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THE CULTIVATOR. 
Mr. D. Embree, who states that he has followed the 
business of butter-making- and kept dairies, sometimes of 
fifty cows, does not agree with another writer in that 
paper as to washing butter. “I am satisfied,” says Mr. 
E., <f that it extracts the good flavor from it, and that it 
will not keep so well as when water is not used. We 
salt our butter the first working, and after it cools, say 
twelve hours, all the buttermilk and watery particles from 
the salt can be worKed out. I would ask any person to try 
an experiment, by taking 3 lbs. of butter made without 
having any water come in contact with it, put one pound 
in ice-water, one in cold spring water for, say, two 
hours, then expose them all to the same temperature for 
a few hours, and they will be able to answer a question 
I was asked while attending Washington market, by an 
old butter maker who came and stood by my tub. “ Why 
is it, that my butter, which I took out of a cold spring 
since daylight, is so soft that I can hardly keep it in my 
tub, while your-s, which must have been out almost all 
night, is as firm as a rock ?” I would wish them to keep 
the pounds separately, but in the same way, for a month, 
and then try them.” 
Mr. Beecher adds, that on receiving the above, he 
conferred with a noted butter-maker, who says, “ When 
butter is to be immediately used, she prefers washing it; 
but if it is to be kept any length of time it should not be 
washed.” 
To keep Hams in summer. —Place a layer of coarse 
salt in the bottom of a barrel, put down a ham and cover 
it with salt, then another, and so on till the barrel is full. 
The barrel must be kept in a dry place. The hams will 
come out perfectly good, if they were put in good. 
TRANSMUTATION. 
L. A. Moody, Esq., of Cabotville, Mass., states a case 
of supposed transmutation upon which he wishes our 
comments. The case, according to his relation, may be 
stated in substance as follows: In 1838 he had a field of 
ten acres of wheat. It was new ground—the wheat 
having been sown among girdlings.” The crop became 
too ripe before it was cut, and shattered a good deal in 
gathering, but yielded about twenty-five bushels of good 
wheat per acre, besides from two to five bushels per 
acre, by the estimate of his neighbors, wasted on the 
ground. After harvest the stubble was plowed in, and 
the wheat (or what was deemed such,) came up so 
abundantly, that instead of planting the field to corn the 
next spring, as had been designed, it was resolved to 
leave it in possession of the wheat. But as the crop ap¬ 
proached maturity, and the heads made their appearance, 
it was all at once discovered that what had been taken 
for wheat was chess, with the exception of a few scatter¬ 
ing heads.” It is added—“if all the chess which grew 
in the previous crop of wheat had been sown, it would 
not have stocked more than one acre as well as that spon¬ 
taneous growth.” (!) 
Mr. Moody says he had always before “ridiculed the 
idea of wheat turning to chess,” but “ of course,” he 
continues, “ after such tangible evidence and practical 
demonstration, (?) I could say no more against it. * * 
I cannot believe it possible for bona fide transmutation to 
take place, neither can I account for the fact of my 
having ten acres of chess on a field seeded with wheat, 
and if you can give a satisfactory solution of the mystery 
you will confer a great favor.” 
We are by no means confident that we can give what 
will be to Mr. Moody “ a satisfactory* solution of the 
mystery.” To fully explain the case, everything per¬ 
taining to it should be known; and without distrusting 
the faithfulness of the account before us, it is not improper 
to say that it fails to give a thorough knowledge of the 
circumstances; indeed it is impossible that this know¬ 
ledge could be obtained without a personal examination 
of the field at the time the first named crop was harvest¬ 
ed, as well as at subsequent periods. 
It will be noticed in the first place, however, that the 
case furnishes no direct evidence of transmutation. There 
were ways enough in which the chess might have grown 
without the necessity of resorting to a belief in any 
supernatural cause for its production. The stubble of a 
wheat crop was plowed in. It is admitted that this crop 
had some chess in it, though but a small quantity was 
thought to have been gathered with the wheat. But the 
wheat was very ripe when it was harvested. So must 
the chess, whatever there was, have been very ripe, and 
every one knows that in this state, especially if it has been 
wet after being cut, it sheds its seed very easily. Be¬ 
sides, the chess, from being of a shorter growth of straw 
than the wheat, would not be so cleanly gathered by the 
sickle or cradle; so that several circumstances would 
conspire to cause an undue proportion of what chess 
grew in the first crop to be left on the ground. Again, 
the chess is more hardy than wheat; nearly every plant 
which came up would probably live through the winter, 
and if any vacancies happened by the wheat plants being 
killed, they were quickly filled by the spread of the 
chess. That the chess should have been taken for wheat, 
—good and true —-until it headed, is not strange. There 
are but few, comparatively, whose observation is suffi¬ 
ciently close to distinguish wheat from chess in their 
early stages. It is not uncommon to find farmers con¬ 
founding different species of grass (and wheat and chess 
are indeed but grasses,) under the same name. 
But if transmutation actually takes place, we contend it 
can be demonstrated, and this, so far as we know, has never 
yet been done. It was alleged that wheat and chess had 
been detected growing from the same root; but on ex¬ 
amining the roots produced as a sample of this, both spe¬ 
cies of plants were found separate and each traced to its 
original source. It was supposed that wheat and chess 
had been seen in the same head; but a critical examina¬ 
tion showed that a panicle of the chess had only been 
wound (either artificially or otherwise,) into the wheat- 
head, and thus occasioned the illusion. 
In conclusion, we would suggest to the advocates of 
transmutation, the adoption of a plan for experiments by 
which their theory, if correct, can be proved beyond a 
doubt. Take a quantity of earth suitable for the growth 
of wheat, and subject it to such a degree of heat, (say 
200 deg., for ten hours,) by placing it in an oven or on 
a stove, as will destroy the vitality of any seeds it may 
contain. Then put the earth in pots, each of sufficient 
size to admit the full growth of a wheat plant, and after 
having sufficiently moistened the earth, plant in each pot 
one or more kernels of wheat, being particular to note 
the exact number planted, and also the exact number of 
plants which come up. Subject the plant to any process 
which is deemed most likely to cause transmutation. If 
any of these plants produce chess, it may be set down as 
proof that it sometimes comes from wheat. 
NATIONAL WEALTH. 
Every one knows that heavy imports and light exports 
will in time render any nation bankrupt, while the re¬ 
verse cannot fail to enrich. It hence becomes an object 
with every patriot to discover and promote such kinds of 
business as will increase the exports of the nation. 
A large part of the United States is finely adapted to 
the cultivation of fruit. American apples of the best 
quality sell at very high prices in Europe. In one case 
a successful cultivator in this state, by a very careful se¬ 
lection of the finest, obtained twenty-one dollars per bar¬ 
rel for Newtown pippins, sold in the London market, and 
nine dollars per barrel is the usual price he obtains there 
for his best fruit. 
Now, every cultivator knows that hundreds of bushels 
may be obtained from an acre under the very best man¬ 
agement and cultivation. What then could more con ¬ 
tribute to national, as well as to individual prosperity, 
than extensive plantations of those varieties o-f the apple, 
pear, and other fruits, as are best adapted to conveyance 
to a distance. There is no doubt that if the northern and 
middle states were able to furnish large quantities of the 
very best kinds, that markets would be opened in many 
parts of the world where such articles are now unknown 
An acre of fruit will often yield more than ten times 
as many bushels as an acre of the best wheat, and at fai 
less expense in labor. There is no question, therefore 
that millions of dollars worth might be yearly sent out 
