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FACTS FOE FARMERS;

ALSO roa

THE FAMILY CIRCLE.

A VARIETY OF RICH 1L;VTERL\XS FOR ALL LAJSHD-OWNERS,

ABOCT

DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY;

FARM BUILDINGS;

^arkns, ©rcljaA$, antr ^Jiiicnarirs;

AND ALL

I'ARif CROPS, TOOLS, FEXCES, FERTILIZATIOX, DRAIXIXG, AXD IRRIGATIO.N.

WITH A-N APPEXDIX ON THE

DISEASES AND CURES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

lilustnitcij toitfe ^M ^ngrabings.

EDITED BY

SOLON EOBINSON,

AOKICCLTUKAL EDrTOR OF THE NEW YOUK "TKIlirNE," AND AmiOB OF SEVEEAI. POPXTLAK WOEKS.

VOLUME I.
NEW YORK:

A. J. JOHT^SOIN",

113 FULTON STKEET.

CLE\T;LAiro, onio:

F. a. AND A^. c. no^^;vE,

3CG SUPERIOR STREET.
]8C8.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1807, by

A. J. JOHNSON,

In tlie Clerk's OfEco of tlio District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New York.

5^1^

5

PLATE I.

(The Frontispiece.)

This is the genial face of a farmer, engaged in a work of love for
bis calling. It is placed here in opposition to the wishes of the
author. He has been persuaded to allow his face to be seen by
those who purcliase this collection of things useful to a very
numerous class through the solicitation of the publisher, who
knows that it will be a satisfaction to them to see how their old
friend looks at the age of sixty. An old friend he will seem to
tho.se wlio road liis earnest appeals for agricultural improvement
twenty or thirty years ago. As a writer and lecturer upon agri-
cultiu'c, and extensive traveler to observe its condition in the United
States, few men are better known than the original of this portrait.
Therefore this likeness will be, the publisher believes, highly appre-
ciated as well by those who look upon a familiar face as those who
see it here for the first time.

The author was born a farmer, and will probably end his days
where he now lives (a few miles out of the busy hum of the city),
\\\ the peaceful quiet of his "home in the country," where this
volume of facts for farmers has been prepared as a last legacy of his
good-will to the brotherhood.

Like other farmers' sons of New England, he learned to follow
the jilow there, though in early life he became a Western pioneer, and
while a prairie farmer, became widely known as a writer advocating
agricultural improvement, and more widely, in 1841, as the origin-
ator of the National Agricultural Society, and earnest advocate of
State and County societies. His connection with the New York
Tribune since 1850 will make this ])ic1uro interesting to all its
readers. It is tor these reasons that the pulili.sher has incurred tho
expense of its production.

PREFACE.

THE AUTHOR TO EIS READERS.

"Facts for Farmers?" "What facts?" "What new theories
have we here in a ponderous volume ? Is it filled with dry dis-
sertations about what farmers should or should not do?" "What
does this author know about farming ?"

The author asks the reader of this book to judge- for himself
He does not advance new theories. He only collects old ones.
He Artf made a ponderous volume, not of dry dissertations, but
of short, crisp facts. The book is fall of Httle things ; glean-
ings from many fields ; from all reliable authority ; from conver-
sations of farmers ; from talks at farmers' clubs ; from books a
little ; from personal experience much ; — from the memory of a long
life devoted to the practice and study of agriculture, this volume is
born. It is the fruit of years of labor in a great and good field.
It certainly contains much that will be useful to all classes wlio
till the earth, or live in farmers'- houses. It should be in every
rural home, as a work of reference. It is arranged in the most con-
venient form for this purpose. Each chapter comprises one general
subject. Each section embraces a separate branch. Each num-
bered paragraph is complete in itself, and conveys an item of infor-
mation. Each subject is completely indexed. As a whole, though
containing much, it is not an encylopedia of agriculture. It does
not pretend to teach all that a farmer should know. That must be
learned by reading, thinking, and acting.

IV

PREFACE.

Tliough not perfect, farmers will find this book a useful one. If
not invaluable, I hope it is one that they can not afford to do with-
out. In its comjiilation, the author has enjoyed many facilities
and much experience ; he has also labored under many difficulties,
while daily engaged as an agricultural editor of a groat daily and
weekly paper. You will liiul here stored up for future use many
of the valuable little items that you have read approvingly from
time to time but have forgotten, useful to every man's family, and
worthy of preservation. Usefulness instead of elegance has been
aimed at. I have given more facts than theories. I have often
given the opinions of several upon the same subject, and, as some
of these vary, I leave the reader to adjust differences.

In trying to avoid difTuseness, I have left much for inference, and
purposely treated subjects in such a manner as to induce readers to
make further research. A word of explanation. At the end of the
volume you will find a list of individuals, nearly five hundr^, some
of whom are eminent authority in agricultural knowledge. These
individuals haVe materially aided the author in producing a w-ork
which has been long needed by the American farmer, gardener,
florist, fruit-grower, and housekeeper. From all these he has drawn
matter, sometimes wuth, and sometimes without, credit to individ-
uals, when facts have been condensed from their articles. Con-
ciseness has been a study ; else, how could twelve hundred subjects
be crowded into a thousand pages ? Those whose articles I have
used, must not complain that I have pruned too closely, or failed to
give credit in all cases where credit is due. I freely acknowledge
my obligations to all.

This book is one that may be opened at any page, profitably,
to occupy five minutes' leisure. It is printed in such large, clear
type that it can be easily read. The author and publisher hope that
it will be. Then it is illustrated as no agricultural book published
in America ever has been. Look at the many large, handsome,

PREFACE.

steel engravings 1 These alone are worth the cost of the whole
volume.

Farmers! you are earnestly invited to read, if nothing more, the
titles and contents of chapters, and their subdivisions of sections.
If you do that, and find nothing that jjromises instruction, lay tlic
volume aside. If so far it is promising, turn over its pages, glanc-
ing at the black-letter titles of paragraphs. Of one thing be as-
sured ; lengthy as the volume appears, it is not made so by extreme
■dilution ; the last chapter is better than any that precedes it.
Throughout, no subject is lengthily treated ; no subject is treated
that does not contain something useful to some one ; something that
you can not always remember, but which you should always have
at hand, convenient for frequent consultation.

To those who know the name of the author — and the number is
large — I hope this book will be a welcome bequest. I hope it
will be the means through which that name may live in love and
lionor with your children and children's children around many an
American hearthstone.

Of the author's poi'trait, a word. It is the publisher, and not the
author, who inserts it. It represents him correctly, as lie is at the
age of neai'ly sixty.

In conclusion, I earnestly hope these Facts will be an acceptable
oQcring to a very large number of those whose prosperity I would
promote, for I am one of the BROTnERHOOD of American Farmers.
To them it is commended, with the love and respect of their old
friend,

SOLON ROBINSON.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

PAOK

Becmon I.— introduction TO FAC'I'S ABOUT STOCK. .' 13

Seo. II.— SWINE 19

This Bcctioa embraces facts about the best breeds, and best mode of feeding, gross and
net weight, etc.
Sec. m. — COWS : What is a good cow, and how to choose one ; food necessary ; health ;

Sec. IV. —BEEVES : Record of the largest known, and their weights 51

Sec. v.— STATISTICS OF THE NEW YORK CAITLE ILIRKET, and Improvements in
Breeds and Weights 56

Sec. VI.— feeding CATl'LE AND CARE OF FARM STOCK : Selecting calves ; shelter ;

training ; kindness ; value of kinds of feed ; use of salt ; watering ; diseases of cattle 60

Sec VII.— sheep HUSBANDRY : Breeds of sheep ; care and management ; weight of hay

necessary ; mutton and its use ; shearing and care of wool 81

Sec. VIII —HORSES AND MULES : History of the horse ; varieties ; how to use ; proper
size ; color ; diseases ; treatment of colts ; how to shoe horses ; breeding horses and
mules ; horse gearing 97

Sec. IX..— poultry : Full description of all kinds of poultry, and proper treatment 123

CHAFl'ER n.

BMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

Sec. X.— BKh.S : Their history, use, and value, management, and reasons for keeping 157

Sec. XI. — BIRDS : Reasons for preserving ; their food ; and laws for protecting 176

Sec. XII.— ENTOMOLOGICjVL : What are insects, and what kinds infest and injure various

crops, and liow to detect friends from foes, and various remedies 203

Sec. XIII.— wild AND TAME ANIM.\LS OK THE FARM : Dogs, aits, rats, mice, moles,

rabbits, squirrels, gophers, skunks, toads, goats, camels, and breeding fish for family use. 24S

CHAPTER HI.

THE FARMERY.

THK BmLDWOB, TARPS, WELLS, CISTKBI^S, AQUEDUCTS, AND STRUCTmES >-KCE88ABT TO
CARItY ON TUK BUSINESS OF TlIK FAKU, IIKIKFLT UKSCKIBED.

Seo. XIV.— FARM-HOUSES : They should be convenient, roomy, light, ventilated ; their in-
fluence upon character ; old-style farm-houso described 275

0

1

viii CONTENTS.

PAGE

Sec. XV.— cellars, CHDINEYS, AND ICE-HOUSES : How to build them, and their

Sec. XVI.— the B.1VEN AND ITS APPURTENANCES : Location, size, and use of bams ;

Sec. XVII.— water FOR THE FARMERY : Cisterns, size, cost, and how to build ; aque-

ducts and wells, how to construct ; hydraulic rams 308

Sec. XVm.— STACKING AND STORING GRAIN ; CORN CRIBS, PIGGERIES, AND

PIG FEEDING ; SMOKE-HOUSE, AND CURING BACON ; FRUIT-DRYING HOUSE. 318

Sec. XIX.— ECONOMICAL FARM BUILDINGS : Balloon frames, concrete walls, and other

cheap styles of building ; how to make balloon frames, and their cost 325

Sec. XX.— ROOFS AND ROOFING : Paints and whitewash for farm buildings ; nails ; mor-

tar ; farm gates ; sawed shingles, their value, and how to preserve shingles 332

Sec. XXI.— LIGHTNING CONDUCTORS : Protection of farm bmldings from fire ; windmiUs

and their use 342

CIIAPTEE IV.

DOMESTIC ECONOMY. '

Sec. XXn.— the FOOD QUESTION : Quantity, quality, variety, adaptation, adulteration.

changes produced by cooking, water for cooking, and effect on health 351

Sec. XXIII —THE BREAD QUESTION : Varieties ; quality ; how to make bread and yeast,

and substitutes for vea.5t 300

Sec XXIV.— SUBSTITUTES FOR BREAD, in green corn, dried com, pop-com, hominy, and

cracked wheat, and how to cook them 389

Sec. XXV.— EXCHfRPTA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE FOR HOUSEWIVES : Economy of

lights; use of tea, coffee, and sugar; preserving fruits, pork, hams, and beef; remedies

and disinfectants ; beds and bedding and carpets, etc 396

Sec XXVI.— DOMESTIC WINES, CIDER, AND PRESERVES : Rules of wine-making

from various fruits, and cider and vinegar making 419

Sec XX\'II.— HYGIENIC : Preparation of food for the sick ; remedies for poisons, bites,

and stings 435

Sec. XXV ill. — THE DAIRY: Butter and cheese making; how much milk for a pound of

butter ; Alderuey butter ; dairy room and utensils ; working, salting, and packing butter 441

CHAPTER Y.

THE GARDEN AND ITS FEUIT8.

Sec. XXIX.— PLEASURE AND PROFIT OF GARDENING : Origin and history of veg-

ctables *1C1

Sec. XXX.— garden CULINARY VEGBTTABLES: Protection from Insects; value of va-

rious things for food ; chiccory culture ; what should be grown in the garden ; number of

Sec XXXI.— the FLOWER GARDEN: Varieties and cultivation of flowers ; suitable soil

and preparation ; lists of choice flowers ; flowers grown as a crop GOO

CONTENTS. ix

PAGE

Skc. XXXII. — LAWN'S : How to make and how to keep them ; trees and plants suitable for

lawns ; botanical names of trees ; roses and their cultivation 515

Sec. XXXIII.— HOT-BEDS : Cold frames plant protectors ; how to make and use hot-beds . 524
Sec. XXXIV.— small FKUITS OK THE GARDEN : Currants, varieties and cultivation ;

CnAPTER VI.

THE OKCIIAED.

Sec. XXXV.— PROPAGATION, PL.VNTING, AND CULTTVATION OF TREES : Tune to

transplant • preriaration ; protection ; labels for trees 555

Sec. XXXVL— the ART OF PRUNING, GRAI-TING, ..VND BUDDING : How and when

to prune ; how and when to bud and graft ; how to make wax 570

Sec. XXXVII.— APPLE AND PlvVCH TREES: Their general management; select list of

apples, and descriiitions ; peach-trees, how to grow ; how to treat an old orchard 579

Sec. XXXVIII.— CHERRIES : Best varieties ; soil, situation, and cultivation ; history, use,

Sec XXXIX.— PEiVRS : Soil, situation, cultivation, and varieties; select list of sorts; when

to gather and how to ripen ; is the cultivation profitable COl

Sec. XL.— plums, NECTARINES, APRICOTS, MULBERRIES, AND OTHER FRUIT:

How to transplant fruit ; choice selection of plums 012

Seo. XLI.— MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS ABOUT FRUIT CULTURE : Cranberries as a
crop ; how to grow them ; best varieties ; cider-making G21

CHAPTER YII.

THE VINEYARD.

Sec. XTJL— now TO PL-VNT AND CULTIVATE VINES : ^Hiat sorts to plant ; l>istoryof
varieties ; profits of culture ; grape-growing in California CoO

Sec XLIII.— CULTURE OF GRAPES FOR WINE : Rules for winc-making ; wine from
various kiudB of grapes ; rules of a French wine-maker ; rules of American wine-makers Co7

CHAPTER Tin.

C E li E A L I A .

Sec. XLIV.— WIIIvVT, RYE, OATS, BARU;Y. MILLET, BUCKWHEAT : Preparation of
soil and fertilization ; quantity of seed ; harvesting, stacking, and storing ; thrashing and
cleaning ; profits of wheat culture ; oats, how and when to sow ; cultivation of barley ;
buckwheat ; millet 667

Sec. XLV.— INDIAN CORN : Its history ; prwluct ; prolit as a crop ; when to plant, imd
how to cultivate ; great yield per acre, North and South ; how to store com, and how to

•

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IX.

THE OEA88E8, THEIR CULTIVATION AND TTSE.

PAGI

Sec XLVI.— mowing AND PASTURE LANDS : Seeding land ; varieties of grass ; what
is graes ; what kinds arc recommended for cultivation ; clover, its cultivation ; harvest-
ing seed 748

Sec. XL VII.— haying AND HAYING MACHINES : Hay caps ; stacking ; how much hay
land should produce, and how much it is necessary to provide ; how to measure hay in
bulk 772

CHAPTER X.
EOOT CE0P8 AND SUGAR CROPS.

Sec. XLVm.— potatoes, TURNIPS, BEETS, CARROTS, PARSNEPS, ONIONS : How to
plant and cultivate, and how much they should produce ; history of the potato ; charac-
ter of varieties ; importance of the crop ; what seed should he used, and how planted ;
substitutes for the potato ; sweet potato culture ; turnip culture ; carrots as a crop, and
sowing and cultivation ; onions as a crop, how grown, and profits 785

Sec XLIX.— CHIJfESE SUGAR-CANE, AND SORGO-SUGAR JLVKING : Preparation and
time of planting cano ; soil and situation ; harvesting ; manufacturing, and yield and
profits as a crop 822

Sec. L.— MAPLE-SUGAR MAKING : Tapping trees ; spouts, buckets, and boilers ; process of
manufacture ; cost, yield, and profit of maple-sugar 835

CHAPTER XI.

FORESTS AND FENCES.

Sec. LI.— TREES AND TREE PLANTING ; WOOD OR COAL FOR FUEL : What trees to
plant, and how and where ; descriptive list of trees; value of various trees ; how to make
timber durable ; how to season fuel 845

Sec. LII. — rTINCBS : Their cost ; kinds most economical ; laws regulating ; how to make
hedges, stone walls, wire fence, and farm gates ; how to kyanize fence posts ; waste of land
around fences ; portable fence, its uso 8C1

CHAPTER XH.

FERTILIZATION.

Sbo. LIII.— THE ART, USE, AND ECONOMY OF MAKING, SAVING, AND APPLYING
MANURES AND FERTILIZING FAliM CROPS : Color, fineness, and moisture of ma-
nure affects its value ; nitrates, muriates, sulphates, lime, plaster, and bones, how to
"PP'y ; guano, its history and use ; muck, its value ; sea-weed and other matters ; value
of salt ; special manures for various crops ; soiling to save manure ; manuring with
clover ; water, its value as a fertilizer 877

CONTENTS. XI

CHAPTER XIII.

IRKIGATION. DHAINING. PLOWING. FAEMINO TOOLS.

PAGE

Sec. LIV.— irrigation AND TILE DRAINING : Value of irrigation ; its practice in Italy
and other couutrics ; what lands are most benefited ; tile draining, its importance, cost,
practice, and profit ; how and what land should be drained ; the mole-draining plow .... 904

Sec. LV. —PLOW'S AND l'IX)VVING : History of cast-iron plows ; subsoil plows, and their
u.'io and value ; steel plows and steam plows ; other farming tools ; labor saved by u.sing
farm machinery , 917

CHAPTER XIY.

BOUTHEEN STAPLE CEOPS COTTON, CANE, EICE, TOBACCO.

Sec. LVI.— history, GROWTH, AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON : History of the
cotton gin ; upland cotton ; sea island cotton ; how cotton is grown, picked, and pre-
pared for market ; profit of the culture ; flax cotton 928

Sec. LVIL— SUGAR-CANE CULTIVATION : Statistics of its culture in Louisiana ; yield of
sugar per acre ; cost of making, and how it is made 943

Sec LVIII. — RICE : Its cultivation, production, and preparation for market ; yield per acre ;

value and profit ; statistics of rice plantations ; upland rice 948

Sec. LIX. — ^TOBACCO : Its history, cultivation, production, and profits ; exports and con-
sumption of tobacco ; effect of cultivation upon the soil ; its culture in New York and
Connecticut ; rules for cultivation, curing, and packing 953

Sec. LX.— CULTIVATION OF HEMP, FLAX, AND OTHER FIBROUS PLANTS : Hemp ;
soil and climate ; how it is sowti, harvested, and yield per acre ; cost and profit ; effect
upon the soil ; flax cultivation ; how to prepare the soil, sow the seed, and quantity per
acre 965

CHAPTER XV,

GLEANINGS OF THE FIELD.

Sec. LXI.— inSCELLANEOUS ITE.MS OF USEtTTL KNOW'LEDGE TO FARMERS : This
last chapter embraces many things not classed under other titles, such as temperature for
seeds to germinate and grow ; nutriment in food substances ; weights and measure of
grain ; measuring land ; proverbs and maxims for young and old farmers, farmers' wives
and children ; maxims of health ; things to be thought about ; how to dress skins, fix
pumps, mend pipes, and prognosticate the weather ; farmers' clubs ; farm laborers ; farm
account* ; farm economy, and ri-sis 971-1010

APPENDIX.

DISEASES AND CURES OF DOMES'nC ANIMALS 1031

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS.

Plate I. — Likeness of the Author Fboxtispiecb.

Plate II. — Frontispiece of Cljap. I. , illustratrating the subject of Domestic Animals Viigo 13

Plate in. — Frontispiece of Sec. III. This Plate is intended to answer the question, " \Vhat

is a good Cow ?" It also exhibits different breeds of Cattle 31

Plate IV. — Different Breeds of Cattle — Durham, Devon, Hereford, Ayrshire, Dutch, and Al-

demey Bulls and Cows 44

Plate V. — The Milk Jlirror, showing how to select a good Cow, and form of Teeth at dif-
ferent Ages 48

Plate YI. — Breeds of Sheep and Swine 81 and 19

Plate TII. — Frontispiece of Sec. VIII. — Portraits of celebrated Horses, and Illustrations of

different Breeds 07

Plates VIII. and IX. — Illustrations of the Teeth of Horses at all Ages, showing how to

judge the Age from One to Eighteen Years 106

Plate X.— Fronttspiece to Poultry, See. IX 123

Plate XI. — Turkeys, Ducks, Geese, Swans, and Pea Fowls 140

Plate XII. — Tlic Bee-Keeper at his Work 1 57

Plate XIII. — The Farmery of Farmer Snug and Farmer Slack — Frontispiece of Chap. IH. . 275

Plate XIV. — Frontispiece of the Garden and its Fruits, Chap. V 461

Pl.\te XV. — Frontispiece to the Flower Garden, Sec. XXXJ 500

Plate XVI. — Frontispiece to the Orchard, Chap. VI. — A Dessert fit for a Farmer — A Rural

Scene and rich collection of Fruit 555

Plate XVII.^Frontispiece to Chap. Vin.— Cerealia, representing Insects injurious to Wheat ;

also Grapevine Pests 667

Plate XVIII. — Frontispiece to Sec. XLV. — Illustrations of Insects which are injurious to

Farmers, and others which are beneficial 709

Plate XIX. — Frontispiece to Chap. IX. — The Grasses 748

Plate XX. — Frontispiece to Chap. XIV. — The Cotton Plant and Cotton Field— Gathering

the Crop 928

Plate XXI. — Insects injurious to Cotton and Com 942

Plate XXH. — Frontispiece of Sec. LTX. — Tobacco in all stages of Growth and Curing for

Market 953

PLATE II.

(Page 18.)

Every American farmer will look upon this picture with pride.
It is a fitting illustration of a chapter upon Domestic Animals. It
contains representatives of a well-stocked farm, assembled in the
f;inn-3-ard on the south side of one of the l\irmery buildings in one
of tlie sunny days of spring, which are so well calculated to make
such a collection of well-fed animals feel, as these look, full of
gladness. There is no danger that such hogs as these will destroy
young lambs and poultry. Here wo see the sheep and lambs, goats
and kids — goats that yield valuable fleeces, which are described in
this chapter — the work-horses and brood-mare and colt — the mules
and their progenitor, who is in an attitude of war with a well-fed
heifer that is absorbed in admiration of the peacocks on the roof
of the poultry-house. How surlily the bull looks upon the white-
faced cow, which is deeply interested in contemplating the two hens
that the cock has just called to enjoy a few grains of corn ! By the
earnest looking of one cow and two horses, we judge that they see
their good friend and master approaching. Geese, ducks, turkeys,
rabbits, and pigeons, and a boat on the water, enliven the scene,
which, altogether, is one of tranquil beauty. It is a scene to con-
template and admire. It teaches a lesson. It will stimulate many
a young man to a determination to become the owner of such a one,
or something equally worthy of the artist who desires to represent
American farm life. It will stimulate all, we hope, who look upon
this pictorial index of tliis chapter to read it carefully.

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

CHAPTER I.

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

SECTION. I-INTRODUCTION TO FACTS ABOUT STOCK.

HE very foundation of all farm improvement is the

domestic animals which consume the coarse products

f^ ■) of the farm, such as are not fit for human food, or

"^ grown in greater abundance than is needed for

^ that purpose, which, being so fed, are converted

into milk, butter, cheese, beef, pork, mutton, wool,

leather, and the many otlier valuable animal products.

But above all are animals valuable to the farmer, because

they convert the coarse products of the farm into manure,

without which the owner can not produce food for his own

sustenance.

Viewing, then, as I do, successful farming as based upon
stock, it seems to me very fitting that I should make the
treatise of it the leading chapter of the volume. And as swine are more
universally kept by all classes of Americans, and the flesh more universally
used every week in the year, it will be very proper to make this branch
of farm-stock the leading suljjcct.

I am not going to give learned dissertations upon stock-breeding, nor, in
fact, long essays upon this or any other sulijcct, but such little fugitive facts
as come to hand, in short paragrajihs, consecutively numbered for reference,
with black-letter titles to each subject, to attract attention, and so arranged
tliat facts may be gathered at a glance, and valuable information obtained
during leisure moments which might otherwise be lost.

^lany of the statements given are not oidy for the pui-pose of giving
interesting information — such, for instance, as the weights of the largest
animals ever slaughtorcd — but as an incentive to others to try to ]iroduce
the like. It is not to be expected that a man who never saw a bullock of
over 12 cwt. should attempt to make one of 36 cwt. ; nor will he bo likely
to make the attempt before he learns the important fact, that the particular
breed which ho has kept all his life never attain tliat weight.

It is for the purpose of inciting improvement that I give some statistics

u

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

of the New York livestock market, wliicli I have been familiar with for
many years. Farmers should know that there is a certain market for all
the meat-giving animals they can produce, and what they realize, as well as
what varieties sell best.

I have purposely adopted a desultory method, because I think it will be
more satisfactory to my readers, whom I do not expect to read the work in
consecutive order, and because I find it more convenient to pick up the
fugitive facts and jot them down in a sort of mosaic-work, something as
nature does its autumn tints, which are now glowing before my window in
the full eflulgence of an October sun.

And here, too, as I look abroad upon my neighbors' fields, and at their
cattle gnawing the short pasture, and running after every chance apple
dropping from the trees, and then stretching up their necks, looking for
more, and browsing off the lower limbs of the trees, I am forcibly reminded
that this is not a prolitable method of keeping fiirm-stock. Day by day the
milch cows fail to give the supply that good pasture will always give in this
good butter-making month of October ; and day by day the flesh of all the
animals is wasting, so that, by-and-by, when the cold and storms of November
force their owner to bring them into winter quarters, they are not in such
a condition that he may carry them economically through. There is a great
error in farming, tliat the scene before mc forcibly reminds me of — it is the
error of keeping any kind of farm-stock upon short pasture, and most
I)iirticularly in autunm, so that they come to winter quarters falling oS" in
flesh, rather than gaining, which is the condition that all animals should be
in when brought from the pasture to the stable or feeding lot.

Some of th6 farmers of the Eastern States of the kind just alluded to,
who keep their stock upon the shortest possible pasture, and consequently
generally have scrubby animals, and always meet with great difficulty in
wintering those, would learn a useful lesson if they would visit the blue-
grass pastures of Kentucky, and see in what luxuriant feed the sleek
Durhams of that region are kept. They would there learn one of the
secrets of value of that breed, and why they attain at three years old a size
and weight of beef never equaled at six years old by the scrub breed
common in Virginia and in the hilly regions of Ohio and Indiana, which are
sometimes designated in the New York market as "pony cattle," or "old
style," and averaging, when fat, about six hundred pounds in the beef A
similar scrub breed is known in Kentucky as "moxmtain cattle," and the same
style is very common in North Carolina, Georgia, and other Southern States,
where I have often seen full-grown steers, and fat, killed for beef at four
years old, that would not average four hundred pounds of beef. These
cattle were treated, too, all their lives, just like too many of the same class
in all the New England and Middle States — like those now before me, eking
out their existence xipon the scanty herbage of autumn, in a closely-cropped
summer pasture, and never fed with forage prepared for winter, until the
o^vne^ is driven to it by an early winter storm.

Seo. 1.] CATTLE OX A MISSISSIPPI STEAMBOAT. 15

Such is not the right way to keep stock ; but so long as men will keep it
thus, it is not of much advantage to try to improve the breed.

Tliere is a great want of information, not only upon the subject of
improvements iu the kinds of stock, but in the modes of keeping it. It is
not my intention, in this chapter upon domestic animals, to attempt to give
all tliis information, but only a few brief hints, which may lead to reflection
and improvement.

Above all tilings that will tend to improvement, are annual visits to great
cattle-shows, where the varieties in the breeds of cattle may be studied, and
judged as to which would be the most profitable, or whether either would
be more so than the old-style breed at home.

It would be of great importance, too, to all formers to travel more. IIow
strange it would aeem, at first sight, to a Yankee farmer, who had occupied
a forty-acre farm all his life, to see a thousand hogs, and half as many
bullocks, all turned into a grand-prairie corn-field, of a size large enough to
cover his entire farm and that of twenty or thirty of his neighbors ! His
first exclamation would probably be, " Oh, what a waste !" His subsequent
opinion would be about like this: " "Well, after all, I begin to believe that
is not so bad a way of harvesting corn as I thought it was."

And this is not the only curious thing that he might see in relation to
farm-stock in traveling through the West. He would see the same bad
management as at home, about bringing the stock into winter quarters, for
they are too often allowed to run in a corn-field, after the grain has all been
harvested, living upon the dry stalks until after the first snows of winter.
He might also see some very amusing, as well as instructive things, in
connection with cattle.

Shipping cattle on a Mississippi steamboat, as I once witnessed, afforded
infinite amusement; and I am disposed to give a photograph of it, before I
take up the more practical details of farm-stock.

Engagements for boats to stop and take cattle on board at various
landings are frequently made before leaving port, and it often happens that
tlie boat reaches these points in the night ; and tlien a scene occurs whicli
might employ a more graphic pen than mine to describe, or which would
have been a fit subject for Hogarth to paint.

I will try to give my readers some idea of such a scene, although one so
common on the Mississippi it rarely meets a passing notice ; yet it is full
of interest.

The steamer left St. Louis about sundown of a dark day, during the latter
]>art of which tiio rain came down in torrents, corresponding to the size of
the great river tiiey were destined to fill. Of couree mud was a component
part of all the little tributary streams ; but it did not discolor the great
river — that is always muddy.

At ten o'clock we saw a light on the right l)ank, and run in for it.
Though the rain had ceased, the night was dark — one which gave the pilot
but little chance to see any but the most prominent landmarks.

16

DOiTESTIC ANIMALS.

fCiiAr.

" Whose place is tliis?" sung out the captain, when ho had approached as
near tlie light as he thought safe — for in time of "a fresh," the master of a
boat always approaches shore with great care.

" Why, dis is my massa's place ; what boat dat ? If you is de Henry
Clay, den dis nigger mighty glad, 'cause, gorra, cap'en, hab been watching
all dis two free nights for de old Clay."

" Have you got your cattle there ?"

" All in de lot— gorra bress you, den you is de Henry Clay, sure — right
here by de light."

" Is the water good in shore ?"

" Why, spec him is good for the steamboat, but not very good to drink."

" How deep is it near the bank ?"

" Oh, Lord, massa, dat mor'n dis nigger knows for sartin, "cause him
mighty deep."

"That will do. Forward there. Get your lines ready. Light them
torches — let's see where we are. Call all hands ; here is a hundred head of
cattle to be got aboard."

In a few minutes the lights flashed a bright glare over tlie boat and
shore, bringing to view a scene worth a long journey to behold. The
torches arc composed of " light wood," which is the concentrated pitch of
old pine trees, of the long-leaf variety — the richest of all the family in
turpentine. This wood is split in small pieces and put in an iron frame,
v,'ith a stafl' not unlike the common hod used to carry mortar, so it can be
carried about or stuck in the ground, where by a little replenishing it will
burn for hou4-s, giving a light unequaled by any other portable contrivance
I ever saw. In the present case, it disclosed more mud than anything else.
Tlie whole bank was alluvial clay loam. The face was steep, and si.xty f)r
eighty feet high. The boat, made fast to stakes driven into the soft earth,
lay within twenty feet of the shore, between which and the guards was a
gangway made of long planks lashed together, about si.x or eight feet wide,
without side-railing, or anything to prevent springing down in the center.
The cattle were in a yard on the top of the bank, where, around the watch-
fire, huddled about a dozen sleepy negroes, amongst which the anxious
face of massa soon made its appearance, having been awakened at his house,
two miles distant, by the tremendous noise which is made by one of these
river steamers, by the puffs of her high-pressure engine.

" Halloo, Captain Smith, is that you ? I might have known it, though, for
no other fool would come here in the night for such a job as this. What
are you going to do — hold on till morning?"

" Hold the !"

"Well, I might just as well as hold you. I do believe, if the Clay's
engine should break going up stream, the boat would not stop — there is
steam enough in the captain to keep her going."

Evidently pleased with this compliment, he jumped ashore, with that
most encouraging of all words, " Come, boys," and floundered up the muddy

Seo. 1.] HANDLING A WILD STEER. 17

road, to greet liis planter friend with one of those hearty shakes of the hand
■\vhicli alone is equal to a whole volume on the man's character.

" "Well, captain, you see how it is. I am all ready ; the cattle are here,
wet, wild, and muddy, and the bank awful. I couldn't help it. It would
rain, and the i-iver is on the fall. I doul)t whether your men can stand on
the slii)pcry bank. My boys will take down some of the gentle ones, but
Lord helji you with two or tiirce ; we had to bring them in with the dogs."

" So much the better, tlien, that the road is wet — tiiej' will slide the easier.
Ropes and men will bring them down ; don't you fret, colonel."

" Well, well, I'll leave it to you ; I'll risk the cattle, if you will your necks.
Better wait for daylight, tliougli — what say?"

" Never ! what should I do M-ith that surplus steam you say I carry ? "Wait
— no ; I intend to have them all aboard, and win half of them playing poker
with you before morning; and at daylight I am going to take in Tom
Kilgore's, at Rocky Landing. So bear a hand, boys. Stir up your lights,
and rouse 'cm out, one at a time, and often."

In a few minutes there was a line of men and bullocks from the top of the
bank to the boat. The first dozen or two came down very orderly to the
end of the gangway, where, if they hesitated, a rope was thrown over so as
to encircle them behind, and two or three stout fellows at each end gave
iIkiii material aid about coming on board. The owner said we should see
fun directly, but not caring to participate in it personally, he took care to
iiuike himself one of the spectators, in a safe, comfortable position on board
the boat. Upward of half were brought down without giving ns a taste of
the promised amusement, though the Avliole scene was exceedingly interesting.

At length they got hold of one of the aninnils, wliicli the colonel said M'as
wilder than forty deer, and vicious as an old buck in ruiming time ; and then
there was fun. lie was a great, long-legged, five-year-old steer, of the mouse
color, long taper-horned Spanish cattle, who had never before felt the wciglU
and streugtii of a man's hand upon his heretofore unrestrained wild-wood)
liberty. Round and round the yard he went, carrying or dragging through
the mud as many negroes, sailors, and firemen as could find horn, ear, nose,
or tail to hold to. Finally the}' got a rope round his horns and drew him up to
a stake at the edge of the bank, to wait till others were caught to lead down
first, thinking that he would better follow than take the front rank. He did
i'ollow. "When about a dozen or fifteen head were on the way down, the
wild one was cast off from his moorings and led up to the edge of the bank,
when just at that moment the engineer blowed off steam, at which the
frightened animal leaped forward on to the slip]iery path, lost his foothold,
and down he went against the next, and the next, and so on ; like a row of
bricks, one tumbled or slid against another, upsetting men and beast, till the
whole came down like an avalanche upon the end of the platform with such
force that tlie strain upon the mooring line of the bow drew out the stake,
when tlio strong current almost instantly swung her off shore so far, before
tlie men could get liold of the line and make fast again, that the platform

IS

D03kIESTIC ANHiliVLS.

[Chap. I.

dropped oft" into tlie water, and with it eight or ten men and steers, among
whicli was tlic one that caused all the mischief. I must say the fun was not
so great as the fright, for a minute, as it did not take much longer to finisli
oil" the greatest feat of " sliding down hill" which I have witnessed sinco
the lialcyon days of hand-sleds and boyliood upon the snow-clad, wintry hills
of my native land. That all were got out safe was owing to the instant
thought and action of the male, who sprang ashore with a pole which he
placed in the wheel, so as to prevent the cattle from floating down past the
stern, whore it would have been impossible for them to get up the soft,
6li]>i>cry bank. As it was, some of them were in the water over an hour ;
the catamount, as the colonel called him, being purposely left until the last,
and severely tlireatened with being towed to New Orleans. But when ho
was at lemrth taken out, there was not a more docile animal in the herd ; he
had been completely subdued. The whole ati'air, though fraught with danger
at first, afibrdcd all hands a scene of most uproarious mirth. Even at the
time when it looked as though half a score of men might be killed in the
grand tumble, it was almost impossible to avoid laughing, the Avhole thing
was so extremely ludicrous.

One big negro fellow, finding himself hard pressed by the bullock he was
leading and lialf a dozen more behind him, either for sport or to save his
shins, jumped upon the animal's back and came down with a surge into the
water; but he never let go 1^11 he had him safe ashore again, where he met
some of the most hearty, though rude congratulations of his companions, for
his skillful fe^t of horsemanship on an ox.

Finally, in spite of mud and peril, the grand entertainment of shipping
cattle on the Mississippi was concluded, and the boat was ofl' before daylight
for the next landing, where the operation was to be repeated. Owing to
better ground and a dift'erent plan adoi)ted, this was not quite so entertaining.
The cattle Averc yarded in a long, narrow pen, which came near the shore.
A rope being passed over the horns of the forward steer, with the other end
through a snatch-block on the boat, a dozen or fifteen men would lay hold
of it, while two men by the tail to steer, and one on each side to keep him
on the gangway, would have the fellow out of the pen and sliding up the
planks before he knew what he was bellowing for.

As in all cases where science and skill direct human efibrts, the labor
was lessened and business expedited.

And so in all cases where science and skill are exercised in regard to all
kinds of domestic animals, success may be looked for.

And now, after this little incidental digression from the main intent of
this chapter, in the exhibition of a life-like scene on the Mississippi, we will
begin to arrange our facts in order and shape for useful reference, always
aiming more at the practical than ornamental.

As we shall arrange each subject under its separate and proper head, we
will begin the chapter upon domestic animals with that kind in most universal
use.

Sec. 2.]

SWINE.

19

SECTION II.-SWINE.

ccdiug Pigs and Fatfing Pork. — Next to procuring
a good breed of swiue — that is, a breed suitable
to the pur^Joses for which it is required — tlie
best way to feed the stock Iiogs, and the cheapest and
best M-ay to fatten them, is the most important matter
for a former to consider. No man can say, " My breed
■^jy is the best of all," imless he specities for what purpose it
is best for. A good grazing breed would be best for
some situations ; quite the contrary for some others. The
Berkshire, Essex, and Suffollc have each been denomi-
nated " tlie gentleman's pig," because well fitted for
keeping up in close pens, one or two to a family ; while a
much larger breed is required by the gi-eat corn-growers
of the West. And this brings us to the next most
important qucstiim.
3. Corn and Pork— How innch Pork will a Bnslicl of Corn make? — This
is one of the most important questions tliat can be asked by every man
who raises a bushel of corn or feeds one to a hog. Yet it is a question that
not one in ten can answer. To see the ignorance of mankind upon subjects
of most importance to them, makes us ready to exclaim. Does anybody know
anything about anything? In conversation with many farmers, we have
not yet found a man who could say how much corn it required to make a
hundred pounds of pork, and consequently could not fix upon any relative
price of one or the other, at which it would be profitable to feed corn to
hogs. In some experiments made by Henry L. Ellswortii, at Lafayette, Ind.,
in warm weather, with thrifty young porkers in a pen, fed with corn in the
car, if wc rememl)cr aright, he gained l'21bs. of Y>ork per bushel of corn.
Samuel II. Clay, of Kentucky, gained ITi lbs. per bushel, feeding the corn
in the form of cooked meal. As a general thing, we should like to know
if corn, fed as it usually is in the "West, averages six pounds of pork to tlie
bushel of shelled corn.

We have received several answers to this question, l)ut they only proxi-
mately settle the point. Leroy Huckingham, of Cadiz, Cattaraugus Co.,
X. Y., says, a pig that weighed 52 lbs. when commenced with, fed on the
spare milk from one cow and 800 lbs. of raw corn-meal, weighed 3Gilbs. (live
or dead not stated) when killed at seven and a half months old. lie thinks
each bushel of corn made about 2011is. of ])ork.

TIic two following letters wo print entire, and commend them to the careful
attention of all farmers, althougli tliey do not contain all tliat is necessary to
be known upon the sulypct:

20

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

"Glenn's Falls, N. Y., Oct. 23, 18J8.

"Sik: You tliink it iiiiijortant that fanners sliould know liow imich pork a
barrel of corn will make. It is an important question, and I am sorry to say
I think there are ten lawyers and mechanics to one farmer that can answer
the question correctly. I once made a very accurate experiment in JS'ew
York ; the first day of September I weighed into the pen two hogs, a year
and a half old, and three pigs, si.x months old. I measured old corn
accurately, and had it ground. At night I wet with boiling water (to a
consistency that would run freely) meal sufficient for the next day's feed.
The hogs had no slops from the house — nothing but the meal and water. I
killed them the iirst of December, deducted live cents per pound for what
they weighed the firet of September, and found, at six cents per pound for
the pork, they had paid ninety-eight cents jicr bushel for the corn, which
would give about sixteen and one third jjounds of pork to the bushel. One
year since I fatted fifteen old liogs and thirty-five pigs on India wheat and
potatoes. I measured the feed accurately, steamed the potatoes, and mixed
the meal in while hot, twelve hours before feeding. At live cents per pound
for the pork, they paid forty-two cents per bushel for the India wheat, and
fifteen cents for the potatoes. Of course the relative value of the wheat and
potatoes is guessed at in that experiment. I " worked" the hogs in the
manure business, carting in muck, weeds, etc. I got 15 cords of manure
although less pork — I suppose for the working the hogs. I would like nmch
to know if any one (esi)eci':x!ly in the Western States) has made the cxpci-i-
ment of turning hogs into the corn-field, with free access to water, and let
them lielp themselves.

" If any other class of business men knew as few facts in regard to their
business as farmers do, they would all fail every year. New Maesh."

A. G. Perry, of Newark (State not named), weighed a thrifty pig, five
months old, 150 lbs., and then fed it 50 lbs. cornmcal, mixed with hot water,
thin enough to answer for victuals and drink. This was eaten in six and
a half days, and the gain was 18 lbs.

A correspondent writes from North Chatliam, Columbia Co., N. Y. :
''The 2-4rth of August I put uj) a sow to fatten — a large proportion Suffolk
— her weight, 235 lbs. Price on foot, 4 cents i)cr pound. For food from
August 24th to October 4th, gave her 309 lbs. rye bran. Rye bran is worth
here $1 12i per 100 lbs. October 4th her weight was 205 lbs., making GO
lbs. increase from the bran. From October 4th until November 17th I fed
her 10 bushels, by weight 560 lbs., of marketable corn. Killed her Nov.
17th. Iler live weight, just beibre killing, M-as 413 lbs. Increase from the
10 bushels com (or 5G0 lbs.), being 118 lbs. pork— it taking a fraction more
than 4:^ lbs. cnm for 1 lb. pork — and is a fraction less than 12 lbs. pork from
1 bushel of corn, making the increase per day a little less than 22 lbs. The
present price of corn here is 70 cents per bushel, and the pork 7 cents
per pound, being barely a paying business."

Seo. 2.] SWINE— PROFIT OF FEEDING. 21

J. J. Carter, of Ilornville, Chester Co., Pa., says tliat B. P. Kirk kept a
debt and credit account witli liis pig. He fed -lOro busliels of corn, at GO
cents a bubliel, and added the lirst cost of the pig, at two mouths old, §5,
making a total of $3i 46. At 17 months old the animal weighed 649 lbs.,
aud sold for ~i cents a pound, making $18 67, giving a profit of $1-4 21. A
little bran was fed, but that was reduced to the equivalent of corn, and
counted as above. The breed of hogs common in Chester County is one of
tlie best in the world. The hogs are of a white color, medium-sized, easily
fatted to weigh 300 to 400 lbs. at 10 to 15 montlis old, and have small
bones, fine-grained flesh, large hams, well marbled, and large leaves of
kidney fat. It is a distinct American breed, and one of the best for farmers
who desire to graze their hogs in part, and then fatten them easily upon
house-slops, apples, potatoes, and coarse grain. Even for large farmers, and
for making pork upon a large scale, there are not many, if any, breeds of
swine in this country superior to that known as Westchester, or Chester County
(Pa.) hogs. And as I consider it an important fact that farmers should
know where to get a real good breed without paying fancy prices, I am glad
of the opportunity to make this breed better known.

D. C. Nye, of Lexington, Mass., in reply to an inquirer in the Genesee
Farmer, writes that —

"TJie Chester County hogs are distinguished for their early maturity,
great facility for fattening, and are very quiet and docile. They are well
covered with bristles, and, unlike the Sutiblks, can endure the heat and cold.
The Chesters will probably make as much pork (and of a superior quality)
on a given amount of food as any other breed — some of them, when well
fed, having attained the weight of six or seven hundred pounds."

Another correspondent of the same paper saj's, in addition, that the
thorough-bred Chester hogs are always white, and that " they are peculiar in
being fit for slaughtering at any time."

But to proceed with the subject of feeding hogs. The second letter is
very mucli to the point. It says :

"In answer to your question, 'How much pork will a bushel of corn
make?' I send you the result of two experiments, made some years ago,
while occupying a farm in the northern part of Chester County, Pa.

" My first experiment was with five very ordinary pigs tliat I bought of a
noiglibor; weighed, Octoljer, IS,")!, 249 lbs ; fed on corn and cob meal, boiled
into musii, of which they consumed in 30 days 279 lbs., and gained 87 lbs.
live weight.

" In the next 32 days tliey consumed 375^ lbs., and gained 75 lbs. live
weight, making a gain of 157 lbs. in 02 days, having consumed 654i lbs. of
corn and cob meal, which is equal to about 9i bushels pure meal; or one
bushel pure meal cooked made 16.8 lbs. live weight.

" My second experiment was with a lot of five very superior pigs, of the
Chester breed; they weighed, Feb. 7, 1853, 695 lbs; consumed in 9 days

DOMESTIC AlflMALS. [Chap. I.

2o2 lbs. com and cob meal, scalded, and gained 78 lbs. In the next 9
days they consumed 125 lbs. whole corn, boiled, and 128 lbs. of corn-cob
meal, scalded, and gaineil 57 lbs.

"In the next 0 days they consumed 2TSlbs. corn-cf)b meal, scalded, and
gained 70 lbs., making a gain in 27 days of 205 lbs. on a consumption
of 058 lbs. corn-cob meal, and 123 lbs. -whole corn. Assuming that 70 lbs.
of the cob-meal contains 56 lbs., or one bushel pure meal, we have 9|
bushels of pure meal and 2{ bushels whole corn, making a consumption of
11| bushels nearly, and a gain of 205 lbs. flesh; or 56 lbs. of pure meal,
scalded, made 17.41 11)S. of live weight.

"The above surprising gain for food consumed was the result of very
careful feeding, clean and warm bedding, and a tight house.

" RicuAKD TnATCiiEE, Darby, Pa."

Thomas Iloag, of Somhanock, X. Y., has sent us a detailed statement of
the feeding of ten pigs, out of a litter of twelve from a native-breed yearling
sow, taken from her at seven weeks old, and fed till slaughtered, at forty
weeks old, with the following substances, with estimates of expense added :

Pasture S3 00

Wood used in boiling food 2 OO

Extras 2 00

Value of pigs at seven weeks old 30 00

212.\ bushels of com, nt 75 cents 8159 38

C3 bushels of oat», at 45 cents 28 35

I'iiid for grinding 14 79

13 bushels of small potiitoes, 12i cents. 1 63

(> loads of pumpkins, at $1 G 00

20.) ll>s. of carrots 1 00 Total ■ . . . .$248 15

These hogs weighed, dressed, 4,066 pounds, and sold,

(in 1853), at Lansingburg, N. Y., at $7 50 per cwt $304 95

Rough fat, 175 lbs 17 60

Total $322 45

Total cost 248 15

Balance S74 80

This is the amount of profit, or, rather, pay for labor, and the spare milk
of four ordinary cows fed to them, and not estimated as above.
At six cents a pound the result would have been

4.0GG Uk., at C cents $243 96

Rough fat 17 50

Total $261 46

Cost 248 15

Profit $13 31

This certainly does not give a very flattering picture of the probable profits
of pork-making in this section of the country, where every kind of feed is
salable at higli prices.

Other letters were subsequently received, from one of which we gather
the following information : ^Ym. Reuick, of Circloville, Ohio, a large farmer,
and long engaged in the raising of cattle and hogs, writes more extensively
than we can find room for. Mr. Renick thinks that farmers are not ignorant
of the fact " how much pork will a bushel of corn make," and says :

Sec. 2.]

SWINE— GAIJI IN FEEDING.

23

" Probably nine tenths of our best practical farmers could, without hesita-
tion, give you an approximate answer in general terms."

This is exactly what we supposed, and tliat they would give nothing but
an approximate answer in general terms, because there is a general lack of
positive information upon this and many other imjjortant matters connected
Avith the farming interest. Mr. Eenick gives the gain upon five hogs fed by
himself in tlic common rougli method of the West — that is, turned into the
corn-field, 200 head together. Three of these hogs weighed, at seven months
old, 140 lbs. each, and two older ones weighed 125 lbs. each. After feeding
120 days, the tliree weighed 2S6 lbs. net average, and the two ISolbs.

" Now, say that hogs on an average will eat 20 bushels of corn per hundred
head per day for tlie first 60 days, 10 busliels for the next 30 days, and 12
bushels per hundred head per day for tlie last 30 days, and we have 21
bushels i^er head for the whole time of 120 days (thougli this is under rather
than over the mark), and we have a production in the case of the three hogs
of lO-^lbs. of gross ]3ork for a busliel of corn, and but a small fraction ovei
5 lbs. per bushel for tlio two hogs."'

Now, this is exactly in proof of what Ave originally stated. It is all guess-
work. Mr. Renick further says:

"The large feeders of hogs and cattle are oftentimes greatly mistaken in
tlieir calculations iu regard to the quantity of stock their corn will feed,
sometimes largely overruiming, and again falling largely short of their.
calculations."

Tliis is not to be wondered at, when it is considered that no one pretends
to have any settled rule of action, but buys as many lean cattle or hogs as
he guesses he can fatten. Mr. Reniek thinks the most common answer to
the question would be something like this :

"That hogs fed in the ordinary way will gain from one pound to one and
a half pounds per day, and they will consume some twenty bushels or more of
corn in three and a half or four months ; that it all depends upon the quality
of the hogs, quality of the corn, M-eathcr, and other contingencies."

The gain varies from five to twelve pounds gross per bushel. So he says:
" "We will compromise the matter by giwsslny that, all things favorable, one
bushel of corn, fed in the ordinarA' way, will make seven pounds gross weight."
It is, after all, then, nothing but guessing. And we guess that feeding corn,
where it is worth a dollar a bushel, as it frequently is in and about New
York, won't pay while dressed hogs are sold from the hooks, as they gener-
ally are, at seven or eight cents a pound, atul the average price of live li<igs
is less than six cents a pound. With our arithmetic we can not figure up any
profit for a farmer hereabouts to keep a single hog more than he wants to
cat up the milk and house-slops, and a little waste grain ; and probai)Iy that
could be more profitably fed to poultry.

Tlic greatest advantage from feeding grain to nuike pork in all the Xew
England States must bo looked for more in the manure than in the meat.
Where manure must be purchased, it may be jDrofitablc to purchase corn-

24 DOMESTIC ANIMiVLS. [Chap. 1.

incal to convert into manure tlirongh the piff-peu manufactory. Tlie next
j)araj.'r,iiili i> to tlie point in this connection, of feeding pigs to make manure.
4. Working PiffS. — "We once reconiinendcd farmers to make their pigs
working animals. To tliis a writer in an agricultural paper objected ; be-
cause, as he alleges, tiie same amount of finnl consumed by an idle hog will
make 12 pounds of pork as easily as it will make S pounds if the animal is
allowed to exercise his natural propensity to root. In this we entirely agree,
and have often contended that when a hog is shut up to fatten, if he was
confined in a slip so narrow that he could not turn round, having one side
of his narrow prison made so as to be moved out as he increased in bulk, he
would fatten faster than in any other position. Xow, will the wi-itcr, who
thinks that we difier from him in oitiiiinn, read over again the arti(de that he
criticises, and see that it is the pig-pen, and not the tatting-hog pen, that
we were talking about. Our facts are not intended to be elaborated into
proofs and arguments for farmers, but rather as texts for thiidving men to
think over and reason ujion M'ith themselves and neighbors. Our opinion is,
tiuit all the swine family should be kept imprisoned, if not in close pens,
certainly in strongly fenced lots ; and in all the Eastern States, where manure
is so valuable, it is very doubtful whether a farmer can afford to let any of
the family out of the pen — which, as we before liinted, should be a great
manure manufactory — except, perhaps, for a short season to eat clover, peas,
or glean a stnbblc-lield. If there is a greater neighborhood miisance than
hogs in the highway, we have jxt to find it out; and as we would always
keep " Mr. Pi^" in the pen, we recommended to make him work in the
manufactory, furnishing a jiart of the materials to be worked, and the farmer
the renuiinder. In his immediate preparation for death we don't care how
idly he spends the last of his days. As long as farmei-s will jicrsi.st in
making the llesh of swine their leading article of food, we shall contend
that the flesh of an animal that has worked his way up to a mature age, and
is then fattened ready for slaughter, will make more healthy food than llie
oily fatness of one always kept in a state of obesity and idleness from his
birth to death. It is this great physiological tact that causes the flesh of the
wild hog to be sought after and eaten with gusto. We fully agree with the
orthodoxy of E. M. Brewster, a model farmer of Griswold, Conn., Avho says
if he was to fatten a half-dozen hogs upon a flat rock, he would be sure to
have two rings in each nose. The latitude that we desire our readers to
give to our suggestions is just this : to make a distinction between working
and I'attoning animals, and make the pig a useful one.

" Keeping pigs eighteen months to fatten them the last three is not a
paying business. Feed a decent pig well from weaning until eight months
old, and you will get 250 lbs. to 300 lbs. of pork, and you do not usually get
50 lbs. more for those ten months older. There can be no question but an
animal can consume much more to produce in eighteen months about tlie
same quantity of meat which is made by another in half that length of
feeding. If the object of raising a hog is to make 2yorJc, that end should be

Sbo. 2.] COOKIITG FOOD FOR SWINE. 25

kept steadily in view — his swiiieship should see it, and cat for it." This is
our view exactly. Winter none but autumn pigs, keep them in pens, and
always growing. "To keep a pig growing, one must kccj) him eating, and
eating about all the time. To do this, thei-e is nothing like 'change and
variety' — now a little corn, then a little milk, a few boiled potatoes, a few
raw apples — now a pudding, then a dish of greens — anything to keep them
eating and stuffing when awake, even if it does require a little extra atten-
tion."

5. Cooking Food for SwinCi — Circumstances must govern the feeder. If
corn is worth but twenty-iive cents per bushel, it is plain that it will not pay
to expend much money either for cooking or crushing it ; but where food is
high, a small quantity saved pays for considerable labor, etc. It will hardly
pay to expend dear labor upon cooking cheap roots to make low-priced pork.
It has been proved tiiat crushed barley, soaked in cold water 46 hours, gave
more increase of weight to sheep than when not soaked ; but crushed malt
did not. Tlie figures are : Four sheep in 10 weeks ate 280 lbs. of crushed
barley not steejjed, and 3,867 lbs. of mangel-wurzel, and increased in live
weight 81 lbs.; while four sheep, with barley crushed and steeped, ate 280
lbs. and 5,321 lbs. mangel-wurzel, increasing lOHlbs. Four shecji, with
crushed malt, not steeped, ate in 10 weeks 227^ lbs., and 3,755 lbs. mangel-
wurzel, and increased 8i lbs. ; while four sheep, with malt crushed and
steeped^ ate 226ilbs. malt and 4,458 lbs. mangel-wurzel, and gained only
78 lbs. In the above experiment, the question is. Did the additional 20ilbs.
pay the extra trouble and extra feed of roots ?

An experiment in Ireland, lately made, proves that hogs gained more
upon raw than cooked vegetables. Eiglit hogs were selected and divided
into two lots, as evenly as could be, and put in to fatten, on the 27tli of
November. Each lot was fed regularlj' three times a day, having each 12
lbs. of bran and barley meal, the oidy ditference being that one lot had
steamed ruta bagas, and the other pidped or rasped ruta bagas. The experi-
ment was continued 39 days ; the lot having cooked food ate 468 lbs. bran,
etc., and 10,020 lbs. ruta bagas, and increased 103 lbs. ; while the lot having
uncooked food ate 468 lbs. bran, etc., and only 5,460 lbs. ruta bagas, and
gained 110 lbs.

Samuel II. Clay, of Bourbon, Ivy., has been experimenting in feeding several
lots of hogs, changing them from raw to cooked, and from ground to
niigroun<l Ibod, with the following results : One bushel of dry corn made
5 lbs. 10 oz. of live pork ; one bushel of boiled corn made 14 lbs. 7oz. of
pork; one bushel of ground corn, boiled, made in one instance 16 lbs. 7oz.,
in another nearly 18 ll)s. of pork. To get the value of corn, estimate the
pork at S cents a i)0und ; we have as the restdt of one bushel of dry corn,
45 cents' worth of pork ; of one liushel of boiled corn, 11. "> cotits' worth of
pork ; and of one liushcl of ground com, 130 cents' wortli of jiork.

6. Pig Feed — Boiled Weeds. — .\ widow, who was short of feed for her pig,
said, in presence of her little boys, that she thought she would have to sell

2G

DOMESTIC ANMALS.

[Chap. I

it, for she had so little to feed it with, ixnd could not aiford to buy feed.
One of tlio little fellows promjitly answered tiiat lie knew wliat would be
good to feed piggy witli, and of which they had plenty.

" AVhat is it, my son ?"

" Greens, mother — boiled ijreens. Tiicy are good for ns, wliy not for
})igs ? And we can gather them, and pick up wood and boil them in the
big kettle out doors, and it will be real fun."

So it was settled tliut jiig sliould eat greens — all sorts of weeds boiled ;
and cat them he did, and liked them, and fatted on them, with the small
addition that could be made of bran and house-slops, mixing the slops and
greens together.

Tliis is a hint worth remembering and acting upon. Tlie weeds w«re
destroyed, the boys employed, the pig kept growing, and the boys had the
satisfaction of feeling that tliey liad l)een usefully employed.

7. Hog Fastiires. — It being generally understood that hogs live by " special
providences" until it is time to fat them, there is little attention ])aid to
the most economical way of growing them up. Certain it is that a good,
easy -keeping variety will make commendaljle progress on grass.

It may be safe to calculate that a good-sized, thrifty pig will gain in six
montlis, on gra«s, 100 lbs. or more. If an acre of grass would keei) three
hogs and add 100 lbs. to the weight of each, tliat would be $12 for the acre
of pasture, reckoning the 300 lbs. gain at four cents a pound, live weight.
Instead of being forced to bite twice at a sliort, dirty, dried, and battered
spear of Juno grass by the roadside before getting any off, imagine a clean
and comely Suifolk in a fresh, green pasture of clover, four inches high, filling
himself with evident relish.

S. Tlie Fig-Pen and its Value. — As a manure-maker, there is no animal
equal to the hog, provided lie is furnished with suitable facilities. The
eating and sleeping ai)artmenls of Mr. Pig should always be a good frame
building, with a plank floor and shingle roof, and it will in many places be
found economical to give him an iron eating trough. His house should
be cleaned out every day, and washed as often as necessary to keep it clean.
All the washings and cleanings should go into an adjoining pen, which may
as well bo made of fence rails, on account of cheapness and convenience of
removal, into which the tenants of the hog-house must be invited by a little
corn, scattered in every day, to induce them to mix up a compost of tlieir
own offal with sods, mold, leaves, weeds, and all sorts of trash. This pen
should be equal to ten feet square for every two hogs, and so long as it is
worked every day it will not much injure by exposure to the weather ; but
it should afterward be covered, and it should always have stuff enough put
in it to kec)-) the hogs from getting into a very muddy condition. If you
have not mold enough to entirely absorb the ammonia, you must use j)laster
or ciiarcoal dust. It must be kept sweet, or you will lose much of its value ;
and where manure is valuable, if you neglect to use your swine for the
purpose of increasing it, you will lose about all the profit of making your

Seo. 2.]

SWINE— FEEDING THEM HONEY.

27

own pork. There is another way in wliich you can make the pig-pen
valuable. If you have a spot of ground that you want to enrich and work
deeply and thoroughly for fruit-trees or for garden vegetables, plant it with
Jerusalem artichokes, and thfen yard your hogs upon it, taking care to give
them room enough, so as not to necessitate them to make a quagmire.
Again, you may use these animals to advantage if you have a piece of grass
land infested with grubs. Fence off a piece, and shut your swine in upon
it for a few days without feed, and if they leave a sod unturned or grub
uneaten it will be a wonder. It is the best preparation of such a spot for a
hoed crop, or for sowing again in grass, that can be given. There is no good
reason why the pig should be always kept in idleness or mischief. Let him
be trained to be useful in his life as well as at his death.

9. Hay Seed for llogSi — A correspondent of the C'o«n^/-y 6^t'?ii'Z('?««n writes:
In addition to the grain and meal given to growing hogs in the sty, they
should have a daily allowance of green clover, or in winter, when this is not
available, a liberal allowance of hay-seed from the barn, mixed with their
slop, which they will eat with avidity. He knows of no mode by which so
great an amount of growth and weight can be induced, with equal cost of
food, in the winter season, as by tliis haying system.

10. Cinders for PigSi — J. J. Mechi, of Tiptree Hall, England, says, in
publishing his experience in fattening swine, that among other things, he
has learned the fact " that pigs are very fond of coal-ashes or cinders, and
that you can hardly fat pigs properly on boarded floors without giving them
a moderate supply daily, or occasionally." He says : " In the absence of
coal-ashes, burned clay or brick-dust is a good substitute. If you do not
supply ashes, they M'ill gnaw or eat the brick walls of their sheds. I leave
to science to explain the cause of this •want. It is notorious that coal-
dealers, whose pigs have access to the coals, are generally successful pig
feeders. Tliose who find that their pigs, when shut up, do not progress
favorably, will do well to try this plan. A neighbor of mine found that a
sc>ire of fat pigs consume quite a basket of burned clay ashes daily. We
know that there is an abundance of alkali in ashes."

11. Parched Corn and Uoney for Hoss. — A correspondent of the 77/r/7(/rt«'Z
Ih//mcr<it, p\iblished at reekskill, N. Y., furnishes that paper with the fol-
lowing coumiunication :

A few yeai"s ago I chanced in Albany to meet a farmer who is noted for
raising unusually heavy hogs. Tlie year before he had brought to market
one that weighed over TOO lbs., and said that year that he should have one
of 900 lbs., or near that mark. As there always seems to be a cause for every
effect, I was anxious to know tlie course he pursued.

" Well," said he, '-you must first select the right kind of a critter. Get
the right breed, and then pick out the good-natured ones from the litter ; I
can't aftbrd to feed a cross critter ; I sell them when they are pigs." " How
can you judge V said I. " Well, if you watch them when they are feeding,
you will find that some pigs are allers fighting about their victuals, and

28 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [CnAP. I.

some go in for eating. Tlierc is as iiiuch difference in pigs as there is in
folks."

" 'Well, wlien you have selected the right kind of a pig, wliat next is
important ?"

" "Well, then you must have a nice pLnce for the critters to live in, and
feed them on the rigiit kind of victuals."

" AVHiat kind of food ?"

" "Well, the best and cheapest kind of food I have found, when it comes
time to put on the fat, 'ajnirc/wtl corn. I generally manage to buy a barrel
or two of Southern honey, if it is cheai), which I mix with the parched corn,
for my fatting hog:?."

1-2. Foodins Standiiiar fern to Hoirs— in the Field— or ftallifrcd, Ground,
and rookfd— Comparative A<lvantasres of these methods.— The method often
practiced by lai'ge farmers of turning fattening hogs into the fields of
standing corn, if properly conducted, lias its advantages over that of
■gathering the corn and fee<ling it dry to the hogs in the jien.

The earlier in the season the process of fattening swine is begun the
better, after the grain has reached a certain period of maturity, whether it
be rye, oats, or corn, because all farm animals, and hogs in particular, will
fatten much faster in warm than in cold weather. And the grain between
the periods of its doughy state and full maturity, or rather, before it becomes
drj', is more easily digested, and assimilated, and converted into flesh and
fat than when it has passed into its dry state. It is clear, then, that the
sooner the hogs ^re turned into the field after the grains of corn are fully
formed, and while yet in the milk, the more speedily they will fatten; for
if the weather be dry, the corn hardens very rapidly.

A very interesting experiment in feeding hogs is detailed by Mr. James
Buckingham in the rrairie Farmer. On the 6th day of Septembei' (in
ordinary seasons corn, at this date, is too far advanced to commence feeding
to the best advantage), the hogs, ISO in number, were weighed, and footed
up in the aggregate 19,600 lbs. A movable fence was nsed, confining the
hogs to an area suflicient to afford feed for two or three days. The eutii'e
field, thus fed, contained 40 acres, with an estimated average of 40 bushels
per acre. The consumption of this corn gave a gain of 10,740 lbs. The
hogs, when turned into the corn, cost three cents per pound, equal to $588 ;
worth, when fed, four cents per pound, or $1,213 60 — giving a return fm-
each acre of corn consumed of $15 64. Adding to this $1 per acre for the
improvement of the land by feeding the corn on the field, making the
actual gain ])er acre $16 64, equal to 40 cents per bushel, standing in tlie
field. The whole cost of corn per acre, exclusive of interest on the land, is
set down at $3 65.

By way of comparing the advantages of ground and cooked food over
that which was merely ground, and that which was unground, Mr. B. put
up three hogs into separate pens. To one he fed two and a half bushels of
corn in the ear, during a period of nine days, feeding all he would eat ; tliis

Sec. 2.]

SWINE— EXPERIMENTS IN FEEDING.

29

gave a gain of 19 lbs. ; another ate in the same time one and three qiiarter
bushels of corn, ground, and gained also 19 lbs. ; and to the third he fed
one bushel of corn, (jround and boiled, which gave a gain of 22 lbs. By this
it will be seen that one and three quarter bnshcls of corn, when ground, will
give a gain of llesh equal to two and a half bushels of nngrouiid corn, and
that one bushel, when ground and coolccd, gave a gain greater than either.

The comparative results of these three methods of feeding may thus be
set down : one bushel of corn, ground and cooked, is equal to nearly three
bushels when fed dry and unground ; and one and three quarter bushels
when ground and uncooked is equal to two and a half bushels when fed
whole.

Or it may be stated thus : one bushel of dry corn in the ear makes 8}
lbs. of pork, which at four cents per pound is equal to 33 cents per bushel
for the corn ; while one bushel of corn, ground and boiled, makes 22 lbs.
of pork at four cents per pound, and is equal to 88 cents per bushel for the
corn. This result about sustains our calculations made upon the experiments
In' ilr. Samuel II. Clay, of Kentucky, as appears in 1 5.

It is worthy of remark for those who wish to feed corn in the field, that
had the hogs been turned into the field when the corn was in the milk,
it would have given a result more nearly like that of the hog fed upon
ground and cooked food.

The obstacles which seem to be in the way of adopting an improved
method of fattening hogs result from the imperfect apjjaratus used for
])reparing the food. Sending corn a long distance to mill to be ground, and
then to cook the meal in an ordinary kettle, even if it holds a barrel, will
]>rove an expensive operation, as all have found who have undertaken it.
But to realize the full advantages of feeding prepared food, a complete
grinding and steaming apparatus must be erected on a large scale, with the
view to perform the grinding, cooking, and feeding with the greatest facility
and at the least possible cost. This may be done to advantage by employing
steam for grinding, using the same boiler to furnish steam for cooking the
meal.

13. Origin of the fliestcr (oiuity llo.2:s.— It is stated that Captain James
Jefi'eris, a sea-cai)tai!i, somewhere about 1820, or a little later, in one of his
voyages from England, brought over a pair of pigs of the Bedfordshire
breed, ■which he sent to his farm on the Brandywine, whence the breed has
been disseminated, and lost its original name. Some of the characteristics
of the Chester County hog are, large size, remarkably symmetrical form,
easy keeping, comj)aratively little oftal, great depth and length of carcass,
and producing large quantities of lard. Spring pigs arc often put in market
at nine or ten months old, and weighing at that age from 200 to 250 lbs.
This weight is of course ])roduced by good feeding and ])roper attention.

14. To prevent Sows killing their Tigs. — A correspondent of the Maine
J^armcr speaks of several cases of sows destroying their pigs — which, indeed,
is not unusual — and commends as an easy and sure ])reventiou, " to give

30

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

the sow about half a pint of good rum or gin, whicli soon produces intoxica-
tion, and the drunken mother becomes entirely liarmless toward her youiiLr,
and will ever accommodate lier iiooition to the best advantage of the pig-,
retaining this disposition ever afterward." The editor confirms this statement
from cases within his own knowledge.

15. Pig-Brocdiiij?. — Xotwithstanding the fact that more people are interested
in the breeding of pigs than of any other class of domestic animals, the atten-
tion paid to improvement of the stock is very small. How few farmers know
that the sow should alwa^'S be larger than the male, and that he shouhl
always be of the most j^erfect form, of good color, and perfectly sound and
healthy, because almost invariably the pigs take the qualities of the sire in-
stead of the mother; that is, his good or bad points will preponderate largely
over those of the sow. Farmers, please think of this fact, and profit by it.

IG. Large SlOSSt — Isaac Harrison, of Burlington County, N. J., fatted, in
185S, 32 hogs that averaged 5C91bs. each; and William Taylor, of Ocean
County, fatted 30 that averaged 537 lbs. each. Thomas Hood, of Ocean
County, fatted 41 that averaged 533 lbs. each. So says C. W. Hartshorn,
of Burlington County, who sends us a list of weights, among which are very
few under 500 lbs. ; the lightest that we notice weighs 428 lbs.

17. Gross and Net Weight of Swine. — The rule of ascertaining the net
weight of fat hogs is to deduct one fifth of the gross weight. It is an easy
way to make the calculation, or red\iction of gross to net weight, by using
the decimal 3-10 as a raultijilier, cutting off one right-hand figure of the
product, to show the net sum. Thus: 10 hogs weigh 2,729 lbs. ; multiply
by. 8, which will make net 2,183.2 lbs.

If you have the gross weight of a drove of hogs at home, M-liich you may
have taken to market and sold at net weight, and wish to ascertai-n how the
net and gross compare, take your sum of the net weight, say 2,183.2. Divide
by 8-10, and you will find the cpiotient 2,729.

This will be found a very convenient and useful rule. Sometimes a person
may be offered one sum as a gross price, and another as a net price of the
same lot, and would like to know at once which offer is the best. This is
quickly done. You have simply to apply the same rule of division by eight
tenths to the price, instead of weight. For instance suppose the offer is —
as it sometimes is in Xew York — $5 25 per cwt. gross, or $6 50 net. Divide
$5 25 by 8-10, the quotient will be $6 56.2, showing that it will be six cents
and two mills ]ier cwt. gross to the owner's advantage to sell at So 25 gross.

18. Salting Meat Warm.— C. Bovie, of Gullin-airie, Michigan, asks : " Will
pork cure, if i)ackcd before the animal heat is all out of it ?" He then
answers : " Last year I killed my hogs and packed them while warm. I
have some of the pork now, and I never ate any sweeter pork than this is.
The most of farmers think pork salted, while warm, will not keep."

We have tried the experiment repeatedly of salting pork as soon as we
could cut it up after dressing, and certainly prefer it, as it will, when dry-
salted, cure much quicker.

PLATE III.

(Page 31.)

This plate is intended to answer the question: ""What is a good
cow ?■' It shows a model cow, without regard to breed, as described
in ^ 45, and a portrait of the " Oaks Cow," which was one of the
most remarkable of the early age of stock improvement as a great
butter producer. She gave 467 pounds from May 15 to December
20, 1816. Artother portrait gives the side view of what is taken
as a model of a good dairy cow. The Dutch dairy cow is also con-
sidered a model, not only of that breed, but of a form that shows
a good cow for milk. The Hereford cow and bull, and Devon cow
and bull, also give good studies, and make up a picture no where
else to be found in such compact form and such beauty of execu-
tioa.

Sec. 3.]

COWS.

31

19. Species of Auimals.— Tlie Bevue Ilorticole, of Paris, gives a very inter-
esting acconnt of a discussion in tlie Academte upon the species of animals.
The primitive source of animals is lost ; the fossil bones of the horse are
identical with those of the present day. There is no account of anything
new in animal life since the Mosaic account of creation.

20. Animal StrncturCi — " The bony frame-work of the animal owes its so-
lidity to plwspliate of lime, and this substance must be furnished by the
food. A perfect food must supply the animal with these three classes of
bodies, and in proper proportions. What proportions are the proper ones
we have at present no means of knowing with accuracy. The ordinary
kinds of food for cattle contain a large quantity of vegetable fiber or woody
matter, which is more or less indigestible, but which is indispensable to the
welfare of herbaceous animals, as their digestive organs are adapted to a
bulky and rough food. The addition of a small quantity of feed rich in oil
and albuminous substances to the ordinary kinds of food, has been found
highly advantageous in practice. Keither iiay alone, nor concentrated food
alone, gives the best result. A certain combination of the two presents the
most advantages."

The above is the view of an eminent professor of agricultural chemistry
(S. W. Johnson), and it contains a great fact that should be adopted into the
every-day practice of every farmer, and not only for his stock, but his own
household. Every animal of a higher organization than a worm needs a
diversity of food to make up a healthy animal structure.

SECTION iir.-cows.

f — ^'■"^>.»_^-

^^^^^^^^^^'*' '^ * *■*'"'' Cow?— This is a question that many
'^ owners of cows can not answer, because there is no

standard. Every one has his own, and one perso!i
may recommend a cow on sale as positively good,
that is not half as valuable as one that comes oidy
Tip to the standard of another person's idea of good-
ness. Besides, one cow may be good for producing
milk for sale by the quart ; another good for making
p^ .r butter, where that alone is the object; a third one

r 'v-^y , "• (iD may be good for a cheese dairy and very poor for

l.^VrP^"; J.J butter; and a Iburth not good for either purpose,

and should at once be turned out for beet'. Fannei-s
do not experiment enough with their cows to ascer-
tain these facts. We have known one cow discarded
from a butter dairy because she gave less milk than another, when one was
to be sold, wjthout any other proof that the rejected one was not equally

32 DOMESTIC ANIM^VLS. OnAr. I.

good. For butter-niakiiig, -we think a cow which gives H quarts of milk a
day, when frcsli, and 14 lbs. of butter a week, a good cow, and that that
might bo adopted into use as the meaning of a good butter-dairy cow. A
good many cows, it is true, go above that, but they should be ranked as
extra good. A cow that gives 12 or 14 quarts of milk a day, and 10 lbs. of
butter a week, might be called a fair medium cow ; and one that gives 8 to
12 quarts a day and G or 7 lbs. of butter a week, should be called com-
mon, and all below that inferior, as in fact they are ; and so is a cow
that gives 15 or 10 quarts of milk a day that yields only a pound of butter,
and there are many of this description. Tlie lowest rate we ever heard was
3 quarts of milk for 1 lb. of butter ; but that is very rare, the average being
over 1 2 quarts.

It would be an excellent plan for some leading agricultural society to
establish a standard for a good cow. "\Ve think a cow that comes up to the
standard of that owned by Otis Hunt, of Eaton Village, N. Y., will pass for
a good one. lie gives the following statement of the amount of butter
made from her : " Amount made from April 8 to July 8, 191 lbs. ; amount
made during the month of June, 7-1 lbs. ; amoimt made during the year,
51G lbs., besides furnishing all the milk and cream used in a family of four
persons (and occasional visitors) all the time."

The breed of this good cow is given as " native," and the qixality of milk
and butter excellent.

22. Garget in fowSt — A letter from Fort Independence, Castle Island,
Boston Harbor, Mass., says :

" Within the last two years I have purchased at different times three
cows, say about one every six months. After they are on the island a few
months they become ' gargety ;' therefore I should think the coin])laiiit is
brought on from eating some weed peculiar to this island, which is limited
in extent, say about thirty acres."

Xo, sir ; it is because they have not eaten some weed — a weed called poke
or scoke, producing the " scoke-berries" tliat robins and school-children are
both fond of gathering in the fall. This scoke is the natural cure for garget.
It is said that the disease never affects cows that run in pastures where it
grows. AVe have known the dried roots sell for $2 a lb. in Vermont to feed
cows, and to make little plugs to insert in the teats to cure the garget. It is
there known l)y the name of garget root, {phytolacca decandra).

23. How to Increase the Value of a fow.— Every one who owns a cow
can see at a glance that it ■would be profitable to increase the value of her,
but every one can not see how to do it. "We can, and we think that we can
make it cqualh' palpable to our readers. If a cow is kejit for butter, it cer-
tainly would add to her value if the butter-making properties of her milk
shoukl be improved. In summer or winter this can be done, just as the yield
of a cultivated crop can be improved by what is fed to each, and it is simply
a question of, will it pay, in manuring one or feeding the other. Indian corn
will add to the quantity and quality of the butter to a very sensible degree,

Sec. 3.] COWS, AND THEIR FOOD. 33

and it is simply a question of easy solution, by experiment, ^vhether it ■will
add to theiirotit of the butter-maker to buy corn at one or two cents a pound,
and convert a portion of it into butter at 25 cents a pound, or -whatever tlie
market price of corn and butter may be, and another portion of it into fat,
and another portion of it into nninure, for that is the natural result of the
chemical change produced in the laboratory of the cow's stomach. The same
result will follow any other kind of feeding. Good pasture will produce an
abundance of milk, often as much as the cow can carry ; but does it follow
that even then it will not be profitable to feed her with some more oleagi-
nous ibod to increase the quantity of butter, just as it sometimes proves
profitable to feed bees, to enable them to store more honey? It certainly
does appear to us that the value of a cow feeding iipon ordinary winter
food may be almost doubled by making that food suitable for the purpose
of increasing the quantity of milk, if that is the object, or the quantity of
butter, if that is the purpose for which the cow is kept. Farmers generally
understand that they can convert corn into beef, pork, and lard, and some
of them know exactly at what price per bushel it will pay to convert it into
these substances ; but does any one know at wh^t rate it will pay to convert
corn or any other grain into butter, or any other kind of feed into any of the
dairy products? Is the whole business a hap-hazard one? Wg fear so.
Some persons know that they can increase the salable value of butter by
adding the coloring matter of carrots to it. Docs any person know the
value of a bushel of carrots fed to a cow to increase her value as a butter-
producing laboratory ? Experimental proof upon this point would be far
more worthy of agricultural prizes than it is to see who can show the largest-
sized roots ; for by a few carefully-conducted experiments we should be able
to increase the value of a cow almost at pleasure.

24. Pasture — How many Cows to au Acre. — In Cheshire, England, which
is a great grazing county, the land that has been under-drained and top-
dressed with ground bones, will carry one cow to each acre through the
summer, but the land not thus treated will only carry one cow to two acres.
The dressing of bones upon pasture land is 12 to 15 cwt. per acre once in
seven years. But even if not repeated at that time, it still continues better
than it was before the bones Avere applied.

Now, how many acres of pasture, on the average, does it require in this
country to the cow? Would it not be economy to improve our pasture
lands up to the Chesliire standard?

25. Food Consumed by a Com'. — It is generally estimated that a cow needs
each day three per cent, of her M-eight in hay. Tiiat is, if she weighs S cwt.,
which a fair-sized cow will do, in working order, she will require 24 lbs., or
its equivalent, of hay. For five months' feeding — 150 days — ^j-ou will require
n,C00 lbs. In the New England States the feeding period averages nearer
si.K than five months, and therefore two tuns of hay should be allowed for
each cow.

26. Feed, Exercise, and Shelter have a powerful influence upon the health

31 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

aud comfort of all domeslic animals, and upon none is it more marked than
upon the most valuable of all, the cow. Every judicious farmer, who has
an eye only to his jjurse, will see that his cows are bountifully supplied with
proper food to produce the largest flow of milk, and rich in cream, and that
his meadows and pastures are free from noxious weeds, that will impart a
disagreeable taste to tlio milk and butter. A mi.\ture of timothy and white
clover is the most desirable pasture for the dairy ; and the best aud sweetest
butter is generally produced in M.ay and June ; for then kind Nature sends
up a Bpontaiicous supply of rich, juicy food, and the air is cool and pure,
and all things combine to render the dairyman's task easy and delightful.
But when the sun has scorched the vegetation and imisaired its nutritive
l)roperties, and the temperature of the atmosphere is like an oven, then there
is need of skill to counteract the opposing influences of nature ; and the task,
though diflicult, can be accomplished, and a cool atmosphere created in the
milk-room, and proper food supplied, as the reward of well-directed labor.

Every farmer should practice, at least on a small scale, growing extra feed
for his cows, when pasture lails. One of the easiest things gi'own for fall
feed is cabbage. It gives an immense amount of food per acre.

27. Feeding Cows for Butter-Making. — A writer in the Farmer and Gar-
Jeiur (Phila.) says: "The use of corn and cob-meal in my practice has
produced more fat than butter. The best feed I have tried is two bushels of
ship-stuS" to one bushel of ground corn. In the use of corn fodder, I have
lound great advantage in not only cutting, but steaming it. Many cows
will not eat it^ without its being steamed. Turnips are good enough, if the
taste they impart to the butter is not objectionable. Pumpkins add largely
to the quantity of uiilk, but the cream, in churning, is always frothy, and
j'equircs a longer time to be converted into butter.

" My plan of feeding is as follows : I always let my cows go diy about
the flrst of the new year, giving them, by this plan, a rest of some two
months. During this period of rest I feed them on hay, corn-fodder, and
straw. As soon as they begin to spring, I add four quarts of meal to each
cow, which, after being mixed with the long straw and fodder, is steamed,
and fed a little waiin. Until tiie calves are separated from the cows, this
amount of food is given once a day, after which time I feed them three times
a day."

28. Health of Co«"s. — A sickly cow not only yields a diminished profit,
but she yields sickly milk, and sickly in a higher degree than her flesh.

If a cow eats anything that has a strong or disagreeable odor, it appears
in her milk.

If she eats anything medicinal, it comes out in her milk.

If she is feverish, her milk shows it.

If she has sores about her, pus may be found in her milk.

If she is fed upon decayed or diseased food, her milk, since it is derived
from her food, will be unhealthy. It is as impossible to make good milk
from bad food, as to make a good building from rotten timber.

Sko. 3.] COWS— DIEECTIONS FOR SPAYING.

If there is anything wrong about her, it ■will appear in the milk, as that is
an effective source of casting it from her organism.

Tlicse facts should at all times be ■well impressed upon the minds of dairy-
men, but more especially in the cold season of the year. Closely confined in
their narrow stalls through the long winter, where the air is not always
fresh and pure, nor water tmd exercise always had when desired, nor their
food alwaj's free from foul medicinal weeds, as thistles, daisies, white top,
etc., cows are very likely to vary from a perfectly healthy condition ; sprino-
cheese will be faulty enough, do the best we can — that every dairyman
knows. The health of the cows should not, at any rate, be allowed to
become a cause of deterioration. Green food should now, if it has not been
before, alternated as often as possible with the dry ; for this purpose, beets,
carrots, turnips, potatoes, cabbages, parsneps, and apples are valuable.

Ventilation and watering should be promptly attended to, and salt and
meal, made by pulferizing burned bones, should be kept where daily access
can be had to them, if desired, nor should their strength and flesh be allowed
to fail for the want of a suiiiciently nutritious diet. The best flavored butter
and cheese can not be made from cows that are badly fed, or ailing, or poor.

As bad health in parents transmits a tendency to disease in the oflspring,
it is important that every kind of animal we desire to continue on our farms
should be kept vigorous and healthy.

As an unhealthy animal can not consume food to as good advantage as a
well one, it is again economical to avdid disease.

29. The Amount ^of Hay required for (ows— The Cost of Milk.— Otis Brig-
ham, of "Westborough, Mass., after seventy years' experience in farmin"-,
says, in the New Entjland Farinei\ that good cows will eat, on an average,
2olbs. of hay per day when giving milk, and 15 lbs. when dry — not by
guess-work, but tested by actual weighing, for months at a time. Then it
is easy to calculate the cost of milk. In the neighborhood of New York,
the average value of hay is one cent a pound, and the quantity of milk not
over six quarts. At three and a half cents a quart, it will pay the hay bill,
and one cent a day over. If other feed is given, the increase of milk must
pay for that. The manure will be worth at least the cost of attendance and
niiiking. If the milk is worth more than three and a half cents, it gives a
profit; and if less, a loss.

3(t. For Kickin;^ f ows. — Take a short strap, and fasten the ends together.
Next prepare a pin of some soft wood, about six or eight inches long, one
and a half inches in diameter. Take the cow by the off fore-leg, and double
it at the knee-joint close; pass the strap or looj^ over the knee, pressing it
back until you can insert the pin between that and the knee-joint, and she
can not kick.

31. Directions for Spayin? Cows. — Dr. Dadd, veterinary surgeon, in the
American Stock Journal, says that the milk of spayed cows gives more cream
than ordinary milk, and that the butter made from it is more delicious in
taste. The milk is also invaluable for nursing infants. He thiidcs there is

36 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

no danger in performing tlic operation, if skillfullj done, and the animal
put under the influence of sulphuric ether.

Dr. Eiggs, a veterinary surgeon, does not approve of giving chloroform to
cows. lie says: "It is no easy task to give ether or chloroform to animals
generally, and it is usually quite as distressing to them as so slightly painful
an operation as sj>aying. The operation of casting is a very awkward one,
and needless, and interferes with the ease, if not tlie certainty, of the opera-
tion. The ovaries are attached near the back-hone ; hence, when a cow-
stands up, the paunch and intestines fall away from them, and leave clear
working si)ace ; but when she is thrown upon her side, the case is different,
and when the cow is in good flesh, there is none too much space any way."

Dr. Kiggs allows the cow to stand up, her head tied short, and an assistant
holds her by the nose with clasps; a rope is tied loosely about her hind legs,
to keep her from kicking ; an assistant pushes her up against a partition or
wall, and another aids in the first part of the operation. Thus, the cow is
not at all alarmed or uncomfortable.

Tlie skin is folded so that the hair can be sliaved off where the cut is to
be, and thus a straight line, three quarters of an inch wide and five inches
long, is laid bare. Tlie skin is then drawn up in a fold, at right angles, to
this line and in the middle of it. The operator grasps this fold on one side
of the shaved line, in his left hand, and his assistant grasps it on the other
side ; then, with a single, well-directed stroke, with a sharj) knife, he severs
the two thicknesses of hide exactly in the sliaved line, letting go at the
same time ; a straight, clean cut through the skin is seen, and the cow suffers
almost no pain at all — not so much as that produced by the blow from a
whip. • If the cut is made slowly, it is the most painful part of the operation.
There is little feeling in the tissues forming the walls of the cavity of the
abdomen, and when these are cut through, the hand may be easily introduced.
The cow winces a little when the edges of the skin are rubbed, but shows no
signs of pain.

The removal of the ovaries appears very easy, but it is not. If the opera-
tor has a strong, sharp thumb-nail, he can work or cut them loose ; but if
not, or if the ovary is strongly attached, the operator is obliged to do as the
books say — "in short, ^«/^ them away" — and in this is the great danger to
the cow ; internal hemorrhage or inflammation is apt to ensue. Dr. Riggs
avoids all tliis by the use of the "steel thumb-nail." This is simply a sharp
knife, shaped like and bound upon the thumb-nail of the right hand. There
is no danger of cutting in the wrong place. A clean cut does not produce
lileeding, as was feared at first, and it greatly simplifies and shortens the
operation. Dr. Riggs has never operated upon a cow with this instrument
when she struggled or attempted to get down, but once, and then she was a
little nervous, and came down upon her knees, but soon got up again.
Usually there is no struggling throughout the operation.

32. Calomel for Cows. — A correspondent of the American Farmer writes :
"I wish you would say to your readers that calomel, in one-ounce doses, will

Seo. 3.]

COWS— DAIRY STOCK.

37

cure a cow of almost any disease. At least, let me give my experience. I
have two fine, valuable cows ; tlicy have had, it seems to me, some of the
worst diseases tiiat prevail — black-tongue, murrain, dry murrain, etc. — and
wlien I saw they were dying, I mixed one ounce of calomel in dry coru-rncal,
wliicli they would lick up, and it has never failed to cure."

33. Keep Cows GeiitSe. — If you milk out doors, with the cow loose, provide
good stools for each milker. See that they are never used to pound the cow
with ; and never allow man or woman to kick or pound a cow in the stable
or milking yard. If gentle means will not make a cow gentle, harsh means
never will. It may be necessary to reduce a cow to obedience by a little
punishment — to teach her, as you would a horse or ox, that you are master;
but to accomplish this, never use anything but a light lash or smart switch,
and never use that in anger. An angry man is a fool, compared with a
sensible cow.

3-i. Ayrshire Cows. — In Massachusetts, the improvement of dairy stock by
the introduction of Ayrshire blood has become so apparent, tliat no argu-
ment could induce those acquainted witli their value to return to the hazards
of native breeding. "We could jjoiut to farmers in Essex, Middlesex, and
Worcester counties, who, under the most prudent management, avail them-
selves of every opportunity to introduce Ayrshire blood into their herds, and
our own observation teaches us that the importations of the Massachusetts
Society for Promoting Agi-iculture, of Capt. Eandall, of 'New Bedford, and
others, have been vastly beneficial to our dairy stock. The bulls of this
breed can be traced wherever they liave been, by the good stock they have
left behind them. One of them was kcjit upon a secluded farm in Essex
County, and rendered it famous for its iine dairy cows. Another gave
superior character to the herd of one of our well-known farmers, and to all
the dairies in liis neighborhood. An imjwrted Ayrshire cow, not far from
us, has produced, through a variety of mixtures and pure, breeding, a little
herd of cows and heifers of the highest ■niformity of excellence.

35. Poor Butter Cows. — The Veterinarian gives a remedy for this difficulty
witii cows that are well kept, and whose milk has been previously rich in
butter. It is to these that the remedy is principal!}' directed. The remedy
consists in giving the animal two ounces of the sulphuret of antimony, with
three ounces of coritmder seeds, powdered and well mixed. This is to be
given as a soft bolus, and followed by a draught composed of half a pint of
vinegar, a pint of water, and a haiulful of common salt, for three successive
mornings, on an empty stomach.

Tiiis remedy, according to the author, rarely fails, and the milk produced
some days after its cxliibition is found to be richer in cream. The iirst
churning yields a larger quantity of butter, but the second and third are
still more satisfactory in their results.

A letter from a farmer states that he had fourteen cows in full inilk, from
which he obtained very little butter, and that of a bad quality. Guided by
the statements of M. Deneubourg, which had appeared in the AnncdesVet-

3S DOilESTIC AXIM^VLS. [Chap. I.

erinains, lie Ii:ul separately tested tbc milk of his cows, and found that the
bad quality of it was 6wiiig to one cow only, and that the milk of the others
yielded good and abundant butter. It was, therefore, clearly established tliat
the loss he had so long sustained was to be attributed to this cow only. lie
at once administurcd the remedy recommended by M. Deneubourg, which
elVectcd a cure.

3G. Winter Feed of Orange County Dairy fows.— Mr. C. Edward Brooks,
one of the best dairymen in the county, claims that rye makes more milk
than corn or oats, or other meal. Brewers' grains were fonuerly bought so
as to cost 6 cents delivered at the farm, but now, at 12 cents, they are
uot so jirofitable as rye feed at 75 cents per bushel. Oats he esteems
the poorest kind of grain for milk. He thinks that by currying a cow, and
keeping her and her stable scrupulously clean, she will give her full quantity
of milk on half the feed required if she is neglected. Ilis daily allowance
to each cow is five pounds of meal, either corn, corn and oats, or buckwheat
or wheat bran, changing the kind frequently — for practice approves what
theory teaches, that animals thrive best on a frequent change of diet. The
animals are fed and milked at regular hours — generally at four o'clock in
the afternoon and six in the morning; in winter, somewliat earlier in the
afternoon and later in the morning. Care is taken to observe great punctu-
ality as to time of milking, for the animals give much less trouble and thrive
better. Mr. Brooks chafls his hay, steeps it in warm M-ater to soften it, and
sprinkles the meal over it, mixing it thoroughly. Throughout the day as
much long hay is fed as the cows will eat. The feed is mixed in a long box,
shaped like fin ordinary bath-tub, which runs on small iron truck-wheels,
one at either end, and two at the sides, half way between. This is a verj-
convenient method for carrying the whole mess along the passage between
the stalls, and with a wooden scoop giving to each cow her share as her stall
is passed. The water to steep the hay is heated in a caldron, in a small
out-building, and conducted to the gow-stable through a small tin pipe.

Mv- Seeley C. Eoe, near Chester, a large dairyman and an intelligent
farmer, thinks that half-clover hay, well made, and half grain, is better for
milk production than twice as much timothy with grain. lie does not cut
and steep his hay, but dampens it with cold water, and adds meal, as iisnal.
He finds it an excellent plan to feed buckwheat whole, and prepares it by
boiling the grain with the hulls on, and when it has become thoroughly
soaked, ])uts it into the feed-box at the rate of two quarts to each cow. He
adds to this two quarts of dry meal, and the heat and steam of the cooked
buckwheat cooks the meal. Four quarts of this mixture are allowed to
.-uch cow — two in the morning and two at night — and the animals are kept
on this feed nntil turned out to grass.

Mr. Gregory has an eight-horse power engine for cutting hay, threshing,
grinding, etc., and uses the waste steam for steaming his hay. He has
constructed a large chamber, capable of holding one hundred bushels of
cut hay, which, before being steamed, is dampened. The steam-pipe from

Seo. 30

COWS— FEEDING ROOTS.

39

the engine empties into tlie cliamber, and the hay is steamed for about a
quarter of an liour, and then fed to the stock unmixed with meal — that is,
given in tlie form of a warm mash.

37. Sugar-t'aiic for Cows. — If the Chinese sngar-cane does not prove to
be a profitable sugar-making jilant, we tliink it will be a profitable one for
forage. The Homestead says that Deacon Edward Ilayden, of East Hartford,
Conn., has raised the Chinese sugar-cane for two years, and has used it for
feeding milch cows with great success. Tlie first year the stalks were left
in the field, scattered about, we believe, and occasionally in dry weather
brought to the barn to the cows, which ate them up clean, stalks and all. This
was merely a sort of accidental experiment, as no especial value was set upon
the canes. The past year he raised more, shocked in the field, and left it
there. It cured well, and the cows ate it with great avidity, and Mr. Hay-
den esteems it as a great milk-producing diet.

38. Feeding Roots. — I have a word to say on M-inter feed for stock. It is
more by way of query, and for feeders to think of, than by way of instruc-
tion. My experience in feeding domestic animals is not sufiicient to warrant
me in giving instruction. I have served my time in too rough a school for
that. I have fed a good deal of hay, worth from $1 50 to $5 a tun ; and
corn from 10 to 25 cents a bushel, and other grain in proportion, and
straw absolutely valueless. While living in such a district, I have often
been asked the question, Why I did not raise more roots for my cattle? I
answered : Simply because it would not pay. I did buy a lot of ruta bagas
one autumn, delivered at my house at six cents a bushel, and the use of them
taught me that they were dear food. I would now, if living in such a dis-
trict, feed roots to stock just so far as I thought necessary to keep the animals
in good health, and no more ; not if I could buy at the same price, which
was one fourth the price of sound corn ; and I question the economy of feed-
ing any kind of roots at the same rate of value to any greater extent than is
required for health. That roots, particularly white turnips, arc too largely
fed in cold weather to young cattle, I have no doubt. The}' are so full of
water that too much of it is taken into the stomach with the food. If roots,
or any other watery food, are too largely fed to milch cows before and after
calving, you will be sure to have a mean calf If we will think, and take
reason for a guide, as to what man requires for healthy food, we shall nut go
far wrong with domestic animals. Man likes roots occasionally, and so ho
does soup, or other slopjiy food ; but what M'ould lie be good for if fed week
after week upon such watery stuff as turnips, or such porridge as some i)eople
compel their cattle to eat ? After all, this question of winter feeding is a
question of values ; and it is not ahme the value, counted by first cost, but
the value of results. Now, wliat is the use of giving my opinion tiiat this or
that kind of food is the best, or most economical, when I can not say of a
single thing, I l-noir. I don't know, and don't know anybody who does.
It is all guess-work, and at the present price of cattle-food, it is expensive
guessing.

40

DOirESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

39. Wintering Cows. — Tlic method of feeding cows in winter is not so im-
portant as it is to make tlie cliange from grass to hay and from hay to grass
without producing any deterioration in their condition. It is highly import-
ant, if your cows are giving milk upon autumn pasture, that you do ncit
allow them to fall off iu milk or flesh for want of a little extra feed. I have
never found anything quite ecpial to corn-meal for cow-feed, particularly
when you are making butter. It may not be necessary nor economical to
feed cows meal in autumn, even if pasture docs fail, if you have green corn-
stalks, pumpkins, turnips, cabbage, etc., which must be consumed, because
not good to keep through winter. But in spring, when cows are lirst turned
to grass, they are very apt to fall away, and then it will be found to be good
economy to feed meal evcrj' night in the yard, and so it will before the cows
are turned out, if not in first-rate condition.

I sec the calculation of one writer that corn-meal, thus fed, was worth §3
a bushel, fed at the rate of one quart a day to a cow, for twenty or thirty
days. He says :

" I have also found, by other experiments, that there is a great difference
in the manner of getting animals to grass. When turned out early, with
little or no other feed, they fall away greatly ; on the contrarj', if fed all the
good hay they will eat, night and morning, with a judicious feeding of meal
of some kind (and I prefer mixed feed — that is, mixing the different grains
together before they are ground — to any one variety), they will soon begin
to gain finely by such a course, and carry their extra weights through tlie
season. In an experiment now being conducted, I have a cow that has, since
the first of December last, been quietly laying on her two pounds per dav
(or nearly so), and her feed has been only moderate, as I am no advocate for
forcing, but simply good fViir keeping and care ; then, M-itli good aliimals, we
are sure of a fair remuneration for care and feeding.

" I woidd that what I have already written could reach the eye of every
farmer in these United States, and that each one would set liimsclf about
making at least one experiment in the care of farm-stock."

40. Cows Badiy Wintered arc Unprofltable. — A farmer can not afford to
winter any stock poorly, and least of all, milch cows, or those which are to
produce calves in the spring. Look at the following statement, and see if the
Western Reserve farmers can afford thus to winter cows.

A letter from Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio, written in April, 1S60,
says : "Tl)c present times are the worst we liave ever known in this country.
Cows and cattle arc dying by the hundred ; six hundred head have died
within the three adjoining counties this winter for want of food. The
weather is still dry and cold."

This is oidy one, among many illustrations, of the folly and wrong com-
mitted by Western farmers in keeping more stock than can be housed and
fed. This is the case all through the Western country. Travel over any
portion of it, and you will see scores of cattle shivering in the cold storms
of winter, without shelter, and so poorly fed that if they live through the

Seo. 3.]

COWS— now TO CHOOSE A GOOD ONE.

41

severe season it is more by chance than for any care which they receive. On
the praii-ies, cattle can bo ke])t so easily in suniuier that every one is tempted
to overstock himself to such a degree, while the grass is green, that a portion
must die in winter. ISTow we would say to the farmers, you can not atford
this. Every one of these six hundred cattle which perished in Ohio could
have been sold at a low price by the owners, who were short of feed, to
others who would have carried them through the winter. And how infinitely
better this would have been than to allow such an amount of stock to die
of starvation !

It is not only in Trumbull County that cattle have perished in winter ;
the entire West has suffered equally in this respect with Oiiio. On the
Illinois prairies, where there is no limit to the amount of hay that might be
cut, cattle have died in large numbers for the want of a quarter more hay
than they had eaten during the winter. And yet the farmers of those dis-
tricts persevere in their criminal folly, although the result of each year's
experience ought to be sufficient to open their eyes to a proper realization
of the truth. Xo farmer can afl'ord to keep more cows or horned cattle than
he can provide hay for at the rate of two tuns per head ; he should never
attempt to keep more cattle than he can house warmly, unless lie has hay to
waste, and is willing to sacrifice at least one fourth of the stock.

It is one of the most painful sights to be met with in traveling through the
West, while passing the little cabins of the new settlers, to see cows and
calves, oxen and young stock, all huddling together, without any shelter from
the cold winter storm. Is it any wonder that one half of tliese famished,
neglected things should perish before spring? Farmers, you must learn
wisdom from the calamities of severe winters. Keep fewer cattle, and
keep them better, and you will make more mone}*. "We might give hundreds
of extracts from country papers to convince you that feed is scarce every
year, but it would be superfluous. The richest corn country of Indiana
has suffered quite as much as its sister States during many hard winters*
and this is because it is a rich corn country, and rich in nothing else. Lar<Te
farms without grass ; cattle M-ithout food, dying by thousands ; farmers
losing all their stock, "because it is a late spring," or, rather, because thev
undertook to Avinter an unreasonable number. Will the farmers of our
country never take advantage of ihe exi)erience of the past, aiul learn that
they can not afiord these wasteful and ruinous sacrifices ?

41. To fhoosp a Good Ulilcli ("o\v. — Select from a good breed. "W'e prefer
the Devons — bright bay red. The Durliams are J'oau, red, white, and mix-
tures of these colors. Ayrshire cows are generally red and M-liite spotted.
Ilcrofords, red or darker colored, with white faces. Alderneys, pale red and
mixed with white. These are the principal colors of the several breeds, of
which the Durliams arc the largest and Alderneys the smallest. Diflcrent
inilividuals will contend for each breed being the best and onlv one that
should be selected for their milking qualities. But animals of each breed
and of crosses of them, often prove remarkable milkers, and so do some of the

42 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [CnAP. I.

njifive stock of the country. Two families of cows — one owned by Colonel
Jaques, of Ten Hills Farm, near Charlcstown, Mass., and one owned by
Major John Jones, of Wheatland Farm, near Middletown, Del. — were called
native breed, yet were the most remarkable butter-makers we have ever seen.
"VVc liave seen Col. Jaques produce good butter in throe minutes, by simply
stirring the cream in a bowl. If we were about selecting a milch cow, we
would endeavor to get one out of such a herd of good milkers ; one with a
soft, velvety-feeling skin, slim neck, fine legs, broad stern, with what is
called a large escutcheon — that is, the hair of the stern jjointing inward ; a
large udder, slim teats, and large veins, commonly called milk veins, on the
belly. Above all things, select your cow of a gentle, pleasant countenance,
because a first-rate milker may be so vicious as to be worthless. Do not look
for flesh, as the best cows are seldom fat ; their hip-bones arc often very
prominent, and they have the appearance of being low in flesh. A beefy
cow is seldom a good milker.

The next thing is, what is a good milker? Tliat is, how much milk must
she yield per day ? A cow that will average 5 quarts of milk a day through
the year, making 1,825 quarts, is an extraordinary good cow. One that will
yield 5 quarts a day for 10 months is a good cow, and one that will average
4 quarts during that time is more than an average quality. That would
make 1,200 quarts a year, which, at three cents a quart, is $36. We believe
the Orange County milk dairies average about $iO per cow, and the quality
of the cows is considerably above the average of the country.

It is as imporjiant to keep a cow good as it is to get her good. This can
never be done by a careless, lazy milker. Always milk your cow quick and
perfectly clean, and never try to counteract nature by taking away her calf.
Let it suck, and don't be afraid " it will butt her to death." It will distend
the udder, and make room for the secretion of milk. Be gentle with your
cow, and you will have a gentle cow. Select well, feed well, house well,
milk well, and your cow will yield well.

4:2. The Different Breeds of fowsi — We advise you to examine, in this
connection, the difl'erent breeds of cows, so that the general appearance, so
far as outline of form is concerned, may be very well understood. Good
and full descriptions may be found in a standard work upon " Milch Cows
and Dairy Fai-ming," edited by Charles L. Flint, secretary of the Massachu-
setts State Board of Agrisulture, and we give a few short extracts from that
work, upon each breed, as follows :

43. Ayrshire Cows Described! — "Tlie Ayrshires are justly celebrated
throughout Great Britain and this country for their excellent dairy qualities.
Tiiough the most recent in their origin, they are pretty distinct from the
otlier Scotch and English races. In color, the pure Ayrshires are generally
red and white, spotted or mottled — not roan, like many of the short-horns,
but often presenting a bright contrast of colors. They are sometimes,
though rarely, nearly or quite all red, and sometimes black and white ; but
the favorite color is red and white brightly contrasted, and by some, straw-

Sko. 3.]

COWS— BREEDS COMPARED.

43

berry color is preferred. The head is small, fine, and clean ; the face lonj::,
and narrow at the muzzle, with a sprightly, yet generally mild, expression ;
eye small, smart, and lively ; the horns short, line, and slightly twisted
upward, set wide apart at the roots; the neck thin ; body enlarging from
fore to hind quarters ; the back straight and narrow, but broad across the
loin ; joints rather loose and open ; ribs rather flat ; hind quarters rather
thin; bono fine; tail long, fine, and bushy at the end; hair generally thin
and soft; udder light color and capacious, extending well forward under the
belly ; teats of the cow of medium size, generally set regularly and wide
apart; milk-veins prominent and well developed. The carcass of the pure-
bred Ayrshire is light, iDarticularly the fore quarters, which is considered by
good judges as an index of great milking qualities; but the pelvis is capa-
cious and wide over the hips.

" On the whole, the Ayrshire is good-looking, but wants some of the sjTn-
metry and aptitude to fatten which characterize the short-horn, which is
supposed to have contributed to build up this valuable breed on the basis
of the original stock of the county of Ayr."

44. Yield of Milk of Ayrshire Cows. — " Youatt estimates the daily yield of
an Ayrshire cow, for the first two or three months after calving, at five
gallons a day, on an average ; for the next three months, at three gallons ;
and for the next four months, at one gallon and a half. This would be 850
gallons as the annual average of a cow; but, allowing for some unproductive
cows, he estimates the average of a dairy at COO gallons per annum for each
cow. Three gallons and a half of the Ayrshire cow's milk will yield one
and a half pounds of butter. He therefore reckons 257 lbs. of butter, or
514 lbs. of clieese, at the rate of 24 lbs. to 28 gallons of milk, as the yield
of every cow, at a fair and perhaps rather low average, in an Ayrshire
dairy, during the year. Aiton sets the yield much higher, saying that
" thousands of the best Ayrshire dairy-cows, when in prime condition and
well fed, produce 1,000 gallons of milk per annum ; that in general three
and three-quarters to four gallons of their milk will yield a pound and a
half of butter; and that 27| gallons of their milk will make 21 lbs. of full-
milk cheese." Mr. Rankin puts it lower — at about 650 to 700 gallons to
each cow ; on his own farm of inferior soil, his dairy produced an average
of 550 gallons only."

45. Yield of Milk of Breeds f omparedt — " In a series of experiments on the
Earl of ('hcsterfield's dairy farm, at Bradley Hall, interesting as giving
positive data on which to form a judgment as to the yield, it was found that,
in the height of the season, the Ilolderness cows gave seven gallons and one
quart per diem ; the long-honis and Aldcrnej-s, four gallons and three
(juarts; the Devons, four gallons and one quart; and that, when ii.jide into
butter, the above (piantities gave, respectively, 38^ ounces, 28 ounces, and
25 ounces.

"The Ayrshire, a cow far smaller than the Ilolderness, at five gallons of
milk and 34 ounces of butter per day, gives a fair average as to yield of

•li DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

milk, rtlid an enormous production of butter, giving within four and a half
ounces as much from her five gallons as the Iloklernoss from her seven gal-
lons and one quart ; her rate being nearly seven ounces to the gallon, while
that of the Ilolderness is considerably under six ounces.

" According to Mr. Ilarley, the most approved shape and 7iiarks of a good
dairy cow are as follows: Head small, long, aiid narrow toward the muzzle;
Iiorns small, clear, bent, and placed at considerable distance from each other ;
eyes not large, but brisk and lively ; neck slender and long, tapering toward
the head, with a little loose skin belov,-; shoulders and fore quarters light
and thin ; hind quarters large and broad ; back straight, and joints slack
and open ; carcass deep in the rib ; tail small and long, reaching to the heels ;
legs small and short, with firm joints ; udder square, but a little oblong,
stretching forward, thin-skinned, and capacious, but not low hung ; teats or
paps small, pointing outward, and at a considerable distance from each other ;
milk-veins capacious and ]ironn'nent ; skin loose, thin, and soft, like a glove ;
hair short, soft, and wooll}' ; general figure, when in flesh, liandsome and
well proportioned."

■iG. The .lyrsliircs for Ihc Dairy — Their Value Considered.— Upon this
point Mr. Flint quotes and indorses the following opinion :

" For purely dairy purposes, the Ayrshire cow deserves the first place.
In consequence of her small, symmetrical, and compact body, combined with
r well-formed chest and a cajjacious stomach, there is little waste, compara-
tively speaking, through the respiratory system; while, at the same time,
t!iere is very couj])lete assimilation of the food, and thus she converts a large
] roportion of her food into milk. So remarkable is this fact, that all dairy
firniers who Lave any experience on the point, agree in stating that an
Ayrshire cow generally gives a large?' return of milk for the food consurned
than a coio of any other hreed. The absolute quantity may not be so great,
1 ut it is obtained at a less cost ; and this is the point upon which the question
of profit depends."

47. The Jersey or Alderuey fow. — Tliere is a great diversity of opinion
about the value of this breed of cows. It is our opinion that they are the
most valuable of all, where only one or two are to be kept, and when butter
is the main object. The milk of an Aldcrney cow is the richest of all for
household consumption, and makes the most and best butter; and the cow
is generally very docile, and in her native country is frequently kept upon
very much such food as we keep a pig upon in this country. The greatest
objection that we have heard urged upon them is their small size and lack
of beauty, as compared with the symmetrical forms of Durhams, Devons,
Ayrsiiires, and some of our natives. It is objected, too, that butter and
cheese made from Alderney cows' milk will not keep, because it is " too rich."
If it is mi.xed with other milk, it improves both, for then the butter and
cheese are rich, and have no Lutk of keeping qualities.

4S. Orisiii aud De Sf ri|ilioii of Jersey ('o«s. — " The Jersey race is supposed
to have been derived originally from Kormandy, in the northern part of

Seo. 3.]

COWS— BREEDS COilPARED.

45

France. The cows have been long celebrated for the production of very
rich milk and cream, but till within a quarter of a century they were com-
paratively coarse, ugly, and illsliaped. Improvements have been very
marked, but the form of the animal is still far from satisfying the eye. The
head of the pure Jersey is fine and tapering, the cheek small, the throat
clean, the muzzle fine and cneirclod Avith a light stripe, the nostril high and
open ; the horns smooth, crumpled, not very thick at the base, tapering, and
tipped with black; ears small and thin, dedp orange color inside; eyes full
and placid ; neck straight and fine ; chest broad and deep ; barrel hooped,
broad and deep, well ribbed uj) ; back straight from the withers to the hip,
and from the top of the hip to the setting on of the tail ; tail fine, at right
angles M'ith the back, and hanging down to the hocks ; skin thin, light color,
and mellow, covered M-itli fine, soft hair; fore legs short, straight, and fine
below the knee ; arm swelling and full above ; hind quarters long and well
filled ; hind legs short and straight below the hocks, with bones rather fine,
squarely placed, and not too close together; hoofs small; udder full in size,
in line with the belly, extending well up behind ; teats of medium size,
squarely placed, and wide apart, and milk-veins very prominent. The color
is generally cream, dun, or yellow, with more or less white, and the fine
head and neck give the cows and heifers a iawn-like appearance, and make
them objects of attraction in the park ; but the hind quarters are often too
narrow to look well, particularly to those who judge animals from the
amount of fiit they carr3\"

49. Fattening Properties of a Jersey €oWt — "It is asserted by Colonel Le
Couteur, of the island of Jersey, that, contrary to the general opinion here,
the Jersey cow, when old and no longer wanted as a milker, will, when dry
and fed, latteu rapidly, and produce a good quantity and excellent quality
of butchers' meat. An old cow, he says, was put up to fatten in October,
ISoO, weighing 1,125 lbs., and when killed, the 6th of January, 1S51, she
weighed 1,330 lbs., having gained 205 lbs. in 98 days, on 20 lbs. of hay, a
little wheat-straw, and 30 lbs. of roots — consisting of carrots, Swedes, and
mangel-wurzel — a day."

50. The Short-horu Durham CoWi — There is no room for dispute about the
Durhams being good for beef. For butter or for general dairy purposes, I
should not choose them. Mr. Flint says :

" In sections where the climate is moist and the food abundant and rich,
some families of the short-horns may be valuable for the dairy ; but they
are most frequently bred exclusively for beef in this country, and in sectioiis
where they have attained the highest perfection of form and beauty, so little
is thought of their milking qualities, that they are often not milked at all,
the calf being allowed to run with the dam."

Crosses, iiowever, of this breed upon other breeds have produced excellent
milkei-s. In "Westchester County, N. Y., there is a valuable strain of dairy
stock known as '• Dutch and Durham."

51. The Dutch ('0W» — The old Holland stock shows a very symmet-

46 DOSfESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. 1.

rical, handsome form, but not quite as much so as the Durham, which was
made up, it is gencrall}' su])i)osed, by a cross of the Dutch brood upon tlie
Tfcswater stock. The Dutch cow is not as heavy an animal as the improved
Durham, but she is more highly esteemed for dairy purposes.

TiL*. The Hereford ("ow. — ''The Hereford cattle derive their name from a
county in the western part of England. Their general characteristics are a
white face, sometimes mottled; white throat, the white generally extending
back on the neck, and sometimes, though rarely, still farther along on the
back. The color of tlie rest of tlie body is red, generally dark, but some-
times light. Eighty years ago the best Hereford cattle were mottled or
roan all over; and some of the best herds, down to a comparatively recent
period, were either all mottled, or had the mottled or speckled face. The
exj)rcssion of the face is mild and lively; the forehead open, broad, and
large ; the eyes bright and full of vivacity ; the horns glossy, slender, and
spreading ; the head small, though larger and not quite so clean as that of
the Devons ; the lower jaw fine ; neck long and slender ; chest deep ; breast-
bone large, prominent, and'very muscular ; the shoulder-blade light ; shoulder
full and soft; brisket and loins large; liips well developed, and on a level
with the cliine ; hind quarters long and well filled in ; buttocks on a level
witli the back, neither falling off nor raised above the hind quarters ; tail
slender, well set on ; hair fine and soft ; body round and full ; carcass deep
and well formed, or cylindrical ; bone small ; thigh short and well made ;
legs short and straight, and slender below the knee; as handlers very excel-
lent, especially mellow to the touch on the back, the shoulder, and along the
sides, the skin being soft, flexible, of medium thickness, rolling on the neck
and the hips ; hair bright ; face almost bare, whicii is characteristic of pure-
bred Ilerefords. They belong to tlie middle-horned division of the cattle
of Great Britain, to which they are indigenous."

There are individual good milkers among the Herefords, as there are
among the Durhams, but like them, we must say they are better for beef
than milk. "We certainly never should select the Hereford breed for dairy
purposes. The form of the cow, as represented among the specimens we
have seen of the best herds in this country, is that of a beef-producing ani-
mal, or a breed for good working oxen, for which it is noted.

53. The Devon fow. — "This beautiful race of cattle dates farther back
than any well-established breed among us. It goes generally under the
simple name of Devon ; but the cattle of the southern part of the county,
from which the race derives its name, differ somewhat from those of the
northern, having a larger and coarser frame, and far less tendency to fatten,
tliougli their dairy qualities are superior.

"The North Devons are remarkable for hardihood, symmetry, and beauty,
and are generally bred for work and for beef rather than for the dairy.
The head is fine and well set on ; the horns of medium length, generally
curved ; color usually bright blood-red, -but sometimes inclining to yellow ;
skin thin and orange-yellow ; hair of medium length, soft, and silky, making

r

Sec. 3.] COWS— BREEDS COMPARED. 47

tlio animals remarkable fine handlers; nrnzzle of the nose white; eyes full
and mild; ears yellowish, or orange-color inside, of moderate size; neck
rather long, with little dewlap ; shoulders oblique ; legs small and straight,
and feet in proportion ; chest of good width ; ribs round and expanded ;
loins of first-rate quality, long, wide, and fleshy ; hips round, of medium
width ; rump level ; tail full near the setting on, tapering to the tip ; thiglis
of the bull and ox muscular and full, and high in the flank, though in the
cow sometimes thought to be too light ; the size medium, generally called
small.

" As milkers, they do not excel, perhaps they may be said not to equal,
the other breeds, and they have a reputation of being decidedly below the
average. In their native country the general average of a dairy is one
pound of butter per day during the summer.

" Tiiey are bred for beef and for work, and not for the dairy, and their
yield of milk is small, though of a rich quality.

"On the whole, whatever may be our judgment of this bi'eed, the faults
of the JSTorth Devon cow can hardly be overlooked from our present point
of view. Tlie rotundity of form and compactness of frame, though they
contribute to her remarkable beauty, constitute an objection to her as a dairy
cow, since it is generally thought that the peculiarity of form which disposes
an animal to take on fat is somewhat incompatible with good milking quali-
ties, and hence Youatt says: 'For the dairy, the North Devons must be
acknowledged to be inferior to several other breeds. The milk is good, and
yields more than the average proportion of cream and butter; but it is
deficient in quantity.' He also maintains that the value of this breed for
milk could not be improved without probable or certain detriment to its
grazing qualities.

"But the fairest test of its fitness for the dairy is to be found in tlie
estimation in -which distinguished Devon breeders themselves have held it
in this resjiect. A scale of points of excellence in this breed was established
some time ago by the best judges in England ; and it has since been adopted,
with but slight clianges, in this country. These judges, naturally prejudiced
in favor of the breed, if prejudiced at all, made this scale to embrace one
hundred points, no animal to be regarded as perfect unless it excelled in all
of tliem. Eacli part of the body was assigned its real value in the scale: a
faultless head, for instance, was estimated at four; a deep, round chest at
fifteen, etc. If the animal was defective in any part, the number of points
M-hicli represented the value of that part in the scale was to be deducted /i/'o
rata tVom the hundred, in determining its merits. But in this scale tlie cow
is so lightly esteemed for the dairy, that the udder, the size and shape of
which is of the utmost consequence in determining the capacity of the milch
cciw, is set down as worth only one point, while, in the same scale, the horns
and ears are valued at two points each, and the color of the nose and tlie
expression of tlie eye are valued at four points each. Supposing, therefore,
that each of tlicsc points was valued at one dollar, and a porl'cct North

48

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

Devon cow ■n-.is valued at one hundred dollars; tlien another cow of tlio
eainc blood, and equal to the first in every respect, except in her udder,
which is such as to make it certain that she can never be capable of giving
milk enough to nourish her calf, must be worth, according to the estimation
of the best Devon breeders, ninety-nine dollars ! It is safe, tliereforc, to say
that an animal whose udder and lacteal glands are regarded, by those who
best know her capacities and her merits, as of only one quarter part as much
consequence as the color of her nose, or half as much as the shape and size
of her horns, can not be reconunended for the dairy. The improved Xorth
Devon cow may be classed, in this respect, with the Hereford, neither of
which have well-developed milk-vessels — a point of the utmost consequence
to tlie practical dairyman."

5i. The Mi5k-31i!TOrt — This is a term given in the Guenon method of
selecting good cows, to the escutcheon formed by the change of direction in
tlie hair on the rear part of the udder and parts adjacent. If this mirror is
large, it is supposed to indicate a good milker. For the better understanding
of it, we recommend a careful study of the " milk-mirror," and see how it
is generally developed upon all real good milkers — that is, good for quantity
rather than quality.

" Milk-mirrors vary in position, extent, and the figure they represent.
They may be divided, according to their position, into mirrors or escutcheons,
properly so called, or into lower and upper tufts, or escutcheons. The latter
are very small in comparison with the former, and are situated in close
proximity to^the vulva, as seen in different breeds of cows. They are very
common on cows of bad milking races, but are very rarely seen on the best
milch cows. Tliey consist of one or two ovals, or small bands of up-growing
hair, and serve to indicate the continuance of the flow of milk. The period
is short in proportion as the tufts are large. They must not be confounded
with the escutcheon proper, which is often extended up to the vulva. They
are separated from it by bands of hair, more or less large, as you will find
from careful examination."

It requires some skill to determine the exact size of a milk-mirror, since it
is not equally well defined in all cows, being at first sight apparently large
in some, which, upon close examination, will show faults — that is, that the
escutcheon of out-growing hairs is broken by tufts of down-growing hairs.
Mr. Flint says :

" "We often find cows whose milk-mirror at first sight appears very large,
but which are only medium milkers ;.and it will usually be found tliat lateral
indentations greatly diminish the surface of up-growing hair. Many errors
are committed in estimating the value of such cows, from a want of attention
to the real extent of the milk-mirror.

" All the interruptions in the surface of the mirror indicate a diminution
of the quantity of milk, with the exception, however, of small oval or
elliptical plates, which are found in the mirror, on the back part of the
udders of the best cows.

PLATE V.

(Page 48.)

This is a veiy instructive picture to every young farmer, and there
are a good many old ones who may make of it a valuable study.
Many persons are not aware that the age of a suckling calf, week by
week, can be told by examining the teeth. Look at these drawings
and see how easy it is to learn the art — an art which every farmer's
boy should understand. So the age of a cow, as well as a horse,
can be told from year to year, by looking at tlie teeth, more cer-
tainly than by the horns. For this purpose this plate possesses
great value ; but it has a greater one in the illustration of what is
now well known as the "milk mirror," which is described at ^ 54,
and much more fully in Guenon's work, from which the theory is
derived. Li this plate the mirror is represented by coloring the pic-
ture so as to show the field of upturned hair around the udder in its
most fully developed form upon No. 1, and quite defective in No. 4.
By studying these, and comparing them with living cows, something
of the theory may be learned. It is very fully illustrated in Flint's
work ui)Ou milch cows and dairy farming. It is a subject worthy
of the attention of all farmers.

Sec. 3.] ■ COWS— THE MILK-MIRROR. 40

In a fat cow, with an inflated udder, the mirror would appear larger
than it really is ; while in a lean cow, with a loose and wrinkled udder, it
appears smaller. Fat will cover faults; this is a fact to be kept in mind in
selecting a cow; because good fatting qualities are not the qualities which
the purchaser is desirous of obtaining.

" These marks, though often seen on many good cows, should be considered
as certain only when the veins of the perineum form, under the skin, a kind
of not-work, which, without being very apparent, may be felt bj' a pressure
on them, wlicn Jhe milk-veins on the belly are well developed, though less
knotted and less prominent than in cows of the first class ; in fine, when the
udder is well developed, and presents veins which are suthciently numerous,
though not vei-y large.

"There are cases where a knowledge and careful examination of the form
and size of the mirror becomes of the greatest importance. It is well known
that certain signs or marks of great milkers are developed only as the
capacities of tiie animal herself are fidly and completely dovelojied by age.
Tlie milk-veins, for instance, are never so large and prominent in heifers and
young cows as in old ones, and the same may be said of the udder, and the
veins of the udder and jKM'ineuni, al! of which it is of great importance to
observe in tlie selection of milch cows. Those signs, then, which in cows
arrived at maturity are almost sufficient in themselves to warrant a conclu-
sion as to their merits as milkers, are, to a great extent, wanting in younger
animals, and altogether in calves, of which there is often doubt whetlier tiicy
shall be raised ; and here a knowledge of the form of the mirror is of
immense advantage, since it gives, at the outset, and before any expense is
incurred, a somewhat reliable means of judging of the future milking
capacities of the animal, or, if a male, of the probability of his transmitting
milking qualities to his offspring."

55. What Kind of fows to Buy.— "In buying dairj- stock, the fanner gen-
erally finds it for his interest to select young heifers. They give the promise
of longer usefulness. But it is often the case that older cows arc selected,
with the design of using them for the dairy for a limited period, and then
feeding them for the butcher. In cither case, it is advisable, as a rule, to
choose animals in low or medium condition. The farmer can not ordinarily
aflbrd to buy fat ; it is more properly his business to make it and to have it
to sell. Good and well-marked cows, in poor condition, will rapidly gain in
all flesh products when removed to better pastures and higher keeping, and
they cost less in the original ])urchase."

50. Ucnrral Conclusions. — Wc have now devnteil all the space that we can
afl'ord to the subject of cows. We have given them a largo share of our
attention, because we consider them of more importance than any other
single branch of our domestic aninuils. They not oidy furnish a great
amount of food, in milk, cream, butter, cheese, and meat, when done fur-
nishing milk, but they arc the foundation of prosperity in American farming.
" A good cow may produce a bad calf," but it is only a may-be — it does not,

50

DOMESTIC ANIiLVLS.

[Chap. I.

bold as a rule. It is therefore very important to select good cows, and keep
none but good cows — certainly never breed from a poor one.

We sliall now give some important facts relative to other branches of neat
stock. And first we refer the reader to the following facts concerning bulls
of various breeds.

57. The Ayrshire Biilh — In comparing this with those of other. breeds, it
should be borne in mind that the Ayrshires are not bred for beef, in their
own country, as much as they are for dairy purposes. For working o.xcn,
they arc of fair qualfty, but not the best. For feeding purposes, they should
be crossed with Durhams.

" It is the opinion of good breeders, that a high-bred short-horn bull and
a large-sized Ayrshire cow will produce a calf which will come to maturity
earlier, and attain greater weight, and sell for more money, than a pure-bred
Ayrshire. This cross, with feeding from the start, may be sold fat at two or
three years old, the improvement being especially seen iu the earlier matu-
rity and the size."

58. The Jersey BuUi — So far as beauty is concerned in the sexes, the
males of the Jei'sey or Alderuey stock have the largest share. It is a
somewhat curious physiological fact, that the Alderuey cows in this country
produce two or three times as many bulls as heifers, so that bulls can gener-
ally be purchased at lower prices than cows.

"The bulls are usually very difiereut in character and disposition from
the cows, and are much inclined to become restive and cross at the age of
three or four j'cars, unless their treatment is uniformly gentle and firm. In
all portraits of Jersey bulls, they are represented as handsomer animals
than they arc generally considered by American farmers.

59. Short-horn or Durham Bull. — This breed has been more largely
imported and bred from in the United States than an}', in fact all, others.
It is the great beef-producing breed of the West, particularly in Ohio and
Keutuck}'.

"The desirable characteristics of the short-horn bull may be summed up,
according to the judgment of the best breeders, as follows: He should have
a short but fine head, very broad across the eyes, tapering to the nose, Mitli
a nostril full and prominent ; the nose itself should be of a vich flesh-color ;
eyes bright and mild; ears somewhat large and thin ; horns slightly curved
and rather flat, well set on a long, broad, muscular neck ; chest wide, deep,
and projecting; shoulders fine, oblique, well formed into the chine; fore
legs short, with upper arm large and powerful ; barrel round, deep, well
ribbed home; hips wide and level; back straight from the withers to the
setting on of the tail, but short from hip to chine ; skin soft and velvety to
the touch ; moderately thick liair, plentiful, soft, and mossy."

This picture gives only a fair impression "of the fine form of the best
animals of this breed.

CO.- The Dutch Bull.— The form of Dutch and Durham bulls is not unlike.
W. AV. Chenery, of Watertown, Mass., whose name has since become famous

Sec. 4.]

BEEVES.

51

.13 being identified with tlie alarming cattle disease prevailing in Massaclui-
setts in the snnimer of 18C0, is one of the largest importers of the valuable
stock known as the Dutch breed.

61. The Hereford Bull.— This always fairly represents this good'breed of
cattle. Good, at least, for beef, and excellent for working oxen. Their
l>cef rates highest of all in the London market, and the few grades which
have been brought to New York have been highly esteemed. The objection
to thcni is, that they do not come so early to maturity, or, rather, to a salable
condition, as the Durhams. The breeders of Herefords contend that the
keeping that will starve Dnrhams will keep the Ilerefords in a thriving
condition.

02. The Devon Bull. — In color and form a Devon bull is perfect ; always
of a pure bay-red color, of medium size, and progenitor of the handsomest
working oxen in America. The deficiency in size of the pure Devons, for
working oxen, is made up by crossing upon larger animals. These grade
oxen make as fine beef as any brought to the New York market.

SECTION IV.-BEEVES.

ross and Net Weight of Beef Caltle.— The ordinary
rule of ascertaining the net weight of beef cattle'
from the live weight on the scales varies, accord-
ing to quality, size, and age, and after all, is no rule
at all, because it is entirely a matter of agreement
.between tiie parties at the time.

It also depends upon the locality. In New York,
the net weight of the beef in the quarters only is
Avantcd. In Boston, the hide and fat are included,
counting those products equal to one quarter of the
beef, or, rather, calling the whole five quarters. Tliero.
the net weight of a fat bullock is estimated at CO to
68 lbs. of each 100 of live weight. In extra line
animals the per-centage is higher.
In New York, where the hide and fat are left out of the calculation, the
bullocks are estimated at 55 to 60 lbs. net to each 100 lbs. gross; and if the
animal is very fine, the estimate runs from 01 to 64 lbs. net to each 100 lbs.
gross. Extraordinary animals sometimes dress 65 or 00 lbs., and even higher,
and ordinary and lean stock run from 55 down to 47 lbs., though not often
below 50 lbs., or one lialf the live weight at home. The common j^ractice
at the West is, to weigh fatted cattle some hours after feeding ami a little
exercise, and calculate the net weight at 55 lbs. per 100 of the live weight.

52 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

Gi. The Largest Bullock— The Great Massachusetts Steer.— The question
of " what is the greatest weight of any buUoek T' we detiuitely answer and
place on record iu the following notices. The heaviest alive and dead was
sold hy John Sanderson, of Ecrnardstown, Mass., in February, 1802, to
Bryan Lawrence, butcher, Centre Market, New York, by whom he was
publicly exhibited, killed, and weighed. His live weight at home was 36
cwt. Here, when very empty, 33 cwt. His dead weight was, fore quarters,
743, 732—1,475 lbs. Hind quarters, 49G, 502—993 lbs. Total, 2,473
lbs., after shrinking a week. This is within 2 lbs. of 75 per cent, of live
weight. This steer had been kept in a small yard and stable, eating meal
and hay two years ; was eight years old ; a cross of Durham and native
Vermont stock. He girted back of shouldere, 10 ft. 8 in. ; forward of hips,
11 ft. 8 in. ; hight, C ft. 3 in. ; length from horns to tail, 9 ft. 8 in. ; breadth
across hips, 3 ft. 6 in. This is the largest bullock of which we have any
certain record. We also place upon record the weights of several other
remarkable large bullocks. All stories of bullocks of 40 cwt. we disbelieve.

C5. The Washington Ox. — The ox George "Washington was 5 years, 9
months, and 14 days old when slaughtered, in the year 1840.

His live weight was 3,204 lbs.

Weight of oue foie quarter C12 "

Weight of the other fore quarter 598 ' '

Weight of one himl quarter 487 "

Weight of the other hind quarter 477 "

2,174 1I)S. of beef— 70 IIjs. per cwt. of live weight.

Measurement from button to root of tail 9 ft. 7 in.

Girth 10 " 4 "

Hight. . .* 5 " 9 "

From hip to hip 2 " 9 "

The ox Ked Jacket, killed March 5, 1851,

Weighed alive 3,080 lbs.

Weight of meat 2,114 "

Loss, 31 per cent.

The ox John Hancock, killed the same time,

Wci-hcJ alive -2,910 lbs.

Weight of meat 1,9464 "

Loss, 33 per cent.

Eobert L. Pell's two-year-old heifer, fatted at Pellham Farm, 30 miles up

the Hudson,

Weighed alive 2,000 lbs.

Weight of beef 1,380 "

Loss, 31 per cent.

66. A Big Ox in Olden Time. — We print, as we find it, the following
extract from " Thacher's Military Journal of the Kevolution," under date of
June 24, 1779:

" I have just had the satisfaction, with a number of gentlemen, of viewing
a remarkably large fat ox, which has been presented by some gentlemen in
Connecticut to his Excellency, Gen. Washington. He is 6 ft. 7 in. high, and
weighs on the hoof 3,500 lbs., the largest animal I ever beheld."

67. The Ox Leopard. — An ox called " Leopard," raised and fed by Dr.

Sec. 4.]

ISEEVES OF GREAT WEIGHT.

53

"Wm. Elmer, of Bridgton, K J., was slaughtered, Feb. 2-i, 1832, at the age

of C years and 8 mouths. His live weight was 3,360 lbs. Size — len"-th from

nose to rump, 10 ft. 6 in. ; from nose to end of tail, 15 ft. ; girth behind fore

shoulders, 9ft. Sin. ; around the bodj, 10ft. 9 in. ; around the brisket, 10ft

Sin. ; length from shoulder to rump, 7ft. ; along the back from horns, Oft. ;

M-idth across the hip, 2 ft. 10^ in. ; hight of fore shoulder, 5 ft. C in. ; behind,

5ft. Sin. ; circumference of leg below the knee, 1 foot.

6S>. Two Bis Oxen in Pennsylvania. — AVo have a letter from James Stewart,

Pennsylvania, and another from Andrew M. Frantz, giving the weight of

two bullocks heavier than the Washington. One known as the " Lancaster

County 0.x," Mr. Stewart writes, " was owned and fed by Emanuel Landis,

near this city ; was a half-bred Durham, deej) red, large fore quarters, long,

fine horns, and was over seven years old. Wm. F. Miller, of Lancaster,

purchased him for $800, and slaughtered him on the 22d of February, 1S5S.

Tliis ox weighed:'

Lire weight 3,387 lbs.

Net weight 2,40'J "

Weight of one fore quarter 747 lbs.

Weight of tlic other fore quarter 760 "

Weight of one liind quarter 469 "

Weight of the other liind ([uarter 442 "

2,418 lbs.

Deduct weight of hooks for weighing 9

Total net weight 2, -109 lbs.

" The Berks County o.x, that was butchered some years ago in Philadelphia,

weighed as follows :

Live weight 3,350 lbs.

Net weight 2,388 "

Weight of one fore quarter 732 lbs.

Weight of the other fore qfiarter . 728 "

Weight of one hind quarter 464 "

Weight of the other hind quarter 464 "

Total net weight 2,338 lbs.

"There has long been a generous rivalry between the farmers of Berks
and Lancaster counties in regard to which could grow tlie fattest and largest
o.xcn. As it now stands, Lancaster is ahead, but we may look out for some-
thing ere long greater still froni Old Bei'ls, for the resources of that countv
are astonishing, as even politicians can tcstif)'.

"Tliere was another steer butchered in this city, in February, 1856, by
David Killinger, owned and fed by Abram Landis, of Manheim township,
that netted 2,10Slbs., but that weight, and greater, has been freqnentlj'
attained in this State, and even in this county. The first two (whose weights
I have given) I will not say are the largest cattle ever slaughtered, even in
Pennsylvania, but they are tlic largest that have ever come niider my obser-
vation, and in regard to whose weight there was no dispute. I. however,
entirely concur with the writer in the Trihiinr, that there lun'cr was an ox
fed to the weight of 4,000 lbs. gross. An animal that will weigh 013 lbs.
more than the one butchered in this city in February last, has certainly never
been yet produced." .

5i DOMESTIC ANIMALS. ;CnAP. I.

Mr. Frantz says tho Berks County ox was fed by a man named Soetz,
ami was slaiiglitcrcd, he thinks, in 1846. If so, his weight should havo l)ceu
known hero and renioml)urcd, hut it Avas not by one of tlie butchers and
others tliat we thoiiglit likely to know, of the numy of whom we sought
information. Wo have often heard of heavier bullocks, but lack the jDroof,
as in the case below. Tlie above figures arc now matters of record, wliere
tliey can be referi-ed to in future.

G9. The Saralos:a Bis Bullock. — Since writing the above, we see the fol-
lowing in tlie Countnj Gentleman of May 27, ISGO:

"The Saratoga Countij Press says that J. M. Cole, of Saratoga SpringSj
shiugiitercd an ox, in lS-i7, wliosc live weight was 3,520 lbs.; dressed,
2,5G7 lbs."

Let Mr. Cole give us the vouchers. If he has made an ox of that
weight, he has probably beaten the world, and should give the world the
j)roof. It wants to know certainly tho weight of the heaviest bullock.

70. Weights of the Crystal Palace Show Cattle. — The following are the net
weights of the nine head of fat bullocks, exhibited as a show at the Crystal
Palace. Some of them were full-blood Kentucky and Ohio Durhams, and
others, grades of that blood. They were- bought by Jim Irving, of Washing-
ton Market, and fairly weiglied as folloM-s :

Tlie best pair weighed — one, 2,178 lbs. — and his quarters, C04 and 612 lbs.
for the fore quarters, and 480 and 482 lbs. for the hind quarters. The otlier
weighed 2,000 lbs. — the fore quarters 570 and 568 lbs., and tiie hind ones
470 and 4o8 lbs.

Another pair weighed together 3,680 lbs. The old cow, which was
excessively fat, weighed l,4Gulbs., dressing, it is said, 73 lbs. per cwt. Tlie
best steer dressed 72ilbs. per cwt. The other four head weighed 2,024,
2,008, 1,930, and 1,860 lbs.

Forty head of Illinois grade Durhams, five and six years old, sold in 1858,
in the Xew York market, averaged 22 cwt. each alive, and one hundred
head averaged oyer 20 cwt. each.

71. The llaxtuii Steer. — The Ilaxtun steer was raised by E. Ilaxtun, in
Beekinau Towusliip, Dutchess Co., N. Y. He was out of a cow bouglit from
a drove that came from near Cleveland, Ohio, which was probably three
fourths Durham, and a full-bred short-liorn bull, of Mr. Sheaf's (Dutchess
County) importation. The steer was called jfths Durham, part of the blood
appearing to indicate a descent from the long-horn of the old Kentucky
importation. Ilis color was nearly all red, having some whitish roan spots,
and he was, notwithstanding his great size and fatness, one of tho haud-
somest-formed fat bullocks we have ever seen, and as firm on his legs almost
as he ever was, and was in appearance as fresh and healthy as ever, taking his
rations regularl}-. His feed was 14 quarts a day of meal, made of two parts
Indian corn and one part oats, and as much hay as he would eat. His feeding
commenced in the fiill, after lie was four years old, and he was seven years
old the spring before he was killed. His weight at home, Dec. 1, 1859, was

Sec. 4.]

BEEVES OF GREAT WEIGHT.

55

3,472 lbs. lie was probably weighed full at that time ; but after a railroad
passage of 75 miles, he was weiglied here, Jan. 9, 1860, before he was filled up
with food and water, and his fair, honest weight, as given by David Allcrton,
who weigiied him, was 3,4:52 lbs. Three days afterward, weighed upon the
same scales, by the same man, with scales carefully balanced, lie weigiied
3,418 lbs. Afterward, upon two other scales, his weight was 3,419. lie was
sold Jan. 10, 1860, to Wm. Lalor, of Centre Market, for $850; and was
slaughtered and dressed at Patterson's slaughter-house, Jan. 19, by the same
man who dressed the Washington, and hung until Jan. 26, when tlie quarters
were weighed, under the careful supervision of Barney Bartram, John Harris,
John M. Seaman, and James L. Stewart, and in tlie presence of a large
company of lookers-on, many of whom were considerably interested, having
invested largely in the way of bets upon the net weiglit.

Tlie following was tlie result: fore quarters, 700 and 608 lbs. — l,3GSlbs. ;
the hind quarters, 482 and 462 lbs.— 951 lbs. ; total, 2,319 lbs. This \vas 2|
lbs. over 67 J lbs. per cwt. of the last live weight. The shrinkage .was esti-
mated at 50 lbs. ; but he was hung just the same length of time as the
Washington, and, like him, lias had his hide stulfed and form jjreserved,
being, up to that time, the largest bullock ever brought to New York. The
fatting of this steer lias been one of the most perfectly successful experiments
to produce a monstrous animal, so evenly formed and faultlessly shaped,
that no one could say where he could be improved.

72. Other Large Bullocks. — A juir of oxen, called the " Cayuga Prize
Oxen," was also sold in the New York market, the same week, for $700, which
was considered remarkable; their live weight, however, was 2,865 lbs. each;
they were six years old.

i'lic Jlic/i if/an Farmer of Jan. 20, 1860, says : " We lately gave an account
of several fat cattle which were killed in this city on the week betbre the
New Year. The pair weighed 6,437 lbs., or 3,218 lbs. each. The net weight
was estimated at 68 lbs. per cwt." Of some others the Farmer said : "The
actual yield of the cattle killed by William Smith, in this market, was 66 lbs.
to the 100 lbs. of live weight, or 2,150 lbs. from 3,218 lbs. It will be scon
by this, tlierefore, how those great oxen killed in the Detroit market
approximated to what is considered the largest and fattest animal ever killed
in the United States."

We have a letter before us from Isaac Hubbard, of Claremont, N. II.,
who is ninety years old, but not too old to read with interest the accounts
of these fat bullocks. He says that, seeing an account of the Ilaxtun
Btecr, which interested him very much, induced him to give the history of
a fat bullock fed by him twenty odd years ago.

The calf was dropped Jan. 4, 1S32, and was then estimated to weigh 100
ll)s.; Jan. 4, 1833, lie weighed 874 lbs.; Dec. 3, 1833, 1,280 lbs.; Jan. 5,
1835, 1,800 lbs. ; Dec. 26, 1835, 2,3oO]bs. ; Feb. 15, 1837, 2,910 lbs.

In Oct., 1838, Mr. II. sold him, and he was conveyed to Hartford, Conn.,
and weighed 3,370 lbs. This steer was bought by Paran Stevens, since of

56

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[CUKV. I.

f^reat hotel notoriety, and was extensivclj exhibited in this country as " the
largest ox ever seen." Perhaps some persons in this State may remember
the exliibition of this mammoth ox.

In 1840, this great show animal was sent to England for exhibition there,
and, it is said, attracted much attention. From there he was taken to
I'Vance and Belgium, and exhibited as the great bullock of tlie world. He
was brought back to England and slaughtered, but his weight at the time,
either alive or dead, was not published, but it was less in tliis country than
that of several whose weights we have publislied. This is one of the great
show bullocks which have been exhibited and advertised as weighing over
•1,000 lbs., a weight that never has, so far as we have any satisfactory records,
yet been attained ; and although we believe that 4,000 lbs. is above the
limit that can be attained by one of the bovine race, we would not discourage
the efforts of those who have made noble attempts to improve this class of
livestock, both in form and quality, antl who.will not be content until the
utmost possible limit of weight is accomplished.

The name of Mr. Hubbard's steer was " Olympus," in this country, but in
Europe he was exhibited under the name of " Brother Jonathan." He was
of the "native stock," common in New Hampshire; his color a dapple-bay
or red, a little changeable in the sun, with white spots on the face and legs.

It is not, however, generally profitable to feed such great bullocks as we
■nave noticed ; but, to see what has been done, it will always be an interest-
ing matter of reference. So will be the matter we shall give in the next
section. «

SECTION V.-STATISTICS OF THE NEW YORK CATTLE MARKET-

umbers of Butchers' Animals Annually Sold in New
York. — Farmers are very justly accused of a
neglect of statistical information in relation to the
business upon which all their prosperity depends.
In the very important matter of furnishing the
cities with bullocks, the producers had no means
of forming estimates of the needed supply, until we
instituted reports of the cattle markets of all the prin-
cii)al cities, and particularly the city of New I'ork,
which is an enormous consumer of fresh beef. To this
market we have devoted many years, attending almost
every weekly market, and have given the farmers statis-
tical tables of immense value to them. "We now
embody some of this useful statistical information,
where it can stand as a tabic of permanent reference; and we earnestly
commend it to all who are engaged in agricultural pursuits.

Seo. 5.]

STATISTICS OF TOE NEW YORK CATTLE MARKET.

57

ANNUAL BKCKIPTS FOR TEN YEAES-

Tears. Dccvcs.

1854 l(;n,8G4....

1855 185,504

1850 187,057....

1857 102,243. . . .

1858 mi, 874....

1859 ;;05,272....

1800 226,933....

1801 222,835....

1802 239,480....

18G3 204,031....

Tows.
13,131 , . ,
12,110...
12,857...
12,840...
10,12S...
'9,492...

7,144...

5,749...

5,378...

0,470...

Calves.

0.><.584

47,90'J

43,0S1....
34,218....

37,075

48,769....
39,430....
.32,808....
30,405....
35,709....

-1 854-1803.
Sheep.

555.479

588,741....
402,739....
444,030....
447,445....
404,894....
518,750....

512,.36G

484,.342....
519,310....

Swine.
252,328.
318^107'.!!
345,911...
288,981...
551,479...
399,005...
323,918; . . ,
559,421....

Ann. ToUils.
1.059,380
1,152,491
1,051,045
942;i21
1,23«,001
1,008,092
1, 111:. 181
1,333,239

1,148,209 1,907,880

1,101.017.... 1,927,203

Totiil . . .
Av. pr. year .

, 2,055,219..
, 205,.522..

95,299...
9,530...

418,774.... 4,938.108..

41,877.

493,811...

, 5,289,039. . . . 12,797,039
528,904.... 1,279.704

WrKKLT .WKBAOE OF ALL ANIMALS FOR TE.V TEARS — 18-54-1863.

Cows.

2.33..

233.

247.

Years. Ueeves.

1854 3,257..

18.55 3,505..

18.50 3.597..

18.'.7 3,120 245

1858 3,080 195

1859 3,947 182

1800 4,304 139

1801 4,285 110

1802 4,518 101.

1803 5,079 125.

Calves.
1,315.
922.
828.
C.38.
724.
841.
758.
032.
574.
087.

Sheep. Swine. Totai.

10,682 4,852 20.359

11,322 6,117 22,009

8,898 0,650 20,224

8,539 5,557 18.11'J

8,004 10.005 28,809

9,709 7,080 22,305

9,970 7,229 21,405

9,853 10,768 25,0.37

9,1.38 21,004 30.0(10

9,987 21,185 37,002

The increase of bullocks in this tlccadc is 55 per cent. Cows have
I'allcn ull' more tiiaii lialf, and calves nearly the same. The siq^ply of sheep
remains nearly stationaiy, but swine have increased cnormouslv. The Ibl-
lowing is the estimated number of iiounds of meat, derived from slaughtei'ed
animals in 1803, and the wholesale value. In the estimate, cows are added
to the bullocks, because the most of them, eventually, go to the butcher.

lVeve.<— 270,501, av. 700 lbs. net 189,392,700 lbs. at 9ic. per 11>. net S17,513,82l 75

Ve.il— 35,709 calves at 75 lbs 2,078,175 " atlOc.perlli.net 207,817 50

.Shcepaml lanilis-519,310, at 42 1bs.... 21.811,272 " at 10c. pel" lb. net 2,181,127 20

Swiuc— 1,101,017, at 150 lbs 105,242, ■560 " ut 0,Jc. per lb. net 10,740,705 75

Total 379,124,097 lbs $3U,708,.535 20

It is also very important for farmers to know M-here the supply comes
from. Of 2iO,.3.S4: bullocks sold in 1863, the si.K following States furnished
the respective numbers, viz. : Illiiioi.-;, 11S,()9:3; New York, iiS, 985 ; Ohio,
19,2(50; Indiana, 14,232; Michigan, !»,074; Kentucky, G,782. As the same
proportion holds good for all the cattle received in New York, it will be seen
that Illinois furnishes 5Gj per cent. True, a good many credited to that
State come from Iowa, Missouri, and other States.

The proportion of hogs from Illinois is probably greater than upon beef
cattle. The great bulk of pork from the hogs slaughtered here is packed
and Bent to other places for consutnpiion ; largo quantities of it to Euiopc.
A small portion of the beef is packed and sent abroad. Tiie great bulk of
it, and all the veal and nearly all of the sheep, and a vast quantity besides
that comes in ready dressed from the country, goes to furnish fresh meat to
the cities of New York and llrooklyn, three small cities in New Jersey, and
several towns within lifty miles, ships in jiort, and most of our armed ships
and ('"rts and soldiers on the coast between Hamilton lloads and Key AVcst.

58

DOMESTIC AXniALS.

[CriAi-. I.

Estimated average price of beef cattle per net pound each year, 1854-03 :
1854, 9 cents full; 1855, 10 cents; 1S5G, QJ- cents nearly; 1857, lO.i cents
nearly; 1S5S, Si cents nearly; lS5i), t) Cents; ISCO, S cents full; 18(31, 7^
cents ; 1862, 7| cents ; 18C3, 9i cents. Up to March, 18C4, prices have ranged
from 9 to IG cents a ])Ound net, wiiieli was liiglier than before since 1857.

I)uring 1803, the livc-wuiglit price of corn-fed hogs ranged from 4 to 7
cents per pound. la February, 1804, it reached 8i and 9 cents per pound,
wliich was the highest i)rice for Western stock ever attained.

Tiiat all who read this page may see what an immense interest is involved
in the live-stock trade of tiio country with New York city, we add the fol-
lowing calculation of number of pounds of meat and estimated value:

lilNSUMrTlO.N OF TEX YK.Ul.S — 185-1-18G3.

Beeves— 2,100.518 head av. 700 llw. net. ..1,50.5.302,000 lbs. at 9 cents per lb. net.. $135,482,034

Calve.s— 418,7U head av. 75 lbs. net 31,408,050 ■• at 10 cents per lb. net. . 3,140,805

Sheepandlambs— 4.t»38,108heailav.4211.s. 207,300,530 " at 10 cents per 11>. net. . 20,730,053

ywUie—6,2.s'J,03'J head av. 125 lbs 001,204,800 '• at 0 cents per lb. uet. . 3'J,072,2>-8

Total 2,400,305,080 lbs $190.034,7^O

Average per annum for tlie ten years 240,530, .50(1 " 10,003, 178

Farmers, look at these figures. They teach you an important lesson ; one
wc'i worthy of being jilaecd upon this permanent record, to remind you and
your children of the great importance of tlie live-stock interest of tlie country.
You see by ihe tables the rapid increase of the trade, and the enormous sum
that it amounts to in ten years. Lest you should be confused liy tlie sum in
numerical figures, let us repeat it in words. Two billions four hundred and
five millions three hundred and sixty-five thousand nine hundred and
eighty-si.\ pounds of meat, amounting to one hundred and ninety-nine
millions thirty-four thousand seven hundred and eighty dollars. Tiiis is
the sum that New York'city has disbursed to the farming intci'est for Ten ■
years' supply of meat, derived from the slaughter of twelve millions seven
hundred and ninety-seven thousand and thirty-nine animals.

Tiiese statistics enable us to realize the vast resources of America. The
country is now feeding a million of men in the army, fighting for freedom,
full rations of meat, and sending nearly two millions a year of animals to
the city shambles of Kew York, for whicb the city is sending back to the
country twenty millions of dollars.

This is the greatest meat-eating country in the world ; it produces all that
it consumes and a great surplus to send abroad.

74. Cattle Transportation. — Kearly all the stock sold in the New York
market is transported upon railway cars. "VYe assume that the beeves for
ten years' supply have jiaid a tariff of $10 a head average to railroads,
making the sum of $21,505,180; calves at fifty cents a head, $209,387;
sheep at seventy-five cents, $3,703,081; hogs at $1 25 each, $6,612,048.
Total $32,03(1,290, as the estimated amount paid for the transportation of
animals butchered in New York for ten years.

Improvement is needed in transportation. Animals are forced to stand
without food or water two or three days, or as long as their tired legs will

Seo. C]

STATISTICS OF THE XEW YORK CATTLE MARKET.

59

sustain tliem, and when they fail, as sometimes they do, the fainting creature
falls and is trampled to death.

We must have an iniprovement in cattie-cars. It certaiidy would not be
difficult to construct them so that cattle should stand with heads to one side,
where water could be given tlieui in a trouirh by means of hose ; and if this
can not be done, it must be made a criminal oti'ense to keep the animals on
a car more than 30 hours witliout water. In fact, it would be better for all
parties if tlio number were limited that a car should contain, and that in no
case should the stock remain on the cars over 30 hours, without being
uidoaded, rested, fed, and watered. The present practice i? a loss to owners
and nu injury to consumers, by making the beasts feverish and unhealthy,
besides being an outrageous act of cruelty to animals. The whole commu-
nity is interested, and should cry out against the wicked practice, which is
enongli to make humanity shudder.

T5. t'oiaparalive MeasjircuifiUs of Cattle. — In(|uirios are often made in
regard to the relative size of dift'erent breeds of cattle. It is not easy to give
a very definite answer to questions of this kind ; bnt as several of the leading
breeds of this country were derived from England, where they are bred in
greater numbers than they are here, an idea of their comparative size may
be had from certain measurements taken of prize animals at the English
shows. We give the following tables in reference to Short-horns, IIurefon.ls,
and Devons, which took prizes at the shows of the Iloyal Agricultural
Society, in 1858 and 1S59. The first was prepared for the Society by Mr.
Ilobert Smith.

CLASS.
Sliour I1UR.N3,

Afii'il bulla

V<m lin^ bulls

Hull calvfS

Cows

Two-year-old heifere
Ytiu lings

Avorapc Age.
vr8. mvs.

Aver.ngo Girth,
n. in.

v.i.

9 .
5 .
•1 .

Hebefocds.

Affcil bulls. . . ,
Vcailiu'.,' bulls
liull Ciilvcs . . .

104 .
10}.

s.(

10

3

Oh
lU

CLASS.
Heuwohus

Cows

Two-year-old heifci's . 2
Yearlings 1

Devons.

Aged bulls 3

Yearling bulls 1

Bull calves

Cows 6

Two-year-old heifere. 2
Y'carlings 1

Avorage Age.
jrs. IUU3.

C

0

Average Girlh.

R.

in.

4^

c

fil

7

r>

G

o

5

o

C

9.1
10

fi

«

1

Tlie next table was furnished by Mr. Thos. Duckhani, the editor of the
" Ili'rd-liook of Hereford Cattle." As far as it goes, it comjuiscs measure-
ments of Short-horns and Ilerefords, which received prizes at tlie AVarwick
show that year, the rank of the awards having been according to the order
observed in the table.

CLASS.

SuOIlT-llUttNS.

Aged bulls

Average A|fe.
} n, mos.

Avernco Girth.

Yearling bulls.

Bull calves

Cows ,

0.

3.

7.
10.

8.
11.

9.
10.

8.

ft.
.8
.8
.7

.7
.7
.7
.6
.5
.8

in.
6
6

o
4

°}
10}

0

CLASS.
IIeiikiouim.
Aged bulls

Avoraee Ace.
} rs. moa.

Avcrace Girth.

Yearling bulls .

Bull calves .
Cows

10

6
10.

9.
11

9.
11.
II.

ft,
.8
.8
.8

io.
6
7
0
»
5
1
•>

n
1

60

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[CnAP. I.

7C. The Improvement in Breeds and Weights of Cattle. — "What lias raised
the average -weight of beef cattle from 5(J0 to SUOlbs., and some individuals
up to 3,GuO lbs. ? "What has raised the crojis of corn to double their former
yield, and in several instances produced over I'M bushels of corn to the acre
— tliat was in Kentucky ; but in the State of Kew .York whole lields have
averaged 100 bushels. In Connecticut, 134 bushels of ears of corn have been
[iroduced upon half an acre, at an expense for culture and harvest of less
than $3. "What has induced men to root up old orchards of natural fruit,
" five to the pint," and plant pippins, baldwins, greenings, russets, etc., some
of which have been sold from $;8 to $'20 a barrel, and retailed at a guinea
a dozen? "What has induced ingenious men to devote the best energies of
their minds to inventing plows, harrows, drills, reaping-machines, and every
other implement of husbandry, while every class of domestic animals has
also been improved — neat cattle probably the most of all?

The answer is, the publication of just such facts as we arc now giving,
which tend to show what has been done by some mea, and may be done by
others. This encourages us to continue our labor.

SECTION VI.-FEEDIXG CATTLE AND CARE OF FARM-STOCK.

electing Calves for Rearing. — Use judgment in
selecting such heifer calves as are to be reared.
Select only those M-hose mothers are good milkers,
and whose sires have come from good milkino:
stock ; at the same time, the calf itself should have
those characteristics that indicate an aptitude to develop
good milking qualities, viz. : small, fine head, rather long
in the muzzle; bright cj'es; thin, tapering neck; small,
well-shaped legs ; long body ; large hind quarters, set wide
behind ; soft skin ; fine hair — the color of which is immate-
rial ; and, above all, the milk-mirror or udder-veins should
be large and well developed.

The raising of bull calves for breeders had better be left
to those who have time and means to devote their attention
to it, Avho procure the best animals to begin witli. It would be no loss to
the country, were the numerous specimens of scrub bulls, too often seen,
condemned to perpetual exile.

But there is no reason why a portion of the male calves, at least, should
not be reared as bullocks, either for the team or the butcher; and it is
important that such as are reserved for this purpose should possess certain
points indicative of future excellence, viz.: well-shaped head; small ears;
short, thick neck ; deep brisket ; broad chest and shoulders ; fine bone ; long

Bkc. 6.]

FEEDING CATTLE AND CARE OF FARM-STOCK.

61

body, well rounded behind the shoulders ; straight back ; wide loius ; full
quarters ; tail thiu and tapering ; skin soft, and not too thiu.

It is too often the case that animals are selected for rearing from being of
pretty color — that takes the fancy of some member of the fixmily — or the
calf of some pet cow of the dairy-maid, without attention being paid to its
promise of excellences. Kot unfreqneutly valuable calves are fattened for
veal, simply because their color is unploasing to the eye.

This is about the most important branch of the stock-raiser's business.
Too many persons pursue the careless mode of the person who wrote the
foflowing item :

" In the spring of 1S5S my two cows had bull calves, which I determined
to raise for sale, and so gave them a good chance to grow, adding an extra
in the shape x>f a handful of barley meal, with their feeds of milk. They
grew linely, or rather Bobby did, for Billy, taking a sudden dislike to sour
milk, had rather slim rations for the last six weeks before weaning. I told
him he might starve if ho liked, and took no special pains to humor his
fancies. In September I had an offer of $G for Bobby, and concluded to
let him go, but the buyer was behind time about two weeks, and thought
the additional keeping woi'th nothing, so I did not turn him off. So, of
course, Bobby was kept, and grew up to propagate the race of Bob calves."'

78. Calves — Give tlioni Shelter. — It is almost impossible to winter calves
without shelter; if they survive tlie winter, they arc mere skeletons, and
Iiave to be lifted up before spring, and never make anything but poor, raw-
boned, unprofitable stock. Sheep are many times allowed to pick up what
they can get for half the winter; but the dead lambs, and probably dead
sheep, that lie scattered over the fields, tell the profit of such a course.
"When protected, all food not required to maintain the natural waste of the
system goes toward increasing the growth of the animal. To obtain perfect
form, animals should be kept continually growing until they arrive at
maturity. They are often turned out in the spring so poor that it requires
half the summer to make them as good as they were the fall before — a loss
of three quarters of the year in the growth of the animal. A grazier lately
said to us, in speaking of such a lot of cattle that he bought, "It took the
whole summer to soak their hides loose, so that they could begin to grow.
They seemed as hard and dry as a pair of old boots, and in some spots *as
destitute of hair."

7!). Traiiiiog Steers. — At the Maine State Fair, a boy of fifteen years,
from the town of Woodstock, had a pair of three-year-old steers, which
obeyed him as an obedient boy will his j)arents. By a motion of his liand
they would go forward, halt, and return, go to the right or left, kneel down,
and perform other things, much to tlie surprise of some older farmei-s, who
are in the habit of putting the brad through the hide. At a New York
State Fair there was a perfect Karey of an ox-tamer, who j)racticc3 breaking
steers for farmers, and as lie never treats them inhumanly, he soon has them
under perfect control, and as bidablc as well-trained children.

62 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

80. rnruly AnimalSi — As a general rule, our domestic animals arc never
unruly, except when taught to be so. For instance, some persons, in turning
stock from one field to another, only let down a few of the top rails or bars,
and force the animals to jump over. Too lazy to put up as well as to let
down, they leave the gap half closed, as a temptation to the stock to jump
back again. A few practical lessons of tiiis kind make stock unruly. Care-
lessness in regard to putting up fences when thrown down, or in repairing
weak spots, conilrms the habit. A writer saj'S his practice has always been
to teach his cows, calves, sheep, and hogs to go tlirough or under, rather
than over, the bars or fences, always leaving a rail or bar up at the top.
Taught this way, they never think of junijiing, and he has never been
troubled with unruly animals, even when liis fences were low.

81. Kindness to BrutcSi — No man can aflord to be unkind to his domestic
animals, because animals which are treated tlie most kindly are the most
gentle and obedient, and also thrive the best; hence, no one can afford to
use them unkindly. By kindness, mingled with firmness, the most ferocious
animals are subdued, and it is vain to su]->pose that the same means would
not be effectual in training domestic animals. Surely, no one should degrade
himself by continuing a jiractice which is botli unproiitable and inhuman —
a practice that makes man the brute instead of the quadruped. There is no
economy in half starving any stock through the winter, and causing thcni to
take all the storms without any shelter ; but, on the contrary, it is a clear
waste and loss to the owner.

82. Shelter for fattlet — Next to the necessity of an adequate supply of
food for stock, comes the importance of shelter. It needs no argument to
prove the truism that animals can not live Mithout food; and it is just as
certain that our domestic stock, artificially susceptible to the storms and
changes of our Northern climate, can not thrive without proper slieltcr. It
seems now to be well settled, tiiat a due degree of warmth is equivalent, in
a measure, to food ; and we all know that an entire abandon to ease and
comfort, M'liile in a state of rest — a perfect freedom from apprehension of
any kind, which may arise from a lack of food, or from exposure, or any
other cause — is necessaiy to the maximum of thrift or usefulness.

On old, improved, rich lands, it would be policy in the farmer to stable or
yard his cattle and horses during the whole year ; but I should prefer j'arding
in the summer season, as more air and room for exercise would be allowed,
both of which would be conducive to the health of the animals.

One acre of land, in good condition, sown to corn, and cut and fed from
the time it begins to tassel until it begins to glaze, will keep six head of
cattle during the time, and perhaps inpre — say two months — while it Avould
have taken six acres of pasture to keep them the same length of time.

On farms whore the pasture is generally tiie roughest, poorest part of the
farm, and that which could not be applied as profitably to other purposes —
on such lands the cattle must be allowed to get their own living in summer.

The above are excerpta from several excellent essays in the Genesee

Sec. G.] feeding CATTLE AND CARE OF FARM-STOCK. C3

Farmer, and might have been much more extended, only that we have a
great many other gond things to glean from other sources.

S3. Straw for Cattle. — Mr, Johnson says, in a letter to the Genesee
Farmer : " You say tliat I put straw in my bo.xes for my cows. This is not so.
No man ever saw me feed straw to cattle, at least for the last twenty-five years.
If they choose, they can eat the straw spread out for litter, but I never
compel them to eat straw. I know cattle can be fatted on grain and straw,
but 1 don't think so profitably as part grain and i)art hay, or part oil-cake
and part hay. Grass is the natural food of sheep and cattle ; and hay made
from §rass, if properly made, i)uts on fat, even if very little else is fed. I
am satisfied that either cows or fatting cattle do much better in 3"ards, Avith
amj)le sheds and plenty of straw for clean, dry beds. I can not feed any
kind of stock profitably unless they have such lieds."

84. IViutcriug Catttc. — There is yet a good deal of wisdom to be learned
upon this subject, even by those whose talk is of bullocks, an(^ particula>ly
in wintering calves. The one great error is in neglecting them in autumn,
after the frust has destroyed the sweetness of the grass, and allowing them
to commence getting poor before winter feeding is commenced. There is no
error more fatal to success than such neglect. It is often the foundation of
disease that the animal never recovers from. There is no condition so good
for an animal going into winter quarters as a thriving fatness; and if that
can be kept up till mid-winter, the danger of starvation upon very light
feed in the spring is greatly diminished. It is one of the worst things in all
farm economy to neglect feeding stock in the fall, because it is not yet time
to begin to fodder. You had better begin in July, if your pasture fails,
so that your animals begin to lose flesh. All that is saved of fodder in the
fall, upon the plea that "cattle can shift a M-hilc longer," exactly verifies the
old saw about " saving at the spigot and wasting at the bung."

85. Feodins Pumpkins. — A subscriber sends a long communication against
feeding pumpkins to cows. The writer's reasoning is not entirely sound, and
does not agree with our own experience and observation. As a general rule,
we arc quite sure that pumpkins increase rather than diminish the quantity
of milk ; and instead of making neat stock grow poor, we have fattened
large numbers of cattle on pnnqikins alone. There is one suggestion in our
correspondent's letter, however, which may bo worthy of attention. He
refers to the fact tliat the seeds of pumpkins have a decided diuretic (urine-
producing) cllect upon the human organs, and that if they have the same
effect upon cows, the excessive flow of urine must necessarily reduce the
flow of the milky fluid. He advises that when pumpkins arc fed, the seeds
should be taken out. The idea is plausible, and worth being acted on.

