishing from common use 
many articles of drink now prepared by fer¬ 
mentation which are doing us, as a people, 
great physical and economical injury. 
So, aside from all profitless skirmishes of 
words, and admitting, as all scientific people 
do admit, that fermentation is a process of 
decay, there arises this important considera¬ 
tion : — Should any of our food, either solid 
or fluid, be permitted to decay at all before 
we u.-.c it? I maintain that, it is all, and 
always, in its best condition for food when it I 
lias attained its highest organic perfection, j 
and before it begins to decay. Cooking, I 
indeed, is admitted, but that is only a process ! 
of breaking down by artificial heal, the hard 
structures of many substances not otherwise 
fitted for human food, while fermentation 
returns to their original indigestible forms 
the elements which the action of vegetable 
life had prepared for animal food. A few, 
indeed, of the lowest types of animals find 
their appropriate food in the particles while | 
on their way back to those original forms, I 
r 
but man demands his food while it is in the 
most perfect organic form. Ilis unpervert¬ 
ed senses commonly refuse to receive them 
when they begin to fall to pieces, in other 
words when they show signs of rottenness 
or decay. 
The mere suspicion that such action has 
begun to set in, is sufficient, to send most 
dishes from the tables of the refined and the 
tasteful. Why, then, should we permit this 
action in any degree in our bread, which 
ought to be perfectly sweet and nutritious? 
The simple and only reason is that people 
have not known any better way to make it 
light, and they have not recognized the true 
nature of the process that they have em¬ 
ployed for this purpose. It is true that the 
amount of nutrition commonly destroyed in 
home-made bread is not large, but if people 
knew how to make their bread light with¬ 
out fermenting or otherwise injuring it, amt 
if they understood that this fermentation is 
essentially the same process of decay that 
they so abhor in other articles of food, they 
would, many of them, be glad to adopt a 
purer, more healthful, and, to a truly refined 
taste, a more agreeable method of preparing 
their bread. To such considerate readers I 
commend a careful study of the whole sub¬ 
ject. Julia Colman. 
Brooklyn, December, 18(10. 
Remarks. —We trust our readers will bear 
patiently with the expression of “ ferment¬ 
ed ” feelings between these two clever per¬ 
sons over so rational a subject for dispute as 
Bread Making. If the discussion has tended 
toward reformation, or provoked thought 
and investigation in the minds of our read¬ 
ers, the space given for their “scientific 
quarrel ” has not been appropriated in vain. 
- 
To I’reveni Feathers Working Through Ticks.— 
A lady in Western New Voi le writos: “ Empty 
the feathers from your tick, turn It wrong side 
out, and lay it. on a table. Thon, with a piece of 
beeswax, slightly wanned, rub the tick thor¬ 
oughly, giving the entire surface a light coat of 
the wax. 1 do not think you will be troubled 
after that.” 
—-*♦«- 
Croton Hug.—Will some of your city readers 
give a recipe for the destruction of the Croton 
bug- ?—Ceres. 
Crystallizing Graces, Etc.—A Missouri girl nsks 
someone to "givougood method of crystallizing 
flowers and grasses.'* 
To Prevent Black Dyed Goods from Crocking.— 
Al ter dyelDg, rlnso th© goods In weak Jye. It 
will both improve and act the color. 
- 
To Preserve Milk.—An easy way to preserve 
milk or cream sweet for a long time, or to remove 
sournesB, U> to add a little saioratus. As it ta not 
healthy to use any but that which is pure, always 
buy the Chemical SaUrutus, made by D. B. DeLand 
A CO. 
nib jE 
EARLY ROSE POTATOES. 
arm (bctfnamu 
© 
“ABOUT HOES.” 
I find in the. Rural of September 4th an 
article under the ubove head. Having used 
the hoe more or less for forty years or more, 
and used it with both pleasure and pain (in 
the back,) 1 feel that I am competent to 
judge of its qualities. 
