38 
THE CULTIVATOR 
domestic (SconotttB. 
Under this head, we propose to devote a part of the 
Cultivator, monthly, to a record of such articles of do¬ 
mestic management, cookery, &c. as may be furnished us, 
or may come under our notice. As the department is 
undertaken principally for the benefit of our numerous 
lady readers, we think we shall not be considered as ask¬ 
ing too much, if we request them to aid us in making it 
more generally useful and acceptable, by their contribu¬ 
tions. Our female friends who have before aided us in 
these matters are entitled to our thanks and those of our 
subscribers: we hope not only they, but others, will give 
this appeal a favorable consideration. 
MAKING BREAD. 
Every one imagines they know how to make bread, 
and almost every one can wet up flour and bake it, but it 
by no means follows they know how to make bread. To 
make good bread, good flour, good yeast, and good 
management are requisite. One of the simplest pro¬ 
cesses of making good bread is as follows:—To eight 
quarts of flour, add three ounces of salt, half a pint of 
yeast, (or good sweet emptings,) and three quarts of 
water, of a moderate temperature, and the whole being 
well mixed and kneaded, and set by in a proper tempe¬ 
rature, will rise in about an hour, or perhaps a little 
more. It will rise better and more equally if the mass 
is covered. It must undergo a second kneading before 
it is formed into loaves for the oven. The more bread 
is kneaded, the better it will be. Be careful not to allow 
your bread to become sour in rising. Milk is by some 
used instead of water in mixing their bread. Milk will 
make white bread, but it will not be as sweet, and dries 
quicker than bread made with water. If loaves are 
slightly gashed with a knife around the edges, before 
they are put in the oven, cracking will be avoided in 
baking. From an hour to an hour and a half is required 
to bake bread fully. 
Sponge Bread is made by taking three quarts of 
wheat flour, the same quantity of boiling water, and 
mixing them carefully together. When lukewarm, add 
a tea cup full of common, or a little less of distillery 
yeast, and set the mass in a warm place to rise. When 
light, knead in flour till it will mold well; then let it 
rise again, when it is to be molded into loaves, and 
baked. 
French Bread or Rolls is made by taking half a 
bushel of fine floux-, ten eggs, a pound and a half of fresh 
butter, a pint of yeast, or more if not first rate, and 
wetting the whole mass with new milk, pretty hot. Let 
it lie half an hour to rise, which done, make it into 
loaves or rolls, and wash them over with an egg beaten 
with milk. In common French rolls, the eggs and the 
butter are not uncommonly omitted, but their addition 
makes the bread decidedly better. 
The following bread has been found very useful for 
those to whom fine flour bread was injurious:—Of good 
wheat, ground fine but unbolted, take thi-ee quarts, one 
quart warm water, one gill of fresh yeast, one gill of 
molasses, and one tea-spoonful of sal eratus. Make two 
loaves, bake an hour, and cool gradually. It has some¬ 
times been called dyspepsia bread. 
No kind of bread should be put into an oven too hot, 
as a crust will be formed, and the proper rising pre¬ 
vented. Heat your oven thoroughly, but let the first flush 
heat pass off before your bread is put in. If you fling in 
a little flour-, and it bi'owns in about a minute, put in your 
bread; if it burns black, wait a few minutes. There is 
much depending in eveiy family on the bread used, and 
the greatest care should be taken to have it sweet and of 
good quality. Bread should never be put on the table 
till twenty-four hours after baking, where health and 
economy are consulted. 
MAKING MINCE PIES. 
The winter is the season for finding good mince pies 
on the table, and when well made, there are few things 
more palatable; of their conduciveness to health, we say 
nothing. Any kind of lean meat will make pies, but the 
best is neat’s tongue and feet; and if these cannot be 
had, then beef shank. The meat must be boiled till per¬ 
fectly tender, cleared from the bone and the hard or 
gristly parts of the meat, and chopped fine. To this 
must be added an equal weight of tart apples, also chop¬ 
ped fine. Much of the goodness of the pie will be 
depending on the fineness of the materials. Cider is good 
to mois en with, and sugar with a little molasses used to 
suit the taste. Mace, cinnamon, cloves, salt, &c. to be 
added at pleasure. The pies must be made on shallow 
plates, and baked from half to three quarters of an hour; 
there must be holes in the crust while baking, made by 
pricking or cutting, or the juices of the pie will 
escape. 
If rich pies are wanted, moisten with wine or brandy, 
in part, and add raisins, citron, and Zante curi-ants, with 
the grated rind and juice of lemons. 
It is sometimes desirable to keep some of the meat 
prepared for pies for use at another time, particularly 
among farmers who do not have ready access to mar¬ 
kets. We have found that meat prepared as below will 
keep for months, in a dry, cool place, without injury. 
