THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION.— September 2, 1866. 403 
saerilege be tolerated?] A hotel has been built alongside of 
the ‘ Great Tree,’ the bark of which was exhibited last year 
at San Francisco, and on its overturned trunk a sort of ladies’ 
pavilion has been erected, which serves as an elegant pro¬ 
menade. In order to fell it the trunk was bored, by means 
of a very long and powerful auger, with many holes very 
near to each other, and arranged circularly ; but even when 
almost detached from its bases its immense mass resisted 
all efforts to overthrow it. Four days subsequently it was 
blown down by the wind. It shook the earth when it fell, 
and made for itself a deep furrow in the ground in which it 
lies, at this moment, half buried.” 
_Now r , to read simply of a free 460 feet high, we are struck 
with large figures, but we can hardly appreciate the height 
without some comparison. Such a one as that through 
which the horseback journey was performed would stretch 
across a field twenty-seven rods wide; if standing in the 
Niagara chasm at Suspension Bridge, it would tower 200 
feet above the top of the bridge; if placed in Broadway, 
New York, at the head of Wall Street, it would overtop 
Trinity steeple by ICO feet, and would be 230 feet higher 
than Bunker Hill monument, Boston ; or 270 above Wash¬ 
ington monument, Baltimore. If cut up for fuel, it would 
make at least 3,000 cords, or as much as would be yielded 
by 00 acres of good wood-land. If sawed into inch boards, 
it would yield about 3,000,000 feet, and furnish enough 
3-inch plank for 30 miles of plank road. This will do for 
the product of one little seed, less in size than a grain of 
.wheat. 
By counting the annual rings it appears that some of the 
oldest specimens have attained an age of three thousand 
years. If this computation is correct, and we see no reason 
to doubt it, they must have been as large as our best forest 
trees in New York in the times of Homer and the prophet 
Elijah ; and venerable and towering giants during the Car- 
thagenian -wars. In other words, “ the Roman Empire 
has begun and ended” since they commenced growing. We 
hope the small plantation which comprises their whole 
number will not share the fate of the world-renowned 
Cedars of Lebanon on their native mountains, now reduced 
to a dozen in number, but that they will be protected aDd 
preserved, and only those that fall by oldage.be removed 
for exhibition. It would, of course, be idle to talk of trans¬ 
porting such a monster to this part of the county, weighing 
as it does some five thousand tons, and a portion of its shell 
only may be secured as a fragment in natural history .—(The 
American Country Gentleman.) 
IMPERISHABLE POTATO FACTORY. 
(From an American paper.) 
We heard, a short time since, that there was established 
in this vicinity, at Hinesburgb, Vermont, a factory for putting 
into a very portable and almost imperishable form the edible 
substance of potatoes, without injury to its qualities as an 
article of food. From the importance of such an operation 
to the agricultural interests of this state, the report excited 
a lively interest in our mind, and we set ourselves to 
ascertain the character of the process, and see how far it 
was deserving of special attention. 
Many years ago M. Appert contrived a mode for preserv¬ 
ing both vegetables and meats, when once properly cooked, 
for many years, without any sensible alteration. This 
method (called to this day Appert’s method), was, to fill a 
close tin case absolutely full of the cooked food, leaving but 
a small hole open ; then to heat the case for a considerable 
time in boiling water, in order to drive off all the air con¬ 
tained in the contents ; and when that was done effectually, 
to solder up the hole, so that not a particle of air could find 
entrance. This process, when absolutely well done, pre¬ 
vented all fermentation and putrefaction. The case could 
be carried to any climate, and kept for years. When the 
food was wanted, the case was cut open, and the food, when 
properly warmed, was like that freshly cooked. Great use 
has been made of provisions so preserved for vessels. But 
the process is too expensive a one to be resorted to where 
economy is much of an object; and, besides, the slightest 
omission of accuracy in conducting it is followed by a 
certain failure in the result. Thousands of cases have been 
thrown away when the contents were not needed, because a 
little air left in, or allowed to get in, had led to their 
souring, and consequent putrefaction. 
