342 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, February 17,1857. 
the beer to be brewed in October, and 4 bushels of malt al¬ 
lowed to the barrel, or 36 gallons, 1 lb. of hops to each 
bushel of malt; some prefer 1^ lbs. of hops. Excellent beer 
may be made to keep six months by using 1 bushel of malt 
and 1 lb. of hops to 12 gallons of beer. 
1st Mash. —Use water at 172°, allowing some degrees 
for cooling in the transfer from copper to mash-tub. Allow 
5 gallons of water to each bushel of malt. When it has 
cooled to 172° add the malt, stir and turn well with the 
masher for twenty minutes or half an hour, add remainder of 
water, give a good stir to the whole, cover tub well over to 
keep in the heat for one hour and three quarters; then let 
it run from the spigot slowly at first, return to mash-tub the 
first pail, draw the whole off into a tub, and, as soon as the 
copper is emptied for second mash, boil or gallop well one 
hour and a half, the last three quarters of an hour with 
hops, observing to break the masses as you put them in. 
2nd Mash. —The water from 190° to 200°; mash ten 
minutes, let it stand covered over one hour, boil one hour 
well , the last half an hour with the hops strained from the 
first mash. Cool the whole to 75° if intended to keep, or 
80° if intended to be drunk quickly. Set the whole to work 
with one pint of best store barm from a brewhouse; in 
fourteen hours tun. Sometimes it is difficult to get it to 
work; if so, a good stir has the desired effect, or a little 
flour dredged lightly over the top. This is not often required 
if covered over and kept warm. Yery good table beer may 
be made in a 
3rd Mash, by merely filtering hot water through the 
malt once or twice; boil up, and when boiling take out some 
in a pail, stir well into it 1 lb. of coarse sugar to 2 gallons of 
liquor; stir this well into the whole, and boil with the hops 
one hour. Nine gallons may be made from a 3 bushel 
brewing, and, if not needed for the family, poor neighbours 
gladly receive it. If 4 or 4^ bushels are used to the barrel 
for best beer, 18 gallons of good small beer may be made 
by adding the sugar, which no one can detect. 
Novices should understand that nearly the whole of the 
water mashed with is lost in the malt; that a considerable 
quantity evaporates in the boiling; the hops also suck up 
some. Extra must be made for filling up the casks during 
the time they work. As a general rule, half the water is 
lost in the first mash, after which the loss is trifling. In 
boiling, the copper can be kept from boiling over by just 
patting the liquor down with the masher or jet. Beer should 
be bright and sparkling, which objects can be only obtained 
by the greatest accuracy in brewing. No cold water should 
touch it; every vessel should be rinsed with hot, and for the 
first two hours after tunning the casks must be kept con¬ 
stantly more, than filled up ; a small tunnel with a long pipe 
may be used for this purpose. As the pans fill under the 
casks, sweep off the barm with the whisk, and return the beer 
to the vessel or spare cask. After a few hours it may be 
attended to every hour or so, and gradually it will require 
less attention. After a week the casks may be set up 
straight. When they have finished working take out some 
of the beer with a vial tied to a string, put in some dry 
bops, 2 ounces or rather more to 18 gallons, bung down 
tight with bungs covered with canvass.—A One Year Sub¬ 
scriber. 
THE CAT.* 
This is a very useful little book, and written in a kind 
spirit for that purpose. The following is a fair specimen of 
its contents :— 
“ Administering Medicine to Cats. —This is a difficult 
process in imagination, but easy in the performance, when 
undertaken with firmness, gentleness, and courage, and 
without noise. 
“ As I previously remarked, there is no animal so scru¬ 
pulously cleanly as the cat; therefore the chief care must 
be not to soil the fur with the medicine, as it will not lick 
it off, and will pine away at the smell. 
“ Roll gently the sick cat in a large cloth, such as a table¬ 
cloth, carefully including all the claws of both the front and 
back, so as to resemble a mummy, leaving only the head 
out. Then place it upright between the knees of a sitting 
person, place another cloth under the jaw to keep that 
clean, and then with a gloved hand open the mouth wide, 
but gently, at one effort, holding it open, and pouring the 
medicine from a teaspoon down the open throat, a very 
little at once, not to cause choking, but letting it be com¬ 
fortably swallowed in very small quantities. Do not put the 
spoon into the mouth, as the cat will bite it and spit out the 
contents, but pour it from the small spoon. Then with a 
sponge and chilled water wipe off' the least impurity from 
the mouth and chin, rub it dry with a clean cloth, and un¬ 
swathe the patient, and put it in a quiet, warm, comfortable 
place for about an hour and a half. Do not give food or drink 
during that time, or the medicine will return again; as in 
human beings, it is necessary to watch the effect of your 
medicine. You must make a temporary hospital of some 
unused, uncarpeted room, with a fire, as warmth is half the 
cure, and every creature in illness requires it more than at 
other times. Have a comfortable bed for your patient, 
leave a dish of water in case of thirst (where it would not , 
be pernicious), and do not allow any one but yourself to 
enter, as quiet and sleep are nature’s own and best remedies; i 
without them there is no cure.” 
GLASS FOR HORTICULTURAL PURPOSES. 
I, for one, feel greatly indebted to Mr. Robson for drawing ' 
attention to “ the merits and demerits of sheet glass,” in i 
your paper, No. 432, and perfectly agree with him in saying 
that any person requiring sheet glass for horticultural pur¬ 
poses should insist upon having it of good quality. A great 
proportion of the glass advertised at a low price is the sweep¬ 
ings of the Belgian manufactures, called fourth quality, and is ■ 
totally unfit for horticultural purposes.— James Phillips, 
Horticultural Glass Warehouse, 110, Bishopsgale Street 
Without. 
NEW AND RARE PLANTS. 
Lobelia Texensis (Texas Lobelia). 
A hardy herbaceous border plant. Native of Texas. 
Flowers crimson, blooming during summer.— ( Botanical 
Magazine, t. 4964.) 
Ansellia Africana (African AnscUia). 
A noble-looking but not showy stove Orchid, the flowers 
having a dull, pale green colour, with many dark purple 
blotches. Native of Fernando Po. Blooms in January.— 
{Ibid. t. 4965.) 
Stokesia cyanea (Azure Stokesia). 
This belongs to the Natural Order of Composites, and 
rivals in beauty the China Aster. It is rare even in its 
native country, South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana. It 
was introduced at Kew, in 1766, by Mr. James Gordon. It 
has been variously named Garthamus he vis and Carolinianus, 
Gartesia centaureoides and Centaurea Americana .— {Ibid. t. 
4966.) 
Phytolacca icosandra {Long-raccrued Poke Weed). 
An under-shrub, that will probably bear greenhouse treat¬ 
ment. Native of Mexico. The flowers are inconspicuous, 
j but the very long bunches of dark purple berries are orna¬ 
mental. The P. icosandra depicted in the Botanical 
Magazine, t. 2633, is really P. Mexicana. — {Ibid. t. 4967.) 
! Rhododendron campylocarpum {Gurved-fruitcd Rhodo¬ 
dendron. ) 
' > 
This abounds in the valleys of the Sikkim Himalaya 
Mountains, at elevations varying from 11,000 to 14,000 feet. 
It is hardy, but, blooming as early as April, the flowers can 
only be secure in a cool greenhouse. It is a bush six feet 
high, with sweet-scented, sulphur-coloured flowers.— {Ibid, 
t. 4908.) 
* The Cat, its History and Diseases. By the Honourable Lady Cust 
Groombridge and Sons. 
