DEC. 49 
POORE'S RURAL I4EW-YORKER 
fomestii! <£Mitomtr. 
CUEING AND COOKING FISH. 
Since the lakes and rivers of our beautiful 
Northwest abound in fish of various kinds, 
which may be caught in.vast quantities, par¬ 
ticularly in spring, in the “running season,” 
there seems no good reason why every fam¬ 
ily should not be supplied with them, espe¬ 
cially as it Is only sport to catch them. People 
in this vicinity have a way of stilting them 
down so that they keep sweet and nice for a 
whole year, if not used before. For packing 
they should be caught before very warm 
weather approaches. The rule is as follows : 
Cut off the heads, remove the intestines, and 
wash carefully in cold water. Pack in a jar 
or cask, with scales down, a« the salt will 
penetrate better with the flesh side up. 
Sprinkle slightly every layer with salt, about 
one handful to six or eight pounds of fish. 
L9t them stand about thirty-six hours in a 
cool place, when they should be taken out, 
washed carefully with a cloth in three or 
four waters and laid on a board, or else¬ 
where, to drain. This process i* called 
“sliming.” 
After draining, pack in a clean, sweet cask 
or jar, with flesh side up, as before, placing 
first a layer of fish and then a plentiful layer 
of salt, and so continue until the vessel is 
full. Put a weight and cover on and place 
them in the coolest comer of your cellar. 
When wanted for use, soak a fish over night 
in two or three gallons of water, to remove 
the salt, putting it flesh down. Take it out 
next morning and pour boiling water over 
it, after which the scales may be easily re¬ 
moved. Put it over the fire in a kettle con¬ 
taining about two quarts of water and let it 
parboil for fifteen minutes, after which the 
main part of the bones may be removed. 
Place in a long jar, tin, or dripping-pan, cover 
with rich, sweet cream and butter and place 
in the oven until it assumes a nice, light 
brown. This dish Is relished by every one, 
and is really *' fit for a king.” 
Some persons omit the washing after the 
“sliming ” process, merely wipingthem with 
a cloth, and claim that much of the flavor is 
retained by this means. 
Julia M. Wheelock. 
Meeker Co., Minn., Nov., 1874. 
-- 
TO STEAM A TUEKEY. 
All of us are used to roast and boiled 
turkey, but a steamed turkey is more of a 
novelty, while it is also a most delicious 
dish. Cleanso the fowl thoroughly, then 
mb pepper and salt well mixed into the in- 
Bide of it. Fill up the body with oysters 
mixed with a small cupful of bread crumbs. 
Sew up all the apertures ; lay the turkey 
into a large steamer and place over a kettle 
of boiling water, cover closely, and steam 
thoroughly for two hours and a half. Now 
take it up ; set the platter in a warm place, 
and turn whatever gravy there is in the 
steamer, straining it first into the oyster 
sauce winch you have prepared in the fol¬ 
lowing manner; 
Take a pint of oysters, turn a pint of boil¬ 
ing water over them in a colander. Put the 
liquor on to boil, skim off whatever rises to 
the top. Thicken it with a Ublcspoonful 
of flour rubbed into two tablespoonfuls of 
butter; season well with pepper and salt. 
Add two or three tablespoonfuls of cream or 
milk to whiten it: and pour it over the tur¬ 
key and platter; serve boiling hot. This 
sauce must be made while the turkey is still 
In the staamer, so that it can he poured over 
the turkey as soon as it is taken up. 
-*-♦"*- 
ORIGINAL RECIPES, &c. 
A Good Soup.—When soup is used as the 
prinoipal dish at dinner, instead of a first 
course, it should be richer in vegetables and 
much thicker. Put the bone on to cook in 
cold water, adding salt. Let it simmer an 
hour or two, then boil gently two hours. One 
hour before serving, put into the kettle cab¬ 
bage and onions,(sliced thin. In about half 
an hour, add sliced potatoes, pearl barley or 
rice, and a handful of vermicelli, Many like 
the taste of parsley. Add pepper if you 
like. Do not throw away the bones after 
dinner. They will make an equally good 
soup the second and even a third time, if 
cracked. 
Nice Cookies .—Two cups sugar, five eggs, 
X cup of butter, an even teaspoonful of 
soda, dissolved in two or three spoonfuls of 
water. Spice to taste. Mix hard, roll thin, 
bake quick. 