It matters not what form or size of hoe is 
needed, or for what tillage or weeding pur¬ 
poses it is to be used, one constructed en¬ 
tirely of steel is by no means the best. The 
best hoe is made by welding together, and 
forging to as thin a plate as will stand 
proper use, plates of steel and iron, putting 
the steel on the upper side and giving it a 
“high” temper. The iron will not harden 
by the process usual to harden the steel, at 
least but slightly; and as the lower side of 
the implement comes more directly iu con¬ 
tact with the solid, unmoved earth, it is con¬ 
tinually worn away on the under side of the 
edge, leaving the very thin sheet of steel 
overlaying it so as to present a good cutting 
edge. When thus constructed wc have a self- 
sharpening implement, and of the very best 
combination of metal that has been dis¬ 
covered. 
No hoe used for weeding and eurthing up 
plants should have an “eye,” but should 
have a “shank" of stiff, or inflexible iron, 
which should be welded on the block of 
steel and iron before it is forged out into the 
tliin plate. 
The ferrule on the handle should not he 
less than three and a-half inches in length, 
and should have a uniform taper from end 
to end. The size of the ferule at. the largest 
end should be on the inside just the size of 
the handle at the point that, it is to clasp it, 
that no shoulder need be cut in the handle 
in fitting it on. The smaller end should be 
just large enough to clasp the shank where 
it is inserted, and no wood of the handle 
should surround the shank where it enters 
the ferule on the handle; or, if any wood is 
left at this point, it should be as little us 
possible. 
The shank, if of good metal, need not be 
more than three-eighths of an inch tli rough, 
round, and it should be so finished where 
it unites with the hoc as to have sufficient 
Strength, but should gradually rise and 
thicken out of the plate of the hoe so as to 
present the least possible shoulder, as such 
shoulder ternls to cause it to clog and accu¬ 
mulate adhering soil, which will prevent 
this portion of the implement from polishing 
in U3G and will cause it to rust. 
The hoc should be polished throughout, 
and when not in use should be kept well 
oiled to prevent its rusting. 
The size and form of the hoe should be 
such as to adapt it to the various purposes 
Eds. Rural: —Last April a friend from 
Vermont brought me two small tubers of 
the Early Rose Potato, not more than three 
ounces each. I cut them in pieces, having 
an eye each, and put them into a box with 
about two inches of earth under them and 
as much over them, about three inches apart, 
and placed the box mi the front shelf in the 
green-house. As soon as the sprouts were 
two inches above the earth, I took them up 
and cut off the sprouts about half an inch 
from the potato, and planted them in pots, 
and put the pieces of potato in the box as 
before, repeating the operation till the tubers 
rotted. 
On the 5th of June I planted in rows 
(thirty inches apart, and one foot apart in 
the row,) fifty-three vines; and on the 12th 
of June I planted forty-two vines; and on 
thelOth I planted seventy-six vines. About 
the middle of June I took cuttings from those 
planted on the 5th, and put them in a cold 
frame to root, and on the 5th of July I plant¬ 
ed them out. About the 1st of September 
those planted on the 5th and 12th of June 
showed signs of rot; 1 dug them, and about 
a week later I dug those planted on the I9th. 
They all weighed one hundred and eight 
pounds. Those planted on the 5lk of July 
only weighed thirteeu pounds—making one 
hundred and twenty-one pounds from six 
ounces of seed. j. c. 
Troy, N. Y-, Nov., I860. 
-«-♦->- 
Orchard Gras*.-w. L. L. writes“ Your con¬ 
tributor, F. G„ gives us tlie good qualities of 
Orchard grass, but fails to tell the proper time of 
sowing andwlmt grain is best to sow with It.” 
It is a perennial gnus, and the peed is sown in 
spriug as Other grass seeds ate sown.' If no other 
grass seed is mixed with it, two bushels of seed 
are required per acre. Lot those of our readers 
who have had experience state what grain crop 
it does best With, if any. 
Potato Freaks.—A lady in Ypsilnnti, Mich., 
found, this summer, among her old potatoes, 
one which had split open, and inside were found 
three now potatoes as large as hickory nuts. A 
for which il is to be used. The main differ¬ 
ence required is in the breadth ami length 
of the plate; the shank may also be lighter 
in the narrow than in the wide hoe; but the 
handle may be about the same size and 
weight in all, and should be as light as can 
be used and not cramp too much the muscles 
of the fingers to grasp it. It is desirable that 
it should lie light enough to spring in use, as 
that relieves the muscles from unnecessary 
jar when it comes in contact with immova¬ 
ble obstructions. 