S(i. Kecpiiis: stork Warm, and Variety of Food.— I^Ian craves a variety of
food ; Uiat is, a variety of substances, either one of which would sustain life,
but would not be satisfactory. Nature demands the variation, and the mix-
ing together the several substances. Wliy ? Sim])ly because no one will
give all the elements tliat go to make up the animal economy. One article

6i

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[CnAP. I.

fiiniislies phosphate for bones, which another article is destitute of, yet it
may contain matter that will clothe the bones with muscle. Food that con-
tains neither fat nor sugar M-ill be found sufficient to keep up the animal
heat. Food that contained all the elements of bone, muscle, liber, fat, and
heat-producing qualities, might be so concentrated as to be unhealthy.

A num fed upon pemmican, would have a disposition to cat straw, liusks,
and twigs, or gnaw the bark from trees, to get soinethiiig to distend the
stomach and enable it to perform its functions healthily. Let this be thouglit
of in feeding domestic animals. It will furnish an easy rule for your
guidance. Judge theni by yourself, and act accordingly ; you will "iind it
an easy and sure road to success. We do not for animals, quadruped or
biped, recommend a variety of food at the same meal — only a change from
time to time, so as to give variety, and consequently all the elements neces-
sary to produce growth.

• Never neglect to give your cattle water until you learn to do without it
yourself, and never oflor them drink where you would vomit if compelled
to slake your own thirst.

Never leave a horse, a cow, a sheep, out in a cold winter storm, until you
arrive at that condition of unfoelingness that you could endure it yourielf.
When you think you could find comfortable shelter under a. common rail
fence, you may leave your cattle there. No domestic animal can ever reach
the highest state of perfection its nature is capable of unless always kept in
a healthy, growing condition, in an equable climate, or in warm shelter if
the inhabitant of a cold one.

Farmers do ftot jiay sufficient attention to the warmth of their stock, but
suffer them to roam about in the open air, exposed to the inclement weather.
The amount of exercise is another most important point to attend to. The
more an animal moves about, the quicker it will breathe, and the more
starch, gum, sugar, fat, and other respiratory elements it must have in its
food ; and if an additional quantity of these substances be not given to
supply the increased demand, the fat and other parts of the body will be
drawn upon, and the animal will become thinner ; also, as before observed,
every motion of the body produces a corresponding destruction of the mus-
cles which produce that motion. It is therefore quite evident that the more
the aniuial moves about, the more of the heat-producing and flesh-forming
priucijtle it must receive in its food. Hence avc see the propriety of keeping
our cattle in sheds and yards, and not suffering those (particularly which
we intend to fatten) to rove about, consuming more food, and wasting away
more rapidly the various tissues of the body already formed, and making it
more expensive and difficult to fatten them.

87. Fattening Cattle upon llayi — Speaking- upon this subject, a committee
of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, of which John Brooks and Paoli
Lathrop are members, remark :

" Fattening cattle in winter upon hay alone is a resort of many farmers,
and where hay is plenty and distant from maiket, the practice is not incou-

Seo. C]

FEEDING CATTLE AND CARE OF FARM-STOCK.

65

sisteiit with economy. If well attenJed, gootl animals consuming four per
cent, of their live weight of good huy daily, will gain daily two pounds of
fiesli. Suppose the flesh gained to be worth 16 cents, it will be equal to $8
a ton for the hay. The better practice, however, is to give only three per
cent, of the live weight of the animal in hay daily, and an equivalent for
the other one per cent, in Indian meal or roots. The gain would be greater
for the same cost of food."

Another remark worth quoting is the followitlg :

" The best age for feeding cattle for beef is from four to eight years.
Young growing cattle may be fattened, but it will require more food in pro-
portion, and longer time."

88. How to Feed Roots. — ^There seems to be much diversity of opinion as
to the value of turnips, carrots, etc., for feeding. One man feeds his hogs a
i^rcat amount of them, but neglects to jjrovide a bed secure from the intru-
sion of cold winds and snow, and then wonders they do not grow ; or feeds
a cow four bushels per day, and wonders she does not fat. How could slie ?
She is almost physicked to death, and her urinary organs are injured by
ovei'-exertion ; and although she is thorougldy littered with straw, still her
feet arc in the water; and when she lies down, her side-is wet.

After many trials in a similar way, many liave come to the conclusion
that root feeding is an unprofitable business in our climate. If hogs must
sleep in snow-banks, give them corn by all means, and give them plenty of
it. If cattle can not be stabled, or kept so sheltered that they may be dry,
then roots will not give one half tlie return they would under a judicious
system of management.

After many trials of fattening sheep and horned cattle, and feeding store
stock of all kinds with roots, I came to the conclusion that they are all valu-
able when properly fed with liay and grain, but that their relative value to
grain is often overrated in this country of cheap corn. Eoots, unless cooked,
are not economical food for swine.

The great error in relation to feeding roots is, that they are too much fed
to the exclusion of grain. A fai'mer has slioats to winter, or horned cattle
to fatten ; he first feeds his turnips, carrots, beets, small potatoes ; next his
corn or meal. This is wrong. Tiiu corn sliould be fed from the first. A
dozen shoats of 100 lbs. eacli would profitably receive a bushel per day of
roots, if cooked with corn. A futtuuing ox should have one busliol, or not
over two, per day, with six or eight (puirts of meal. Cows should have one
lialf bushel per day, whether being milked or not. That amount will bring
thuui out, in tlie spring, fat and ready to do good service at tiie pail, provided,
of course, that they have iuiy and stalks in due proportion. Calves and
j-earlings should always have one fourth bushel per day, with a very small
allowance of "rain.

Tiie above is partly from the Stock Journal, and the following from the
Working Faiiner / botli of which are good autliorit}'.

"We beg again to remind our readers, particularly those who are engaged

66

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Cbap. I.

in dairy and stock farming, to appropriate a full amount of land to root-
growing. Carrots, Lects, turnips, parsneps, may all be raised with profit
wherever stock is to be fed. For horses, carrots are invaluable. For milch
cows, they not only furnish a milk of superior flavor, butter of fine color and
odor, but, when used as a portion of their food, they guarantee a healthful
condition. Tlie power of the jiectic acid of the carrot to gelatinize all veg-
etable matter held in solution in the stomach, puts its contents in such a
condition that the peristaltic motion of the intestines can manage it. Flat-
ulence is prevented, and thorough digestion secured. The dung of the
horse fed partly on carrots, never contains the undecomposed shell of the
oat, nor large amounts of starcli unappropriated ; and it is for this reason
tiiat a bushel of oats and a bushel of carrots will do more for the horse than
two bushels of oats ; and not because the carrot contains as much flesh-
making material as the oat, but because it causes all the flesh-making ma-
terial of the oat to be appropriated, instead of being voided with the excretia.
For cows and oxen, other roots may occasionally be substituted with profit,
as variety to all animals is pleasing in their food ; and no one root should
1)0 so continuous!}- used. Since the introduction of pulping machines, pulped
roots mixed with cut hay, cut straw, and other cheap material, add much to
the economy of the farm as well as to the health of the cattle.

89. Feeding Linseed and Cotton-seed Oil-Cake. — Never having had per-
sonal experience enough in feeding oil-cake, having always preferred corn-
meal, to give an opinion which we would ask others to rely upon, we select
the following from a lecture by Prof. Voelcker, before the meeting cf the
council of the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England, in June, 1860. It is
worthy of attention from all cattle-feeders. He says :

" It is not my object, in giving a practical turn to the lecture to-day, to
record any experiments of my own, or in any way to presume to teach the
feeder of stock in what way he may best expend his money in the purchase
of food, but I shall endeavor simply to give to the practical man some indi-
cations whereby I liope he will be enabled to form for himself a trustworthy
opinion respecting the relative value of difl'erent cakes, and likewise what is
perhaps of more importance to him, to introduce some remarks which will
enable liim to distinguish a good from a bad cake; and in conclusion, shall
allude brieily to the various substances with which oil-cakes are at the pres-
ent time often largely adulterated.

90. Fat in Food. — " Let me first point out to you some peculiarities in
the composition of oil-cakes. A reference to their composition is necessary
to the understanding the remarks which will follow. I would then observe,
that what cliaracterizes oil-cakes, distinguishing them from all other articles
of food pre-eminently, is the large amount of oil that is left in tlie cakes,
obtained by expression of the oil-seeds. If you glance at the diagram (see
table on page 71), you will find that they contain a considerable quantity of
oil — from 6 to 12 per cent. ; and in some instances, as in the decorticated
cotton-cake, even 16 per cent, of oil. I may observe at once that the value

Seo. c;

FEEDING CATTLE AND CARE OF FARM-STOCK.

67

of oil-cake in a very great measure depends upon the amount of oil which is
left in the cake. And I may further say, that the tendency of the manufac-
turer at the present day is to produce an inferior description of cake, inas
much as improved machinery enables him to squeeze out more oil than
formerlj', and thus to render the refuse less fattening, less'valuable to the
feeder of stock. I am very much inclined to believe that the oil is by far
the most valuable constituent of all oil-cakes. 1 am aware that it was the
foshion, not many years ago, to measure the feeding properties and even the
fattening qualities of articles of food by the amount of nitrogenous or flesh-
forming matters ; but these views are not supported by any practical
experiments, nor, indeed, by the every-day experience that we have respect-
ing not only human, but cattle food. We pay more for food rich in starch,
mucilage, and matters capable of prodncing fat, than we pay for food which,
like bean-meal, is extremely rich in nitrogenous matter, but which docs not
])roduce so much butchers' meat. It is a matter of much importance to the
fiirmcr to know how much he gets back for the money he expends in the
purchase of food. I have no hesitation in saying that more money is made
b}' the purchase of food rich in oil, starch, or sugar, than in the purchase
of food which contains an excess of nitrogenous matters.

91. Flesh in Foodt — " Still, we ought not to leave unnoticed that the
flesh-lorm^g matters are very important indeed, and that oil-cakes are
peculiarly rich in them. In one sense they are perhaps most essential — per-
haps even more essentially necessary than the other constituents of food
which produce fat, or are employed in the animal economy to keep up the
animal heat. They are more important in this sense ; whereas the animal or-
ganization has the power to make fat from gum, sugar, mucilage, and even
from young cellulose or young vegetable fiber, it has not the power of making
a particle of flesh. Unless, therefore, food is given to animals wiiich contains
ready-made flesh, an animal can not grow, and the other constituents of food
remain unavailable. It is in this sense that the nitrogenous matters of food
are extremely valuable ; but in a ]uircly practical sense they are not so val-
uable as the oil, starch, or sugar of food, because by spending a certain amount
of money in food, we do not get so great a return in the shape of butchers'
meat by purchasing these flesh-forming matters as by purchasing feeding
substances rich in oil or starch. However, in speaking of the relative value
of the various constituents, especially the oily and the flesh-forming constit-
uents, we are not to overlook that the quantity of nitrogenous matter which
is not apjilied for the formation of flesh, passes through tlie animal, ami is
obtained again in the dung, with the exception of a small quantity that
escapes by evaporation through the skin or through the lungs. A certain
(juantity of nitrogenous food evaporates through the skin, or with the ]>rr-
spiration ; but by far the largest proportion, according to some experiments,
nineteen twentieths, of the flesh-forming or nitrogenous matters of food are
found again in the dung; according to others the amount is seven eighths.
But, speaking in round numbers, I think wo arc not far wrong in saying that

63 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I,

we may fairly expect three fourths of the nitrogenized matters of oil-cake back
again in the manure ; and perliaps we are safe, likewise, in asserting that
fully one half of the money value of rape and the best cotton cakes is ob-
tained back again in the manure. So we nmst not put down these constit-
uents, which are called nitrogenous, as useless, because they alone do not
produce much butchers' meat ; nor must we estimate the value of oil-cake
entirely by the increase in the live weight of cattle fed upon the cake, but
also, and chiefly, I believe, by the increased value of the manure which is
produced through the instrumentality of oil-cake.

92. Bone in Food. — " I will now direct attention to the inorganic matters
or ash of oil-cakes. These inorganic matters may be called bono material ;
for the ash of oil-cakes is particularly rich in phosphates of lime, or the ma-
terial of which the greater part of the bone is composed. Now, the large
proportion of oil ; next, the large proportion of flesh-forming matters ; and
third, a considerable proportion of bone material are characteristics that
confer a particular value upon oil-cake, either directly as food, or indirectly
as useful material for increasing the value of farm-yard manure. For let me
observe, that oily matters and substances that make butchers' meat are the
most valuable constituents in all feeding materials, and therefore also in an
oil-cake. On the other hand, the flesh-forming constituents and the bone-
forming materials — in other words, the nitrogen and the phospBates of the
cake — are the two most valuable fertilizing constituents. We have thus in
oil-cakes, in a concentrated state, materials that produce butchers' meat,
and, at the same time, yield the most valuable fertilizing constituents. There
is no other description of food which unites these useful properties.

93. Linseeil-Cake. — " Ton are all aware we distinguish chiefly the follow-
ing kinds of linseed-cake : English cake, American cake, and foreign cAkes.
Among foreign cakes there are various descriptions. There is the Baltic,
the Marseilles, the Naples cake, and various others. Wc have here an ex-
cellent specimen of good English cake. The English cake is made now of
two qualities, thick and thin cake ; the latter is made in imitation of the
American barrel cake,' of which specimens are before you. You observe
how closely the thin English cake i-esembles the American barrel cake. The
latter has gained much favor, and therefore the manufacturers in England
have found it to their advantage to imitate the form in which it is sold. In
the first place, notice that the American cake occasionally is as bad as
English and foreign cakes. It is not every description of American cake
which is good, but generally speaking, as it comes into the market, espe-
cially the barrel cake, it is of a very superior character. But the question
whether it is generally superior to the English cake or not, is one which is
not very readily decided ; you may get English cake quite as good, if not
better, than the American cake.

'• Some years ago it was the fashion to buy the English cake in preference
to any other, but it is now the fashion to buy the American barrel cake. I
can only account for this by the fact that the English cake, being produced

Seo. 6.} FEEDING CATTLE AND CARE OF FARM-STOCK. 69

in good quality, was rapidly consumed ; the American cake was usually
sent iu a very damaged condition to this country, coming as it did in La^s ;
our sharp American friends very soon found that they must send their cake
here in a good condition. They dried it previously to sending it over, and
imported it in barrels, and this improved condition of the American cake
greatly increased its reputation, which has been kept up ; so that at the ]>res
ent time in most markets, American cake, especially the barrel cake, fetches
a higher price than the English. But a reference to the diagram will show
you that there is no essential difierence between good English cake and
good American ; indeed, if anything, the advantage is in favor of the speci-
mens of English cake. The difference is extremely small. There is the
same quantity of oil iu both cases. The proportion of flesh-forming matters
is rather larger in the English than in the American. There is the same
amount of ash in both. Tlie proportion of sand hardly amounts to one per
cent, in the English cake, and in the American it is only a half per cent.'
Tliese differences are extremely small and unimportant, so that you may
get, and often do get, as good English cake as American. And occasion-
ally, also, you get bad American cakes ; but on the whole, the exporters
of American cake are very jealons as to the kind of article they send to this
country, especially if they go to the expense of packing it in barrels.

'J-i. ('otton-l'ake> — " We distinguish now principally two kinds of this cake
— the one made of the whole seed, and the other of the shelled seed. The
difference in the two qualities of cake will at once become intelligible bj'
an examination of the seeds, or the raw materials from M-liich the cakes arc
made. The decorticated or shelled cake is made of the kernel of the cotton
seed ; the whole cake, in which we recognize an abundance of the husk, is
made of the entire seed ; and inasmuch as the cotton seed contains full half
its weight, and some descriptions contain as much as GO per cent, of the hard
husk, we must not expect that the cake made of the whole seed should be
so valuable as the decorticated cake. There are several specimens of cotton-
cake on the table. There is very little value in the husk itself; the difference
in the two kinds of cotton-cake, then, arises from tiie different mode in which
they are made. The one, the decorticated cake, is made from the kernel ;
the other kind is made from the whole seed. The difference in the compo-
sition of the two kinds of cake is very great. The decorticated cotton-cake
contains 16 per cent, of oil (more than any other description of cake), while
the whole-seed cake contains only 0 jier cent. The proportion of albuminous
or llesh-forming matters in the decorticated cake amounts to 41 per cent. •
in the whole-seed cake it is only 23 per cent, or just one half So with
respect to the other constituents, the proportion of woody fiber is vcr}- much
larger in tiie whole-seed cake than in the other. The husk in the whole-
seed cake for a long time was a great impediment to the general use to
which cotton-cake is now applied in this country. I remember when the
first cargoes of cotton-cake came into England, before (he decorticated
cotton-cake was known ; trials were made of it, which proved quite unsuc-

70

DOMESTIC AXIMALS.

[CnAP. I.

cessful. People did not like it at all, and I believe the cotton-cake would
never have been extensively used if it had not been for the invention of a
very useful machine, ))atented in America, by nieans of which the hard
husks can be removed from the kernel. The use of this machine gives us a
superior oil and a sujjcrior cake. The cotton-seed oil made from the kernel
alone is a very useful article, and so is the cake, whereas the oil expressed
from the whole seed is dark-brown in color, and can not be used except for
the commonest purposes for which oil is enijiloyed. The difference in the
value of the two descriptions of cake is so great, that I almost think two
tuns of the oil-cake, made of the whole seed, do not go further than one tun
of the best decorticated cotton-seed cake. Moreover, there is a certain
danger in using the whole-seed cake. Several cases of so-called poisoning
have been brought under my notice within the last year or two. Animals
that have freely partaken of tiie whole-seed cake have died suddenly, and
people have imagined that there was something injurious in the husk; but
examination has shown that the effect produced is very much like that which
is occasionally produced in the case of boys who die from inflammation of
the bowels in countries where cherries are very abundant. Being very
greedy, and eating the cherries with the stones, they get a stoppage of the
bowels, and so die from inflammation. There is nothing poisonous in the
husk of the cotton-seed, and when given judiciously, no injury will result;
but if animals are supplied with an imlimited quantity of dry food with the
whole seed, there is indeed a danger. The hard husk is indigestible, and
may roll together in such large masses that inflammation of the bowels will
ensue. There is no such danger, however, in the use of decorticated cotton-
cake. The decorticated cake occurs of various degrees of quality. And
allow me to observe, with respect to all kinds of cake, that not only Uie
composition, but, even in a higher degree, the condition of the cake, deter-
mines in a great measure its value. I have here a specimen which you
would hardly recognize as of the same description as another specimen also
on the table, of a very beautiful character ; it is the same kind of cake, only
it is in a bad condition. I say, then, the condition of a cake determines
everything.

95. Condition of Cake. — " Some time ago I was very much gratified in
finding what great care Mr. Stratton, of Broad Hinton, a celebrated short-
horn breeder, takes in selecting the very best of American barrel cake for
his stock. We often forget that animals have appetites as we have, and that
they like food in a good condition better than food in a bad one. Tlie com-
position of two samples of the same food may not vary much, yet the prac-
tical effect produced by them may vary exceedingly. Tliere is nothing
remarkable in this, for we know that if we get good, wholesome bread, which
is one or two days old, we do well upon it ; but if it remains in a damp
cellar and gets moldy, stale, and moist, it loses its fine flavor, and in this
condition may do us harm. So it is with stale, moldy cakes. Animals
never do well on very old cakes. In examining, therefore, the different

Seo. 6.] FEEDING CATTLE AND CARE OF FARM-STOCK. 71

cakes, we ought to examine particularly their condition. I allude especially
to the examination of cotton-cake, because every person has the means of
examining its condition with very little trouble. It is not so easy to examine
the condition of linseed ; it presupposes an extensive acquaintance with
various descriptions of linseed-cake. Yuu must have seen a great many
samples of cake before you can give a trustworthy opinion. Not so with
decorticated cotton-cake. In this the color affords an excellent criterion as
to its freshness. Tiie freshest cotton-cake is as yellow as mustard. I hold a
piece of cake in my hand, the exterior of which is bro,wn ; but if I cut away
a portion, you will observe that the interior is bright yellow — very different
from the part that has been exposed to the air. This was an excellent cake
when we first got it for feeding purposes, and we are feeding it extensively
on our farm at Cirencester. "When we first had it, it was of a bright yellow
color; but you observe how it has since changed. From this we may learn
a very useful lesson, that we may take the color as a guide to the condition
and age of the cakes. If we are presented with a cake which is as brown
as the specimen before me, and if yon find on cutting it that the brown color
has penetrated deep into the interior, we may at once conclude that it is a
stale old cake. The deeper it has penetrated, the older the cake, and the
more it has sufiered by bad keeping. If it is kept in a damp j^lace, its color
and condition arc rapidly deteriorated.

COMPOSITION OF LINSEED AND OF OIL CAKES.

T J „j \r....t.,^ Cotron-8oed cake Pftppv-

Llniecd. ^Z^^'^- Rnpc-cake. ^'"'/,"''- made of a'.J

"'"'• ' "''^- TTboleaced. cake.

■Water 7.50 12.44 10.08 11.90 11.19 ll.iiS

Oil 34.00 12.79 11.10 G.G9 9.08... . 6.75

Flesh-fonning matters 24.44 27.69 29.53 23.48 2o.l() 31. 4G

Heat-giving constituents 30.73 40.95 40.90 52.14 48.93 38.18

Inorganic matters (ash) 3.33 G.13 7.79 5.79 5.G4 12.98

100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

96. Salt for Stock. — A great deal has been written njion the use of salt
for animals, and much reasoning employed to prove various positions ; but
very few accurate experiments have been made. Loose and general observ-
ations have been the basis for most of the opinions formed. A certain
quantity of salt is unquestionably useful ; an excess is as certainly hurtful.
The proper amount is what we want to have determined. All ordinary food
of animals contains more or less salt — as, for example, a tun of barley or
oats straw, and of some kinds of liay, contains si.x pounds of salt ; a tun of
carrots contains four pounds. We can not, therefore, speak of animals eating
no salt — they all partake of it, but we wish to know the right quantity.

The Genesee J'anner, from wliieli we have frecjuently extracted useful
facts, and to which we are indebted for the next half dozen, says of salt for
cattle feeding for the shambles : *

" "We have had our doubts whether it was good economy to allow animals
feeding for the lutcher the free use of salt. Salt is doubtless conducive to
health, favoring the formation of bile, and aiding in carrying cfleto matter

DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Cn.vr. I.

from the system ; but there is no reason to suppose that it favors the accu-
n\ulation of fat. Liebig, indeed, asserts that ' tlie absence of common salt is
favorahh to the format i(>7i of fat, ^ and tliat the ' fattejiing of an animal is
rendered impossible, when we add to its food an excess of salt, althougli
short of the quantity required to produce a purgative effect.' liecently,
liowevcr, in allusion to experiments made since the publication of the work
in wliich tlic above sentences occur, Liebig says: 'Salt does not act as a
]u-oducer of flesh ; but it neutralizes the injurious actions of the conditions
which must be united in the unnatural state of animals fed or fattened in
order to produce flesh ; and the advantatjes attending its use can liardly be
estimated too highly.'

" Boussingault is also in favor of salt. Two lots of steers were fed thirteen
months, one with and one without salt. The average weight per head of
tlie salttd lot, at the commencement of the experiment, was 095 lbs. ; at the
cud of thirteen mouths, 2,090 lbs. Increase, 1,135 lbs. They consumed per
head 15,972 lbs. of hay. One tun of hay, therefore, produced 143 lbs. of
increase of animal.

"The second lot, which received no salt, averaged at the commencement
of the experiment 896 lbs. ; at the end of thirteen months, 1,890 lbs.
Increase, 994 lbs. They consumed per head 1-1,553 lbs. of hay, or one tun
of hay produced 137 lbs. of increase of animal.

"The steers receiving salt produced six poimds more increase for each tun
of hav constimed than those which were not allowed salt. This may be
considered only<a slight advautagc, and in France did not pay the cost of
the salt ; in this country, however, where salt is much cheaj^er, its use will
doubtless be profitable. Boussingault remarks : 'Tlie salt exercises no con-
siderable influence on the growth, yet it appears to exert a beneficial eflect
on the appearance and condition of the animal.' Up to the first fourteen
days no perceptible difference was observed between the two lots ; but in the
course of the month following, the difl'erence was visible, even to the
unpracticed eye."

With such good authority, it is presumed feeders will continue the use of
salt; but let us give them this one word of caution — do not give it in excess.
If you can not get rock-salt, or if that is too expensive, mix fine salt with
soft clay, and dry that in large cakes, and lay them under cover for the cattle
to lick.

97. Rock-Salli — "\Ye reiterate that rock-salt is not only the most econom-
ical, but the most convenient for the farmer to salt his cattle, since it can be
placed where they can lick it at their leisure, and there it will remain, sum-
mer and winter ; the rains have very little effect upon it while in a lump,
as it comes from the quarry, it being really what its name indicates, a piece
of rock. "When broken fine it dissolves easily, but not before.

A farmer who has the least idea of economy should learn how much he
can save in a year, or a lifetime, by the simple operation of substituting rock-
salt in place of that in ordinary use for farm-stock. A lump of rock-salt

Sec. C] feeding CATTLE AND CARE OF FARM-STOCK. 73

may be placed in any out-door situation, -wliere cattle can go and lick it
whenever their appetite inclines them to do so, and it will not waste by
exposure to dew or rain, because it is not hygrometric, as is the manufactured
salt in common use. Another thing in its favor is this — your stock, with
salt always before tliem, will never eat too much. Neither will they cat it
too fast, as tlicy almost always do when salted with line salt ; nor waste it
by scattering it in the dirt, or leaving it to dissolve and sink into the earth.
Another difKcuIty is obviated by the use of rock-salt constantly within reach
of stock, and that is, the hooking and punching of the weaker animals by
the strong ones, in fighting their way to the once-a-week, or perhaps once-
a-month, salting-place.

llock-salt is a mineral as much as marble, and almost as solid and hard,
and is quarried out of mines, like coal or other mineral substances. The
most extensive salt mines are at Cracow, in Poland, where there are regular
cartways, streets, and villages of miners' huts, where men, M'omen, and
children, and domestic animals live deep down in the earth. Our principal
supply of rock-salt comes from Cheshire, England, where there are extensive
mines. In its mineral state, the salt is of a slightly reddish color, and dingy
■white, and some of it needs to be melted and purified for culinary purposes.
Tlie purest portion may be reduced at once to powder by breaking and
grinding, and is then quite white. The salt known here as Liverpool salt is
refined rock-salt from the Cheshire mines.

A lump of rock-salt as big as a man's head may be fixed by pins upon a
rock or block, where the water will not stand around it, and it will remain
until all licked away by the cattle's tongues. In case of stock in stables, a
lump may be placed in each manger.

98. Bonos for Animals. — A good deal has been lately said about feeding
animals with bone-meal. We give several opinions upon the subject:

E. C. "Wright, of Gallatin County, 111., states, on the authority of the Rev.
John Crawford, of Crawford, in that county, that the bones of swine dying
with what is called liog cholera, decay as rapidly as the flesh, and that portions
of the skin outlast the bones. lie wants scientific men to give attention to
this strange consumption of the solids, and thinks that it may be the means
of suggesting a remedy for the disease so fatal and so pecuniarily distressing
to a vast number of farmers in the West. Now, as we know that feeding
bone-meal to animals and phosi)hate of limo to plants tiiat need it, has
proved beneficial, is it impossible or improbable that feeding it to swine
suflering from a disease tluit produces the efi'ect described, may not be the
means of curing or preventing the disease?

Dr. Waterl)ury says: "There arc some now theories in relation to feeding
phosphates to animals. It is possible tliat this may have some cfi'eet. There
is an idea prevailing that feeding material that makes bones will increase
their size. It is a subject well worthy of more attention."

I'rof. Mape-s states that, when a calf is deficient in bone, that is, too weak
to stand, feeding bone-meal to the cow that suckles the calf will furnish it

74

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. 1.

with the necessary material. This fact is well known to many farmers, and
tliat cows eat old bones with great avidity. We also know that physicians
arc using a solution of jihosphate of lime in their practice, and there is no
doubt it may be administered to domestic animals with equally good etfect ;
and whether, in the case named, it worked a cure or not, it is well worth
trying. Many things much more simple have produced wonderful results.

99. Water for Stock. — See that your stock have an abundance of clear,
good water in hot weather. If it is pumped from wells, it should always be
standing in boxes or troughs, so tliat stock can have access to it. Select, for
hot days, fields with plenty of shade trees in them, to protect stock from the
burning sun. Pastures should always contain shade trees, and they should
bo planted, if not there.

Mr. Strawn, the great Illinois farmer, has successfully tried this method
of keeping water on a stock farm :

Dig a basin five or ten rods square, and ten feet deep, upon a high knoll ;
feed com in the basin to your hogs and cattle, xintil it is well puddled by
the tramping of their feet, which Avill make it almost water-tight. Mr.
Strawn says the rains of a single Avinter sufficed to accommodate several
hundred head of stock, and that it had been dry but once in twelve years.

For watering at the barn, in all situations where digging wells is expen-
sive, cisterns should be provided, if running water from some brook or
spring can not be brouglit in pipes, or sent up by a water-ram.

100. fhaffin^ Food for Stock. — There is no disputing the fact that chaffing
food, particularly' all coarse forage, will pay well, where it is as dear as it is
in the vicinity of New York. At the State Fair Farmers' Club, at Elmira,
October, 1860, the following opinions were given upon the subject:

A. B. Dickenson said : '' On good hay you can fat cattle, but yon can not
upon corn-stalks, but they are better than poor hay. I can not make an
acre of corn-stalks as good as an acre of grass. If you want to raise a big
crop of corn, put on barn-yard manure year after year on grass, and after-
ward plow it in and make it mellow and ricli, sixteen inches deep, and then
corn will never exhaust the soil. Corn-stalks must always be chafl'ed to
obtain their full value."

Col. Butterfield, of Utica, said: "Up to two or three years ago, I thought
but little of corn-fodder. I then cut the top stalks ; now I cut up by the
ground, and my cattle do first-rate on corn-stalks till March. To get the
greatest benefit from corn-stalks, they must be chaflfed and steamed."

Hon. T. C. Peters, of Darien, N. Y., said : " I grow corn for fodder as well
as grain, and cut up from the ground, and chaif the stalks for feeding. Tliere
is no other feed for milch cows in winter equally valuable if it is well cured
and then chaSed ; and if steamed, it is still better."

Mr. Lyman Barnard, of Steuben County, said : " I cut up my com from
the ground, and cut the stalks up fine in a stalk-cutter, and mix with cut
straw, and I find my cattle and horses do as well, or better, than upon good
timothy hay."

Sko. 6.] FEEDING CATTLE AND CARE OF FARM-STOCK. 75

Mr. Plumb, of Onondaga County, said : " Wo don't raise any crop as val-
uable as corn, and we do raise good wheat. I foddered 150 sheep and 12
cows till March upon ten acres of corn-stalks, allowing the stock to run at a
straw-stack besides. I raise the large eight-rowed yellow corn with a small
oob, and like it better than Dutton corn. It yields better than any white
corn."

It is the opinion of some really scientific men we have conversed witli
upon the subject, that in all places where hay usually sells as high as $20 a
tun, and power is not unusually expensive, that it would pay, not only to
chaff all hay, stalks, straw, etc., but actually to grind these substances into
meal — not very fine, to be sure, but so that none of the particles would be
more than an eighth of an inch in length. We saw, a few years ago, the
model of a newly-invented mill that was most admirably well calculated for
doing such work as reducing hay and straw to meal. It was the invention
of Mr. Elanchard, of Boston.

Flint, in his " Dairy Farming," in speaking of feeding milch cows, says :
" One of the best courses is, to feed in the morning, either at the time of
milking— which I prefer — or immediately after, with cut feed, consisting
of hay, oats, millet, or corn-stalks, mixed with shorts, and Indian, linseed,
or cotton-seed meal, thoroughly moistened with water. If in winter, hot
or warm water is far better than cold. If given at milking-time, the cows
■will generally give down the milk more readily. The stalls and mangers
ought always to be well cleaned out first."

101. Nutritive Value of Various Kiuds of Fodder.— The following tables
will be useful, as showing the relative value of various substances :

. — Per-centage of Nitrrtjjen. — *
Net. equivalent. Dried. Umiried.

1. Meadow hay 100 1.34 1.15

2. Red clover hay 75 1.70 1.54

3. Rye-straw 479 0.30 0.24

4. Oal-straw 883 0.36 0.30

5. Wheat-straw 426 0.36 0.27

0. Harlcy-straw 460 0.30 0.25

7. Pea-straw 64 1.45 1.79

Tlie following is the composition of these several substances, in which
their relative value will more distinctly appear :

°ume°'e11: Fatty matter. Saline mattor.

7 1 2 to 5 5 to 10

9.3 3 to 5 9

1.3 - 4

1.8 0.8 6

1.3 2to3 6

1.3 - 5

12.3 1.5 4 to 6

From these tables it will be seen that, taking good English or meadow
hay as the standard of comparison, and calling that one, 4.79 times the
weight of rye-straw, or 3.83 times the weight of oat-straw, coiitniiis the same
amount of nutritive matter ; that is, it would take 4.79 times aa much rye-
Btraw to produce the same result as good meadow hay.

Water.

Woody fiber.

Starch, Gum, 0
Sugar. bu

14

80 ...

40

14

25 ...

. ... 40

12 to 16 .

45 ...

.... 38

12

45 ...

.... 35 ...'....

12 to 15 .

50 ...

.... 30

12 to 16 .

50 ...

.... 30

10 to 15 .

25 ...

.... 45

76

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

CnAP. I.

Nl'TRITIVE EQUIVALENTS. (Piiaciical and Tueoketical.)

ARTICLES OF FOOD.

Kni-Ush hay

Liict-rn

Ki'd clover hay

KimI clover (green) . . .

Kyo-itriiw

Oat-3lraw"

Carrot-U-avM (tops). . .

Swedish turnips

Munpel-wurzel ..;....
"Wliuo stliclan beet . ..

Carrots

I'otntoes

Potaioc'3 kept ia pits..

Beans

Peas

Indian corn

Iluck wheat

IJarley

Oaia

Kvo

AVheat-

Oilcake (linseed)

TUKOBETICAL VALl*i:S.

BOVMIKOAULT.

13

Il.O
16.6

lo.l

76.0

is.r

21.0
70.9
91.0

^5.6
87.6
75.9
76.3
7.9
8.6
18.0
12 5
13.2
12.4
11.5
10.5
13.4

1.S4
1.6«
1.70

.80

.86

8.94

1.83

1.4.?
2.40
1.60
1.13
5.50
4.20
2.00
2.40

5.1 1
8.84

1.64
2.10
2.11-2 i 1.76
2.23 I 1.93
2.27 1 2.00
2.33 2.09
6.00 I 5.20

1.1.. ;100

1.8S I 83

1.54 I 75

.64 \sn

.84 479

.80 1833

.S.-> , 1.W

.17 1676

.IS '669

.80 |S<2

.86 819

.80 I8S3

ihb

1 to 6.0S

1 to 24.40
1 to 12.50

Ito 7.20

1 to 7.54
1 to 9.110

I to
llo
Ito
Ito
1 to
1 to
1 to
1 to

2.8

2.14

6.55

6.05

4.25

4.i'8

4.42

2.42

100
77.9

527 7-18
445 6-13

891)

542.1
88.) 5-12

84 5-18
81i

6S 11-12
5S 1-16
3S 5-6

Prectlcl ToJuei, ■■ obl.lnp'l hj .X|«rtmrutl 1.
feeding, .ccordlQC to

891
S.S
27
42

ino

90
90

500
200

100

8O0
400

S.'SO
200

54
64

62
64
61

71
.55

52
108

100

90

90

l-'iO

150 ; 666

100
lOfl
100
425
850

180 19U I 200

250

225
150

53

SOO 950
460 250

250
200

40
40

ino

101
100

400

20.1

27il
200

Doua.ln-

30

69

—

_

85

S7J

—

S^i

—

80

—

48

100

267
2 0

8G6|

80
200

Oats in the bundle, ■well cut up, straw and all, make excellent, cheap feed
for horses oa' other stock; iu many cases it is much better than threshing
them. For heavy teams hard at work, a little sound corn-meal mixed wet
with them, makes a feed that can not well be beaten. It is a highly econ-
omical and satisfactory way of feeding, both to man and beast, where oats.
sell at a low price by the bushel.

102. A Treatise ou Feeding. — A valuable treatise on feeding, which might
be studied with profit by all farmers, has been made by Mr. Ilorsefall, an
English farmer, and published in the journal of the Royal Agricultural
Society, which may be found complete as an appendix to Flint's " Dairy
Farminjr."

103. Soiling Cattle. — Soiling is a term applied to the practice of confining
animals to the stable, and growing a green crop, such as sowed corn, sorgo,
wheat, rye, or oats, clover, etc., which is cut up as needed, and carried to the
animals, instead of allowing them to have the range of the pastures. Mr.
Philo Gregory, of Chester, Orange Co., N. Y., sowed a patch of half an
acre, with corn for fodder, making the rows thirty inches apart. "With the
product he kept twinty-five cows for six loecJcs without other food.

The most extensive and successful system of soiling is pursued by lion.
Josiah Quincy, Jr., of Boston, who has published a small volume giving
details of his practice. One of the great advantages of soiling is the saving
of manure, the quantity being largely increased over that made by an equal
number of cattle at pasture, or fed in the ordinary way. We recommend
any one disposed to attempt the soiling system to read Mr. Quincy's book.

104. Diseases of Cattle. — We shall not attempt to give a treatise upon the

Sko. 6.]

FEEDIXG CATTLE AND CARE OF FARM-STOCK.

77

diseases of cattle and the remedies ; for this, we must refer the reader to
Di-. Dadd, veterinary surgeon, Boston, and his valuable writings, as well as
several other good publications, not forgetting the Stock Journal, Kew
York. "We will give, however, the following sensible remarks upon one
of the most common diseases, or symptoms of disease, from Thos. E. Hatch,
Keene, N. .II.

105. The Horn Ail.— Mr. Hatch says: "'Horn Ail,' or 'Hollow Horn,'
is an absurd misnomer for an imaginary disease in many cases, and for a
symptom of fever in others. Many a farmer has reluctantly ' cut off one
inch,' or more, from the tail of a beautiful animal, when it was turned out
to pasture, under the erroneous impression that it would do better, 'for the
hair hung in curls,' although the animal was in perfect health and good
condition, and needed no remedy of any kind. In fever, the degree of
arterial excitement is estimated in part by the heat at the base of the horn,
which is very thin, and covers the most vascular bone in tlie animal, thereby
displaying symptoms of great value to those capable of appi-eciating them.

" But even in fever there can never be the slightest occasion for ' cuttinsr
off one inch of the tail,' nor for jwurin^ ho'dirig xoater upon the horns of a
sufl'ering animal until he '■dodges.'' A cathartic of epsom or glauber salts,
sulphnr or linseed-oil, combined with ginger, red pepper, or any stimulant
aromatic, will do all the good, and much more, than the slight bleeding from
the cut can do, and not leave the animal to thump its sides the remainder
of its life with a mutilated stump, a living monument that all the darkness
of the dark ages has not yet passed away.

"The hope that I may be the means, in a single case, of preserving intact
one of the beauties of the bovine race, to the unfortunate animal suifering
from 'Horn Ail' or 'Tail Sickness,' is the only apology that I can ofl'er for
this communication. I would as soon knock off the horn, or slit the ears of
a favorite animal, as to 'cut off one inch of the tail,' and should have as
good physiological reasons for so doing. The disfigurement in either case
would be about equal, but the inconvenience which the animal would suffer
from the loss of the long, silky brush so kindly furnished by nature, espe-
cially in 'fly time,' would be immeasurably greater."

The Ohio Kercuma, an ounce to a dose, given in whisky a few times to
a cow with this disease, is recommended as a valuable cure. In our opinion,
good feed and warm stables as a preventive are worth more than all the cures.

106. €ure of Scours in Cattle. — An English farmer recommends the use
of acorn-mcal as a sure cure of diarrhea in horned cattle, sheep, and lambs,
and young stock generally. He says :

" I sent the dried acorns to the mill to be ground into flour, and when I
found symptoms of scour or diarrhea in my cattle, I ordered two handfuls
to be mi.x'cd in a bran mash, and given warm immediately, and to continue
it once a day, until the disease disai>pcared. Tliis proved a never-failing
cure — insomuch that I never had any trouble from the disease afterward ;
and my neighbors, seeing this, had recourse to me for a little of my acorn

78

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[CnAP. I.

flour, when the disease appeared in their cattle, which, of course, I was glad
to give tliem, the result being the same as in my own case."

107. To Cure Lice on Cattle. — Some farmers have great faith in the
eflicacy of onions for ridding cows or oxen of lice. Mr. Roe, of Orange
County, N. Y., claims to have found them an infallible remedy in his prac-
tice. They also give a tone to the stomach, and are especially valuable in
hot weather, when working cattle will lie in the shade at noon-time, and
refuse to cat. Mr. Roe uses the "scullions," or small, unsalable onions, and
those which become soft or sjirouted toward spring. lie gives a feed of half
a peck once a day, at noon, and says that two feeds are sufficient to extirpate
any number of vermin.

A correspondent recommends the following remedy for lice or ticks : " One
tablespoonful of sulphur to one pint of salt, mix thoroughly together, and
feed to cattle or sheep once a week, in quantities, as we usually feed cattle,
for two months in succession, and there will be no ticks or lice on them."

lOS. Cattle Poisoned with Brine. — Many farmers have learned to their
sorrow that old brine, placed within the reach of hogs, cattle, and perhaps
other farm stock, will cause death ; and as there are others who may not have
learned this fact, we now place it on record for their benefit. We will also
give the results of certain investigations made at the Veterinary School, at
Ayort, France, by M. Reynal, which throw additional light upon the subject.
It is ascertained tliat the poisonous properties of brine are not immediately
acquired ; but it assumes this condition only after it has been in contact for
several months with the meat, when, if mixed with the food of stock, even
in small quantities, it will produce death ; but when hogs and other stock can
get to it, unmixed with food, its effects are still more speedily fatal. The
poison acts as a local irritant, exciting violent intestinal congestion and
inflammation. It likewise increases the secretion of the skin and kidneys,
and exerts a direct effect upon the nervous system, giving rise to trembling,
loss of sensation, convulsions, etc.

The salt of the worst brine may be saved in a pure state by boiling the
brine and cai'efuliy skimming off all the scum. The remainder may then be
used as brine, or reduced to salt by still more boiling.

109. Cattle Poisoned by Wild Cherry Leaves. — It is not an unusual tiling
for cattle to be poisoned with the leaves of the common wild cherry-tree,
which are almost sure death if eaten in a wilted state, unless a remedy is
immediately administered. The most convenient, ready remedy which a
farmer can use is hog's lard and molasses, mixed in about equal quanti-
ties, by melting the lard and warming the molasses. It should be given in
doses of a pint or a quart, by means of a black bottle, pouring it well down
the animal's throat.

110. Overstocking the Farm. — Tliis is about the worst practice in farming,
as regards stock, either in summer or winter. It is not only unprofitable to
keep useless animals, such as horses or oxen, but if you are overstocked, the
whole must deteriorate. There is nothing about a farm that has a more

Seo. 6.] FEEDING CATTLE AND CARE OF FARM-STOCK. 79

distressed appearance than half-starved animals, and there is nothing about
farming that is more unprofitable. Even the manure accumulated from
such stock is far less valual)le than that saved from well-fed animals.

The most important thing in farm-stock is a good team, and that should
be the first consideration. Have a team or teams sufficient to do all your
work, except some particular things, such as threshing, and for such extra
work have a standing arrangement, if possible, with a neighbor to exchange
team work. You can not aft'ord to keep any extra team. You may be
overstocked in any other kind of animals with less damage than working
ones, but you can in no way aftbrd to do without enough of them, and the
better they are, the better it will be for you. Farm-stock must be adapted
to circumstances to be profitable. "When milk sells at two cents a quart, at
or near the farm, milch ci>ws are profitable stock, because if one average five
quarts a day, her milkM-ill bring §36 50 a year, and some of the milch dairy
cows near New York double that. Tlic average we have heard estimated
at $45 for all the cows kept on a farm. We have known the profit of
grazing a herd of fatting bullocks through the season often to range from
$38 to $40 a head, but we could not recommend every one to go into the
business, because it requires skill in buying, keeping, and selling that all do
not and are not likely to possess. In all cases farm-stock should be adapted
to circumstances, and there is certainly a want of judgment in this respect
that is amazing. Men in Mississippi have tried to raise fine-wool shecj)
suited to Vermont, and men in Vermont have tried to use mules for farm-
work, instead of their own hardy breed of horses, because they had read
that they were much the most economical for farm-work in all the Southern
States. The pastures of New England are noted for their sweet grass and
excellent red cattle ; and the blue-grass fields and fat Durhams of Kentucky
are equally noted, and all should know that it would not serve cither section
to advantage to exchange breeds of cattle. The adaptability of stock to the
farm is a subject that we do not wish to dictate upon, l)ut we ask reasonable
men to take counsel with reason, and apply that in all cases to their own
circumstances.

111. Imported vs. Native Stock. — Eobert Purvis, of Byberry, Penn., has
a farm in a high state of cultivation, one of the best in Pennsylvania, and
consequently, in our opinion, his ideas are entitled to a share of our respect.
lie says :

" For many years I have made it my business, as it has been my pleasure,
to do what I could to promote the improvements of farm-stock. My chief
attention has been given to cows, hogs, and fowls, though I have not been
inimindful to other varieties. Of cows, 1 have raised the Durham, Ayr-
shire, and the Devonshire ; of hogs, the Berkshire and the Suffolk ; and of
flwls, a great variety. I have confined my attention chiefly to those of for-
eign growth or origin. That I have succeeded as well as others, may bo
inferred from the fact that at the various shows I have taken a fair share of
the premiums. Nevertheless, my success, though encouraging, has not been

80 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

altogether satisfactory ; that is, it has not proved to me that any of these
foreign breeds, wlicther of cows, hogs, or fowls, are the best that we can
liavc in this countrj', or are just the thing we want. On the contrary, it has
demonstrated to me quite the opposite, viz. : That before we can attain the
desired success in tiiis tield of experiment, we must give more attention than
we are now giving to animals which are the (jrowth of our oicn soil. !Not
that I would undervalue the advantages of importing the best varieties of
foreign breeds, for too- much praise can not be rendered those public-spirited
men who spend their money liberally iu bringing to our shores the best
specimens they can obtain of European animals ; but, at the same time, too
little credit may be given to others who are doing what they can to improve
our native breeds.

" I don't know how it may be with others, but according to my experience
and observation, there is an unvarying tendc7iey in all imported stock to
deterioration. Whether it is owing to the climate, or soil, or what, I
don't pretend to eay ; but this tendency to degenerate in all foreign animals,
whatever pains may have been taken with them, has been, according to my
knowledge, without an exception. Now, assuming this to be true, ■which,
understand me, I do not aver, the question arises : "Would it not be better for
us, in trying to improve our stock, to make our selections for the purpose
without regard to the animal's origin ? In milch cows, for instance, ouglit
•we not to choose the finest-looking animal and best milker we can find,
whether native, impprted, or mixed ^ and ought we not to see that the ofi-
spring are the product of a sire chosen on the same principle ? Is it not
likely, and does not experience, so fiir as it has been made, show that the
tendency of this sort of breeding is to a continual improvement in the stock ?
I would ask the same questions in regard to hogs, fowls, horses, sheep, and
all other kinds of animals. In other words, ought we not to make more ac-
count of our native breeds, and seek, by judicious crossing and care in other
respects, to attain the end -which we have not yet reached in the matter of
stock-raising ?"

Do farmers generally sufficiently appreciate the reason why imported or
high-bred cattle look so much better than the natives ? Is it not because
one class is high-fed as well as high-bred, and treated with tlie greatest pos-
sible care, while many of the poor natives are treated with the greatest
possible neglect — exposed to storms, summer and winter, and kept upon
short pasture while it is possible for the animals to get a living,' and then
grudgingly fed coarse herbage to carry them alive through the winter.
"With such treatment, the poor natives have no fair chance to compete with
the pampered stock lately imported ; yet, with equally good treatment and
constant care in breeding, we believe as good cattle may be raised up out
of some of the natives as can be found among those imported and maintained
at such great extra expense. At least, we believe that if as much care had
been bestowed on our native stock as has been on the imported breeds for the
last thirty years, the natives would now be nearly equal to the imported.

PLATE VI.

(Page 81.)

The subject of feeding swine is treated of in Section II., but to
enable readers to understand the style of the different breeds, fed
to a condition for show, .we have preferred to direct his attention to
this picture rather than to a written description. Upon the left
hand he will see representatives of the Berkshire, black and white.
In the center are the beautiful white, thin-haired Suffolk, and on
the right the black, thin-haired Essex, a favorite breed in England,
lately" introduced into this country. Indeed, all three of these
named are favorite English breeds. On the right, in the rear, an
American breed, the Chester County, is represented. All that is
known of the history of this breed is brieOy told in 1[ 13. Tliis
picture of fou4- families of swine is equal to any other ever printed.
It is worthy of careful attention.

Above the swine, as they always should be, in the estimation of
farmers, arc the sheep, showing good representatives of the three
great famiUes of long wool, fine wool, and medium. On the right,
the long- wool variety, under the name of Cotswold, are well repre-
sented. In the center, the pair of merinos stand as fair types of
the fine wool, and are handsome portraits of the large-sized sheep
of this variety. The noble South Downs on the left show what this
breed looks like. Their black faces and legs and round, full bodies
are characteristics of the family. Altogether, these four families of
swine and three of sheep make a picture that is not to be passed
lightly over.

Sec. 7.]

SHEEP UUSBANDKY.

81

Why should we import hogs ? All the iiui^roved Eiiglisli breeds are
made up. And why we can not just as well make a breed here that bhall
suit our circumstances, and need no acclimating, we can not imagine. The
fecundity of pigs gives the breeder a greater facility in improving his hogs
than he possesses with any other large domestic animal. Let him have an
object in view and steadily pursue it for a few years, and success and great
profit are certain.

SECTIOX VII.-SHEEP HUSBANDRY.

reeds of English Sheep. — At a recent meeting of

the Central Farmers' Club at London, Mr. Charles

Howard delivered an address on tlie Lubjeet of

? ( i^ " '^"^'" Merits of Pure-J3red and Cross-Bred Sheep."

\]Y '-r-s In tliis address he gave the origin and merits of

several of the " establislied" breeds. We condense as

follows :

L SouTHDOWNS. — "The South, or Sussex Downs, are de-
scended from small, gray, and dark-faced slieep which
were found on the liilly and mountainous districts tlirough-
out England. John Ellman was the original improver.
He was followed and surpassed by Jonas Webb, who has
made the Southdown perfect. Tlie peculiarity of tiiis sheep is its supe-
rior quality of mutton and wool. Average weight, from thirteen to fifteen
months, is 12Glbs. ; weight of fleece, Gibs. The ewes are capital l)i'eedeis,
aiul generally produce one third twin's. They are best adapted to elevated
situations and bare pasturage. Among the nobility and fancy farmers they
are regarded as the elite of sheep.

IL llAMrsHotE Downs. — "This valuable sheep has been established fronj
various crosses, commencing with the century. They present as great a
uniformity in wool, color, and general appearance as their smaller but hand
Eomer cousins, the Southdowns. Tliey have risen into favor rapidly. Thej'
arc very hardy, and of good constitutions, and good wool-bearera, the aver-
age fleece being G to 7 lbs., of early maturity, and have plenty of lean as
well as fat meat, and will graze to almost any weight you may choose to
make them. The ewes are good breeders and sucklers.

in. Lkicestkks. — " Tlicse originated with Bakewell. To this breed all
other loug-wooled sheep are indebted for their improved shape and greater
disjiosition to fatten. Tlieir chief characteristics arc, great aptitude to fatten
with a comj)aratively small consumption of food, and early maturity; fleece,
7 lbs. ; carcass, at fourteen or fifteen months, 1-tO lbs. Tiiev are not very
good breeders, and it is a rare thing to have nuM-e lambs than ewes.

IV. Thk CotswoM). — "This is one of the oldest of the established breeds.

82

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Cnxp. I.

Tliey -H-crc originally heavy, coarec animals, with a thick, heavy fleece, well
a(lai)tc(l to tlic hloak, nniiich'sod Cotswi>l(l hills. Tiiey are now very hardy,
and will succeed well in almost any situation, and produce a great amount
of wool and mutton at an early age. They sometimes reach 86 lbs. to the
quarter. Tlic average weight of an ordinary flock when fit for the butcher,
at fourteen or iifteen months old, is about 180 lbs., and the weight of wool
of the whole flock would be about T^lbs. each. Many of these sheep arc
now being exported to Australia to produce mutton for the miners.

V. LiNcoi.NsuiKES. — " As the western part of Great Britain is famous for
its Cotswolds, so is the northeastern esteemed for the heavy-wooled and
large-framed Lincolns, to which district they especially belong, and where
for many years they held their own. They, like the Cotswolds, have been
improved by an admixture of Leicester blood. The present improved Lin-
coln sheep partakes largely of the peculiarilics of the Cotswold and Leices-
ter, having the expansive frame and nobility of appearance of the one, with
the ([uality of flesli, compactness of form, beauty of countenance, and pro-
pensity to fatten of the other ; but they far exceed either in weight of fleece.
Tiiree-year olds sometimes weigh DGi lbs. to the quarter, and yearlings 71
lbs. Tlie weiglit of wool of an entire flock, under fair average management,
is about Sjlbs. each; weight of carcass at twenty-eight months, 100 lbs.
The Lincoln breeders consider the mutton excellent, having less fat and a
greater proportion of fine-grained, lean flesh than the Leicesters. The ewes
are good breeders, but, like the Cotswolds and Leicesters, they are not good
Bucklers.

VL Shropsiiikes. — "These are crosses. Their merit consists in their su-
periority over any other breed in their own country. They possess hardiness
of constitution, excellent qualitj' of mutton, and are prolific breeders ; but
they are not equal to other breeds.

VIL Oxr-or-DsniRE Downs. — " This breed of sheep was produced twenty,
seven years ago by crossing the Hampshire, and in some instances Soutli-
down ewes, with Cotswold rams, and then putting the crosses together.
They drop tlieir lambs in February, and at thirteen or fourteen months old
they are ready for market, weighing, on an average, 140 lbs. each, with a
fleece varying from 7 to 10 lbs. The ewes are good mothers, and produce a
great proportion of twins."

"We might add here, as these last two breeds are crosses, that Mr. Howard
stated, at the conclusion of his experience and address, " that from a judicious
pairing of cross-bred animals, it is practicable to establish a new breed alto-
gether," and for some locations better fitted than most of the existing breeds.

113. Production of Sexes among ^Mt^.—ThQ Journal rl Agriculture Pra-
i/'que has a paper giving a variety of facts on this subject — from which the
deduction is made, that tlie sex depends on the greater or less vigor of the
individuals coupled. This has long been known and acted upon. It is fur-
ther stated, as shown by careful observation and experiment, that more
males are born among the first and last births in a flock reared by a single

Sko. r.] SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 83

rain, tlian among the lambs born in tlie intervening period, when the male
is weakened by excessive exertion; and tiiat tlie ewes wliicli produce males
are on an average lighter than tliose which produce t'eiualcs, and lose morG
weight than the latter during the nursing period. Thus vigor in the male
tends to produce males, but more from the weaker than the stronger ewes ;
and the opposite fact in regard to females tends to keep up the equilibrium,
and secure the perfection and preservation of the species, by confining the
reproduction of either sex to the most ])erfect type of each respectively.

114. First Importation of Merinos. — ^'Ihe first importation of Spanish sheep
into the United States took place ift 1801. Four were shipped by Mr. Deles-
sert, a banker of Paris, three of which perished on the passage. In 1802 a
largo importation was made by Col. Humphreys ; and in 1809, '10, and '11,
the Hon. "Wm. Jarvis, the American consul at Lisbon, sent home large and
valuable flocks to his farm in AVcathersfield, Vt.

115. General fare and Man<isemcnt of Slieep. — There are not many men in
this country more capable of giving information upon this subject than T. S.
Gold, of Cornwall, Connecticut. In the series of Yale College lectures, in
the winter of 1859, 'CO, Mr. Gold gave a lecture upon sheep husbandry, in
which he made the following points, worthy of note by all sheep farmers :

" Thrift. — It sliould always be the object of the flock-master to keep his
sheep in a thriving condition. The quality of the wool, as well as its quan-
tity, and the general productiveness of the flock, demand this system.

" Shdter is the first necessity in providing for wintering sheep success-
fully. The Southdowns will bear exposure better than any other class of
sheep. The open fleece of the long-wooled parts on the back when wet, and
admits the water, wliich completely drenches the animal, so that his abund-
ant fleece is no longer a protection from cold.

" Economy in fced'auj demands shelter tor all sheep, as not only less food
is required, but also it is better preserved from waste. Water-soaked hay,
or that which is in any way soiled, is alwa3'8 rejected. The improvement
in the quality of the manure forms another argument in favor of shelter.
Tiiat this is not only healthful but grateful to the sheep at all seasons of the
year, wc see in the fact that even in summer they will seek their winter
sheds at the approach of a storm if they are within their reach.

" Ventilation is of paramount importance as connected with shelter; and
to insure this, sheds open to the south are to be preferred. A stable with
an open window will answer for a small number, but the crowding of a
large flock in such a place aft'ects the organs of respiration, and may result
in serious disease, and should never be tolerated.

"The best form of rack has posts three feet high in the corners, a bottom
of boards, the sides and ends of two boards eacii, and the lower one the
widest, with narrow perpendicular strips nailed on to keep the stronger
sheep from crowding the weaker. Tlic spaces are larger in their per])en-
dicular than their horizontal opening. The size of tliese, as well as the
width of the rack, must be in ]iroportion' to the size of the sheep. Not more

8i DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

tliaii one hundred of the fine-wooled sheep should be confined in the same

yard, while the loug-wDoled will not thrive with more than twenty-five. A
hosjntal, snug and coniloi'table, should receive any slieep that may be weak
from age or disease, until, by careful feeding and nursing, they can be re-
turned to the flock.

" It is the worst possible practice to allow the sheep to fall away in flesh,
as the grass fails in autumn. The increasing wool conceals the siirinking
carcass, much to the disappointment of the careless flock-masters. Better
confine them in the yard than allow them to ramble about in search of some
field of winter grain, which furnishes a Rttle green food, but too light to be
of any real value.

" Whiter fodder should embrace, in addition to the dry food, a due pro-
portion of that which is green and succulent. Fine early-cut clover hay,
well cured — that from old meadows, consisting of a variety of grasses —
forms the best dry fodder. Economy demands that the quality should be
good, else much waste ensues ; yet the sheep is very fond of variety, and al-
most all of the so-called weeds become a choice morsel. The botanist knows
fail MX'U that a siieep-rauge will be most barren of the objects of his search.
The immortal Linnteus tested the plants most indigenous to Sweden by
offering them, fresh gathered, to the various domesticated animals. Horses
ate 26:2 species, and refused 212 ; cattle ate 276 species, and refused 218 ;
while sheep took readily- 385, and refused only lil species. For fattening,
add to the hay, roots, grain, or linseed, or cotton-seed meal. Tlio English
system of winder feeding on turnips in the field is here prevented by ex-
cessive cold. Use them in the yards in moderate weather. Sudden changes
from green to dry food, and the reverse, should be avoided. liegularity in
the hours of feeding is very important.

" The amount of fodder varies M'ith the kind of sheep, though it is not
directly proportioned to the live weight. Ten small, fine wooled sheep will
eat as much as a cow, the larger ones requiring more. Two to two and a
half, or even three and one third per cent, of the live weight in hay value is
estimated by diflerent authors as daily required.

" ISI'o other animals except calves should lie in the yards with sheep. The
losses from the horns of steers and the heels of colts more than balance any
supposed gain. As the breathing of the sheep on the hay does not of itself
render it distasteful to cattle, it may be gathered from the racks and fed in
another inclosure.

" It is estimated that 300 lbs. of good hay will winter a small sheep, while
larger ones may take three times the amount.

" Water is absolutely necessary to the thrift of the sheep in the winter. It
is best brought into the yards, as the steep banks of streams prove danger-
ous to the sheep.

" Sedt may be provided in winter by a moderate salting of the ha}' —
two to four quarts a tun ; but excessive salting must be avoided, for with it
neither sheep nor cattle will thrive.

Seo. r.] SIIf:EP nUSBAXDRY.

" Aa tlie lambing season approaches, snug quarters must be provided for
tlie breedinj^ ewes, where they win be clean, warm, and dry."

116. Grain for Shccpt — Major Wni. Lee, one of the most successful wool-
growers of western Pennsylvania, manages his sheep as follows, according to
the Ohio Farmer : " They are not contined to siieds ; they are only provide!
with a dry place for shelter and rest. After tliey r.se of their own ueeord, in
the morning, he feeds again, two thirds corn, and one third barley or oats. Af-
terwards he feeds hay, and also at three o'clock again, so that the sheep have
finished eating before nightfall. He considers that corn will make more
■wool than oats, and general opinion favors out-door feeding. Sheep housed
will not eat as much, nor will they shear as much wool."

Anotlier sheep-iarmer says : " I am willing to make affidavit that with
me, in many years' experience carefully tested, sheep of the same kind, weigh-
ing from 110 to 130 lbs., M-ill put on more fat and gain a great deal more
weight on 1 or Ij lbs. of grain or oil-cake per day, in tliree or four months,
xoith only straw for fodder, than those weighing 80 to 90 lbs. ; and I value
a sheep weighing 125 to 130 lbs. as wortii half a cent more per pound of live
weiglit, for me to feed fat than one weighing 90 or 100 lbs. liow, no man
will suppose that the straw will jnit on any fat, or make sheep gain in weight.
If you feed sheep straw only, they would lose weight, and that greatly ; but
■with a ])0und of meal or grain daily, they will gain daily. I can jirove all I
liave said by neighbors ■who liave been feeding for a few years past, and who
will now only buy the largest sheep of their class, or the largest cattle of
their age."'

117. Wci^lit of Hay for Sliefp. — The question. How much liay do sheep
or cattle require per day ? is thus answered by Alexander Speck von Stern-
berg, of Lutzchena, Saxony, to the lion. Joseph A. Wright, American min-
ister at Berlin. He says : " One thirtieth 2Mrt of the weight of the live
animal, in good hay, is considered necessary per day for its sustenance.
According to the quality of the fodder, and its abundance or scarcity, this
may be increased to one twentieth part ; but less th.an one thirtieth part
ought not to be given. Taking good meadow hay as the fodder standard, a
ram should receive about 3i lbs. per day, a ewe about 2^ lbs., yearlings,
etc., in that proportion — taking the average of a full-grown ram at 110 lbs.,
of a ewe at 72 lbs., the weiglit of each varying, according to age, size, and
condition, between 105 and 125 lbs. as regards the full-sized rams, and from
70 to 85 lbs. as regards the fuH-grown ewes. The weight of a wether varies
between 80 lbs. in lean condition, and 110 to 115 lbs., if strong and fat for
the butcher. One pound of good meadow hay is considered cipiivalent to
15 lbs. of oat, ])ea, wheat, or barley straw, 4 lbs. of turnips, or 2 Ihs. of grains
in the wet state, as delivered from the brewery in winter. When the time
for stabling for winter arrives, the sheep-master has his supplies of straw,
Iiay, and turni]is allotted to him on the basis of the above calculalion, and
he is bound to make them serve out the proper time, under-feeding being aa
much guarded against as over-feeding and waste."

86 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

Another writer says : " Tlie usual rate of the consumption of food is at
the rate of 3^ lbs. of hay daily for every 100 lbs. of live weight. If we take
tlio average of flocks, the live weight of 100 common sheep would be about
7,500 lbs., or from that up to 8,000 lbs. It is rare tliat a whole Hock of
fine-wooled sheep will average more tlian 70 lbs. for each head, though it may
be that this weight is exceeded in some instances. At the rate mentioned,
a flock of 1()0 sheep should use up or consume 280 lbs. of hay per day, or a
total of 25 tuns in tlie winter season that lasted 180 days. This would also
equal 504: lbs. to each single sheep ; or it may be stated as a general rule,
that a full-grown Merino sheep, averaging in live weight from 75 to 100 lbs.,
will coiisumc during the winter season a quarter of a tun of hay, or its equiv-
alent, if comfortably kept. If grain forms a part of the ration, of course
some of the hay may be saved ; but if the atiimal is to be kept growing
wool, it will need its full ratio of hay,, and a little grain, too."

lis. fhailgiug Pasture. — Some sheep-farmers arc very particular about
changing pastures. This is right, if the inclosures are small. If there is a
wide range, it is of no particular advantage to confine sheep to one portion
of if, and then shift them to another.

lit*. Feeding Sheep vs. Beeves. — Mechi, who is a highly enlightened and
practical English agriculturist, says he is convinced that beef must sell at
20 per cent, higher than mutton to make them pay alike. Ue also remarks,
that he agrees with a friend of his, who says, that he who keeps many bul-
locks will never need to make a will.

Our observai<ion in relation to the comparative profits in this country
coincides with Mr. Mechi.

Thos. Bell, of Monmouth County, IST. J., makes the following statement in
regard to the profits of feeding sheep :

" I usually keep about 100 sheep, and renew my flock every year. My
neighbors and myself agree with a drover to take certain numbers, and he
goes up the Delaware into the State of Kew York, where he obtains a large
strain of common sheep. I buy the best ones in the flock, paying tlie high-
est market price, which this year was $3 50 a head, while my neighbors prefer
to take the lower-priced sheep, graduating down to $2 50 or $2 25 a head. I
get my new flock in about the 1st of October, and immediately put the ewes to
full-blood Southdown bucks^so as to have the lambs dropped early in April.
I have good autumn pasture, so as to keep the flock in good condition to go
into winter quarters, where I keep them in yards with open sheds, fifty sheep
in a pen, with feeding-racks, and freedom to lay under cover or out in the
open weather. Their own instinct governs them about seeking shelter when
it storms. I feed the flock once a day upon hay, and once a day upon whole
stalks of Indian corn cut from the ground as soon as it is hard enough to
ripen in the shock, when the shocks are well cured, and afterward the com
is husked and stalks stored for winter. The sheep trim them of leaves,
and the dry stalks make good bedding for them. I watch my ewes and take
them out of the flock as the time approaches to drop their lambs, and put

Sec. 7.]

SHEEP HUSBANDRY.

87

tlieiii ill otlier yards, where tliey are fed on grain and good hay, and I sel-
dom lose a laml). I graze my lloclc upon less than ciglitcun acres ot" good
pasture, whicli has been made to produce sweet grass by the application of
green sand marl, by which I have renovated a worn-out farm. By the end
of July I have my lambs, whicli are large and fat, and well marked with the
Southdown characteristics, all off to the butcher — this year at $i 75 each,
selling the whole lot to one man. I could have sold them in small lots so as
to average $5 a head. The ewes, after the lambs are taken off, become fat
upon grass alone, so as to bring tlie best market price of that class of sheup
in September. I have just sold all off, and find that the 100 head Avhicli 1
purchased at $3 50 one year ago, have yielded mo in wool, lambs, and old
sheep $7 50 a head over the cost of the stock. Last year I realized §7 a
head profit, or rather, I got that for keeping 100 head of sheep one year, and
I ill ink that sum may be safely calculated iipon every year. And besides
this ]ii()lit, I find my shecj) are enriching my land and are more ad van
tagcous in every way than any other kind of stock. Every farmer keeping
sheep should have a lot of movable fence, and inclose small jjlots — say half
an acre at a time — of the poorest parts of the farm, such as gravelly knolls,
upon which to yard the flock nights. The only drawback to keeping sheep
upon hundreds of farms near New York is the worthless cur dogs. In Now
Jersey we have a goo<l law which gives out of the general tax $5 a head for
all sheep killed by dogs. That insures every common sheep, but does not
warrant me in keeping full-blood Southdown or other valuable breeds. The
State of New York needs a stringent law against dogs to protect the interest
of farmers who keep sheep, particularly in the counties near the city."

The above statement of Mr. Bell is a very encouraging one, and would
doubtless encourage many of the farmers convenient to the city market to
adopt the same course if the State Legislature would protect them against
dogs. The question resolves itself into this simple form : Is it of more gen-
eral advantage to the State to grow wool and mutton than it is to grow dogs
— dogs, too, of the most worthless sorts ? It is ono of tho rarest things in the
world that a shej)herd dog or a good ho\ise watch-dog ever kills sheep. It
is only tho meanest, prowling, thieving, worthless curs, of no value to tlieir
owners, that destroy sheep. Let ns have a law to annihilate tlieni, aiid then
every man can keep sheep with tho same results as Mr. Bell.

Mr. Carpenter, of Elmira, said : " A neighbor of mine makes just about
the same average upon his flock of grade Soutlidowns. IIo shears six pounds
of wool per head, and he sells his lambs at §i."

Samuel Tliornc, of Dutchess County, N. Y., pursues tho same course,
with the same results, as "Mr. Bell.

Mr. "Wade", of Canada "West, says: '-That ho prefers the long-wool sorts,
because tiiey are more hardy. The mutton sella readily, and tho wool,
though not Avorth so much a pound as the fine-wool sorts, weighs so
much more that the value of tho fleece is equal. "We don't grow much
corn, but we feed a great many roots, and feed well. It is foolish to try to

88

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Cn.ir.

keep any animal upon low diet. We feed anything tliat slieep eat best, and
I fatten principally upon turnips and liay, with a little meal. The long-wool
Blieep are better adapted to Canada than the fine-wool. We shear eight
pounds of elean wool per liead. Tiie Cotswoid variety arc preferred ; they
liave stronger constitutions than the Leieester sheep."

Gen. Harmon, of Monroe County, says : " I commenced with fine-wool
elicop, forty years ago. I then tried Leicestershire, and then came back to
Merino. I have less than 200 acres, and grow 30 or 40 acres of wheat every
year ; the land improves by sheep. My average weight of fleece is five jiounds.
I keep 33i) head, and get over $700 a year for wool and increase. I stable
50 sheep in a room 14 by 40 feet, without change in the winter. I wash my
sheep clean and let them run six or eight days, and then shear. I don't
breed from gummy sheep. I teed in board-racks, with straight sticks, so
the sheep can put in their heads. Tlicrc arc about 25 acres of reclaimed land
on my farm that will keep sheep alive, but -won't fat them. My farm is
limestone, and I prefer fine-wool sheep to any other for profit; and I con-
sider sheep twice as profitable as cattle upon any grain farm. I never
breed from ewes less than three years old. I don't like the cross of Lei-
cester bucks upon fine ewes. I have sold of wool and sheep over $900 a
year.''

Lewis F. Allen, of Black Kocb, snys : "I have kept sheep twenty-five
years upon a clay loam, natural to sweet grasses, limestone formation, on the
Niagara Tliver. There is no general rule as to the profit of keeping sheep.
All depends upoH ciixnimstaiices. In Canada I have seen the best long-wool
sheep I ever saw, but these sheep are too fat for eating. You might as well
dine off a cake of tallow as such meat. Such eheep may be profitable in
Canada. With me those sheep require good shelter. Tlicy are not kept
M-aa*m by their long fleeces. My sheep sheared five to eight pounds of wool.
I don't approve of feeding many roots except to breeding ewes. Tlicy are
likely to scour sheep ; at least they do mine.

'* On some soils it may be best to plow in clover ; on otlier soils it is not.
As to mutton sheep, I have fed Southdowns, and the cheapest way that I
can make mutton is upon grass, and wethers of 150 lbs. bring five cents a
pound gross at Buffalo. I would keep mutton sheep if I had a good farm on
a railroad. I can always sell my lambs at $2. My Southdown fleeces bring
§1 50 average. Southdown mutton is the best we have, and the sheej)
always sell well for mutton. The fine-wool sheep mutton is apt to taste of
the greas}' wool. The iferino sheep are a hardy race of sheep, but they are
not a good breed to feed for mutton."

Mr. Bowen, of Orleans County, says : " I have bred both coarse and fine
sheep. 1 have raised coarse-wooled sheep that weighed 150 lbs. each at one
year old. I find the coarse-wool breed the most profitable. My sheep
average six pounds of wool, that sells at 31 cents a lb. My sheep are a
cross of Cotswoid, and are close-wooled and hardy. I live on a gravelly
loam, wheat soil, and 1 think it desirable to increase the stock of sheep in

Seo. 7.] SHEEP IICSBANDRY. 89

this State. A field of clover fed off by sheep will j-ield more wheat than
if not fed ofi"."

Jlr. Pettibone, of Vermont, says: "If a man keeps but few sheep he
should keep a mutton breed. If he keeps a largo flock, or say 200 or 300,
he should keep fine-wool sorts. The trouble in sheep-ljreedin!^ is in lettiuf
them run down in October. I winter 300 head, and 100 ewes will give lOd
laiirlis. I use 400 acres, but many of them are on the mountain, and valued
at only $7 an acre. I do not let all my ewes breed. I keep my sheep in
very close winter quarters on hay. I feed breeding ewes one peck of corn a
day to 100 liead. In eleven years I have not had a Iamb die, and ewes are
kept without grain, but always with water and salt by them. Tlicre is a
material difi'erence in the value of the fleece, according to the way sheep
are kept. I prefer always to have my sheep fat. In January I select my
ewes, and never sell the choice ones. I have a ewe that has produced
eighteen lambs and shears four pounds of good wool. I do not select the
most gummy sheep for my use; they are much more tender than those less
gummy. Still, you must have greasy wool if you have fine wool. I feed
generally twice a day — sometimes ordy once. Tiie sales of my wool last
year jiroduccd over §2 a head for my flock, and the average for fifteen years
has been four and three quarter pounds, such as sold this year at 50 cents
a pound. My land is limestone clay loam. I have ])ieked out and sold
twenty wether lambs to a neighbor who sheared eight pounds a head, and
sold two sheep for mutton at 83 50 a head. A fiock of 300 head of sheep
ought to average five pounds of clean wool. I select in the fall eight or ten
wethers, and feed them with meal through the winter, and give them good
grazing in summer, and kill through the summer, and the tallow averages
10 or 12 lbs. and the meat 10 or 15 lbs. per quarter. The pelts sell at 75
cents. A three-year old wether, ])ure Merino breed, often weighs 75 lbs.
I have sheared 14 lbs. of wool per head from bucks, wliich sold for 50 cents
a lb., and 8 lbs. of wool from ewes."

A. I). Dickinson says : " I have sheared 11,000 Rhcc]> in a year, and tnow
sometiiing of them. The man who raises sheep for mutton had better raise
the largest kind, for they produce the most money, though they may not make
the best kind of mutton. For wool, I would keep none but the fine-woolcd
variety of siieep, but I would not keep the gummy sort, because the clean
wool will always produce the most money. In washing sheep, I am sure
that tiie wool can always be made cleaner when the sheep arc washed in a
vat than in a stream. If 20 shcej) will weigh 20 cwt., they will eat just
aliout as much as two bullocks of that weight — that is, if they arc ma-
ture sheep. Young sheep cat more, according to live weight, than old
ones."

Mr. Johnston bought thirty Leicestcrs one fall, put them in his yards, fed
them each twelve ounces of oil-meal with wheat straw, and no /mi/, all
winter. In spring he sheared from them five pounds of woul each, pastured
them all summer, kept them over until the following February, and sold

90

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

tlicin for nine dollars and twenty cents each, lliey cost liitn two dollars.
Sheep fed with oil-cake meal or irraiii eat but little salt, make richer manure,
more wool, and more carcass, lie gives usually one ])Ound of oil-meal when
feeding with straw, and half a jiound with hay. If there sliould bo any
signs of foot-rot in the flock, he pares the hoof, and rubs into the sores a
salve of blue vitriol and lanl. In very hot weather lie mixes tar with the
salve, to make it adhere. Sheep are never let out of the yards in winter,
but to the yard they have free access at all times from the low, open elieds,
and every part of the sheds and yard arc dee])ly bedded with clean straw.
The shepherd, instead of wading through a slough worse than that described
by Bunyan, walks on a soft bed of straw, so clean at any time as not to soil
the white fleece of the cleanest Leicester.

"Wni. 11. Ladd, of Ohio, says: " My practice is to turn the lambs in with
their mothers, after they have been separated some twelve hours, and as soon
as they nurse, separate them again ; then, after twenty-four hours, allow
them to nurse once more. Since I have adopted this plan, I have never had
a ewe's udder injured. Lambs should have a very little salt frcrpiently,
when first weaned, as the herbage lacks tlie large proportion of salt which
the mother's milk contains. But great care sliould be nsed not to give them
much salt at once, or it will set them to purging; and if a lamb commences
to purge soon after being taken from the mother, it seldom, if ever, recovers
from it.

" Lambs that come early are invariably the largest, strongest, and most
healthy ; consequently they are the best breeders. The ewe that has her
lamb early has suflicient time to get in good order before winter, and after
the lamb is weaned, she is not subject to weakness and disease, as those of
late weaning, and is consequently a better breeder the next season. Poor,
late feeble lambs and ewes should never be permitted to breed, for if such
are, it invariably follows that the flock will degenerate. Generating or
breeding ewes should be carefully selected. Ewes sometimes continue strong
and productive until twelve or fifteen years of age ; this depends on their
general health and constitution."

120. Age of 8hccp for Muttou. — A late English writer says: "A sheep, to
be in high order for the palate of the epicure, should not be killed earlier _
than five years old, at which age the mutton will be rich and succulent, of a
dark color, and full of the richest gravy — whereas, if only two years old, it
is flabby, pale, and flavorless."

121. Grub in Shecpi — Take one quart of whisky and two ounces of yellow
snufl', mix, and warm to blood-heat. Let one man hold the sheep, and
another take a small syringe, and discharge about a teaspoonful of the mix-
ture into each nostril. It is said to be a certain cure,

122. Gross and Net Weight of Sheep. — The nsual estimate of gross and not
weight of sheep is, that the dressed carcass will weigh one half as much as
the gross weight, and therefore, when the sheep are sold at, say five cents a
]iound alive, the price is equivalent to ten cents a pound for the meat, sinking

Seo. 7.]

SHEEP HUSBANDRY.

91

the pelt and all tlie offal, so that the butcher, if lie could sell tlie carcass at
cost, would still have the pelt, rough fat, head, etc., I'or a profit, lleuce it
will be seen how it is that mutton in tlie carcass is often quoted in market
reports at less than it appears by livestock reports to have actually cost.

123. Western MuttoUi— It is one of the incomprehensible things in "Western
agriculture tliat so little attention is paid to the business of fattening sheep.
With a vast country, as well adapted to making mutton as pork, and in many
respects even better, it is one of the rarest things to see a farm devoted to
the raising of sheep for their meat alone, while it is equally rare to find a
farmer who does not raise hogs and fatten them for their pork.

We are aware that the West is full of sheep, and that the business is not
considered very profitable. There are some good flocks — in fact, some large
flock-masters, whose princi])al business is to raise sheep — but it is for their
fleece alone. Very few farmers. East or West, have ever made a business of
making mutton. The sheep are almost entirely bred for wool, not for meat.
And besides this, more than one iialf of all the sheep in the United States
are not bred distinctly for meat or wool, but simply because tliey are sheep,
and will answer in some sort for both purposes ; but their fleece is often of
a coarse, unprofitable kind, and their bodies lean and light. Such sheep are
naturally slow to acquire fat, wlicn fed for that purjiose, just as their tleeco
is naturally of light weight or coarse fiber. Such sheep are not profitable,
althougli so common all over the country.

Of all varieties of domestic animals, the flesh of sheep is least used, except
in cities, in proportioTi to the quantity that is, or rather might be, profitably
consumed. We esteem mutton almost the very best kind of meat provided
for a civilized people. That its production would be found among the most
profitable we have no doubt, provided a good breed of sheep were selected,
especially for their meat-producing qualities. For tliis purpose we esteem
the Southdown variety the very best. We have known flocks of fat sheep
of this sort sold here for $25 per head. Certainly this is a paying price.
We have several times reported sales of sheep in New York, of the long-wooled
kind, at $12 to $20 per head, which was equal to 12 to IG cents a pound
for the meat. Is this a profitable price for tlio farmer, ])articularly the
farmer of the West, tlie greatest country in the world for the production of
pork ? •

All the long-wooled varieties of sheep, known as Bakewell, Leicester,
Cotswokl, New O.xfordshirc, etc., are fat-producing animals ; that is, they
are as naturally inclined to acquire fat as other animals arc to produce only
lean meat. In England, such mutton is much esteemed. In tiiis country
the lean kinds are preferred. In Ohio and other Western States there is a
grade of sheep called common, that are as well fitted for the ])urposcs of the
AVestcrn farmer as any ho could obtain in this country (except the South-
downs) to breed for mutton, if careful selections were made, and some care
exercised in breeding and feetling. It is true they are a mongrel breed,
made up of crosses of all the varieties ever imported, but they arc strong

92 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

ami hardy and long-legged, wliiuli are valuable qualities for the drover.
Their bodies, when well fatted, at two or three years old, will weigh from
fifty to sixty-five pounds, and the meat is just fat enough to suit tlie Ameri-
can taste. The heavier carcasses of the long-wooled variety are generally
too fat, though wo think the taste for fat mutton is an acquired one, like that
for fat i)ork.

But, fat or lean, mutton will always find ready sale in this city at remu-
nerating prices. Western farmers should turn their attention more earnestly
to the subject of raising sheep, not for wool, but meat for the supply of all
tiie Eastern cities. We profess to be tolerably well acquainted with the
great prairies of the West, and fully believe that there is no branch of agri-
culture so certain to produce sure and profitable returns as that of raising
sheep of the kind we have indicated. We know of no other pursuit that
the new settlers in Kansas could adopt at all to compare with this. Such a
town, for instance, as Lawrence, migiit own a hundred thousand sheep, all
of whicli sliould be kept out on the broad prairies in summer, under the care
of shepherds and their dogs, to guard them night and day from their greatest
enemy, the prairie wolf. In winter they could be provided for on a hundred
farms, under cheap shelter, with earth walls and grass roofs. They winter
well upon M'ell-cured wild hay, without grain, except for those in hospital,
if fed occasionally upon any kind of roots, such as can be grown in great
abundance in that soil. In the fall or latter part of summer, select the best
animals for market, and start them eastward across Iowa and Illinois, feeding
them on cheap grain when the grass fails on the great prairie pasture.

The raising of cattle must be the business of Kansas settlers, and we
believe the best of all will be mutton sheep. The new settlers, too, must for
a time make meat their principal diet — in fact, it is the national diet of that
region, just as vegetables are in Ciiina. We do not know of a greater act
of folly, or a greater humbug, flian inducing people to go to Kansas to
practice the peculiar, not to say stupid, doctrine of vegetarianism.

What the peo2;)le of the West want — what all who grow meat and all who
consume it want — is to have the great sea of prairie grass converted into
meat — cheap meat. This should be the leading object of all emigrants to
the West. The business of grain-growing naturally belongs to a pastoral
people, upon old farms, rather than to new settlers. It is a subject to be
thought of both by emigrants and old settlers, which is the most profitable,
stock or grain, and if stock, which particular kind.

12i. Sheep in Texas. — There is, or has been, a sort of mania about sheep in
Texas. The start made a few years ago by G. W. Kendall, and his success,
after going through all the phases of ill luck, losses, and discouragements,
which perseverance overcame, has induced many others to establish great
sheep-farms in that State. Miijor Wm. Leland, one of the proprietors of
the Metropolitan Hotel in this city, is one of the number who has followed
the lead of Mr. Kendall, with every prospect of success. There is, besides
the fine wool-flocks established in Texas, a constant and large importation

?E0. 7.]

SUEEP HUSBANDRY.

93

of the coarse-wool sheep of Mexico. It is estimated that a fourth of a
milliou of Mexican slieep liave crossed the line into Texas since the first of
1859, and the number is constantly increasing. These Mexican sheep are
crossed with Northern stock, and make a valuable progeny, both for wool
and mutton. "We shall expect before many years more to see Texas mutton
sheep in the New York market more frcijuently than we now see Texas
beef-cattle, and that they will be much better liked, both by butchers and
mutton-eaters, than the bullocks are.

A Massachusetts corresjjondent wants to know more than we do about
sheep-farming in Texas. We commend him to Wm. Wilkinson, Comal
Handle, near New Braunfels, Texas.

We don't know " what part of the State is most suitable for sheep
husbandry," but we do know that part of it is, as above indicated, for there
George W. Kendall and others have succeeded.

'• What breeds of sheep are to be chosen V We can answer : All breeds
that have succeeded in the Northern States have succeeded in Texas.

" What are the pecuniary advantages ?" This question we can answer by
stating that the first cost of land for a location is very small compared with
the cost in Massachusetts, while there is a boundless range of open country
upon which great flocks can be grazed, in charge of the shepherd and his
dogs ; and as for winter feeding, that is not worth mentioning, and the rudest
shelters — mere earth walls — to break the force of the wind, will answer at
lirst in jdace of costly barns. Subsistence, too, for hirelings, is also quite
inexpensive, and, taken altogether, Texas certainly appears to have many
advantages for sheep husbandry.

There are, to be sure, some drawbacks. It is a long way from the great
center of commerce to which wool must be transported, and so far as we can
see, it is so far away from mutton-eating communities, that the meat is nearly
valueless. We very well remember, however, when the same thing was
true of Ohio, where thousands of sheep have been slaughtered for the pelts
and fat, and the meat fed to the ]iigs. Now, sheep are worth in Cihio within
a dollar what they are in New York. Time may work a similar change for
Texas, and then it will rival all other States as a sheep-producer, for that is
a business that can and will be conducted without slave labor.

125. Producing Twins. — A large sheep-breeder has declared ''that sheep
highly fed with meal or other gpod provender, about the time the buck is
with them in the fall, will almost invariably have two lambs apiece, and that
these may nearly all bo raised by proper attention to the mothers. The
great mistake in regard to sheep is in not keeping them well enough. If
you wish them to be ])rolific or jirofltable, give them plenty of the best hay
through the winter, and meal daily, and for shelter a warm barn-cellar,
wherein is an open tank of pure water. No kind of grain need be ground for
feeding sheep — the hardest is thoroughly masticated and digested by them.
The inqtortance of good feetling is uiupiestionable."'

It is by no means an unheard-of thing for all the owes of a flock to average

94 DOMESTIC ANIM.VLS. [Chap. I.

twins. An average of 130 per cent, to 150 per cent, is quite usual, and with
some breeds a much greater increase is tlie general rule. The sheep oflers
her owner more sources of profit than any other animal. First, her natural
increase ; second, her wool ; third, her flesh ; and this is the most imj^ortant
of all tiie considerations connected witli sliecp husbandry, because a greatly
increased consumption of tlie flesh of sheep will greatly promote health.

Sheep " come in play" wonderfully in well-managed farms, especially such
as are pushed to their utmost capacity, as a means of increasing fertility in
various ways, feeding off green crops, such as clover or rye, previous to
plowing tliem under, securing thus the advantage of passing the crop thioiigh
the animal system without moving it from the field, scattering the manure
very evenly previous to plowing, and giving what remains of the green croj)
when plowed in the advantage of \indergoing its decomposition in contact
witli animal excrements. The sheep possesses other and greater advantages
over other kinds of stock, which reconnnend it for general culture. Among
these is its great fecundity.

126. Numbering Sheep. — "W. D. Dickinson, of Victor, Ontario Co., N. Y.,
gives, in the Stock Journal, the following plan of numbering sheep :

" About twelve years since I commenced numbering, classifying, and
registering my flock, which has been of great advantage to me, enabling me
to select at all times for sale (which I invariably do myself) such as are of
the least value, whether with regard to_ age, weight of fleece, quality of
wool, or value as breeders.

"My method of numbering is by notches in the car, as follows: A notch
in the fore part of the left ear stands for 1, one in the back part of the same
for 3. With these I number up to 10 ; thus, two notches in the fore part, 2 ;
two in the back part, 6 ; two in each, 8, etc. A notch in the fore part of
the right ear stands for 10, one in the back part oi the same, 30. "Witli
these I number to 100. Tliis is as far as I have occasion to go in my flock,
as I seldom have over 300, and consequently never have as many as 100
lambs of each sex in one j-ear. Tliis might be carried much farther by
cutting off the end of the left ear for 100, and of the right for 200 ; a notch
might then be made in the end of the left ear for 400, and in the end of the
right for 800.

" The age of my sheep is known by the holes through the ears. A hole
through the left ear stands for 1 — that is, tJie year 1841, '51, or '61, showing
the year in which the sheep was born ; one in the right ear for 3, so that a
sheep born in the year 'oG would have two holes through the right ear; if in
'57, two holes through the riglit and one through the left ; for '58 would re-
quire two through each, instead of which I simply make a notch in the end
of the left ear; and for '59, one in the end of the right. The years '40, '50,
'00, etc., the ears are left without any holes — thus commencing anew every
ten years, by which time those of that age are usually gone. I number my
lambs as they are dropped, commencing each year with No. 1, both buck
and ewe lambs.

sko. r.]

SHEEP HUSBANDRY.

95

" My boo;

is kept in the following manner :

No. of
Ewes.

Year
born.

Clua.

Live
Teigbt.

Woiglit of
Fleece.

Buck UMd.

Yeaned.
April

Sheared.
June.

Euclc
Lambs.

Ewo
Lambs.

Remarks.

7

15
3

'51
'51
'54

3

1

2

84
93

83

C-1
4-1
4

34-53
3'J-53
51-53

12
13
13

11
'26
24

1
2

1

" In tlic first column is the number of the ewe ; in the second, the year in
whicii she was born ; in the third, the class denoting the quality of the wool,
which is regulated by the number of curves to the inch; the first containino-
24 and upward; the second, 22 to 2-i; the third, 20 to 22; the fourth, 18 to
20. Tlie fourth column gives the weight of the sheep when sheared ; the
fifth, the weight of fleece ; the sixth, the number of buck used and the year
in which he was born ; . the seventh, the month and day the lamb was
dropped ; the eighth, the time when the ewe was sheared ; the ninth and
tenth, the number of tlie buck and ewe lambs. My flock now numbers 267,
principally breeding ewes and yearlings. M}' average weight of fleeces,
M-hcn well washed, is usually about 4i lbs., the qualify of wool equal to me-
dium Saxon, numbering from 20 to 28 curves to the inch, averaging about 24."

Another plan is given as follows, for numbering sheep, which, though not
quite as permanent as the method detailed above, may be preferred by some
persons on the score of humanity.

" "We were handed a sheet of paper \ipon Miiich was noted the weight of
fleece of each sheep in the flock ; op]iosite was set the number of the sheep,
a corresponding number having been branded upon the animal itself at the
time of taking its last clip, by applying a mixture of lampblack and tar with
cast-iron figures. This course had been jiursucd for some years, and its
results were apparent in a wool crop brought up from an average of four
pounds to over five, and a corresponding increase in the size and quality of
sheep. The practice had been to slaughter and otherwise dispose of all ani-
mals ranking lowest in weight of fleece and to improve upon the quality of
the remainder by judicious crossing."

127. Slirarin^ Slioopi — An old sheep-shearer, avIio can clip a sheep hand-
somely in three minutes, or shear and tie up the fleece in four minutes, who
has often clipped 100 sheep a day, wants us to give our readers the benefit
of his plan of doing it. First, have two ))airs of good shears; one pair to
trim with, and the other to do the jirincipal work, and never use dull shears.
A good oil-stone is the best sharpener. AVhat is termed a down-set shear,
with blades five inches long, he considers best. In using them, never draw
the shears backward while making the clip, but rather push forward and
keep the shears level and close, and never clip twice in one spot, as that cuts
the wool.

To hold the sheep, have a bench as high as the lower part of the knee-
cap ; or if the sheep is large, it may be lower. Lay the sheep back to you,
witli head to your right hand. Put your riglit knee gently on the sheep's
neck, witli its riglit fore leg in the bend of yours as you kneel, having the
sheep close to the edge of the bench, with its back braced against your left

96

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

Ic"'. Eest your left arm on the slieep's left flank, while you hold its right
hind leg in that hand, stretched out to the edge of the bench, aud holding to
it if you wish, if the sheep is disposed to struggle.

Commence shearing at tlie opening on the left side of the breast, and trim
off all the wool on tlie belly and inside of the hind legs, and remove it to
one side till the lleece is off, when the trimmings of clean wool are to be
wrapped in it.

To shear the body, place your left leg on tlie bench astride of the sheep,
taking the jaws in your left hand, and clipping the foretop and right side
of the neck, and down on the left breast. Tlien you change position, step-
ping back a little and raising the slieep on its hips, by catching iiold of the
left bind leg with your right hand without laying down the shears. Pull
the sheep close to the edge of the bench and place your riglit leg between
its liind legs, with its neck and shoulders on your left knee, as it rests on the
bench. IS'ow clip over the point of the shoulder, and then straighten the
neek with your left hand, without stopping the shears, and finish off the
brisket and the neck, and then clip on down the side, and over the hip and
back, letting the sheep down gradually, so as always to have the skin you
are clipping free of wrinkles. Now take your left knee off the neck, and
hold it witli your left hand while you remove your right leg and place the
left one in its place, so that you can bring the right knee upon the bench,
keeping the shears going all the time with the right hand. Then lift the
liead with the left hand, and clip that side over the point of the fihoulder,
and, raising the sheep gently, bring its head between your legs, while you
finish clipping. Take care that the sheep does not struggle, and when done,
lift it clear of the fleece, so as not to tear it. Told the fleece with all the loose
wool that is clean inside and roll it very snug, with the cut end of the wool
out, and tie with cotton twine, so as to look neat and bear handling without
getting loose and ragged.

Following the above directions, you will need to stop but twice for a mo-
ment to turn the sheep, so that the shears are almost incessantly clipping
from the time you begin till you have finished.

128. Tasking. — One of the cares of sheep most important for their health
and comfort is tagging, and this is most often neglected. Probably the
only attention ever given to this matter is at shearing-time, and we have
seen, even then, sheep sent off out of the siiearer's hands with the tag-locks
untouched. If there is anything in farming more slovenly than this, we
don't know what it is.

129. To Cleanse Fine Wool.— Tliere are a few old-fashioned houses from
wliich the spinning-wheel is not yet entirely abandoned. The inmates of
such do not always know how to cleanse the gum out of Merino wool before
sending it to the carding-machine. Let them be sure to remember this
direction, by which we have cleaned many a hundred-weight, some of which
waa almost as black as my hat, with dirt and gum, characteristic of all fine-
wool sheep.

PLATE VII.

(Page 97 )

In this plate we present to the reader such a collection of excellent
portraits of the most celebrated horses in America as can nowhere
else be procured. The four upper figures will be at once recognized
as correct likenesses of animals that have won a name that makes
them famous in equine history. That of the Justin Morgan horse
will be found in this chapter. He is the progenitor of a family that
has won the hearts of the people. Flying Childers stands as the
representative of the race-course. Patchen and Flora Temple are
the most noted of the great family of American fast trotters. The
Arabian here represented is a portrait of one of the noted horses
presented to lion. William H. Seward, and by him to the New York
State Agricultural Society, and this picture gives one a good idea
of the spirited appearance of that breed. The Cleveland Bay is the
representative of a class of noble carriage horses which has given
character to maiiy of the same class in this country, particularly in
Central New York.

The Norman horse, as we see him here, gives a good idea of the
appearance of the heavy diligence and common work-horses of France,
having a thick neck, short, strong legs, and round, compact body,
capable of sustaining great burdens, and pulling immense loads at
a slow gait, as compared with some of our American fast horses.
This breed was made quite notorious in this country by the import-
ation of the late Edward Harris, of New Jersey, about twenty years
ago. The portrait of the Canadian horse is a fine representative
of his class, which was formed by a mixture of the Norman horses
of the early French settlers of Canada with some smaller breed,
which, by neglect and exposure, and carelessness of imjjrovement in
breeding, has produced a race of small, hardy horses, known as
Canadian, which are sometimes, though erroneously, called ponies.
A careful study of these portraits will be useful to all farmers, as
well as many other persons.

Sec. 8.]

HORSES AXD MULES.

97

For 100 lbs. of wool, take four gallons of urine and eight gallons of rain-
water; mix and lieat a little above blood-heat, until the scum rises, which
skim ofl". Keep it at tlie same heat in a kettle on coals or a little tiro out of
doors. Put in what wool the kettle will conveniently hold, and let it remain
about five minutes ; take it otit on a board that will drain the liquid back
into the kettle, or else put it in a basket over a tub, so as not waste the liquid,
for it will be equally good for the last batch as the first. "When it is drained,
put the basket under a stream of water running on it if convenient, or in a
running stream if you can, or else with plenty of clear water in a large tulj;
it will wash very easily, and be as •• wliite as wool."

Don't forget to sprinkle the dirty liquid upon the poorest spot in the gar-
den, for it is a powerful manure.

The same kind of liquid is the best thing known to take the dirt and
grease out of any kind of foul woolen clothes or yarn.

SECTION' VIII.-IIORSES AXD MULES.

GENERAL history of the horse and his uses, and
how to use him, will not be looked for in a work
that only professes to give little items of informa-
tion upon a great many things. It would occu]iy
a volume larger than this one to give a tolcrabl}-
full history of the equine race, since it has been sub-
:'ted to the use of man.

J^'juns is the generic name of the quadrupeds which
have a single digit and hoof upon each foot, as hal*
the horse, ass, zebra. The horse has been a domestic
as well as a wild animal from a very early time. He
is mentioned in Genesis as being in harness when
Joseph transferred the remains of his father from
Egypt to Canaan.

Horses exist in a wild state in various parts of the
globe. They were once quite numerous in tiie territory embraced in some
of our most western States. Domestication works material change, the most
marked of which is an increase in the size of the trunk. Then follows an
increased size of all j)arts, and a loss of the fleetness natural to the horse in
his wild state.

The Arabian liorsc, though domesticated by a semi-savage race, still re-
tains some of his wild charafcteristics, one of which is lleetness and long
endurance. The Arab tradition in regard to the horse is, " that ho was
created out of the wind, as Adam was out of the earth." Ilence, " fleet as
tiie wind," is often applied to the horse. The tradition is, that the male of
the liorsc wa.s created first, as the more noble of the two, and that the horse

98 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

was created before man, and after he was created he was told to choose the
most heautifiil of all animals, and he chose the horse; upon which (rod said
to Adam : " You have chosen that which is a glory to yoli, and will be to
vour children." The Arabs profess to know the pure Arabian horse, the
descendant of Zad-el-Iiuhb, which Solomon presented to their tribe, by the
fiininess of his lips and cartilage of the lower part of the nose ; by the dilata-
tion of his nostrils ; by the leanness of the flesh about the veins of his head ;
by the clcijjancc of the neck and shoulders ; by the softness of his hair, mane,
and skin; by the fullness of his breast ; by the large size of his joints; and by
the dryness of his extremities ; and also by his moral indications, for a noble
horse has no malice in him. lie loves his master, and frequently will suffer
no other to mount him. lie refrains from dning what nature prompts as
necessrtry while his master is on his back. Uc will not eat food left by
another horse. lie loves to splash limpid water whenever he meets it. His
instinct, smell, sight, hearing, intelligence, and address are all used for his
master ; and he will light for him. Hence the Arab's love of his horse. It
will be well for us all to remember some of the traditions of the Arab, for
they describe valuable points in a horse.

130. Thorough-Bred. — This term does not appear to have any very def-
inite meaning in this country. It is generally supposed to trace back to
something in the way of pure blood, of a better stock than the common one
of the country ; but what that stock is, perhaps not one in ten who owns
horses can tell. A writer in the (English) Fari)U'r''s JIagaz'uie says :

"The term, thorough-bred is an expression not clearly defined as regards
any of our domestic animals, but it would be very desirable to have some
rule established. It may be accepted as a principle that breeding from ani-
mals endowed with certain properties and perfections through several gen-
^erations, constitutes the claim to distinction ; hat there is iio adopted rule to
determine hoic many generations are sufficient to establish the title."

Yet, according to oar understanding of the term, a " thorough-bred" horse
must trace back, free from contamination of baser blood, to the pure Arabian
stock. The original of that stock in England, so far as ])edigrees are at-
tempted to be traced, was the " Darley Arabian," brought from " Araby the
blest" by a Mr. Darley. That liorse was the sire of Flying Childcrs, and
grandsire of Eclipse, one of the most remarkable horses ever on the English
race-course. He was not what would be considered a handsome horse, by a
bi'eeder of Morgan stock, but his fleetness and endurance were beyond com-
petition, and his stock have followed in his footsteps. He died at the age
of twenty-five years, after having begotten a greater number of prize-win
ning colts than any other horse that -ever lived.

If a horse can trace back to old Eclipse, or any of his famous colts, there
is no mistake about his being " thorough-bred." So he would be if he
traces back to the "Godolphin Arabian," a Barb that was introduced into
England at a later period than the Darley Arabian.

There should be some definite rule established among horse-breeders and

Sec. 8.]

HORSES— EUGLISn BREEDS.

99

our several State agricultural societies as to how far back and to what stock
the pedigree of a horse should go to make hiiu eligible to a prize as a '' thor-
ough-bred.*'

131. English liuntcrSi — This is a term given to a breed of English horses
whicli are higii up in thorough-bred blood, with a strain of other blood
possessing great powers of endurance. Tlie head of a liunter of perfect lonu
is small ; his neck tJiin, jiarticularly below; a firm and arched crest; jaws
wide, and very liglit on tlie bit.

132. All English Coach-Horse. — Tlie type of this variety is the " Cleveland
Bay," some of wliicli have been ini[)orted into this country, and have left
tlieir mark upon the finest coach-liorses we have iu the United States — such
as are to be found more abundantly in Central New York, than in any otiier
locality.

133. English RoadsterSi — Tlie term more common for tliis class in En-
gland is '• Hackney"— a term seldom lieard in this country, and if heard,
would be more likely to be understood as meaning a " haek-liorse."' The
nearest type of a hackney that we have, as a distinct breed, is the Morgan horse.

Youatt says: " A hackney is a linnter in miniature. His liight should
rarely exceed fifteen hands and an inch. He will be sufficiently strong and
more pleasant for general work below that standard. He should be of a
more compact form than the hunter, of more bulk according to his hight.
Tt is of essential consequence that the bones beneatli the knee should be
deep and flat, and the tendon not tied in. The pastern should be slK>rt, and
less oblicpie or slanting than tliat of the hunter or race-horse. The foot
should be of a size corresponding with the bulk of the animal — neither toe
hollow nor too flat, and open at the heels. The forelegs should be perfectly
straight; for a horse with his knees bent will, from a slight cause, and espe-
cially if overweighted, come down. The back should be straight and short,
yet siirticicntly long to leave comfortable room for the saddle between the
shoulders and the luck without pressing upon either. Some j>eisons prefer
a hollow-backed horse. It is generally an easy one to go. It will canter
well with a lady, but it will not caiTV a heavy weight, or stand much liard
work. The road-horse should be high iu the forehead, round in the barrel,
and deep in the chest."

134. The Eii.!;lish Dray-Horse. — There is a variety of horses known as the
druy-horse, or more generally in this country as the English cart-horse; a
very licavy, 6trong, slow-gaited horse, originated by a cross of the Flanders
or Norman horse witli the Suffolk Punch, a sorrel horse of fifteen or sixteen
hands high, with low, rounded shoulders ; thick on tlie top ; low back ;
deep, round chest; long back; high croup; large, strong quarters; full
flanks ; round legs, and short pasterns. This is a good descri]itIon of a
strong work-horse. ^\'e have something like it, though rather increased in
size, in the Pennsylvania wagon-horse.

135. Mor!;an Horses. — Tlie most distinct strain of American horses — in
fact, the only one which assumes the character of a race — is that now widely

100

DO>rESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

known as the Morgan. The origin of this race is given in the following ex-
tracts from letters written by a son and a relative of the original owner of the
old Morgan horse :

The following is an extract from a letter of Justin Morgan, origiiiallj
furnished for the Cultivator (vol. ix., p. 99), dated Stockbridge, Vt., March
1, 1S42. After stating that his iather owned the horse from which the race
of Morgan horses sjjrung, he says :

" I -will now relate the facts relative to said Morgan horse as I recollect
thoin. My father, Justin Morgan, brought said horse, or rather said colt,
into Randolpli, A't., in the siiuinier or autumn of 1795. Said colt was only
two years old when my father brought him to Kandolph, and had never
been handled in any way, not even to be led by a halter. My father went
to Springfield, Mass.. the place of his nativity, and tiie place from which he
removed to Ilandolph, in the spring or summer of 1795, after money that
was due to him at that place, as he said ; and instead of getting money, as
he expected, he got two colts — one, a tliroe-year-old gelding colt, ■which he
led ; the other, a two-year-old stallimi colt, which followed all the way from
Springfield to Randolph ; liaving been, as my father said, always kept with
and much attached to the colt he led. Said two-year-old colt was the same
that has since been known all over Kew England by the name of the Morgan
horse. My father broke said colt himself, and, as I have before remarked,
owned and kept him to the time of his decease, which took place in March,
179S, ebkI said horse was five years old the spring my father died ; and, as
before stated,*soon after my father's decease, he passed from my father's
estate into the possession of "Wm. Eice, of Woodstock, Yt. I can not state
positively that my father jnirchased said colt in Springfield, Mass., but I am
very confident that he purchased him in that town or in the immediate
vicinity, on Connecticut River."

AVe next offer an extract from a letter of John Morgan (see Cultivator,
vol. ix., p. 110), in which it will be seen that the material points set forth
by Justin Morgan are confirmed, and some further light given in regard to
the blood of the first Morgan horse. John Morgan resides at Lima, New
York, and is, we believe, a relative of Justin Morgan, Sr., and was a near
neighbor of the latter previous to his removal from Springfield to Yermont.
In reference to the colt above described by Justin Morgan (2d), John Mor-
gan says : " lie was sired by a horse owned by Sealy Norton, of East Hart-
ford, Conn., called the 'True Briton, or Beautiful Bay.' He was kept at
Springfield one season by the said Justin Jlorgan [Sr.], and two years after, I
kejit him two seasons. Tliis horse was said to have been raised by General
Delancy, commander of the refugee troops on Long Island, and rode by him
in the Revolution. It was said that one Smith stole the horse from the
General at King's Bridge, while the General was in the tavern ; ran him
across the bridge and took him to the American army, near "White Plains,
and sold him to Joseph "Ward, of Hartford, Conn., for $.300. It was also
said at that time that he was sired by the imported horse called * Traveler,'

?EC. 8.]

nonsES— THE morgan breed.

101

said to have been kept in New Jersey. Ward was a merchant, and kept the
liorso three or four years for a saddle and carriage horse, and then traded
him off to Norton, and Norton kept him for mares wliile he lived. The
description of the Morgan breed given by Mr. G. Earnurd {C'tdiiruior, vol.
ix., p. 33), answers well to the stock of ' True Briton.' I have always under-
stood that Morgan kept the colt for a stallion at TJandolph, and was very
celebrated for his stock."

The above statements of Justin and John Morgan comprise, as we believe,
the true liistory, so far as it is known, of the origin of tlie far-iamed Jloi-gau
horses. From tiie position of the Messrs. Morgan, they have had tlic best
possible facilities for obtaining correct information on this subject, and we
arc not aware of anything which should hinder their statement from receiv-
ing full credence.

" Of the old Morgan's progeny, three became famous as stallions, viz., the
Sherman Morgan, tiie Woodbury or Burbank, and the Chelsea. Of these
the Sherman Morgan was greatly the most distinguished. I have ascer-
tained to a certainty that he died in the winter of 1835. Black Hawk was
sired by him."

13G. niack-IIawk iMorsans.— Fifteen years ago, S. W. Jewett, of Vermont,
wrote of these as follows :

" I believe the Morgan blood to be the best that was ever infused into the
'Northern horse.' They are well known, and are esteemed for activity,
hardiness, gentleness, and docility throughout the New England States ;
well adapted for all work; good in evei'y spot, except for racers on the turf.
They are lively and spirited, lofty and elegant in their action, carrying them-
selves gracefully in the harness. They have size in pro2)ortion to bight;
bone clean; sinewy legs; compactness; short, strong backs ; powerful lungs;
strength and endurance. A mixture of the Morgan blood, though small,
may bo easily known from any other stock in the country. Tiiere is a re-
markable similarity prevailing in all of tliis race. They are known by their
short, lean heads, wide across the face at the eyes ; eyes lively and ju-om-
inciit ; open and wide in the under jaws, large windpipe, deep brisket,
heavy and round in the body, broad in the back, short limbs in proportion
to size, broad quarters ; a lively, quick action ; indomitable spirit ; move
true and easy in a good round trot ; fast on the walk. Color : dark bav,
chestnut, brown or black, witii dark Howing wavy nume and tail ; heail up, and
move without a wliip ; about fifteen hands high ; action powerful and spirited.

"They are highly celebrated for general usefulness, make the best of
roadsters, and live to a great age. In fact, they are the perfect ' Yankee
harness horse.'

"The Morgans are very like the noble Arab, with similar eyes, upright
cars, high withers, ])owcrful quarters, hocks well placed under their weight,
vigorous arms and flat legs, short from the knee to the pastern, close jointed,
possessing immense power for their size, with great fire and courage. But
a few of the Morgans, however, evince extraordinary speed.

102 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

" It is said that the best stock of horses in the New England States are
found iwnong the progeny and descendants of the Sherman Morgan, wliich
was owned by Mr. Bellows, ^>f Verniont.

" The iigiire given on another page is a portrait of Black Hawk, ' a colt
of the Sherman Morgan, which was got by the old Justin Morgan horse.
The dam of Black Hawk was a three-quarter-blooded English marc, raised
in the province of iS'ew Brunswick. She could trot a mile in less than three
minutes, and weighed 1,025 lbs., and was in every respect a most perfect
animal.'

" Black Hawk Avas bred by Mr. Matthews, of Durham, N. H. He is a
jet-black color; weighs, in good flesh, 1,010 lbs. ; his hight is flfteen hands
and one inch. A line drawn from the hip even with the ham, just below
the setting on of the tail, is four inches longer than the back, or the distance
from the hip to the withers. A line dropped perpendicular from the neck,
parallel with the fore leg, is nineteen inches forward of the junction of the
withers. The distance between the hip and the ribs is only one and a half
inches. He has a broad and vigorous arm, fat and clean leg, large nniscles,
short from the knee to the jjastern, large windpipe and nostril, well open
when under motion. He is one of the best proportioned and most elegant
moving horses that can be produced. He is perfectly sound, a close-jointed,
clean-limbed animal, and curries a beautiful Avaving head, mane, and tail.
His legs are flat and hard, clean from long hairs on the fetlock ; his eyes
stand out prominent ; his disposition kind and playful. He kee])s fat with
very little feed of oats and bran, three rpiarts of each daily, and five or six
pounds of timothy each day.

" No fault can he found with the horse, unless it be in his size ; however,
his stock are sufficiently large for roadsters and for general usefulness in
this State."

137. The Faults of the Morgan Horse. — Of the Morgan horses as they
were at the time Mr. Jewett wrote, particularly the Black Hawk strain of
the blood, we have no fault to find — we rather indorse his statement. But
fifteen years have wrought a change. As a general thing, Morgan horses
have been lired too much in-and-in, and without regard to size. They are
no longer " lofty" in proportion to the weight, but, on the contrary, are
" squatty," and to the eye of a good judge of horses, far less attractive than
they were formerly. What is needed, is an infusion of blood of a taller race
—such as gave character to the Black Hawks. Wherever they have been
crossed with Messenger stock, Cleveland Bay, or others of similar form, the
improvement has been marked, and some of the very finest roadsters and
carriage-horses have resulted. The Morgans, crossed upon other good
breeds, do not improve those as much as it improves theirs. It is still a
favorite breed of horses in New England, but not as much so as it was some
years ago. Tlie uniform color of the family has been a great recommenda-
tion, and there has been also a greater degree of general beauty in the Mor-
gan family of horses than in any other ever extensively bred in this country.

Sec. 8.]

HORSES— SIZE OF ROADSTERS.

103

TVe shall now give a few useful items for owners of horses of whatever
breed, mongrel or thorough-bred.

138. Driving — The Start. — llie first mile is the most important of the jour-
ney. More horses are injured in the start than in the balance of the whole
day. You should carefully avoid rapid driving immediately after a horse
has been full fed. Many old travelers feed over-night all the grain they
intend the horse to cat in the twenty four hours. Others feed at night and
at noon, and then give time after the horse has eaten his mess before start-
ing, or else drive very slowly for an hour, making up time as night
approaches. In all cases when a horse has been fed and watered an hour or
two before starting upon a journey or drive of several miles, it is proper to
drive slowly for the first mile or two ; but when the feeding and watering
have been more recent, the propriety of going along at a jog or easy pace
is still more urgent. Colic, founder, broken wind, have all of them resulted
from too rapid driving when a horse was full. A friend of ours, a physi-
cian, who had occasion sometimes to violate this dictate of good manage-
ment in his haste to reach some case of great urgency, once informed us
that when he drove at a rapid rate immedialdy after feeding, his horse
would scour almost invariably, and seem to suffer considerably.

Even in such cases where a horse must be driven upon a full stomach, it
is better to divide the distance into equal jiarts — say ten miles, which you
intend to drive in an hour, and give forty minutes to the first half, and do
the other five in twenty minutes. In that case be careful, when you stop,
not to leave the horse to cool suddenly. If the weather is hot, and you have
driven hard, don't mind trying to get your horse in a cool shade. The sun
won't hurt him.

There is another great error in driving which has often been suggested to
us. It is that of constantly urging a horse to exert himself beyond what is
natural to him. For instance, if a horse is urged to perform in two hours
a distance that he would, at his natural pace, require three hours to do, it
will injure him more than four hours' driving at his regular pace; and if
this urging is continued all day, he will break down, just as a man would, if
urged to double his speed in walking.

1.]!). Size of Roadsters. — A road horse sliould be about fifteen hands high
(a hand being four inches), measured from the top of the shoulder or withers
to the grouiul, when the horse stands naturally; his weigiit should be about
1,000 lbs. ; for such weight iu an animal fifteen hands high, in moderate
flesh, indicates compactness and ]iowcr somewhere. Experience has proved
that horses of this size carry their weight better on long journeys, injure
their feet less on the pavements and hard roads, and are apt to be more fleet
than those of a larger class ; for while greater length and hight will give an
increased stride, either running or trotting, the power to gather rajiidly, and
especially for long distances, requires much greater muscular exertion in
large than in small horses, from the greater weight to be propelled. Our
fastest trotters have generally been from this class.

104

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. 1.

140. H'alking Horses. — ^Tlie best gait a horse ever had for every -day use
is a irood walk. It is a gait that not one in ten possesses. Colts are not
trained fo walk in all tiic Eastern States. Young America wants more speed.
Kentucky has more good walking horses than any other State, for there horse-
hack traveling' has long been in fashion for men and women over a eountry
wliere muddy loads, at some seasons, rendei'ed any other gait impossible, and
so horses have been bred for the saddle and trained to a walking gait. This
is also the case in all the Western States, and perhaps might have been so in
New England, when our grandmothers rode to meeting on a pillion behind our
grandfathers, lint one-horse wagons have put horseback riding out of fashion,
and nowagood walking horse is more rare than one that can trot a mile in 2.40.

At the Springfield (Mass.) horse show of ISCO, the writer was one of a
committee to award prizes to the two best walking horses. Out of seven-
teen entered, the committee found but one which was considered a first-rate
Avalker. This was a Morrill mare, which walked five miles an hour with ease.
Two others were fair walkers, and the others knew no gait that could be
called walking. At the New York State Fair the same state of facts was
again developed. A letter from Wisconsin says : "I think horses trained to
walk fast would be a greater benefit to farmers in general than fast trotters,
as almost all of his work has to be done with a walk. I once knew a man
in Massachusetts who, before the railroads were built, kept from two to four
teams at work on the road, and never allowed them to trot at all, and nuide
the distance in cpiicker time than his neighbors, who made their horses trot
at every conveitient place. lie said that when" a horse commenced to walk
after a trot, he walked much slower than his common gait if kept on a walk,
and thereby lost more than he gained." Will farmers think of this, and pay
more attention to walking horses ?

141. InstruBiciits of TortJirc I'sed by Horsemen. — The following sensible
remarks are from the Ii'it^h Farmer''s Gazette. They are quite applicable
here :

" The good old English roadster's style of walk, trot, or canter is too steady
for your last j'ouug man ; he thinks it far beneath him to speak a kindly
word to his horse, or to control him by an easy signal ; and however quiet
the horse may be, he is rarely seen on his back without at least yb;/?' uunec-
csr^ary instruments of torture — namely, two spurs with sharp rowels, one
whip, and a severe curb bridle. Why should it be tlie universal custom in
this country for men armed with these cruel instruments of torture to ride
quiet, docile horses, and often punish them for a fanciful fault which they
tiiemselves bring about by their own want of experience and knowledge of
the horse's nature ?

" If a man has not the ability to handle a horse lightly, and at the same
time keep his balance in the saddle, he has no business to ride one of value
and high courage. It would be better for the horse and safer for the jnan
to keep his feet on terra firma.

"The more a horse's mouth is iised to a severe bit, the less he will care

Sko. 8.]

HORSES AND HORSE STABLES.

105

for it, as lie will soon learn to neutralize its efl'ects hy puUi)i(/ and keeping
the reins in a state of tension, and thereby prevent the rider from checking
or ■wriggling the bit — to punish him. The dead, steady pull is far less yahi-
ful to him than the jaw-breaking the rider would be able to inflict upon him
it allowed to keep his reins slack and ready for a jerk.

" One of the many causes which makes jiulling horses is the unsteady seat
of their riders. Many men can not ride a iight-inouthed horse, but they can
sit a puller with ease, because the firm hold this horse allows theui to hav.e
on the reins is the main thing upon which they depend to keep their l)a]ance.

"I have seen the most inveterate pullers in some peo2)le's hands ritlden in
bits invented by their owners, regular jaw-breaking or choking power, and
still pulling so hard as to tear the skin of'thcir rider's hands. And I have
no hesitation in saying — having frequently proved my assertions by prac-
tice— that if one of these tear-away pullers changed hands, and his new
owner would bridle him with an easy snatHe, and let him stand in the stable
— to feel the difference — an hour before he was mounted ho would forget his
old habit."

143. Saddlc-IIorses. — One of the meanest things ever taught a saddle-
horse is to cavort and curve, and go dancing and prancing about as though
tryiug to keep within a circle ju?t large enough to hold his four feet closely
drawn together. If you are selecting a saddle-horse, see that he does not
stand square upon his forward feet. They should reach well forward, and
then there will bo such an easy s])riiig that you may ride at a smart trot
without feeling as though you are struck with a sledge at every step, as you
may upon some horses whose hoofs arc square under the legs, and appear to
have about the same degree of spring that you M-ould have upon wooden
pins stepping a^ong, and brought down at everj- step like a pavicr's rammer.
Never select a very round-backed horse for the saddle. It does not hold
its place M-ell upon such a back. A good saddle-horse must possess good
sense as well as a good gait and gentleness.

Ii3. Color ludicativc of GeiitleiiesSt — It is asserted that the reason why
circus managers select parti-colored horses is not their fancy color, but be-
cause it indicates gentleness and tractability, and that the animals will
Bubmit to training better than horses of one color. A little thought and
observation upon this subject will enable any farmer to settle the tpiestion
In his own mind. Perhaps there is more than appears at first view in the
common expression, " a fiery black horse."' Is it not because black indi-
cates a fiery temper ? Independent of coloi-, m'c would look in the counte-
nance of a horse to see whether he would bear training. In some animals
there is a general appearance of an ugly disposition. A face broad and full
between the eyes indicates good sense, which is one of the most imjmrtant
things in a horse.

144. Horse Stables should be light, roomy, and well ventilated. Never
put a horse in a cellar. P.uild your stablcfj high ; that is, high between
floors. Most stables are built low " because they are warmer." But such

106 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

people forget that warmth is obtained at a sacrifice of pure air and the
Iiealth of tiie animal. Shut a man up in a tight, small box ; the air may
be warm, but it will soon lay him out dead and cold if he continues to
breathe it. If stables are tight, they should have high ceilings; if they
are not tight, but open to admit cold currents of air from all directions, they
are equally faulty.

Slatted floors are getting into vogue. My own stable is built with a tight
floor nine feet long and four and a half feet wide for each stall, with a pitch
of two inches. At the end of tiie plank there is a slatted portion, four feet
wide, two inches lower than the plank. Through these slats all the urine
runs into the manure pile in the cellar, and so leaves the beds of the horses dry.

145. Sand for Horses' BcdSi — JR-. Small, of Dundalk, Scotland, a veteri-
nary surgeon of considerable experience, states that sand is not only an ex-
cellent substitute for straw for horses' beds, but superior to straw, as the
sand does not heat, and saves tlie hoofs of the horses. lie states that sand is
exclusively used for horses' beds in his repository.

14G. To Remove Horses from a Building on Fire. — The great difliculty of
getting horses from a stable, where surrounding buildings are in a state of
conflagration, is well known. Wilkes' Spirit of the Times says, a gentleman
wlio?e horses had been in great peril from such a cause, having in vain tried
to save them, hit upon the experiment of having them harnessed, when, to
his astonishment, they were led from the stable without difficiUty. Throw-
ing a blanket over a horse's head will often answer, also, and may be easily
tried before harnessinsr.

147. Proportion of Horses to 3Icn. — The following curious account is given
in Appleton's Encyclopedia, of the number of horses in the various parts of the
world : " The general estimate has been eight to ten horses in I^urope for every
hundred inliabitants. Denmark has 45 horses to every hundred iidiabitants,
which is more than any other European country. Great Britain and Ire-
land have 2,500,000 horses ; France, 3,000,000 ; Austrian Empire, exclusive
of Italy, 2,500,000 ; Eussia, 3,500,000. The United States have 5,000,000,
which is more than any European country. The horses of the whole world
arc estimated at 57,420,000." ,

14S. What Constitutes Legal I'lisoundness in Horses. — A Knee-sprung horse
can hardly be said to be unsound. He may be a very fast horse, and can
endure with ease the labor of any common, ordinary horse, although there
is an alteration of structure which unfits him for the race-course. This
would not be likely to produce disease or lameness ; he would be more
likely to gi'ow better than worse, if used for common purposes. But if so
bad as to produce stumbling and falling, he would be unsound, and a war-
ranty should be taken against such defocts.

Capped Ilocks can not be considered imsoundness, if produced by an un-
even stable floor or by kicking ; but if produced by a sprain, and a perma-
nent thickening and enlargement of the membranes, there would be unsound-
ness. A special warranty should be required in such cases.

^111

Milk Iui'ii»i>ri*.

Iliflhl -/ifr. /...wri- ./.IK

llOW.SWH TKHTK at ]D«»'1'K"«^"<' AtiBS.

HOKHWiS. Tkkth at OlyUKKKXT Ar.K8

PLATES VIII., IX.

(Pages IOC, 107.)

These plates need no description ; tlioj- require study. As they
contain all that could be said to fully understand the subject illus-
trated, we have written nothing about the art of "telling the age
of horses by examining their teeth." Whoever studies these plates
will learn that art. Observe the steady change, year b}' year, as
it is mapped out before you. Open the mouth of 3'our horse, and
compare its appearance with the illustration of the year correspond-
ing to his known age, and so on of all others. Thus you will learn
the art and the value of these engraved representations.

Seo. 8.]

HORSES— WHEN UNSOUND.

107

Contraction of the Hoof is a considerable deviation from the natural form
of the foot, but does not necessarily constitute unsoundness. It requires,
however, a most careful examination by the purchaser to ascertain that thei-c
is no fever or ossification of the cartilage ; that the frog is not diseased ; that
the animal is not tender-footed or lame. Unless some of these feymptonis
are indicated, he must not be pronounced unsound. A sj^ecial warranty
should l)e required Avhcre the feet are contracted.

Corns manifestly constit>ite unsoundness. Although few men lay much
stress on this malad}', still much inconvenience, and many times scrio\is
difficulties, must be encountered by them, as they are seldom thoroughly
cured. Many horses are almost constantly lame with corns, through a scrof-
ulous habit of the system. A Avarranty against such animals would be safe.

TreiiiWuKj Knees. — This can not be considered unsoundness, yet it is a
precursory symptom of knee-sjJinuHj. Trembling of the knees, after a smart
exercise, indicates weakness, and should be regarded as objectionable.

A CoiKjh constitutes unsoundness, however slight or of short standing.
If a horse is noticed to cough before the purchase, or immediately after-
ward, he is diseased ; but if warranted sound, and the cough is not discov-
ered till one or two days afterward, he is not returnable ; for a few hours arc
sufficient to contract a cough, by taking cold while standing in a daniji,
musty stable, or by eating different feed, musty hay, etc.

lioaring, W/teezinff, or W/i istl i n r/ i-i unsoundness, being the result of alter-
ation of structure or disease in the air-passages. Although there have been
decisions to the contrary, courts and jurors are often at a loss for the want
of intelligent witnesses ; and if a veterinary surgeon is called to the stand,
not having seen the animal, he is liable to be mistaken from misrepresenta-
tion. Broken Wind is still more decidedly unsoundness.

Crih Biting. — A difference of opinion exists as to this being imsoundness,
and courts have given opposite decisions in respect to it. There arc cribbers
that can scarcely be said to be unsound, as they arc not perceptibly injured,
and it does not interfere with their condition or endurance. Others inhale
and swallow a great amount of wind ; they bhiut and are siibject to colic,
which interferes with their health and strength : this would constitute un-
soundness. A ■warranty should always be taken against injury from crib-
bing ; then if he breaks his teeth or injures himself, recompense may be had.

Curl) constitutes unsoundness as long as it lasts, and perhajis while the
swelling remains, altlumgh no inflammation exists ; for a horse that has once
tlirown out a curb, is liable to do so again on the slightest exertion. A
horse, however, should not lie returned if he spring a curb five minutes after
jiurchase, for it is dune in a moment, and does not indicate any previous
misoundness.

111). Soiling llorsoSi — "We commend the following statement of J. C. Ad-
ams, of Seymour, N. Y., to the attention nf all ownere of small farms, like
the little one where we practice the same course :

"I havi- ill close proximity to my barn a puteh of ground, 7j rods by 1(J

103

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

(three quarters of an acre), seeded to clover, from which I kept one sjjan of
horses in thriving condition from the first day of June last to the hist day
of August, besides cutting 900 lbs. of good hay, which I ])ut into the barn,
and harvested of the second mowing seed suthcient to stock an acre or two
of ground. This may, and undoubtedly will, seem to many like a big barn
well stretched. In fact, I should doubt the reality of such a stor}- myself, had
not my eyes seen and my hands felt the truth of such a statement. I5y the
time I had mowed two thirds of this little patch, the remainder was fit to bo
made into hay, which I accordingly did up after the most ajijirovcd fashion.
And that part mowed first was sufficiently large to mow again. I fed them
three times a day all they could oat. They smelt not, touched not, tasted
not one particle of grain during the three months ; used them more or less
every day, and at the end there was a perceptible gain in flesh. Kever,
since I could say «i// team, have I suimnercd a team so cheaply. The great-
est cost is cutting and putting it before the horses. I offered them water,
-but they did not drink to exceed a pailful a week.

" I am of the opinion that if they had been turned loose upon this piece
of ground, ten days would have been sufficient time to eat up and trample
into the earth everything green upon it. As five acres of good pasture is
little enough to summer a span of horses when allowed to run, there is almost
an incalculable saving in soiling them."

150. Brccdiii,!; for Longevity. — We, have liad a few instances of horses liv-
ing to the age of thirty years, but they are so rare, that such an old horse is
looked upon as a, curiosity. Lewis B. Brown, of AV'estchester County, N. i'.,
has a team of four, the aggregate age of which is 108 years, the oldest being
over 30 years, and all in such vigor of constitution that but few teams can
hold their own with this upon the road. The exhibition of this old team at
the Springfield show, in 18C0, attracted universal attention. This shows that
such old horses are rare, and it proves that old horses are not worthless. It
also induces the question, whether we can not breed with a sijccial reference
to longevity. If selections were made upon both sides, of stock which had
ancestors noted for longevity, and this course continued through several
generations, with mares and stallions which have arrived at mature age, still
retaining a vigor like that exhibited in Mr. Brown's team, who can say that
we should not obtain a breed noted for longevity, and that horses forty or
fifty years old would then be no rarity? This is a subject worth thinking
about.

151. Treatment of Colls, — "When first foaled, if parturition is at maturity,
the colt should have eight front teeth, four in each jaw ; but it sometimes
happens that these are not all cut through, and the gums are inflamed and
60 tender that the colt can not suck Avell. This should always be looked to,
and the gums cut with a sharp knife, and, if need be, the colt fed until it can
suck freely.

Colts as well as calves are sometimes aff'ectcd by lice ; these may be got rid
of in vai'ious ways. Take white-oak bark, boil it in water, making a strong

Sko. 8.] HORSES AND THEIR DISEASES. 109

decoction ; wash the animals on the back and on the sides. In twenty-four
liours tlie lice will be completely tunned. Tanner's oil is also first-rate. So
is snufl" or a decoction of tobacco ; and we have heard of Peruvian guano
being used and answering the same purpose as snuff.

152. Kemedifs for Some of ihe most fommon Diseases of Horses. — Tliorc
are a great many little simple cuinplaiiits that can be cured without sending
for a veterinary surgeon. We can afford room for only a few, because every
person desiring information upon the diseases and cures ot domestic animals,
will find it in the Appendix.

153. To Cure Scratches. — "When the horse comes in at night, his legs
should be washed clean and rubbed as dry as may be ; then apply good
vinegar, rubbing it well to the skin. Two apj^lications a day are sutiicient.
1 have always found it a snre preventive and a certain £ure. If the legs
have become cracked and sore, apply the vinegar freely and add a piece of
copperas the size of a common hickory nut to a quart of vinegar.

Another excellent remedy, which we have used a great many times, is
beef brine. If the dirt is carefully washed off with warm soap-suds, and then
the legs well bathed with the brine, it will require but two or three applica-
tions to cure a very bad case of scratches.

The Maine Farmer gives another remedy. It says : " Take fresh slaked
lime, and dust the affected parts well with it twice a day. It will not cause
the horse any uneasiness, and will be sure to effect a cure in a few days.

154. For ileavcs in Horses. — Take smart-weed, steep it in boiling water till
the strength is all out ; give one quart every day for eight or ten days. Or mix
it with bran or shorts. Give him green or cut-up feed, wot up with water,

. during the operation, and it will cure.

155. fhafmg I'uder the Collar. — A gentleman who has tried the plan suc-
cessfully for five years, communicates the amiexed method of preventing
horses from chafing under the collar. He says he gets a piece of leather, and
has what he terms a false collar made, which is simply cutting the leather
in such a sha])e as to lie singly between the shoulders of the horse and the
collar. This fends off all the Iriction, as the collar slips and moves on the
liather, and not on the shouldere of the horse. Chafing is caused by fric-
tion, hence, you sec, the thing is entirely feasible. Some persons put pads
or sheep-skins under the collar ; these, they say, do as much hurt as good,
I'lr they augment the heat. A single piece of leather, like that composing
the outside of a collar, without any lining or stuffing, is better than any-
thing else.

15G. For Fistula. — Salt, one tablcspoonful ; soft soap, one tablespoonful ;
wiiiskv, one tablespoonful ; turpentine, one tablespoonful. Mix in a tin
cup ; place on the hoi-se's nose a twitch, to prevent his moving ; have your
mixture placed on a little fire, and as soon as it boils up, pour immediately
n])on the diseased jiart ; repeat the operation every ten or twelve days, till ap-
jilied three or four times, it" necessary. It will not tidio off the hair or leave
any scar.

no

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

rcHAi-. T.

Tin's is not more effectual than the following much simpler remedy, wliicli
wc liave proved for both fistula and poll-evil. Take a lump of potash
or saleratus, as big as you can crowd into the pipe of the fistula, and it
causes it to discharge more freely for a day or two, and then it begins to
heal. In one case of poll-evil, a large mare would not allow any one to
touch her head to ajiply the remedy, or in fact to be bridled. For this case
we took about two ounces of saleratus and tied it in a cloth, in tiie form of a
pad, inside the strap of a halter, where it crossed the top of the head, and by dint
of perseverance succeeded at length in getting it on and firmly secured, wheu
■we bid her go and live or die, as she liked — we would do no more for her.
A shower fell soon after, and the next time we saw our patient she was par-
tially healed : the caustic had taken the hair off, and it had also affected the
disease. A fortuiglit later we caught her, and found she did not object to
being handled. The disease was cured, and the mare was worth a hundred
dollars. AYhen turned out, she could not have been sold for a hundred
cents, and the cure had not cost five cents.

Here is another remedy which may be tried, if it is preferred to the other.
The following is sent us as a valuable prescription for several of the ills that
horse-fiesli is heir to, such as fistula, poll-evil, ring-bone, big head, etc. :
12 oz. of alcohol, 1 oz. of spirits of turpentine, 1 oz. of corrosive sublimate,
1 oz. of camphor gum, 1 oz. of oil of spike, 1 oz. of castile soap, 1 oz. of aqua-
fortis— mixed and dissolved, and applied with a swab for a day or two, and
then intermixed, and apply again. Take care only to touch the jiart af-
fected; and, to ^jreveut injury- to the hair or hoof adjacent, rub it well with
grease.

157. White Lead, Its Value on Soresi — W/iife lead in oil, as an external
application or remedy, lias no equal. In abrasions, or galls from the sad-
dle or collar, or from any other cause, it will speedily aid the part in healing.
Applied to the leg of a horse — the outer coating of hair and skin of which
was torn off — with a painters brush, caused it to heal and leave no scar. It
is good for scratches and all sores upon horses or other animals, and equally
good for men. It forms an air-tight coating, and soothes pain. Every farmer
should keep a pot and brush ready for use, and he should not fail to apply it
to all abraded spots on tools, as well as stock. White lead is the carbonate
of the metal, and, when pure, is very white. That having a grayish tint is
impure, being generally adulterated. For use as a paint, a lead color is
produced by adding lampblack, and a drab or stone color, by adding burnt
umber.

loS. Liniment for Sweeney in IlorseSi — One oz. of oil of spike, 1 oz. of oil
of amber, 1 oz. of Venice turpentine, and a small quantity of rock-oil.

159. Blind Staa;gers. — ^This disease is more common in the Southern than
it is in the Northern States. The Cotton Planter newspaper gives the fol-
lowing remedy : " Take 1 gal. of green hickory wood aslies, 1 half pint of
spirits of turpentine, 1 oz. of gum camphor, and a sufficiency of lye to make
a thin mush. Fill a horn with this mush, while boiling hot, and with a tliin

Sbo. 8.]

HORSES— IMPERFECT VISION.

Ill

clotli stretched over the end of the horn, apply it four times upon or over
the region of the brain, each time filling the horn with the hoiling mnsli,
which will blister the skin. In connection with this, it is necessar}'^ to burn
rags wet with spirits of "turpentine under the liorse's nose until jou produce
a free discharge. You &-liould also bleed freely from the neck, and give one
pint of linseed-oil as a purge.

160. How to Dftoct Imprrrect Visiou or Blindness in Horses. — You may
have good grounds for suspicion of imperfect vision when the horse moves
his cars in a constant and rapid motion, directing them in quick succession
to every quarter from whence the least sound proceeds. Also if his action is
lofty and faltering, and he lifts up his feet and replaces them on the ground
as if stepping over some obstacle, when there is actually nothing to impede
his free progression, notwithstanding these symptoms would be suflicicat to
create suspicion, there are other causes by which similar symptoms would
appear in horses. If a horse with perfect eyes were led from a dark stable
into the sunshine, the sudden contraction of the pujnl of his eye would
render it inq)ossiblo, for a few moments, for him to see but very indistinctly ;
hence symptoms of \incertainty in his movements, until the pupil becomes
steady after the sudden contraction. The dilating and contracting of the
pupil furnish means of ascertaining Mhctlier blindness exists in one eye or
both, as this pupil varies in size according to the degree of light which is
brought to bear ujion it. In a dark stable the ]nipil is expanded, so that »
greater portion of light falls iqion the cornea ; but if the horse is led to llic
door of the stable, the pupil will contract bo as to exclude more light than
could be endured, and if suddenly exposed to the sun, the ajierturc will be
all but closed; therefore carefully notice the eyes, whether they contract or
expand equally by the increase and decrease of the light. If the horse
should be examined in the open air, notice whether both pupils arc of ex-
actl}' the same size. After this, carefully place the hand, so as not to alarm
the horse, over each eye, to shade ofi' the light, and hold it there for a shor".
time, noticing the extent to which the pujiil dilates ; then ])ass the hand
over the other eye, and ascertain whether it also dilates to the same extent,
and if still it be uncertain, place both hands in the positions of shades over
both the eyes of the horse, and you will at once perceive wliether they are
perfect, and if not, which of the two is inqierfect.

Nothing tends more to injure the eyes of a horse than dark or badly venti-
lated stables. Attention to the lighting, draining, and ventilation of horse
stables is an imperative duty. There are thousands of stables in which the
door is the only aiierturc for the ingi-css or egress of pure air, and even this
is in most instances closed, both when the horse is at rest, or at work or ex-
ercise; thus he has. while in the stable, to constantly breathe vitiated air.

101. Itcmril.v for (Jails on Horses. — Use whisky, saturated with alum,
to wash the parts liable to chafe, which fends to harden the skin and pre-
vents its rubbing off. For galls already formed, the following receipt for a
salve is good ; so it is for human flesh-sores.

113

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

" Take of honey, twelve ounces ; yellow beeswax, four ounces ; conipouiul
galbanuin plaster, six ounces ; sweet oil, half a pint. Put the lioney into a
jar l)y the fire, then molt the other ingredients and mix them together ;
spread very thin on linen, and aj)j>ly twice every day."

102. llorse-Shoeiug. — It is wonderful how little the mass of smitlis wlio
shoe liorses know of the anatomy of a liorse's foot ; of its delicate organiza-
tion, and susceptibility to injury by improper paring of the hoof, formation
of the shoes, and attachment of the same ! liorses are peculiarly sensitive
to lameness, and it is obvious that great care in the particuhirs mentioned
should be observed, in order that a iinn, positive, and comfortable tread
shoild be given the feet, so as to make them capable of exerting the won-
derful degree of muscular strength of which they are possessed without
injury to tlie exquisitely constructed parts which ai-e brought into play. In
one of the nunil )ers of the Duhl'in Afjricultural Revievo we find a long article,
Avritten by "William Miles, extracted from the Journal of the lioyal Agri-
cultural Society of London. We heartily comi.'iend this able production to
the perusal of those of our readers interested in this important subject. It
commences as follows :

" If I were asked to account for my horses' legs and feet being in better
order than those of my neighbors, I shoaild attribute it to the four following
circumstances : First, that they arc all shod with few nails, so placed in the
shoe as to permit the foot to expand every time they move ; secondly, that
they all live in boxes instead of stalls, and can move whenever they ])]ease ;
thirdly, that they have two hours' daily walking exercise when they are not
at work ; and fourthly, that I have not a head-stall or rack-chain in my
stable. These four circumstances comprehend tlie whole mystery of keeping
horses' legs fine, and their feet in sound working condition np to a good old age.

" All that is really required is, to take one anatomical and one pliys-
iological fact on trust, and believe that the horse's hoof is lined by a very
sensitive membrane which must on no account ever be wounded, and that
the hoof itself is elastic, and expands M'hen the M'eight of the horse is tlirown
on the foot, and contracts when it is taken ofl:' again ; all the rest is purely
mechanical, and merely calls for the exercise of a little thought and patience
to understand the principle and apply it.

"The result of the numberless experiments I have made at various times
on all sorts of horses doing every kind of work is, that there is but one prin-
ciple to be observed in horse-shoeing which Avill admit of no variation or
compromise : the shoe must fit the foot, whatever the sliape of the foot may
happen to be, and it must be nailed to the lioof in such a manner as will
])ermit the foot to expand to the weight of the horse ; this latter condition
will be best complied with by placing three nails in the outer limb of the
shoe, and two in the inner limb between the toe and the commencement of
the inner quarter ; a larger number than five nails can never be required in
any shoe of any size, or imder any circumstances, excepting for the sole pur-
pose of counteracting defective and clumsy fitting.

Sec. 8.] nORSES AND nOR3E-SIIOEIN'G. 113

"Xo horse should have more than one foot hurcd at a time; however
strong his feet may happen to be, he is sure to stand quieter on a siiod foot
than he can on a bare one, and it will prevent his breaking the crust. A
hone witii weak Hat feet is in ])0sitive misery when forced to sustain his
whole weight on a bare foot, while the opjiosite foot is held up.

" A strong foot with an arched sole, when the roads are in good order,
will require to have the toe shortened, the quarters and heels lowered, and
the sole pared, until it will yield in some sliglit degree to very hard pressure
from the thumb ; but on no account should it ever be pared thin einjugh to
yield to moderate pressure ; the angles formed by the crust and the bars at
the heels must be cleared out, and all the dead horn removed therefrom, and
the bars should be lowered nearly to a level with the sole.

" A weak flat foot, on the contrary, will bear no shortening of the toe, and
very little paring or lowering anywhere ; the heels of such feet are sure to be
too low already, and the sole too thin ; in fact, the less that is done to them the
better beyond clearing out the dead horn from the angles at the heels, and
making the crust bear evenly on the shoo ; but the hollow between the bars
and the frog, or the frog itself, must never be touched by a knife in any foot,
whether it be a weak one or a strong one ; and as these latter directions
differ materially from the usual practice of smiths, I may, perhaps, be ex-
pected to state my reasons for wishing to enforce them in opposition to what
they no doubt consider a time-honored custom ; I mean the inveterate habit
they all have of trimming the frog, and oi>oning out the heels at every
shoeing ; but I think I shall be able to show that 'it is a custoni more hon-
ored in the breach than in the observance.'

" The shoe should be neither too light nor too narrow in the web ; light
shoes are apt to bend before they are half worn out, and narrow-webbed
shoes expose the sole and frog to tmnecessary injury from stones in the road.
Every fore-shoe should be more or less seated on the foot-surface, to prevent
it pressing on and bruising the sole ; but a perfectly flat surface should be
])reserved around the edge of the foot-surface of the shoe, from heel to heel,
for the crust to rest upon. The amomit of seating to be employed must bo
determined by the description of foot to be shod ; for instance, a broad foo*',
with a fiat sole and weak horn, will require a wide web, considerably seatcl,
to prevent it corning in contact with the sole and bruising it ; but a narrow
foot, with an arched solo and strong horn, will i-cquire less width of web
and less seating, otherwise the dirt and grit of the road ■wotihl become im-
pacted between the shoe and the sole, and cause as much pressure and injurv
as the iron would have done."

JIany men who own and use horses seem to be indifferent as to the man-
ner in which they are shod, so much so that thcj- take them to any one who
can drive a nnil, leave cverytliing to liim, and take it for granted that if the
horse has got four good stout shoes on his feet that will stay on as long as
they last, it is all right. This is a great mistake, and will often lead to the

discomfort and ultimate ruin of the horse.

g

114

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

No horse that is badly shod can travel easily, safely, or well ; and many
who use horses that cut their legs or trip, suppose that the fault is in the
horse, vrhilc in fact no one is in fault but the shoer. Tiierc are hardly two
horses that require precisely the same sliaped slioe, or that it be put on in
precisely the same way ; liencc to shoe every horse so as not to pinch, and
consequently injure tlie feet, and at the same time so that ho can perform
his work easily and well, requires considerable experience and more than
common skill and intelligence on the part of iiorse-shoers.

One of tiie objects in applying the shoe is to preserve the natural con-
cavity of the sole of the foot. A horse in his natural state, and, indeed, uj)
to the period of his iirst introduction within the jirecincts of the " smithy,"
lias generally a concave sole ; and wisely is it so ordained. Were it other-
wise, the animal would be unable to secure foothold ; as it is, the inferior edge
of the hoof — that is, the ground surface — projecting beyond the sole, may be
compared to the point of a cat's claw or the nails of a man ; they grasp, as it
were, bodies with which they come in contact, and thus secure a point of
resistance which aids in advancing limb or body over a smooth surface.
Now, in order to preserve the natural mechanical functions of the horn and
sole, the ground surface of the shoe must correspond to the ground surface
of the foot ; that is to say, the ground surface of the shoe must be beveled
cup fashion ; its outer edge being prominent, takes the place of the hoof; its
inner surface being concave, corresponds to the natural concavity of the foot.
It is a custom among some blacksmiths to reverse the above procedure, and
]ilace the eonea*'e surface next the foot, and often the ground surface apj>cars
tt> be more convex tluiu concave. An iron shoe tacked on to a horse's foot
is one of the unavoidable evils of domestication, yet, when ju-operly ajjplied,
is not so great an evil as some persons might suppose.

K. Jennings, veterinary surgeon, Philadeljjhia, gives his views as follows
upon this subject :

l(i3. Coijtractioa of the Feet of Horses— The Cause and Remedy. — " The
tendency of a horse's feet, in a healthy condition, is to expand whenever
the weight of the body is thrown upon them. Being a very comjdicated
piece of mechanism, they arc very easily disarranged, and, once out of order,
are difficult of repair ; hence the necessity of preserving them in a sound
condition.

" Contraction is caused, 1st, by cutting away the bars of the feet, which
are tlic main stays for the suj^port of the quarters ; 2d, by (opening tlio
heels, as the smith calls it) cutting away a portion of the frog, in conse-
quence of which the moisture of the frog becomes absorbed, losing its elas-
ticity and destroying its function, thus exposing the feet to injury by
concussion ; ikl, by standing upon plank floors ; 4th, by improper shoeing.

" An ordinary observer will, upon an examination of the common shoe,
notice that it inclines from without inward at the heels, thus forming a con-
cavity for the feet to rest in ; the consequence is a lateral resistance to the
expansion of the hoofs when the weight of the animal is thrown upon them-

Seo. 8.] HORSES AND MULES. Hi

Tlie effects of this resistance are to force the heels together, creating pressure
ujion the sensitive parts within the liorny case; estabhsliiiig i'{;yer, by wliich
tlie moisture of tlie hoofs is rapidly absorl)ed, rendering the lioofs hard,
brittle, and liable to crack, and frequently causing corns, navicular joint
lameness, bony deposits to be thrown out from the lateral M-ings or processes
of the coffin bones, rendering the animal ]>ermanently lame or unsound.
These are but few of the bad effects arising from contraction — enough, how-
ever, to serve our purpose at present.

*' liemcdy. — Preserve a level bearing by making the shoes perfectly flat
on the quarters, so as not to interfere with the expansion of the feet.
Should contraction already, exist to considerable extent, bevel the shoes
slightly outward at the heels, in order to facilitate expansion. Care should
be used not to bevel too much, or bulging of the lower part of the hoofs at
tlie quarters will be the result. The slioes should in all cases bo forged, and
not twisted, as is sometimes done to save trouble b}' the bungling smith.
Projjer applications, to soften the horny parts and promote elasticity, should
also be iised. Such preparatifms are put up in the form of hoof ointments.''

1G4. MulCSi — Few of the farmers of this country are aware what a debt of
gratitude they owe George Washington for the introduction of mules into
general use for farm purposes.

Previous to 17S3 tliei'e were but very few, and those of such an inferior
order as to prejudice farmers against them as unfit to compete with horses in
work upon the road or farm. Consequently there were no good jacks, ar.d
no disposition to increase the stock ; but Washington became convinced that
the introduction of mules generally among Southern planters M^ould prove
to them a great blessing, as they are less liable to disease, and longer liveil,
and work u[)on shorter feed, and are much less liable to be injureil by care-
less servants than liorses.

As soon as it became known abroad that the illustrious AVashington de-
sired to stock his Mount Vernon estate with mules, the King of Spain sent
him a jack and two jennies from the royal stables, and Lafayette sent another
jack and jennies from the island of Malta.

The first was of a gray color, sixteen hands high, heavily made, and of a
sluggish Tiaturc. He was named the Royal Gift. The other was called the
Knigiit of Malta ; he was about as high, but lighter made, black color, and
litlie and fiery, even to ferocity.

The two different sets of animals gave him the most favorable opportunity
of making ini]irovemcnts by cross-breeding, the result of which was a favor-
ite jack which he called Compound, because he jiartook of the best jioints in
b ith of the original jacks. The General bred his blooded mares to these
j:icks, even taking those from his family coach for that puqv-ise, and pro
duc(«d such suiicrb mules that the comitrv was all agog to breed some of the
same sort, and they soon became quite common. This was tiie origin of
improved mules in the United States; though over seventy years since, there
is no doubt there are now some of the third and fourth generations of

IIG

DOMESTIC A^ilMALS.

[Chap. T.

Knight of Malta aiul lioyal Gift to be found in Virginia, and the great ben-
efits arising from their introduction to the country are to be seen upon almost
every cullivated acre in the Southern States. Notwithstanding the enor-
mous increase of late years, arising from a systematic course of breeding in
tiie Northern States for the Southern market, mules were never more valua-
ble than at present, or more ready of sale at high prices.

l(j.5. Lonstevity of Mules. — We have numerous reports of mules attaining
the age of ibrty, fifty, or si.xty years, and Col. Middleton, of South Carolina,
stated some years ago that he had one at work on his jdantation eighty ycti's
old ; and wo have seen an account of a mule in Ireland certified to have been
at Avork since 1707, making him over 150 years old. Tiiis is, of course, a
very uncommon age, but we are satisfied that, with proper usage, mules
■would commonly attain to about forty years, being serviceable to the last,
and this should be counted as one of their elements of value.

cor-
^\'e

ICG. The Largest Mule iu tlie World.— If the following statement is

rectly given, it tells of tiie largest mule, probably, ever i^roduccd
found it in the Commercial, of Cincinnati, in 18G0. It says :

'• The largest mule ever produced in the world is now in this city. It is a
marc mule, nineteen and a half hands high, and weighs eighteen hundred
rnd thirt'/'tioopounds. Tills extraordinary aninuil is the property of Charles
Frost, of Wayne County, Ind., recently purchased near Lexington, Ky."

167. Males, Horses, Oxen. — We read in almost every agricultural paper,
we hear in most agricultural addresses, and we often liear in conversation,
that one or tho" otlier of these animals is the one, and the only one, that
farmers should use, yet we have never seen a farmer who could say, " I
know." One who has always done his farm- work with oxen is sure that
they are the best in all res])ects ; while lif'ty miles away he would search a
hundred farms to find as many yoke of oxen, and where he did find them he
woidd ])robably be told they were only fit for drudgery — that horses only
are suitable for farm-work, and their owners are ready with loads of reasons
to substantiate their theory. But take another day's journey, and the theory
is upset with mules — mules here, there, everywhere ; nothing but mules,
and nothing fit for a farm but mules, because they are so strong and hardy
they never tire, and live upon almost nothing for their daily rations, and are
the very personification of life everlasting.

Now, while the advocates of each class of animals disagree so widely, how
are the seekers after truth to satisfy themselves ? Do they look to us for an
opinion ? Wo can give it ; here it is. All are best, and upon a large farm
all would be found economical to keep for different classes of work ; and it
is our opinion that no man who farms a hundred acres can afibrd to do with-
out oxen, mules, and at least one horse. If his oxen are well trained, they
will travel as fast before the plow and wagon as mules ; but the latter are so
much more enduring in hot weather, at all sorts of hard work, that their
services are then particularly valuable. They are better, too, to go otl' upon
the road, or to carry produce to market, because they may be, though nat-

Sno. 8.]

HORSES AXD MULES.

117

urally about as slow as oxen, trained to travel homeward without a load at
a rouiul trot. For working singly in the cultivation of crops, mules are far
superior to horses, and of course can do a great deal of work that could not
be done-Lj' oxen. We have seen mules that M-cre fair substitutes for saddle-
horses, having one good quality, that of sure-footedness. There is one ob-
jection to mules on a farm where the stock is generally pastured : there is
nothing short of a Mississippi fence that will hold them — that is, twelve rails
higli. and stake-and-ridered ; and we have heard planters declare that they
had often known the brutes to climb over sucli a fence as that. In advising
a Xorthern farmer to keep mules, wo therefore advise him 'to make his cal-
culation to kcc]) tlicm in a staldo all the time tiiey arc out of harness.

IG!^. Breediii!^ of Horses and Hlnles. — There are certain universal laws of
lu-ceding which can not be ignored, except at the sacrifice of all success. In
Kentucky and Tennessee, a verj- large strain of mules have been obtained
by using jacks of immense size. AVe recollect seeing one at R. Cuckrill's,
near Nashville, over eighteen hands high. We have seen several mules of
that bight, and numerous ones of sixteen and seventeen hands high. It is
still a (jucstion whether such large mules are as economical as the smaller
sizes, which cost less at first and cost less for sustenance ; and some pei-sons
contend that at ordinary labor the small mule will do as much and last
longer.

In breeding either horses or mules, a writer upon the subject says : " If we
would have sound stock, we rnii>if fatre constitutioniil soundncnii hi both dain
and sire. There are hundreds, ay, thousands, who will sc^nr the countiy ami
compare the merits of a dozen horses — will give time and money to secure
the services of a good stallion — and all with the exiiectation of i)rocuring a
fine colt from a miserable, puny, ill-shaped, broken-winded, spavined old
mare. How often do we hear it said, ' Oh, she will do to raise a colt
from ;' or — after hard service and cruel usage have left a mere wreck of
what, away back in the farmer's memory, was once a beast of power, activ-
ity, excellent temper, and noble bearing — 'wc must now turn the old mare
out to breed from.' The start is wrong, the foundation is defective — what
wonder should the structure tumble to the earth ?

" In the marc wc need size and symmetry ; if there be blood, all the bet-
tor— it will tell. Without the first two, however— even though all the
lilood that has flowed through thorough-brcds, from the days of Godol]>liin
to the present, were in her veins — she is utterly unfit for a breeder. JIauy
animals possess some favorable peculiarity wliicii owners wish to transmit,
ami though there may be a structural deficiency in some other part, the
marc is brought to the breeding paddock in the hope that the desirable
features will be prominent in the colt, even if it be at the expense of other
points of strength and action. The breeder liero commits an error. It
would be better to let the marc go, tbr in the very large majority of cases
the deficiencies will be transmitted while the excellences will not.

" In choosing a marc for breeding purposes, she should be so formed in.

118 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

frame, as to be capable of carrying and well nourishing her offspring ; that
is, she should be what is called " roomy." Tiiure is a/ormatioii of the hips
which is particularly unfit for breeding ])\irposes, and yet which is some-
times carefully selected, because it is considered elegant ; this is the level
md straight hip, in which the tail is set on very high, and the end of the
liannch bone is nearly on a level with the projection of the hip bone.
Xcarly the opposite form is the more desirable, where, on examining the
pelvis, it will be seen that the haunch bone forms a considerable angle with
the sacrum, and that there is, as a consequence, plenty of room, not only for
carrying the foal, but for allowing it to pass into the world. Both of these
points arc important, the former evidently so, and the latter no less so on
consideration ; because, if the foal is injured iu the birth, either of necessity
or from ignorance, it will often fail to recover its powers and will remain
pcnnanoiitly injured. Tlio pelvis, then, should be wide and deep — tliat is to
say, large and roomy, and there should also be a little more than the nverage
length from hip to the shoulder, so as to give plenty of bed for the foal, as
well as a good depth of back ribs, which arc necessary to give the strength
to support this increased length. Beyond this roomy frame, necessary as
the egg-shell of the foal, the mare only requires such a shape and make as
is well adapted for the purpose she is intended for — that is to say, for pro-
ducing colts of the style and form she is intended to produce. We will add,
that she must have fonr good legs under her, and those legs standing on a
foundation of good, well-shaped, larrje feet, open heeled, and by no means
flat-soled.'

'"In health,' says the same writer, 'the brood mare should be as near
perfection as the artificial state of the animal M-ill allow ; at all events, it is
the most important point of all, and in every case the mare should be very
carefully examined with a view to discover what deviations from a natural
state have been entailed upcn her by her own labors, and what she has in-
herited from her ancestors. All accidental defects, such as broken knees,
dislocated hips, etc., may be passed over ; the latter, however, only when
the stock from which the mare is descended are famous for standing their
work without this frailty of sinew and ligament. Spavins, ring-bones, large
splents, side-bones, and, in fact, all bony enlargements, are constitutional
defects, and will be almost sure to be perpetuated, more or less, according to
ilie degree in which they exist in the particular case.'

" Having sai<l thus much upon the requisites on the side of the dam, let
us see what shonid be sought for in a sire. It is maintained by all writers
upon this subject, that hlood should be possessed by a stallion in an eminent
legrce ; that the essential on the part of the sire is the greatest amount of
pure blood coni])atible with size, weight, and power according to the pur-
poses for which we intend to breed. Our best veterinarians argue that the
degree of strength in the lione, sinew, and frame of a blooded horse is, in
proportion to extent, vastly superior to that contained by his coai"ser and
more mammoth brother, the English cart-horse. The difference in the form

Sec. 8.] HORSES AXD MULES— BREEDING. 119

and texture of the muscular Bystom, and in the lesser tendency to form
flabby, useless flesh, is also in favor of blood. In addition to all this, tlie
general constitution of the animal is calculated to furnisii hiui with <i-reatcr
vitality, recuperative energy, and physical power — in proportion to size and
weight — and, as a consetiuence, quicker movement, greater coui-age, and
better powers of endurance.

"Herbert, in his 'Hints to IIoree-Keepcrs,' gives his views upon this
bratich of our suliject so concisely and clearly, that wc can not refrain from
quoting a paragraph, as follows : ' To breed from a small horse witii the hope
of getting a large colt ; from a long-backed, leggy horse, -with the hope of
getting a short, compact, powerful one ; from a broken-winded, or l>liMd, or
flat-footed, or spavined, or ring-boned, or navicular-joint diseased horse, with
the hope of getting a sound one ; from a vicious horse, a cowardly hoi-se —
what is technically called a dunghill — with the hope of getting a kind-tem-
pered and brave one ; all or any of these M'ould be tlic higlit of fully. The
blood sire (and the blood should always be on the sire's side) should be, for
the farmer-breeder's purposes, of medium hight, say 15A hands high, short-
backed, well ribbed up, short in the saddle-place, long below, lie should
have high withers, broad loins, broail ciiest, a straight rump, the converse of
wiiat is often seen in trotters, and known as the yoose-rump • a high and
muscular, but not beefy crest ; a lean, bony, well-set-on head ; a clear, bright,
snuiliish, well-placed eye ; broad nostrils and small ears. His fore legs
should be as long and as muscular as possible above the knee, and his hind
legs above the hock ; and as lean, short, and bony as possible below those
joints. The bones can not by any means be too flat, too clear of e.xcres-
cences, or too lanje. The sinews should be clear, straight, fli-m, and hard to
the touch. From such a horse, where ^iie breeder can And one, and from a
well-chosen mare (she may be a little larger, more bony, more roomy, and
in every way coarser than the horse, to the advantage of the stock), sound,
healthy, and wcll-limbey, he may be certain, accidents and contingences set
aside, of raising an animal that will ho creditable to him as a scientilic stock-
breeder, and protitablc to him in a ijccuniary sense."'

With these general remarks upon what we require in breeding, we think
Wc may close the section upon horses. Wc hope what wo have given in re-
lation to breeding horses will bo caret'uily studied and breeds compared, and
that what we have said will bo just sufticient to awaken an interest tliat will
tend to the improvement of this most faithfid beast in the service of man.
If we have not got the right breed, let us inquire where is the deticiency,
ami amend it. Above all, lot us think what purpose wo arc breeding for,
and not attom]>t to got an animal suitable for a lady's saddle from an English
cart-horse or the Xorman diligence.

169. Horsr-Grariii?. — If a New Mexican, or oven a full-blood North Caro-
lina mountaiiuxT, should appear in the city of New York with his horse
harnessed, as we have have ot'tcn seen, it would attract much attention, as
the whole gearing might not have a particlo of leather or iron in its compo-

120

DOMESTIC AXIMALS.

[CnAi-. I.

sition, the collar being made of braided coru-shucks, the liaines of natural
crooked sticks, tlie traces of raw hide, fastened to the hames by a hole and
a knot, and to the wliifiletreo by a loop around the end. Rude as this gear-
ing is, it answers a good jiurpose, and does not gall or sweat the horse like
the great English collars, or like those known in our boyhood as the "old
Dutch collar," wliicli was so much like the Ijrecching of the same harness
that it was ratlier dithcult to tellwhicii belonged forward and which behind.

The old English collar, specimens of which may be seen occasionally in
this country, was a most cumbersome piece of horse-gearing which a sensible
man will not be likely to copy. It is made like our American collars, only
very much heavier, and has attached to its upper end as an ornament two
]ncces of stift' sole leather as big as the skirts of a saddle, with a great dt>al
of ornamental stitching around its edge. Some of these collars M-eigh 12 to
15 lbs., and the hames are furnished with two brass horns that stick up sev-
eral inches above the flap.

The Scotch collars are also made with a great superfluity of leather, and
are very heavy, though ditl'ering in form from the English collars.

The weight of a Scotch jilow harness is given in Stephens' book of "The
Farm" at 38 lbs. "We have often seen a horse equally well harnessed to a
])low in this country when the whole gearing would not weigh half as much,
nor cost half as n^ueh, as an English collar. These English collars are often
ornamented with red worsted fringe and tassels, and give a six-horse team,
wearing bells, a very formidable appearance.

AVe recommeinl as an imiirovenient upon our own light, easy, and, we
think, handsome collars — handsome, because fitting for their purpose — that
they should be made open at the bottom. We drove one pair of horses from
Chicago to New Orleans, and from Kew Orleans to New York, making
inany detours, and in all driving some five thousand miles in one journey,
with a pair of collars open at the bottom ; and although out in all sorts of
weather, never had a sore shoulder or even chafed ofl' the hair. Is either did
we use breeching in all that journey, yet we traveled over some very rough
and mountainous roads. We are satisfied that a horse will hold back a light
carriage wiili a good strong padded girt as well as with breeching. Our plan
of a harness is exactly the contrast of an English one. Theirs is, to use up
all the leather and labor possible, and ours to nse just as little as possilile.
We do not believe in blinders, check-reins, breeching, nor heavy collars.
Tiie harness should be made as light as it can be and be strong. Strength is
an important particular. For a tarm-wagon or plow harness we recommend
short leather tugs and chains as preferable to long tugs or long chains.

170. Working? Three llorsfs Abreast.— In the north part of this country it
is not very common to see three horses worked abreast. It is quite common
in Louisiana, particularl}- in working, horses to carts. It is much practiced
in England, and perhaps would be more so here if farmers had proper gear-
ing. We have seen it practiced sometimes by liitching the middle horse to
the center of the swing-bar. This gives no chance of equalizing the draft

Sec. 8.] HORSES AND HARNESS. 121

between the tlirco liorses. The English have what are called compensating
bars between the swing-bar (which we call the double-tree), and the three
single-trees, so that each horse may be seen to pull equal to the others.

These bars should be made of iron, one and a half inches wide and three
eighths of an inch thick. Two of the bars are each 27 inches long, and these
are attached, as the single-tree usually is, to the eiiils of the swing-bar, by a
fulcrum just one third of the length from the outer end. Then a center
bar, 20 inches long, is attached by working joints to the ends of these out-
side bars, and the single-tree of the center horse is attached to the center
of this bar, and the single-trees of the outside horses are attached to the
ends of the other bars. This crpializes the strain upon all the horses, for it
is impossible for one to start ahead without imparting motion backward to
both of the other horses.

Tlie irons of a single or double-tree should always be made so as to clasp
the wood, which should never have a hole bored through it to pidl by.

171. DimeiisiOKS of Double aiul Siaglc-Trces. — Perhaps every farmer knows
how to gear a horse, and what are the proper dimensions of a set of douljle
or single-trees. But there arc many persons who take to farming in after-
life, and others who may have occasion to make this part of a set of horse-
geai'ing, and these will be glad to have (he following directions to refer to.

The bar of a double-tree should be three feet nine inches long and tliive
and a half inches wide at the center, and one and a quarter inches thick, and
it should be made of the strongest kind of wood that can be procured, and
straight grained and free from knots. The best M'ood we have for tliis ])ur-
pose is second gi'owth white ash, such as all of our best hoc and shovel
handles are made of in the United States.