Canned Salmon .—Do housekeeper's, gener- 
lU 
G- 
ally, know how nicely canned salmon an¬ 
swers for the meat, at dinner ? It is very rich, 
hearty, and delicious, and one can is suffi¬ 
cient for six or seven persons. Try it—with 
mashed potatoes. 
Will the Rural housekeepers tell me some 
good ways of cooking oatmeal. I shall be 
very grateful. Aunt Phebe. 
Beatrice, Neb. 
Paddles versus Spoon *.—For several years 
I have used paddles or sticks for stirring 
bread, cake, fruit, etc., and find that they 
answer the purpose quite as well as spoons, 
while much “wear and tear” is saved to 
both spoons and vessels, particularly where 
one mixes in tin, as many do.— Julia M, W., 
Minnesota. 
Indian Bread .—Take two cups of sweet 
milk, one of 3our, one teaspoonful of soda, 
oue cup two-thirds full of sugar, one egg. two 
cups of meal, one of flour, a little salt. Bake 
or steam for three hours.— Mrs. C. R. H., 
Corry, Pa. 
Waffles. —Three cups of sugar, 4 cups of 
flour, X cup of sweet milk, 5 eggs, 1 teaspoon 
of soda, 2 teaspoons of cream tartar.—E. A. 
Hobby. 
A PRETTY ORNAMENT. 
Mrs. J. G. Krun says in The Western 
Farm Journal:—Take a goblet with the foot 
and stern broken or cut off so that the bowl 
will be perfect; take coarse red flannel, the 
redder the better, stitch it neatly around 
the bowl, or goblet, so os to cover it com¬ 
pletely on the outside ; dip it in water, so as 
to wet it thoroughly, thou roll it in flaxseed; 
the seed will stick in and on the flannel ; be 
sure that the seed is distributed evenly, then 
stand it on its mouth, or large end, in a 
saucer or small plate; put water in the 
small plate, or saucer, and renew or add to 
it. as it absorbs. Never let the vessel get 
dry, nor suffer it to chill or freeze. It can 
and will grow in any part of the room, and 
will be a deep green with red ground. 
SChe j%0][tS5irait. 
“ SPORTSMAN ” 
FARMERS. 
The Rural New-Yorker has little sym¬ 
pathy for the class of beings who call them¬ 
selves “sportsmen” who procure laws in 
their own interest and then violate every 
rule of equity by their vandalism and disre¬ 
gard of the laws of trespass. The class of 
“ sportsmen ” we refer to are thus defined in 
a communication to the N. Y. Times. We 
should not weep much if the farmers of a 
neighborhood united to tar and feather such 
creatures whenever they made an apperance. 
Vigilance committees would be wholesome 
in such cases. Read the article : 
1 am u farmer, unfort unately located near 
a village and lme of railroad within easy dis¬ 
tance of New-York and Philadelphia, in a 
district where a few game birds remain un¬ 
slaughtered. For the pleasure it affords me 
I have encouraged n few grouse and rabbits 
to harbor in a small piece of woods at the 
rear of my farm. These animals are suffi¬ 
ciently tame to come up to the barn-yard or 
meadows occasionally when things are quiet. 
They are never molested except by the 
crowds of impertinent trespassers who call 
themselves “sportsmen,” and who roam 
with gun m hand and dogs at heel through 
my orchard and fields, shooting whatever 
thoy may find, and enjoying the sport of 
witnessing my flock of costly imported sheep 
chased and worried by their curs. I am dis¬ 
turbed at breakfast by the reports of the 
guns of these trespassers, who destroy these 
tame animals, and who will not hesitate 
occasionally to take a tame duck from my 
brook ; and the last worry at night is to pur¬ 
sue these nuisances and drive them off my 
property. They are insolent, abusive, and 
are not above giving such assumed names as 
“ Judas Iscariot ” when an attempt is mude 
to indentify them for the purposes of prose 
oution. Occasions have occurred when, 
after having been warned off my fields, these 
men have returned, and have deliberately 
set their dogs to worry my sheep, and In this 
way 1 have had $1,000 worth destroyed, and 
my flock entirely ruined. Nor is my ex¬ 
perience at all singular. These so-called 
“sportsmen” are the terror and the bane of 
farmers of my acquaintance everywhere. 