The best t imber for the hoe handle known 
to the writer is sugar maple. They should 
be riven, and not sawed out of a plank, and 
be neatly turned and polished in the lathe; 
after which, if kept dry, as they should he, 
the hand will produce a mirror or reflecting 
surface. The hoe cannot he used with dex 
tcrity, efficiency and profit with the body of 
the operator erect, but it should be so set on 
the handle, and it of a length, that when the 
body is slightly inclined forward and the 
lower hand is some eighteen inches from the 
groin on the same side, the pla*e of the hoe 
will he at an angle of ten degrees with a 
horizontal line. 
It is not designed to be used to “dig” 
with, as a matic, or grub lioe, or pick, but Is 
to bG given a drawing motion ; and where it 
is to cut weeds or grass, it is to be so held 
that its cutting edge shall stand obliquely 
with the line of motion, or with the direc¬ 
tion in which it is drawn. 
With proper hoes and a knowledge of 
their use, the same amount of labor would 
perform double the execution that is per¬ 
formed with the implement called a hoe as 
il is used on cotton, rice and cane plantations 
of this country. 
I must be allowed to add that with nil the 
improved “ horse hoes,” wheeled cultivators, 
and the like, the hand hoe, in many districts, 
and on large ureas, can never be dispensed 
gentlomun in Wayne Co., N. Y., informs us that 
in his garden he found a cluster of potato Balls, 
of which two of tho balls were perfect pota¬ 
toes—L. 
- •+* - 
with ; hence a knowledge of its construction 
and use. is very important, yet it is probably 
more imperfectly understood and appreciated, 
than any other Implement. 
Baltimore, Md., I860. j. Wilkinson. 
-- 
Norway Oats.—A correspondent asks if there 
are two kinds of Norway Oats—white and black. 
The only variety wo have ever seen or known of 
as Norway oats were black. 
Fanning Mill \\ anted.—A correspondent wishes 
to purchase a fanning mill (if one is manufac¬ 
tured in tho States) that will clean all kinds of 
grain fit for seeding, and wants us to tell him 
where it can be obtained. There are such mills, 
for we have seen them; but where they are to be 
obtained we cannot tell. If we wanted to find 
one for ourselves, we should write to some Hrst- 
olaas agricultural Irnplemeutdealor, (advertising 
in Hie Rural.) tell him what wo want, and ask 
him to furnish it, with a guarantee that Itahouid 
do tho work or no pay. 
-— 
“ Under Conviction.”—I see it! I hear it con¬ 
fessed almost every day I “ We are exhausting 
our soil." “This wheat after wheat is ruining 
my farm.” “ We must seed down more." “Wo 
must sow more clover." “ Wo must keep more 
stock." “ Our funning don’t pay." “ We must 
change.” At last the Western Farmer has fallen 
"under oonvlotlon." —L. L. F„ Rolling Prairie, 
Wls. 
— - •+»- 
The Peeler Cotton. — Tho Georgia News says: 
“ This variety is giving general satisfaction. It 
is rapid in Its growth, matures early, Is very pro¬ 
lific, and tho Stuplo is almost, If not quite, equal 
to the black seed —long, silky und strong. It 
ought to, amt probably will, sell for ten or llf- 
tecn cents more than tho ordinary cotton. It, 
will be largely cultivated in this section next 
season." 
-» ♦» — - 
To Keep Cider Sweet. - J. B. IltTCHCOCK, Fair- 
port, N. Y., writes the Rural:—" Have the elder 
barrel sweet, and to thirty-one gallons of older 
add one pint or black mustard seed, ( not ground,) 
the next day after the cider comes from the 
press. It has never failed with me. Try it.” 
!>f ^piartatt. 
BEE NOTES. 
Answers to Correspondent*. 
"In making movable frames for hives, what 
should be tho width of tho sticks of which Mmy 
are composed V" 
The sides and bottom an inch wide by 
three-eighths thick; top same width by 
three-quarters thick. Put on under side of 
top a triangular piece, each side an inch 
wide, for bevel edge. 
“Can boos bo quieted by tho use of so oko? 
In what way is it given, and how much is re¬ 
quired ?” 
Tobacco smoke is a great quieter of bees. 