A singlc-trce should be three feet three inches long, two and a half inches
wide, and one and a quarter inches thick. The irons of double and single-
trees may be all jnade of the same form and strength ; that is, a piece of the
very best flat bar iron, one and three quarter inches wide and one fourth
of an inch thick, is bent so as to clasp around the back part, and the ends
come altout two thirds of the width toward the front edge, with lialf-inch
holes througii the end and through the wood. In this hole a jMcce of half-
inch iron is to be inserted by tapering the ends so that they will go through
the hole from each way and clinch fast on the flat iron, leaving the bend
i'orward so aa to form a loop in which to ])Ut the hook of the single-tree, or
the chain, or a loose ring, as may be required. These irons can not come
off, even if they should get loose, and the wood is not likely to break, be-
cause there is no strain upon it. Tiie strain is all upon the irons, and when
the loop wears out, U new one is easily inserted in its place. The center irons
of the double or single-trees arc ]nit on after tiic same fashion, tiie loo]) of tlie
round iron being back, instead of forward, and both the Hat and round irons
for the center nuiy be a little stronger than the ends.

This plan is far better than m.aking the irons to drive on like a ring, fast-
ening them by a few stub-nails driven in the end of the singlc-trce. Acci-

122 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

I

dents often occur from the irons of single-trees, put on like rings, getting
loose and working off". Such things seem always to happen at the most un-
propitious times. AVc knew one man well, wlio lost his life in consequence
of just such an accident. lie was crossing one of the Western prairies upon
a cold, stormy night, when the accident occurred, by which he was unable
to proceed, and, as was supposed, while getting his horses loose, that he
might ride to the nearest house, soino miles distant, he became so chilled as
to be unable to mount on horseback, and before morning his horses 'left him
alone to perish — all in consequence of having bad gearing.

We have ourselves had some very unpleasant experience in our prairie
traveling, arising from broken swing-trees, and therefore warn you to make
them very strong — no matter about the looks. Utility is everything.

J'/oivin// loithfoitr horses, though not much practiced in this country, is
sometimes necessary, and, for want of practice, but few know how to attach
four horses to a plow so as to work in the easiest manner.

The common way is to hitch the double-tree of the leading pair to a liook
in the center of the double-tree of the rear pair. This gives a dead pull to
the leaders without aii'ecting the other pair. To obviate this, and give a
compensating balance to both pair, the following plan has been ado])ted :
Attached to the hook of the plow-beam is an iron pulley, about six inches
diameter. The chain from the first set of double-trees, instead of being
hooked to the plow-beam, is rove through this pulley, and tlie end carried
forward and hooked to the forward double-trees. The working of this is,
that neither'pair can give a dead pull independent of the other pair. If you
touch up the hind pair so that they start suddenly forward, the pull does
not give the plow a jerk, because the chain yields, around the pulley and
soon draws back upon the leaders, giving them a hint to press forward, and
thus keep the strain even. To prevent either pair from drawing too much
of the chain through the pulley, you can insert an open ring into a link at a
suitable distance on either side.

There is no other plan that we have ever seen in operation, so simple as
this is, to give a perfect equilibrium and balance the forces of each pair of
horses. In fact, the whole four, by the aid of the swing-trees and pulley, are
all kept in equilibrium.

It will be well for the hind pair of horses to wear a common wagon neck-
yoke, and pass the chain that extends to tlie double-trees of the forward
horses through the ring, or if that is too high, through a loop attached to
the ring. The chain is sometimes supported by a strap swinging between
the rear horses, each end attached to a back band on to the hames.

PLATE X.

(Page 123.)

This picture speaks for itself, and does credit to the artist. It is
one that will interest more persons than any other. The descrip-
tions of these fowls will be found in Section IX., T[ 180, 181, 182,
together with several other kinds. Those here illustrated comprise
most of the best unproved varieties, and quite as many as any farmer
will care to possess. By comparing the descriptions with the pic-
tures, it will enable any one to make a suitable selection. The de-
scription of poultry fails to give satisfaction without pictorial aid.
It is here complete. We may well feel proud of this picture.

Sko. 9.]

POULTRY.

123

SECTION IX-POULTRY.

axiras for Poultry Keepers.— Tliose who expect to

be successful in raising or managing poultry, or

]ioi)e to make it a paving part of farm luisinesf:,

bliould observe a few simple rules vviiidi ^vill

save thera from much disappointment and trouble.

1. It is not advisable to keep large numbers of hens

together, or go into the poultry business on a large scale.

It is found impracticable and unprofitable ; besides, thev

can not be kept in so healthy a condition as where but

few arc together.

2. It is impossible to keep liens to advantage without

having a pro|)er]y arranged house for their acL'onmioda-

tion. This is as necessary as that a farmer should have

a stable for his cattle or a dwelling for his family.

3. In connection with the house, a poultry-yard should be provided, which

should contain a grass-plot, gravel, some quantities of slacked lime, and dry

ashes.

i. Tlie inside of the ])Oultry-house should bo whitewashed twice a year, or
oftencr, which will serve to keej) it free from vermin, and the hens will be
kept in better condition.

5. Pure water, in sufficient quantities, must be provided several times a
day, in winter aiul in summer.

6. Feed should be given at regular periods. To fatten fowls, they must
not be allowed to run at large.

These rules are subject to variation under certain circumstances. A new
settler in the woodD would not consider them applicable. It would he more
profitable to let his poultry run at large. 80 it is upon all farms at some
treasons, but there arc but few farmers who would not somctinu'S find it prof-
itable to shut up all his poultry, the gallinaceous portion of it jiarticularly.
For this jnirpose a poultry-yard will bo foimd always a great convenience,
if not a great profit. Ii fchould be so constructed that its first cost will not
1)0 money unprofitably Bpct;t. ^lany jiersons have found it profitable to
have a tolerably large inelosure for poultry, and [ilant that with j)lum-trees.
It is asserted that curculio insects never disturb plums upon such trees. It
is our opinion that it would ha fou'id very ]U-ofitabIe to have a jiortable
]ioultry house and yard, which could be conveniently moved from place to
l>lace, keeping it upon one spot one year, and upon another the ne.\t. By
this means some bad brier-patchos would be subiluetl, and some poor spots
cheaply enriched.

If poultry arc kept in a yard, tlio groiind shoidtl bo often dug up. If the
yard is large enough, it may be i)lowed It i* u good \va\ to Iiave a largo

124 DOMESTIC ANIM.\iS. [Chap. I.

yard in two parts, and plow and sow grain in one, and when it gets largo
enough for the hens to eat, tnrn them in and plow and sow the other.

liens that run at large are oftpn very tronblcsoine, soinctinios doing
"more niiscliicf than their necks arc worth." The following device is fur
Buch mischievous pests.

173. Shoeing Ileus. — "We observe a recent notice, in some paper, of the
practice of making woolen shoes (or rather boots), to prevent hens from
scratching. A Hock of fit'ty fowls, like our own, would require considerable
labor in the maTiufacture of a hundred woolen boots, which might be worn
through in a short time and need renewing. It is much better, we think, to
procure a breed that will not scratch. There is another point of import-
ance— that is, to keep the animals well fed during the season wlien scratch-
ing is most feared."

One man says : " I keep from tliirty to fifty of tlie white Slianghae — a
very quiet, well-behaved, and profitable fowl — and adopt the most econom-
ical mode, namely, regular feeding with grain ; and although there is no
barrier between tlieir ordinary range and the kitchen garden, they do not
scratch yearly enough to do twenty-five cents' damage."

17i. Kiimbfr of Hens to Keep, and Time to Sell.— A correspondent of the
Illinois I'rairie I' a rm o' s^ys: "We have kept as many as 150 fowls, and
fed them three pecks of shelled corn daily. But our experience has been,
that we could get more than half as many eggs from twenty-five foAvIs as
we could from one hundred. "We have carried chicks the size of quails to
market and foMud tlicm ready sale at twenty-five cents each. We might
have kept them four months longer, and found them dull sale at a dime
apiece."

175. FeedJ!!!? Hens Meal. — We have been advised to feed plenty of moat to.
our hens, if we wanted them to lay stcadil}'. Kow there is a time to feed
meat and a ti,me not to feed it. When the temperature is low and the
ground is frozen, feed meat, but when the weather is warm, or even mod-
erate, if the cliickens can scratch the ground and find worms and insects,
they need no meat. The insects and worms furnish meat sufficient, and too
much in many cases, causing them to lay eggs without any siiell. They
should then have plenty of lime or old mortar, gravel, etc.

Young chickens generally do best in coops, raised some inches from the
ground, until they are six or eight weeks old ; if they droop after this, the
next hour of warm sunshine will bring tliem up again. A corres])ondent
says, tlie last time he tried to raise them on the ground, he lost 59 out of
CO. lie has often raised 60 or 70 at a time since without losing one, simply
by cooping them away from the ground until six weeks old.

A writer in the English AfjricuUural Gazette recommends that a i)iccc of
iron be kept constantly in the water to which fowls have access. Iron rust,
he says, is an excellent tonic. A roll of brimstone is also recommended to
be kcjit in the water.

ITtJ. How to Keep Ileus Shut up. — It is one of the most important matters

Sec. 9.]

POULTRY.

125

about poultry keeping, particularly to small farmers and villagers, to know
how to keep liens in confinement. It is very convenient for many persons
who could not allow them to run at large to annoy themselves and neigh-
bors, to keep enough to supply the family with fresh eggs, and perhaps a
few chickens.

As coniiueincnt is un unnatural condition for fowls, it is often an iin-
hcidthy condition. The question is, can they be kept shut up in close quar-
ters and keep healthy? If large numbers are together, they are very apt to
get a disease which makes them lose their feathers. Sometimes they i>ull
them off of one another. Great attention should be paid to cleanliness,
where fowls are shut up. Lime for the hens to eat — lime scattered over tlio
floor — lime used as whitewash, should never be neglected. The following
rules are very good :

1st. Do not keep more than ten hens confined in one small yard. They
will be more profitable than fifty. If you wish to keep a large number, have
several places for them.

2d. Do not confine them in a damp or shaded jdace, but in a dry one,
where they can have both shade and sunshine. The latter is very important.

3d. As they can not remove from the filth that accumulates, it sliould be
removed from them. Tliere is no permanent success in keeping fowls in
confinement without the utmost neatness. Their droppings should be daily
removed from the roosting-place, and the yard should be well littered witii
fi\>li straw, tan, or other material, us often as is necessary.

4th. The hen is omnivorous — that is, she cats almost everything ; insects,
flesh, grain, and fruit arc taken with avidity. All attempts, therefore, to
confine hens to a single article of diet will fail. Give them a good sujiply
of grain and butchers' scraps, boiled potatoes, sour milk, and the refuse of
the kitchen, and during the summer months an occasional taste of fruit, and,
in addition, egg-shells and oyster-sholls crushed ; or, if you can not get
these, pound up the bones that always collect about yards. It is wonderful
with what avidity fowls, especially when confined, will cat broken bones.

[>th. J'ltuti/ (if clean water is always necessary. Stagnant or filthy water
will not do. It alone is sufficient to cause disease. Ilunning water is best,
but clean, fresh water will answer.

()th. Kxoreise is quite an important part <>( the plan. Turn them out an
hour before sunset to pick up insects, gravel, and other substances, and it
will quicken their circulation and add much to their jiowers of resisting dis-
ease. We have heard a poultry keeper say, who followed these rules, that
with him the balance-sheet gave a large i>riifit.

Althougii the above remarks are applicable principally to re.-iidents of
towns or villages, yet we would like to add a word tor the benefit of farmers.
How few of them keep poultry ar. a profit ! Indeed, as generally kept about
the farm, with free range of the barn, grain, and often portions of the house,
they are of no profit, and very often are an almost intolerable nuisance.

177. The Food of FowISi — This is a very importaut question. A great

126 DOMESTIC ANIMAXS. [Chap. I.

many expedients have been resorted to in order to cheapen tlie food of fowls.
Oliaiidlers' greaves arc largely used by parties in the vicinity of Kcw York
to fatten poultry for market. These arc good for an occasional feeding, Init
for exclusive food we have our doubts, and think others will, after reading
the I'oUowing extract :

178. Are Fowls Wholesome which arc Fed on Putrid Meat?— Such is the
question considered by Dr. Duchesne iu the January number of the Annates
(ri/i/ffii'»e Pitlilique.

It is well known that man can not indulge in putrid meat with impunity,
and numerous cases are on record where accidents liave occurred from this
kind of food. Little is known, however, of the eflects }iroduced by the flesh
of animals otherwise in good health, but nourished with flesh in a state of
putrefaction. Certain animals can undoubtedly be nourished on such putrid
matters ; but it is important, in a hygienic point of view, to determine the
modifications whicli the exclusive use of putrid viands may produce in the
quality and the preservability of fowls destined for the market.

On the occasion of a complaint against a farmer in the ncighl)orhood of
Paris, Dr. Duchesne visited his cstablishnient on a warm day in July, and
toward the afternoon. The food of the poultry he found to consist of flesh
iu a state of putrid decomposition, which had been obtained from the
slaughter-houses of Paris. The fat is first removed by cooking, and bran is
added; and this mixture 13 given morning and evening to the fowls, who
fight for it with avidity. A very fetid odor came from the barrels in which
the food was contained, from the vessels where it was supplied to the fowls,
and also from the ground round about them. The fowls, however, appeared
to be in perfect health. Dr. Duchesne supplied himself with three eggs laid
that day, and also with a fowl and duck of a year old, which were killed
before him. In three hours' time the poultrj- gave out a very strong odor,
and the intestines were so offensive that tiiey had to be removed to a dis-
tance. Decomposition rapidly set in. The fowl, at the end of twenty hours
after being cooked, had an unpleasant, strong taste, and the duck, at the end
of twenty-four hours, was in such a state that it could not be eaten. Kext
day, when the flesh was cold, and the smell abated, portions of the duck
wore partaken of by the servants. Tlie eggs, too, M-ere found, if kej)t a rea-
sonaljle time, to become very unpalatable-. In fine, it was shown that
though fowls nourished in this "way were apparently health}', and could be
eaten at a pinch without great inconvenience, yet that it was most probable
that the continued use of such articles of diet would be attended with danger.
The Council of Health at once interdicted the sale of fowls fed in this ob-
jectionable manner.

Dr. Duchesne continued his inquiries at the great knackery of Aubcrvil-
liers, where pigs and fowls are fed in great numbers on flesh, raw and
cooked, and where similar animals are reared on a mixed food, consisting of
flesh and grain. The results of his observations are embodied in the follow-
ing conclusions :

Sec. 9.] POULTRY. 127

1. Fowls and pigs may be fed on sound flesh, raw and cooked; on flcsli,
raw and cooked, of animals affected with contagious diseases, as glanders,
malignant pustule, hydi-o[ihobia, etc. ; and even on llesh, raw or cooked, in
a veiy advanced state of putrefaction, without any alteration in their health.

2. Cliickcns are reared with ditliculty if tlieir food be restricted to flesh,
raw or cooked, even when sound ; and a larger number of them perish than
when fed on ordinary kinds of food.

3. Tiie eggs of fowls thus nourished are as palatable as the eggs of fowls
nourished in the common way. The shell, however, is thinner and more
easily broken.

•i. The flesh of fowls and pigs nourished on flesh raw or cooked, is softer,
more diflicult to preserve, and the fat is yellow and more diftluent.

T). The doctor has still doubts as to the aljsolute wholesomcness of fowls
and pigs fed on animals dying of glanders, etc., and recommends that the
use of the flesh of such animals should be prohibited for the rearing of fowls
and pigs.

G. The use of flesh in a state of putrefaction, for similar purposes, should
be absolutely prohibited as unwholesome.

7. Fowls should not be fed too long or too abundantly on worms, cater-
pillars, beetles, etc., as such food communicates a strong taste to the flesh.

8. The continued use of flesh, otherwise healthy, and cither raw or cooked,
ultimately injures the growth of the fowls and the quality of their flesh.

9. The best method of rearing undoubtedly is, to give flesh but once a
day, and to finish with a meal of grain.

10. For market use, the use of flesh should be stopped, and the fowls re-
stricted for some time to the use of a vegetable diet.

170. (Iioicc of a {'ock. — In breeding, the choice of a cock is a very import-
ant matter. The following arc some of the " points" insisted upon by
poultry fanciers :

It io accounted that he has every requisite quality, when lie is of good
size, carries his head high, has a quick and animated look, a strong, shrill
voice, the bill thick and short, the comb a fine red, and in a manner var-
nished ; a membraneous wattle of a large size, and colored the same as tlie
comb, the breast broad, the wings strong, the thighs very muscular, the logs
thick, the claws with nails rather bent, and with a very keen jioint ; when
he is free in his motions, crows often, and scratches the earth with vigor and
is constantly in search of worms — not so much for himself as liis mates —
when he is spirited, ardent, and clever in caressing them, quick in detending
them, attentive in soliciting them to eat, in keeping them together in the
<hiv, and assembling them at night.

There are some cocks, which, by being too liigh mettled, are snappish and
quarrelsome. The way to quiet the turbulent ones is plain : their foot must
be put through a leather, in a round shajie ; they become as quiet as men
who are fettered at tlieir liamls, feet, and neck.

ISO. The Varictifs of fomnioii rowls.— As to the variety to be chosen, that

128 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

must be left to the fancy of those who are to raise the fowls. In a fanner's
family, this will generally be the female portion of it, and the guJewife or
chililron who take the fowls under their charge, should bo consulted. At
least the diftercnt varieties should be made known to them, by placing in
tlieir hands some good treatise upon poultry. Several volumes have been
publiihed, with portraits and full descriptions, and how to conduct the
business of poultry raising on a large or small scale. "\Ve can not give this
information in full ; we will only name the several sorts which are to be
found among poultry fanciers in this country, with short descriptions, and re-
fer readers, for comparison of size and form, to the bcautil'ul engraved illus-
trations of varieties, found in standard English works on Domestic Poultry.

181. The Shanshae and fhiua Brcfd.— A few years ago a good many
people in this country, alHicted with tiic '■ hen fever," went into ecstasies over
the Shanghae, or China, breed of fowls, some of which are enormously large.
Cocks are spoken of as being twenty-eight inches high. The wings are
short, and placed high upon the body. The tail is short, with a thick clump
of feathers over the root of the tail feathci-s. The cocks have large combs
and wattles ; the hens are seldom large. Tlie legs are feathered. The eggs
are not large in proportion over the size of eggs of our old-style fowls ; the
color is nankeen, and the ends rather blunt.

Those who breed Shanghae fowls consider the flesh very good, and the
full-grown bodies of cocks weigh eight or ten pounds, and pullets six or
eight pounds. There are varieties of colors among the Shanghaes — some
being pure white ; others, a reddish brown, etc.

The variety known as Cochin-China fnvls differ very much in quality,
habits, and general appearance from the Shanghae.-, to which they arc closely
related. Their eggs are nearly the same shape, size, and color. The main
difi'crence is in the somewhat deeper and fuller breast, and being generally
smooth-legged. They also have the same hollow, harsh voice, when crow-
ing, in their peculiar sonorous tone, long drawn out, and very iinlikc the
shrill ringing clarion of our old-style barn-door cock.

The Malay, or Chittagong, is another name of one of the varieties of the
China breed of fowls, which are supposed to 1)0 larger than the Cochins ;
the size, by weight, accorded to some of them seems enormous.

We believe the variety called Malay fowls are considered identical with
the variety called Chittagong. The full-grown Malay cock is said to weigh
12 lbs., and the hens 8 to 10 lbs. They are of all shades of color, and have
small, thick combs and small wattles, and no toji-knot ; the legs not feath-
ered. Their eggs are larger than those of the other large varieties. The
crow of the Malay cock is loud and harsh, but terminates abruptly.

182. Ornamental Varieties of Fowls. — As the China breed, which we have
described, can not be said to be ornamental around a genteel farm-house or
rural residence, we will name some which are so, and at the same time are,
at least some of them, very valuable for all domestic purposes. The general
appearance of the various sorts may be judged from reading the short notes

Sec. 9.]

POULTRY.

129

which wc append. The most ornamental thing about a yard full of fowls
is to have them all of one variety ; for instance, Dominiques, all looking so
much alike that individuals would be liardly distinguishable.

Tiie J'hcamnt-21alay is the name given to a variety of imjjorted fowls,
wliich are esteemed by some as quite desirable, particularly as ornamental
stock. They arc called good layers, good sitters, and good mothers. Tlie
cocks have black tails, and black on tlie neck and wings. Full-sized eggs
weigh two ounces each. The newly hatched chicks are yellow, with a black
mark down the back. Some of the hens are described as of a pheasant
color, with long velvety black necks.

Guddcrland fowls is the name of another variety ; they arc jet black in
the plumage, witliout combs, and small wattles ; bodies short and plump ;
legs long and feathered ; eggs large, white, oval-shaped, and rich. Tlie
hens arc not esteemed good layers nor sitters. This variety comes from the
north of Holland.

The DorJciiKjs. — This, in our opinion, is one of, if not the, best varieties we
have in this country for the cvcry-day purposes of farmers. It is tlio sort
mostly used for caponizing in England. There are white, gray, and brown
Dorkings. The legs are white or flesh-colored, smooth, and terminate in
five toes. They feed well, to a good size, and the flesh is considered partic-
ularly delicate. The cock's comb is large and erect, and deep serrated, free
from to]i-knot ; wattles, large. Tliey are noted for hardiness ; are prolific,
and chickens casil}' raised. The eggs arc large, pure white, very round, and
nearly equal in size at the ends. The chicks are brownish yollow, with a
broad stripe down the middle of the back, and a narrower one on each side ;
feet and legs yellow.

Black Spanish is the name of a variety of very ornamental as well as
useful fowls. The plumage is glossy black ; the combs of both cocks and
hens large and red ; and their general appearance spirited and handsome.
Tliey have a singular mark, which distinguishes the variety — it is a wliito
mark on each cheek, not of feathers, but a fleshy substance, which in the
cocks is very cons])icuons. The hens are great layers, but not inclined to
sit. Tlie eggs are large and white, and so is their skin and flesh, which is
tender and juicy. The chicks are black, with a white sjiot on the breast,
and are long in getting feathered ; so none but early spring chickens should
be attempted, and these must be obtained bysetting hens of another variety
upon the Spanish eggs.

Game Fowls. — There arc several distinctly marked sorts of game fowls —
black, white, gray, and brown, all having the same general cliaractcristics,
the most marked of wliich is pugnaciousness. The general size is 3^- to 5 J
lbs. The eggs arc smaller than the eggs of the most common fowls, uni-
formly shaped, and cook rich and delicate. In form the game fowl is tliD
handsomest of the race. The head is thin and long; eyes large and full;
beak stout and crooked ; long neck ; body compact, short, and round in the
breast ; thighs thick, stout, handsome, taper-siiapcd ; legs long and thick

0

130 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

and colored like the beak ; feet thin, broad, strong, with .very long claws.
The cock walks with a proud, defiant courage, and ai)pears always ready for
a fight. It is a good variety to breed from for domestic purposes, if care is
taken not to allow cocks of any other 6ort upon the premises, and not to
allow cocks ever to be ])irted against each otiier.

The Mexicans appear to have a variety of game fowls quite distinct from
the Englisii varieties. It was first introduced into the United States in 1844,
by General "Waddy Thompson, of South Carolina. The cocks and hens have
but few marks to distinguish one from the other. The original t^tock are
pheasant-colored, .nnd in some of those bred in South Carolina, black tail
featliers, and a tendency to gray or light yellow plumage. Tiiis variety are
great fighters ; they have strong, muscular frames, and are quick and firm
in action. The cocks have large lustrous eyes and strong bills and upright
combs. The hens arc good layers and sitters, and good nurses. This is the
breed of game-cocks ]iUiroaized by General Santa Anna, who was the great-
est cock-fighter in Mexico.

The Java foirl is a very large variety, of black color, said to be found,
thougli probably not pure, on Long Island, and around riiiladelphia. Tiiey
are sometimes called Saddle-backs, on account of being so broad across the
rump.

The Jersey Blue is tlie name of a variety quite common in New Jersey,
the excellence of which is so great, that anything particularly good is figura-
tively spoken of as " one of the old blue hen's chickens." The color is light
blue, sometimes approaching a dun ; legs generally dark, and sometimes
lightly feathered. Cocks weigh 7 to 9 lbs. ; and hens, G to 8 lbs.

The Poland fmcls take their name, not from Poland, but from a resem-
blance to the tuft of white feathers worn ,by Polish soldiers. They are
glossy black, except the top-\not, which resembles a full, white rose. Like
the Black Spanish, the Polands are great layers and bad sitters. The skin
and flesh are white, and good for the table. The cocks weigh 4 to 4} lbs., and
hens, 3 to 3i lbs. Their form is plump, and legs not ver}- long, being well-
proportioned and handsome-shaped, and they are particularly ornamental
to a country seat. The eggs are of good size, and white, but though abun-
dant, are not as rich as some others.

Another variety of the so-called Poland fowls are white, with black top-
knots ; and another sort are gold-spangled. These are exceedingly orna-
mental ; the crest being large, golden, and brown ; legs, light blue, and
toes partially webbed.

The Silver Polands are spangled with silver instead of gold, and the hons
are the most ornamental. Even the chicks of this variety are pretty.

The Poland variety of fowls are only fit for neat places, where they can
run upon grassy yards or lawns. In dirty pens the crest becomes loaded
with dirt, and blinds the jioor birds. Where they can run at large abound
the house, even if the hens were not, as they are, such good layers, they
might well be kept for ornament alone.

Sec. 9.1 rOULTRY. 131

The Spangled Ilamhurg fowls are another ornamental variety, with top-
knots and beautiful plumage, both guld anil silver spangled. The weiglit
of male birds is about 4:^ or 5 lbs., and the hens, 3 or 3 j lbs. The coek
stands twenty inches high, and hen eighteen inches.

The Bolton Gray is another ornamental variety, and also a very useful
one, the hens being c.Kcellent layers. They are said to have eouie from
Holland to Bolton, England. The color is remarkable ; the ground work
pure white, delicately penciled with black over the body. Tlie neck is
wliite, and heads surmounted witii large, red, serrated combs. The weight
of cocks may be 4 to -ti lbs., and hens, 3 to 3^ lbs. They belong to the
small-sized varieties, but are the most perfect patterns of neatness and sym-
metrical beauty of the domestic fowl family. The chicks arc white, excej^t
a dark streak on the head and back of the neck, which seems curious, as,
when grown, tlie necks arc white and bodies marked with black. The
chicks are rather hard to raise. The eggs are small, tapering at one end,
and pure white.

The SllJiij fowls arc also classed among the ornamental, and comprise sev-
eral varieties, originating in India. Some have white ])lumage, with dark
skin and bones. The combs of some are black, with black plumage and
black boncB ; and the feathers are so unlike feathers, the hens get the name
of silky. They are not considered a valuable bird.

The Frizzled fowls is anotiicr variety, but not one tiiat we can recommend
any one to cultivate. This sort may be known by the description given to
us when wc first saw any of the kind in our boyhood, and asked the reason
of tiieir singular appearance, and were told that the chickens got turned in
tlie shell in an earthcpiake, which upset things generally and turned the
chickens' fiiatliers wrong end foremost. Tliat is tiie appearance of the pure
breed. Every feather looks as though it had been curled and turned wrong
end foremost with a j)air of such curling-tongs as the girls used to frizzle
their hair with in olden time. To our mind, the Frizzles are ugly beasts,
not wortli raising on account of any good qualities, and only to be indulged
in liy those who can ati'ord to keep curiosities.

Tiic Cuckoo fold is a variety found in some English farm-yards, and per-
haps in this country. It has a barred plumage, tomewiiat reseml)ling the
breast of a cuckoo. The general color is a slate blue, tinged with white ; the
comb is small ; the iris of the eyes, bright orange ; feet and legs, light flesh
color ; 60 that it will be seen that the In-eed is rather an ornamental one.
Tlie birds grow to a largo size ; the eggs are very white, smotith, and about
two ounces weight.

The Blue Dun fuels originated in Dorsetshire, England, and are rather an
ornamental variety, under size, slender maile, witii high, deeply serrated,
single combs. Sometimes the 131uo Dun cock is gold or scarlet spangled,
and very pretty. The liens arc good layers, and make good ]>ets. The
cocks are rather gamy. Tlie hens are good mothers, and the chicks are real
little curiosities. This variety is esteemed for the table.

132 DOifESTIC AOTlfALS. [Chap. I.

Tlic Large-Crested foiol is another old English ornamental variety, the crest
being larger than the Polands, and the fowls of various colors, some of them
ver}- brilliaut white — more dazzling than the white Guinea fowl, which gives
them and the liomestead where they are kept a very lively appearance.
When dressed for market, their appearance is very clean and attractive.
Their general good finalities make them favorites upon many a farm in
England.

The liantamfs are also rated among the ornamental fowls. Some of them
are really so. The Sebrights have beautiful plumage of a delicate speckled
dark and golden color. There are also black, white, and nankeen colored
bantams. Their model is perfect and plumage beautiful, and of only about
a pound average weight for the hens, and one and a quarter to one and a
half pounds for cocks. They are great pets with many persons in England,
and are held at fabulous prices. The bantams are good layers, and good
sitters, and good mothers. Some of the cocks are very gamy. "\Yc de-
cidedly approve of keeping bantams as ornaments of the farm-yard. And
we recommend that the feather-legged variety be avoided, as they are not
60 neat in muddy weather ia their appearance as the naked-legged sort.
Tlie color is a mere matter of taste.

The Dominique fowl is not only an ornamental variety, but a very good
one for overy-day jjurposes on the farm. The true color is a peculiar ar-
rangement of white and blue, that gives a sort of greenish tint to the
plumage. The combs are double ; the wattles small ; the legs white or yel-
low. The Pominiques are hardy ; above medium size ; very domestic ; and
the hens are good layers, and most excellent sitters and mothers ; the eggs
good size and quality, and the birds excellent for the table.

There are many other sorts of ornamental fowls not entirely worthy of
i-ocommendation for domestication in this country- — among M-hich is the
Lankiva cock, from the East Indies, of the bantam order, but twice as large
as the common bantams.

Tlic Forked-Tall cock is another India variety, something like the Bankiva
cock. This is a wild sort in Java.

Sonerafs wild each is also an Indian variety, which has been attempt-
ed to be domesticated on account of its beautiful plumage, which is a deep
gray, tinged with lighter gray on the edges, M-ith deep green tails ; beak,
legs, and feet yellow.

1 83. Cliickf a Coops.—" Anybody knows how to make a chicken coop." No
he don't. Not one farmer in ten can make a decent chicken coop. Conse-
quently, old ban-els and boxes are substituted. Tliey may be "good enough ;"'
they are not ornamental, and for ornamental poultry j'on should have orna-
mental coops. To make a convenient, light coop, take half or three-eighth-
inch boards, six inches wide, and nail them upon posts exactly like siding
on a house, if that is the way your house and farm buildings are sided, so as
to have a nuiformity. If buildings are boarded up and down with battens,
make coops in the same way. Board three sides close, and the other side fix

Sec. 9.]

POULTRY.

133

with slats two inches wide and two inches apart, with extra slats that can be
shoved in between, beint^ lield in place by a bar in front at top, and one at
Loftuni. One of llio other slats should also be made movable, so it can
be raised to allow the hen to go in and out. If the coop is double, which Ave
prefer, oiake a movable slat for each romn. The dimensions of a double
coop may be two feet long, one and a half feet wide, one and a half feet
high on the back, and two feet in front, with a close partition in the middle.
Slake the roof of five pieces of boards — one at each end and one in the mid-
dle, nailed fast, and two others hinged and buttoned down on the others, so
as to make o])enings about six inches wide into the coops. One room is for
the nest and one for the brood. If two hens are very docile, they ma}' oc-
cupy one coop. Outside of the front slats nail a little trough, one foot long,
to serve both rooms for water, which will be comeatable outside and in.
These are the dimensions of a coop of the smallest size, which will be so
light that a child can move it from place to place. It should have a floor;
and if rats arc troublesome, it can be set up from the ground, particularly at
night. The dimensions in length may be increased as much as desired. Set
it face to the sun, and in case of storm, or in cold nights, close all the slats,
leaving open a hole in each end, high up, about two inches square or round,
for ventilation. If yon wish to raise your chickens without a mother, lino
one room of the coop with old carpet, and put a board, covered with woolly
sheep-skin, about six or eight inches square, in one corner, just high enough
for the chicks to creep under, and look well to thcni for a few days, and they
will do better than with a bad mother. As they grow lai-ge enough to go
out of doors, let them in a small yard, in front of the coop, to scratch and
bask in the sun. The best fence for such a yard is wove-wire, one and a
half or two feet high. "With nice, warm, dry coops, early chickens can bo
raised almost as sure as late ones, and where grown for sale, will generally
sell for as much when half grown as late ones will full trrown.

Stoves in Chlckeii-IIouses. — It has been found profitable, in raising early
chickens, to use artificial warmth. A small, warm room, warmed in cold
weather by a stove, so as to keep the tem])eralure at about oo degrees,
will allow you to set your hens in January or February, and gpt chickens
which will sell, when the size of quails (say 75 cents a i)air\ for as much as
old fowls. These warm-house chickens must not bo allowed to run out in
the cold or wet grass, but will be benefited by allowing them to run out in
the sun. If we made a business of raising ])oiiltrv for market, we would set
hens in a stove-room all winter. A tun of coal, costing say six dollars,
would warm a room all winter, large enough to raise two or tliree hundred
chickens, which would sell in the city markets, certainly at twenty-five cents
apiece, when the size of quails.

184. Set Hens Earlyt — It is a great object to eet hens as early as possible
in spring, as early chickens will begin to lay in October, and give eggs in
November and December. Be carctul to give your early sitters a warm,
dry nest. After the hen has been sitting ten days, examine the eggs to seo

134

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

if all are good, and throw out the bad ones. To tell which are good, hold
an egg up to a hole or crevice of a dark room, and look at it, and if all below
tlie vacuum in tlie butt is dark-colored opaque, it is in a fair way to hatcli.
If it is light-colored and yellowish, so that the sunlight can be seen through
if, you may throw it out at once ; and if all are so, you can dismis^the old
hen with your thanks for her good intentions.

"Double eggs" rarely hatch, and when they do, are just as likely to pro-
duce two distinct cliickons as a Siamese one.

Nests should be made shallow. If boxes are used, not over live iuclies
deep.

1S5. Periods of Incubation. — A common fowl hen sits 20 days ; a Guinea
fowl lien, 2.")i days ; a duck, 20 days ; a turkey hen, 27 days ; a goose, 29
days ; a musk duck, 32 or 33 days ; a pea-ben, 27 to 29 da3's.

To hatch healthy chicks in these periods, the birds must have good warm
nests in a sheltered situation. Chickens have been hatclied in nineteen
days, and the period has been prolonged to twenty-seven days.

ISO. Woiglilsof Various Breeds of Fowls and other Poultry:

Lbs. Oz

Black Polish cock, three years old -5 S

" hen, " " " 3 4

" pullet 2 (i

Golden Polish cock 5 C

• • hen 3 8

Another hen 3

Golden Polish pullet 2

Malay hen 3

Creole (Silver H.'hnbiirgh) hen 3

Black Nondescript hen 4

Globe-crested Polish hen 3

Silver Polish hen 3

Game-cock 4

" hen 3

Youns Blue Dun cock 3

lilue Dun hen 3

Large Dun Hybrid hen 3

Pheasant-Malay cocks, two years old,

average each 7

" cockerel, five months old 7

' ' hen 5

'■ pullet, seventeen months old 5

" (crossed with Dorking hen), four

years old 5

Speckled Surrey hen, two years old 5

Spanisli hen 5

Two Dorking cocks, each 7

" hens 6

" " 6

Cock turkey, two years and a half old. . 17

Hen " one year and a half old 10

" 9

Turkey cock, sixteen months old IG

" hen, three or four years old ... . 8

Lbs. Oi.

3 I Musk drake (molting) 9

4 I Whiter China gander, six years old 12

G White China goose 11

0 Common China goose, Cynoides, six

8 I years old 10

10 I Cocliin-Ciiina cock, aboutsixteen months

8 ] old, molting ". G

12 ; Cochin-China hen, " " "..4

Malay cock, about sixteen montlis old . G

" hen, " " " " . . 4

Phca.saut-Malay cock 5

" " hen, molting 3

Game-cockerel, about five months old . 4
Golden Hamburgh cockerel, just arrived
from a long journey, about five

months old ~. 3

" pullet, " " " 2
Cochin-ChirKi cockerel, sue months old. 4
Another, " " " . 4
Silver Hamburgh cockerel, after travel-
ing, about five months old 3

" pullet, " " " " 2

Black Polish hen, molting 3

Golden Hamburgh, " 2

Andalusian cockerel, four months old . 3

pullet, " " " .. 2

Black Spanish cockerel " " .. 2

" pullet, " " " . . 2

Silver Polish cockerel, four months and

a half old 2

Golden Poland pullet, about five months

old 2 8

White-crested Golden Poland pullet, " 2 3

12
13
13

10

5
6
14
8
7
8

8

4

14

131

1

8
0

8

Oi
11
11

Hi

187. Capons and Poulardes. — These are terras applied to emasculated cocks
and pidlets. Every person who makes a business of poultry raising to
supply accity market, should learn the art of making capons and poidardes,
because they will always sell for nearly twice as much as other fowls.

Sko. 9.] POULTRY. 135

The instruments used to perform the operation arc few and simple, and
inexpensive, and the art easily learned.

A set of first-class caponizing instruments is included in the following
list : a scalpel, 62^ cents ; silver retractor, $1 50 ; spring forceps, 87| cents ;
spoon, with hook, 75 cents ; double silver canula, $1 75 ; total, §5 50.

A much cheaper set of instruments would answer all practical purposes.

The proper age for caponizing chickens is from one to three months. The
cock is confined upon a table by weights upon the M-ings and legs, with the
right side up ; the feathers are then plucked off a spot on the right side near
the hip joint, about an inch across, where the incision is to be made, b\'
which tlie parts are e.\'posed that are to be removed. The operation takes
but a few minutes for a skillful operator.

ISS. Pea-Fowls. — Of all tlie ornamental poultry ever kept on a place, the
pea-fowls take the lead, and M'ell they might, for they are the most useless,
and a very expensive luxury. They will not bear confinement ; will not
even roost in a house, but occupy the tops of the highest buildings or tall
trees. And for mischief, from which they can not be restrained, they excel
all the feathered tribe. They are cunning beyond belief. They will watch
0])portunities to visit the garden and steal fruit, and be out betbre they are
suspected. Driving them out with all possible marks of ill-treatment has
no effect upon them, as it does upon other poultry. The pea-fowls will bear
a repetition of abuse every day, and every day return to their thieving. So
no one who has a garden and lawn in one inclosure should attemj)t to keep
pea-fowl ; nor where there is any chance for them to get into mischief.

A gardenk'ss mansion may, and should liave numbers of pea-fowls. A
single pair makes but little show, while a flock makes a most dazzling,
splendid appearance. Peahens are two or three years in coming to maturity.
They then lay four to seven eggs, which require twenty-seven to twenty-nine
days' incubation. Peahens always steal their nests, and their eggs nnist
never be touched, if you wish the hen to incubate them. They may be taken
and incubated under a common fowl, or, better, under a turkey, and then the
peahen may find another sly place and lay again. The peacock has the
reputation of being a bad father, and killing his own progeny. Therefore
the hen hides from him as well as from men.

1S!>. Turkeys. — Every farmer can and should keep turkeys, and as there
arc several varieties, he should get the best and keep no other.

Turkevs arc less mischievous than most other poultry, and in some cases
they are of great assistance to the farmer in destroying insects. The tobacco
lijanters keep turkeys purposely to assist them in ridding tlio i)lant3 of the
destructive worms.

The turkey is a much moro recent introdnction to the poultry -yard than
the other varieties. It is said that the black sort was carried from its na-
tive wilds of America to England, and that the American stock has been
all drawn from the woods, and tiiat the diH'crent sorts have come from u
Southern and Northern race. "We think, though, that it has come from

136 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

s

mixing the black wild vaVich' with a white or party-colored one imported
from the other side of tlie Atlantic. We prefer the pure black breed, for it
gives us the largest and hardiest birds, and we think, also, the handsomest.
The pure whiie turkey, it is true, is quite ornamental, but it is not as hardy
a sort as the black. As for yellow or party-colored turkeys, we woidd not
have them on a i)lacu a moment longer than necessary to fiitten, kill, and
eat them.

Tiio wild hen turkey is wild in the extreme, while the tame one is so do-
mestic that you may rob her secret nest every day of the new-laid egg, yet
she will return again and .again until she has finished her season, and then
commence her period of incubation upon the empty nest. Now, if you have
a nest i)repared under cover, with the eggs in it, you may bring home the
hen and put her gently upon her eggs, and she will manifest great satisfac-
tion, and after carefully examining and placing them all right, will sit upon
them as though the nest was all her own. Thirteen eggs are enough for an
ordinary-sized turkey, and if she has a good nest she will cover that number,
so as to give all a fair chance to hatch. It is not necessary to turn the eggs,
as some persons do — the hen attends to that — nor look at them until about
the time the four weeks are up, when it will be well to remove the chicks as
tiicv come out, or else take out all the shells and rotten eggs, if there are
any, to give the chicks room, for they generally are better off in a good nest
than out of it. ISluit the hen in a coop, where the chicks can bask in the
sun, and not get in the wet grass. You need not feed much the first day ; a
few bread crun»l)s will answer. Then give all they will eat of hard-boiled
egg, chopped tine ; chopped meat, fat and lean ; curds, boiled rice or hom-
iu}', with cress, lettuce, and green onions. Don't stuff them with pepper-
corns. The idea that that is necessary is all stuff". Liver, boiled and clioi)ped
up, is good food ; so is barley meal and suet. Melt the suet and pour over
the meal and mix, and then crumb up when cold. Mauy green things may
be chopped up and mixed with milk and water and meal. Don't try to cut
up feed very tine. The young turkeys, you will find, can swallow big
lumps. After ten days you may let the hen run, if the w^eather is fine. In
bad weather they are apt to take cold, and cramp, and die. Care and high
feeding are all that are needed to raise turkeys.

"\Vc knew a woman in Louisiana who raised fifteen hundred out of sixteen
hundred hatched. She had an old negro woman and a boy to attend to the
Avants of the turkeys, and in wot, chilly weather the young broods were all
gathered into a log-cabin, warmed b}' a generous wood tire.

"We have also before us another example of successful turkey raising by a
woman, that is worthy of attention by some other farmers' wives, who may
go and do likewise. Lydia Eldridge, of Andover, Mass., writes her expe-
rience in raising turkeys, under date of Dec. 25, 1858 :

"Last spring my husband ]iurchascd a farm in this town, and I obtalneil
one turkey, and she laid 2-t eggs, hatched them all out at one litter, and I
raised them all. Yesterday we dressed the last of them. The united weight

Sko. 9.] POULTRY. 137

of the whole, when dressed, was 212ilbs. ; 198 lbs. were sold for a shilling
a pound, New Enghuid currency, amounting in the aggregate to $33. The
whole number at tliat price would have amounted to $3.5 41. Now I think
that is doing qitite well, and if anybody among your army of readers can do
better tlian that, I think they deserve a premium ; but until that is done, I
think I can claim the palm."

And, in our opinion, she is fairly entitled to it. We hope, however, that
some other woman will try to win it from her by fair competition in this ap-
propriate field of \\«oman's labor.

And here is another of the same sort, which should tend to encourage
other women to attempt the same plan to make a little " pin [feather]
money." It is to encourage others that we collect and publish these
facts.

" J. E. Alton, of Quinsiganiond, Mass., writes us that Mrs. M. Bennett, of
Auburn, Mass., had a three-fourths wild turkey, of very large size, which
laid 11 eggs, all of which she hatched and raised. At six months old the
imited weight of the eleven was 220 lbs. Some of the male birds weighed
34 lbs., and the lightest hens 17 lbs. One male sold for $7, and the whole
for $55."

These, however, arc fancy prices ; but at the steady market prices of
dressed turkeys, which will average 10 cents a pound wholesale, in New
York, and considerably more fur choice birds, the raising and fatting of
turkej'S is a ]irotitable branch of farming.

It is true that young turkeys, from the time they are old enough to turn
out to range for themselves, are voracious eaters, and would destroy some
crops, and so would swine, if permitted to run at large. The tanner finds it
profitable to keep a lot for swine, and so would he to devote a whole field to
turkeys; and if he will do that, where they can forage for themselves, they
will need very little attention, and will not be likely to get into much mis-
chief. If rightly managed, a flock of turkeys will do more good than harm
on a farm, for they are great destroyers of insects. It will be found profit-
able to plant caljbages, turnips, bagas, peas, oats, wheat, and clover pur-
posely for the turkeys to feed upon. This can be managed on a small scale
tv) advantafo l>y nsinfr a movable fence. We have no doubt about the fact
that a turkey farm would be as ]irofitable as a sheep farm, or a milk farm,
or a beef or pork-making farm. In all new sections of country, where mast
is abundant, turkeys will fatten ujion it entirely ; and in all sections where
field feeding is practiced, there is no l)etter stock to run in a corn-field than
turkeys. Even where corn is worth a dollar a bushel, it has been found
])rofitablo to feeil it to turkeys to fatten them for market. One considerable
item in tlie account in all the old States would be the value of the manure
made from such feeding.

The most important fact in turkey raising is not to overetock yourself, for
then your flock of turkeys will become pests to yourself and neighbors — a
set of marauding, piratical thieves.

13S DOMESTIC A^riMALS. [CnAP. 1.

A writer in tlie Germantown Telccjrapli furnishes that journal with the fol-
lowing statement :

'• Mueh has been published of late in our agricultural journals respecting
tlio alimentary properties of charcoal. It has been repeatedly asserted that
domestic fowls may be fattened on it M-itliout any other food, and that, too,
in a sliorter time tlian on tlie most nutritive grain. I made an experiment,
and must say that the result surprised me, as I had always been ratlier
skeptical. Four turkeys were confined in a pen, and fed on meal, boiled po-
tatoes, and oats. Four others of the same breed were at the same time oon-
iined in another pen and fed with the same articles, but with one pint of
finely pulverized charcoal mixed daily with tlicir meal and potatoes. They
also luid a plentiful supply of broken charcoal in their pen. The eight were
killed on the same day, and there was a difference of one and a half pounds
each in favor of the fowls that had been supplied with charcoal, they being
much the fattest,, and their meat greatly superior in point of tenderness and
flavor."

E. II. Avery, of "Wampsville, Madison County, N. Y., is entitled to the
first prize of honor for improvement in the breed of turkeys. From a cross
of the American wild turkey, made fourteen years ago upon the best domes-
ticated birds of pure black color that could be obtained, and by careful at-
tention to breeding since that time, ho has succeeded in producing a male
bird of superlative beauty, of glossy black plumage, which, at two and a
half years old, weighed 3i lbs. alive ; and a female bird, two j-ears old,
weighing 20i life, alive ; and a female bird, one year old, dressed ready for
the spit, loi lbs. weight ; and as the stock has been continuously improving
both in size, beauty of fonn, and plumage for years, it is impossible to
determine any limit. lie has lately procured a pair of pure wild birds from
Canada for the purpose of infusing a new strain of wild blood into his stock
whenever he sees a chance to improve. The ordinary weight of male tur-
keys, two years old, as they arc prepared for the market, will not exceed 15
lbs., and a female of 8 lbs. is accounted a very good one.

Just after the election of Mr. Buchanan, a cock turkey from Mr. Avery's
farm, that weighed 35 lbs., was bought at $1 a pound, and sent to the Pres-
ident to serve as one of the members of his (kitchen) cabinet ;• and another
of still larger size was presented to President Lincoln.

Turkeys grow big in Illinois, according to a correspondent who wi-ites
from Stcbbinsville, who says that 28 to 36 lbs. is not an uncommon weight
for a wild turkey, and one old gobbler that he shot weighed 41 lbs., and spread
a tail over nine feet around the circle. He thinks some of the brag " im-
provers of the breed'' had better send for some of the Illinois wild stock for
a cross upon the biggest in all Yankeedom.

B. F. Langworthy, of Alfred Center, objects to our directions to scald tur-
keys. He says :

" Scalded turkeys and chickens sell about two cents a pound less in Bos-
ton than those picked dry — do not look as well, and certainl}^ will not keep

Seo. 9.]

POULTRY.

139

as long, nor please the customer as niucli ; while the advance price will
amply pay for the ditierence of time in dressing."

On the contrary, in New York, dry -picked j^oultry does not sell as well as
that which is scalded.

190. The Guinea-Fowl. — A nnion of two breeds of fowls is seen in some
measm-e united in the Guinea-fowl. It appears to have some of the charac-
teristics of the turkey and the pheasant. Its head is bare like the turkey ;
its body and plumage, and general form and appearance, somewhat like the
pheasant. Tiie plumage of the most common sort in this countiy is of a
bluish ground, delicately spotted with white. The wing feathers are nearly
white. There are also fowls of this family entirely white. The greatest ob-
jection to the Guinea-fowl is the almost continual noise they make, which to
some is intolerable. It is about as musical as the sharp squeak of a grind-
stone or old cart. The noise is, however, tolerated for their good qualities,
which are not a few. Their noise tends to keep off hawks and other pests
of the poultry-yard. They are very ornamental, and give a place a lively,
pleasant appearance. Their flesh is pretty good for the table ; thej- are
good layers, and their eggs are large, and rich, and good fur cookery, but
not so good as common hens' eggs for the table.

The young chicks are hardy, and very pretty. There is no prettier sight
in connection with poultry than a fine Guinea-hen with her brood. The
hen sits a month, and nine eggs are enough for her to cover. The eggs may
be hatched under a common hen, but a good sitter must be selected, because
the time is longer than her own. Hard-boiled eggs chopped tine, bread
crumbs, chopped meat or suet, arc good food for young chicks. Some per-
sons procure maggots on purpose to feed chicks. Any kind of small worms
are devoured greedily by the young Guineas, which are real cormorants.
They will eat a dozen times a-day, and a full supjdy of food is one of the
great secrets of success in raising these as well as turkeys.

There is no domestic hen that gives such a bountiful supply of eggs all the
yeau round as a Guinea-hen ; consccpientl}' they are not good sitters, and
other hens have to be used when it is desired to increase the stock rapidly.

191. Ducks. — "Wherever suitable conveniences exist for keeping ducks,
they are not only ornamental to the farm, but ])rnfital)le. Some of the vari-
eties are particularly ornamental — the little Wood duck the most so of all.
The Pintail duck is a very neat-looking bird. The Aylesbury sort are i)ure
white. The plumage of the drakes of some of the wihl sorts which have
been domesticated, is very beautiful. A few ornamental ducks might bo
kept upon almost every farm, and furnished M'ith artiticial water. Wo
would never raise but a single brooil or two a year, except we had natural
water. A drake and pair of ducks, with their progeny, would cost but
little, and the amount of good they would do is incalculable. They arc
great destroyers of slugs, snails, worms, and all larvae; and if you should
sec an old duck pitch into a nest of young mice, you would learu what good
she can do in that way of ridding the farm of pests.

140

DOXTESTIC ANIMALS.

[CnAP. I.

Ducks' eggs are not esteemed for the table, but are in cookery. Tlic birds
when well fatted are always salable, or good for home consumption, and
pay as well for the corn they cat as anything in tiie poultry-yard.

In selecting a variety of ducks, the purposes for which they are to be bred
must be considered. If for ornament, select the jirettiest. If for scaven-
gers, we would use the common gray duck and drake with green head.

The best white duck is the Aylesbury. It has yellow legs and feet and
flesh-colored bill. White ducks should never be kept except where water
and grass are both abundant. In the water or on a lawn they are pretty.
In a muddy yard they are not so.

There is a great variety of colors, but we recommend you to confine j^ours
to a single color, whether white, black, gray, blue, or slate. Tlie feathers
of ducks are as good as geese feathers, and some housewives pluck them in
the same waj'.

The duck sits tliirty days ; and the hen should be confined an equal length
of time, where the ducklets can go out, and into natural or artificial water.
Yon can not feed them too much, and they are no way dainty. When
large enough, give them a wide range, bringing them home at night. The
best food for grown ducks is Indian corn, and the best ducks for the table
are domesticated wild ones, fatted on corn, or wild ones that have had a
full range in corn-iields. Beech-mast also makes the flesh of wild ducks
excellent.

192. Geese. — As geese are generally kept by farmers, they are neither
profitable nor oi-namental, but, on the contrary, an xmmitigated nuisance,
befouling grass and water, door-yards and roadsides, and always poking
their heads through holes into mischief.

Geese never should be kept upon or about any farm, except in a lot
appropriated to their particular use. A man who would turn out a flock of
geese upon the public highway to pirate their living, we would not trust
about our hen-roost of a dark night.

If geese are kept on a large scale, where water is good, and pastured Jike
any other stock, and finally fatted for market, upon the same principle that
pigs are fed and fatted, we will insure the largest profit from the geese,
particularly if the best breeds are selected.

The Chinese or IIong-Kong geese and the Bremen geese are much larger
varieties tlian ihe breed common in this countrj'. The Bremen geese have
pure white ])liimage, v.-itli clean j-cUow legs and bills. They attain to
great weight and age — twenty or thirty years, and as many pounds. Tlie
flesh of a young, fat Bremen goose is esteemed above all tlie domesticated
tril)e, and the feathers are salable at the very highest rates.

This breed is very prolific, laying twelve or fifteen eggs a year, and the
geese are good sitters and nurses. Tiiey are somewhat inclined to couNnence
laying too earlj' in the season. To jirevent this, shut the whole flock in a
dark room, about the twentieth of February, and feed and water once a day,
and allow them an hour out once a week to wash and have a run. ' In a few

PLATE Xr.

iPage 140.)

Here is another picture, more beautiful, if possible, than N'o. X.
It comprises some of the most ornamental, and some of the most
substantially useful birds that help to adorn our landscape. Many
Avho read this book will have no opportunity to see the graceful
swans that adorn the ponds in Central Park, New York. Let them
stud}- these life-pictures. The peacock is more common, yet many
will get their first idea of its appearance from this picture. The
Hong-Kong goose is also rare, and so are some of the ducks, and in
many places the Guinea fowls are unknown. The tui-key is com-
mon, still his likeness adds to the beauty of this scene.

Sbo. 9.] P0T7LTRY. 141

days after they are let out of jail, the geese will make nests and begin their
■work.

The eggs should be removed carefully every day, and deposited in cotton
in a dry, temperate room. Then when all your flock ai'e ready to sit, which
they will be about the same day, have cp.paciou3 nests filled with chaffed
straw, in which place twelve eggs for cr.ch goose. "Wliere a good many
geese are kept, it will pay to have an attendant, who should be careful to
allow only one sitter to leave the nest at one time. "When one comes off,
shut the doors of the other boxes till she returns. This will prevent con-
fusion of getting on the wrong nests. By attention, nearly all the goslings
of a large flock may be brought out in one day.

Goslings should be left in the nest twenty-four Iiours after they hatch, par-
ticularly if the weather is rough ; and as they are tender animals, they should
be carefull}^ nursed for a month, allowing them a small pool of water to
bathe in, and plenty of green grass. The whole anscr family belong to the
graziers. It is not necessary to feed goslings on much grain.

The white China goose is as pure wliite as the Bremen, and should not
be mistaken for that — the Bremen is jireferable.

The Brent and Sandwich Island goose are both very small varieties, well
suited to situations on tlie salt water.

The Berwick goose is said to be a great weed-eater.

The Canadian or wild goose variety are quite ornamental upon a well-
watered location. This breed are greater worm and insect caters than any
other variety of the anser family. The hens do not lay until two years old
in their domesticated state.

193. Swans. — This variety of ornamental birds has been but little culti-
vated in this countr}'. The greatest collection is at the New York Central
Park. This bird, of all others, puts the finishing stroke to the landscape
inclosing a still lake w pond.

There are white and black swans ; both are magnificent, but the white
ones are the most showy on the water, where they float l)y tlie hour as still
as the water beneath them. Although domestic and tame, swans are apt to
go astray— to prevent which the last joint of one wing is skillfully disseciel.
They arc weed-feeders, but in places where they are generally kept the}' re-
quire feeding. Their feed is most abundant in foul, shallow water, and they
are often seen abroad at night in pursuit of food. Besides vegetables, they
cat minute insects found in the water, and probably fish-spawn.

The hen birds are very curioiis about their nests, and will select them, if
possible, in some low bushy islet or headland, and under favorable circum-
stances will hatch eight or nine young cygneks — the name which young swans
are known by. The male birds allow no intruders about the nests or young.
A man would find a terrible antagonist if attacked by a swan while swimming.

Tlie cygnets, when fat, are esteemed a great delicacy upon the table,
stuffed with the lean part of a round of beef, seasoned merely witli cayenno
pepper and salt, and served with rich gravy and currant jelly.

142 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

194. The Pleasures of Poultry Raisiugi — Besides the profit of a -well-con-
ducted poultry biisines?, there is an actual jtlcasurc attending it over tliar
of keeping any other kind of domestic animals. Although the aim appears
always to be profit, we think if those who can keep poultry -vrould look at it
in anotlier point of view, tliey would be better satisfied if it did not always
jHnj. One advocates having a lawn and a flower garden attached to his
house, saying that it will give new life and beauty to all around, and
exert a beautiful and ennobling influence upon every member of the house-
hold, and even visitors and passers-by will catch from it a sweet spirit of
love and good-will ; but the question with the calculating and careful farmer
is. Will it pay ? So with every improvement upon his house and around
his farm ; if he does not see a prospect ahead of a return in hard money for
his outlay of time and his work, the close-calculating man sets it down as
being a thing that won't pay, and consequently abandons it entirely.

It is just so in regard to poultry. Kothing is ke]>t for ornament ; yet we
have already shown that several varieties are not only ornamental, but prof-
itable. But setting all other considerations aside, we would keep poultry
just for the pleasure attending the sight of the birds, particularl}' the dear
little chicks. Quoting from a sensible writer upon this subject, wo adopt
his woi'ds :

" One of my neighbors says it will pay to keep just as many hens as will
get their living around the barn through the winter ; but lie thinks it will not
pay to keep them if they have to be fed. I will own that I have a few notions
in common with all poultry fanciers ; I look somewhat to the profit, but make
it a point of secondary importance. Farmers, in general, who keep hens, are
more troubled with them than with any other one thing upon their farms,
considering the amount of work which they do. They are always scratch-
ing in the garden, digging up corn, or committing other depredations which
keep the farmer and his girls running to keep them out of mischief."

Of course they are, because they must scratch for a living. If you don't
want hens in mischief, feed them ; and at times when it is really necessary,
shut them in a poultry-yaixl and feed them, and adopt this simple rule for
feeding fowls, known to most housewives in the country who have charge
of the poultry, but it may be useful to amateurs, and as it is very short, we
print it. Here it is: Don't feed too much. That is all; though we may
add that food shoidd never be given to fowls unless they are hungry enough
to " run crazy" after it ; and just as soon as they stop running crazy, you
stop thi'owing feed, and never — no, never — leave feed lying by your fowls
" for them to eat at leisure." This same rule does pretty well for all other
domestic animals — children included.

If you don't feed your hens, and let them run in the garden, and they
scratch, don't swear. It is natural for them to scratch, and although they do
mischief, they also do good. Then, don't set the dog upon them ; it only
makes matters worse. There is a cure for your trouble : build a yard in
which to shut the hens when they are troublesome in the garden, and train

Sec. 9.] POULTRY. 143

them so that they will follow you like a dog, and then just at night take
them out on a walk and see what an immense number of hurtful insects
they will destroy. Your liens are the most profitable stock you have if you
treat them rightly. Don't swear at them ; keep your temper and build a
poultry-yard, but don't keep it always closed. It is better for you, and tho
hens too, to let them run at large at all times when they are not liable to
do mischief.

We know of nothing around a country residence which gives the whole
such a delightful and pleasant aspect as all kinds of poultry. How Down-
ing loved them when he wrote : "With proper conveniences for managing'
them, they are among the most agreeable, profitable, and useful objects in
country life. To children especially, fowls are objects of exceeding interest,
and form an almost necessary part of the means of developing the moral and
industrial energies of a country household." Oh, who would be without
them ? What country resident would neglect to have a noble collection of
hens, ducks, and turkeys — with riglit modes to keep and manage them — to
give a lively aspect to the scenery of his home, and impart beauty to the
whole place ? The merry cackle of the " old yellow hen" in the beautiful
spring-time ; the love and kind protection manifested for her brood of young,
and tiien to see them huddle together under her wing ! The shrill sound of
the cock as he proclaims the dawn of morning ! Oh, who would not keep
poidtry, even if it dithi't jjay ? Wc would not keep

IShanfjhacs. — These Chinese monstrosities, on the contrary, we recommend
every one to get rid of as soon as possible. They have had their day, and
in spite of their crowing, Barnum's showing, and their owners' blowing, they
are about blown out. It begins to be found out that 10 lbs. of meat can be
produced upon two pairs of legs just as cheaply, and of much better quality,
than u))on one pair. No Shanghae, Cochin-China, Chittagong, or any other
imported breed of fowls has ever been, or will ever be, more esteemed on
all accounts than the old yellow-legged Dominique, a domestic, handsome,
and good-sized fowl.

A particular friend, candid and intelligent, said to us lately : " I liave
tried almost all varieties of hens, and have settled upon the Black Spanish,
or crosses of them upon the old stock, such as I can pick up in market at
iifiy cents a pair. I have also tried the experiment of keeping liens in the
city and the cost of eggs. I keep them in a house at the back of tlie yard,
letting them out for exercise just before roosting time, feeding them on
scraps from the kitchen, potatoes, meat, etc., and corn, and find my eggs
cost just three cents a dozen on an average througli tlie year."

Another one, alluding to the fact of feeding poultry upon dead horses at a
great poultry establishment near Paris, said : "Tlic less hens I keep, I tliink
the better for me. I have fed dead horses and all sorts of food, but I can't
make it profitable to myself, or neighbors either." Of course not. The last
words tell the reason ; he lets them run at large, half fed.

105. Hca-Uoosts aud roiiltry Vcrmiu.— The poles or ladders should bo

lU DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

such that they can be whitewashed thoroughly every June, and the whole
hen-house should undergo the same operation. Poultry that are lousy
shoiiUl have wood-ashes to wallow in, and a few handfuls of flour of sul])hiir
stirred in among them makes them much more cfiicieiit. Good ashes will
eft'ect a cure, however. The fowls should have also dry earth or a dusty
road, for it will be found that they will usually alternate from one to the
other. The best means for supplying lime to hens is to crack up fresh
oyster-shells with a hammer or a sledge. Nests never should bo made or
allowed in the room where fowls roost. Keep it clean of all trash, straw,
or nest-boxes. Have thcni in another apartment.

A poultry raiser asks us to tell him how to get rid of the great nui-
sance of lice upon poultry. He says he feeds well, and gives the liens the
range of a grass lot, and has used turpentine sprinkled in the nests, and
applied blue vitriol mixed with grease to their bodies, and anointed them
with lamp oil, and yet they are infested. The breed is that called Black
Spanish, but that, we think, has nothing to do with the ditHcuIty, which is
so great that he is ready, if there is no remedy, to sacrifice his hens and buy
his eggs and chickens. In a case like this, we should endeavor to purify
the roost of everything that could give shelter to an insect, and perhaps
abandon the old roost altogether, and take care that the hens had a wallow-
ing-box, M'ell supplied with dry wood-ashes, renewed by a little addition
every day or two, and feed sulphur occasionally in the food, and have a
constant supply of lime for the hens, and keep them fat ; and if all these
would not preserve them free of lice, we would abandon the business.

We have received several letters upon the important subject noticed under
this head, giving " infallible" remedies to rid poultry of lice. The following
looks as if it might be a " dead shot :"

" I have had the care of a poultry-yard for a number of j'cars. During
that time a continual M^ar of extermination Avas waged, and many expedients
were resorted to, but never did anything, in a single instance, prove a safe-
guard until tobacco was tried. This weed, in my case, has never failed in
answering all practical purposes ; and this fact goes far to show that it was
intended to act out higher and nobler ones than are commonly assigned to it.
The fine-cut is the best kind, and in using it spread it thickly over the sur-
face of the nests, scatter it upon the floor, and suspend large leaves about the
diflerent parts of the house. This, used in connection with your directions,
will put the enemy to flight, and with it will disappear all the annoyances
your subscriber complains of."

Another letter says : " Sprinkle Scotch snuff plentifully on the fowls, so
it will reach the skin, and I'll warrant that the vermin will be more scarce
than even money in these ' tight times.' As you say, ' the roost must be
kept clean ;' also lime must be sprinkled on it to destroy the effect of the
ammonia arising from their manure."

Another says : " All the remedies named are not equal to onions, chopped
fine and mixed with their food every day for a week. This will exterminate

Sec. 9.] POULTRY. 145

them entirely from the heus ; and if tlie roosts and pen be washed with oniou
water, they will trouble your hens no more."

Another writer says, hens that roost upon sassafras poles are never
troubled with lice.

Now all these facts are worth knowing, as the vermin some years are un-
commonly numerous, and will cat more poultry than the people will, unless
we can head them off with some of the remedies named.

196. Water your Door-Yard Fowls.— Fill a bottle with water and place it
bottom up through a hole in a board, so that its nose shall be inserted isito a
saucer, or any shallow, open vessel. As the fowls exhaust the water from
the shallow vessel, the bottle Avill pay out new snpplie>.

197. Mode of kiiliug Fowls. — A favorite mode of killing fowls with some
persons is sticking an awl in the neck. They say that the blood adds to the
good looks and value of all sorts of poultry.

198. Corn-Fed Gccse — Value of Corn. — The following detail of an experi-
ment in feeding corn to geese, by llufus Brown, of Chelsea, Orange County,
A'"t., is well worthy the attention of all farmers, and goes to prove that corn
may be as profitably fed to poultry as pigs. Mr. Brown writes :

" In answer to your question, ' Does anybody know anything about any-
thing?' I answer. Yes. I know how much ten qiiarts of corn is worth. On
the 22d of November I shut up a flock of goslings, which, allowing the
usual shrinkage for dressing, would not have dressed over six pounds per
lioad, and would have been called scalawags, and sold accordingly at six to
seven cents per pound. Taking the maximum (seven cents), they would
have brought 42 cents each, dressed, at the time mentioned. They were put
in a warm, well-littered stable, allowing three to four square feet of room for
cacli, and kept constantly furnished with corn in the kernel and i)lenty of
M-ater; this constituted their entire feed. They were thus kept till Dec. 9 ;
they had then consumed 10 quarts each ; -when, after allowing them one day
of fasting, they were dressed according to the custom practiced from boyhood,
and which I respectfully recommend to others, viz. : after life had become
extinct they were carefully scalded by immersing head first in boiling water,
and allowed to remain .about one minute, and then taken out head first and
allowed to drain, and then covered in a thick woolen blanket and allowed
to renuiin about five minutes; then carefully picked clean; then the intes-
tines were drawn, their legs tied together and laid upon their backs on
boards in a cool place, with their necks tnrneil under and laid close to-
gether to keep the wings close to their sides. They were then considered
choice, and sold readily to the dL»aler at 10^ cents per lb., and averaged
10 ll)s., amounting to $1 0.5 each. Deduct 42 cents, and this leaves C>') cents
for the 10 quarts of corn, the market-price of which, at the time of feeding,
was 75 cents a bushel.

199. Prices of PoHHry. — At the time of the great " poultry show" at Bar-
naul's Museum, in 1S57, there was an auction sale, and the t'ollowing prices
were realized, and although fancy birds brought fancy prices upon the inoro

10

14G

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

common 6ort there was a dead loss upon the cost in England of about an
average of 7 per cent. Tlie following are decidedly among the fancies :

1 pair of wliite swans, $1^0 > 1 white female swan, $50 ; 1 black female
swan, $00 ; 1 pair of black swans, $00; 1 pair of Japanese peacocks, $100 ;
1 pair of Barnacle geese, $10 ; 3 hoop-bill ducks, $75 ; 1 pair of golden
plieasants, $18 ; 4 pair of English pheasants, at $10, $11, and $15 per pair ;
.3 male golden pheasants, at $5, $8 50, and $12 50 each ; 3 male silver
pheasants, at $10, $l0 50, and $10 each ; 1 pair of Call ducks, $15 ; 1 shel-
drake duck, $10 ; 3 spoon-bill ducks, $15 ; 1 pair of pin-tail ducks, $10 ;
1 pair of widgeon ducks, $12 ; 1 pair of widgeon ducks, $7 ; 3 widgeon
ducks, $9.

But the climax of fancy prices was reached in the sale of one pair of Man-
darin ducks for $150. This was a beautiful pair of very rare birds, and wc
hope will remain rare — that is, that no more will ever be imported at that
jirice. It was said that they cost 75 guineas in England. Mr. Earnum
ofl'ered $35 advance upon the purchaser's bargain. They are about the size
of our common wood duck, and of just about equal beauty. It is certainly
somewhat extraordinary that, with money " tight" with most peojjle, any
one can find loose change enough to buy ducks at $150 a pair.

The sales of Shanghaes, and Ijirds in that line, went off at what the owner
called " sickly prices." The following indicate the prevailing rates :

1 pair of gray Dorkings, $10 ; 3 gray Dorkings, $15 ; 6 Sebright bantams,
in two lots, $5 each ; 2 Sebright bantams, hens, $2 each ; 3 Golden bantams,
$1 67 each ; 3 English bantams, $1 25 each ; 3 English bantams, $2 37
each ; 4 Bramahpootras, 1 cock and 3 hens, $2 50 each ; 1 Poland hen,
$1 25 ; 1 Bolton Gray hen, $1 25 ; 1 pair of Golden Ilamburghs, $2 25 ; 1
pair of black Spanish fowls, $10 ; 1 pair of black Spanish fowls, $5 50 ; 2
black Shanghae hens, $3.

Turkeys. — 1 pair of beautiful white turkeys, $5.

Geese. — 2 pair of Barnacle geese, $12 and $14 ; 2 pair of Egyptian geese,
$10 and $10.

200. Consumption of Poultry in New York. — To give some idea of the
quantity of ]>oultry consumed in New York, we give the following extracts
from an article published about Christmas, 1857 :

" On Dec. 23d the American Express Company had three car-loads to
deliver from their depot in Duane Street, and about 11 tuns received from
Albany by the steamer.- On Dec. 24th their receipts are stated in round
numl)ers at 40 tuns, making about 80 tuns received in two days by only one
transportation line.

" This Company's freight was nearly all from this State and Vermont,
Mith a little from western Pennsylvania, and a very small portion from
Ohio. A large quantity also came from the river counties by steamers and
barges on the Hudson, as the mildness of the winter has enabled them to
keep running. Western New York also sent in great quantities by the Erie
Railroad, while every New Jersey railroad and numerous wagons brought

Seo. 9.]

POULTRY.

147

vast quantities from tliat State, and some from Pennsylvania. A great deal
also came from Long Island, and considerable from Connecticut.

" The Messrs. Ecatty, who make a business of feeding ])oultry, had on sale
at once by a conmiission-house, two days before Christmas, four tuns, all pre-
pared upon their own premises, and some of the turkeys were as handsome
birds as we ever saw, and sold for $3 and $3 50 each.''

Mr. "White, of Chautauqua County, another great poultry feeder and packer,
had as much more. It is really a blessing, botli to producer and consumer,
to have such men as those engaged in the business. Tlie farmer particu-
larly reaps a decided advantage, because such skillful poulterers can and do
give them more for their birds than they would get if killed by themselves
and sent to market in the rough condition that much of the poultry comes
into this market. For instance, we noticed, while one commission-house was
selling well-prepared geese at 13 cents, a lot of geese, side by side of these,
were oft'ered and refused at 6i cents, the fault being that they were not well
fiitted, and were picked dry and roughly packed.

Another lot of well-fatted poultry, well packed, and received in good con-
dition from V^erniont, the owner was fully convinced would have netted him
from one to two cents a pound more if he had followed the directions given
in Ko. 201, for killing and preparing po\dtry for market.

Relative to the eftect of the weather npon the business of fatting poultry
and some other facts, we arc indebted to the Messrs. Beatty for the follow-
ing. They say :

" Owing to the lateness of the season, turkeys did not grow sufficiently to
fat well for the early market. It is unprofitable to feed these birds to fatten
them until they get their growth ; and in such warm weather as we have
had this season they do not fatten well, being inclined to wander. To fat
turkeys well and cheaply we must have cold weatiier. It is owing to this,
and having to feed a longer time, that we have not been as successful as last
year ; and it was so warm when our Christmas lot was dressed, consisting
of four tuns, that with all our appliances it required not only experienced
skill, but great care to preserve the whole in good order till ready for ship-
ment. The fault with that lot [alluding to one then nnpackingj is, that the
birds were packed l)efore all the animal heat was out of them. This must
be carefully guarded against in such weather as we have had this season.

"It has been very difficult for farmers to raise turkeys the past summer
on account of cold and wet, so that the stock in the country is lu-obably not
more than half as large as it was last year, and that is the only reason that
the price, notwithstanding the money pressure, has kept up so well. "Wc
have fed this year 1,<IOO turkeys in one lot together, having had in ail 1,300,
and between ^00 and 300 geese, with other j)oultry in iiroportioii. We use,
and recommend to others, to feed good, sound Indian corn, and with it a lib-
eral supply of charcoal, which we consider indispensable. It i)romotes health
and improves the <piality of tlie flesh."

Will all poultry-raisers remember this important fact, which alone is

148

DOMESTIC AXMALS.

[Chap. L

■worth more to tliem than all we shall ever receive for preparhig this volume
of valuable information ?

201. Preparing Poultry for Market. — "We have repeatedly published di-
rections for preparing poultry for market, and we can not make a more
valuable finish to this section npon poultry than by giving in brief such
directions as all must rigidly follow, who send such fiirni produce to the
great nuirket of New York. The professional poultry feeders and packers
need no instructions, but many farmers do. Many of them have already
saved a handsome per-centage ou the value of their poultry by giving it a
proper preparation, and others may.

As a preliminary rule, and make it unalterable, never kill a bird unless
it is fat. Never cut olf the head of a turkey or goose, but hang them by the
heels where they can not bruise themselves in the death-struggle, and stick
them with a small knife and bleed them to death. Ducks and common
fowls, if decapitated, should be held or tied aud hung up to bleed to death.
Never kill your birds until quite f;it; yon will lose in price, in reputation,
and in wei<jlit. Never strangle them, so as to leave the blood in. The best
plan is to tie all kinds of birds to a line drawn from post to post or tree to
tree, and stick them just in the forward end of the neck, either with a broad-
bladed awl or a penknife. It is undoubtedly the best mode of killing. If
the head is cut off, the skiu recedes, and the neck-bone looks repulsive. To
obtain the best prices, the birds must look good as well as be good.

There is an exception, however, to the above recommendation about stick-
ing, for some dealers prefer the birds with heads on, and some do not. In
some towns it is always customary to cut off all the heads. When this is to
be done, draw the skin back from the head as far as possible, so that when
you cut off the head, M'hich should be done close to it, there will be some
loose skin to draw over the end of the neck-bone, where it should be tied
close. We doubt whether it is not worth wliile to pay freight upon heads.
It is worth while to pay freight on the intestines, because the meat can not
be kept sweet long after they are drawn aud the air admitted inside of the
body. Therefore, never draw a bird.

It is a practice of some of the best poultrymen, while the birds are bleed-
ing, to hold them firmly by one hand, and pluck the feathers with the other,
as they come out easily while the fowls are warm. This treatment is only
foi- turkeys and common fowls. They are then ready for scalding. Take
hold of the legs, and plunge the body in quick succession, two or three
times, in boiling water. This should be done in a warm room, and the birds
hung upon a line to pick clean, taking care not to tear the skin. Geese and
ducks are plunged two or three times in boiling water, drawing them out by
the head, and then wrapped in a woolen blanket to steam ten minutes.
Take them on your lap to pick. Do not scald the legs, nor heat the bodies
of birds against the sides of the kettle. After the birds are neatly picked,
they are put through the jilumping process. This gives them a finish, and
increases their value in market.

Sec. 9,J

POULTRY.

149

The rule for " plumping" is to clip the birds about two seconds into water
nearly or quite boiling hot, and then at once into cold water about the same
length of time. Some think the hot plunge sufficient without the cold. The
neatest poultry-dressers use both the hot and cold plunge. The poultry
should be entirely cold, but not frozen before being packed. If poultry-
reaches market sound, without freezing, it will sell all the better.

After plumping, hang or lay the birds where they will dry, and then
remove them to the cooling-room, laying the bodies nicely arranged upon
clean boards in a cold room till perfectly cool, but not frozen, and then pack
in lioxes, with clean rye straw, about 300 or 400 lbs. in a box, filled full ;
mark the contents on a paper inside, and on the lid outside, and direct it to
your commission-mercliant plainly, and send it by express, and one invoice
by mail, and place another in one of the boxes, if there is more than one,
and mark on that, invoice, and then it will be opened first, and the merchant
knows wiience it comes, and wliat the consignment consists of. It is also a
good plan to mark the contents of each box outside, thus: In box

jS^o. 1—12 turkeys, 144 lbs. ; 20 geese, IGO lbs. ; 50 spring chickens, 125 lbs.

yYo. 2—100 fowls, 300 lbs. ; 24 ducks, 96 lbs.

This lot will pack in two square dry-goods boxes. If clean hand-threshed
rye straw can not be had, wheat or oat straw will answer, if clean and free
irom dust. Place a layer of straw at the bottom of the box, then alternate
Livers of poultry and straw — taking care to stow snugly, backs upward,
filling vacancies with straw, and filling the package so that the cover will
draw down snugly upon the contents. Counnon dry -goods boxes, holding
not over 300 lbs., are the best packages.

Kever kill your birds on a damp day, nor pack them, if you can avoid it,
except in a clear, cold, dry atmosphere ; and try to avoid night-work, when
you arc tired and j'our help sleepy, and all of you careless.

Ko matter how light j-our boxes are, they must look clean, or your poultry
will not sell at first prices. In packing, press the wings close, and pi'ess
the bird down hard on the breast, the legs extending back, and fill each
course full, and then lay on straw and another course of birds. Nail tight,
but don't let a nail project inward to tear the birds.

Give your name and residence in full on tlic bill in the box and on the
invoice b}' mail. Don't tliink because you know in what State you live, that
everybody else will know it if you name the town.

Never pack in barrels if you can get good dry-goods boxes, as the rolling
of barrels injures tiie poultry, where it is likely to be much handled, uidess
very closely packed. Besides, it does not pack to as good advantage to the
shape of the birds as it docs in boxes. Small lots may be ]iacked in "shoe
or hat boxes," but tlicj' must bo carefully iioopcd, aiid so should be all boxes.
Don't use a rough, black board for a cover ; you had better spend an hour
to plane it. Don't acknowledge, by sending unplaned boards, that you
don't own a plane. It is bad economy to use heavy packages, or have any
waste room, because freight is charged by the pound, and for long distances

150 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I.

the express charges may amount to four or five cents a pouud, and all the
weiglit of tliebox counts equally with the contents.

It is a practice with some — and a very foolish practice it is— to stuff fowls
just before they are killed, thinking to sell corn at the price of meat. Better
give no food for twenty-four hours previous to killing. Food in the crop is
"liable to sour, and always injures the sale, for it looks to purchasers as though
there was a design to cheat.

You may pick turkeys and fowls dry if you will not tear the skin, and
then scald them afterward by dipping them suddenly in and out of boiling
water. Geese and ducks must always be scalded. Do not scald the legs too
much, M-hether you ]nck first or afterward. Be careful of that. You must
pick them clean, and the after-scalding makes them look plump and good.
Well-packed boxes of well-prepared birds will keep sweet a long time in
cool weather, and may be transported by express from Ohio for three cents
a pound ; from Chicago and most of Illinois for five cents ; from Iowa for
six or six and a half cents, and arriving in good order, will be sold at good
prices, and your money remitted to you, less 10 per cent. Now, following
these directions, and getting these prices, if it is better for you Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan farmers to send your poultry East-
ward for sale, you know how to do it ; and if it opens to you a new and im-
proved market, it Avill be M'orth more to you than the whole cost of this
volume upon every box of poultry sold. In fact, these directions, given iu
part heretofore to the public, have been the means of saving great sums of
money to the poultry producers.

After boxes are packed, if there is any chance of not getting them imme-
diately into market, or if a change in prices makes it desirable to hold back,
it will be a good plan to place them where the contents will freeze solid ;
then they Avill stand a long spell of warm weather, such as makes badly-
packed poultry slimy. If you could be sure of cold weather, so that the
birds would remain frozen, very little straw would be requisite in packing ;
but as a general thing, a liberal allowance of straw will more than pay its
cost of transportation in keeping the birds in good order.

When packages are frozen before shipment, it will be well to advise con-
signees of the fact, as we have known a thaw to come on gradually, until
very warm, and have then seen packages opened in perfect order that were
frozen up two or three months before. In fact, we knew one such that got
mislaid and covered with empty boxes in a cellar, that kept sweet till it was
accidentally discovered in May.

Water for scalding any kind of poultry should be as near to the boiling
point as possible, without actually boiling ; the bird being held by the legs,
should be immersed and lifted up and down in the water three times ; the
motion helps the hot water to penetrate the plumage and take proper effect
upon the skin. Continue to hold the bird by the legs with one hand while
plucking the feathers with the other without a moment's delay after taking
it out ; if skillfully handled in this way, the feathers and pin-feathers may all

Sec. 'J.J

POULTRY.

151

be removed without breaking the skin. A torn or broken skin greatly
injures the appearance, and the price will be low in proportion.

Do not send the birds with tail and wing feathers in, unless it may be
occasionally in a very handsome turkey.

Geese always sell best the week before Christmas, and they should always
be stall-fed. Christmas prices are usually for well-fed geese, such as will
warrant their increased production, since it is contended by persons whose
opinion is entitled to great respect, that with proper care and skill, upon a
farm well fitted for the business, a tun of geese can be made at the same
cost as a tun of beef, leaving the feathers as an excess of profit.

Now let all who read, remember that common-sense attention to these
rules, in regard to preparing poultry, will often insure 25 per cent, higher
prices than poidtry of the same value originally will bring, if slovenly dressed
and packed, and carelessly directed and stupidly forwarded, as often hap-
pens. To bring the highest market-prices, poultry must be good and well
handled.

202. Preparing Game for Market.— WiM turkeys, wild ducks, and the
smaller birds should be packed in the natural state. In cold weather they
may be packed snugly, backs up, with or without clean straw, taking care
to keep the plumage as smooth as possible. If the weather becomes warm
during the transit, straw between the layers acts beneficially as an absorbent
of moisture. Birds should never be drawn, and if mutilated by gun-shot,
the market value will be much reduced.

Woodcock, quails, and other small birds are in cool weather sometimes
each wrapped in paper, and packed in dry sawdust. In hot weather they
may be packed without the paper in coarse sawdust and ice. They seldom ar-
rive in good order if more than twenty-four hours on the way in hot weather.

In venison it is best to send only the hind part of the carcass, including,
say, two or three ribs with the saddle. Tiie skin should be stripped from
the fore part and carefully Avrapped about the saddle, thus keeping it clean
and in good order.

By the " game laws" of the State of New York, the killing of any wild
deer, partridge, quail, woodcock, or snipe during the months of February,
Marcl), Aprii, May, June, and July is prohibited under penalty of $25 for
each offense.

Common carriers or their agents may, in the discharge of their legitimate
business, transport deer or game during the iniiibited period without viola-
tion of the law ; aiul commission merchants and dealers are protected if they
can show, to the satisfaction of the court, that the game in question camo
from any other State, or foreign country, or that it was not killed during tho
inhibited period.

The taking of speckled or brook trout is prohibited between the l.ith day
of September and the loth day of February, under the same penalties and
provisions as in the case of game; but the Cayuga, Seneca, Crooked, and

pr

Otsego lakes are excepted from this prohibition.

152

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[CUAP. I.

203. Eggs— How to Produce (hem in Winter. — Pork scraps or greaves, fed
in moderate quantity, are found to have a marvelous cli'ect in the produc-
tion of winter eggs. Give hens also sand, and gravel, and lime, and see
that tliey have water. Egg-shells should never be fed whole, hut they may
be mashed up fine and mixed with feed to good advantage. Some hens
are much more productive of eggs than others. Eighty hens, belonging to
Cajjt. Thos. A. Norton, of Yarmouth, Mass., have laid during one year C37
dozen eggs. At the average i^rice of eggs, that would be about §1 25 for
each hen.

204. How to Delect the Sex in Domestic Fowls' EggSi — A person who has
paid attention to the subject declares that he can tell the sex of eggs in the
following manner. lie says:

"I began examining eggs, classing them according to the difference I
found in the formation of each, marking each class, and putting them under
hens as soon as opportunity offered ; when, in less than twelve months, I
was fully convinced that I had discovered cither a method or tJie method
of foretelling the sex in the c^^, which was proved by ocular demonstration
in the chickens produced.

" At the large end of the egg there is a circular space or cavity containing
air, which country folks call the ' crown' of the Qgg ; its jn-oper name I know
not. "When you examine the egg, hold it, the large end uppermost, before
a candle or gaslight, and in looking through it you will observe a dark cir-
cular mark, something similar to the moon when partially eclipsed. This
dark circular mark is the space filled with air or ' tlie crown' of the egg, and
when in the center it indicates that the egg will produce a male.

" My method of examining the egg is as follows : I make xise of the thumb
and forefinger of my left hand as two points, placing the small end of the
egg on my thumb, my torefinger covering the large end of it, and as near
the center of the end as possible. I then place the egg in this position
steadily before a candle and gently turn it around ; if the crown be in the
center it will be scarcely visible, the forefinger nearly covering it. On the
contrary, if the crown be on the side you will only see it on one side of the
egg as you turn it around." There is a little contrivance, called the ooni-
scope, to detect bad eggs. The egg is placed in a hole of a box, and the
light reflects on a mirror inside and tells unerringly the true condition of
the egg. A little practice enables any one to discover whether eggs are
fresh or not.

205. Vitality of Eggs Affected by Transportation. — It has been stated upon
• good authority that railroad transportation injures the vitality of eggs. That

pack them as you will, if they are carried any considerable distance, say 100
miles, the continued shaking w\\\ shake the life out of them. Ti'aveling on
the Harlem Koad one day, we met an acquaintance carefully carrying a
small basket in his hands. We remarked that he handled his basket as
carefully as though he was carrying eggs. "And so I am," he replied ; " I am
taking them about a hundred miles to a friend, and will insure every one to

r

Sec. 9.] . POULTRY. 153

hatch out a chicken, so far as transportation may affect them. But I learned
this by experience. I had a lot sent up the road only twenty-five miles, in
the ordinary way, and did not get one chicken to fifty eggs, while out of
another lot, carried in my hands in this way, not one missed." He said : " As
a general rule, it may be set down for fact, that eggs that have beea trans-
ported by railroad will never bring forth chickens." This is important in-
formation, and should be well remembered. So, too, let it be remembered
that eggs intended for incubation can not be too carefully handled in t;dcing
them from the nests and keeping them about the house till the hen is ready
to take them in charge.

20G. Selling Eggs l>y WeiRhd — We have frequently recommended that eggs
should always be sold by weight, instead of by count. "\Ve recommended it
because we thought it more fair both for producer and consumer ; but really,
with the present sj'stem of trade, we do not sec much to encourage the change,
and nothing to encourage the production of eggs of a large size while small
ones sell at the same price as the largest, per dozen or hundred, and consumers
are guilty of the great folly of making no distinction. Do they ever think of
the diti'erenco in weight? Do they know how many eggs there should be
to the pound ? The largest-sized eggs of the common barn-door fowl weigh
three ounces each, but tlie average is about ten to the pound. "We inquired
once of a retail groceryman, " Have you any fresh eggs V " Yes ; there is a
lot of tine ones, just in, all of this State, in good order." " At what price ?"
" Twelve cents a dozen." " May I pick them out at that V " Oh, yes, cer-
taiidy ; they are all alike, good." Of this we had no doubt as to the good ;
but that they were otherwise alike, wo intended to prove that he was mis-
taken. So we picked out a dozen and laid them in the scales, with a 1^ lb.
weight opposite, thinking they were just the size that takes eight to the
pound, for that is just what good, fair-sized hen's-eggs always will average.
These Avere a little heavier, and we added two more, and balanced two
pounds — seven eggs to the pound. Then we picked out of the same cask
thirteen more, and these weighed just one pound, not quite 100 i)er cent,
difi'erence whether you buy large or small eggs. Now, if farmers and fools
meet, is it right that the one should take advantage of the other in this way ?
or is it right that one man should keep a brood of small hens, the keeiMiig
of which costs less than half that of larger ones, and get the same price for
the eggs ? If honesty is the best policy in all of our dealings, then it is the
best policy to sell eggs by the pound, an<l not by the dozen.

207. To Preserve EfjgSi — AVe can not vouch for the following. If it is as
stated, it is much more simple and convenient than packing in lime, salt,
etc. " Provide a small cupboard, safe, or tier of shelves ; bore these sliclvcs
full of holes one and a quarter inches in diameter, ami place the eggs in
them, point downward. They will keep sound for several months. Other
modes, such as packing in salt, etc., depend for their success simply on
placing the points down ; the siielves are more convenient and accessible."

^OS.^Eggs t'onsumed in Euglaud.— In the statistics of British coramerco,

i:4

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chai>. I.

tlic Iiome production is put down at 75,000 tuns annually, ■which are valued
at 815,000,000. The importation of eggs for eight years, ending with 1847,
ran"'cd from 96,000,000 in 1810, to 77,500,000 in 1817, and the importa-
tions of the succeeding years are given in the following table :

Number.

m48 88,012,685

181-) 97,745,849

1850 " 105,089,060

i85i;::::.'.'.'.".'.'.'.' ii6,626,m

Number.

1852 108,281, 2:!,?

1853 133,450,(178

1854 121,960,220

1855 100,005,200

The first .«lx months of 185G, 68,002,000. This was nearly 14,000,000 in
excess of the number received in the first six months of 1855, but not so
large as in 1854, The imports of eggs in 1854 were, from

Number.

BclRiiim 10,415,517

France 104,120,918

Portugal 419,860

Number.

Spain 5,983, 161

Channel Islands 794,400

Other parts 226,424

Up to the Stii of August, 1854, eggs were entered by number, but since
that they have been entered by cubic feet, internal measurement. In order
to reduce the whole to a uniform standard, 200 eggs arc estimated to be
packed in one cubic foot. The duty charged is Sd. per cubic foot of eggs
from foreign countries, and half that duty from British possessions. In
the metropolis the egg trade is a very important branch of commerce, giving
employment to sixty egg merchants and salesmen on a large scale, exclusive
of the number of shopkeepers who sell eggs. These salesmen distribute the
boxes of eggs over the various consuming localities in light carts.

The principal importation is from France and Belgium. Quantities of
Portuguese eggs are occasionally im2)orted into England by the Peninsular
Mail steamers. The eggs of the Spanish fowls being very lai'ge, are nuich
esteemed, and valued at Id. to l^d. each. Spain imports a certain quantity
from the French province of Oran, in Algeria. The eggs of the Bedouin
fowls are sold in the European markets at 5d. to 6d. the dozen.

The supplies of eggs sent from Ireland to Liverpool, and thence into the
manufacturing districts, are enormous, frequently exceeding 1,000,000 a
day. They arc packed with straw in crates, boxes, or hampers. The crates
contain from 6,000 to 8,000 eggs, the boxes about 2,500. Sometimes large
boxes contain 13,000 or more eggs.

In 1852, 9,200 tuns of Irish eggs were imported into Liverpool, and it is
estimated that that is not more than one fifth of the product of that island.

2(»9. Esss iu France.— M. Legrand, a French statistical writer, estimated
the consumption of eggs in 1835 in Paris at 138 per head of all the inhab-
itants, and in the provinces at double that ratio. " The consumption of
eggs for the whole kingdom," he observes, " is estimated at 7,231,160,000 ;
add to this number those exported and those necessary for reproduction, and
it will result that 7,380,925,000 were laid in France during the year 1835."

Since that time the production has largely increased. M. Armand IIus-
son, in his interesting book on the " Consommation" of Paris, just pub-

Sec. 9.] POULTRY. 155

lished, returns the number of eggs consumed in the French metropolis at
175,000,000, or 175 to each liead of the population, worth about §1 35.
The A-alue of the eggs consumed in Paris one year would be also about
£300,000 ; but probably three quarters of a million sterling would be a
nearer estimate of the poultry and eggs consumed annually in Paris.

The consumption and prices may be judged of from the following figures:

Number. Av. pr. per 1,000.

18">1 12',),7:«,-J'.»9 42f. GO crntimes.

1S52 100,000,000 41f. 35 etntimes.

JSOJ 175,000,000

Number. Av.pr. per 1,000.

1847 120,940,724 57 francs.

1848 10fi,747,222 48f. 40 centimes,

1849 11:5,587,732 46f. 70 centimes.

1850 124,597,150 43f. 93 centimes.

A number of Galirjnani''s Messenger says that, in 1815, the number of
eggs exported from Prance was 1,700,000 ; in 1816 it rose to 8,000,000.
Six years later, in 1822, the number was 55,000,000 ; and 99,500,000 in
1824. In 1830 the number declined to 55,000,000 ; then gradually increased
until 1845, when it was 88,200,000, for which an export duty of 114,000
francs was paid. ISTearly all these eggs go to England. Tiie yearly consump-
tion of eggs in Paris is estimated at 105,000,000, and the total consumption
of all Prance at 9,000,000,000 ; so that, reckoning eggs at a sou, this single
article represents 465,000,000 francs.

210. The Egg Trade in this f oiiiitry. — Stcaml)oats and railways have done
much to increase and improve tiie trade in poultry and eggs, in butter and
milk, as well as in carcass meat and fish of all kinds, for the supply of largo
cities and dense populations in Europe and America, situate far from the
chief scats of production or fishing. The poultry dealers of Xew York
made their appearance on the shores of the great American lakes within a
few days after the regular trains were in motion on the Erie Railroad.
Poultry and eggs were swept away by them at an advance of 25 to 30 per
cent, on their ordinary value, and a decided stimulus has been given to the
production of poultry and eggs.

The British American provinces arc now supplying the United States
towns with eggs, which are imported dutyfree under the Reciprocity Treaty.
1,260 dozen eggs from Nova Scotia were entered very recently at the Cus-
tom-house, Boston, in one day. In the season of 1852, about 8,000 barrels
of eggs, containing 84 dozen per barrel, were shipped from the port of Mon-
treal to the United States, and sold at about 16c. the dozen.

One merchant in Marion County, Ohio, has shipped in one season 124,950
dozen of eggs, in 1,785 barrels, costing, at 7 cents a dozen, $8,746 50.

211. Packing Eggs for Market. — There is probably in no one article of the
same relative value so much depreciation and loss from injudicious manage-
ment and unskillful packing as in eggs. This is best illustrated in the
Western trade, especially during the warm season, when the average price
of Western eggs rules, say, three to five cents per dozen below those from thia
State ; but at the same time we liavc some 'Western marks that bring nearly
or quite as much as the best State, showing conclusively that it is entirely
practicable to forward them in prime order from the far West. If the fol-

156

DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

[Chap. I.

lowing directions are iutelligeutly carried out, there will be very little doubt
of success.

Be sure (especially in the summer season) that your eggs arc not only
sound, but recently laid. Eggs may be " candled" or examined by the
" ooniscope," and repacked at the "West; but if they are stale, though still
aj-iparently sound, they will be sure to reach this market in bad order, or
will so rapidly change, on being opened, that dealers will be sure to lose
money on them. The motion of the cars over sucii long distances so mud-
dles all eggs, not entirely fresh, that they appear cloudy and stale, and will
soon spoil, if indeed they arc not already unsalable.

T^se very strong, stiff barrels, put a little soft straw or hay evenly over
the bottom with a stiff paper on the top of the straw, then oats or cut straAV,
say, two to three inches, then a layer of eggs, laid snugly together upon the
sides, evenly imbedded in the oats, with the ends toward but about one inch
from the staves. Cover the layer with oats and shake down gently but thor-
oughly, leaving, say, one inch of oats upon the layer of eggs ; thus continue
shaking down thoroughly with each layer until the barrel is full. Place
about three inches of oats over the last layer, then a stiff paper and a
little soft hay or straw next the head, filling so high that the head must be
pressed to its place by a lever or other mechanical power, that the contents
may be held so firmly that they can never shift or loosen in the barrels. In
the winter, to guard against frost, use more packing, leaving the eggs farther
from the sides of the barrels. Use clean, bright oats; they are salable at
all seasons, though of late merchants seem to prefer cut straw. Mark plainly
tlie number of dozen and the (luantity of oats in each barrel. Ee very par-
ticular to have the count riglit. A good reputation for accuracy is very
valuable.

One person says: "I use a board some six or eight inches square, with a
loop or staple in the center for pressing each layer of oats firmly down.
There will be sometiiing gained by lifting and dropi)ing the barrel square on
the end, but not by shaking, as it disturbs the layers. "When it gets too
heavy to lift, use a board three fourths as large as the head, and get on it,
increasing your weight with a spring, and on the head driving it in. The
secret lies all in packing the oats. Oats are better worth sending to market
than hay, and just as safe. I have sent ten barrels at a time without losing
a single egg. You must pack tight, liemember that."

CHAPTER II.

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

SECTION X-15EES, AND THE PrvOFlTABLE rUODUCTlON OF HONEY.

S^^'IJE opening chapter was devoted to a general snr-

VM> "^'CJ of farm-stock. This will be devoted to observ-

'^ at ions Tipon bees, birds, bugs, insects, and worms ;

■^■^f, dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, mice, moles ; camels as beasts

of burden ; goats of Caslimere, their value as farm-

'J stock ; fish-breeding, for domestic use or market ; ani-

(,/^^j^ iiials yielding fur, and alpacas, and other small stock of the

".-j^ farm.

In the leading article of this chapter we shall notice what
may very appropriately be ranked as profitable stock iijjon
a farm, for the product of the hive often affords a consid-
ixA!^ -^P^ erable income, and it is nearly all clear profit. Birds,
^^;^^> ' although tliey do not produce a direct income, are among
the greatest helps to tluit end, for tliey are great destroyers
of those pests, the bugs, insects, and worms, which we shall also introduce
into tliis chapter. Dogs, as an adjunct of tlic farm, and when only kept in
very limited numbers, arc not, pcrliaps, unprofitable stock ; but as they at
present exist, they are pests of the very worst kinds. Cats are a necessity,
for without them wc should be over-run witli rats and mice, and so we give
each a small space in tliis chapter. Rabbits, too, tliougli small, must have a
place ; and camels, though large enough to fill a chapter, like the rabbit,
must be contented witli a paragrapli. And the Ca.~hniere goat, the only one
of any value to farmers, is as yet so little diflfused among them, tliat we can
only afford space to give it a passing notice ; and the alpaca, an equally im-
portant domestic animal, avc must treat in tlio same short-hand way.

Fisli-brcediiig is of vast importance to every farmer wlio litis the facility
for making a fish-pond, and therefore we have added it to this second chapter
of animals, domestic or wild, upon the farm. And finally, we add fur ani-
mals, merely to call the attention of those who own suitable locations, to the
fact that it is possible that such animals may be bred for their skins, to say
nothing of the value of their flesh.

So much by way of intnxluction. Now let us take up our subjects, itcra
by item, each under its apjiropriate head.

212. Bees.— History of their Introduction.— It is not quite certain whether
the honey-bee is indigcuous to America or not. Our opinion is that it is,

158

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[Chap. II.

because several varieties now exist upon the continent, and certainly those
in Central America ajipear to 1)C iiativu?, so far as it is possible to trace tlieir
history. It is possible that the early iunuigrants, not finding bees in tlic
districts first occupied by them, either in New England or Virginia, did
import tliem, though this siqiposition appears doubtful when m-c considei
the length of voyages in that age of ocean navigation. And it is still furtlit-r
against the tlieory of importation, to know that as early as 16-iS — forty years
only after Captain John Smith's advent — George Pelton, of Virginia, was in
possession of a good stock of honcy-bcos ; and they were noticed by Beverly
as a common thing among the Virginia planters previous to 1720.

In 1755, beeswax was an article of export from Savannah, Georgia. It is
impossible to state the quantity, because it is combined with myrtle-berry
wax, and both are set down at 909 lbs. Five years later the quantity of both
is given at 3,910 lbs., and in 1770 at 4,058 lbs.

In 17G7, the export tables show 35 barrels of beeswax, sent from the port
of Pliiladelphia ; and only four years later tlie quantity is given as 29,261 lbs.

Tlie history of Cuba credits Florida witli bees imported from there in 176-1.

Tlie above facts prove that if there were no honey-bees in this part of the
continent when our forefathers came to it, their importations were very suc-
cessful, and the original stock was widely disseminated, and multiplied with
great rapidity, for the census of 1850 gives the annual product of honey and
wax at 1-1,853,790 lbs ; and that at a time when the bee-moth epidemic had
greatly lessened the stock in the country, and consequently the production
was not as great as it had been.

It is a fact, too, that the immigrants of the Northwestern Territory found
wild bees scattered all through the forests of what is now Ohio, Indiana, and
Illinois.

As an ofiset to this, it is a fact that the first American settlers of California
found no honey-bees in that State, notwithstanding the fact of its early occu-
pancy by the Spanish ; and the first bees ever seen in that State have been
carried there from New York, by sea, since 1850, and already the stock of
bees has multiplied to an extent which would populate the State to as great or
greater extent than the Atlantic States have been with both wild and domes-
tie stocks, in a far less time than has elapsed since the landing at Jamestown
or Plymouth rock, of those who maj' have introduced the bee from Europe.

Bee-culture in California has already assumed such an importance that
associations of apiarists have been formed there, and the exhibition of bees is
quite a feature at the State fair. Bees have become so numerous in the
neighborhood of Sacramento, that they have been charged with extensive
depredations upon the vineyards, by sucking the sweets out of the ripe
grapes. Mr. Harbison, a largo bee-keeper, who went from Pennsylvania
with a large shipment of them, two or three years ago, however, denies the
charge of bees injuring the fruit, and asserts tliat he has proved by actual
experiment that they will only attack the grapes after the skin has burst by
the pressure of the interior growth. Still, there are many persons m-Iio are

Sec. 10.] BEES, AND TUE PROFFTABLE PRODDCTIOX OF HONEY.

159

deeply interested in grape-growing in that State, who think this business
and bee-keeping never can llourish together. It is a matter tliat will prob-
ably be investigated, since it involves two so great interests, particularly in
California, where both branches flourish in so remarkable a degree of liealth-
iuess. Certainly, in no part of the United States has bee-keeping given such
a promise of success.

Bees, although they appear to thrive best, or at least with but little care,
in warm latitudes, are not confined to those regions. An article now before
ns gives an account of the successful introduction of bees into Aroostook
County, Maine, where the thermometer sometimes freezes, and afterward
the discovery of a wild swarm in a hollow tree, which was reuioved to a
hive and wintered in a dark, dry cellar, wliere they consumed very little
honey. This is a very good way to winter bees in all cold regions ; for ono
of the greatest difficulties attending bee-culture in the most northern local-
ities where they are found, is winter killing, not by freezing up in the hive,
though that sometimes occurs, but iiy the bees being aroused from tiieir
torjjid state by a few sunny days, till tiiey come out of the hive and are
overcome by cold before they can return again, and thus perish. "\Ve have
sometimes lost great quantities in this way, no farther north than lat. 41"^.

Notwithstanding bees appear to possess a considerable degree of reason,
and the i)ower of ratiocination (a power that many men do not possess),
they arc, like men and women, very apt to be caught by outside appear-
ances, and venture forth from their warm homes upon sunny wings, to meet
the chilling blast of the outside world, and perish.

Certainly, many acts of the lioney-bee seem to be results of a reasoning
fiiculty ; or is it that imdelined something that mankind call instinct? It
is indeed wonderful that so tiny an insect should possess a faculty scarcely
possessed by man, of constructing its domicile, or rather store-house, so as
not to waste an iota of material or space ; for that is a fact, in relation to
the honey-bee's comb. And all their interior household arrangements, the
order of their work, family government, and perfect order and harmony, are
such as should make mankind blush at their own iuetUciency. Many of
them should blush to think such an insect is so much more industrious and
frugal than themselves, and so much more careful to lay w]^ winter stores.

One of the marks of reason, judgment, or instinct in the bee is manifested
in their never leaving the hive, although ready to swarm, in a stormy day,
nor when a storm or very high wind is approaching, whiih would be likely
to lilow away ono portion of the swarm from the other.

AVHien the swarm does come forth it seems to be all by a given signal, and
the movement is sudden and simultaneous, guided by the call of their queen.
If by any accident or mistake the queen gets separated, or fails to cluster
witii the swarm, it is idle to try to hivo them. They will not take a new
abode without a queen. Is it reason that teaches them that they must re-
turn to the old hive, where they can mako a new queen out of the young
larva; in the cells of the old brood-comb ?

160

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[Chap. II.

213. Bee-Uives.— Tlie best hivo is one with movable supports for each
sheet of comb. Although hives of this kind may have been patented, the
patent is not good for anything, nor should it bar any one from the use of
such a hive, because the invention is not new. Bevan, an English writer
upon bees, described such a hivo many years ago, as in use by liim, and
recommended it to others. More than twenty years ago, I described a hive
i\>v movable frames to sustain the separate sheets of comb, in the Albany
Cultivator, and altliough the plan might have been patentable, it was dis-
tinctly stated that it was not, nor would be patented, and any one who liked
it was recommended to use it. The form of the hive there recommended
was to hang the frames by hook-and-eye hinges to the back of the hive, so
fliat all would swing like the leaves of a book standing on its end. The
front, or cover to the edge of the leaves, being opened, by turning it around
to the left hand, leaf after loaf could be swung around to the right, and a
sheet of comb cut out of any one, or the frame could be lifted oil' its liinges
and taken away, and a new one put in its place. We thought the plan a
more convenient one than lifting the frames out at the top of tlie hive.

There is an objection to all movable fi-ame hives, that they furnish har-
boring-places for moths. They also, on the other hand, afford facilities for
searching after them, and removing any infested comb.

Bees are like any other wild insect or animal that has been domesticated.
By good treatment they can be made very domestic, so that their keeper can
handle them about as easily as any otlier pets.

The next best form of hive is a square bos, made of planed boards one-
and-a-hait or full one-and-a-quarter inch stuff, well seasoned, and tongued,
and grooved, and firmly nailed together, so as to be water-tight, and nearly
air-tight, and well painted. A box fifteen inches deep, and twelve inches
across each way, contains 2,160 cubic inches — ten in excess of a bushel.
Tliis is a good size and form for a hive. It will add much to the conveni-
ence of the hive to insert a pane of glass in the side opposite to tlie open-
ings where the bees enter, which should be six three-eighth-inch holes, an
inch above the bottom. The glass should have a tight-fitting shutter ; and
the bottom should be screwed on, or hinged and fastened with a hook so
that it coTild be opened. If it is screwed on, make an opening two inches
across in the center of the bottom board, with a close-fitting shutter that you
can take out occasionally to allow the bees to sweep out tlieir room. Open
this only in tlie morning, and close it before night. There will then be no
entrance for tlie moth except through the bee holes, and these the sentinels
will guard. Bore four inch holes in the top, and fit corks in them. Have
a cap fitted on top to cover four boxes, five or six inches square, made with
one glass side. "Wlien the lower part is filled, which you can tell by observ-
ation at the glass in the back, or by weighing, then open the top holes, and
put on the boxes, open side down, and shut the cap over them, and the bees
will soon find that they have extra store-room, and go to work and fill it
with new comb, and fresh honey, free of bee-bread or brood-comb. As soon

Sec. 10.] BEES, AXI) THE PROFITABLE PRODUCTIOX OF UOXEY. IGl

as a box is full, take it off, and put an empty one in its place. A stock of fifty-
swarms in the spring will produce two thousand pounds of surplus honey,
and increase to a hundred swarms in the autumn. Counting all lahor be-
stowed in the care of a stock of bees, and all -expense of hives, etc. and the
cost of honey is estimated at only three to six cents a pound ; varvinc with
locations, and favorable or unfavorable seasons. But if it always costs ten
cents a pound, the bee-keeper would find sale for it at a profit.

214. Straw UivcSi — There are a few bee-keepers who still adhere to the
opinion that straw hives are the best that can be used. "\Ve can not think
so. Tlieir greatest advantage is, that they maintain a more even tempera-
ture than board hives, and are inexpensive. They can be manufactured by
the winter fireside, and packed away for future use in a small space, one
within another. "When wanted for use, a couple of cross-sticks must be put
in to support the comb, as the hive is in the shape of an inverted bowl, and
not as good to support comb as a straight-sided box. It is a good jjlan,
however, to use the supports in all hives. They should be so arranged that
they can be easily taken out, as it would greatly facilitate the removal of
comb. If straw hives are used, they should be made to hold a bushel, of
clean rye straw, tied very tightly together, so as to make the walls full an
inch and a half thick, and smooth outside and in. Xever use them after they
get old, and never place them where they will get wet. If kept dry, the
bees winter in straw hives better than board ones.

It has been recommended to inake cases for board hives, to set over them
in winter as protection from the changes in the weather. If this is done, the
cases should be taken off as soon as possible in the spring to i^reveut moths
making harbors in them.

215. Patent Hives. — Wc have never seen a patent for a ])ee-hive, nor " bco
palace," that we would give a dime for. They are no better than any liandy
man with tools can make himself. As to " bee-palaces," where bees are tc
live in community, the thing is preposterous. It is founded upon wrong
principles.

Eee-houses, where collections of swarms in separate hives are to be kept,
we have tried as well as the community s^'stem, and repudiate both.

Movable comb-hives may be made witiiout buying a patent, by making a
chest of the capacity to hold a bushel, besides the frames, or say 15 inches
squai'e inside, and make 10 frames of strips of boards an inch and a half
wide, nailed together flatwise at the ends so as to form sashes that will set
in the box and just fill it. Boro holes for the entrance of the bees, through
the sides of the box and frames. The liil of the chest shuts tight, and may
be locked. When you want to draw a frame, insert a common wood-screw
or two to pull it out by. You can tell as soon as you lift it a little, whether
it is full or not, and if not, ti^' another.

We have tried several patent hives, and if choosing between any one of

them and a " bee gum," would take the latter for all practical pnrjwses ;

not that we would recommend farmers always to use hollow logs, though

11

162 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. II.

wc certainly have seen some most successful bee-keeping -where the swarms
were kept only in that rough way.

'216. iVherc lo Korp liivfs. — The location and mode of support are im-
portant matters in placing bee hives. And here again, the most " rough
and ready" way has always appeared to be the best. "We have frequently
seen the hives standing about here and there, without any regard to order :
some directly on the ground, and some on a flat stone or board ; notwith-
standing such apparent disregard to all care, the bees were doing better than
others where every attention was paid to them. We do not advocate quite
BO mucli negligence, but we do believe the best situation for hives is in an
open field, set a rod or two apart, or, rather, suspended to stakes. An
orcliard, where the trees are somewhat scattering, and the grass short, or kept
short by mowing or pasturaga of some geese, turkeys, or sheep, is a good
place for bee-hives, one under each tree. A hive may be fastened to a tree
or post by two hooks and staples, care being taken to fi.x it so it will be firm,
and not liabje to be shaken by wind. It may also be fixed upon two stakes
set in the ground just wide enough apart for the hive to slip in between
them and rest upon a block nailed upon each side of the hive, notched on
the lower edge so as to clasp tlie top of the stake to prevent slipping side-
wise. Hives placed about in the open ground should have a board laid
over the top, wide enough to give some shade to the hive. Lay this board
on four pebbles, or four nails driven in to keep it half an inch or an inch
from the top. This shade-board may be held in its place by a screw or nail,
or a stone. The hive need not be placed more than six inches from the
ground. A little strip, an inch wide, should be nailed on level with the
entrance holes, for the bees to alight upon.

If hives are placed under a shady tree, they will need no other protection.
If placed close together, a rough shed may be built over a row of hives, so
placed that it will shade them from nine till four o'clock in the day. A hive
should be painted white, because that color does not absorb the rays of heat
as much as a dark color. Sometimes a hive becomes heated so as to soften
the cement, and let the comb fall to the bottom.

217. Swarming. — ^The location of bee-hives should be convenient to low
bushes, such as lilacs, altheas, or small peach or plum trees, for them to
light upon when swarming. "We have heard of clustering bees upon a large
wonleti stocking, stretched over the end of a pole, and held up in the midst
of tiie swarm as they collected after leaving the hive. When all have been
gathered in the cluster, it is gently laid upon the table and the pole with-
drawn, and a hive set over the bees. After they go up into the hive, the
stocking is taken awaj%

Swarming is just as natural for bees as calving for cows. It increases
the stock. The process can not be interfered with advantageously, either to
retard or increase the operation.

The owner of bees should make them as well acquainted with his person
as his horse or dog is, and then he can handle them as easily.

Sec. 10.] BEES, AND THE PROFITABLE PPwODUCTION OF EOXEY.

1C3

It is true there are some persons with whom the bees never will become
friendly, or allow of any familiarity. Such persons should never try to
handle bees. Others (the writer is one) can handle them with impunitv.
I have often had them light upon my iiice, and head, and hands, and remain
as long as they liked, and then go away again.

When a swarm comes out, go immediately right into the midst of it, and
do not be alarmed if it should cluster upon your hat. Such things have been,
and no harm come of it. You must show no excitement ; be moderate ami
calm in your movements, as if surrounded by a flock of wild birds whicii
you were afraid of searing away. An excitable man will be very apt to
alarm the bees, and an angry one M'ill be sure to make them angry and
drive liini from the field.

It sometimes happens that bees leave the hive pre-determined to fly away.
In sucli cases it is difiicult to stop them. If it is a dusty time, and they are
gathering for flight so low that you can throw handful after handful of dust
among tliera, you may succeed in confusing them until they will alight.
Swarms have been stopped on the wing by firing a musket directly forward
of them, so that both noise and smoke would confuse them. It is idle to
flre after them, and shot sent into the swarm may kill the queen ; when the
bees must be returned to the hive, or put into one witli a piece of brood-comb.

Some people make a great noise, beating drums, tin kettles, barrels, or
blowing horns, when a swarm comes out. The philosophy of this is, that
the noise may drown the voice of the queen, and thus confuse the bees,
when they may alight ; but, as a general thing, noiso will have no more
efiect toward stopping runaway bees than runaway horses.

The very best thing that we can recommend to a new bee-keeper is : Be
gentle, and keej) yourself on familiar terms with j-our bees. Make tliem
familiar with your presence and personal appearance, and always go among
them, as near as possible, in the same garb ; and never in a filthy garb,
right from the manure-yard, perhaps ; and never in your shirt-sleeves, reek-
ing witli perspiration. There is nothing more offensive to bees ; for they
arc as neat as they are industrious, and never sweat anything out of their
little bodies but clean white wax, of which they build their cells.

Thoroughly domesticated bees seldom oflfer to fly away when they swarm,
if you have conveniences for them to cluster ; and such bees are always
easily handled, so that they can be hived without difficulty, even by tlie
(jwleio'tfii or children, if the gwlcmaii is auxi.

If you are afraid of stings, put on gloves and tic your sleeves down ; tuck
your pants in your boot-tops ; put on a broad-brimmed hat, with a piece of
mo^quito-nctting over it, tucked in close aroun<l your neck, and thus jiro-
tected, the most timid may go among his own, or strange bees, which always
are the most dangerous.

If you happen to go near bees, and one comes at you, do not fight, nm,
nor scream. Walk away gently, and aim to get behind a busii. tree, fence,
or buildini?.

164

SilALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[Chap. II.

Place your hive in the place where it is to stand, as soon as possible after
the swarm is in ; because the workers commence comb-building immediately,
and moving disturbs them, and if only a day or two at work, moving may
break down tlie comb.

218. What a Swarin Consists of. — A swarm of bees in working order con-
sists of one queen, two or throe hundred drones, and from ten to fifty
thousand workers. The queen would more properly be called a mother, as
she is so, in fact, of all the colony. The drones are the males ; they never
work nor fight — they are stingless. The workers are imperfectly developed
females. According to T. B. Miner, author of a bee manual, the swarm in
the spring consists. of the queen and about two or three thousand workers,
and these increase as soon as food can be provided in spring, enough to make
a new swarm, which goes oif, led by the old queen, while a new one is pro-
vided for the old colony, which also goes oflT sometimes, with another swarm ;
and occasionally a third one is sent oil", and finally, the swarm remaining con-
sists of about 20,000 bees, and all but two or three thonsand die ofl" before
spring ; the life of a bee being calculated at only about nine months.

A queen-bee is so distinguished from other bees by her shape, size, and
color, that when you have once learned how, you can always distinguish
her. So you can by the noise she makes. A queen is larger than a worker,
but not as large around as a drone, though longer ; and the rings of her
abdomen are less fully developed, and consequently not so plainly distin-
guishable. In short, a queen is more wasp-like in her form than a drone ;
and is of a darker color, particularly upon the back part of the abdomen ;
while on its under side it is of a yellowish hue. The wings of the queen, in
proportion to her body, as compared to either of the others, are wider,
stouter, and shorter. She is seldom on the wing ; only at swarming time,
and when she cohabits with the males. It is supposed that she is always
impregnated during her flight, and that impregnation in the fall, before the
drones are destroyed, serves for the eggs she will lay in the spring. Those
who have made ol)servations upon them, declare that a queen-bee is capable
of laying hundreds, perhaps thousands, of eggs a day.

Drones are idle fellows ; their only service being attendance upon the
queen. Their life is a very short one ; generally from April to August ; say
four months. None are allowed to live over v»inter. You must not mis-
take the slaughter of the drones for war with other bees, which sometimes
occurs.

The workers are always busy whenever it is possible for them to carry on
their labors. They often begin the very hour they enter a new hive to
build comb, and the second day the honey and pollen gatherers begin to
bring in their stores. To work to advantage they must have a good house.
Sometimes when a swarm goes into a hollow tree, the labor is immense, to
clear out and fit the room for use. So it is when put into a mean, dirty hive.
It requires a great deal of labor sometimes for the bees to stop up the cracks
of an old hive with bee-glue — a substance gathered in the forest, and not

Seo. 10.] BEES, AND THE PROFITABLE PRODUCTIOX OF IIOlvTEY. 165

~»~

made by tlie bees. It is Iiarder and stifler -wlien dry than wax, and entirely
unlike it.

219. Weight of a Swarm.— It is estimated that a full swarm of bees should
weigh 11 to 12 lbs. Hence all excess over that is honey and comb, so that
the quantity can be ascertained by weighing the hive, if the weight of that
is known, as it always should be, and marked upon it when new.

Hives should always be constructed with some conveniences for weichin"'.
such as a staple in the top, if that is a fixed one, or one in each side, and
then have a movable bail to hook in, to attach to the hook of the weighing
balance.

220. Bee-Pasdire aud Be C-Feeding.— It has been a question for a long time,
whether a country could be overstocked with bees so that their pasturage
would be short. In a conversation with Mr. Quinby, one of the greatest
apiarists in the country, we learned his opinion was that it was next to
imjiossible to overstock any section with bees. We find from the " Bee
Journal," published in German}', that the same opinion i)rcvails there. Mi\
Dzierzon, president of a convention of apiarists at Munich, says :

" I have numerous accounts of apiaries, in close proximity, of from 200 to
300 hives each. Ehrenfels had 1,000 in three separate establishments, but
BO close that he could visit all in half an hour's ride. In Russia and Hun-
gary, apiaries numbering from 2,000 to 5,000 are not unfrequent ; and we
know that as many as 1,000 colonies are often congregated together on the
heaths of Germany. Hence I think that we need not fear that any district
of this country, so distinguished for abundant natural vegetation and divers-
ified culture, will very speedily become overstocked, particularly after the
importance of having stocks populous early in the spring comes to be under-
stood and appreciated. Mr. Kaden, one of the oldest contributors to the
' Bee Joui'nal,' says that a district of country can not be overstocked with
bees, and that however numerous the colonies, all can procure sufficient sus-
tenance, if the surrounding country contain honey-yielding plants in the
usual degree ; where utter barrenness prevails, the case is different, of course,
as well as rare.

" According to statistical tables, there are 600,000 colonies in the province
of Lunenburg, or 141 to the square mile. The number of square miles in
this country stocked even to this extent are, I suspect, ' few and far be-
tween.'

" A German writer alleges that the bees of Lunenburg pay all their taxes,
and leave a surplus besides. Tiie importance attached to bee-culture accounts
in pfirt for the fact, that the jjcople of this district (so barren that it has been
called the ' Arabia of Germany') are almost witiiout an exception in easy
circumstances.

" In the jirovince of Attica, Greece, containing 15 square miles. 20,<i()0
colonies are kept, or one colony to each inhabitant, producing annually 30
llis. of honey and two of wax each. East Fricsland (Ilollaiul), containing
1,200 square miles, has an average of 2,000 colonies to the s(|uaro mile. lu

166 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. II

. t . — .

IS")", the yield of lionoy and wax, in the Empire of Austria, was estimated
to be worth over seven millions of dollars ! !"

Could not still more favorable results be obtained in this country, under
a rational system of management availinj^ itself of the aid of science, art, and
skill { The island of Corsica i^roduces about 8UU lbs. of honey to the square
mile, per annum.

There is no probability t.hat any section of this country will reach such a
state of productiveness in this generation. Yet we hope all who read these
extracts will think what an immense loss is sustained annually by our neg-
lect to employ harvesters to gather the great crop of sweets that might be
saved if our bee population were large enough to gather it all.

Upon the sulyect of bee-pasturage, and those plants from which bees draw
their stores of honey, we find some useful hints in Harbison's work on Bees
and Bee-keeping. He says :

" The best kinds of early pasturage are the alders, hazel, and willows, some
of which yield honey and others pollen ; most species of flowers yield both.
Mv observations lead me to believe that the male flower yields pollen, and
the female honey ; I have frequently seen bees gathering both honey aiul
pollen from the same kind of flowers at the same time. It can be tested by
examining both the honey-sack and the baskets on the thigh. These trees
arc the first to afford the bees jirovision in the spring ; where these abound,
the bees advance earlier than elsewhere. The soft maple {acer ruhrum)
yields a considerable quantity of honey very early, if the weather is fine;
the golden or yellow willow also yields supplies quite early ; peach, cherry,
and pear trees put forth early ; gooseberries, currants, strawberries, etc., uU
afford rich supplies. To close this list of early flowers, the dandelion and
apple come forth in rich profusion, all of which are of the utmost importance
for the prosperity of the bees during the season. If this early pasturage
fails, or if the weather should be so unfavorable as to prevent the bees from
gathering a supply of provisions, they will fail to rear a sufficient quantity
of brood to swarm early or to harvest the clover honey to advantage.

" It is but seldom, if ever, that a sutficient quantity of honey is gathered
from these early flowers to cause the bees to store it in surplus boxes, yet
enough is frequently obtained to fill up a lai-ge portion of the combs from
which the honey has been consumed during the winter, and serves to supply
their immediate wants until clover blooms.

" The next pasturage comes from turnips, cabbage, and the hard maple
{acer sat'c/xirinum), Mhich yield a considerable quantity of honey, but later
than the soft maple. Turnij)s produce a very copious supply of both honey
and pollen, and if left standing in the ground over winter, they bloom just
at a time to fill the interval between the fruit-tree flowers and the clover.
This is also the case with the cabbage family, all of which yield large quan-
tities of honey. A field of either turnips or cabbage at this early season is
of greater value to the bees than the same quantity of either clover or buck-
wheat.

Sec. 10.] BEES, AND THE PROFITABLE PRODUCTION OF HONEY. 1G7

" I would here impress upon the minds of all bee-keepers the importance
of cultivating a field in turnips eaeli year. In the fall gather in all the large,
fine ones, either for marketing or for feeding sheep and cattle during the
■winter, for which they are very valuable, and will well repay the expense of
raising them ; enough small ones will be left standing in the ground over
winter to make a rich field of pasturage for the bees in the spring, leaving
the ground in fine condition for a crop of buckwheat, or to sow down in wheat
in autumn, or to again put down in turnips.

" The various kinds of blackberries, and the wild or bird cherry (cerasus
serotina), yield honey, and serve to supply to some extent the interval above
referred to. We have also a species of kale, or wild turnip, which if sowed
very early in the spring will commence to bloom toward the latter part of
May, and is very valuable.

" Raspberries of all kinds yield an immense amount of honey, and con-
tinue blooming, giving a succession of fresh flowers, for about three weeks.
But few if any flowers produce such quantities of lioney as the raspberry, in
proportion to the number of flowers.

" Catnip, mother-wort, hoarhound, honey-suckles, and various other kinds
of flowere, put forth about the same time ; each would be of great value, if
in sufficient quantities. •

" Then come other early summer flowers. At the head of this list pre-em-
inently stands white clover {irifolium repens), which is found along the road-
sides, in meadows, grain-fields, gardens, pasture-fields, in fact, it may be seen
everywhere. The seeds, which are very abundant and very small, are
driven in every direction by the winds ; this has been overlooked by previous
writers. The heads, which contain the seed, are quite small and very light ;
the stalks stand erect imtil winter sets in and the ground is frozen, by which
time the stalk of it has become brittle, and every wind breaks off and rolls
along the ground a portion of these little seed-pods, until they meet some
obstruction ; here they will germinate. Thus they are scattered in every
direction. I have frequently seen them driven furiously on the crust of a
shallow snow, through which the heads would project. The value of this
clover is entirely underrated as a pasture for cattle or horses, as well as bees;
it is always selected by stock in preference to the red clover. Tiie honey
gathered from it is of the highest excellence, both in beauty and' flavor ; and
I believe in good seasons, all the bees, in any neighborhood where it
abounds, could not gather the fourth part, so great is the (juantity pmduced.

"The tulip-tree (liriodtnJron), or poplar, as it is called by some, by others
white wood, is a great producer of honey. Nothing of the tree kind tlmt I
have ever seen exceeds it ; the flowers expand in succession, are of a bell-
like shape, mouth upward. In dry, warm weather I have seen a teaspoonful
of pure honey or saccharine matter in a single cup or flower. Bees work
upon it with the same vigor they manifest when carrying honey from somo
other hive, or when it is fed to them.

"The yellow and black locust trees yield large quantities of honey.

168

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[CnAP. II.

"The linden, or bass-wood {iilia Americana), produces honey to a Large
amount. All of these varieties of trees should be extensively cultivated,
both as shade and ornamental trees, as well as for their timber and the vast
quantities of honey t]u>y yield. Sumach also produces honey bountifully ;
tiie ditticulty, however, is, that there are but few places where these are
found in sufficient quantities to be of importance. I trust they will be
extensively cultivated.

'•The common black mustard is one of the most valuable plants to culti-
vate as a ])asture for bees ; it is easily raised, by simply sowing it on ground
when well plowed and pulverized by harrowing smooth, and then brushing
it in with a light brush or very light harrow. It should be sown early in
the spring, on good ground.

" Those interested in bee-keeping should give the cultivation of mustard
some attention. As a bee-pasture it has few superiors, yielding both pollen
and honey in great abundance ; it begins to open its flowers when quite
young and continues as the bush expands, until it becomes very large ; each
day brings forth new blossoms. A field of mustard in full bloom is a most
magniticent s'ight ; it is like a vast pile of golden flowers ; the plants are
eom])letely enveloped with flowers, from the ground up as high as a man's
head. There is no other plant that I ever noticed that produces so many
flowers to any given quantity of ground, nor yields so much honey.

" In almost any of the Atlantic States it serves to fill the interval that occurs
between the closing of the white clover and the opening of the buckwheat
flowers, a period of about four weeks, which is the very besLpart of the year
for gatliering honey, as the weather is generally warm and calm ; hence tlie
propriety of raising this crop to employ the bees profitably.

"The honey produced from it resembles that yielded from the linden, both
in color and taste.

" Mignonette, a modest, unpresuming little flower, found in all well-
assorted collections, is one of the greatest value as a bee-pasture, if grown in
suftlcicnt quantities to be an object. It is low growing and spreading in its
habits, similar to white clover, and yields both honey and pollen ; it will
bloom continually, from the middle of June until killed by frosts in the fjill.
It is easily raised in large quantities if the ground is clear of weed seed,
plowed, and 'Avell pulverized by harrowing before sowing. Sow thinly and
brush it in with a light brush ; all that is required after this is to pull out
any large-growing weeds that may chance to make their appearance before
the mignonette spreads over the ground ; where it takes possession of the
ground, it needs no further care. A bed of these flowers will perfume the air
for quite a distance around, so rich is it. Bees will work on it from daylight
until dark ; two or three may be seen at once on a single head or flower.

"Tiie ccphalanthm Canadensis, or butter-bush, which grows in swamps,
and low, wet, marshy grounds in almost every part of the United States,
preserving the same appearance wherever found, jiroduces honey of the
The honey gathered from this shrub is of a very light

highest excellence

Sec. 10.] BEES, AND TEE PROFITABLE PRODUCTION OF HONEY.

16l>

straw color, of a thick, heavy body, and very excellent flavor. Bees thrive
and store honey very rapidly when they have access to large quantities of
these flowers. The time of blooming varies with diflferent localities, but it
generally begins to put forth flowers about the first of July, and continues
for three or four weeks.

" In all places where buckwheat is raised, it becomes an important acces-
sion to bee-pasturage. A field of buckwheat yields an incredible quantity
of honey, which perfumes the air for a considerable distance around. When
tlie weather is favorable, the bees store honey from it very rapidly, faster at
times than they can build combs to receive it. I have seen them fill pieces
of old combs laid close to the entrance of the hive, with honey, and have
known colonies to fill four boxes of honey, or about 50 lbs., during the con-
tinuance of buckwheat. This is by no means an uncommon occurrence, and
goes to show that this honey harvest is one of great importance to the bee-
keepei". Buckwheat may be sown about a month earlier than usual, to fur-
nish pasturage to come in about the close of clover, to great advantage."

In relation to artificial feeding there are many opinions. There is prob'
ably no better food for bees than brown sugar, moistened with honey, such
as can be bought at a low price by the barrel or gallon in any town. Add
just enough honey to the sugar to make it into a dough by kneading. Put
tliis feed in a shallow tray, with a few straws on top, and let the bees take
their own way and time with it. It is well to give a little salt to bees, if
they can not get it conveniently. The best way is to place a lump of rock-
salt near the hives, and there let it remain year after year.

A practical bee-keeper says : " If the season has been xinpropitious, the
hives should be carefully looked after. If any contain less than 20 llis. of
honey, the swarm will need to be fed either with honey alone or mixed with
sugar diluted to the consistence of honey, poured on to pieces of empty
comb, and placed in the hive in such a manner that bees from other hives
will not find it. Perhaps the best method is to introduce the feed into the
boxes directly over the bees ; but should it be a common box hive, it may
be placed on the top of the hive, where there is a communication through
the top, and placing a cap over the whole ; and then gently rapping on the
top of the hive, the bees will jiress up through and find the feed. The feed-
ing should bo done during warm weather."

221. KfW Food for Bees. — The fact has been discovered in France, that
bees will feed upon the oil-c^ke (soaked in water) that is made in the manu-
facture of oil from the Sesamu/n Orientali\ known here as the bene ])lant, so
that tliey can be much easier wintered ; and it is said the increase of stocks
is wonderful in comparison with those not tlnis fed.

'n^Q Flore (h'S Si'}res, from which we borrow this, assures us that the results
have been astonishing, not only in a large increase of honey-comb, but iu
enabling the bees to multiply beyond all belief; nearly ten times the quantity
being bred in consequence of tiie facility aft'orded of obtaining abundant
and, as it would seem, excellent nourishment from this unexpected source.

170

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[Chap. II.

Tl>c experiment couUl lie tried in tliis country by apiarians planting tlie
bene seed, and bruising and soaking the seed of the crop, and feeding it to
the swarms after the natural food fails.

One of the greatest troubles in bee-keeping appears to be the want of suit-
able food early in the spring to enable the swarm to prepare for a new col-
ony that may go out early enough in the season to lay up, not only their
own stores l\ir winter, but a surplus for their owner. Many swarms that
have an abundance of honey for their own use and to spare in the spring,
arc inactive for weeks. after the spring has booome warm enough for them to
•work, because they have nothing to work upon. The first business is not to
gather honey, but pollen, to make bread for the young bees. So, although
the weather is warm enough, and the bees lively enough, until the buds
aflbrd pollen, they have nothing to work upon to enable them to be in season
with the new brood, to produce early swarms. This is a serious drawback
in late seasons, and in situations where pollen-producing plants are not
plenty.

Mr. E. T. Stnrtcvant, of Cleveland, Ohio, claims that he has discovered a
remedy for this difficulty, and that he can bring forward his bees some two
months earlier, and get good swarms the first of May. His plan is to feed
his bees with unbolted rye-meal, strewn upon boards convenient to the hive,
the bees pitching into it at once and working diligently, and in such an earn-
est way as fairly to scramble over one another. It is a hint worthy the
attention of all bee-keepers.

A few years ago, a bee-keeper in "Wurtemberg discovered that bees ex-
tracted food from carrots which had been rasped and cooked for stock, and
thereupon he boiled- some to a jelly and placed it near the hives, at a time
when the fields afforded no food, and he found that they worked upon it as
though the saccharum it contained was particularly agreeable.

We suggest an experiment with carrots cooked in this waj', by bee-keepers
in this country. We would also try parsneps ; and, M-here they are grown
abundantly, sweet potatoes. And since we know that bees are so fond of
sweet api)les in summer, why not keep them to feed swarms when needing
artificial feeding in winter. It m.ay add as much to the health of bees to
feed green food, as it does to health of other farm-stock. Let the experiment
be tried.

222. Ventilation of IliveSi — A great deal has been said about the necessity,
on account of ventilation, of making hives oj^en'at the bottom. In reply to
this, let men think that bees in a wild state jirosper well in the hollow of a
tree where there is but one small hole for entrance of the bees or ventilation,
and that open-end hives, standing on a bench, are often cemented fast to it,
and sometimes holes left, for ventilation, are sealed up as closely as though
air was poison to the inmates of the hive.

If you wish to ventilate, bore a two-inch hole into the upper part of the
large box, and cover it on tlie inside of the box and on the outside of the case
with wire gauze, fine enough to keep out ants and other insects, for a venti-

Seo. 10.] BEES, AXD TUE PROFITABLE PKODUCTIOX OF HONEY. 1^1

lator. Eore inch holes through into both of the upper boxes, and cover in
the same way.

Mr. Quinbj says that he regards proper ventilation as very important,
and yet proper ventilation is very iniperlectly understood, lie also says :
" Any way to get rid of the moisture." Tlie presumption is, that he would
not freeze the bees at the outset as one of the ways, for that would surely
prevent moisture ; and it' the moclux operandi of some who give directions
how to ventilate should bo put in practice in very cold situations, the bees
are just as surely frozen.

Moisture accumulating on the inside walls of the hive has caused the de-
struction of more strong colonies of bees than any one other casualty, except
the fatal way of some bee-keepers to get rid of the moisture by opening wide
the apertures in the top and also in the bottom of the hive, and thus causing
a current of external air to pass up through the interior — precisely the
method to cool a hive in hot weather — and also thus rendering the bees more
exposed and liable to be frozen than they would be situated on the exterior
of the hive. Proper ventilation is simply to give free vent for the air at the
top of the hive, and not admitting any or but very little air through the
bottom. Under all circumstances it is requisite to reguhite the openings in
the bottom with those in the top, which amounts to about the same thing
without the drawbacks of inverting the hive.

There is a new form of bee-hives, used by J. L. Scribner, of Montpelier,
Vt., a successful producer of honey, so much so that he carries off all prizes
at the county fair.

This hive, being made of straw, serves admirably for ventilation. It is
made of a frame of square sticks, say one incli diameter, and in capacity 12 by
13 inches, and 13 inches in bight, with a flat board roof projecting two inches
each way. The frame is nailed together ; the lower girts are placed { inch
above the bottom of the posts. The frame is covered with straw sewed
together, just as it is in straw hives, with a hoop at the bottom, made of
strips of boards one inch thick and two inches wide nailed together. In this
hoop a notch 2i inches long, i incth deep, is cut for the bees. Plane all the
wood, and use none but clean rye straw. On the roof, over suitable holes,
the boxes for storing honey are placed. It is thus described by Mr. Scribiier:

"The advantages of this hive over all others that I have used are very
material in my view. It is generally conceded that straw hives are the best
to winter bees in ; not altogether because they are so much warmer, but
beca\ise they will ' l-eej) drij,^ and the frost does not accumulate as in board
hives. Every experienced apiarian knows that in wooden hives there is a
continual dampness, arising in part from the breath and effluvia of the bees.
Not BO in straw hives. Straw being of a dry and absorbing nature, the
moisture is taken up. Now, I have learned that straw Iiivcs are as much
better in summer as in winter, especially in the season of breeding, when we
are subject to fi-ecpient and sudden changes of the weather, such as damp,
chilly nights and hot days. The temperature of a straw hive is more even :

172 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. II

it does not licat excessively in hot weather nor cool snddenly, as do board
hives. The natural warmtli of the bees is retained, whicli is particularly
conducive to their healtli and prosperity. Hence there should be no wince-
esif(ir>/ ventilation by leavini,' an 'open space,' as has been reconiniended by
6ome, 'all around the bottom of the hive.' Especially in damp, chilly
weather, bees will breed faster and gather more honey in straw hives than
in board hives, according to ini/ experience. One reason for their gathering
more honey, probably, is because the young brood comes to maturity faster,
consequently there are more ' laborers in the field' in the early honey sea-
son. Tliis liive combines all the 7'eal advantages of every patent hive that
lias come to my knowledge, Avliilc it obviates all tiie objections and retains all
tlie good qualities of ' the old-fashioned straw hives.'

" Tlie less a farmer botiiers himself with patent hives and bee-palaces, and
the less he tries to counteract nature, the better he will be oft'. I am heartily
sick of ' patent bee-hive-,' and it is time to al)andon them."

223. Taking Honey, ami How to Keep the Bees from 8ti[i.?ing.— "When bees
are alarmed for the safety of their stores, they immediately rush to the cells
and fill their sacks with honey, apparently to provide against any contingency
that might arise. "When in this condition, they are perfectly harmless, never
volunteer an attack ; consequently, to tame bees, or render them docile and
easily driven or handled, simply take advantage of this peculiar instinct. To
confine them closely to their hive, rap repeatedly on its sides for a few min-
utes; this alarms them, and they will gorge themselves with honey, when
they can be handled and controlled at pleasure. But we have adopted the
following plan, which we find best adapted to our nse, and recommend it to
others, with the assurance that it will give satisfaction: Take clean cotton or
linen rags, such as are used in the manufacture of paper ; make a nice roll of
these, about an inch in diameter, and from six to twelve inches long ; Avrap
this pretty tight, either with narrow strips or shreds torn from cloth, or, what
is more convenient, use wrapping yarn of some kind ; prepare a number of
Buch rolls, and keep on hand in some box, or any dry place, near the apiary,
together with some matches. When you wish to open a hive or perform any
operation, set fire to one end of a roll of rags; it makes quite a smoke, with-
out any blaze. Upon opening the hive, blow the smoke vigorously among
the bees for a minute or two, which terrifies them, without doing any perma-
nent injury; they immediately rush to the cells and fill their sacks with
honey, when you can proceed to lift out one comb after another, and perform
any operation M-ith perfect impunity, without any fear of being stung, unless
by those from other hives near at liand. Should there be some, however,
that would show signs of battle, blow a little more smoke upon them, and
repeat it from time to time until the close of the operation. Toward the
close of the honey season, when they are rich and increased in stores, they
are harder to control than at any other season of the year ; when this occurs,
put a small portion of tobacco or a few grains of sulphur in your roll of
rags; this renders the smoke more pungent, and will easily subdue the

Sec. 10.] BEES, AND THE PROFITABLE PRODUCTION OF HONEY

173

bees. Dried puff-ball makes a smoke that subdues bees without injur}- to
tliem.

224. Bee .Cloths, and Uow to Protect Bees from Them. — Xumcrous patents have
been taken out to sell bee-keepers, to keep tlie mollis out of the hives. All of
these contrivances fail in their object, or else have objections to them which
have prevented their general introduction. One uow before us consists of a
set of swinging doors, just such as we have often seen at cat-holes, hung at
the top so as to fall into place as soon as pussy gets through. For the bees,
a small tin, about the size of a dime, is hung in the entrance hole, which the
bee can push open, but the moth can not — that is, so says the patentee.

Where open-end hives stand upon a bench, we have seen moths prevented
from injuring the swarm by raising the hive, during the moth season, about
half an inch from the bench. The theory of tiiis plan is, that themoth in-
serts her eggs between the bottom of the hive and bench, where they hatch,
and the bees can not get at the worms ; but if it is raised up, there is no op-
portunity for the moth to deposit her eggs where they will be safe.

A cheap, good moth-trap is nuide in the following maimer: Take a piece
of thin pine board, or a shingle, a few inches square, and with your pocket-
knife cut three-cornered grooves on one side, and lay it, grooved side down,
on the bench under the hive. The moths will find a secure place from the
bees, and deposit their eggs, which you will find, or the worms, and destroy,
by looking at your traps every few days.

Mr. Quinby recommends the following mixture as a moth-trap : Sugar or
molasses and a little vinegar and v^-ater, making the " contrast" agreeable —
the sweet and the sour. Put this in shallow dishes, saucers, or tin baking
dishes, and set them among the bees at evening. Kext morning, moths of
all kinds will be found in the liquid, aiul may then be strained out and de-
stroyed, and the mixture used the following evening.

225. lutroduction of Bees into f aliforuia.— The honey-bee is not a native of
California. The credit of introducing them is dnc to a man by the name of
Shelton, who, after doing mucli for the interest of agricultural improvements
in that State, lost his life, while still a very young man, by the explosion of
a steamboat boiler on the Sacramento Eiver. lie imported, in March, 1S53,
the first bees into California, lie left New York with twelve stands, or
hives, and arrived with but one; from this one about one hundred and fifty
swarms were credited in 1S5S, and, of course, have largely multiplied since
that time. There have also been very large cxportations made by steamer
from Kew York. The Messrs. Harbison, of Pennsylvania, have been very
successful in shipping and selling swarms, and have also established an ex-
tensive apiary at Sacramento. The common price of some of the first stocks
sent to or produced in California has been fifty to one hundred dollars a liivo.
The lIarl)isons made their first shipment, we believe, in 1858-9.

It has been tiiought singular that our people found no bees in California,
when thev were so abundant in Mexico and Cenlrai America. Since the
introduction of bees from New York, a California paper states tliat several

17-t

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[CnAP. n.

attempts to import bees from Mexico have failed. Captain Macondray had
one or more Mexican swarm?, but tlioy soon dwindled away. In 1859, Mrs.
Sutter, daughter-in-law to General Sutter, had forty-four hives packed on the
backs of Indians to Acapulco, and brought on the steamer to San Francisco;
two or three weeks after tiicir arrival, there remained but two hives contain-
ing bees; they were taken to San Jose, but in a short time tliey also died.

It also says, and so does every one we have conversed with on the subject,
tliat California is admirably adajited to the honey-bee, as the ex])erieiicc of five
years fully demonstrates. In San Jose Valley, Sacramento Valley, Shasta,
Eidwell's, Stockton, Columbia, and Napa they multiply rapidly and store
abundance of honey. The willow afibrds the first material for pollen. The
bees commence gathering it by tlie 1st of January; about the 15th of Janu-
ary it is in bloom, and affords considerable honey, though slightly bitter.
The bees gatlier ]iollen and honey from the M-illow till March. The wild
mustard atlbrds an inexhaustible sujiply of honey from tlie 1st of April to
the middle of June. Later in the season, honey is obtained from buckwheat
and honey-dew.

Honey made from mustard blossom, from which most of the honey is
gathered in San Jose Valley, is excellent, and has sold in San Francisco at
from SI 25 to §1 50 per pound. New swarms issue as early as the 15th of
April, and the swarming season continues to the 16th of June.

ti2G. 8tili^l(SS Bees. — There is a good deal said of late about going to Brazil
after " stingless bees." "What is the utility ? Wo have a better sort Iiere,
and tlieir stings are in no manner objectionable. In fact, they are advan-
tageous to the apiarian. They guard the store from thieves of all sorts, and
they are much better honey-makers than the South American variety, which
has no sting, all of which are of a much smaller size .than our common
honey-bee, and some of them make lioney that is sour, and others give it a
bitter flavor. This may be owing to tlie flowers it is extracted from, as we
have known bees here to make uneatable honey.

"Wells, in his explorations of Honduras, gives tiie n!imes of fourteen varie-
ties of honey-bees. Iloney is very abundant and low priced. He was
charged but ten "cents a quart for it. He says: "The bees are diminutive,
and mostly stingless. Swarms of them may be seen every day, when travel-
ing in the open country, hovering around some decayed tree, and but little
trouble is necessary to bear the whole establishment to the nearest hacienda.
One of the proprietors said he had sold enough, since owning the estate, to
buy all the drilling, mantos, and articles of that description, required at the
liacienda."

The most curious thing about most of these bees is that they do not store
lioney like our bees, in combs of hexagonal cells, but in little sacs, two inches
long, arranged in rows along the sides of the hive. The cells for the young
are placed in the center.

227. Italian Bees. — During the year 1860, a good deal has been said about
the advantage to be derived from the introduction of Italian bees into the

Sec. 10.] BEES, AND THE PROFITABLE PRODUCTIO}^ OF IIOXEY. 175

United States, and importations have been made for that purpose. The plan
is to breed queens, which, after being impregnated, are introduced into com-
mon hives, after removing the oUl <jueen.

A writer in the Country Gentleman newspaper gives the following as the
history of the introdjiction ofltaliiin bees into this country. He says:

"Mr. r. J. Mahan, of Philadelphia, is mentioned 'as being the first to
land this new variety on our shores.' As a matter of history, 1 would state
that this is not so. For several years past the attempt has been made yearly
by Mr. llichard Colvin, of Baltimore, Samuel Wagoner, of York, Pa., and
llev. L. L. Langstroth. These attempts were unsuccessful, owing to bad
packing and mismanagement in transportation, until the autumn of 1S50,
when Mr. Colvin received some Italian stocks, and ho])ed to have queens
from them for sale the past season, but these stocks, unfortunately, did not
survive the winter. Next in order of date is Mr. Mahan's importation from
Germany, which was successful on account of his personal supervi.-ion.
Shortly after Mr. Mahan's importation, Mr. S. B. Parsons, of Flu.shing, Long
Island, succeeded in getting a few swarms alive from Italy. From them he
has succeeded, aided by several skillful apiarians, in raishig a large number
of queens, which have been sent to nearly every State in the Union, includ-
ing California, under the supervision of Mr. Bigelow, a successful apiarian.

"The last successful importation was by Messrs. Colvin and Wagoner.
All the above named are exerting themselves to multiply their stocks of
Italian bees, and they will doubtless have a demand for all the queens and
stocks they can supply next season, as the interest in this new bee is deserv-
edly increasing. The question will naturally arise, Of whom shall I i)ur-
chaso ? Are these importations equally reliable, and if so, have all taken
the same pains and been equally successful in keeping the breed pure ? I
wtiuld here remark that some situations are more favorable for maintaining
purity than others. The Italian bees now in this country are from three
diiferent sources, and every one should decide for himself to which stock lie
should give the i)referencc, and if the most reliable man and the most reli-
able bee can be found working together.

" Two of the Importations are from Germany, and one from Italy. Of the
importation from Italy there can be no reason to question its purity. The
two importations from Germany are from ditierent breeders. One of the
importations from Germany I have the fullest confidence in from jiersonal
inspection ; and if the other be ocjually good, we are in a fair jiositiou to
have the country well supplied witli i>ure stock in a few years, provided
sufficient interest is taken to maintain purity."

22S. Reasons for KfopiiiR Bees. — In this section we have only aimed to say
just enough to encourage every reader to keep bees, who has anything like
fair tacilities for them to obtain a supply of honey from gardens and fields,
whiclr thev will do if within a mile, and some bee-keepers say if within two
miles. But it is not profitable to allow bees to go so far. when the bee-keeper
has land upon whicii hctiau grow bee-food just as well as he can grow food

176

SMALL ANIMALS AND IXSECTS.

[Chap. IL

for any otlier farm-stock. The fact tliat bees obtain a great deal of food
from fruit-trees slwuld ciicouraire farmers to cultivate botii togetlier. And
if lie plants along the roadside long rows of willows, maples, lindens, poj)-
lars, he will not only have the advantage of them for shade and ornament,
but his bees, if he has them — and if not, let him be enc^ragod to get thera —
will find a great Held up in the branches, that they can use as pasture.

The strongest reason that can be given for keeping bees is this simple fact:
They afl'ord more clear profit than any other stock ever kept on the farm,
and. generally speaking, the more labor is bestowed upon them iu providing
good Lives aud pasture, the better they pay.

SECTION XI.-BIUDS.

Ctison and Religion in Prcservins BirdSi — ^Xc don't
know how much we have written, said, and sung
to induce farmers not to destroy the birds, nor
allow them to be destroyed, because we.look upon
them as part and ])arcel of the farm-stock, and of
more importance to the farmer than some animals he
keeps, at much more expense than his stock of birds.
•w\g3 We say his stock, because Ave consider the birds on the
^^5^^ trees just as much the property of him who owns the
trees as the trees themselves ; and he who would steal
one would steal the other. A man who would come upon
my farm and shoot my birds, without my permission, is
not one of the noblest works of God. Xo man who takes
reason for a guide, who owns a farm in any of the old
States, can consent to have his birds destroj'cd. He certainly will not de-
stroy them himself, after ho has taken time to think upon the subject. It is
our object to induce him to think, and the best place to 9o so is to go out
among them in a bright spring morning, and hear their music.

Go out among the trees in the orchard or through the grove, or look into
the hedge-rows or peep under the old bridge down the lane, or go to the
barn ; go anywhere, everywhere, where you will, and at this season — that is,
lovely Ifay season — you will find the birds — busy, merry, singing birds ;
hard at work they are, too, building their houses — cradles, rather — and all the
time keeping up a concert of sweet music. Various too are their tastes in
selecting their sites for their nesting-places, some hiding away from man,
some coming up to his very door, or, like the martin and swallow, under his
roof and protection. Robin-red-breast almost invariably comes into the
orchard, sometimes on the trees, sometimes on the fence, sometimes, where
kindly treated, under the shed by the barn or houSe.

•C\j

Sko. 11.]

BIRDS.

The woodpecker — the same one that was tapj/ing " the hollow beceh-tree"
— makes holes in the old applo-trecs, into which for years afterward the
pretty bluebird creeps and rears its annual brood.

The blackbird, the most numerous of the family of small birds, mostly
nests in the swamp ; except one variety, imitating the crow, that goes into
the highest trees, such as the spruce, with a dark, thick top, where boys nor
small shot can not come.

In the meadow we find the sly nest of the quail and lark and several
small birds ; and in the thickest bushes, the home of the brown thrush. lie
is a natural musician, a sweet bird full of glee and cheerfulness ; but the
merriest and most amusing of the whole family is the noisy little bobolink.

We look upon birds as among the essentials of a landscape, and would as
soon think of chopping down the orchard, shooting the turkeys, and wring-
ing the necks off of the barn-yard fowls, or making mutton of the sheen or
giving the lambs to the dogs, as to think of destroying the birds or driving
them from the premises.

"Going a gunning," with the murderous intent to kill such birds, <nyj:ht to
fonsign a man to the infamy that we are a2)t to attach to a savage or a brute
who M'antonly kills the finest of God's creation.

"Without birds, a country is desolate ; with them, it is always cheerful.
Their songs would enliven the heart of a stone, or make a miser for the
moment forget his money.

The association of children with birds, when taught to love them and not
destroy their nests, has as direct and certain a tendency to improve their
natures as the church or family fireside. Teach a child that birds are among
the good gifts of God to man, and it is hardly possible that the child will
grow up to manhood without being possessed of some of tJic attributes of the
sweet songsters of the grove.

And yet there are parents who allow their children to wage incessant war
upon the birds, never thinking of the injury they are doing their young
minds, or how many destructive enemies they are entailing upon the crops in
the shape of countless caterpillars, grubs, and worms.

We do not know of a higher Christian duty for a minister to engage in
than an effort to preserve the birds in his parish.

AVc would impress upon the mind of every child that the command, "thou
shalt not kill," meant these dear little birds as well as things of a higher
degree. Thou shalt not wantonly kill a single thing of all creation that is
not necessary for man's sustenance, or that is not detrimental to his interest.

Children should be taught not only to love the music of birds, but to look
upon them as models of beauty antl aftection to their mates and to their
young. Instead of driving thoni away from the house, encourage them to
come and perch npon the window-sill and build their nests under the eaves.

Do not tell us they destroy the small fruit. Plant enough for birds and
men. If they do eat fruit, they also eat worms, and you can well atford to
give them a few cherries and currants for what they have done for yon.

178 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. II.

Around the city there is a difficulty in preserving the birds, because all
the groves are infested with an iiboniiiiable nuisance in the shape of big boys
and prowling loafers " out for a day's shooting."

They ought to be out for a day's shooting, and that should be at their own
idle carcasses, with fine salt and ]>epi>cr-corns, and every owner of land
should be allowed by law thus to salt and pepper any of these idle vagabonds
who come upon his grounds without leave to doom the birds to destruction.

Farmers ! let your motto be— and impress it upon all your family — Never
kill a bird!

In the early settlement of this country, there was such an abundance of
birds that the people wiio were striving to raise grain enough for the sujiport
of their funiilies, lookeil upon them sis their enemies, because they were nat-
urally disposed to come in for a share of the crop, and some of them, such
as the crow and the large blackbird, sometimes depredated upon the seed,
by which the crop was effectually cut off.

So a war of extermination was declared without discrimination against all
birds, and it was carried to such a bitter end that the children of the first
settlers grew up with a fixed opinion that they were doing a Christian duty
whenever an opportunity ofiered, in destroying birds and birds' nests, and
they entailed the same disposition upon their children and their children's
children ; and so the poor birds have been almost exterminated from the face
of the earth M'ith scarcely a thought why or wherefore, except that they were
birds, and birds must be destroyed — " father says so." Upon that ij^se dixit
some of the best friends of the farmer, instead of his worst enemies, have
been almost annihilated, while others have come to regard him as a being
to be so avoided that they make their abodes in deep forests, and hide their
nests aTid young from man as carefully as man would hide his young froni
a tiger.

Experience teacheth wisdom ; and after two hundred years of teaching,
the American farmer is just beginning to learn that birds are his best friends.
He shot them upon his plum and cheny trees because they took a share of
the fruit, and then came the insects that the birds used to prey upon, and the
days of plum-growing were over. So of many other insects, real pests of the
farmer, everywhere multiplying as the birds decrease.

Not one of the s])ecies upon which man has made such unceasing war, but
has its use. Even the owl, although it will eat chickens, is a great mouse-
destroyer ; and the hated hawk is sometimes shot with a snake in its bill.
Crows should be treated with as much care about a farm as domestic fowls.
Do they pull up your sprouting corn seed ? Feed them and they will not.
Sow corn broadcast through the field and they will not touch that which
you have planted. Birds of all descriptions should be taught that man is a
friend and not an enemy, and they will return the friendship.

Some lover of birds — and he who is not such is "fit for treasons, strata-
gems, and spoils" — ujay demur to our assertion, that they are less influenced
by gratitude than their four-footed fellows. If our assertion is incorrect, we

Sec. 11.] BIRDS. 179

shall be happy to be set right, but we believe that facts are against t!ic birds ;
yet if this be so, the circumstance is not to their discredit. They are the
liuniorists, the musicians, the conversationists of the animal world; so fully
occupied in talking, singing, joking, eating, and rearing their families, tliat
they have little time to devote to those immense beings, pantalooned or
hooped, whom they undoubtedly regard from their airy hights with a sort
of contempt, as they behold them slowly plodding along, contined to the dull
earth and unable to take a flight even equal to that of one of their newly-
fledged offspring ; and if they condescend to pick up a few crumbs scattered
by some gentle hand, they feel as little of the emotion of gratitude to their
benefactor, as the squirrel to the chestnut-tree which rains upon him his
winter's supply. A certain degree of brain development is necessary for the
existence of this emotion, and birds, in this respect, are inferior to most of
the quadrupeds with which we are lamiliar.

Birds do not seem to be as susceptible as quadrupeds to kind treatment,
and those species which have been domesticated ajqioar to have lost what-
ever " smartness" they may originally have possessed. The whole tribe of
domestic fowls — cocks, hens, ducks, geese, guinea-fowls, turkeys, pea-fowls —
are unmitigatedly stupid — acute in nothing but picking up corn and devas-
tating gardens.

The crow is one of the birds that unthinking men destroy, because they
jiull up a little corn in the spring. Will you think what else he does ?

lie consumes in the year vast quantities of grubs, worms, and noxious
vermin ; he is a valuable scavenger, and clears the land of oft'ensive masses
of deceased animal substances ; he hunts the grain fields, and pulls out and
devours the underground caterjiiilars, whenever he perceives the signs of
their operations, as evinced by tlie wilted stalks ; he destroys mice, young
rats, lizards, and small snakes ; lastly, he is a volunteer sentinel about the
farm, and drives tlie hawk from its inclosure, thus jireventing greater mis-
chief than that of which he himself is guilty. It is ciiictly during seed-time
nnd harvest that the depredations of the crow are committed ; during the
remainder of the year we witness only his services, wiiich are so appreciated
by those who have M-ritten of birds, that I can not name an ornithologist
who does not plead in his behalf.

Frighten the crows, but do not kill thom, except one to use to keep his
fellows off your corn. Pick ofl' part of his feathers and scatter tlicm on some
spot in the field easily seen, and near by lay the carcass of the dead crow
and you will see his late companion sailing over the field and looking down
upon what lias been done, but very careful not to ligiit where he too might
fall a victim. If you can not kill a crow, you may make a very good show
of a dead one with a black hen. .Crows are too valuable as vermin-destroy-
ers on a farm to bo wantotdy destroyed l)ecause they i>ull up a little corn.

A writer at Eaton, N. Y., sends us the following item in favor of the per-
secuted crow, which makes him out not quite so black as he looks — that is,
when seen by the eyes of some of his enemies. Uc says :

ISO SMALT, ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL

" For llie interest of the fanning portion of this country, I communicate
the following: Mr. Alpha Brown, an enterprising fanner of this town,
informed me that, having acted this year upon the somewhat late suggestion
of youi-s, of sowing corn broadcast over the planted gfoiind, he experienced
a new result. Upon four acres, where heretofore his crop had been greatly
injured by the devastations of the '• white grub" and "gray corn-worm," he
sowed broadcast, after planting, a half bushel of corn. This, of course,
attracted the crows, which, coming to the ground in the cooler part of the
afternoon and morning, found the worms on their usual visit to the surface,
and, preferring the latter to the corn, devoured them instead. The result is,
that out of tlie whole field lie has not lost to exceed five hills."

230. The llcversc of the Crow Question. — Having given our opinion in favm-
of the crow, in the preceding paragraph, we feel that it is due to a fair in-
vestigation of the question not to make it an arbitrary ojunion, and rest
there, but to give the opinions of others also. It is facts, not theories, that
we wish to give farmers.

One who signs himself a " Farmer's Boy," writes from Eidgefield, Conn.,
about crows, as follows :

" Having lately read your article upon the subject of crows and others
of the feathered tribe, I can not hold still my rust}' old steel any longer. I
agree with you very well until you advocate the protection of crows ; there I
think you miss your mark. There is but one thing you name that is in their
favor — the digging of grubs. They are the enemies of all our small birds,
which you advocate preserving. They commence with the eggs, and con-
tinue their depredations until the young are nearly grown. They are never
found destroying insects of any kind that could not be of more use than the
crow, and even the grub can be made a source of income to the farmer. An
intelligent farmer told me, some years ago, he made 1,000 pounds of jiork by
letting his hogs feed on them in his meadows, which damaged his grass but
little the first year, and thought it better the second by having the surface
stirred. You speak of their devouring carrion. Now, in my opinion, no
iarmer that is a good economist will allow any dead animal to lie and rot in
the sun to make food for the crows. I consider the carcass of a horse, a cow,
or an ox worth from three to five dollars to any farmer. If so, it is quite
too dear food for crows. Some say crows catch grasshoppers and crickets.
I prefer a nice brood of turkeys, that will not look bad on the table when
they have performed their work on the farm.

" You see I am a friend to almost everything but a crow. If there is any-
thing made in vain, it is the crow. They destroy our little warblers; they
catch our chickens, ducks, turkeys, and goslings ; they dig our potatoes, puU
our corn and beans, from the time they appear above ground until they grow
out of their way. Then, as soon as the grain is formed on the ear ; they
commence their work again. Kow, if such a pest as this is to be protected,
it must be by some one who has a heart softer than I have ; a creature that
but one thing can be said in its favor, and the rest must go against it. I

Sec. 11.] BIRDS. 181

have not tlio least doubt but our town was taxed §500 last year to feed
crows."

Upon this we simply remark : If " Farmer's Boy" has a breed of crows
about him that really catch turkeys, goslings, etc., and dig potatoes, he is
svclcome to be their enemy. Our crows are of another sort. But is our
" boy" sure that he " can tell a hawk from a hernshaw ?" Because the
raven, though one of the rnrviis fiunily, is not a crow, as we understand the
word ; and it is just possible that the bird that catches turkeys and other
birds is a raven.

Wc have another opinion, coming from a citizen of Montgomeiy County,
Penn. He says :

" Leaving your crows under your protection, to enjoy their excellent repu-
tations, M'o desire to say a word on the character of ours. That we have
real, veritable crows that catch young chickens, is a 'fixed fact,' M'ell estab-
lished. The present season, notwithstanding our care, we lost by them, I
suppose, from ten to fifteen, and avoided the loss of others only by the use
of gunpowder. Our experience on this subject, I may add, is that of many
others. This thing, then, our ' breed' of crows do, and also carry off spoiled
eggs that may be thrown away, birds' eggs, etc. In reference to ducks and
goslings, I am imable to speak, but have no reason to believe that they are
distasteful, or that they do not catch them.

"They love, it ajipears, a variety. A near and reliable neighbor informs
me that quite recently he saw one of our tril)e in hot pursuit of a rabbit,
which, after sundry dodgings, secreted itself under the fence. So you see
New York crows differ from ours, and, I incline to think, from most other
crows."

Here is another opinion. This comes from Thcron "Wales, Windham,
Portage County, Ohio. He says, in relation to our remarks upon the state-
ment of " Fanner's Boy :"

"I conclude you received it as doul)tful. I can add testimony in part to
the same effect. I have seen the crow alight into the nest of the robin and
carry away the young birds to feed their own young. They are passionately
fond of the eggs of other birds, and I have cauglit them in tra]is with egg-
shells. Hunters of the wild turkey can testify to the hatred between the
crow and the gobblers. From the frequent presence of the crow over the
gobbling turkey, it appears they watcli for their nests. At least every cry
of the crow is answered defiantly by tiie turkey, and tlius I have often been
led to approach the turkey and shoot him. "Wliilc we were living upon the
Berkshire ITills, in ^rassachu.eetts, it was not uiifrequent that our neighbors'
and our own young landis had their eyes picked out by tiie early returning
crows in the spring. But I do not say these things for the sake of engaging
in an exterminating war upon them. All things were created for some wise
purpose. Every creature luis in nature its enemy and destroyer, and every
attempt on the part of man to give preponderance to one part of the wild
creation over another, will fail. Civilization will of necessity drive away

182

SHALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[Chap. II.

the beaver, otter, deer, and a host of forest hirds, and their places will be
rapidly supplied by the wren, the rohiii, the bluebird, the honey-bee, etc.

'■Tiie raven is more carnivorous than the crow. I once saw one alight
into a kingbird's ncr^t and carry away the young, in spite of the cries and
etibrts of the old ones."'

The crowning charge against the crows comes from Freeport, Me., in a
letter written by E. Pratt, Jr., who says :

" Now what ' !/our crows' are, or wliat they eat, or how they get their liv-
ing, I know not ; but the crows in Maine both dig and eat potatoes, incredu-
lous as it may appear.

"In some seasons I have known many acres, planted on light soils, in
exposed situations, devastated by these miscreants, and that in my own
neigliborliood.