And “they glory in their shame.” Let me 
call your attention to the enclosed extract 
from a three-column communication to a 
“sporting paper,” whose editor, had he a 
spark of sense or justice, would have declined 
to print a confession of such an outrage upon 
the rights of an .inoffensive lawful owner of 
his own property. It is as follows. After 
relating previous trespasses he goes ou : 
As I said before, it was about ten years 
ago that I had my first, experience on the for¬ 
bidden ground, With three others I drove to 
the town of W-, where we divided two 
aud two, one party commencing at the mill 
pond and fishing down stream, and the other j 
two going below and fishing up to the mead- ,• 
ow. It was mutually understood that only , 
one should enter the meadow at a time, and c 
each should appeal - entirely ignorant of the j 
other’s presence, in order that if wo could j 
not fish the enclosure, we might gain some j 
satisfaction in seeing the old gentleman travel , 
the iengtl) and breadth of his meadow to , 
drive us out. I happened to be one of the ] 
party who fished from the mill down, (I 
always prefer fishing a trout brook down in¬ 
stead of up.) My companion reached the , 
meadow first, and entered the forbidden terri- 
tory. I remained concealed in the brushes ( 
just above, within hearing and seeing dis- ( 
tance of what was going on. He had scarcely . 
baited his hook and thrown it into the stream 
when a big, burly man came at, full speed 
across the fluid from the house, and asked it 
he did not observe the sign forbidding fishing 
in his “ meddow.” At the same instant my 
friend pulled out a trout of enviable size and 
placed it in his basket,. Words did not seem 
to have the desired effect., so the old gentle¬ 
man commenced throwing sticks aud stones 
into the brook, entangling the line, and, of 
course, putting a sudden stop to any further 
fishing. This soon convinced my friend that 
he had better retire, which he did, and related 
his experience to me. The poor old man had 
scarcely reached his house when lie saw one 
of our party enter the meadow from below, 
and Immediately the farmer was seen to 
rush for the opposite corner of his field to go 
through similar proceedings, which, of 
course, resulted in his being a second time 
the victor. It was now my turn, and with 
inconceivable boldness I left my hiding place, 
and in a moment more was landing a good- 
sized trout, having been particular to have 
my hook baited and in readiness in order to 
make the most of my allotted time, which, 
at least, must be short. I had scarcely 
placed a second trout in my basket when I 
discovered the same burly form making hia 
way toward me, with vengeance stamped 
upon his countenance. 
“ I allow no fishing here, Sir ; you are the 
third one I have driven out to-day.” 
“Ah 1 Is that so i Why don’t you allow 
itf * 
“ Because you tread clown my grass.” 
“ But if I will pay for all the grass I damage, 
can f not fish f” 
“ No ; you can’t pay for it, and you cannot 
fish.” 
“ But I will wade the brook anrl not touch 
your grass at all; now can 1 fish ?” 
“No ; I won’t have any fishing here, any¬ 
way ; I do not allow even my own boy to fish 
here, neither do I fish myself.” 
“Then you are not passionately fond of 
trout, as some of us are 
“No; I would sooner go up to the mill 
pond and catch pickerel.” 
, And so on for three columns, in which 
repeated trespasses are recorded, and the 
. injured funner treated with scorn and 
buffoonery. It is time that these outrages 
’ should he prevented. This is not a country 
in which game laws can be put hi operation, 
nor one in which the rights of a citizen, even 
! though he be a farmer, can be outraged. 
,. The Ti mes has given much information as to 
f fish culture for farmers, and wisely advised 
farmers to raise fish for food and profit. 
But for what purpose when trespassing 
3 sportsmen will take them, and when a 
e stringent law operated for the benefit of a 
B few rich sportsmen denies the man who has 
raised a few trout the permission to sell or 
give them away at the very season when they 
v are in the very best condition ? 1’ray let the 
influence of the Times be exerted to enlighten 
K farmexs as to their rights, and to awaken 
g them to the need of asserting them, and 
affecting legislation in their favor,—A 
Farmer. 
5kietttifu[ and Useful. 
PHILOSOPHY OF LOOSE, DEEP 
RETAINING MOISTURE. 
BOILS 
Essay on the Wild Goose.—T he Turf, 
Field and Farm has this wisdom :—The wild 
goose, when his wings are free, is one of the 
most cautious of birds. He has sharp eyes 
in his head, and to get near him with a gun 
man has to resort to strategy. He can come 
as near seeing through a millstone as any¬ 
thing that flies. And yet the wild goose 
loses his timid character under the gentle 
process of domestication. Sever the first 
joint of one of the wings and you incapaci¬ 
tate him for flying. Keep him in a pen 
I awhile and lie iv ill learn to feed out of your 
‘ hand, coming even at your call. 