But there is another method. Taking the hint, perhaps, 
from the preservation of tea* mosses, &o., by drying, some 
years ago experimenters found out that our common vege¬ 
tables, such as cabbages, turnips, carrots, and potatoes, might 
be taken fresh, thoroughly dried (so promptly as to allow of 
no incipient fermentation), and pressed and packed close 
in tight vessels, so as to exclude moisture, and in that 
state kept for long periods. For use, it was only necessary 
to soak them in fresh water, when they would recover their 
full bulk, and on cooking be found to differ very slightly 
indeed from others which were fresh. Here was an im¬ 
portant discovery. The expense was small, the reduction of 
bulk enormous (a thing of great consequence for shipping 
and travellers), and the preservation was complete. Govern¬ 
ment commissioners in Europe examined the processes, and 
tested and approved the results, and at once the preparation 
came into use under their sanction. The application of this 
method to potatoes at the Hinesburgh factory is substan¬ 
tially as follows :— 
Being thoroughly cleansed, deprived of the skins, and 
properly prepared, fresh currents of air are moved in 
contact with the potato pulp by machinery. The air rapidly 
takes up and carries off the moisture. The material is 
made to take the shape of tubes (maccaroni fashion); and, 
when perfectly dry, is broken in a proper mill into the 
form of what is called “ samp,” or “ hominy.” Indeed, it 
might be easily mistaken for that article, made from 
common yellow Indian corn. By the process it has lost 
nothing but water. But by that loss it is made to occupy 
but one-sixth of its original bulk, and what before weighed 
four pounds now weighs but one pound. In that condition 
it can be packed in tight casks or in tin canisters, and be 
transported just as easily as so much dry rice. Years of trial 
have proved the unchanging character of the preparation. 
Now then for the use. For one pound of it take three 
pounds of boiling water; or, to speak cookery-book fashion, 
put one teacupful of it into about four teacupsful of 
boiling hot water. In ten minutes the water is entirely 
absorbed, and the result is a well-cooked dish of mashed 
potato, ready to be salted and buttered, or dealt with as a 
like dish made from the fresh potato might be. The taste 
differs but slightly from fresh potato prepared in the same 
manner. We speak advisedly, for we have tried it. Though 
we think any one would prefer to crush for himself a fresh 
mealy potato, if he were in a condition to chose, we have 
often, within the last five years, had to be content with 
using potatoes tasting not a whit better than the article we 
are speaking of—hardly as good, even. 
It is difficult to comprehend at once the great importance 
of such a preparation of the potato. To a very large 
portion of the human family the potato is an article of 
prime necessity for daily food. All who have been accus¬ 
tomed to use it feel the deprivation severely if placed 
beyond its reach for any considerable time; while the 
bulkiness and perishable nature of the tubers, in its natural 
condition, make its transportation for great distances, by 
either land or sea, an impossibility. For the want of it the 
health of crews on long voyages, and of soldiers or other- 
persons occupied away from where it can be procured, is 
often greatly injured. In some districts, too, where it is 
relied upon as the chief article of food, great distress is 
caused by the failure of a crop, because the want cannot be 
supplied, except' at an insupportable expense. Let the pre¬ 
paration of this “ imperishable potato ’’ be made common, 
and all these evils are done away with. Government ships, 
whaling vessels, and merchant ships, will make it a regular 
part of their stores. It will occupy nearly the room of ship 
biscuit, and can be kept in store with less risk of spoiling. 
We are informed that European vessels already make it 
regularly a part of their stores, when going on voyages 
across the tropics; and that the discovery ships, under 
charge of Dr. Kane, were supplied with it. Travellers across 
the Continent, and inhabitants of those parts of our 
country where the vegetable cannot be raised successfully, 
must eventually find the prepared article a most convenient 
one for use. 