"Their manner is, wlicn the plant first breaks ground, to dig and pull it
up with the tubers attached, though it appears by the partially eaten ones
left here and there on the field, that they do not eat them with much
avidity.

" I know that popular writers think tlie crow a great blessing to farmers,
but I am yet to be convinced of this, and can only wish that those who think
their company so desirable should have the benefit of my share."

There is but little doubt in our mind that most of these bad birds were
ravens, and not crows, particularly as Mr. Wales acknowledges the presence
of the raven, and says that he is a carnivorous bird.

Now, having said our say, and allowed others to say theirs, about crows,
we will drop down to wrens, by way of contrast.

231. Wrens. — We waked one morning — one of those May mornings —
when our domicile was a city one, with delightful sounds coming in at the
window. They were the notes of sweet singing birds. What lovely music !
It was the first of the season that had come to our ears, and it struck a chord
that called to mind scenes of youth, long, long ago. We hastened to the
window and looked out. " Ha ! ha ! my old friends," we cried, " and so you
have come back again." It was the wrens, the same ones undoubtedly that
we built a nesting-place for last year. There was one pair then, now two
pair — the progeny, Ave suppose, of those that sung for us last year. " And
so," we said, " you have both come for a nesting-place, have you ? Well,
there is the old one — but yon must have another. An increasing fiimily
needs more room. You shall have it." Notwithstanding: the morninn: was
a rainy one, we feared our pets might feel neglected, and so down we went
to provide for their necessities. How amply were we repaid the little labor !
for all the time we were engaged, they were hopping about the peach limbs,
picking off tiie insects, and singing all the while most men-ily. Who would
not cultivate such society as this ? Wlio would not like to have their trees
protected from insects that destroy foliage and fruit? Every one, surely.
Then protect the wrens. Build nesting-places for them, and they will come
every spring and send their sweet notes into your open window, some pleas-

Seo. 11.] BIRDS. 1S3

ant May morning, to waken you to see the beauty of sunrise, or lull you
into dreams of the old farm-house, orchards, and singing birds.

A paper from Prof. Xash says he has domesticated tiie common wren in
this city, by building them a suitable house, very much to the amusement
and pleasure of the family. One pair hatched and reared ten young ones in
one season, and they acted as perfect scavengers of bugs and worms in the
neighborhood. Mi\ Nash says two hundred wren-houses were built last year
about Union Square, which were not only occupied by wrens, but several
other kinds of birds, and these served to keep tlie park and neighborhood
almost free of insects.

A writer in Hove-ys Magazine recommended the use of wrens to drive
other birds away from the cherry-trees. He says :

" I have seen the experiment of phicing a wren-box on a cherry-tree, tried
in several instances with aj^parent success. The best thing for this purpose
is an olive jar. A hole should i)revi(nisly be drilled into tlic side of tlie jar,
which should be fixed upon the tree, by thrusting the stump of an amputated
branch, the more upright the better, into the mouth of the inverted jar, of
just sufficient size to admit a wren, but too small to allow a bluebird to en-
ter ; since, if it were otlierwise, tlie latter would be sure to get possession of
it. The wren being a very jealous and pugnacious bird, is diligent in dris'-
iiig all birds from the tree in whicli his nest is built, and does not hesitate
to attack birds as large as the robin. It is doubtful, however, whether the
wren would persevere in his attacks, when the robins had become very numer-
ous, but tlie expedient might bo used with some advantage in all cases.''

232. Protecting Trees from Birds.— Some persons advise throwing a net
over the trees, during the few days while the fruit is becoming mature. This
may be done in some cases, if there are but few trees to be protected, and
the owner can aftbrd to undertake a job that must be both troublesome and
expensive. Such an expedient would be hardly advisable except in extra-
ordinary eases. Some fix a little windmill in the tree ; but as the wheel is
constantly turning, the birds soon become accustomed to it, and cease to
regard it with suspicion. If anytiiing of this kind is to be used, it should be
kept motionless, until the birds'fiy into the tree, and then put suddenly into
action by some person who is watching it. Something like a watchman's
rattle elevated on a pole, and fastened firndy to each of the trees, with a cord
to be pulled when the machine is to be set in motion, might answer a good
purpose. A boy might be hired in this case to watch the trees, and to jiull
upon the cords as the birds arrived. Clierries require so short a time to
rijien, that no tree would need to be watciied more than one week.

As birds always give the greatest offense, by their depredations upon fruit,
to those who own but few trees, our argument is, that the best i)rotec(ion is
to plant trees enough to serve you and the birds too, with all that all of you
can eat. You would then not only have the satisfaction of having what
cherries you wanted, but the jdeasure of seeing the birds. From expenonce
every season, wc arc satisfied that the robins save us more cherries than

184 SMALL ANLMALS AXD INSECTS. [Chap. IL

tliey eat. Our trees were infested with tlic same kind of ycliowisli bugs that
ate the roses, and are commonly called rose-bugs. We have seen half a
dozen of them eating upon a single cherry, attacking them before they were
ript', and before the birds did. Wlieu at length the robins came in goodly
numbers, the bugs decreased, and if the robins ate cherries, they also ate
bu£xs, and we believe more than they did cherries. At any rate we had
more cherries than the birds and all the family could dispose of, and some
for our friends. So we did not begrudge the dear little birds their share.

As there are some who can not atlbrd to share their cherries with the
birds, and others who are nnwilling, we give a way of keeping them off,
which we find in the Gat'ckner''s Chronicle, London.

" The following is a plan I once saw succeed very well for some time, but
the birds at last got familiar with it ; still I think it might answer for two
months or so. An old gardener being greatly troubled with birds, applied
to his master for nets to cover his fruit with ; but no, they would be too
expensive. lie therefore got a hawk stuffed in what he called a hovering
position, put it on the end of a long wii-e, attached the wire to the top of a
tree, and thus had the hawk suspended in the air as if it had been alive. He
had, however, another liawk which really was alive jiut into a cage, and had
the cage put into the same tree where the dead hawk was. The gentleman
in the cage was bj' no means mute, and I may add that I scarcely ever after-
ward saw birds in that garden, except perhaps a few sparrows."

Another plan that has succeeded very well at times is to suspend small
looking-glasses, or bits of a broken mirror, to the limbs of the tree. "Wiiere
the sun shines, and the wind blows a little, this device answers a good pur-
pose. It is of no use at other times, except that having previously frightened
the birds, and prevented them from getting a haunt in the tree, they will not
be so likely to come when the mirror is still.

233. The Food of Birds.— A few facts to show M-hat the food of birds really
is, will do something, we hope, to dispel the prejudice which has made man
their bitter enemy.

"Wilson, the great ornithologist, computes that a red-winged blackbird
destroys, on an average, 50 grubs a day through the summer. Many other
birds are equally useful to the farmer. No gold would buy the services per-
formed by the birds. One often may be seen following the plowman hour
after hour.

Tlien look at the eternal labor of the birds in fall, winter, and spring, pick-
ing np the seeds of weeds, and upon these they live until grain ripens, before
it is possible for them to harm the farmer.

"We therefore nrge farmers to spare the birds. They pay more rent than
the worth of all they eat. Robins have been thoroughly proved to be insect-
eatei-s, and great destroyers of noxious pests to the farmers, by a committee
of the ^[assachusotts Horticultural Society.

This Society has done a deed worthy of commendation by all the lovers of
birds. A resolution was moved to get the Society to ask the Legislature to

Seo. 11.] BIRDS. 186

repeal the law for protection of robins, upon tlie ground that these birds
were noxious to the farmer ; it being contended that their food being veg-
etable, they were great destroyers of valuable fruits. Upon this, Prof.
Jenks (Prof, of Zoology) suggested that the Society should tirst learn the
habits of the robin, and a committee, consisting of Prof. Jenks, C. M. Ilovey,
and E. S. Rand, Jr., were appointed, and have reported tlie following facts :
" Plan Adopted for the Invcsst'ujation. — 1. To obtain birds at daybreak, mid-
day, and sunset. 2. To obtain birds from both the village and the country.
3. To preserve in alcohol the contents of each gizzard.

licsidts ill Procurmg Specimens. — Beginning with the first week in March,
1858, specimens have been examined at least weekhj, and most of the time
daily, to December, and during the winter months, at least semi-monthly to
the date of the report, in the spring.

liesults of Investigation. — 1. Early in March, numbers of this bird made
their appearance in this vicinity (Boston) ; but, nntil the second week in
April, only the male birds.

2. The gizzards of those killed in the morning were, as a rule, either
entirely empty, or but partially distended with food, well macerated ; while
those killed in the latter part of the day were as uniformly filled with food
freshly taken.

3. From the almost daily examination of their gizzards from the early part
of March to the first of May, not a particle of vegetable matter was foimd in
the gizzard of a single bird. On the contrary, insects in great variety, botli
as to number and kind, as well as in every variety of condition as to growth
and development, were the sole food.

But nine tenths of the aggregate mass of f'oil thus collected during this
period consisted of one kind of larv:\i, which, througli the aid of Baron Osten-
sacken, secretary of the Eussian legation at "Washington, I was enabled to
identify as the Bihio albipennis (Sai/), and whose history and habits, by the
aid of Dr. Asa Fitch, entomologist of the New York State Agricultural
Society, I was enabled to make out quite satisfactorily.

From one to two hundred of tliese larv!\3 were frequently taken from a
single gizzard, all in a fresh, unmacerated condition ; and usually, when these
larvaa were found, they were the only food in the stomach.

To quote from a communication received from Dr. Fitch, he says : ' My
attention was first directed to this ily some twelve ycara ago, when I was
occupied in investigating the wheat midge. I observed it to be so very
common in fields of growing wheat that I suspected it of living at the expense
of that "-rain crop ; but on looking around 1 found it was equally as common
everywhere else— resting upon the grass, leaves, and flowers in my yard and
garden, as well as in meadows, ]iastures, and forests. ***** It
comes abroad about tlie 20tii of May, and continues about a fortnight. You
will readily recognize it by its commonness, and its white transparent wings ;
its body being Idack, clothed with soi't, white hairs. It is very sluggish,
moving around but little, and is easily picked up by the fingers. * * *

186

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[Chap. IL

On page 76i of tlie London Gardener^s Chronicle of the year 1844, is a val-
uable article of Kuricola, (J. O. Westwood), giving a full history of the
Btliio Murci, the European analogue of tlie one in question. ' It appears
tliese insects (unlike nio»t others of tlie family Tipulida3 to which they per-
tain) arc most pernicious, the larvse feeding upon the roots of plants, some-
times to sucli an extent as to cause them to wither and die. Iluricola states
that ihe larvie of the Merci, and other allied species of Bibio, are frequently
sent to iiini by gardeners, who find them to be mischievous in tlieir straw-
beri-y beds, vine borders, flower puts, and other situations where the soil
remains undisturbed during the autunm and spring.' And another writer,
Bouche, says ' that his bed of i-anunculuses was completely demolished, for
several successive years, by these worms eating the roots.' From these facts
every one will perceive that the robin, consuming, as you found it to do,
from one to two hundred of tliese Bibio larvie daily, during the month? of
March and April, has probably been ridding our gardens of these veruiin
every year hitherto ; thus rendering ns an important service, of which we
have been wholly unaware. * * * The larvte are gregarious ; living
together in swarms, and perforating the ground so that it resembles a honey-
comb.

' This is probably caused by the parent fly depositing her whole stock of
eggs in one spot, she being too lazy and slothful to wander about and dis-
tribute them in difl'erent places. Hence the robin, on finding one of these
worms, knows that there is a host of others at the same place, and thus re-
pairs to that spot, day after day, and gluts himself with them till the whole
colony is exterminated.'

To this extract I may be allowed to add, that my own observations, during
tlie past year, confirm the conclusions of Di-. Fitch respecting tliis larva in
every particular, having found its colonies in November, and observed the
fly in early summer. I may also here introduce an extract from a commu-
nication of a lady friend, under date of Oct. 7, 1S5S. She says : " On speak-
ing of your remarks concerning the food of the robin, at the Teachers' Asso-
ciation at Bridgewater, in Juno last, to my father, he told me of a little
circumstance which I thought just proved your statement. It was formerly
the custom to have a shooting match on election day in May. On such an
occasion in North Bridgewater, about the year 1S20, a great many birds
were killed, so many that a man bought them by the cart-load for the pur-
pose of enriching his land. In consequence, there Avas a great scarcity of
birds in tliat vicinity, and a great amount of grass land seemed to be injured,
but from what cause no one knew. The grass withered and turned dark-
colored, as though it liad been burnt, commencing in small tufts and spread-
ing in large circles." It would seem that the insect under consideration
would, growing undisturbed, produce precisely this result.

•1. During the month of May, the Bibio larvas entirely disappeared from
the gizzards, but up to the 21st of June, was replaced by a variety of insects
or worms only, including spidei-s, caterpillars, and beetles of the family

Seo. 11.]

BIRDS.

187

Elateridas, the parents of the well-known wire-worms, so destructive to corn
and various other seeds when committed to the ground.

The earth-worm I found to be a favorite food for tlie voung Lird, but
sparingly e:iiployed by the adult tor its own use.

5. From the date of June 21, I began to lind strawberries, cherries, and
pulpy fruit generally, but in a majority of the examinations intermingled
with insects, which led me to conclude that they were not fond of an exclu-
sively vegetable diet, but rather adopted it as a dessert, ami from the ease
of procuring it, particularly during the enervating season of molting. At
this season of the year, I discovered a marked difterence in the food of tlie
birds killed near or in the village, and those killed in tlie country at a dis-
tance from gardens and fruit-trees, the latter having less stone fruit and more
insects in their gizzards, which led mo to conclude that the robin is not an
extensive forager.

G. Tiie mixed diet of the robin seems to continue from the ripening of the
strawberries and clierries to October, tlie vegetable portion consisting, during
August and September, in great part of elderberries {Sambucus canadensis)
and pokebcrries {Phytolacca clecandra).

7. During the month of October the vegetable diet is wholly discarded,
and its place supplied by grasshoppers and orthopterous insects generally.

S. Early in November — the robin migrates southward — the few remaining
eking out a miserable existence, during liio winter months, on bayberries
{Myrica cerifiTa), privet hQwics {Ligustrujn vulgare), and juniper berries
iJunipcrus cmnmimis). "

Ilere is something further upon the food of robins : In the report of the
proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History in September, 1S5S,
we find an instructive paper from Prof. Treadwell, of Cambridge, giving a
detailed account of the feeding and growth of two American robins {Tardus
mignttonus, Linn.), during a period of 32 days, commencing from tlie 5th of
June.

"When caught, the two wore quite young, their tail feathers being less
than an inch lung, and the weight of eacli about 25 pennyweights — less tliaii
half the weight of the full-grown bird. Both were plump and vigorous, and
bad evidently been very recently turned out of tlic nest. lie began feeding
them witli earth-worms, giving three to each bird that night ; the second
day, he gave tiiein ten worms each, which they ate ravenously ; thinking
this beyond what their parents could naturally supply them with, he limited
them to this allowance. On the third day, he gave them eight worms each
in the forenoon ; but in the afternoon, he found one becoming feeble, and it
soon lost its strength, refused food, and died. On opening it, he found the
crdp, gizzard, and intestines entirely empty, and concluded, therefore, that it
luid died from want of sullicieut food, the etfect of hunger being perhaps
increased by cold, as the thermometer was about 00°. Tiie other bird, still
vigorous, ho put in a warmer ])lace and increased its food, giving it the third
day 15 worms, on the fourth day 2-i, ou tho lifth 25, on the sixth 30, and ou

188

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[Chap. II.

the seventli 31 worms. They seemed insufficient, and the bird appeared to
be losing plumpness and weight. He began then to weigh both the bird
and its food, antl tlie results were given in a tabular form. On the fifteenth
day, he tried a small (quantity of raw meat, and finding it readily eaten, in-
creased it gradually, to the exclusion of worms ; with it the bird ate a large
qiumtity of earth and gravel, and drank freely after eating. By the table,
it appears that thuugli the food was increased to 40 worms, weighing 20 dwt.
on the eleventh day the weight rather fell off; and it was not until the
fourteenth day, when lie ate GS worms, or 34 dwt., that he began to increase.
On this day the weight of tlie bird was 24 dwt. ; he therefore ate 41 percent.
more than his own weight in twelve houi-s, weighing after it 29 dwt., or 15
per cent, less than the food he had eaten in that time. The length of these
M-orms, if laid end to end, would be about fourteen feet, or ten times the
length of the intestines. To meet the objection that the earth-worm contains
but a small amount of nutritious matter, on the twenty-seventh day he was
fed exclusively on clear beef, in quantity 23 dwt. ; at night, the bird weighed
52 dwt. — but little more than twice the amount of flesh consumed durinsr the
day, not taking into account the water and earth swallowed."

A man eating in the same proportion woidd consume 70 lbs. of flesh and
five gallons of water. Four young robius would require, according to the
consumption of this bird, 250 worms, or their equivalent in insects or other
food, daily. After the thirty-second day the bird was fed for eighteen days
on an average of 15 dwt. of meat, two or three earth-worms, and a small
quantity of bread each day ; the whole being equal to 18 dwt. of beef, or
36 dwt. of earth-worms ; and it has continued to cat this amount to the
present time. The food M'as never passed undigested ; the excretions were
made up of gravel and dirt, and a small quantity of white semi-solid urine.

Every admirer of trees may derive from . these facts a lesson, showing the
immense power of birds to destroy the insects by which our trees, especially
our apples, elms, and lindens, are every few years stripped of their foliage,
and often many of them killed. The food of the robin, while with us, con-
sists principally of earth-worms, various insects, their larvre and eggs, and
a few cherries ; of worms and cherries they can procure but few, and those
during but a short period, and they are obliged therefore to subsist princi-
pally upon the great destroyers of leaves, canker-worms, and some other
kinds of caterpillars and bugs. If each robin, old and young, requires for
its support an amount of these equal to the weight consumed by this bird, it
is easy to see what a prodigious havoc a few hundreds of these must make
upon the insects of an orchard or a park. Is it not, then, to our advantage,
to purchase the service of the robins at the price of a few cherries ?

Speaking upon this paper, the editor of the Xewark (N. J.) Advertiser
says :

" There is so little knowledge of the habits of birds, and their ways and
means of gaining a living in the world, that an^-thing which promises to
produce better acquaintance with them ought to be generally made known.

Sec. 11.] BIRDS. 189

" It will be seen by tliis account, that quite a young robin died from
starvation, because it was allowed but eight or ten earth-worms a day. The
survivor was afterward treated more generously, and his fare was increased
from day to day, till he had for his dinner OS worms, or 34 dwt., though the
robin himself weighed only 2-i dwt., thus consuming in twelve hours 41 per-
cent, more than ids own weight.

" After the bird was fully grown, he continued to eat one third of his own
weight in clear flesh daily ! A man with such voracity (inferior, however,
we have seen to that of the young bird while growing) would have some
difficulty in finding board in any of our cities. But nature is not obliged to
go to market to sustain her children with comfortable food. This same
robin, if permitted to be free to satiate his prodigious appetite, not chiefly
on cherries or other fruits valued by man, but upon man's enemies, would
range himself on the side of man, and slaughter the numberless insects of
every variety which are destructive to his crops. Here we have reason to
be grateful for the prodigious appetite of the robin, and thank him for his
extraordinary gormandism. This guest at the tabic of nature is addressed
in very dill'erent language from guests generally. She says to liim. Will you
take something further ? pray don't spare, but help yourself to the spider, the
canker-worm, the. measurer, the caterpillar, grub, slug, and bug, and help
yourself also to a score or two of curculio's eggs. Thus, ' more the merrier' •
is the sentiment of nature's feast. How the insect tribe, and all the wicked
fry who infest our fruits and cereal crops, fall before the all-devouring robin !
Even the ugly bug that is said to infest and feed upon the tubers and tops
of the potatoes, producing thereby the blight or rot, might be exterminated,
if the robin and other birds were not destroyed or frightened away by boys,
(ir men as stupid or mischievous as boys.

" For what had been remarked of the voracity of the robin, is probably
true with respect to other birds. Men have but recently come to the knowl-
edge that they are the nujst efl'ectual protectors they can have of their fruits
and crops ; but nobody till now has been aware of the full extent of the
obligation they are under to even a few birds in consequence of their being
such enormous eaters. If their board costs them anything, they never could
be able to stand it. But it does not — only now and then a life or two among
them, taken by some rascal or vagabond, who should be their true benefac-
tors, for they are busy in the service of man."

This bird, the robin, is i)riil)ably known to nearly every one M-ho will
read this volume ; but wc will add the following short description :

The rul)in measures nine inches ami a half in leiigtii. His bill, which is
about an inch long, is strong, yellow, and dusky near the tip ; the liead, back
of the neck, and tail are black ; the back and rumji, ash color ; the throat
and upper part of the breast are black, the former streaked with white ; tho
whole of the rest of the breast down as far as the thighs is of a dark orange ;
belly and vent, white ; legs, dark brown ; claws, black and strong.

It builds a large nest, often on an apple-tree, which it plasters on tho

190 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [CniP. U.

inside with mud, and lines with liay or fine grass. The eggs are from four
to six, bhiish green, unspotted. Tliey feed on worms, insects, fruit, and
berries, especially those of the sour gum-tree {dfi/ssa syivatlca). AV^hen
fat, the robin is in considerable esteem for the table.

These birds are among our earliest songsters. Even in March, while the
snow yet mantles the fields and woodlands, he will mount a post or leafless
tree, and make an attempt at a song.

They are ornamental to every farm, and should be encouraged to build
their nests in every garden.

234. Birds Destroying Grasshoppers and Worms.— Last year, in the neigh-
borhood of Philadelphia, there was a swarming pest of grasshoppers. By-
and-by, when every one was at his wits' end to know what to do to get rid
of this scourge, there was a sudden appearance of immense flocks of plover,
which spread themselves over the fields, and devoured with avidity the
grasshoppers. Some of them have been shot to test the matter, and their
crops have been found full of grasshoppers. The ravages of the latter soon
cease wherever the flocks of plover appear, as the great number and voracity
of the birds render them more than a match for the insects. Up to this
visit of plover, the only relief from this calamity was the eagerness with which
the fowls devoured the grasshoppers. Turkeys, the most efficient adversaries
of these insects — because the largest and most active— have thriven wonder-
fully upon them. So have the ducks, geese, and chickens. . If farmers pre-
fer to be annually eaten up by insects, they will continue their insane war-
fare upon birds. On the contrary, let them be protected, and encouraged to
build their nests in the very windows of our dwellings, and see what myriads
of pests they will destroy !

In one of the years that I lived on the "Western prairies, there was an
irruption of greedy devourers of farm crops, known as the army worm,
coming from no one knows where, nor when to look for its march. It is
easy to trace it, however, after it has marched over a country, for it con-
sumes every leaf of grass and grain, wherever the army spreads itself.

Farmers sometimes plow a deep furrow around a field as the army
approaches, and this furrow will soon fill up with worms, which are crushed
by a log drawn over them ; repeating the operation every day. This is
troublesome, and not always efiective. In the year alluded to, the army
approached just at the time it would be destructive to the wheat crop, and
the owners of tlie most exposed farms were in sore trouble at the prospect
before them. For two days they looked on in dread. " One more day," they
said, " and we shall be swept." One more day came, and with it one of man's
best friends, the worm-eating birds. Lookint: out southward where the
worms were at work on the jjrairio grass, a black cloud was seen hovering
close to the ground. It was a cloud of blackbirds, coming up from their
great nesting-place in the Kankakee marshes, to feed on the worms. They
saved the wheat crop. It is true that this variety of birds, when they come
in great flocks into the grain-fields, are pests, but not half as bad as wonns

Seo. 11.] BIRDS. 191

and bugs would be if not destroyed. Besides, birds can be watched and
driven away from fields, where no efforts of man would serve to drive away
an army of worms, marching to destroy, nor prevent his farm from being
devastated by such a flight of grasslioppers as swept every green thing from
a portion of Minnesota a few years ago. Birds, then, in countless numbers,
will be found to be man's best friends.

235. The Sap-SuckcrSi — The name of " sap-sucker" has been given to a
very useful class of birds, under the erroneous impression that they sucked
the sap I'rom the fruit-trees, wlicro they are often seen, hour after hour,
clinging to the bole of an apple-tree, patiently drilling, drilling, drilling
their little bills through the bark, leaving it, sometimes, as full of holes as a
honey-comb. It is a slander upon these beautiful, busy little birds to sup-
pose tlieir object is to suck out the sap, and thus destroy the trees. To say
that the " sap-sucker" girdles apple-trees and destroys them, or taps tiio
Austrian and Scotch pines so as to cause them to bleed to death, we must
liave stronger proof than slipshod statements.

In argument against the birds, it has been stated that they have been shot

while in the very act of

"Tapping the hollow beech-tree,"

and their craws examined without finding a worm, and nothing but pieces
of bark, thus proving their object to be eating the bark, if not sucking the
6ai>, aiul that they were therefore very injurious to trees. These microscopic
examinations only prove what we have long believed, that the bird can not
always tell where the worm is that he wants, and so has to bore imtil he
finds him. It is not likely that he goes fur amiss, and probably liits him
oftener with the first hole than he fails. It is thought by many persons that
that troublesome little destroyer of fruit, the curculio, deposits its eggs in
the bark of trees, and that that is what the sap-suckei- is after. It is certain
that when sap-suckers abounded in our orchards, there was no complaint of
curculio. In our opinion, a perfectly healthy tree, free from insects, is never
attacked by any of the nut-liatch family — vidgarly called " sap-suckers."
We believe that, on the contrary, tliey are of essential service to man ; and
that it was one of tlic admirable provisions of nature, where everything
works on an even balance, until one scale is overloaded by man, that the
nut hatch should stand sentinel over the fruit-trees, and keep the pestiferous
insects from getting the balance of power..

"■!'.)('>. Do Birds I'at Boos ? — It has long been a mooted question whether the
birds known as "kingbirds" (the Mui^cicajja ttjrannus) destroy bees?
This bird has obtained his name from a sfjirit of boldness in attacking and
driving away birds of mucli larger size and power, enough to kill him at a
single stroke. lie has obtained the name of a destroyer of honey-bees, and
war to the death has been declared against Iiim, on the evidence of his bad
name, and, as we think, ^^ithout anything like a fair trial.

A few years ago we elicited a great deal of testimony upon this question.
One witness, Mr, Nathaniel M. Tobey, of Tompkins County, says ho is an

192 SM.VLL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. II.

old farmer, lias kept bees ten years, and always encouraged birds to make
their homes upon his preinisi.s. One season, observing two kingbirds ul)out
his hives, he was curious to know what they were after, aud ascertained to
his satisfaction that they caught bees on their return to the hire, not to eat
tliem bodily, but to disembowel them and despoil them of t!ie " honcy-saek."

He attributed the non-swaraiing of the bees to tliis pair of kingbirds, but
says his bees have never been molested since.

That the kingbirds caught Mr. Tobey's bees we have no doubt, since he
says lie saw tlie disemboweled carcasses under the trees where they alighted,
but that one single one of them was a worker we do doubt, and that a single
pair of kingbirds were the cause of the non-swarming of several liives of
bees, wc have no doubt upon the subject — we know it was not the case — it
would be a preposterous absurdity to believe such a wild tale. We do not
believe that all the kingbirds in the world ever destroyed a hive of working-
bees, and a man who will kill the innocent birds without better proof of
their guilt, than all that we have heard, is at heart a — bird murderer.

Other persons declared that they had often seen kingbirds catch bees, on
the wing, near the hive. This we do not doubt, because others have seen
the same thing, and have killed and dissected them and found bees in their
craws. But in every case where they were examined by persons competent
to decide, they have declared that none but drones were ever found. Upon
this point the instinct or observation of the bird is perfect ; and this may
have been one of nature's provisions, that these birds should bo assistants
of the workers, and not their destroyers. Certainly, until we have some
better evidence against the birds, we shall advocate their protection. Surely,
if they eat bees, they also eat other Hies, and if permitted to live and multi-
ply around our dwellings, might keep us free of a great many pestiferous
insects. If a bird can eat a stinging-bee with impunity, it can also eat a
wasp or hornet, and so destroy that family.

237. Swallows, Swills, an«l Martins. — In oiir boyhood, swallows were looked
upon as pests of the farm, or rather the barn, and war was often waged upon
them by the boys, with the countenance of those who should have been well
enough informed to teach them better. We hope the day is past when any
one would wantonly destroy these beautiful l)irds.

Iliritndo is the generic term applied to the class of birds comprised in the
several species of barn swallows, bank swallows, chimney swallows, and a
large, strong sort known as swifts, and the common martin, for which many
New England people are careful to provide boxes, which are often attached
to the dwellings. Their first appearance in spring is hailed with delight,
and the time of their coming often noted, so as to compare one year with
another. Although " one swallow does not make it spring," people have
learned to think that many never come until spring is fairly opened.

The Ilirundo family are all birds of passage. They go far south to win-
ter, and return with great regularity to their old haunts, to build their nests,
rear tlieir young, and catch flies, till autumn approaches, and then they are

Seo. 11.] BIRDS. 193

off. They cross tkc parallel of 40°, on their northern journey, about the
first of May.

The barn is often tenantless at night, and alive with the twitter of swal-
lows the next morning. To talk about their hyhernating iu the mud, or in
hollow trees, is simjjly ridicnlous. You might just as well e.xpect wild geese
to go down into the mud to winter, as for the swallows to do so.

Tlic ft>llowing description of some of the rare varieties of the Hh'undo we
found iu the C'ountnj Gentleman iiewspa])er, and thought it interesting:

"The Clifi', or Republican Swallow, Hlrundo lunifrous, or Il.fulva, is a
well-known swallow among farmers. Its crown and back are of steel bine,
belly white, length five inches, plus, and the stretch of the wings twelve
inches, plus. They formerly occujiied the cliffs of the liocky Mountains and
the fur countries. One of. the first records of their appearance in the States
was at Henderson, and Newport, Ky., on the banks of the Ohio, in 1815.
In 1817 they were observed at "Whitehall, N. Y., near Lake Cliamplain.
These birds are of social habits, building their nests in clusters, or near each
oilier. Yieillot observed one at sea, oil' Novn Scotia, long before this. They
have long been known iu that province. In ISIS, it is stated that they began
to build at Crawford's, near the base of the White Mountains. General
Dearborn saw their nest at AVinthrop, Me., in 1830 ; also in Gardiner.
The writer first saw them in "Worcester County, Mass., about 183S. Their
nests are arranged frequently along under the eaves of a barn, in the form
of a projecting retort, constructed of pellets of earth, with an internal lining
of dried grass, in which are laid four eggs. Their note is not a twitter, but,
according to Audubon, resembles in sound the rubbing of a moistened cork
in the neck of a glass bottle. AYithin a quarter of a century they have be-
come tlic favorites of many New England farmers.

"The Violet-green Swallow, Ilirundo thalassina, tail acutely emarginate;
back a soft, velvety green, shaded with purplish violet ; length five inches,
and the stretch of the wings twelve inches; is common in the liocky Mount-
ain region. They are the associates of the cliff swallow, just described,
their note being more like that of the barn swallow. Their nests resemble
those of the clifl" swallow, wanting, however, the pendulous neck. They
sometimes occupy the deserted nests of their associate species. They are not
connnon cast of the Mississippi River.

" The "White-bellied Swallow, Ilirundo hicolor, is of a glossy, metallic green
above, and wliite below ; hence its common name. Its length is si.x inches,
and the stretch of the wings is twelve and a half inches. It is not as com-
mon as the barn swallow, and is allied somewhat to the purple martin.
Their note is a shrill, lively, warbling twitter. They are usually the first
swallows that appear in the spring. They breed in some deserted liouse or
hollow tree. Tlicy use no mud in building their nests, which are lined with
feathers.

"Tlic Rough-winged Swallow, U'lriindo sern'pcnnis of Audubon, and Coii/le
sernpennis of Bonaparte ; color above a light, sooty brown, and beneath

IS

194: SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. II.

a wlntisli gray ; length live and a half inches, aud the stretch of the wings
twelve inches.

"Tiio Chimney Swift or Swallow, Jlirundo pdasgia of Linuajus, and C'/ue-
iurapcliiaijia of Stephens; color a sooty brown; length five inches; the stretch
of win^s twelve inches ; the tail is short and niucronate. They build their
nests frequently in chiiniieys, sometimes in hollow trees. They are small and
shallow, aud arc attached to the side of the chimney or tree by an.adlieslve
gum or mucilage secreted in the stomach of the architect. They feed their
young through the greater part of the night, as the writer has frequently ob-
served. The noise they make in passing down and up the chimney resembles
distant thunder.

" Vaux's Chimney Swift, or the Oregon Swift, resembles the one described
above; length three and a half to four and a half inches; stretch of the
wings ten inches, plus. This species is not rare on the "Western coast.

"Tlie swallow tribe are remarkable for their social habits, living generally
in colonies, constructing their nests together ; and when the season for mi-
gration arrives, they leave in large flocks. Tliey usually rear two broods or
more per pair during the summer. They frequent watery places or swampy
lands, ponds, etc., in pursuit of winged insects, which they take on the wing.
In fair weather fhey usually fly high in the air. As the air becomes less
dense, the insects fly nearer the earth, and the swallows skim near the sur-
foce of the earth or water, which prognosticates rain at hand. The number
of flies, gnats, etc., annually consumed by swallows exceeds all calculation.
Hence the truth of the observation of a farmer, whose barn-eaves had be-
neath them one connected line of diif swallows' nests : ' I am very glad to
have these birds here, for my cows and milkers are much less troubled with
gnats and flics than before these swallows came in such numbers.'

"Some farmers try, unwisely, to exclude swallows from their premises,
because, say they, ' these birds make dirty work.' Granted, but it is far less
troublesome and annoying than the insects of the kinds named, Avhich greatly
multiply in the absence of the swallows, swifts, and martins."

Barn swallows and martins are too M-idely known to make a description
of them interesting in this place. Children, however, should always have
an opportunity of seeing their portraits and reading their history in Audu-
bon or Wilson, as well as that of every other bird, and, by learning their
habits, judge which is and which is not beneficial to the farmer. Swallows
and martins would certainly not then be doomed to destruction. D. W. War-
ner, of Sharon Springs, N. Y., says :

" My father repeatedly attempted wheat-growing, but as often failed, the
weevil taking the whole crop, until a large colony of martins established
themselves under the eaves of the barn, since which time he has raised good
crops of spring wheat. The wheat has been grown within one hundred rods
of the barn. Query — Had the martins anything to do in preventing the
appearance of the weevil ?"

238. Skylarks and Imported Birds. — Several attempts have been made to

Sec. 11.] BIRDS. 195

iiitrotluce skylarks into tliis country. In February, 1S53, John Gorgas, of
"Wilniinyton, Del., received a lot of twenty, wliicli were kept confined until
the llitii of March, wiien they were set at liberty. Another lot of twenty-
two arris'ed April 18th, and were set at libert}' the next day. Tliis was
only twenty-two days from the time they were trapped in England. These
birds propagated in the neighborhood that season, and strong hopes were
entertained that the English skylark had been introduced permanently
info this country ; l)ut these hopes have not been realized. A letter
from Mr. Gorgas, in the summer of 1860, indicates that the birds have all
disappeared.

There was also another lot of skylarks imported, and liberated in Green-
wood Cemetery, on Long Island, in the spring of 1853, and still another lot
were set free in Washington city, at a later period ; but, so far as we can
learn, all of these birds have di^ap]>cared. This is greatly to be regretted ;
for besides the interest of their curious flight and song, they are great insect
destroyers. Their home is in the grass and grain fields, and their food in
summer is entirely composed of insects and worms that arc pests to the
farmer. In Europe they inhabit a wide range of latitude, feeding in winter
upon seeds of grass and weeds, and, if located too far north, making a short
migration to a milder clime. It can not lie owing to the cold that they do
not succeed here ; but it is not improbable tliat the cold has prompted them
to move southward, and they have not felt disposed to retnrn. "We still hoi)C
the skylark will have its homo with ns, as common as in England, where it
is so noted as a song-bird. Its flight skyward is also very curious. It as-
cends perpendicularly, as though it screwed itself through the air, nntil
quite out of sight, and after a little descends in the same way. The skylark
in Europe is a fine table luxury, notwithstanding they afford but half an
ounce each of meat to the epicure. Vast numbers of just as diminutive
birds are sacrificed upon the epicurean tables of all our large cities in the
United States.

To those who may take an interest in the importation of birds, the follow-
ing account will be useful, as given by Mr. AV. Brodie, of his successful
transjiortation of English pheasants, gold pheasants, and partridges from
England to New Zealand. lie says :

''I left the St. Katherine's Dock with thirty-six pheasants and partridges
on board, and after a long and most disagreeable voyage of 2G1 days, landed
in Auckland, New Zealand, with the same number as I had left England
with. It is a pastime to cabin passengers going a long voyage to Jiave some
occupation to break the monotony of 8liij)board imprisonment. I therefore
looked after my own birds, cleaned them out every morning, gave them
fresh red gravel (coarse) every other day, supplied them bountifully with
fresh water (not water caught on deck after a heavy rain, ns there is a cer-
tain quantity of tar in it), never allowed thetn a fresh-water bath, fed them
with buckwheat, wheat, canary-seed, and hemp-seed alternately, week and
week about, kept them in wicker cages made on purpose, three feet long,

196 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [CnAr. IL

two feet wide, and one foot higli, and padded the top inside the lids of the
ca<»es, to protect their lieads.

" These birds were kept on deck the wliole of the voyage, with a painted
canvas cover to protect them from the salt water in bad weather. Ileace
my success. Tiio increase of my birds has amounted to tens of thousands.
In the northern part of jS'ew ZuaUind they breed twice a year, and they have
stocked the province of Auckland, 200 miles distant from the point where
they were first sent adrift, wliich was upon one of my estates, near the Nortli
Cape of New Zealand. In the early ]iart of 1859 I sent out 400 house and
hedge sparrows and yellow-hammers to Auckland ; and I hope in September
to send out 400 singing birds to the same port gratuitously. Birds should
not be sent out between March and September; those sent in April or May
are sure to pino away and die, it being their pairing season."

By pursuing the course adopted by Mr. Brodlc, wc might have some of
the most rare birds of California brought to the Atlantic States, with un-
doubted profit to the importer.

239. Laws for the Protoctlou of Birds.— The State of Xew York has liad
what is called a "game law" for a good many years; but it was a law for
the protection of a class of men and boys who, without any claim to the
title, called themselves "sportsmen" — such sportsmen as would shoot a
robin-red-breast on her nest, or an imported skylark in the midst of his song.
The law was only incidentally beneficial to farmers, so far as it protected
game birds, tlie most of which are great insect-eaters. There is not a farmer
in all tlie old States that can afford to have a quail killed upon his farm, if
he was paid a dollar a head. Tliis species of wild bird would be semi-
domesticated, if man would allow it to be so. We have seen them so gentle
tliat they often cane around the barn for food in winter, and only walked
slowly away at the approach of man. At such a time we would not kill one
for ten times its value as food. All the past summer we had the deliglit of
knowing that a pair of these beautiful birds were safely rearing their young
only a few rods from our home. Often, as we walked about the little farm,
they were seen dodging along some path, or between the corn-rows, or into
the shelter of the grass or shrubbery. Then, with what sweet satisfaction
we listened to " Bob "White," sitting upon the wall, telling us almost imer-
ringly of the approach of "more wet!"'

An Blinois farmer declares that a flock of quails made him a crop of corn,
having voluntarily taken upon themselves to rid the field of cut-worms. " I
never," says he, " can again consent to the destruction of these valuable
birds. I used to shoot and traj) them, but I was ignorant of their value on
the farm.

A neighbor of ours, a true sportsman, said to us, the other day: "I have
done shooting quails. I used to think it real sport to wing these beautiful
birds ; and the temptation to do so was enhanced by the delicious food they
aflford. I really think that I never shall shoot another quail in my life."

In answer to our " Why ?" he said :

Pkc. 11.] BIRDS. 197

" I liad never studied their iiisfory, and the nature of their liabits, and
character of their food, until this season. I was incited to do tliis from
meeting with a pair of the birds every time I walked over a certain portion'
of the fariii. They were ahnost as gentle as the fowls in the door-yard, and
frequently I noticed them so busily engaged picking up worms in the corn-
field, that it led uie iuto a train of thought and study that has taught me
not to kill (quails. A few days ago I saw my pets — for such I had come to
regard thera — with sixteen young ones, each nearly as large as its parent.
If I could guard that flock from the depredation of idle boys, no money
would buy them. Why, wliat useful as well as interesting birds they are !
"We want stringent laws, well enforced, to protect quails."

Yes, but, most of all, we want information for Airmcrs of their value.

The following arc the penalties of the Xew York Game Law, passed April
14, 18G0:

It is $25 fine to kill a deer in tlie first seven months of the year.

It is $2 fine to kill a woodcock between January 1 and Julj- 4 ; or a par-
tridge (ruffled grouse) between January 15 and September 1 ; or a quail be-
tween January 1 and October 15 ; or any wild duck between February 1
and August 1.

It is 810 fine to kill a prairie fowl, or pinnated grouse, at any time within
five years.

It is $10 fine to trap pr snare quail or grouse.

It is 50 cents fine to kill, trap, or snare a nightingale, night-hawk, blue-
bird, yellow-bird, oriole, finch, thrush, lark, sparrow, wren, martin, swallow,
woodpecker, or any other harmless Ijird, at any time; and bobolinks and
robins only between February 1 and October 1.

It is $5 fine to catch brook or lake trout, or muscalongc, between Septem-
ber 1 and March 1 ; and it is $2 fine to catch them in any way but by a hook
and line.

It is $5 fine for any person to enter the premises of another with fire-anus,
or other hunting or fishing implements, with the intent of using them ; and
if he enters upon a cultivated field, orchard, or garden, or where crops are
growing, in pursuit of game, without the consent of the owner, he is finable
$10 for each oft'ense.

Sucli is the law now in force in this State. Let all who are interested see
that it is made efl'ectual. The dilliculty in the way of its enforcement is a
very lax state of morals among the ])coplc, many of whom consider birds
free iiluiidcr; and tlu-y have so long enjnyed tlie privilege of rambling over
everybody's laud, as freely as thougii tiiey owned it, that it is hard to con-
vince them that they do not. The contrary can never be taugiit in courts,
nor by fines and ])risons; it must bo taught in our common schools and
around the t'armer's fireside.

New Jersey has a good law ujion lier statute book for the protection of
small birds. It is diflictdt of enforcement, because the mass of people have
been educated to look upon all birds as noxious, or else worthy of destruc-

198 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. Ij.

tion for food, nnd of no other value. They do not even look upon poultry
in liny other light. Yet the truth is, poultry is worth ten times as much to
the farmer for the work of destruction it does upon his pests, as it is for the
food it aftbrds him. It is just so witli game birds ; and if the ownei-s of land
well situated for game preserves were able to preserve the birds, the culti-
vated portions might be benefited, and the owners could make the keeping
of wild birds as profitable as tame ones.

From time to time laws have been devised and statutes enacted for the
preservation of game; but until recently such legislation lias been originated
by the wealthy men of cities, the men of the educated and leisure classes of tlie
community, the consumers and killers, not the feeders and possessors, of the
game or the owners of the acres. This has generally given to these statutes
tlie appearance, though in no degree the reality, of partaking of the odious
character of class legislation ; of being enacted for the benefit of the rich
against the poor, the proud against the humble, the men of leisure against
the men of labor. The farmers, who knew little and cared less for the game
which ran wild in their woods, fluttered in their tangled swamps, or screamed
over their boggy morasses, did not conceive how it coiild have any real value
in the eyes of any rational being ; regarded all legislation forbidding its
slaughter, except at stated periods, as a device cunningly framed for depriv-
ing theni of their own natural and indefeasible rights, and for giving amuse-
ment and gratification to finely-dressed, flashy strangers from the towns,
who came periodically into country places to break down fences, tramj^lo
under foot growing crops, and kill the game reared on the farmer's land,
which was, in its very nature, and from the mode of killing it, useless to the
farmer himself. In a word, they looked upon the Game Laws as an offensive,
aristocratic, unrepublican, European invention ; a sort of scheme for making
the rich richer, and the poor poorer — an idea sedulously encouraged by all
the brawling foreigners and pot-house village loafers, who, too lazy to work,
found their own profit in poaching a few starveling parent birds on the
nests, or half-grown fledgeling young fry on other men's lands, which they
miglit traffic or track away to railway conductors and stage-coacli drivers,
for transmission to the eating-houses of the cities.

Gradually, however, they — the farmers, we mean — have come to open
their eyes on this question. The fearful increase of insect life, the prodigious
deterioration of the crops of all kinds, the threatened utter extinction of
some of the most valuable American staples in the very localities of whicli
they were formerly the pride and boast — as, for instance, the wheat ciop of
tlie famous Genesee A^alley, where it is already questionable, from the yearly
aggravated ravages of the Hessian-fly and the weevil, whether it is any
longer profitable, or perhaps prudent, to sow wheat — have forced them to
perceive that this growth and superabundance, daily and hourly aggravated
and exaggerated, of insect pests is to be attributed wholly to the unprece-
dented destruction of small birds. At the same time, the vast and hourly-
increasing demand for game in the large cities, the immense freights and

Sec. 11. J BIRDS. 199

cargoes of wild animals sent down yearly, so soon as cold weather allows its
safe transportation by express companies and railroad cars — immense, yet
still inadequate to meet the cull of the markets, althouj^h the illimitable
West is fast suffering depletion, and is in some States legislating against ex-
portation— have quickened the perception of agriculturists to the fact, that
if game be worth as much ninncy in the market as poultry, or more, and can
be raised at no cost and less than no trouble, it is better to have the woods,
wliic'li they necessarily keep up as timber lots, the hill-sides, which are too
craggy and sterile of soil to rear anything but brambles and ferns, and the
morasses, which it would be too costly to drain, swarming with profitable
wild animals, than waste and unprofitable ; and to the other fact, that if
money is to be made by killing game on their lands, it is as well at least, if
not better, to make it themselves, and to go on making it, year after year,
by maintaining a sufficient breeding stock, as to suffer it to be made out of
their pockets by every landless, shiftless vagabond who chooses to stampede
every head of game out of every farm, and who has no earthly reason or
inducements why he should not kill as speedily as possible the goose which
lays the golden eggs — seeing that the goose, if slain by himself, is clearly
/(«, while the eggs, infuturo, may fall to the lot of any other Tom, Dick, or
Harry of his own reputable or disrei)utable order.

The farmers and land-owners being thus convinced of the loss directly
attributable to the killing of small birds at all, at any season, and of the great
gain certainly attainable by the protection of the game during the breeding
seasons, have of late, in many States and counties of States, procured statutes
to be passed for the preservation, absolutely and at all times, of certain
innoxious and useful small birds. l>ut all tiiese statutes have defects, besides
the one alluded to — the lack of proper instruction to the children.

It is a defect in our State law that no penalty is provided sufficient to
prevent hunting all the jniblic highways, or other public grounds, and the
penalty for entering your premises is quite inadequate to tiieir protection,
because you can not afford to procure testimony, and hire attorneys to pros-
cculc a fellow who will verify the adage of " sue a beggar and catch a louse."

The statutes in question are not asked or enacted for the defense of ju-ivate
rights of private individuals, though they may defend them incidentally,
but for that of the community at large, to wiiich the .safety of crops and the
greatest possible suj)ply of loud df all kinds in the market, at the lowest jms-
sible rates, are incontestably benefits. Therefore the community has not
only a right, but it is its especial duty to enforce the same protection and
preservation of the same animals on its own possessions — that is to say, on
the highways, wastes, commons, and all other unoccupied lands or waters of
which the ])ul)lic are the guardians and occupants — as it commands on the
private i.intls nf individuals from Inspassers.

So convinced are the scicntitic agriculturists of France of the importance
of raising all those species of wild animals which are natural, indigenous,
or capable of being acclimated and naturalized to the waste lands, of which

200

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[CnAP. II.

there are many hundreds of thousands of acres, utterly unsuited to any other
sort of culture or stocking, that there is an important department in the
National Agricultural Society of that great and enlightened nation, the solo
duty of wiiich is to superintend the reproduction on the waste lands and
waters of France of the native species of game which have gradually become
e.\tinet ; to promote the introduction on the same lands of such foreign wild
animals, valuable for food, as may appear to be suited, by their habits and
the character of the climates to which they originally belonged, for naturaliza-
tion in France ; and, lastlj-, to encourage and enforce, by means of premiums
for success and stringent protective legislation, the maintenance of such
stocks of game, both quadruped and winged, as shall realize to tlie ])ropri-
ctors and to the state an abundant return of nutritious and cheap food from
lands nntillable, unfitted for pasturage, and in fact worthless for any purpose
but that of raising game.

At the same time we, in America, arc suffering our infinitely larger
number of um-eclaimed — if not irreclaimable — acres, which formerly swarmed
with animal life, and afforded supplies, a few years ago supposed to be
inexhaustible, of the choicest varieties of game, to be strii^ped of the last fin,
the last hoof or pad, the last feather of the wild tribes, unequaled elsewhere,
both in quality and quantity, wiiieh at the time of its discovery rendered
America the paradise of Kinn-ods; so that the woods, the fens, the waters
are indeed fast becoming uttorl}' barren, useless, and unprofitable wastes.
• It is certain that the fact of any farm being well stocked with game is not,
in any possible point of view, a disadvantage, even if their value, whether
as an article of food or as an object of pleasurable and healthful pursuit be
entirely set aside, since the actual ])rofit consequent on their subsistence is
gi-cater than the loss from tiie grain which a few of the varieties consume.
Besides the insects, many of the game birds are great consumers of weed
seeds. The prairie-hens, where they exist in large numbers, do depredate
upon corn-fields and stacks of grain ; but even there, it is not a very severe tax
to feed them ; and we think that farmers could make the preservation of
birds profitable.

It may be assumed, as a reasonable average, that every former who owns
and cultivates a hundred acres of arable land, with from fifty to a hundred
of meadow land and pasture, and an equal quantity of woodland, if he
ciioose to protect and preserve them, especially if he takes the trouble to
erect a few little shelter huts of brushwood and fern in his woodskirts, and
to bait them in hard weather with a few bushels of buckwheat, in a good
game district where the winters are not too severe, may winter from ten to
twenty brace of quail, which may be expected to raise from fifteen to thirty
bevies of birds. Each bevy will probably average fifteen birds, which gives
a yield of from seventy-five to one hundred brace of quail, to be killed and
Ecnt to market in the late autumn or early winter, with the butter, buck-
wheat, fat turkeys, and other jn-oduce of the farm. These birds will average
twenty-five cents a brace in ordinary seasons, and when game is scarce or

6ec. 11.] BIRDS. 201

for any reason there is an unusual demand, an increased price. To this may
he added, if it he a rufled grouse country, two or three broods of these
liardy, bold, and delicate birds, wliieli rarely produce fewer than twelve and
thence u[)ward to sixteen poults, so that the landholder may reckon on his
fifteen to twenty brace of rufied grouse at seventy-live cents a brace, and on
his thirty or forty rabbits, at a dime a head. Here is a profit of perhaps
fifty dollars per annum, arising from no expenditure, from no investment of
cajiital, and involving as a consequence, several days or hours of pleasant
exorcise and amusement in lieu of labor, for the purpose of rendering it
marketable. On snipe grounds and countries adapted to woodcock, the
profits are yet more enormous.

The number of woodcock to be killed annually on any given piece of
ground is never so great as that of snipe, since the birds killed in the early
part of the season consist of those bred oa the ground itself on which they
arc shot, which is of course a limited number, although the autumnal fiights,
which come in successively, are those bred in the uncultivated wastes far to
the northward. Yet even of these, there are numerous localities, especially
in parts of the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Michigan, and other Western States, which might be counted on as sure to
furnish ten woodcock to the acre in each season, at twenty-five cents the bird.

It can hardly be doubted that by the system of game protecting, without
expending a dollar, every owner farming from 100 to 200 acres of land in a
country well adapted for game — and there is but little country in any of the
Northern, Western, or Middle States Avhich is nut adapted to it — can add
from $50 to $200, and in some instances a much larger sum to his annual
incotne. If he liave trout-streams, and the facility of making a chain of
small trout-ponds, as may be easily done in every deep glen watered by a
rapid brook, instead of suflering them to be weired and netted by all the
vagabonds of the country side, he might make thousands more easily than
by his poultry -yard or sheep-fold, and at far less cost.

With these facts before them, it is for the farmers themselves to consider
whether game-laws are the obnoxious things that demagogues have taught
them to believe. Is it not rather worth their while to insist upon the
enactment, and strict observance of such laws as will protect their own
interests, and aflord them such additions to their income as we have bricfiy
hinted at.

2-JrO. Sendiii; Wild Pii^eons (o .Marketi— The Eigle, newspaper, printed at
Grand liapids, Michigan, ])ul)lisliod an article in the spring of ISOU, about
the pigeon trade. There liad been at that time shipiied from that village
5S8 barrels of wild pigeons— equal to 108,555 lbs. The express freight on
this quantity at three cents a pound, would be $3,25G C5. If sold at twenty
cents a pound, they would bring $l'1,711. It was estimated that the west
part of Michigan had sent two millions of wild pigeons to market in one
season. This great number can easily be understood by those who are
acquainted with the manner in which these birds flock together. To one

202 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL

who has never seen a pigeon-roost or a nesting-place, the trutli will seem
almost as fabulous as the tales of Sinbatl the sailor. Yet it is far within the
bounds of truth to say that we have seen many millions of wild pigeons at
once, or at least as soon as wc could direct our eyes upon them. We have
seen them on theii* evening flight toward the roosting-place, in one unbroken
flock, two miles wide, and two hours' continuance. AVe have ridden two
hours in a straight line tlu'ough a pigeou-roost at least seven miles wide.
We have seen upon a single beech-tree many wagon-loads. At one time a
little section of the main flock got belated in reaching the roosting-place,
and settled in a heavy beech wood near our house in Indiana, and: the noise
tlicy made resembled a terrific tornado ; and they piled on to the trees in
such numbers that all the weak limbs were broken ofl', and hundreds of
largo trees, such as stood leaning, and were weak at the roots, were entirely
broken down. We spent hours of the evening in that temporary roost,
witnessing thi.ir operations, and trying to imagine the vastness of the mul-
titude. There is great danger in visiting siich a roost, from the falling
timber. In one long occupied, fill that is liable to break has been prostrated,
and there is less danger, so there is less commotion. They often sit so low,
and remain so quiet, that you may approach near enough to kill half a score
at a blow. A charge of shot sent into a full tree brings down a great
number. When they alight upon a tree that breaks under the mass, they
fly and light upon the backs of others already loading a tree all it can bear,
and so the additional weight perhaps produces a second crash, and sometimes
crash after crash, almost without cessation. That M'as the case upon the
evening mentioned. The breaking commenced at dusk, when they began
alighting, and continued imtil we left at midnight. In the morning about
two hundred acres were literally covered with broken timber.

A pigeon nesting-place is a still greater curiosity than a pigeon-roost. It
covers hundreds of acres of dense forest, and every tree is covered with nests
almost as closely as the birds can build them, by laying a few loose twigs
together among the branches. It is an easy matter to load a wagon with
squabs. Often they fall out of the frail nests, and fall a prey to wild animals
and wood hogs. Audubon gives a very truthful picture of the immense
numbers of wild pigeons in the great West. To us it is the more interest-
ing, because we know it to be true.

Those who have read Audubon, or others who have written accounts of
pigeon-roosts, and can believe the truth, will be able to realize the extent of
the trade we have spoken of.

Having now, we hope, said enough about birds to create an interest in
their behalf, and induce a study of their character, and their value to the
farmer, we shall leave the subject for another, which, though about small
things, is of great importance to all om- readers.

Sec. 12.]

ENTOMOLOGICAL.

203

SECTION XII.-ENTO:\rOLOGICAL

/liat arc Insecls ? — The term is applied to all, or nearly
all, tlie family of bugs, worms, flies, -wa-sps, mollis,
millers, and small creeping things that infest a farm,
and all are generally ranked as pests, though erro-
neously, as we will show by-and-by, some of them
being highly beneficial.

The word insect comes from two Latin words,
signifj'ing cut into, or notched ; and the body of a
perfect insect, as a wasp, is cut into and divided into
three distinct segments — tlie head, thorax, and abdo-
men, with two or three pairs of legs, and one or two
pairs of wings, and it breathes through holes in the
sides of the body. Insects commence life in eggs,
which hatch into worms or larva?, such as maggots
or caterpillars, and these, after doing immense mis-
chief, as in that state they are voracious gormandizers, undergo transforma-
tion to the pupa or chrysalis state, and from that to the bug or butterfly
form, during which the eggs are laid in such vast numbers, that the species
are propagated so rapidly that the art of man seems insufficient to stay their
ravages, if of a ravaging breed, and hence he must look to natural aids. It
is for this that we have advocated protection to birds, because they are great
insect destroyers. Pestiferous insects also have several other natural ene-
mies, which must be studied and protected by farmers.

Besides what arc considered and treated of in natural history as perfect
insects, there arc a great many sorts that come under the general name of
insect that do not answer the above deflnition, such as some of the aphis, or
plant-lice family, the striped and other bugs, and various worms. Some of
the latter — for instance, the earth-worm, or angler's worm — arc thought to
be beneficial to soil. We think, rather, it could bo made more benetieial iu
its death than in its life. Anything, such as salt, lime, potash, ammonia,
that would kill all the earth-worms, would add all the animal matter of their
bod}' to the soil's fertility.

We can not go into a general examination of entomology, though we do
earnestly advise a study of the science by all farmers, who arc, above all
other classes of the community, most in want of knowledge of insects, and
liiiw to distinguish between those that are pests and those that are harmless,
or, perhaps, actual destroyers of those that arc devastating our orchanls, gar-
dens, and graiu-tields. Of a few of these Ave shall give correct ]>icturc8,
with brief liints about their character, depredations, and such preventives as
have been tried ami j)roved valuable f>r useless.

The great dillieulty with the numagement of the greatest pests is their

204 SHALL ANDtALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. II.

dimimitii-c size. Tlie groat destro^-crs of wheat, the midge, Ilcssian-fly, and
joint-worm, are so minute tliat a microscope is needed for their examination.
It is tiie same witli tlie aphis tribe, and what is called the "scale insect,"'
which cover the limbs of fruit-trees like a second bark, until millions of
mouths, although very diminutive, suck away the life of the tree. Neither
man nor bird notices these minute destroyers until it is too late to stop their
ravages.

Kow let us look at M-hat some of these insect jicsts do to the farmer's
crops. As cotton is considered the great American staple, and as America
is, above all competition, the land of insects, we will first enumerate the cot-
ton destroyers found upon that plant In' that indefatigable student of ento-
mology, Townend Glover, wlio was employed by the Patent Oliice to collect
information upon the subject.

242. Insects Infesting the foUon-Plant. — A species of cantharides, similar
to the striped potato lly, feeds upon the nectar or pollen, and sometimes eats
the petals of the flowere. These are injurious, and several others found in
the flowers did not a])i)ear to be so.

A leaf beetle eats holes in the petals, and, some say, injures the bolls. A
largo, green, thorny, poisonous caterpillar damages the foliage in August
and September. It also attacks Indian corn. If handled incautiously, its
spines inflict jxiinful wounds. This large worm is in strong contrast with the
diminutive cotton-louse, which destroys the young plant in wet seasons.

The boll-worm, however, is the great destroyer. Their presence in a cot-
ton-field is indicated by the great number of young bolls fallen to the ground,
after the inside has been eaten out. Before it falls, the worm crawls out and
attacks others, which in turn fall ; and if the worms are numerous, all the
bolls may be destroyed, just as all the plums of a tree are destroyed by
curculio.

A small green caterpillar feeds upon and rolls itself in the leaves of the
cotton plant; and a solitary hairy caterpillar, of a yellowish color, eats the
leaves; and a green, smooth-skinned one feeds upon the blossoms ; and also
several very slendei', brownish span-worms. A small beetle, of a greenish,
metallic color, barred with dirty cream-color, often seen in the holes made
by boll-worms, is not thought a destroyer. It only follows in the path of
insects that do destroy.

Various other small insects arc found on the plant, but it is not certain
that they are destructive, while several are well ascertained to be highly
beneficial to the cotton-planter. Among these we enumerate the lady-bird
{CoccineUa), which, both in the larva and perfect state, devours myriads of
cotton-lice.

The planter and overseer should learn to distinguish these from noxious
insects, and instruct their hands to protect them.

The larva of the bee-winged fly also destroj's lice, and ichneumon flies de-
posit eggs in their bodies.

Tiger beetles {Cicindella) are also destroyers of the noxious insects. Ants

Seo. 12.J ENTOMOLOGICAL. 205

climb the cotton-stalks to feed upon aphis, and not upon tlie jjlant. Sjjiders,
too, catch moths in their nets, and also seize and devour other insects. The
great aim should be to learn which of all the insects found in the cotton-field
are friends, and which foes.

The boll-worm, and the one which is some seasons so destructive to Indian
corn in tiie milk, are declared by some, upon pretty good authority, to be
identical. The chrysalis is of a bright chestnut brown ; the moths, a tawny
yellow color. The upper wings yellowish, shawled with green or red, in some,
with a dark band, and crescent-shaped mark near the center of the wing.
The under wings are lighter colored, bordered with black.

To prevent depredations from the boll-worm, it is recommended to light
fires around the field at night, to attract the moths when they begin. to make
their appearance. Doubtless many will be attracted to the light and de-
ftroyed. They have also been destroyed by jilaciug plates upon stakes set
among the cotton, in which about half a gill of vinegar and molasses is
placed, mixed, four of vinegar to one of molasses. This attracts the moth,
which perishes in the mixture. This kind of moth-trap requires a good d-eal
of labor, for the plates must be visited every evening and replenished, while
the moths last. Tlie same plan will be found a good one to catch other
moths than those which infest cotton. •

243. Insects Destructive to ludian Corn and Wheat. — ^The insect which cats
info the grains of Indian com is not only a destructive one, but when it in-
fests tlie ears that are wanted for cooking in their green state, it is trouble-
some and disgustingly ofi'ensive. It only feeds while the corn is in the
" roasting car" condition. At first it is so small as to be almost impercept-
ible, and doubtless many a one gets between the teeth of the eater of early
green corn, even in this city, for here we have seen a great many marks of
their ravages. It is, however, much worse at the South. Sheltered under
the husk, it eats voraciously, and increases in size rapidly, until about an
inch long. Some are brown, some green, some striped. In fact, there is no
uniformity in color. The body is sparingly clothetl with short hairs, rising
from black spots or warts. The worm leaves the ear and goes into the
[rround to undergo its transformation.

If farmers, particularly Northern ones, would watch the first appearance
of these insects, and try to destroj' the moths, they might save themselves
much loss in tlie future, for all insects of this kind are wonderfully prolific.
Tiicrc is an ichneumon fly which j)reys upon this insect, and the habits of
that fly should be studied, and, if possible, the family increased. Uirds, too,
are fond of this species of worms ; probably because the food it fattens upon
makes sweet morsels for their palates.

The destruction of the grains of corn eaten by this worm is only a part of
tlie damage that ensues. Tlie grains eaten are upon the small end of the ear,
and here grows a fungus, which often destro^'s the ear. It also oftentimes
art'ords a secure harbor tor other insects, which destroy what the worms have
left. The corn-worm docs more damage in dry seasons than wet ones, owing

20t; SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. II.

to the fact that the silk grows irregularly, or continues longer green, and the
worms often eat off the silk before the kernel is fructified.

Another insect infesting Indian corn at the South is called Si/lvanus
quadricoUis — a diminutive beetle, which hides between the grains, and
loosens them from the cob, devouring the germ first, and then the Avhite
starchy part of the kernel. These insects sometimes exist in vast numbers,
and are then very destructive. Sometimes they destroy the germ in such a
way that its absence is imperceptible, and that causes disappointment when
it is planted as seed. Kiln-drying is recommended when the corn is to be
used for food, but not for seed. Quick-lime is recommended, strewed among
the ears of corn in the crib. If put up with husks on, salt has proved
beneficial.

There is another insect that troubles corn in the Southern States — the
corn-borer. Tliis is called a bill-bug, or corn-borer. It bores into the stalk
just at the surface of the earth, and deposits its eggs. The grub eats the sub-
stance of the stalk, aiul the transformation takes place in the cavity eaten
out, where the puj^a remains till spring, and then comes forth a beetle, in its
turn to deposit eggs in the young corn.

These insects have been very destructive in Alabama and several other
Southern States, and, like many other pests, may gradually become acclimated
farther and farther north, till all the corn-growing region is infested. Farmers
should be on the look-out for these " borers," and also bear in mind that the
best remedy yet found is to pull up all corn-stalks, after harvest, and pile
and burn them. These insects are usually most troublesome in swamp lands.

The larva of the angoumas moth is very destructive to corn, as well ns
wheat and other cereals, when s(ored ; and in the South, in the open field.
The grub is one fourth inch long in corn, and less in wheat. It spins a
cocoon in the cavity eaten out when it goes into the pupa state. From a
small round hole previously made, it emerges a moth, with long, narrow
wings, of a yellowish gray color, of satin-like luster, -fringed with long hairs.
The insects grown in maize are larger, though identical with the wheat in-
sects. This insect is not confined to warm latitudes, but is more troublesome
there than farther north. We have seen the moths swarming in myriads
about corn-houses and around wheat-stacks. The female lays from sixty to
ninety eggs, which hatch into minute white worms in four to six days, each
one of which makes a lodgment in a grain of corn, where it eats, and ma-
tures in three weeks ; so that two sets mature in one season, the pupa of the
second growth remaining in the grain till spring.

It is said that this insect was first observed in North Carolina, about forty
years ago. Tliey M-ill fly into a candle sometimes, in a granary, in such
numbers as to extinguish the light, and doubtless could be destroyed by fire
to a great extent. Smear a cask with one head, on the inside, with tar or
molasses, and place a light in it, and you will catch quantities of the moths.

Where they abound, it is advisable to store corn unhusked ; and salt is
also useful, sprinkled in as the corn is put in the crib, just as hay is salted.

8ko. 12.]

ENTOMOLOGICAL.

207

We know places where this insect is so troublesome to farmers, that it is only
by great care that the}' can keep corn or wheat over from one crop to an-
other. In west Tennessee and northwest Mississippi they are excessively
annoying.

Several remedies have been tried, with success in some cases and failure
in others, under apparently the same circumstances. We will name some
of them. After the grain is thorouglily cleaned, spread it upon white sheets,
of boards, or a tin roof, or, if convenient, a flat rock is better than either,
and some use a clay floor, and let it lie in the sun until it gets hot, and then
put it up in tight casks. Kiln-drying at 176'^ kills the insect and the germi-
nating power of the corn at the same time. If grain is placed in tight casks,
and the gas arising from burning charcoal conveyed to it by a tube, which
may be iron next the fire, and flexible tube next the cask, for convenience, so
as to fumigate the grain, the insect is destroyed without injury to the germ.
An infusion of the fumes of chloroform will kill these or any other insects
in a close vessel. Even a few drops put in a bottle with insects, corked up,
deprives them of life directly. It will not, however, destroy eggs, as the
heating of the corn does. Ileating it, by piling it up damp, has been prac-
ticed ; but care must be taken, if tiiis is practiced, that it does not overheat
and get musty. If it docs, it should be washed before grinding.

Lime has been effectively tried, entirely preventing the ravages of the
insect, by storing the grain, ready prepared for the mill, in tight casks or
bins, and covering by sifting over tlie top an inch or two deep of finely-
powdered lime. Whenever the grain is wanted for the mill, run it through
the winnowing machine, and blow out the lime. A trifle will adhere to tlie
furze of the kernels, but it does no harm — it is rather beneficial to the flour
or meal.

244. The Rice WceviL^This is another pestiferous insect, which not only
destroys rice, but attacks other grain upon the upland portion of a rice
plantation. This weevil {Calandra orysce) resembles the one whose ravages
we have noticed in 243, which is the Cdlandm granaria. All true weevils
are beetles, with long snouts, and only dLi)redatc upon dry grain.

;Many of us consumers of rice have seen the rice weevil, which has
liatched out of eggs deposited by the female parent, one in each grain,
wlierc it hatches, and the young larva eats out all the substance, making
food of its habitation. By-and-by the weevil comes out, and the sexes meet,
and the female deposits its eggs in sound grains, and so on until all aro
destroyed.

When very plenty in rice, it makes anything b^it a savory dish. It is the
same with wheat. SVe have eaten bread that tasted Jis though wo had about
an even mixture of bread and meat. " Weevilly flour," we have heard said,
was not unwholesome. Perhaps not ; to us it is most decidedly unpalatable,
and no art of cooking wheat or rice will hide the weevil flavor. It looks
and tastes of weevil, even in tlie buttermilk and saleratus biscuit of the moet
liberal user of that salt.

208 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. U.

The rice weevil has often been found in rice imported from China, and it
may have been introduced into this country from tlieiice. It ditfors, both in
appearance and habit.*, a little I'roiu the grain weevil. It is said to attack
rice in the field as well as after it is stored. It also attacks Indian corn in
the field, if left out till late in the fall, or until it becomes quite dry, in those
States at the South where this insect most aljounds.

The same remedies that will answer for one variety of weevil will anawer
for all. We give a few more remedies.

245. To Destroy Weevil. — Grain subject to depredations from the weevil,
which develops and matures in the heart of the seeds, and which impaits
considerable heat to the bulk of the pile, equal to or above blood-heat, is
easily detected on thrusting the hand into tlie body of the grain, by means
of the great heat of the mass.

In France, large quantities of grain are stored up against time of scarcity;
and in order to protect it from the depredations of the insects that prey upon
it, commissioners have been appointed to examine into the means of destroy-
ing them, wlio have reported that a small quantity of chloroform or sulphuret
of carlion put into the interior of the grain pit (which is usually in the
ground), and then hermetically sealed up, will destroy all the ]iests. About
seventy-five grains of sulphuret of carbon arp sutHcicnt for about four busiiels.
Grain put up in rail pens, as is the custom in tlie West, may be treated with
equal success with this agent, by covering the heap with a tarpaulin or close
woven cloth.

■ A successful farmer in Broome Co., N. Y., recommends cutting wheat while
in the milk, and the straw green, and salting it in the mow or stack. He says:

"About fourteen years ago the weevil appeared upon this farm, and quite
seriously afiected the wheat crop. We commenced also about that time
cutting our wheat very green, as soon as it was ont of tlie milk, no matter
how green the straw or heads; and in order to preserve it the belter in the
mow or stack, always applied salt liberally. For many years I have salted
my grain mows and stacks, but put none upon my hay. I am now cutting
my wheat as green as usual.

" From my own experience, I am satisfied that if the wheat is thus treated,
and not thrashed until after it has been some time piled up, the insect will
be destroyed in some of its transformations. At any rate, whoever tries the
experiment will be well surprised in the value of his wheat and straw.
Where straw is fed to stock — and all mine goes that way — it is sought for
with keener relish, and makes better manure, while the wheat is much
heavier and plumper than when not so treated.

" I ought to say, perliaps, that the weevil has not troubled the farm since
that year, although wheat has been grown every year. Almost any year a
few may be found, but none to do any damage. My soil is a slaty, gravelly
loam, and my seeding is usually all done from the 1st to the 10th of Septem-
ber, and the best variety of wheat thus far has been the Uue-siem, a beauti-
ful variety of white wheat."

Sec. 12.] K.NTO.MOLOOIC.VL. 209

Another Broome County farmer, who thought the yellow-birds destroyed
his wheat, wished a neighbor " would get a gun and kill some yellow-birds,
which farmers generally suppose destroy the wheat. Mr. II. declined, as he
does not like to kill birds of any kind. Out of curiosity, however, he killed
one of the birds and opened the crop, when he found that the bird, instead
of eating the wheat, ate the weevil — the great destroyer of the wheat, lie
found as many as two hundred weevil in the bird's crop, and hut four grains
of wheat, and these had tlic weevil in them. This is a very important dis-
covery, and should be generally known. The bird resembles the canary,
and sings beautifully."

2-lC. U'lieat lusfCt VSi Weevil, — Tliere is a confusion of tongues in relation
to the weevil that we have descrilied (244, 245), and the one that attacks the
wheat in the milk.

Tlie insect that has injured tlie wlicat crop so extensively in New York,
Pennsylvania, and Ohio, is not the one generally known as t/ie weevil. This
insect, called " red weevil," " wheat-raidge," " the insect," etc., differs very
much from the Calandra (jraivirla^ as that only injures the ripened kernel
of wlieat or corn after it is stacked or housed, or even after it is in the bin
of the granary or grist-mill. The weevil exhibits in swarms around the
barn, tlie female laying her eggs on the grain, and the grubs as soon as
hatched work into the kernel, consuming all but the bran, without breaking
that, so as to show that all is rottenness within. The ravages of this insect,
as we iuive already stated, are so destructive at the South, that it is difficult
to keep wlieat and corn. The latter is generally ]>ut up with the shucks on,
which is damp or else heavily salted. Wheat is kept in close casks or tight
bins by covering with flour of lime an inch deep over the surface.
"The insect that has destroyed so much grain in past seasons is a
yellow fly (with blue wings), about one tenth of an inch in length ; it
deposits its eggs, while the wheat is in blossom, within the chatfy scales of
the flower, during the evening twilight and dark stormy days, in numbers
from two to forty, which hatch in ten days and completely destroy the genn
of the berry. The maggot is reddish yellow, about one sixteeuth of an inch
long, or perhaps an eighth when full-grown."

'' It is supposed that it leaves the wheat and winters in tlie ground. That is
the time to kill them. Salt is undoubtedly the remedy. The fly is hardly
ever seen ; they never fly in the sunshine. The weevil fill the air like mus-
kctocs in a swanij). Tliis insect liiiU'S on the stems and leaves, shaded from
the licat of the sun. This is a northern insect; the weevil is a soiitliorii one."

" This insect was first seen in America about the year 1S2S, in the nortlicrn
])ai-t of Vermont and borders of Lower Canaila. It first made its appearance
in northern Oiiio in the year 1^43, and its ravages have rapidly increastd
from year to year."

Dr. Harris recommends brimstone fumigation of tlie plants. That would
be impossible, almost, on whole counties. Flour of lime sown on wet wheat
has appeared to prevent the work of destruction. Deep plowing the stubble,

11

210 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL

and not sowing any grain upon it next year, might eradicate the insect, if
all wlio are atlected wouhl unite in that course, as all must in any other that
sliould be adopted.

The remedy reconunended by our correspondent m Broome Co., of salting
the cut wheat iu the mow or stack, would not answer, for the maggots already
burrowed in the ground for winter, but the salt must be applied to the laud
in liberal quantities— say five to ten bushels per acre. "We cut up the cut-
worms effuetnally upon our corn ground this season with a handful of salt to
a hill. The corn fired a little at first, but it is growing beautifully now.
Every bug or worm can be killed in the soil, with salt, and we have no
doubt that will be found the most sure way of ridding the country of this
terrible pest of wheat-growers. The Cecldomyla trlticl of Kirby is what we
take to be the insect called the " red weevil."

A " close observer" of the habits of the midge, says of one who had
written of the insect's wintering in the ground :

" The writer is mistaken in some of his facts as to the habits of the insect,
as he can very easily satisfy himself by getting a few heads of wheat in the
pro]3er season that are aftected and putting them in a small glass jar. lie
will see that the worm does not go into the earth, but comes outside of the
head after destroying the grain of wheat it hatched in, and weaves itself up
into a snug little cocoon on the under side of the outside chafl". If he exam-
ine that cocoon after a time, he will find the worm has changed into a new
shape, and will ultimately come out a winged insect. I have never yet
been able to find the worm seeking shelter in the earth. It is this knowl-
edge of the habit of the insect that induces the belief that liberal salting of
the grain in mow or stack is fatal to it."

Townend Glover, who is pretty good authority, says of this pest :

'' The parent fly deposits her eggs in the beginning of July, and in the
opening flowers of the grain, or when the wheat is still in the milky state.
The eggs hatch in about eight days, when the little yellow maggots, or
worms, may be found within the chafty scales of the grain. The seed scales
of grass also sometimes serve as a shelter for these depredators. The worms,
which are of a bright yellow or orange color, do not exceed an eighth of an
inch iu length, and are often much smaller. I have seen as many as twelve
within the chafl' of one single grain, sent to the Patent Ofiice from Ohio.
These maggots prey upon the wheat when only in a milky state. When
they begin their depredations, soon after the blossoming of the plant, they
do the greatest injury, as the grains never fill out. Toward the last of July
or beginning of August the full-grown maggots cease eating, and become
sluggish and torpid, preparatory to shedding their skins, which takes place in
the following manner : The body of the maggot gradually shrinks in length
within its skin, and becomes more flattened and less pointed, as readily may
be seen through its delicate transparency. This torpid state lasts only a few
days, after which the insect casts its skin, leaving the latter entire, except a
little rent at one end of it. These empty cases, or skins, may be found in

Sec. 12.] EJITOMOLOGICAL. 211

great abundance in the M'lieat-ears, after the molting process is completed.
Mr. J. W. Dawson, of Pictou, Nova Scotia, says that sometimes the maggot
descends from the jjlants and molts on the surface of the ground. After
shedding the skin, it recovers its activity, and writhes about at first, but
takes no food. It is shorter, somewhat flattened, and more obtuse than
before, and is of a deeper yellow color, with an oblong greenish spot in the
middle of the body. Within two or three days after molting, the maggots
either descend of their own accord or are shaken out of the ears by the wind,
and fall to the ground. They do not let themselves down by threads, as
has been supposed by some, for they are not able to spin. Nearly all of
them disappear before the middle of August, and they are rarely found in
the grain at the time of harvest. Hon. William D. Lindsley, of Sandusky
City, Ohio, however, sent me several specimens of wheat with this insect in
it as late as the beginning of August. From observations and remarks made
by intelligent farmers, it appears that the descent of these insects is facilitated
by falling rain and lieavy dews. Having reached the ground, the maggots
soon burrow under the surface, sometimes to the depth of an inch, those
which have not molted casting tlieir skins before entering the earth. Here
they remain without further change through the following winter. It is not
usually before June that they arc transformed to pups^, this change being
effected without another molting of the skin. Tiiis pupa state lasts but a
short time, a week or two at most, and in many cases only a few days.
Under the most favorable circumstances, the jnipa works its way to the
surface, before liberating the included fly, and when the insect has taken
wing, the empty pupa shell, or skin, will be seen protruding from the ground.
In other cases, the fly issues from its pupa skin in the earth, and comes to
the surface with flabby wings, which soon expand and dry on exposure to
the air. This last change occurs mostly in the months of June and July,
when great numbers of the flies have been seen apparently coming from the
jrround in fields where grain was raised the year before.

"The Avheat-midge, or fly, 'is a small orange-colored gnat, with long,
slender, pale-yellow legs, and two transparent wings reflecting the tints of
the rainbow, and fringed with delicate hairs. Its eyes are black and prom-
inent ; its face and feelers, yellow ; its antennte, long and blackish. Those
of the male are twice as long as the body, and consist of only twelve joints,
which, except at the base, an oblong-oval, somewhat narrowed in the middle,
are surrounded by two whorls of hairs. These insects vary much in size.
The largest females do not exceed one tenth of an inch in length, aiul many
are found toward the end of the season less than half this length. The males
are usually smaller tiian the females, and somewhat paler in color.' Mr.
Lindsley sent several of these insects to the Patent Office in August, 1S55,
and stated that they have been extremely destructive in several parts of his
district last year (1Sj4), and that in some places the cattle were turned into
the ficKl in order to eat tiie straw and what little was left of the grain, the
main crop not being worth harvesting. Tlieso flies are likewise said to be

212 • SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL

much more numerous and destructive on the edges of fields than in the
center, and in some cases when the edges were comi:)letely -worthless, the
center bore comparatively a good crop.

'• Fuuiigation with sulpluir, and burning weeds on tho windward side of
the field, when the grain is in blossom, have been recommended. Air-slacked
lime or wood-ashes, strewn over tho grain when in blossom, in the proportion
of one bushel of lime or ashes per acre, to be scattered over the field when
the plants are wet with dew or rain. Two or three applications have some-
times been found necessary. Plowing up tho ground, also, to destroy the
maggots ; and the dust-chaft', or refuse straw, if found to contain any of these
insects, shonld be immediately burned. In those parts of New England
where these insects have done the greatest injury, according to Dr. Harris,
the cultivation of fall-sown or winter grain has been given up, and this for
gome years to come will be the safest course."

247. The Joint-Wormi — One of the greatest pests that Virginia farmers
have had to contend with in wheat-growing is the joint-worm. It has been
more destructive than the weevil, and in some cases as great a pest in that
State as the midge has in New York.

The following is Glover's description of this insect :

" Tlie joint-worm (Enrytoma hardei), which has committed such ravages
in the wheat-fields of Virginia, comes from a small, black, four-winged fly,
about an eighth of an inch in length. The female lays several eggs in the
outer sheath of the stalk above the joints. After they hatch, the worms
commence feeding within the slieath, and the constant irritation produced
by them forms a woody gall, or rather succession of galls, in the cavity of
each of which lies a small, footless maggot, about the seventh or eighth of
an inch in length, having a body with thirteen segments, and of a pale,
glossy, yellowish color. The number of worms in each cluster of galls varies
from four to ten, or even more. The substance of the stalk attached becomes
brittle, and either partially or entirely fills its central cavity, and frequently
distorts it into various irregular shapes. I have often observed young root-
lets putting out immediately below a joint so affected. The worms on the
stalks of wheat, when examined in February, were yet in the larva, but
early in March several had assumed the pupa state. They were about an
eighth of an inch in length, of a pale yellow color, which as the pupte were
near coming out, became afterward nearly black. These pupa? had the
rudiments of wings, legs, and antenna? as in the perfect fiy, but were motion-
less. Late in April and the beginning of May the flies made their appear-
ance through holes gnawed through the tougli, woody covering of the gall-
like excrescence in which they had passed the winter. This transformation,
however, took place in a warm room. These flies are about an eighth of an
inch in length, of a black color, the knees, joints, and feet being tinged
with yellow. The males, according to Dr. Harris, vary from the females by
being smaller, and in having no piercers. The joints of the antennse are
likewise longer, and surrounded with whorls of little hairs. The hind body

Sec. 12.] ENTOMOLOGICAL. 213

is shorter, less pointed at the extremity, and is connected -with the thora.K
hy a longer stem. He also says, that among fifteen females only one male
■^vas fonnd. This corresponds with what I have observed, as out of sixty to
eighty joint-worm flies, produced from diseased stalks of wheat, I only pro-
cured one male answering to his description, and eight parasites, not quite
a tenth of an inch in lengtli, of a dark metallic shade, with yellow legs, and
the antennse much thicker at the end. These flies were furnished with four
transparent, dotted wings. It is somewhat incomprehensible how it happens
that so many females appear at the same time without more males.

" Another four-winged fly also made its appearance from the same stalks,
of about an eighth of an inch in length, with an abdomen and legs of a
bright yellow. Tlie head and thorax were of a dark color, and somewhat
metallic luster. The wings were transparent, dotted, and fringed with short
hairs, and the piercer reached to the middle of the under part of tlie abdo-
men. Dr. Harris states that it has been found in Massachusetts, that [)low-
ing in the stubble has no eftect upon the insects, which remain alive and
iminjured under the slight covering of earth, and easily make their way to
the surface, when they have completed their transformation. A free use of
manure and thorough tillage, by promoting a rapid and vigorous growth of
the plant, may render it less liable to suffer from the attacks of the insect.
It has been stated that this fly, like the wheat-midge, does more injury on
the edges of fields than in the middle.

" At the Joint-"Worm Convention, held at "Warrentown, Yirginia, in 1S5J-,
the following was recommended : Prepare well the land intended for wheat,
and sow it in the beginning of autumn with the earliest and most thrifty
und hardy varieties, and do nothing to retard the ripening of the crop by
grazing or otherwise. Use guano or some other fertilizer liberally, partic-
ularly when seeding corn-land or stubble. Burn the stubble on every field
of corn, rye, or oats, and all thickets or other harbors of vegetable growth
contiguous to the crop. Sow the wheat in as large bodies and in as compact
forms as practicable-; and if possible, neighbors should arrange among them-
selves to sow adjoining fields the same year. Feed all the wheat, or other
straw, which may be infected, in racks or pens, or on confined spots ; and
on or before the first of May carefully burn all tlie straw which hixs not been
fed. The refuse of wheat, such as screenings, etc., should also be destroyed,
as the pupa case is hard and not easily softened by dampness or wet."

Wc can add nothing to this i)reventive, except a recommendation to com-
post the refuse of the cattle, instead of burning it. Make a heap that will
undergo a heating fermentation, and the eggs will be destroyed, and the
manure will he more vahial>le than tlie aslics.

248. The lU'SSiau-Fly.— This is the common name of an insect that at one
time threatened to put a stop to wheat-growing in all the Northern and
Middle States. Tins insect {Ccc!(hm;/i<t (hstrxidor) obtained its name from
the fact of its (supposed) importation with the Hessian soldiers of the Revo-
lution, though this fact has been strongly disputed. It might have been in

214 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL

the country before, and it might also have been imported. It was first pub-
lidv noticed in 1770, at Fhitbush (L. I.), and on Staten Island, in the vicinity
of Sir "William Howe's debarkation of those mercenaries of King George,
and it was quite in keeping with the feelings of the people that they should
rjadily credit the charge, that they had brought this among the other evils
of war. At any rate, it multiplied and spread rapidly, and was for a time
looked upon as a scourge almost as great as fire and sword. Of late years,
liowev^r, it appears to bo dying out. It is subject to the attack of parasites,
which have done more than all the arts and strength of man to rid his laud
of this pest.

The greatest destroyer of the Hessian-fly is a shining black four-winged
flv, about the tenth of an inch in length. Do not mistake this friend for
;^-:->nr foe, and compass its destruction. Many sensible men have made this
mistake, and very aptly, too ; for, as they will tell you, they have actually
seen the fellow come out of the dried skin of the Hessian. So they did ; but
not until the destroyer of wheat had been destroyed by an insect that fed
ujion his vitals.

The parasite of the Cecidomyia destructor is the Ceraphron desUntctor of
Say, and it is a question of vast consequence to wheat-growers what they
can do to promote the growth of this insect, which has already been of such
vast benefit to them.

We have no doubt that the parasite of the wheat-midge will do the same
kind of service, and perhaps exterminate that pest.

The Hessian-fly is a very small two-winged gnat. The female deposits
her eggs soon after the wheat begins to grow, say in October, for lat. 39^,
40=*, 41°, in the cavities between the little ridges of the blades. In from
four to fifteen days the eggs hatch, and the diminutive maggots work down
into the leaf-sheath and there spend the winter. The fly works from August
to January, according to latitude and climate influences, so that what would
be a remedy in one place would not be in another. In fact, it is asserted that
the fly sometimes works upon wheat in the spring ; so the following recom-
mendation would not be eflectual. That is :

About the middle of August sow a strip of wheat adjoining where you
intend to put your crop — say one or tM'O acres. About the middle of Sep-
tember sow your field. When that has come up and shows cleverly, jilow
under the first sown ; turn it under well. Your fly is headed and your crop
is safe.

In the particular locality of the man who says " that remedy wont fail,"
perhaps it will not.

The maggots within the leaf-sheath lie dormant through the winter, and
do not stop the growth of the wheat until just before it is ready to blossom,
when if there are several on a stalk, it withers and dies. The worms do not
eat the stalk, but suck up the sap and poison it. A full-sized maggot is
three twentieths of an inch long, with a hard skin, of a bright chestnut color,
and looks as much like a flax-seed as anything it can be compared to. This

Sko. 12.1

ENTOMOLOGICAL.

215

appearance remains, bnt the outside is a dried skin inclosing the pupa, which
advances to perfection in April or May, and it is these early flie-s that lay
eggs upon spring wheat. It is asserted that there are three broods in a year.
The fly is about tlie tenth of an inch long ; the head, antenna;, and thorax,
black ; the iiind body tawny, tlie wings tawny at the base, and black and
hairy at the ends, expanding about a quarter of an inch. The legs are pale,
red, or brown, and feet black. The antennaa arc jointed, and surrounded
with whorls of short hairs.

"With the above short description and microscope in hand, it will not be
difficult for any observing person to determine the character of an insect
found upon his wheat, so as to decide whether it is the Hessian-fly or the
Hessian-fly destroyer.

249. Insects Injurious to Fruits.— Probably of all the tribe of pests that
infest fruit-trees, that known as curculio, or plum weevil {RInjneJuenus
nenuphai'), does the most damage. It has nearly driven the plum-trees
away from every farm, and has in some seasons destroyed tlie peaches, and
done incalculable damage to the apple crop. In fact, for many years pre-
vious to ISGO, tliere was not a good apple croj) in ail the Eastera States,
owing, in a great measure, to the curculio. Small as this pest is, it is capable
of doing great mischief to all the fruits, and its sting is death to plums,
apricots, and nectarines, and very injurious to cherries and pears. The liner
the fruit, the greater the injury. A very hardy plum or cherry niay survive
a sting from this insect, which leaves a peculiar, crescent-shaped wound, and
makes an ugly scar and a hard gnarl in the fairest fruit.

Tin's insect is found in nearly all the States of the Union ; it is worst in
the Middle ones, or between latitudes 39^ and 41°.

Dy the folloM-ing minute description by Glover, the little villain may be
known by any one, though not jireviously acquainted with him:

"The perfect curculio is about two tenths of an inch in lengtli, of a dark
brown color, with a spot of yellowish white on the hind part of each wing-
case. The head is furnished with a long, curved snout, or bill, with which
it is enabled to bore into the unripe fruit by means of jaws placed at the
end of the bill. The wing-cases, which are rigid, uneven, and humped,
cover two transparent whigs, by which the perfect weevil is enabled to tly
from tree to tree; but when these wing-cases are closed, the back appears
without any suture, or division, which has led to the very erroneous idea
among farmers that the insect can not fly. "When disturbed, or shaken from
the tree, it is so similar in appearance to a firied bud, tliat it can scarcely be
distinguished, especially when feigning death, which it always does when
alarmed. As soon as the plums are of the size of peas, the weevil com-
mences the work of destruction by making a semi-circular cut througli the
skin with her long, curved snout, in the a])ex of which she deposits a single
egg. She then goes to anotlier jduni, which is treated in a similar manner,
until she has exliaustcd her wiu.ic stock of eggs. Tiie grubs, which are
hatched by the heat of the sun, immediately cat their way to the stone in an

21G

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[Chap. IL

oblique direction, where they remain, gnawing the interior, until the fruit is
weakened and diseased, ami by this treatment falls from the tree. The
grub, which is a small, yellowish, footless, white maggot, then leaves the
fallen fruit, enters the earth, changes into a pupa, and in the first brood
comes to the surface again, in about three weeks, as a perfect weevil, to
I)ropagate its species and destroy more fruit. It has not yet been decided
whether the latest generation of the weevil remains in the ground all winter
in the grub or in the jiupa state. Dr. E. Sanborn, of Andover, Mass., asserts,
however, that the grubs, after having entered the earth, return to the surface
in about six weeks as perfect weevils, which must remain hidden in crevices
nntil spring. The most popular opinion is that they remain in the larva or
pupa state in tiie earth during the winter, and only reapi>ear in the spring
in the perfect state. The worm, or grub, is often found in the knots or ex-
crescences which disfigure and destroy plnm-trees, and has been wrongfully
accused of being the cause of these swellings; but it is highly jirobable that
the weevil, finding in the young knots an acid somewhat similar to that of
the nnripo fruit, merely de^iosits its eggs therein, as the nearest substitute
for the real plum.

" Some of the remedies recommended for preventing the ravages of these
insects are actually absurd, such as tying cotton round the trees in order to
prevent them from ascending, when it is known that they are furnished with
wings, and fly from tree to tree with perfect ease. Among the remedies at
present in nse, one is to cover the fruit with a coating of whitewash mixed
with a little glue, ap])lied by means of a syringe. Another is to spread a
sheet upon the ground under the tree, and then jar the principal branches
suddenly with a mallet covered with cloth, so as not to bruise the bark,
when the perfect insects will fall into the sheet and feign death, and may be
gathered and destroyed. Hogs are sometimes turned into plum orchards,
where, by eating the fallen and diseased fruit, they materially lessen the evil.
Coops of chickens, placed under the trees, have also been recommended.
Tiien shake the trees often, and the chickens will catch and devour the
insects. All fallen fruit should be gathered up several times in the course
of the season, and burnt, or given to hogs, or destroyed in some other way."

We shall now give, besides the above remedies,'a few more, "infallible,"
of course, that float annually through the newspapers.

250.. Curciilio Rf medics. — To one pound of whale-oil soap add four ounces
of flour of suljiliui-. Mix thoroughly, and dissolve in twelve gallons of
water. To one half peck of quick-lime add four gallons of water, and stir well
together. "When fully settled, pour off the transparent lime-water, and add
to the soap-and-sulphur mixture. Add to the same, also, say four gallons
of tolerably strong tobacco-water. Apply this mixture, when thus incor-
porated, with a garden-syringe, to your plum or other fruit trees, so that the
foliage shall be well di'euched. If no rains succeed for three weeks, one
application will be sufficient. Should frequent rains occur, the mixture
should be again applied until the stone of the fruit becomes hardened.

Seo. 12.]

ENTOMOLOGICAL.

217

The person wlio used and recommended this remedy says : " The trees tliat
received the application ripened an abundant crop of as perfect and beautiful
plums as ever grew, while not a single plum was ripened on those trees to
which the M-ash was not applied."

lie also recommends a little salt to be added to the mixture.

It has been stated as an imjiortant fact, that plum-trees planted in such a
position that the fruit will hang over water, will never be stung by curculio;
60 that nothing is more eas\' than growing this delicious fruit wherever the
trees can be so planted. Dr. Uuderhill, of Croton Point A^ineyard notoriety,
states that he is never troubled, not liaving seen an insect upon one of 150
trees in six years. He formed an artificial pond, with banks constructed on
purpose to set the trees slanting over the water, lie gathers the fruit in a
boat. He has many of the best varieties of plums so planted, and never
saw liner fruit than he thus jiroduccs. It is an experiment that should be
tried by every man who has the necessary conveniences. The ravages of
the curculio have been so great for many years that we have had but few
plums, and those inferior a!id high priced, in this market.

We have the following account from James Taylor, of St. Catherine's,
C. W., a few miles from Niagara Falls, of a pretty eflfectual remedy for the
great pest of the plum-grower — the curculio. He says :

'• Our locality being much infested with the curculio, and observing in one
paper issue, last spring, Avliat had been pronounced by a Mr. Jos. H.
Mather, of Goshen, twenty miles southeast of the place where the writer
resided, an efi'ectual remedy against its ravages, allow me, for the benefit of
your readers, to state my experience of its efficacy. The proposed remedy
was a mixture of sulphur, lard, and Scotch snuff, to be rubbed freely on the
trunk and branches. This I applied according to the directions, and it is
true that I had a splendid crop of plums, some of the choicest varieties,
always most subject to the attacks of this insect, viz., the Bolmar, Huling's
Superb, etc., being perfectly loaded ; hut mark the result. On examining
my trees last fall, I found all t/iat T had applied the mixture to in a dying
state, and I have lost" them all, with the exception of one or two young trees.
The operation being rather a troublesome one, I did not apply it to as many
as I should otherwise have done, or I should have lost more. So much for
quack nostrums. The remedy proved worse than the disease. Perhaps my
experience will be useful to others."

11. G. Pardee gives the following remedj- for the curculio, which has been
successfully practiced by a person of his 'actpiaintance. Take fresh cow-
droppings, and a little wood-ashes, some lime, and a little sulphur, and make
all into a thin decoction, and throw it over the trees with a hand-basin.
This lasts until it rains ; it is then put on again. A half pound oi suljiliur
to a half barrel is suthcicnt, and of the other substances it is not very im-
portant as to the proportions.

Wo think the labor of this application vrould be too great.

Dr. Trimble, of New Jersey, says that he has tried all sorts of offcusivo

218 SMALL AKIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL

odors to keep off curculio, witliout effect. "I liave found no remedy equal
to that of manual labor in catching and destroying the insect. It is a fact
that some plum-trees are not infested by the curculio."

The following is a conversation of some experienced fruit-growers upon
curculio remedies, and the character of the insect :

IIkxuy Steele, a New Jersey nurseryman, said that lie had prevented
curculio by tiie use of black soap from the tallow-chandler's, dissolved in
water and much diluted, witii which tlie trees are syringed directly after tlio
blossoms fall, after a rain, and repeated, if necessary, in consequence of being
washed off.

R. G. Pakdee — A person present assures me that a neighbor of his
yarded his Iiogs around his plum-trees, and that saved them from the curcu-
lio. Mr. Pardee said that he thought that fresh cow or pig manure, dis-
solved, and the water sprinkled over plum-trees, would prevent curculio.
They dislike any strong-sniulling substances.

Wsr. Lawton — You may apply cow or pig manure raw to all fruits and
berries, but not horse manure ; that never should be used fresh — make it first
into compost.

Dr. Triable — The curculio has already commenced its ravages this spring.
I am also satisfied that the curculio stings the bark of plum-trees and pro-
duces the disease known as tlie black knot. I have made a great many
experiments to prove the insect identical with that which destroys all of our
smooth-skinned fruit. Tlie jarring of trees to shake off' the curculio is effect-
ual, but it is an immense labor, as it must be attended to every day, and
some sunny days several times a day. I think that, unless some remedy
for tliis insect can be discovered, we shall bo unable to raise any fine fruit.
It is the curculio that causes the disease in api)]es known as gnarly. "We
get no good apples in Jersey, and it is out of the question to raise plums,
apricots, or fine peaches. We import prunes from Germany cheaper than
we can make boxes to pack them in — tlie plums grow to such perfection in
that country.

Wm. Laavton — I have removed bushels of black knots from my cherry-trees
and burned them. I found in all these knots a living worm. I destroy tlie
common caterpillar by collecting them in the nests and destroying them.

Mr. O. W. Bkewster, of Freeport, 111., gave a statement of his success in
repelh'ng the attacks of the curculio on his plums. Early in spring he scat-
tered lime, wliich had been mixed for wliitewashing, under his plum-trees
once a week, until the curculio quitted the field. He also scattered soap-suds
and chamber-lye under them in liberal quantity. He said, I have twice tried
tlie same remedy, with complete success. I once applied it to a small tree,
M-liich matured its whole crop ; several other trees near it, M'hich set full of
fruit, did not ripen a specimen. If plum-trees succeeded with us well, I
should have no fears of the curculio.

P. II. Pekrt, of Collins Center, N. Y., saj's :

" A gentleman lately informed me that he had raised a good crop of plums

Sec. 12.] ENTOXIOLOGIC^VL. 219

simply bj- spreading a lioavy coat of fresh horse manure on the ground under
his trees. He said it entirely prevented the ravages of the curcnlio, when
on their account he had not been able to gatlier a crop of plums for years
before."

SoLox Robinson read the following letter from Dobbs' Ferry. The man
certainly can read, at least he says so, but we wonder how he can own a tree
liable to the attacks of the curculio, and know so little about it. He savs :

'• I have been much interested in the doings and sayings of the Fanners'
Club, but in the various debates before that body, I have seen no statement
advanced concerning the habits of tlic curculio. I have also read several
articles concerning its depredations, but I have yet to learn whether it is a
flying insect, or simply crawls up the body of trees. 1 have several cherry-
trees in my garden of choice varieties, and I can safely say that every cherry
was jHinctnred by the curculio this spring.

"The trees are growing and have just commenced bearing.

" The soil is sandy.

" My neighbor, less than a hundred feet from me, has escaped its ravages.

" Does it fly or crawl ?

" "Would a barrel or trough similar to those used on the elms of New
Haven be of any service in staying its ravages ?

" Are the worms in the common black cherry, which is imiversally
inhabited, produced by the curculio ?

" Is there any remedy for this pest ?"

That question — " Is there any remedy for this pest?" — has been answered
in every agricultural paper in the world, and so it has been stated that the
insect has wings, and yet the writer of this letter has not read of it.

Let me ask another question : " How is it j^ossiblc to enlighten people
who will not read ? or, reading, will not understand ?"

Dr. TniMnLE — I am now trying several experiments to prove that the
same insect that stings the fruit makes the knots on the limbs. No attach-
ment to the bole of a tree can be any protection against a flying insect like
the curculio. The excrescence on the limb is no more remarkable than the
insect that produces the balls upon oak-trees. Dr. T. showed specimens
of the curculio of plums, that he had hatched out in earth covered to pre-
vent escape, to show that the insect becomes perfect from the first laying of
eggs in young plums, and, as he tiiinks, these perfect insects lie dormant till
spring. The rpicstion is. Where do they hide themselves xmtil the young
fruit is ready for them to deposit their eggs ?

Prof Mapks said that a preparation called Persian Powder is said to bo
very cfloctujil in destroying insects.

AVxi. S. C'AitrENTEK thought that no bug-powder would rid a farm of cater-
pillars. Something else must be done.

AVm. Lawtkn said that lie had cleared his farm ot' tent cateri>illnr9 by
pulling down the nests by hand, with all the worms in them, when they arc
easily destroyed.

220

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[CuAP. n.

Dr. Trimble gave a history of the cockchafer, wliieh remains in the grouml,
like the locust, four years, and tht'ii conies forth in innnense numbers, but
in the flying state. They do not feed, and conseijuenlly do no damage to
pLants.

In our opinion, the best remedy for curculio is pigs, poultry, and birds.
Wo have seen fine crops of plums grown in a curculio neighborhood, in a
season when these pests were active, in a small lot occupied as a poultry-yard,
in which several pigs run at large. The hens scratched, and the pigs rooted
the ground, and the dove-cot also had something to do with the matter. At
any rate, the barn was inhabited by swallows, and they catch flies, and per-
haps curculios.

251. — Apple and Peach U'ormSi — The codliu moth, or apjde moth {Carpo-
cajysa pomonella), is the name of an injurious insect which deposits its eggs,
in June or July evenings, in the calyx of the young apples, where they soon
hatch, and the little worms eat their way to the heart of the fruit, where
they continue till ready to change into the chrysalis state. " Wormy apples"
generally ripen prematurely and fall. The worm is of a reddish color when
fully grown, and ready to leave the fruit and creep into crevices of the bark
to spin a semi-transparent cocoon, where it changes into a small chestnut-
brown chrysalid, and that produces a moth in a few days, measuring
seven tenths of an inch across the wings, which are of a bi"Ownish-gray color,
crossed by many dark-colored lines, with a dark, oval spot on each wing.
The under wings are lighter colored, shaded near the margin. As a remedy
against this pest, it has been recommended to wrap cloths loosely around
the forks of the trees, for a shelter for the worms to form cocoons, and then
destroy them. We fancy that this remedy will cure but a very small part
of the evil. Picking up and putting all wind-falls where the worms can
never see daylight will kill more of them.

Perhaps the best remedy for this, and many- other little pests, is the Scrip-
tural one — " Dig about the tree and dung it." That is, give it greater vigor
of growth ; make it more productive, so that a portion of the fruit will come
to maturity in spite of all insects. It is a well-known fact that the most
vigorous-growing, thrifty trees exactly correspond with thrifty farmers — the
more they have, the more they gain. Insects mostly attack the most
neglected trees.

252. Peach-Tree BororSt — The peach-tree borer {^geria exitiosa) is one
of the greatest pests of the farm, because it has almost blotted out of exist-
ence this most valuable fruit in large districts of the country. It is believed
by most careful observers to be the cause of nearly all the diseases which
aflect the peach-trees, the most visible of which is " the yellows," where the
leaves gradually take on a yellow, sickly appearance in midsummer, and
frequently at the age of three or four years show scarcely a green leaf, when
they should be clothed in the richest green, and finally wither and gradually
perish. The epitaph of tens of thousands of peach-trees all over New I^n-
gland. New York, New Jersey, and Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania,

Seo. 12.] ENTOMOLOGICAL. 221

would be, " Died j'oung — attacked by borers — the disease exhibited in yel-
low leaves — speedy death followed."

This boring worm is produced from eggs deposited at the foot of the tree
by a wasp-shaped moth, of a steel-blue color, with an orange rinw about tho
abdoineii. Sometimes the eggs are placed in wounds, or between forks but
generally in the bark, close to the ground, where the worms can easily pene-
trate into and devour the inner bark and wood just below the surface.

Sometimes a vigorous tree will retain life year after year, with these worms
gnawing at its vitals. Sometimes the tree is girdled and destroyed in a single
summer. There appears to be a succession of broods in a single season. , In
the latitude of Xew York city, the moths come out in June and July. Nec-
tarines and apricots are also attacked by the same insect. The plum wood
appears too hard, and peaches engrafted on plum stocks sometimes succeed
where, if upon their natural roots, thoy would never bear fruit. Tliese
borers, when full-grown, are about an inch long, colored yellowish white,
with an amber-brown head. The clnysalis is brown ; it is formed in a case
made of the gnawings of the worm, which it glues together around its body.
The moth expands wings an inch across, transparent and veined, and bor-
dered blue in the male, and dark blue upon the female's upper wings, and
her body is belted with orange.

The remedies, as preventives or cures of the peach-tree borer, are numer-
ous. Dr. Harris, the great American entomologist, says :

" Eemove the earth around the base of the tree, crush and destroj- the
cocoons and borers which may be found in it and under the bark, cover the
wounded parts with the common clay composition, and surround the trunk
with a strip of sheathing-papcr nine or ten inches wide, which should extend
two inches below tho level of the soil, and be secured by strings of matting
above. Fresh mortar should then be placed around tlie root, so as to con-
fine the paper, and prevent access beneath it; and the remaining cavity may
be filled with new or unexhausted loam. The operation should be performed
in the spring, or during tho month of June. In the winter the strings may
be removed, and in the following spring the trees should again be examined
for any borers that may have escaped search before, and the protecting ap-
plications should be renewed. Tlie ashes of anthracite coal have also been
recommended to be put into the cavities made when the earth has been re-
moved from around the trunks when searching for the worm ; and if the
truidvs arc thoroughly searched throe or four times a year, especially in the
earth near the roots, and the grubs and chrysalids dug out and destruycii,
these insects would soon cease to be as injurious as they arc at present."

Tiie following conversation in the Farmers' Club conveys some useful in-
formation upon this important subject:

SoLOx lioBiNSON Tcad a letter from the Kev. J. S. "Weishampel, Sen., Bal-
timore, Md., upon the use of hot water to kill insects upon trees, llo alludes
to a letter reail here some weeks since, about scalding wheat, and then says:

" Tliis scalding process destroys the egg of the fly, and tho same process

222 SM^VLL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. II.

has been known to destroy the eggs as well as the grubs themselves, that injure
the peach, plum, and otlier trees so greatly. Scald the stum of the -tree well,
lettin"' the hot water get well into the ground around tlie tree, where the
grubs do the most harm, and a destruction of both eggs and grub follows ;
and, in addition to this, the scalding appears to add to the vigor of the
trees.

"An old lady in Berks County, Pa., had a plum-tree that for many years
bloomed and brouglit forth crops of fruit till half ripe, and then shed them.
She often besought her husband to remove the tree, but he still pleaded,
' Let it stand another year.' At length, one spring, after she had boiled her
soap, she heated the kettle full of the refuse lye to a boiling degree, and
poured it all down the stem of the tree, intending to ' scald it to death,' as
she said. It soon blossomed most abundantly, and bore a profuse crop of
plums, which it brought to the greatest perfection, which greatly pleased the
old lady.

" Tliis same principle could be applied to the destruction of every
kind of destructive insect npon the various choice fruit-trees, cither by pour-
ing boiling water upon the limbs and stems, or by conducting a stream
of steam through a hose or pipe, from a movable boiler, to kill both eggs
and insects.

"Chestnuts, too, are very liable to be worm-eaten. If they were subject-
ed to a momentary heating (wet or dry heat), to a sufficient degree to scald,
it would kill the germ of the worm that destroys that sweet nut. And the
same principle would also prevent all wood used in building and machin-
ery from becoming worm-eaten."

Prof. Mapes — I have used it on peach-trees, until I have satisfied myself
that a peach-tree can not be injured by hot water.

Mr. Caepentee said that lime M-as the best thing he ever tried around
peach-trees.

Mr. Wheelee said that lime will not kill the grubs in the wood.

Mr. Smith, of Connecticut — I have found no remedy except manual labor,
though wood-ashes are valuable, and so is lime. I have an orchard in full
bearing that is fourteen years old.

Prof. Mapes — I have never found any remedy equal to hot water. It
cooks the worms.

A letter from East "Wilson, Niagara County, N. T., says :

"A large and interested community, comprising at least ^ye thousand
peach-growers in this county, ask tor light. What can be done to stay the
ravages of the red-headed peach-grxib ? To dig him out and kill him will
only insure an armistice for about ten days. Fresh wood-ashes applied to the
trees only seem to sharpen his appetite for destruction. Hundreds of orchards
and thousands of trees are dying from his operations. There are half a
million of peach-trees in this vicinity suifering from this pest. "Will tar pre-
vent his operations? and will it injure the tree? Can you or any of your
numerous readers or correspondents tell us of any specific which will kill

Seo. 12.] ENTOMOLOGICAL. 223

the gnil) without injuring tlie tree? If you can do so, you will confer a
substantial iavor upon many hundreds of your readers."

Andkew is. Fullek — The best remedy is to preserve the birds — the natu-
ral insect destroyers. It is their decrease that has increased destructive
insects.

Wm. Lawton stated that he had taken great pains to preserve birds around
his place, and was now reaping the benefit. As to any outward application
to kill the peach-worm, he did not know of anything that would destroy it
witliout destroying the trees. If the worms are dug out, and a plaster of
soft cow-manure is applied, the tree may recover. It is a very tedious
operation.

Wi'C7}s. — ^The Secretary advocated the cultivation, or rather protection, of
wrens and insect destroyers.

Mr. Fuller said that the M^rcn was a mischievous bird, and destroyed the
eggs of other birds.

A letter from P. M. Goodwin, Kingston, Luzerne County, Pa., says :

" I observe in the transactions of the Club of July 2, it is tli(jught that if
a discussion of the topic of the peach-grub would elicit a remedy, it would
be universally entertaining. My conclusion is, that trying to cure the peacli-
grub, unless where the soil is light and but few are found, is a humbug. I
have a preventive, which I will give cheerfully :

" When I jnirchased my little place on Iloso Hill, overlooking a portion
of ' "Wyoming Valley,' there were one hundred neglected peach-trees thereon
— budded, and of excellent varieties — which were full of grubs. Early in
iVpril I commenced operations by carefully clearing away the grubs by
means of the knife and wire. I then made a funnel-shaped hole aruuud the
base of each tree, which would hold three or four quarts of water. I tilled
tiie holes with boiling water, which eft'ectually destroyed the progeny. I
tiien tilled the holes Mitli a tenacious clay, and tamj^ed it hard, leaving the
surface around the tree cone-shaped and hard compacted. I have examined
these trees at various times during the intervening five years, and have found
but one tree ati'ected, and that with but two grubs. This mode, with mc,
has acted as a perfect preventive, and, I have no doubt, will with all who
adopt it and exercise the same care.

'■ These trees were three or four years old, and, at the time the experiment
was made, much inferior to some from the same lot growing elsewhere,
which were regularly examined and cxirefully cleared of grubs in the usual
way. Mv trees are sound in wood, and look well, while the otiiers have dis-
appeared.

" In i)lanting peach-trees now, I would cut away the tap (not top) root
cl(i*e under where the horizontal roots put out. Having driven a stake lirmly
fcir each tree, I would ])lant it so shallow tliat after the heavy rain the upper
side of the roots will become exposed. In this way the trees arc not so liable
to become infested with the grub. I i)lanted some trees so a year ago, and
tiiul the non-appearance of the grub satisfactory."

1

224 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [CnAr. II.

E. G. Pakdee — I have tried the liot water very often, and have always
found it effectual ; and I thought that hy this time everybody had heard of
it, but if they have not, I hope this letter will be read and renieiiibcred.
Instead of clay I used leached ashes, as they were more convenient, and they
answered a good purpose.

The Chairman presented a new pest of the peach — a dark-colored worm,
about an inch long, that fixes itself in the foot-stalks of the leaves and destroys
them.

Wm. S. Caepeptter — Tiiis insect discussion is one of great importance to
farmers. These little, insignificant things arc great destroyers of our crops.
What if we could discover a I'cmedy for the bugs that eat up the potato vines,
or a remedy for the effect of cold upon fruit-trees ; for I have noticed, within
a day or two, that the northerly sides of the pear-trees are blasted and turned
dark by the cold wind. The cold of a day or two in spring often destroys
many tender vegetables.

It was observed that cold nights sometimes have a beneficial eflect upon
fruits, by destroying some of tlie insects that usually prey \ipon them. It did
in the spring of 1860. That season proved the most productive of fruit of
any year in the memory of most young people. Of the hot-water remedy
for the peach-grub, we speak from experience, that it is the best of all we
ever knew. Lime, too, has been tried with good results. Ilon. John M.
Clayton, of Delaware, assured us once, at his house, that the peach-trees Ave
were then looking at, which were so vigorous, had been ti'cated with half a
bushel of lime, placed in contact with the body and upper roots, and he be-
lieved it would continue to be a preventive of the peach-grub.

253. lusect RemedieSt — We give the following various remedies for insects,
all of which are vouched for by good men ; some believing one infallible,
and some another.

The following wash is recommended for all sorts of trees, as a preventive
remedy against caterpillars, etc. : Potash, 20 lbs. ; air-slacked lime, half a
bushel ; sifted wood-ashes, half a bushel ; fresh cow dung, half a bushel.
Mix in water enough to be of the consistence of whitewash. Scrape off the
rough bark, and rub the wash in well with a brush.

Caustic soda wash is one of the best things we ever saw applied to a fruit-
tree. It will make the bark as smooth as if wax-polished. It leaves no
harbor for insects under pieces of dead bark. It is made by heating the
common sal-soda red hot in any old iron vessel, and then making a lye of it
— say about one pound of the salts to a gallon of water — and washing tlie
trees with a brush. It is best to put it on in the spring. A piece of old
stove-pipe, battered up at one end, and stuck into one of the stove-holes,
answers very well to heat the soda in. The wash should be too caustic to
put your hands in, and, while putting it on, it will not be worth while to
wear a fine broadcloth coat.

The Liquid Brimstone Bemedy. — M. Letellier states in the Journal of the
Paris Horticultural Society, that a liquid formed by boiling 63 grains of red

Sec. 12.] ENTOMOLOGICAL. 225

American potash, and the same quantity each of flour of sulpliur and soap,
in 13 pints of water, is most excellent and efficacious in destroying insects.
If it requires to be stronger, the quantity of potash and sulphur may be
doubled, but the soap must remain the same. Upon immersion, tiio insects
— ants, caterpillars, cockchafers, grubs, etc. — are instantly killed, while the
solution occasions no injury to plants. The liquid will destroy ants and
grubs when poured into their places of resort.

Preventive of Canker- Worms from Apple-Trees. — A letter from Maiden,
Mass., gives a most sensible plan for a cheap preventive of canker-worms,
which climb the boles of apple-trees :

"Take pine boards of suitable width for four to box a tree. Cut them in
pieces two feet long on one edge, and four feet long on the other edge. Nail
them together in a box around the tree, with four sharp points up. This box
is to be adjusted about the tree before the grubs come from the ground, and
a peck of powdered lime or ashes thrown between the trunk of the tree and
the inside of the box. The caustic lime or ashes will destroy the grubs near
the tree, and the boxes will invite all the grubs near them to ascend and de-
posit their eggs. I found the pinnacles covered with grubs and eggs, and
the insects apparently contented with this highest point as a safe place, and
there the eggs were deposited. I then removed the boxes to a considerable
distance from the trees, and heard no more from canker-worms ; they all died
for want of proper food."

Another plan, lately patented, to prevent worms climbing trees, looks as
though it would be effectual. A tin trough is made in two parts, large
enough to encircle the tree and leave a space four or five inches between tiio
trough and bole of the tree. From the outside edge of the trough a strip
of cloth extends all around, wide enough to have its upper edge tacked to
the tree, by whicii the trough filled with oil is sheltered from rain and sus-
tained in its place, so that worms creeping upward come first in contact with
the cloth, and if they crawl down that to get around the edge and so up the
tree, they are caught in the oil, which, being sheltered, remains in good con-
dition longer than when exposed. Now it is an experiment worth trying,
and for which there is no patent, whether a strip of cloth nailed around the
tree at one edge, and having the other extended six inches from the bole by
a wire or limber rod, would not answer the purpose without the oil-trough.
The under side of the cloth could be coated with some kind of pitch that
would not harden soon, being protected from sun and rain, whicli would
effectually prevent the ascension of insects — certainly much more so than
the belt of tar as it is usually applied.

Dr. Tkimblk, in answer to the (juestion. what remedy to apply to this pest,
said that the only remedy is the ichneumon ])arasitcs. These, in their proper
time, will attack the worms and destroy them. In the mean time, while
one section of the country is ravaged, another is extraordinarily fruitful.

He introduced specimens of the caterpillar that preys upon the grapevine,
to show that it has its parasite, one of which had just emerged from the

226 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL
,

body of the caterpillar. This, he hoped, would prove a sufficient check to
the ravagco of this particiihu- pest.

254. Auother CoDversatiou at the Club about Insects. — Wm. S. Carpentek—
All classes of insects have tiicir favorite plants, but if these favorite plants
fail, the insects -will take to others. Last year I saw ailanthus trees in this
city completely covered with a worm known in the country as the canker-
worm. The trees were wholly stripped of foliage. We are continually im-
porting insects in various ways. I am told that every banana stem contains
a worm, and some of the same sort of worms have been discovered preying
upon the quince.

The rose-slug is easily killed by hand in the after part of the day, by an
application of quassia decoction, 6])rinkled upon the leaves, as the slugs are
then on the upper surface.

Extra cultivation, by which the plants grow rapidly, is the best remedy
for squash bugs.

Mr. Pardee said tliat the best remedy is to expose the soil dug from
a deep hole several days to the sun, and then put it back in the hole,
patting it down solid, and then putting in the seed, and covering it lightly,
and then spreading fine charcoal over the hill.

Mr. FcLLEE— I tried this charcoal remedy, last year, most thoroughly,
without deriving a particle of benefit.

Mr. Paedee — I have used charcoal, and was not troubled with bugs.
Now it is possible that, without it, the plants M'Ould not have been troubled.
So, after all, it is uncertain whether the charcoal was the preventive, or
whether there were no bugs to be eradicated.

Mr. Garvet — I have tried a great many remedies, and have never found
anything so good as careful watering, and hand killing the bugs.

R. G. Pardee — I wish every man would try the solution of aloes — two
ounces to the gallon of water. It is such a bitter vegetable that it is
ofi"cnsive to all insects. It may be used just as strong as it can be made —
from one fourth to a whole pound to the gallon.

Mr. Carpenter — The canker-worm, in the northern part of Connec-
ticut, is now ravaging the orchards to an extent that is destructive
to all prospects of fruit. On some large orchards there are no apples —
in fact, nearly all the foliage of the trees has been destroyed. Can this be
prevented ?

Washi7ig Insects from Fniit-Trecs. — Mr. Pardee read a letter from Charles
Lincoln, of North Bridgewater, Mass., which stated that he succeeded in saving
his plum-trees, last spring, from insects, by washing them frequently with
clear cold water, using for the purpose a little hand instrument called the
" hydropult."

Dr. Trimble contended that all the rot in plums is caused by the sting of
the curculio.

Mr. Pardee thought that this statement was incorrect ; that plums fre-
quently rot where there are no curculio. He said, thirty years ago, at Seneca

Seo. 12.] ENTOMOLOGICAL. 227

Falls, there was no curculio to disturb tlie plum, and we grew great crops,
and sometimes nearly all on a tree rotted, almost all at once.

Geisharsi's Compouiid for Insects. — P. B. Mead (editor of the Horticul-
turist) said that he has tried the above compound upon several kinds of in-
sects, and found it sure death to all he had applied it upon. The objection
to it is its higli price— too high for common use ; if it would rid us of the
curculio, it would make the ])lums too costly.

John G. Beegen — It is a fact that we have a prospect this year of a larger
crop of plums than we have had in many years, and therefore persons
should be careful of their hasty conclusions about this or that nostrum
driving them off.

Mr. Mead — The preparation I mentioned, dissolved in water and used as
a syringe upon plum-trees, had the eftcct to drive off the curculio, even upon
one side of a tree, while the other was still infested.

liemedy for liose-Shtgs. — Geo. II. IIite — I have found an effectual rem-
edy against the depredations of these pests, in sifting dry dust upon the
bushes. It is just as good as snuff, or any other bug-powder. Of course, it
wants frequent renewal.

Barh-Lice. — Andrew S. Fuller — If a tree is properly cultivated, it will
grow 60 vigorously that it will outgrow all bad effects from attacks of plant-
lice.

Worms Destroying Gooseberry Bushes. — R. Dixie, of Painesville, Ohio,
incjuires for a remedy for a pest upon his gooseberry and currant bushes,
lie says " they have been stripped of their leaves entirely, in one summer, by
hosts of green caterpillars or worms about an inch in length — a number
of broods during the season. What shall we do to get rid of the pests? I
have used lime in jiowder, and dry unleached ashes, without any apparent
beneficial effect."

Solon Rodinson — I would try the new preparation of "attenuated coal-
tar," which we have had exhibited here in the form of a dry powder. So
far as "I have been able to try it, I have found it particularly offensive to
all insects.

A. B. Dickinson — If soft soap is placed in the crotch of a tree, and left to
work down by the rain, it will keep off all insects, even the curculio. Many
insects are kept away by f)ffensive smells, which do not kill them. Smoke,
for instance, keeps off niany insects.

J^ests of Grapevines and other Plants. — Dr. Tuimblt; — Here is a specimen
of the insect that curls the graiie-leaf. Spring is the time to look after them,
and pick them off by hand and destroy them, or they will destroy the vines.
Here is anotlier curious insect that infests the currant bushes. It is what wo
call lice, and these lice furnish food for a colony of ants, by their exudation
of a sort of sweet substance. Here is the worm that curls the currant-leaf;
and here is another curious insect that binds itself up in a web and a leaf,
and what is remarkable, this insect is itself full of otlier insects — iiarasites
that live upon, and in a great measure destroy it. I wish that some para-

228 SM.VLL ANIMAIJ5 AND INSECTS. [Chap. 11.

site could be found to destroy tlie curculio. Perhaps it may be destroyed in
time, as tlie Ilessian-fly has been.

The Measuring Worm. — Solon Kobinson — If any one desires to extirpate
the worms that infest the trees in our parks, now is the time to do it by de-
stroying the eggs. Scraping and washing witli potash is the best protection
of the boles of the trees. If we had plenty of birds we should get rid of the
worms. It is only in cities, where there are so few birds, that these pests
are so troublesome. Insects are the natural food of all birds. Even the
domestic ones that we keep about our homestead destroy untold quantities
of pestiferous insects that could not be got rid of in any other way. The
greatest profit in keeping poultry is the good the animals do in their inces-
sant pursuit of bugs and worms, which, if not destroyed, would in their turn
destroy the food-plants that we cultivate. I know of no contrivance of man
that will protect him from insects.

Mr. Pardee — In New Haven, trees have been protected by zinc troughs,
filled with oil, around the boles.

Destroying Trees to Get Rid of Worms. — Andrew S. Fuller stated that
the worms in Brooklyn were so bad that the city councils were talking of
cutting down all the trees in that city, to get rid of the worms.

Solon Robinson — They had better cut down the boys who destroy the
birds.

More than forty years ago, the " canker-worms" were terribly destructive,
for several years, of apple-trees in Connecticut, and attempts were made to
prevent their ravages by making a band of tar, two or three inches wide,
around the bole of the tree. It proved effectual while the tar was soft ; but,
unless renewed every day, and sometimes twice a day, the surface dried so
that the worms crawled over; and I have seen them so thick that they
crawled into the tar and stuck, and then others went over them, and so on
until they formed a bridge, and thus defeated their strong opponent.

Dr. Trimble — ^The lindens of New Jersey, in former years, have been very
much affected, but this year they have not been injured. I believc-the in-
sect has been destroyed by parasites, and I hope it will be in Brooklyn. I
hope that no one will think of cutting down trees to get rid of the worms.

Origin of " Bug-Poioder.''^ — The Secretary stated that Lyon, the great
bug powder man, has gone home to Europe, worth an immense sum, and it
is now published that the powder is made of a conimon French field-plant
of a species of the chamomile.

All the effective insect powders now offered for sale owe their efiiciency
to red chamomile. It is sold by some of the druggists. Rub it to a fine dust,
mix it with some cheap divisor, and it is the best insect powder known.
When dusted into the cracks and corners of ceilings, etc., out walk the
cockroaches and all other intruders without fail. Dust the affected plants,
and you may keep them clear of insects.

Mons. Radiguet states to the Society of Agriculture, Paris, that the plant
known as " Whiteflower Margaret" {Chrysaniheirmm cuanthennum), used as

Sec. 12] ENTOMOLOGICAL.

a decoration, is very destructive to insect life. This plant is not a native of
this country, but is cultivated here, and can be easily multiplied.

Disease of the Cqfee-Tree. — Dr. Montague stated, at a meeting of the
Society, that a disease has attacked the coflee-trees of Ceylon, similar to the
cidium of the grapevines. The same disease has been observed in the West
Indies. Olives and mulberries are attacked; insects arc observed uj)on
tlieiri, something like the cochineal insect. There is also an exudation of a
sweet gum that attracts insects. Milk of lime and purin — an extract of
manure — are used as a preventive.

Ailanthus, as a food for silk-worms, has been used in France with success.

Kerosene Oil for Insects. — Wm. G. Le Due, of Hastings, sends ns a rem-
edy for caterpillars and other insects, easily applied. It is kerosene oil.
He says :

" Finding some large nests of caterpillars on my plum-trees, I took a can
of illuminating oil, as it is called, and applying a few drops (sufficient to
saturate the web of the nest), found that it worked like a charm. It is in-
stant death to the vermin. Care should be taken not to apply it to the
leaves of the plant or tree, as they will be scalded at once. I have but little
doubt that, in the hands of j'our careful experimentalists, it will prove of
value. The coarser oils of coal will no doubt be equally efficacious in many
instances. I may as well mention here, also, that I have found kerosene oil
a most excellent diluent of printers' ink, which I use in my flouring-mill for
stencil-plate marking. It would be a thorough cleanser of type, though, per-
haps, not so cheap as potash."

Coal-Tar for Insects. — Prof. Mapes — "We are very free of destructive tree
insects, tliis year (ISCO), in Kew Jersey, but have a fair show of other pests of
the farm and garden, and we are obliged to resort to some remedy. We can
not grow early turnips without using something to keep the insects off, and
I am glad that the necessity stimulates invention to assist farmers in the de-
struction of these pests. I have lately tried one called "attenuated coal-
tar," and find it effectual. It is likely to be a very valuable aid to fruit-
growers and gardeners. It is in the form of powder, and wherever sprinkled
upon insect-infested plants, tlie insects leave at once. It is coal-tar mixed
with some substance so as to retain all its odor, and yet remain in the form
of a dry powder.

Mr. Lawton — The Black Tartarian is a good sort of cherry, but I prefer
the Black Eagle ; it is a very hardy variety, and very productive. The En-
glish Morello is an acid cherry, and the tree very free from insects. We
have not had a rose-bug witli us this year.

fcsoLON lioBiNSON Stated tiiat, only five miles from Mr. Lawton, the rose-
bugs infested liis cherry-trees by myriads, destroying more than half the
fruit. Mr. R. inquired of Mr. Lawton what it was that ate his cherry-leaves,
if it was not rose-bugs, as they were evidently eaten by some insect, and if
coal-t!ir or anything else will prevent their ravages, it should be extensively
known.

230 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [CnAP. II.

Whisky for Ants. — Wm. Davis, of Marengo, Morrow County, Ohio, otfcra
the following plan for protecting fruit-trees from ants, which, he says, have
killed many trees for him. It is the same plan pursued in this city to make
loafers, and then get rid of them — that is, feed them with whisky and make
them drunk, and then wipe them out. He says :

" Mix whisky, molasses, and water, in equal parts, and fill a tumbler about
two thirds full, and set it partly in the ground at the foot of the tree infested
by ants. When it gets full of the drunkards, scoop them out and kill them."

We suggest feeding them to fowls.

Do Worms liain Down? — A person at Angola, Ind., who notices that the
Club talks about all sorts of miscellaneous matters, wants us, in the absence
of more important questions, to talk about this: "Do fish, worms, and small
toads, such as are often seen after a shower, in places where it appeare they
must have fallen with the rain, actually come from the clouds?"

Dr. Wateebuey replied — They do not; it is one of the popular errors
which are so hard to eradicate.

The Locust Question. — A long discussion ensued upon the locust question
between Professor Mapes, Professor Nash, Wm. Lawton, Wm. E. Prince,
Dr. Trimble, and Andrew S. Fuller, about the habits of the seventeen-year
locust, which appeared in great numbers in the summer of 1860, in the vicin-
ity of New York. Every schoolboy of any pretension should read all about
these locusts, and study their natural history. Wherever they appear, try to
learn their habits, and whether they do injury to plants, either above or be-
low the surface of the earth.

Prof. Mapes exhibited the effects upon branches punctured by the females
to lay their eggs, he still thought without permanent injury to the trees.

Wm. R. Prince declared the whole theory of the seventeen-year locusts a
humbug.

Prof. Nash thought they return in some localities in thirteen years, and
inquired if the nature of the soil had any efl"ect upon their maturity.

Varieties of the Locust. — Andrew S. Fuller — We have many varieties
of what are called locusts, among which are the Cicada Septemdecim, Cicada
Canicularis, Cicada Jiimosa, Cicada Marginata, Cicada Supei'ha, Cicada
Jioiertsonia, and perhaps several others. The habits of these are well
known, and have been for many years. The seventeen-year locust has ap-
peared rcg.ularly every seventeen years for more than a hundred years, as is
well attested by numerous writers upon natural history.

Dr. Trimble, of New Jersey, gave a lengthy lecture upon the locust, show-
ing how the insect deposits its eggs in the limbs of almost every variety of
trees. A great number of these twigs were distributed among the company,
to show the curious manner in which these eggs are deposited.

This peculiar insect appears once in seventeen years ; but the year of its
appearance dififers in every part of the country. In 1855 it infested south-
ern Illinois. In 1800, 1817, and 1834 the trees of Delaware and Maryland
were literally covered by them ; and in 1843 many of the river counties on

Sec. 12.]

ENTOMOLOGICAL.

281

the Hudson were infested with the Cicadte. The male insect has a pair of
drums on each side of the head, and, when infesting an orcliard or woods,
tlie noise is frequently so great that no conversation can be heard in the
vicinity. The insect appears about the 25th of May, and remains si.x weeks.
The female is armed with an ovij^ositor, with which she inserts her eggs in
the smaller portions of limbs of fruit-trees, oaks, chestnuts, etc., always
selecting new growth, of an eighth to a quarter of an inch in diameter.
The incisions, about twelve in number, are made at an angle of forty to fiftv
degrees, with an egg in each, and sometimes the twig is girdled near the
eggs, so that when the end of the twig dies it falls to the ground, and the
eggs are carried in by dews and rains. Miss Morris, of Germantown, Pa., a
well-known entomologist of close observation, claims that she found them
attached to the roots of pear-trees.

" While plowing at our place, May 10, these insects were thrown out in
large quantities. The holes through which they ascend in the soil mav be
traced to a depth of four feet or more. This locust is not to be dreaded, as
they do but little harm ; are not known to feed, and the shortcning-in of
limbs by the depositing of their eggs may give a useful hint to those who
do not understand the benefits of tJie shortening-in process."

lie also gave an account of a maple-tree in Newark, which appears to
have a sort of bohun upas effect upon flics ; they lay dead by thousands under
this tree.

Prof. Mapes stated that, in plowing upon his farm near Xewark, in
May, the seventeen-year locusts were turned up in vast quantities.

Dr. Trimble stated that this insect does not consume vegetation. Tliev
are within a few inches of the surface, waiting for the right condition of the
temperature to issue forth. Seventeen years ago these insects came forth on
the 25th of May, and immediately commenced their musical notes. They
remain about si.x weeks above ground, eating nothing. Tlie injury they do
vegetation is by puncturing the limbs to deposit their eggs. This kills the
ends of the branches. The apple-tree and elm-trees arc favorite frees with
these seventeen-year locusts. The time of their appearance varies in difler-
cnt localities. This is the year for all this vicinity and up the Hudson River.
My opinion is that the life of the insect is sustained under-ground by attach-
ing to the roots of plants. The limb selected for puncture is always small.

The Secretary stated that the size of the limb punctured is not usually over
an oightli of an inch.

!Mr. DoDCE stated that the locusts were very plentiful on Long Island five
years ago, and that ho lias seen them every year in tliis city.

Prof. !NrAi'i:s thought that these fellows woiild be a little too much for
"insect powder." Still, he had received great benefit from one called the
"Persian Powder." Tliat will enable rae to grow early turnips, and it will
kill caterpillars.

Mr. G.\LK — In 1809, in Orange County, the locusts were plentiful enough
to allow me to gather bushels of them, and the apple-trees were covered.

232 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL

The only injury was to the small twigs. Wheat-flelds were covered, but not
injiirod.

Anhkew S. Fuller — In 1855 the locusts were very abundant in Illinois,
and came forth out of lieavy clay land, from more than four foot in depth,
in oak forests. They appeared tt) prefer the oak-trees.

The Cliainnan stated that ho had observed their preference for oalc in some
instances, but upon the whole, he thought they had very little care for any
particular sort of tsees.

Dr. TuiMiJLE thought the chestnut was their favorite. I found, yesterday,
the eggs of the locust arc beginning to hatch, and the young insect is as
perfect in shape as tlie old ones, of a pure white color, and no larger than
one of the eggs.

Ilahits of Grasshoppers. — A Goliad correspondent of the Colorado (Texas)
Citizen gives some curious facts in relation to the grasshoppers which have
recently swarmed in that region. He says :

" Tliey have an especial fondness for wheat and cotton, but don't take so
kindly to corn. The only vegetable they sjiarc is the pumpkin. The most
deadly poisons have had no effect upon them ; fumes of sulphur they rather
like than otherwise ; niusketo-nets they devour greedily ; clothes hung out
to dry they esteem a rarity ; blankets and gunny-bags they don't appear to
fancy. They swim the broadest creeks in safety, sun themselves a while,
and then go on. The whole mass appear to start and move at the same
time, traveling for an hour or two, devouring everything in their way, and
then suddenly cease, not moving perhaps for a week, during which time no
feeding is noticed ; and finally, they carefully avoid the sea-coast."

Grasshopper Parasites. — Solon IJobinson — I have a letter from L. B.
Rice, Middlebury, Vt., inclosing specimens of grasshoppers, showing a para-
site that is preying upon them, which, it is to be hoped, will help to annihilate
this pest. This parasite is a small red insect, which attaches itself to the
grasshopper just under the wing.

255. ('anker-Worm Preventives!— The following letter to the author, from a
New York city friend, is worthy of attention by all whose trees are eaten by
worms :

" SiE : Your recent discussions upon the canker-worm, which is so seriously
devastating the foliage of the city, stir me up to lay before your readers the
information which some years of careful observation have enabled me to
gain respecting this pest of our neighborhood. I do this the more because I
notice some suggestions in your conversations which look to tiie adoption
of remedies ; and before any remedy is tried, it is essential that we have
some assurance that it will be effectual.

" I was a student in New Haven at the time when the ravages of the in-
sect were so severe in that city, and witnessed the extreme desolation which
the creature produced. The magnificent elms which are the glory of tiiat
beautiful city, stood bare and wintry at the end of June, with every vestige
of their foliage utterly consumed. I noticed, and have since repeatedly ob-

Sec. 13.]

ENTOMOLOGICAL.

233

served, how perfect a protection is afforded by tlie metallic girdle which you
describe. Whether the plan of a Mr. Taylor, spoken of in the papers, is
ap improvement, I am not able to say.

"The whole merit of the plan, however, consists in its adaptation to the
habits of the insect. Tlie female — which deposits its eggs upon the body
and branches of the tree before the opening of the spring — is wingless,
apterous, as we say in Entomology ; and being incapable of flying, is
eflectiially arrested by the barrier which is presented by such an open tube
encircling the tree. The protection is complete, the application is easy, and
the remedy is effectual.

'• One fiict, however, is to be taken into view, which effectually alters tlie
case with us. After fiimiliar study of our New York insect, for several
years past, I am convinced that it is an entirely different species, of different
liabits in many respects ; and, above all, different in the one particular which
gives all its value to the New Haven remedy; our species full 1/ possesses the
power of fiiglit. Its progress, therefore, to the body and limbs of the tree
for the purpose of depositing its eggs can never be in the least arrested by
any such measure as your correspondent proposes to adopt. Protection against
the worm in our city can be obtained only by the same method by which
ISTew Ilavcu derived hers, viz., the thorough and careful study of the habits
of our own species of insect.

" The very positive assurance of your correspondent, Mr. Webb, that ' it
is a law of nature that all the millers whicli produce the measuring worm
have no wings by Avliich they can fly one inch,' is in the main true, though
perhaps rather strongly stated ; but it applies only to the canker-worm of
Kew England. Our species may be seen flying abundantly, both males and
females, ascending above the tops of our highest trees, and reaching the
large branches with absolute ease. After having observed the whole process
very carefully, I am in a position to speak confldently about it ; and I beg
to assure your readers that any attempt blindly to imitate the New Haven
method Mill only prove a mistaken and uiiprotitable, because ignorant,
attempt. In order to ascertain with greater certainty tlie truth upon this
point, I transmitted specimens of our New York miller, last summer, to Mr.
E. C. Ilcrrick, the accomplished librarian of Yale College, whose investiga-
tions of the Xcw Haven canker-worm were published at length, some years
ago, in the American Journal of Science, and received from liim the assur-
ance that my impression that the two species were entirely distinct w.-^s no
doubt correct. Mr. II. also concurred witli me in thinking that the power
of flight possessed by the New York moth would require entirely different
methods for the prevention of its rav-agcs.

"Tlie one method which my observation has suggested as eff"ectnal, con-
sists in thoroughly scraping the tree after the eggs of the moth have been
de[>osifed upon it. Tlie worm with us docs not, as in New Haven, go into
the ground and remain there till tiie winter, but goes through its changes in
a very brief period. After coming down from the tree, it lays itself up in a

23i SM.VLL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. II.

cocoon, formed of a few thin fibers of silk, in the crevices of the bark of the
trees which it frequents, or upon posts and fences near the tree. There tlie
insect may then be found, undergoing its change. After about a fortniglit,
it conies forth in the shape of a white moth, somewhat less than an inch
long. At that period our parks and public squares are alive with these
millers; the grass is studded, the paths covered, the air filled with them.
Any one may easily satisfy himself of their power of flight by a careful ob-
servation of them. The antennce, or feelers, projecting from the head, are in
the males feathered, or, entomologically, pectinated ,■ a row of fine fibers,
like the teeth of a comb, lines each antenna upon one side ; the females have
the antenna plain and straight ; and they may also be distinguished by the
larger size of the abdomen, which is distended by eggs. No difference,
however, in the i>ower of flight will be observed between the two sexes. On
coming out from the cocoon the sexes meet, and the impregnated eggs are at
once laid upon the bark of the tree. They may be seen in j^atches, varying
from a dozen to fifty, or even more — minute, green globules, which soon change
to a dusky gray or brown, scarcely distinguishable in tint from the bark.
They adhere by a glutinous secretion very firmly to the tree, and remain
through the year until the warmth of another spring hatches them into life.

" At anj' time after the eggs arc laid in the beginning of July, and before
they are hatched in the beginning of the following May, a careful scraping
of the tree will remove most of them, and so prevent their ravages for the
next summer.

" Having frequent occasion to pass through Washington Parade Ground,
I have ])ointed out the eggs upon the bark to the persons intrusted with the
care of that spot, and the trees have been sometimes scraped in the spring,
with very good results. This year it was omitted, and the deserted shells
of the eggs of last year may now be seen on the trunks of the trees so seri-
ously injured by them this summer. No other method than this affords the
least security ; but this, if faithfully carried out under any competent super-
vision, can be made entirely effectual. The eggs remain for nearly a year
before thej' are hatched, quite obvious, and tolerably accessible. A couple
of men would in two or three days clean any one of our parks of this de-
stroying agent for the next summer ; and careful attention for a few years
throughout the city would nearly exterminate the pest."

256. Garden and Field Crop Pests. — The amount of damage done to farmers
every year by bugs and worms, if it could be exhibited in figures represent-
ing dollars and cents, would exceed the whole value of the wheat crop, or
com crop, or cotton crop, and it would not surprise me if it exceeded the
value of all of them. If we could give certain preventives of the ravages
of any one of the pests, we could afford to devote much more space than we
shall allot to this head. But we will urge farmers to give the subject more
attention. Buy the best works upon entomology, and devote many a winter
evening to the careful study of the appearance, character, and habits of all

Seo. 12.] ENTOMOLOGICAL. 235

the insects that consume your crops. Give, we pray you, good attention to
what we have already said and shall say in this section. You can not fail
to find something that will repay you well. You certainly will find valuahle
information in the following paragraph, written by A. S. llall, of Maiden,
Mass., in May, 18G0 :

257. Salt for the Onion Maggot.— Much has been said and written about
the onion maggot, and I don't know that there is any cure for him ; but I
will tell you how 1 treated mine last year, and with good success for once,
and shall try it again this year, and will tell it to you and the farmers free
of charge, for I don't think I could get " $G0,000" for it if I should ask it.

I sowed lust year in my garden, on good soil, three rows, about thirty feet
long each, to ouion seeds. I expected the maggots, and watched diligently
their jirogress. When they were first up about one or two inches liigh, I
put some strong salt and water on about three feet of one row, to see if it
would kill the onions, and; in case it did not, perhaps it might kill the mag-
gots, if they came. The young onions stood it well, and it did not hurt
them.

After the onions had got about as large as a pail-bail wire, there came
a spell of warm, wet weather, and my onions began to be afl'ected. I
watched them several days, and they grew worse, and were fast dying out,
for about one in every eight or ten were wilting and dying, and I found a
maggot at the roots of every one that appeared wilting, and sometimes the
maggot was nearly as large as the little stock itself, and had eaten the bot-
tom all away, and was making its way up the stem ; at the rate of havoc
they were making, it appeared there would not be one onion left in the bed
at the end of four weeks more. I took a pailful of strong pickle from my
])ork-barrel, and, with a watering-pot, jiut it all on to the three rows, as
tJiough I were watering them ; the onions never faltered or changed. The
salt killed all the grass, young clover, and weeds, except purslane, which
came up later, and the maggots were entirely killed, and I never saw any
after, though the flies continued to lay their eggs down the side of the little
plant, and between it and the dirt, just as flics will blow a piece of fresh
meat; but the salt prevented their maturing or hatching, and I raised a
good crop of fair-sized onions. I think they did not ripen as well as usual,
but I am not convinced that the salt prevented them, for I have often seen
patches remain as green as mine were at harvest-time.

I put on two or three slighter sprinklings of brine after the first, during
the summer.

•2i)S. Essay on the Cut-Worm.— -^sa*:? Itfore the Chicago Gardeners Sod-
ctij, August «//(, 1860, by Jno. Pekiam.— I acknowledge my inability to do
justice to this subject, from not having given it my attention, except in a
general way. It is, nevertheless, one which interests agriculturists, and par-
ticularly horticulturist.*, as much, ]icrhaps, as any other entomological sub-
ject with which they have to do. The farmers, working on a more extended
scale, using larger fields, and planting fewer varieties of hoed crops, do not

236 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. II.

notice, nor perhaps suffer as nnich from the ravages of these families of the
Lcpidoptera as tlie horticulturist proper. And the great order of insects to
which this class belongs are, perhaps, tlie greatest scourge with which the
worker in the soil has to contend. According to Dr. Fitch, the most of this
species belong to the genus Agrotis, of tlic family Noctuidaj, or Owlet-moths.
In England, the insects of this genus are named Dart-moths, from a i:)eculiar
spot or streak which many of them have near the base of their fore wings,
resembling the point of a dart or spear, and he says that much the most
common species of this genus in the State of New York can be nothing else
than the Gothic dart, Agrotis suhgothica of the British entomologists. Tliey
are the same wliich flit about the liglits in summer evenings, and arc found
hid by day within crevices and shutters. To show still further the import-
ance of this class of insects, I will quote from Dr. Harris, showing some of
the families. 116 has divided them into three sections, called Butterflies,
Ilawk-moths, and moths corresponding to the genera Papilio, Sphinx, and
Phalaena of Linnaeus.

To the first of these orders belong the caterpillars of our common butter-
flies, many of which are very destructive to vegetation. To the second be-
longs that class of caterpillars which infect the potato, the grapevine, etc. ;
the Algerians, or, as they are commonly called, Borers, which latter name,
however, is equally .applicable to the larviE of insects of many other orders.
The third great section includes a vast number of insects, Bomctimcs called
Millers, from their dusty covering, or Night Butterflies, but more frequently
Moths. Among these are the Cut-worm, the Bee-moth, and all other insects
belonging to the order Lcpidoptera which can not be arranged among the
butterflies and hawk-moths.

The most common of the Cut-worm tribe which have come under my ob-
servation the present season, are the Striped Cut-worm, the Eed-headed
Cut-worm, and the Black Worm.

The first is of a dirty whitish color, inclining to brown, with darker
stripes. Tliis worm works upon the surface of the ground, and may be found
at any hour of the day, if damp and cloud}-. The red-headed cut-worm
has, as its name implies, a red head, and is of a uniform pale brown color,
and has this season been particularly destructive; and as it works under
ground, it is death to whatever it attacks.

The Black, or (as it is sometimes called) Tiger worm may easily be known
when seen by its dark, dull brown color and black head. It works under
ground, just below the surface, drawing the stems and leaves after it into
its hole.

There are a number of others, among which are the faintly-lined cut-
worm and the white cut-worm. Of the latter, I have not found a single
specimen this season, though last year I found several. They are rare, and
consequently do but little damage. In this day of patent discoveries, any
one who has plenty of money and ample time to spend may furnish himself
with a thousand-and-one nostrums which are said to be effectual extermi-

Sbo. 12.] ENTOMOLOGICAL. 237

natorx. Snuff, strong liquid manure, powder, charcoal dust, etc., will pro-
tect, provided they can lind plenty to eat elsewhere; if not, they care about
as much for them as I should about wetting my feet in wading a brook for
my dinner, if 1 could not get it by any other means. I am satisfied that
they might be, in a great measure, exterminated by neighbors joining, dur-
ing the prevalence of the moths, and setting torches or building tires for
them to lly into. I saved my tomato crop, the present season, by having my
men go over the ground in the morning, soon after daylight, and pick up the
worms by hand. The tirst morning we secured over two thousand by count,
and the next morning we gathered over a half peck of them on about an acre
and a half. After that they began to diminish, and in a few days scarcely
one could be found. I protect dahlias, and other choice plants, by wrapping
paper about the stems; vines, by planting plenty of seed, and killing the
worms ; vine shields, if set two or three inches below the surface, will gen-
erally protect. I have never succeeded in trapping them in holes, because,
if they fall into them, they can dig out, if they can not crawl out. The best
way to protect against their ravages is to plant plenty of seed, protect the
birds, and then help them kill the worms.

The London Gardener's Chronicle says there is a prospect of a total de-
struction of the grass in the London parks, by the grub of an insect known
as "Daddy Longlegs," which eats the roots of the turf and totally destroys
it. " Various remedies have been tried without success." Have any of
those remedies been a heavy dressing of salt? If not, it should be tried at
once. And besides that, we should like to know what this " Daddy Long-
legs" is. It can not be our cut-worm, that sometimes destroys the turf in
old meadows; and certainly it can not be the '' Daddy Longlegs" of our ac-
quaintance, for that, so far as our youthful entomological researches went,
was a very harmless Daddy, which had very long, slim, crooked legs, attacliod
to a round body, the size of a small pea.

259. Wire Worms.—" A Young Farmer" wants to know what he shall do
to get rid of wire worms. lie says:

" An old gentleman not far from me says : ' Soak the seed over night in
copperas water, and the wire worm will not trouble it.' "Who knows whether
this is so or not?"

Ah! who knows? Does anybody i/iww any tiling?

Another says soaking seed in a solution of niter will prevent destruction.
If so, how easily practiced ! Again, who knows?

Probably the best remedy against wire worms is not to grow them. Keep
no old meadows. Ereak them uj). IMow all your sod and stubble land in
the fall. Either bury your wortn seed too deep to get out in time in the
spring, or else freeze it to death in the winter. There is probably no remedy
equal to deep plowing in the fall of the year.

Perhaps we might all learn useful lessons from nature if we would more
carefully read her printed pages. For instance, one who does try to read
each lessons says :

238 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. II.

"So far as my observation goes, the wire-worm is most troublesome in
seasons after a mild Avintcr. or wlicn there has been a lieavy coat of snow on
the groimd during winter, thus preventing the frost jienetrating the eartli to
any considerable dep'.h. Consequently, the worms remain near the surface,
and are not frozen to death or driven so far below the surface that they must
starve before they can return. Two successive crops of buckwheat will
generally rid any soil of wire-worms."

And we add, so will ten bushels of salt per acre, and every worm that is
killed by it will fertilize a wliole handful of grass. Salt, alone, is an excel-
lent manure ; salt and lime still better, prepared according to the formula
under the head of " salt and lime mixture." Thirty bushels of lime, in
powder, sown broadcast, will destroy the worms in many a field that has been
almost barren, and make it productive of fine crops of wheat, clover, corn.

" How to get rid of the worms," is one of the most important questions
that a farmer can ask, and the want of a knowledge how, is not confined to
young farmers. Hence, all we say u])on the subject is worth treasuring up
in the great store-house of knowledge, the human mind.

2G0. Worm-KillerSi — A reliable South Carolina acquaintance, Col. A. G.
Sunmier, of Pomaria, declares that Cliina berries applied like manure to soil
will expel all grubs and worms. " China trees" are as common all over the
South as locust or ailanthus here, and they arc very fruitful, the berries resem-
bling small cherries in size, and pulp surrounding a hard seed. Only a few years
ago, the fact was discovered, rather accidentally, that the wood of this tree
would bear a high polish, and that furniture made of it was as strong and
handsome as that of some of our most expensive imported woods, and tliat
its natural pleasant odor, like that of cedar or camphor wood, remains, and
is a great preventive of moths. The botanical name of the " China tree" is
Mdia azedaraeh ; sometimes called the great Indian lilac. It is a hot-
house shrub here ; at Charleston, it grows fifty feet high, and is a beautiful
shade-tree, its greatest objection being its abundance of berries falling upon
the ground, notwithstanding which it is a great favorite in all the most
Southern States, and its berries, if of any value, could be had here at a small
price.

261. Tobacco-Worms. — These destructive pests of the tobacco-planter, it
is well known, can be subdued with a flock of turkeys better than in any
other way. As both turkeys and worms are large, the operation can be seen
and appreciated ; yet we have no doubt that a flock of wrens do just as
much toward the destruction of some other family of worms, and really
eflfect as much good to the farmer. And so of every other class of birds.
■Cultivators of other crops ought to take lessons from the tobacco-growers.
The first glut of worms, in July, is easily subdued by the turkeys, while
tobacco is small, and tlie worms are doing but little damage. Tlie trouble
comes in August, but the destruction of the worms a month sooner may save
the crop.

Mr. Wm. Sheppard, of Ann Arundel Co., Md., has been very successful

Sec. 12.] ENTOMULOGICAL. 239

in poisoning the moth that produces the tobacco-worm, by the use of cobalt
— a quarter of a pound to a half pint of water. This is made (piite sweet
with refined sugar, and the mixture is put into a small bottle, with a quill in
the cork, and two or three drops through the quill deposited in the blossom
of the Jamestown weed, or in the blossom of the tobacco-plants. The horn-
blower will suck the poison till he dies.

The trumpet blossoms of the Jamestowa weed are favorite resorts of the
moth, and are gathered frcsli, and fastened to the tobacco-plants, or ui)on sticks
set tlirough the field. It may be worth while to grow the weed on purpose
fur traps.

Tlie cobalt is the same black powder often sold by druggists as "fly
poison." It should be reduced in a mortar to a fine powder before using.
It is worth while to try it for other insects, placing it upon plates in their
haunts.

Mr. Shcppard thinks any planter may protect himself against the tobacco-
worm with this poison.

John G. Bergen, of Long Island, stated to us, in the spring of ISOO, that
he had been obliged to send all his laborers into his tomato-field to kill
worms that arc destroying the plants and young fruit. He thinks it identical
with the tobacco-worm, having grown tobacco a few years ago and been
troubled with the same kind of worms. One of Mr. B.'s neighbors told us
afterward that the worms were not only very troublesome on the tomato-
vines, but were eating the potato-vines ravenously.

The New Haven Courier said the potato-vines in that State were being
eaten by worms, so as to destroy the prospect of a crop, and these worms,
we judge, are the same kind as those on Long Island.

In this city, worms have been for years destroying the trees; none but
the allantlius escapes them.

Is it not worth while to try to poison the insects while on the wing, in the
way indicated above, or some other way?

Tlie Jamestown weed mentioned above, we take to be the same weed that
grows along many New England waysides, called " Jimson weed," or " stink-
weed." It is the Datura stramonium.

202. Bll.a; RomcdiPS. — Here is a good one! "We liaven't a doubt as to its
eflicacy — not one ! try it. A correspondent says : " I Iiavc seen many plans
recommended for removing and keeping bugs and other insects from vines,
and among them, snufT, soap, mustard, etc., nil or any of which articles
must, in my opinion, more or less injure the plant. I have found this the
case from experience ; and I have also found, by the same means, that the
best preparation for this purpose is a cold and very strong deooetion made
with water and manure from the hen roost and cow-yard, and applied niorn-
in<'- and cveninir. Tlie insects do not relish this preparation, while tlio plants
to which it is applied do."

Another one says : " I preserved my vines last year from the ravages ot
the striped bugs by placing little wads of cotton, saturated with spirits of

240 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL

turpentine among the vines near the roots, using care to have them not touch
tlie vines. Tlie turpentine should be renewed from to time."

Aiiotlier says: "These pests of the vines may be easily got rid of by
building a fire, of light wood that will blaze freely in the evening. All
insects fly into a blaze, and are thus destroyed in myriads."

It is recommended by J. M. Dimond, of Eaton Co., Mich., to plant in tlie
same hill with summer squashes or melons, etc., some seeds of the winter
squash, such as have the largest succulent leaves. He says the bugs will not
molest the smaller vines under such circumstances. When danger from
bugs has ceased, then the plants can be removed.

Anotlier one gives the following as a sure specific for bugs on vines :
" Having seen by your paper tliat many truckers in your section are anxious
to ascertain a simple and sure remedy to destroy bugs on squashes, cucum-
bers, and tlie like, I will give you one which is almost a specific, and witliin
the reach of every one, especially those living on the sea-board.

" Procure fresh fish — of any kind whatever, the comTuonest and cheapest
just as good — a sufficient quantity according to circumstances, say one peck
to a barrel of wafer. Let them stand therein a day or two, in order to com-
mence decomposition and emit their necessarily unpleasant odor; tlicn
dampen the leaves with the liquid.

'' In addition to driving away the bugs, your plants Avill become green and
healthy, and soon grow beyond the reach of any future swarm of depreda-
tors. It may be necessary to use the water two or three times in the course
of two weeks, but remember that every application is equivalent to a dress-
ing of manure, which will amply repay for the labor, which is very trifling.
Fresh fisli ofl'al is of equal value with the fish."

2C3. Potato BugSi — It is quite as useful to report failure as success in
farming. We are therefore obliged to Horatio J. Cox, of Zanesville, Ohio,
for telling us that he tried powdered lime, and also ashes, sifted upon Iiis
potato-vines to prevent them from being eaten by the potato bugs, but he
found them at work as usual, with their backs white with lime. His con-
clusion, therefore, is, that that is no remedy against the depredations of tlicsc
pests. He remarks that " there are two kinds working in concert, but, from
my observation, keeping up separate breeds — the black sliell and the striped
shell ; the latter is more active than the other, and not quite so plump."

A French paper gives an opinion that nearly all the diseases of plants,
including potato-rot, are occasioned by insects. The insects, in many cases,
are microscopic. The little aucaris, for instance, although so very minute,
is a great destroyer. It causes little scabby pustules upon fruits, particularly
fine pears.

Whether the potato bug always found on tbe diseased vines is the cause
or effect of the disease, is a mooted question.

. Although Mr. Cox did not stop their depredations, we still recommend
liberal dressings of ashes and plaster, and if these do not kill the bugs, they
will give the vines a vigorous growth. So with lime and salt.

Sko. 12.] ENTOMOLOGICAL. 241

264. Protection of Turnips. — Tlic following, from an Eugliih newspapur, is
equally wortliy of attention in America:

" In the list of patents for wliich ])rovisional protection lias been taken
out is a macliinc of a novel and somewhat curious character. The speeilica-
tion, as tala-n from the list, descriljes tlic machine as a 'blast drill,' the
object of which is to protect the turnip crop from the ravages of the fly and
the slug, and its other numerous enemies, and secure, as far as human inge-
nuity can accomplish it, this most valuable of all bulbous roots. The com-
mon j)ractice of protecting the turnip from the liy is by dusting the row with
lime during the night and while the dew is upon the plant. Tiiis operuiion
is difficult, and imperfectly performod. Besides the blow process of doing
this by hand, the difficulty of dusting the under side of the i)lant as well as
the top side ofiers an insuperable objection to this mode of ajiplyiug lime,
soot, or any other compost, to the young turnip-jilant. This difficulty is now
overcome, and the •lime (a mi.xture of one sixth uf soot with it is recom-
mended) is thrown, by means of a blast fan, upon every part of the plant,
both on the upper and under side. The fan is put in n<otion by the travel-
ing wheels of the drill, and receives its velocity in the usual manner by
gearing wheels. The blast thus created by the fan is brought to bear u[)on
the plant,»which, yielding to its action, bends from the current, and as it
lets ui)on a falling stream of lime or otiier composition, the ])lant becomes
;om]i!etely covered with the powder. But this is not the only object the blast
drill will accomplish. The fly, disturbed by a simple contrivance, hops
away, but is at that moment caught by a current of air entering the blast
i'an and instantly destroyed, and thrown out again with violence from tho
vortex into which it had been drawn. This operation is simple, and the pro-
cess of annihilation is similar to that of a mouse or rat going down a thrash-
ing-machine. The fly and the lime are so completely mixed and incorpo-
rated that tho mischievous yet delicate insects are destroyed by the atmo-
spheric pressure tin-own upon them, and the plant is also secured, by tiio
dusting of compost, from all future attacks of the enemy. All farmers can
not fail to know something about the insect which does so much annual mis-
chief to tl)c turnip crops. Sometimes a fallow, wliich in tillage and labor
has cost £5 or £0 an acre in ju'oparing it fur a crop of Swedes, has had all
the labor and capital expended made \ain by the fly. Can this evil be rein-
cdiwl i It seems possible ; and if this invention of a blast drill should be tho
means of securing a turnip crop, or even improving it, by the ajiplication of
a top-dressing of soot or guano, or any otiier soluble manure, a gnat good
has been accomplished, not to farmci-s only, but to tho community at large."'

2G5. Pca-Wcfvil — How Destroyed. — One of the greatest pests that growers
of peas have to contend with is the pea-weevil, Bnichtis j'ixi, which sonjc-
times attacks every pod, and leaves an egg to hatcii into a disgusting insect
in every pea, so that, if intended for food, when dry, wo shall And a modi-
cum of meat ready mixed in our j>ea-soup. If intendi'd for seed, wiien wo
are ready to plant in the spring, we tind tho life of our peiw eaten out.

242 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Ciiap. IL

Altliough several birds, of wliicli the crow ami Baltimore oriole are the chief,
feed upon tlio pea-weevil, they are very far from destroying it, and the evil
is annually increasing. How can this insect bo destroyed, is a fiuestioii
worth solving. "We think it can be, if farmers and gardeners would make a
united effort, totally annihilated from the country. The remedy is very
eimplc. It is to steam all the seed peas. Tiiis can be done in a small way
in families by taking the seed, so soon as gathered, shelled, and dried, and
placing it in a cullender, covered with a cloth or plate, and placed over a
kettle of boiling water until the tteam is thoroughly jiassed througli the peas,
when they are to be dried in the sun and put away in paper bags. Upon a
large scale, the peas nuiy be steamed in bags or barrels, by inserting a steam-
pipe from a boiler at so low a j^ressure that it will not cook the peas, but it
■will the pupae of the pea-weevil. Let it be remembered that steam, prop-
erly api)lied, will totally eradicate the pea-weevil from the land And if
iium peas, why not from wheat, corn, and rice, easier and better than by
kiln-drying? It would be very easy to dry the steamed grain. Passing it
througli a fanning-miil would probably be sufficient; or pouring it out of a
basket, where it would fall fifteen or twenty feet through the air.

2t;6. Freserviug Insects. — Insect collectors will find the following method
of killing the insects they wish to preserve one of the most convenient of
any tliey have ever tried. Dissolve cyanide of potassa in water to satura-
tion, and keep it tightly corked in a small vial, and it will always remain
in good order for use. A\"hen you catch a fly, moth, insect of any kind,
or a beautiful butterfly that would be injured in fluttering, dip a needle-
point in the solution, and prick your cajitive just under the wing, and
see how quick and calmly they will lie down and die. Some large or
hard-to-kill insects may require more than one stab to make them die peace-
ably. This solution is used by scientific entomologists in making their
collections.

267. Household Insects. — UaWs Medical Journal states that household
vermin may be got rid of as follows : Half an ounce of soap boiled in a pint
of water, and put on with a brush while boiling hot, infallibly destroys the
bugs and their eggs. Flies are driven out of a room by hanging up a bunch
of common plantain (fleawort) after it has been dipped in milk. Kats and
mice speedily disappear by mixing equal quantities of strong cheese and
powdered squills. They devour this mixture with greediness, while it is in-
nocent to man. "When it is remembered how many persons have lost their
lives by swallowing mixtures of strychnine, etc., it becomes a matter of hu-
manity to publish these items.

'Yhe Sfiififijic Anuriran says: " Common red -wafers scattered about the
haunts of cockroaches will often drive away if not destroy them."' Tticse
wafers, like candies, are colored red by oxyd of lead, a most deadly poison ;
and so is the acetate of lead, or sugar of lead, as it is sometimes called, on
visiting cards, which, being a little sweetish, has been known to destroy
younw childreu, to whom they were liauded to be amused with. Fashion

Sec. 12.] ENTOMOLOGICAL. 243

for once acts sensibly in discarding glazed cards, using instead Bristol board,
more pliant, less cumbersome, and really more delicate.

We have found that bugs can not stand hot alum water. Take two pounds
of alum, bruise and reduce nearly to powder, and dissolve in three quarts
of boiling water, letting it remain in a warm place till the alum is dissolved.
The alum water is to be applied hot, by means of a brush, to every joint and
crevice. Brush the crevices in the floor of the skirting-board, if thev are
suspected places. Whitewash the ceiling, put in plenty of alum, and there
will l)e an end to their dropping from thence.

To kill moths in carpets, spread a wet cloth on the carpet, and iron with a
hut llat-iron round the edges and places where you suspect them to be. Do
this a few times in the course of the summer, and you will save your carpet
from the moths.

Silk-tcorms have been induced to work in France by electricity. M.
Sauvageon reports to the Academy his experience in the matter. Finding
the little things torpid and unwilling to work, the idea struck bim to stir
tlicni u]) by electricity. The results, as he gives them, are really marvelous,
lie took fil'ty-thrce worms at random from among thousands belonging to a
neighbor, put them every day on a sheet-iron plate, through which a current
of electricity \vas passed, kept them each time as long as they could stand it,
and now has fiftytiirce beautiful cocoons, an amount which his neighbors
will not obtain, to all a]ipearances, from several thousand ungalvanized
M'orms. If these results may be relied on, he has made a very valuable
discovery.