To a pound of finely chopped meat, add a little fine 
suet, an ounce of mace, an ounce of cinnamon, a quarter 
of an ounce of cloves, and two tea-spoonfuls of salt; 
Zante currants and seeded raisins, half a pound of each, 
and a quarter pound of citron to be added, if desired; 
half a pint of wine or brandy, three table-spoonfuls of 
molasses and sugar to make it quite sweet, is added. The 
whole is packed in a stone pot, covered with a brandied 
paper, or with a thin layer of molasses. To make pies 
of this, nothing is necessary but to add equal weights of 
apples, chopped fine, and perhaps more spices and sugar. 
tLtmitarg 5D apartment. 
CALEY’S IMPROVED PROBANG. 
At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the 
New-York State Agricultural Society, held at the city of 
Troy, on the 16th of June, I presented for their inspec¬ 
tion one of “ Caley’s Improved Probangs.” It attracted 
considerable attention, and was favorably noticed and 
recommended in their proceedings; and now, as the 
season has arrived for feeding cattle on roots, I have 
thought some account of its usefulness and structure 
would not be uninteresting to the readers of this paper. 
/'■'N-—---- 
C$- 
l v/“--—"—““~— 
Caley’s Improved Probang. —(Fig. 15.) 
Gag and Strap —(Fig. 16.) 
Bellows —(Fig. 17.) 
The ^Esophagus Probang (fig. 15) is a leathern tube 
about 41-2 feet long, 11-2 inches in diameter,with two 
egg shaped bulbs, one of which is perforated with small 
holes, and an aperture in the end of the bulb sufficient to 
pass a good sized corkscrew, which is attached to a rod 
sufficiently long to pass the tube and fasten into the ob¬ 
struction, whether an apple, potatoe, or piece of turnep. 
With the assistance of the rod and screw, substances can 
with ease be drawn out of the throat, without the least 
injury. 
It is not uncommon, when cattle are choked with an 
apple or potato, to attempt to force it down with a whip 
stalk or stiff rope, and when it comes in contact with the 
obstruction, the pressure of the gas or compressed air is 
so great that it cannot be forced down. By using the 
probang and letting down the rod with the screw, and 
foi-cing the worm or screw into the potatoe or apple, and 
withdrawing the probang, the obstruction can be re¬ 
moved without difficulty. But it must be remembered, 
in cases where cut turneps have been fed, it is very 
dangerous to use much force in passing the substance into 
the stomach, although it is impossible to lacerate the 
tesophagus with passing the bulb, if it was larger; but 
the hard edges of the rough parts of the turnep may, 
by too much pressure, injure the lining of the {esopha¬ 
gus, which is the most tender membrane of the animal, 
which, if injured by improper force, the animal will 
never do well afterwards. 
There is also a small wooden rod to put in place of 
the iron one, in order to stiffen the tube, by which, if 
the obstruction be small, it can be forced downwards 
into the stomach. 
The common causes of hoven cattle is by eating 
greedily of wet grass, green clover, turnep tops, or any 
succulent food. The air contained in the hollow stalks 
expands so rapidly as to obstruct the organs of respira¬ 
tion, and the animal dies by suffocation, unless relieved. 
These facts are too well known by farmers to require 
any further comments from me; and during the few 
years’ practice in breeding and feeding cattle, and wit¬ 
nessing the severe losses sustained by the farmers from 
these causes, has induced me to notice the probang made 
by Mr. Caley. 
This instrument is equally well adapted for hoven 
cattle; and the bellows, (fig. 17,) which can be attached 
to one of the bulbs by means of a screw, acts as a sto¬ 
mach pump, which is intended for the relief of gripes 
and removing obstructions of the bowels of animals that 
cannot relieve themselves. 
The following are his directions for using the pro¬ 
bang in cases of hoven: as soon as the animal is disco¬ 
vered to be ailing, lose no time in passing the probang, 
with the wooden box in it; but if the stomach is much 
distended, the partly digested food will stop the holes 
in the bulb, and prevent the gas from escaping through 
the tube; in which case, move the probang with the 
rod up and down, six or seven inches, a few times, 
which will generally give vent to the gas; then ^With¬ 
draw the rod, and move the probang up and down 
freely,which will soon give relief. But should this not be 
effectual, the rod may be passed again, and the bellows 
applied to the probang, and the gas pumped out. Should 
there any thing more than gas be received into the bel¬ 
lows, the nozzle may be unstopped, and the contents dis¬ 
charged through it. 
In order to use the probang with safety, it is necessary 
to have something to keep the mouth open, and to pre¬ 
vent the animal from cutting the tube with the teeth. 
For this purpose, Mr. Caley recommends a mouth piece 
made of wood, (fig. 16,) with straps on each end, to 
buckle around the horns. 
Mr. Caley informs me that he has lately had an oppor¬ 
tunity of testing one of his probangs, and it answered 
the desired purpose for which it was intended, and 
proved all that has been said about it. The obstruction 
was removed without difficulty, and the gas or air pump¬ 
ed out of the stomach with the bellows. No farmer, he 
says, who keeps cattle need despair, for he is conscious 
all obstructions can be removed, if properly used. 
