352 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Oct 
to pack closely as possible. The top should be covered 
one or two feet thick with straw, and over this should be 
placed a loose roof of boards, that will exclude the snow 
and the rain, yet will not prevent the access of air. 
An ice pit, of the size indicated, will contain sufficient 
ice to supply all the wants of a large dairy farm for the 
entire season—and as it costs nothing but a little labor, 
one should be made on all farms where this luxury can 
be obtained. Others will doubtless describe more ela¬ 
borate and expensive as well as better structures, but 
some may be induced to try this method of preserving ice, 
who would not be willing to incur expense. 
It may be that level ground would be preferable to a 
side hill, but such a situation was chosen by my brother, 
and he is highly pleased with it. C. H. Cleaveland. 
To Cure Hams. 
Ed Cultivator—As I have seen numerous receipts 
for curing hams, and as I have tried the annexed for se¬ 
veral years, and found it to excel every other in my es¬ 
timation, I take the liberty to send it to you, that you 
may publish it for the benefit of any who may be dispos¬ 
ed to try it. By letting my ham remain in the pickle, it 
is less trouble to keep it than by any other method which 
I have found, and it keeps sweet and tender all summer. 
Take a barrel, and turn over an old pan or kettle, and 
burn cobs, (I think the best,) or hard wood, for seven 
or eight days, keeping water on the head to prevent dry¬ 
ing. Make a pickle with eight pounds of salt, six ounces 
saltpetre, two quarts of molasses, and three gallons of 
water, to one hundred pounds. Boil and skim the pickle 
thus prepared. Then pack your ham in the barrels, and 
when the pickle is cold, pour it on to the meat, and in 
four weeks you have excellent ham, very tender, and 
well smoked. P. F. E. Nashua, N. H. 
Tha True Course. 
With energy .for prompt and vigorous action, and ca¬ 
pacity for sober thought and sound reflection, a man may 
enter upon business with some assurance of success. His 
home will exhibit the best picture of his true character. 
What he undertakes is well done. His fences are in or¬ 
der—there is an air of neatness and thrift about his 
dwelling and out-buildings; his grounds are laid out with 
reference to beauty as well as convenience-—ornament and 
use have been consulted in planting out his fruit and 
shade trees, and the garden evinces that his wife and 
daughters have joined him in his cultivation. He does 
not waste the long winter evenings in idleness, nor do his 
family neglect this season of improvement. While his 
children are engaged in the rudiments of learning, he 
surveys the action of our National and State Legislatures; 
and studies thoroughly the policy by which both are 
guided. His family do not content themselves with the 
light reading of the day, but history, biography, morals 
and religion receive a due share of attention. They lay 
up in winter, from reading, conversation and reflection, 
a harvest of more value than the bounties of autumn. 
The mind thus stored, casts light upon any vocation. It 
cheers the house-wife in her round of duties and lightens 
the labors of the field. Address of IIon. T. Jenkins 
before the Oneida County Ag. Society. 
Give a portion of each day to reading, and study. 
Think not because you are a farmer, literary acquire¬ 
ments are useless. They are as necessarj 7 to the full at¬ 
tainment of a knowledge of agriculture, as of any other 
science. 
Jefferson County Agricultural Grounds. 
At the invitation of the President of the Agricultural 
Society, we rode down yesterday to view the improve¬ 
ments made and in progress at the Society’s show 
grounds, which were merely enclosed for last year’s ex¬ 
hibition. Recently the old building in the rear of the 
Court House has been taken down, removed to the fair 
grounds, newly covered and added to, making it now a 
very spacious and cornel} 7 appearing building. It is now 
105 by 60 feet, with an addition in the center, on one 
side, extending back 15 feet, and 30 feet long, forming a 
platform and the speaker’s stand, elevated some four or 
five feet from the floor. In front of this is the secreta¬ 
ry’s desk. Through the center of the building is to be a 
row of tables for the exhibition of domestic manufac¬ 
tures, fancy articles, needle work, specimens of art, &c., 
&c., and around the whole, except the recess for the 
platform and the speaker’s stand, there are twelve rows 
of seats, elevated one above another, so as to render them 
comfortable, and in full view of the whole Hall, and ca¬ 
pable of accommodating over two thousand persons. By 
placing temporary seats on the floor, 3,000 can comfor¬ 
tably be seated within the Hall. 
A temporary building is to be erected on the west side 
of the Hall for the exhibition of agricultural implements, 
machinery, &c., which, with the one already built on the 
east side, for dairies, grain, vegetables, &.C., will afford 
ample room for the occasion. 
Permanent pens are erected around by the fence, and 
a large number of posts are firmly set in the ground, to 
which cattle and horses maj 7 be hitched. The old stumps 
have been dug up and removed, and the surface is being 
leveled. A good well has been dug within the enclosure, 
which will furnish the water required for man and beast. 
The committee will provide feed for the cattle, which will 
not be a charge upon the exhibitor. Arrangements have 
been made with the Railroad Company, to transport all 
animals or articles designed for exhibition, free of charge, 
if presented on Wednesday, the day before the fair com¬ 
mences. Passengers taken at half price from any sta¬ 
tion on the road, and from Kingston. It is hoped that 
this arrangement may induce a large number of our Ca¬ 
nadian neighbors to visit us, and to exhibit to our far¬ 
mers some of their choice stock. 
Great credit is due to the Society for their liberality 
in the purchase and improvement of the grounds, and in 
a few years, if the same enterprise is manifested, it will 
become a very attractive spot. We doubt whether any 
County Society in the state is as well provided for in this 
respect, as Jefferson. Indeed, the whole arrangements 
are on the most liberal scale, and cannot but meet the 
approbation of the farmers who have so liberally contri¬ 
buted to the purchase and improvement of the grounds. 
The work, thus far, has principally been under the di 
rection of Hart Massey, Jr., Esq .—Northern Journal. 
Culture of Cranberry Vines. 
The variety mostly cultivated in New-England are 
hardy and prolific 
They can be raised on upland on rather moist loom— 
but do the best on low, damp or moist meadow land, 
with a little sand put around the plant. 
They may be planted out 1 § to two feet apart, each 
way. 
Two feet apart, it will take 10,000 plants to the acre; 
if on low ground it should be pared, plowed, or burnt 
over, to take out the grass or weeds, and cultivated for 
one or two years, until they cover the ground. The yield 
after that is from 150 to 250 bushels per acre. They are 
usually gathered with a cranberry rake, to be found in 
any agricultural store. 
It is not necessary to flow meadows in order to make 
them productive. F. Trowbridge. 
An Enormous Tax upon Farmers. —The dog popu¬ 
lation of the United States is estimated at about two 
millions, and the expense of keeping them at upwards 
of $10,000,000 per annum. 