208. Molli Protrctors. — Camp/ior is one of the most useful moth protectors
about the household. A trunk full of furs, with an ounce of camj)hor gum
scattered through them, will be safe from moths. Furs or woolens jiaeked
in a chest niiide of camphor-wood or cedar will generally be safe. Some
housewives pack in a linen sheet, or bag of close texture. Others use to-
bacco. Others keep their furs or woolens in drawers or trunks where they
will be often exposed to tlie light, and where they can frecpicntly take them
out to the air and sun, and beat them, which will efiectually prevent the
ravages of the moth. A very good preventive is to carefully kill the miller
that makes the worm which is so destructive to woolens and furs. It is not
a hard matter to do so in a house not already overrun with them. Tliey
may be attracted to a light blaze ; and they may be caught in plates M-ith a
little sweetened water and vinegar; or a piece of an oM blanket may bo
used as a trap; or they all may be caught and destroyed by hand, by de-
voting half an hour to the work each evening, in the proper season.

'2<)(». Anis in the House. — These troublesome pests may be overeonte by
various remedies. Perhaps one of the be>t things for the red ants is to mi.\
a few grains of corrosive sublimate in a spoonful of lard, with a little sugar,
and then draw rough strings of cotton or woolen yarn througli the mixture,
and lay them in the cracks where the ants harbor, or in the corners of closet
shelves. They may also be poisoned with cobalt, pulverized line and mi.xed

•2-H SMALL ANIM^VLS AXD INSECTS. [Chap. IL

with something sweet that they like to feed upon. Tliese and other insects
can he poisoned by arsenic. They may be kei)t tVom tlie sugar-bowl by
setting it in a plate covered with powdered chalk. The whisky remedy
recommended in No. 254, to protect trees from ants, may be adopted in the
house. Tiie bug-powder mentioned in the same number, made of red chamo-
mile, can also be used iu tiie house for ants and other pests. For the largo
black ant, the best vehicle for poisoa is old cheese. Dip a piece of it in a
poisonous solution, or moisten it if dry, and dust it with corrosive sublimate
or arsenic.

Be very careful, in the use of poisons, not to get them mixed with food.
There is no more danger, with [jroper care, than there is in keeping gun-
powder in the house.

270. Insects Bcufficlal lo Farmers. — It is not to be inferred that because an
animal is called an insect, it is pestiferous. The contrary should be taught
in all schools, as well as in home lessons. The false idea is prevalent that
all sorts of insects, bees excepted, are mischievous, hurtful, and hateful ; so
that every worm, bug, fly, moth, miller, or little crawling, creeping, flying
tiling is looked upon by almost every one with a feeling of desire to crush
it. A contrary feeling must be cultivated. Children must be taught to dis-
criminate between good and evil insects, as well as between good and evil
deeds. A cloud of moths might be seen hovering around the wheat, and
the farmer, under the sup])osition that they had come to destroy the grain,
•might destroy them, and afterward find that he had killed his best friends —
the parasites of the wheat destructors. Before we declare a war of annihila-
tion, as many have against the birds, upon any class of animals, let us first
inquire which are and which are not noxious. "We will here briefly jjoiut
out a few.

Tlie common angle-worm, instead of being detrimental to the farmer, is
actually a co-laborer, and often a better one than the biped owner of the soil.
A scientific writer on Zoology says :

" The burrowing of earth-worms is a process exceedingly useful to the
gardener and agriculturist ; aiid these animals are far more useful to man in
this way, than they are injurious by destroying vegetables. They give a
kind of under tillage to the land, performing the same below the ground
that the spade does above for the garden, and the plow for arable land,
loosening the earth so as to render it permeable to air and water. It has
lately been shown that they will even add to the depth of soil ; covering
barren tracts with a layer of productive mold. Thus, in fields that have been
overspread with lime, burnt marl, or cinders, these substances are in time
covered with finely divided soil, well adapted to the support of vegetation.

" That this result — which is most commonly attributed by farmers to tiie
' working down' of the material in question— is really due to tlie action of
the earth-worm, appears from the feet that in the soil thus formed, large
numbers of ' worm-casts' may be distinguished. These are produced by the
digestive process of the worms, which take into their intestinal canal a largo

Sec. 12.]

ENTOMOLOGICAL.

245

quantity of the soil tlirougli which they burrow, extract from it a great part of
tlie decaying vegetable matter it may contain, and eject the rest in a finely
divided state. In this manner a field manured with marl has become
covered, in the course of SO years, with a bed of earth averaging 13 inches
in thickness."

White, in his " Natural History of Selborne," savs :

" Worms seein to be great pi-omoters of vegetation, which would proceed
I)ut slowly without them, by boring, perforating, and loosening the soil and
rendering it pervious to rains and fibers of plants, by drawing straws and
stalks of leaves and twigs into it, and most of all, by throwing up such
infinite numbers of lumps of earth, called worm-casts, which, being their
excrement, is a fine manure for grain and grass."

It is a part of the system of comminution spoken of under another liead ;
and if all the earth could be eaten by worms, it would serve as a manure for
crops, simply because it had been pulverized, and thereby fitted for their
use.

Some time since, in company with several gentlemen, we listened to a
conversation with reference to the value of the cai'tli-worm, one gentleman
claiming that they were a nuisance in the garden, and others asserting that
they were a great blessing, as mole drainers, and always an index of the
fertility of the soil. Here is a paragraph from the Encyclopedia Br'tinn-
nic'is right to the point :

"Tlie common earth-worm, though apt to be despised and trodden on, is
really a useful creature in its way. Mr. Knapp describes it as the natural
manurer of the soil, consuming on the surface the softer part of decayed
vegetable matter, and conveying downward the more woody fibers, which
there molder and fertilize."

271. Plailt-Licc l)«'s(royprSi — Tliere is an ichneumon fly, a yory small
blackish insect with yellowish legs and abdomen, not (piite the twentieth of
an inch long, which destroys myriads of aphides. The female lays an egg in
each louse, and the grub from that devours its nest, leaving only the skin
attached to the leaf, serving for a shelter for the larva in its jiupa state. The
fly comes out of a hole in the louse's back, and repeats the oiieration.
Careful examination will disclose a great many of these perforated empty
aphis skins upon plants that would be entin-ly destroyed by along-continued
multi[)lication of their consumers, but t'or this little parasite.

The Syrphns is the name of another destroyer of the aphis that abounds
upon collon-plants. Tliis is not a parasite; the vf^g;& being laid on the leaf
among the aphis, the maggot, which is, when full grown, about one fifth uf
an inch long, makes its food of the lice. The jjupa is formed on the leaf, in
a case made by the worm of a glutinous secretion — the juices it has sucked
out of the lice it fed upon. The fly is seven tenths of an inch across the
wings, which are double ; the body appearing like a diminutive wasp, banded
with brown, black, and yellow. It hovers much on the wing, without much
motion, unless disturbed, when it shows its power of swift flight. This

246 SMALL ANIMATE AXD INSECTS. [CnAF. 11,

louse destroyer does not confine its operations to tlic apliis of cotton-plants,
though it seems to prefer theui. It is of immense service to Southern
fanners.

The Ladij-hird (Coccinella) is another valuable assistant to the cotton-
planter, in particular. Where the lice most abound, there will be found the
hu1y-l)ird doing its work. Yet there are numerous planters who, seeing this
insect hovering over the cotton, suj)pose it the parent of the pest they stand
so much in fear of, and direct the negroes to destroy all they can. It was a
negro who first discovered that the worms hatched from their eggs, which
are deposited on the leaf near the aphis, actually consume them, instead of
the cotton-plant. The worms are a quarter of au inch long, bluish-black,
anil voracious as an alligator, to which they bear some slight resemblance.
Thuy seize and eat tlio lice alive, until all upon the leaf are consumed, when
the grub fastens itself by the tail to the leaf to await its change. Tlie insect
wliile on the wing is also a louse-eater. A disagreeable odor emitted by this
insect will serve to identify it.

The larva of the lace-wing Jly is another cotton-aphis cater. These worms
are hatched from filaments of eggs, which the fly attaches to the under
side of the leaf near an aphis colony. This larva is not quite one fifth of an
inch long. It may be known by the way it holds by the tail, while stretch-
ing out full length looking for its favorite food. It spins a little cocoon, out
of which, in due time, comes a bright green fly, with brilliant eyes, and
four transparent greenish wings, delicately netted like fine lace — hence the
name. Tliis insect al^o belongs to the fetid-odor family.

272. Other luscct Destroyerst — The Carolina tiger-leetle is a beautiful insect,
seven tenths of an inch long, of metallic blue, violet, and green color, and
sav;ige propensities toward all other insects.

The Harpalus is another insect-consuming beetle, with very strong
hooked jaws adapted to a predator}' Kfe. If it can not find living food, it
will consmne dead, putrescent substances.

Tlie Mantis, an insect known in Maryland as the " rear horse," is a
voracious consumer of insects. In fact, it is said that they will sometimes
consume one another. The largest are over two inches in length, of a very
awkward-looking form. The eggs attached to a limb look like an excres-
cence, and are often attacked by an ichneumon fly, as a place of deposit for
it> eggs. The young mantis comes out in June, at first without wings, but
with a strong appetite for aphides and other insects. It stands upon four hind
legs, v,-ith body elevated and forward feet closed, and head constantly
moving. It walks, or jumps, when alarmed, but is capable of domestication
so as to come and take food out of tiie hand, and is perfectly harmless except
to things obnoxious to man, and for that it should be preserved. Its color
is brownish gray to light green, and its form will be remembered from a
picture of it, or after being once seen or known.

The Beduvius novenarius measures an inch and a quarter in length, and
destroys multitudes of insects in all their stages of transformation. The

Sec. 12.] ENTOMOLOGICAL. 247

eggs deposilod in autumn liatcli in May or June; tlie younf worms are
marked with a black licad and thorax, and bright red abdomen, and black
sjjots on the back. They afterward appear of a grayish color, with rudi-
ments of wings, which at length enable them to ily with 8tren"th. It
approaches its ]n-ey cautiously, and makes a dart, and pierces it to death, and
then sucks out the substance. It eats the common tree-caterpillar voraciously
and it sometimes wounds a person handling it incautiously with its sharp
piercer.

There arc numerous other parasites of noxious insects, and insects like
those named, which prey upon others, which are really beneficial to the
farmer, as arc many quadruped.s and other animals that are natural insect-
eaters, such as toads, moles, skunks, etc. The most important of all. i)erliaps,
we mention in the next paragraph.

273. Tlio Wheat Midsc ParasUo.— The only hope of relief from the bla>ling
cfi'ects of the wheat-midge {o-2o), with those who have thought upon the sub-
ject, has been a parasite that would work its destruction. That hope, wc
trust, is about to be realized. A correspondent of the Canadian Agricul-
tun'ft, writing to that pajier in the autumn of ISOU, says:

"I am rejoiced that this week I can announce the arrival of a deadly
enemy to the wheat midge or fly. In the neighborhood of Sparta, township
of Yarmoutii, the farmers have discovered some species of ichneumons which
deposit their eggs on the larva. One of these is very small, black, ;;m(1
shining ; the other is also black, with red feet aiul a blunt tail. These aio
ofti'ii mistaken for the wheat-fly ; but as it has only tico wings, and they
have ffnir, tiie distinction is obvious. To observe the proceedings of the
ichneumons, place a number of the maggots or larva^ of the wheat-fly on a
sheet of paper, and set a. female ichneumon in tlie midst of them; .slie soon
pounces upon her victim, and, intensely vibrating her antennaj, bending her-
self obliquely, jilungos lier ovipositor into the body of the larva, dejio?iting
in it a single egg. She will then pa.ss to the second, and so on, depositing a
single egg in each. Yon will observe the maggot writhing in seeming
agnny, when sometimes the fly stings them three times. These ichneumons
ap]iear in myriads on the outside of the car, but, as if impatient of blight
light, sheltering themselves from the sun's rays among the husks."'

The same thing has been noticed in other sections ; and Dr. Fitch, the
entomologist of the New York State Agricultural Society, is so much en-
couraged that a remedy has come at last, that he writes conlidentiy, in
November of that year: "The days of the wheat-midge pest are numbered.
I fully believe that farmers may again bow wheat without fear of its destruc-
tion by the Cecidomyia iritici."

248

SM.VLL AXIMAI-S AND INSECTS.

[Chap. II.

sticTiON xiii.-misci:llaxeous-wild and tame andials of the

FAHM-DOJIESTIC FISH-BREEDING, ETC.

.-rni^T^T^olcs— Vrc l.:ive for four years (1859-1S62) occu-
y^' pied our little farm in AVestchester County —
one of tlic many sadly-ahuseil pieces of land,
sonic of that in mowiuij, not jilanfed for thirty
I' 215>®^jll(^''fli3f 8 ^\^ years or more — and in this hind we found the moles
d^^jj^^^^'yi^ as thick as v.-e ever .saw them anywhere in our life,
' - ''"^^ > ajid therefore have a light to speak of them from expe-

rience. In some respects we have suffered severely by
them. Tlicy have killed many choice tliinijs that we
have phmted, including several valuable grapevines ; l)nt

3!^!^ C^'^i'V.i^^? ^^^ ^'"^ ^*''' -^^^ willing to destroy the moles. We do not
V \ feOaL'i C^) look \ipon them as pests, altliougli they have pestered ns.
They undermine the jdants, but do not eat them "What
fori It is not for sport, nor merely accidental in boring
their subterranean galleries. It is in pursuit of food. And as that food consists
of insects noxious to the farmer, this paragraph upon moles comes in course
very well after the section devoted to insects. In fact, we believe that tlie
mole is one of man's best friends, and that it never occupies land that is not
already so preoccupied with destructive M'orms as to render it unfit for culti-
vation. So impressed with this belief are some European people — all
Prussia, we believe — that they have enacted laws to prohibit the killing of
moles. As with the crow, opinions vary in this country whether the mole is
beneticial or injurious to farmers. For our own part, we must say that M'e
never see an account of a "new mole-trap'' without wishing the inventor
might get his own fingers caught in it. It is a great pity that farmers can
not learn that moles are one of the good things that Providence has bestowed
upon them — that they do not destroy seeds and plants, but the insects that
are great pests to the farm and garden. In this opinion we shall continue
until better informed upon this question. In the mean time we give some
opinions of others. The following is the sketch of a rejjort of a conversation
at the New York Farmers' Club about moles :

SoLox HoniNSON read a letter upon the subject of moles, which elicited a
lengthy discussion. The following portion of the letter we print :

"This animal, as you probably know, lias a very small apology for eyes,
which can not be discovered till the skin is removed, and it can not be ascer-
tained that they are of any practical use. His sense of hearing and of smell
is very acute, and he is enabled to elude observation, and to avoid anything
unusual that may be jdaced in his track. No device, however, with which
I am acquainted will force him to abandon a well-cultivated track, abound-
ing with earth-worms, which are his chief attraction. He will pass from hill

Sec. 13.] WILD AND TAMIC AXIil.VXS OF THE FARM. 249

to hill, severing the corn, melon, or other seeds from the tender plant, thus
greatly impeding its progress, and in many instances wholly destroying it.
In a scarcity of earth-worms he will prey upon beets, potatoes, and other
roots with voracity ; still tlie damage he thus docs is of little account com-
pared with that produced by his relentless ])li)wiug or rooting. "Where
the soil is fertile and not too wet, this intruder will be found undermining all
vciretation, and is a source of discomfort to the airrieulturist, which must be
realized to be appreciated.

" Failures in Held and garden, which arc ofren attributed to drouth or in-
sects, are many times produced in a great measure by moles. At morning,
noon, and evening the mole goes firth on his depredations, making the mo-t
rapid movements (for an underground i'>crformance), and in less than twenty
minutes finishes his repast, and returns again to his hiding-place deep in the
earth, lievond the reach of all intriulers.

"The Yankee mole is too shi-ewd lor the English trap, or, indeed, for anj-,
with a single exception. I have examined several traps, beautiful in theory,
but they are splendid practical failures.''

Wm. S. CImvPkntek — 1 am satisfied about the injury of moles to the farmer,
being much more than all his benefit in eating worms. I had a bed of
tulips destroyed by nxjles. 1 traced them by their paths from root to root.

Prof. Mai'ics — 1 have tried careful experiments with moles in confinement,
and have never succeeded in getting them to eat any kind of vegetable
nuxttcr.

Mr. Moody, of Kew Jersey — I have f >und that moles do cut off the stems
of thorns in my hedge. I can not say that they eat thorns. I am satisfied,
too, that they will cat potatoes.

Prof Mapes — I find that i)otatoes are eaten in the vicinity of moles, but I
am satisfied that they are eaten by grubs that the moles feed upon.

Dr. Tkijiele — The potato is eaten by the grub of the cockchafer, and not
by the mole.

Jlr. FuLi.KU — I have known moles to gnaw potatoes, but not for food.

The Chairman, IIobekt L. Pell, made the following remarks ujion this
subject :

Miih-Hllls. — In rich alluvial soils, mole-hills are thrown up in imnunso
numbers, because such soils usually abound with the food that these .'subter-
raneous creatures seek for. They destroy the roots of grass immediately
contiguous to their mounds, besides often impcdiTig the free action of the
scythe, for these reasons. Some think it well to exterminate them ; still they
no doubt do a vast deal of good by destroying obnoxious worms and grubs.

In the spring of the year it is an easy matter to spread out these mounds
over the surrounding ground, as they arc dry and jiowdery, and act to a
certain extent as an enriching top-dressing.

The mole can not bear access to the atmosphere, being wholly subterra-
neous by nature; they never drink, but live entirely upon worms, insects,
and the roots of grass, and are never found in gravelly or clay soils.

250 SMALL ANI^fALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. 1L

Tliey breed in April ami May, and generally produce four at a birth.
Tlie tunnels that they make are invariably parallel to the surtaee of the

grouiHl, and about six iuchos decp^ unless they become alarmed, when tliey
iiiuiicdiatdy sink to the dt'iitli of fourteen inches, rarely deeper. They have
cities under ground, which consist of houses, or nests, wiiere they feed and
nurse tlicir young ; communicating with these are wider and more frequented
streets, made by the perpetual journeys of the female and male parents, as
well as many other less frequented streets, with diverging branches, which
they extend daily to collect food for themselves and families.

Moles are exceedingly active in April and May, during the pairing
season, when the tunnels become very numerous, for the purpose of meeting
each other. I do not believe tliat they are blind, from the fact that I have
never observed that the mole-hills increase except in the day-time, showing
that tlicy do not work by night, which they would prol)ably do if deprived
of sight. Tlioy commence very early in the morning, wlien you may often
see the mold or grass moving over them ; j-ou may then readily cut off
their retreat by thrusting in the ground a spade directly behind thcjn, when
they may be dug out very easily and killed by the attendant terrier. By
jilacing your ear on a newly-raised hill yon may hear them scratching at a
cousiilerablo distance, and thus be able to find them. You may always dis-
cover the locality of their young by observing the hills, which are larger
and the color different, a portion of the subsoil being thrown upon top. If
you desire to set traps in their tunnels, it will be necessary to discover which
are the frequented streets and which tiie by-roads.

This may be accomplished by pressing the foot lightly on the hill, and if
the mole passes that way he will nearly obliterate the mark. You may then
set a subterranean trap, and he will be caught. These may be made from a
piece of wood, in a hollow, semi-cylinder form, with grooved rings at each
end, in which are placed the nooses of Imrse-hair, one at each end, fastened
by a peg in tlie center, and stretched above-ground by a bent stick; when
the mole has passed through one of the nooses, and removed the central peg,
the bent stick, by its elasticity, rises and strangles the animal. The structure
of this quadruped adapts it admirably to the underground life that it leads.
Its head is very long, conical in shape, and tapers to the snout, which is
much strengthened by a bone, gristle, and ver^' powerful muscles. The
body is cylindrical, very thick on the back of the head, from which it dimin-
ishes to the tail. It does not appear to have any neck, but where it should
be, there is a mass of muscles, all of which appear to act upon tlie fore legs
and head. These are the instruments with which he excavates the ground ;
tliey are harder, shorter, and -stronger, in proportion to the size of the animal,
than in any other of the mammiferous class. I have never destroyed one of
tlicse little animals, because I consider the damage they do to a few roots of
grass is entirely counterbalanced by their immense destruction of wire- worms,
slugs, etc., besides aerifying, disintegrating, and lightening the soil, and thus
fitting it admirably for the purposes of top-dressing.

Seo. 13.] WILD AN!) TAME ANIMALS <JF THE FARM. 251

I never permit the common crow to bo destroyed, because he preserves
my coni-tiukls iVoia numerous enemies, keeps off hawks, destroys shigs,
siijiils, gnibs, and cats carrion. Nor tlie bhick snake, whose constant
eniiiloymeiit scorns to be the destruction of field-mice, and other enemies to
the orchard. Nor the cherry bird, because he is always on liand ready to
eat tlie first cherries that ripen prematurely, ■which invariably contain the
worm. Nor the king-bird, wren, or robin, all of which are employed from
dawn to dusk in relieving me from my enemies.

275. An En^li!>li Opiuioii about iMoleSi— The Koyal Agricultural Society's
Transactions contains the following opinion about moles. The report adirms
that "in one year, and every year, 0U,UUO bushels of seed-wheat, worth
jCoOjOOO, are destroyed by wire-worms! This prevents 720,000 bushels from
being grown, worth £300,000. If our farmers and others, instead of killing
moles, partridges, and pheasants, \von\d protect them, 720,000 bushels more
wheat would go every year into the English market. But the creature designed
by a kind Providence to perform the chief part of this immense good is the
mole! Some years since I had two fields, one of which was full of wire-
worms, the other perhaps a third full. My crops failed on these fields for
the first two or three years, but afterward improved rapidly, for I bought all
the live moles I could find at three shillings a dozen, and then two shillings
a dozen, and turned them into these fields. I had eight quarters of harity
per acre and seven of wheat wlirrc the mohs were at work all summer,
making the ground like ahoney-comb. Next year, the wire-worms, being all
cleai'eil out, my innocent little workmen, who had ])erformed for me a service
beyond the powers of all the men in my jiarish, emigrated to my neighbor's
lands lo perform the same service, hut of coui'se they met death wherever
they moved, so that my little colony was wholly destroyed. Now i will
receive all the moles that the farmers will give me, and turn them into my
glebe."

27C. An Amoriran Opinion about Moles.— An American writer imdcrtakes
to criticise wiiat is said above, and says: "This I know from every-day
ol)servation to bo very erroneous. I do not know thaf moles eat insects ; bo
that as it may, I have no doubt their living is i)rincipally seeds, and roots, and
other vegetables. In the winter time, when snow is deep and the ground
not frozen, I have known them to destroy whole nurseries of apple-trees,
and even young orchards that have commenced bearing."'

Now this man don't know what he is talking about. lie has confowndcd
mice aiul moles together. It is the mice, and not the moles, that have been
running about in this man's orchard eating his trees, Eut he believes it is
moli'S, and has a fixed [)rcjndice in his mintl against them, which no argument
]>erhaps can remove. AVo beg of farmers to learn facts about things in
which they are so much interested.

277. MifC and llifir Misfhief.— Mice, we willingly concede, are mischievous
— in young orchards excessively so. AVet seasons are favorable to the rapid
increase of field mice, and wLeu followed by snowy wintere aud uufrozea

252 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL

turf, 60 they can have access to tlie clover roots, tliey become a scourge.

The late dry summers nearly exterminated both rats anil mice — probably more
from thirst than hunger.

The variety of mice that does most damage to trees is known as tlio
"meadow mouse," whicli always works under cover, girdling the trees most
when the snow lies deepest, particularly if it lies ligiifly or is held up by
weeds and grass, so as to allow the vermin easily to make their paths from
tree to tree, or from the tree to (lieir resting-jilace.

278. Remedies for Mice Hating; Trees.— Tramping the snow down around
the trees is a pretty sure remedy, and where the orchard or nursery is not
extensive, will answer to be put in practice, but it would be trnuljlcsome on
a large scale, as it may have to be repeated several times in the winter.
Some persons have found it a good plan to tramp down the snow and wet it.
It then forms ice, that often remains nearly all wint(>r, keeping the ground
warm, as well as keeping the mice oft".

Downing, in his " Fruits and Fruit-Trees," says: "The following mixture
will be found to be an eft'ectual prevention. Take one spadeful of hot-
slacked lime ; one spadeful of clean cows'-dung ; half spadeful of soot ; one
handful of flour of sulphur — mix the whole together with the addition of
Buflicient water to bring it to the consistency of thick paint. At the
approach of winter, paint the trunks of the trees sufliciontly high to be
jeyond the reach of these vermin. Experience has proved that it does no
injury to the tree. A dry day should be chosen for the application."

Coal-tar has been recommended, but we advise groat caution in its use,
since many persons have destroyed their trees by it. A\'e would sooner try
a coating of strong alkaline soap ; that, at least, would not injure the
trees.

279. Mice and Osasje-oranse^ — J- !>■ Cattell, of Salem, Columl)iana Co.,
Ohio, says the field-mice are eating up all the roots of Osage-orange hedges
in that region, so that they are utterly destroyed, and their cultivation must
be abandoned unless somebody can give a remedy. He says :

" It has been my uifderstanding, heretofore, that one of tlie greatest excel-
lences of this plant for fencing was its freedom from all animal destroyers.
If no remedy against the ravages of the mice can be found, it will be folly
to set a plant of the kind in this part of the country. One of my neighbors
has already given up half of his for lost, and grubbed out the balance. jSTo
doubt others are troul)led in the same way. I have tried traps, terrier dogs,
and poison, but all in vain. What shall I do?"

Who can tell ?

We heard one nurserj-man say that he should dig up an Osagc-orango
hedge, because it attracted mice, and also because it entirely exhausted the
soil of a wide space, so that he lost the growth of one row of trees.

280. Ifatf, — Tliis species of the genus miis is an almost intolerable nuisance
in some portions of the United States. In fact, we do not know of any
portion now exempt. They follow man into the wilderness. AYhen we

Sec. IC] WILD AND TAME ANIMALS OF THE FARM. 253

located on the prairie, in ISSl, about 15 miles from neighbors, aud 40 miles
out from what has since grown to be the city of Chicago, there was not a
rat to seen or heard of. For several years we were exempt from this pest.
There came abundance of shipping to Chicago, aud with it al>undance of
rats, and they soon spread over the whole land, multiplying and devastating.
Now they are great pests in the barns and slacks of prairie farmers.

Our common breed is called " Norway rats," from the supposition that they
originated in that country. British naturalists, however, assert that they
were introduced into the Eritish Islands from India. If they are tropical
animals, all we have to say is, that they easity adapt themselves to a rigor-
ous climate, where they multi}>ly at a most i)rolilic rate. "What we are yet
to do with them is a problem not easily solved. All the receipts to euro the
nuisance are only preventive, not eradicative.

2SI. Rat AntidotCSi — A correspondent of the Gardener^s Monthli/ says:
'' I tried the eftect of introducing into the entrance of their numerous holes,
runs, or hiding-places, small portions of chloride of lime, or bleaching pow-
der, wrapjicd in calico, and stuffed into the entrance holes, and thrown loose
liy spoonfuls into the drain from the house. This drove the rats away for a
twelvemonth, when they returned to it. They were again treated in the same
manner, with like cfl'ect. The cure was most complete. I presume it was
the chlorine gas, which did not agree with their olfactories."'

Another correspondent writes: "Some four or five years since, my cellar
became musty, to overcome which my wife sjjrinklod a solution of copperas
(pretty strong) over the bottom. Since that time we have seen no sign of
rata about theliouso, notwithstanding there have been plenty of them about
the barn and other buildings on the premises."

Arsenic is considered, by some who have tried it, a tailure, when used for
the purpose of clearing i)remises of rats, because they are too cunning to
partake of it after witnessing the death of two or three of the family. It is
ctfectual, if the vermin will take the bait.

Strychnine we consider far i)referable, and although so much more costly,
it requires but a few cents' worth to do the work ot death upon a hundred
lats. It is also the very best thing to use upon a troublesome dog or cat
that comes prowling about your i>remises. One grain for a dose is sutHcicnt.
We have killed numerous wolves by inserting one grain of strychnine in the
center of a piece of fresh meat, just large enough for a mouthful for a wolf.
As rats do not bolt their food, it is a little more diflicult to get them to take
strvchnine, it is so intensely bitter. If it is mi.xed wltii corn-meal, and a few
drops of oil of anise are added, it will attract the rats.

7\irrinij anJ fi.alh,rln(j rats, and then letting them run, has been jmicticed,
to give the tribe a hint tiiat it would be well for them to leave. One rather
smart individual, not having tar, used spirits of turpentine. lie was going
to drive the rats out nf his house cellar. He was entirely successful; for
when he let the rat h)ose in his kitchen, with a " Siioo !"" to it to go down the
cellar stairs, it took the kitchen firo in its course, aud then a pile of flax that

25i SMALL AMMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL

hiy ill tlie cellar way. In two hours there was not a rat in the house, unless
it niiijlit be a roasted one.

I'litder of Paris has proved a successful poison for rats ; and it has the
advantage of being quite harmless to liavc about the house. A tablespoon-
fill of the flour of jilaster, mixed in a cup of Indian meal, and slightly swect-
i-ned, will be eaten by rats, and kill them. A little grated cheese makes the
food more attractive. Oil of anise would be still more so. In fact, by the
use of it, rats may be coaxed out of a house to eat poison, and die where
their dead bodies would not be a nuisance.

Phosphorus, powdered and mixed with meal, a few grains to a teacupful,
has been often uncd successfully as a rat poison.

I'owdcrcd jiotash, strewn in the paths frequented by rats, has been known
to drive them away from a house. The theory is, that at gives them very sore
feet, and disgusts them with the place.

252. English Rat-fatchcrs. — In England, rat-catching is a profession, sons
often following it as the business of their fathers. The rat-catcher visits a
farmer, and contracts witii him at so much a head for all the rats he destroys.
His trap is a large bag, which is set with the mouth open, baited Avith a
piece of bread scented with oil of anise and oil of rhodium, the scent of
which attracts the rats, and thus he bags enough to fill the contract. He
does not desire to rid the premises, as that would " spoil business." A rat-
destroyer would not be tolerated by the honorable company of rat-catchers.

253. Rat-Tl'aps< — Among the many devices for trapping rats, we will
mention a few of the best. A large wire cage-trap, where the second rat
will go in because he sees the first in there, often proves successful. A large
brass kettle, half full of water, with a small stone island in the center, just
big enough for one rat to rest upon, the top of the kettle being covered with
parchment, similar to that of a drum-head, having a cross cut in the center,
is a first-rate trap. Fasten a small bait upon the points of the cut, and the
rat jumps down from a board arranged for the purpose, and through he
goes into the water. He scrambles on the island and squeals for help. An-
other hears him, and comes looking around, sees the bait, jumps for it, takes
the plunge, and goes down upon the other fellow's head. Then comes a
scramble for place, the strongest pushing the weakest off ti) take his chance
in the water. This muss, as with men, attracts others, and in they go. We
have heard of twenty in a night thus inveigled to destruction.

A barrel, one third full of water, with an island, the surface covered with
chaft", and a bait suspended over it, we have been told, is an excellent trap.

Ferrets and weasels have been highly recommended to be kept about the
barn, to drive away rats. Tlie objection to them is, that they drive away the
poultry also. Ferrets have been trained so as to be obedient to the call of
their master, and used not only to hunt rats, but to drive rabbits out of their
burrows.

2Si. Domestic Cats. — Perhaps the best thing for a farmer to do, who is
troubled with rats, is to multiply his stock of cats. We knew one farmer

__ . . __

Sko. 13.] "WILD AND TAME ANIMALS OF THE FARM. 255

wlio kept fourteen cats, keeping up tliat number lor more than a year, by
■\vliicli means he got rid of all annoyance from rats, and they also hunted the
rabbits out of an adjoining gro\e.

The variety of the felts tribe known as the domestic cat, once wild, easily
gets Avild again if neglected by man, and is then as great a pest as the rats,
and is given to tlie very bad habit of eating eggs and chickens, and catch-
ing pigeons and other birds.

Toj^^t'voit cats killing chicl\'jis, Harriet Martineau gives the following as
a sure preventive both against the killing of chickens and birds by the cats:
"When a cat is seen to catch a chicken, tie it round her neck, and make her
wear it for two or three days. Fasten it securely, for she will make incred-
ililo eflorts to get rid of it. Be firm for that time, and the cat is cured — she
will never again desire to touch a bird. This is what we do with our own
cats, and what we recommend to our neighbors ; and wlieu they try the ex-
periment, they and their jtets are secure from reproach and danger hence-
forth. Wild, homeless, hungry, ragged, savage cats are more difficult to
catch ; but they are outlaws, and may be shot, with the certainty that all the
neighbors will be thankfid."

The abundance of food and shelter obtained by the domestic cat makes
them much more prolific than in a wild state. She is generally, though very
tame and gentle, much more attached to the house than to its inmates, which
is quite the reverse with the dog. There are some remarkable singularitits
about cats. Gentle as they appear, they arc very nervo\is, and easily
startled, and act for a moment as wildly as though never tamed. They are
also accused of being very treacherous. Their affection for their own spe-
cies or ours is certainly doubtful. Their conduct at times, when a member
of the family dies, is singular. Their anxiety also to get at a corpse lias
led to curious sujjerstitions. In the f)pinion of the superstitious, the black
cat has ever been attendant upon witchcraft. It is our opinion that a jiortion
of this black-cat supei-stition originated from the fact that the liairs of a
black cat exhibit sparks of electricity to a remarkable degree, when the
atmiisphere is in the right condition. To sec this, take ^uch a cat into a dark
room, upon a clear, cold Novcndjcr night, and stroke the fur the wrong way,
and if you never have seen it before, you will be surprised at the effect.

Cats, ]>articularly females, are generally very cleanly animals to keep as
house pets. They are fond of warm (juarters and soft beds, and their song
of satisfaction, called jiurring, is very pleasant to all who have a fondness for
cats. We have known this fondness become a cat mania.

We look upon cats as a necessary part of farm stock, and they should be
properly treated as much as any other kind of animals.

2^!'). Dors. — If there is any more unmitigated nuisaiico in a farming com-
munity than dogs, such dogs as farmers generally keep, we are unable to
name it. In the country where we live, there are some hundreds of farms
better fitted for sheep husbandry than any other purjiose, but upon wiiich
no sheep are kept, bcc»uso the country is bo full of worthless dogs. Thu

256 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Cuap. II.

country might bo a liundrcd thousand doUars a year richer, if the people
could stock their farms with sheep. A man who keeps a worthless cur to
prowl through a neigliboi-liood, is neither a good Christian, moral man, nor
good neighbor. He does not do as he would be done by. A well-trained
terrier is the only kind of a dog that is useful to farmers in general. Of
tiiese there are several varieties ; the best is the wire-haired terrier, an ugly-
looking brute, but a ferocious enemy to 'rats. The black-and-tan terrier is a
handsome and Tnore agreeable-looking dog to have about a place, and a
good ratter, when trained, but does not have such an apparent natural pro-
pensity to destroy rats as the wire-haired one. He is also, for his size, a very
strong dog, and knows nothing about fear of anything, and is therefore a
very good house M-atch-dog. But we do not believe a farmer ever should
keep a dog for his services alone, as a watch or guard of his premises. A
dog to be worthy of a home upon a farm should have several good qualities
combined. No conscientious man can keep a dog when he knows that the
keeping of such dogs, ■whether his particular one or not, has a tendency to
prevent the keeping of sheep ; for sheep, of all animals, have greater adapt-
ation to the purpose of furnishing the poor with cheap food than any
other domestic animal in use in this country, and they are capable of con-
verting the coarsest herbage of the farm into the most healthful meat of the
shambles.

2S0. Slifphf rd's Dogs. — "Whenever sheep are kept in such numbers as to
constitute a couiiderable tiock, the owner can well afford to keep a good
shepherd's dog. One who has never seen a well-trained shepherd's dog can
form no idea of their cxtraordiiuxry sagacity and usefulness. We have
riciilen leisurely across a wide prairie in a wagon, accompanied by a Scotch
coUey, half-breed slut, driving five hundred sheep hotter than three men
could have done without a dog.

If there were none but such dogs in the country, there would be ten times
as many sheep kept. One man -would be entirely competent to manage a
thousand. He should have two dogs, so that they would be company for
cacli other, and so that, in case of accident to one, the other would remain
serviceable.

The Scotch colley very much resembles a prairie-wolf, having a broad
forehead and pointed nose. The ears are short and upright, the fleece
shaggy and slightly curly, with a bushy tail. These dogs are very intelli-
gent, docile, and faithful, and possess an instinctive sagacity in everything
that relates to the care of sheep. In a pleasant little book called " Anecdotes
of Dogs," some wonderful evidences of the sagacity of Scottish shepherd
dogs are to be fomid, and they should bo read by all farmers' boys.

The English shepherd dogs vary considerably in appearance from the
Scotch. The hair is smoother, and they do not appear so distinct a breed as
the other. Both are of medium size, perhaps about fifteen inches high.
Tlie Irish shepherd dog is larger and more ferocious ; some of them would
tear a man sadly, if he interfered with the flock at night while in charge of

Sec. 13.] WILD AND TAME ANIMALS OF THE FARM. 257

tlic dog. Tlie Scotcli dog is always gentle, and generally very affectionate.
In France, tlie sliopliurd dogs are soniewiiat like the Scotch, but smaller.
The Spanish sliephcrds luive a breed ol' dogs peculiar to that country. They
are the size of a full-grown wolf, with large head, thick neck, inastiff-lookin"',
fierce and strong, and are often armed with a spiked collar, to make them
more formidable to dogs, wolves, and bears, if they shouUl attack tlie Hock.
Their color is generally black and white — their daily rations two pounds of
black bread, with milk and meat when it can be had. In Spain, the "real
Hocks of the country, always in charge of siieplierds and dogs, make Ion"
migrations every year from their lowland home to the mountain pastures,
two or three hundred miles distant, feeding all the way in the roads and
commons.

Sheep are the wealth of Spain, and without the aid of shepherd dogs, that
wealth, under the present system of management, could not be produced.

2S7. Dos l-^aws. — In New Jersey there is a dog law which should l)e
entitled, " An act to encourage the keeping of the most ordinary breeds of
sheep, and no others, and to induce owners to have them killed by doors."
This act provides that all sheep killed by dogs shall be paid for out of the
]i\ililic funds, at live dollars a head. To improve your Hock, if you <jet a
buck worth a hundred dollars, and the dogs kill him, you get live dollars.
If your neighbor has one killed that }-ou would not have on your farm, if
paid five dollars for taking him, he gets five dollars. It is not a law to
encourage improvement in sheep-breeding.

The number of sheep annually killed by dogs in Ohio has been ascertained
by the assessoi-s. The munber ami value are astounding.

Thereupon a correspondent of the Ohio Farmer says: ''Shall we have a
dog law, or niu€t we give up keeping sheep? That is the real fpiestion.
There would bo kept fifty per cent, more sheep in this country, but for dogs;
not that quite that amount are dogged, but most farmers lose some, and this,
with other risks, discourages them, and compels them to abandon the business.
Now let every farmer make this a test (picstion in the elections this fall.
Let it be siikep vs. docjs, and let all Republicans and Democrats see to it that
cvciy man ]iut in nomination for the Legislature is sound on dogs. Let the
canditlatc choose whom he will serve — sheep or dogs. I am in earnest, 'Sir.
Ediliir. The sight of a few line Leicesters, each worth more than all the dogs
in Ohio, mangled and torn by worthless curs, who are only kept because
their owners are too lazy to kill them, has made me in dead earnest; and
wo to the Ohio legislator, if he depomls on my vote, whose fear of dog
constituents shall induce him to oppose or dodge a severe dog law ! Now is
the time, wool-growers of Ohio, to look to this matter, and see that antidog
men are put in nomination by your respective parties."

There is no use in talking about taxing dogs. Tlie dogs that really do the

mischief are the dogs of gentlemen of elegant leisure, who are too l.azy to

hunt with them, and of the democratic loatcr, who don't like to work, but

•glories in the luxury of a house full of children and a dozen dogs. Honest

i:

2 JS SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL

working people, who earn tlieir bread, don't keep worthless dogs about them ;
it' they keep a dog, thev I'eed hliu, and train him up properly ; but your
roaming wortliless vagabond will keep a score, and expect them to take caro
of tiieraselves. But these fellows iiave votes, my dear sir; it will never do
to tax their dogs. They would kick up such a dust about our ears that we
could never find our M-ay into the State-house again.

288. A Trap for fatcliiii!; Sliecp-killiug Dogs. — Make a pen of fence rails,
beginning with four, so as to have it square, and as you build it, draw in
each rail as you would the sticks of a partridge-trap, until your pen is of
sufficient height, say five feet. In this way you will construct a pen that,
wlieu finished, will permit a dog to enter at the top at pleasure, but out of
which he will find it diflicult to escape, should he have the agility of an
antelope. All that you have to do to catch the dog that has killed your
sheep, is to construct the trap where the dead sheep is left, as directed, as
soon as possible after an attack has been made on your flock ; put a part or
the whole of a sheep that has been killed in it, and remove the balance to
some other field. In a majority of cases the rogue and murderer will return
the succeding night, or perhaps the next, and you will have the gratification
next morning of finding him securely imprisoned. Some may object to the
plan, perhaps, on the ground that you might catch an innocent dog. If he
is so, he can content himself with not trying it.

2S9. A Sermon on Dogs. — Tiie Texas Christian Advocate gets off the fol-
lowing short sermon upon dogs, from a text to be found in Philippians iv. 2—
" Beware of dogs !" Upon this the preacher says :

"Tiie Apostle well knew the mischievous and meddlesome spirit of dogs.
Hence his caution against them.

I. Dogs in general are a nuisance.

Because :

1. Tlicy excite fears of hydrophobia.

2. They worry and destroy sheep.

3. They disturb our slumber.— Howling in horrid concert under our win-
dow, simultaneously baying at the moon.

•4. They frighten us when out at night. — A snap or growl at a neighbor's
gate, or when turning down a dark alley, has a wonderfully nervous tendency.

5. Tliey are too familiar. — "Will sleep on the front gallery, scatter fleas,
come into the dining-room and parlor, and go to church on Sunday mornings.

From these and other considerations I observe :

II. All dogs should be watched.

1. To prevent their depredations. — Killing neighbors' cats, tearing pants,
scaring children, and going mad.

2. Tp correct their bad manners. — Teach them they are only dogs, and not
quite equal to " white folks."

3. Keep them in their places.— "Wherever else they belong, I question as
to the propriety of their getting between the sheets with gentlemen, or using
the church as a dog-kennel.

Sec. 13.] WILD AND TAME ANIMALS OF THE FARM. 259

Application. — Have you .a dog ? Then keep him in a dog's place, and
watch him. If you athnit !iim to undue familiarity, don't forget that other
folks will still think him to be but a dog. If he has a shaggy coat and turn-
up nose, these will not entitle him to the privilege of following you to
church and disturbing the worship of the entire congregation.

Though he may be as nice and sensible as his fond master or foolish mis-
tress, it is not very probable the preaching will do him any good. The intel-
ligent fellow might be allowed the pleasure of trotting across the floor, and
barking his approbation at the occasional flights of the preacher's eloquence,
were a dog's gratification more imjiortant than the people's edification.

Hence, in conclusion, I would say, Beware of dogs! and what I say to one
I say to all. Beware of dogs !

Finally, to the sexton, or that good brother who raises the tunes, I would
say with e!n2)hasis. Beware of dogs ! and if those canine interlopers persist
in coming to the place of worship, just take them out and cut off their tails
close to the cars."

290. Rabbits— To Prevent Gnawing Trees.— The American Hare, commonly
called Rabbit, is common to all the Atlantic States and Canada. It is used
for food by most people, but abhorred liy others. Although clothed in a
tliick coat of soft, whitish-gray fur, the skin is not valuable, because it is too
tender to be serviceable, and the fur is not much, if any, better than cotton,
for such purposes as fur, separated from the skin, is used for. These animals
are prolific, and generally prefer to live in and about farms that have been
suffered to grow up badly to bushes. Tliey do the most of their feeding at
night, and farmers generally do not feel any dread of their mischief
Kurserymcn do ; and so do those who plant young orchards near where rab-
bits abound. "When hunger presses them in winter, they will gnaw apple-
trees with tender bark so as to destroy them. Young nursery trees are often
cut ofl' by rabbits so smoothly that one not knowing how it was done would
suppose it was by a knife.

To j)rcvent the depredations of rabbits, English nurserymen dip rags into
melted brimstone, ami fasten them about among the trees. The remedy
mentioned in 278, to prevent mice, is reconmiended to keep the rabbits
away. Some pei-sons have daubed their trees with grease scented with some
offensive odor, and found that rabbits would not touch them. Some have
plastered them with fresh cow-dung. A very good remedy is to offer a
bounty for every I'abbit killed in the neighborhood.

Where trees Iiave been injured, it is a good plan to bind up the wound
with a plaster of clay and cow-dung, made plastic enough to adhere well;
this, when firmly bound on, will often save a valuable tree.

Domesticated rabbits, if suffered to run at large, aro very ornamental, par-
ticularly if of the finest fancy sorts, but they are sometimes un|>leasantly
mischievous. Where they can be conveniently kept under ro^t^lint, we
have no doubt they can be made as profitable as poultry or other small farm
Btock. In England, rabbit-breeding is (piito a business, and men of wealth

260 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL

and good standing engage in it, and form rabbit clubs, and exhibit their
stock for prizes. Some of the specimens imported from London, that we
have seen, were very beautiful. Some years ago, Francis Rotcli, of Butter-
nuts, Otsego County, N. Y., imported some of the best we have ever seen,
and bred them to a considerable extent, finding ready sale for all he chose
to dis]wse of in that way.

We do not know of any large establishment in this country where rabbits
are bred for sale in market for food. The common American wild rabbit is
often seen in the New York market.

TJabbits may be kept in very inexpensive hutches, and in tolerably close
confinement. Their feed in summer is clover and various green things. In
winter they M'ill eat grain, sweet apples, parsneps, and other roots, cabbage,
and a little sweet hay. A full-sized rabbit wants about a gill of oats night
and morning, with a piece of rutabaga or parsnep, or its equivalent, say a
quarter of a pound a day, and a little handful of hay. A doe, while suck-
ling her young, which is most of the time, should be fed high, say three gills
of oats a day, or wheat shorts, or pea meal, and roots and hay. Or in sum-
mer, upon almost anything that grows green, if given fresh.

A dozen or fifteen years ago, we remember having seen in " The Boy's
Own Book" an elaborate treatise upon rabbit-breeding, and to that we refer
the boy who reads this and desires to go into the business. They will also
find frequent hints in agricultural papers, and in several books devoted to
fancy poultry breeding. From wbat we have said of the food which rabbits
consume, it will be easy to calculate whether keeping them will be profitable.

Newsjjapers bound around trees, it is declared in an article before us, will
wholly pi'event depredations of rabbits, and also keep off the borers, and a
wrapper well tied on will last for months. The writer says :

'• I find no other remedy necessary for either rabbit or borer. The wrap-
pers, if properly put on, keep whole through all the changes of our variable
winters. The trees are thus secure from damage by the rabbit. In the latter
part of spring and early part of summer, when the beetles of the Sajxrda
and the Buprcstis are about, a few eggs will be deposited in the axils of the
lower branches of trees, and at the tops of the paper wrappers. Even these
points of attack, however, can in general be successfully gilarded, by simply
depositing a small jjiece of brown soap in the main axils, after the season's
growth is well started, to be dissolved and washed down the stem by subse-
quent rains.

" But I do not find it necessary to resort to this precaution ; for if eggs are
deposited at those points, I am certain to find the fact out, and make all
right the latter part of August and first part of September, when I go among
my young trees with a bucket of strong soap-suds and a hard scrubbing-
brush, for the purpose of giving them a good hard wash, such as would make
some people open their eyes with astonishment, and cutting out suckers or
small shoots that may have pushed through the papers, and renewing the
wrappers."

Sec. 13.] WILD AND TAME ANIMALS OF THE FARM. 261

291. Squirrels and Gophers.— All of our Eastern and Nortliein leaders will
understand about squirrels, and how mucli mischief the smallest of the
family does in the corn-field ; but they know notliing of gopliers — they belong
to the "West. In California they are almost intolerable, and it is about as
hard to devise a i>lan to get rid of them as it is here to get lid of the "chip-
mucks" {Tainias tysteri). In our opinion, the best way to pre\-ent them
from digging up the seed-corn is to give them plenty to eat on the surface.
What is half a bushel of com sown broadcast for the squirrels to pick up ?
It would save the seed of a large field harmless. "We would wiUinirlv give
that every year to see the dear little things around a farm. It is worth that
to see the old dog chase them, and " bark at the bole" where one ran through
a stone wall. "We have concluded never to kill a chipmuck. If others wish
to do it, they may perform the work by poisoning corn, or they may prevent
them from eating it by coating the seed*with tar, which is done by mixing a
pint of tar in a pail of warm water, and putting the corn in it ; then, to make
it pleasant to handle, roll it in dry plaster. If a little flour sulphur is sprinkled
on the wet seed, it will adhere and give it an odor that all little pests dislike.

At the "West, in woody districts, gray, black, and fox squirrels, particularly
the first named, are sometimes very destructive to the corn-fields in autumn.
The gray and black squirrels increase so rapidly after one or two seasons of
an abundant supply of beech-nuts, that the regular squirrel-hunts do not
apjK'ar tu diminisli their numbers. They arc to some extent migratory, as
their sujiplies change, from beech to oak lands. At such times the strong
and healthy will swim large rivers, and unitormly take one direction, leaving
the young and feeble at home.

In Ohio, about the year 1835, squirrels became so numerous over the
whole country as to threaten the entire destruction of corn-fields while in the
milk. The following year they were all starved. In the winter tiiey ran
desperately over the fields, indiflerent of danger, sometimes feeding upon
the bark of the beech.

The red and striped or ground squirrel are not liable to sufier from these
vicissitudes, as they lay up a store for winter. I think the ilying squirrel
does also, but this is a nocturnal creature, and less is known about it.
There are also several kinds of winter birds which deposit seeds in knots
and loose bark of trees for winter use.

The fox squirrel is the largest of the American species. It is of a reddish-
gray color, and inhabits the prairie groves of northern Indiana, Michigan,
Illinois, "Wisconsin, and other States. It is very shy of man, is hard to get a
sight of, and difficult to kill.

292. Striped (iopliers {SjiennopMlus tridecemlineatus). — Perhaps, when
you sec the name given to this animal by natural-history writers, you may
imagine it is as big as its name, liiit it is not half as formidable to look at.
"We give the scientific name for identification, because tho word '-Gopiier,"
in Florida, means a small land-turtle. In "Wisconsin it means a squirrel
somewhat like a chipmuck. In Calilbrnia it represents a ditfcrcnt amnuil.

•2tj2 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Cuap. IL

The striped goplier abounds in the Northwestern prairie region. In the first
settlement of tlie country a luindred miles around Chicago, it inhabited all
the prairie groves and dry ravines. The following is its description : The
ears are short and rounded ; the tail slender and hairv, about half the length
>f the body ; the body is of a dark brown above, longitudinally marked with
alternate rows and spots of a light fawn-color, which correspond nearly with
the belly and sides. The lighter lines on the upper part may be distinguished
by the brown intervals between, which are occupied by the single rows of
light spots, which are generally indistinct on the anterior half of the l)ody.

Although these animals are considered grain-eaters, and called mischiev-
ous, we believe they are among the many real friends of the farmer. Like
the weasel, which occasionally cats a chicken for lack of more favorite food,
the gopher sometimes eats the farmer's seed-corn, but he should not be con-
demned as an enemy for that act, without a fair hearing.

There may be some of the gopher family that are destructive of farm
crops. The evidence is very strong to that effect against the Californian
gopher, which lives in holes all through the cultivated fields, and does not
seem to be very particular what it cats, whether corn, wheat, potatoes, beets,
melons, pumpkins, so that it is something which the farmer has grown for
his own nse.

It is not so with the small striped gopher. This beautiful little animal
should be carefully preserved upon all farms where it now exists, and we
have no doubt it would prove a valuable addition to the stock of any farni
where it is not found in a natural condition. It is a great destroj^er of field-
mice, and in our opinion a whole troop of gophers do less damage in one
season than the mice which one of them would kill in a single day. For
they are real epicures, eating nothing but the blood and brains, when the
supply is abundant. These animals have such an appetite for flesh, that
if deprived of it, a mother will cat her young. Such carnivorous animals
must be better hunters than cats, and should be carefully preserved, and not
" drowned out," as they often are, when their homes are discovered by the
boys, just for the " sport" (cruelty) of killing them. These animals seem to
have a natural instinct that man is their common enemy. We have seen them
often in situations where they could never have had any acquaintance with
man, at least civilised ones, Avho are the only ones who ever kill such small
game for " sport," and we found tiiem wild in the extreme. They utter a
cry when discovered, and dart away into some shelter with great rapidit}'.
In this respect, quite unlike the chipmuck, which will play around a dog or
man in the most tantalizing manner.

The striped gopher never gnaws trees, roots, fruits, nor green vegetables,
and in fact does the farmer no damage except to eat a little seed-coni. For
all that they eat in the harvest-field, they save twice as much in driving
away mice and squirrels. Chipmucks, red squirrels, and mice can not
inhabit the same locality with gophers ; and yet there are persons who have
offered bounties to have them destroyed. Let such learn this fact from this

Sko. 13.] -VriLD AND TAME ANIMALS OF THE FARM. 263

Toluiiic, if they learn no other, that the striped gopher is wortli its weigiit
in gold Tipon any farm where field-mice arc so abundant that they destroy
fruit-trees.

293. SkliUks. — "We don't kiidw that wc can afford to stem the current of
popular o])inion so far as to recommend the protection instead of destruction
of skunks {JLjj/iiiis Aniericana). We are aware that these animals are
troublesome visitors to the poultry-yard, and on that account they are hunted
and killed without mercy, and without a tiiought about wliat they live upon
all the time that they do not eat chickens. As they are tlesh-eaters, they must
find something of the flesh kind to eat, and that something is the very thinf
that tlie iarmer is most anxious to get rid of — it is mice, and worms, and
bugs. The quantity of these pests destroyed by a single skunk is enormous.
It is very rare that they come about a house, tiiough we have known them
to live for weeks in cellars, or store-rooms, or under a crib, without producin"
any nuisance. They never emit their fetid odor unless attacked by man or
dog; and it has been contended that it was practicable to domesticate a
skunk so that he would be quite a harmless pet. ,AVe can not recommend
making i)ets of these animals, but we do recommend farmers to learn the
important fact, that if they do him a little damage occasionally, they also do
him an incahnilable amount of good. Generally speaking, there is not a
farmer in all liie region iiiJiabited by i\\c Mephitis who could nbt well afloid
to exchange dogs for skunks, and pay ten dollars each for the bargain.
Tliere is one otlier thing that skunks are good for. As an article of food wo
don't think there is any wild animal that makes a more dainty dish, and we
hold that we arc tolerably well qualified to judge. A fat skunk, nicely
dressed and roasted, hung by a string before an old-fashioned wood tire
till beautifully browned, and then served njjon a platter fianked witii boiled
mealy jiotatoes, covered with the brown gravy made of the fat di-iji, is
beyond dispute " a dish fit to set before the king."

2D4. Toads. — Although not among tlie quadrupeds, of which this chapter
treats, toads are among the friends of the farmer, and as such should iiave a
j)lace in tliis connection. Every man who owns or cultivates a garden or
field, wlio knows anything about the natural history of the toad, will never
allow one to be destroyed. There is no animal more harmless, and few tiiat
do the fanner more good than toads. Their whole food is of insects injuri-
ous to the farmer. The prejudice against "the ugly things" is a foolish one,
and should be done away with. We once had a toad in the garden which,
by some particular mark, was known to the cliildren, who ealle<l it " fatlier's
pet toad," because it really appeared as though it know that wo were its
friend and jirotector. Tiiis toad came year after year to lend us its valuable
aid in exterminating the insect pests of tlie garden. We had another tlnit
made the milk-room its summer home, where it was constantly engaged '\\\
catching flies and bugs. Toads ami bats sliould botli be jirotecteil from harm,
and cliildren tauglit to encourage them to come about flie house. I'ats arc
great insect-eaters, and never visit the house of an evening for any other

264: SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. II.

jjiirpose tlian catching iusects for food. It is charged against them, tliat they
sustain bed-bugs as parasites.

295. ("ameSs— Their latroductiou iulo l!ic luitcd States.— It is a great jump
from tiie back of a toad to that of a camel, but not so great as politicians
sometimes make. As vrc have to make the leap somewhere, it may as well
be done here as anywhere, and after a very sliort ride wo will jump down
again upon the back of a goat. "We have introduced camels, because we
want all, particularly the farmers' boys who read this book, to learn the
fact that camels have already been introduced into the United States, and
put to service as beasts of burden. The fii-st imported were in 1857, wc
believe, under the auspices of the general government, since which time
they have been in active government service, principally in Texas, and have
made one or more trips to the Pacific with army ofiiccrs.

The Galveston JVeics gives the following account of the strength of one
of the camels. It says :

"There were near a dozen on the wharf, of all ages. The camel loaded
was one of the largest. Pn the word of command being given, the camel
lav down, ready to receive his load, Avhicli consisted of five bales of hay,
weighing in the aggregate over 1,400 pounds, which was firmly bound to the
pannier placed upon the animal's hump. Upon the utterance of command
by the native keeper, the huge animal arose, witheut any apparent eftbrt, to
his feet, and walked off in a stately manncr'along the wharf and through
the city. "We were informed that the same camel had 1,600 pounds placed
njion him, with which enormous weight he arose. The animals are all ex-
ceedingly tractable, and seem to possess much affection for any one who
treats them kindly, as an example of which Mrs. ^V. informs us that one of
them, a pretty white one, which she had petted, would always kiss her when
she was within kissing distance, which fact, we really thought, certainly
proved the animal to possess an excellent taste as well as an affectionate dis-
2^osition. In thein native country the average load for a full-grown camel is
some 800 pounds, with which they perform their long journeys over deserts,
with but little food or water."

It is to be hoped that camels will become one of the ordinary beasts of
burden in this country, where there are such vast arid plains, as in northern
Texas, Xew Mexico, western Kansas, and Utah, that no other animals can
traverse them.

It is stated that the Emperor of Brazil is about to introduce dromedaries
into that country. This animal can go long journeys without water, and
therefore will be found valuable upon some of the deserts and ])lains of that
country. A common load of an ordinary dromedary is 500 pounds. One
of the camels in Texas has carried two bales of cotton, of 500 pounds each.
One of the best kinds of dromedaries for ridinsr can travel 400 miles with-
out stopping to cat, drink, or rest.

At the North, where horses, mules, and oxen are in such common use, we
do not think that camels will ever supersede them.

Sec. 13.]

WILD ANT) TAME ANIMALS OF THE FARM.

265

29G. Goats.— Introduction of the Tashmere Goats into the Cuited States.—

About the most unprotitablo of all varieties of fanu-stock is the common
goat. It is known in some parts of the country as the Irish goat, probably
because the people from Ireland in this country, particularly in cities, keep
more goats than all the rest of the inhabitants. These are of all colors, as
much so as the common breed of horned cattle, and about tjiu size of com-
mon sheep. The she-goats give a small cpiantity of milk, and the kids
afford some flesh food, at a small cost to the owners, as the^' forage their
living, and frequently do more mischief in a neighborhood or upon a farm
than their necks are worth. The hair of the common goat is worth nothing
for manufacturing purposes. It is quite the reverse with the Cashmere
goat. The tlcece of this variety is eight times as valuable as line wool ; and,
fortunately, it has been found that a cross upon the common goat, even in
the first progeny, produces a fleece about half as valuable as the full blood,
60 that the breeding of goats in this country for the fleece is likely soon to
become quite common, and a profitable branch of husbandry, particularly
in some of the roughest districts of country.

To Dr. James B. Davis, of South Carolina, the country is indebted for the
introduction of the pure Cashmere goats, which are now to be found in
various parts of the United States; and to Hon. Richard Peters, of Atlanta,
Ga., it is equally indebted for the interest he took at an earl}' day in the
propagation of the original stock, which he purchased of Dr. Davis, ilr.
Peters, being a wealthy, public-spirited gentleman, spared no pains, even
when success was doubtful, in getting this breed established ujiou a firm
basis, and proving that its crosses upon the common breed woidd be profit-
able, as well as upon several other varieties of fine-wooled goats.

Vic had the pleasure of an acquaintance with Dr. Davis and his stock at
Charleston, in 1849, shortly after his return from several years' residence at
Constantinople. He brought with him seven females and two nnilc^ of the
Cashmere goats, besides several other curious s]iecimens of the livestock of
the East. lie stated his belief to be that the Cashmere, Persian, Angora,
and Circassian goats are all of one breed, and that they have been slightly
changed by locality, principally by altitude. Tiiese fine goats usually breed
two kids in the spring, and, unfortunately, where rapid propagation is an
object, the males preponderate.

The progeny of these goats is now to be found in all the States from Now
York to Texas. In the latter State they liavc been established pretty exten-
sively. Wo saw a letter written by John II. McCall, at Austin, in August,
1S{)0, which estimated that two hundred head, principally bucks, had been
introduced into Texas.

The demand for the fleece of Cashmere goats may be calculated from the
fact that it is stated that 4,000 looms and 12.(iOO people are employed in the
city of Lyons, France, in the manufacture of tlie fleeces of Cashnifre gxats, and
that they are worth from four to eight dollars a i)ound. As soon as the supply
is large enough, we shall have manufactories in operation in this country.

266

SMALL ANIMALS AKD INSECTS.

[Chap. IT.

Cashmere shawls were exhibited at the Crystal Palace, New York, valued
at one thousand dollars each. These were all made by the iicudle. Fabrics
made of Cashmere goat's fleece, it is supposed, will outwear those made of any
tibroiis material yet discovered.

The Tliibet goat, one of which we saw at Dr. Davis's, differs from the
Cashmere materially. The outward appearance is that of a very coarse-
haired animal; but there is an under-coat of long, white, silky wool, which
weighs about a pound when combed out. Dr. Davis thought this like the
wild goat of the Eocky Mountains. Who knows if thc?y are identical I

Dr. Davis imported, also, the Scinde goat, which comes from Scinde, at
the mouth of the Indus. This was a remarkably large goat, with monstrous
pendulous ears.

A goat used in Malta is the best milker of the family. A good ewe gives
a gallon a day. Goats' milk, in all Eastern countries, particularly in mala-
rious districts, is considered more healthy than the milk of cows ; and some
learned physicians in this country declare that cows' milk, in malarious dis-
tricts, is the moving cause of many attacks of bilious fever. In this view of
the subject, it may be well to inquire whether it would not be to the advant-
age of the people, in a sanitary as well as pecuniary point of view, to intro-
duce the improved breeds of goats into all sections reputed subject to mala-
rious diseases.

297. BrecdiD!!^ Fish for Food on the Farm. — We do not feel willing to close
the chapter upon animals on the farm, without calling attention to the sub-
jec-t heading this paragraph.

Fish are the least costly food that man can obtain ; yet, owing to the
scarcity, the labor of taking them out of the water — which is all the expense
attending their production — has become so great, that fish are sold in our
market at nearly as high a price per pound as meat. Salmon are really
higher than choice cuts of either beef or mutton. And yet salmon can be
grown at very trifling expense.

We have long been producing oysters by artificial means, without which
our market could not be supplied ; and yet, with that fiict before our eyes,
very few attempt to produce fish by an equally easy process. One fact of
importance, in proof of the benefit of simply protecting fish from being
taken in the spawning season, is the following :

" In the river Foyle, in the north of Ireland, by a steady perseverance in
a proper system of protection, the amount of salmon taken was raised from
an average of 43 tuns annually, in 1823, to that of 300 tuns in 1842 ; while
in the small river of Newport, in the county of Mayo, in which the salmon
was formerly unprotected by law, and consequently taken at all periods of
the year, within three years after the introduction of parliamentary regula-
tions enforcing their protection during the breeding season, the annual take
was increased from half a tun of fish to eight tuns of salmon and three tuns
of white trout, with a certainty of a still higher increase.

" In view of the great augmentation in the price of all the articles of food

Sec. 13.]

DOMESTIC FISn-BREEDING.

2Gr

and necessaries of life in tliis country, the small probability of any consider-
able reduction, and the actual sufferings of many of the laboring class from
■want of sufKcient food, it appears to inc that this subject is worthy of the
closest consideration, and that any one who can suggest and eflect the means
of furnisliing a new and ample supply of cheap, nutritious food, has some
small claim to be thought of as not an entirely useless member of the com-
munity."

There is a little book, ])ublished by the Appletons, that gives in detail all
the French plans for artificial fish-breeding, and any one who reads that
volume can go to work and stock his own waters with any kind of fish ho
desires. That our natural supply has failed, there is not a shadow of doubt,
and that it never will be replenished, except by artificial breeding, is equally
indisputable. That a re-stocking of our waters with fish, so as to make them
as plentiful as formerly, would prove one of the cheapest modes of lessening
the price of human food, is just as certain.

In the West Indies, fish and turtle are constantly kept and stall-fed. At
free running they never become fiit, any more than our land stock. The
ponds are constructed of stones, of irregular figure in wall, so as to retain
three or four feet of water at the lowest tides. The water of the rising tide
flows freely in. These ponds have a deck of plank over thorn, laid about two
inches apart, for admission of air and light. A hatchway in the middle of
the floor is opened to throw in their food, which usually consists of fry, or
small fish, taken by cast-nets in any required quantity. When this is scat-
tered among them, the excessive eagerness of the fish is an interesting sight
— their bright eyes, finje teeth, and sparkling colors showing beautifully, as
they leap out of water to catch the tailing bait.

The housekeepers send for a suitable fish for dinner shortly before the time
to cook it. The person has a strong line and hook, with or without bait ; he
lets it down, and the fish rush toward it, and he must be expert to let it drop
to the mouth of the grouper, handet, snapper, white or blue band porgie,
etc., which lie wants. Such a fish never appears on the tables of the North-
ern States, and yet every town on our sea-coast ought to have them. As it
is now, when the poor tishernum has caught more than ho can sell, the over-
plus is a dead loss.

There is nothing more simple than the artificial breeding of fish. The
entire mystery consists in taking the female during her time, and by running
the thumb with a gentle steady pressure down her back, force out her ova
in ajar of pure fresh water. The male is then taken in the same way, and
nuule to yield a few drops of liie spermatic fluid in the same vessel, the two
are then stirred together for a few moments, and the contact of the fluid of
the male has the eflect to vitalize the eggs at once. The eggs are then laid
down in shallow tanks with gravel bottoms, arranged in n series of steps so
that running water can continually pass over them. The whole trouble of
the breeder is then to keep the eggs free from any sediment or muddy dejwsit,
and in due time each egg becomes a fish. Thus almost every egg in an

268

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[Chap. II.

innumerable ova can be turned to account for the benefit of man. Tlicrc
is, liowever, sometliing to do after the eggs have become fish, and tliat is, to
confine them within certain limits by a" dam, until thc}' are old enougli to be
able to take care of themselves, and make fight against the larger fish which
would eat them uji. There are now three or four establishments in the
country for the artificial breeding of fish, and we sec no reason why every
lake and river may not be filled with life and food, and made to make an
amjtle return for all investments.

The cultivation of fish in France and some other countries of Europe has
become as much of a trade as any other occupation, and the results in sui)ply-
ing food and affording a handsome recompense to the owner have been equal
to the most sanguine expectations. It is surprising that more attention is
not paid to it in this country where the facilities are unsurpassed. Occasion-
ally an individual makes a trial, but little however has yet been done in this
line compared with what might be accomplished. A writer in a South
Carolina paper gives a description of a domestic fish-pond on the plantation
of Mr. Freeman Tloyt, Sumtervillc. Mr. Iloyt had a small stream of water
which ran through a low place in such a form as to enable him, by a dam of
some 50 yards long, to construct a pond of some 7U0 feet in length by 150 in
width, with a depth varying from the shores to 12 or 15 feet in the center.
This gave him a pond of over two and a half acres, Avhere lie could raise
nothing. He dej^osited in the pond eight good-sized trout, and about 300,000
eggs, with a larger amount of smaller fish for the trout to feed upon, and in
one year the water was literally swarming with the finny tribes. His trout
one year old are some seven inches in length. The water running from the
dam passes through a sieve, so that the fish can not escape from the pond.
The necessary apparatus for cultivating, feeding, and taking care of the fish
costs but a small sum, and the proceeds of the pond will be a source of much
pleasure and profit. And this is but one instance in thousands which might
with equal facility be turned into a source of revenue.

In many sections of the country numerous springs and streams abound,
confined within narrow valleys, that may be converted into permanent ponds
and thus be made to yield a profit in fish far beyond the capacity of the
same area of the best of land devoted to the most profitable farm crops.
These streams when supplied M-ith living springs may be converted into
nurseries of trout — the best of all fresh-M-ater fish. The streams or ponds
more sluggish in their nature may be made equally productive in a supply
of still-water fish. This subject has been brought into extensive practice in
France and other portions of Europe, and more recently a number of suc-
cessful trials have been made in the United States to multiply domestic fishes,
which may be as much at the command of the owner as the fowls in his
barn-yard, affording an equal luxury and at a much less cost.

Of artificial propagation of fish in Scotland and Ireland, a late number of
the Manchester (England) Guanlian said : " As several reports have been
circulated in the newspapers to the effect that the attemi^t to propagate

Sec. 13.]

DOMESTIC FISII-BREEDIXG.

269

salmon by artificial means in Ireland and elsewhere had extensively failed,
we think it right to state tliat we have obtained some infortiiation from the
very best sources, which convinces us that these reports are wholly unlbunded.
On the contrary, we are glad to say the success attending the first attempt
at propagation on an extensive scale in tiie country has surpassed our most
sanguine expectations. It is rejxirtod from Perth, where alnnit 3iJi),i)iJ0 ova
are nearly hatched, that everything has progressed most satisfactorily ; the
whole of the ova, with a trilling exception, seem in a lively state. Tiie onlv
difficulty appears to be that of providing sufficient ponds for such a multitude
of fishes, when they are able to swim, as the feeding-j)onds already provided
will not contain one tenth of them ; and such is the number, that there
appears no other way, after having hatched and protected them for twenty
weeks, but that of committing them to the river to take their chance. At
Galway about 260,000 ova arc in a similar prosperous condition. Propagation
on a smaller scale has also been carried into etiect on the rivers Tweed, Lou-
chard, the Foylc, Bush Mills, the Plackwater, the J[oy, the Dee, near Chester,
and other places. By the use of spring water the spawn has been entirely
protected from injury by frost, during the past severe winter; and of 2,500
eggs which were sent from Galway to Basle, a distance of nearly l,iiuO
miles, M. Lex states that a considerable portion are good, and in a state likely
to live."

Bobert L. Pell, of L'lster County, N. Y., has done a good deal to establish
fish-ponds upon his farm; he says " that he is trying to grow the moss-bunker
for manure, and hopes for success in growing them, but thinks tiie use of
this fish the cause of disease in the districts where used. As many as 86,0i)0
moss-bunkers have been taken in a seine at one haul upon our coast. Mr.
Pell also has in his ponds the black bass of the lakes — a fish that grows as
large as shad. Another fish from the lakes very much resembles tiie black
bass, and flourishes in artificial water. Both do well, and are easily caught
with a hook. The dace is a good fish for ponds, as he prefers still water.
The rock bass is a common fish in Lake Chaini)lain, and is mucli esteemed,
and can be cultivated without difficulty. Tlie muscalonge, from tlie lakes,
is an excellent fish, and appears well calculated for artificial water if pure.
This fisii grows large, and somewhat resembles the pickerel or i)ike of tiie
lakes. Mr. Pell has the stickleback, that curious little fish that builds a nest
something like a bird. Haddock he has tried, but failed of success, not-
withstanding he salted the pond. The haddock is much inferior to the cod-
fish, although frecpicntly salted and sold as cod. He also gave accounts of
experiments with several other varieties, and how to transport tish alive
safely. Mr. Pell thinks it is possible to stock all the streams in the country
with fish, and thereby increase the food of the people to a very great extent,
without any expense."

A writer in T/ie Homestead says:

" Tlirce years ago I constructed, in a ravine, ft fish-pond covering a surface
of about tiiree fourths of an acre. It is fed by four small springs, and re-

270

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[Chap. II.

ceives a large amount of 6urfacc-water from the Blopes around. It is fifteen
feet deep at the greatest deptli, and has shallow bays and inlets, ■where the
small fish may breed and find protection from larger ones. It contains a
small island, and the shores are embellished with flags (li'is), water-lilies
{Xymphce odorata), and other water-plants. It was stocked with yellow-
bass, Oswego bass, white jierch, and every variety of sun-fish and minnows,
also a dozen gold-fish {Cyprinus auratus). And now, at the end of three
years, it is astonishing to note the vast increase in my scaly family. Tiiey
have multiplied by hundreds, and grown in size beyond all my calculations.
The gold-fish number several hundred, some of them over a foot in length,
and a iii'w of them are beautifully marked with silvery sides and red fins,
head, and tail ; others with golden sides and black fins and tail. I had no
idea that they would thus sport in colors, but certainly they are very beauti-
ful. The other fish have grown so much that I intend to commence using
them for the table in autumn. I have not fed these fish, except for amuse-
ment and to tame them, when a few crumbs of bread are thrown in from a
small bridge connecting the island with the shore, and the fish called up like
chickens. The sun-fish, gold-fish, and smaller fry soon learned to come at
my call, and to follow me in great numbers, from one end of the bridge to
the other, for their morning or evening meal.

" The 3'oung bass (the old ones hold back) and the sun-fish dart to the
surface for their food, and have a lively scramble for it ; the gold-fish pick
up what sinks to the bottom. Their habits in this way are very much like a
flock of chickens, for some of the smaller fish take their position imme-
diately under my feet, to pick up the small crumbs that fall, in breaking the
larger ones to throw out. Some ])ersons ring a small bell to bring their fish
up, but I prefer calling mine. They do not appear to come from a greater
distance than about forty feet to any one spot. I feed them in several places,
to note the varieties and their growth. Now, as to the utility of this pond,
it furnishes ice for my own use and three or four of my neighbors who have
ice-houses ; it also aflbrds excellent stock water, and will doubtless hereafter
supply my table with fish. A small skifi" on its surface gives many a pleas-
ant hour of recreation to the young who are fond of rowing.

" The construction of this pond was very simple. The earth was excavated
across the ravine four feet deep and five feet wide for a foundation ; then
stifl' clay filled in and well pounded, to prevent leakage at the bottom. The
earth from the bottom and sides of the ravine was thrown on the top of this
foundation, to raise the embankment to the proper hight. A waste weir at
one side, paved with flag-stones, and two feet lower than the top of the dam,
sufiiciently large to carry off the heaviest flow of water in very heavy rains,
guarded by a wire screen to prevent the escape of the fish, completed the
construction. It is now sodded over, and planted with willows at the foot,
and is considered safe. The expense of making such a pond is small, and it
adds much to the value of a fai-m."

298. Trout Streams— Reasons for the Disappearance of Trout.— One of the

Sbo. 13.1

DOMESTIC FISH-BREEDING.

271

very best authorities in tlie country — Geo. Dawson, a great lover of pisca-
torial sports — gives, in the Albany Evening Journal, the following reasons
for the disappearance of trout from streams where they were abundant,
lie sa^-s :

"Every one who has lived a score of years in the neighborhood of mountair.
or spring brooks remembers when, in such and such a stream, trout were
abundant, where scarcely one is now ever taken. ' "What has become of
them V is a question which every one has been asked, or has asked himself,
a thousand times. One says, 'Tliej' have been driven out by sawdust from
mills erected upon the stream.' Another, who lives where tanneries have
been erected, thinks ' the tan bark has killed or disgusted them.' Another
says, ' Since the alders which used to border the creek have been cut down,
and the forest cleared away, they liave sought greater solitude.' Others
say, ' They have gone because trout will not stay where there is a great deal
of passing to and fro, as there necessarily is in a thickly populated locality ;'
and others still insist that ' they have all been fished out.' Now, in my
opinion, not one of these reasons is real. Neither sawdust, nor tan bark, nor
clearings, nor dense population, nor excessive fishing, is tlie cause of depopu-
lation. Some of the very best trout streams that I know of are full of saw-
dust and tan bark. The bottom of Caledonia Creek is not only a bed of
sawdust, but the creek lies in the midst of a dense popidation, and has been
fished, night and day, for thirty years. Nevertheless, in its cold, crystal-like
water, trout are more plenty to-day, and more are taken, than ten years
since. I have been more than once surfeited with success in a stream in
Canada where the sawdust was so thick that it formed a compact covering
upon its surface ; and every year I take trout from a little brook in Comiecti-
cut which has been cleared and fished for almost a century. There arc three
great causes for the depopulation of trout streams : First, the erection of
establishments upon them in which lime is largely used ; second, the intro-
duction into the streams of pike or pickerel, whose voracity is, sooner or
later, fatal to all competitors; and thirdly, and principally, the gradual
cliangc of the temperature of the water. Trout will not live long in water
which is not, at all seasons, of a temperature which may not, in comparison
with other water, be characterized as cold. Other causes besides those I
liavc named sometimes operate; but, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred,
the changed temperature of the water is tlic cause of the absence of trout
from streams where they were once abundant."

lie does not give the reason of this change of temperature, but wo do : it
is just the difference between a cool forest shade and a broad expan>e of hot
sunshine. Where tiiese mountain streams once were sliaded from the first
gushing spring to their montlis at some large river, they arc now exposed to
the full force of the noonday sun, until tlic water is heated to a degree as fatal
to the brook trout as ice would be to a tropical plant. The streams that still
retain trout are those which are so largely supplied with cold spring water
that the temperature is kept at a healthy point, notwithstanding the denuded

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS.

[Chap. IL

State of tlie land. Sawdust lias no more cftect npon the lisli than rotting
leaves and wood in the forest streams. The washing of cultivated liekls, by
which the water is made impure, has more effect upon fish of all sorts than
sawdusi, or, in our opinion, lime, in such quantities as result from any manu-
facturing establishment. This fact must be kept always in view in establish-
ing artificial ponds for fish-breeding. Make them ■where the water will not
be roiled by every shower.

299. Eel Streams aud Eel-Fishing. — In all parts of the country where eels
abound, they may be made an essential part of the food of the family in the
autumn mouths, if the streams are such as easily admit the construction of
weirs aud placing traps or eel-pots. In some parts of the country the eel
business affords no mean item of income to farmers who have riparian rights,
the work not interfering materially with ordinary farm labor.

"We find the following interesting account of the eel fishery on the Susque-
hanna in the Lancaster (Penn.) Jlerald :

" About the middle of August the water of the stream becomes very low,
and usually by September that in the channel is only a few feet deep, leav-
ing the stony bottom, for a wide space on either side, in some places nearly
bare, with occasional deeper furrows which pass along it. At this stage of
water, the instinct which governs the fish to descend the rivers previous to
the advent of cold weather becomes the means of their destruction. For
many miles of the river's length, therefore, north and south of us, the people
owning the shore adjoining erect their fish-dams and gins, by deepening the
channel somewhat, and building an elongated V-shaped wall, at the lower
point of which is fixed a box, from which the fish, when once caught, can
not extricate themselves. Obeying this instinct in their descent of the
stream, they find themselves borne pleasantly in this channel, and, wriggling
themselves cheerily, they let the current, pent in by the walls, carry them
along until they tumble plump into the box at the termination of the Y.
The fish taken in this manner are for the most part eels, of which almost
incredible quantities are captured during the fall season. Their ' run' only
takes place during the night. In daytime they remain quiet in the compar-
atively deep pools of the river. Tlie work of catching them, however, is no
sinecure, not so much on account of the labor as of the wakefulness aud ex-
posure which it involves. In some of the dark and showery nights of the
season the game will come into the box so fast that the watcher, who is often
stationed there with a boat, can scarcely remove them into it with suflicient
celerity. At other times there will be scarcely spoil enough in the boxes to
repay the trouble in watching them. It is only the larger apparatus and
dams, however, that are thus cared for, the smaller being rarely filled to
overflowing. Fishermen secure and salt down some five or ten barrels of
eels during the season, besides living entirely upon them during the catch.
The larger operators make the business pay, as a single man alone can
perform all the labor required in taking and salting the fish. We have
seen various illustrations of digital dexterity, and also Ole Bull's manipu-

Seo. IC] DOMESTIC FISH-BREEDING. 273

lation of the violin, but eoiikl any rapid manipulator once behold the
marvelous rajjidity with which some of the fisliernu-n divest the eels of their
slippery ciiidcrniis or integuments, tliuy would stand abashed, and, like the
sable individual in the song, 'Lay di)\vn the fiddle and the lioe' forever
afterward. We are at a loss to see how it is possible for any fish whatever
to descend to the mouth of the river, excepting it ho a few belated ones,
who delay their return until a rise in the river gives them security I'rom the
low-water traps. From Marietta to a point perhaps 100 miles up, exceptin»'
in a few places, these eel-gins are so numerous that they must entirelv eiii]>ty
the river of eels, the run continuing constantly until frost, and the fishing
being terminated only, as we liave already said, by the fall rains. When
these occur, the boxes are taken up. The walls which remain under the
water arc very seldom disturbed, and the next year, with very little repairs,
are just as good as ever. The eels are packed in full-sized barrels, and many
arc sent to Baltimore. Quantities are purchased by sea-going vessels, whose
skippers are aware of the delicious flavor of this rather anomalous article
of provision."

The kind alluded to in this extract is the "silver eel," which is also taken
all along the sea-coast by hooks and spears, and sold in great abundance m
all the city markets, at as high a price per jiound as beef or mutton.

Now will farmers please to think that eels can be artificially bred as well
as any other fish, and that there are a great many streams and ponds, j>ar-
ticularly in tlie "West, where there are no eels, which miglit be made to fur-
nish a vast amount of food, as m-cU for humo use as for sale.

There is another kind of eels called lamprey, or lamper-eels, much esteemed
in some places. This kind have no gills, but have sucker mouths, ami
brealhing holes ujjou each side of the neck. These are found sometimes in
gri'at abundance in the streams of the Eastern States, in the spring of tho
year, and are easily caught by hand, by wading the shallows of the stream,
where they are found clinging by their mouths to the rocks or large pebble
stones.

The silver eels are also caught by wading streams at night, with torches
and spears, during low water, after harvest. This used to be accounted
great sport for the boys, when we were counted one. Many a good meal
we furnished tlie family, also, by sitting an hour or two of a summer even-
ing by the side of the mill-i)ond, with a hook baited with a small fish. This
we mcnti(jn to encourage farmers to take steps toward re-stocking their
streams and ]ioiids, as well as making artificial ones.

300. Ancient Fisli-Etrccdins:. — Lest our readers should suppose artificial
breeding of fish is a " new-fangled notion," we state that it has been jirae-
ticcd in China many centuries; and it is probably a century since the unit
ter attracted attention in Germany.

lu that country fish-breeding has now become an extensive and jtrofitablo
business. In France, also, there are many establishiiu'iit.s in s-ome of which
it has been demonstrated that sahnon can bo successfully bred in frcf.h-watcr

274

SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS

[CnAr. II.

])0Ik1s, from eggs obtaiiiud IVoiu salmon that come from the sea into fresh-
water streams to deposit their eggs at the s^iawning season, without allow-
ing the lish ever to swim in sea-water. ^\jid these young fish, it is found,
will reproduce their species.

If wliat we have written should incite any one to undertake to make arti-
ficial ])onds, or stock the natural waters uf his farm with that kind of living
animals wliieh will give him the cheapest animal food that can be ])roduced,
he should first procure and cai'cfuily study the books already published upon
tliis question, and, if possible, visit those who have had cxj^ericnce, such as
Dr. Garlick, of Cleveland, Ohio, Robert L. Pell, of Ulster Co., N. Y., Messrs.
Treat tfc Son, Eastport, Maine, E. C. Kellogg, Hartford, Conn., and many
others.

As an article of diet, there is no mistaking the fact, gained by reading
and ol)servation, that it is conducive to health, and particularly that those
who use fish as their principal food are exempt from scrofulous and tubercu-
lous diseases. This alone should prompt artificial breeding of fish in this
country.

PLATE XIII..

(Page 275.)

This picture in its two parts is allegorical, thougli drawn from an

original. It is intended to teach. It should be studied with that
object. Then it will convey its own lesson. If the residence of
farmer Snug is most attractive, let every farmer sti-ive to make his
so, and keep it in that order. If the residence of farmer Slack is
repulsive, let it be a lesson to every farmer's son.

After looking at this picture, placed as a frontispiece to Chapter
III. — The Farmery — let him carefully read that chapter. It is full
of instruction. This picture is not designed as an index to the con-
tents of that chapter, but to tell its own story — a story of good and
bad management. As you read, you will see how such a residence
as this dilapidated one produces a debasing influence upon the mind*
of children, and what inducements you have to beautify home.

Sec. 14.] FARM-HOUSES. 277

303. Reasons why a Dwelling should be Light.— Tliere is a mania for dark-
rooms. People do not appear to be aware of tlie fact, that dark rooms are
deleterious to Lealtli. Hear what Florence Nightingale says upon this sub-
ject :

" A dark house is almost always an nnliealthy house, always an ill-aired
house, always a dirty house. Want of light stops growth, and promotes
scrofula, rickets, etc., among the children. People lose their health in a
dark house, and if tliey got ill, they cannot get well again in it. Tliree, out
of many ' negligences and ignorances ' in managing the health of houses
generally, I will here mention as specimens. First, that the female in
charge of any building does not think it necessary to visit every hole, and
corner of it every day. How can she expect those who are under her to be
more careful to maintain her house in a healthy condition than she who is
in charge of it? Second, that it is not considered essential to air, to sun,
and to clean rooms while uninhabited ; which is simply ignoring the first
elementary notion of sanitary things, and laying the ground ready for all
kinds of disease. Third, that tlie window, and one window is considered
enough to air a room. Don't imagine that if you are in charge, and don't
look to all these things yourself, those under you will be more careful than
you are. It appears as if the part of the mistress was to complain of her
servants, and to accept their e.xeuse — not to show them how there need be
neither complaints nor excuses."

We beg of all who build houses, as well as those who keep them, to
become aware of the fact, that there is a generous abundance of sunligiit in
the country, yet the observer is often convinced that a majority of country
houses ai"e but scantily provided with this first requisite of health and
comfort.

In reference to admitting light freely into our houses, the words of a writer
on the subject are pertinent. He says : " From several years' observations
in rooms of various sizes, used as manufacturing rooms, and occupied by
females for twelve hours each day, I found tluit the workers who occupied
those rooms which had large windows, with large panes of glass, in the four
sides of the room, so that the rays of the run penetrated through the whole
room during the whole day, were much more healthy than those who occu-
pied rooms lighted from one side only, or rooms lighted through very small
panes of glass." Notwithstanding the cheapness and facility with which
glass can be obtained, there is a deficiency of windows even in what is
usually considered the better class of American dwellings. Sitting rooms,
cheerless enough in having one or two small windows, almost extinguished
beneath heavy drapery of paper and doth, are exceedingly common. For
ordinary rooms, white cotton cloth fastened on rollers, as paper is usually
hung for window shades, is sufficient for the purpose of screen— admitting
at the same time a dift'used and softened light.

Dark colors upon the walls, absorbing inore or less of the prismatic rnys,
are also unfavorable in their effects. The writer just quoted found that in

278 THE FARMERY. [Chap, in

rooms of equal ventilation, liglit and drainage, some of wliicli liad white
walls, and others yellow or buft-colored, the oc'cnj>iei's were not equally
ciieerfid and healthy. The workers in rooms Avith colored walls were all
inclined to melancholy, and complained of pains in the forehead and eyes,
and were often ill and unable to work. By having the color removed and
replaced by whitewash, miiform health and cheerfulness were ever after
securctl. In architecture, a course of progress is distinctly marked from the
cave, the wigwani and hut of the savage, who rudely supplies his few wants;
from the tent and mosque of the Arab ; from the cots beneath the castle and
beside the palace ; from the negro quarters to the mansion-house ; and we
wish we could say, progressing upward to comfortable, light, cheerful, ele-
gant homes tor every American farmer.

Let them learn that they cannot live rightly in dark dwellings. The
mother who, in the fulfillment of her office, preeminently receives and
appropriates from all the life sustaining elements, suffers a twofold wrong, in
the injury to herself and otispring, by dwelling in darksome apartments; and
childhood in such homes is pale and puny — often worse — is squalid and most
pitiably diseased. The predominance of the chemical rays in Spring-time
is undoubtedly one of the adaptations of this season to the young of animals
which then begin their existence, and it also e.xerts a decided influence upon
our own physical health. The invalid desires the return of Spring, for he
instinctively ieels that nature without will then come to the aid of nature
within ; and who, after the cold and lifeless Winter, does not love to seek the
wind-sheltered nook, there to drink in the warm sunlight, and to receive upon
the brow its life-giving blessing? "Who has not felt the glorious influence of
'■ liathing in the sunshine?" Tlien, M'e conjure you, let the sunshine into
your house, and do not be afraid of letting in the air, day or night.

An extraordinary fallacy is the dread of night air. What but night air
can v,'e breathe at night? The choice is between pure night air from
without and foul night air from within. Most people prefer the latter. An
unaccountable choice. What will they say, if it is proved to be true, that
fully one-half of all the disease we suffer from, is occasioned by people
sleeping with their windows shut? An open window, most nights in the
year, can never hurt any one. In sickness, air and light are both necessary
for recovery. In great cities, night air is often the best and purest air to be
had in the twenty-four hours. I could better understand shutting the
windows in towns, during the day, than during the night, for the sake of the
sick. The absence of smoke, the quiet, all tend to make night the best time
for airing the patient. One of our highest medical authorities on consump-
tion and climate, has declared that the air in London is never so good as after
ten o'clock at night. Always air your room, then, from the outside air, if
possible. Windows are made to open, doors are made to shut — a truth
which seems extremely difficult of application.

304. Tbc Location of a Farm-house. — Adaptability is the word that farm-
ers should study, above all others, when about to build a house. It is the

Sec. 14.] FARM-nOUSES. 279

word that they study least, if we may judge from what may Ijo seen in a
majority of the farm-liouses where wo have travelled — tliat is, from Quebec
to New ( )rleaiis, and from Florida to Mackinaw. Every wlicre is seen the
lack of adaptability to the purpose, either in size, form or location. Not one
farm house in ten is located upon the farm as well as it could have been. In
all the eastern, western and northern States, the farmery is found, nine times
out of ten, upon some public road, without reference to the convenience of
farminn; operations ; and frequently, in all respects, is very inconvenient.

The location of the farm-house, and the arrangement of all the buildings
connected with the farmery, require the exercise of good judgment, fine
taste, carefully exercised skill, all combined, more than any other single
operation of a whole lifetime, because it is not only for the lifetime of the
builder, but succeedinsr s;enerations.

In the first place, the top of the hill, or highest point of a hilly farm, never
should be selected for the dwelling of the farmer; such a site is only lit for
the residence of the lord of the manor, who intends to carry on farming by
a tenant, or hired fanner, who will occupy the house of the farmery proper.
His residence is not the farm-house; it is the mansion of the proprietor,
and may be built to suit the owners taste, if he lias any. (Jiir remarks are
intended to apply to farm-houses — the dwellings of that numerous class in
America who own the soil they till, partly with their own hands, and partly
with those of hireliiiL's.

305. Size aud Form of a Farm-house. — It is not size that makes a dwell-
ing-house attractive, beautiful, or convenient. It is adaptability to the
j>urpose for which it was designed. Indeed, a house often has an unjdeasant
appearance on account of its size, because it gives the mind an inii>ression
that it is unnecessarily largo for the purpose for which it is designed.

It is necessary that some farm-houses should be large — that is, afford a
great deal of room ; but they never should appear large, for if they do they
almost inevitably appear uncouth.

Make just as much of the room as possible, on the same level. A farm-
house with twelve rooms, should have eight of them on the lower floor.
Never have a basement kitchen.

No woman, during the years of child-bearing, who docs mucli of lier own
work, or oversees it when done by servants, should be compelled to go up
and down stairs every hour of the day. Her sitting, or family-room, bed-
room, dining-room, kitchen, wash-room, wood-room, well and cistern, should
all be on the same level, or with a variation of not more than two or three
steps. You camiot be a good man if you compel your wife to run up and
down stairs to do her every-day housework. You are not a good man, nor a
man of taste and good judgment, if you l)uild your house unnecessarily large,
because it will cause your wit'o many weary, extra ste})s to keep it tidy and
always swept and garnished as you slmuhl be proud to have it appear to
strangers. You are unworthy the name ot man if you keep your wife toil-
iui; in a house entirely too small for the necessities of your family, or in one

280 TUE FARMERY. [Chap. III.

wretchedly ill-adapted to their wants, one single year after you are able to
provide a better one.

30G. What constitutes a couvcnicnt Farm-house. — "We can only speak in
general terms of the plans of farm-houses, because every plan is modified by
location and the wants of the proprietor ; but we can give an opinion that
will be some guide to the new beginner in farm life, or one about to construct
a farm-house.

We will suppose a farm of one or two hundred acres, and a family of four
adults and four children, besides the necessary hirelings, which in most of
the Northern States, are domiciled in the family dwelling. It should, there-
fore, have a family -room located in the most pleasant part of the house,
where the evenings, and all other leisure hours, are, or should be, spent ;
where the young mother devotes many days and nights of toil to her
children ; where all the family feel " at home," more than in any other
room.

Adjoining this room there should be a large family bed-room, with conve-
niences for warming it, so that it can be used as a sick-room when necessary.
There should also be a parlor, or spare-room ; for it is not always desirable
to introduce company into the family-room. There should be a dining-room,
largo enough not only to accommodate the family, but, if necessary, a dozen
guests. This room should be so aiTanged that upon occasion, particularly in
Winter, it can be used for a part of the cooking. This would often save the
necessity of kindling a fire in the kitchen in a cold Winter morning, to get
an early breakfast. The farm-house kitchen, where so much of woman's
work must be done, should be a large, cheerful, light apartment, with all the
conveniences that modern ingenuity has made to facilitate labor. It should
also, above all other considerations, be so ventilated that there would be no
necessity for opening a door or window to let out the smoke of a broiling
steak, or that of the buckwheat cake griddle. Tlie best cooking apparatus is
a good range, permanently set in the chimney. One of suitable size for such
a family as we have indicated, will cost about thirty dollars wltiiout cook-
ing utensils. Tlie two ovens of a range obviate the necessity of a brick oven
in the kitchen chinmey. It will be convenient to have such an oven in the
wash-room, which should be attached to every farm-house kitchen. Tliis
should have an open fire-place, a kettle set in an arch, a brick floor, a large
sink, and a pump which draws soft water from the well or cistern. Divided
oft' from this wash-room, there should be a large store-room, for such coarse
things as barrels of flour, fruit, fresh meat, and articles of kitchen furniture
not in every-day use. Beyond the wash-room, there should be a room for
fuel ; and the best of all, when it can be had at a moderate cost, is anthracite
coal. Opening out of the kitchen there should be a pantry, large enough,
and with conveniences to store all the groceries and food in every-day use.
In this, or some other convenient place, bo sure to have a refrigerator ; and
adjoining the kitchen, there should be a milk and butter room, where nothing
else is ever kept. If cheese is made, it must have a separate room. Butter

Sec. U.] farm-houses. 281

and cheese must not be stored together. The way to the cellar should open
out of the kitchen. AVe do not advocate large cellars under the house,
because they are apt to become the storehouses of a vast amount of stuff tha
Avould be more fittingly stored in some out-building, or an out-cellar. Cellars
are generally kept in a way tluit seriously endangers the health of tiie family.
If the house is set as it should be, well up from the ground, and ventilated
imder the floor, it is better calculated to promote health than a cellar.
If tlic nature of the soil is very dry, the space under the wash-room may
be used for a store-room, or even milk-room, jiroperly ventilated. Every
kitchen should have one or more closets, upon the shelves of which the many
little things can be kept, each in its place, and all in order. In the dining-
room there should be two closets : one for dishes in every -day use, and one
in which anything not always, but occasionally, wanted upon the table, and
anything desirable to be locked up, can be safely stored.

There should be a large closet for the use of the sitting-room ; and there
must be such a one in the fiimily bed-room. In fact, this should be a double
room, a smaller one attaclied to the larger for the small children ; and tliis
should have its closet, or clothes-press, that children might be early taught to
put every article of clothing in its proper place.

The larger children, and other adults, should have large, airy bed-rooms
up stairs; and no farm-huuse will be complete without two, at least, " spare
bed-rooms."

307. IIOAV to Build a Convenient House. — A pleasant-looking, unostenta-
tious farm-house, to contain the rooms indicated, may be of the following
dimensions. A two-story portion, 34 by 24 feet, M-ould give half of tiie
parlor 10 by IG feet, and a spare bed-room 10 by 10 feet, and a hall 6 by ItJ
feet ; a stairway 3^^ by 10 feet ; a space for pantry, or closets, 2^ by 10 feet ;
a family, or sitting-room, 13 by IS feet, and two bed-rooms, 10 by 11 and
8 by 11 feet. This building may be roofed to pitch either way. Tlie otlier
half of the parlor, not comprised in this space, is to be gained by an attach-
ment, 8 bv 16 feet, one story high, attached to tliat side to balance the
piazza, giving the house more of a cottage look, as well as being less exjieii-
sivc, and making better rooms on the second floor.

Attached to tlie main building, a wing or L part, a story and a half liigh,
will give a dining-room 12 liy IS feet, a kitchen 10 by IS feet, a wasli-rooin
12 bv 12 feet, a store-room 6 by 12 feet, a pantry 6 by 8 feet, a milk-room
(! bv (i feet, and passage and stairway to the half story, which will make good
lodging-rooms for hirelings.

The fuel-room may be a separate building, and although used for such n
purpose, may be made with a finish to correspond witii the house, and set
forward flush with the piazza, which is to extend along tiie front of tliis wing,
and will tbrm a good termination to the walk, besides being convenient antl
ai>proaciuiblc from all parts of the liouse under cover. Tliis piazza, wliich i.-
6 bv 40 feet, and one 8 by 16 feet adjoining, should, if possilile, linve a soutli-
castern exposure, which will make it pleasant to all the rooms must used.

282

THE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

"\Vc do not give this as a superlatively excellent plan of a fann-liouse
but one that would 1)C convenient, comfortable, inexpensive, and capable of
being erected in two or three parts, if necessary, at ditferent periods, and
upon the cheap plan described in No. 350.

The advantage tliat wo claim for this over some otlier plans is, that if
built in parts, at difierent periods, according to the circumstances of tlie
proprietor, each portion may be made to appear, and serve the purpose of, a
complete house. Thus, the part 24: by 3i feet, with the little wings, one
forming lialf tlio parlor, and the other the piazza, will be a neat looking
house, and a comfortable one for a small family ; using the sitting-room as a
kitchen, and one bed-room as a pantry. Then the dining-room, kitchen,
wash-room, etc., might be added, one at a time, as ability or necessity
prompts. Or, the part containing the kitchen, could be built first, and
would make a tolerable house by itself.

Anotlier advantage of the plan is, that the rooms are all light and airy ;
every room, except one small bedroom, has windows upon two or more sides,
and the whole house will appear to every passer-by, as though built for use,
rather than show. It is a great convenience to have a house so constructed
tliat strangers can find some other than the front door entrance.

Tlie space in front of the piazza should be a plat of shrubbery, which
would form a partial screen, and in front of that the flower garden. Tlicre
maj- 1)0 a door out of the dining-room into a garden upon that side.

In arranging the plan of this house, the object has been to place the least
used rooms in the house, the parlor and spare bed-rooms, upon the right and
left-hand side of the hall, as you enter the front door from tlie portico. At
tlie other end of the hall is the family room, and large and small bed-room.
Tlie stairway is situated, not for show in the hall, but convenient to all parts
of the house, running up at a right angle from the hall, between the sitting-
room and spare bed-room. The sitting-room is situated in the centre of the
house, convenient to all the rooms, warm in winter, airy in summer, and
easy of approach. If the ground suits, you may drop tlie L floor two feet
below the main part, and set projecting beyond that part six feet, it allows a
window there, and breaks the force of the wind upon that end of the sitting-
room, and also gives room at the other end for a window and glass door out
upon the large piazza. The common entrance to the house will be upon that
piazza, and from that into the sitting-room, dining-room, or kitchen.

There was a plan, published by G. C. House, of Lowville, N. Y., in the
Country Gentleman, so novel in its form, and apparently so convenient,
that we consider it worthy a notice in this connection. The following is
what he says of his plan.

" In the plan submitted, we flatter ourselves that some improvements
have been reached, when we take into consideration convenience, space,
accessibility, the ease with which the hot air passages from the furnace can
be arranged for so many rooms, all within a few feet of the body of the fur-
nace ; and each door within a few steps of the main stair-case. From the

Sec. 14.]

FARM-HOUSES.

283

peculiar form the centre of the house is at once reached on entering the front
door. The second story is quite similar to the fii-st, closets occupying the
spaces over the library and j^antry, and a tine balcony over the veranda,
reached through glass doors.

"To meet the full requirements which were had in view, in this arrange-
ment, a site sliould bo selected having .a southern or eastern exposure if in
the country, and the building set with both full fronts to the street, so that
the veranda or front door will have a direct front aspect. If, however, the
location be in city or village, it would bo desirable to procure a lot having
two fronts, if possible looking easterly and southerly, and place the building
with a front to each road, the front door looking toward the angle of the
street."

308. Ventilation of Dwellinssi — In whatever form, or upon whatever plan
you build, do not forget the necessity of ventilation. Our dwellings are often
charnel houses. Tiie very first necessity of every human being — pure air —
is rarely regarded in their construction. The air actually inhaled steals in
at crevices and crannies, felon-like, because it cannot be shut out. Only the
defects of our architecture prevent our dying of a vitiated, poisoned, mephitic
atmosphere, from which the vital element has been exhausted. Most men,
including architects, seem ignorant of the fact that the atmosphere is a com-
bination uf different gases, only one of which is wholesome and life-giving,
and that this is consumed in the lungs upon inhalation, leaving the residue
to bo expelled as a poison. Tlie church, lecture-room or other structure,
with doors and windows closed, with no provision for ventilation, soon
becomes a slaughter-pen, and ought to be closed by the public authurities.

Our manufactories and school-houses are nearly all disgraceful to tiicir
owners and architects in regard to ventilation. TlieV are often divided into
rooms less tlian ten feet higli, each thickly stowed wiih human beings, who
breatho and work and sweat in an atmosphere overheated and filled with
grease, wool or cotton waste, leather or cloth, and the poisonous refuse
expelled from human lungs, wliich together are enougli to incite a ]'lague,
and are, in fact, the primary cause of nearly all the fevers, dysenteries, con-
sumptions, etc., by which so many graves are peopled. No factory should
be permitted to commence operations, nor school opened, until it shall
have been inspected by some competent public officer, and certified to be
thoroughly provided with ventilators — not windows, which marj be opened.
but in a cold or stormy day very certainly will not be — but apertures for
the ingress of fresh air, and otliera for the egress of vitiated air, both out of
the reach of ignorance and defying the efforts of confirmed depravity of tlie
senses to close them.

Our bed-rooms are generally fit only to die in. The best are those of n few
of the intelligent and aflluent, whicli are carefully ventilated ; next to these
come those of the cabins and rudest farm-houses, with an incli or two of
var-incv l)etween the chimney and the roof, and with cracks on evcrj- side,
throuirfi which the stars may bo seen. The ceiled and plasteretl bed-rooms,

2S4: TDE FARMERY. [Chap. III.

wliere too many of the middle class are lodged, with no apertures for the
ingress or egress of air hut the door and windows, are horrible. Nine-tenths
of their occujiants rarely open a window unless compelled by excessive heat,
and very few are careful even to leave the door ajar. To sleep in a tight
six-by-ten bed-room, with no aperture admitting air, is to court the ravages
of jiestilence and sjiecdy death.

Our railroad cars and steatnboat berths aro atrocionsly devoid of ventila-
tion. A journey is taken witli far less fatigue, and more expeditiously now
than it was thirty years ago, but with far greater risk and harm to healtli.
There are probably ten thousand passenger cars now running in the United
States, whereof not more than one hundred are decently supplied with fresh
air. Most of these, Avherein forty or fifty persons are expected to sit all day
and dose all night, ought to be indicted as nuisances — they are fit only for
coffins. The men who make them probably know no better ; but those wlio
buy and run them have not even that poor excuse. They know that they are
undermining constitutions and destroying lives ; they know that ample means
of arresting these frightful woes are at command; yet they will not ado])t
them because they cost something.

If people only knew how many thousands of lives are annually sacrificing,
how many hundreds of thousands are now sufi'ering from fevers and other
maladies which have their origin in the inhaling of noxious air, the excite-
ment and alarm on this subject would work a revolution in our style of
building.

Wlien we lived in old-style houses, with large open fire-places, like the one
mentioned in the next paragraph, there was no need of being careful to build
air-passages in the walls of the house for ventilation, for the " fire-place, big
enough to roast an ox," gave the most comjjlete kind of ventilation.

It is of the utmost importance, particularly in malarious districts, that
houses should bo so constructed that a free circulation of air can be had
through all the rooms. In the plan described in 305 this fact has been kept
in view. With slight modifications, the plan will answer for a house cither
at the north or the south. At the south the rooms would be made larger, and
the fuel-room would probably be substituted for the kitchen. Frequently,
the kitchen of a planter's house is placed several I'ods distant, without any
covered way between.

309. An Old-Style Farm-hojise Kitchen in New England.— A picture of
one of tliese scenes of comfort has lately fallen under my observation.
What can be more cheerful and pleasant than the view of a fanner's kitclieii,
taken during the evening meal of a cold Autumn day ? It is a picture of tiiu
calm happiness of rural life.

The kitchen of the old-style farm-house of New England is not the scullery,
or mere cooking-place of some modern house — a dirty liole or comfortless
out-room or sort of human bake-oven, where the cook is almost as mucli
cooked as the food. No, it is a room perhaps 24 feet long and IG wide, well
lighted, warm, neat, and every-way comfortable. Upon one side there is a

Sec. It.] FARM-HOUSES. 285

fire-place large eiioiigli to roast a whole ox, in whicli a great fire of Ion's Bunds
up a clieerful blaze, lighting up the whole room so its brightness might be
6een through its great uncurtained windows, like a beacon light to the
traveller as he comes down tiie slope of yonder hill two niilos awav, and
makes him involuntarily thaidi God, in anticipation, for the good thiu"^
spread out upon tlie great table standing between the window and the fire.

Lot us take note of the ohl-fashioned meal. At the head of the tal)le sits
a matron of some sixty summers — though in appearance there is nothin" of
tiie winter of old age about her. Her dress is a gown of home-spun worsted,
well fortified with flannels from the same manufactory, that bid defiance to
tlie Autumn winds of a rigorous climate. The small, neat cap of white gauze,
and the shoes and stockings of this woman, were made in pursuance of the
best medical recipe ever written : "Keep the head cool, and tlie feet dry and
w-arm ;"' fur the stockings are the product of busy fingei-s at moments idle
with many housewives, and the shoes of stout leather were made for service,
and the cap is a mere ornament — a snow-wreath among raven locks — and
her face is the indication uf liealtii and ha|)]iincss.

Upon her right hand sits the farmer, dressed in a butternut-colored coat,
blue pants, buff vest, white linen shirt — every article home made — stout
boots and black silk cravat — for he has been to town, and tliis is his holiday
suit. Below him sit Jedediah, Ebenczer, Abram, and 8iili>mon, all economi-
cal names, for they can be shortened in common use to Jed, Eb, Ab, and Sol.
Two of these wear the check woollen winter frocks of New England farmers
— the others are in round jackets; tliey are schoolboys. Upon the left sit
Mary, Adeline, and Mchitable, pictures of real beauty and health. Tlie
eldest is " dressed up ;" she has been to town with her father ; she has a
gown of " boughten stuff";" around her neck is a bow of colored lamb's wool,
knitted by her own hands, fastened in the throat by grandmother's silver
lirooL-li. Tlie other two are in check woolen, which was spun, woven, and
colored, and made up under the same root".

Further down the table are three athletic young men, day laborers on the
farm — sons of neighboring farmers — one of whom is eyeing tlie charms of
sweet Mary with an /expression easily read by a good physiognomist. Tiie
group is completed by the schoolmaster, a young man witii a glowing eye
wliicli speaks of intellect that will tell upon the world some day with oa
much force as though ho had not beim obliged to obtain his eilucation by
summer labor and winter teaching. Jle is one of New England's rising
sons.

'llio meal is for men who toil. At one end of tlio table stands a ]<ot, of
ample dimensions, smoking i'rom the oven tlaiiking the fire-place, of the most
excellent of New England cookeries, " a disli of bakeil beuns," crowned with
a great square ]iiece of salt fat pork, crisped anil rich. Lower down a broad
))owter platter hoiils the remains of the " boiled victuals" fiiat former! tlio
dinner — beef, jiork, j>otatoes, cabbage, beets an<i turni|is^a ])ile that migiit
rival a small hay-coek in size and siiapi; — a plate of ryo and iudiuii bread,

280

THE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

colli, and another made of rye flour are untouched, for a great loaf, just
drawn from the oven, nicely browned and hot, is offered in great broken
pieces to tempt the appetite to one of the richest repasts ever given to ::;i
epicure. By the side of tlie old lady stands a black eartheru teapot, tiiu
contents of which are freely offered, but only accepted by two of the men,
as the rich new milk, or the hearty old cider is preferred as a beverage,
morning, noon and night, by those old-fashioned, hearty laborers. "We
must not forget the never-failing accompaniment of the evening meal at
this season of the year in Xew England, for it ig New England's proudest
dish, the golden pumpkin, sweetest pie.

God being thanked for his great bounties after the close of the happy meal,
all are drawn into a circle around the great lire-place. Father is finisiiing off
an a.xehclve ; Jed is mending a pair of boots ; and one of the hired men,
upon the other side of the same bench, is repairing a wagon harness — both
using the same tools. The other two are employed, one shelling corn and
the other helping Mary to peel pumpkins, which are cut in slices and hung
upon poles overhead. This is Mary's accepted lover. Happy hearts and
blessed industry ! Ab and Sol are engaged with the schoolmaster around the
big table, lighted by a home-made candle ; they are studying geography,
writing, spelling, and arithmetic — fitting themselves for future statesmen.
Motlier is making a new coat for one of the boys, Ada is ironing at a side-
table, and Hetty is washing the supper dishes at another. There are two
other members of this family group — ^the cat occupies the top of the blue
dye-tub which stands in one corner of the fire-place, and old Bose sleeps
quietly under the table.

Directly, and before any sound is audible to human ear, Bose gets up,
walks out into the long entry, and gives a loud, sharp bark at the outside
door, and stands waiting the approaching step. Soon satisfied that the new
comer is a friend, he retires again to his repose, and three or four boys, who
look as though they might be brothers to those already described, so much
are they dressed alike, enter and draw around the table with the others and
the schoolmaster. These are from a neighboring farm, sons of a widow, who
have till now been so much engaged with the labors of the farm that they
have been unable to attend the school in the daytime, but are determined to
lose none of the evening opportunities to keep along with the class. They
will make honest, intelligent, industrious farmers.

The old folks Avelconie them heartih', and the yoimg ones are all rejoiced
at their arrival. The old lady inquires why in the world their mother did
not come along ; and Mary, the kind-hearted Mary, is so sorry to hear that
it is becaiise Sarah is not so well, and mother is very busy getting their new
clothes done so that they can go to school as soon as they finish picking
apples. " John," says she, " let us hurry and get through our stent and we
will go over to the widow's; and I will help her with hersewing; you will
read for tlie amusement of ]wor Sarah, for an hour or two." " If that is the
case," savs father, laying down his axe handle, " my good children, you shall

Seo. 14.] FARM-nOUSES.

387

go now ; I will finish your work."' " And Mary, my dear girl, don't «>'o
empty handed," says mother; "you know from experience how sweet little
'lelioacies, brought by friendly hands to the side of a sick-bed, are to a poor
invalid."

" Il^'tty, my dear, if you have done your dishes, you must get your cards
and make a few rolls, for 1 am quite out of grey yarn, and we must have
some more stockings in the work. Old man, don't cut that pumpkin too
thick.— Ada, daughter, get a plate of doughnuts and some of those nice fall
pippins and set on the table ; I guess these boys can eat a few while they are
cypiicring. I do wonder if you have got light enough. Sol, get another
caudle, I am sure such industrious boys ought to have all the light they
want."

Tims, my readers, I have given you a slight outline of a farmer's liouse,
such as it used to be, such as it might be, and such as it always should be,
and such as, I am proud to say, many an American fanner can boast of even
in these degenerate days of " boughten stuff' gowns" and lack-a-daisical
lounging of farmer's girls, who arc miseral)lo and tired of nothing to do.
How do you like the iiicture ? K Avell, imitate it. It is a hajjpiness easily
acquired.

It is easy to imagine the suiToundings of such a liome as the one described
above. And as there is probably no better exponent of the farmer's life
than the farmer's home, wo propose to present the portrait of a home quite
in contrast to the preceding one. We are sorry that such as this are altoge-
ther too common. Here is the sketch :

A square brown house; a chimney coming out of the middle of a roof;
not a tree nearer than the orchard, and not a tluwer at the door. At one end
projects a kitclien ; from the kitchen projects a wood-shed and wagon-cover,
occupied at night by hens ; beyond the wood-shed a hog-pen, fragrant and
musical. Proceeding no further in this direction, we look directly across the
road, to where the barn stands, like the hull of a great black ship of the line,
with its portholes spread threateningly upon the fort opposite, out of one of
which a horse has thrust his head for the i)urpose of examining the strength
of the works. An old ox-sled is turned up against the wall close by, where
it will have the privilege of rotting. This whole establishment was contrived
with a single eye to utility. The barn was built in such a manner that its
deposits might bo convenient to the road which divides the farm, while the
sty was made an attachment of the house for convenience in feeding its
occupants.

We enter the house at the back door, and find the family at dinner in the
kitchen. A kettle of soap-grease is stowing upon the stove, and the fumes
of this, mingled with those tiiat were generated by boiling the cabbugo
which we see upon the table, and by perspiring men in shirt-slccves, and by
b(i(it> that have forgotten, or do not care where they have been, nnike the air
anvthing but agreeable to those who are not accustomed to it. Tills is the
place wlierc the family live. They cook everything hero for themselves oud

2SS

THE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

their hogs. Tliey eat every meal here. They sit here every evening, and
here they receive their friends. Tlie women in this kitchen toil incessantly,
from the time they rise in the morning, until they go to bed at night. Here
man and woman, sons and daughters, live in the belief that work is the
gi'eat thing, that efficiency in work is the crowning excellence of manhood
and Momanhood, and willingly go so far into essential self-debasement some-
times as to contemn beauty, and those who love it, and to glory above all
lluiiL's in brute strength, and brute endurance.

We dii not expect to see every farm-house a domestic paradise ; but we do
contend that one contrived upon the moderate plan described in No. 305 will
he likely to produce a better race of men and women than such a home as
fhe olio last mentioned in this paragraph.

Having occupied as much space as we can afford to give to the dwellings,
let us now look at some of the surroundings necessary to make up a complete
farmery.

SECTION XV.-CELLARS, CHIMNEYS, AND ICE-HOUSES.

"N a cold climate, two of the .most important requi-
, sites of a farm-house are good cellars and good cliim-

9^^ ncys. In all the great farming region north of Lat. 40°,
A^ there are nights almost every Winter in which the thermo-
meter falls 10° below 0° of Farenheit; and in some of the
elevated portions of New England it sometimes falls 40°
below zero. Tliere warm cellai-s are a necessity. Every-
where chimneys are so, for there is not a greater source of
vexation about a farm-house than a smoky chimney. For-
merly, ice was looked upon as a luxury merely ; it is so no
longer. Hence we devote space to give the best information
we can obtain, how to build an ice-house and preserve its
contents.

310. Cellars— Where and How to Build Ihoin. — As we have
already intimated, we do not approve of extensive cellars under dwellings.
As a general thing, in all damp soils, like millions of acres of the western
prairie lands, cellars, even when kept with the utmost care, are not healthy ;
and when kept as we have often seen them, dripping with moisture, and
frequently with water standing several inches deep, they are positive conta-
gion breeders. In all such situations we recommend cave cellars, built on
the level of the surface. An excellent one which we built near the kitchen
door, 8 by 20 feet, was made of eight-inch brick walls, seven feet high, with
an entry and double doors at one end, and double windows at the other. At
first our design was to arch this over and make a grassy mound ; but upon

Seo. 15.]

CELLARS, CUIMXEYS AND ICE-IIOUSES.

289

Bccond thouglit, we earthed it up as liigh as the top of the wall and then put
on a building for a smoke-house, the fire for whieh was built at the bottom and
carried up in a flue. Where there is a hillside, a cave cellar may be made
more easily, though M-e did not iind it a setious job to heap up theeartii from
the level ground, taking care to slope it off so as not to leave any noticeable
depression. Such a cellar is very convenient, dry, pleasant, and not
unhealthy. If built where a building over it would be unsightly, or not
needed, it may be arched and covered with earth and made quite an orna-
ment of the house surroundings.

Wherever a cellar is it should have as imiform a temperature as possible,
the year through ; it should never sink much below Ji8° Fahrenheit, nor rise
above 50^, and it should be always moist, yet never wet. It should be also
well ventilated, and that should be by a flue of the chimney, constructed
S2)ecially for that object, when the cellar is mider tlie dwelling.

311. — Chimneys— IIow to Build them. — A new combination of chimney and
ventilator has been patented by a Philadelphian (Mr. Leeds), and is very
strongly recommended by numy who have tried it in that city. Tlie brick
wall of this chimney is without flue.-*, no matter how large the house, but the
smoke is carried up, say half the height of the building, through a cast-metal
box or square flue in the centre of the stack, while pure, cold air is intro-
duced at tlie bottom of the building into the chimney outside of the flue.
The heat of the flue causes this air to ascend with great rapidity and force,
carrying the smoke with it from their juncture at the top of the bo.\, and
rendering it wholly impossible that the ciiimney should ever smoke. \'enti-
lation is eflected by valves oiieniiig from the external or air-chimney into the
rooms, so as to throw out a column of air, warmed by its contact with the
flue, into the room near its floor, while another valve near the ceiling sucks in
and carries off the impure air — the draught of the heated flue being aided by
the influx of heated air through the lower valve into the room. This arrange-
ment, it is claimed, saves the expense of brick flues, saves heat, which other-
wise passes ofl" uselessly through the chimney, insures a thorough ventilation
without trouble or cost, and atlords a perfect security against flres from
defective or overheated chimneys, through the gradual charring of the
wooden beams or other timbers imbedded or ending against the chimney.
A connection with the cellar, by an opening into such a flue, would draw ofl'
all the foul air that would be generated in any but a very badly kept cellar ;
besides proving a valuable safeguard against the carelessness of carjientere,
who do sometimes place wood in fearfully dangerous ]>laccs. If all stove-
heated houses had such means of ventilation, it would do something t.iwartl
bringing back the same state of health that existed in connection with open
lire-places.

The comfort of a dwelling depends in a great degree upon its having good
chimneys, always maintaining a current of air upward within, and secured
exteriuiily against the entrance of water. Form, size, location and workman-
ship, all unite iu producing a good or bad article.

19

290,

THE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

The ridge or highest part of the roof is the best place for the exit of the
chimney, for it is less liable to those sudden gusts of " blowing down
chinincy " than when in proximity to higher objects. In this place too, the
roof is more easily rendered tight and secure against wet. In small houses
with but one chimney we need not seek any other i>lace for it. In buildings
larger, where several chinmeys are needed, keep the same object in view,
and ai)proacli as near to it as possible. In brick houses, if the chimney
is built into an exterior wall, it will sometimes fail to draw well, because
the air outside of the house cools the warm ascending current within the
flue. If the flue is in a south wall, the heat of the sun sometimes aids the
draught.

The size of the chimney is also important. The modern fashion is quite
too small for utility. Economy of space and a desire to conceal entirely an
object merely of utility, have caused its dimensions to be contracted until a
few months' deposit of soot entirely chokes the passage. While we no longer
need the huge " good old-fashioned chimneys" of former days, the flues should
not be contracted so as to hinder the current of smoke, which needs a channel
as smooth as for the flow of water. We often find the curves, where the
most rooni is needed, half filled with mortar carelessly dropped and loosely
adhering to the bricks. By making a proper table above the roof, it can be
made water-proof; but this, if not well done at first, always proves a
vexatious and difficult matter to accomplish. Mortar, putty, cement, and
paint, in all their variations, have been tried with various success. An old
grafter recommends for this purpose " grafting wax," as the cheapest, surest,
and most durable application. But we say, build so that they will all be
unnecessary.

Always begin your chimneys from a good foundation on the eartli. lie
who builds a small "stem" in the garret, builds a large nuisance for
himself. The soot tea, black and penetrating, will leak out to discolor the
walls, the gathered soot and ashes cannot be removed, and the thing proves
a chimney only in name and in its appearance on the roof.

All unused stove-pipe holes and fire-places should be closed to secure the
best draught.

Where there are two chimnej's in tlie same building one will sometimes
overpower the other, with the most provoking results. This is a contingency
to be regarded in forming the plan.

Tlie top of the chininey may be full size and open where there is no
danger of down currents ; otherwise it should be arched or provided witli
some cap or ventilator of sheet iron. Those who have built will see the
importance of these hints ; those who are to build, will do Avell to regiird
them. .

312. Ice-Honsesi — Xext to a good cellar, an ice-house is a necessity of a
farm-house. Here we can do without an ice-house, and nortli of latitude 4-0^
we cannot do without a cellar — at least, not comfortably ; and, in our
opinion, any family who have once enjoyed the comforts of an iee-liouse.

Sec. 15.] CELLARS, CHIMNEYS AND ICE-HOCSES. 291

will ever after tliink that they cannot live quite comfortably without
one.

We have often witnessed in good farm-houses the necessity of a supply of
ice, in the character of the butter placed upon the table — even among tli(»BC
who know how to make good butter, we tind a quality far inferior to tlie
samjiles made where there are cool spring houses or an abundant supply of
ice. We give a few other reasons in favor of every farmer's having an
ice-house, and wo beg farmers to read and consider them well, and then we
will tell them how to build one.

313. Reasons why Farmers should have Ice-llouses. — It is August ; hot,
faint and exhausted, the farmer conies from the field so thirsty that he
cannot satisfy himself with water from a well so shallow that the burning
rays of the sun have reached the surface and penetrated into the water,
warming it almost hot enough for dish-water. Some draw their water
from springs, and others from cisterns. It is only here and there that
we find a spring that comes gushing to the surface, or that feeds a deep well
with water, cool enough to satisfy tlie over-heated, thirsty harvester. How
refreshing such water is, not only to drink, but to lave the face and hands
and breast, before sitting down to a meal, or lying down to repose to recupe-
rate tired nature. We have no doubt that the laving is far better than the
drinking, and it should always be the first step taken to quench thirst.

Again, how refreshing is a cool drink with the lunch in the field, but how
difficult to have it there, at only half a mile from the coldest spring or well.
How easy it would be if there was an iee-house on the farm. A ]>iecc
that could be carried in one hand, wrapped in a blanket, would be large
enousrh to cool the drink of a dozen men all the forenoon, and it would
invigorate them more than a bottle of rnm. Ice, taken in moderate quan-
tity, is a tonic, and serves to keep the system in such healthy condition, that
food gives it more strength. Simply, then, upon economic principles, every
farmer should have an ice-house. A humane man should have an ice-house.
It adds to the health and comfort of his summer laborers. Let him think of
it now — think of it in August, think of it while sighing. Oh, for a cool
drink ! Oil, fur a cup of ice-water !

The stingy man, the veriest old hunks, who is never quite satisfied with
the amount of labor that he gets out of his workmen in tiie harvest-field,
should have an ice-house ; it will enalde him to get more work out of them.
Now is the very time to tiiiiik of this; particularly in the heat of the har-
vest-field.

The man that knows that fresh meat is not only more palatable in the
heat of Summer, but that tlierc is a positive economy in feeding his family
and extra laltorers upon sweet grass-fed beef and mutton, and upon cold milk
and sweet, hard butter ; and that a man who does feed Iiis day-laborers so can
always get better men and more work for his money than his neighbor who
lives upon salt junk and rum, will have an ice-house; and if he has not got
one he will make up his mind, before the present Summer is over, that as

292

TUE FARMERY.

[Chap. in.

mun as tlierc is a lull iu the work of haying and harvest he will set about
building an ice-house, which ho can do with his own hands and coninion
lann-laborers ; and with less than the work of one hand and team during a
week iu winter, he can lay up such a store of ice that he need never drink
warm water, nor eat soft butter, nor fear to kill a sheep lest the meat should
sj)oil before it could be eaten.

Let all remember this fact : Ice is not a luxury; that is, one that can be
dispensed with, and may be indulged in only by the wealthy ; but one of
the must economical things that can be provided for family use. It is an
article that no farmer can afford to do Avithout.

Now, having given arguments enough to convince any man that he
should build an ice-house, we proceed to tell him how to do it.

314. How to Build an Ice-llousCi — Au ice-house is not the complicated,
costly structure that some people appear to think it is. Quite the contrary,
it is one of the easiest and most simple things to build, needing very little
mechanical skill, and being quite inexpensive. All of the work about an
ice-house can be done by any farmer of ordinary Yankee capacity in the use
of such a set of carpenters' tools as every farmer should keep. In the first
]>lace, it is not necessary to build an ice-house under ground, although in
dry, gravelly soil it may be built so at less expense than on the surface, and
it is easier filled. A hill-side is the most convenient location, with the gable
of one end above the surface, in which have an opening to put in ice — the
other end, to a level with the floor, being exposed — through which we would
have the ordinary entrance by double doors. In such a situation we would
use broken stone, making a hollow, grouted wall ; and the same kind of wall
might be built on level ground ; and a very good, cheap, durable wall it is.
Brick or stone may also be used for the walls, according to the fancy of the
builder, always making them hollow, and the outer and inner part of the
Avail absolutely as air-tight as could be made Avith brick and mortar.

The cheapest, easiest and quickest constructed ice-house, and one all-suffi-
cient for the jiurjiose, is built of Avood ; and the money difference in cost
placed at interest will more than keep the wooden house in repair and good
as brick or stone. So Ave will give directions for building a plain, cheap,
common, rough-board, farm ice-house, large enough for all ordinary private
families.

Select a spot of ground convenient to the kitchen door, and remove the soil
and put coarse gravel or sand in its place, Avith drains leading aAvay from
the eaves, so constructed that it AA'ill be absolutely impossible for Avater
to stand under or around the building. Lay down two-inch plank six inches
wide, bedded their thickness in the sand, for sills ; the end ones eight feet
long and side ones thirteen feet. Cut your studs off square, eight feet long,
of any size or Avidth that you can get in the refuse heap at the nearest saAv-
mill or lumber-yard, so that you can get one straight side, and set them up
face side in, and toe-nail them to the sill, Avith an inch-board on top for a
plate, upon Avliich rest the joist ; nail up through the plate to hold them

Seo. 15.] CELLARS, CHIMNEYS, AND ICE-nOCSES. 293

in place. ISTow board these studs on the inside, and batten the cracks with
rough boards, and serve the under side of the joists in tlie same way. This
makes a tight boarded room, eight feet wide, eight feet high, and twelve
feet long. The floor must be laid upon timber bedded in gravel or charcoal,
to cut off any currents of air, but so that all water from melted ice will
drain off immediately. Divide off four feet of the end in which you intend
to have the door, for a cooling-room, and you will have room for a cube of
ice eight feet, less the straw or sawdust all around between the ice and
boards, and this will last anj' family through the hot weather, with most liberal
use of it for all needed purposes.

ISTow for the protection of the ice to prevent its melting. Set up another
"balloon frame" outside of the first, from one to two feet off, the widest
space being the best, boarded perpendicularly with rough boards battened.
The top of the outer frame must be tied firmly to the inner one by strips of
boards nailed from plate to plate, and the space between the walls com-
pactly filled with charcoal, sawdust, or straw, provision being made for a
narrow doorway in one end, to be closed with shutters inside and out, which
must be made to shut tight, and will bo greatly improved by lining them
with a coat of straw two inches thick, fastened on by lath nailed across.
About the roof. This must be made in the same way as the sides, with two
sets of rafters, boarded and filled between with straw, with good shingling
outside, or some other tight roofing. It will be necessary to make a traj) in
the roof, or a door in the gable end, opposite the usual entrance, with a slide
leading to the interior, for the coiivenience of filling, and there must be a
suitable ventilating chimney, six inches square, from the ice up through
the roof, which at times may be partially closed by a wisp of straw. The
space between the joists and the rafters, if filled with straw, will assist in
the preservation of the ice, and need never be removed, except the portion
around the door made for putting in ice.

The expense of such an ice-house it will be easy to calculate upon the
local cost of lumber.

Such a building as we have described will take forty-eight studs 8 feet
long, 2 by 4 inches in size, which is quite strong enough, and sixteen inside
rafters of same size, 8 feet long; twenty rafters of same size, 9 feet long, for
outside; two sills 2 by 6 inches, S feet long each; two ditto 13 feet long
each for inside frame; two ditto IG feet and two ditto 12 feet for outside
sills, and some short pieces of stuff for gable-end studs ; for plates two
boards G inches wide, 13 feet long; two ditto 8 feet long; two ditto 12 feet
and two ditto IG feet each ; and this constitutes the timber of the franio, and
will not exceed 700 feet, board measure. In fact, this whole frame could be
made of straight poles, or split stuff, which would cost but a trifle on some
farms. The boarding of sides, roots, floors, partition, measures in all, we be-
lieve, 1,620 feet of surface and bat;tens, so that 2,500 feet of lumber and 2,000
shingles appear to be ample for an ice-house to stow a cube 8 feet square,
with a cooling-room i by 8; and two men can build it in four days. >«'oW

294 THE FARMERY. [Chap. HI.

count tlie lumber at $12 a thousand, shingles at $4 a tliousand, work at $2
a day, nails, hinges, etc., $2, team work $2, and we have a total of $50 for
tlie cost of a building that is worth $50 to any farmer every year. "Who
would do witliout an ice-house?

Having given the above as our own plan, we will add the plans of several
others. One writer says :

" Instead of one hollow wall for a non-conductor of heat, as in ordinary
ice-houses, 1 have two, with a space between them for confined air. The site
is on a gravel slope. The foundation, for convenience in storing ice, is dug
two feet below the surface of the ground. The outside wall, for non-con-
ducting material, is six inches in the clear. The inside wall is four inches.
The doors for entrance correspond perfectly with the hollow walls in
thickness, and are filled in the same manner — being shaped to shut with
a bevel edge, like the door to safes used by merchants and bankers.
At the lower side of the plates is a ceiling, upon wliich I put spent
tan one foot thick, which tan is in direct connection with the side-walls,
so that any settling in of the walls may be supplied from overhead.
From the under side of the ceiling runs a ventilator, with a hole of one and
a half inch bore, up through the roof, wliich is finished with an ornamental
cap.

" The room for ice is eight by ten feet in the clear, and eight feet high.
About all the waste of ice that I observed during the summer w'as at the
bottom, and this was so slow that wo used the ice without regard to economy
for a large family, and in a dairy of thirty-five cows, besides giving freely
to our neighbors.

"I put sticks four inches thick in the bottom to put ice on, and also some
straw about the sides as well as underneath the ice."

At a discussion about ice-houses, by the American Institute Farmers' Club,
the following facts were elicited :

Mr. Pakdee read an extract from a paper upon ihe ventilation and drain-
age of ice-houses. It states that an underground ice-house is calculated to
melt ice much foster than above, because the earth gets heated and melts
the ice.

"William S. Caepentee — It is a question of great moment to farmers how
small a cube of ice can be kept well. I have not, in my experience, found
tluat one less than ten feet will keep. I have a floor over my ice, which I
keep covered with straw, and find it an excellent thing to prevent thawing.
I find the bottom layer of my house, which is an underground one, keeps
better than tlie layers above. Some of my neighbors think the ice keeps
the best if the cakes are set on edge.

John G. Beegen — The great ice-packers I have seen put in their cakes
flat, and very compact. Some of my neighbors break up the blocks of ice,
but I prefer the solid blocks. My opinion is that straw is better than salt
hay to pack ice in. I should prefer to have a very heavy coat of straw on
the ice, and then I don't care about the ventilation above. I will say, how-

Seo. 15.] CELLARS, CHIMNEYS, AND ICE-HOUSES. 295

ever, tliat my neighbors' ice-houses that have no upper floor, and are a good
deal open at the top, do keep the ice well.

Prof. Kash — "We are too much inclined to be innovators in all our build-
ings, and in ice-houses particulai-ly. Wc must look at the friio j)hilosopliy
of keeping ice, or wo shall fail ; lor the iihilosophy of it is to put it as much
away from the air as possible, and that is why we pack it iu straw or saw-
dust, etc. As to giving some ventilation to tlic lofr, or space over the ice,
it may be of service. I think that an ice-house should nut have any pro-
vision for ventilation — the tighter the better.

Solon Kobinson — There is a misunderstanding about this term ventila-
tion. As one of the advocates of it for an ice-house, as well as all other
houses, I do not mean open exposure, but simply to allow au escape of the
heated air that will accumulate in the space between the straw and the roof.
Make it as tight all round the body of tlie ice as possible, bv using non-
conducting substances from the exterior, and cover the top of the ice as
closely as you please with sawdust or straw, but don't make the upper part
too close ; at least, leave the cracks in the gable ends open. As for the
sides, the best of all substances to till witli is line charcoal; the next best,
BaM'dust ; next, tan-bark, straw, leaves from the forest, or salt hay, or any
other fibrous substance. It is not necessary to have a double wall if your
ice is sufliciently packed around with any of the above substances. The air,
at any rate, must not come in contact with the ice, nor with a board that
touches it. And a stone or the ground will melt ice much fpiicker than
wood. "What I have been most anxious for in bringing up this discussion
upon ice-houses, is to divest the subject of all scientific nonsense about
making buildings to keep ice of so expensive a character that no common
farmer would undertake it. Yet there are thousands of men who might
enjoy the comforts of a full supply of ice, and some of them would do it
if they only knew that they could build a house at almost no cost. A log
cabin, as described by Mr. Pell, or a cellar lined with fence-rails and a
board roof, with plenty of sawdust, leaves, or straw, will keep it longer than
a stone or brick building, put up at a cost of §500. I want to encourage
people to build cheap ice-houses.

A corresjiondent says: "I live on Statcn Island, where neither charcoal,
sawdust, nor tan-bark can be had, exce])t at great expense, but dry forest-
leaves and salt hay cost but a tritle. AVill either of tlie latter answer a good
purpose for an ice-house out of the grouiul, and, if so, whicli is the best i (1.)
I propose to make two boxes of rough hemlock boards — the outer one
twelve feet square by ten feet high, the inner one ten feet square by the same
liiglit — so as to leave a continuous si)ace of twelve inches all round between
tiie boxes, this space to be filled with leaves or hay pressed down ligiit. (2.)
The roof to be covered with tongued and grooved boards, and set at an
angle of 35 degrees, with a ])rojection of two feet. Tlie double (K>ors
will be in the peak of the roof, the outside frame to be sui>i>orted by chest-
nut posts, lined on one side, and set into the ground four teet apart ; the

296

THE FARMERY

[Chap, III.

inside box, or frame, to be supported by joists, 2x4-inch, set edgewise, three
feet apart, secured against the inner side. Chestnut sleepers will be hiid on
the ground, covered with loose boards, from which there will be good drain-
age. Will it be necessary to make the roof double, and have an opening on
the top for ventilation? (3.) Can you suggest any improvement on this
plan, without increasing the cost? (4.) One of my neighbors, for the wu;:t
of tan-bark or sawdust, built an expensive ice-house on the ground, walled
up with stone, but it fails to keep the ice. (5.)"
I will briefly answer these inquiries :

1. Either salt hay or leaves will answer a good purpose, and I should use
whichever is the cheapest.

2. This plan will make an ice-house that will keep the contents safe in
any place.

3. There is the same necessity for a double roof that there is for double
sides, and more, for that is not necessary if there is a good thick lining of
straw between the ice and boards. I double my roof by a thatch of straw,
first laid and then boarded over.

4. The improvement I should suggest would be a cheaper frame. Make
the outside just like the inside. It is cheaper, and will answer just as well
as the chestnut-posts.

6. This is probably owing to deficient ventilation ; that is, openings in the
gable ends far above the ice, to allow the hot air and foul gases that accu-
mulate there to pass ofl". If the stone walls of an ice-house once get heated
from the sun, they I'etain the heat both day and night, and communicate it
to the atmosphere within. Stone is the worst material for an ice-house that
can be used.

Robert L. Pell said that he built an ice-house just like a log-cabin, in
the ground, with a board roof, that keeps ice first-rate. He built one of
stone and one of brick, laid in cement, neither of which would keep ice.
He fills on a cold day, and leaves the house open to allow the ice to freeze.
He packs broken ice into all the spaces between the cakes, and puts straw
at the bottom eight inches thick, and packs the ice up to the M'ood on the
sides, and leaves it until June or July, when there is a space melted away
all round, and that is then packed tight with straw. His ice-house is most
thoroughly ventilated in the upper portion of it. A full set of ice-tools costs
about $50, but he did not think it necessary for a fixrmer to go to that ex-
pense ; a saw is nearly as good as an ice-plow to cut ice on a snmll scale,
when great haste is not very necessary, as is the case with the great ice-
gatherers for market.

John G. Bergen — My ice-house is a cellar, about twelve feet square at the
top and ten feet at the bottom, and this is fitted with a double-boarded frame,
the hollow filled with sawdust. The earth is so porous that it gives a
natural drainage. There is a building, used for other purposes, over the ice-
house, which is ventilated, but the ice part has no ventilation ; and I cover
the ice with sawdust, and also around the sides, and it keeps well. I pack

Sec. 15.] CELLARS, CHIMXEYS, AND ICE-UOUSES. 297

the cakes close, and they come out as square as they went in. Tliere is a
free circulation of air in the upper part of niy ice-house, and notliing but
straw to exclude the air from the ice. Tlie great Hudson River ice-houses
are very large, and always built above ground, with double walls, lillud witli
sawdust. The ice is packed close, and broken ice filled in to all the cracks.
Some. single ice-houses hold 3,000 tuns; and most of the ice used in the city
is cut upon the rivei-, and not upon lakes.

Mr. QriNx — I noticed that some of these ice-houses use salt hay. Tiic
roofs and sides are double, and the best of them are filled with fine charcoal,
making the walls eighteen inches thick. I know one person wlio had an
underground ice-house, and now has oue above, which he prefers; the ice
keeps in this the best.

J. P. Yeeeder — I made my ice-house by digging a hole ten or twelve feet
sijuare, and lined it witii boards as a double wall, filled in with tan-bark.
My roof is a straw thatch. My ice keeps jierfoctly well. I have good
drainage, and I put about six inches of straw around the ice on bottom,
sides, and top. The house is only four feet below the surface, and the rest
above. I pack about twelve or fourteen tuns of ice, being careful to fill all
the crevices with broken ice.

John G. Bf-rgex said that lie did not think a double roof necessary.
None of the ice-houses in his neighborhood had them.

Prof. Mapes — The point settled in building ice-houses is, that the whole
ice-house should be above ground. This is the practice in Massaciiusctts.
There is no substance equal to a confined space of air for the walls of ice-
houses. Build of whatever substance you please, so that you have a double
wall, and tight enough to hold air, and you will have a perfect protector of
ice. As to ventilation, Jenner, who first constructed ventilated ice-boxes,
found that ice melted faster in ventilated than in unventilated boxes. Ventila-
tion is necessary when you desire to kecj) food sweet. If there is no ventila-
tion, the confined air soon becomes very foul iVom animal substances on ice.
He then gave some interesting particulars of the large refrigerators in sftmc
of the city packing-houses. Some arc so large that they use up a number
of tuns of ice a day. The temperature is kept at 42 degrees, and in largo
rooms thus cooled hundreds of animals can be killed and cooled every day.
If your object is to keep ice without use, shut up close — it needs no venti-
lation.

315. How to Make and Store Ice.— H. Lyman, of John.stown, "Wis., tells
how to make ice for j)utting up in ice-houses, where there is no convenient
pond or stream, and how to store it without an expensive house built ou
purpose. !Mr. Lyman says:

" I live on the prairie. On thocoldcst day of January I draw water from
the well and pour it into square tin pans, two feet long, nine inches wide at
tlu; bottom, and nine and an eighth at the top, ami about nine inches deep.
While I have been drawing water, Dick lias been gathering dean snow
and putting it into the water. The compound is frozen immediately. I now

29S THE FARMERY. [Chap, in

apply hot water with cloths to tlie sides of the tin eontaiuers, which enables
me to empty out the blocks of ice.

" A cube of ice of four feet is all I need. No separate building need be
erected to keep it in. The barn, the wood-house, or the tool-house can
furnish an an)ple corner. The conditions of its safe keeping arc — the walls
of a building around, and two feet of com]iact straw on every side of the
gelid mass. In packing, I lay loose boards on a bed of straw, and on this
])latform I lay the ice. I take cure to expose the ice to the lowest tempera-
ture of the year, and lay it up in the coldest state. If every alternate block
of ice is inverted, the mass is thereby made compact; if not, there will be
a little space open at the bottom between the respective blocks. "When the
culie is complete, cover the whole M^ith straw. This work can be etiected
with milk pans or other vessels, and if straw or ice be carefully filled into
the intervals in packing it will answer a good purpose, though square pans
are preferable. I use snow for the sake of hastening the process of freezing.
The pans are flared a little toward the top to facilitate turning out."

This excellent plan should be carefully heeded by all the dwellers upon
prairies, and by a great many other pe'ople.

31(3. How to Carry Ice to the Field.— Lucius Beach, of Port Huron, Mich.,
says : " Many farmers do not put up ice from the supposed difliculty of using
it on the farm away from the house. I have used ice-water for constant
drink two summers on my farm. I happened to carry water with ice in it
into the field in a six-quart tin jmil with a cover to it. We used the water,
and the ice was left in the jiail about six hours in a hot day, and some of it
still remained. I then procured a twelve-quart tin pail with cover, put
in a large piece of ice, took a jug of water info the field, and turned it on
to the ice as we wanted to use it. In this way it will last from six to ten
hours for the use of six men, and is a luxury indeed."

317. How to Keep Ice in SunHDer. — If you have no ice-house, and buy ice,
or even if you have an ice-house, and do not want to open it except at even-
ing or morning, or if it is inconvenient to the house, and you wish to have
ice always handy, this is how you can do it. Have a bushel of clean, dry
sawdust, ])ut a peck of it in the bottom of a tight barrel, having one hole
for drainage, then put in a layer of lumps of ice and another peck of saw-
dust, and so on, covering the top tightly with sawdust, and over all a folded
blanket. Do not let the ice touch the staves, and do not set the barrel in a
warm place, and you will have ice all day, with scarcely any perceptible
waste. Provide sawdust enough, -so that you can shift the wet for dry every
day. This is a much better plan than wrapping ice in a blanket or keeping
it in a refrigerator, because the best of these useful articles of household fur-
niture do not preserve ice, but rather waste it, and in so doing preserve the
food placed in them.

318. Refrii^erators.— No family can afford to keep house without a re-
frigerator— a food-preserver. "We do not mean an ice-box, which, like the
one above described, will keep ice, but nothing else — that is, not to any ad-

Sec. 16.]

THE BARN AND ITS APPURTENANCES.

299

vantage. A piece of meat, placed upon ice, will keep a longer time tlian
ill the open warm air, Lut it does not keep as good as in drj air of ice
temperature, and it spoils vor\' quickly at'ter it is taken off the ice. A cus-
tard pie kept tliree days on the ice will be slimy and not tootlisomc ; but
when kept in a good refrigerator, the pie will be as sweet and drj* as it is in
a pantry in cool weather; a piece of meat will keep in July as well as in
January. Such a refrigerator has tiie ice at tiie top, and the air cooled by
it falls upon the food below, or on a shelf alongside of the ice, and is as dry
as any other cold air. A box of fine charcoal, kept in the refrigeratov, and
changed every month, will absorb all tlie unpleasant odors and keep the air
sweet. Such refrigerators are common now in New York in families, and
some of the Ijutchers have them large enough to store the quarters of a bid-
lock and several sheep and calves. And some of the packing-houses have
them large enough to store and cut and pack, in a winter atmosphere, several
hundred hogs a day. Witliout such " cooling-rooms," the summer slaughter-
ing of butchers' animals could never be carried on to tiie great extent it is in
all the large sea-board cities. This is one of the great inventions of the
present age. These improved refrigerators, of suitable size for families,' cost
from $15 to §50 each. Ours, which cost §25, is worth $10 a year — has been
in use five years, and is just as good as ever, and we see no reason why it
will not be so ten years hence. It is better than none, even without ice, as
it preserves an even condition of temperature. Every farmer should liavc
ice, and no one should be without a refrigerator in some very conveiiient
locality near the kitchen or store-room.

SECTIOX XM.-Tlli: DARN AND ITS APPrRTENAXCES.

F all that might be profitably said under the title of this
(r section were given, we should require a whole volnmc
instead of a few pages, which is all the space we can allot
to the important subject.

A farm witliout a barn is only to be tolerated in a new
settlement, as in some cases on the great prairies, where tlie
land can be got under cultivation before the owner can erect
he necessary buildings. Even there, we have always no-
iced that the most thrifty farmers were those who ercrted
le best barns, at the earliest moment practicable.
Tlie barn and its appurtenances, treated of in this section,
contains inforniatiun tiiat will be found valuable to everyone
ho owns, or ever expects to own, a farm.
310. The Isc and Value of Barus. and thfir Location.— Of
course, a good barn is one of tiic gnat essentials of a lariiiery— one that can

300

THE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

not be dispensed with. Grain and bay may be preserved in stacks or bar-
racks, but the one can not be tiireshcd and cleaned out-door •without wasto,
and the other can not be fed to the stock to good advantage anywhere but
in the barn. A good house and convenient out-buildings are comfortable; a
good barn is one of the grand necessities of good farming.

Xo farmer can afford to do without one of sufHcient size to accommodate
all the purposes for which a barn is appropriate. "VVc have rarely, if ever,
seen upon a well-cultivated farm a barn that was too large. In nine out of
ten cases the barn is too small. After it is too late, the fanner regrets that
he had not built it larger. But lack of size is not so great a fault as wrong
location, for you can build to the original, by a lean-to upon one side, and
open shed or stable on the other, or an entire new building adjoining, so as
to make the whole quite as convenient as though all built together in one
building. But if the location is wrong, it never can be righted. So, in
building anew, make this a question for careful consideration : " Where shall
I place my barn ?" And do not place it until you know that you are right.

We will point out a few essential things about location, which we think
maj-'be of service to those about to build barns.

First, a barn never should be set up-hill from the house, where by any
possibility the drainage either on the surface, or under it, should come down
about the door, or into the cellar or M-ell. Wherever the situation will
admit of it, place the barn on a lower level than the house, and northerly
or westeily from it, and do not be afraid to give a good distance between.
You had better walk an extra hundred feet all your life than have a hundred
foul smells creeping into every room in your dwelling.

Secondly, never build j-our barn upon the roadside. Upon the road,
only a mile long, which we daily travel between our own home and the
railroad station, there are fouf barns, located upon just such situations as are
very common in all hilly regions, the face of a hill, which gives most excel-
lent natural drainage — but unfortunately for good economy, the drainage is
directly into the public road.

Another thing in the location of a barn should be had in view, and that
is convenience of access. For a large farm, a hillside barn, that can have a
drive-way into the second or third story, affords a great convenience about
unloading hay, and hauling away manure from- the lower side.

A location should be chosen for a barn, so far as it can be, with reference
to other important considerations, where it will not occupy half an acre, or
more, perhaps, of the very best soil, about the center adopted for the farmeiy
establishment. If you are about to make a new location for the whole of
the buildings to constitute a farmery, it will be easy to have them arranged
relatively right, if you first make a complete map of the whole farm, and
then make your locations to suit peculiar circumstances. On a rough, rocky
farm you may often save an acre of good land by placing your buildings
upon ground or rock fit only to build upon, and much better for that than a
rich soil.

Seo. 16.] THE BARN AND ITS APPUKTENANCES. 301

Above all things, in selecting a site for tlie farmery, of which the barn,
with its appurtenances, forms such a conspicuous portion, avoid locatin"
directly upon both sides of the road, and all locations upon brook or river
banks, which allow so much fertility to be washed away. xVnd do not go
to the bottom of the hill because there is a natural spring tliere, or because
you can dig a well so easily. You can have a cistern anywhere near a roof,
if you can not get a well. Do not locate on the very pinnacle of the hill —
it is too bleak, even in quite M'arin latitudes. If you place the house on the
hill, you need not put the barn, like one I see almost daily, on the top of
the highest pile of rocks in the vicinity — a spot bleak enough to blow the
hair off a cow's back.

Having said this much of tlie most important question, wo will now
introduce some descriptions of a few of the best barns in this country.

320. Barn built by the Shakers, Canterbury, X, U.— Tlie location of this
Shaker society is about lifteen miles north of Conconl, X. II., and nine miles
cast of Merrimac River. The society is composed of three families, and
owns about 2,500 acres, lying in nearly a square form, in the center of
which are their substantially built and commodious dwelling-houses and
numerous other buildings, all of which are painted of lightish colore, and
kept in the most complete repair and neatness.

The main body of the barn is 200 feet in length by 45 in width, with 3i
feet posts (three stories high). The roof is nearly flat, double boarded, then
covered with three layers of stout sheathing paper, saturated with coal tar,
upon which is spread a thick coat of coal tar and screened gravel. There
is a projection at each end of the barn, 25 feet in length and about 16 in
width, so that the whole length is 250 feet. Tlie whole structure is well
boarded. The sides and ends are covered with IG-inch pine shingles, laid
four inches to the weather. There are three floors, extending the whole
length of the main body of the barn. The ground upon which the barn
was erected was nearly level, but at great expense a drive-way has been
graded, of easy ascent, so that tlie loads of hay are driven on to the upper
floor, over the high beams, so that, in unloading, the hay is pitched down,
instead of up. This makes a material diflerenco in forking over 200 tons
of hay each hay season. Tlie floors, ceilings, partitions, etc., are all planed
and finished off as handsomely as farm-houses formerly were. There are
two hovels on the lower floor, extending the whole length of the main barn,
the eastern portions of which are arranged for tying up 23 cows in each,
with sliding stanchions. The cows have been so trained, as they pass in
the hovel each one takes its own place with the regularity of well-trained
soldiers, and by a simple contrivance— the turn of a short lever— the heads
lit all the cows are fastened or loosened, (juicker than any one could be tied
liy a rope. Each cow is named, and, like the " world's people," they select
fancy names for their cows, such as liosa, Lady Grace, Julia, Dustlo, and
Crinoline, each of which is printed in large type on slips of pasteboard, and
tacked upon the joists over each one. Upon the roof are three large, hand-

302 THE FARMERY. [Chap. III.

soinely liuislied ventilators, with Venetian blinds. Tlie cellar, 200 by 45
t'ect, is of good depth ; the walls are of split granite, pointed with cement.
Large wooden tubes pass from the cellar througii the roof, which effectually
carry off the heated foul air of the manure. From the south side of the cen-
ter of the barn described, a two-story building extends, south, 100 feet by
27. The upper part is used for storing hay, grain, straw, etc. ; the lower,
for calf-pens, store-rooms, and hospital for sick animals, with a nicely fitted
up room for the herdsman. The roof of this, like that of the large barn, is
nearly flat, tarred and graveled, and shingled upon the sides and ends, as is,
also, a new sheep-barn, built adjoining. This runs from the southeast cor-
ner of the large barn, 108 feet long by 43 wide. The drive-way floor of
this is 17 feet wide, so tliat two teams can stand abreast, and at the south
end the floor is wide enough to allow the turning about of the team, so that
the o.xen passing out go before the cart, instead of the cart going out first —
for the south end is not graded up so as to admit of driving through, as in
the large barn.

Another addition was planned, that is, a long shed, extending from the
southwest corner of the barn 100 feet. This will give two barn-yards of
about 100 feet square each, well sheltered, all but the south, with both yards
well supplieil with water.

As the Shakers are famous for good barns, we shall give the description
of another one of theirs. We have great confidence in the economy of the
form of the one next described, as well as its great convenience.

321. A Circular Barili — The Shakers of Berkshire County, Mass., have a
barn that is worthy the attention of farmers who are contemplating the
erection of barns upon a large scale. We should think that on some
accounts it would be a good form to erect upon large prairie farms. We
recommend its form for adobe buildings and concrete walls, as one best
adapted to withstand the force of hard storms, as well as the form most
economical for the room inclosed. The barn owned by the Shakers is 100
feet in diameter, built of stone — a material that is very abundant in that
part of Massachusetts. It is two stories high, the first one being only seven
and a half feet between floors, and containing stalls for seventy head of
cattle, and two calf stables. These stalls are situated in a circle next the
outer wall, with the heads of the animals pointing inward, looking into an
alley in which the feeder passes around in front of and looking into the face
of every animal. The circle forming the stable and alley-way is fourteen
feet wide, inside of which is the great bay. Over the stable and alley is
the threshing-floor, which is fourteen feet wide and about three hundred
feet long on the outer side, into which a dozen loads of hay may be hauled,
and all be unloaded at the same time into the bay in the center. There
should be a large chimney formed of timbers open in the center of such a
mass of hay, connecting with air tubes under the stable floor, extending out
to the outside of the building, and with a large ventilator in the peak of the
roof. We should also recommend an extension of the eaves beyond the

Seo. 16.]

THE BAR}f AND ITS APPURTENAXCES.

303

outer wall, by means of brackets, so as to form a shed over the doors, and
the manure thrown out of the stable and ])iled against the wall.

In the barn mentioned there is a granary projecting into the circle of tlie
bay, which we do not exactly approve, preferring the granary in a separate
buikling, to which grain may be conveyed through spouts, if the barn is
located \ipon the hillside, which is preferable on account of entering tiie
threshing-floor on a level, though that is not indispensable, as a wagou-way
can be graded up from a level plat.

322. Darn Foundations. — Tlic stone foundation of a barn should never be
laid in mortar. Tliis is an error that should be avoided, as unnecessary and
unprofitable. It would be even better to place the sills upon pillars, leaving
a free circulation, and space high enough to furnish siielter for all the
poultry in winter, and thus keep them out of the inside of the barn, where
they are a nuisance. Tlie main object, however, is to give free circulation
of tlie air, to drive out all foul gases, and promote the health of animals.
The surface must be so graded that no water will stand under the barn.

323. Opinions of Practical Farmers about Barns.— At a Farmers' Club in
"West Springtield, Mass., after euiisultatioii and debate, it was decided that a
large barn was better than two or more small ones ; tliat a tight barn was
better, even for badly-cured hay, than an open one ; that a brick barn and a
slate roof were the best and cheapest for a man who has all his materials to
buy ; that a good connection between a house and barn is a covered walk,
overhung with grapevines ; that economy of roof and convenience for work
were of the first iinportaiico in any building ; that warm water and warm
stables were essential to the comfort of animals ; that the housing of manures
was judicious ; that liquid manures are largely lost, even by tliose who
have cellars and sheds for storing them ; and that the best absorbents of
liquid manure are buckwheat hulls, Jeaf mold, sawdust, fine sand, dried
peat, turf, and straw.

The meeting was held at the house of one of the members — an old-fash-
ioned two-story building — with modem furniture and fixtures, where the
well-spread tables were bountifully loaded with fat cliickens,'mcaly potatoes,
light bread, yellow butter, melting cheese, with pies and cake to match,
all lavishly bestowed, and such conversation ensued as would, if it could
be imitated ia every neighborhood, prove of great benefit to tlie people.
Let the plan be imitated. If not the jdan of Ihc barn, certainly the i)lan of
meeting with your neighbors, and talking over the subject, as to whether
you shall build a large or small barn, and of what materials. It is al.-o
very important to every one about to build, to go about, far and near, and
look at all the barns of various sizes, forms, and fashions, and talk about
their conveniences and the reverse.

324. Darns Boanlrd Tislit or Open.— Whether barns should be tight is one
of the most important (piestions that a farmer can consider; for it may
involve the health and lives of all his farm stock. It is contended by some
writers, with a good deal of reason, that open barns are more healtliy lor

304

THE FARMERY.

[CnAP. 111.

stock, particularly the bovine portion, tlian closelj boarded ones. A cora-
inuiiication from a farmer in Maine says :

'• Several years ago, I learned by experience that tight barns were not
healthy for cattle, and a little reasoning upon the subject will explain why
this is so. It is a well-known fact, that the droppings of cattle, both solid
and liquid, exhale a vast amount of gases of dift'erent kinds, and these gases
are unfit for respiration ; if cattle are deprived of air, and breathe thcso
gases, they die instantly, and if they breathe air impregnated M'ith a largo
proportion of these gases, they sicken immediately ; the disease most likely
to be produced is pneumonia, or inflammation of the lungs, as the poison is
a2)j)licd directly to theni.

" Now what provision is made iu modern tight barns to get rid of these
gases ? Why, there is a ventilator on the top of the barn, but how are
these gases to get to the top of the barn, since a large proportion of them
are heavier than atmospheric air ? The carbonic and sulphurous gases,
which are more abundant tlian all others, are heavier than air, and con-
sequently will not ascend ; anuDonia is light and would fly away, but the
carbonic and sulphurous gases, having a strong aflinity for ammonia, seize
the fugitive, and by a chemical action a new compound is formed heavier
than air, which, of course, must remain, unless there is some underground
passage by which it can escajJe. If there is no place for its escape, these
gases accumulate until the barn becomes filled with them, the hay is im-
]iregnated, and the stock has to eat as well as breathe this noxious matter,
and the trouble is worse if the stock is high fed. First, because high-fed
animals have a greater amount of blood, the blood-vessels are fuller, and
consequently a greater tendency to congestion. Secondly, because the
excrements of high-fed animals evolve a much greater amount of gases tlian
those of others, and the difliculty of ventilation is increased by the fact that
these gases are so nearly of the weight of air. If they were all light, like
carbureted hydrogen, they would soon escape at the top ; or if they were
heavy like water, or even pure carbonic acid gas, they would, in most barns,
find cracks sufficiently large to run out near the bottom ; but as the facts
prove that the gases are nearly of the same weight of air, I am led to the
following conclusions :

" First, that the walls of barns should never be clapboarded ; then there
will be a gentle current constantly passing through the barn, and the gases
passing out of the cracks on the leeward side ; second, that the stable for
horses and cattle shcfnld extend from one end of the barn to the other, with
a door at each end, both of which should generally be ojien excepting in
severe cold weather, and in storms. I have found by experience that a
horse kept in a small, tight stable, will commence coughing in a very few
days. Cattle do not sufl'er with the cold (unless the cold is exti-eme) if they
are in good health, are well fed, and have a dry, clean stall, and plenty of
good air to breathe. The lungs of an ox will manufacture a vast amount
of animal heat. I have known a cow to be wintered with no other shelter

Sec. IC]

THE BARN AND ITS APPURTENANCES.

305

than an open slied, nioro than two hundred miles fartlier north tiian Massa-
chusetts, and she gave milk all winter, and came out well in the sprin"."

There is something worth a thought in tliis matter aljont airy barns. We
know them to be the best tor hay and grain; and we know that in ohlen
time in New England, all of the barns, covered with upright boards, put on
green, had wide cracks from to]) to bottom, and in such stable.-i, although
very cold, the cattle wintered well and kept liealtliy. It is shelter fmni
storms, and not shelter from cold, that all of our stock needs.

32.3. Venlilatin.tf Hay-mows.— One of the worst practices of farmers, in Xcw
England particularly, is storing liay in large bays, without a sign of any
ventilation under the bulk, which usually rests upon a few loose poles or
boards on the damp ground. A bay should have ventilation, not only under
it, but up through it, by means of a chimney made of four poles fastened
together by rounds like a ladder. A loose stone foundation could be laid
for the hay bottom, with an air-chamber from the outside leading to the
chimney, directly over which there should be a ventilator in the roof. Tiiis
6imj)lc contrivance would not only save many a tun of hay from mustiuess,
but it would enable the owner to put in his hay in a much greener state,
and that which is next the chimney would always come out very sweet.

32G. Stables— liow to ronstnirt them. —A stable should be built with a view
to several points, among which we may mention economy of space consistent
with comfort, convenience of feeding and milking the animals, convenience
of tethering t.hem so that they may have the largest measure of liberty of
motion, but be unable to injure one another; convenience of getting hay
from the loft and grain from the-bin to the stalls; and convenience of re-
moving the liquid and solid excretions, so as to preserve their (pnility, and
renioNc them so speedily that the ellluvium may not bo breathed l)y the cows.

The floor of a cow-stall of a well-constructed stable is four feet to four feet
six inches long, raised two or three inches for a dry platform. Behind the
platform the lloor is made of white-oak slats set apart so that the mine may
drop through to the cellar beneath. The floor-beams are laid four feet
apart. On the sides stout elects are nailed, and on these the 2x3j white-
oak slats are dovetailed and tirndy nailed. The slats are beveled to a sharp
edge beneath, so that the manure Avill not clog the open spaces, but drop
clear as soon as it sinks below tlie njipor edges of the slats. The slatted
space is a foot and a half in \vidth. Jk'hind that the lirst i)lank of the iloor
is made to lift like a trap-door, turning on hinges, to secure an ojten spaco
through which to hoc the droppings, litter, etc., that woidd not readily J)as3
between the slats. l>y this simple contrivance the droppings of thirty cowa
can be removed in a few minutes.

327. Stables should always be built hish — that is, liigh between floors. Most
stables are built low, '• because they arc warmer." I5ut the builders forgot
that warmth is obtained at a sacrifice of j)ure air and the health of the an-
inuil. Shut a man up in a tight, snudl box ; the air nuiy bo warmer, but it
will soon lay him out dead and cold if he continues to breathe it. If siables

306 THE FARMERY. [Chap. III.

are tiijlit, they slioukl have high ceilings; if they are not tight, but open to
tiie udmissiou of cold currents of air from all directions, they will be too
much ventilated, or, rather, ventilated in the wrong i)lace. One of th:^
cheapest modes of ventilation is to build the stable high, so as to give room
for the light air to rise above the heads of animals. The grand rule thai
must be observed is not to coniine a beast in a room so small that its
breathing will soon poison all the air unless the foul portion can escape and
fresh air enter.

328. Cattle Sheds tliat Cost Nothiiigi— It is an act of wanton ci-ueUy to
expose stock to the blasts of winter without shelter. In a country of saw-
mills, how cheaply a shed can be built of slabs nailed to rough jiosts, set in
the ground, and roofed by laying one coarse of slabs round side down, and
the upper course round side up I The cracks of the sides cau be battened
with thin strips of slabs or refuse boards.

In a wooded country, where sawed stuff can not be had, how cheaply a
side of round logs can be built and cracks daubed with mud. Then an
excellent roof can be made of split stuff, called shakes in some i>laces and
clap-boards in others, being sjilit 2i to 5 feet long, and 4 to G inches wide,
according to the quality of the timber for riving. These laid upon round
ribs, and held in place by weiglit-i)oles, make a roof, though rough in appear-
ance, as tight as a shingled one. If bark is peeled at the proper time and
laid at once, or piled and dried flat, it makes a pretty good roof, still cheaper
than one of shakes, though not so durable. We have seen a very good
cattle-shed roof made of hemlock boughs, laid on in courses, butts up.

Cheap sheds on the ])rairie, where cattle are exposed to winter blasts more
than in any other locality, can be made so easily that it seems worse than
cruel — it is wicked — to leave the poor brutes exposed.

Where rails are to be had, lay up a double wall of rails a foot apart, liy
using cross-pieces at the end, and fill up the space with sods, or with earth
and leaves, or brush, or with coarse manure, or moldy hay and .straw, such
as cattle will not eat out, and you have a good wind-breaker. Extend from
this wall, to the south, rails or poles to rest upon a girder on posts, and stack
hay or straw on top, and there is a shed. It costs but little more to stack
hay in this way than it does to make a suitable stack-bottom, and then fence
the stack. As the hay is fed off in winter, fill up the space with refuse hay
and straw, so as to break the wind, if it does uot stop all the rain. Such
sheds for sheep are very valuable.