Compact earth is a better conductor of 
heat than loose earth, which imprisons about 
its particles a quantity of air that, being a 
non-conductoi', impedes its rapid transmis¬ 
sion. It is fir this reason that sandy soib 
are wanner than clayey soils. While com¬ 
pact earth is a ver good conductor of heat, 
It is a very imperfect absorbent of moisture; 
two facts which render it both more suscep¬ 
tible to sudden atmospheric changes than 
loose earth and less capable of resisting 
drouths. 
Capillary attraction bears a certain relation 
to gi'avity that cohesion beat's to molecular 
repulsion. As cohesion, acting at insensible 
distances, would solidify the earth were it 
unopposed by repulsion, so capillary attrac¬ 
tion, acting upon continuous threads, would 
rob'the interior earth and every subter¬ 
ranean root, of the last particle of moist ure 
were tt, nob that gravity holds it in powerful 
check. If, on the other hand, gravity were 
not modified by capillary attraction, all ara¬ 
ble lands near the surface would become 
parched so soon after rains as to render veg¬ 
etable growth impossible, Capillary attrac¬ 
tion, modified as it is by attraction of 
gravitation, though of the first importance 
in vegetable economy, is a feeble force and 
relinquishes its endeavors upon slight provo¬ 
cation. It seeks porous, soft, thread-like 
passages and abhors surfaces sharp and 
unyielding. That condition and degree of 
adhesiveness of the soil which most facili¬ 
tates the action of both gravity and capillary 
attraction, is that most favorable to the col¬ 
lection and reteutlou of moisture. 
The following rude experiment which oc¬ 
curred to u» a few evenings since may prove 
instructive. Three five-inch flower pots were 
evenly filled—the first with ordinary garden 
soil, pressed through a very fine sieve and 
made as dense as possible by the pressure of 
the hand; the second with the same soil 
sprinkled in without any pressure; the 
third with clean, red sand. The three pots 
were then placed in a pan of water so that 
they were nearly half immersed. In thirty- 
nine minutes the surface of the first (compact 
soil) was wet. The second (loose Eoil) in sev¬ 
enteen minutes. The last (sand) was not wet 
at all ; in three hours the moisture had 
reached but one inch above the water level 
in the pan. 
We may hence conclude first, that sand is 
not valuable directly as promoting capillary 
attraction—and only indirectly as, mixed 
with clays or heavy molds, it may be neces¬ 
sary to preserve that porosity indispensable 
to its free action. Second, that the looser 
and more friable a soil is maintained and 
the deeper it is worked, the greater is the 
quantity of water passing through it—down¬ 
ward by gravity, upward by capillary at¬ 
traction. That, third, a thin covering of 
sand—say half an inch—should prove one of 
the best protections aga inst drout hs, because 
water passes through it readily to the ground 
beneath and is arrested in its return and 
held upon the surface of the soil itself—since 
sand is not a capillary conductor and ia a 
non-conductor of heat. 
Since in well-worked soils so much mois¬ 
ture is conducted to the surface by capillary 
attraction and at once dissipated by the at¬ 
mosphere or evaporated by the sun’s rays, it 
is reasonable to suppose that it would dry 
out sooner than the denser earth upon the 
surface of which less evaporation occurs. 
We have but to consider that while a loose, 
deep soil offers slight resistance to the down¬ 
ward passage of rain until it becomes satu- 
. rated, the compact soil holds it upon the 
surface where it stands in( puddles, or runs 
, off to lower surfaces ; so that while evapora¬ 
tion is carried on far more rapidly in loose 
, than in compact, soils, its supply is propar- 
l tionately greater. 
It may also be considered that the dews 
of the night while they rest upon the hard 
surface to be dissipated at once with the 
morx'ow’s warmth, have sunk beneath the 
’ porous surface and are there retained long 
’ enough, perhaps, to invigorate the fibrous 
3 roots near the surface. Other advantages 
3 desired from a deeply worked soil— such as 
1 the chemical changes wrought, equalization 
e of temperature etc.,—are not a part of this 
inquiry and Lave, indeed, already been well 
0 considered. E. 8. Carman. 
Frozen Potatoes and Starch. — I saw in 
a paper some time ago that frozen potatoes 
yield more Btarch than those not frozen. Can 
some of the Rural readers tell me how to 
make Btarch >—H. M. of Oregon. 
