86 
THE CULTIVATOR 
Jan. 
tion, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Geology, Meteo¬ 
rology, and Mechanics, were each distinctly treat¬ 
ed of! 
By the way, why cannot some enterprising pub¬ 
lisher issue an American reprint of Prof. John¬ 
ston’s Lectures, from his last amended edition? 
We have editions of this book, as issued eight 
years ago, hut they are behind the age. 
There is great opportunity for quackery in the 
manufacture of manures. To what extent it is 
practiced it is impossible to say, but it is certain 
that as the business increases, money will be made 
fraudulently by it. This quackery, bad as it is, 
bears no comparison in its mischievous results to 
those effected by fraudulent chemical analysis. 
As the details of the analytic process are accessi¬ 
ble only to the special student of chemistry, it is 
a convenient cover for deceit. The analysis of a 
soil is valuable, if made thoroughly and consci¬ 
entiously; but five dollars worth of analysis is 
usually of no advantage, save to the recipient of 
that sum. I may in the future, discuss this point 
»at length, but for the present allow me to state two 
cases of chemical profundity that have come to 
my knowledge. A gentleman, one of Liebig’s 
pupils, sent to a somewhat celebrated New-York 
chemist, two samples of a liquid, requesting to 
know their respective per centage of a given in¬ 
gredient. In due time the analysis was furnished. 
No. 1. contained some 80 per cent.; No. 2, only 
15 per cent.; according to the learned chemist. 
Both liquids were 'pure oil of turpentine! In the 
other case, a mixture was prepared by an expe¬ 
rienced chemist, containing 8 or 9 per cent, of a 
certain ingredient, and forwarded to a chemist, 
occupying an official position of some importance, 
with a fee, and requesting him to determine the 
relative amount of the ingredient. An answer 
was returned, that the quantity was less than ■§ 
per cent. 
All base counterfeits prove the existence of a 
valuable reality. There is a genuine literature, a 
genuine chemistry for the farmers. 11 Let us 
prove all things, and hold fast that which is good.” 
S. W. Johnson. New-Haven, Ct. 
Inquiries for Answer. 
Breaking Steers. — I wish to obtain through 
your pages, some remarks on the management 
and breaking of steers, and shall be greatly obliged 
to any of your readers who can enlighten me on 
the subject. L. M. 
Osier Willow. —Can you or any of your cor¬ 
respondents, give me any information in relation 
to the growth and cultivation of Osier Willows? 
What soil is most suitable—when they should be 
cut, and how tall they will grow. We have an 
Irishman here, who says that in Ireland they have 
a kind which grows 12 or fourteen feet high. Is 
it the Osier, or some other kind? I have a swamp 
on the bank of the river, which is a mucky soil, 
and is overflowed at high tides. Would they do 
well in such a situation? Mynderse Wynkoop. 
Cattskill, Nov. 26, 1852. 
Curing Hams. 
A friend, who has cured hams, from a recipe 
given in the Cultivator in 1844, for two or three 
years past, assures us that he has never seen 
better hams, and suggests the re-publication of 
the recipe. It is as follows: 
Hams. —The following mode of prepaparing hams, 
we have practiced for several years, and can with confi¬ 
dence recommend it to others: 
For every one hundred pounds of meat, take five pints 
of good molasses, (or five pounds of brown sugar.) five 
ounces saltpetre, and eight pounds rock salt—add three 
gallons of water, and boil the ingredients over a gentle 
fire, skimming off the froth or scum as it rises. Con¬ 
tinue the boiling until the salt, &c., is dissolved. Have 
the hams nicely cut and trimmed, packed in casks with 
the shank end down, as the pickle will thus strike in 
better. When the pickle, prepared as above, is suffi¬ 
ciently cool, pour it over the hams. They may lie in 
pickle from two to six weeks, according to the size of 
the pieces, or the state of the weather—more time be¬ 
ing required in cold, than in warm weather. Beef or 
mutton hams, intended for smoking or drying, may be 
cured according to this mode, and will be found excel¬ 
lent. 
Much of the goodness of hams depends on smoking. 
They should be hung at such a distance from the fire, as 
not to be heated. They should also be hung up with 
the shank end downward, as this will prevent the es¬ 
cape of their juices by dripping. Small hams, wanted 
for immediate use, will answer with two weeks' smok¬ 
ing, but larger ones, and those wanted for keeping, 
should be smoked four weeks or more. 
Different articles are used for smooking. Perhaps 
sawdust from hard wood, where it can be conveniently 
had, is on the whole to be preferred. Corncobs are first 
rate, and are said by some to make the (< sweetest ” 
smoke of anything. Chips of maple and hickory, or 
the small branches of those kinds of wood, do well. 
Pumpkins and Squashes in Corn-fields. —At 
an ag. meeting in N. Hampshire, a cultivator stated 
that be had found pumpkins, squashes and turneps, 
in corn-fields, to lessen the amount of corn. This 
is to be expected, as they must, as a matter of 
course, operate in the same way as weeds. He 
had also found, by using the corn-planting ma¬ 
chine for every alternate row, a difference in fa¬ 
vor of the corn-planter of about seven bushels per 
acre. So much for regularity and perfection of 
work. 
Corn for Soiling.—T his was recommended by 
some of the speakers, to be sown in small portions 
for several successive weeks, so as to admit of be¬ 
ing cut and fed out in the same way . It had been 
found best to cut it the day before feeding, and 
to allow it to wilt partially in the sun, for if fed 
perfectly fresh it had a tendency to produce scour¬ 
ing, and became unpalatable. 