Where rails are scarce, a good wall can be made of prairie sods laid up in
courses, with hazel brush or small limbs to bind the sods together, to give
strength and prevent cattle from hooking the M'all down. On this wall lay
a jilate to support the floor of the stack or roof. Such cattle shelter pays its
cost every winter. Tlierc is straw enough burned or wiisted every fall, upon
ti:e Western prairies, to shelter all the stock every Arinter, if it were put up
ill some such cheap form as we have indicated.

329. A Valuable, (heap Foed-Trougli.— One of the puzzles in building horse

Sec. 1(1.] THE BARN AXD ITS APPURTENANCES. 307

sfables has been liow to make the feed-trouglis. "We can solve tliat difBculty.
"Wc liave learned how to make a horse feed-trough. Or, rather, we have
learned how to purchase a very good and very cheap one. We learned it
of a ])rogrcs3ivc young farmer. T!io farm of Josiah Mut-y, a Westchester
County farmer of the old school, is conducted by his grandson, who lias
gained knowledge from books, and goes ahead with imjtrovements, one of
whicli is a new feed-trough. It is simply an iron pot — just such a one as our
dinner used to be boiled in before the age of cooking-stoves. One of about
four gallons is a good size, and it is set in the corner of the maiiicer in a
casing of boards that inclose the rim, just up even with the top. It is supe-
rior to any wooden, iron, or stone feed-box we ever saw ; is not expensive,
and, barring accidents, it will last forever, and be a good pot afterward.

330. Earlhrn Stable Floors.— One of the best substances that can be found
for flooring for horses is clean sand. It is superior to wood, as it does not
heat and injure hoofs. Some English veterinary surgeons use notbinf else
for bedding but sand. We have always found stables with dirt floors prefer-
able to plank OIK'S.

331. The Stable Yard.— Tlic stable, or barn-yard, is one of the most im-
portant appurtenances of the farmery. Two grand objects must be kept in
view in its construction — the comfort of the animals and the preservation of
the manure. If it is on soft soil, and tolerably level, as such yards are upon
nine out of every ten of the Western prairie farms, tiiey are most unconi-
fortalile places for stock, although good for preservation of manure, but that
is little or no object where it is of so little value. The only help that we can
see for a barn-yard upon such soil, where the tramping of cattle makes it
into a quagmire, is thorough nnderdrainage, and scraping the earth from
around into a low mound, and covering the most of that with sheds. It may
be so constructed that all the drainage of the manure will concentrate in one
spor, to be absorbed by straw or other manure-making substance. We have
found paving a yard with common fence-rails, where stones could not be
procured, paid the cost every year, and such a pavenieut will last half a
dozen years.

In a rocky country, like eastern New York, Pennsylvania, and the New
England States, if care and sound judgment are used in the location of a
farmery, the yard can be fixed on the southerly side of the barn and shed.*,
where it will always be dry, and very comfortable for stock, and yet not
wasteful of manure. Our own is located upon a rock, sloping southeast.
Just outside tlie fence, at the lowest corner, an excavation is nuule, to bo
kept full of n)uck, sods, or other absorbents, so that while the yard is con-
stantly drained, the drainage is not lost. Some very good yards we have
seen constructed with a deep basin in the center. The great objection to
this form in a small yard is that the basin sometimes gets so full that there
is not dry space enough around the edges for the cattle. Sometimes, too, it
freezes over (piite full, and strong cattle push the weaker ones upon the ice
to their injury. We preler the absorbing basin outsiile of the yard.

303

THE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

332. The lieu-Roost. — Every farmery iiiiist liave a lien-roost, if it does
not have a poultry -yard ; and this should not he an open shed, nor a cold
open room, but one so arranged that it will be well sheltered from cold winds
and storms, and lighted by a glass window upon the sunny side or in the
roof. It will also be funnel a most excellent provision to give hens access in
winter to a cellar, ■where they can scratch gravel and wallow in dust. The
hen-roost, too, should be arranged with special reference to saving all the
droppings of the fowls, because it is the most valuable manure that is made
about a farmery.

SECTION XVII.-WATER FOR THE FARMERY.

^BOUT half of the farms in the United States are
deficient in water — that is, the water is not con-
venient for stock ; and in many situations cattle
can only be watered by pumping, or by the still
more tedious process of drawing water in a bucket
from a well. This is a serious piece of labor, and a
useless one, because the wind can be made to do the
work a great deal better, cheaper, and more certain ;
and the whole expense of a wind-mill, pump, and
putting into operation, in a well twenty feet deej),
would not probably exceed $50.

You may use any one of a dozen iron pumps, to be
found in almost every hardware store. Our own
/'75^~^ '^ ^ choice would be "West's Anti-Freezing Pump, which
X->.^ is made of iron, and is very durable. The wind-mill

for the motive power is simplicity simplified. The wind-wheel is four feet
in diameter, divided into eight parts, curved from the center, just as we used
to whittle out wind-mills from a pine shingle forty years ago. The wheel
may be made of wood or iron. If of wood, fix the points of the sails in a
v.-ooden hub and secure the outer ends bj' a rim, just like that of a large
spinning-wlieel. Fix this wheel firmly upon an inch iron-bar, say two feet
long, with two bearings to run in iron or hard wood, and a crank in the
center suited to the stroke of your pump. If the valve works four inches,
make your crank short two inches. Now make a frame of three pieces,
three quarters of a square, with bearings for the wind-wheel shaft upon
two, and an inch and a quarter hole in the center of the other piece.
Upon this frame attach a vane of strong, thin wood, about three feet long
and one foot wide at the outer end. Now erect a sallows-frame seven feet
v;ide and fifteen feet high over the pump, fixed witli a pipe in the well. No
matter whether that pipe is straight or not. Now put a bolt, with a big
head and washer, through the hole in the frame that holds the shaft, and

^^EC. 17.] WATER FOR THE FARMERY. 309

tlii-oiigh the center of the cro?s-piecc of tlie gallows, so that the small frame
will be held firnilj by the head of that bolt, yet will turn freely in the wind.
From the piston-rod of the pniup, extend a rod with a swivel-joint in the
center to the crank, and, let the wind blow high or low, you will have the,
satisfaction of knowing that your cattle are supplied with water. It is a
good phm to make a cistern to hold a supply in case the pump stops at any
time for repairs or want of wind ; the latter will not be apt to occur, as it
will run with a very slight breeze. From your watering-tub or trough, con-
duct a i)i[)e back to the well, and you need not fear frost unless the pump
stops. By making nse of a force-pump you may get a supply from a well
in the valley up to your house and barn on the hill, or to irrigate your
garden. See ISTos. 3G9, 370.

How to get water most convenient to all parts of the farmery should be
the leading consideratioH ; because water is indispensable — neither man nor
beast can do without it a single day. All else may be inconvenient — water
should never be. It should be brought in pipes from a higher level, when-
ever it is practicable at any reasonable expense, because that is the most
convenient of all forms in which wafer can bo had at the farmery; anil no
i'arnicr can afford to neglect to supply his jtlace with water, if he owns a
spring or stream that would afford such a supply, because it is the greatest
labor-saving fixture that he can make.

If aqueduct water can not be had, then convenient wells and pumps
should be; and if water can not be had by easy, shallow digging, in wells,
it can and should be in cisterns: and upon this question we will give some
useful information.

33.'1. Kconomy of AqueducISi — Some farmers neglect to make i)rovision for
watering domestic animals until dmught actually arrives, and tlien they can
not. We well knew one who, during a drought, drove his cattle a mile to
water, at the same time that he had roof enough on his large barn to give
them all the drink they needed, if a cistern of proper capacity had been pre-
pared to retain it. The barn cost $1,000— the cistern might be built for
§50 — yet every animal of his large herd nnist travel miles every week for
necessary drink. lie might construct a cistern now, but it will be another
year before he can derive benefit from it, and so he puts off the labor.

There are many others who do the same. "NVo know another fanner, who
has lived till past eighty years of age upon a farm where there is a gushing
spring of excellent water within sixty rods of his house and barn, Iiigli
enough to run through pijies over the top of every building, yet this man
draws water with a bucket from a well, which someliincs fails, when he has
to go to a more distant and inconvenient well, or haul water in barrels from
the river; and his stock, all the long winter, go down the road to the river-
side for drink, wasting time (and that is money) and manure, to replace
which ho buys fertilizers. Saving the first cost of an aqueduct, in sucii
cases, is not saving money. Neither is the neglect to construct cisterns a
good piece of economy.

310 THE FARMERY. [Chap. III.

334. Value of Cisterns— Ihcir Size and Contents. — Xo man, whose only sujj-
ply of -water is in a deep well, or where the well or spring water, however
convenient, is hard — that is, like all tlic water of limestone countries, nnfit
for washing, or making butter — can ati'ord to do without a cistern. If the
?arth where the cistern is to be built is compact clay, it can be dug out in
the form of a jug, with only a man-hole at the top; and in all ground but
caving sand it can be dug and j)lastered without any brick walls, and the
top covered with durable timber, which should be i)Iaccd at least four feet
from the surface to its under side, as it will, when thus covered, last enough
longer to pay for the extra work. Wherever flat stones abound, a moderate-
sized cistern should bo covered with them, laid shelving over each way, if
not large enough to reach clear across. The earth-bottom and walls are
easily made tight by cement (water-lime mortar), made with three ])arts of
clean, coarse, sharp sand to one of lime, which has to be wet up only as it
is wanted for use, or it M'ill set wherever it has a chance to dry upon the
bed where mixed. It should be very thoroughly worked in, mixing while
pretty M-et, and plastered on the bottom first and tlien up the sides, one coat
after another as fast as one is dry — two or three coats — taking care that no
defect is made in the joining of the sides and bottom together. The bottom
should be dug hollowing, and corners full ; and to save cement, any little in-
orpialities in the walls may be filled with clay or lime-mortar before putting on
the cement plaster. In situations where cement can not be obtained, a good
cistern can be made as tbllows, which will last a dozen years certain. We
know one good at twenty years old. Take one and a half-inch plank, six or
eight feet long, six inches wide at one end and six and a quarter at the other ;
joint and dowel the edges, and fit the ends Avith a croze upon heads six or
eight feet across, and hoop just enough to keep together to roll into the hole,
biggest end down, upon a soft mortar bed of clay, four inches deep ; then
fill the space between the tub and walls, which should be four or six inches
wide, with clay just moist enough to tamp in the most compact manner,
and the cistern will never leak, and will give great satisfaction for its small
cost. The top should be covered over with timber and earth, deep enough to
keep warm in winter and cool in summer.

Upon the roof of a barn 35 by TO feet — if three feet of rain fall annually
— three ciibic feet of water will be afl:'orded by every square foot of surface —
more than 7,000 cubic feet from the whole roof — which would be about
1,700 barrels. This would be enough to water daily, the year through, thir-
teen head of cattle, each animal drinking four twelve-quart pails full per day.
But if the water were reserved for the dry season only, or when small streams
are dry, thirty or fortj' head might be watered from one roof.

People are apt to make their cisterns too small, so that often they do not
hold a tenth part of the water from the eaves. In tlie above-mentioned
instance it would not be necessary to construct one large enough to hold the
entire 1,700 barrels. If the cattle were watered from it the year round, and
its contents thus constantly drawn as it fills, one large enough to hold 400

Seo. 17.] WATER FOR THE FARMERY. 311

barrels would do ; but if needed for the diy season only, it should bo more
than double. A cistern fourteen feet in diameter and twelve feet deep would
hold about 450 barrels— twenty feet in diameter, and the same depth, would
be sulHcieiit for 900 barrels. If built under ground, and contracted toward
tlic top, it Mould require to be a little larger in dimensions, to allow for the
contracted space. Such a contraction would bo absolutely necessary to
admit of convenient and safe covering at the top, and could be cft'ected
without any difKculty if built of masonry. The pressure of the water out-
ward would be counterbalanced by the pressure of tlie earth against the
exterior, especially if well rammed in as the wall is built.

There are some portions of the country where the subsoil is underlaid by
slate or other rock which may be excavated. In such cases, it sometimes
happens that Avith a little care in cutting, the water-lime mortar may be ap-
])licd immediately to the rocky walls, a shoulder abuvc liciug made on which
to build the contracted part of the wall.

We have such a cistern, dug in tolerably compact earth, and jjlastercd
with cement, put on in two or three coats, using about two anil a half barrels
for a cistern eight feet wide and six feet deep. It was designed to be
deeper, which would have made a better proportion, but the excavators
came upon a ledge that coidd not be blasted, and was very difficult to pick
up, and the bottom being very rough, required more plaster. Tlie top is
covered with chestnut plank, over which is earth, and the water is let in
through a pipe beneath the surl'ace, and taken out by another that leads to
the pump in the kitchen. There is also an outlet pipe under the covering
for surplus waiter, so that when full, there is a body of water live feet deep
by eight wide, a.id this gives about sixty barrels; and being supplied by
1,G00 Kupeificial feet of roof, is not likely to fail fur I'amily Use. The water
is perfectly filtered by the most convenient filtering arrangement for a cis-
tern that we ever saw.

This is by Peirce's patent porous cement pipes, which are laid in a sort
of net-work in the bottom of the cistern, and the pump-pipe attached to
them, so that no water can roach the i)ump that has not passetl through the
substance of tlio pipes, which are in a]>pearanee much like solid stone, and
more than an inch thick, which certainly forms a very perfect strainer to free
the rain water of all impurities. A writer in Ins recommendation to every-
body to build cisterns, says :

' I have one in my house cellar, entirely 1)clow the bottom of tlio cellar,
six and half feet deep and five and a half in diameter, holding about 1,000
gallons. It was dug six feet eight inches deep and seven feet in diameter.
The bottom being made smooth, was laid over with brick. The mason then
began the side with brick laid in cement, leaving a sj^ace all round between
the In-ick and earth abaut five inches. After raising the work about eighteen
inches, he carefullv filled the si)ace between the brick and side of the hole
with earth, well and carefully pressed down. If you wet the earth ur clay
as you fill it in, it will bo more compact.

312 THE FARMERY. [Chap. III.

'■ "Win'n you get witJiin about two feet of the top, commence gradually to
draw in llic work toward the center, leaving, when liuishcd, a space open
al.'out two feet across. The next tiling is to plaster the inside with cement ;
a!.-i> the top on the outside, commencing where you began to draw in. About
two courses of brick are laid round the mouth of the cistern, forming a neck,
wiiicli adds to the strength of the top. Kow cover the whole with earth,
except the neck. The water is conducted to my cistern through a small
brick drain laid in cement. I also have a drain near the top to let oft" the
surplus water. If a cistern is made out of doors, it must be below the reach
of frost. Lead pipe would probably be cheaper than brick to conduct water
to and from tlie cistern.

'• I have no doubt but that a cistern made this way of hard Ijrick would
last a century. Mine, holding 1,000 gallons, cost $18. The larger the size,
the less tlic cost in proportion to the capacity. If the earth is lirni and hard,
you may lay the brick close against it, thus saving the trouble of iiiling in
and digging so large. I have known tiiem made by cementing directly on
the earth, using no brick, and covering the top with timbers or plank. One
made with brick will cost more, but I think it best and cheapest, taking into
consideration safety and durability."

Tables of Contents of CmcuLAR Cisterns. — The following tables of the

size and contents of circular cisterns may be convenient to those about to

build them. For each foot of depth, tlie number of barrels answering to

the different diameters is as follows :

Fur 5 feet in diameter 4.G6 barrels.

C " " 6.71

7 " " 9.13

8 " " 11.93

9 " " 15.10

10 " " 18.65 "

A cistern Zl feet diameter will hold for every 10 inches iu depth 59 gallons.

4' " " 78

i\ " " 99

" 5 " " 122 "

51 " " 148 "

G" " " 176

8 " " 310 "

You will find \>y this table that a cistern six feet deep and six in diameter
will hold 1,260 gallons, and each foot you add in depth will liold 210
gallons. Tlierefore, one ten feet deep and six in diameter will contain
2,100 gallons.

To find the contents of any cistern in wine gallons, the diameter and
depth being known :

1. Multiply one half the diameter (in feet) by itself.

2. Multiply tlie above product by 34, which will give the area of the bot-
tom of the cistern nearly.

3. Multiply this by the number of feet in depth ; this will give the cubic
contents in feet.

4. ]\Iultipl3' the last product by 1,728 (the number of cubic inches in a
foot), which gives the number of cubic inches.

seo. ir.]

WATER FOR THE FARl^fERY.

813

5. Divide the wliolo result by L'31 (the nuinbcr of cubic inclies in the wine
gallon), and the result will be the number of gallons in the cistern.

Divide the gallons by 30, and you will have the number of barrels, and
thus you can calculate how large to make a cistern for the use of house or
barn; and be sure not to neglect so important and so inexpensive an im-
jiroveinent as making a cistern.

335. Digj;Ji!,2; Wells. — There is no better improvement put upon a farm
than wells, either in their every-day convenience or value in estimaiing
the price of a farm. In some localities it will pay to dig a well at the
house, at the barn, in the stable-yard, and in almost every field. In com-
jiact earth, a well can be dug without curbing to support the earth sides
during the excavation.

Where curbing is necessary, the best way to do it is to build the wall
upon a wooden or iron ring, atid let that down as the excavation jirocceds,
adding brick or stone at the top as fast as may be necessary to keep the wall
even with the surface.

336. Uorizoiita! Wflls. — Here is a new idea for dwellei-s in mountainous,
or even moderately hilly districts to think of. Mining after coal in Penn-
cylvania, and gold in California, has clearly illustrated the fact, that wellu
may be dug into hillsides, or l)anks, or bluil's, as well level or horizontally,
as down perpendicularly, which would save dangerous and severe labor.
\Yater, so troublesome in digging common wells, has not to be bailed in tiie
horizontal, as it takes care of itself. The ccrlainly of discovering or cutting
oft' veins of water is greater with the horizontal well than the perjtcndicidar,
if it starts in near the base of a hill, or anywhere as much below the surface
ns a common shaft would be likely to be sunk. By laying down wooden rails,
all the dirt can bo brought out in a little railway car, and the stone or brick
carried in to build the well as fast as the digging progresses. It will not
be necessary to make a horizontal shaft any larger than a perpendicular
one, though it should be of a difterent shajio. We would make it in the
form of tlie figure we call a naught or cipher in numerals. Two feet wide
and four feet high will be large enough, with a gentle descent for the water
to run to the outlet ; and in many situations it can be made to run through
a short pipe into the house ; or if it will not run, it can be drawn by a pump
through a horizontal pipe any distance.

Tliere is another advantage in such a well. It would not be constantly
liable to have things falling, or being thrown into it, nnd the water would
remain purer.

There are a great many pastures where water for stodk lias to be drawn
from wells, which might have a natural flow from hillsides, with an expend-
iture of no more time and money than is rc(iuired for a peri)endicular well.

There arc some dairy farms that could have vahiablo s])ring-lioii8C8 sni)-
pliod by such a horizontal well, and such a supply of cold running water
would add to the value of the farm almost as much, in some" cases, iia ita
whole value is now.

31-t

THE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

Such wells have been eoiistrnctcd in Calit'oriiia, and wc earnestly com-
mend them to the attention of all the farmers in tlie hilly portions of tlio
Atlantic States. In rocky hills a horizontal shaft can be drifted in much
easier than it can be bored perpcndicniarly ; and the work either in rock
or earth digging can be much better done in winter in a horizontal than in
a jiorpendicnhir well. We hope to see then; extensively adopted.

337. Wells on IliilSi — -We have seen a great many wells on the tops of hills
affording a large supply of water, while the bottom was above the plain or
valley in which the farmstead was situated. IIow easy to obtain this water
by a si]ihon, or a pipe incerted on a level, which can be done without dig-
ging a ditch the whole depth and distance. Ascertain where the level of
the bottom of the well will strike on the face of the hill, and dig in there,
and set np a frame to supjrort an earth-boring auger, and drive a bore
straight through to the Avcll, which can be easily done one or two hundred
feet, if artesian wells can be bored one or two thousand feet perpendicular.
"Where the distance is too great, or the hill is rocky, jjut in a siphon pipe,
with a little hand-pump to start it, and you can always have running water
in your yard or garden at the ibot of the hill.

33S. Causes of Empure Water iu Wells. — It sometimes occurs that the water
of a well, noted for its purity and delicious drinking quality, becomes
ofiensive to the taste and smell without any apparent cause. Sometimes it
is occasioned by surface water from an impure source finding its way to the
well, after many years of cxemplion ; and sometimes it comes from i-oots of
trees growing into the water and decaying ; and sometimes worms work
their way in and decay ; and occasionally rats, mice, or other pests burrow
in the wall and injure the water. And not unfrecpiently a new vein of
water finds its way into an old m-c11 and materially changes the character
of the water. Generally a well is improved by cleaning, but wo have
known the contrary. In a well of our own, in the trap-rock district norlh
of New York city, the quality of the water was materially injured by sub-
stituting a pump in place of a bucket. The reason was obvious. The
water was seven or eight feet deep, and the bucket drew it from the surfiice
and the pump from the bottom, and in the water drawn from the bottom
we found a strong sulphur taste and smell. Cleaning it out did no good ;
the water at the bottom was decidedly diflferent from the top. The only
remedy, if we continued to use the pump, which was iron, and costly, and
extremely convenient (it is one of Gay & West's force-pumps — very valu-
able for farm use), was to attach a gutta-percha pipe to the bottom of the
iron pipe, and to a float, so that it would always draw the water from the
surface, at whatever hight it might be in the well by the fluctuations of
the seasons.

Where wells are injured by surface water, resort should be had at once
to the most thorough draining. Lay tile or stone drains five or six feet
deep, so as to cut oft" all leaking into the well. If injured by trees — which,
by-the-by, should never be set near a well — dig a deep trench so as to cut

Sec. 17.J TVATEU FOIl THE FARifERY. 315

off all the roots, and fill tliat trench with coarse gravel, or a stifl" mass of
clay, that will not be attractive to the roots. Remove all that j-ou can from
the wall and earth near the well, and time will cure the water. Sonietiuie;;,
to get rid of root.-;, insects, or other pests, it will pay cost to iinwall the well
and build it anew. Fill in charcoal, cinders, or other sweet substances ;
and sometimes it will be well to lay a ]iortiou of the toj) wall in cement
mortar.

It is recommended in all cases, where well-water becomes unpalatable, to
agitate it freely, and very often. If drawn with a bucket, set a man at
work pushing the bucket down deep and drawing it up full, and pouring it
back again, so as to fall in the water till it is all thorougidy mi.\ed and all
the stones washed, and then when it settles clear again it will probably Ijc
found as good as ever.

Tliis plan of agitating tlie water may also be applied to cisterns to good
advantage.

LooJciiKj into a well, so as to see anything at tlic bottom, can be easily
done any sunny day (the morning is the best time), by u.<ing a looking-glass
so as to reflect the rays of light and throw them quite to the bottom of a
deep well. We have used this means to discover the position of a bucket
that had broken loose and fallen to the bottom, and then with the steel-
yards hung to a rope have been able to hook on to the bucket and draw i;
up at once. We once recovered a tin pail of butter in the same way.

;]S9. Self-Kiuplyinar WoII-Buckct. — If the water is drawn from a well by a
bucket and windlass, two rojies are better tliun one. Fasten by a staple to
the center of the windlass and Avind each way toward the ends, so that the
ropes will l)e widest apart when the bucket is up. Instead of a bail, attach
a short chain or ])iece of iron rod to each ear of the bucket, and set the ears
low down, so that the bucket will tip easily. Cut a hole in the bottom, ft)ur
inches across, and cover it M-ith a block coated with soft sole leather, like
the valve of a pump-bucket, whicli will o[)en to let in the water as the
l)ucket descends, and close as soon as it starts upward. To empty the
water easily, there are two ways — first, and best, by a flat iron hook about
eight inches long, fastened to tiie wellspout in such a way that it may
catch the edge of the bucket as it is drawn up, and tip and empty. Tlic
other way is to have a \m\ in the spout that will strike the valve aiul open
it when the bucket is placed upon the spout. Two buckets with two ropes
will work much steadier and easier, anil in the long run cost less than with
one, and the valve to fill, and hook to empty the bucket, are great labor-
saving fixtures.

It is almost as important to keep water pure for stock as for family use.
Pure water is a great lu.xury to the jialate of a thirely horse, and every uum
who is fortunate enougii to be the owner of so noble an animal, sliould sec
that the wants of the same arc jiropcrly ]>rovided for.

Unfortunately, very few pers^ons realize the importance of supplying
domestic animals with pure water ; yet they stand in need of it whenever

31G THE FAllMERY. [Chap. III.

tliiretj, and as a matter of profit to ourselves and liuinanity to them, we
slioukl SCO that their wants arc M'cll supplied.

Pure water is very nutritious, and as a nutritious agent its value is im-
paired when of inferior quality, or when nii.xed with indigestible foreign
substances, such as arc often found in Avatcring-troughs located by the way-
f^ide.

Some very interesting experiments liavc lately been made on horses
belonging to the Frencli army, in view of testing their endurance as regards
the deprivation of water, and it was found that some of them lived twenty-
live days on water alone ; it is a singular fact that seventy-five per cent, of
the weight of a horse's body is composed of fluid.

Strange icater, as it is called, often has a bad efl'oct on tlic digestive organs
when first iised, and in order to guard against its consequences, English
grooms always provide for the wants of tlieir Jiorses, whe]i away from
home at the race-course, by furnishing them witii an abundant supjdy of
pure water to which they have been accustomed, which is transported from
place to place in hogsheads.

3i0. The Hydraulic Raci. — To those who have no spring above tlie level
of the house, but have one below, we press the subject of a water-ram — a
simple, little, inexpensi\'e machine that can be made to throw about one
eighth or a tenth of the v.ater that flows through it up a steep hill and along
a pipe half a mile or more, discharging it in a cistern in the garret of a house
or loft of the barn, whence it is drawn as it is wanted in any apartment,
while the overflow or surplus of water will give you a constant litlle stream
in the cattle water-trough. Hundreds of these rams are in use all over the
country ; but there are thousands of places where they are not in use, where
equal natural facilities exist. Our object here is only to call attention to the
fact, that every farmer who has a spring in a valley where he can get three
or four feet fall from it to work the ram, can get a portion of that water on
top of a hill; and in many places where no running springs naturally exist,
sufficient water can be obtained by digging. We have seen a stream dis-
charged at the outlet of an underdrain snfficient to drive a ram — water ob-
tained without any expectation of obtaining it; because the object was to
drain the land of its surplus water, and prevent it from oozing out of the
surface of the hillside.

The house of the late John C. Stevens, at South Amboy, is 120 feet above
the level of a spring, near the bay shore. At this spring he set a water-ram,
with a two-inch drive-pipe, about sixty feet long, laid upon an inclination
of five feet. About one eightii of the water which runs through this pipe
is sent, by the action of the ram — a little affair, about as big as a teakettle — ■
up through a small lead pipe into the house, nearly half a mile distant.
Perhaps the whole may have cost $100. We know a good many places where
§50 has secured a full and constant supply of water from the bottom of a
hill almost impossible to climb, yet which had been climbed from the first
settlement of the country till the little water-ram was set to work. We know

Seo. 17.] WATER FOR THE FARMERY. 317

a great many other places wliere it is worth a dollar a day to tute the water
up the slippery rocks in buckets, where all that labor could be saved by an
expenditure ot §50, and an annual expense lor repairs of a shilling a year.
Yet those who own such places do not improve them, because they do not
know tliuy can.

3il. Durability of Wooden Pipes for .^qv.cJuCkS.— Charles Stearns, of Spring-
field, Mais., lias proved liv a somewliat lengthy experience that wooden
pipes are nearly indestructible, if laid dccjp — deep enough to prevent atuios-
l)heric action upon the wood. Ilis rule is six feet deep in sandy or porous
earth ; four feet deep in compact, clayey earth, and three ieet deejj in
swampy earth, where the peaty condition of the soil, which is antiseptic, i)re-
servcs wood from decay. Tims laid, Mr. Stearns tiiinks wood will outlast iron
or lead ; and the wooden pipes are cheaper than any material that can be
used, where a bore of two to six inches is required. In one instance, an
aqueduct laid by Mr. Stearns of three fourths-inch caliber lead pipe, cor-
roded and failed in fifteen years, and had to be replaced. Another one,
made with very heav}' lead jiipe of two-inch caliber, laid through a wet
meadow, in the very kind of soil that preserves wood the most perfectly,
failed so as to need repairs witiiin three or four years, and at the end of ten
years had to i^e replaced with new pipe, which he then made of wood, and
which, after twenty years of use, is still in good order. The aqueduct pipes
supplying Springfield with spring water, that comes to the surface on the
tandy plains above the town, have been in use fourteen years, and bid fair
to lust many years longer. The bore of the logs is from one and a half to
seven inches, charred on the inner surface by forcing flame thrpugli
the bore, or by the insertion of a heated rod, to prevent the timber from
giving any unpleasant taste to the water. Mr. Stearns thinks, from experi-
ments made, that lead pipe will last enough longer to pay for liic expense
of burying it deep, or packing it closely ill clay. lie also thinks that the
interest upon the dili'erence in cost between well-made and proj)erly laid
wooden pipes and those of a more costly material, called indestructible, will
keep the wooden pipes in repair forever. For the branch pipes leading into
the houses, Mr. Stearns Used lead pipes in all the houses supplied from the
Springfield "Water- Works, and has never known any injury to occur to any
one using the water; and his own family have used water passed through
lead pipe a long distance for many years, without eutlering any of the
cflects frequently ascribed to such water ; nor has lie ever lieanl of a case
based upon any better testimony than " they say so." The water that 6U|>-
I)lies Springfield comes from several springs, improved by digging, and we
have no doubt that there are hundreds of other villages tiiat might be
watered in the same way, greatly to the comfort and health of the inhabit-
ants. There is another advantage Ijcsides chea])nes3 in wooden ])ipC3. It is
the ease with which they are tai)ped, wherever and whenever a branch is to
be taken oft", and they are also easily repaired. We hope that not only vil-
la-^es, but farmers, wherever a spring exists above the level of the farmstead,

318

TDE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

will avail themselves of its benefits. Many larniers have chestnut or cedar,
the best of timber, which they could liave prepared at very small expense by
their own hands, and get an aqueduct that would, in ease of sale of the farm,
pay teu'times its cost; and it woidd lie M-orth still more to the owner, fur it
wmdd afibrd him a constant enjoyment.

There is a very curious manufactory of wooden aqueduct pipes at Elmira,
N. Y. A large pine log is cut up into a scries of pipes, from an iiicii lioro
to ten or twelve inches, taking one out of tlic otlier, leaving the sides from
one to two inches thick. These pipes are then banded with hoop-iron, drawn
by a powerful machine through hot coal-tar, and being buried l)elow the
action of the atmosphere, are expected to last for an indefinite period.

SECTIOX X^^II.-STACKING AND STORING GRAIN ; CORN-CRIBS, PIG-
GERIES, AND PIG-FEEDING ; SMOKE-HOUSES, AND CURING BACON.

jLTIIOUGH, like most of our subjects, these are
treated briefly, each is worthy of notice, and must
have enough, if nothing more, to attract attention,
so as to incite the reader to look further into the
matter.
One of the indispensable buildings of a farmery is a
good storehouse for grain. Upon a small farm, a room
in the barn can be set apart for the storage of small
grain, but it is more liable to the dejiredations of rats
and mice than in a building made purposely for a gran-
ary. Every farmer who annually raises a hundred
bushels of ears of Indian corn can not afford to do
without a corn-crib, because corn can not be stored
safely except in a room with very open sides.

34.2. f orn-Cribs. — TJic best kind of a corn-crib is a
building twenty feet wide, and of such length as will give suflicicnt capacity
— say thirty feet long — for a farm where ten to twenty acres of corn arc
usually grown. The sides should not be less than ten feet high, and boarded
up and down with strips two inches wide, one inch apart. Six feet from the
sides, partitions are made in the same way. This leaves a drive-way eight
feet wide, so that you can drive in a wagon-load of corn and throw it right
and left over the beam into the crib. This drive-way should be made to close
at both ends with slat-gates, or lattice-work gates, so as to allow a free cir-
culation of air.

34:3. Rail-Pen forn-CribSt — Crilibing corn, after the "Western fashion, in
open rail-pens, is considered down East a very slovenly method. Yet it is
one of the best ways in -which it can be stored. It is true it wastes a little

Seo. 18.] STACKING AND STORING GRAIN. 319

l>y shelling if it remains till spring, Init not much if the pens are so located
that the pigs and poultry can he let in to pick up the scattered grains. The
Avay to make a ruil-pcn corn-cril) is to take straight fence-rails, as near of a
size as possiljle, and saw part of them into halves of equal lengtli, so that
you can lay up a pen luilf as wide as it is long, notching tlie corners so that
the rails will come close enough together to prevent the cars falling out.
If this can not be done •with all of the cracks, they must be stopped by
"chinking" from the inside, or l)y boards nailed over. It is usual to liuild
tlie pen upon a floor of rails, which are sometimes laid on the ground, and
sometimes raised upon logs, stones, or blocks. The pen sliould not be over
eight feet high, and when full is covered with boards held on ])y a heavy
rail or pole. In M'oodiaiid regions the covering is usually made of " shakes"
— split clap-boards, such as log-cabin roofs arc generally made of. On the
prairies, we have frequently seen straw used for a covering; and we have
also seen many thousands oi liushels of wheat, lioth in the chalf and after it is
winnowed, stored in the same rude way, by simply calking the cracks with
straw.

Kor is it a very wasteful way of storing wheat, if the pen is built upon a
hard-beaten spot, where all the grain can be swept up when the pen is
emptied.

We have also seen corn put uj) iu rail-pens without any covering, and
kept through the winter without damage, the ears being simply rounded up
on top. "We have often been told liy those who have had a good deal of
experience in storing corn in this way, that rain docs not hurt it — all that
docs not run through dries out the first windy day. "Wheat in tlie ciiaff will
not injure in a long rain-storm, when simj)ly piled in a conical heap, if it
does not wet at the bottom.

Great boat-loads of 131ack Sea wheat are brought down long rivers, being
many weeks on the passage, witliout any covering. The wheat is rounded
up in tlie center, somewhat in the form of a roof, and the outside gets wet
and grows into a mat, sometimes two inches thick, and that shelters the mass
below. It does not strike us as an economical method, but that depends
upon circumstances, as it does in cribbing Indian-corn. It certainly never
would pay to build expensive cribs to store some of the great crops of the
"West; and it has been found good economy, for want of better storage, to
let the corn remain where it grew until wanted for use. Even with smaller
crops, it may not always be evidence of liad larniing where we see the corn
stand in shocks until wanted. It certainly keeps better there tiian it would
in a badly ventilated store-room.

344. Stathfis for Stark Boltoms. — In Englaiul, it is not eonsideriHl good
economy ti> build l>aiiis ciioiigh to store all tlio grain, and it is therctore
stacked out. In this country, if economy warranted the j»ractico of storing
all under roofs, necessity would often forbid, and require our great croj>9 of
wheat to be put up in stacks. In Kiigliiud, upon well-coudueted farms,
where the practice of stacking prevails, the stathels for tlie stacks to rest

320

THE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

\ipon arc permanent structures. Some of tlifiii are made witli stone jiillars
ami caps ; and some with a wooden frame on stone ])illars ; and in some in-
stances iron has been substituted for wood. The stack being elevated a foot
or two, allows a circulation of air, and very much assists the curing of the
grain. We recommend farmers, wlierever they are in tlio regular practice
of staclving hay and grain, to have a permanent stack j'ard, jjrovided with
stack bottoms, after tlic English fashion. Even for temporary stacking,
building the stack npon the ground is a very wasteful practice. 'SYc have
seen stacks upon the "Western prairie built in a spot, dry at tlic time, become
saturated with water, and half rotted two feet above the ground, before they
were used up in winter. For a temporary stack bottom, tlicre is notliing
more convenient than fence-rails. Wc have built long M'lieat-ricks on tlie
prairie in this way. "\Ve took fence-rails and laid them up as though IniiUI-
iiig a worm fence, pretty straight, in two lines about two foct a]iart at the
bottom, and about four rails higii, leaning inward so that the two lines of
fence touch. Against this upon each side the sheaves were set witii butts
on the ground, leaning toward the center until a sufficient bottom for tlic
rick \vas formed. This leaves an air-pipe through tlie bottom, and keeps all
tlie heads from the gi-onnd, and altliough the water stood some inches deep
in a wet time over the spongy soil, all the wheat came out bright and sound.
The butts of the lower sheaves only were rotted. The fence sustained tiie
greatest weight of the rick, besides giving it air.

345. The I'ifTgcry. — No farmery is complete without a well-arranged pig-
gery, wliicli consists of a grain-room, a root cellar, a cooking-room, a feeding-
room, a sleeping-room — all under cover. All this is requisite upon a farm
where only two or three pigs are fotted annually. It is still more requisite
wliere a dozen or more pigs are kept — where the leading object of the farmer
is to convert coarse farm products into pork ; except wliere ]n'gs are wliolly
fatted in cornhelds, as at the West. Ui^on all other farms a well-arranged
piggery is indispensable, and, as we have shown in Section 11, that cooking
food for pigs is advantageous, the greater the conveniences for cooking, the
more profitable will be the feeding.

The best arranged piggery we ever saw for convenience and saving of la-
bor was built npon the side of a Vermont hill, where potatoes were a lead-
ing article in the manufacture of pork. The potatoes were stored in a cave
cellar, from which they were shoveled upon a screen, over which they rolled
to the large potash-kettle set in an arch some twenty or thirty feet distant.
Generally the potatoes thus screened needed no washing; if they did, i)ro-
vision was made for doing it by a copious stream of water let on as they
traversed the screen. The water was let into the kettle from the source sup-
plying the washing water. The floor where the kettle stood contained bins
for meal, which were filled from the bags emptied into a spout on the out-
side. Tlie cooked food was shoveled from the kettle into a hopper that
conducted it into a cooling-trough on the floor below, which stood high
enough to allow the swill to run throuirh a long conductor to the feed-

Seo. 18.] PIGS AND PIGGERIES.- 321

trouglis. The objection to this last arrangement was, tliat the swill had to
be made tliin cnoiigli to How freely. Tlio arrangement, however, was a very
pcjfect one, and woithy of imitatinn upon all bimilarly situated farms.

34G. Itaihray Cooking Arrangeniciit for I'i?s. — We suggested the following
arrangement, more than twenty years ago, for cooking food for jiigs or anv
other stock, and we afterward had a model made and exhibited at the fair
of the American Institute, which awarded it a silver medal.

Tliis is the plan: arrange a steam chamber of any given dimensions — sa_v
three feet by six feet, and three feet high — over a furnace kettle, or any-
where that steam could be conveyed into it from a boiler. This chamber
has a door at one end, made steam-tight, and rails in the bottom upon which
a car travels, and these rails should extend outside to tlie root-bin, or meal-
tnbs, or rescrvoire of food to be cooked. The car being loaded, is rolled into
the chamber, and door closed. "When the food is cooked, shut off steam and
open an esca]ie-valvc, and then the door, and roll out the car over cooling
vats, and open a trap in the bottom of the car, and let the contents drop.
These cooling vats may be placed near enough to dip tiie swill into the tV-ed-
trpughs, or it maybe carried in anoilier car along an alley, and thence dipped
into the feed-troughs, or made to run into them through conductors. Such
aa arrangement would, without duubt, save a great deal of hard labor, and
it would not be very expensive. Whatever the arrangement of the piggery,
keep ill is fact constantly in view, that in some sections of the country the
manure which yon can make while fatting your pork, if your pigufcry h
well arranged, will prove to be the most profitable part of the pork-making
pi ocess.

There is another necessary farm-building which we may as well speak of
here, particularly as it is one that may, whenever the situation will admit,
very properly be located in the immediate vicinity of the piggery, and it is
equally valuable to the farmer as a mine of manurial wealth. It is —

347. The Temple of Cloaciua. — Every fami-houso must have a temple set
apart for this heathenish deiiy, but no farm-house should have such a neces-
sary appendage a disgrace to civilization, as too many of them are. Such
a building should be placed convenient to tlio bouse, l^ut i.ever in flight.
It should be located in a clump of shrubbery, mostly evergreens, out of sight
from the house, or else it should be made part and j)arcel of some of the out-
buildings, so as never to be a prominent object. We have often seen ihcso
buildings so placed that they were the most conspicuous things ahout tlio
place. A very little relinement in a farmer's family will make it revolt at ex-
posing the part of a farmery that should bo hidden from public gaze. A
very litlle knowledge of the deoderiziug eflVct of fine, dry, swamp muck, or
charcoal, or plaster, or copperas will serve to keep a jdace that must bo
visited every day, by every member of tho family, so sweet that it never
will he offensive; and the valual)li- contents* of the vault, which should bo
always shallow and easy to clean, will then become a source of profit, instead
of a nuisance both disagreeable and disgraceful.

322 THE FARMERY. [Chap. Ill-

34S. Smoke-llousfs— How to Cnild aiid how to Fsc Thfin.— ^Vc lay it down
as an axiom, that tlic best s^niokc-Iiouse ever built is a log cabin, witli tlie
cracks all open. In sueli a building von can not confine tlic smoke so as
to smother the meat and spoil it, as it easily can be and often is in a very
ti^Iit room. It is not generally understood how ninch the excellence of
bacon depends on the manner in which it may be smoked. Indeed, we look
npou this part of the process as more important than a good receipt for
jiickling. A ham lliat is well pickled may be sjjoiled in smoking it, and
then no skill in cookery will take away its dark color and strong, rancid
laste. To make good hams, there must be a free circulation of atmosphere,
to that the smoke never shall become heated. A smoke never should bo
made in a damji, foggy, or rainy day.

In building a smoke-house tiie farmer is more apt to regard external
appearances than the object for which it is intended. It may be very strong
and neat, but if it be built on wrong principles, it will never give satisfac-
tion, and the good wife will be always wondering how it is that her bacon
is not equal to that which she cats away from home. Kow, there is no
bacon in this country superior to that produced in Maryland, where the
smoke-houses are certainly rather primitive in their construction. They
are usually made of logs, rudely plastered with clay on the outside, and
thatched with straw. The hams are hung upon hooks driven into the
rafiers. The fire of chips — covered with saw-dust in order to prevent a
blaze — is in the middle of the floor — ground floor, generally ; and the smoke,
after having done its duty, escapes through the innumerable cracks and
openings in tlie wall and thatch. Such a building is not very ornamental,
but it is much more eflicient than tiiose we frequently see constructed of
brick or stone, with tight roof, a close-fitting door, and but one small aper-
ture for the escajie of tlio smoke. The great secret in the art of smoking
hams is to dry them in smoke, but not by heat. "When they are kept close
to the fire, they invariably acquire a disagreeable flavor, and often become
soft and greasy. The smoke should not be allowed to reach them until
nearly or quite cool, and to cfl'ect this some farmers have the fire outside of
the building, perhaps twenty or thirty feet distant, and conduct the smoke
to the interior through a narrow covered trench. By its passage through
the trench, it is cooled and purified, and there is no danger of its giving an
unpleasant taste to the meat. A still better plan is practiced by the people
of "Westphalia, whicii, as all the world knows, is celebrated for its bacon.
Tiic smoking is performed in extensive chambers, in the uppermost stories
of high buildings. Some are four or five stories above the ground, and the
smoke is conveyed to thena by tubes from pipes in the cellars. The vapor
is condensed, and the heat absorbed by the tubes, so that the smoke is both
dry and cool when it comes in contact with the meat. Many of the farm-
houses in Pennsylvania have a somewhat similar arrangement. A room is
partitioned off" in the garret, next to the kitclien chimney, and the hams are
hung front the rafters overhead. Near the floor is a small opening in the

Sec. 18.]

SMOKE-HOUSE AND FRUIT-DRYING UOUSE.

323

cliimney, by which the smoke enters the apartment ; and instead of return-
ing to the flue, it finds its way into the open air tlirough the innumcrahlo
crcjvices in tlie roof. Tlie meat is tliiis kept pcifectiy (h-y, and it will be
found to have a color and flavor unknown in that treated in the common
method.

A smoke-house can hardly he too open ; wiiero tlie walls and roof are
tight, or nearly so, the smoke condenses on the bacon, rendering it flabbv
and ill-colored. To be sure, when there is good ventilation it takes much
longer lo complete the process, l)ut this delay M-e lielieve to be rather bene-
ficial than otherwise. Some people iiave the fault of always I)eing in a
Inirry, and their bacon is never well smoked. It should be cured gradually
and slowly, and this is another reason why the Germans are so successful in
the business. In Virginia, two months is not considered a long time for the
operation.

Green sugar-maple chips are the best for the fire, and after maide are
ranked hickory, sweet birch, and white ash or beech. Some think well-
dried corn-cobs superior to everything else; and they certainly furnish a
sweet, penetrating smoke. Saw-dust from hard wood is also excellent for
the ])uri)Ose, but rotten wood should never be used ; and it is said that locust
hark will actually spoil the flavor of hams ; and we doubt not that there are
many other sul)stanees which will produce the same result.

Some persons are always very particular about hanging their hams with
the leg end down. They should never be allowed to touch each other, nor
touch any flat substance. In hanging large numbers of hams in a crowded
room, we have often kept them apart by a small ])iece of a corn-cob.

Ko farmery is complete without a smoke-house, and where the amount of
meat to be annually smoked is insufficient to make it an object to erect a
building specially for that purpose, it will be found very easy to set apart a
small room in some of the outbuildings, and convey the smoke to it through
a long flue. As the building mentioned in Xo. 3i'J never will bo wanted for
the ])urpose for which it was constructed, when bacon should be emoked, it
could, perhaps, be made so as to answer both ijurjtoses.

3i9. ,\ Fruit-Drying House. — In some sections remote from cities, and upon
some farms, fruit-drying is quite an object, and is relied upon by the female
portion of the family as a means of replenishing their wardrobe, independent
of the general products of the farm. Upon fruit farms it is also ma<le a
considerable item of the regular business. All such farms should have a
fruit-drying house, built upon scientific principles, to accomplish the object
in the most expeditious manner, at the least expense. The true principle of
drying fruit would be to place it on open-work luirdles, in the flue of a
heated air furnace, so that there would be a continual draft of hot air ]>ass-
in" through the fruit, carrying olf the moisture into the upper air. The best
one we ever sawjheafed the air in the basement of a three-story building. In
the third story, one side of the large brick flue was arranged like the drawers
of a bureau, the bottom of the drawers being basket-work. In these, each of

324

THE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

which held about a bushel of apples or jieaches cut iu quarters, the iVuit
dried with wonderful rapidity. It needed no other attention than cliauijing
llie drawers once from top to bottom, to equalize the dr^-ing, so as to linish
all at once. Other things besides fruit were dried in this flue, such as sweet
C'lrn, okra, pease, tomatoes, etc.

Tlie following, taken from the Yulley Farmer, is the description of a drv-
ing-house in use in AVisconsin :

"It consists of a building of logs, brick, or stone, of any convenient size,
say ten feet wide by twelve or fourteen long, and one story high, having an
ordinary roof, with a ventilator to adnut of the escape of tho lieat and vapor
arising from the fruit.

"The furnace should open on the outside of tlie l)uilding, at the end. It
sliould be about two feet square. The sides should be of brick, and as thin
as may l)e to sustain the top. The flue should be extended to near the entire
length of the building, and then return, forming a parallel flue, which nuxy
be reduced to two thirds the size of the furnace or main flue, terminating in
a chimney near the door of the furnace. Tho top of the furnace and flue
should be covered with plates of thin boiler iron ; thicker iron, or a covering
of l>rick or stone, will not admit of a sufficient escape of heat to facilitate
the drying process. Tlie fruit is dried on trays or hurdles, arranged iu three
tiers, one above another, with a space of twelve or fifteen inches between
them. The hui-dles may be two and a half feet wide, si.x or seven feet long,
and three inches deep. These are made of common boards, with a lath bot-
tom, made thin ; the laths should be made of hickory, as the fruit is fotind
to dry much more readily on hard wood lath than it does on poplar or other
soft wood. Through the length of the building frames are put up to support
the hurdles of fruit. These frames or rails extend througli openings made
in the end of the building opposite the furnace, and corresponding with each
pair of rails are wooden shutters. The rails extend on the outside about six
feet ; upon these the hurdles are placed crosswise ; upon each of the hurdles
are rollers corresponding with the rails ; being filled with the fruit to be dried,
the hurdles are run in like cars upon a railroad. Thus arranged, with the
three tiers of rails filled with trays of fruit, about one and a half barrels can
be dried at once, requiring about twenty-four hours to complete the opera-
tion. The trays nearest the fire will, of course, dry the fastest, and, with the
convenience of the railroad and the shutters in the end of the building, they
may be drawn out and changed to the upper rails, when the whole may be
finished within the twenty -four hours in the most perfect and uniform man-
ner, and without the least burning. The fire should be made without grates,
on the bottom of the furnace, which consumes less fuel, and keeps up a more
uniform heat than if placed above the draft.

" In some instances we have seen pieces of old steam-boilers substituted
in the place of brick walls for a furnace ; to the boiler is connected and re-
turned a pipe of somewhat smaller dimensions, a sheet-iron pipe, which ad-
mits of the free escape of heat and speedy drying of the fruit.

Sec. 19.]

ECONOMY IX DUILDIXG.— BALLOON FRAMES.

325

"The ordinary metliod of drying peaches and apples in Iventuckv and
Tennessee is to constrnct a kihi of stone, witli a broad thit to{>, u)>on wliicii the
fruit is hiid, and a fire kept up in the flue beneath till the fruit is sufficiently
dried. This is more expeditious than drying iu the sun, and the fruit is not
so lia1)le to be soiled by flies, yet it is objectionable on account of liability
to Ijurn the fruit in contact with the over-heated stone."

SECTION X1X.-EC0X0:MICAL farm BUII.DIXGS, RALLOOX FRAMES,
. COXCRETE WALLS, AXD OTHER CHEAP STYLES (iF r.rn.DlNi;.

fE are satisfied that vrc can do those who desire to
build no greater favor than making thcni acquainted
with the modern style of liuiiding, known as "bal-
loon frames" — a name that was at first conferred
npon them in ridicule on account of their lightness
and misul)stantiabilily. Tiiis name is only true as
it applied to their lightness. Balloon frames are not
ridiculous from any lack of sufKcicnt strength. There
:f is need of no stronger building than one made upon
this plan, except where it is necessary to have strength
of timber to sustain weighty storage or ])onderous
machinery. For all ordinary farm buildings, wo
^ Wr-^^ :^ '. ""^w**^ i earnestly recommend balloon frames. And we are
not alone in our recommendations, though, so far as
we know, we were the first in recommending them to farmers in the Eastern
States. Of late, Geo. E. Woodward, an architect and builder of Xew York
city, has written some exceedingly valuable articles upon this subject, and
published tliem in the Countnj GnUhriKjn, witli illustrations, and to liim or
them we respectfully refer readers, who may be incited from what we say
here, to make further inquiries.

Among the sensilile things said by Mr. "Woodward, are the following:
"Economy in the construction of all buildings adapted to the habitation
or convcaiience of man has been a study oj' mucli interest to those who con-
template the erection of luiildings for tlieir own use or for the purposes of a
profitable investment; though we are inclined to think expi-rinientnl or in.
ventive talent has applied itself more to produce some new ami cheap build-
in" jnaterial than to develop the full resources of such materials as ore found
best adapted to our wants.

" Necessity has done much for the building public by introducing
to their favorable notice the balloon style of framing wooden buildings—
a stvle which is not well understood in the old settled ami wclI-timbcred
portions of our country, but is, with fVw exceptions, the only plan adopteil

S2G THE FARMERY. [Chap. III.

throughout the magnificent agricultural districts west of our great inland
seas.

"The increasing value of lumber and labor must turn tlie attention of men
of moderate means to those successful plans whicli liave demonstrated econ-
omy in both, and at tlie same time preserved the full qualities of strength
and security so generally accorded to the old fogy principles of framing, but
wliicli, we presume to say, is inferior in all tlie true requisites of clieap and
substantial huilding.

" Any intelligent man wlio can lay out a riglit angle and adjust a plumb
line niay do his own l)uilding, for it is witliout a mortice, a tenon, or brace,
and a man and boy can do all the work. Tliis principle is the one applied to
the construction of wliat are technically as well as sarcastically termed baj-
loon frames, whicli, instead of proving a failure, stands with more than
.30,000 examples of every conceivable size and form, a perfect success."

350. How to build Balloon Frames. — The following remarks upon the sub-
ject we printed some years ago, not only to show that much labor and much
timber may be saved, but that sawed timber may be dispensed witli where
it is very expensive. We know that this article enabled many jjersons to
build clicap frames, and as it once did good, we reprint it that it may do
much more good in future. The remarks were an answer to the inquiry how
to build balloon houses.

"I would saw all my timlicr for a fi-ame house, or ordinary frame out-
building, of the following dimensions : two iuclies bj^ eight, two by four, two
iiy one. I have sonietimes built them, Avhen I lived on the grand i)rairie
of Indiana, many miles from saw-mills, nearly all of split and hewed stuff,
making use of rails or round poles, reduced to straight lines and even thick-
ness on two sides, for studs and rafters. But sawed stuff is easiest wrought,
though in a timber country the other is far the cheapest. First, level your
foundation, and lay down two of the two-by-eight pieces, flatwise, for side-
sills. Ui)on these set the floor-sleepers on edge, 32 inches apart. Fasten
one at each end, and, perhaps, one or two in the middle, if the building is
lai-ge, with a wooden pin. These end-sleepers are the endsills. Kow lay
the floor, unless you design to have one that would be likely to be injured
by the weather before you get the roof on. It is a great saving, though, of
labor to l^cgin at the bottom of a house and build up. In laying the floor
first, you have no studs to cut and fit around, and can let your boards run
out over the end?, just as it happens, and afterward saw them ofl" smooth by
the sill. Now set up a corner post, which is nothing but one of the two-by-
four studs, fastening the bottom by four nails ; make it plumb, and stay it
each Avay. Set another at the other corner, and then mark off your door
and window places, and set up the side-studs and put in the frames. Fill
up with studs between, 16 inches apart, supporting the top by a line or
strip of board from corner to corner, or staid studs between. Kow cover
that side with rough sheeting-boards, unless you intend to side up with clap-
boards on the studs, which I never would do, except for a small, common

Bec. 19.] now TO BUILD BALLOON FRAMES. 327

building. Make no calculation about the top of your studs ; wait till you
get to tliat liigUt. You may use tliein of any length, with broken or srub-
eliot ends, no niutter. Wlion you have this side boarded as high as you can
resell, proceed to set up anotiier. In the mean time, olher workmen can
be lathing the first side. When you have got the sides all up, fix upon thchiglit
of your upper llooi-, and strike a line upon the studs for the under side of the
joist, and cut a gain four inciies wide, half-inch deep, and luiil on firmly
one of the inch strips. Upon tliese strips rest tlie chamber-floor joist. Cut
a notch in the joist one inch deep in the lower edge, and lock it on the .strip,
and nail each joist to each stud. Now lay tliis fioor and go on to Ituild tlic
upper story as you did the lower one, splicing on and lengthening out studs
wherever needed, until you get hi<rh cnougli for the plate. Si)lice studs or
joist by simply butting the ends togetlier, and naibng strips on each side.
Strike a line and saw ofl" the top of the studs even upon each side of the
building — not the ends — and nail on one of the inch strips. That is the
plate. Cut the ends of the up|H'r joist the bevel of the pitch of the roi)f, and
nail them fast to the plate, ))lacing the end ones inside the studs, which you
will let run up promiscuously, to be cut ofi" alongside of the rafter. Xow
lay the garret floor by all means before you put on the roof, and yon will
find that you have saved 50 i)cr cent, of hard labor. Tiie rafters, if sup-
])orted so as not to be over ten feet long, will be strong enough of the two-
by-four stuff. Bevel the ends and nail fast to the joist. Then there is no
strain upon the sides by the weight of the roof, which may be covered with
shingles or olher nuiterials, the cheapest being composition or cement roofs.
To make one of this kind, take soft, spongy, thick paper, and tack it upon
the boards in courses like shingles. Commence at the top with hot tar and
saturate the paper, upon which sift fine gravel eveidy, pressing it in while
hot — that is, while tar and gravel are both hot. One coat will make a tight
roof; two coats will make it more dijral)le. I'nt u)) your jiartitions of stufl"
one by four, unless where you want to support the uppjr joist ; then use
stuff two by four, with strips nailed on top for the joist to rest upon, fftston-
ing altogether by nails wherever tindiers touch. Thus you will have a frame
without a tenon, or mortice, or brace, and yet it is far cheaper and incalcu-
lably stronger when finished than tiiough it was composed of timbers ten
inches square, with a thousand augor-holes and a hundred days' work with
the chisel and luhc, making holes and pins to fill them. To lay out and
frame a building so that all its i)arts will come together, recpiires the .-kill
of a master mechanic, and a host of men, and a deal of hard work to litt
the 'neat sticks of timber into position. To erect a balloon building requires
about as much mechanical skill as it does to build a lioard fence. Any
farmer who is handy with the saw, iron square, and hammer, with one of his
boys or a common laborer to assist him, can go to work and put up a frame
for an outbuilding, and finish it <>tf with his own labor just as well as to
hire a carpenter to score and hew great oak sticks and fill them full of
mortices, all by the scieucc of the 'square rule.' It is a waste of labor that

328

TEE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

M-c sliouUl all lend our aid to jjiit a stop to. Eesides, it will eiialjlc many a
runner to improve his ])laco with new l)uildiiigs, wlio, tliongli lio has loiiir
needed tiiem, has shuddered at t!ic thought of cutting dowu halt' of the iiest
tiees in his wood-lot, and then giving half a year's work to hauling it homo
;;iid paying for what I do know is the wliolly useless hilior of fi-aming. If
ir had not been I'or tiie knowledge of balloon frames, Chicago and S;in
Francisco could never have arisen, as they did, from little villages to great
cities in a single year. It is not alone city l)ui!dings, wliich arc su])portod
I)}' one another, that may be thus erected, but those ii])on tlie open prairie,
wliere tlie wind has a sweep from Mackinaw to the Mississippi — for there
tliey ai'e built — and stand as firm as any of the old iVanies of New England,
witii posts and beams sixteen inches stpiare."

To this we add something more from Mr. Woodward. He says :

" We hear and read very much about tlic policy of cutting mortices,
tenons, gains, etc., in the various pieces whicli go to make up tlie l)alloon
frame. Now it is our opinion, based upon a long and thoroughly jiractical
ex]ieriencej that he wlio does mueli of this will have some misspent time
to account for hereafter, besides weakening his buikling and hastening the
decay of the frame. A gain must be cut in the studding for the side girt,
unless the dwelling be lined. Gains are sometimes cut in floor joists for
the ]uirpose of locking them over partitions that run through the hight
of the building. Kafters projecting over the sides should be notched, to
give them a foothold on the plate. These causes would, as a general thing,
constitute all the cutting necessary.

"In l)uilding houses onc-and-a-half-story high, never cut a gain for the side
girt on which to rest the upper-story floor joists, unless the thrust of the roof
be well guarded against by secure collar beams. We prefer, when we cut
this gain, to use studding one inch wider for the sides. "Where the building
is lined, the side girt rests on top of the lining, and no cutting is necessary'.

'• Unplastered buildings, of a moderate size, are sufficiently strong if the
girt b>e nailed directly to the studding without cutting the gain or recess.

" We have recommended, in the construction of a liani 24: liy 40, alternate
stiuls on the sides, 2 by 4 and 2 by 5, the side girt to bo nailed to the narrow
stud and let one inch info the wide stud. This would not answer for a
plastered building, as the surface is not flush for lathing.

'* Two full story buildings are abundantly strong with 2 by 4 studding and
gains cut into them for side girt; the third floor ties the top of the studding,
60 tliere is no yield. The joists of the third floor should be placed upon the
plate, the ends beveled to the same pitch of the rafters, and each joist nailed
at both ends to each rafter.

" "We prefer to build the second story full for a dwelling-house, as we get
moi'c strength, more convenient room, and the real difl'erence in expense is
practically nothing. "Where the studding is more than five feet high above
the second floor of a barn, two or three tic-strips across the foot of the
rafters will make all snug. There should be tic or collar beams on all rafters.

Sec. 19.] COST OF A BALLOON-FRAME UOUSE. 329

"In story-aiid-a-lialt' Imililings, it is very desirable that collars be put on
securely, so as to pivveiit any thrust of the rafters ; where the side girt is
not gained in, as in small unpla.^tcred buildings, the collars may be nailed
or spiked to the rafter. If the side girt is set into the studding, iis it should
be in a plastered building not lined inside, it makes a weak point in the
studding, leducing thorn from 2 by 4 to 2 by 3, and the collars should bo
put on in such a manner as to guard against any thrust whatever. The size
of the building and the judgment of its constructor will indicate the best
course to pursue. Buildings of one, two, or more full stories have no collars ;
tlic joists of the upper floor tic the top of the building, and take the thrust
of the rafters. In the usual mode of inside lining, one side laps the stud.
The ends of the lining of the adjoining side are nailed to a strip fastened to
the stud to receive them.

" "We have built balloon frames with green oak studding, basswood siding,
and butternut trinnnings, that have never yielded. There is a system of
compensation among the light sticks of a balloon frame by which the sea-
soning process goes on without injury to it. "We have seen warped siu-faccs
produced by using green oak siding and by careless building, but there is
no good reason why a balloon-framc building should not be always square
and pliunb, and the outside boarding remain secure.

'•The subject of tajiering rafters has been jtretty thoroughly discussed here-
tofore. The same amount of strength can be had with a less amount of
lumber. There is an additional labor in sawing such rafters, as well as a
ditlerent calculation to be made in using up a log to the best advantage. It
is necessary always to order this special bill of rafters direct from the mill,
and the result will be that the e.\tra cost will, nine times out of ten, over-
balance the amount saved."

;i:>l. The Cost of Ihc Aiitlior's Rallooii House and Darn.— There is not only
a saving in first cost of lumber, l)Ut a very large item will be saved in the
bill of carriage, ])articularly where it has to be hauled a long distance on a
wagon. The saving in the carpenter's bill is very large, because so much
of the work may be done by persons less skillful than a well-bred caq>entcr.
And then there is a total saving of all that troublesome, dangerous, hard
work attendant upon an old-fashioned "raising."

"We have lately built (that is, we were our own architect) a house and barn,
a few miles out of the city of New York, ujion the i)lau wo are ailvocating,
and therefore can speak from actual experience of the benefits of the i)lan
in an old as well as in a new country. The house, or rather the addition to
an old one, is IS by 2i feet, with an attachment eight feet square upon ono
side and a piazza six feet wide on the other. It is one story of 10} feet, and
has nine windows and seven doors. Both floors arc deadeneil by a course
of boards and heavy coat of clay mortar. The siding is nailed \\]H>n studs
3 by 4 inches, and there are two coui-ses of lath and plastering — one half
way between the sitling aiul inside lath. The roof projects, and is orna-
xuented, and the garret is lathed aiul plastered, and tho lower part divided

330

THE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

into four rooms, and all is of good materials and ■vvorkinansliip, at a total
cost, except i)ainting and papering, of S4."J0. The sills and slee[)ers are pine,
3 liy 7, and the joist 3 by ti, spruce, and all would have been just as good,
if procurable, 2 by 6 inches ; and there is not an upright stick larger than
2 by -i of liunilock. Tiiis house, notwithstanding its cheapness, is strong,
durable, warm, and good-looking. AVhat more could we have of a ponder-
ous, expensive frame ?

Our horse barn is 22 by 24 feet, and 13 feet high, and has but one upright
stick in it larger than 2 by 4 inches. As the hay-loft is a high half story, it
was thought best to have a center-post, which is 3 by 7, to support the ridge
pole in the middle. The studs aic covered with smooth ])ine siding, and the
lower story is lined with rough boards, and the building is as strong as we
desire, and cost, completely iiuished, with good floors, stalls, mangers, doors,
and windows, $300. The carpenter's work was oidy $50.

We have dwelt more fully upon this subject of balloon frames than nj)on
many others, because we look upon it as one of very great importance. It
is one that, if fully understood, would induce and enable farmers to have
better dwellings and other farm buildings.

352. Concrete WaHs. — The best advice that we can give one who asks for
information about making concrete walls, or how to build houses of gravel,
or broken stones and lime and sand, is that he buy a little book called a
" Home for All," published by Fowler & Wells, which gives all the details
of this mode of building. Mr. Fowler directs mixing a large mortar-bed
of lime and sand together, with twice as much sand as slacked lime, made
quite thin, and well worked. Into this mixture of lime and sand and water
the gravel or broken stone is put and evenly mixed, and then shoveled out
into a barrow or hoisting tub, and from that dumped into a smaller mortar-
bed on the scaffold, where it gets another good mixing, and wetting if
needed, and is then shoveled into the box that forms the mold to give shape
to the walls. In tlrs mold it hardens in one day so that the mold can be
removed, but it takes a longer time to dry hard enough to put on the next
course. Such walls, if well made, arc almost as solid as hewn stone, and
much cheaper where lime is not costly, and where sand and gravel or broken
stone can lie had for hauling.

The proportion of materials given in the book referred to for a concrete
«vall are eight wheelbarrows full of lime, mixed with sixteen barrows of sand
into a thin mortar, to which add sixty or eighty barrows of pebbles or rubljle-
stoiie. The lime may be of the coarsest kind, and not over one bushel of
stone lime to thirty bushels of sand and stones. A wall three stories high
is recommended — twelve inches thick for the first, ten inches for the second,
and eight inches for the third. To protect the outside plastering, the roof
should be a projecting one.

We do not know how far this plan of building can be recommended upon
the score of economy. We think that will depend very much upon circum-
stances. If broken stone or pebbles are very convenient to the building site.

Sec. 19.]

CONCRETE ^V.VLLS.

331

and lime to be had for the burning on the place, or at a small cost, tlio
building will be a clieap one, and not otherwise. Horace Greolej built a
large barn of concrete upon liis farm in AVestchc^tcr County, of bucli stones
as arc spread over tlie surface of these granitic iiiiis. Altiiougli it is a very
substantial building, our opinion is that we could build a good frame, and
put the surjjlus mone}- into other ini])rovements, to a better profit.

353. Riiildiug with BilJf is of Wood. — A new stylo of building has been
adopted in several places at the West, where brick and stones are inconve-
nient, and sawed lumber and carpenter's work are expensive. The phui is to
saw billets of wood of an even length, say one foot long, from limbs of trees;
or split stuH"; slabs, we suppose, would answer a good purpose, if split up into
lire-wood size. These billets must be straight enough to pile up well. The
wall is made by laying them in lime mortar, and, we believe, in some cases,
in good clay mortar, where lime and sand arc scarce, and then plastering
the M-all outside and in. The great objection seems to bo that the ouiside
plastering cleaves off, as it does from all plastered buildings exposed to rain,
frost, and heat. A friend writes us in(piiriiig whether there is any composi-
tion for outside plaster that will stand the weather. "We answer, none that
can be wholly depended upon. A mortar made of hydraulic cement
(water lime), of good quality, nii.xed with clean, coarse, sharp sand — two
parts of sand to one of cement — would stand until some crack occurred, and
water and frost get in behind. Perhaps the mortar described in No. 3.'i9
will answer the purpose. I5ut as it is ehcajK-r, and perhaps equally good,
we would recommend an ordinary coat of plaster, and then take cement and
any cheap oil, and mix a pretty thick paint, and put ou thoroughly two or
three coats. Another good ])aiiit may be made as follows : Take four pounds
of rosin and one pint of lii;seed oil, and boil together, adding about an
ounce of red lead, and put it on hot, and afterward jjaint any color you like.
If a crack ever occurs, stop it at once with the rosin and oil mixture. Wc
have no doubt that these billets-of-wood houses can bo built in many places
chcai)er than any other, and that they cau bo made ueat, comlbrtable, and
durable.

332

THE FAIi.MEIlY.

[CnAp. in.

354. Sawed SliinarScs.-

SECTION XX.-ROOFS AND ROOFIXG-PAIXTS AND AVUITK WASH FOll
FAKM BUlLUlXtiS-XAlLS AXD MOllTAU-FAHM (JAILS.

^IIATEVER the stylo of building adopted for anv
of the tanueiy structmes, a good roof iiovor shourd
be lost sight of, for upon that, much of the farm
economy depends. A leaky roof on a dwelling de-
stroys comfort and property, and is llic soureo of
many unpleasant days and niglits to the family, and
eometimcs i)roductive of sickness, as well as injury
to furniture. A leaky roof upon a barn -will destroy
■ cf every year a, greater value of hay and grain than it
would cost to make it tight. It is for this that we give
special attention to this part of the farm buildintjs.
AVc also give some valuable hints upon painting and
whitewashing, because both beauty and economy
may be thus promoted.

-Of all the inventions ever contrived, that of sawed
shingles has proved to be one of the least value to the country. The only
profit is to the patentee and manufacturer. To every one who has used
them, sawed shingles have proved a loss, no matter 'wliat the saving has
been in first cost, unless the shingles, previous to laying on the roof, were
prepared so as to prevent their saturation with water every time tiie rain fell
upon them. It is this repeated saturation of sawed shingles that rots them,
and gives us leaky roofs in one fourth the time that split shingles remain
sound. It is true that good shingle timber is becoming scarce, and more
and more so every year, and that farmers must have something as a sub-
stitute. What that something is we know not, but are quite sure, where
economy is studied, that it will not be sawed shingles. If they must be
used, let the roof have a very steep pitch. On a flat roof we have known
them rot entirely through in five years. Another roof, ten years old, both
siiiiigles and roof-boards, when taken off, crumbled into a mass of rotten
wood, that scarcely bore any resemblance to boards and shingles.

"A retired mechanic" writes us that he followed liuilding eighteen years,
and prefers sawed shingles if they are planed on the upper side, and says
that a smart hand can plane from two to tliree thousand a day. "We tiiink
a machine might be constructed to plane one side of sawed shingles without
adding much to the cost. Without planing or dipping in boiling oil or tar,
we do not believe sawed shingles should ever be used by any one who wants
a good roof, or who cares for economy. Tiie writer of a letter now before
us speaks in very severe terms of the manufacturers of sawed shingles. lie
says they are often made of small cross-grained, sapling spruce, and that

J

Seo. 20.] ROOFS AND EOOFIXG. 333

the Lark of the tree will last about as long as such shingles on a roof. Tlie
carelessness of persons eniplo^-ed to lay shingles is notorious, and a cross-
grained shingle is just as apt to be laid wrong side up as right. Then tho
sui-faeo wears rough, and water soaks into the wood and rots it through so
as to leak in a few months. Tiiis writer thinks the fault of sawed shingles
is much more in the timber tJian in the manufacture; that is, that sawed
shingles from good, sound, straight-grained timber will last as long as
split ones.

Another letter writer suggests that sawed shingles should never be laid
npon a boarded roof, but npon narrow laths, one to each course. He says :

''T know of a bnilding where the sliingles were jnit on boards and the
boards put close together, which have been on but a few years and are very
leaky ; the shingles and boards have rotted through in places, while other
]>arts arc so\ind and good. I think the reason is, the shingles lie so close to
the boards that when they get wet they never dry through ; while if laid upon
laths, sawed shingles will last as long as split ones from the same timber."

Another writer, speaking of the absolute necessity of using something as
a substitute for split shingles on account of the scarcity of timber, wants to
know why we can not have tile manufactured that will be a better substi-
tute for ohiiigles than anything else that we have, both for economy and
certainty of having a good roof.

A correspondent speaks of shingles cut by a machine patented by J. L.
I>rown, of Indianapolis, Ind., at the rate of 50,000 a day, that are altogether
superior to sawed sliingles, even should the latter be j)laned. This may be
so, but we have no faith in the economy of using shingles made by any kind
of machinery that cuts wood across the grain. I*fo shingles thus made will
be as durable as split ones, nidess saturated with oils or resins, or kyanized,
and then they would be as expensive as those made by riving and shaving,
or perhaps as much so in the long run as slate or tin. Depend upon it, using
po(n' shingles upon farm buildings is very poor economy.

rJ55. Prescrviiis Sliiuii^los on Roofs. — " Some jiaint roof shingles after tliey
are laid. This makes them rot sooner than tliey otherwise would. Some
l)aint the courses as they are laid ; this is a great preservative if each shingle
is ]iainted its full length, and not by courses.''

Mr. Ed. Emerson, of Ilollis, Mass., thus gives, in the Xfw England
Fiu-mcr, some hints that arc worthy of preservation upon shingling roofs,
lie says :

"Twenty-three years ago I had quite a lot of refuse shingles on hand, both
sappy and shaky, and I laid them on the back kitchen and wood-shed. I
have just examined them, and think they will last at least seven years longer.
The building has not leaked, to my knowledge. 1 soaked these shingles in
a very thin wliitcwash, made with brine instead i>f clear water. There lion
been nothing done to them since, although I have no doubt that to have
whitewashed or served a coat of dry-slaked linus or line salt once in two or
three years on them, would have been of great advantage to them.

834 TnE FARMERY. [Chap. IH

" As I shingle differently from almost every one else, I will give you my
inetliod, and my reasons for it. However wide the shingles may ho, I do
not allow the nails to ho put more tlian two inches apart. liiason — If your
shingles are wet or green, and the wide ones are nailed at the edges, the
shingles must split or one of the nails must draw Avhcn tlie shjngle shrinhs
If the shingle is dry, it must liuff or crowd the nail out when it swells.
Thus your nails are kept in constant motion hy every shrink or swell of the
shingle till they are broken, ])ulled out, or the shingle is split. I do not
want tlie nails driven rpiifc in, or so as to sink the head. licason — The
heads of the nails hold up the butts of the next row of shingles, and give
the air a free circulation.

" I lay all my shingles in whitewash. I prefer brine for making it. I
line with red chalk. I then whitewash the last course laid down to the
line, and after the building is shingled I whitewash the whole of the roof.
lieason — To make the shingles last twice as long as they would without the
whitewash, and I consider it much better than just whitewashing the roof
after sliingling."

" Whitewashed shingles are never mossy. If slaked lime is sprinkled upon
wet roofs, it will prevent moss from growing, a,nd if the shingles are cov-
ered ever so thick M'itli moss, putting the lime on twice will take all the
moss oti' and leave the roof white and clean, and it will look almost as well
as if it had been painted. It ought to be done once a year, and, in my opin-
ion, the shingles will last almost twice as long as they will to let the roof all
grow over to moss." One who has tried this plan says :

" I tried it on the back part of my house ten years ago, when the shingles
were a11 covered over with moss, and appeared to be nearly rotten. I then
gave the roof a heavy coat of lime, and have followed it nearly every year
since, and the roof is better now than at first."

356. Roofs— their Form— Shingled and Composition. — It is a serious defect in
our roof architecture that the roofs of most buildings are so flat that the rain
finds its way under the shingles. Sharp roofs keep out rain and last longer,
and although the first cost is a trifle greater, they are cheaper in the end.
We know of no composition we can recommend to cure leaky shingled
roofs, though several are advertised as sure cures. We are afraid they arc
like the Indian's gun — " cost more than he worth." There is a patent
asphalt roofing felt that can be easily put on by any person. It weighs only
about forty-two pounds to the square one hundred feet. It must be stretched
tight and smooth, overlapping full one inch at the joinings, and closely
nailed through the overlap. It should then receive a coating of coal-tar and
lime — two gallons of the former to six pounds of the latter — well boiled to-
gether and kept constantly stirred while boiling, and put on with a swab,
and while it is soft some coarse sand may be sifted over it. This coating
needs renewing once in five or six years.

There is also roofing-paper — a soft, spongy substance, saturated with tar,
which comes in rolls, and is sold for about four cents a pound. It is un-

Sko. 20.] ROOFS AND ROOFING. 335

rolled upon a flat Loarcled roof, anil tacked suflicicntly to hold it in place,
and then saturated with tar, wliich glues it to the boards, and it is covered
with sand ; tiien more tar and anoihur coat of saud.

Another receipt for couipositioii roofs is given as follows: Take coal-tar,
300 pounds; hydraulic lime, 150 j)Ounds ; oehci-, 75 pounds; and whiting;
40 pounds. Mix these substances together thoroughly, and they will make
a sutKcient quantity of cement to cover 1,000 scpiarc feet of rooting. It
slioultl be laid down upon strong cotton sheeting nailed to die rouf-boards,
and on ilie top of all a coat of dry sand or gravel is to be laid and ju'e-ssed
firmly down. The cost of such rooting is about $2 30 per ten feet square.
Jt answers very well for sheds and other outhouses.

357. I'roiecting Roofs from Fire. — In a country where wood is used as fuel,
and where roofs are made of pine shingles, and. where drougiits arc among
the things occurring every summer, there is constant danger of conflagration
of the dwelling from sparks on the roof. This may be guarded against in
a very great measure in a very inexpensive manner. A roof carefully
washed with three coats of either composition mentioned in Xos. 3C0 or 361,
once in three years, would be a hundred times less liable to take lire from
sparks than an unwashed roof.

Such a wash would be a very cheap preventive of danger from fire. So is
tile j)aint mentioned in the following extract:

•' A wash composed of lime, salt, and fine sand or wood ashes, put on in the
ordinarv way of whitewashing, renders the roof fifty -fold niore safe against
taking tire from falling cinders or otherwise, in cases of fire in the vicinity.
It pays the expense a hundred-fold in its preserving influence against the eflect
of the weather. The older and more weather-beaten the shingles, the more
benefit derived. Such shingles generally become more or less warped, rough,
and cracked ; the application of the wash, by wetting the upper surface, re-
stores them at once to their original form, thereby closing the space between
the shingles, and the lime and sand, by filling up the cracks and pores in
the .shingle itself, prevent its warpiijg for years."

35S. iheap Kails.— The cheapest nails are not the lowest priced ones.
Cut nails, made of iron of good quality, will ontlast such as can be bonglit
at the lowest rates about two to one. Never use nails for siding or shingles
that break very easily; and be sure not to allow your carpenter to use
nails of very light weight. First-rato cut nails of suitable size may cost
twenty-live j.er cent, more than the poorest and lightest, but in the end they
arc a hundred per cent, the best. Nails made of poor iron will rust out a

reat deal quicker than nails made of good tough malleable iron, like that
known as old sable. It is about on u i)ar with sawed shingles to use tlie
cheapest or lowest priced nails, particularly lor shingling. In buil.ling
balloon frames none but the very best quality of nails shouhl be uswl.
Those known as "fence nails" are far the best, being made of tliicker iron
than the ordinary nails of the same nundier.

Weath£j'-rroo/ iVujfe— are described in the Ohio Cultivator. It says:

t^

336

TOE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

"Everybody knows -wliat :i ilifficult thinic it is to nail roof-boards and
weatlier-hoards bo that lliey will hold tor a yood length of time. There are
many other places in which it is nearly ini[iossible to make nails do the
office for which they are intended. A remedy — and the only one I ever
saw — I discovered a few years ago ; it is very simple and never fails. Take
tenpenny, malleable nails, and place the head in a vice, and with a pair of
pincers grip the nail near the point, and twist it half-way ronnd, minding to
make the twist Somewhat elongated. In driving, the nail becomes a screw,
and neither sun nor hammer can withdraw it."

359. To make Mortar Ininervious to ^\'t{, — " Provide a square wooden
trough, say S by 4 feet, and i' feet deep; put in a quantity of fresh lump
lime, and add water quickly. When the lime is well boiled, having assisted
that operation by frequent stirring, add tar (the heat of boiling lime melts
the tar), stir it well, taking care that every part of the lime is intimately
mixed with the tar; then add sharp sand or crushed clinker, and stir it v.ell
as before; after which, in about twenty hours, it will be fit for use."

300. Cheap Paints for Farm Buildiugs. — Tar and lime may be used, in
order to make cither wood or mason-work watci-proof. The best way to
prepare gas or coal tar for coating wood-work with, is to get some of the
best stone lime, avoiding chalk lime, and slake it to a fine powder; boil the
tar for about half an hour, and then add about one pint of hot lime-powder
to a gallon of tar, and boil it about half an hour longer, stirring it continu-
ally, and using it hot. .

We give the above as we find it, but prefer the following : Take the com-
mon "Itosendalc cement" (water lime), sift it, and mix the fine powder with
coal-tar, or any kind of oil, and it will make an excellent paint, of a drab or
brown-stone color.

361. Permanent Whitewash Painti — Another excellent paint is made of
the Ibllowing ingredients: that is, one bushel of well-burnt white lime
unslaked, 20 lbs. Spanish whiting, 17 lbs. rock-salt, 12 lbs. brown sugar.
Slake the lime, and sift out any lumps or stones, and mix it into a good
whitewash, say with 40 gallons of water, and then add the other ingredients,
and stir all well together, and put on two or three thin coats with a common
whitewash bruslt. Five dollars' worth of this cheap white paint will give
the farmery such an improved appearance that it would sell readily for $100
more than it would in its old wood-colored coat and neglected-looking con-
dition. This mixture makes a paint that is very cheap, and makes a coat
tliat docs not wash off or rub oft", and looks well — that is, makes the rough
boards of a barn, shed, outbuilding, or fence look much better than in their
natural wood-colored condition; and it will, by its antiseptic qualities, tend
beneficially toward the preservation of the wood. It can be tinted by any
of the articles mentioned in 3G2. This is intended for the outside of build-
ings, or where it is exposed to the weather. In order to give a good color,
three coats are necessary on brick and two on wood.

Another cheap and good paint may be made of any pure clay ; such as

Seo. 20.]

PAINTS AXD WniTEWASII.

33<

potters use is the right sort ; or that known as " blue clay" will answer a
good purj)ose in its natural condition. Even such as brick-makers use cati
be washed of all its iniijurities, bv tlioroni^hlv niixin;' it witli a lar-'o bulk
of water, and letting it settle and then draw oti' the water, and also reject
the bottom of the mass, which will contain all the sand.

To prepare clay for paint, first dry it, either in the sun or liy lire, and
then pulverize ft line, whieh may be done witli a cannon-ball in a swin-diif
iron pot. Then sift it, and mix with boiled linseed oil, pretty thick, and you
will have just as good a fire-proof paint, or a weather-protecting paint, as
any tliat arc sold as such in the shops.

In some localities soft slate, or slate-dust from a manufactory, can be had,
and that will make a good " mineral paint."

302. Zinc and Lime Whitewash Taint.— Take a clean barrel that will liold
water. Put into it half a barrel of quicklime, and slake it by ponring over
it boiling water sutheient to cover it four or five inchi's deep, and stirrin;; it
until slaked. When quite slaked, dissolve it in water, and aild two iwuiids
of sulphate of zinc and one of common salt, wiiich in a few days will cause
the whitewash to harden on the wood-work. Add sufficient water to bring
it to the consistency of tliiek whitewasli.

To make the above wasli of a pleasant cream color, add three pounds of
yellow ocher.

For fawn color, add four pounds of umber, one pound of Indian red, anc
me pound of lampbhick. •

For gray or stone color, add four pounds of raw umber and two ponnds
of lampblack.

The color may be put on witli a common whitewash brush, and will be
found much more durable than common wiiitewash.

3G3. Stucco Whitrwash. — To make a brilliant stucco whitewash for all
buildings, inside and out, take a bnslu'l of ch'an lumps of well-burnt lime,
shdced ; add one iburth pound ol' whiting or burnt alum pulverized, one
l)Ound of loaf sugar, three quarts of r^'c flour, made into a thin and well-
boiled paste, and one pound of the cleanest glue, dissolved. This may bo
put on cold within doors, but shouhl be applied hot outside. ^

The following is another receipt for stucco whitewash : Take half a bushel
of nice unslaked lime, slake it with boiling watiT, covering it during the
])rocess, to keep in the steam. Strain tlic liquid through a fine bievo or
strainer, and add to it a peck of salt, previously well dissolved in water;
thi'ee pounds ground rice, boiled to a thin pa.ste, and stirred in builing liof ;
half a pounil Si)anish whiting, anil a jn.und of clean glue, whicli has bot-n
jireviously dissolved by soaking it first, and then hanging over ii slow fire,
in a small kettle inside a large one filled with water. Add five gallons of
hot water to the mixture, stir it will, and let it stand a few days covenMl
Irom the dirt. It should bo put on quite hot; for this jturposo it can bo
kejit in a kettle on a furnace. It is said that about a pint of this inixturo
will cover a yard square of the outside of a house, if properly npplietl.

333

THE FAKMEKY.

[Chap. 111.

riie size of the brushes used should be adapted to the work required. This
(Miiiposilion answers as well as oil paint on wood or stone, and is cheaper.
It retains its brilliancy for many years.

Coloring may be j)nt in, and made of any shade you like. Spanish bi'owr.
siirred in will make red pink, more or less deep to the quantity. A delicate
tinge of this is very jjretty for inside walls. Finely pulverized common
clay, well mixed with Spanish brown, makes a reddish stone color. Yellow
ucher stirred in makes yellow wash, but chrome goes further, and makes a
color generally esteemed prettier. In all these cases the darkness of the
shades is determined of course by the quantity of coloring used. It is diffi-
cult to make rules, because tastes are difierent ; it would be best to try
experiments on a shingle, and let it dry. We have been told that green
must not be mixed with lime. The lime destroys the color, end the color
has an effect on the whitewash, which makes it crack and peel. "When
walls have been badly smoked, and you wish to have them a clean white, it
is well to squeeze indigo plentifully through a bag into the water you use,
before it is stirred into the mixture. If a larger quantity than five gallons
be wanted, the same proportion should be observed.

The above is the receipt that has been so long in circulation as that which
gave the original whiteness to the " "White House" at Washington.

In oil painting, never suli'er a painter to use unboiled oil upon any of
your buildings or farm implements, and certainly never suffer, yourself Ic
leave any of them unpainted. Take care that the painter is not too liberal
in the use of his " driers" in your paint. Tint is to please the eye. Oil
preserves the wood, and one coat of boiled oil is worth three of unboiled.

All farm buildings should be oil-painted or M'hitewashed. Whitewash
tends to jircserve wooden buildings more than any ordinary coat of paint,
particularly such a one as would be given to unplaned boards, which is a
better condition for whitewashing than when smooth. The ice-house should
be whitewashed on the outside as often as it is necessary to keep it perfectly
white, as that is an important aid toward keeping it cool.

3C4. Farmery Gates. — No farmery can be considered at all complete that
is not ani])ly furnished Avitli gates, constructed with particular adaptation to
their several situations, and arranged in the most perfect manner with
hinges, latches, and fastenings. Tliero is to us no greater evidence of a
slovenly farmer than is furnished by half-dilapidated, or at best incon-
venient, bar.'. These bar-ways may answer in field fences, where they are
seldom to be opened, but they are a nuisance about the farmery. Most of
the farmery gates should be self-closing, and made to swing so that an
animal could not push against and open the gate. In some places a gate
can not be made to awing either way ; then it must be made to open upon
some one of the several plans that have been made for convenient opening
in a straight line. One of the sort patented by some one in Oneida County,
N. Y., is a very easy working gate. It is made of very light stuff, and for
a wagon-way a pair, each five feet long, are set between posts nine feet

Pec. 20.]

lifPROVED FARM GATES.

OOf\

Ij'jj

apart, and lield against the posts by guides, which allow of their easy work-
ing. Attaclied by bolts to the upper outward corner arc two light strips of
boards, one on each side, nnd two othei-s in the center. These strips arc
hinged to posts at the bottom in the EP.nic way they arc at the top to the
g.ite, and when tlic gate is shut thej' stand at an angle witli tlie gate like
brac-js, and wlien tlie gate is to be opened it lifts upon tlicse centers, and
passes over and stands alongside of the fence in a straiglit line. Such
gates are very convenient in case of snow, as they lift up riglit out of the
drift, so as to allow a passage witiiont shoveling. "Wiieu closed, the two
gates are fastened togetlier by hooks or bolts, or any convenient fastening.
As they are not hinged to the posts, these may bo made quite liglit.

Another plan of a gate, to open without swinging, is to suspend it upon
rollers running upon a rail overhead. Some one has improved upon this
plan to make the gate openable by a person driving up in a wagon. This
is done by lifting the gate at the front end by a lever, which changes tlie
level of the railway -bar upon which tiic gate hangs, so that it roils back by
its own gravity. The principle will be understood by looking at any gate
made to rim off on rollers upon a bar above the top, by supposing one end
of tlie bar raised, when the gate rolls down. A touch of another lever, as
the wagon passes, reverses the position of the bar, and the gate rolls back
aijain to its closed position.

The great objection to this, and almost all the plans for opening gates from
the wagon, without alighting, is the unsightly appearance of the gallows-
franie necessary to support the levers, ropes, and ptdlcys.

"We have seen gates M-hich opened by the weight of the wagon passing
over a bar, and shutting it by another touch of a bar on tlie other side.
There is a good deal of machinery to tliis plan, as well as to nearly all of
the contrivances to open and shut gates without labor, and the most of them
are very liable to fail of working easily.

The most simple one of the kind, ai;d, so far as we could jiulgc from a
sinMe examination, the least liable to get out of working order, was one ex-
hibited at the New York State Fair of ISOO by Jasper Johnson, of Genesee
County. One of the greatest advantages of this invention is, that it can be
api)lied to gates already in use, so that one can bo opened by a person in u
wagon and shut as he passes tb.rougli without stopping.

Any erection that will sustain a single cord upon each side, and a bar of
iron about four feet long, of the size of an ordinary crowbar, and one or
two small rods, comprises all that need be added to any gate to fix it for
this convenient way of opening. This bar of iron is made in ft i)cculiar
form, and attached to the gate-post by ii loose joint at one end, wliiio the
other works in a long staple attached to the gate. Its position is moved by
pulling the cord, ami its specific gravity being thus changed, throws the.
"•ate open, and shuts it by another pull nt the same cord, or the otlier one,
al the jierson drives through. The attachment certainly is u very cheap
one, and its operation was entirely sati^factory.

840

THE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

Robinson's Farm Gate is the name given to one invented, and not
patented, l)y Dr. D. A. Robinson, Union Springs, N. Y., of which -vve think
pretty liighiy. One of its good jjoints is the clieapness of the liinges. These
are figured and fully described in that excellent pocket manual, the " Rural
Register," published by Luther Tucker, from which we copy the following
description :

"This gate may be made of any light, tough, and durable wood, but an-
swers a good purpose when made of pine, with the upright or cross-bars of
white oak. The upper horizontal bar is 11 feet long, 3 inches wide horizon-
tally, and 5 inches deep at the hinge, and 2i at the latch. The mortises are
only two thirds through, to shut out rain, and f by 3 inches — except in
the heel-piece they are an inch and quarter. The lieel-jiiece is 3 by 5 inches,
and the four lower bars are boards 1 by 5 inches. The cross-bars, the
brace, and the two pieces forming the licad-piece are 1 by 3 inches. They
are secured at each crossing by wrought or annealed nails. The head-piece
consists merely of two boards, nailed on each side of the horizontal boards.
The hinge is made by driving an iron rod, at least three fourths of an inch
in diameter, into the top of the post, which turns in a hole seven eighths of
an inch, bored two thirds of the distance through the large end of the upper
bar. A short iron plug driven into this hole makes a hard resting point
that will not wear, for the gate to turn upon. The lower hinge is a wooden
lilock, attached to the lower part of the gate, and hollowed out so as to fit
upon the round post. The latch is not attached to the gate, but to the post,
so that it catches over the top rail, which is made to project beyond the end
of tlie gate for that purpose. If it is preferred to have the latch fastened on
the gate lower down, a pin can bo fixed in or one of the slats projected for-
ward. This gate is not liable to sag much, because there is no weight what-
ever straiiiinfj the hinges, except xohile the gate is open. A pin or spike is
driven into the post on which the hinges turn, just above the lower liinge,
to prevent hogs or other animals from lifting the gate, but which does not
])revent it from being placed on its hinges while open. The post holding
the latch may be rough, except the face, and the other need be rounded only
where the hinge turns. >

"Tiie whole cost of the binges need not exceed ten cents, and the gate
itself may be made at no greater expense than a common set of bars."

An excellent gate-fastening is one in common use in Mississippi and some
other Southern States, which we have never seen in any of the Northern
ones. A gain is cut in the corner of the post, say three by four inches, and
in that is hung a piece of flat bar iron, say one inch wide and one fourth
of an inch thick, bent in somewhat the form and of the length of half a
horse-shoe, the upper end hammered thin and bent over a staple which is
driven in the upper part of the gain, so that the lower end of the bar rests
on the bottom, near the outer edge. An iron pin in the upright of the gate
strikes against this little bar and lifts it up and passes beyond the end of it,
when it falls back, and no power but a man's baud can open the gate — but

Sec. 20.] IMPROVED FARM GATES. 341

for tliat it is very ea.sy. It is one of the best latches we ever saw to prevent
unruly animals from gcttiu'; tlic gate open, and it is very cheaply made, and
would be a very safe one for all tlie gates about tlie farmery liable to be
opened by the hogs and cattle.

The following is a good plan of a new gate-hinge or plan of fastening the
upper hook or eye of a gate-hinge into the i)0st, which we have seen de-
scribed lately, and like it so much that we wish all farmers to know it. In-
stead of driving the hook into the post, a hole is bored quite througli it just
at the top of the upper rail of the fence, and the shank is made long enough
to reacli some inches beyond the post, and has several notches on its upper
side. Bore a hole through the rail and put a small bolt with a loophole at
one end, to bite into a notch of the hinge, and nut at the other. Of course,
when screwed up, the sag of the gate can not draw the hook; but if neces-
sary it can be made shorter by shifting a notch or two.

The following dimensions of a good strong farm gate, and the timber
for it, may be taken as pretty near correct :

Space between posts, 12 feet ; hight of posts above ground, 5 J feet ; slats,
12 feet long, 5 inches wide, Ij inches thick for the bottom one, and 3 inches
wide for the other si.x ; hight of gate, 4i feet. The ends into which the
slats arc tenoned are 2i by 3 inches, 5 feet long. Some prefer to have the
top rail double the strength of the middle slats. There are two braces and
a center upright fastened with small screw bolts or rivets. If a strap hinge is
used, they should lie riveted to the slats. If straps are not used, the iron
should be made to clasp the upright, and not go through it.

In soft land, like that of the "Western prairies, it is ilifficult to make gate-
posts stand firm, and they are often formed with a gallows-looking cross-bar
overhead.

A better way is to put this cross-bar and braces at the bottom. Frame
the posts and braces into a sill, and bury that three feet deep, and it will
cflectually prevent the posts from sagging, and then you may use them of
much smaller timber.

A good light gate is made as follows : Take strips of boards three inches
wide, half an inch thick, of any strong wocul ; pine, free of knots and weak
spots, will answer, and cut them suitable lengtJis for the length, and others
for the width of the gate. Lay down upon a smooth surface several of the
short strips not over three feet apart, and then lay the long strips on for a
close gate three inches apart at the bottom, gradually widening to the top;
then lay down short strips directly over the others, and nail through these
M'ith clinch nails. We have sometimes reversed the order, and used two long
strips opposite, instead of two short ones, which nuikes a stronger but lienvier
gate. Small gates made cither way are quite strong enough. Tiu> hinges
should be of a peculiar form, with long straps to clasp the gate so as to rivet
through and hold the wood between the iron.

In Section LII., in an article upon farm fences, something will bo found
about how to make gate and fence jiosts durable.

342

THE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

foUowiug view

SECTION XXI.-LIGHTNIXG CONDUCTORS-PROTECTION OF FARM
BUILDINGS FROM FIRE.

_T is a great question for the owner of farm buildings

whether he can protect them from destruction by liglit-

ning-rods. Being almost faithless ourselves, 3«et not quite

sure that lightning-rods are all useless, we will give the

opinions of several who have investigated the question.

3G5. Opinions of (lie Valtio of Lightning f »!nluctors. — Mr.

Quinby, a practical electrician, gave the

of the subject in an article in the Wo)-king Farmer

"There can be few subjects of equal importance less gen-
erally understood, or perhaps more universally misunder-
stood, than the science of electricity in its application to
lightning-rods. The errors of the past are very slow of erad-
ication, although it must be admitted that progress has been
made since the famous discussion in George III.'s time as to
whether lightning-rods should bo pointed or blunt at the top. So little is
known of electricity itself, and so largely is it a purely speculative science,
that it is no wonder that doctors disagree.

" It is clear that the most valuable opinion on tliis subject is to be looked
for from those Avho have made the study of electricity and thunder-storms a
specialty, with the practical result in view of ascertaining the most eflPectual
means of protection, and it is to be remarked that those who have done this
have arrived at similar conclusions.

" It is a common error to suppose that lightning-rods should be insulated,
and a very natural one, arising from a superficial view of the subject. It
should be remembered that currents of electricity in a rarefied state are con-
tinually circulating through masses of matter silently and without producing
any manifest eflccts ; the effect of insulation is to interrupt the flow of these
currents, whereas the lis'htninj'-rod ouo-ht rather to be so contrived as to fa-
cilitate their free passage from the building to the rod, and thence to the at-
mosphere, and vice versa.

" During that disturbed, electrified condition of the atmosphere, which
we call a thunder-storm, these currents circulate in greater volume and
rapidity, and a sufficient interruption of them brings about a discharge of
lightning.

" At such times the insulation of the rod from the building is a most ex-
cellent device for causing an explosion of accumulated electricity either
from or into the building, as the case may be. The rod, on the contrary,
ought to act somewhat as a safety-valve, as regards any electrical disturb-
ance within the house, neutralizing it gradually, and thus preventing an
explosion.

Seo. 21.] LIGHTNING-CONDDCTORS. 343

"Should the rod be struck by liglitning, its eflicacy in caiTying off the
shock 'n-ill depend on whether it presents a cotitinuoiis chain of conducting
matter, in the line or direction of the discliarge, which is superior to an^"
thing within the building. If it docs not, all the glass in the world will not
prevent fluid from leaving the rod and ])assing through the building on such
conductors as it may find there.

"The true theory or purposes of the lightning-rod is to facilitate electric-
ity in following out its natural laws and tendencies, and nothing can be
more truly unscientific or practically absurd than the idea of presentiu" a
barrier or obsti'uction to lightning."

This theory fully accords with all our information upon this subject.

The following arc the views of" another practical electrician, y. D. Ciish-
num, of South Bend, Ind. He says :

" A conductor for the protection of life and property from the effects of
lightning should be so constructed and applied that it will add to the con-
ducting power of the building so as to admit of the most intense discharga
being securely transmitted, without explosion or damage to the building or
structure.

"Attuactiox. — The utility of a lightning-rod docs not consist in its
attracting power.

" Insulation. — Tlie conducting power of a lightning-rod is frequently
'diminished by insulation, and never is increased ; it should never be insu-
lated. It may be fastened to the building with braclfcts of wood or stajiles.

"Points. — The attaching to the ujjper end of a lightning-rod a coj)pcr, ,
silver, gold, or any kind of a jioint, does not add to the ntiiit}- of the rod,
but when attached always diminishes, more or less, the conducting powei
of the rod, by breaking up the perfect continuity that a rod should j)osscss,
and interrupting its jiolarity.

"Size. — An iron lightning-rod siiould never have less than throe inches
conducting surface, oossessing solidity sufHcicnt to have strength and dura-
bility.

" Construction. — A lightning-rod should not possess in its construction
sharp edges, neither should it be in sections nor pieces (the sections or pieces
being hooked or screwed together), but it should be all in one piece, possess-
ing an equal, even unljroken surface in its wiiolc length.

"Application. — In the application of the rod to the building the conduct-
ing power of the building should be brought into the general lino of con-
duction ; tliat is, the rod shoidil come in good metallic contact with all the
important metallic substances upon the outside of the building, such as
gutters, spouts, etc. That part of the rod that comes in contact with the
earth should be increa.scd in its surface and conducting power, s-o that tlierc
will not be less conducting surface in contact with the earth than is cxjioscmI
to the building and atmosphere, and care should bo taken that the earth
around and in citutact with the rod is always moist.

" SHADE-l^KEiis. — Shade-trees should not bo relied upon as a protection

3U

THE FARMERY.

[ClIAP. III.

from lightniiig, because their coiuluctiiig power varies so miicli, and very
often, when in their best conchieting condition, they are damaged by tlie
lightning passing over them. The conducting power of shade-trees, then,
slionld be increased and made permanent by the application of an iron or
copper •wire.

" Ekkoes. — One of the errors committed in protecting from lightning is
an improper estimate placed upon tiie conducting power of the building,
compared with the material used for protection. "When a lightning-con-
ductor terminates or ends iu a substance of imperfect or less conducting
power, it is reduced to the conducting power of the body iu which it ends.

" Dry earth is a non or imperfect conductor. Earth owes its conducting
power to water. According to Cavendish, the conducting power of iron, as
compared to the conducting power of water, is as four hundred millions to
one. The electrical size of the mass of lightning-rods is not as large as a
common knitting-needle, being reduced by so small a portion of the rod's
surface coming in contact with damp earth.

"Another error is in constructing the rod in sections. Rods properly
applied, of jDerfect continuity, being all in one piece, without coupling or
hooking, have never failed to carry the quantity of electricity that may
have passed iijion them safely and successfully to the ground, while the sec-
tioned, or the rods hooked or screwed together by burs or nuts, have fre-
quently failed to do their duty. Scarcely a day or a week passes during
the summer months but we hear of the failure of the couj^lcd lightning-rods.

" However well the fact of electrical conduction may be known — however
well scientific men may be agreed that by the judicious employment of
metallic bodies we may increase protection against lightning, certain it is
that tiiey have taken too much upon trust, and neglected the investigation
of the facts.

" Men ignorant of every electrical principle have professed to furnish
security against lightning, until the scientific electrician who attempts to
sell lightning-rods is received M-ith jeers and contempt as a designing
swindler ; his story is listened to with impatience, and his presence consid-
ered an intrusion."

The rod recommended by Mr. Cushman is made of four copper and four
iron wires laid together, with a pointed cap on the top, and some metal plates
at tiie bottom. There must never be a splice in the wire, but several wires
carried up from the ground, in the main body, may be taken off and con-
nected with the metal roof of a building, or with other points.

The following language we used upon a discussion of this subject before
the American Institute Farmers' Club :

"As lightning-rods are most commonly constructed, they are not what
they arc generally conceived to be — that is, attractoi's of an approaching
thunderbolt, picking it up on the sharp points, and conducting it down a
carefully insulated rod to a safe deposit iu the earth. If a lightning-rod
ever performed such a service, I should like to be assured of the fact. At

Sec. 21.] LIGRTNING CONDUCTORS. 345

present I have no faith. I believe tliat, when the atmosphere is surcliargetl
with electricity, any metallic substance will absorb it just in proportion to
its natural affinity, and if tlierc is an excess of fluid in the air around the
top of a rod, it will run down it to the earth, just as it runs along telegraph
wires ; and experience has proved that a briglit, shari) noint is more attract-
ive tlian a blunt one.

"Still, a blunt rod will become charged, and fo will a metal roof, and,
more than all, an iron building, and the Avater-cdnductor, or whatever other
metallic substances reach from the top to the earth, will tend to dissipate the
excess of electricity in the air above and around the building, and i>rcvent
a!i accumulation of it sufficient to produce an explosion. But I have not
one particle of faith that any building that liappened to be situated in the
])ath of what we call a thunderbolt, ever was saved by the best liglitning-
rod ever erected. And if in its course the discharge from tlic cloud, coming
like a rifle-ball from the muzzle of the gun, ha])pens to strike the sharp
point of the rod, it is, to my mind, a preposterous idea to suppose tliat perfect
insulation of that rod from the building can be of any possible advantage."

This opinion M*e still abide by. The worhl is full of theories upon the
subject. We wish we could elucidate them. "\Ve want all these lightning
theories reduced to two or three facts. It is claimed by some that iron is
the best, and by others that copper is best. One eonteixls that blunt iron is
just as good as sha»p gold or platina. One says that insulation is necessary,
and the other that it is not. Xow it is facts that we want. Farmers want
to know whether they can protect their buildings from danger of being
struck by lightning.

A. B. Dickenson, a practical and close observing farmer of Steuben
County, N. Y., is of opinion that no lightning-rod will protect a barn while
giving off steam arising from newly stored hay and grain. Then, i>f what
advantage to erect one ? for that is the very time it is most needed to save
the farmers' barns from destruction, which arc much more likely to bo de-
stroyed than any other buildings, and the loss is much greater.

Adrian Bergen, of Long Island, relates one case of a barn apparently
saved by the conductor. The force of the shock was so great that a man in_
the barn was knocked down. The rod was a small, round one, fastened to
the barn by wooden supports. After the explosion a hole was found at tlio
foot of the rod.

So we have read of many ca^es where there was an apparent good effect
from having conductors upon buildings. A very heavy cra.-h tell upon or
over a house and barn in New Hampshire, which melted the points of new
conductors and apparently dissipated the fluid so as to prevent damage,
though the barn appeared to be filled with electricity.

Tlio Temple at Jerusalem stood ten centuries without ocing injured ; but
this buibling had a great deal of metal about it, and perhaps conductors for
water that carried the electricity from the n.of ti> the ground. Vet wo iiavo
many instances in this country 'where buildings have been stnirk that were

346 THE FARMEPwT. [Chap. III.

fully provided with lightning-rods. This may be owing to bad constniction
of tho rods. In the case of a groat explosion, like the one in Xew ITainp-
sliirc, it is not likely that a single rod eoukl convey all the charge to the
ground. If a rod was full of points along its length, it would serve to dissi-
pate tlie charge, and a square rod is better than a round one.

Wni. S. Carpenter, of the eastern part of "Westchester County, IS". Y., says :

"The farmers iu my section have no faith in lightning-rods, because the
proportion of barns that have been stnick with rods upon them is greater
than those without conductors. A scientific work states that a copper rod
one inch in diameter is better than an iron rod four inches in diameter, and
nothing less than that seems to be sufficient. This rod, too, must be contin-
uous, and well connected at the bottom with damp earth."

Cases have occurred where a tin roof appeared to act as a great absorbent
of the electricity, which it conducted down the tin water-spouts, and in one
case into a water-cask, which it burst, a'nd passed on into the wet cartii.

Single rods are apparently not always reliable. It is not doubted that an
extensive spread of metal difluses lightning. Then, are buildings safe with
metal roofs ? Flagstaffs have been torn to pieces on their tojis, and no mark
of injury left about the dwelling. Would it not answer the purpose and be
also economical to place a stout rod on the center of a wooden roof, and at-
tach to the bottom, where it touches the roof, a number of telegrapli wires,
carried in many directions to the ground ? Would the stroke on the center
rod be carried safely off by such radii ? If so, the plan is vastly cheaper
tlian an entire metal roof. Faraday experimented on iron cages suspended
in air — in one of them a man ; in another small cylindrical one, a mouse.
The cages poweifully charged with electricity, produced no effect on the
man or mouse. The plan of one central rod, with many wires covering the
building, may produce like results.

It is worth a trial. It is also worthy of observation how many more barns
than houses are struck by lightning. A calculation of an average of seven
persons to a dwelling in the United States, basing the population at
30,000,000, would give 4,200,000 dwellings. And assuming that there are
5,000,000 of farmers, we may say there are 700,000 barns. Now, greatly
as the number of dwellings exceeds that of barns, our opinion is that there
are two barns to one dwelling destroyed by lightning.

The impression is common, that barns when first filled with the harvest
are attractive of the fluid by the medium of the ascending gas of their con-
tents. This is probably true, and it is our opinion that a rod to serve as
a conductor, so as to be a sure protection, must reach higher than this col-
umn of vapor. Some barns need several rods ; others may need but one.
It depends upon the location very much, whether on a damp or dry soil, etc.

Prof. Kenwick, of New York, says :

"I doubt whether a barn was ever struck by lightning which was prop-
erly protected by a conductor."

Ah ! but what is that proper protection ? That is what we would gladly

Bko. 21.] LIGHTXIXCr CONDUCTORS. 347

tell the farmers. We know of a fact that two barns were burned the last
season in Wcstelicster County, -wliicli were ])rovidud with conductors, wliicli
the owners thought as perfect as it is possible to make tlicm. Several cases
have come within our knowledge where green trees were torn 'to shivers
near buildings, which saved the buildings from destruction, while llghtnin '-
rods on the buildings touched by tlie trees did not attract or conduct the
fluid.

Tiicn, as trees certainly arc protectors, let every farmer plant trees around
all the farmery. Tiiat they are the very best conductors we believe, but
they are never tall enough to protect the barn when giving off its towering
column of steam.

3Ci). Matrrial of Conductors and Insulators. — If a farmer has determined
to erect a lightning-rod, the first and most important thing for him to be as-
sured of is, M'hat constitutes the best conducting material. As there are but
two mateiials, copper and iron, and as both are good conductore, and only
vary in power according to size, the choice may be regulated by the cost.
M. Poulet, a French scientific writer, gives the conducting power of copper
as five and a half to si.\ and a half times (varying with the specimens tried)
greater than iron. Tlien, if iron is six cents a pound and copper tliirty-si.x
cents, the cost would be equal for a given length of rod. Tliis is probably a
fair average of the difference in the conducting power, as Dr. Priestly makes
copper five times greater than iron, and Prof. Faraday si.x and two-fifth times
greater. As scientific men have calculated tliat a copper rod, to possess suf-
ficient conducting power, should be, for short rods, half an inch diameter,
and for very long ones, three fourths of an inch, it follows that none of the
iron rods in use are large enough, for they are generally under one inch di-
ameter. We believe that that is large enough, and we do not believe that
insulators are necessary, but that the rod sliould be in one continuous piece,
and if it can not be welded together on the ground where it is to be erected,
it should be firmly screwed together, so as to bo as nearly solid as possible.

If tiie rod is continuous, it may be safely fastened to the building with
ordinary iron staples. If it is inserted deej) iu the earth, so as always to be
moist, tiiere is no danger about the lightning leaving it while passing from
the cloud to the earth, should it be attracted by the ever bright point wliidi
tlie rod should, and niuat, possess, to be of any practical value as an at-
tractor of electricity.

Instead of insulating a rod from the house, it would add to its efliciency,
it' the house has a tin roof, to connect it with the conductor. It would also
be beneficial, we believe, to connect the conductor with tiie tin water-si)0Ut3
of a wooden building.

3G7. The Area of Attraction of LiRlitnias; (onductors.— It is of mucli impoit-
uiice to a farmer, if he intends to protect his buildings by lightning-rods, to
know how far a single rod will afford jirotcction ; tiiat is, tlic area of attraction
over which the single briglit point of the rod is supjiosed to exercise an in-
fluence— so as to attract or bend a stream of electricity tVom iU course — so

34S THE FARMERY. [Chap. HI.

US to carry it down the conductor to the earth without liarm to the budding,
^ly own opinion is, that tlie area is much smaller than is generally suji-
j)(>scd. If a rod is erected at one gable of a barn forty feet long, projecting
ten feet above the jjcak, wc do not believe it would aflbrd the least protection
to the other end.

If a conductor is erected ujion a dwelling, it should have a point ten feet
above each gable and each chimney, and then it is doubtful whether the
steam and smoke arising from a wood fire would not prove a better con-
ductor than a rod.

We should not feel any protection from the very best lightning conductor
projecting ten feet above the roof, at over ten feet from it. Probably this
fact, that the area is very small over which protection extends, may account
for buildings being struck and destroyed which were furnished with well-
arranged lightning conductors. The area exposed was too great for the at-
tractive power of the rod.

36S. Protection from Fire. — Tliere is no mistake about the matter of pro-
tecting buildings from danger of fire, whatever tliere may be about protect-
ing them from lightning.

In the first place, have a careful supervisory care in building that no wood
IS allowed to be placed where it can be heated to a point of ignition. Here
is a case in point. In building a chimney upon the soft, damp soil of the
\Yestern prairie, where brick was too expensive to encourage excavating
down to a solid foundation, the mason suggested placing hewed timber on
tlie ground, to which I readily assented, as it would save brick, and being
two feet below the hearth there was no thought of danger from the fire.
So upon this foundation the chimney was built, and as it was built right
end up, it aftorded the opportunity of Laving large fires, though the fire-
place was but a small one.

After keeping a hot fire through several extremely cold days and nights in
midwinter, we began to be annoyed by the smell of wood burning in a con-
fined situation. This continued several days, and began to be alarming, yet
no one Avould believe it could be possible that those solid oak timbers under
the chimney were being consumed by subterranean fire. Yet it was so, and
it was found impossible to extinguish the fire without digging up the hearth,
and with great labor working out the most exposed timber; and as the other
could not be taken out without danger of throwing down the whole chimney,
we saturated it with salt, alum, and lime, to prevent it from taking fire
again.

This case we have introduced solely to prove how dangerous it is to allow
any wood to come near enough to the fire to be heated very hot, for wood
will ignite from heat, M-ithout any possible contact with the fire. Another
case :

A gentleman in this city set a stove in a lower room, and conducted the
pipe through the room above, used as a nursery. For convenience of warm-
ing food he had a hole made in a slab of stone, just large enough for the

Seo. 21.]

WINDMILLS AND THEIR USE.

349

pipe to fit closely. This stone was neatly set in tlie floor, formin"', as the
owner and the mason thought, a veiy safe way to conduct the stove-pipe,
which did not stand within a foot of any of the wood-work. It was for a
long time a great convenience, and very safe ; but one day the stove below
was heated pretty hot, and coninuinicated its lieat to the stone, and the
wooden beams it rested ujton, which had been long seasoning, i"nited, and
the house was within a very narrow cliance of destruction. Five minutes
more of absence from that room, and it would have been too late.

We could name many instances like these which have come within our
own observation, but we hope these are sufficient to \mi all who read them
on their guard against similar dangerous practices in building.

Stove-pipes may be safely passed through iloors ami wooden walls by in-
serting an earthen pipe, at least one inch in diameter larger than the stove-
pipe, which should not be allowed to touch the earthen pipe, but should bo
wedged off' from it by little jiioces of stone, brick, or broken eartiienware.
This allows a current of air continually to circulate, and renders it impossible
to become heated so much as to convey fire through the earthen jjipe to the
wood-work. If the stove-pipe fits tightly in the earthen one it will be liable
to become hot, like the stone mentioned, and set fire to the Louse.

30!). Windniills and Iheir I'sc ia a Farmery.— There is one more building,
or an adjunct of some of the buildings of the farmery, that should be men-
tioned, before closing this chapter, more fully than it is in the commence-
ment of Sec. XVII. We allude to the windmill. Besides pumping water,
which, by-the-by, would be a great liclp in the way of protection against
fire, a windmill attached to a barn could be made serviceable for a great
many purposes, such as threshing, corn-shelling, cutting straw, grinding
feed, sawing wood, and turning the grindstone.

Wind is undoubtedly the clu'ai)est power that a farmer can use, and, not-
withstanding its inconstancy, the improvement mentioned below oj)crates
well, and has been often ai>i)lied to many valuable uses. By wiudniills,
swamps may be drained and upland irrigated. What an advantage in a
drought in many jiarts of the country, besides the economy of using a great
amount of fertilizing matter in water at all times 1

We have often suggested the idea of using wind-jtower to ])Uinp up water
into a reservoir, or wind up a weight, to hi iield as a reserved pov.-er, that
could bo used when the wind did not blow.

There is no doubt in our miml that such a cheap power could bo econom-
ically established to do a great deal of work that reipiires a motor upon
almost every large farm. If the seat of the power is at the barn, it can be
carried to the house by a couple of wires, to do the churning. AVe have seen
jiower carried thus from a water-wheel, nearly half a mile from the dairy,
and it was used not only to drive the churn, but the washing machine, the
sausu^e-cutter, a small grindstone, ami the collee-mill. To obtain the power
from the wind-wheel, all that wuidd be necessary for the dairywoman to do
would be to pull a cord or wire at the house, which would throw into geai^

350

TOE FARMERY.

[Chap. III.

ing a driving-wheel, and that would, by means of the wires, convey a crank
motion from the wiiulinill to the churn, no matter how distant ; and tlie
motion can be stopped and started as easily as tliougli churning by Iiand.

The objection to wind-power is want of constancy. Tliis can only be
obviated by accumulating power. If the situation is such that a water
reservoir can be tilled upon high ground, to be used in a calm, the accumu-
lation of power would not be expensive.

The method of convx^j-ing power by wires a long distance, from the water-
wheel to the churn, may be seen in several places along the Chenango Canal.

370. Self-regulating Windmills.— One of the best contrivances for a self-
regulating windmill was invented by Daniel Ilalliday, of Ellington, Tolland
Co., Ct. The size mostly built by him has five-feet wings, that is, the diam-
eter of the wind-wheel is ten feet, and the first one was in operation for six
months without a hand being touched to it to regulate the sails. It run
fifteen days at one time without stopping day or night, and it stood through
some hard gales. The beauty of the improvement is, that it stands still when
the wind rages hardest, with the edge of the wings to the wind, and as it
lulls they gradually resume their position for a gentle breeze. It is so con-
trived that nothing but a squall of great severity falling upon it without a
moment's warning can produce damage.

Tlie mill mentioned has drawn water from a well 28 feet deep, 100 feet
distant, and forced it into a small reservoir in the upper part of the barn,
sufficient for all farm purposes, garden irrigation, and " lots to spare." The
cost of such a mill will be $50, and the pumps and pipes about $25. It is
elevated on a single oak post a foot square, the turn circle being supported
by iron braces. The wings are made of one longitudinal iron bar, through
which run small rods ; upon these rods, narrow Tjoards, half an inch thick,
are fitted, holes being bored through from edge to edge, and screwed
together by nuts on the ends of the rods. Tliis makes strong, light sails,
which, it wiU be seen, are fixtures not to be furled or clewed up ; but they
are thrown up edgewise to the wind by a very ingenious and simple arrange-
ment of the machinery, which obviates the great objection to windmills for
farm use — the necessity of constant su" ervision of the sails to suit the
strength of the wind.

With this much food for reflection, we will close the chapter upon the
farmery.

CHAPTER IV.

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

SECTION XXII.-THE FOOD QUESTIOX-QUAXTITY, QUALITY, VARIETY,
ADAPTATIOX, ADULTERATION, AND CHANGES PRODUCED BY COOK-
ING, BRIEFLY CONSIDERED.

^^^OlIESTIC ECONO]\IY! "VThatisit? ''Domestic,

xTNr- belonging to the house or lionie; Kconoinij, irom
two Greek words, signifying a house or family
law — that which relates to the family concerns
of a houseliold, and tlie disposition or arrange-
ment of any household work."'
Such is the character of this chapter^ It is full of
information useful to every household. "Without it,
we should have fallen short of our object in writing
this book. It was never our intention to make a work
for the sole l)cnefit of the male portion of farmers.
Much of tlic jircceding chapter, and nearly all of this,
is intended to promote the comfort of those who ad-
minister all of our home comforts.

We shall aLo say something that will be valuable
upon the subject of the dairy, at least to new beginners in the various arts
and mysteries of domestic economy.

No que.slion can be discussed between the master and mistress of the
house, nor between parents and a family of growing children, that is of
greater importance than the one that heads this section. To the employer
and his hirelings, to the master and his slave, it is a question not only of
interest, but of health, and it is all concentrated in four words: quantity,
quality, variety, adaptation.

There is only one thing more requisite, and that is, that each of these
words shoidd bo fully understood and ]>roiicrly acted upon. Believing that
they are not so, we shall treat uiMm oaeii liricliy in its order. And lirst —

371. What Amount of Food Is Uf<iuirfd l»y «i llanl-workinR .Man I— Tliis de-
pends on the (juality of the food, the nature of the climate, antl on puch a
variety of circumstances that it is impoi^sihle to give a saIi^factory answer.
The average allowance to British sailors in active service is 302 ounces of
solid food per week, and a i)int and a half of rum. Dr. Percy, an Knglii-h
autlior, mentions the diet of a jjrize fighter during a course of rigorous train-
ing, who ate one pound of mutton at each meal three times a day ; nt dinner

352

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[C11A.P. IV.

he ate in addition two ounces of bread, and at each meal drank lialf a j)iiit
of ale. lie walked regularly 17 miles per day. The total solid food i-on-
tallied in this diet is 350 ounces weekly. AVe suppose about three pounds
of solid food per day in temperate climates may be taken as the average
consumed by hard-working men. But in the Arctic and Antarctic regions
the amount of food tluit can bo disposed of is trul}' immense. Thus Ross
tells us that the Esquimau.x eat 10 lbs. of meat at a mwil, accompanied by
the same quantity of oil. Parry weighed the food of nn Esquimaux lad,
scarcely full grown, and found that he consumed, dni-ing the day — sea-
horse flesh, 8i lbs. ; bread, If lbs. ; rich gravy soup, li pint; raw spirits,
3 glasses; strong grog, 1 tumbler; water, 1 gallon 1 pint. Cochrane de-
scribes a Yakut or Tongouse as eating -10 lbs. of flesh in a day, saying that a
good calf, weighing 200 lbs., " may serve four or five good Yakuts for a
single meal," and that he has seen three of them " consume a reindeer at one
meal." Admiral Saritcliefl:' says he knew a Yakut who consumed " tlic hind
quarters of a large ox, 20 lbs. of fat, and a proportionate quantity of melted
butter for his drink" in a day. The admiral tried an experiment with him
by giving liim " a thick porridge of rice, boiled down witli 3 lbs. of butter,
weighing together 28 lbs. ; and althougli the glutton had already break-
fasted, yet did he sit down to it with great eagerness, and consumed the
whole without stirring from the spot ; and, except that his stomach be-
trayed more than an ordinary fullness, he sliowed no signs of inconve-
nience or injury." Barrow states that three Hottentots ate one sheep in a
day, and that ten of them ate an ox all but the hind legs in tliree days.
The Samoyedcs are stated to consume 8 or 10 lbs. of meat at a meal, fla-
vored witli a dozen tallow candles, and washed down with a quart or two
of train-oil. Extravagant as these statements appear to be, most of tlicm
have been verified by numerous observations.

"\Ve need not go to savage lands to find gluttons. "We have the well-au-
thenticated fact of one who lived in Connecticut, about seventy years ago,
who ate three shad a day, upon a wager, thirty days in succession. The
same man repeatedly ate a goose or a turkey at a meal. These were acts
of gluttony, and we look upon gluttony as a great sin. There is just as
much wrong in feeding too much to those wlio labor for us, who may hap-
pen to possess gluttonous natures, as there is in feeding others too little.
Ever}' laboring man requires a sufliciency of sound, nutritious food to
enable him to perform a fair task of labor. The question is. What is
suflicient ?

372. Rations of Southern Slaves. — Tlie average ration of negro slaves in
our Southern States is 3i lbs. of bacon and a peek of corn-meal per week to
each adult. The meal will weigh 1-ii lbs., making IS lbs. of the strongest
kind of solid food. Then they always eat potatoes, turnips, greens, pindars,
green corn, and other things in their season, enough to make up an average
of three pounds of solid food a day.

As it is the policy of planters to give the slaves all the food that is neces-

Sec. 22.]

THE FOOD QUESTIOy.

353

sary to give them strength, and as it is against the rules of good economy to
give more, wo may safely calculate that three pounds a day is all that a h:-
boring man rec^uires.

373. Soldiers' Rations. — Tlic English are proverbially hearty eatci-s, an.J
the English government have not only studied economy, but the wants of
their healthy, strong men in ti.xing their rations so as to give all that is nec-
essary, and this is found to consist of the following articles. "While the men
arc in barracks, 1 lb. of bread and ^ of a lb. of meat per day. In camp or
actual service, li lbs. of bread and | of a lb. of meat. On foreign service,
1 lb. of bread or f 11). of biscuit and 1 lb. of meat. AVhen billeted for board,
the allowance is 1 lb. of bread, 1\ lb. of meat, 1 lb. of potatoes, and 1 quart
t)f l)eer.

This was mainly followed in the American army until the summer of
iSGl, when in consequence of grumblings among the soldiers about insuffi-
cient food, the rations were increased, and are now as follows :

Rations — Daily — H lbs. of pork or bacon, or li lb. of fresh or salt beef;
22 oz. of bread or flour, or 1 lb. of pilot bread.

Rations to One IIrNDEi;n STen — Daily — Eight quarts of beans, 10 lbs.
of rice or hominy, besides 1 lb. of potatoes three times a week to each man,
01- a substitute therefor ; 10 lbs. of coffee ; 15 lbs. of sugar ; 1 <juarts of
\inegar; IJ lbs. of adamantine candles; 4 Ihs. of soa[) ; 2 quarts of salt,
lilxtra issues of molasses occasionally made.

Rations may bo commuted at forty cents per day when stationed in cities,
or when there is no opportunity of messing, or when in regular camp, at the
cost of the rations.

37-1:. Variety of Food. — Man craves a change of food, that is, a variety of
substances, either one of which would suitaiii life, but would not be satis-
factory. Nature demands the variation, and the mixing together of the
several substances. Why? Sinqily because no one will give all the ele-
ments that go to make up the animal economy. One article furnishes plios-
jiliate lor bones, which another article is destitute of, yet it may contain
matter that will clothe the bone with muscle. Food that contained neither
fat nor sugar would be insutlicient to keep uj) the animal heat. Food that
contained all the elements of bone, muscle, fiber, fat, and heat-producing
qualities, might be so concentrated as to be unwholesome.

A man fed upon petnmican Mould have a disposition to cat straw, husks,
and twigs, or gnaw the bark from frees to get something to distend the
stomach, and enable it to ]ierform its Inunctions healthily. Let this bo
thought of in feeding domestic animals as well as men. It will funiisli au
easy rule for your guidance. Judge them by yourself, and act accortlingly.
You will iind it an easy and sure road tit success. We do not for animals,
quadruped or biped, recommend, a \aiifty of food at the same meal — only
a change from time to time, so as to give variety, and consequently all the
elements necessary to jirodnce growth.

And neither man nor beiuit will readi a high point in the scale of pcrfec-

ta

3-,-t DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

tion who is confined to one single article, or to two or three articles of food.
Look, for example, at the rice-eating nations; also to those uho, like the
Esquimaux, live principally upon the fat of seals and whales; or to savage
:i.'itions, confined to an almost exclusive diet of meat. Each shows a lack
of some quality that we consider essential in civilized man. The coiitint-
moiit of a large portion of a nation of people to a diet of potatoes is rapidly
working a deterioration in the race.

"The profusions of nature tempt the appetite of man. The productions
of all the earth are at his command. But, for tlie control of his appetites,
man is endowed with reason and conscience. The brute is governed in re-
gard both to the quantity and kind of its ibod by an instinct from which
it rarely deviates, unless when domesticated, and consequently corrupted.

" There are three practical laws to be observed in the taking of food. One
regards the time, another the quality, and the third the quantity.

'• An interval of at least live hours should elapse between meals for
adults, unless some extraordinary exertion has exhausted the system, or
!-oinething has interrupted or prevented the reception of a full meal at the
i^tated hour. The stated hours should be regular."

375. Quality of Food Suited to a Farmer's Family.—" As to the quality of
the food, there is no doubt that the more simply it is cooked the more easily
it is digested.

" Chemical analysis should be the guide for the cookery book.

" Ko one would think of eating raw potash, a substance .that dissolves
metals, but we do not hesitate to eat saleratus, which is a modified prepara-
tion of it, and has the same, though a more gradual effect, upon the organic
tissues and the blood. Soda, it is well understood, rots cloth and takes the
skin from the hands when it is put into soap, or even when used to ' break
hard water,' as the washerwomen term it; yet we put it into bread and
cakes. Our stomachs were not made to digest metals, and wlien we powder
them and eat them, we try to cheat nature.

"Spices were undoubtedly made for use in those climates where they
grow, but the natives of those climates use them much more sparingly than
we do. We may reasonably suppose that they are more adapted to the
wants of hot climates than of cold ones, as nature has placed them in the
former, and yet we saturate our food with them, mix them together, destroy
the flavors of each by so doing, and make a stimulus to appetite by a con-
glomeration, which is a most unnatural one, and gradually injures the very
power of digestion. We thus conceal, also, that fine aroma of vegetables
and meats wliich distinguishes one from the other, and deprive ourselves of
the pleasure God designed we should feel in partaking of them. There is
a delicate fruit of the tropics resembling a muskmelon, which grows, how-
ever, not upon a vine, but upon a tree, the taste of which is so finely deli-
cate, that a foreigner can not even perceive it at first; but if he does not
cover it M'itli pepper and salt, as we have seen many foreigners do, to 'give
it a taste,' he will, after partaking of it a few days or weeks (accoi'ding to

Sec. 22.] THE FOOD QUESTIOJr.

tlie simplicity or sophistication of his appetite), appreciate its flavor, which
is that of the most delicate aromatic nut. In our climate we lose tiie flavor
of many vc^etaliles in the same way, by covering iheiii M-ith popper, ami
also by putting them into water IjcIow the boiling-point when we cook them
Ever}' one who is so happy as to live in the country, and can gather vege-
tables daily from his own pardon, knows the difference between them when
gathered thus and properly cooked, and those which have been jiieked and
kept for market even one night.

"■ When substances like rice, corn-starch, and farina are used, which have
very little taste (rice, because it has been so long exposed to the air after it
is gathered, and corn-starch and t^irina, because, from the mode of their
preparation, they lose a great part of the mitritious ingredients of the corn),
a delicate flavoring of spice nniy be used without injury to health.

" Science may at last bring ns to the conclusion, that each climate and
region protluccs those articles of food which it is most healthful to eat in
their respective localities.

"The quality of children's food should differ from that of adults, so far
as that it should consist of more substances containing starch, gum, and
sugar.

"It is not the most costly or most luxurious living that we would advo-
cate, but it is a variety of food. The dilliculty is, that we are tempted
sometimes by a great variety of dishes at one meal to eat too much. This
is no argument against variety of t'ood.

" It is important that we should study to increase earth's products, and
improve their quality, to produce the highest condition of perfection in man.
A man, it is true, may be a glutton, and consume mountains of flesh and rich
dishes, but that is not the point. It is that we all should consume the best
food possible to be produced, and in sutHcient variety to give licalthy
results."

37tj. IIow Food Affects the System.— '• The prevalent idea that soup which
sets into strong jelly is most nutritious, is altogether a mistake. Tlie soup
sets because it contains the gelatin of the sinews, flesh, and bones; it has
been fully proved that no animal can live \\\fim this imagined richness
alone. In fact, such jelly is nnwholesome, for it loads the blood with useless
substances ; hence what arc termed rich soups, being loaded with gelatin,
are not ranked among the articles of wholesome food. Marked results of
the cftccts of cooking upon food may be seen in the contrast between civil-
ized and savage nations. In every nation on earth, those who rule the
masses are invariably better fed tlian the niiv^ses themselves. This is evi-
denced in the power exercised by the beef-eating British over the rice-eating
East Indian nations." It is further evidenced by the condition of the people
of this country, where the masses are better fed than in any other on earth,
and where there are greater numbers of men tit to be rulei-s than in any
other. And this proportion will increase as the laws of hygiene are better
understood, for then, those who control the jireparation of food for those

356 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Cn^p. IV.

masses will lUKk'rstand how cooking affects the raw material of food, so as
to make it M'holcsonie and nutrition-;, or otherwise.

Next to the- knowledge of tlie dilferences in the human constitution and
tile nature of food proper for man, tiie art of cooking so as to make the food
most agreeable to the ]ialate should be studied by every good housekeei)er.
Bear in mind that in preparing food tiireu things are to be united — the pro-
motion of health, the study of economy, and tiie gratification of taste.

Pie-eathuj is an Americanism that we can not approve nor recommend to
the extent it is practiced. Though pie be nearly allied to piety, this does
not save it from condemnation. Pies are eaten for breakfast, for lunch, for
dinner, supper, and many go to bed on pies. " Ob, pies save a great deal
of cooking!" says the frugal housewife, "and are so convenient for the
children to take to school, and then they are not so hungry when they have
pie to cat." Pies are New England's favorite refection ; but that does not
prove them, as a general thing, well adapted to the wants of tke human
system. Pies of every description, as used in almost every New England
farm-house, may safely be classed "unwholesome food." The worst of the
family is the one most prized^the rich, sweet, highly spiced mince-pie. It
is one of the prolific parents of d3'spepsia.

377. Adaptation of Food to Circumstances. — One of the great mistakes of
many families is in not adapting the food to the season, the climate, and
circumstances. A hard-working negro slave may eat fat bacon and corn-
bread in August, and bask in the sun in Mississipi^i. It would not be good
diet for a sedentary white man.

Fruit is an essential article of food for the preservation of health, in
bilious localities. It seems particularly adapted by nature to that end.

A sensible man always adapts his eating to his labor. The following
remarks upon this subject we adopt, because they are pertinent :

" I have been asked sometimes how I could perform so large an amount
of work with apparently so little diminution of strength. I attribute my
power of endurance to a long-formed habit of observing, every day of my
life, the -Bimple laws of health, and none more than the laws of eating. It
ceases any longer to be a matter of self-denial. It is almost like an instinct.
If I have a severe tax on my brain in the morning, I can not eat heartily at
breakfast. If the whole day is to be one of exertion, I eat very little till
the exertion is over. I know that two forces can not be concentrated in
activity at the same time in the body. I know tliat wiien the stomach
works, the brain must rest — and that when the brain works, the stomach must
rest.

" If I am going to be moving about out of doors a good deal, I can give
a fuller swing to my appetite, Mhich is never exceedingly bad. But if I
am engaged actively, and necessarily in mental labor, I can not eat much.
And I have made eating with regularity and with a reference to what I
have to do, a habit so long that it ceases any longer to be a subject of
thought. It almost takes care of itself. I attribute much of my ability to

Sec. 22".]

THE FOOD QUESTION.

357

endure work to good habits of eating, constant attention to the laws of sleep,
physical exercise, and general cheerfulness. ,

"There is one thing more to be said in this connection. It is not a matter
of epicureanism that a man should be dainty concerning t!ie fond he eats.
On the contrary, I hold thixt a civilized man ought to be civilizetl in his
cookeiy. I suppose one of the infallible signs of the inillenniuni will be a
better regulated kitchen — a kitchen that sends out food that will help to
promote health and increase Christianity."

378. Tlie Food and Clolliins: a Man may fonsumc in a Lifptirar.— Alex.
Soyer's " Modern Housewife" gives tlie folbjwing caleidalion as the probable
amount of food that an epicure of seventy years might have consumed.
"Supposing his gastronomic performances to commence at ten years, he will
make 65,700 breaktasts, dinners, and suppers, to say nothing of luncheons
and extra feastings. To sujiidy the epicure's table for sixty years, Soycr cal-
culates he -will require 30 oxen, 200 sheep, 100 calves, 20() himbs, Tiil pigs;
in jioultr}', 1,200 fowls, 300 turkeys, loO geese, 400 ducklings, 203 i)igeons;
1,400 partridges, pheasants, and grouse; 600 woodcocks and snipes; 600
wild ducks, widgeon, anil teal; -i^iO jilovers, ruffs, and reeves; sun rpiails,
ortolans, and dotterels, and a few guillemots'and other foreign birds; also
500 hares and rabbits, 40 deer, 120 Guinea-fowl, 10 peacocks, and' 360 wild-
fowls. In the way of fish, 120 turbot, 140 salmon, 120 cod, 200 trout, 400
mackerel, 300 whitings, 800 soles and sli])S, 400 flounders, 4tH.) red mullet,
200 eels, 150 haddocks, 400 herrings, 5,000 smelts, and some hundred thou-
sand of those delicious, silvery whitebait, besides a few hundred species of
fresh-water lishes. In shell-fish, 20 turtle, 30,000 oysters, 1,500 lobsters or
crabs, 300,000 prawns, shrimps, sardines, and anchovies. In the way of
fruit, about 500 lbs. of grapes, 300 lbs. of pineapples, 600 jicachcs, 1,400
apj-icots, 240 melons, and some hundred thousand i>lums, greou-gages, ap-
ples, pears, and some millions of cherries, strawberries, raspberries, currants,
mulberries, and an abundance of other small fruit, viz., walnuts, chestnuts,
drv figs, and jdums. In vegetables of all kinds, 5,475 lb.s. weiglit, and
about"2,4343 lbs. of butter, 084 lbs. of cheese, 21,0(10 eggs, SOO tongues. Of
bread, 4i tons, half a ton of salt and pepper, near 2 J tons of sugar. His
drink during the same period may be set down as follows: 49 liogsheads of
wine, 13,683 gallons of beer, 584 gallons of spirits, .'i42 gallons of li.jueur,
2,394 J gallons of colfee, cocoa, tea, etc., and 304 gallons of milk, 2,730 gal-
lons of water. This mass of food in sixty years amounts to no K«s than
33J tons weight of meat, farinaceoius food and vegetables, etc., <«ut of wliieii
I have nameil in detail theprobable delicacies that would bo selected by an
epicure tiirough life. But observe that I did not count the first ten years
of his life, at the beginning of which ho lived upon j.np, bread and milk,
etc., also a little meat, the expen.se of which I add to the age from llieii to
twenty, as no one can really bo called an epicure before that nge ; it will
thus make the expenses moro equal as regards the calculation. The follow-
ing is the list of what I consider his daily meals :

358 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

" Bkeakfast. — Three quarters of a pint of coffee, four ounces of bread, oue
ounce of butter, two eggs, or four ounces of meat, or four ounces of fish.

"' Luxcn.— ^wo ounces of broad, two ounces of meat, or poultry, or game,
two ounces of vegetables, and a half pint of l)eer, or a glass of wine.

" DiNNEK. — Half a pint of soup, a quarter of a pound of fish, half a pound
of meat, a quarter of a pound of poultry, a quarter of a pound of savory
dishes or game, two ounces of vegetables, two ounces of bread, two ounces
of pastry or roasts, half an ounce of cheese, a quarter of a pound of fruit, one
pint of wine, one glass of liqueur, one cup of coffee or tea ; at night one glass
of spirits and water."

To this we have added the following calculation of the clothing the same
man may have used. AVc estimate that a full-dr.essed man carries about
lifty yards of cloth upon his body, or at least it has taken so many square
yai'ds of cloth to make the following garments : one under and one over
shirt and drawers, eight yards ; vest, with all its inside and out, four yards ;
coat, overcoat, and cloak, 32 yards ; the handkerchiefs in the coat and cloak
pockets, tM'O yards ; pants, lined, four yards. Then we may add a night-
shirt, four yards, and morning wrapper, lU yards, and we have Gi yards for
a single suit. Allow six of rtiese suits a year — of some garments he will
want more, and some less than six, but take that as an average, and we have
3S-i yards lor the gentleman's wardrobe one year. Multiply that l)y sixty
years, and we have 23,040 yards of cloth, which appears a fair allowance, as
we throw out the ten years of childhood. With these garments ho will Avant
each year two pair of boots, two pair of shoes, two pair of slippers, two pair
of rubbers or overshoes — 480 pairs. "With these he will wear sixty dozen
pairs of stockings and (four hats a year) 2-iO hats. I will say nothing about
the yards of cloth that he will want about his toilet and table, his carpets
and curtains, and his bed, with its daily change of bedding; but you can
imagine it would make a large spread. The great question for considera-
tion, in an agricultural point of view, is this : Could such a consumer of
earth's products produce as much as he consumed, with all industry applied
during life, or would he be dependent upon the labor of others?

370. How Cookiug Changes Food. — We are not going to make a cook-book,
but simply to attract attention to some of the leading scientific principles of
the effect of fire upon articles of food.

Meat, for instance, often loses more than half its substance, which is
wasted and lost in the process of cooking, because the cook did not under-
stand some of the simple elements of the chemistry of cooking, and the
efi'ect of water and heat upon flesh.

K meat is to be boiled for eating, particularly fresh lean beef or mutton,
never soak it in cold water. Have your water boiling over a brisk fire, and
plunge the meat into it, and see that the heat is kept up. If soup is to be
made, then the meat should soak a long time in cold water, because it
extracts the substance that is wanted in the soup, leaving the fibrous portion
of the meat almost worthless. If the meat is to be boiled for eating, plung-

Skc

22.1

THE FOOD QUESTION'.

359

iiig it in hot -water has the same effect tliat is produceil iiixm an egg — the
albumen is coagulated, and remains in the meat, and cooks witli it, and
becomes the mo.st nutritive portion of it. Tlierefore remember it as one of
the most important items of knowledge alxjiit cooking, never to put a piece
of meat into water to boil, unless the water is boiling hot ; and never put a
piece of meat to roast until your fire is very hot; and if it goes into an oven
to bake, see that the oven is hot enough to cook the outride almost instantly.
If you let it simmer slowly, it will ooze out the richest portion of its property ■
for food. "The first effect of applying a strong heat to a piece of fresh
meat, is to cause the fibers to contract, to squeeze out a portion of the juice,
and partially to close the pores so as to prevent the cscai)e of more. Heat
is applied to meat chiefly in three ways — boiling, roasting, and baking.
During these operations, fresh beef and mutton, when moderately fat, lose,
on an average, about as follows :

In boiling. Id baking. In rodullng.

4 lbs. of beef lose 1 ll> 1 11). 3 oz lib Ouz.

4 lbs. of mutton lose 14 oz 1 lb. 4 o» 1 lb. G oz.

The greater loss in baking and roasting arises chiefly from the greater quan-
tity of water evaporated, and of fat which is melted out by either of these
two methods of cooking.

" lu preparing meat for the table, we discover that it is most dcsir-
aljle to retain all the ingredients of its juice ; how this is to be done will
depend much upon the method of culinary jirocedure. If the piece of
meat be introduced into the water when briokly boiling, the albumen at its
surface, and to a certain depth inward, is immediately coagulated, thus
inclosing the mass in a crust or shell, Avhich neither permits its juice to flow
out, nor the external water to penetrate M-ithin, to dissolve, dilute, and
weaken it. The greater part of the sapid constituents of the meat are thus
retained, rendering it juicy and well-flavored. It should be boiled lor oaly
a few minutes, and then kept for some time at a tomj)eraturo from 15S to
1(')3 deirrees. Meat is underdone or bloodv when it has been heated
througliout only to the temperature of coagulating albumen (140 degrees);
it is quite done or cooked when it has been heated through its whole mass
to I.'jS or 1G5 degrees, at which temperature the coloring nnitter of the
blood coagulated. As in boiling, so in baking or roasting; for whether tho
meat be surrounded by water or in an oven, as soon as tho water-proof coat-
ing is formed around it, tho further changes are eft'ected alike in both cases,
by internal vapor or steam. In roasting or baking, therefore, the fire chould
be at first made quite hot, until the surface-pores are conij)Iefely plugged
and the allmminous crust formed. Hence, a beefsteak or mutton-chop is
done quickly over a smart fire, that the lichly-tlavored natural juices may
bo retained."

The above is extracted from a most valuable book — one that no lioii«e-
keeper can afford to do without. It is " Younuuis' Ilaiid-I'.Ki'k of Ilnusehold
Science." It is scieueo in such an attractive form that all may read it with

360 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

]ileasureaud profit. "We shall (Irawupon its val liable store-lioiisc of knowledge
for otlier facts in confirination of what wc iiave to say upon the food question.

3S(i. How the Albumnu of .llrat is l]\tractc<h— Wluii we wish to dissolve
out the albumen, and not the gelatin of meat, for soup or for beef-tea, which
is much used as nutritive food for the sick, the meat should be cut line — the
liner the better — and soaked a few minutes in an equal weight of cold water,
then slowly heated to boiling, and so continued a tew minutes more, and
. \vhcn strained you will have as much weight of pure extract as you had of
meat, and it will aflibrd equal nutriment. It would not do so if boiled for
hours, in a large mass. Hence, meat for soups should be iineh- divided.
The effect of long boiling of meat for souji is to thicken the soup, and nniko
it apparently richer; but it is so only apparently. The albumen is extracted
by cold water. It is cooked in the water in as short a time as an egg would
cook. The substance extracted by long boiling, making the soup ajipcar
thick when cold, is gelatin. Still further boiling would make glue, which
would harden by drying, like the glue of commerce. It is not considered a
nutritious kind of tbod.

381. French Experini?nts wilh Gciatinoms Food.—" The French attempted
to feed the inmates of their hospitals on gelatinous extract of bones ; mur-
murs arose, and a commission was appointed, with Magendie at its head, to
investigate the matter, the conclusion of which was, that giving gelatin to
the poor was just ecpiivalent to giving them nothing at all. The use of
gelatin as a nutritive or invigoi-ating substance niay be regarded as given
up. The utmost claim now put forth for it is that, mixed with other food, it
makes it go further ; but at the same time we must be careful not to use it
to excess, as it is apt not only to weaken the individual by its insufficiency
as an article of diet, but causes also diarrhea, whether by acting as a foreign
body, or by some spontaneous decomposition. Ilcnco the unwholcsnmoness,
to healthy stomachs, of dishes containing a great quantity of gelatin, such
as mock-turtle soup, calves'-foot jelly, etc."

The healthiness of any kind of strong meat soup is not a matter of doubt
in the minds of those who have given the subject a thought. It may be
taken in small quantities at the beginning of a meal, when it will be imme-
diately followed with fibrous food; but the appetite never should be sat-
isfied upon soup alone, unless it is soujy-maigre, or soup made almost entirely
of vegetables.

3S2. Relative Values of Food for giving Warmth or making FJesh. — The fol-
lowing table shows Liel)ig's estimate of the proportion of warmth-giving
substances to the flesh-producing substances in various articles. Basing the
flesh-producing power at 10, each of the following articles gives the propor-
tion of warmth-producing power set opposite.

Rye flour 57

Bariey ttl

Human milk 40

Cows milk 30

Lentils 21

Horse beans 22

Teas 2:!

Fat mutton 27

Fat pork 30

Beef 17

Hare 2

Veal 1

Wheat (lour 4fl

Oatmeal 50

White potatoes 86

Black potatoes 1 1 -5

Rice 125

Buckwheat ISO

Skc. 22.]

THE FOOD QUESTION.

3G1

This table gives a. sufficient explanation of the reason why buckwheat is
always used as winter food. Hic reason is still more ajjparent wljon wo
know that butter and syrup, which are catou with buckwheat cake.-:, ure
also producers of heat. It shows that veal is a very fit food for children
and very unfit for aged people. In cold climates, particularly, where men
are much in the open air, they instinctively crave fat meat. At the tropics,
instinct teaches man to consume an abundance of fruits and vegetables. In
temperate regions, where we may indulge with impunity in a variety of
food, instinct is not so strong, or at least does not point out so unerringly
what we should eat, and therefore the question should be more fully dis-
cussed ; for among all the arts of civilized life there arc none in whicii all
arc more interested tlian the preparation of our daily food.

3S3. Changes prodticed in fookins Vfsctablcs, — Many vegetables, for in-
stance the potato, in a raw state, are wholly unfit for food. Every lionsc-
keeper knows that cooking renders them ])alatable and wholesome, but every
one docs not know how they are affected by heat, nor why one mode of
cooking makes them acceptalile to the taste, while they may be nearly
spoiled by a different application of heat. Hence it is not always applied
in the right manner to produce the best effect.

It is often said of potatoes, "they were spoiled in the cooking." Look at
the reason. A pound of potatoes contains on an average about three quar-
ters of a i>ound of water and two \o two and a half ounces of starch. It also
contains about one fourth as much sugar and gum as it does starch, and
about one sixth as much woody fiber.

If a good, sound potato is plunged whole into boiling water and kept boil-
ing until softened throughout to such a degree that it could be readily mashed,
the starch-grains burst and alisorl) the water, so that the mass apjiears more
like meal than like starch boiled in water, and is then in a condition to af-
ford its nutritious properties readily to the system. If potatoes are naturally
bad, cooking will not make thcin good, but bad cooking will make the best
potatoes quite unfit for human food. If they are put into cold water and
simmered slowly till soft, they will generally become so waxy that they are
(piite indigestible.

If potatoes are roasted or baked, they should be put into a hot oven
or buried in hot embei-s, and kept hot until taken out, which should bo
as soon as sufficiently cooked— otherwise a new change takes place, the wa-
ter begins to evaporate, and the outside burns, while the interior soon bo-
comes worthless.

In frying potatoes, the starch and fibrin arc often turned to cliareonl,
which is just as nutritious and digestible as charcoal made of wood. As it
is with potatoes, so it is with many other vegetables— they may be siK)iled
by im])roper cooking. As a general rule, i>ut all into boiling water and
keep it lioiling briskly till the articles arc sufficiently cooked. Never at-
tcmjjt to cook green vegetables in what is termed hanl water ; it will somo-
times render green peas wholly unfit for food. Tlio difficulty is often rem-

3G2

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

cdied by putting a little luinii of potash, sulcriitus, or soda in the Avatcr. If
too much is used, it causes the vci;;ct:il)Ies to fall to pieces.

SS4. Reasons Tor Improved Cookery. — Erasmus says: " Bad fcudin^:: makes
tlio vulgar seditious and quarrelsome." Perhaps this will account for the
([uarrclsunio cliaracter of some families. We seriously think every young
Woman should have some knowledge of cooking. Ignorance iipon this
subject ought to be a reproach. Yew nations have the wealth of material
for fine cookery that we possess. Fisli, flesh, an<l fowl are abundant ; fruits
and vegetables unsurpa.ssablc, and can 1)0 raised without great labor or ex-
pense, and it is owing to our own culpal)le carelessness in all that pertains
to health that we are not tJio healthiest, best fed, and best trained people in
tlic world. Yet Americans generally undervalue preparations for eating.
Disdaining gluttony, despising pampering to fancies, they run into tlie oji-
posite extreme of neglecting that which is of real value to their bodies. This
inattention proceeds not from inability to comprehend the science of cook-
cry, nor real dislike to good things, for their appreciative power of such is
on a par with that of other nations ; but tliey grow up with tlie idea that it
is unbecoming to be dainty, and lieneatli their dignity and independence of
cluiractcr to think too much of their stomachs. American mothers too
seldom instruct their daughters in the culinary art.

In early times necessities were stronger tlian comforts ; kitchens were un-
furnished with conveniences; cooking utensils were clumsy and scarce;
pots and kettles did double duty ; iron skillets were used instead of sauce-
pans. This is •not and need not be the case now. Every farm-house siionld
have all the modern improvements for cooking, and then as a general tiling
our cooking should be better; and as necessities are no longer stronger tlian
comforts, the reason that we lack the comforts is because our young Ameri-
can housekeepers lack the knowledge, and, for a certainty, their Irish cooks
do not possess much of the science of the useful art of cookery.

Every beginner thinks it an easy thing to learn, and, without any knowl-
edge of the necessary rudiments, expects U) blunder into some sort of pro-
ficiency, so that in time the mistakes come to be regarded as the rule, and
tliey abide by their own experience, rather than accept of rules that science
teaches.

Another, and perhaps to most people the most important reason for im-
proved cookery is, the economy of food. " What shall we eat ?" and " How
shall it be cooked ?" should be made a part of the household economy of
every family, particularly every one who purchases food by tlie wages of
daily labor. This question is not an idle one, and oidy interesting to those
who live in cicics. It is equally so to those who furnish the city witli
food. Let us glance at the prices which the consumers in the city have
to pay.

Of late years, the price of butchers' meats in New York, at retail, have
been frequently at the following rates :

For roasting pieces of beef and beef-steaks, the nominal price per pound

Sec. 22.]

THE FOOD QUESTION.

363

is from IS to 25 ccuts, while tlie lual price, owing to the clieating in weight,
is often 25 per cent, higher. A piece only iit for soup is charged at about
12 or 15 cents, and a shin-hone, with very little meat, rates at 10 cents a
pound. Plates, navels, necks, bri>kets, and rounds are rarely sold fresh,
and one of the strongest reasons given by butchere for selling the |>ortions
universally called for at such high prices is, that they can not retail the
coarser parts at any price, e.\cept the sniall j)ortion taken as corned beef, and
for this the price is sometimes from 12 to IS cents a pound. A leg or loin
of mutton is sold at IG to 20 cents a pound, and all the coarser jiarts at 12
to IG cents, and some of tliem are coarse and j)Oor enough. A'eal that is fit
to eat, is .'■old at about the same price ])er pound as nnitton. Lamb is fifty
per cent, higlier. Fresh pork — miserably poor, too — sells at 12 to 15 cents.
Salt pork and smoked bacon sell for 15 to IS cents, and smoked beef the
same.

When the greatest meat-eating people in the world pay such prices, it
would be reasonable to expect that the}- would be willing to learn and
practice improved cookery. "We are sorry to say that they do not. A school
that teaches the art is rare. It should, as a universal rule, be tauglit in all
schools. In many families, Mith all the economy of the best housekeeping,
it ccrtainlv is a question of serious import as to what we sliall eat, that will
alTord sutlicient nourishment and variety of food for healtli, and siill enable
those whose income is limited to keep expenses below that limit. In such
families it is important that they should learn how to cook butchei-s' meat
more economically than it is generally in America. In some measure ad-
vantage can be taken, though it seldom is, in buying fresh meat. The
price l)y the piece or by the quarter, of beef and mutton, often varies fifiy
per cent., and a fore-quarter always sells the lowest ; yet, to the consumer,
it is absolutely the most valuable.

The truest economy is to eat less expensive meat and more vegetables,
and learn how to conq>ound them as tiie Frencli do, so as to make whole-
some, nutritious, economical food l>y improved cookery.

385. Water for Cooking.— One reason why we have treated so largely upon
cisterns (see 333, 334), and why we made one for family use while we had
a never-failing well of water, is because rain-water is the best of all for
culinary i>urposes. AVhat is termed hard-water is unfit for cooking some
kinds of vegetables, and is never good for tea. AVe have already stated that
water is sometimes so hard tiial green j)eas could not be cooked sot't in it.
On the other hand, care must be taken in the use of rain-water, or the lender
vcetables will be broken down by a little over-boiling. In such water
always be careful to thmw as mucli salt as will serve to season the vege-
tables for the palate. Unions lose nearly all their peculiar Ihivur when boiled
in soft water without salt. This matter of suitable water for the kitchen
has quite as much importaiuc to llu" cook as it has to the laumlress.

3SG. A New looking Vessel Uautfd.— A writer in the S<-i\ittiji<: Anu-rican
suo'wests an improvement in cooking vessels that we liope will 1k3 at onco

36i

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

acted upon. It is to coat the inside with silver or platinum, which could lie
done I)y the galvanic I)attery, so that the expense would not be too gvcat for
ordinary use in the Iiouses of those who are aljle lo live in a way suited to a
high order of civilization. This would be a particularly desirable improve-
ment in kettles for Iicating water for tea. So it would for such cookery
as requires porcelain-lined kettles. From the greatly increased supply of
bilver IVoin Washoe, Arizona, and other silver mines, we may yet be able
t(i improve our domestic utensils. Iron, cojiper, brass, zinc, are all objec-
tionable for many purposes, and porcelain lining is soon destroyed by care-
less cooks.

387. Flonr — How to Select Goodi — Farmers of all the Eastern States buy
flour, and some of them are not ver\' good judges of wliat they buy. There
are a few plain rules to observe in buying flour by which you can tell its
([uality, and select that which is good. Tiio best flour is not snowy wliite,
liut has a yellowisli tint when a handful is squeezed together and then
broken open. Lay a little in tlie palm of your hand and smooth it; with a
knife or your finger, and see that it is free from s]iceks, and of even finencs^,
but not an inqialpable powder. To prove this, tlirow a little lump against a
perpendicular board or smooth wall, upon which the most of it, if good,
should stick. Good flour, squeezed in the hand, will retain its shape. If
you wet a little in your hand, see that it does not work soft and sticky, or
you may get spring-wheat instead of winter-wheat flour. Flour that works
sticky is not good. If it has a bluish tint it is not good. _If it falls in dry
]iowder when thrown, or if it falls apart, dry and powdery, when squeezed,
it is not good. We commend to all families who buy flonr the trial of these
tests Avith the flour now on hand, the quality of which is known.

3SS. Adulterations of Toodi — The first object of a housekeeper should be
to procure unadulterated articles. This is very diflicult for city people to
do, owing to the adulteration of almost every article of food prepared for
sale. But this is not the case with most of the food used by farmers, because
it is made of home products.

Many of the adulterations of such articles as are usually purchased may
be detected by simple tests. The microscope reveals the adulterations of
flour, sugar, farina, arrow-root, starch, salt, etc.

Bread, that most important article of food, is always more healthful in a
farmer's family, because it is free from adulterations, or at least much more
free than liaker's bread.

3S9. How Eating Aflfccts the Health.— To meet 'at the breakfast-table, father,
mother, children, all well, ought to l^e a happiness to any heart ; it should
be a source of humble gratitude, and should wake up the warmest feelings
of our nature. Make it a rule never to come to the table in a churlish mood.
Let joy pervade your meals.

"The tables of the rich and the nobles of England are centers of mirth,
wit, and Iion/iomic; and they live long. It takes hours to get through a
repast. The negroes of a well-to-do family in Kentucky, wliile at their

Sec. 22.

THE FOOD QUESTIOX.

aC3

incals, abandon themselves to jabber and niirtli, and they enjoy life. At tho
i'ainily-table all should meet to make a common interchange of high-bred
courtesies ; of warm afl'ections ; of cheering mirthfulness, and that generosity
of nature which lifts us above the brutes which j>erish ; fur such tilings pro-
mote good digestion, health, and long life. Children in good healtli, if left
to themselves at the table, become, after a few mouthful.s, garrulous and
noisy ; but if within bounds at all reasonable or bearable, it is better to let
them alone; they cat less, because they do not eat so rapidly as if compelled
to keep silent, while the very exhilaration of sjiirits quickens the circulation
of the vital fluids, and energizes digestion and assimilation."

Let this excellent advice of JlaWs Journal of Hcaltk be followed univer-
sally, and we shall hear less aliout dys|)epsia.

390. Early Breakfast— its Effect ou Health.—'- Breakfast should be eaten
lieforo leaving the house in tho morning for exercise or any description of
labor. Thoic who practice this will be able to perform more work, and with
greater coiufort and alacritj-, than those who work an hour or two before
breakfast. Besides this, the average duration of tlie lite of those who take
breakfast before exercise or work will be a number of yeare greater than
those who do otherwise.

" If early breakfast were taken in regions where chill and fever and fever
and ague prevail, and if in addition a brisk lire were kindled in the t'amily
room for the hours including sunset and sunrise, these troublesome maladies
^vould diminish in any one year, not ten-fold, but a thousand-fold ; because
miasm is more solid, more concentrated, and hence nrore malignant about
sunrise and sunset than at any other hour of the twenty-four."

This, and much more said upon the same subject by Dr. Hall, agrees fully
with our long experience in a miasnuitic regiun of the West. The most in-
dustrious people who come from Kew England, where they had always
been accustomed to early rising and working before breakfast, were tho
ones most liable to attacks in autumn of bilious fever and ague. Let us
therefore urge gwcv^ resident in such a region, never to go to work, nor
"o much out of doors before breakfasting, and let no expense or trouble
about the work deter you from having your dwellings purilied by lire. In
some parts of South Carolina men have lost their lives from a single night's
exposure to miasm, without lire. Hence, whenever persons arc compelled
to speiul a night in such a situation, their first care is to build a largo fire
and, without sleeping, keep near it, even in the smoke, and thus they eseaj>e
the danger of the poisonous ^il.uiospherc.

3G6

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

SECTION XXIIL-TRE RRE.\D QFESTION-VAniETIES AND QUALITY OF
IMtEAD, AND HOW IT IS MAUE-YEAST, AND HO^V TO MAKE IT FUli
FAJIILY USE.

UCn is tlie importance of the subject in relation
to tlio liealtliiness of food, tliat bread should be of
the very best quality, we have devoted a section
j^ N especially to its consideration. In this country it is
the general custom to make bread in families, and as our
domestics are not scientific, it is in man}- cases absolutely
necessary that they should not be left to the temptation
of using the readiest means for making bread acce])table,
by putting in the convenient saleratus or soda, which, like
charity, in that particular, covers a multitude of sins. If the
dough has been put together over-night, it may have gone
on to the stage of acetous fermentation, and a little sale-
ratus (more than is necessary to sweeten it is often put in)
will conceal the foct, and make all appear right. It will
also save the trouble of kneading well. Let the mistress, then, if she do
not actually mix the bread, overlook the process; and it would be a good
custom if all the ladies in a family would take their turn at hread-making,
and thus insure its good qualities by efficient kneading. It can not be
kneaded too much. But of that hereafter, and in all that pertains to the
subject, we hope to give some useful information to all who are not already'
good bread-makers. Not only in bread, but in every article consumed
upon the farmer's table, we beg of him and the mistress of the family
never to lose sight of the importance of quality. The proper consideration
of this question will save many a doctor's bill, as well as the misery
attendant upon sickness.

There is nothing that the good housekeeper so much desires about her
cooking as to have good bread, and as all have not had the advantages of
the daughters mentioned in the following extract of a letter to the author,
we shall give as much information as we can crowd into a brief space upon
this subject.

391. Good Wheaten Bread, and How fo Make it, — The letter alluded to is
irom a sensible, practical woman, who says:

" I have been a housekeeper thirty years, and I have reared a family of
six daughters, and we have always made our own bread, and it is a very rare
thing for us to make poor bread.

"Now, the first thing I strive to teach my girls is cooking, and making
bread is one of the first items of cookery. I know that good bread can be
made by the different kinds of yeast, but the recipe that is the most simple
is the best.

Sec. 23.] THE BREAD QUESTION". 367

" Here is my way of tnakiiig good bread : Take one pint of warm water,
one tciispooiit'ul of salt, i)ut it in a disli sufliciently large to admit of Btirring
in flour until it is a thick batter, and keep it warm, quite warm, and in five
hours it will rise or become fit for use. If it does not rise eulliciently, dis-
solve a piece of common soda as large as two kernels of corn and stir into
the batter.

'• You can make three common-sized loaves of bread with this yeast,
which will 1)0 nice and tender. The soda is only necessary when the flour
is of an inferior quality."

Tlie following directions for making bread we give in the Janguage of
another good housekeeper. She says :

'•To have good, wholesome bread, it is absolutely necessary to pay atten-
tion to the making of it, and to believe that making bread, like learning to
read, does not come by nature; that it is indis])ensable to learn every little
f;;ct connected with the fermenling or raising of the dough ; absolutely nec-
essary to understand the difference between vinous and acetous fermentation,
and when an alkali, such as salcratus or bicarbonate of soda, is required.

'•Of course, good flour is the first requisite. The liner the flour the
greater the labor in kneading it ; and the finest flour does not always make
the sweetest and healthiest bread, yet the best flour is the cheapest ; though
I must confers I can not advise about using inferior flour, for I have never
had any.

" The next important thing is the yeast, and I give the preference to tha
made of potatoes. I have tried brewer's yeast, baker's yeast, yeast cakes, hop
yeast; leaven, which is a bit of sourdough, and needs saleratus to make the
bread sweet ; in fact, all the various kinds of yeast, and after over two years
of constant use, I am content with j)otato yeast.

"The rule of making it is this: Take ten potatoes of nearly equal size —
wash and boil them ; when cooked, peel and mash them perfectly smooth ;
pour on to this a quart of boiling-hot water ; stir in a cofl'ee-cup of good.jniro
sugar, and after standing a few minutes, pour in a ijuart of boiling water
wanting a gill ; when lukewarm, add a pint of yeast to raise it, put it in a
tightly-covered vessel to ferment, and set it away in a moderately warm
jiluce until sufliciently risen, which may be known by the potato appearing
upun the top of the liquid, and light, loamy spots bursting up through it.
The temperature of the place where this is set to rise or work should bo
from (is to 7-lr degrees; too iinich heat is as bad as toi> nnich cold. When
this is risen, put it into a stone jug aiul cork it ; tie in the cork and keep it
in a cool place. A gill and a liulf, or common-sized teacuptul, is euHieieiit
to raise dough for two large loaves of bread. The source of the sourness
which supervenes in bread, under careless or unskillt'nl hands, was formerly
ascribed to each of nil the constituents of flour; to its gluten, which is 10
j'arts; its starch, which is 70 ]>arts; and its sugar, 4 parts; the other l(i
j.aits are water — but erroneously, for it is merely the result of the second
fermentation, which always succeeds the vinous when i»ushed improperly

3(58 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

too far. There are extremely simple and eflectual methods for enabling tlie
baker to adopt measures cither to prevent or correct the evil of acescence,
and these are to neutralize the acid by the use of an alkali, such as soda, or
an alkaline earth, such as magnesia or chalk.

" If proper care be taken of the yeast, there is no danger of having sour
dough ; and if the yeast be removed to a lower temperature after the signs
pointed out, the acetic fermentation never sets in.