Blown from Hie mouth of a, smoker, It works 
like a charm. But, let no man learn to 
smoke tobacco because of this. There are 
good substitutes. Partially decayed hard 
wood is one. Let it be thoroughly dried, 
alter cutting in sticks say an inch square l y 
ten or twelve inches long, and it will bo 
found to bum like punk. The smoke thus 
produced may be directed at the bees by 
the breath, and made to answer very well. 
Bee the Rural for Nov. 0th, article on 
“Feeding Bees,” for description of a fund- 
gator and the use of puff-ball. 
I notice in the Bcc Journal for November 
the following query: 
“ What is the average number of times n good 
bee keeper will ‘go Into' (open tho hives and 
examine) his bees In tho course of tho season ?” 
If the propounder of this question fears to 
injure his stock by too frequent examination, 
let him be reassured—there is not. the slight¬ 
est danger. Neglect has destroyed more, a 
thousand fold, than the mens opening jf the 
hives. My advice Is, “know the condition 
of your bees at all times.” If this questioner 
wants to keep them with us little attention 
as possible, counting their care an irksome 
task, I am afraid he will soon be one who 
“ had bad luck." They do require a Itberal 
amount of care. Were I to commence bee 
keeping again, I should do as I have done, 
be careful to let few days go by without 
examination and study. Your success will 
largely depend on the accuracy and extent 
of your knowledge. You know what years 
of study and labor are required to make a 
good engineer. VVliaL would you think of 
a man who should try to run a locomotive 
without them? Well, without a willingness 
to do something like this, don’t undertake 
bee keeping. Knowing is the first and in¬ 
dispensable condition of successful doing 
everywhere. So, if you are a beginner, look 
at your bees every day; the bees will stand 
it and you need it. Of course, five hundred 
hives in double that number of apiaries, can¬ 
not be seen so often without great expense. 
Perhaps once a week will do, on an average. 
Lot me say one more thing to beginners; 
do everything, as nearly as possible, accord¬ 
ing to principle aud rule. Make every piece 
of every hive exactly the same as the corre¬ 
sponding piece in every other btvo, so that a 
given box, cover, roof or what not made for 
one, will suit another just as well. It will 
save vexation, aud of itself, perhaps, deter¬ 
mine your success. Have a place for every¬ 
thing—bottom boards, empty hives, frames 
made in advance, apparatus for making wax, 
pans, dippers, skimmers, and the like—and 
if a place, why, of course, the thing in it. It. 
is sakl of Washington Irving, that once 
being asked where to find a certain thing, he 
replied he could not tell, but added, “Go to 
Mr.-he can tell you, for his mind is all 
pigeon-holed.” Such want of method might 
do for Irving but not for us. America never 
produced but one such. Vexation unbound¬ 
ed, delay ruinous and protracted, discourage¬ 
ment more fatal than either, await the man 
whose easy good nature or unpardonable 
sliittlessness permits materials, tools, and 
finished work to be thrown togetner one 
common mass of confusion. M. Quinby. 
antr 
-r-r.- --t- C 
FROM COLORADO. 
In answer to the inquiries in the Rural 
regarding stock raising near Denver, Colora¬ 
do, I must say there is no “danger to life 
and property from tho Indians." The "noble 
red man ” is a cowardly sneak, and will 
light, only by stealth on the •orders of thin¬ 
ly settled districts where his party numbers 
five to one andean find safety in flight. They 
will, therefore, never venture a near approach 
to Denver, where they might be surrounded. 
They have never done any damage near this 
place. Much slock is kept in this vicinity, 
there being fat living the year round, with¬ 
out hay or other food, on the luxuriant grass 
of the prairies. The grass grows tall during 
the fore part of the summer and dries up, or 
Cures, during September, tor want of rain, 
Hie absence of which causes it. to remain 
nutritious till the spring rains, which replace 
it with green grass. Thus stock can be 
raised here “ without money and without 
price.” 
The great want of this country is capital 
and labor. Had we these, properly applied, 
no country could surpass this in its products 
and wealth, for it possesses a climate un¬ 
precedented iu healllifulness. No chills or 
ague are known, and the consumptive finds 
relief, if not a cure, by a residence here. The 
soil is fertile and I lie products as varied as 
those of other countries of the same lati¬ 
tude. The winters are very mild, with very 
little snow, and wc have during nearly the 
Whole year hard, dry roads. To say much 
in a few words, Uio people here are pros¬ 
pering. 