Every breeder or owner of cattle, whether of the 
improved or common breed of the country, should have 
one of “ Caley’s .Esophagus Probangs,” or at least 
every neighboi'hood should possess one, as it might be 
the means of saving hundreds of cattle that are lost to 
community. 
One of these instruments may be found at Mr. Thor- 
burn’s agricultural and seed store, where it may be ex¬ 
amined, and Mr. T. will receive orders for them, as they 
will not be made except when ordered. Price $7,00 
Caleb N. Bement. 
Three Hills Farm, Dec. 1, 1841. 
GRAVEL IN THE HORSE. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —I have for some time 
entertained the opinion that very erroneous notions exist 
in relation to the nature and more particularly the cause 
of the disease called « gravel ” in horses’ feet. The 
general sentiment, so far as I have apprehended it, ap¬ 
pears to be that this disease is caused by dirt or gravel 
insinuating itself through the hoof (in a passage caused 
by a nail in shoeing, or a crack,) to the quick or soft 
parts within the shell of the foot or hoof. Now with¬ 
out assuming positively to deny that dirt or small stones 
ever did cause the gravel, I think the facts will bear me 
out in saying that such is very rarely the case. If gravel 
gets into an abscess in the foot, and is discharged with 
the matter, it is as a result of the inflammation and sub¬ 
sequent ulceration, and not as a cause of that inflamma¬ 
tion. 
The disease in the human system which “gravel” 
most nearly resembles, is “stone-bruise.” The outer 
skin of a person’s foot, accustomed to running barefoot, 
becomes extremely thick and hard. Does any person 
suppose that in order to produce a “ stone-bruise,” it is 
necessary for dirt to get through this hard skin, follow¬ 
ing some puncture by a nail or otherwise ? Not at all: 
on the contrary, when the individual strikes his foot 
strongly against the frozen ground, a sharp stone or 
stump, the hard skin, (or hoof, as it may be called,) is 
pressed strongly against the quick or soft parts under¬ 
neath. The result is an inflammation of those soft parts, 
followed by the formation of matter. The outer skin 
being so indurated over the mattex - , it cannot escape di¬ 
rectly, but is thus obliged to burrow along until it es¬ 
capes at the edge of the hard skin, unless otherwise 
evacuated. Precisely so in relation to “gravel” in 
horses’ feet. In consequence of the animal’s striking his 
foot strongly upon a frozen' hub, or sharp stone, being 
pricked by a nail in shoeing, being stepped on by ano¬ 
ther horse, or any similar cause, or some original defect 
in the foot, not easily accounted for, the quick or soft 
part within the hoof is injured, it inflames, and matter 
or pus is formed. Now how is this matter to escape ? 
It cannot find vent through the hoof, neither at the bot¬ 
tom nor at the sides of the foot. The only alternative is 
for the matter to burrow' along the inside of the hoof 
to the top, and thus escape. The proper treatment un¬ 
doubtedly is, to pare the bottom part of the hoof away, 
until you reach the matter. 
I have certainly, I admit, seen matter escape from 
such an opening, and with it, dirt, but it was dirt that 
had a moment before been permitted to enter through 
the bungling opei’ation of the smith. Thus, as was said 
above, the dirt being found there, was the result of the 
“gravel” or inflammation in the foot, and not its cause. 
If the above remarks should have the effect to induce 
thought on the subject on which they treat among some 
of your subscribers, in relation to a disease very fre¬ 
quent in one of our most useful animals, the design of a 
reader and subscriber will be fully answered, who, for 
the pi’esent, will subscribe himself Index. 
Monroe, Orange Co. N. Y., Dec. 4, 1841. 
VALUABLE RECIPES. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —The following are at 
your disposal: 
Opodeldoc, or Camphorated Soap Liniment.— 
Take common white soap, 3 ounces, camphor 1 oz., oil 
of rosemary, oil of origanum, of each 1-8 ounce, alco¬ 
hol, 1 pint; cut the soap fine, and with a gentle heat dis¬ 
solve it in the alcohol in which the other articles had 
been previously dissolved. Pour into wide mouthed 
vials or jars, to cool. 
If Liquid Opodeldoc is preferred, take 2 ounces of 
Castile soap, in place of 3 ounces of common soap. N. 
B. Troy ounces are designated. If not practicable to 
have the articles weighed by that standard, bear in mind 
that the Troy ounce is nearly equal to 11-9 ounce Avoir¬ 
dupois. 
Opodeldoc, made according to the above recipes, is 
altogether superior to that usually sold in vials, at ex¬ 
orbitant prices. 
British Oil. —Take spirits turpentine and linseed 
oil, of each half pint; oil of amber, oil of juniper, and 
mineral tar, of each 1 gill. 
Oil of Spike, or a mixture commonly sold under that 
name, is nothing but sp. turpentine, mineral tar, and 
some essential oil, added in various proportions. The 
following is a good recipe for its preparation: take sp. 
turpentine, 1 pint, mineral tar, 1 -2 pint, oil of amber, 3 
oz., oil of rosemary, 1 oz. P. 
Bowling Green, 0., 1841. 