"To make bread I set a s])onge over-night. To a half pint of lukewarm
water, put in a giU and a half of yeast and a pint of Hour (after measuring,
sift the flour), and stir this all well together, strew a little flour over the top,
and cover the dish and put it in the same temperature that the yeast M-as
in. In the morning, warm half a tea-cup of milk (if water is used, add half
a tablespoonful of butte{'), add two tablespoonfuls of lime-water after it is
warm, and stir tliis into tlie sponge ; have ready a pint and a half of flour,
and knead tin's with half a teaspoonful of salt into the sponge. Divide tliis
into two portions, and put each into a buttered pan to rise, and wlien the
dough rises to the top and bursts into little cracks, it is ready to l)ake.
Tiiese loaves will bake in a common stove or range-oven, heated with coal,
in thirty or thirty-five minutes. The advantages of lime-water are these:
The dough requires less kneading, the loaves bake in less time, and the
bread keeps soft and moist longer, and is less liable to mold, and it is healtliy
bread. After the bread is baked, it phould be turned upside down from the
pans upon a folded cloth, and left there until cool. Then it may be jnit into
a covered tin. By following tiiis plan, I never lose any bi-cad from mold. In
cool weather, the pans containing the dough should be placed over a vessel
containing hot water, or each pan over a l)owl or pitcher with hot water in
it, and covered with a cloth. These loaves are generally ready to bake in
two or two and a half hours.

"To make biscuit, I warm a tablf spoonful of butter in half a teacupful cf
milk, and stir it hot on a quart of flour, let it stand and- cool, and when
lukewarm add a gill of yeast, a spoonful of lime-water, and a little salt, and
lukewarm water to knead the whole into a smooth lump of dough ; sprinkle
a l,ittle flour into the bottom of the dish, lay in the dough, cover it, and
when risen (which may be known by the dough's cracking and its spongy
look when cut with a knife), divide the dough into equal portions and put
in pans, and let them stand twenty minutes before putting to bake.

"I never use tin or metal -ware of any kind to mix bread in. I prefer a
wooden bowl and spoon, because they can always Ijc kept clean and sweet.
A still better thing is a yellow nappy, as it can be dipped into hot water be-
fore setting the dough in it.

'■ As to the use of saleratus and soda, it is only tolerated l)y the grossest
ignorance. It is the received impression that an alkali makes the bread
tender, and it is indiscriminately used, and hence so much yellow-looking
bread. These alkalies arc only of service when an acid is to be neutralized,
and then they should be used very sparingly. It is very difiicult to enlighten

St:o. 23.]

TUE BREAD QUESTION.

309'

an ignorant cook, wliose obstinacy is in jtroportiotnto liur ignorance, and
■whose threat of leaving if not left undisturbed in her kitchen, frightens her
timid, delicate mistress into silence and absence. How few mistresses there
arc who are able to contend with these kitchen autocrats, or are competent
to prove their ability to execute what they have undertaken to teach.

"If an old housekeeper reads what has been written, she will cry out:
* La, what a fuss about bread-making, which any ninny can do !' And if
she has a batch of good bread unco in a fortnight, and that by good luck,
as she would call it, she thinks she knows all about it, and disdains to give
attention to such a trifling matter. Yet, if you ask her why her bread was
not invariably good, she can not explain otherwise than that the leaven wiw
overworked, the yeast not good, the water loo hot, or the flour was bad.
]S'o wonder this question continues to agitate the world, since the work! is
daily doomed to dough and Inirnt crusts. Good bread is the exception and
not the rule in more than half the families of the world."

For this reason wc think that some further rulea for bread-making, which
come from those who always have good bread, will be acceptable. The
lirst is from Waldo, Ohio. The writer says :

"I soak about a pint of dry hops two or three liours, or until the water
foams, by which time I have boiled seven medium-sized potatoes, which I
then mash, boiling liot, with a saucerful of flour, leaving the skins on ; then
add a quart of cold water, little at a time, nuishing and mixing thorouglily
after each addition of water. When lukewarm, I stir in the hop-yeast, and
let it stand until morning ; then I run it through a cullender, with two
quarts of lukewarm water, which I add part at a time, that tiie feniifiit
may be rinsed from the potato-skins. Tlien add two rounding tablesjioon-
fuls of salt, and then flour until it can only be stirred witii difficulty. Then
I set It over a kettle of warm water in winter, or in a cudI i>hice in summer,
until it is very light, when I mi.t it ami knead it thoroughly until it will
not adhere to the tabic or brcad-l)Owl. When very liglit. knead into loaves
and put it in the pans, this time kneading as little and handling as ligiitly
as possible. When it is again light, I ])ut it in a hot oven, bake an hour,
taking care by watching not to let it burn. When done, rub the crust with
a little lard, and wrap up till cold. If the yeast sours, add soda to correct
acidity."

Another woman, Lynda Lull, of Clevit, Eaton County, Mich., gives her
method, as follows :

"Pare and slice four common-sized potatoes, and boil them in one ipiart
of water. When done, pour the water off into a ba*in, nuisii the potatoes
and put them in the water, and when about milk-warm add one teneupfiil
of good hop-yeast; stir in flour enough to' make a thick batter, an<l h-t it
stand about two hours in a warm place. Then i)Ut flour enough in your
bread-bowl to make three loaves of bread ; add three pint* of wann wafer
to the yeast, and stir it in the flour, and set in a warm dIuco till it has
sponged nicely; then mold, and bake one hour.''

370 DOMESTIC ECOXOMY. [Chap. IV.

Tlie two following a/e from the Granite State Health Institute :

" Indian Skow-Cake. — "With one quart of meal mix two tablcspooiifuls of
fine dry sugar and one teaspoonfnl of salt. Stir into this quickly two
quarts of light, clean snow. When it is well mixed, put it in a deej) cake-
dish, sprinkle a little snow over the top, and bake half an hour iu a hot
oven.

" Potato Eoll. — Boil one dozen mealy potatoes, nicely peeled, covered
closely in just water enough to cook them. As soon as they are tender,
drain off the water if any remain, and leave them over the fire a few min-
utes uncovered. This is the best manner of cooking potatoes for the table,
also. Mash them fine with one cup of sweet cream or new milk ; rub them
through a cullender into a quart of flour; then add half a tea-cup of fresh
yeast, and sufficient sweet milk to make a stiff dough ; keep it in a warm
place until light; mold into rolls, and let it stand fifteen minutes; bake in a
quick oven for half an hour."

We give another practical rule for potato bread: "The evening be-
fore you wish to bake, take six or eight potatoes, more or less, medium
size, pare, boil in water till done ; mash very fine, then put back into the
water they were boiled in, and, when they come to a boil, have ready a pan ;
I prefer earthen, as that keeps warm longer, with, say, a pint of flour ; pour
on the scalding potatoes and water, beat well, cool with water, if thicker
than buckwiieat-cake batter; add, when a little more than milk-warm, half
a i)int or less of your bottled yeast, stir well, cover close, and set in a M-arm
place till morning, when the mass will be perfectly light, if all the materials
are good and put rightly together. Then mold out into small loaves, put in
pans, cover, and set aside till they rise again ; be very careful not to let
them over-rise this time, or all your care is thrown away ; have your oven
of a moderate heat, and while baking watch carefully ; the loaves ought to
bake in 40 minutes or an hour, according to the size. When done, tlicy
should be a light brown ; cover them up on a board kept on purpose, and by
evening you will have bread that is rich and wholesome."

Another direction, from an old housekeeper, says: "Take two handfuls
of bops, three pints of water, six potatoes ; boil all till the potatoes are soft ;
pare them, mash through a cullender, strain the liquid ; then put it in your
preserving kettle, over the fire, with the potatoes added ; also, one cup of
sugar, one table-spoon of salt, one table-spoon of ginger ; then add flour
enough to give it the consistency of paste; let it boil five minutes, stirring it
all the time. Turn out, and when partiall}' cool, add half a pint of good
yeast. Let this stand until fermentation takes place. In the winter I keep the
yeast in a stone pot in the cellar, but in summer I dry it by mixing it with
corn-meal, and spreading it on a table and exposing it to the air (not sun).
ISTow we have good yeast, we will proceed immediately to make good bread.
Wash and jiare two dozen good-sized potatoes ; boil them, with a large
handful of salt, till reduced to a fine pulp ; strain through a cullender, add
three pints of sweet milk, and when sufficiently cool to bear your hand in it,

Sec. 23] THE BREAD QUESTION'. 371

Btir in as muclj flour as will make it into a thick batter; to this sponge add
a coffee-cup of the yeast. I alwaj-s make my sponge at night. In the
morning I add six quarts of sweet milk and three gills of lime-water, and
knead into a stiff douirli.

"Some housekeei)ers use alum, as it makes the hread fairer, but I jirt-t'T
lime-water, as tiiat coagulates the gluten ; and it n-quires less baking, and
retains its moisture longer — and I tliink it much healthier than alum, and
health is the great desideratum. In two or three hours after you knead
your bread, it will be as liglit and porous as a honeycomb; knead it down,
and when it has again risen, mold, and put it into pans. Let it stand till it
rises again, then wash the loaves over with cold water; this prevents the
formation of too hard a crust; bake in a well-heated oven. TVIien baked,
wa.sh again, wraj)ping it up closely in your bread-cloth. "Wrapjiing the
bread up in the steam till cold, prevents it from becoming hard and dry. If
your flour is good, bread made in this waj' will be equal in appearance to
the best bakers' bread, and in point of sweetness and economy, far sujierior.
The quantities I have named make twelve good-sized loaves, and my family
requires such a baking twice a week. For many years this plan has given
me good bread, and I hope others will try it."

.".;»:.'. How (0 make (Jood '' Bakers' Bread. "—To those who would like to
know how to have such bread as tiie city bakers make, we recommend the
following formula of one that we kiuiw makes good bread, and we believe
uses flrst-rate flour, and no deleterious mineral substances:

IjAkers' Yk.\st. — The following is the formula for makinir a tub of veast :
Four pailfuls of hot water, two quarts of malt, half a pound of hops, si.x jiounds
of flour, four quarts of yeast. The hops are boiled about five minutes, and
strained. The flour is nuide into a paste, with hot water, before mixing in
the tub. The mjilt and yeast arc added when the water in the tub is milk-
warm, and stirred briskly. It must stand from 14 to 18 hours before it is in
order to use.

Ferment. — The following is the preparation for mi.xing a barrel of flour:
pjoil one half jieck of potatoes, which arc to be ma-lied, strained, and nnxed
thin in water, with four jiounds of flour and four quarts of yeast, and left to
stand eight hours.

SfrrriNO tue Spokok. — .V ]>ailful of this ferment is poured into the flour
in one end of the bread-trough, and mixed, with an addition of some hot
water, into a soft dough, and left to stand three hours, when more water is
added, and the whole mass mixed into a stiff bread-dough, and left two
hours to rise, when it is ready to make out into loaves for the oven.

Salt Used. — The quantity of salt used in a barrel of flotir is four quarts,
ami no other mineral ingredient is ever added by an lionest baker, ("are
must be taken to u^e jilenty of yeast, but not an excess, and that the dough
is not left to rise too long. A great deal of hard iiuinual labor is required
in kneading dough, to have good bread.

'3[>3. Brown Bread, or *' Bostou Bread."— An old Yankee housewife gives

372 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

113 the following valuable directions for making home-mado or family
Ijreail, sonietinies called —

" Wheat and Indian Bread. — To two quarts of sifted Indian meal add
hot water enough to wet the same ; wlien sufficiently cooled, add one tea-
spoonful or more of salt, half a pint of .yeast, and one half teaeupful of mo-
lasses. Then add wheat llour enough lo make it into loaves (it should be
well kneaded), and when well risen, bake or steam it three or more hours;
if this should get sour while rising, add a teaspoonful of sugar and a little
saleratus dissolved in water.

" Rye and Indian Bread. — Take equal quantities of Indian meal and rye
flour ; scald the meal, and when lukewarm add the flour, with one half
pint of good yeast to four quarts of the mi.xturc, an even tablespoonful
of salt, and half a cup of molasses, kneading the mixture well. This kind
of bread should be softer than wheat flour bread ; all the water added after
scalding the meal should be lukewarm. When it has risen sufiieiently, put
it to bake in a brick oven or stove — the former should be hotter than for flour-
bread ; if in a stove oven, it should be steamed two hours, then baked one
hour or more; when done, it is a dark brown. The best article for baking
this kind of -bread in is brown earthenware — say pans eight or ten inches
in hight, and diameter about the same — grease or butter the pans, put in the
mixture, tiien dip your hand in cold water, and smooth the loaf; after this,
slash the loaf both ways with a knife, quite deep. Some let it rise a little
more before they put it to bake. Many people prefer this bread made
of one third rye flour, instead of one half. AYhen it is diflicult to get
rye, wheat flour will answer as a substitute. It adds very much to
the richness and flavor of this kind of bread to let it remain in the oven
over-night."

Indian oe Yankee Brown Bread. — Another old bread-maker gives the
following information about Yankee brown bread :

" Brown bread, kneaded and made into loaves in the common way of
mixing white bread, dries more quickly than the white. I obviate this dif-
ficulty thus : Take a quantity of meal, sufiicient for as much bread as you
wish to make at once, put it in the mixing-pan with a bowl of rising, and
add sufficient lukewarm water to bring it to the consistency usually required
in making johnny-cake, mixing in the same manner with a spoon, but do
not stir too long, or it will not have that liveliness so desirable in good meal.
It is also a much neater method, as you are not obliged to immerse your
hands in the dough.

"Grease your pans, and fill not quite half full, and set it as usual to rise,
which it will not be long in doing if the temperature is right. Bake one
hour in a slow but steady oven. It injures a large loaf to cut wdiile warm,
though my family are very fond of it in this state, and I generally bake a
loaf in a small pan to be eaten warm.

" I can assure you that bread made in this manner will keep moist for
E3veral days, and even when it does become rather dry, owing to its being

Sec. 23.]

THE BREAD QUESTION.

373

light and porous, it is immediately restored by simply warming the fHccs
slightly in the oven of your stove before eating."

We reproiiuce here, from a useful little book called "IIow to Live,"
which wc wrote a few years since, for those who will try the economy as
well as palatableness of a loaf of wheat and Indian bread, the following
good receipt, long in use by our good mother and grandmotlicr:

'• To two quarts of Indian meal add boiling water enough to wet the same ;
when sufficiently cooled, add one teaspoonful of salt, half a pint of yeast,
one teaspoonful of saleratus, one half tcacnpful of molasses, and flour
enough to form it into a loaf (it should not be kneaded hard); when
light, bake two hours in a well-heated oven. (It should bo baked until
brown.)"

And here is another good receipt from the same book for making rye and
Indian bread, which is both cheap and wholesome :

"Stir and mix most thoroughly two qiuirts of Indian corn meal with a
tablespoonful of salt and a quart of boiling water, or euongii to wet every
grain of meal. AVhen the mush cools to milk-warm, stir in one quart of rye
meal and a teacupful of good yeast, which you will first mix with half a jiint
of warm water, so that the yeast will be more evenly dill'used. With the
rye meal add water enough to make the mass a still' dough, but not as hard
or tough as flour. It must be kneaded with the hands, [lieuu^mher — ry*
nnal is not ri/e four. It is the unliolted product of the whole grain.] Put
the dough in a i>an, and pat it smooth with a wet hand. It will rise enough
to bake in an hour, in a warm place, and should be put in a liot oven, and
remain three hours ; or if during the night, all the better. If white flour
was not fashionable, or if people did not think that brown Ijread has a look
of poverty, we should liave the brown bread upon every table, for it is not
only more economical, it is more nutritious and more healthy, particularly
for children.

" We do not cat oatmeal in this country to any extent, and yet it is the
most nutritious breadstiift' ever used by man.''

304. Potatoes rsp«l in Brratl-Makili^t.— When jiotatoes bear such a ]>riee to
wheat Hour that, when cooked, tliuy are about half the price per j>ound of
the flour, it is good economy to add of potatoes about one fourth the weight
that is used of flour, for a batch of bread. Bread so nuide is jileasanfer to
the taste, and equally nutritious. The i)otatoes should be boileil wiih the
skins on, and then peeled, mashed, and stirred into a pulp with warm water,
anil rubbed through a wire sieve, and then mixed with the flour, and yea.<t
added as for other bread. The bakers of Now York understand the ecouniny
of using potatoes in their bread, Mhenever they ore sold at low prices, llio
small potatoes, which are un.«alable for other i>uruoses, are often sold whole-
sale to bakers, and added to the flour.

The potatoes make the bread moistcr than it would be if composed cn-
tirelv of flour, i-o that for those who sell their loaves by weight, tlio more
water they can be made to contain the greater will be their profits. When

374 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

about one third of the weight is composed of potatoes, it makes tirst-ratc
bread. Mauy persons prefer tlie potato-bread because it is moist, and never
thiuk liow much water tliey are buying at sixpence a pound.

There is another use of potatoes in bread — they make it appear light, not-
witlistanding its specific gravity. Potatoes take on the vinous fermentation
quicker tlian flour, and sometimes tliat j)asses into the acetous state, which
the bakers correct witii bicarbonate of soda, or lime-water, still adding
weight without any addition of nourisliraent. Lime-water is not objection-
able ; it is only so tliat we sliould be induced to buy it at sixpence a pound,
because the baker puts it in his sour flour or potato-bread, to make us think
it is sweet.

Prof. Liebig advises the use of one pint of lime-water to every five
pounds of flour. The lime-water should be prepared by dissolving lime in
water to a point of saturation, and letting it settle and then bottling for
future use. With tliis lime-water, use pure yeast, and you will have light,
healthy bread. "With saleratus, largely used, you will not luivc wliolesome
bread, disguise it as you will. In using lime-water, add it first to the flour,
then add pure water and yeast, and you will have better bread than you can
obtain from any preparation of carbonate of soda or cream of tartar.

"Wheat, divested of all its bran, does not contain enough of all the health-
giving ingredients, particularly of phosphate of lime, to satisfy the demands
of nature. "With such flour, potatoes are beneficial.

Bread should be more thoroughly baked than it is usually, and not eaten
warm from the oven.

Dry bread should never be tlirown away. By soaking and reconverting
it into dougli, it can be again baked into excellent bread. It is of such nui-
terials that the delicious tea-rusks are made. Dry bread also makes most
delicious puddings. Bread of fine flour is too much eaten. "We recommend
farmers to have their wheat ground more coarsely, and only take out a por-
tion of the bran. They may also add corn or rye meal, with advantage to
economy and health. It will be also economical in the country to add
potatoes. It is not always so in the city. And it is not quite honest either
to sell them at the price of superfine flour bread.

For potato biscuit, grate one half dozen potatoes ; add one quart of water ;
one cupful of hop-yeast at night; and in tlie morning, wlien light, add three
teaspoonfuls of sugar, and flour to form a dough. Let it rise; when light
put in tins; let it rise again, and l)ake one half hour.

305. Sprouted Wheat Flour— its Effect on Bread.— Sprouted wheat flour
makes M'hat liousewives call runny dough, and that is apt to make clammy
bread. To remedy this, it has been recommended to add half a gill of
\\hisky to flour enough to make four moderate-sized loaves. But many
object to the use of Mhisky to make bread, and ask if something else Mill
not answer as well. "We tliink it will. "We think if about the same quan-
tity of shortening is added to the flour that is commonly used in making the
old-fashion Yankee light biscuit, that the bread will be light, fine-grained,

Sec. 23.] THE BREAD QUESTION. 375

nnd free from all the difficulties usually jittributed to grown wheat.
The addition of a little butter or lard to any flour will not do any liarni.
Try it.

396. Yeast — Ilow to Make it. — ^Tiic chemists hare proved that yeast is a
plant, as much so as mold or any other fuii^^tis. As we get it fresh from tiio
brewer, yeast appears to bo a yellowi.sh gray or fawn-colored, frothy licjuid.
It soon settles down and appears dead, but is still active. The taste is bit-
ter, and it emits a rather di.sagreeuljle odor. lis effect upon all moist sub-
stances is to cause them to ferment, by a rapid increase of its growth, and a
generation and difl'usion through the mass of carbonic acid gas, which makes
the dough pufFup and assume the condition called light.

The great secret of bread-making is to use just the right quantity of yeast
to produce a light loaf without having any of the flavor or odor of the
yeast imparted to it, as it will if too much is used, or if the action of the
yeast is not arrested at exactly the right time.

We give in No. 397 the most convenient form for preserving yeast ready
for use. If liquid yeast is jiruferred, it can bo made by mixing wheat flour
and water into a paste and letting it stand two or three days in a mod-
erately warm place, when it will begin to emit a disagreeable sour odor,
■which afterward passes off or changes to a vinous odor at the end of six
days. Then if you have the opportunity to get malt from a brewery — and
if not, you can make it by sjirouting barley or Indian corn, which must
then be dried and crushed — you will nuike an infusion of malt and boil it in
water with a handful of hops, and cool it till lukewarm, and add it to the
paste previously thinned into a soft batter with tejiid watiT. This mi.xtiu'c
kei)t in a warm ])laco a few hours, begins to show activity. Fermentation
has commenced, and will work the mass until tliere is a clear liijuid on the
surface, which ])our ofl', and the (ijnKpie liquid at the bitttom is good yeast,
which you may keep as long as you like in winter, and in summer upon ice,
or hermetically sealed in bottles till wanted for use.

A good yeast can be made, when you luivo the seed — tliat is, active yeast
— fiom four pounds of peeled i)otatocs boiled in four (piarts of water and
a large handful of hops in a bag. The potatoes are mashed and tlioroughly
mixed with the water and a little salt, moliu<ses, and flour to make a batter,
to which a couple of spoonfuls of good yeast are added, and this will I'tTment
the whole and make it tit for use as leaven for bread ; it may be kept a long
time in a cool place.

Yeast is sometimes preserved by <lipping clean twigs in it and drying
them and preserving them dry till neiMKd, when they are soaked and tlio
liijiior added to the sponge.

It has also been dried by spreading it with a brush upon a hoard nnd n»-
pcating it as fast as each layer is dried until of considerable thickness, when
it is scaled otf, broken up and bottled, and sealed air-tiglit ; it will then
keep for years.

A yeast-plant has been found in California capable of reproduction to aa

376

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

indelinitc degree when placed in a boftlc with a little sweetened water.
These jilants appear somewhat like small grains of white-hulled corn soaked
iii water, or like the lumps of wheat flour which form in boiling, if not snf-
liciently stirred. A spoonful of this suhstanoe put into a quart of flour
mi.ved ibr a sponge will cause it to ferment, just as an addition of ordinary
yeast would. Tiie difficulty in its use is, that it is rather liable to become
too acid, but it is a pretty good substitute for common yeast in a new coun-
try where bakers and brewers are not convenient.

397. Veast-Cakcs, or Rcady-maiic Vcasl. — Take three ounces of good fresh
hops, three and a half pounds of rye flour, seven pounds of Indian corn
meal, and one gallon of water ; rub the hops so as to separate them ; put
them into boiling water and boil half an hour; strain the liquor through
a fine sieve into an earthen vessel. Wliile hot, put in the rye flour, and
when lukewarm add a pint of yeast. Next day put in the Indian meal,
stirring it well, and the mess will be stiff dough. Knead it thoroughly, and
roll it out to the thickness of about a third of an inch, and cut up in cakes
three inches square, and dry them on a clean board or a tin in the sun.
Turn them every day, let them receive no M'ct, and they will become as hard
as ship biscuit. Store them in a bag or box, perfectly free from damp.
When j'ou bake, take two cakes for three loaves, and put them into a quart
of tepid water M'ith half a pint of flour in a vessel near the fire-place over-
night, where they will dissolve by morning, and then use them in setting
your sponge as you would the yeast of beer. These yeast-cakes may be
kept just as long as you desire.

R^'e flour is better than wheaten, but not absolutely essential. Some use
potatoes, but a lady writes us that she finds the addition of the potatoes of
no benefit and no injury, and for years has used Indian meal only — which,
being simpler, makes the work easier.

To make yeast powder, take one pound of saleratus and two pounds of
cream of tartar, mix them thoroughly together by passing them two or three
times through a sieve. To each quart of flour add two heaping teaspoonfuls
of this yeast oV baking powder ; wet with sweet milk or water, as usual,
and bake at once in a quick oven. The bread should be in small loaves —
biscuit in the same way.

39S. Salerattts-Rising for Brcad> — " In discussing this I aim at the health
stand-point, and leject whatever impairs the nutritive qualities of the flour,
injures its flavor, or discolors it. The excellence of bi-ead and its lightness
depend upon the disengagement of carbonic acid gas during the process of
fermentation, which is the action of yeast upon the saccharine matter of the
flour. Ferment or yeast is an organized matter, and its essentially opera-
tive constituent is a peculiar azotized matter, which, in the wine-vat, is
mixed with some tartar and other salts, and in the beer-tun with gum and
starch. Azote is found in animal bodies, and certain vegetables contain an
azotized principle ; indigo, caperine, gluten, and many others contain an
abundance of azote. All bread-making which dispenses with kneading and

Sec. 23.]

TIIE BREAD QUESTION.

877

true yeast fermentation may be distrusted. The compositions of what may
be termed bread compounds, even if palatable, differ greatly from true,
good bread.

" It is not of what kind of eatable things bread can be made, but liow to
best make good, wholesome bread that is as sweet when a day or two old as
when first made, or better even than when new, that has no taste of yeast,
none of the bitter of hops, nor the disagreeable flavor of allculi, and that will
keep i;ood a week, if nece.ssary.

" The preference should bo given to that yeast that will make the light-
est, sweetest bread, without aid from extraneous substances, that is least
likely to run into the acetous fermentation without infusing the bitter of hops.

" The idea that alkalies make the bread tender is an error, the dough bo-
fore their introduction having run into the mucilaginous or putrefactive fer-
mentation."

I3ut as many do and will continue to use alkalies, we will give some of
the most approved methods.

" For making prepared flour that can be used at leisure, to each quart of
flour add one teaspoonful of saierattis and two of pure cream of tartar, and
wliat salt is required ; mix tliem thoroughly together while dry, and set
aside for use. Flour prcjiared in this way will last three months, for the
reason, the flour keeps the chemicals sejiarate from eacli utlior; it can then
be wet up in the usual way and baked at once. Use this prepared flour for
bread, biscuit, or any kind of sweet cake or pan-cakes, but do not mix the
pan-cakes until you want to use tliem.

" The best method for making bread with sour milk and salcratus is to
add to each pound or quart of flour one heaping tcaspoonful of salcratus and
what salt is re([uircd ; mi.\ them M'ell togetlier ; which is best done by i>as5-
ing it all througii a sieve. Then add as much sour milk as will make
the dougli the usual thickness. Mold it in small loaves, and bake at once.
If the bread should be a little yellow, put in less salcratus next time. For
biscuit, it should be molded quite thin. Very little shortening is rcipiired;
it should be baked in a hot oven; and, if baketl quick, the steam will help
to raise the biscuit."

It is contended by the advocates for this brcail, that " being free fmm all
yeasty particles, it is more digestible and not so likely to create flatulence or
turn acid on weak stomachs as fennented bread ; and when of the finest
quality, it is beneficial t" tlm.-ic who sutler headache, acidity, flatulence,
eructations, a sense of sinking in the pit of the stomach, tlistention, or pains
after ijieals, and to all who are subject to gout or gravel. It is also useful
in many afl'ections of tlie skin.

'•These remarks ap]>ly to both varieties of the bread, but ("specially to tho
brown, which is further invaluable to all who arc liable to constipation
from torpidity of the colon, or Inr^'e intestines — tho common infirmity of
the sedentary — and of tiioso who have been accustomed to oatmeal diet ia
their youth.

378

DOMESTIC ECOXOMT.

[CnAP. IV.

" But the advantages of tlic ])rocess are not limited to matters relating to
health. It is valuable because bread can be prepared by it in the short
space of half an hour, tiius saving much time and labor. It is valual)le, also,
because tlie materials are not perishable, and may be rendered available in
places and at times when yeast and other ferment is not within rcacli — as at
sea, for example, or in country retirements ; and it is still more valuable as
regards economy. The cost of the chemicals is counterbalanced by that of
tlie yeast, salt, and alum, otherwise employed ; but were it not so, tiiey
M'ould form an altogether unimportant item in the price of bread; while by
their use a saving is effected in the flour of not less than 13 per cent. In
the common process much of the saccharine part of the flour is lost bj' being
converted into carbonic acid and spirit, and thus waste is incurred solely for
tlie purpose of getting carbonic acid to raise the dough. By the new method
waste is avoided, and the gas obtained in a manner equally cfiicacious.
And it is a striking instance of the successful application of ciiemical piii-
losophy to the common arts of life, for fermentation destroys a part of the
flour or meal, so that 280 lbs., which make 300 lbs. of bread by fermenta-
tion, give 380 lbs. by the new process."

390. Soda vsi Yeast, and Bread without Yeast. — Without taking any part
in the controversy about the healthiness or unhealthiness of soda bread, we
will give extracts from the opinions of its advocates as follows :

" Soda is a caustic alkali in its uncombined state. It is the base of com-
mon salt. In this form it is daily taken into our stomachs with food, and
also administered regularly to domestic animals by the careful husbandman.
Let \is remember that notwithstanding the chlorid of sodium has been used
from time immemorial by man, and always eagerly sought after by wild
animals, it has also met opposers among ultra hydropathists. It is therefore
not so astonishing that the bicarbonate, which is what is used in cookery
and of recent introduction, should find many opposers.

" Potash is an alkali extracted from wood ashes by percolation, and for
culinary purposes is combined with two equivalents of carbonic acid, and
sold under the name of saleratus. The chemical natures and physiological
effects of the two bicarbonates are so nearly identical that I shall not keep
up the distinction in treating of them, though from the fact that the bicar-
bonate of soda is dryer and more easily reduced to powder, it is preferable.

" To secure the desired effect of bicarbonate of soda, it is necessary to use
it in connection with some acid which, by combining with the alkali, sets
free the carbonic acid, in form of gas, at the time of baking. Sour milk,
which contains lactic acid, is best. The lactic acid, having a stronger aflin-
ity for the soda than the carbonic acid has, combines with it, forzning
lactate of soda, a neutral salt, possessed of no caustic proj^erty whatever;
while the gas, disengaged, fills the bread with minute cells and thus renders
it light and palatable.

" In the absence of sour milk, tartaric acid or cream of tartar should be
used. If tartaric acid is used, tartrate of soda results ; a harmless substance

Sec. 23.]

THE BREAD QUESTION.

379

even ia coiiBiderablo quantities, and by no means unpleasant to take in
warm days in the form of an eflervescing drauglit. If cream of tartar is
used, tlio product is tartrate of soda and potassa, or Roclielle salts, which,
in ounce doses, is known to be one ul' our mildest saline purj^atives.

"A hearty eater will take only a few grains of any of these salts at a
meal, and these readily ])ass oft' through the excretions of the bodv, or enter
upon their physiological offices in the gastric Huids — the bile or blcK>d.

'•These bicarbonatcs, used without an acid, render bread unpalatable; and
this of itself would prevent persons from using them to a liurtful extent.

" Instead of being a cui-se to the world, the introduction of tiie bicarbon-
ate of soda has been a great blessing in banishing lard, in a great measure,
from our biscuit. That the large cpiantity of grease necessary to make good
short biscuit of superfine flour renders bread in a high degree indigestible,
will be universally admitted. Make biscuit according to the following
formula, and you have an article altogether superior in point of digestibility
and flavor to those in which lard is used as the only short^Miing.

" liule 1. Flour, two pounds ; fine Indian meal, a teacupful ; bicarbonate
of soda, a heaping teaspoont'ul. Thoroughly mix these (/ry, and make up
with new buttermilk, or if the milk is very sour, add water sufliciently to
make it aljout like new buttermilk. The soda must be neutralized, and, in
using milk, judgment on this point must be exercised.

" Jiule 2. Flour and meal as above ; rub together dry a teaspoonfnl of
soda and two thirds as much tartaric acid. Mix this dry with the meal and
flour, and make up with water.

" liulc 3. Same as Ko. 2, except use a tcasooonful of cream of tartar in-
stead of the tartaric acid.

"A very small quantity of lard or butter may be used with advantage to
the taste, but it is not essential. These ingredients added to corn bread
make a wonderful improvement on the old-fashioned lioe-cake. That this
biread is healthier than yeast bread tiiero is no doubt.

'■'A healthy stomach, especially in winter, when the system is in a vigor-
ous condition, may take yeast in considerable (piantity and digest the meal
before the process of fernn^ntation has time to take place. But not 6o with
weak stomachs, or healthy ones in the heat of summer, because yeast is the
deposit formed in fermenting liquids, and has the jiroperty, when addeil to
solutions of starch or sugar, even in exceedingly small quantities, of excit-
ing the vinous fermentation in the whole mass, and may, and often does, do
it, in the stomach as well as in bread."

But the sweetest, most nutritious, most wholesome bakers' bread, wo
bolievc, that over was made, is that lirst brought into general use in Xew
York in 1S( 1, by the establishment of a large manufactory lor its prothic-
tion, wl'.icb. used over forty barrels o day, when working in full force. This
bread is called '• unfermented," yet it is aa light as any good home-mado
bread, which it veiy much reseml>les.

Iho following is the process by which it is made light without yeast :

3S0

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV,

"TIic best superfine flour, witli a due proportion of pure water, passes
from tlie bin, through a hiri,'o iron pipe, into a huge, hollow globe of east-
ii-on, lined with tin, in which revolves an iron shaft with polished steel arms,
which mix and knead the dough.

"During this operation pure carbonic acid gas is conveyed from the gas-
ometer into the globe by a powerful force-pump, and is incorporated uni-
formly into the whole mass. Every ingredient is in definite jjroportion, and
the most perfect accuracy is thus insured. By the pressure of the gas the
dough is then forced through a valve into baking-tins, and in an hour and
a half, from flour in the bin, it is beautifully baked bread. Xo hand of man
touches it in the whole process. All is done by the iron hands of machinery
and the power of steam. Ko chemical change whatever occurs in the flour.
All its elements — the starch, the gluten, and sugar — are retained in their
original proportions and jiurity, and the result is the best and sweetest bread
in existence. By the old process a little of the starch is always converted into
dextrine — a specie's of glue — giving the bread a dark color, and sometimes
sodden texture. To remedy this, alum is generally used, and the bread there-
by further vitiated. Perfect cleanliness in the manufacture of bread has
not been possible heretofore. It is by this process.

" Bread made at home has been the purest that could be had, for the ves-
sels were carefully looked after, and the air was generally free from dust
and decomposing particles, but none could tell what impurities contaminated
-he }-east, which, whether it came from baker or brewer, was necessarily
more or less mixed with foreign substances. Home-made bread was the
cleanest we could have, but was not perfectly ])ure ; while with the mo.--t
watchful supervision and most careful cleanliness, bakers' bread, made in
the ordinary way, can not possibly be entirely clean."

Another advantage imfermented bread has over all other bakers' bread, is
its remarkable kee^iing quality. It has been eaten with great satisfaction
when twelve days old.

William Lounsberry, commissary of the 20th Regiment, New York State,
which had been served M-ith this bread while in the city and on the march
to Washington, speaks of it in the following terms :

" The bread has been on our table every day since we left, and is con-
sidered by all a great delicacy. It loses none of its flavor by its age, but,
for me, it really seems to improve.

" It is sweet, light, and very palatable. I consider it, in many respects,
the best bread I ever tasted, in addition to its power of retaining its excel-
lence so long, the virtue which gives it its inestimable value. I wish I could
be the means of informing a nmch larger number than I am able of its in-
estimable merits."

We have spoken of this method of making bread, not because it will help
families to make better bread, but to show what improvements have been
devised to make bread upon a large scale. The process would be a good
one for the army and navy, and in all large towns. It is proper to saj',

Sec. 23.] THE BREAD QUESTION. 381

however, that the bread is not a universal favorite. HaViit so vitiates the
taste, tliat tliere are people wlio love sour liroad, and also bread tliat smells
and tastes rank of yeast. TcJ ns it is not agreeable nor liealthy. This " un-
ferniented bread" is patented by Elishu l-'itzgerald and James Perrv, New
York.

400. 0(hrr Subslitutfs for Yrasj — (hrm'cils ia Bread,— A substitute for
cream of tartar has been discovered by Prof. K. 2\. llorsford, which ho
thinks far preferable to use with soda in bread. lie says of it:

" All tliese considerations led nie to the conviction that, if it were possible
to prepare phosphoric acid in some form of acid phosphate of lime, such
that, after its action with moist carbonate of soda, it would leave phosphate
of soda (a constituent of the blood) and phosjdiatc of lime (an essential con-
stituent of food), and coni'er upon it the necessary (jualitics of a dry, })ulvcr-
ulent acid, the end would be so far attained as to justify a practical experi-
ment in domestic use.

'• I succeeded in producing an article in condition to meet the wants of
the problem. I then introduced it into my family for use in all fonns, as a
substitute for cream of tartar for culinary purposes. "When many Tuonths
of daily use had assured mo that my theoretical views were sustained by
practical application, I gave it into tlie hands of friends, whose prolonged
expericnco fully confirmed my own. It has been in constant nso in my
faniily now for more than four ycare; and in the form of yeast powder,
during tliis time, it has been produced and consumed in all parts of the
country to a very large extent, settling, in the most satisfactory manner, all
questions as to its serviceability and healtlifiduess.

'' The article is prepared according to instructions furnished by myself, as
tlie result of long-continued experiment, and it will be produced of invari-
able purity and strength ccjual to that of cream of tartar."

Of the same purj^ort, and having a direct reference to this case, are the
views of Dr. Sanmel Jackson, professor of the institute of medicine in the
University of Pennsylvania:

" Your substitute for cream of tartar for tlie raising of bread is a decided
improvement. The tartaric acid is not a constituent of the grains from
which dour is made; it is not a nutritive principle, and often disagrees with
tiie alimentary organs. The ])hospliato of lime, which is the principal in-
gredient oi' y(mr preparation, is an essential constituent of all grains. It is
further an important nutritive principle; and recent experimenta have
proved it is an indispensable clement in the formation, not of bones only,
but of all the animal tissues. A deficiency of the jihusphate of lime in food
is a connnon cause of ill-healtli, of defective development, and retarded
irrowth in children. In the conversion of wheat into Hour, the phonpliato
of lime is rejected with the bran; and, in eonsc.pience, this neces!;ary oli-
mcnt of nutrition, contrary to the arrangement of nature, is not obtaine*!
from our tine wheat bread. Your preparation, while it makes a light, swec-t,
and palatable bread, restores to it the plu>sphato of limo which has been

3S2 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

separated from the flour, and tlius adapts it as an aliment for tlie inaintcn-
ance of a liealthy state of tlie organization."

Other chemists and pliysicians of acknowledged high character and stand-
ing liave given similar opinions.

If raising bread by yeast is properly conducted, it is quite unobjection-
able ; but if, as is often the case, fermentation is allowed to proceed too long,
acetic and lactic acids are formed, and some of the complex nitrogenous
substances arise from the decomposition of the plastic bodies of the flour,
and arc incorporated in the lircad.

Yeast bread is never good unless the fermentation is arrested by baking
at just tlie right time. Ordinaril}-, this right time is a period of sliort dura-
tion, and probably not one loaf in one liundred is raised and baked when it
should be. The circumstances wliich modify the time in which the fermenta-
tion may take place are so various, that it may occur in thirty minutes or
twelve hours. The sponge requires constant watching, and this, in the mul-
titudinous duties of tlie kitchen, it is not always possible to secure. Then
salcratus or soda, to sweeten tlie sour sponge, is the resort of the cook ; and
the result is an unpalatable and unwholesome loaf, unworthy the name of
bread, and is really unwholesome food.

A correspondent of the Country Gentleman recommends the following
formula for unfermented bread:

"Take of flour 3 lbs., bicarbonate of soda 9 drachms, hydrochloric acid,
specific gravity 1.16, 11 drachms. About 25 oz. of water will be required
to form the dough. First mi.x the soda and flour as thoroughly as possible ;
Avhich is best done by shaking the soda in fine powder from a sieve over the
flour with one liand, while the flour is stirred with the other, and then
passing the mixture once or more through the sieve. Kext pour the acid
into the water and diffuse it by stirring them ■well together, avoiding the use
of any metallic utensil that the soda might come in contact with. Then
mix the dough and water so prepared as speedily as possible. The dough
should be speedily put into a quick oven. This manner of making bread is
a great improvement, and will prove advantageous, compared with the fer-
menting method, and the quality also will be found vastly superior to the
antique ' leavened bread,' particularly for dyspeptics, as it has this advant-
age, that it never sours on the stomach. By this method bread can be made
in two hours, and it saves both time and labor. The ingredients are simple,
and cost little. Fermentation always destroys more or less of the flour, be-
sides otherwise injuring it for the purposes of assimilation.

" A large proportion of the bread used in some families is scarcely more
than an active form of yeast, which produces in the stomach a new fer-
mentation and a host of disorders. And then we witness, of course, the
blue vapors, which under different aspects are as ruinous to the welfare and
peace of a family as are those of a distillery. If the proportions of acid and
baking soda directed to be used are thought to be too great, they may be
varied at discretion.

Seo. 23.] THE BREAD QUESTION. 383

" In bread-making the only purpose served by fermentation is the genera-
tion of carbonic acid to raise the doiigli, and to effect tliis a quantity of yeast
is mixed with the flour. But the eanic i)urpose is gained by mixing a
quantity of carbonate of soda witii the ll<;ur, with a corresj^onding propor-
tion of hydrocldoric or muriatic acid, and bread so formed is more nutri
tious and economical."

Common salt always should be added, not only because it is palatable,
but because it has a chemical effect upon the flour, so that that of inferior
quality assumes an appearance above the reality. This is proved in what is
called " salt-risiiuj hrcad,'^ wliicli always looks whiter tiian the same fl.uir
made with yeast. Salt also lias the effect to make flour take up and retain
more water in the bread. Alum has the same eft'oct as salt in a stronger
degree, and its use by bakers is dislionest, because it is nmch mure delete-
rious tlian salt to the human stomach.

Sulphate of copper is another deleterious article in bread, but it can only
be used in small quantities, without great danger, and produces the same
results as alum in a still greater degree.

Carbonate of magnesia, used at the rate of 10 to 40 grs. to the i>ound of
flour, produces eft'ects similar to the alum or sulphate of copper, and good
scientiiic authority has ])rouounced it harndess, or at least jiret'erable to soda.
Other authority says its inaptitude to become entirely soluble makes it
highly objectionable.

]*rubably the safest mineral substance that can bo used in bread is lime,
as recommended by Liebig (304).

To prepare this lime-water, mix a quarter of a pound of slaked lime in a
gallon of pure, soft water or filtered rain-water, and cork it tight in bottles.
Tiie water will dissolve 55„th of its weight uf the lime, and the balance will
settle to the bottom, leaving the water transparent, which may be used at
the rate of 5 lbs. to 10 lbs. of flour, and then fresh water may be added to
the lime until all that is soluble is used up. The quantity of lime taken into
the system is so minute that it is believed that it is not only not deleterious,
but ]iositivcly beneficial.

4(il. Prof. Voumaiis' Upiaioii of (hrraicals in Bread.— Speaking of tlic uso
of various chemical substances for yeast. Prof. Youmans says :

"The class of substances thus introduced in the bread are not nutritivt
but mcilici^ial, and exert n disturbing action upon the healthy organism.
And although their occasional and cautious employment may perhaps be
tolerated on the ground of convenience, yet we consider their habitual
use as highly injudicious and unwise. This is the best that can bo said of
the chemical substances used to raise bread, even when pure; but as com
monly obtained, they aro apt to be contaminated wiili impurities more
objectionable still. Tor example, tlio commercial muriatic acid wliicli i4
connnoidy rmploved along witii bicarlionate of soda, is always ipiito impure,
often containing cldorine, chlorid of iron, sulphurous ucid, and even ar-
senic, 80 that the chemist never uses it without a tedious process of puritica-

381 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

tion for bis purposes, which arc of far less iini)ortancc than its cmploj-mcnt
in diet. While common hydrocliloric acid sells for tlirce cents per pound
■wholesale, the purified article is sold for thirty-five. Tartaric acid is apt
to contain lime, and is frequently adulterated with cream of tartar, which is
sold at half the price, and greatly reduces its eilicacy ; while cream of tartar
is variously mixed with alum, chalk, bisulphate of potash, tartrate of lime, and
even sand. Sesquicarbonatc of ammonia is liable by exposure to the air to
lose a portion of its ammonia. It is hence seen that the substances wo
employ arc not only liable to injure by ingredients which they may con-
ceal, but that their irregular composition must often, more or less, defeat the
end for which they are intended. "We may suggest that in the absence of
tests, the best practical defense is to purchase these materials of the drng^
gist rather than the grocer. If soda is desired, call for the bicarbonate of
soda ; it contains a double charge of carbonic acid, and is purest. Soda-
saleratus is only the crude, impure carbonate — soda ash. The cream of tartar
should appear white and pure, and not of a yellowisli tinge. Carbonate of
potash in its crude state appears as pearlash ; in its more jnirified form it is
saleratus. Crude soda is known as sal-soda or soda-saleratus ; refined and
cleared of its chief impurities, it forms carbonate and bicarbonate of soda.
All these compounds have the common alkaline or burning property, which
belongs to free potash and soda, which is lowered or weakened by the car-
bonic acid united with them. The potash compounds are the strongest,
those of soda being of the same nature, but Mxaker. Yet the system, as we
have just seen, recognizes essential ditierenccs between them ; one jxn-taiiis
to the blood and the other to the flesh. According to the theory of tlieir
general use for raising bread, they ought to be neutralized by an acid, mu-
riatic, tartaric, acetic, or lactic, thus losing their peculiar properties and be-
coming salts. These changes do take place to a certain extent, and the sa-
line compounds formed are much less powerful and noxious than the un-
neutralized alkalies ; their effects are moderately laxative. Yet, in the
common use of these substances, as we have stated, the alkali is not all ex-
tinguished ; much of it enters the system in its active form. Pure, strong
potash is a powerful corrosive poison, disorganizing the stomach and dis-
solving its way through its coats quicker, perhaps, than any other poisonous
agent. When the alkalies are taken in small quantities, as when there
is an excess in bread, they disturb healthy digestion in the stomach by neu-
tralizing its necessary acids. They are sometimes found agreeable as jial-
liatives when there is undue acidity of the stomach ; and, on the other
hand, they may be of service in the digestion and absorption of fatty sub-
stances. It is alleged that their continued use tends to reduce the propor-
tion of fibrin in the blood. Cases are stated where families have been poi-
soned by the excessive employment of saleratus."

402. Baking Bread— Heat of the Oven— Quality of FIouFo— Tlie heat of the
oven, besides being equally diffused, should continue regular. The heat is
right when flour sprinkled on the oven-bottom turns brown gradually, and

S'BC. 23.] THE BREAD QUESTION. 385

too hot if the flour chare black directly ; for then it will produce a thick
crust, often burnt, while the interior of the loaf is undenlonc. The crumb
is cooked iit tlie boiling-j)oint — •2\-2 decrees — and might be done in a.stcam-
chauiber as well as an oven, but for iJie crust, which we all love so well that
we arc not willing to dispense with it for any more economical mode of
cooking than the oven.

Tlie heat of the oven swells a well-raised lump of dough to about double
tlio size by the expansion of carbonic acid gas, and by steam arising from
the moisture in the loaf, and by the vaporizing of alcohol, distilled out in
tiio process of baking, to an amount equal to about one quarter of oue per
cent, of the weight of bread. *A well-raised loaf of bread is more than half
cavities. The loss of weight in baking depends ujmn the (puility of the
ilour and size of the loaf. A one-pound li)af will generally require 1 Ih. (i oz.
of dough. A three-pound loaf reipiires 3 lbs. V2 oz of dough. A six-pound
loaf requires 7 lbs. of dough. This shows that it is tlie most economical
to bake large loaves.

If you wish to prevent baking a hard crust, you can do so by rubbing the
loaf, after it is shaped for the oven, witii a little lard, just enough to varnish
the surface. The crust, however, if not burnt, is always eaten with satis-
faction, its agreeable bitter taste being jireferred by many persons.

The crust, which is dry and crisp upon new bread, grows soft, and moist
after a day or two. Some housewives always wrap llieir h>aves in wet cloths
when taken from the oven, to prevent the crust from continuing to get dryer.
There is no need of this, because the moisture of the cruud) soon softens the
crust, and frequently leaves the crumb too dry. When this is the case, re-
turn the stale loaf to the oven in company with a dish tif hot water.

The average quantity of water in well-baked wheaten loaves is about
forty-five per cent. The best flour contains six to ten per cent, of water.
The reason that spring wheat fliMir makes moister bread than winter wheat,
is because it contains more gluten, and that being once thorougidy wet in
mixing the dough, is retentive of the water, even after it has lost its tough,
adiiesivc qualities, in passing from dough into well-bakeil bread crund). A
]iortion of the starch of the dough also p-tains water by being converted by
the baking process into gum. The loaf will retain mucli n>ore tuoisiure,
and conse(juenlly be better breail, if it crusts over immediately ui>on its
being i)laced in the oven, as it is then in a measure impervious to water, and
shuts in all tiiat the interior of the loaf contains.

403. Tin KflfCt of Kncadin;. — Good bread can not be made by merely
inixiniT lloiir and water and veast. The nniss nnist be kneade>l so as to
be sure to bring every grain of flour in contact with its equivalent grain
of water, and so as to difluso the yeast uniformly throughout the miu-^,
or else the resulting gas will be liberated in exci-ss in one spot and not at all
in another. This is seen in hadly-kiicaded loaves in the large holes tiny
contain, and in a crust that easily detaches from the crund>, as though it had
been lifted up by intermd force. The air-cells in a wcll-kne«ided loaf aro

u

3S6

DOMESTIC ECON'OMY.

[CnAP. IV.

fine and uniform tlirongliout the mass, and all will be formed at about the
same time. If tlie flour and yeast are decidedly good, and the kneadiiij^
decidedly bad, the bread will not give satisfaction. On the otlier hand,
pood kneading, good molding, and good baking, will make a second or
liiird-rate ([uality of Hour ]iass almost eiiual to the best.

104. Preparalioiis of Wheat and OUipr Substances for Bread.— There are
many things wliich may be used lo mix with white M'heat flour, or as sub-
stitutes for it. A baker in Paris has tried a successful experiment to reduce
tlie cost of bread by mixing vice flour with that of Avheat. lie puts in one
part of rice to five of wheat flour, and the economy cfi"ected reaches the very
considerable figure of one sou in the two-pound loaf. . The goverimient has
had the bread examined by competent persons, and has authorized the sale
of it at a less rate than fixed by the police. The demand is such that the
baker can not supply it. Xcither the nutriment nor the taste of the bread
would appear to be affected by the presence of the new ingredient.

The greatest advantage of mixing rice flour with wheat flour is to enable
the lo.af to retain more water, and make a moister bread.

Bread made of wheat meal, as is jirovcd by the chemical experiments of
Prof. Johnston, aff'ords much more nutriment than that made from superfine
flour. Tiiese experiments show us that 1,000 lbs. of wheat meal, or the
wheat ground coarsely, and the hulls or bran portion sifted out by using a
common meal-sieve, contain the elements of — Muscular matter, 156 lbs. ;
fat, 28 lbs. ; bone material, 170-354 lbs.

Wiiereas in fine flour are found only of — Muscular matter, 130 lbs.; fat,
20 lbs. ; bone material, 60-210 lbs. Leaving a balance in favor of the
former of 144 lbs. in 1,000 lbs. of the real elements of food convertible by
assimilation into muscular flesh, fat, and bone.

Kow, as bread ranks among the chief, if not as the chief substance de-
signed for the nutrition and support of the human frame, tke above facts
ought to have weight, in a pecuniary poiat of view, as an argument against
the exclusive use of superfine flour.

Unbolted wheat meal for bread is in high favor with many, and we think
every family should use it a portion of the time. In mixing the dough of
this meal, do not make it quite as stiff" as you would white flour, and you
must be careful that it does not sour in rising, as it will do so sooner than
bolted flour. It also requires a hotter oven and longer baking, and the crust
is !nore apt to burn.

Rye flour mixed with wheat flour enables the loaf to hold more water.
The objection to it is its darker color and rye taste.

Indian corn meal is also mixed with wheat flour, for the same purpose as
rye flour, and if pure white corn is used, it does not aff'ect the color of the
loaf, and makes very sweet bread.

Of mixing potatoes we have fully treated (394), and recommend farmers
to grow some of the very white fleshed, dry sorts, for this purpose.

A French process uses ninety per cent, of the wheat making white bread.

Seo. 23.]

THE BREAD QUESTION'.

387

The wlicat is ground into fine wheat flour, seventy-four per cent. ; brown
meal, si.xteen per cent. ; bran, ten per cent. Tlie meal is then mixcJ quite
tliin wiih water and the necessary yeast added, and this is used to nii.x the
Mhite flour into a dougli, whicli is baked as usual when light. The bread
is declared to be greatly improved, being less likely to sour, and is li<dit,
sweet, and nutritions,

405. torn Brcadi — Altliough Indian corn is a more universal crop than
wheat, corn bread is by no means in universal use. The reason is in some
measure to be accounted for in the iidjorn love of fermented bread which
the meal of this grain will not make. The use of " leavened bread"' has
been thought by some to come in part from the early notion that it created
a distinction between Christians and Jews. The former always use leavened
bread — at least the Protestants do, in their sacraments — and the Jews have
their holy "feasts of unleavened bread;" so that eating unleavened bread
as a constant practice has been said to be an unchristian act. It was also
the daily food of the heathen, and in early times, when the first settlers <>(
the country were very poor, corn bread was the only kind ; and tho use
of it now may call up reminiscences of painful poverty. It is also the only
bread of slaves, and it may be looked upon as a badge of 6ervitudi\ At
any i-aTc, tiio poorest classes of tho Northern States make the least use of
com bread. Yet it is the very thiog tiiat tliey should cat, because it is
nutritious, healthful, and economical. In Northern cities, corn meal fur-
nishes scarcely one per cent, of the lircad food, and not one per cent, of that
is made into bread. In the farming regions of the northeastern States pure
corn bread is oidy seen occasionally upon the farmer's table, though bread
made of a mixture of about two jiarts of corn meal and one of rye meal,
familiarly known as " ry'n'-injun," is still extensively used. (See 393.)

A much better mixture is one part rye uieal, two parts corn meal, ami
four parts fine wheat flour. The rye and corn are mixed with yeiL>-t, quite
soft, and set to rise, and after getting very spongy, the wheat flour is worked
in, and tiie mass allowed to get light before it is put to bako.

At the South, corn bread is almost tho only sort ever seen upon the tables
of many families wiio rank upon a par witii the nwiss of Northern fanners.
All cat it there and are content, both master and slave, and those who are
hired, or sit at the table as guests. If a farmer at the North should attenijtt
to feed liis ialiorers exclusively upon corn bread, there would jirohal.iy be a
revolt, jiarticularly if a majority of theuj were Irish, whoso only bread in
their own coimtry was ))otatoes.

Such luliorei-s liave yet to learn that com bread gives more working force
than bread of fine wheaten flour. The latter gives the most brain fiKnl, and
is best for growing children ; but Indian corn, either in the form of bread, or
many of the other forms in which it comes to tho tables of those who know
how to cook it, furnishes the laborer with a greater projiortioii of i>o\ver
than any other grain, and its value should be better known, aud it then
would be more used as an article of food.

3SS

DOMESTIC ECOXOiTT.

[Chap. IV.

Perhaps the reason why the use of corn hread is going out of fashion in
tliis region, Avhicli is in the very center of the great corn belt, may lie found
in the fact that so many lioii.seholds are now served hy cooks wh-o were not
horn in a corn-growing country, and who seem incapable of learning that
corn meal is not fit to eat in a semi-raw state. If they nudce it into mu^li,
they only scald it. If they mix it into bread, they insist upon its being done
as soon as it is heated through. Learn, then, that corn meal can not be
cooked too much — it seldom is enough. The best corn bread we ever ate
was from meal well kneaded with nothing but water and a little salt, and
then made into lumps about the size and somewhat the shape of a man's foot,
and raked in the embers just like potatoes to roast, and there allowed to
remain and cook all night. The next best corn bread is the old-style johnny-
cake, mixed in the same way, and patted about three-quarters of an inch
thick upon a board, and roasted before an exceedingly hot fire.

The next best are the " corn-dodgers" of the Southwest, mixed like the
first^ and baked in an iron bake-pan, standing on hot coals, with hot coals
on the lid. These dodgers are usually of two to four pounds weight, and
when brought hot to the table are certainly good bread. They are much
eaten cold, but we can not recommend them in that condition, only as being
infinitely better than the half-baked corn bread common at the North!

All the improvements of corn bread ever attempted by adding other
ingredients have failed, to our taste, to produce an article equal to a M'elh
baked asli-cidce or corn-dodger.

Remember the three grand secrets about making good corn bread : never
to grind your meal very fine, always to have it fresh ground, and never fear
baking it too much. All corn bread should be cooked a
negroes often bury the dough in the hot embers all night.

One of the most common objections to the use of corn bread is its sup-
posed indigestibility. On account of this character, which it has obtained,
as we think, unjustly, it is avoided by many people who are of a dyspeptic
habit. "We think there is a mistake in ascribing this character to corn bread
indiscriminately. If Indian corn meal is not thoroughly cooked, it is indi-
gestible— more so, perhaps, than any other grain. But such bread as that
above described as ash-cakes or corn-dodgers, we do not believe indigestible.
We have often eaten corn-cakes, made purposely for a severe affliction of
indigestion, and found them better than any other kind of bread. These
were made of meal and water and salt only, and patted out into the size
and thickness of Boston crackers, and most thoroughly baked in a quick
oven. See Section XXIV.

long time. The

Sec. 24.]

SUBSTITUTES FOR BREAD.

389

SECTION xxiv-sunsTiTriRS FOR v,]\v.\n, IX OREEX AND TmiKr*

CORN, I'Or-CORX, IIO.MIXY, AXl) ■l"IJi;i'AUATlUXS OF WIIFAT

OW tnily has hrcad liccn dcnoininatcd "tlic st.iff
5 of life!" For it tlicre is no suKi^titiite; tlioii^'li
Y^ some of the excellent ])rcparatious of food treated
?^ of in this section may lie considered siihstitntes,
-^ hut they are only jiartially so ; yet they are
^ worthy of our especial attention, because, as
articles of food, all over America, tliey hold a high
rank; and a notice of them seems fitting in connec-
tion with the bread question. Each one of the
articles named in this section furnishes wholesome
and economical food, and some of them should bo
better known in every farimr's family.

400. Green Corn, or Uoastin:; Kars. — Iloasting the
ears, is the primitive way of using Indian corn. It
is the first use that the earlj' settlers of America made of it, because that was
the mode in whicii tiiey found tlie Indians preparing it. Tiie quality of tlu-
corn grown for eating while in its milky state, has been much improved
since Captain Smith took his first meal with Pocahontas, on the banks
of James River, in 1G07. Certainly there can be no richer vegetable
food than tlie best quality of sugar corn, such as every farmer should
grow, when simply boiled, or when made up in that Indian dish called suc-
co-tash. And if any fanner doubts the value of this green corn, as wintiT
food, whon carefully preserved by drying, or in sealed cans, we think lie
would be convinced, if he could dine at our table for a month in midwinter,
where he would find it was one of the regular dishes. AVe have just made
a hearty meal of this and another i)reparation of corn, directly lo be noticed.
It is almost a subslitute for bread and meat. It is \iseless to advise any
native American farmer's family to eat green corn, but it is not useless nor
improper to urge nine tenths of them to use a better variety. And we do
most earnestly ask every family to preserve enough by drying to give the
family a dish of it two or three times a week, cooked by boiling in i)Iuin
soft water two or three hours, and until nearly all the water is absi»rbe»i it
evaporated, and then season with salt and butter. If a little sideratus is
added at first, it will become tender with less boiling. Some like it dibhed
up with milk or cream. It is also excellent 8tew(d with beans (succotash),
seasoneil with a i)icce of meat, and if is very good in soups.

407. How (0 Dry and Cook Swcft forn.— When tlic corn is in gcxnl condition
for eating, the grain.s being fully grown, boil a quantify of ears just enough
to cook the starch, and let them cool and dry a few hom-s, and then shell or

390 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

cut off tlie grains and spread them in tlie sun till dried. The best way to
dry the corn is to nail a piece of cloth of very open texture on a frame ; say
two feet wide and live feet long, will be a convenient size to handle. If the
corn is spread thinly upon this cloth it will dry quickly without souring. It
should be covered with a piece of nmsquito netting to keep off the flies.
Another person gives the following directions for drying sweet corn.

" As soon as the corn is fit for the table, husk and spread the cars in an
open oven or some quick drying-place. When the kernels loosen, shell the
corn as soon as you can, and spread it npon a cloth to dry in the sun, or on
paper in a warm oven ; stir it often that it may dry quickly and not over-
beat. Dried in this way, the kernels remain whole, are sweeter, and retain
more of the natural flavor by drying faster. Wlien all dried, expose it to
the wind by turning it slowly from dish to dish ; the wind blows olf all that
troublesome white chaff."

Another plan has been highly recommended and a machine invented to
facilitate the operation ; this is to bore out the pith of the cob and then com-
pletely dry the corn on the cob and keep it there till wanted for the table,
when it may be shelled first or boiled as it grew.

Directions for cooking dried sweet corn are very simple. Wash and put
it in warm water to soak several hours; then in the same water boil it for
a half hour. Just before taking it up, add some sweet milk or cream, pop-
per and salt to the taste, and a little sugar if it is not as sweet as would bo
agreeable. Sometimes a l)it of soda as large as a pea in a half pint of corn,
while soaking, makes it more tender, and corrects any stale taste which it
has acquired by long keeping.

This is a good dish with meat, dressed with gravy, or it maybe eaten with
sauce as a dessert dish. It is good enough, eaten any way, to be, and it
siioukl be, n})on every American farmer's table.

40S. llMlIed Com, or Lye Hominy, is another primitive form of preparing
an excellent substitute for bread. In the form of " tortillas," it is the almost
universal bread of Central America. "\Ve look upon hulled corn as one of
the luxuries of American farm life, yet not one in ten of farmers' families
ever enjoy it. It is particularly acceptable in the spring of the year, when
old vegetables arc on the decline, and new ones have not yet come into use.
AVhen the farmer burns wood, a white lye may be made in a few minutes,
or cobs may be burned and ashes used to make a lye, into which put the corn
to be hulled, which should be large, white-flint corn, and let it remain until
the hull M'ill slip easily, and then rinse it thoroughly in cold water, rubbino-
it with the hands or stirring it with a stick till all the hulls are washed oft".
Feed the hulls and chits which come out to the pigs or hens, and boil the
corn for yourself until it swells to three times its original size, and is as soft
as bread. You may prepare and boil a gallon at once for si.x persons, and
what is not eaten at first may be warmed over just as you would potatoes.
Those who have no wood ashes or cobs to make weak lye of, may hull corn
by using a teaspoonful of saleratus to a quart of corn, in water enough to

Sbo. 24.] SUBSTITUTES FOR ISREAD. 391

cover it. In either case the lye mnst be made hot after tlic corn is put in
to loosen the hull ; and if the lye is not carufully washed from the corn, it
will taste unpleasuntly.

409. Samp, or Dry llomiuy.— This is another and most vahiahle ])rci)ara-
tion of corn, and an excellent, wholesome, economical substitute for bread.
It is an article that no family, desirous of practicing economy, can do without.
It is a veiy cheap, healthy, mitritious food. It usually costs only half the
price per pound of flour, and contains no moisture, while the best of flour
hold.s from twelve to sixteen pounds of water in a barrel. In ]ioint of econ-
omy as Imman food, one bushel of hominy is ec^ual to ten of j)olatoes, for
which it is an excellent substitute, and is almost as universally liked as po-.
tatocs, and at the South it is more freely eaten ; while at the Xorth it is
seldom seen, except by a few pei-sons in cities. By hominy, we do not mean
a sort of coarse meal, but grains of white com from whicli the hull and
chit or o-ye have been removed by inoistenini; and poundinj^ in a wooden
mortar, or patent hulling machine, leaving the grains almost whole, and
composed of little else liut starch.

410. How to Cook Hominy. — The process is very simple to those who know
how. As but i'cw do, we give the formula of practice in our own family:
Wash slightly in cold water, and soak twelve hours in tepid, soft water;
then boil slowly from three to six hours in the same water, with plenty more
added from time to time, taking care to prevent burning. Do not salt
while cooking, as salt or hard water will harden the corn ; so it will peas or
beans, green or dry, and rice also. AVhen done, add butter and salt ; or a
better way is to let each one season to suit ^hc taste. It may be eaten witli
meat in lieu of vegetables, or with sugar or syrup. It is good, hot or cold;
it is good frequently warmed over, for it is like the old-fashioned pot of —

" Bean porridge hot, or bean porricljfc coIJ,
licun porriiljfe Ixiit at nine ilnvB old."

So is hom-iny ; it is good always, and very wholcsonio, and like tomatoes,
only requires to bo eaten onco or twice to flx tlio tasto in its favor.

In New York this article is called samp, and the name hominy is given to
corn cracked in a mill, and winnowed, and sifted, and nund)ered acqjirding
to its fineness. Wc add a few of the ways in which hominy may bo used.

IToMiNV Thu:.VKF.vsT-CAKi;s. — Mash the cold hominy with a rolling-pin,
and aild a little llour-and-milk batter, so as to make the wiiolo thick enough
to form into little cakes in the hand, or it may be put upon the griddlo witii
a spoon. 15ake brown, eat hot, and you will declare yon never ate anything
better of the batter-cake kind.

lloMiNY PunniNO. — Prepare as for breakfast-cakes ; add one egg to each
iiiiit, some whole cimiamon, sugar to suit the taste, and a few raisins, ai.d
bake like rice-pud<ling. A little butter or chopped suet may bo added.
Serve hot or cold, witli or witbuut sauce. .

IloMiNY Sai.ai>. — To a jiint of cold hominy add a email onion, a qunitcr
of a boiled chicken, or about tho same quantity of lobster, chopped fine, to

392

DOMESTIC ECOXOMY.

[Chap. IV.

wliicli BOino add a small pickle. To l>e dressed -with sweet oil, imistard,
pepper, and vincf^ar. It is a very good t^iibstitute for green salads at seasons
when tlie latter can not lie obtained.

IIoinuY AND Milk, hot or cold, is as mneli better tliaii niusli-and-milk as
that is better than rye-meal ])orridge.

IIoMLNY AND Bkans. — illx equal parts of cold baked beans and hominy
together, and heat up, and you will have an excellent dish.

Soft Hominv Bread. — One sjioonfiil of boiled hominy, cooled ; a small
lump of butter, one egg, half a pint of wheat flour — mixed with milk to the
consistency of cream. Bake a half hour in a hot oven.

Hominy "Waffles. — Two spoonfuls of hominy, a small lump of butter,
two eggs, one quart of wheat flour. Thin with milk to the consistency of
very thick cream. Bake in waffle-irons.

411. How Hominy is Made. — The primitive way of making hominy was
beating the corn in a mortar, in a considerable mass together, so as to rub
otf the ludls by attrition of the grains, without breaking them. Kearly
forty yeai's ago, in floating down the Ohio Bivcr of a still evening, we first
hoard the music of the hominy mortars, which filled the air, as the voices of
the negroes kept time to the strokes of the pestles, preparing a favorite food
for their masters as well as themselves. But of late years the ground hom-
iny, or cracked corn, has in a great measure driven the old hominy mortar
out of use. Negro hominy is cooked by soaking and boiling until it
becomes gelatinous, and then, when cold, if cut in slices and fried in a
little fat, is often eaten in preference to any other bread. Hominy is also
made by mechanical means, ojie of which is a shaft armed with files,
revolving in a case with the corn, which makes a very nice article.

At the South, negroes prefer hominy or corn meal to wheat flour, pound
for [lound. Corn is ground very coarse, and frequently eaten, hulls and all,
in ]ireference to sifting. Few would be willing to live upon that alone. It
would not be good economy to do so. It would be good economy for us all
to use more Indian corn meal, and it would not only be economical, but
hcaltliy, to eat more hominy.

Wc^will add here several good receipts for cooking corn meal, as substi-
tutes for wheaten bread :

■112. VirRJuia Corn Bread. — Dissolve one tablespoonful of butter in three
and a half pints of boiling milk ; in this scald one quart of Indian meal ;
Avhen cool, add a half pint of wheat flour, a little sugar, a teaspoonful of
salt, and two eggs well beaten ; mix well together, and bake in tM'o cake-
tins well greased or buttered.

413. The St. Cliarlcs Hotel Indian Bread.— Beat two eggs very light, mix
them with one pint of sour milk (or butter with sweet milk will do), then
add a teaspoonful of soda or saleratus, then stir in slowly one pint of Indian
meal and one tablespoonful of melted butter ; beat these w^ell together ;
bake in a common cake-pan, in a quick oven. The bread can be made very
good without eggs.

Sao. 24.] SUBSTITUTES FOR BREAD. 893

414. Mush, or Ilasty Pudding.— Stir into a half pint of cold water enough
Indian meal to make a thick batter ; put this into three or four quarts of
boiling -n-ator over the fire ; after this has boiled ten minutes, stir in a
dessert-spoonful of salt, and sifted meal until it is quite thick ; let it boil
from one to two hours, stirring it often to prevent its burning.

415. Fried Mushi— Mush to be fried should boil a little stiffer, with a half
j)int of Hour, say, to two quarts of mush; put the mush in an earthen dish
dipped in cold water; let it stand until perfectly cold; then cut it in slic
half an inch thick, and fry them brown on both sides in a little butter •
]iork fat — lard will do with a little salt.

41G. Indian ('akcs> — To a pint of mush add milk or warm water to make .
batter, and llour enough to make the cake hold together; two or three egr-.
two spoonfuls of molasses or sugar, a little nutmeg or lemon, to suit ti..
taste ; bake on a griddle or in an oven.

417. Baked Indian Pudding.— Into one quart of boiling milk scald ten
tablespoonfuls of Indian meal ; when cohl, add a teacupful of molasses, a
piece of butter the size of an eirg, a tea?i)ooul'ul of salt, also of ginger and
cinnamon ; bake in a pudding-dish from one to two hours, in a cook-stove,
or longer if in a brick oven. AVhen done it has the appearance of brown
bread.

418. Pop-Corn— Its Uses as Food— It makes Delicious Puddings.- Wo can
not close this section upon substitutes for bread without bringing to the notice
of farmers a new preparation of Indian corn, original with the author, but
highly approved by a very large number of persons to whom the new dis-
covery has been made known. It is as much a pleasure as it is a duty to
tell farmers how they can grow and prci)aro upon their own farms a substi-
tute for rice, farina, tapioca, sago, etc., for culinary jiurposes — something, in
short, that shall be as good as either of the above substances for tlio use of
the good housewife, to make a juulding — a pudding that is not a mere
adjunct of a dinner, but a real 'substantial addition to it ; as hearty as one
of corn meal ; more wholesome than that, more tootlisomc, and e<iually clieap ;
60 that it is within the reach of ail, both rich and poor; and as I think it a
valuable discovery in the jjrcparation of food, I am au.xious that everyboiiy
should enjoy the benefit of my discovery.

"Necessity is the mother of invention." It was so in this case. It was
discovered that a jjudding could be got up in an improm[)tu manner, ujion
an emergency, in a farm-house, when the ingredients in most common uso
were exhausted.

For years popped corn had been an almost daily dish, all the family and
all visitors liking it very much ; l>ut we Jiad never thought of ri'ducing it to
meal, and applying it to culinary purposes, until one winter day, when a
])udding was wanted, and it was not convenient to obtain any of tlio ordi-
nary substances used fur that purpose. To the cook's suggestion that corn
meal migkt be borrowed, the mistri-ss of the house replied : " Xo, no^niy
father would rather go hungry than live by borrowing. Besides, I don't

394

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chjlp. IV.

think there is time to make a coni-inoal ]nidtling; it requires four good
liours to cook it snflicicntly, otlicrwiso it always has a raw taste; for corn
meal is never good unless cooked a groat deal. I think you will have to
give up the pudding, but I will ask my father."

So she did, and he said : " Let us have a pop-corn pudding."

" Oh, it will, I fear, be a waste of time and material, and prove a great
failure."

" No matter : there is as much to be learned by failure as feuccess. Let
US try."

So "we did. A pint of pop-corn was put through the operation, and it
made sixteen pints of ]ioppcd corn, mIucIi was first crushed with a rolling-
pin on the kitchen-table, and then ground in the cofl'ee-mill into a coarse
meal, which measured eight pints. It is easiest crushed by putting it in a
bag. We have since procured a large-sized coffee-mill, that grinds the coin
M'ithout first mashing it. The difficulty was, that it was so light it would
not feed regularly into the giinding-plates of the mill. "We grow the corn
for popping; it is a small, white, flint grain, upon small cobs, and quite
prolific in its yield. It is popped in a small popper made of woven wire,
and takes perhaps half an hour to pop and grind a pint.

419. How to make a I'op-CorH Putlding. — Mix five pints of the pop-corn
meal with full lour pints of sweet milk, and set it whei'e it will warm
slightly, and soak an hour or two. Then let it cool, and add two eggs,
sugar, raisins, spice, as you would to a rice-pudding. Let it be set on a hot
stove and boiled a few minutes, stirring it several times to get the meal woU
mixed with the milk, because it inclines, from its great lightness, to float,
and if baked without stirring there will be a brown crust on top and custard
at the bottom. It should be baked about an hour, and served hot, and will
be eaten with great satisfaction — satisfaction that a new ingredient for a
delicious, rich, wholesome pudding has been discovered — one always at hand,
easily prepared, and one that has never failed to gratify the taste of all who
have tried it.

The cost of such a pudding to a farmer is the cost of the sugar, raisins,
and spice — the milk and corn I count at nothing. "What should I count the
cost of five eighths of a pint of corn and four pints of milk, which, if not
eaten upon the table, would go to the jiigs i The eggs would sell pos^^iblj'
for four cents, and the things bought cost as much more, in a pudding that
fed eight hearty people. Let us then eat pudding — good, rich pudding — as
much as we can at a meal, at a cost of one cent each. It is cheap ; try it,
and you will say it is good.

42U. Pop-€orn Griddle CakcSt — Another use for this pop-corn meal is for
griddle cakes. To my taste, they are quite equal to rice cakes, cooked in
any way that rice is, and are much heartier. In fact, there is no sU-ouger
food for a laboring man than any of the preparations of corn in the way I
have indicated. At the same time, its digestibility is unquestioned.

421. The Philosopliy of Popping Corn,— The philosophy of the advaiitage

Sep- 2-1.] SUBSTITUTES FOR BREAD. 305

of thus preparing corn is wortiiy of our attention. Of all the cereals, Indian
corn roqniics tlio greatest action of iiro to fit it for food. It is full of essen-
tial oil, and that needs to be cooked, and it can only lie done by a very high
heat or a long-continued moderate one. If long continued, the other con-
stituents of the corn are sometimes injured, and so are the ingredients added
to the meal. If not well cooked, any article of food prepared from corn, t
however jjalatable, is not so digestible as wheaten bread. Now, in po]>-
ping corn, it is subjected to a very high heat, which thoroughly ctwks the
oil, and fits the corn at once for food— a food that almost everybody loves,
and so will everybody love the various i>reparations of food from meal made
of popped corn, for it may be eaten without fear by the dyspeptic, and it
will be eaten with satisfaction to appease hunger.

As we know that corn and corn meal, properly kiln-dried, will keep a long
time, we may safely argue that meal prepared by a still more perfect system
of fire-drying, will keep an indelinite length of time, or just as long as we
wish. If ground and jiacked in barrels, the pop-corn meal will keep better
than corn meal or Hour, or even whole grain.

422. Ilulkd Wheat, U hcateu Groats, and Boiled VtUciU—IIulhd wheat is
another excellent substitute for bread. It can be hulled by lye, or by any
of the mechanical means used for liulling corn or rice, one of which is to
run it through millstones, set just far enough apart to rub otf the husks.
It is cooked by simply boiling, and is eaten iu the various ways that we have
montioned for hominy.

W/i(at>n Groatf, or "grits," as they are usually called, are coarsely-
ground wheat — as coarse as it can well be ground. This is also a substitute
for Ijread. It is cooked by boiling in plain water, as homitiy or hulled corn
and wiieat should always be, until all the water is absorbed. It is eaten both
hot and cold, or warmed over, and it does not require as much cooking as any
preparation of Indian corn, and it is both palatable and healthful.

Every family, whether rich or j)Oor, or in town or country, should make
it a religious duty to use more corn meal, oatmeal, Graham llour, hominy,
and cracked wheat for bread, in preference to fine wheat flour, both for
health and economy. Look at the relative retail i>rices per pound of these
articles, and see which will give the most nutriment for the least money ;
not which will afford you the most fashionable bread.

Jiuilid w/u'dt is another siin])Ie form of preparing an excellent substitute
for bread, particularly at harvest-time, while the grains are not as liard as
afterwards. It should be carefully selected, and cleaned, and washed, and
then soaked several hours, and boiled in the same water until some of the
grains crack open. It may bo cateu with meat, or as a dessert, with syrup,
sauce, or milk.

306

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

SECTION XXV.-EXCERPTA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE FOR IIOUSEWHTS.

NDER this head, -n-hich really means selecting

ii'-cs- choice extracts from books that we read, ■we intend

\r^ to gatlier up a great number of useful things, and

concentrate them hero for easy reference in a some-

■ffhat miscellaneous order.

AYe will open the section with a most valuable line
of advice, selected from a letter of an excellent house-
wife to her daughter, wlicn about undertaking the
responsibilities of housekeeping. She says:

423. ". Always Buy Good Articles, notwithstanding
the first cost is more, in preference to cheap or low-
priced sorts, which are generally the mest uneconomi-
cal ; and sometimes low-priced articles of food prove
detrimental to health. Make it a point to read every-
thing that comes in your way about domestic economy.
Ton cau not learn too much. Keep a little memorandum-book, with alpha-
bet pages, and make it a rule to store up excerpta from all you read, for
future use. It will prove to you a lasting source of useful knowledge.
Frequently you need only make a reference in your memorandum where to
look for what you want. No head is large enough for a storehouse of all
that a good housewife will at some time want to know."

424. Ecouoniy of Farm-house Lights. — This is a very important question for
the consideration of farmers' wives, who may find that it will not always be
good economy to burn their own tallow. Certainly not, if it can be ex-
changed for a light-producing substance which will save the hard, unplea-
sant labor of candle-making, and at the same time afibrd a much better and

a pleasanter light. Unfortunately, we have no standard of comparative
cost of tallow — the almost univei'sal source of farm-house light — with fluid
substances. E. N. Kent, of the United States Assay Ofiice, tells us, in the
following table, M-hich is the most economical as regards cost of oleaginous
substances for light.
42.5. Cost of Oils for Light Compared :

Malcriala T^mnI-,P,l Retail Price of Oil Cflsl of an Kqnal

"""'"'"'• Lamp Used. per Gallon. Amount of Light.

Kerosene oil Kerosene SI 00 $4 10

Camphene Camphene C3 4 85

Sylvie oil Rosin oil 50 6 0-3

Rape-seed oil Mechanical 1 50 9 00

Whaleoil Rolar 1 00 12 OU

Lanl oil Solar 1 25 17 00

Sperm oil Kolar 2 25 2G 00

Burning fluid Large wicli 87 29 00

426. Cost of Oil and Candles f oiuitaredi — Dr. Ure gives the comparative cost
of an equal amount of light per hour from tho following substances:

Seo. 2D.J EXCERPTA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE FOR UOUSEWIVES. 397

" Carcel lamp, -with sperm oil, 1 Jd. ; wax candles, 6d. ; spermaceti candles,
5id. ; stearic acid candles, 4id. ; molded tallow candles, 2jd."

427. Economy of Kerosene Oil.— From tliu foregoing it will bo seen that
kerosene oil is the least expensive of all lluid ligiit-producing substances;
and as it is now refined, and burnt in improved lamps, we believe it to bo
a very agreeable snbstitute for tallow candies, but whether cheaper or not
can only be determined by actual exi)eriments in ditl'erent households, com-
paring the cost per gallon with the value per pound of tallow, and the light
produced or the light re(iuired. As a general thing, farm-house lights are
very inferior, and many a bright pair of eyes has been dimmed in conse-
quence. It is on this account that this question of light should bo more
discussed and experimented upon. Do not continue to use candles' or any
particuhir form of lamp or kind of oil, iioeause you have long been in that
practice, if there really is something better.

428. How to Improve I'andles. — If you do use home-made candles, jiray
purify the tallow, and do md mix lard witii if, though you may add a littlo
alum, and never use your candles any sooner than you wouhl soap — until
they are at least six months old. Pack them in bran, and set them away in
a cool, dry place, and see how much they improve by age.

It is well to mi.x beef and mutton tallow, but the proportion of the latter
should be small, because it sometimes gives oil" a disagreeable odor. All
good tallow is white, lirui, and brittle, and dipj)ed candles can only be mado
of it in mild weather. Bo careful to use nothing but line, white, clean cot-
ton yarn for wicking.

429. Lard— HoAV to Make and Keep it Sweet,- The lard of a hog of altout
a year old, fattened upon corn, and carefully rendered and packed in stone
pots or sound oaken tirkins, and kept covered close, will keep in a cool cel-
lar just as long as any farmer's wife wants to keep it. Lard must l>o thor-
oughly cooked in rendering, to keep sweet.

A cooling-room attached to the ice-house is an excellent jdaco to keep
lard in summer. But remember that lard will never keep well in any place
if it has been iMsiiflicieiitly cooked.

430. Uice and Sago should both have a clear, frcsii, white appearnnco
when you purchase. Rico with the largest whole grains is the l)C8t. Kico
is remarkable for being the richest in starcli, and most detieient in oil, of nil
the cultivated grains. Old rice is ai>t to be inlected with weevil.

The siTiall, white sago, called ])earl sago, is tlie best. The hirgt», bn>wn
kind has an earthy taste. These articles, and ground rice, taj)iocn, etc.,
siiould be kept in boxe.-* or jars closely covered.

4;!1. Spires, Cocoa, and ( liocolale .— .*V'/'v.>i should never be purchnsi^l liy
a I'aiiner's family in a ground state. They are frequently adulterated, and
always lose strength as soon as opened.

Kutiii<-(jit sometimes are kejit in store until stale. Fresh ones e;in Ik> se-
lected by pricking with a pin at the stem end, when, if good, a drop of oil
•will ooze out.

398 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

Cocoa shells are apt to be musty from long keeping. Never purchase a
largo quantity until you have tried a sample and proved it fresh and sweet.
Cracked cocoa is generally tlie best. Some that is carefully put up in
papers keeps well. Chocolate is often adulterated so that it makes a nau-
seous beverage. Do not buy Init a single cake until you prove it good.
Both these articles are made from the cocoa beans, which grow upon small
trees, cultivated for the purpose in Central America and other tropical lati-
tudes. The beans are bitter and astringent, and arc; roasted like coffee to
prepare them for use. They contain much more oil or fatty matter than
coffee berries. It is rated in an analysis by Lampadius over 53 per cent, of
the stibstance. The substance containing the aroma of the bean is given at
16.70 per cent. The shells are the dried fleshy pulp that surrounds the
beans in the pods.

The cracked cocoa is the broken roasted beans. Chocolate is made of the
beans, ground with hot rollers, and made into a paste with sugar, and sea-
soned witli vanilla and spices, and if not adulterated, makes a wholesome
beverage, but it is next to impossible to find chocolate that is pure.

432. folTce, as it comes to us, is the half of a dried bean which was inclosed
in a pulpy berry that grew somewhat like a cherry upon a tree naturally ten
to thirty feet high, but kept pruned low in coffee plantations, wliich are to
be found in most tropical countries. The best variety of coffee comes from
ilocha, in Arabia. The berry is small and round, and the odor and flavor
very agreeable ; it bears a high price. And next to it is the Java coffee, a
large, jiale j-ellow berry. The Brazilian, commonly called Kio coffee, is the
sort in most common use. The berry is of medium size, greenish color, and
appears rusted with specks of gray. It is not a fine flavored coft'ee, having
a good deal of acridness, but it is in favor with farmers generally, because
" it goes farther than mild cofiee." All coffee improves by age if kej)t dry.
It should be roasted very evenly, of a light brown color, and used very soon
afterward^ as it loses value every day after it is roasted, and after it is
ground it will become almost worthless by a few days' exjiosure to the air.
Koasted coffee should always be carefully kept in a closed canister, separate
from all food, as it rapidly absorbs odors. Eoasting coffee in a room will
always disinfect it of bad effluvia. It also imparts its own odor to other
things, such as tea, butter, and bread.

In roasting coffee, first dry it gently in an open pan until it changes
color, and then cover the pan and scorch it rapidly without charrin* a grain.
The term, " burning coft'ee," implies a great error in its preparation, or ig-
norance of its character. Hoasting renders the grains of coft'ee brittle, and
makes the matter that it is desirable to extract more soluble in hot water,
and produces as great a cliemical change as fire does upon corn meal or any
other article of food.

The peculiar aroma of coffee as it comes to the table, which gives it the
flavor and stimulating effect ascribed to it, is never found in coffee grains
before they are roasted. But if it is humt, this flavor is destroyed, and

Sbo. 35.] EXCERPT.V OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE FOR U0USEWm:3. 399

ill its place wo have a bitter, acrid, tannic acid taste, which produces py-
rosis in the stomachs of those who use it largely.

Never allow pepper and coffee to come in contact. The two should not ho
kept in the same pantry.

The best water for a decoction of coffee is that with a slight alkaline tine
ture, and it has been recommended to add 40 grs. of dry soda to a jiound
of coffee. It is certainly true tliat some of the springs of the Rocky Mount-
ains, which are so alkaline as not to lio drinkable, make good coffee. So do
wells that will not make good tea.

Xever buy ground coffee. Besides the fact that it loses strength, it is
almost universally adulterated. Peas are largely used fur this purpose, and
beans, corn, dried carrots, turnips, chiccory, and several other substances are
also employed.

433. Tea — its Value as Food. — That tea has a value as food, we can not
doubt. Long before its use among European nations, the Chinese had set-
tled this question to their satisfaction. If it is not of itself food, it seems to
help us to assimilate other things. It certainly is a favorite beverage with
all who are accustomed to its use, and so far as health is concerned, wo be-
lieve it is certainly harmless, if pure, as the best black teas generally are.
The green teas, either from 'the nature of the article, or from something
added in curing, have a much greater etl'ect upon the nervous system tiian
the black teas. Pekoe and Oolong arc the names of two of the best varieties
of black tea. Gunpowder and Imperial are the two best green teas.

434. How to Make Black Tea^— Ulack tea must be boiled some minutes
— thirty is better than less — in a close vessel, to get the fragrant aroma and
all the vegetable extract that adds value to the delicious beverage we get
from a well-made cup of good bhick tea.

Never use hard water for tea. Filtered rain-water makes good tea.
Never steep it in lukewarm wafer, and never let it come to the table at that
temperature. The true aroma of tea is never obtained except when it is
boilin"- hot. Tea should never bo exposed to the air. ■ Keep all ground
spices, and also ground coffee, carefully excluded from the air.

435. Susar and Molasses.— For most j.urposes retined sugars arc tlio
most economical. In buying raw sugar, select none but the cleanest (.orU,
such as the best New Orleans, or Santa Cruz, of a light straw color, coarsely
crysf.'.llized. "White Havana sugar is not as dean as white Brazil sugar.
Select bright, ligiit-colored molasses. Never buy the thick, dark-colored.
Brgar-housc syrup. Its thickness does not indicate sweetness. For the
taiile, the real " golden syrup" of the sugar-rcfiqcra is not only the best, but
must economical. AVc inake an c.xccUeut table syrup every year of n>aple-
EUgar diijt^olved in boiling water.

43fi. Knowlrdpp for the kitrlieii.— Hero arc a few simple rules for the kitdion
that may bo usefully rcmcmbcn-d :

Oranges and lenions keep best wrapped close iu soft paper, and laid in a
drawer with linen.

400

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

Bread and cakes should be kept in a tin box or stone jar.

Salt codfish should l)e kept in a dry place, where the odor of it will not
afi'ect the house. Tlio best kind is that -n-hieii is called dun, from its jjcculiar
color. Fish skin, for clearing coflee, should be washed, dried, cut small, and
kept in a box or paper bag.

iSoft soap should be kept in a dry place in the cellar, and should not be
used till three months old.

Bar soap should be cut inio pieces of a convenient size, and left where it
will become dry. It is well to keei^ it several weeks before using, as it
spends fast when it is new.

Cranberries will keep all winter in a firkin of water in the cellar.

Potatoes should be put into the cellar as soon as they are dug. Lying
exposed in the sun turns them green and makes them watery. Some good
housekeepers have sods laid over barrels of potatoes not in immediate use.
To prevent them from sprouting in the spring, turn them out on the cellar
bottom.

To thaw frozen potatoes, put them in hot M-atcr. To thaw frozen apples,
put them in cold water. Neither will keej) well after being frozen.

437. Storing Butter and fheese.— The most economical, and, to our taste,
the best table butter is that which is packed in September and October for
the next winter's use. If well made, in a soft-water region, there is no
difficulty about keeping butter sweet in a temperate climate, if propei'ly
made. J^ever keep butter and cheese together, except it is in a very cool
room, and then not in close contact.

If cheese is rich and good, it always feels soft under tlie pressure of
the fingers. Even if kept until quite old, it does not become horny. Be
careful not to select a horny cheese. That which is rery strong is neither
good nor healthy. To keep one that is cut, tie it up in a bag tliat will not
admit flies, and hang it in a cool, dry place. K mold appears on it, wipe
it ofl:" with a dry cloth.

43S. Keeping Sweet Potatoes. — One who is a successful grower of sweet
potatoes in quite a northern latitude— near 42 degrees — gives the following
as his method of keeping them over winter. He says:

" I use dry sand to put them up in ; it does not matter how the sand Avas
dried — in a kiln, a log heap, or in the sun — if it is dry, that is all that is
required. I prefer drying it in a log heap, as it costs at least four times less,
and is just as good. And a family that has a little room with a stove in it,
may keep a box or two, with eight or ten bushels in them, without any in-
convenience of consequence. The boxes must be raised a few inclies from
the floor, and they must not be less than four inches from the wall. Fill the
boxes with potatoes, and then put in dnj sand until they are covered.

" I have known them kept well in buckwheat chaff. In order to keep
potatoes with success, there must be a thermometer kept in the room. The
mercury must not sink below 40 degrees ; if it does, the potatoes will chill
and rot ; and it must not rise above 60 degrees, or they will grow." (See 565.)

Sec. 25.] EXCERPTA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE FOR UOUSE WIVES. 401

439. Preserving Eggs.— Tlic following receipt is of such easy application
that all housewives should try it, and satisfy tlieuisclves whether it is all that
its author claims for it :

"Dissolve some gum shellac in a sullicient quantity of alcohol to make a
thin varnish, give each egg a coat, and after they become thoroughly dry,
pack them in bran or sawdust, with tiieir j)oints downward, in sucii a man-
ner that they can not shift about. After you have kept them as long jis you
dfsire, wash tho varnish carefully off, and they will be in the same state as
they were before packing, ready either for eating or hatching."

440. Beans— How to Cook (lieiu.— '• Few i^euple know the luxury of baked
beans, simply because few cooks properly prepare them. Beans general! v
are not cooked half long enough. Tliis is a sure method: Two (piarts of
middling-sized white beans, two pounds of salt pork, and one sjioonful of
molasses. Pick the beans over carefully, wash them, and add a gallon of
boiling-hot soft water; let them soak in it all night; in the morning, jxit
them in fresh water, adding a teaspoonful of saleratus, and boil gently, till
the skin is very tender and about to Ijreak. Take them up dry, put them
in your dish, so as to have the beans fill the di.sh nearly to the ujipor edge;
turn in boiling water till the top is ju.st covered ; bake with a steady fire
four or five hours. "Watch them and add more water from time to time, a^s
it dries away. This is an old-time Xew Knglaml S:iturday-eve!iing dish."

441. Tomatoes— Various Methods of rreserviiu aud Isiug tlieni.— There is
no way to preserve tomatoes for winter use so good as drying them. It is
lasily done thus: Scald, and peel, and stew to a gelatinous mass, and sprcaii
upon earthen plates, and dry in the sunshine or in a slow oven. It will tlien
resemble dried stewed pumpkin, or the luilj) of ]ieaches dried in the same w:iy.
When wanted for use in winter, a jiortiun of this dried tomato is soaked first
in cold water, and that is gradually warmed till tiio whole becomes n ho-
mogeneous mass, more or less thick, according to the quantity of wafer u.sed.
It may be eaten as a sauce with mcat^, or, by aihling sugar, as a swect-
mcat, or in place of currant jelly with venison and mutton, or as a siibsii-
tiitc for cranberries with reast turkey. It is an cscellcnt and a cheap
sauce.

Tomato Chowder. — ^To one bushel of green tomatoes add one d^zen green
peppers, 12 common-sized onions, mio ([uart of grated horseradish, one cup
of ground mustard, one ounce of cinnamon, one ounce of cloves, whole. The
tomatoes, onions, and peppers chop lino. Put the tomatoes and onions in a
vessel over-night, sprinkle a little salt over them, and in tho morning drain
off the water, jmt all together and boil them in clear water until tender, then
drain tho water from them, mix with tho above-named epices, pack iu ajar,
and pour scalded vinegar over them.

Another way is to take green tomatoes, rut a small piece otT the stem end,
and also from the other side; then lay them in a pan. Sprinkle with »alt,
pour boiling wafer on them, and let them stand ten minutes. Pour tho
water olf and serve them in the sai.ie manner again ; then iK)ur lulling wa-
it

4:02

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[OllAP. IV.

ter on them -without salt, and let them stand a few minutes. Chop them np
fine, putting in some cabbage, horseradish, and peppers ; and when all
chopped, put on salt, pepper, and vinegar, and they are ready to pickle in
crocks. This makes an excellent relish with meat.

Tomato CATcnrp. — Scald ripe tomatoes just sufficiently to allow you t.i
take oil" the skins ; let them stand for a day, covered with salt ; strain the*'',
to thorougldy remove the seeds ; then to every two quarts add three ounces
of cloves, two of black pepper, two nutmegs, and a very little Cayenne pep-
per and salt ; boil the liquor for an hour; let it cool and settle ; add a pint
of the best cider vinegar : bottle, cork, and seal tight, and keep it always in
a cool place.

AxoTDEE Way. — Take a bushel of tomatoes and boil them till soft;
squeeze them through a fine wire sieve, .and add half a gallon .of vinegar^
one pint and a half of salt, two ounces of cloves, quarter of a pound of all-
spice, two ounces of Cayenne pepper, five heads of garlic, skinned and sep-
arated ; mix together and boil about three hours, or until reduced to about
one half ; then bottle, without straining.

Tomato Sauce. — One peck of tomatoes, one ounce of cloves, one ounce
of cinnamon, one quart of vinegar, four pounds of brown sugar, two table-
s])ooiifuls of salt, and the same of ground black pepper. Peel the tomatoes,
and boil until very tender. Drain them from the juice. Now boil the
sugar, spices, etc., in the liquid until it is thick as syrup ; return the fruit
into this syrup, and stew until the mass is a jam, and it keeps well any
length of time. This may be used to flavor the following sauce :

442. PicDEC Sauce. — Beat the yelks of four eggs perfectly ; mix with the
eggs a tumbler of jelly, four large tablespoonfuls of brown sugar, four large
tablespoonfuls of mustard stirred into a batter Avith vinegar ; to these ingre-
dients add a teacupful of butter and two tumblers of best vinegar. Stir all
together carefulh' ; set the vessel in which you have mixed the sauce in a pot
of boiling water and cook until it thickens and the egg is done; stir in a
little salt and half a teaspoonfnl of Cayenne pepper and as much tomato
sauce as will give it a pleasant flavor.

443. Mi!s!irooffis, and Ihfir fscs and Production.— It has been published
that some of the great producers of mushrooms near Paris, who grow them
in artificial caves, can produce at the rate of eighty quarts a day upon an
acre of surface, which would give an annual crop of 29,200 quarts. Allow-
ing the actual crop only one fourth of this quantity, it would be a very val-
uable one, as the average market price in New York is 25 cents a quart.
Say 7,300 quarts for the product of an acre, at 25 cents, this would be
§1,S25 a year. The construction of artificial caves, however, is so ex-
pensive, that mushrooms are not likely to be much cultivated by farmers for
family iise, though many of them will continue to collect such as are pro-
duced spontaneously about the homestead ; and to enable them to do so
without danger of getting hold of other plants of the agaric family that are
poisonous, we give the following rules to distinguish the edible mushrooms

Sec. 25.] EXCERPTA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE FOR HOUSEWIVES.

403

from toadstools. "Witliout giving tlic botanical characters, we notice some
of the marks by which tiicy may be distinguished:

First. The mushroom has no bad smell. The skin on the top of the
miislirodm will i-eadily i)eel off. The gills or jiiates on the under side of the
musiiroom are of a white and pinkish or rosy hue, and though turning
brownish by ago, yet never of that lurid brown of the toadstool. "When
sprinkled with salt and allowed to stand a few hours, the mushroom gives
out juice, but the toadstool becomes dry and leathery. If all these charac-
ters are imited in the specimen it may be safely eaten, otherwise it should
bo rejected, as it would be better to throw away acres of good mushrooms
than to eat one of the }ioisonous toadstools.

Second]}'. Mushrooms which grow in marshy, shady places, and in thick
forests where the sun has no access, are in general to be regarded as pos-
sessing dangerous qualities ; their substance is softer, moister, and more
porous than that of mushrooms used for tlie table. They have likewise a
more disagreeable and dirty-looking appearance. Those whieli have a
dusky hue, and change color when cut, or show a gaudy or many very dis-
tinct colors, particularly if they have been originally covered by skin or ex-
hale a strong and unpleasant odor, ought not to be eaten. Those which
have short bulbous stalks, or fragments of skin adhering to the surface, or
which grow rapidly and corrupt quickly, should also be rejected. It lias
been generally supposed that y)oisonous mushrooms loso their deleterious
qualities;, but this is a rule to wliieh there are man}- exceptions, and which
ought therefore to be very cautiously admitted.

If you wish to grow mushrooms, procure some of the spawn from a gar-
dener, and make a bed of light loamy soil, mi.xed with manure from Jiorscs
fed upon grain ; it will produce these j)lant8 when the temperature is right,
which is about 50 or 55 degrees Fahrenheit, in dry, calm, summer weather.
A cave cellar, or natural cave, or recess in the rocks, is a good place to make
a mnsliroom lied.

444. Dryinpf Rhubarb.— lihubarl), when well prepared, will keep good for
an indefinite period. The stalks should bo broken off while they are crisp
ami ttnder, and cut into pieces about an inch in length. These jiieccs should
then Ije strung on a thin twine, and hung up to dry. Rhubarb shrinks in
drying more than any other plant, and when dry strongly resembles pieces
of soft wood. When wanted for use, it should bo soaked in water all
ni"ht, ami the ne.xt day stewed over a slow lire. None of its ])rojH-rtie8
appear to bo lost in drying, and it is equally as good in winter as any other
dried fruit.

Another plan is to cook it first; for this get the Linnirus rhubarb. It is
larger, more tender, and better flavored than any other, requires Iws sugar
bv one fourth, and has no skin to be taken olT. Do not attempt to jtwl it,
but cut in pieces as long as the thickness of the stalk, and i>nt them with
your sugar in an earthen dish without water; cover it to retain the flavor,
and i)lace it in an oven and cook till quite tender, without stirring or break-

404

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

ing the pieces. If too much cooked, it assumes a disgusting stringy apiJCiU"-
ance, and loses all fruity character. The rosy color of tlie stalks will give
your dish an atti-iictive appearance, and the dysi)e2:>tic will find in it a power-
ful aid to digestion.

Tliis, if thinly spread upon plates, and dried in the sun or a slow oven,
just as the pulp of peaches or stewed pumpkin is sometimes prepared, will
keej) as well us pumpkin, if packed away iu thick paper bags or boxes, and
kept in a dry place.

liliubarb has within a brief period, quite wjthiu our memory, become
generally diffused, and is now looked upon as a family necessity rather than
a luxury. There are several varieties : Cahoon's seedling is the largest, but
is rather coarse and not so high flavored as some otliers, of which we may
have more to saj' under the head of the garden. We will only speak licro
of one or two methods of preserving the good qualities of the stalk by dry-
ing. For drying whole, the Victoria is one of the best varieties. Other
sorts contain too much woody fiber.

Ho. Facts about Pork aud Bacou— How to Cure and Keep Ilaias.— The best
and most solid pork is made by rajjid feeding of pigs in autumn, M-hicli have
been kept growing, but not fat, all summer. Hogs that are kept fat tln-ough
the summer are most apt to afibrd soft pork, which shrinks in the pot.

One writer says that — " Pigs should be wintered upon two ears of corn
a day, fed very regularly, one at night and one in the morning, keeping
them in a warm, close pen, without water, and they Avill hibernate in good
condition upon this small amount of feed. If watered or fed with liquid
food, and kept in the cold, much of the food is expended in keeping up
animal heat. The pigs should be in good condition when put uj), and must
be well bedded to enable them to keep warm."

446. Dry-Salting Bacon. — Hams, or any part of the pig designed for bacon,
we think, should never be put in pickle ; they are decidedly better salted
dry.

Our practice has been to weigh both pork and salt, giving six pounds of
fine salt to one hundred pounds of pork. First sprinkle about one fourth
of an ounce of saltpeter, finely pulverized, upon a ham or shoulder,
and then rub it well over with salt, and pile up the pieces in some dry
room, just as you would pile up a lot of stove-wood. It should be over-
hauled once, and the spare salt rubbed on fresh-looking spots, and tlie pile
reconstructed so as to allow the air to come to all parts. It will completely
salt in as many days as a ham weighs pounds.

For pickled pork, it is advantageous to salt it in bulk, before packing in
barrels. Nothing will drain off from meat thus salted, but just what should
drain away. "When your pork is ready to go into the barrel, pack it as tight
as you can force it in, and then fill the barrel with brine ; not salted water,
but brine, which is water saturated with salt. Pork thus cured will keep
longer than we can calculate.

447. English and Irish Mode of Curing Bacoui— The Irish Farmer^s Gazette

5eo. 25.] EXCERPTA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE FOR IIOCSEWms. 405

gives tlic following directions: " Singe off the hair, and sc-rapo tliorouglily
clean ; when cut up, rub the flesh side well with common salt, and pack the
pieces on top of each other on a tray with a gutter round it to catch the
brine; once every four or five days the salt should be clianged, and the
flitches moved, placing those on top at the bottom; five or six weeks of this
treatment will eullice to cure the bacon, when it m'ay be hung up to drv,
first rubbing over with coai-sc bran, or any kind of sawdust except deal;
if smoking lie preferred, hang in a chimney; if not, in a drj-, airy part
of the kitchen, not too near the fire. AVe are not acquainted with tlie
Limerick mercantile process ; tiie "Wicklow is similar to that given above,
and practiced by farmers there."

An English recipe says: "For four hams, 4ake two ounces of saltpeter,
two quarts of molasses, one quarter of a pound of pepper, half an ounce of
tochineal, and about three pints of fine salt. If the hams liave been in salt
pickle, the salt will not be needed. Pound the saltpeter and cochineal, then
]iut all these ingredients together, and rub the hams thoroughly with the
pickle, turning them every day."

■iiS. \ Good Pickle for ilams. — It depends partly upon how hogs are fed,
but more upon the manner of curing than anything else as to the <piality of
hams. They can be made almost as delicate as tender cliicken. For curing
hams in pickle we have tried and approve the following compound of
articles : To 100 lbs. of hams use 8 or 9 lbs. of rock-salt, 2 oz. of saltpeter,
2 lbs. of white sugar, 1 quart of best syrup, i oz. of saleratus, and 1 oz. of
allspice.

These materials are boiled and scummed, in ten or twelve gallons of water,
and the hams packed in a barrel, and the brine put on cool, adding water
if necessary to cover the hams. None but a new oak barrel should lie used.
Scald the barrel and cool it before putting in the hams. Let tiiem lie three
weeks, and then take them out and air them twenty-four hours; j>ut them
back again three weeks, and then take ihem out and dry them thoroughly
before smoking, which is done in an airy smoke-house, with cobs uml maple
or hickory chips. It is then a most delicious article of food. In smoking,
be careful to keep your Lams cool ; never allow fire enough to heat tho
meat.

•149. PreservinR Hams for Family I sc. — To keep hams through tlie summer,
hang them in a dry, cool room, and draw a loose cotton bag over them, and
tie it tightly around the string tliat holds the meat. This must be done
before tlies come in the sjiring, and it will keep them aw.ny. We have kept
liams prepared in this way till over three yeai-s old, and tiiey were ub much
belter than now ones, as ripe old cheese is better than one a tlay old. Tho
best hams that wo have in this country are from hogs fe<l upon beech-nuts;
but hams of hogs fatted ujion corn are much better than those frnni what
are generally known as ma.-t-fed hogs.

4.")U. How to Cook a Ham.— Never put n ham into a kettle of cold water,
and be equally careful never to jxit one into boiling water. First let tho

40G

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[ClIAP. IV.

■water become liikowiirin; tlion ])ut in the ham. Let it simmer or Loil
lightly for four or five hours — live is better tliau four — then take it out and
shave off the rind. Hub granulated sugar into the -whole surface of the
ham, so long as it can be made to receive it. Place the ham in a baking-
dish, with a bottle of champagne or prime cider. Baste occasionally with
the juice, and let it bake an hour in a gentle heat. A slice from a uicely-
cured ham, thus cooked, is enough to tempt a Jew.

451. Saiisa^r-Iflakiicgi — AH the lean scraps of pork that accumulate in cut-
ting up the pigs, whether for bacon or juckled pork, will be most economi-
cally used if made into sausage meat. But do not attempt this work unless
you have a good sausage-meat cutter; and if you wish to stuff the meat into
cases, you should have a combined cutter and stuffer, so as to do the work at
one operation. Cut the pork into small pieces, and divide it in parcels of
about a quart, upon a clean table, to wliich the cutter should be fastened.
Mix your seasoning of salt, sage, thyme, cloves, pepper, and a little sugar,
if you like it, with your meat, and then put it through the cutting-machine,
thus nicely blending the seasoning with the meat, which passes directly into
the cases, and tinislies the job with great expedition.

452. The Value of Pork in Bacon. — If bacon sides should range at 13 cents
per pound, shoulders at 10 cents, and hams at 15 cents ; and prime pickled
pork at 818 per barrel, mixed pork at §16, and rumps at $14 per barrel, we
would advise all small farmers, who have a limited force to feed, and a
limited purse to empty, to buy the rumps; they are about eight inches of
the small end of the backbone, with the tail cut off, and consisting of a due
proportion of tat, lean, and bone, and are the clieapcst meat diet that can
possibly be i)urc]iased by planters for their people.

453. How to Cmre and Cook Corned Decf.— For a pickle, to every 100 lbs.
of beef, take five lbs. of salt, a quarter of an ounce of saltpeter, and one pound
of sugar; dissolve in suiBcient water to cover the meat. Do not get your
meat too salt, for it makes it tough and tasteless. Do not allow it to remain
over two weeks in the first brine, for it takes ni> all the blood that was in the
meat, and consequently ought to be drained off, as the meat will be much
more likely to be injured than it will when separated and replaced with
fresh-made brine : but more especially in warm weather. In this way it will
keep with just sufficient salt to season it. In the second place, the cooking
is of just as much importance as the corning; it should be boiled at least
lour hours, or until it can be cut and eaten as readily as a piece of soft
l)read. Not one half of the domestics cook their meat long enough. Try it
once and you will see the difference. Meat prepared in this way can be
eaten with a relish, and is easily digested, giving nourishment and strength
to the body. But fried meats, or meats half cooked, can not be properly
masticated or prepared for the action of the stomach, and are among the
most indigestible articles of nourishment. Some persons are always in too
much of a hurry or too lazy to chew their food, thereby favoring their teeth
and throwing the responsibility upon th(i stomach. Frequent abuses of this

5ec. 25.] EXCERPTA OF USEFCL KNOWLEDGE FOR nOCSEWH'ES.

407

important organ develop disease, and the individnal is said to have dyspep-
6ia with all its attendant evils. Therefore, spare not the cooking; you
will have tlie less chewing, uiul greater advuiitage of the food.

454. Italian .llode of Cooking Scrap, or ( oarsc Tortious of Beef.— A very
economical and most savory and delicious dish can l)e made with two or
three pounds of chuck steak, or cheap parts of beef, which infinitely suqjasscs
the tasteless, insipid, common cating-liouse stnll", called "beef a la mode."
Cut the steak into pieces of less than two inches square ; season with black
pepper and salt, put them into a saucepan with a full half i)int of cold
water on the lire, and as soon as it boils up, remove it from the tire and set
it wiierc it would simmer for two hours and a half, until perfectly tender.
"^liile simmering, tie up in muslin a bunch of sweet herbs, composed of
knotted marjoram, winter savory, and a little thyme, and take it out just
before the dish is served. Of course, the stew must occasionally be shaken,
as all others are ; remember, however, the fat must not be skimmed oil"; the
more fat there is, the better the stew. The dish is of Italian origin, and is
eaten by Italians with plain boiled macaroni and Parmesan cheese, or with
a salad, and with either is a dainty dish.

455. Pressed Beef. — This is another excellent way of using up the cheap
parts of fresh beef, or even that which i^ corned by the receipt given in No.
453. Boil any ragged scrap pieces, with not too much fat, until the bones
will freely separate from the meat, which pick oif and pack in any strong
dish, and add such seasoning as you wish of salt, jK-ppor, spice; some add
a trillc of molasses or sugar, and press the whole into a cake, just ns those do
who make " head-cheese" from that portion of pork that is Letter prepared
in this way than any other.

45G. Iseful Little Thiugs for liousekceiicrs.— " Tlic truest economy begins
in little things." And so wc give a dozen of them in a bunch to eoucludo
our " cxcerpta of knowledge for the kitchen."

^Iaiiogany Stain. — Take four ounces of red sandors, one pound of fustic,
aii'l :ui ounce of logwood, and boil them in half a gallon of water for one
hour; then apply it warm with a brush or sponge; when dry, apply var-
nish. "With this you can renovate old furniture.

A Cheap RiiFKioEKATon. — "Two tin pails, soldered one into the other, the
space between them filled with charcoal, in small pieces (not necessarily
dust), with the cover arranged in the same way, will keep a small (luantiiy
of ice a very long time. Three inverted tea-cups, or something ninde for
the purpose, should support the ice to keep it out of the water. Ne.\l to
jiutting the ice in a tin pail and wra(ij>ing it in a blanket, this is tlio
simplest ice-keeper wo know of, and it is entirely philosophical and of-
feclive."

To this wo add the recommendation of putting this tin pail, with tlio ico
in it, with a hole as big as a i>i!i at the bottom and dri|>ping-i>an under it.
in a chest or close-shutting closet, the 'air of which will b' cooled, with tho
provision placed in it.

40S

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

This, of course, is only a substitute for a good refrigerator, hut will bo
found much better than none, and can be made for almost nothing, by any
man wkh Yankee gumption.

To Make Tough Meat or Fowl Tkndkr. — One or two tablespoonfuls of
sharp vinegar put into the water wiicn set to cook will do this, and in no
way impair the flavor of the stow or soup. Ycal to roast is much improved
by being rubbed all over with vinegar and allowed to remain two or three
hours before cooking. Fifteen minutes to the pound is the received rule for
roasting and boiling meats, and ten for fish.

How TO Use Salt. — Beef or mutton shoidd not have a bit of salt put
upon either when first set to roast ; just before serving, baste the meat, sprin-
kle fine salt slightly over it, dredge flour on, and let it brown up. Poultry
must be covered with sweet lard and salt — a teaspoonful of salt to two of lard
— before roasting.

To Prevent Metals from Rcsting. — Melt together three parts of lard
and one of rosin powder. A very thin coating jgiplicd with a brush will
preserve Ivussia-iron stoves and grates from rusting during summer, even in
damp situations. For this purpose, a portion, of black lead may be mixed
with the lard. The eff'ect is equally good on brass, copper, steel, etc.
The same compound forms an excellent water-proof paste for leather.
Boots, when treated with it, will thereafter take the usual polish when
blackened, and the soles may be saturated with it without soiling the floor,
as it does not rub oflf.

Seeds and many other things are best kept in wooden boxes. By a new
patent contrivance, boards are cut about one eighth of an inch thick, of suit-
able length and width to bend into forms for the sides of a round box, the
largest holding about a peck, and eight others, smaller and smaller, to form
a nest. The ends are fastened together M'ith some kind "of glue, and the bot-
toms are fastened in by a rim of tin bent over the corner ; and the lids are
made in the same way, so that the ends may be of stufi' but little thicker
than the sides. The tin corners are great protectors against mice, as that is
the only part of a circidar box likely to be gnawed into, and this makes
them quite safe for seeds and better as well as cheaper than tin boxes, and
a decided improvement tipon the old-style circular wooden boxes which have
bottoms made of a half-inch board, so as to nail it in. We should thiuk that
half bushel and smaller measures, made up on the same plan, with iron in-
stead of tin corners, would be first-rate.

Unpleasant Odors arising from boiling ham, cabbages, etc., arc com-
pletely corrected by tlii-owing whole red peppers into the pot, and at the
same time the flavor of the food is improved. Pieces of charcoal will pro-
duct the same efiect.

A Good Wat of Eoasting Apples. — Select the largest apples ; scoop
out the core without cutting quite through ; fill the hollow with butter and
fine, soft sugar; let them roast in a slbw oven, and serve up with the syrup.

IIoDGE-PoDGE. — Cut two pounds of mutton into small pieces, and put them

Seo. 25.] EXCERPTA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE FOR HOUSEWIVES.

40&

in a. stewpan with three quarts of water and a tablcspoonful of salt. Set it
on the fire and let it come to a boil; then set it where it will simmer an
liour; keep it well skimmed; then add one carrot, two turnips, two large
onions cut into small pieces, and half a dozen lettuce-heads, and let the
whole cook quite tender. 8kim oft' all the fat, and serve either witii the
meat in the soup or separately. A pint of green peas boiled in the soup will
be found to be a great addition.

IlAiK-BitusHES are best cleaned by washing them in sal soda or saleratus
water, which removes all the oily coating.

Sage and all other herbs for family use should be cut when the plant is
budding for blossom, and dried in the shade, and then stored in thick paper
bags, and there is no better place fur them than hanging fioin tlie garret
rafters.

To Clkan Knives. — Take a potato, cut in halves, and dip the cut part in
brick-dust and rub the knives, the potato affording just enough moisture.

For Cleaning Tainted Bakkels. — Put one peck of charcoal and one tea-
cup of saleratns into each barrel, fill them up with boiling water, cover tight,
and let them stand until cold.

45T. Vcrmiu-Krmcdies— Moths, Biiks, Ants.— Moths are driven away, it is
generally believed, or rather the miller that lays the eggs is, by any strong
odor ; so that furs or woolens, packed in a chest of camj)hor-wood, or of
cedar, or sassafras, or with the shavings of those woods, or with gum-cam-
phor, or tobacco, snuff, or pepper, are preserved from the ravages of these
pests. After moths commence eating, they pay no regard to the presence of
camphor, cedar, or tobacco; in fact, I think they enjoy the latter, if any-
thing else than humanity can. The superiority of pepper to camphor,* as a
preventive of moths eating furs, consists in the fact that, while tiie eggs will
hatch among camphor, there is something in the aroma of pej)i>er which
destroys their vitality. Woolens may be safely stored in a close linen bag
if often looked after. And probably looking after is the beat of all the
jjreventivcs, for moths never work where they are frequently disturbed.
IJut if articles arc packed in linen bags, they should be taken out and aired
once a month during summer.

liefore packing away furs, they should be well beaten, to dislodge tho
moths that, despite the most scrupulous care, may be deposited in tliem.
Hut the dreaded and inconvenient taking up and beating carpets will not
always insure success; but one who has tried it, says: "I contpiereil
them wliollv in this way — 1 took a coarse cr;ish toweJ and wrung it out of
cleuu water, and spread it smoothl}' on tho carpet, then ironed it dry with a
iTood hot iron, rejieating the operation on all suspected places, and thoso
least used. It does not injure the pile or color of the carpet in tho least, ns
it is not necessary to jiress hard, heat and steayi being tho agents ; and tiioy
do the work effectually on worms and eggs. Then the cain]>iiur will doubt-
less prevent future depredations of the niiller, by ])huing a few little crumbs
under the edges of the carpets without moving them."

410

DOXreSTlC ECOXOMY.

[Chap. IV.

Patchouli is recommended as a preventive of motlis. Sachets do patclv-
oidi are made of cotton-wool, among which a few grains of the powdered
patchouli leaves are mixed, and folded in paper. Placed among clothes,
they are said to drive away moths. In Ilindostan, patchouli is used by the
women for scenting their hair, and it is also mixed with tobacco for the
hookah. In this country the patchouli leaves, it is said. M-ill retain their
scent if dried in tho dark by being placed singly in a drawer, and turned
daily for a fortnight. The Arabs dry the leaves and stuff pillows and mat-
tresses with them, believing that they prevent contagion and prolong life ; a
belief which attaches among the ignorant to sage and other odoriferous
plants. As a scent, patchouli is used by perfumers chiefly for mixing with
other aromatics.

Eenzoin is used in the museum of tho Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, to
keep the moths out of the skins of the animals.

Tallow packed with clothes is also a moth preventive. But after all, fre-
quent shakings are the best preventives of all injuries by moths or mold.

Bugs may be killed with alum. Make a solution of alum, as strong as
M-ater will dissolve, and apply that hot to places infested with bugs of any
sort, in bedsteads, closets, or trees and plants, taking care not to applj' it so
as to kill tender plants, and the bugs will take a strong dislike to the
locality. You may brush it in cracks and crevices of floors, ceilings, or
walls of a room, or in the holes and nesting-places of these small vermin in
trees.

Corrosive sublimate is excellent for bugs and ants. For bedsteads it may
be mixed with soap. For ants, with lard and sugar, through which draw
woolen yarn, and fi.x it in cracks infested with ants.

458. Rat Keinedics. — Chlorid of lime has frequently proved a sure thing
to drive rats^away from any place infested by them. An ounce of it, scat-
tered in the place where they come to feed, or wrapped in a bit of muslin
and put in their holes, where it acquires dampness, produces a gas that is
not offensive to man, but is to the rats. If chlorid of lime is moistened
with muriatic acid, and placed in a drain, vault, or cellar, and closed from
the air a little while, the rats will depart, because it will be death to remain.
This is also a good disinfectant, and will for a time remove the efliuvia of a
dead rat. One application of dry chlorid of lime to rat holes has driven
them away for a year. If they return, a renewal of it will start them again.

Cats are the best rat-traps that we have found after many years' ex-
perience, and next to cats, the chaft-trap. This is best made by partly filling
a large, smooth kettle with water, and then covering with a few inches of
chaff. Tlie first rat that gets in makes a great outcry, M'hich brings othcra
to share his fate.

The best food with which to mix poison for killing rats is pumpkin seeds.
Wet them, and sprinkle on a little arsenic, which will adhere to the feeds.
They will be eaten by rats and mice, while cats, fowls, etc., not being fond
of such food, will not meddle with them. Wherever poison is put for these

Sec. 2o.] EXCERPTA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE FOR UOCSEWIVES.

411

troublesome pests of the farm, water ehoiild be near b\-, so that they may
cat, drink, and die outside of their holes and hiding-places. Musk-rats,
which are often troublcioine pesis ujion some farms bordering creeks or
ponds, may be poisoned wiiii arsenic upon pieces of parsnep or sweet ajiple.
Gunpowder, flashed in rat-holes, is said to be good to drive them away from
the premises.

459. Disinfectants and the Value of Disinfcctiug.— Xothing conduces more ;o
promote tlie health of a family than pure atmosi)here. It can be kept so
only in dwellings properly constructed for ventilation. From sitting-ruotn,
dining-room, and bed-rooms wo have air flues tliat have a strong draught
out of the top of the Iiouse, and the kitclieii is largely furnished witlj venti-
lation. In all unventilated rooms of the house, and in sick chambers, odors
at times accumulate so as to need disinfecting, wliile cellars, sinks, out-
houses, and stables often need it. Coflec roasted in a room, solution of cop-
peras sprinkled about, or cloths wet in it and hung up; chlorid of lime
moistened, each acts quickly as a disinfectant. The odor of a dead rat can
be allaved at once by moistening an ounce of chlorid of lime with a tea-
spoonlul of muriatic acid. But no one showld breathe much of the gas it
engenders.

There is a considerable difference between a deodorizer and a disinfectant.
Tlie former either merely removes or disguises a foul odor; the latter changes
the character of the matter which creates the ctihivia, and prevents it from
sending ibrth disease. Fresh slaked lime and charcoal dust are verj' good
deodorizers, but their disinfecting powers are not equal to tome of the salts
of manganese, which, when they combine with pestilential fluids in sinks
and drains, give out at the same time a consideralde quantity of pure oxygen
to refresh the atmosplieic. The manganate of soda, or potash, has recently
been tried in London with much success in deodorizing and disinfecting the
wafer of the river Thames, and its use in our cities during dry weather may
be of great benefit. It is applied by dissolving it in warm water, and pour-
ing it into the sink or drain to be disinfected.

M. Ilcrpin, of Paris, in the Journal <lc J'/iarmacu; recommends dried
and pulverized plaster of Paris, nii.xed with rather more than one lifth of its
weiMit of powdered charcoal, as a cheap and most cfl'ectivo disinl'ecting
mixture. It entirely removes the no.xious emanations from decomposing
organic mattere, fi.ving the ammonia, and forming a valuable manure.

Prof. Na^h, of Amiierst College, givis the following fornmla for making
what may be termed home-made chlorid of lime:

"Take one barrel of lime and one bushel of salt, dissolved in a^i littl*
water as will dissolve the whole; slako the lime with the water, putting on
more water than will dry-slake it, so much that it will form a very thick
pa^te; this will not take all the water; pnt on, therefore, a little of Uio
renuiinder daily until the lime has taken the whole. The nsult will Ik.- a
sort of impure chlorid of lime, but a very powerful deotlorizcr, equally
good for all out-door purposes with the article bought at tho ai>wlhccary'«,

412

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[CnAP. IV.

and costing not one twentieth part as much. This should be kept under a
shed or some out-buiKiiii!:;. It should be kept uioist, and it may be a]iplied
whenever oflensive odors are generated, with the assurance that it will be
eU'ective to purity the air, and will add to the value of the manure luueli
more than it costs. It would be well for every farmer to jirepare a cpuui-
tity of this, and have it always on hand."

IIow much more sensible it would be for. the city authorities to use this
mixture, which concentrates effluvia, instead of quicklime, which dissipates
it through tlie air and into everybody's lungs!

To i^rove how quickly the air of a sitting-room becomes impure, place in
it a pitcher of iced water, and in a few hours it will have absorbed from the
room nearly all the respired and perspired gases of the room, the air of
which will have become purer, but the water utterly filthy. This depends
on the fact that the water has the faculty of condensing, and thereby absoi-b-
ing all the gases, which it does without increasing its own bulk. Tiie colder
the water is, the greater its capacity to contain these gases. At ordinary
temperatures a pint of water will absorb a pint of carbonic acid gas and
several pints of ammonia. Tliis capacity is nearly doubled by reducing the
temperature to that of ice. Hence water kept in the room awhile is always
unfit for use, and should be often renewed, whether it has become warm or
not. And for the same reason, the water in a pump-stock should all be
pumiDcd out in the morning before any is used. That which has stood in
the pitcher during the night is not fit for cofieewater in the morning. Iiu-
I)ure water is injurious to health as well as impure air, and every person
should provide the means of obtaining it fresh and pure for all domestic uses.

4C0. §oap-9Iaking and H'aslling. — Wood ashes made from any hard wood
will make soap. Pine ashes are nearly worthless. Beech, maple, birch, and
hickory are among the best sorts for leaching. Put sticks and straw in the
bottom of the leach-tub, packed close, and four quarts of lime to a barrel of
aslies, which wet and pound down as you put in, and then in\t on water
slowly two days before you let the lye run, and it will come strong, but
should be boiled still stronger before you put in grease. Bones, rinds,
gristle, and hard scraps must go into veiy strong lye, and will then soon be
eaten up, all but the earthy part of bones, which skim out and save for tlie
grapevines and pear-trees. Make the soap strong of grease as well as lye,
and do not use it till very old, and it will be very good. It should be of a
salvy consistence.

To make soap with potash : Use the best quality of " first sorts" of pot-
ash, in the proportion of six pounds of potash to seven pounds of grease, for
a barrel of 40 gallons. Break up the potash into small lumps and dissolve
24 lbs. in two pailfuls of hot water. It dissolves rather slowly when the
potash is good. When dissolved, put the solution into the kettle, and add
the grease quite warm, and stir the mixture together ; allow it to stand all
night, if convenient. In the morning apply a moderate heat until the mix-
ture appears ropy ; then fill up with cold water. Cost, say 6 lbs. of potasli,

Sec. 25.] EXCERPTA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE FOR HOUSEWIVES. 413

36 cents ; 7 lbs. grease, 28 cents — 04 cents for a barrel of soap. Anotlicr re-
ceipt says :

" One hundred pounds of pjood soap for $1 30 : Take six pounds of potafeli,
75 cents; four pounds of lard, 50 cents; quarter of a pound of rosin, 5
cents. Beat up the rosin, mix all together well, and set aside for five days;
then jnit the whole into a twelve-gallon ca^k of warm wafer, and stir twice a
day for ten days, at the expiration of which time you will have about one
hundred ])0unds of excellent soaji."

The following is considered a valuable aid to the washerwoman, by one
who has tried it. She says :

"Take one pound of sal soda and half a pound of unslaked lime; put
them in a gallon of water and boil twenty minutes ; let it stand till cool,
then drain off and put it in a stone jug or jar. Soak your dirty clothes
all night, or until they arc well wet through, then wring them out and rub
on plenty of soap, and to one boiler of clothes well covered with water add
one teaspooiiful of the washing lluid. lioil half an hour briskly, then wash
them thoroughly through one suds, and rinse well with water, and your
clothes will look better than the old way of washing twice before boiling.
This is an invaluable recipe, and I do want every poor tired woman to
try it."

Another one says : " Take two pounds of soda ash, two pounds of hard soap,
and ten quarts of water ; cut the soap fine ; add all together, put into a kettle,
and bring to a boil, then take it off the fire and stir until nearly cool. Put
your clothes to soak the evening before you wasli. In the morning, wring
out, boil them in water, to which is added nearly a pint of the compound
to every pailful. Wash out iu the same water and rinse, and your washing
is dojie."

4G1. flasliiii? .llachiiifs liave been contrived, patented, made, and sold and
discardeil almost as luunerously as "patent churns." "We have tried a good
nuiiiv. Tlie ciiurns have all been given up for the old dasiier, and notwith-
standing washing was " made easy," the old wash-board still holds its place,
thou"-li sonic wasiting machines are worthy of commendation as assistants in
the laundry. None will do all the work. Perhaps our lady readers will say
that we ought to tell them which to buy. Wo can not do it. The latest
exjierience of our family is decidedly in favor of Doty's New York maeliine,
'• improved," which acts upon the ]>lan of a cloth-dresser's fulling-mill, and
is very easily worked. The " Metropolitan washing machine" is the jxHind-
ing barrel improved by springs that make it work easy. It is uset'ul for
iicavy work. C'LornKS Wki.m.kus are worthy of the highest commentlntion
Thev arc the most important ot' all household labor-saving machiniM. The;
iire "made of different forms, but the i)rineiplo in each is the bame, being con-
structed to attach to the edge of a wash-tul), and contain two elastic rollers
which arc turned by a crank with one hand, while with the other the washer
picks up one end ol" a garment and holds it to the rollers, througii which it
passes rapidly and falls int.) a clothes-basket a great deal drj'cr than any

414

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. FV.

woman conld wring it with all her strength and ten-fold more time. Tlicso
machines cost from $5 to $10, according to size, and are very simple in con-
struction, very efi'ective, and look as though they would be very durable,
and are certainly very great labor-saving machines, and one should be in
every family, and we are doing a jniblic duty in making them as exten-
sively known as any other fact for Atrmcrs. With a Metropolitan washing
machine and a clothes-wnnger, or, rather, a clothes-squeezer, which has
been several years in use in the author's family, washing-day is no longer
one that is dreaded. With these, washing is made easy.

462. Soft Water. — No woman can wash with any satisfaction unless she
has soft water. It is for this that we have treated so fully upon cisterns —
333, 334, 335. Hard well water can be softened with lye, potash, or soda.
We have seen a statement that a well of hard water was permanently cured
by putting four feet of coai-se gravel in the bottom, where the water oozed
in through the blue clay. We recommend that a space at least a foot
wide behind the wall should also be filled with gravel as high as the water
comes in.

As Ikoxing follows washing, we sa}': If your flat-irons are rough, rub
them well with fine salt, and it will make them smooth ; so will rubbing
them with a waxed rag. Be sure to use them hot.

463. Beds and Bedding. — There is no article of household furniture of so
much importance as the bed. It is the place where exhausted nature enjoys
recuperation, and all that art can do to make it comfortable at all seasons
of the year, should be'done, particularly in the farmer's home, where the
nature of the lalior is so exhausting. We are so much opposed to feather
beds, that we have not had one in the house for manf years, and we never
sleep more comfortably than we do at home upon hard mattresses. . We
think that feather beds ouglit to be done away with, especially in warm
weatlier. For spring, summer, and fall, husk beds ought to be in use in
every family, and would be if better known. There is no better time for pro-
curing husks than when the corn is being harvested, and the husks will be
much nicer and cleaner when corn is cut and shocked, and not become so
dry and weather-beaten. A good husk bed will last from twenty to thirty
years. Every farmer's daughter can supply herself with such beds against
time of need at a trifling expense.

No one who has not tried them knows the value of husk beds, which is
s'.icli that some persons think that straw and mattresses would be entirely
done away with if husk beds were once tried ; that they are not only more
pliable than mattresses, but are more durable, and the first cost is but little.
To have husks nice they may be split after the manner of splitting straw for
braiding. The finer they are the softer will be the bed, although they will
not be likely to last as long as when they are put in wliole. Three barrels
full, well stowed in, will fill a good-sized tick, that is, after they have been
split. The bed will always be light, the husks do not become matted down
like feathers, and they are certainly more healthy to sleep on.

Seo. 25.] XXCERPTA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE FOR HOUSEWIVES.

415

4G1. Homc-Made Mattresses of Hair and Uool.— Iluir mattresses can al^o bo

made in every fanner's family of very {.jood quality out of i<i;^'s hair, which
should be cleaned in the same way that tine wool is cleaned of all its gummy
dirt. Sec 129. "Where sheep are kept, a great deal of good material for
mattresses can he saved from ta<;lock.s and clippings of wool, which can l»o
cleanseil with but little trouble by placing them some days in a basket in a
running stream, or even by soaking in still water. The filth dissolvca with-
out injury to the wool. The cardings of horses ami bullocks, if saved and
cleansed, will soon accumulate enough for a mattress ; for one of twenty
pounds on the top of a husk one will make a lu.xurions bed. There is no
secret about making a mattress. Holster the edges npon one of the sides,
and lay it flat on the tloor or a broad table, and fill in the material evenly
of an equal thickness all over, and then sew on the top and lift the mattress
upon two or three narrow strips of boards supported at the ends upon tables,
benches, or barrels, so that you can stitch through and through with a li^ng
needle which you can buy for such work, using strong, smooth linen twine,
with a cloth button under the loop of each stitch.

Coiton makes a soft, pleasant mattress when new, but it soon mata to-
gether, and wc do not esteem it a healthy material for beds or bedding, ex-
cept for sheets and light quilts. Leech leaves make a very good mattress,
clean, sweet, and wholesome; they arc best when gathered by hand from
green trees. Straw, too, is always much better cut in a green state and dried
in the sun, and rj-e straw is the best kind.

The best vegetable material ever used for mattresses, and almost equal to
hair, is the long moss which grows upon forest trees, covering them as with
a gray beard in several of the " Confederated States." It reipiircs to bo
macerated in water until a thin cuticle peels off by washing, or by drying
and beating, leaving the black, hairy-looking thrc;ids of the interior, which
arc very tough and durable.

4G5. How to Make Ced romforters.— The best betiding ever used is linen
sheets and blankets fur summer, and cotton sheets and blankets for winter.
But as all can not have blankets, we will tell them how to make but com-
forters. It may be new to some readers that nice, warm bed comforters can
be made without the labor of quilting.

Make two calico spreads, old or new, and tack one in a quilting-frnme, if
you have one, and if not, spread it on the iloor and lay on four jiounds of cot-
ton batting, and then the other spread, and tack through and through with
u darning-neetlle and tie tight over a piece of bright colored cloth, oi yarn,
or wool, in squares of a foot, and you will have a neat-looking warm articU
of bedding. Two persons can make five of them in a day.

40C. Iciprovcmeiit in Quiltiu? Frames.— And why not improve quilling-
frames? They need it. The old ones are about as awkward contrivances
as ever were conceived— always in the way when in usc, with their long
arms sticking out all over the rooui long afU-r they had ceased to bo useful.
What man ever looked upon these necessary implcmcnU of household ccon-

ii6

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

omy with any satisfaction ? Ho looks every time he comes into the house
witli an anxious eye at the progress of the work, "lioping the confouiulcd
long-armed quilting-frumes will get out of the way some time." Now, for
the special benefit of such nervous gentlemen, some good soul out in Mich-
igan has invented a quilting-machine that has no arms to stick out in the
way. " jSTecessity is the mother of invention," and this inventor, we sup-
pose, lived in a log-cabin only sixteen feet square, which, as it contained two
beds and a cooking-stove, had no spare room to set up the quilting-framcs
on four chairs ; so he contrived a machine something like this, as near as
we can understand the description : Frame four legs together like the Irame
of a kitchen table, with side pieces nine feet long, dropped five inches below
the top of the legs, and end pieces two and a half feet long. Now take some
scantling, two or two and a half inches square, and round them with inch
round tenons upon each end to work in sockets in the top of the legs. Upon
one end of each of these rollers have a little ratchet wheel and catch, and
nail a strip of cloth along one side of each to which to tack the edges of the
quilt. When all ready, roll it all but tho two and a half feet wide strip
upon one roller and tighten the catch ; now quilt tliat side and roll upon the
other roller and so on till finished. The side pieces should be made to go in
with a key, so that the frame can be taken down and packed away at any
time, even with the quilt half finished, as it can be rolled up snug. It is a
simple piece of domestic machinery, but would add to the comfort of many
a household.

467. Carpets and Carpet Sweepers. — Keep a broom exclusively for carpet
sweeping. Never use it for any other purpose. Every one knows that the
daily dust arising from sweejjing carpets causes a permanent injury to furni-
ture, books, pictures, and the lungs. It is an old but good way to sprinkle
the floor first with damp tea-leaves, and then sweep Avith a bristle brush ;
but latterly we have found it much easier and more convenient to use one
of the new revolving carpet sweepers, which takes up the dust and puts it
away in a box so it does not rise without using any moistening application.
They are especially suited to libraries, offices, cabinets, and parlors.

The most economical carpet, probably, is a good, stout American ingrain,
which will cost about two dollars a square yard. If you are buying a
carpet for durability, choose small figures. A fai'mer should never grudge
the money to cover one room, at least, with a first-rate carpet, and
cheaper ones for sitting-rooms, bed-rooms, and dining-room, if one is set
apart for the latter purpose. There is no furniture that adds so much to
the comfort of a house at the same cost as carpets. These is no labor better
bestowed about a house than giving the carpet a thorough shaking and
beating in a hot, dry day, upon the clean grass, at least once a year.

You need not hesitate to wash a carpet with strong soap-suds, with a
brush, as it lies upon the floor, using clear water afterward, and drying it
by ironing upon coarse towels spread over the wet si:)ots.

4:68. Remoring Stains — Beef-Gall.— There is no better substance than the

Seo. 25.] EXCERPTA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE FOIi HOUSEWIVES.

417

very clieap article — upon most farms— of beef-gall to take out stains ujjoii
carpets, as well as many other things.

The clarified gall of the ox i.s also nuicli u.sod by scourers for renovating
the delicate colored silks and satins. In its natural state it contains green-
ish coloring matter, and is then only applicable for restoring the brightness
of dark materials. It is de-colored thus: Take one pint of gall, boil and
skim it, tiieii divide into two parts; to one half pint add half an ounce of
salt, to the other add half an ounce of powdered alum ; each part is to bo
heated till the additions are dissolved; then \unir into se])arate bottles, and
allow them to stand in a (iuiet place, and clear for a month or eight weeks,
even longer if not bright. The clear portions of both are then to be poured
gently oti' the sediments and mixed together; the coloring matter coagu-
lates and falls, from whicli tlie tran.-parent gall is finally separated by filter-
ing through blotting-paper. In this state it will keep any length of time
with its qualities nnimi)aircd, and free fi'om odor.

If the stain upon silk or satin is produced by an acid, such as from fruits,
and that upon black or dark colors, the best re-agent is liquid ammonia (strong
hartshorn) rubbed in till it disappears. For jilain and figured silks, of
delicate colors, we can not give a general nde, and therefore leave them
to be operated upon by the professional dttjruisseurs. To obliterate greasu
spots from white silk or satin, we may proceed as directed for colored ^ilks;
but fruit, ink, and glove marks retjuire a ditferent treatment. These nnirks
are generally removed by dampening the i)art with oxalic acid dissolved in
water ; about the eighth part of an ounce in a wine-glassful of water is strong
enough. The common salts of lemon in water also answer well. Collie-
stains, mud-splashes, etc., Mill mostly give way to the use of soap and water.
Curd soap should be applied for this purpose.

For grease spots upon cloth and all kinds of woolen goods, soap and water
may be used without fear, i)rovided it is well wiished out afterward. Ful-
ler's earth or powdered French chalk, nnide into a paste with water, and
laid upon the part, is, however, the best application, to bo brushed out wluu
dry.

Faint marks are removed with turpentine, the smell of which may be
quickly dissipated by hanging the article upon a lino in the air.

Silk articles shotdd not be kept folded in white paper, as the ohiorid of
lime used in bleaching the paper will probuldy inqiair the color of the silk.
Brown or blue paper is better; the yellowish, smooth India paper is best of
all. Silks intended for dress should not be kept long in the house before
they are nnide iq", as lying in the folds will have a tendency to inqmir ira
durability by causing \i to cut or split, particularly if the silk has been
thickened by gum. Thread-lace vails are very easily cut. Articles of vel-
vet should not be laid by with any weight upon them. If the nap of ii ihiii
velvet is laid down it is not ]>os8ible to raise it up again. Man! silk should
never be wrinkled, because tlie thread is easily broken in the crea*«>, and it
never 'can be rectified. The way to take wrinkles out of silk scarlii and

418 DOMESTIC ECOXOMY. [Chap. IV.

handkerchiefs is to moisten the surface evenly with a sponge and some weak
ghif, and then pin the silk with some toilet pins around the selvedges on a
mattress or feather-bed, taking pains to draw out the silk as tight as possible.
"When dry, all the wrinkles will have disappeared. It is a nice job to dress
light-colored silk, and few should try it. fc^ome silk articles should be moist-
ened with weak glue or gum-water, and the wrinkles ironed out by a hot flat-
iron on the wrong side.

To Take Grease Oct of Silk. — Eub a lump of wet magnesia over the
spot ; when dry, brush ofi" the powder, and no grease will be seen. It may
be applied to other stuffs. This is an old and well-tried remedy ; but there
is a newer and better remedy, but not so thoroughly proved — this is hcn-
sine, the most complete substance to cleanse all fabrics that we have ever
seen.

Ox-gall and turpentine are both good to take out grease. If turpentine
be employed, it should be distilled, and perfectly free from rosin. The
preparation called scouring-drops is pure turpentine, perfumed with essence
of lemon. Either of these substances may be applied with a piece of
sponge, or with a remnant of the same material that is being cleaned.
When the grease spot is large, the greater part may be removed, in the first
instance, by the application of blotting-paper and a hot iron.

Use a piece of zinc to stir your glue, or keep a small piece of zinc in the
bottom, and it will — so we read — prevent it from acquiring that unpleasant
odor common to glue. Where glue is always to be heated with steam, a
zinc glue-pot is recommended.

The presence of cotton in woolen fabrics may be easily recognized by the
following tests :

"When boiled for twenty minutes in a solution of nitrate of mercury, the
woolen fibers acquire a red color, but the cotton fibers remain colorless.
When the fabric is boiled with caustic soda solution (sp. gr. 105), the wool
dissolves, but the cotton is only slightly affected. Picric acid also stains
wool yellow, but has no action on cotton.

There are five pounds of pure sulphur in every 100 pounds of wool.
Hence silverware, wrapped up in flannel, or any other woolen stuff, will
turn black.

A bit of glue, dissolved in skim-milk and water, will restore old crape.

Eibbons of any kind should be washed in cold soap-suds, and not rinsed.

A hot iron, held over varnished furniture, will take out grease spots.

Sec. 26.]

DOMESTIC ■n'lXES.

419

SECTION XXVI.-DGMESTIC WINES, CIDKIl, AND PRESER\'E.S.

EULES FOB DOMESTIC WINE-MAKERS — HOW TO I'HESERVE CIDEB BWEET I'UE-

8EKVINO FUUITS FOIt WINTER.

i^^l^^^T^^^^^OMESTIC "WINE, as usually manufactured, is ra-
tlier ii cordial than a wine, and is entirely inferior
to good graj>e wine ; but when properly made, it
\| ),| will be a very healthful beverage, particularly for
siinnner drink, M-hen fully diluted with water.
Wc reconnnend to tliose who have the means,
to manufacture currant wine; and let it bo pure cur-
rant wine, using nothing but currants, water, and
sugar, witiiout alcohol.

There is no great difficulty in making good currant
wine. "White sugar only thould be used. The better
the quality of the sugar the better the wine will be.
The idea that any sort of sugar will do for wine is
pretty well exploded.

It is now also said that white currants make a much
nicer wine than the red currants, but that is according to fancy.

While we admit that the true wine must bo made from the grape, still,
for the want of a more appropriate luinie for beverages made from fruits
other than the grape, we call them wines. These domestic wines may bo
made from the currant, rhubarb, strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, and
gooseberry, of passalile cpiality. Inferior but drinkable wines may be inado
from parsneps and many other roots.

In the manufacture of all domestic wines, the great mistake is in tho use
of sugar of an inferior quality ; double-retined is not sufliciently puro to
inanu?acture either of these wines of the best (piality ; treble-retined sugar
should be used ; that of inferior kind contains gum, an<l after the fermenta-
tion this gum becomes fetid, and its disagrecaWo odor lias to bo overcome at
the expense of the odor of the fruit, and tiiereforo it should never be usc-d.

Brown sugar, no matter of how good a quality, will not make wine, f.)r
wlien fermeirted, that portion which is like molasses in flavor, if separate*!
from the sugar, as in the process of refining, becomes a rank rum, and not
sufliciently delicate as the preserving alcohol of the result. Whm grapes
are fermented, the sugar or saeeharino matter is not converted mto rum, but
into an undistiiled brandy of an unobjectionable flavor.

In )naking small-fruit wines, alcohul should never bo added; a Bufticicnt
(luantity wifl be produced by the fermentation to preserve the j.roiluct, and
any further addition injures tho quality and arrests the fermeutatiou. When
alJohol is added, these"wines do not improve at all by age.

420

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

The common practice of racking cider lias caused many to rack fruit
wines, Avliich some wine-makers tell us is all wrong. They say :

" AVhen tlie proper amount of the juice of a fruit, and trcble-i^fined
sugar in solution, is placed in a barrel with the bung loose, in a cellar of
even temperature, fermentation will readily commence, and will proceed
until the sugar, or a portion of it, is converted into alcohol, wlien it M-ill
cease. The buffy coat which rises to the surface will then settle and at-
tach itself to the cask; the bung should then be driven in, and in six months
the wine may be drawn off and bottled. No alcohol will be necessary to
keep it."

Let these general i-ules be observed, and the following special directions
pursued, and domestic wine may be made in any farmer's family of almost
any kind of small fruits.

The directions given in 469 are from George II. Ilite, of Morrisania, near
New York, who is one of the most successful domestic wine-makers of our
acquaintance.

401). !iow to Make Currant and other Wines.— "The currants should be
perfectly ripe when gathered ; they should be stemmed and washed before
pressing, which should be done as thoroughly as possible with a 12-inch
cider press. Ascertain the amount of juice thus obtained, and then add
that amount of water to the pumice, and incorporate the water, and pum-
ice well togetlicr : let it stand a few hours, and press it again. By this
process an additional quantity of juice, though not so strong, is obtained ;
then mix the first pressing with tlie second, and weigh a gallon of it, and
whatever it falls short of 10 pounds to the gallon, add enough of good re-
fined sugar to make it weigh lU pounds, and so on of the rest. I would here
remark that an additional amount of sugar added to the above will make a
sweeter wine, and perhaps more suitable to the taste of many.

" It would be rather an expensive business to those who have but few ber-
ries to make currant wine from the first pressing of the currant alone, as it
requires one bushel of currants to produce a little over three gallons of pure
juice. The red currant pure juice weighs eight and a half pounds to the
gallon. The white currant juice comes almost Avithin the wine-maker's rule,
weighing nine and a quarter pounds to the gallon. The way in which I
make currant wine is, to use tne pure juice alone or without much water,
and I find that I can readily command three dollars per gallon for it,
whereas the other would be dear at one dollar per gallon, and not much of
a wine at that.

" Elderberry wine is made in the same way as first stated, adding about
half water in the way of re-pressing the pumice, etc., as, if it is made without
the addition of too much sugar, it resembles claret very closely.

" Black currant wine is made in the same way as the elderberry, only the
berries should be scalded before pressing, and if carefully managed in the
fermentation, will resemble the Rhine wines.

" When the juice, sugar, and water are well incorporated by stirring to-

Sec. 26.] DOMESTIC WINCES. 421

gctlier until tlie sugar is dissolvud, it is tlu-n ]>lacc(l in an open tub in a toin-
peraturc of about Go degrues Fahrenlicit, there to stand a few days until the
froth and impurities rise to the surface, which must be removed as often as
they accnimnlatc ; and when tlie liquid bccrniios limpid and somewhat trans-
parent, tlien it is put in a clean barrel, lllliiig to within live or eight inches of
the bung. A tube, somewhat in the shape of a siphon, or more in the shape
of an ox-bow, made of glass, is inserted into the bung about two inches, and
made air-tight by means of small wedges of wood and wax, etc., the other
end passing into a pail of water to the depth of three or four inches. Tliis is
done to prevent the oxygen of the air penetrating the fernienting niiiss, and
also to retain much of the liner aromatic essences which are so essential to
fine-flavored wines.

" A great advantage is also gained thereby in rendering it less nece.-s;irv lo
keep watch over the fermentation as pursued by some in keeping the barrel
bung full by replenishing with some of the juice standing near at hand,
Avhich becomes pricked before fermentation has ended, rendering it in the
end little less than sweetened vinegar. No admixture should be attempted
after fermentation has commenced, and if the temperature of fermentation is
kept at about CO or 05 degrees Fahreidieit for about si.K weeks or two
months, it will be ready to remove the tube. Then till the barrel full of tlio
sort made in a separate vessel for that j)ur])Ose, and juit the bung in
moderately tight for a few days, and after that drive it in tight until aI>oui
December, when the wine must be racked oft* from the lees, the barrel rinsed
with hot and cold water, and when drained (piite dry, inseit into the bung-
hole a snuiU cup, suspended by a wire, containing one ounce of spirits of
wine or alcohol, ignited, and kept there until the barrel is well fumigated,
durino- which the bung must not be closed. Then return the wine again and

» 1 • • •

keep it there for three n)ontlis, v.hen the same jirocess is repeated. It it is
done a third time it will be all the better. It is now linished, antl can Ikj
kept for any length of time, either in bottles or wood, slowly improving
by age.

" Grapes may bo made into wine in the same way as first mentioned above,
with this diffcreiu-e, that when the pumice is to be repressed, sugar dissolved
with grape-juice (\>y heatj mu-t be ailded to the water that is mixeil with
tiic pumice, and stand a few hours before the second pressing. It must con-
tain the same ju-oportion of sugar and water as is found in the natural juico
of the first pressing, all of which is mixed well together and fermented as
above. But if the grapes are letl on the vine until they are fpiitc ripe, say
until they have received the effects of a white frost, and carefully feclectod,
tlie good from the bad, and thoroughly pressed and fermented as above,
witliout the addition of either sugar or water, you will have wine worthy
of the name. It is true we can not have so great a <juantity of juico, but
what we have is pood."

"We add several other ftirmidas for making currant wine, a-* follows :
First. " CJather your currants when fully ripe; break them in a tub ; press

422 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. IChap. IV.

tliein tlirough a sifter; strain through a flannel bag, and measure the juice.
Add two gallons of water to one of juice, and three pounds of New Orleans
sugar; stir till dissolved. Strain through a hair sieve, tlien a close tow
linen hag, and afterward a flannel one. Tiie juice must not stand all
nigiit. The cask must be sweet and clean, never used for beer nor cider, and
if new, well seasoned. Do not fill your cask too fidl, otherwise it works
out at the bung, wliich is injurious to the wine; make a quantity over and
above to fill up the cask. Lay tlie bung on tlio hole to prevent flics from
creeping in. In three or four weeks bung up, leaving only the vent-hole
open till done working ; rack off, if wanted for present use, but it is best to
leave it on the lees till spring, or it may be left for two years without dam-
age. When you draw ofl' the wine, bore a hole so it may run ofl" clear of
the lees. Some put in spirits, but I do not think it advisable. Do not put
in more than one third juice, for that would render the wine liard and un-
pleasant ; nor too much sugar, as that would deprive it of its pure vinous
taste. It improves by age."

Second. A sample which was very clear, and at two years 'old of a deli-
icate, fine flavor, was )nade by the following rule :

Take two quarts of juice, two quarts of water, and three pounds of refined
sugar; mix and let it stand tvro or three days; skim every day, then strain
through gauze, and put into tlie cask and let it stand one year; then bottle,
and you have an excellent wine.

Another sample, made with one quart of juice, three quarts of water and
one pound of sugar, was a very pleasant drink, but would not keep as long
as the other.

Third. " Before pressing tlie juice from the currants, pass them oetweeu a
pair of rollers to crush them, after which they may be placed in a strong
bag, and they will part with the juice readily by light pressure, such as a
common screw or heavy weights. To each quart of juice add three pounds
of double refined loaf sugar — single refined sugar is not sufliciently pure —
then, add as much water as Avill make one gallon. Or, in other words, sup-
pose the cask intended to be used to be thirty gallons ; in this put thirty
quarts of currant juice, ninety pounds of double refined sugar, and fill tlic
cask to the bung with water ; roll it over imtil the sugar is all dissolved.
This will be told by its ceasing to rattle in the barrel. Next day roll it
again, and place it in a cellar where the temperature will be sure to be
even. Leave the bung loose for the free admission of air. In the course of
one or two or three days, fermentation will commence. By placing the
ear to the bung-hole a slight noise will be heard, such as may be observed
when carbonic acid is escaping from champagne or soda water. Fermenta-
tion will continue for a few weeks, converting the sugar into alcohol. As
soon as this ceases, drive the bung iu tightly, and leave the cask for six
months, at the end of whicli time the wine may be drawn ofl" perfectly clear,
without any excess of sweetness."

Fourth. Take one quart of juice, three pounds of sugar prepared as above,

Sec. 2G.] DOMESTIC WINTIS. 423

and -water enough to make a gallon ; leave it in the cask one year, then
draw off and liottlo.

470. Klderberry Wine.— AVe liave tasted of a wine made from oliKrlxrrii's
hv Alfred Speor, in New Jersey, that certainly had some excellent qnalilit-s.
After i)re])ariiig the .juice, like tliat of eurrants:, he requires four years to
ripen it. llis slatement is:

"First year, it is kept in large casks, witli valve hungs to allow the gas
to escape, and at the same time prevent the oxygen of the atmosphere from
coming in contact with the wine.

"Second year, racked to small casks, and moved to another building.

"Third year, drawn off in hottles and piled away in stacks, whieli are
then completely covered witli sand, kept at one certain temperature the
year round.

"Fourth year, they are dug out, the wine decanted in fresh liottles and
laid away, lieing kept in another temperature until the end of this year,
when they are sealed, labeled, and packed ready for 6hi|)ping.

"The jirincipal part of the whole operation is the management of
the temperature in the rooms and cellars. Eaidi year, as the wine is
drawn oft' into other vessels, it is moved to a building kept at a dif-
ferent temperature frpm tlie jjrevious year, where it i.s kept unit'orm during
tlic whole time by means of cool vaults or stoves, as the case and reason
re(piirc.

" So tliat after four years it liecomcs unchangeable, and ready for market
in any climate.

"It is made from the juice of cultivated elderberries, which are nnulo to
grow nearly as large as the smallest-sized grajjcs, and pure without the a<l-
dition of alcohol or spirits in any form."

471. Wiuc from Rhubarb Stalks.— liliubarb will yield live times as much
per acre as grapes, but care should be taken not to uso the stalk too close
to the leaf, as it will impart a peculiar flavor to the wine. Take a thirty-
gallon cask, put in si.xtccn gallons of rhidiarli juice, ninety pounds of sugar,
and water to till the cask. Nothing but the best relined sugar should bo
used if the best residts are desired, and it is still better to dissolve the sugar
and boil it, witli the addition of a spo«nfid of sulphuric acid to every live
or six gallons, before mixing it witii the juice. Tliis must be allowed to get
cold before using.

Anotlier formula says: "Trim olf the leaves, and grind and i>re;.s (lie
stalks in any cider-mill. To each gallon of juice add one gallon of water
and six pounds of refined stigar, and lill tho casks, leaving tlio bungs out.
A moderately cool cellar is the best place t.) keep it. Fill up ooca-oionnlly.
either from juice kej>t on jmrpose or with sweetened water, so that the in;-
j)urities which rise to the surface while fermentation is going «>n, may bo
worked off. "When sufficiently fermented, which will re(piiro from one to
two or more months, bung tiglitly. an<l let it remain till winter, wlicn it may
be rackeil oft" into other casks, or bottlc<l. Some persons rctino it before

424:

rOMESTIO ECONOMY.

[CnAP. IV.

bottling, Ly putting into ciicli lnu-rcl two ounces of isinglass, dissolved in !i
quart of wine."

Cahoon's seedling yields the greatest quantity of juice. Mr. Gaboon's
motliod of making wine is to mix equal quantities of water v;ith the jniee
of the stalks, and to each gallon three and a half pounds fair quality of JN'ew
Orleans sugar, iilling the barrels quite full, and refining witii isinglass,
and allowing the wine to j-emain till spring, when it is l)0ttlcd. By adding
or diminishing the quantity of sugar, it will vary the strengtli of the wine
in the same projiortion. Tlic pure juice, without water, makes a very strong
wine l)y using four pounds of sugar to each gallon. Mr. Gaboon estimates
that 2,.5U0 gallons of wine can be made from an acre planted witli his seed-
ling. Sold at from $3 to Si a gallon, this Avould yield a return of $5,000.

The fault of the above is the nin-cfined quality of the sugar. AYell-made
rhubarb wine will cease to ferment in about eight weeks, and then it should
be corked tightly, and kept one year undisturbed before bottling. In three
years it will become like a dry sherry wine.

472. Bottling and CorkSt — Use none but strong, heavy bottles, and look to
your corks if you would have your wine keep. One of the greatest mis-
takes made by those who are new beginners in wine-making is the using of
poor corks ; they do not reflect that the common cork permits the air to
reach and destroy the wine. Besides this, a poor one can not be drawn
without breaking, and thus injuring the flavor of the wine. If wine-makers
would desire to have their wine keep well and taste well on opening, let
them never use any but the very best velvet corks. The use of the best
quality will more than doubly pay Ijy securing the wine from spoiling, and
retaining the flavor, which is often lost by a bad cork.

Bottles should always be stored upon their sides, or in racks, M'ith the
corks down. If poor corks are used, they must be covered wiih sealing-wax.

473. Wine of Graiics. — Most of the wine made in this country is barely
drinkal)le; what is called pure juice of the grape is often but little, if any,
better than very poor sour cider, and is not generally palatable to the com-
mon taste. In a trial of wine that I attended, a number of first-rate judges
of Avine finally settled upon a specimen of currant wine, as superior to any
of the sweetened specimens of grape juice; yet the concoctors of it label it
" pure juice of the grape," " fit for sacramental purposes and for the sick."
They insist that fermentation of sugar does not pi'oduce alcohol. They are
mistaken ; fermentation produces it, and distillation separates it. Tiiis
sugared wine is not pure — it is one fourth alcohol. Much of the imported
wine is sugared. Some of the best wine can not be imported ; we can not
move from place to place the very best wines made of pure grape juice.

These sweetened beverages all lack one very essential element of wine,
and that is the gout, which all genuine grape wines j)osses3. Unfortunately,
with very few exceptions, American grapes have proved so deficient in
grape-sugar, that they would not make wine without adding cane-sugar,
which makes rum instead of brandy, which is the true spirit of wine. Some

Seo. 26.]

DOMESTIC WINES.

425

of the best wine-makers of the country now believe that tiiey have dis-
covered, in the Delaware grajjc, one that will make wine equal to the best
European varieties. Some Cincinnati Catawba is a good Bubstituto for
Ilhinc wine. Some good wines arc made in California.

474. tlow lo Make Grape Wine. — For the benefit of those who may wish tf
do a little in tlio way of domestic wine-making, we will give a few simple
rules, such as are followed by wine-makers on a small scale :

Mashino the Gkape. — There are various methods of mashing the grapo
now used by the more careful wine-makers. Previous to the mashing,
however, when first-rate wine is to be made, the bunches are carefully ex-
amined, and all unripe and rotten berries are plucked off and tlirown away ;
then the grapes are thrown into a tub and mashed by tramping witii tlio
feet, or bruised with a club, or crushed by passing between two largo
wooden rollers, which are far enough apart to allow the seeds to pass with-
out being broken. The seeds, if mashed, would give a bitter taste to the
wine. To tramp grapes, wear India-rubber boots.

Pkkssixc; thk Ctuape. — The pressing of the mashed berries is a simple
process, like the pressing of cheese, or ai>ples for cider. The grape-press is
usually made to hold al)out 150 lbs. of grapes at each pressing. If white
wine is to be made, the- grapes arc ]>ressed as soon as mashed ; but if rod
wine is wanted, the whole nuiss is left to ferment for six or seven days, in
which time the juice takes the dark color of the skin.

Fkkmextation. — The juice for white wine, as it comes from the press, is
]iut into pipes measuring Uo gallons, about 115 gallons of Juice being put
into each cask, leaving one fourth of it cnii)ty. The bung-hole is left open,
and in two or three days the fermentation begins, and its force is over in
three or four days. The wine-maker then jjroceeds to fill up the casks,
gradually pouring in six or eight gallons at a time, so that the casks aro
filled in the course of three or four days more. Tlio casks should be tilled
up before the strength of the fermentation is over, so that the dirt or scum
may be borne up to the bung-hole and there thrown out.

Hacking. The vigor of the movement being over, the bung-holo is closed

and the wine is left for a period varying from four weeks to three montlis.
It is tiicn drawn off through a cock placed a couple of inches above the Itot-
toin of the i)ipe, taking care not to disturb the sediment at the Uittom.
The clearer wine is poured into a clean cask ; that filled with setliment is
filtered through a doubled cotton cloth, and is then mixed again into the
first drawing^or it is used without filtration in making brandy. About
one twentieth of the juice as it comes from the press fulls down as sedi-
ment. The process of transferring wine from one cask to anotlier is termed

"racking off." ^„ , , , , .

After the first racking, the now cask is completely filled, the bung closctl,
and the wine is not disturbed till March or April, wlun it begins to feel a more
livelv fermentation, for that process never ceiusos entirely. A\ hen the vino
sprouts in March or April, and when it blossoms in June, and the grapo

426

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

ripens in September, the new wine ferments ; and at those times the bungs
must be raised, and care must l)e taken not to disturl) the barrels. Between
times, when there is no perceptible fermentation, the wine should be racked
off two or three times in a year, and at the end of a year and a half it is
.clear and good, but it continues to grow better with age. The red wine is
treated in precisely the same manner, cxce^jt that it is allowed to ferment
before pressure. Immediately after the pressure the wine should be placed
in as cool a cellar as can be obtained in the country, and should bo kept
there always. This cellar should have no moldy matter about it, no vege-
tables or salt meat in it, nor anything that can corrupt the natural sweetness
of the air.

- Hed and White Wine. — Beandy. — All the white wine made in this man-
ner resembles hock or sauterne ; the red wine may be made to resemble
claret, burgundy, or port. When the berries are picked early, the red
wine is like claret, but has more body ; if the grapes are left upon the stem
until they are nearly dry, they give less juice, but the wine has a much
stronger body, and rivals port in strength.

The method of making champagne is held as a secret, and we shall not
attempt to describe it fully. The main facts, however, are that the wine is
bottled about, six months after pressing ; it is again re-bottled in eight
months more. The bottles are laid down upon their sides in racks, and
a large per-centage of them are broken by the activity of the fermenta-
tion.

The refuse of the press and all the sediment of the new wine may be used
in making brandy, which is obtained by distillation in the same manner as
whisky is distilled from maize or potatoes. For every hundred gallons of
wine about twenty-five of brandy are obtained.

475. H'inc of TomatoeSi — We have no experience of wine from this fruit,
but a lady writes us from Iowa as follows :

" Are you aware what very excellent wine can be made from tomatoes ?
I tried it on a small scale last year, and find it serves as good a purpose for
using in sickness and in cooking as the comjjounds of nauseous drugs usually
sold for wine. Many who have tasted it were unable to tell it from grape
wine. If people will use wine, it is certainly well to have it free from
poison, and tomatoes are so abundant that it could be aflbrded cheaply.
If vinegar can be made from it, it will be a blessing to the West, where
we have such horrible compounds under that name. The recipe : One
pound of white sugar to a quart of juice, and similar treatment to cur-
rant wine."

476. Blackberry Cordial. — This is not wine, though an article called black-
berry wine is often made in the same way that wine of other small fruits is
made, and is a very good beverage ; but this is what the name implies,
blackberry cordial, and it should be provided in every family, particularly
where there are growing children ; it is such an excellent remedy for chil-
dren troubled with diarrhea and all other diseases of the bowels generated

Sec. 20.] DOMESTIC WIXES AXD CIDER. 427

in the Spring season. To nuikc it, to two quarts of blackberry juice add one
jiouikI of loaf sugar, half an ounce of nutmeg, lialf an ounce of cinnamon,
pulverized fine, quarter of an ounce of clovo.=, quarter <>f an ounce of allspice,
finely pulverized, and a handful of rai.sins. Boil all together fur a bhort
time, alid when cold, add one pint of fourth-proof French brandy. Black
currants also treated in the same way make an e.xeellent cordial. t?ce 472.

477. Ciller — Prcservius it Sweeti — The following is the plan recommended
by Professor Ilorsford, of Cambridge, Mass. :

" When the cider in the barrel is undergoing a lively fermentation, add
as much white sugar as will be equal to half or three qirarters of a j>ound to
each gallon of cider, and let the fermentation ])roceed until the licjuid attains
the right taste to suit ; then add an eightii to a quarter of an ounce of bmI-
jihite (not sulphate) of lime to each gallon of cider in the cask ; first mixing
the powder in about a quart of the cider, and then pouring it back into the
cask and giving it a thorough shaking or rolling. After standing bunged
up a few days for the matter added to become incorporated with the cider,
it may be bottled or used fi-om the cask."

Do not mistake 6ul[)hate of lime — which is a natural production, and
known as plaster of Paris — for sulphite of lime, which is a manufactured
article, and is worth by the barrel about thirty-three cents a pound, and by
the cwt. thirty-seven and a half cents, and by the single pound til"ty cents.
It lias been of late years much used by sugar-makers to prevent fermentatiou
of cane-juice, and in our opinion it will be found more eflVctive ad a i)re-
ventivc of fermentation in cider than an arrester of it after it has proceeded •
nearly to completion.