Farm laborers receive during summer $35 
per month; during whiter, $25. Servant 
girls receive from $8 to $10 per week (why 
don’t the girls come West?) Wheat is 
worth two and a half cents per pound. 
Everything here /tells by the pound except 
eggs. Oats, two and three-quarter cents; 
hay, one cent.; corn, three and a half cents; 
butler fifty cents; eggs, seventy live cents 
per dozen. The average product of a cow 
during the summer, living on the prairie ami 
raising her calf, is fifty dollars in butter or 
sixty dollars in cheese. Having no especial 
interest to develop, I write the above ns in¬ 
formation for the Inquiring and as facts lor 
their consideration. 
The railway fare from Omaha to Denver, 
five hundred and twenty miles, is $40. 
Denver, Col. Ter., 1869. V. Devinnt. 
- ■ ■ - • »<> 
Agricultural Progress In North Carolina.—An 
exchange avers that in noue of tho late seced¬ 
ing States Is progress more active and tangible* 
thun in North Carolina. It is to bo soon, Judg¬ 
ing from tho statements of tho newspapers, all 
over tho State, There are several reasons for 
i his. The latitude is ext romoly favorable, the soil 
is good, and tho journals of tho day are alive to 
the power of their influence, and urc pushing 
tho Old North State ahead at railroad speed, 
bucked by tho labors and energies of a deter¬ 
mined people. Wo anticipate that In some Ovo 
yours hence North Carolina will hardly know 
herself from tho strides she haa mado in mate¬ 
rial advancement, which never could have been 
attained under tuo incubus of slavery. 
-»+» 
Homesteads iu Iowa.—The Iowa Homestead, 
December 3, snys:—"There remains in Iowa 
about a million of acres subject, to homestead 
and pre-emption entries. These lands u resit ti¬ 
nted In Plymouth, Sioux, Lyon, Osceola, Olay, 
O'Brien, Dloklnxm, Keuna Vista, Palo Alto and 
Pocahontas counties. The lands subject to cash 
entry are nearly closed out—speculators, there¬ 
fore, are now pretty well ruled out of Iowa. 
There is not a spot on the face of t he globe I hat 
offers Inducements equal to Iowa to make com¬ 
fortable and happy homes for the poor man, and 
those who desire the lands now open for pre¬ 
emption or homestead, should take advantage 
of the opportunity now ottered without any 
delay." 
-AA4-— 
Pens In Central Ohlo.-F. R.. Dundco, Ohio, 
asks the following questions, which we hope 
some Central Ohioan will answer:—"Are peas 
successfully grown in Central Ohio? if so, when 
should they be planted, and how cultivated? 
How much will they yield per acre? What kind 
of soil is best adapted to tholronlrtire? wbut is 
tho boBt manner to feed them, th mailed or in the 
straw? What is their relative value os a crop 
compared with oorn, on good soil? Tho farmers 
in this vicinity ureentirely ignorant, peas never 
having boon grown hero for feed." 
■--——— 
Louisville, Pottuwnttnnilo Co., Ran.—.Wheat? 
yielded from twenty-live to forty bushels per 
ucryi oats sixty and potatoes six hundred bush¬ 
els. I saw some sweat potatoes grown in this 
Cbunty that weighed nlno pounds each; and 
turnips which measured thlrfy-ono ladies in 
circumference. There Is yet laud In tlnscounty 
aubject to entry under the Homestead Law. 
Those who think of coming West to secure 
homes will do well to aoma hero aud accept 
Uncle Sum’s gift.—J. Gocuui.va. 
Missouri and Iowa Lands— Inquiry.—Will some 
reader of tho Rural, who lives or Inis traveled 
through Northern Missouri arid Southern Iowa, 
tell where a farmer of moderate means can get 
good land, with plenty of timber close?—,J. W. 
M., Enon, Ohio. 
-*-*-*-- 
"" c lo sn the -year with a largo amount of 
matter on hand designed for this department, 
which it has been found utterly impracticable 
to publish. We shall try to use much of it yet; 
meantime we ar© glad to hoar from correspon¬ 
dents from all sections of the country. 
epartmeut. 