We ke])t cider on tap that was treated as above for si.x months, which
a]inearc'd to ])0ssess exactly the same degree of acidity as it had when first
treated, but it had an unpleasant sulphur taste.

T'si.Nd IIkat and BoiTLiNO. — The following is the formula: Fill bottles
with sweet cider and set them on a board in a fiat-bottomed boiler witli cold
water, which heat to the boiling-point until the cider begins to run over.
but not to boil so as to alter its fiavor; then cork and seal just as fruits are
treated, and the cider will keep eqmiUy well.

Condensed Cidek is the name of a new article first made by Gail B<mlen.
Jan. in 1S63, using the same process which he invented for condensing milk ;
that is, boiling it in vacuum with steam-pipes, reducing tho cider direct from
the press to a"stiff jelly, which will keep as well as any fruit-jelly ma.lo by
domestic process. For transi)ortation it is juU up like the con<k•n^e.l milk.
In tin cans. It is reduced to its original coiulition by adding as much water
as it had parted with. It is, probably, tho best i)lttn ever deviled for kec|>-

ing cider sweet.

478._0iling f Idcr.— When a barrel of cider is tapped, it grows lianl ; Uiat
is, more and more acid, until it gets too hard to drink, if it is kept long on
tep. Tliis is occasioned by the air, which fills the ca.-«k alxjve the cider M
fast as it is drawn out. tIio air can not bo excluded, even if the caak were

428

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

ICUAP. IV.

air-tight, because the cider M'ill not run from tlie tap if there is no air to
press it out. If ciJer is exjiosed hmg to air, it will become vinegar. In
fact, the way to make vinegar of cider is to expose it to the air as much as
possible. To prevent the cider on tap from becoming acid, it is recom-
mended, as soon as one or two gallons arc drawn out, to pour in the bung-hole
about half a pint of clear sperm oil, or sweet oil if it is preferred. It should
be warm when poured in, and it will spread in a thin coat over the surface,
and keep spreading as the cider is drawn down, and thus exclude the air,
without giving any taste of oil to the cider.

This jilan of preserving cider is worthy of further attention. "\Ye have
faith in it from knowing that oil-casks arc the best we know of for storing
eider, imparting no flavor, and keeping it sound as bottled cider for years.
Sperm-oil casks are more valuable for cider-casks than for any other j^urpose.

479. Filtering €i<leri — Cider is very much improved by filtering. This
should be done when the first fermentation is over, by racking it off into
clean barrels. A good plan for a filter is the following :

"Take a square or round wooden box, made of inch pine plank, three
feet in diameter, and one foot four inches deep. Make it with a bottom
perforated with numerous one-quarter-inch augur holes, over which should
be laid coarse hemp bagging. Now fill in the box for eight inches with
pieces of charcoal — animal charcoal is the liest — about nut size, and on the
top of this place a four-inch layer of clean washed sand, and cover all with
coarse hemp bagging, and you have a cheaj) and good filter. Any num-
ber of such filters may be used, according to the quantity of cider to
be o])erated upon, and the cloth can be frequently washed witliout dis-
turbing the sand and charcoal. Before any cider is filtered through, pass
a stream of clear water into the filter for fifteen minutes, so as to remove
any fine, loose particles of charcoal that otherwise would be mixed with
the cider."

4S0. Aerifying Cider. — If cider, when it first comes from the press, could
be filtered, and the clear liquid allowed to fall from an upper story in a thin
stream into a large tub in the story below, or, if feasible, to continue falling
from one to another through several stories of a building, it would become
greatly improved, and we are assured by one who has tried it, that it may
be bottled at once without any further fermentation, and it will remain in
its sweet or slightly acidulated state, and when at a year old it is uncorked
it will sparkle like champagne wine.

The grand secret of having a cider equal to pure wine is in checking any
further fermentation. If the cider is left to itself, the acetous fermentation
follows — the sedimentary matter at the bottom of the cask rises, and the
liquid becomes muddy — this, acting as yeast, produces a second and more
violent fermentation, resulting generally in haVd cider.

By straining out the crude and useless matter from the liquor, the liability
to excessive fermentation is greatly lessened, and so it is by fumigating
casks with burning sulphur as well as aerifying. Kemember, however, that

Sec. 2C.] CIDEH, YIXEGAR, AND PRESERVES. 429

this airing process must bo confined to cider while quite new. If fermented
cider were treated in tlie same way, the restdt would bo vincar.

"When cider is kept tightly Iningcd uj), it changes litllo and very gradually ;
bottled, it changes none at all, except a certain improvement by age whicli
takes place.

Air will at once begin to chango the r.'.cohol into vinegar if it comes in
contact with it, and this will make tlie best cider hard and sour before
lonfj.

•iSl. .Vinegar— How lo Make it.— If you liave cider that "won't turn to
vinegar," just try the following plan: Fill a barrel, tub, bo.\, or any other
clean vessel, with clean shavings, or small twigs of any sweet M'ood, such as
maple, birch, beech, etc., and wet them with vinegar, if you have it, and if
not, cider, or even warm water will answer. This barrel must be full of
holes, sides and bottom, and set over a larger vessel, to catch the drip as it
leaches tlirough. The cider is to be conveyed to the leach by any con-
venient mctiiod. A good way is to put it in a pail, set on the i)arrel over
the shavings, and carry it over the edge by eiphons, made of rags, <ir cotton
lamp-wicking, or a hank of cotton yarn. These conductors should bo cut
long enough to reach from tlie bottom of tlic pail or pan used, up over tho
edge, and down an inch below the bottom. This gradual emptying of tho
]>ail, and trickling down tlirough the illter, exposas the liquid to the atmos-
lilare, and that is what is wanted to make vinegar. If tho first operation is
iiisiitUcient, let it be repeateil, and good strong vinegar will bo the result.

C'l UKA.NT ViNKOAK. — " Last year," writes a lady, " for trial, I tuok tVnirtecn
I^ounds of currants, mashed them as for wino, put them into a tub with two
or three pails of water, stirring it two or three times a day. After standing
several days, I strained or pressed it, and with molasses enough to make it
as sweet as new cider, I had ten gallons. I put it into a keg, and did not
open it till December, when I found it to be as good vinegar as was ever
made."

Blackberry vinegar may be made in tlie same way; or, if you arc making
wine, do not throw away the seeds ana skins after drawing otf the must.
Pour warm water over these tintil they are entirely covered, and let then*
stand in an o])en vessel three or four days. 'Ila-n draw ..If tho ]i.|uid and
let that stand until the acetous fermentation takes place. A small quantity
of coarse sugar or molasses will hasten the process. In this way a moat
excellent article of wine vinegar may be obtained by many who have not
tlie means of making ci<hT vinegar.

4S-2. Preserving Fruits for « inter Ise.— We have already given a plan in
3.'17 of a fruit-drving house, and have recommended preserving various kinds
of fruits by drying for winter use, and now wo give some ilinvtions tor
various other i)reparation8 for preserving fruit, cooked and uncooko<l.

Aj'jihn keep best in a dry, cool room, just above the freezing-iK.int. If
headed in barrels, apples will keep in a room where water wouKl frooro
quite solid. They will not keep well in a warm et-llar whero cabbage,

430 DOMESTIC KCOXOMY. [Chap. IV.

turnips, or any strong-smelling substances are stored, for tliey ahsorh the un-
])leasiuit odor. If packed in straw or chaff that becomes damp and musty,
they M-ill spoil.

483. Grapes — How to Keep Them. — ^Tliore arc three easy ways that will
serve the j)urpose in some degree — that is, it will preserve tlicni some weeks
into the winter in a tolerahle state of freshness. The first is to hang up the
bunches separately by the stems in a dry room, barely warm enough to pre-
serve fruit from freezing. The next is to pack the bunches, each separately,
in absolutely dry sawdust, of some sweet wood, in layers, in a box or cask.
The other is to pack the bunches separately between layers of clean cotton
fiber or batting. In each case the fruit should be kept in a dry, cool room,
and, when packed in cotton, the room may be so cold that it would freeze
water, yet will not injure the grapes. Care must be taken that the fruit is
dry and clean, and that there are no decayed, mashed, or imperfect grapes
on the bunches.

Another direction says :

" In gathering grapes for keeping fresh, thc}^ should be allowed to hang
on the vines until fully ripe, and then gathered with care to avoid bruising.
The fairest bunches should be chosen to put away, and with a pair of small
scissors all defective and bruised berries should be cut ofi'. They should
then be placed in boxes well ventilated, and remain for a few days, when
they should be packed in boxes holding six or eight pounds each. It is not
important that the box be tight ; it is better that it should not be. These
should be put in the coolest place in the house, where the air is dry. On
the approach of freezing weather they may be removed to upper shelves sus-
pended in the cellar, or in any dry room where the temperature is as near
the freezing-point as possible.

" While grapes may be grown in such profusion and with so little labor,
it is a little remarkable that a supply for every household in the country is
not secured, not only in the regular season of them, but to last until spring.
There is no trouble in keeping grapes through the winter as fresh as when
they are first gathered."

4S4. Preserving Fruit in Air-Tight fans and EottJes.— The modus operandi
of putting up fruit so as to preserve it in a fresh state without cooking, dry-
ing, or packing in sugar is not yet fully understood by all fiirmers' families,
though largely manufactured for sale by many persons in cities ; and many
contrivances have been invented for sealing up cans, some of which are
very convenient ; but the same thing can be accomplished with bottles
corked and sealed according to these directions.

It is a business that can not so well be done in families as in large manu-
factories, where everything is arranged for convenience ; but still, with a
little experience and careful attention, every family can save enough of the
various fruits of the season to furnish their tables with a great delicacy
during that portion of the year when they can get nothing of the kind.
The whole secret consists in expelling the air from bottles or cans by heat.

Sec. 26.

PRESERVING FRUIT IN AIR-TIGHT CAXS.

431

and then sealing up the contents hermetically. If the article to be pro-
served is peaches, select such as you would for sweetmeats, and j>aro and cut
them so that they can be put in the bottle, and you must do this with the
least possible delay, or they will be colored by tiio atmosphere. Some per-
sons wiio want them to retain their natural whiteness peel them under wa
ter. When the bottle is full, cork it tight and wire down the cork with
very little projecting above the glass. "When you have bottks enough to
fill a kettle, such as may be most convenient, put them in and boil with the
water all around up to the nozzle for aliout fifteen or twenty minutes, or
until the bottle appears to be full of steam, the atmosphere having been
forced out through the cork. As soon as the bottles are cool enough to
handle, dip the corks in sealing-wax, so as to cover them quite tight. An
additional precaution is used by some in putting tin-foil over iho wax.

Another ])lau is to cook the fruit slightly in a kettle, and then put it into
cans or bottles, and pour hot syrup of sugar in to till uj) the interstices, and
then cork and seal, the lieat of the fruit and syrup answering to expel the
air. Eiit the less they arc cooked or sweetened, the more natural will bo
the taste, like fresh fruit when opened. AVe have eaten peaches a year old
that we could not tell from those sugared ten hours before.

Tomatoes are very easily preserved, and retain their freshness better than
almost any other fruit. The small kind only are used. Scald and peel
them without breaking the ilesh. Bottles should hold about a quart only,
because when once opened, the contents nmst be used uj) at once. Bottles
made on purpose, with large throats and a ring on the inside, are the best,
and bottles are better than cans for all acid fruit. The cans, however, aro
more easily secured by solder than the l)ottle3 by corks and wax, as the air
is let out through a small puncture after the large opening is soldered up
and cans heated, and that hole 6toj)i>ed with a single drop of solder.

Every article of fruit will keep fresh if the air is exhausted and the bottle
sealed light. The least particle of air admitted through any imperfectiou
of the sealing will spoil tlie fruit. If tiie air could I'O driven out without
heat, there would be no need of any cooking, ami only just enough should
be given to expel the air and not change the taste. Many jwrsons prefer
to add syrup made by about one poimd of sugar to a <piart of water to all
suitable fruits. Green corn, beans, peas, tomatoes, pic-plant, curranUs
gooseberries, cherries, plums, rasi)berries, strawberries, )M;aclies, arc tlio moet
common things put up in this way. They udil greatly to the pleasuren of
the table and to the health of tho^c who consume ihem — in that r^poct
quite unlike the common preserves.

■\Ve have known fruit for jiie^ juit up in thrce-fpiart cans by partially
cooking in an open kettle in a syrup just sweet enough for uw. and putiing
the fruit in the cans hot and soldering immediately. It kept thus perfi-ctly.

Some fruits keep nuicli better and with less healing than others. I'cas aro
among tiie iiardcst articles to kee|>, tiiey contain so much fixed air.

"\Vc advise every family in the country to try this plan of j>utting up

432 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

fruits for winter use on a small scale this ycai-, and if successful, enlarge
upon it next year

A new mode, to us, of canning fruit is recommended as follows :
" Take a common wide-mouthed crock or jar of any size ; prepare the
fruit in the usual way ; fill the jar and tie two waxed cloths tightly over
the mouth. Tlie jar must not be very narrow-mouthed in proportion t*) its
size. A common, straight, stone gallon jar is of good proportions. If the
mouth is too small, the clotlis can not follow the surface of the fruit down
in a cold time. Tlie cloth must touch the fruit at all times, and if the
mouth is wide it can rise and fall with the weather. In order to have the
jar very full, it is well to let the fruit cool down a little below 212 de-
grees ; then fill up with more fruit just before putting on the cloth. The
cloths may be of the common muslin, but they must be soaked in melted
wax. The wax should be beeswax chiefly ; a little rosin and tallow will
help it."

485. Dry Sa^ar-PreserTingi — Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cher-
ries, and peaches can be preserved in this manner : Lay tlio ripe fruit in
broad dishes, and sprinkle over it the same quantity of sugar used in cook-
ing it. Set it in the sun or a moderately heated oven until the juice forms
a thick syrup with the sugar. Pack the fruit in tumblers, and pour the
syrujj over it. Paste writing-paper over the glasses, and set them in a cool,
dry place. Peaches must be pared and split, and cherries stoned. Pre-
served in this manner, the fruit retains much more of its natural flavor and
healthfulness than when cooked. The paper which is usually pasted over
jars of preserves is porous, and admits air. To render it perfectly impervi-
ous to air, apply the white of an egg with a brush to the paper before cover-
ing the jars, overlapping the edges an inch or two.

486. Dry Pressure Preserving. — By submitting vegetables to a powerful
pressure, they have been prepared in France so that they have been kept in
a dry state many months. Cabbages, beets, parsneps, peas, apples, etc., are
divested of all moisture by a powerful hydraulic press, and thus are packed
in small compass for use of men on ship-board. They are a tolerable sub-
stitute for fresh vegetables, but as unlike them as bull beef is to tender
lamb. Upon such a voyage, however, as that of the Grinnell expedition,
where the ships were frozen up nine mouths, a taste of such food as this
would have been not only palatable, but extremely beneficial to health. We
understand it is not expensive.

487. Currant Jelljt — As currant jelly is pleasant and useful to both the
sick and the well, we give the following directions for making it of excellent
quality, which retains the beautiful crimson color of the currant much bet-
ter than that made by the old mode: "Squeeze the juice out of the cur-
rants, strain and measure it, put it in a porcelain or very well-cleaned cojv
per or brass kettle, and boil it until the scum ceases to rise ; then, without
taking the juice off the fire, stir in one pound of well-refined sugar to every
pint of juice, and as soon as the sugar is fidly dissolved — which will bo

Seo. 2G.] pickles and PRESERVES. 433

in less tlian a minute — take it ofT and pour it into the vcoscls prepared to
receive it."

Cider Jelly. — Boil three quarts of ci<ler just from the press till it is re-
duced to one. Skim well, and add not quite one <juart of white sugar. I>uil
fifteen or twenty minutes, and strain througli a coarse linen cloth mto your
jelly glasses.

4S>!. Picklins Cucumbers, Mclous, Tomatoes, PeacbeSi— Tlie groat art in
making good pickles is to have good vinegar, llic best vinegar for jiick-
ling is made of sound cider. As good vinegar is not always at hand, tiio
best way is to prepare a brine strong enough to bear an egg. When tho
tub is full of pickles, allow the brine to cover them ; then cover tiieni over
with cabbage-leaves, and a board and weight to keep them in the brine. For
use, freshen in warm water, and put them in a bright brass kettle, with
vinegar enough to cover them, and scald tiieni fifteen or twenty minutes;
put them in jars, and pour hot vinegar over them ; flavor them with
cloves, mace, black pepper, an onion or two, and a little liorscradisli and
ginger.

Fob Peach Pickles. — Stir two pounds of white sugar into two quarts of
Ihc best cider vinegar. Boil it ten minutes, skimming it well. Have ready
Fomc large, fully-ripe peaches; rub them with a clean tlaiuiel to take off tho
down, and stick four cloves into each. Put them into gla^s or whiteware
jars, rather more than half full, and })our on them the vinegar boiling hot.
Cover them closely, set them in a cool place, and let them rest for a week.
Then pour olT the liquid, and give it another boiling. Afterwanl pour it
again on the peaches; cover them closely, corking the jars and tying leather
over each, and put them away till wanted for use. lusteail of cloves you
may stick the poaches with blades of mace, six blades to each peach. If
you find a coat of mold on tlie top of a jar of jiickhs, remove it carefully,
and do not throw away tho pickles, as they may still be quite giKxl be-
neath.

4S9. Apples, how Preserved, and tbeir Ise.— "Where njq'les abound, as they
do in a lar"e portion of the Northern States, they should be found in bonio
form upon every farm-houso table at nearly every meal. Several very
choice sorts can be kept through the winter up to the time when appirt
come a"-ain ; and where they abound, there is really but little oceasion for
jiiescrvTng small fruits, as indicated in preceding iJaragrajdis. Applea,
when first taken from the tree, if laid in a heap eighteen inches in depth,
and covered with a cloth, or a little straw, will soon sweat and become .piito
moist; then the cover or straw shouhl be taken off, ami the apples sutlVretl
to dry as suddenly ns j.ossible. Then parked in barrels and kept till they
sweat again, and fiiudly dried, repacked, and stored in proper situations they
will always bo ready for furnishing somo of tho l>cst sweetnieaU at short
notice that a farmer can enjoy, for they furnish healtliy f.HMl.

Apples brouglit to the table raw bhoidd be oidy such kinds as can bo eaten
after sweet things, as pastry and custards, hence all intenwly wur applet

431

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

however grateful at other times, are not fit for the dessert. There is almost-
an infinite number, and among them our best varieties, which do not come
within this stricture, thougli some of the choicest for culinary purposes arc
too sour for the dessert uncooked.

The cfl'ect of heat on many apples is quite noticeable. Baked apples are
always liked. AVe are not surprised when a tender apple bakes soft and
delicate, but when one tough and corky loses all these characteristics, and
surpasses in delicacy even the other, as is often the case, we appreciate better
the chenucal action Avhich heat induces. Sweet apples, free from decay,
worms, or gnarly spots, scrupulously cleaned and placed in pans, and baked
in a slow oven till full^' done, are excellent. The apples should shrivel and
dry away veiy much, and the skin should not be broken so as to let the
juice out. The sweetness is thus concentrated, and they are three times as
good as if simply baked through.

Sour or tart apples may be baked much quicker ; the juice, instead of be-
coming viscid and thick by heat, is apt to fiow out, or the steam splits the
skin and lets it out, and it is likely to burn to the pan. Baked tart apples
sliould be eaten with sugar, or they may be baked with sugar. Tart apples,
M'ashed, placed in a pan with a little water, and sprinkled over avcU with
sugar — or the same, cored and the holes filled with sugar — or pared as well
as cored, and spice added with the sugar, are delicious. Some use one or two
cloves to each apple, or a bit of cinnamon with some lemon-peel; others grate
nutmeg or sprinkle cinnamon over the apples in the pan.

To our taste, plain baked apples, or slightly sugared if very tart, is the
very best preparation of this valuable fruit for the table.

Apple Cust^vkd. — :To make the cheapest and best every-day farmer's apple
custard, take sweet apples that will cook soft, pare, cut, and stew them ;
wlien well done, stir till the pieces are broken; M'hen cool, thin with milk
to a proper consistency, and bake with one crust, like a pumpkin pie. Eggs
may be prepared and added with milk, though it will do without. IS'o
sweetening is necessary. It may be seasoned with any kind of spice to suit
the taste — the less the better.

Raw Apples and Milk. — A tender sub-acid, or sweet apple — the latter
preferable — pared and sliced thin into a bowl of milk, for bi'eakfast or sup-
per, is a great luxury to some persons at any time of the year ; and it is not
less healthful, than grateful to the palate.

Sec. 27.]

HYGIENIC.

435

SECTION XXVII.-nYGIEXIC.'

PEEPAEATION OF FOOD FOE THE 6ICK— REMEDIES FOE POISONS, BITES, A.VD

6TKGS.

E will not tire the reader with nostrums under this
title; we simply ask attention to a very short section
uiion matters of ^'reat importance to those who are
sufferiiif,', and which come jiroperly under the head
of this chapter. All of our readers who liave,
while recovering from sickness, asked, "What shall
I cat*"' will appreciate all that is said in the next
paragraph.

400. Food for Ihe Sick and DTspepiic— Sickness
occurs in every family, and during ci<nvalcscenco
the appetite is sometimes so delicate it needs a good
deal of pampering. In some families there is alwavs
an invalid, who can not cat the every-ilay food of
those whose apiictites are strong. To sucli, some of
the following hints may be very acceptable, and equally acceptable to some
who arc not sick.

What shall I cat? How orften this rpicstion is a.-kcd by the sick, or ihoso
with delicate appetites! Nature demands food, but the apj>etitc doi-s not
crave it, and the mind of the feeble invalid can not fix upon anything that
he will rcli.sh.

It may relieve such sufferers to point ont a few suitable articles of food,
such as are easily ])repared and usually tempt delicate appetites.
Here is one ])ceidiarlv New Englandish :

" Cut some codfish in bits the size of a ]>oa, and boil it a minute in water
to freshen it. I'oui- oil' all the water, and add some cream and a little
pepper.

"Split and toast a Boston cracker, and put the above upon it. Milk and
a little butter may be used instead of cream.

" I lam or smoked beef may be jireparcd in the eamo way. For a variety,
beat up an egg and stir it in, instead of cream, or with the cream.

"These preparations are also good for a relisli for a fiiniily bn-akfust
or tea."

Another exrellent dish for sick or well, and economical withal, is made
bv taking a few cakes of ])ilot-bread and soaking them till partially Koft,
at'ter breaking them into mouthfuls, in just water enough to be ail abtiorbcil ;
then cut a slice of fat salt pork into very small jiieces, fry it crisp, jwur it
over tho bread, and heat the whole in a stove or oven, or in a spickr.

436

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[CUAP. IV.

Another plan is to pour over the Lre;id a sweetened Lnttcr gravy, or wine
sauce, or the juice of stewed fruit or preserves. All are good.

A very e.xcelleut food for delicate stomachs may be made by sweetening
water, cold or hot, with refined sugar, and crumbling into it stale bread.

Bread and cider used to be a favorite food in Yankee land in old times.
Sweeten the cider, and crumb into it toasted bread.

Sometimes a piece of codfish or a slice of fat salt pork, roasted upon
live coals, will tempt a convalescent appetite when nothing else will answer.

In making porridge of corn or oatmeal, be careful to cook it well. Do
not think it done till it has boiled an hour.

Ibice gruel does not need so much cooking. It should not be given to a
person of constipated habits. Simple boiled rice is a delicate food for the
sick.

Arrowroot, tapioca, farina, and corn starch are all of the same character —
highly concentrated food. A good gruel may be made of either, and fla-
vored with sugar, nutmeg, lemon, or whatever would be agreeable. Stale
bread, very dry, crumbed and made into a gruel, is pei-liaps the most di-
gestible. Stale bread, toasted very dry and brown, and then steeped in wa-
ter a long time, makes a good drink for the sick, and furnishes considerable
nourishment.

In all cases of sickness, when the appetite craves fruit we would give it,
ripe and fresh in its season, or preserved and cooked in the most simple
manner. Apples for the sick should always be roasted. So should po-
tatoes.

If the friends of the sick possess a little skill and neatness in the prepara-
tion of dishes, the patient need never say, " What shall I eat ?"

The following is well relislied by some appetites, but we doubt its di-
gestibility : Shave a good crisp head of cabbage as fine as possible ; add a
tablespoonful of horseradish to each quart of shaved cabbage ; let one pint
of vinegar come to a boil ; have ready three well-beaten eggs with a little
salt ; pour the eggs into the vinegar and stir until cooked ; then pour it
over the cabbage and set it away, as it is better when cold. This will keep
some daj's, and is always ready.

Roasting a CnicKEN may be thought a very simple operation, but,
in our opinion, not one in ton of modern housekeepers can do it to per-
fection. First, because they have no conveniences. The abominable cook-
ing-stove has sj^oiled many a dish, and none more so than this of a roast
chicken, which never has been and never will be roasted to perfection in
any other way than tied i;p by the legs swinging by a string before a wood
fire, dripping its gravy into a pan in which there is a little cream and a
lump of butter, with which the roast is to be basted from time to time until
the skin is brown and flesli thoroughly cooked. It is this cooking in the
open air that gives it the peculiar richness. If a chicken must be roasted or
baked in a stove-oven, it should be done with the oven door open. With
some stoves it can be much better done in an open pan set down before the

Seo. 27.] nYGIENIC. 437

grate. All lioles in tlic body of a fowl eliould be sewed up as tight as poa-
sible — not merely drawn together, but tiglit.

A badly cooked fowl Bhould never be set before an invalid, or one whoso
digestion is naturally weak. Tlio following makes a nice dish for a delicate
ajipetite :

Lay Iialf a dozen crackers in a tureen ; pour enough boiling water over
them to cover them. In a few minutes tlicy will be swollen three or four
times their original size. Now grate loaf sugar and a little nutmeg over
them, and dip on enough cream to make a nice sauce, and you have a
simple and delicious dessert that will rest lightly ujion the sfoinacli, and it
is easily prepared. Leave out the cream, and it is a valuable recijie for
" sick-room cookery."

Lemonade. — ^Thrce lemons to a pint of water makes strong lemonade ;
sweeten to taste. This is a cool, refreshing, pleasant, and salubrious bev-
erage for invalids.

Mead. — Three pounds of sugar, five gills of molasses, tliree pints of wa-
ter, three ounces of tartaric acid, one ounce of sarsaparilla. Stir it over the
fire till at the boiliiig-jioint. "When cold, Ijuttle and cork tight. Add tljo
Bupercarbouatc of soda when you drink it.

Ginger Beer. — Two gallons of boiling water, two pounds of crushed
sugar, one and a half ounces of bruised ginger, one ounce of cream of tartar,
one lemon, two tulilespoonfnls of yeast. Mix all together (except the yeast)
and let it stand over-night ; then add the yeast ; strair and bottle it ; tie
down the corks. In twelve hours it may be drank.

r.EEK Tea is very nourishing if rightly ]>reparcd. Take perfectly lean
parts of fat beef, cut it into cubes lialf an inch square, and soak it some hours
in cold M-ater, and then boil all together for an hour. You may improve
this by adding a toasted cracker to each bowlful.

The following formula is given by Liebig : Half a pound of I'nsh, lean beof,
cut small in one pint and a third of pure wafer, with four drops of muriatic
acid and half a small si>oonful of salt, to stand an hour cold, ami then strain
without sfpieezing. It may then be cooked and taken hot or culd

Mutton or chicken tea should I)e made nceording to the first of the above
directions, and rice may be a<hled, if not intended solely for drink.

491. ('aulioiis about Prcsrrvinsr llcallli.— The art of j.reserving health is of
more consequence than all the i>re.~erip(ions for pampering sick npitetites. A
great deal of sickness might bo avoide.l by forethought. Tiiere is iilwnys
some cause to produce sickness, and that cause may frequently Iw reuiovoil
by a few hours' labor.

Stagnant water in the cellar is a great breeder of disease. U't there al-
ways be a free passage of air thr-uigh the <ellar by taking out the window*,
so that the air can circulate freely and keep it bealthy.

If there are stagnant iionds near your dwellings, tlioy should »k« <lmin.il.
Kemove, as far as you can, every <-auso of disease; bo teuiperalo and regu-
lar in all your liabits ; avoid exposure, and bo careful of what you eat.

438

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[GnAp. IV.

492. PoisonSi — There are numerous poisons lurking unsuspected about
many dwellings that tend to produce sickness. Among other poisons, we
enumerate —

Oxalic acid used in solution tor cleaning brass and removing stains from
linen, is a vii-ulent poison. Lime forms an insoluble compound with it, and
proves the best antidote wlicn it has been taken into the stomach.

Among vegetable poisons wc find the mountain laurel {Kalmia latifolia),
and the dwarf or sheep laurel {K. augustifol'ia). These not only are eaten
by animals, but the leaves are mistaken by children for wintergreen, and
we have known serious cases of poisoning to result.

Poison sumach {Rhus venenata) and poison vine or poison ivy (7?. toxico-
dendron) produce excessive irritation of the skin, and even blistering from
contact with most persons, and some are so sensitive that the odor only of
the first or its smoke in burning produces most painful results. The wild or
poison parsnep has a similar etiect upon some persons, and some very del-
icate skins are afl:"ected by the garden parsnep. The eflect is hightcned
when the leaves are covered with dew ; when dried, they may be handled
witli safety.

Water hemlock {Cicuta maculata) is a virulent poison. From the form
of its inflorescence and the aromatic odor of its seed and root, it is some-
times mistaken for sweet cicely {Jft/rr/iis odorcUa) by children. Pains
should be taken to extirpate it wherever found, as also to prevent the spread
of a similar plant, a foreigner, poison hemlock {Conium maculatum).

Among poisonous garden flowers we have the larkspur, monkshood, and
foxglove.

Opium, tlie jiroduct of the poppy, in some form, either as laudanum or
elixir, is a very frequent means of poisoning. These medicines are too pow-
erful to be trusted in ignorant hands, as the yearly record of fatal accidents
sadly attests.

The green color on wall paper and on cards attached to various dry
goods, often contains arsenic, a single square inch having enough to destroy
a child. Green wall paper is unfit fVir use, especially for sleeping-rooms.
The exhalation from such walls has been known to sicken tlie occupants.

[The frequent use of poisonous colors upon candy or children's ijlaythings
indicates the need of the utmost caution on the part of parents. The red,
green, yellow, and blue colors may all be harmless, but fatal cases of poi-
soning and the examination of chemists prove that the grossest ignorance or
the deepest depravity prevails M'ith some makers and venders.

Copper in all its forms is poisonous. Acid or greasy food allowed to stand
in copjjer or brass vessels, readily corrodes them, and proves their unfitness
for such uses. The metallic or brassy taste of the articles usually affords
reasonable warning.

Common black writing-ink, made of nutgalls and iron, is not poisonous,
but the blue ink has a diifereut composition, and is so in a greater or less
degree. Indelible ink and also hair-dyes having nitrate of silver as tlie es-

Sec. 27.]

nTGIENIC.

439

~]

I

scntial ingredient, are poisonous. Corrosive sublimate used in alcoliol as a
hcdbug poison should never bo kept in families, a.s it hm been the cause of
very many aucidents.

Phosphorus, an ingredient in friction matches, is a deadly poison. Too
much caution can not be used to keep them away from small children, who
Mill put anything in their mouths. The free u.se of warm water will iiut
only favor the vomiting which may ensue from the action of the poison it-
self, but as a diluent it may serve to weaken its jjower and render it com-
paratively harmless. Common table-mustard is a very ])romj)t emetic. The
dose is a teaspoonful of dry mustard ; stir this in a tumbler of water and
drink at one draught. It is quick, sure, and as agreeable as any emetic. If
sonic does remain in the stomach, it does no harm. In a few cases some an-
tidote may neutralize the poisonous substance in the stomach, but the main
dependence must be in removing immediately its contents citiier by an
emetic or, better, by the stonuich-pump. Vegetable acids, as vinegar, are gooil
antidotes to many of the vegetable poisons, yet no rules can be given upon
which it would be safe to rely without medical assistance.

4L13. Dec SJiii?rs aud Mosquito Biles. — We have often cured the poison of
bee stings, and relieved the pain almost instantly by an application of spirits
of hartshorn (liquid ammonia). If that is not convenient, wet the skin and
a])ply powdered salcratus or sal soda, which eifects njjon some persons in-
siant relief. The same things may be apjilied with success to mosipiito bites
upon children or others, where they are particularly jjoisonous. Some-
body has published a statement that, if a piece of raw beef is placed in
a room infested with mosquitoes, they will all suck the beef and Jet folka
alone.

■i'Ji. Snake Bites and Remedies.— The most virulent and fatal of all poisons,
excepting always the poison of bad ventilation, comes from snuko bite*,
■which occur occasionally in some of the new settlements of our country.
"We have known death to supervene in several cases for want of a little
knowledge of remedies ready at hand. Quo remedy is to drink whisky, or
any spirit, as soon as ])0ssible, snflieieiit to jiroduce insensibility. Another
remedy is to kill a chicken, or any other animal, and cut it open and apply
the warm flesh to the wound, Iiolding fast, and renewing it when it loses tho
animal heat. Another is a iKiultice of eipial ])arts of raw onions, tobacco,
and salt, mashed together, moistened with whisky, and bound on tight ami
frequently renewed. Sweet or olivo oil, wo know as a very vuluablo
remedy, taken in half-gill doses, and cloths bound upon the bitten b|»ot
soaked in oil. Wo earnestly recommend a trial of the following renietly :
Wet a bunch of lint with a teaspoonful of chloroform, and lay it on the
bite, and cover it with a watch crystal, a wine-glass, or a tumbler, prosstHl
down so as to exclude the air, and hold it there tiftwn to thirty ininulo*,
which will probably raiso a blister, and prove so painfnl that tho pain of iho
poison will not bo felt.

i-j:>. Hydrophobia- (urc of .llad-doR Dilfs.— A l,eii>8ic— CJerinany— joimtal

440

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

gives the following, said to luivc proved many times a sure remedy for the
bite of a mad dog:

"Take immediately -warm vinegar or tepid water, wash the woiind clean
therewitli, and then dry it; tlien pour upon the wound a few drops of
hydrochloric acid, hecanse ininci'ul acid destroys the poison of the saliva."

Brazilian Mode ok Crui:. — AVe have seen it stated that the bites of rat-
tlesnakes and mad dogs and stings of scorpions are cured in Brazil by the
use of spirits of hartshorn. It should be ajiplied immediately, if possible,
and the wound kept wet by cloth application or continual sj)ongiug, and
doses of the spirits diluted, taken into the stomach three or four times a
day. It is said that the spirits of hartshorn has a chemical affinity for the
poison virus, and absorbs and decomposes it, and thus renders it harmless.
If this is the case, then ammonia in any form would have the same effect.
At any rate the remedy is simple and easily tried, and should be tested.
We have faith in it, knowing it to be an excellent remedy for a bee sting.

490. Rpmedics for Lockjaw, Felons, and f Icersi — We have heard a great
deal about the medicinal value of a poultice made of grated beet-roots, and
now M'e find the following statement, which we consider worthy of attention,
the remedy is so easily applied :

"A j-oung lady ran a nail into her foot, which produced lockjaw of such
a malignant character that her pihysicians pronounced her recovery hope-
less. An old nurse applied a poultice of pounded beetroots, renewing it
often, and the result was a comjjlete cure."

A good remedy for a felon is made of common soft soap and air-slaked
lime, stirred till it is of the consistency of glazier's putty. Make a leather
thimble, fill it with this composition, and insert the finger therein, and our
informant says a cure is certain. This is a domestic application that every
housekeeper can apply promptly.

A fig heated as M'arm as it can be borne, and cut open and applied to
almost any ulcerated sore, and renewed as it cools, is recommended for boils
and similar aftections as one of the best remedies. It may be applied to an
ulcerated tooth.

497. Remedy for a Tight Finger-Ring. — If it can not be removed by such
mechanical appliances as inserting a stout thread under it and pulling ujjon
it, nor by thin strips of metal, then chemistry must be resorted to, and the
strength of the ring destroyed, so that it can be easily broken. This is done
by rubbing it with quicksilver, which has an aflinity for pure gold, and
makes it brittle.

Sec. 28.]

TIIK DAIRY.

441

SECTION XXVIII.-TIIE DAlllV.

BCTTEE-MAKING, AS PRACTICED BY FIRST-CLASS DAIR^-IIEN CHEESE AXD

CUEESE-MAKINO.

^E can not teach all who ncc<l to he taufjht the
perfect art of buttcr-inakiiig, which is one of the
useful arts that but few househohls possess. In the
great butter market of New York, we liml that not
one tenth is really lirst-rate ; and probably more
tliau one half is sold from ono to three cents a
pound below the first price, while tons are sold
every year at tlic price of toft grease, and used for
other purposes than food. What a loss to the pro-
ducers! In hopes to aid this class, we have em-
bodied in this section directions for making butter,
as practiced by some of the best butter-makers in
the country. Among these. we may name A. I!
Dickenson, Hornby, Stenhcn Co., X. Y. ; Jesse Car-
penter, of Elniira, X. Y. ; John T. Xortuii, nf Farmington, Ct., and others.
498. First Requisites in Bu(«cr-."»Iakin?.— A. B. Dickenson says : " One of
the first requisites in butter-making is care that all the utensils of the dairy
arc kept dry and sweet ; tliat the milk-room is well ventilated, of a proper
temperature, free from dampness and tlie unpleasant smell generated by
moisture ; that the cream ia not allowed to stand too long ujwn the milk,
nor after it is skimmed ; tliat it ho churned at a j>roper temperature, the
operation being neither hurried unduly or carried Uxi far; that it should bo
salted with the nicest salt obtainable, not injured by the addition of sugar
or saltpeter, and that all the buttermilk be i)n>i>erly and eirectually reinnved.
"The utmost moisture which siiould be found in thoroughly worked but-
ter is a very slight dew, and it should be of such linn consistency as to slieo
down, hardly dimming the brightness of a knife-blade. Xo butter is proi>-
crly made unless it will bear these tests.

"For depositing the milk, when strained, the tin pail of the capacity of
about twelve cpiarts is jueleralile to any other kind of vessel. It is suffi-
ciently large to fulfill all the re(|uirenients in that ])articular, while its su-
periority over the shallow i)an — which is considerably used — is too palpablo
to admit of doubt.

" Xo first cpiality of butter can be made cither in XovcinlKjr or August.
While the one is too cold with frost-bitten grass, the other is (juito too
warm, and without ice it is imiiossible to make first ijuality of butler, lio
careful in washing butter to handle it with a ladle, so as not to aOcct tlio

442 DOMESTIC ECOXOMY. [Chap. IV.

grain ; then put it away in some sweet, cool place out of tiie I'cach of any bad
odor which it might absorb. "When it has stood long enough to get its
proper rich color, work it over and lay it down and keep it with the same
degree of care. It would spoil in sixty days in a common farm cellar,
where meats, fish, and vegetables are kept.

" It would bo a much easier task to teach a man to make a watch than how
to make the first quality of butter, as it is the most sensitive and the most
liable to injury of all the eatables extracted from the vegetable kingdom.
It is so sensitive as to partake of everything that can affect it that it comes
in contact witli — as onions, carrots, parsneps, turnips, fish, or anything else
that would make it unpalatable, either in the butter or the milk before
churning. Not only so, but the butter partakes of everything the cow cats
or drinks, and the longer it stands after being made, the more perceptibly
will the unpalatable things on which she fed make themselves manifest. By
this it will be seen that the most important thing for first quality of butter
is the food for the cow. jS'eithcr from roots of any sort or kind, nor grain
of any description, can first quality of butter be extracted. It must be from
something that imparts a sweeter and finer fiavor. The cow must give good
rich milk, as first quality of butter can not be made from poor pale milk,
for it lacks the essential quality of good buttel"."

Hcit and quiet are as important to a butter-producing cow as good food.
She should never be dogged, beaten, driven on a run, nor have her quiet in
any way disturbed.

499. CJiurnins, Washing, and foloriag Batter. — In spite of all the patented
improvements, the old dasher churn still holds its position, not only iji fam-
ilies, but among dairymen. The following are A. B. Dickenson's directions
for churning milk and working butter : '

"The churn should be as nearly straight up and down as possible, as the
dash shouldstir all the milk every stroke it makes, so that the butter in the
churn should all come at the same time. If the niilk is too cold, the only
safe way to warm it is to place a pail of milk in a large boiler of warm wa-
ter to bring it to the exact temperature, whicli is about 55 to 60 degrees — a
few degrees warmer in cold than warm -weather. As soon as the butter has
come and gathered, take it immediately from the churn in its warm state
and put it in a large wooden bowl, wliicli is the best vessel foi- the pui-pose ;
then put it in cold, soft water; then commence pulling the butter over with
the ladle in so gentle and careful a manner as not to aftect the grain, for as sure
as that is injured at the washing or working, the butter becomes oily and
can never be reclaimed. Every particle of milk must be washed out, and
then season with the best Liverpool salt. Set the bowl away until the next
day, and when sufliciently cool, work the mass thoroughly, but not so as
to make it oily, and on the third day pack it away if it has assumed the
right color. Examine it well before packing, and be sure that no milky
•water runs from it, for if packed with the least drop, you will hear from it
next April.

Sec. 28.] THE DAIRY. 443

" If your spring or well is hard water, save ice from streams, as lime never
congeals with ice. Save rain-water, and tlioii with ice \-ou will have toll,
cool water to wash your butter, without whicli you can not get tlio milk
out witliout injuring the grain. Soft water is as indispensable to wasii but-
ter as it is to wash fine linen. "Washing butter is not positively necessary
if it is to be used within a few weeks.

'•The idea of coloring butter with any tiling after it is made is as absunl
as painting rye bread white, with the expectation of making it taste like
wheat."

Jesse Carpenter says : " Tiie milk in the churn, when lit for churning,
should indicate 64 degrees Fahrenheit, and should bo agitated witli a move-
ment of tlic dash at not less tlian fifty strokes to the minute. Less motion
will fail lo divide properly the butter from the milk. When done, the
butter siiould be taken from the churn and thrown into a tub or n small
clnirii partly filled witli water 42 to 44 degrees Fahrenheit, and the butter-
milk forced out with a small dash. It siiould tiieu bo i)tit into tniys and
wa>lif d until the water used ceases to bo the least discolored with butter-
milk. It is then ready forsaking, which done, carry the trays immediately
to the cellar. Use one and a <iuartcr ounces of salt to tlie pound of w>.rki,'<l
butter. Three or four hours after tho tirst salting, stir with a ladle and i>ut
it in the form of a honeycoml), in order to give it the greatest possible sur-
face exposure to the air, whicii gives color and fixes tho high llavor.

" Butter, when well manufactured, while standing ])repara'ory to pack-
ing, is composed of granulated particles, between which arc myriad* of in-
finitesimal cells filled wtih brine, which is its life. At this period it should
be touched with a light hand, as too mucli and too careless working will destroy
its gj-anular and cellular ciiaracter, and reduce the whole to a compact and
lifeless mass, with an immediato loss of flavor, and a certain and reliablo
pros[)ect, if packed, of a rapid change of its character from indiilcrently
good to miserably poor butter. It should never be worked in the Iniy
while in a dry state, or all tho ill results just nlhided to will Ikj realizetl.
As a general rule, after tiie butter has stood in tho trays twenty-four lu>ur*,
and has been worked tlirce or four times as directed, it is reatiy for packin-.
After tlie firkin is filled, it should stand n short time, and then should Ihj
covered \yith a clean piece of muslin, and the whole covered with brine."

Mr. II. K. I.owman, a neighbor of Mr. Carpenter, states tho following
fact about his bntter, which is n strong one in favor of washing butler :

"Mr. Carpenter for the last twenty years, besides fatti-ning the calvoa lo
tlie customary age of four weeks, has averaged u fraction over two tirkin*
to tlie cow per year. He has had butter stand in packngi« in his cellar for
one year and a half, and ojien then with a llavor so fresh and sweet that
the very best and mo^t critical judges and buyers were deceived ono year
in its age, none even suspecting it to bo the prinluct of a former yo.ir. Ho
never has, during that jieriod, faileil to rench in Xew York market tho
hi'dicst figure representing the maximum market lor Orange County butter,

444: DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Cuap. IV.

and latterly he has very often exceeded the very highest market from i to
2^ cents per pomid."

Ikitter is judged by its color, aroma, taste, and consistency. Its color
should be a delicate pale straw, not a])proaching white, and yet perhaps that
is better than the deep orange tint, almost always a sure indication of ex-
traneous coloring matter. The peculiar smell of good butter is easily i-ec-
ognizcd. The better the quality the more delicate this aroma; while, as the
quality degenerates, about in the same proportion does the smell vary, until
it becomes positively offensive. This fragrance is dependent very mucii on
the process of manufacture. Orange County dairymaids make " Orange
County butter" wherever they follow the same processes. The taste of the
butter will betray any inattention to the jiroper care of either the milk,
cream, or the vessels in which they are kept. So will the addition of any
foreign matter, such as impure or too much or too little salt, sugar, or color-
ing matter. A certain amount of salt is necessary to bring out the true
flavor of butter in its greatest delicacy. In texture or consistency, a greater
difl'erence is seen thau upon any other point. Some are firm, leaving no mark
upon a knife after being thrust into a lump, with hardly enough moisture to
dim its brightness, while other lots are soft, leaving greasy streaks upon the
blade, and large drops of an opaque liquid oozing from the newly cut
surface. Tiie existence of either of these signs gives sure indication of an
imperfect, if not bad, process of making.

500. Number of Quarts of Milk for a Pound of Butter. — The number of
quarts of milk required to nuike a pound of butter varies very widely. By
many trials in England, it is found that one pound of butter requires from
fourteen to sixteen quarts of milk ; that is about one ounce from a quart,
varying with the feed and the season. Althougli it may be true that the
milk of a majority of the cows in this country would require an equal number
of quarts to make a pound of butter, yet there are cows that will give a
pound to four quarts of milk. Col. Jaques, of Massachusetts, and Maj.
John Jones, of Delaware, both had a " cream-pot" breed of cows which we
saw a few years ago produce this result. But we believe that it requires an
average of fourteen quarts to a pound, and that is why farmers prefer to sell
their milk where it brings over two cents a quart. At that rate a milk-
dairyman can not even afford to make his own lamily butter ; he can buy it
from a farmer, who can not sell his milk, at a rate more economicah

AVilliam Buckminster, of Framingliam, Mass,, in 18.55, exhibited a Devon
cow for premium, as the best butter-maker, with satisfactory proof of the
following yield of milk :

" In June and July last she filled a common milk-pail, at night, as full as
any dairymaid would wish to carry. And on June 17 her milk weighed, morn-
ing and night, each 34i pounds; June 10, morning and night, 34f pounds;
June 19, morning and night, 34 pounds; June 20, morning and nighty 32^
pounds; June 21, morning and night, 32f pounds; June 22, morning and
night, 30i pounds ; June 23, morning and night, 30^ pounds."

Sec. 28.] THE DAIRY. 445

lie also certified at the time she was oftered, in October, that four quarts
of her milk, wlien fed on grass only, and tiiat of an ordinary pasture, jiro-
duced one pound of the finest yellow hutter. "This cow," he says, "is one
of the si.x cows owned and bred by me, whose milk has repeatedly yielded
one pound of butter from four beer quarts. Her keep through the autumn
of the three years of her milking has been grass feed only, no grain, or
roots, or corn stover having been given her."

This is the richest milk of any but Alderncys, and above their average.

William S. Lincoln, of "Worcester, Mass., ]>roduced from one cow, owned
by him, in the spring of ISoS, eighteen pounds of butter a week ; and cows
that produce fifteen or sixteen pounds a week aro not uncommon in that
State. The " Oaks cow" yielded her owner nineteen j)Ounds a week at tlio
best, and nearly oUU pounds in the coui-se of the season. Tiiesc are extra-
ordinary cases, it is true ; but if one cow can do it, others can.

Kow, if these are facts— and who can dispute them I — what are we to
think of the quality of judgment, sense, or economy of men wlio will keep
cows on their farms lor the solo purpose of making butter, at an average of
one pound to fourteen quarts, when they could have cows that would give
a pound from less than half tliat quantity ? Let this fact be thougiit of. that
it docs take fourteen (piarts of milk for a pound of butter, whicli migiit bo
made from four quarts. While this is a fact, it is not to be wondered at
that Orange County farmers have quit making butter, notwithstanding tlie
high reputation it had attained, and prefer to send their milk to New York
from every farm within reach of the river or railroad. If the milk averages
two and a half cents a quart when sold, and it would take fourteen ({uarts
to make a pound of butter, it would make the first cost of tho butter thirty-
five cents a pound, besides all the labor of its manulaciure.

The Homestead says : " Mr. Coit, of Jforwich, keeps two cows which, in
the best of the season, furnish four ([uarts of milk daily for use, and make
nineteen pounds of butter a week. The writer also thinks that an improveil
style of milk-room would bo quite as likely to increase tlio yield of butter
as an imj)roved breed of cows. If only aiu additional pound a week from
each cow could be secured in this way, it would be a matter worth looking
into by our farmers, and would greatly increase tho yield of butter in theState."

Tliink of it, farmers, in every State. An additional pound of butter a
week to each cowl What would be the aggregate* Can any b.Kiy tell f
Can anybody think of the vast amount, and that it would bo all clear jtrotit f
And it is just as easy as it is to do right instead of wrong.

Good cows, sweet feed, and pure water are tho first of all requisite* to
tho manufacture of good butter. Good cows, that proper color and right
consistency bo secured ; sweet feed and i>uro water, that no llgvor bo im-
parted to the milk which would render tho butter unpalatable. Dependent,
however, as the quality of the arti.le is ujion tho ecw an.i the g.«HlnoM of
tho food, a proper degree i.f care and skill on tho part of the dairy wotn»u it
of nmch greater couseouence.

HQ DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

Undoubtedly butter can be ^vorked so as to keep sweet without washing ;
so can wheat be cut witli a sickle, and thrashed with a flail, but the}' are not
great labor-saving machines.

With successful butter-makers the churning occupies about half an hour.
By increasing the temperature of the cream, it could be done in one half
the time, but the quality of the butter would be much reduced. In winter,
to facilitate the rising of the cream, the earthen pans for holding the
milk are rinsed in hot water before use, and warm water is ajiplied
around them, not to heat the milk, but for a time to maintain its original
temperature.

AVhen the temperature of the dairy is less than fifty degrees Fahrenheit,
the milk will not ripen for churning, and in such case should be removed for
a time to a temperature of fifty-live degrees. The sudden warming of the
milk will not always enable it to yield yp its butter readily.

One butter-maker says : " Carefully conducted experiments prove that
more butter is obtained from a given quantity of milk, when set in pans
partly filled, than when full." This is in opposition to the theory of A. B.
Dickenson.

A French chemist declares that butter may be made M'ithout churning, by
the use of a filter, made of white felt, in the form of a bag, in the four
corners of which are inserted porous strings, like candlewick, to hasten otf
the fluid portion of the milk. The bag being suspended by the four corners,
from twenty-four to thirty hours, the contents of the filter will be found to
be of the consistence of " smear case" (soft cheese). This solidified cream
is then placed in a linen bag, tied tight, and the bag kneaded like a roll of
dough. In a few minutes the mass grows liquid, and the butter and butter-
milk are separated.

One large butter-maker says: "I use a horse-power churn, of a capacitj-
suificiently great to make one hundred and twenty pounds of butter. I
always try the temperature of my churn before putting in the cream. If
below fifty -five degrees, I raise it to that point with warm water, and keep
the cream as near that point as. possible. As soon as the cream is in the
churn I start the horse, and keep him moving at a steady gait until the but-
ter is broken, or begins to gather in small lumps. Opposite the opening
through which the cream is poured into the churn is an inch hole, M-hicli is
stopped with a plug. When the butter is formed as above stated, I open this
hole and draw oft' all the buttermilk, then start the horse again, and keep
him going until I gather the butter into a solid mass. This accomplished,
it is taken from the churn and put into a tub prepared for it. I then weigh
the whole mass, and ti'ansfer it to the butter-worker, when it is worked over
twice, after which I add one dessert tablespoonful of the very best dairy
salt to every pound. I again work it well, so as to incorporate the salt
thorouglilv. It is again Aveighed into pound, lumps and printed. The
human hand is never allowed to touch the butter, nor is water ever used to
wash it."

Sec. 28.]

TUE DAIRY.

447

Of course it is sold immediately ; if it is to be kept, we tliiiik it must be
■washed.

501. BuUcr Aflectcd by Food of Cows.— The quality of all butter is so
greatly affected by the food of the cows, that uo oue cau make good butter,
althoui^h he has good cows, if their food is poor. In summer, there is nothing
better than clover pasture. At any rate, tlie pasture must afford sweet gra>a,"
running water, and trees for shade and rest. A cow should be selected for
lier quiet disposition, as much as any other quality, for a butter-making
cow ; for milk alone, this is not so important. If she hiis vicious propen-
sities, she can not be cured by viciousness. In winter, clover hay, cured itt
the most perfect manner, is better for butter than any otlier hay. To thia
add slops once or twice every day, composed of bran, shorts, cut jtotafoea,
corn meal partially cooked, and salt, and an occasional handful of bono
meal, lime, ashes, or charcoal-dust will be found advantageous. Carrots
are always good for a butter cow. Kothing should ever be given her that
is not sweet enough for you to cat yourself. And even that is not always
good food for a cow, as turnips, cabbages, and onions arc considered good
food for the table — they are not for the stable, if sweet milk is an ol>jcct.

Tlien siio must be kept in a clean, sweet-smelling stable, warm and dry,
but ventilated. The same stalile should be used in summer fur milking,
after wliicli the cows may be allowed to sleep out, if it is such weather that
they can lie upon the ground in comfort ; and if not, keep them in until after
milking in the morning. Every cow should know her own stall as well as
a man knows his own bed, and they will soon learn to bo unwilling to cat
or be milked anywhere else. Food and care of the cow, and I'crfcct quiet
and comfort for her in every respect, are the lirst rc(jui»ites in mjiking gotxl
butter.

A stable can bo kept sweet enough to lodge in by the daily use of pla.stor,
charcoal, prepared muck, or an occasional si)riukling of dilute sululiurie acid
or solution of copperas. .

It is necessary for a full How of milk to maintain a continual supply of
albuminous food, while in the latter period of fattening, such kinds of food
are superfluous, and only tend to enrich the manure heap Thcrw is one
kading feature in his jiractiee, to which the utmost impurtaneo is attaclied
1)V Mr. llortcfall — an English dairyman— the nuiinteliaueo of the condition
of his cows giving a large yieKl of milk. This is done by the inhlition of
iHtin meal in greater quantity to those yielding the most milk lie refers
ills., t.i the effect of clover upon the Buj.ply of milk as known to all dairy-
men, the dry material of which i.s nearly as rich in albumen as beuns, and
the inference is drawn that "alhuminous nuUter is the most essential olo-
meiit in the food of the milch cow, and that any doticicney in tho supply of
this will be attendeil with lo.ss of condition, and a CMnseipient diminution in
the (luality of her milk."' He is of the opinion that "you can iiu-rea-«o tho
pruportioii of butter in milk more than that of casein or other solid i)art*."
Eape-cako seems more efficient for this purpose than liusccd-cake. tiio oily

i48 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

matter in this seed more nearly resembling that in butter than that of flax-
seed, lie also says : " It seems worthy of remark that a cow can yield a
far greater weight of butter than she can store up in solid fat. Numerous
instances occur where a cow gives oflf two pounds of butter per day — four-
teen pounds per week — while half that quantity probably would not be laid
on in fat if she was fed for»that purpose."
These " English notions" ai-e worthy of American attention.

502. Butter Affected by the Packagesi — It is one of the greatest mistakes
that butter packers make, to jiut it up in bad packages. Let it be taken for
an incontrovertible fact that, as a general thing, a dairy of butter of uniform
quality may be packed, one half in rough, untidy casks, and the other in
neat, sweet-looking firkins, of suitable and uniform size, and that half will
outsell the other at least ten per cent. The purchasers of butter, by the
single package or by the hundred packages, are always influenced by the
outside appearance. One of the reasons why Western butter sells at a price
generally under the market is because it comes in bad order. How can
people expect first prices for butter in mottled rolls, packed in a dry-goods
box or a flour barrel? Such butter, when it arrives in Kew York, is de-
nominated "Western grease," and sells at a price corresponding with its
name.

503. When to Skim 31ilki — The right time to skim milk is just as the milk
begins to sour in the bottom of the pans. Then the cream is all at the
surface, and should at once be removed, with as little of the milk as pos-
sible. That housewife, or dairymaid, who thinks to obtain a greater quan-
tity by allowing the milk to stand beyond that time, labors under a mistake.
Any one who doubts can try it. Milk should be looked to at least three
times a day.

50-i. Alderney Cows and Alderney Butter i — It is our matured opinion that
the Alderney cow is the only one for a family, where but one is kept, and
where rich milk and sweet cream are a leading object. (See 47, 48, 49.)
There is no doubt of the fact, that this breed of cattle is superior to any other
for making butter of rich flavor to the taste, and with a peculiar sweet
aroma. We have thoroughly tested butter made from Alderney cows, by
John T. Norton, of Farmington, Conn., and have submitted it to the sight,
smell, and taste of some good judges of butter, who, without hesitation, pro-
nounced it as unlike as it is richer than any other kind they have ever tasted.
We kept it some weeks exposed to an atmosphere that would soften oidinaiy
butter so that it could not easily be handled, and yet this remained almost
as firm as though just from a cool dairy-room. There can be no mistake in
its natural superiority and good keeping qualities over butter made from
cows of other breeds. This fact is as well known in England as the fact
that Southdown mutton is superior to that of other breeds of sheep. And
the fact is beginning to be known here, for we have heard of Alderney but-
ter selling in market, in places where it is well known in this country, at
double the price of good butter of common stock. This much for the in-

Seo. 28.] THE DAIHY. 449

formation and benefit of tliose who do not know tliat there is a very great
difference in breeds of cattle for butter as well as for beef. For the latter
piiriioses the Alderneys arc certainly superior to the Uurhanis. Ilerefordij,
JJevons, Ayrshires, or natives.

Another good quality of the Alderneys is, that they will live ujwn house-
sloj)S or garden or yard clii)])iiig.s, or upon short pastures.

Mr. Norton says : " I live on one of the old worn-out farms of Connecti-
cut, which I am trying to improve;"' and we say, upon such a farm he linds
it not only pleasant for his own use to keep Aldcrne^' cows, but profitable to
make butter from them for the Hartford market. Our reconimendation,
however, is not for dairy purposes, but strictly for ju-ivate family use, and
I'or that we do consider this small breed of cows most valuable. Tiiere are
l)ersons, however, of experience, who believe tlic Alderneys valuable for
dairy farms.

T. M. Stoughton, of Greenfield, Mass., says: "Aldemey cows are not
only good for private family use, but actually the best for a largo dairy.

" Mv exijcrienco has been with a herd of cows imported by Mr. Jonathan
Bird, of Belleville, X. J., from the island of Jersey, and selected with jiar-
ticular regard to their milking qualities. The herd came under my care in
1850, with the request from Mr. Bird that I should give them the same caro
and feed as my native and Ayrshire cows, keei>ing a careful account of their
l)roduct by measurement and weight, so as to be able to determine whether
they are a profitable breed for butter-making. The following statement is
offered as an answer to ' AVhat is a good cow J'

"Cow No. 1 calved in Jaimary, 1S51 — came into my care last <>f iluy.
In June, she made lOi pounds of butter per week; in July, In; pounds per
week; in August, Qi pounds per week; in the month of September, 3l»
pounds; in October, 28 jjounds; antl two weeks in November, l-'J pounds;
and calved in December — making lUSi pounds in five months.

" No. 2 calved in September, 1S51, and through the month of October
made 14^ pounds of butter per week ; in Juno following she made 13 jm.uikU
per week ; in August, G po.unds per week ; and ealvctl early in Oct..ber—
making 317 pounds of butter for the year.

"No. 3 was a three-year-old heiler, calveil in September, l>:><i. in tne
month of October, made 11 j pounds i>er week; in June folK)wing, 8}
pounds per week; in August, -l pounds per week— making 2G7 iwunds for

the year.

"No. i was a heifer two years old; calved in March, 1858, Iroin Iho
1st of April to November she made 200 jwunds of butter. UreatMt yield
])er week, lOj j.ounds ; and made 7 i)ounds per week in September.

"No. 5, a heifer eighteen munths old; calved in March, 185-*. In the
five months followiug^she made h>S pounds of butter. ^ . . , ,

"Tiie above five are an average of the ten milking cows. Their fwl hu
been pasture onlv in the summer months, with hay and two «iuart» of com
meal and rve niiddlings in the winter months. From tlio above slatoment

450

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV.

it will be seen tliat the cows which have come to maturity will make 300
pounds of butter per year under favorable circumstances. Alderney butter
sells in the different markets of the country for from forty to fiftj- cents per
pound. The best dairies of New York and l^ew England do not average
over 200 pounds per cow (native and Durham). The average price of their
butter is not over twenty-live cents per pound.

"One of the most important peculiarities of the Alderney cow is her xm\-
formity of quautit}'. making nearly as mucli butter at the end of eight
months after calving as at four. The objections urged against the Alderney
cow are, that she is a voracious feeder, lean, awkward in appearance, and
will make but little beef when old.

" Admitting the Alderney cow to be a pretty sharp feeder, it can hardly
be expected that a cow \vill make from ten to fourteen pounds of first-rate
butter by simply standing in a cold stable, and looking at a haymow, or by
shirking round a stack of swamp hay. That she is inclined to be lean is an
evidence that she is a good milker ; for a cow that secretes fatty matter can
not secrete good milk at the same time, without being fed too high for the
permanent good of the cow. If she is ugly to look at she is a good one to
go, for she will be worth $100 when six mouths, especially if a heifer. And
after being milked twelve or thirteen years, producing over 3,000 pounds of
l)utter, it is of no great consequence whether she makes 600 or 900 pounds
of beef."

505. llealiag New Milki — The Dairyman^ Record gives the opinion that
the heating of new milk to near the boiling-point just after it is drawn from
the cow, is preferable to allowing it to stand for a time before heating, and
thinks both butter and cheese arc improved in flavor by so doing, " because
the animal odors which are objectionable would be expelled," and goes on
to say that " tasteless and leathery" cheese is caused by manufacturing
under too high a temperature rather than from high heating before manu-
facturing.

506. Dust aud Fly Covers for 3Iilk-Pans. — To keep dust out of milk-pans,
make hoops of ratans, or ash wood, a little larger than the tops of the pans,
and stretch over and sew on them some thin cotton stuff that will not stop
the circulation of the air, but will keep out the flies and mites, and when the
milk is cool, la}' these covers over the pans. To keep out flies, use mosquito
netting or wire gauze instead of cloth
cover all windows in fly-time.

Some inventive Connecticut genius has contrived a portable, ventilated
milk-closet, which, from the description, we should think a very good thing,
but presume that any ingenious wood-worker could get up one a little dif-
ferent in form to answer the same purpose; and we recommend all fami-
lies who keep but one cow, to provide themselves with such a convenient
ventilated milk-closet ; or one that will let fresh air in and foul air out, and
keep the milk safe from pestiferous insects and vermin.

The following item shows the benefit of keeping milk cool : " In sending

The wire gauze is a fine thing to

Sec. 28.] TUE DAIRY. 451

milk to market, though it left the dairy perfectly sweet, it was ofren found
cunlled on delivery to customer.'?. To remedy thJ!-, the cans were covered
witli tliick cotton cloili, and thi.s was wet with salt water, lu this way the
difficulty was entirely obviated."

507. Necessity and Value of a Family Dairy Rouni.— Every fami-honfc
should have a room lor milk, solely devoted to that, and nothing cUe. Iti
very dry soils this can ho made easiest and best in the cellar, provided it
has a cliininey ventilator of ample dimensions rumiing to the top of the
house, which can bo easily made when building, and no milk-room is perfect
without such ventilation, and in our opinion the cause of bad butter is as
much in the want of a suitable place to stand the milk, and a cool, sweet
room to store the butter, as in the process of manufacture. It is all import-
ant, also, that the milk-room should be of an unvarying temperature, so far
as it can be kept so without extra expenditure over the iirofitahle advantage.
An attachment to the ice-house is the best place for storing butter. The Ibl-
lowing is a good plan for a family dairy-room :

Build very convenient to the kitchen, but not adjoining, an eight-inch wall
brick building, eight feet by sixteen feet inside, with a door in one end and
a window in the other, and arch it over ten feet high in the center, and plas-
ter it all over outside with water-proof cement. Tlie top should be covered
Mitli a coat of asphaltum, if to be had, or else with sand and tar. Give the
inside a coat of hard-finished plaster, and jiaint that well, so that it can bo
washed. Where there is a good chance for drainage, the walls may bo
dropped two feet below the surface, or the whole built info a liillside, in
which ease there can be no door nor window in otic end, but there can and
must be a large chimney ventilator. Make the tloor of cement or flag-
ging-stones, and, if not too expensive, use stono shelves, built in tlio wall.
The outside is to be banked up with earth and sodded over so a.s to form
a grassy mound, forming, in fact, a sort of cave cellar. A retaining wall
must be built each side of the door-way, and a shed over it, with wire-
screened windows in the door for ventilation, the sash being hinged to swing
down and fasten to the lower half of the door. Sucii a room will keep milk
sweet and of even temperature, and is not more expensive than a good
frame building.

The place where the milk is set, churning done, or butter stored, should
be absolutely sweet, clean, and deodorized of every smell. Wate^-<•old
water, and its lilieral application— is an essential about the dairy house, ami
outside of it ; upon everything ever used, h(it water, soap an<l sand, and liunl
hand-work, to make absolute purity, are the essential requisites to i.ro.luec.
good butter. Every woman should assure all the "men-folks," and often
repeat it to them, that no woman can make good butter if tl»o cows arc not
provided with suitable food. Keoollect, food ami shelter— airy. nH.my.
clean stables, summer and winter; none of your milking in the road, an...ng
the hogs ; setting milk for cream where the air U scented with liog-pcn cttlu-
via, or"any other^but that of roses, mint, and new-mown hoy.

452 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

Food is the first, purity tlie second, temperature the third requisite in
making sweet yellow butter.

The best way to make dairy shelves is to use strips sawed one by two
iiiclics, and set so that the pans will stand upon their edges, or else place
them wide enough apart to receive the botlom of the pan, having cross
strips nailed in to support the sides, so that the pans would only touch at
four points, and so cause the milk to cool quickly, and save labor in keejiing
the shelves clean ; for a pan of warm milk set upon a flat shelf in a room a
little damp, or when the shelf has just been virashed, will generate mold —
certainly more than when set on strips, as here recommended.

A Mr. Motley, of Massachusetts, has a dairy-room in the cellar of his house,
and arranged to be ventilated by an area window, which is covered with
wire netting. The floor is cemented, and of course kept scrupulously clean.
Plain, broad wooden shelves around the four sides of the room hold the pans
of milk. A marble-top table, standing in the center of the apartment, is
used for working the butter, and preparing it for market. The milk is
churned in one of the well-known Crowell " thermometer churns," of a
capacity of thirty gallons. A small air-tight wood stove is used to insure
an equable temperature in winter. About 100 pounds of butter are made
weekly, which is sold to gentlemen in Boston at fifty cents per pound. It
is put up in neat quarter-pound rolls, prettily stamped, and sent to town in
tin boxes, fitted with shelves inside to keep the layers of rolls separate.
As to the delicious quality of the butter, that is proved by the price.

508. IIo\v to itiake Wiutfr Biittcri — If cows are fed with roots, meal, or
even whole corn, which, by-the-l)y, is only to be tolerated when corn is
worth less than twenty-five cents a bushel, tjiere will be no complaint of
poor white butter, unless the fault is in the churning or the keeping of the
milk. Milk, in winter, should be kept about the same temperature as in
summer-time, and should not be allowed to stand unskimmed merely because
" it is taking no harm." Take ofl" the cream, and if not enough for an im-
mediate churning, let it be kept cool and sweet till enough is accumulated,
when, if it is necessary to sour it, it may be put in a warm place and done
all at once. When put into the churn, it should be at a tenjperatui'e of 62
degrees, and if kept at that, yellow butter will be got in thirty minutes by
churning moderately, if your cows have had a little salt every day.

509.,BiiUcr Colored to Order. — Are the butter-eaters of New York aware
that butter, so far as color is concerned, is made to order as much as their
lioots, hats, and coats? "We assure them that sucli is the fact, as is well
known to all dealers, and should be known to all consumers, and by them
wholly discountenanced. Our present notice of the fact arises from hear-
ing a woman bitterly denouncing the grocer who sent her " white butter."
After she had selected some " nice yellow" butter, at two cents higher price
per pound, and retired, the grocer asked us to test the samples. We found
the rejected white butter as sweet and fresh as could be desired, and worth
twenty per cent, more than the other, according to our taste. The other.

Seo. 28.] TIIE DAIRY. 453

liowcvcr, was prettj to look at. It was of a deep yellow hue, hut wo at
once ck'clared that it was made so by anuatto. "Yes," said the grocer,
"you are right. That butter was made to order for me for just such cus-

toiners as that woman, who do not know good butter by the taste they

judge only by looks. It actually cost me two cents a pound less than the
othei'. You saw how I sold it."

A butter-maker, writing to the author about " coloring butter to order,"
says :

" Wc ihiuk you Xew Yorkers possessed of remarkable tastes, if you really
prefer butter made yellow to order instead of that of a natural color, though
perfectly sweet. If it is the color instead of the quality that you care for,
we shall have to solicit a sample of the shade desired, and order more dye-
stufl". Wo shall have to make butter for home use and for city use, as no
one in the country will cat colored butter in winter except as the milk
colors it. There is but very little in the country at this season that an-
swers the orders from the city, except such as has been fiicd uj) to suit your
market."

Xow, butter-caters, you hear how yellow butter^ is made " fresh from the
cow" in winter, and how much you pay for the privilege of eating " annatto
and other dyestiiffs."

510. Rules for Sailing Cut(cr> — First, none but the very purest rock-salt,
or manufactured salt, prepared especially for the dairy, should ever be used.
An cxiierienced Scotch dairyman says :

"Take the best crystal salt, wash it, dissolve, strain, settle, and turn off;
boil it down in s.ome perfectly clean iron vessel, skim as boiling; wlien
stirred off dry, it will produce' fine salt, white as the drifting snow, which,
if stirred up in a glass of water, will produce no sediment, and will be dis-
tinct from any mineral or other possible impurity."

Three experienced dairywomeu in Berkshire County, Mass., give the fol-
lowing rules for quantity :

" No. 1. A teacupful of salt to six pounds of butter.

" No. 2. One pint of salt to fifteen pounds of butter.

" No. 3. An ounce of salt to a i)ound of butter."

Saltinn" the cream before churning has been advocated ns a poo<l
practice. To every (piart of cream, as it is skimmed and put in the jwt to
accumulate until suflicient for churning, add a tablcsiH)onful of salt. It
is stated that the time of churning is very much lessened by (-alting tlio
cream.

511. Pafkiiis and rrrsrrviii? Uullfr.— A patent has been grnnted to "\V,
Clark, of London, England, lor a new method of treating butter. The but-
ter is worked in the usual manner, and is then jilaccd between linen cloth*
and submitted to severe pressure, which removes the whey and water. It
is then covered with clean white piijier, which Iuls received n coating on
both sides with a pre])aration comi)Oi.eil of the white of eggs and fitteen
"■rains of salt to each egg. The paper is dried, and then heate«l W'toro tlio

454 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [Chap. IV.

lire or witli a hot iron just before it is applied to the himps of butter. It is
chiimcd that butter treated in this M-ay will keep two mouths without salt
ill a cool cellar. Any ordinary cheese-press, or the presses accompanying
(he portalde cider-mills, now common, will answer the purpose. Pressing
removes the M-ater, and the prepared paper excludes tlie air.

I'^arthen jars, made of the size and shape of a fifty-pounds tub (not a
firkin), and put in a wooden tub, made to fit, with a head in each end, are
recommended as an improvement for packing butter. If desirable, the
wooden tub may be made largo enough to fill with salt between the two, or
can be made close. The heads should be made close to the butter-pot in.
either case. Butter packed in this way will keep sweet any length of time,
if well made, while in the present mode of packing, in nine cases out of
tun, it will taste of the tub after being packed two months. The first cost
of the two is about one dollar, and after being sent to market, they can be
returned a distance of 300 miles at a cost of about thirty cents. We fear the
expense of this improvement will prevent its general adoption, though we
can perceive no reason to doubt its eflicacy.

There is no doubt that if butter could be rendered absolutely pure, it
would keep, if excluded from the air, as well as sweet-oil. That it is hardly
ever pure may be shown by a sample melted, and put in a bottle, to stand a
few hours in a M-arm place, when the oily partf-will float uj^ou the top of
Avater or other impurities it may contain.

512. How to Cool Butter without Ice. — The following plan of cooling but-
ter is founded upon the scientific principle of cooling a body by evapora-
tion. Fill a deep plate or flat dish with water, and in that set a trivet, such
as are often used upon the ironing-table, to hold a plate of butter above the
water. Cover the butter-plate with a porous, earthen flower-pot that must
have its edge immersed in water, and a cork in the hole in the bottom.
Now dash M'ater upon the pot, and repeat several times as it evaporates
during the day, keeping it in a cool place, and at supper-time you may
bring your butter to the table as delightfully firm as you would from an
ice-house.

513. Mjlking by Machiuery. — If anything has been or may be invented to
relieve woman from tlie tiresome labor of milking, it will be hailed with in-
tense satisfaction. We therefore chronicle the fact of the recent invention
of a milking machine. The manner of its construction is simple enough.
It consists of two diaphragm pumps made of tin and India rubber, so ar-
ranged as to be easily taken apart for washing. The teat-cups are made
tapering to fit any size, and attached by flexible joints, so as to be spread
apart to suit wide-spreading teats, or those more contracted. It is possible
tliat it will prove a very useful invention. If so, we presume that farmers
will hear more of it.

Tlie machine is attached to a pail, and set on a stool under the udder, the
four teats inserted in four tubes, and the pump operated, and the milk drawn
and conveyed by a conductor into the pail, the inventor says in a marvel-

Sec. 28.]

TllK DAIRY.

455

ously short ti-ne— say tliroo niimite.s for an ordinary cow ; milking entirely
clean, without injury and to her advanta-c, as it is henclicial to have the
■n-ork done quickly, and the machine is intended to do it quicker than it is
possible hy hand. It is said also that cows gently stand this nuichinc milk-
ing; the contrivance is ingenious, and will work. Its |)ractical utilit7 we
can not vouch for.

oU. How lo Make fows Rive Down.— We have often heard that one man
could lead^ a horse tu water, but two could not make him drink. The great
mistake of most people in the management of hoi-ses, cowb, and even men,
is trying to make them do tilings by force instead of milder means. The
best way to make a cow give down is to coax lier. I'atience and perse-
verance will generally overcome the difficulty and effect a cure. AVo liavo
seen cows that had been trained to being fed when milked until thev would
only give down when bribed to do so. Strapping u]) the fore leg of a cow
with a strap slipped over the bent knee so that she can not walk until
milked, will sometimes euro her refractory disjiosition. If a cow will not
give down by gentle means, it is of no use to try to make her do it.

51.5. illilk Farms— Froduft, Trice, I'rofll.- Milk for fltics— ( on(lcii>r{1 Milk.
— The entire business of many farmers, near cities, is i)n)ducing milk for sale.
It is sent by railway more than lUU miles. The average value upon ilio
roads that 6ui)ply New York may be three cents a quart, ranging about as
follows, as a general thing: for iivo months, at 2 cents; one month, '2 J cents;
two months, 3 cents; four months, 3 J- cents. Freight will average two
cents a quart, besides a great loss of cans. It costs the farmer most to pro-
duce milk in April. The cost of winter feed, 5 lbs. of meal and 1'> lbs. of
hay ])er day. The annual average j)roduct of good cows would be i?'JO each.
If cream only is sold, say 10 quarts per week at 15 cents, and 'J lbs. of
" skim cheese" at S cents, will make a cow yield '^'2 22 per week.

The yield of milk of extraordinary cows has been, for one, 15J tpiarts n
da}' for 150 days; for another, 1-1.} quarts a day tor six months, sold at 3J
cents a quart, producing $107, from one cow, fed on grass and meal.

The income of an Illinois cheese and butter dairy, owned by Mr. Savory,
of Do Kalb County, is given as follows, in a poor, dry season : 10,5(i(i pounds
of cheese, at 10 cents, §1,050 ; 500 pounds of butter, at 14 cents, $"<> ; 5(»
calves, at $1 50, $75 ; wliey and sour milk (estimated), $50 ; total income,
$1,245. I)u. : 50 cows — to getting lH(t tuns of hay, $150; care, milking, etc.,
$200; two hired girls, 30 weeks, and board, $1S(»; interest on c.ish value of
cows, $100. Total cost, $C30— $24 per cow; and taking value of feed and
labor into account, was perhaps as jirofitablo as a New York milk farm
See "j 41, etc.

Condensed Milk. — There is one method of sending milk to iho citic»,
lately a(lo])ted, that will enable farmers living beyond the limit of nhipping
fresh milk, to send it to market. It can be done upon llie ..amo principle lu
associated chccso dairies. See ^ 51S. There are two nuMle*: the product
of one, called "condensed milk," rcseudiKs rich, thick crcuiii; the otiicr,

ioG

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

[Chap. IV,

callud " concciitrateil milk," i-cscinl)lc6 ami is composed in part of dry, Avliito
suizar. Tlic former lias nothing added, l)ut nuicli taken away.

Tiie process of condensing milk was invented by Gail Borden, Jiin. (liini-
fielf an octogenarian). The first niainifactory was established at Euri'villc,
Litchtield Co., Conn., if we remember rightly, about lS5i-55, and is still in
successful operation, conducted by Wm. Borden. Another establishment
has since been started at "Wassaic, Dutchess Co., N. Y., on the Harlem Rail-
road, So miles north of New York. This is conducted by the inventor him-
self, whose residence is at that place, where parties desirous to commence
similar operations can obtain the necessary infornjation. The i)rodu('t of this
invention furnishes to residents in cities who have a taste for pure nn'lk all that
they can reasonably desire. The process of condensation not only separates
the water from the more solid elements of the milk, but absolutely frees it
from all impurities, even including the unpleasant odor that is usually com-
bined with the milk of cows, and which sometimes, when they are unhealthy,
is exceedingly offensive. Samples of milk from all the dairies are constantly
subjected to tests to indicate the cpiality and detect impurity. As it is brought
in from the farms, it is emptied through fine strainers into tin cooling vats.
These must be placed in running water or cooled with ice. The first process
in the operation of condensing milk is to free the natural milk of all its animal
heat ; and during this cooling, if there is any sediment that was not removed
by the strainers, it is found in the bottom of the vats and rejected. The milk
is then heated by steam nearly up to the boiling-point. This brings u]) a veiy
small per-centage of cream that makes butter. The milk is now ready to com-
mence the process of condensation, and is drawn by an exhaust-pipe into a
steam-boiler heated by coils of pipe which raise the temperature to a given de-
gree, converting the water into vapor which fills the upper part of the boiler
from which it is pumped oti"; and as it is discharged into the air, it gives out
a fetid odor almost equal to the swill-milk of New York. This pumping is
continued until this odor is exhausted, and until so much of the water has
been separated frum the milk, that when it is once cooled again it has the
appearance of thick, smooth cream. It is then packed in cans for transporta-
tion; and we see no reason why milk could not be put up in this way upon
the prairies of Illinois as well as the pastures of Dutchess County.

For many purposes the condensed milk is used in the same condition ; for
ice-creams, eating upon fruit, and many culinary purposes, it is delicious. .

When milk is desired in its ordinary condition, add water until the con-
densed milk is thoroughly combined with it, and it is like good, rich, fresh
milk, except that it has lost a little of that piquancy which is found in some
'•pure milk," and which some city people seem to relish.

The advantages to the farmer of this invention he will readily understand.
A milk-condensing factory established in any neighborhood, as it may be
wherever there is a pure stream of water, would prove as great a conveni-
ence as a grist-mill, and more advantageous, because he can sell liis grain
in the rough state, but can not dispose of his milk unless it is converted into

Sec. 2S.]

THE DAIRY.— CIIEESE-MAKING.

457

some condensed product. Tlie advantage of selling milk instead of convert-
ing it into liutter or cheese, every farmer can calculate for iiimself, nj)on the
basis that it will require four quarts of milk for one pound of cheese, or
fourteen quarts for one pound of butter, taking the average product of cows
and average process of manufacture. If intended for a condensing factory
in the immediate neighborhood, the farmer would be enabled to carrv the
milk directly from the stable.

Another advantage would be gained in the saving of cans, many of which
sent to cities are lost in spite of all the care of the owncre. Tiio establish-
ment of such factories will open up new liclds of industry in many jiarts of
the country, adding wealth, comfort, and happiness to farmers' families.
We urge them all to consider the subject, and compare with other products
of the dairy this new one of condensed milk.

51 G. Cheese — How to Make It. — The following directions are given by Ed-
win Pitcher, of Martinsburg, N. Y., a noted maker of good cheese:

" Tlie way to make a mild, rich, good-flavored, sound cheese is t<> work
tlie curd carefully, so as not to start the white whey, or, in other words,
work out the cream ; second, cook it well ; salt even, and enough to make it
good flavored; press it well, and keep it cool and dry when made. A
neglect in part will spoil the whole. Wc set our milk 80 degrees, as nearly
as we can, and put in rennet enough to bring the curd in half an hour.

"We use a cheese-cutter. Cut the curd carefully over once, and then ht
it stand flfteen or twenty minutes, till the whey begins to rise; then work it
line with a cheese-cutter ; then put hot water enough under the tin vat to
raise the heat to 90 degrees. Stir often, so as not to let it pack duxvn. Wo
then dip off about one third of the whey, and increase the heat to about
102 degrees, and keep it at that heat till it is well cooked, keeping it fine all
tlie time. When it is done, it will fall apart in the hand like wheat. Wo
dip out of the tiu vat (when it is cooled down to 90 degree*) into a sink, and
wIku the curd is dry put in a teacupful of salt curd, enough to make fifteen
pounds after it is pressed. If the curd is a little too soft, put in a little nioro
salt to harden it. We cool in the vat, in hot weather, by luitting iii cold
water under the vat, to 90 degrees, before dipi)ing out. 1 think it hurts the
cheese very much to dip it out too hot.

"My cheese-room is plastered, and I let down my windows from the top
in hot weather, and I have a ventilator in the center overhead. The floor
is matched and made tight, so as to shut up the room in cool weather, with
seven trap-doors to let in the air when necessary. I think it essential,
in making good cheeses, to keep them cool. The cheese-room should never
be over 75 or 80 degrees, and it ii better not over 7"> degrees. I use cold
water on the floor, and a large ])ieco of ico in a pan on the counter if tlio
weather is too hot. Keeping cool is a great cure for almost everything. It
saves cheese from fermenting an.l becoming strong. You can not very well
cook your cheese too much in May or June, and you niust bo suro and keep
your rennet swoet."

J

458

DOilESTIC ECOXO^^TY.

[Chap. IV.

A first-rate clieesc-makcr of Ilerkimer County, jST. Y., gives tlie follow-
ing as licr practice :

"I set the milk at 90 degrees, in -spring and fall, and 80 degrees in hot
weather. Heat np three times — first 90 degrees, then 05 degrees, and last
100 degrees. I put about one teacupful of salt to sixteen pounds of curd,
and use much care in breaking it up and working; cutting at first with a
dairy -knife of four blades, and using the knife with one hand during the
whole operation, taking particular care not to squeeze the curd in any way,
but pass one hand under, and lifting gently, and letting it fall off the hand
and between the fingers, and with tlie other keep the knife in motion in the
curd, cutting it as fine as possible by the time it is ready for salting.

" Thought and care are essential in all the various operations. Intense
interest and anxiety are necessary in order to do all these things well, for
they influence the texture, flavor, and quality of the cheese.

" Kknket. — ^The stomach of the? calf should be taken when empty (no
curd in it) — care taken not to get dirt on it — and, without rinsing or wash-
ing, salted inside and out with one teacupfal of salt to a rennet, and placed
in an earthen dish. It should lie in the salt two days, then be stretched
and dried upon a stick in the form of a hoop. "When dried, take it off the
stick, and place it in a tight sack for use. Those prepared one season are
not ( o be used till the next.

""When rennets arc to be used, put thi'ce in an earthen vessel; then take
two gallons of water, piit one quart of salt in it, boil and skim, and cool till
milk-warm. Then pour it upon them, and in one week the liquor will be
fit for use. One teacupful of it will curdle the milk of two milkings from
fifteen cows, fit to break up in forty minutes."

An experienced cheese-maker of Warner, N. H., gives her method as
follows:

"I first scald the tub, then strain the milk into it as soon as brought from
milking. Next put in' sufficient rennet, the quantity depending upon the
quality to fetch the milk to a curd in from forty to sixty minutes. The curd
is then dipped carefull}- into the basket for draining until the next morning.
The morning's milk is prepared in the same manner (after the thorough
scalding of the tub). The curd, when formed, is dipped in with that of the
ju'evious evening ; then left to drain, with an occasional stirring with a knife
or slice. I prefer a knife, as it is not so likely to injure the curd. When
sufficiently drained, which it will be by nine or ten o'clock if properly at-
tended to, I tie together the ends of the cloth, and hang in the cellar until
the succeeding day, when the curd of that day is prepared in the manner of
the previous day's curd. It is now ready for scalding. I' pour boiling hot
water, at the rate of one gallon for ten pounds of curd, into the tub ; next
slice in the curd from the basket, handling it carefull}', so as not to disturb
the white whey. The curd is next brought from the cellar and sliced in the
same manner. It is put in lastly, for being older it does not require as much
scalding as the newer curd. I now let it stand from five to ten minutes,

Sec. 28.] THE DAIRY.— CITEESE-MAKIXG. 459

from the time the last slice is dropped in, then dip back into the basket, curd
and water together, to drain. I check and stir it nji witii the knife four or
five times, when it is ready for grinding. The mill is ))laced njfon the
cheese tongs over the tub ; tlie curd is then sliced into the mill and ground,
wlien it is read}' for the seasoning, which consists of a connMou-sized teacui>-
ful of rock-salt and one teasi)oonful of saltpeter for every twenty pounds of
curd. It is thoroughly mi.xed — not squeezed— with the hands. It is then
ready for ])ressing, which is done gently until night, wlien the cheese is
turned, cloth changed, and ])ut l)ack to jiressing with suificieut weiglit, where
it remains until tlie next cheese is ready for the press."

We find in the best large cheese-dairies of this country, that where the
curd is scalded by steam, that the right temperature varies among dilferent
cheese manufacturers ; thus Jlr. O. S. Cumings, of Trenton Fails, N. V.,
scalds to 104 degrees; ilr. A. Cocui, of Russia, from lOS to 110 degrees; Mr
W. Buck, 102 to 104 degrees; and Mr. S. X. Andrews, 100 to 102 degrees.

517. KnslJsiJ CllCfSf-IWakinSi — The method of heating the milk liy tlio ap-
plication of steam to the checsc-vat, is a great improvement over the English
method. So is the method of separating the curd from the whey by strain-
ing it through a cloth much more expeditious. In Cheshire the whey is re-
moved by pressing down a tlat-bottomed pan gently on the curd in the
cheese-tub and allowing it to fill. "When the curd is thus partially freed
iVom the whey, it is again gently broken and allowed to settle and sci)-
arate and the whey is boiled out slowly, the curd being placed on one
side of the tub, which is slightly raised, and a board is placed on the curd
with heavy weights on* top to press out tlie whey.

The curd is then cut into pieces six or eight inches square, and again
l)rcs?ed with heavier weights. "Wlien as much whey as i)o«siblo is removed
in this way, the curd is i)laced in a vat and gently broken. It is then put
under the press and a slight pressure apjilied at first, wliicli is gradually in-
creased till no more whey can be pressed out. To facilitate tlie flow of the
wln;j-, the cheese is pierced with skewei-s. Tliis ])reliminary pressing occu-
i)ies four or five hours. Tlie cheese is then taken out of the i>re?s, brxikcn
up again very fine, salted, i)iit ui> in the vat again, ami prc.-setl imdi-r a
heavy press for three or four days, clean and dry cloths being i>ut round the
cheese as the old ones become wet.

This is a tedious process, and we think some of the operations of the
American process might bo adopted in England with advantage. Tlie es-
sential point of difterenco is the scalding; this renders less salt and low
pressin" necessary. There can be no doubt that the preserving action vt' ihe
salt is greater in proportion to the absence of whey in the dui-se when it i*
applied; and it is for this reason that the Clicshiro duirynicn press their
curd before the salt is added. Many people prefer eheew made by the
English process. _

51S. niecse-.Makiint by As>oriatcd Inlrrr^l in Mannfarlorirs.— Thu system
was ori-'iimtcd, we believe, by Je^se Williams, of K«wv, Oneida, Co., N. 1 ..

JrlJO

DOMESTIC ECOXOMY.

[Chap. IV.

somcwlicro about the j'car 1850. Since that time it has heen greatly extended
in Central and Northern New York, and considerably in Northern Ohio. It
is like the manufacturing of any other farm produce, except that this is
usually carried on upon joint account of tlio producers of the raw material.
The success of this mode of cheese-making has now become fully established.
It not only lessens the expense of manufacture, but improves the quality of
liio cheese. The establishments vary greatly in size, using the milk of from
one hundred to fourteen hundred cows. Tlie business has become so im-
portant that regular organizations have been efteeted, botli in New York and
Oliio. To enable our readers to consult M'itli those already engaged in the
business we give the following list, naming the owner or superintendent and
location of a number of establishments represented in a convention held at
Home in January, 1864. This list, though representing only a portion of the
dairy interest, shows how the subject has affected the minds of fanners in
the central part of New Yorlc.

Cows.
.'•,07

Names. Factories located.

Hugh Quinn Oneida Co . . .

AVillianis, -idams & Dewey . Oneida Co 350

G. W. Davis Oneida Co 380

V. Clark Oneida Co 350

Hiram Brown Chenango Co . . . 500

James Kathburn Oneida Co 707

Charles Rathburn Oneida Co 125

.1. W. Brooks Oneida Co. . ., . . 320

G. E. Morse Madison Co. . . : . G50

.J. Greenfield .'. . .Oneida Co 300

D. Ellis Warren, Mass. . . 500

Isaac Shell Herkimer Co. . . . GOO

A. Anstead Oneida Co 500

J. G. Coates Oneida Co 300

Henry Hill Oneida Co 500

G. W. Wheeler Oneida Co 200

Gold Creek Factory Herkimer Co . . . COO

Collins' Factory Erie Co 1,000

New Woodstock Factory. .Madison Co 1,200

F. Smith Oneida Co 575

Crosby & Huntington Oneida Co 510

G. B.'Weeks Oneida Co (.40

H. L. Rose.. Oneida Co 1,000

B. F. Stevens Lewis Co 800

T. Tillinghast Cortland Co 900

Kenny & Frazer Cortland Co. . . . 1,400

Rome Cheese Manuf. Ass. .Oneida Co 624

Wright & Williams Oneida Co 550

Whittaker"& Curry ....... Oneida Co 500

D. Thomas Oneida Co 500

Names. Factories located. Cows.

L. M. Dunton Lewis Co 800

Asel Burnham, .Tr Chautaui(ue Co. 500

Hanck, Wilcox & Co Chautamiue Co. COO

Clear Spring Factory Chautauquo Co. COO

A. L. Fish Herkimer Co. ... 600

Sehnser & Davis Fulton Co COO

Caydatta Cheese Factory. .Montgomery Co. 000

West Eaton Factory Madison Co GOO

Miller, Fowler & Co Oneida Co 800

R. U. Sherman Oneida Co 130

Jerome Bush Lewis Co ; 700

A. S. King Oneida Co 200

S. Allen ♦. Oneida Co 500

Alfred Buck Oneida Co 475

Brown & Co Madison Co 800

F. A. Norton Madison Co 500

S. Conan Madison Co COO

Savery & Coventry Madison Co COO

Kirkland Cheese Co Oneida Co 800.

J. L. Dean Oneida Co 300

Colosse Cheese Factory .... Oswego Co 500

Harvey Farrington Herkimer Co . . . 470

J. H. Hubbard Oneida Co 400

David Yourden Oneida Co 150

Ezra Barnard Oneida Co ^20

Asa Chandler Oneida Co 270

J. M. Farnham Lewis Co 897

D.avid W. Wilcox Oneida Co 750

Levi Tanner Oneida Co 950

E. S. Bennett Oswego Co 250

PLATE XIV.

(Page 4G1.)

This picture illustrates the subject upon which the chapter treats,
where it is placed as a sign is sometimes shown, to indicate the
things within. It is the sign of the garden. In it were grown the
cabbage, corn, cucumbers, turnips, tomatoes, pumpkins, potatoes,
beets, carrots, parsneps, egg-plants, ornamental gourds, onions, and
80 on of all the rest. It indicates some of the subjects of this chap-
ter, but not all. It would require a large picture to do that. So,
after taking a glance at this, look well at every one of the next
hundred pages. Every paragraph about " The Garden and its
Fruits'' has a deep interest to every reader. The picture is only a
sort of wayside resting-place for the weary reader's eye. It is to
amuse and lead the traveler on to more substantial fare.

CHAPTER V.

THE GARDEN AND ITS FIiriTS.

SECTION XXIX.-1'LEASU1!1- AND PUOFITS OF GAUDKMNT.-onKilX
AND HISTORY OF VEGETAHLKS.

n-.'^ '-^ 'I" *^>"'«>i', ii'iJ one tliat i)rcvail8 to a considcrahle
jfr extent, to gni)i)o.so that all lalx.r bestowed upon a ^Mr-
den is so much " labor lost.'' Many fanners ].afis through
a lung life witiiout ever liaving anytiiing worthy of the
name of garden — a name which signifies: "1. A piece of
ground ai>])ropriated to the cultivation of herljs or plants,
^»- liuits and llowers. 2. A rich, well-cultivated spot or tract
^^3 of coimtry; a deliglitful spot."

And coilo(jiiially, in tiie Northeastern States, a ganlen is
a spot not always delightful — where all the potatoes, licels,
turnips, calibages, onions, etc., grown for 'family use,* are
jilanted. It also includes a small jiatch of strawiterries, a
row of currants along the fence, and sometimes a few flowers.
Often, however, it is as destitute of the latter as it is of all
the other attributes of a "deliglitt'ul spot;"' yet the vegetable garden is ono
of the necessities of life that no farmer can afford to do without. As a gen-
eral rule, the garden of a farm should be in tlio form of a parallelogram,
running north and soutli, with orchard trees and thrultbery at the north cud
and a grass-plat at the soutii end, and everytliitig sliould bo jilantcd in long
rows. This admits f)f ])lowing the ground, with a ]>lace to turn at each end,
both in breaking up the soil early in tiie spring and in al"ter cultivation. It
is just as well to ha\ o a row of beets twenty rods long as to have twenty
rows of ono rod — iiuleed, much better, because you can do more in ono hour
in deepening the soil sufliciently for beets witli a stent horse than a man can
in a day with a siiado. Even in a spaded garden, the oUl fashion of rai>ing
beds and deepening alleys has come to us from Europe, particularly Ireland,
where there may be a necessity for the jiractico; there is none here. It bo-
longs to the same family of antiipiated notions as hilling up Indian corn. U
is a foolish notion.

Altiiough a garden should bo rich, it must not bo made o.xcossivoljr «o
witli stable manure. We believe a continuance of any one kind'of munuro
to excess will render a soil unfit for cro]n in general. For an over-ri«!i gar-
den soil the best remedy is lime, and the best way to apply it is in the form
of "lime and salt mi.xture," which is made by dissolving salt in water until

462

THE GARDEN AND ITS PKUITS.

[CnAP. V.

it will dissolve no more, and then using that brine to slalco lime. A bushel
of salt may thus be mixed with three bushels of unslaked lime and the mix-
ture applied at the rate of 30 to 100 ITushels of the slaked lime per acre. If
the lime at'ter slaking is kept in a pile under a shed, the outward portion
effloresces, and it may be raked off and put away in barrels as it accumu-
lates. The lime is then in the best possible condition for use.

Of the profits of gardens there can be no doubt. Any one who is fa-
miliar with the ojierations of the market gardeners near large cities, knows
that the business is more profitable than ordinary farming. There is no
reason why many other persons should not enjoy similar profits.

There is not one A'illage in ten in all the Eastern States that is large
enough to support a locomotive butcher that would not sujiport a good
market garden from the first year of its establishment, the produce being
sent around to the houses in the same way that the butcher sends his meat.
Of course, all the waste or refuse of the garden naist be fed to the cov,-,
pig, and poultry, and of course the owner would grow wealthy faster than
the owner of a large farm cultivated in the ordinary way.

The great secret of success in market gardening lies in the succession
of crops. Heavy manuring, thorough cultivation, and a good market are
of course important adjuncts, but all of these will not give nu;ximura re-
sults without the gardener's skill in keeping the ground fully occupied ; and
in that, more than in all other things, is where not only gardeners, but
farmers, fail. They keep too much unoccupied land, allowing a grain crop,
oats, for instance, to be followed by a crop of miserable weeds more worth-
less than it is easy to imagine, for they are more exhausting than the grain,
and of no use to man, animal, or soil. Land should never be left idle. In
a well-arranged market garden one thing succeeds another so rapidly that
one row of the first crop is oft" to-day and its successor growing in its place
to-morrow. The owner can not atlbrd to wait till all is oft", because by
planting one after the other, he has the ripening crop for sale in the same
order, and thus secures the whole value of the manure.

The work in a market garden proj^erly 'begins in autumn. There are
several vegetables that must be started at this season, and all the ground
should be manured either then or during the winter. Much of the success of
the garden pecuniarily depends upon having its products a little anticijDate
the usual season. Potatoes early in the season are worth two dollars a
bushel. Three wetks later they are down to a dollar or less. There is a
like falling oft' from most other articles, though hardly anything fails to re-
turn a paying price.

Spinach is sown in September and October to furnish cuttings in April
and May. Cabbage is sown about the same time to furnish plants for the
cold frame, which are kept through the winter, transplanted in April, and
furnish heads in June. They arc put into the frame in i-ows very near to-
gether in November, and when the winter sets in, are covered with boards,
removing only in mild weather and increasing light and heat as spring ad-

Seo. 29.] PLEASURE AND PROFITS OF GARDENING. 463

vanccs, until the open ground is in condition to receive them. These are
called cold-frame plants, and furnish heads about two weeks earlier than the
hot-Led plants started in March. The best varieties for thi* early crop are
the Early York and the "Winnigstadt, which makes a very eolid bead of ex-
cellent quality.

Lettuce is also sown in the fall, and with a little protoction keeps weh
through tlie winter. About the first of March operations commence with
the hot-beds. Those are jirepared with various quantities of manure, ac-
cording to the heat required. The beds are generally from four to six feet
wide, for convenience in attending to the plants. They are covere<l with a
sash about three feet wide, the glass being not more than seven by nine.
In these beds a great variety of plants arc forwarded — cabbage, tomatoes,
peppers, egg-plants, and other early plants.

The whole ground is covered as soon as it is sufiiciently warm, and ar-
ranged so as to allow a succession crop. In the first course come radishes,
6i)inaeh, lettuce, cabbage, potatoes, peas, turnips, corn, kohl-rabi.

Early potatoes arc off in time for late cabbage ; early radishes in lime for
celery, sweet corn, or cabbage. Eiirly peas arc always followed by a crop
of something that will ripen l)eforo frost. Early corn may be followed by tur-
nips, or by spinach for spring, which will be oti' in time for tomatoes, liects
are followed by celer}', and peppers are transplanted among the heads of let-
tuce a M-eek or two before they go to market ; or squashes or cucumbers are
planted. Quassia chips, steeped in hot water, and that sprinkled upon the
vines, are found to be efficient protection against bugs. Carrots form a good
succession crop to the onions. They arc sowed between the rows about the
middle of June. Two crops, and sometimes three, are always grown from
the same plot of ground in a season. Nothing but ignorance of tliese facts
prevents a great many small owners of land in the vicinity of small towns
I'rom establishing market gardens for the supply of those who can not, or at
least do not, grow a supply for themselves of the most common sorts of gar-
den vegetables. It is a fact but little appreciated, that a very large iK>rtion
of those who have lived all their lives upon a (arm, ami made its cultiva-
tion their only business, arc utterly incomiictcnt to mamige a garden— thai
is, a garden intended for supplying any market with vegetables.

Illustrative of the pleasures' and jirofits of gardening, Ve insert a re|)ort
of a visit of the author to the (jitrdax of an artUt, to show what an un-
professional gardener may do upon a little spot of ground. (Jeo. II. llitc,
of iMorrisania, lives upon a village lot, and is by profession an artist. Not
an artist in gardening— not one who professes* or jtretends to pnictico horti-
culture upon a scientific or artistic plan. Nor do I menlion hi* garden a* t
model of taste and skill which may be imitated by the wealthy at grout ex-
pense. I mention it rather as tlie garden of a mwhanic. and just sncli a one
as a great mauv mechanics or prolVwional men might have if they would—
if they only knew how. I mention it full of liope that it may be tho moving
cause toward inducing other men who have daily employment, as this one

464

THE G^VRDEN AND ITS PRUITS.

[Chap. V.

]ias, at some trade or profession, to devote a little time, some money, and a
great deal of sonnd common sense in the cnltivation of the little half-acre
plats that -we often see surrounding village residences, which arc mere ex-
ani])les of the utter usclessness of land c>scept to cnahle the owner to show
how barren and worthless he can make it. There is no need of this idle use
of land. Tliere is no reason why every owner of a village lot should not
revel in all the luscious fruits of the season, and' treat himself and his friends
to an occasional bottle of M-ine, equal to any that he could purchase for a
conple of dollars, just as Geo. II. Ilite is now able to do, free of expense;
for his garden pays its own way, and a little more, of all cost of cultivation,
leaving him in the enjoyment of its delicious fruits, fresh from the earth, or
their products preserved to continue almost as fresh throughout the winter.
And he is not by pi'ofession nor early education a gardener, being a native
of a State less noted for its horticultural skill and fruits than for its pro-
ductions of great corn crops, great bullocks, great men — ^jjhysically and in-
tellectually. Mr. Ilite is a Kentuckian, and some of his carl^' years M^ere
spent in painting portraits in Louisiana. Then he came to iSTew York, and
during other years acquired fame as an artist upon ivory. Then, some years
ago, like a sensible man, he began to create a home for his old age, when it
conies ; it is only in the blossom now ; and that home I have visited, and I
wish I could take every one who hears or reads of it with me to Icaru what
an artist has done, and what a mechanic, a lawyer, a doctor, or anybody
else might do in a garden upon a village lot. "Will the sluggards who sigh
after an abundance of fruit, and envy those who have, yet take no steps to
have it themselves, believe me when I tell them that in this garden there
are grapevines of such extent, luxuriance, and fruitfulness, that several bar-
rels are required to hold the juice of the surplus of the crop? The fruitful
arbor that extends some fifty feet from the rear of the house, affords a de-
lightful shady spot, which, indej^endent of the fruit, is well worth its cost.
Isabella grape wine, five years old, with no addition whatever to the juice
of the grape, is excellent. Strawberries grow to perfection in this garden ;
and as a cultivator of currants, ITr. Ilite excels. Not merely a few basket-
fuls for family use, but bushel after Ijushel, red, white, and black. The ber-
ries of the true red Dutch variety are upon the average as large as the cherry
currants under ordinary cultivation ; and as for productiveness, no state-
ment can convey an idea. To believe, you must see. And this is the result
of pruning. True, Mr. Hite follows the Scriptural injunction about a bar-
ren tree, to " dig about and dung it," with all of his trees, and vines, and
shrubs, and flowers, and table vegetables ; but with the currant the secret
of success is pruning. "Keep no old wood," is his injunction. Every
branch that has borne three crops must be cut away at the ground, having
been twice shortened in, by which the short fruit-spurs on the new wood
are always loaded, and the bunches growing close to the canes, so that they
look like ropes of red berries. To commence with a single plant, cut it
away close to the ground, to induce several vigorous shoots, instead of one,

Sec. 29.]

ORIGIN AND UISTORY OF GARDEN PLANTS.

465

growing trco-sliapcd. Xext s))ring shorten all these canes, and let the fruit
grow below and new shoots above, and next spring shorten these again.
Pome of Mr. IIitc'.s thrco-y ear-old plants arc now five or six feet liigli, so
leaded witli fruit that they have to be trained to stakes, v.'hich, liy-the-by,
ii the true way to grow currants. Next spring thujo vigorous, fruitful
branches, all that arc three years old, will be unsparingly cut away. It is
the secret of success. Meantime, now s-hoots come up in succest-ivc onlcr
to take their ])lacc. I have no doubt Qf the fact that currant bushes llius
treated, of the sour sort that arc now growing neglected along many a gar-
den "wall, nntrimnicd in half a century, may lie made to aftbnl a Held crop
of more than two hundred bushels per acre of superior size and Ihivor t'>
those grown in the ordinary way, and that the cost of production will be far
below twenty-five cents a bushel. Tlie annual pruning would bo the great-
est part of the labor, and, in the vicinity uf tiiis city, the wood cut away
would be worth nearly the cost of cutting; and in the country, where stono
chimneys and brick ovens are still fashionable, the brush, when well sea-
soned, would make superior oven wood. I'.esides what I have saiil <<f this
G;arden, there is much more to bo learned from it, and that where it bloa^
soms now, nine or ten years ago was a wilderness of wild bushes, blackber-
lies, and rocks, and that ho who has said " presto, change !" is not a nnvgician,
liut a very humble individual, with no more ])ower to produce such change
than the most humble one of the mighty multitude who have an idea abovo
the "Utter Mith a will to work that idea out in the rich productions of na-
turc improved.

Besides the fruitful grapes I have alluded to, :Mr. Ilito has otiicrs, prin-
cipally of the Delawares, now growing beautifully; and so satistied is ho
with the advantages of growing super!.. r grapes, that he dug up a fruitful Ikk!
of strawberry -plants to make room fi>r mure ]Jflaware gr.ipevines, which
he thinks will be the greatest wine-grajic in America. Some of the surphia
products of his little jdot of gn.nn<l all'urded the owner one year !?400^ in
cash, which was more than enough to j.ay for hired labor and nntnnre. This
sliou'ld encourage others to go and do likewise, I would havo gone to this
man for my miniature i^ortrait, but who would think of going to an artist
to learn horticulture? Yet I have learned, and in my opinion oth.rs may,
from verv unexpected sources. Let us fry.

519. Origin and History of sonip rommosi (iardrn Vr?elables.— The history
of "soinc of"our fruits and vegetables is. in many re.-pects, extremely curious.

"Thcrtr</c/«)/.v, wcfind, was so highly esteemed in Rome, that an arhi-
tiry law was enacted to ].revent commoticrs from eating it."

Tiiis statement shows the importance of calling all plants l)y their botanical
or scientific name, since wo can not tell whether the writer un-am tho
IhUanthm tuherosus (Jerusalem artichoke), which is a plant ..f iho him-
flower species, or the artichoke which s-^.n.cwhat resembles a thwile, tho
Cynara scolymm, which grows the edible part at the top instead of iho

bottom.

406 THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS. [Ciiai-. V.

The plaTit \ised for flavoring, called hasll, wliicli now stands so liigli that a
London alderman wonld spurn a basin of turtle made without it, was, 2r)()
years before Christ, condemned by Ohrysipi^us as an enemy to the siglit and
a robber of the wits. Pliny says ihey sowed the seeds witli inaledictions
and ill M-ords, believing that the more it vras cursed the better it would
prosper.

Lettuce appears, from an anecdote related by Ilcrodot'us, to liave been
served at the royal tables of the Persian kings, five or six hundred years
before the Christian era, but they only knew one .sort, which was a black
variety, Tliis esculent has been greatly improved by cnltivation as well as
cabliage. We can remember when a head of lettuce would have been a
great cnriosity, and the heads of cabbage fifty years ago were very mdike
merchantable cabbage-heads of tlie present day.

Mint appears to have been used formerly for other purposes besides
making mint-jnlcps, which produce a disease which, in ancient times, mint
was used to cure; for Pliny says, at a consultation of physicians in his
chamber, it "was decided that a chaplet of pennyroyal was better for gid-
diness and swimming in the head than one of roses.

According to Ovid, mint was used by the ancients to perfume their tables,
by rubbing the leaves upon them before serving the supper; and mush-
rooms, Ijoth edilile and poisonous, were known to the ancients. They were
considered, Mdien good, a great dainty with the voluptuous Itomans; and
one of the poisonous sorts was used by Agrippina to destroy her husband
Tiberius Claudius.

Ilustaixl, it will be recollected by Eiblc-readcrs, was cultivated in Syria
at the time of our Saviour, as it is mentioned in one of his beautiful parables
as being the least seed that was sown in the field.

Garlic and onions must have been in high favor as food. at a very early
day, since it appears tliat the Egyptians worshiped garlic, and" were said to
wish tliat they might enjoy it in Paradise ; though the Greeks held it in
such abliorrence, that they regarded tliose "who ate it as profane. The Po-
mans gave it to their laborers and soldiers to strengthen them, and to their
game-cocks previously to fighting them ; and the Israelites, while in the
wilderness, lamented the deprivation of these stimulating roots, to which
they had become so accustomed in Egypt. lu this country, onions are eaten
by all classes, and in New York city, we have noticed, are greatly esteemed
in winter by the very poorest classes, particularly the dissipated. They are
not generally considered unhealthy, thougli no dyspeptic should ever touch
garlic or onions in any shape, particularly raw.

Parsncps were held in high esteem by the Emperor Tiberius, who im-
ported them annually into Pome from Germany, probably because they
grew much better in that colder climate, as they are greatly improved here
by remaining in the ground to freeze during winter.

Parsneps contain a large proportion of sugar; beer is made from them in
the north of Ireland, and wine, closely approaching the malmsey of Madeira,

ORIGIX AND IIISTOKY OF GABDEN' PLANTS. 467

is made from the roots. Marmalade, made with j.areneps and a small
quantity of Bugar, is said to excite appetite, and to \>u a ver/ go<xI focKJ t'.-i
convalescents.

Parsleij was cultivated, as it is now in pardenfl, in the time of Pfiny, and
ai)pears to liavc been highly esteemed as a (reasoning of food. ^

liadixhes were so highly esteemed by tiie Greeks, that they made them
of gold to offer at the shrine of Apollo. If these were made of the ni/.e that
radishes are represented as growing in those days, we ccrfainly should pretVr
the counterfeits to the real ; fur it is stated that tliev ''rew t« the wci-dit of
forty or fifty poimds. Probably they were an entirely diti'erent article from
our radishes, and perhaps were a cidinary vegetable.

^t'C^s were made for the same purpose of silver, which shows the com-
parative estimation in which they were held. "With us it is .juite tiic
reverse.

Turnips, too, do not seem to have been highly esteemed, since A|«oIl'i
only got wooden turnips, while ho got gold radishes and silver beets. Tlii>
was somewhat owing to climate, undoubtedly, for wc have observe<l that
turnips are not esteemed in the cotton States, except for \jic tops to bo used
iis greens.

Thyme was planted in Greece, and thence imported into the Itoman
Stater, on account of its value as pasture fir the honey-bees.

Water-cress was esteemed as a stimulating article of diet, as well in olden
time as at present, and was often eaten with salad to counteract ita etl'ects,
which were thought to be chilly. An old writer says :

" Water-cress is one of the most wholesome of our salad-herbs, and one of
the oldest in use. Its qualities arc warm and stinndating, the reverse of
nearly all other raw vegetables. Xeiiophon recommended it to tlie I'ersinns,
and the Romans gave it to those whose minds were derangetl. llenco tin-
Gruck proverb: 'Eat cres.s, and have more wit.' It .is an excellent anti
scorbutic ; and a salad so easily jiroiluced, ami so im])Ortant to the iiealth of
townspeople, can not be too highly recommended. Tlie daily supply at
Covent (iarden, London, is aliout (i.OdO buncbos, but it is said if twice u
many more bunches were brought in they would be all sold."

Cahhueje appears to have been used for food from a very early period,
and few vegetables have undergone greater improvements, fi-om the original
sea-kale to the large drum-head cabbage, some of which have iiea«U «liiio>t
as solid as turnips, and of twenty i>0Hnds weiglit. Gcnuanv, of uU other
countries, grows c.ibbage for food m^st abundantly. It is eonsiden««l n
ncitessity for every family to have a barrel or ipore of gour-ltiiut, which i«
made by cutting the cabbagcdieada into small shreds, with sharp knives or «
iiipchine, which is j.acked in barrels with a little salt, anil H.nu-time* a flavor
of spice, and in this way it keeps (we can not sny sweet) in an ealnbii.' c«m-
ditiou all winter, and isuaunlly etewed and eaten with vinegar, in plHco of
other vegetables, with meat. . • ti

AxpariKjus is another sea-plant, very much improved by cidlivttion. Tlio

iGS

THE GARDEN AKD ITS FRUITS.

[CnAP. T.

first time vre hear of this vegetable is in the time of Cato the Elder, two
huiiilreil years.bofore Christ. The Emperor Augustus was very partial to it;
and at llavenna it grew to such a size that three heads weighed a pound.
Mr. Grayson, of Mortlake, uear London, has produced one hundred heads
that weigl^d forty-two pounds, perhaps the largest ever known in Great
Britain ; and hundreds of acres around the metropolis are devoted to its
cultivation. The small heads are sometimes cut into jiieces and boiled, as a
substitute for green peas. Medicinally, it is considered diuretic, and is said
to promote the appetite. It is considered antiscorbutic, and very good in
dropsical cases, but is avoided by those having the gout. The most extra-
ordinary virtue is that ascribed to it by Antoine Mizold, who says: "If the
root is put upon a tooth that aches violently, it causes it to come out without
pain."' Our modern dentists will, we are sure, thank us for this information,
if it is true.

Asparagus and cabbage are both benefited by the use of salt for manure.
For asparagus, there is no danger of using too much salt. It may be used
in a crude state, or dissolved, or in compost.

Carrots, we are told, originated, or at least, were first cultivated for food,
in Holland. Tiiey are not only nutritious, but the pectic acid which they
contain has the effect to gelatinize other food, hence they are used in soups,
making them richer. There is no root grown by farmers of quite as much
value for stock as carrots. They are very nutritious food for our tables,
simply boiled, and onl}^ require a little practice to be much liked. Tiie
white carrot is sometimes boiled, and maslied, and used in bread. The
foliage of carrots is truly beautiful, and we read that, in the time of Queen
Elizabeth, it was 'common for ladies to use the fresh, green leaves as orna-
ments of their head-dresses.

Potatoes have a history so M'rapped in obscurity, that no one can tell for
a certainty where they originated. Their adoption, as a general article of
food, dates back only to a comparatively recent period ; that is, since the
settlement of America, yet they are now considered an indispensable article
upon almost all the tables of rich and poor in all countries where the
])Otato flourishes, as it does in the northern United States and England and
Ireland.

The potato-plant {Solanum tuhcrosum) is said' to belong to a family
of poisonous plants, and an extract, powerfully narcotic, may be made
from the leaves and stalks, and a weak spirit is often distilled from
the roots; and a pretty good starch is made, both in a domestic way
and in large manufactories, from potatoes, with which sago is often
adulterated.

Potatoes make good yeast, and they are often used for making sizing;
and the water in which potatoes are boiled is good to wash any fabrics in
that are liable to fade.

Excellent as potatoes are for food, sad experience has proved that it will
not do for any nation to rely upon them. This reliance brought famine,

Sec. 29.] HISTORY OF GARDEN PLANTS. 4C9

misery, starvation, and deatli to Ireland, and disappointment to a <rreat manv
who have lost entire crops from the potato-disease.

Salad-2>lants have long been cultivated and eaten hy tlie ricli a.« a liixiiiv,
and hy tiie poor as a necessity, or rather, in many cases, more as. an airree-
able economic article of food. In all cities and large maiiufacturiiig iKwitu,
the laboring class are every year becoming greater consumers of li-ttuces,
radishes, and celery, and tind benefit i\\y.n their use. This kind of f.HHl is
grown to great perfection, and is very largely consumed in France, IJelginni,
and llDlhmd — more so than in this country.

Salsifi/ is a plant that should be known more extensively tlian it is, be-
cause it affords an excellent article of fuud. Its roots grow like parsneps,
and the cultivation is similar, but tliey have quite a different flavor, and on
a«couiit of a real, though slight, resemblance in smell and taste to (oysters,
it is often called vegetable oyster-plant.

The greatest resemblance to oysters is, when the roots, which have stood
all winter in the ground, are dug in the early spring, boiled and nmsheil and
mixed with butter, and cooked and served hot, like oyster batter-caki-s.

(^knt is another valuable food-plant not much kiu>wn and cultivated, ex-
cept in market gardens in the Northern States, though it is considered nu
article of prime necessity at the .South, being largely used by black ami
white. The negroes make a very favorite dish_wiih okra and bacon, called
gumbo, and we have eaten gumbo in New York, but it is very rare. The
principal use of okra here is in soups. The seed-pods arc the ]>art useil,
either green or dry. They give the soup a mucilaginous ciiarach-r. Tlie
bark of the okra plant is very fibrous — as much so as hemp, and moro
tough.

t'iweet corn (see 541), as it is now grown in a great majority of the gnitlons,
affords one of the cheapest and richest luxuries that America enjoys. In
the latitude of this city it is fit to eat in Jidy, ami continues in condition for
the table, with a little extra attention, till late in October. There are
several varieties, some of which are noted for keeping fre>h very late in the
season. There is no dish more univei-sally liked than sweet corn while in
the "-rcen or milky state, and every family wiio have the means of growing
it should provide for a succession of crops <luring the seasofi, so as never to
be without it, because no food can be produced cheaper, and none is more
nutritious, palatable, and wholesome.

We mi'dit "O on to great length with this history and de-cripiion ot gar.i.u
plants, an'd at last should hardly know where to st^.j. without breaking off
abruptly ; so we do it here, to go more into particulars of gimleii eulliviition
of proper vegetables, plautg, fruits, and flowers.

470

THE GAKDEIT AND ITS FEUITS.

[Chap. V.

SECTION XXX.-GARDEN CULINARY VEGETABLES.

^3^ITE plan of treating lightly a great variety of sub-
?«>^^ jeets M'ill not warrant ns in giving a complete
"Young Gardener's Assistant." That can be
bought in a separate volume, and it is a valuable book.
But we shall give a little information al)out all the
principal kinds of culinary vegetables usually cultivat-
ed by farmers, or which should bo cultivated by them,
■which we trust will be found useful. In treating upon
some of the same tilings under field-culture, in the chapter
devoted to " The Farm and Its Crops," we shall probably
give some further information, which may be useful to
those who only plant a garden. And so will what we say
here be useful to those who wish to grow vegetables upon
a large, as well as upon a small, scale.
520. The Brassica Family— Propagating aud Saving Seed. — This family of
plants, M-hich includes all that are near enough related to the cabbage to
hybridize with it, is the most universally cultivated of any variety of culi-
nary vegetables. In planting out cabl)agc, cauliflower, broccoli, turnips for
seed, great care shoiild be taken to set each kind by itself, at considerable
distances apart, to prevent hybridization, and no seedsman must keep bees,
for they are the greatest hybridizers in nature, carrying the pollen from one
blossom to another, and mixing the two together indiscriminately. All tlie
different varieties of cabbage, such as Flat Dutch, Savoy, Drumhead, mix
very readily and spoil each variety, or else by one chance in a score of
millions, produce a new variety which may be worth cultivation. As a
general rule, however, all farmers who raise their own seed should try to
keep the varieties separate. This may be done in most cases by setting out
the seed-stalks in different fields. It is not necessary to confine them to the
garden. "Wliere there is any great inconvenience about keeping the sorts
apart, you had better plant only one sort for seed, and buy seed for all
other sorts you may wish to cultivate. Do not try to grow your own seed,
if it will cost you twice as much as it would to buy a small paper of a pro-
fessional seedsman. The principal advantage in growing your own seed is
to select carefully the very best and throw away all others, and unless you
do that, you had better not grow any. To grow good cabliage and turnip
seed, select the very best roots to plant, and then select the best seed
branches.

A correspondent wants to know if turnip seed, harvestea from roots
tliat were left out over winter, will produce good turnips if sown for a

Sec. 30.J GARDEN^ CULINARY VEGETABLES. 471-

crop. " My neighbors," says the writer, " tell nio it will not produce tur-
ni])s, hut charlock."

"\\ c do not believe that it will change in a single season, but we do know
of one instance where such seed was sown, and it produced tnrnii>tops and
seed, but few bulbs of any value ; and we believe that if the set-d of these
bulblcss i)lants had been sown again and again, the whole semblance of
turnips except the tops wonld have been lost. And this being the fact, why
may we not believe that the reverse will be the case, where the most perfect
bnlljs are selected for propagation ?

521. diltivatiou and Valtie of the Turnip f rop.— Tlic value of the ruta-
baga turnip for stock-feeding (see SSu) seems to bo almost nniver;allv con-
ceded, while the common flat tuniip appears to be under a cloud of i>rfju-
dice in this country. We have, however, strong faith, from personal expe-
rience, in its value as winter food for horned cattle and sheep. Tlicrc is
great difference in the value of the several varieties. One of the best is the
Red Stra]), which grows well np out of the ground, and all the ujjper part of
the bulb is of a rich phnn red. This sort, if sown upon good land, grows
rapidly and solid, and such turnips always keep the best and afford the
most nutriment when fed to stock, and evcrj' vacant spot in tlie garden
may thus be iirofitably occupied.

For garden culture, turnips should bo sown at three periods: first, as
early as the ground is dry and warm enoiigji tor the seeil to vegetate ;
second, about the first of June; and the third, after the peas have riptned,
and in all other vacant spots from which a fii-st crop has been removed. If
seed is sown as late as the middle of October, or, according to latitude, as
late as it will grow bulbs the size of pigeons' eggs, and tlu'se are covered
over with a mulch of coarse manure, straw, or leaves, and the mulch raked
oft' very early in the spring, you will get a fine crop of sprouts for early
greens, and sometimes the bulbs will grow again to as to be gtxnl eating.
Remember, never save seed from such roots.

522. Protection of Twrnips from Insects.— Tlio young ]>lan!s are liable to
sufler from the attack of certain insects, especially the turnip flea, or beetle
— called in England " the fly."' Asa protection against such encnues, wo
recommend the following rccii>e : Mix one tablesjioonful of sulphur with a
].int of blood-warm water to half'a pound of 6ee<l ; let it soak a low min-
utes, then pour ofl:' the water and mix the seed with a.slus or i>lMster.
Whether this would aflbrd any protection against grassh.ippers. could be
determined by trial.

Tiiere has been lately offered in market a new i)roparation of • i-d

coal-tar," that i.s, coal-tar mixed with n dryer, making a gran dn

stancc resembling gunpowder, which is said by those wlio hove u»od it to
be a good preventive of insects. We know that the scent of coal-tar i« of-
fensive to most of tlic tiirm-pest family. A boanl-fence jiaintod with coal-
tar apjicars to act as a protector of fruits trained alongside of it. Coal-tar
mixed with dried loam in the l\'rm of a powder should bo tried as a pre-

472

THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS.

[Chap. Y.

vontive of insects on tlio young turnips. In this foiMu the expense would be
very trilling. It may answer lor all other garden jilants just as well as the
more expensive preparations sold for the same purposes. •

523. The Kohl-llabi— lis dias'acter and Csc— This relative of the tnmiii
and cal)l;)ngc is comjianitivuly a new garden plant, but one much approved
by all who are acipuiinted with it, and extensively grown tor the New York
markets. It appears to be a cross between the cabbage aiul turnip, growing
with a bulb like the latter, which has the outward ajijK'arance of a cabbage-
stalk, with leaves like ruta baga. These liulbs, cooked, have more of tlie
flavor and general character of cabbage than tui'nips. Those who are not
acquainted with them should procure seed and give them a trial. Tiicy are
largely grown in England as a lield-crop for stock, the seed being planted
by drills, four pounds jier acre, and produce twenty-five tuns. For garden
culture, pursue exactly the same course as with cabbage.

524. Cabbage CuStivatioM, and Value as Food.— Almost every family cul-
tivates cabbage in the garden as an article of food, for which purpose we
look iipon it as of very little account. "We know it is relished by a very
large portion of the laboring class, and that class alone should cat; it, as it is,
particularly when cooked, one of the most indigestible articles of food ever
taken into the human stomach. Eaten raw, in small cpiautities, it is more
digestible, and serves very M'ell as a relish in place of other green food at
seasons \vhea the garden does not aftbrd a supply.

We recommend the cultivation of cabbage in all gardens, even where the
family do not care to grow it for the talde, because a plant can be stuck in
here and there to fill up waste places, and if the plants are not wSnted by
the family when grown, the cows will be very glad of tliena after the grass
is frosted in autumn. If cabbage is wanted for very early use, the 2:ilants
must be started in cold frames in autunm, and kept covered up all winter.
Such plants are much more hardy than hot-bed plants started in spring.
Seed may be sown, as soon as the ground is warm enough, in garden beds,
for early cabbage, but for such as are wanted for winter use, seed som'u late
in May or June, or even in July, will be early enough to set where peas and
early potatoes have been harvested. Cabbage requires a strong soil, and will
bear heavy manuring, except with hog-pen manure. That, it is pretty Avell
settled, causes the disease known as " chib-foot" in cabbage. Tiiis whole
order of plants delights in bone-dust as a fertilizer and bones prepared as
superphosphates are still better.

The distance between the plants when set out varies from one and a naif
to three feet. A moist, cloudy day is the best time for transj^lanting, and
it is well to dip the roots before planting in a composition of black mold
and a little soot, made into thin mud with the addition of liquid manure.

Cabbages may be headed in winter by setting them with their roots in
good rich earth, just as they grew, and covering the tops so that they will not
freeze. This may be done with a roof of boards, hay, or dirt, or brush and
rails and straw covered with dirt, with little air-holes. Cabbage grown in

Sec. 30.] GARDEN CULINARY VEGETABLES. 478

tliii Avay is blanclied, sweet, and tender, and will pay much more than the
cost of tlius arranging tlio late stalks wliicli failed to form heads in the fall.
Tlic work should he done just before the ground freezi.-.s, and at lirst onlv
elightly cover the tops.

Tile heads can be kept very sound and clean, and convenient for daily Jise
in winter, by packing them in wet moss in barrels or bo.xes, which should
be kept in a room where the temperature is just above the freezing-jwint.

The easiest way that we ever put up cabbages for winter use was as ful-
lows: Lay two coinniou fence rails, or two poles on the ground, side by
side, about six inches apart, and as you pull up the cabbages, lay them
down, with the licads resting upon the poles and the roots on the ground on
each side, at right angles with the poles. If you take oft' the loose leaves
for feed, lay a thin coat of straw over the heads, and then throw up the dirt
from each side, so as to cover the heads about si.x inches deep, and form a
smooth mound, shaped like a winrow of hay.

Of the kinds of cabbage, we recommend the '' Bergen," for its large size
and value for fodder. The " Fawn-colored S«ivoy"' is more delicate for the
table. " Eed cabbage" grows with very hard, small lieads, and is esteemed
for pickling. It is not as sweet or palatable as other sorts to our taste. A
kind called "Thousand- headed" is much grown in some gardens for eating
green. It is a coarse variety. The "Green Curled Kale" is also grown for
greens. It does not head. So is the kind called '• Brussels S|irouts." The
earliest variety of cabbage is the '• Early York," or " Early Wakefield."
Three other early varieties are called, '-Early Sugarloaf," "Early Drum-
head or Battersea," and " Early London."

A new variety, lately introduced, is called "Stonemason." It originatetl
witli J. J. 11. Gregory, of Marblehcad, Mass. It grows a large, rich head
on a very short stuiiip. Tlie "Marblehcad Mammoth" is another now
variety, introduced by Mr. Gregory, which grows hea<ls that weigh thirty
pounds each. There is a new kind called " I'omeraiu," which grows heads
shaped like the Bed Dutch, that is, conical, though much larger, an<l re-
iiiarkabiy solid.

:.L'.">. ( auliflowor is a delicate vegetable of the brassica family, the tnliblo
part being the lluwer-buds, before they shoot up to seed. Cultivators have
succeeded in lorniing these into a very compact mas3 of several ]>ound«'
wei-ht. Tiiis is done, first, by using seed of the very best varii-ty and culti-
valhK' in verv rich ground; and second, by carefully tying up the leaves
around the heads, to make it gn.w compactly. A heavy, moist, fresh loam
is the best soil for cabbages and caulitlowers.

The way the Dutch obtain eaulillowers, famous for size and delicacy, is n»

follows :

"In the autumn they dig deej. some ground that h:> n UKinuntl;

at the beginning of Mav thev sow the large Euglibh can ujn.n u l*a

of n.anuiv, an.l cover it with straw mats at night. When the young plant.
are three or fot.r inches high, they harrow the ground that had bcvu pre-

474

THE GARDE}^ AND ITS FRUITS.

[Chap. V,

pared the autumn before, and with a wooden dibble, cigliteen inches long,
they make holes about ten inclies deep, at proper distances apart, and on-
large tlietn by working the dibble round till the hole at the top is about
three inches in diameter. They immediately fill these holes with water, and
rej^cat lliis three times the same day. In the evening they fill them with
sheep-dang, leaving only room enough for the young plant, which they very
carefully remove from the bed of manure and place in the hole witli a little
cartli. Directly afterwards they give them a good watering, and as soon as
the sun begins to dry them, water them again. Fui-thermore, as the plants
grow, they dig round them, and eartli them up in rows. Wiicn the head is
forming, they pinch off some of the lower leaves of the plant, and use tlicm
to cover tlie young head."

52G. Broccoli is nearly allied to cauliflower, and though inferior in quality
is mucli cultivated. One of the secrets of growing cabbage is frerpicnt lioe-
ing, and in case of drought, watering. The ground can not be stirred too
frequently, and it is well to hoe when the dew is on, if you are a little care-
ful about getting dirt on the jr^ants.

Although cauliflowers are a little more diflicult to gi'ow than cabbages,
we have no doubt they are much more nutritious and digestible as food.
"\Vo have said more about the cultivation of the brassica family in gardens
than we shall of any other, because the various sorts may be growu in a
great measure as a second crop, or to fill up waste places, and therefore it is
economical, because it affords such a great quantity of food.

527. Carrots, Beets, Parsueps, Salsify, aud Horseradish. — All these plants
require one grand feature in their cultivation, and one which many farmers
neglect. It is a perfect trenching of the earth, not less than two feet deep,
and far better if it is three feet. They all succeed best on a ratlier light
loam, not too sandy, which was manured the previous year with old manure.
If desirable to continue planting the same plat with these roots, let them
come in rotation, and use no manure that is not in a very pulverulent con-
dition. Guano, at the rate of three or four hundred pounds 2">cr acre ; super-
plios])hate, at the rate of five hundred pounds per acre ; lime, at the rate of
fifty bushels per acre ; imleached ashes, at the rate of ten to twenty bushels
per acre, are all good fertilizers for root crops. All these roots are apt to
grow pronged and ill-shapen in fresh-manured ground, as they always do in
ground badly spaded or plowed, unless prejsared by the very best kind of
sui'face and subsoil plowing.

52S. Carrots, for early use, may be sown as soon as the ground is dry.
For winter use, the last of May or first of June in the latitude of jSTew
York. They are best preserved for winter use in dry sand. The best early
variety is Early Horn ; the best for winter, or stock, is the Imjn-ovcd Long
Orange, though some prefer the Altringham. The large, white, Belgian
carrot has been cultivated here, but the yellow is still the favorite.

529. Beets should be sown very early for greens. The Early Flat Bas-
sano" or Early Blood Turnip-Beet will produce food soonest ; but for win-

Seo. 30.] GARDEN CULINARY VEGETABLES. 475

ter, we prefer the Long Blood Beet or Smooth Long Dark-red. Tlio la«t
should not he sown till near the first uf June. It' it matures early, the
top part, which grows out of ground, is very woody. Always soak beet-
seed twenty-four hours, and then roll it in plaster, ashes, dust, or meal, to
dry it for handling while planting. An ^uuco of seed will plant a row cue
liuudrud feet long.

^30. I'arsueps should be sown early, and may bo left where they prow
till tliu ground is wanted for a second crop. The soil must be trenched
and rich, or manured deep below the surlace, to grow good parsneps. An
ounce of seed sows a row two hundred feet long— five pounds au aero.
'Die Long Smootii is the best variety, rarsueps arc exceUcut food for
stock.

531. Salsify, or Oi/skr JHant, shoidd be sown early in spring; an ounce
of seed to a row thirty feet long. Like parsneps, they arc improved by
standing all winter where they grew.

Horseradish, is a plant of the genus Cachlcaria, which is a sort of Bcurvv-
grasj, and is unknown to, or, at least, uncultivated by many farmers. Its
sharp, pungent root is very agreeable to most persons as a seasoning to
meats, and it is considered a healthy e.xcitant of appetite. It is eiuiilv
grown from cuttings in any deep, rich soil, even a mucky one that is quite
wet. It is best after standing out all winter. In tho vicinity of cities it is
extensively grown as a market crop, and is very profitable. For family use
a few plants will sullice.

5.i2. Ouiou Culturei — There arc three principal sorts of onions grown from
seed i)roduced on the top — the red, yellow, and white. There is a kind
called Early Ited, and the largo "Wethersfield lied ; tho latter grows the lar-
gest, and is best for field culture. The Uanvers ydllow variety is mild fla-
vored, early, and kee])S well, and is j)referred, where best known, to tiio
Yellow Dutch, which is known in some places as IStrasburg or Silver-skin.
The "White Portugal onion is the mildest, and good to grow for family
use, but requires great care to keep it over winter. In some parts of tho
country scarcely any but top onions are grown. This kind iJrodueea
miniature onions on the top of the stalk, which arc set to grow bnllw for
use. Onions require a rich sandy loam, highly manured with thoroughly
rotted compost, deejily and finely worked and rolled, and tho seed sown, one
ounce to a row fifteen feet long, in drills fourteen inches apart, and tho
plants left standing four inches apart. I'nlike most other things, onions do
best upon the same plat year after year. Wood ashes, a|>plied an top-
dressing, make one of tho best fertilizers that can be given to an onion Ixd.
To prevent the ravages of the onion maggot, which of lato years has pruVl^l
so destructive, it is recommended to sow j>oi)]>ie8 with the onion.

533. Foas—fhoirc kinds ai«HiilCivatioti.— The follou r'/

peas ill their ortler: Daniel ()"Kourke; Karly I'rinr. _ mr ;

Prince Albert ; Early Kent. Tho following are dwarf variotio* : Tom
Tinimb ; Bishop's Early Dwarf, quite prolific and early ; Bishop'* New I/>og

4TG

THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS.

[CnAP. V.

Podded, productive and good quality ; Dwarf-blue Imperial, highly recom-
mended as a summer pea. The following are larger sorts, and are highly
recommended : Champion of England ; Fairbcard's Nonpareil ; Champion
of Scotland ; Eugenic ; ]S"apolcon ; Missouri Marrowfat ; Large Wiiite Mar-
rowfat, a late sort; Blackeyed MaiTOwfat, an excellent kind, M'orthy of gen-
eral cidtivation ; British Queen, very prolific, long podded, and fine fla-
vored ; to which add the sugar pea, with edible pods.

Judging from the little attention paid by many farmers to the cultivation
of garden peas, we suppose they look upon them as luxuries, only to be in-
dulgcxl in by a few, except in very small quantities. In this they are quite
in error. There is nothing grown that is more nutiitious and wholesome, and
much more attention should be paid to their cultivation, so as to have a full
daily supply, early and late. The first planting should be made just as soon
as the ground can be Avorked in spring, upon ground well manured the year
before, or else with very fine old compost or guano in the hill, but not in
contact with the seed. In small gardens, or where ground is scarce for early
crops, plant potatoes and peas together. Land can not be too rich for peas,
but if it is the richest of crude manure, more vines than seed will grow.
Ashes and plaster upon peas while growing, when a few inches high, will
help them remarkably. Plant in double rows, a foot apart, so as to set
bushes between. The largest sorts require four to six feet between the lines,
and we have found it advantageous to put them wide apart and plant a row
:if potatoes between. Tou want a pint of seed of the dwarf sorts, in a
double row, fifty or sixty feet long. The large growing sort will take a pint
to a hundred feet.

Pea-bugs injure but do jiot destroy the germination of seed peas. It is
recommended to keep 'them in sealed bottles, and if a piece of gum cam-
phor as large as a pea is put in, it will destroy all bug life. One wiiter
recommends planting peas five inches deep early in the spring to prevent
the weevil. He jjhuits beets at the same time between the rows of peas.
Another writer recommends fall planting, or any time during winter when
there is no frost in the ground.

534. Beans for the Garden — Good Sorts. — We recommend careful atten-
tion to the cultivation of garden beans, because they furnish such good,
cheap, palatal)le food. The following half dozen sorts are the best that we
can name of the dwarf or bush variety, M'hich give edible jjods, called snap
or string beans :

The Early Valentine grov\-s excellent, long, tender pods. Early Yellow
Six-weeks is very productive. Earl}' Mohawk is not only prolific, but hardy.
The Early China is an old favorite ; it is a white bean, with red eye. Tlie
Thousand-to-One sort is also an old and very popular kind. As .young
bean-plants are easily killed by frost, you must not plant them till that
danger is past and the ground is light and warm. A pint of seed will ]ilant
a drill eighty feet Iqng. Cover liglitly without nu^nure, and never hoe when
the vines are wet, but stir the soil very often, and use plaster and ashes.

Sec. 30.]

GARDEN CULINARY VEGETABLES.

477

Of pole-beans, the EaiTy Dutch Case-knife takes tlie lea<l. It is early,
prolific, and good green or dry. Tlie pods arc sonictiines eaten, hut can not
he rccouinunded. The pods of all the Cranberry beans nro good. Tlio
"Horticultural Cranberry or AVrcn's Egg" grows in beautifully rc<l-strii)cd
pods, is of a light red and cream color, speckled, of nieilium size, and very
good, botli in the pods and shelled. The White, or Marrowfat Cranljcrry,
i| very tender and nice, but is a shy bearer. The old Ked Cranberry is more
prolilic and liardy, but the pods are loss tender, and beans not so delicate in
flavor, but it is a valuable sort to rely upon. The beans grow of good size,
roundish, and deep-red color.

535. Lima Roans are a distinct order of plants from the others, and more
diftieult to cultivate, as lliey require a longer season of warm weather, and
if planted before the ground is warm, are apt to rot, and each seed requires
to be handled separately and put in the ground with the eye downward to
insure their coming up.

The best manure for Lima beans is sui>crphosphate of lime. Tiiey grow in
long, flat, rough pods, and the vines arc such great climbers, that they would
go to the to]) of i)oles thirty feet high. The best way is to use ]>ole8 five or
six feet higli, and pinch back tlie vines, or train tliem horizontally. To get
an early start, set each bean in a piece of sod two inches square, and place
these sods in a shallow box in the kitchen, and keep them well watered till
it will answer to set the beans out around the poles.

530. raliforHia Brans. — A variety of beans new to the Atlantic States, in-
troduced from California, has been highly recommended. A letter, written
by L. Xorris, "Windsor, Ashtabula County, O., says of it :

"This bean is of medium size, of a peach-blow color, and very i>n>lilie.
It requires only one, or at most two plants in each liill, as it produces many
lateral vines. It is a short runner, oidy from three to «bur feet in liight. I
find by planting them with corn, one I)ean in each hill answers the pur|»060
well. I')V cooking these beans in the following way, they eoubtituto a
savory dish, and need ordy to be tasted to be appreciate*! : Having cleaned
the beans, put them in cold water ; add a little salt, and boil until done, but
not so much as to have the beans crack ojieii. Have ready a frying-pan,
with some lard, which heat until it nearly Imils; then take the beans otit
with a skimmer and ])ut them into the frying-pan and fry them until they
absorb nearly all the fat; then add about a pint of the bean li(iHor(,of which
you must reserve a jdenty) ; then boil, or rather fry, a few minutes, stirring
"it fcntly ; but be sure the liquor does not all IkjII away, as it is thi.-« which
gives the beans sucli a delicious flavor. They are now ready for the table."

537. Fhwerins; Beans are grown almost exclusively for ornament, and aro
known as - Scarlet runners" or '• White runners," being gn-at climlnT*, and
profuse in lieautiful flowers, and not very pndific hearers. It is a mintako
to suppose these beans aro not edible ; tiiey are so, but not of such delicnto
flavor as to be recommended f.-r that i>un>ose: they are vcrj- onianienlal,

d may be planted to climb a pole in a bhowy spot in the gartlen, or near

an

4TS

THE GARDEIT AITO ITS FRIHTS.

[Chap. ^'.

tlic house trained to trellises, or climbing strings up tbe house side, around
■windows, or along a piazza front.

53S. Asparas^uSt — But fe\v farmers have this delicious, early spring ve^o-
tahle in perfection, because they do not know how to cultivate it properly.
It is a perennial plant, M'liich, if once ^Ycll set, produces its crop of tender,
rich shoots, year after year, Avith very little annual cultivation. It may be
started from seeds or roots, which should be set iu a deeply-trenched be<4,
well drained, and made just _as rich as rieli can be, and heavily salted.
Every autumn, cut off the tops, and cover the bed with a thick coat of
manure, salted; and iu the spring, fork up the ground lightly, before the
sjirouts start, mixing in the manure, and if any of it is unrotted, lay it as a
niulcli betw'een the rows. Lime and ashes are both excellent for surface-
dressings. There are three varieties of asparagus — the Large Green Purple
Top, or Giant ; the Improved Ghent ; and Common Green — though some
contend that the difference is more in cultivation than anything else. The
common kind is certainly improved in size by high cultivation.

In May, ISGO, a Mr. Fecks, of Oyster Bay, L. I., exhibited, to the
American Institute Farmers' Club, specimens of a giant asparagus, grown
at Oyster Bay, originated from seed at Matinicock, L. L, the bed of which
is now over thirty years old. Some of the stalks were nearly an inch in
diameter. He stated "that he had about four acres, ■which he called only a
' small patch,' because other persons had more than t'wice as much, and he
had been told that one man near Jamaica has seventy acres. His beds are
made upon good potato-land, plowed deep, and highly manured -^vith stable
or hog-pen manure. At one year from seed, the plants are set in rows tour
feet apart, and fifteen or twenty inches apart in the rows. We trench four-
teen inches deep, ■with manure at bottom, which is covered with three inches
of soil, and the roots set, and the trench filled gradually during the summer.
In cultivation, ■we plow off the earth and put manure in the furrows abund-
antly. My bed is so near the level of salt water that the tide rises upon it
at very high water, and the yield is §300 an acre. We do not cut it much,
if any, the first two years. We put fifty loads of manure per acre, and five
hundred pounds of guano. Some growers use 1,500 pounds of guano per
aci'e. The bunches of sixteen stalks weigh four pounds. The best asparagus
is that which grows above ground. The ■white is always tough. We some-
times have bunches with eight inches of tender green."

It is a mistaken notion to cut or try to eat tlie white part of asparagus
stalks. None but the tender green part is fit to eat. An article now be-
fore us has the following sensible remarks upon this subject. Tlie writer
says :

" The stalk is generally cut abbut four inches long, often not more than
two or three inches, and from one third to one half the length is white,
showing it grew below the surface of the soil ; this part is always tough and
bitter, and unfit to eat. In truth, it is never eaten, so that fully one half of
the weight of a bunch of asparagus, purchased in the market, is a dead loss.

Sec. 80.] GARDEN CDLINARY VEGETABLES. 479

If the stalk be cut lour inches long, and two inches beIo\7 the carth'b Burfacc,
about one inch and a half of the top ])art is fit for nse— no more. Aspara-
gus should never be cut till it is five or si.x inches out of the ground. I
often let it grow ten or twelve inches hii:;h. AVhcn five or six inches hi;;h,
it should be cut about a half inch aliovc tiic ground ; but when ten or twelve
iiuflics high, it should bo cut si.K or seven inclics above the surface of tlic
earth; or, if it be cut near the ground, all the bottom part should be
rejected.

"After cutting it, take a sharp knife, and commencing at tlie lower end,
foci your way along toward the top, till you come to wlicre it is perfectly
tender, then cut it off, throwing away the lower part.

" It is only the green, tender ])art that is above the ground tliat is sweet,
healthy, and nutritious, or fit to cook and eat. Tlie white, tough, and bitter
part, that grows below the earth's surface, is not Iialf as good iis corn-
stalks, and should not be allowed to be sold in any market in the civilized
■world.

" For private families, asparagus-beds should be made at considerable ex-
pense, and M-ith mucli care. Four or five dollars will make a bed that will
amply supplj', for many years in succession, a family of eight or ten i>or-
sons, if properly taken care of. To make a first-rate bed for that number in
a family, make it about five feet wide an<l twenty feet long. Dig out the
ground two and a half feet deep, and fill up with chips, sawdust, t;in, or
sticks of wood, packed close together, five or six inches from the bottom.
Tiien put in five or six inches of the strongest stable manure, and fill up to
the top with manure and dirt, about half and-half.

" The bed is now fit to plant. Put your roots about ten inches apart, each
wav, over the entire bed, and then cover them about three inches deep with
the richest soil to be had, and sow evenly over the wliole a peck of common
salt and a peck of ashes, mixed together. Asparagus is a marine-plant, ro-
(juiring salt and alkalies for fertilizers, which should be supplied every
spring to make the jihints flourii-h.

" keep tho beds clean of weeds and well manured, and for this quantity
of ground you will have a rich and abundant supjdy for eight or ten in
a faiuily, every day, if desired, from about the first of April till the last of
June. The yield will bo ten times as much as couhl bo obtained from tho
same numlier of sipiare feet planted in peas or beans. Tliere is not, among
all tiic "-rcen vegetables brought to market, another so productive, jmlatablo,
nutritious, and healthy as this plant.

" "Wiierc it is raised for market, a warm, rich, vegetable mold should be
selected. A sandv loam is better than cla\\"

539. Celery.— Tliis is another good vegetable for early spring, when there
is a longini; for something green or fresh from theganien, which is but liltlo
known U) nirmcrs in general. It is a hanly biennial, grown from »wd sown
in the spring, which will produce Bee<l the secon.l yoar. For the table, tho
Stalks only aro used, and generally raw, though good cookc«l, aiid to inako

480

THE GARDEN AND ITS ERUITS.

[CUAT. V.

tliem tender and palatable, are grown in a peculiar ■way, which blanches and
makes them crisjJ, tender, and jjleasant to the taste, heiug aromatic and
slightly pungent, sweet, and agreeable to all who are accustomed to eating
them. Tliere arc eevcral varieties in cultivation, some of the best of which
are named as follows : "White Solid, Seymour's Superb AVliite, Colo's Crystal
White, Cole's Superb Red, Dwarf White French, Incomparable ; this is a
dwarf sort, of a short, stiff, close habit, growing crisp, solid, and white, and
keeps juicy and perfect longer than some other sorts. Laing's Mammoth
Red is the largest sort, and is highly esteemed in England, biit not as much
60 here as Nonesuch, which is said to possess an excellent flavor, and keep
well in spring without seeding. Mead's Improved White is a new American
variety, getting into good repute. Celery-seed should be planted early in
spring, and covered shallow in rich, mellow soil, beating the eartli down com-
pactly over the seeds with the back of a spade. Wheu the plants are three
inches high, thin them out to four inches apart, and keep them clear of weeds
till six inches high, and then transplant into trenches about a foot deep, first
filling them half full of fine manure, well mixed with soil, and set the
plants six inches apart, first shortening roots and tops. As they increase in
size, draw in the sides of the trench, and continue to earth up, keeping the
stalks and leaves all drawn close together, so the tops only show a few inches
above the ridge. There is no better fertilizer than salt for this plant.
Sprinkle the ground each time before earthing up, and take care each time
to hold the stalks together, so that no dirt will fall into the center of the
bunch. An ounce of celery-seed will produce some five thousand plants.
Both in the plant-bed and in the trenches, celery will drink vip a great deal
of water or liquid manure. Some recommend keeping the jdants in tlie
trenches constantly saturated with water, tinctured witii guano, or strong
manure and salt. If kept constantly moist, the earthing-up process may bo
deferred till late in the fall. One says :

" Late in autumn the whole bed is covered with forest leaves, a foot or
foot and a half tliick, with a few cornstalks to prevent their blowing away.
From this bed the celery may be readily obtained at any time, fresh, sweet.

and

1 cr

isp

durinc: tlio winter.

Another covers the ridge with coarse manure, so it will not freeze ; and
another takes up the plants, and packs them in an upright position in a
trench three feet wide, and covers the ■wiiole with coarse manure. Tiiis is
only necessary where the jjlants are required in winter for market purposes.
For family use, a few can be kept in Avet moss, while the ground remains
frozen. As a general rule, we l)elieve the blacker the earth that celery is
grown in, the whiter will it blanch. Some ])ersons blanch with boards, set
up against the plants, covered wi^h charcoal-dust. A writer in the Garden-
ei-'s Chronicle, London, recommends the use of sawdust, M-hich he finds an-
swers the purpose better tlian any other material, especially for late crops
to be kept during the winter. lie says :

" Having had some trouble in keeping late celery from rotting, where the

Sec- 30.] GARDEN CULINARY VEGETABLES. 481

soil was very retentive and damp, and the plants earthed up in the usual
manner, I used sawdust, and found tliat it answered porlVctly. I^wt winter
all the late celery was earthed up Mith .'^aw.lust, and it kept quite wuud till
Aju-il, and no slugs or insects attacked it underground, the lieads being very
solid, clear, and crisp, and well flavored. I had some douhts that the saw-
dust from resinous trees might give the celery a disagreeal.lc flavor, but on
trial I found this not to be the case. IJefore the late severe frost occurred in
Ocfoher I had just finished the earthing up of all the late celery with sawdust,
and I And it is now wonderfully fresli. tlie frost not having' penetrated fur
through the surface to the hearts."

Another correspondent reconinicnds charred earth in preference to saw-
dust, "as it^vill not only answer the puri)oso as well, l)Ut will allow the
rain-water to percolate more freely to the roots of the i>lants, and be i.f in-
iinite service to a soil of a damji, retentive nature." Tlie sawdust, hu thinks,
will induce an injurious growth of fungi in the soil.

5-iO. fhiccory. — Tiiis is a garden i>hint, scarcely known to American
farmers, tliougii extensively grown in England, and within the htst ten
years it has become a favorite article of growth and consumption. It grows
somewhat like carrots, and its cultivation is similar, and its jtrincipal use is
to furnish a substitute for coffee, or an article t<> mix with it, f.s it is to a
great extent with all that is sold in a burnt and ground state for the pur-
pose of reducing the price, or if sold at the price of i>urc coffee, giving tho
manufacturer a larger profit.

The carrot-like roots of the chiccory are washed, scrajied, and cut into
small pieces, and kiln-dried, and then roasted and ground like coffee. To
give the chiccory an oily appearance like coffee, lard is |>ut in the roaster at
the rate of two ])0Uiuls to a hutidre<l of <lried roots. It is colored with Ve-
netian red, or logwood and mahogany dust, where the chiccory is to be sold
nearly pure for " pure coffee."

Altliongh not much grown liere, we believe some coffee roasters in Now
York know its value to theui, and import it in considerable quantities. No
doubt it may be profitably cultivated, not only for sale or use as a substi-
tute for cofl'ue, l)ut for a good forage crop in tlie lops. Sow it in A\>t'i\ in
drills a foot apart for hand hoeing, just as you should carrots, on rich, deep
soil, on such ground as would produce A good carrot crop, and iuirvcst in
autumn. Some grow the leaves blanrhe<l, to use as a salad, by taking up
the roots in autumn and trimming otVthe fops, and setting the roots in sund
in a dark cellar, when young blanched leaves start out. The roots live over
winter like i)arsneps, but, like them, are tough and stringy the second year.
The leaves resemble darulelion, and tops ap<l rof)ts have a delicate biller
taste, and are slightly aronuitic. For a forage crop, the t.qH grow very
ra]>idly and thick, and mayj)e cut four or five times. Tlie rootn, t««o, aro
very good for stock. We recommend its cultivation in gardens, in a small
way, until it'* value is well tested.

541. Corn in Ihe Garden.— Tlierc arc several varieties of sweet com (uiiablo

482 THE GAKDEN AND ITS FRUITS. [Chap. V.

for early and late use. We -tt-ill mention a few, and advise all farmers to
select such an assortment as M'ill serve to give them cars fit for the table
through the longest season pos8il)le. The earliest may be started in hot-
beds, and transplanted as well as any other plants, or it may be planted, as
we have recommended for early beans, in square bits of sod, or in small
pots kept in the house, where it is warm and constantly moist. Smith's
Early White is a dwarf variety, which may be planted for the first yield in
hills only two and a half feet apart. Darling's Extra Early sweet corn is
thought by some to produce ears the earliest of any variety ; and the Early
Red Cob is also a very early sort, growing short ears, eight or ten i-owed,
which fill well out to the end. The Early Tusearora is a large variety, and
matures early, but not as much so as the dwarf sorts. It is eight rowed,
with broad, white grains, and remains fit for boiling a long time. This sort
requires a very rich soil. For the main crop, the kind known as Large
Sweet is j^erhaps the most productive ; and for very late eating, Stowelfs
Evergreen or Burr's Mammoth Sweet should be planted in rich hills, three
and a half or four feet apart, as late as the middle of July. We have seen
it yield well, planted late in August, by protecting the hills with stalks of
the early sorts tied around them. It is also kept good till December by
cutting or pulling up the hills and setting them in a dry cellar or out-
building. Both of these late sorts grow ears with twelve to eighteen rows,
large grains on white cobs, and very bushy stalks. There should be a
planting of corn for family use every fortnight from April to August.

Where land is scarce, we recommend planting corn and potatoes in the
same hill. The corn will be just as good as though no potatoes were there,
and if the stalks of the corn are cut away as soon as the ears are mature
enough to boil, the yield of potatoes will be a fair one — in our experience
just as good as hills alongside without corn.

542. Early Garden Potatoesi — It is quite important to farmers to know
what are the earliest sorts of potatoes, since they are the most staple food
article grown as garden vegetables, and we therefore name some of the most
approved varieties. We have always found the nutmeg potatoes the earliest
of any, but objectionable on account of their general small size, and because
they do not yield well. There is a sort called "Mammoth Nutmegs," which
grow larger and yield better. The Nutmegs have a very smooth skin, light
yellow, with white fiesh, and keep well, but are good for nothing for winter
use. The Early June is a good potato, and more productive. The Extra
Early White is said to be productive, and capable of producing a very early
crop. The Early Wendell and Early Carpenter are both sj^oken of by those
who grow them as the bust early variety known. We have been well satis-
fied with the Buckeye as an early growing potato, but it did not keep well
with us. The Dykeman is not as early as some others, but answers first-rate
to mature a week or two later. Either of these may be grown to great ad-
vantage in the garden, and we recommend that all of them should be tried,
and proved which is best for each jparticular locality.

seo. so.] garden culinary vegetables. 483

5-t.3. €«curbita— Conrds.— Tlic foinily of cucurlnta, cinbracinp even-thing

from gourds to ciiciiiiiburs, appwirs in an alinost cotiiitlcs.s varii-ty of forms,
under some of wliicli it is to lie found in almost every •,'arden. In our
youthful days, almost every family raised a few gourtls, and very conve-
nient tliini,'s they were, not only fjr water dippers, hut holders of a' {,'reat
many little artielcs. AVc used them for storehouses of small seeds. At tlio
South, and in some of the new portions of the West, gounU are still grown
to a considcral)lc extent, and when wo traveled through most of the South-
western St^ites between IS-IO and 1S50, we should have thought something
was lacking if we had not found a pail and one or more drinking-gounls at
some convenient spot about the house — generally on the front jiiazzn, whero
every traveler could help himself to a drink of water. Often, too, on visit-
ing the springs by the roadside or in the ])lantations, wo have found the in-
dispensable gourd hanging to a tree. They are grown of all sizes, from a
gill to a gallon ; and one kind that grows without the elongation for a
liandle we have seen of the capacity of half a bushel, and the shell so liar<l
that they would last many years for dry storage. In Texas, a variety with
a depression in the middle, and bulb of equal size at each end, is fre<)uently
used to carry water on horseback, it is so convenient to lash to the sadfile.
A little drinking-gourd, a# hard as wood, and almost white, holding about
a third of a pint, was given us by a lady in Mississippi, which accompanied
us during many thousand miles of journeying, and out of which we had
many a sweet drink of water from roadside springs. Xo one thought it
worth while to steal a gourd from the wagon, while a tumbler, tin cup, or
earthen mug would jirobably have disappeared the first night. TVe heartily
commend tiiis good old fashion of growing gourds to the nttentitm of hi!
farmers. It will save many a dollar used up in tin cnps and dipper*, and
costly, fragile glass and earthenware.

544. CilClimbfrs.— These rarely fail if planted in hills made as rich as il is
possible to make them, six or eight feet apart, leaving only two or three
plants to run to vines from each hill, and sometimes that is too many, llio
ground must be kept free of wee<ls in all the stages of growth of vines, to
fnsurc a good crop. A \;ery good way to raise a few early cucumbers for
family use is to fill a barrel or larger cask with hog-pen or other rich ma-
nure, covered with sand, and set it in the grass-j.hif, near the house, whero it
can be watered every day— no matter how otk-n. We have seen a -"xl lot
of cucumbers grown by" earthing over the ash-leach and letting the vine*
hang over the sides. This also requires frequent watering, for that id the
gre^t source of all great garden productions. Without it, high munuring is

worthless. n i i r i

Terhaps the earliest variety is one lately introduce.!, called tlic l--arly
Russian It is prolific, and luatures for the table ten days scH.ncr than iho
Earlv Cluster, or Earlv Frame, or Short (ircon. The Karly Wh:t.^.piiH><l
sort is considered best for the table. It is larger than the other early »..rt»,
6trai"ht, Bmooth, and dark green. For pickles, there arc several good --.. •

4S4

THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS.

[Chap. Y.

the Long Green Prickly ; Long Greeu Turkey ; Stockwood Eidge ; and
Carter's Long Eidge.

For early use, cucumbers may be planted in sods inverted in a box that
can be taken in and out of the house, according to weather, until it is warm
enough to set them in place. You can not make the hills for cucnml)ors
too rich. Some market gardeners divide the hills in quarters, and plant one
fourth at a time, a week apart ; so that if one planting fails, another will
succeed. The plants should be hoed frequently, and the liugs watched care-
fully. Seed improves by age ; an ounce will plant a hundred hills ; though
as they are planted on Long Island for market, an ounce would bo needed
for a dozen hills. The market gardeners put in such a quantity of seed,
that the l)ug3 are not able to eat all until some get too big for tliein.

5i5. Miisk-Melons should not be planted till the earth gets warm, and
then in hills dug deep and made rich with well-rotted manure. It is a good
practice to pinch out the bud of the main shoot as soon as half a dozen
rough leaves are formed, as that causes lateral branches, and makes the fruit
set earlier. Light, dry, sandy loam made rich, and a dry, hot atmosphere,
if the plants are kept moist, will grow fine melons. We think the Green
citron, a small, rough green skin, roundish form, the best sort. The Pine-
apple and Jenny Lind are similar, and excellent. The Nutmeg melon
grows larger, with rough skin and greenish flesh, aromatic and sweet.
Skillman's Fine jSTetted looks as though the green melon was bagged in a
brown net, and is a very fine melon, and ripens early. The Christiana is a
yellow-fleshed sort that ripens very early. It is a ]\Iassachusetts seedling.

5i6. Water-Melons, though grown in all the jS^orthern States, never come
to such perfection of excellence as they do in warmer climates. Here they
should bo planted in May in light, dry ground, and they often do best upon al-
most pure beds of sand, having hills prepared by digging out large holes and
tilling them with manure, and covering it with soil. If the plants are wa-
tered with a solution of two pounds of Peruvian guano in a barrel of water,
their vigor will be much increased. It is a great object to get them forward
as fast as possible. A very successful grower of water-melons upon the gra-
nitic soil of AVestchester County,- N. T., says :

" I dig a hole three feet M-ide and three feet deep or more, and fill it with
cow-yard manure early in the season — say 1st of May, and cover this with
light soil, six or eight inches deep, before planting the seeds. For musk-
melons I manure with well-decomposed manure, sown broadcast and worked
into the soil. I would also work in a little of this fine manure in the top
of the water-melon hills."

The vines fruit better if the leading shoots are frequently pinched back.
"Water-melon hills should bo ten feet apart in rich, sandy loam or artificially
enriched sand. Six or eight seeds to a hill, not over an inch deep, in fine,
black soil, over any amount of rich manure, will produce vigorous vines.
The varieties of water-melons are almost innumerable. The Mountain
Sweet and Black Spanish are our favorites. Cut-worms and bugs are the

Sec. 30.]

GARDEN CULINARY ^^:OETAHLES.

485

greatest pests of all vines, and the best of the many remedies in our opinion
is the clicappst, Avliicli is siiiiidy inclnsin:^ the hill as soon as ]>lunted with &
board bo.x six or eight iiiclics high, drawing the earth up a little around the
outside. It has been found unnecessary to cover the top with thin niuiilin
or flakes of cotton batting, except for tiie ]>urpose of keeping the earth
Avarmcr. Tiieso boxes sliould bo made about a foot square, and tajHiring
enough to admit packing them in nests to stow away as s<X)n as the planta
are largo cn(nigli to allow of reninving their wooden widied jirofection.
Other seeds may be protected by such boxes against seratching hens, as they
will seldom, if ever, get inside to do misdiicf ; and so long as hens do not de-
stroy seeds or plants, or fniit in a garden, they arc useful, for they oat up
thousands of worms and buirs.

o

Other melons should be planted and treated as wc have said of water-
melons ; an<l of all the various sorts of musk-melons, the small greefi melon
that looks as tliough covered with a fine flaxen netting is the be.-it, to our
taste, though we have great hopes that the new Persian melon, that grows
as big as the old musk-melon, will prove as ricli as its first fruits indicate.

Great care is necessary to save melon seed pure. Vines of eucuinlKin
and melons never should grow near ti> each other. Let the truth bo ro-
membered, that the varieties of all this family will mix, ami that seedling*
seldom improve either sort, and that the best always sutler by the contact.

Bees are great mixers of the ]>ollen of flowers, and they can oidy be jire-
vcnted by getting up earlier in the morning than the bees. Select a number
of female blossoms which have opened during the night. Tfiey may be
known by growing on the end of the young sijuash, melon, etc., while the
male blossoms (" false blows," as they are often ealleil) have no fruit. Scat-
ter the pollen of the male blossoms upon the stamens of the female ones, and
carefully cover the latter with millinet. or anything which will i.n.tecl them
from the visits of the liees. A piece of cotton cloth, or wnu a ti.piash leaf,
kept in place by a few clods of earth, will answer a good purjKwe. When
tlic blos>om withers, the covering may be removed, and the fruit nmrked by
a colored string tied loosely around the vine.

547. iMflous Started iu the House.— It is recommended by one who has
met with sucee.-s to till some small oj'en baskets with earth and start the
plants in them by artificial heat. Suitable bsu-kets to hold a pint may bo
made for half a cent each of bark or willow twigs, or split stuff, or even
shavings, or <<],], worthless strawberry baskets nmy bo used. Perhni>« ulruw
baskets would answer, and be very eheai-ly made. Anything that will
hold the dirt until tlie jilants are large enough to set out, will answer llio
purpose, and then the b.iskets and all the ci.ntenlj} arc phinte«l in the hilk
The object in using baskets is not to disturb the ro«>ts of the plants, as thoy
are very tender, and do nut bear transidanting. Any other tender pUut
may be crrown in the same way.

54^. The \pplc-Ple .Melon.— L. Norris, of "Windsor, Ashtabula County,
O., says: "The npple-pio melon, with good cultivation, will altaiu to 40 or

4S6

THE GARDEN AND ITS FEmTS.

[Chap. V.

50 lbs. each, and if gathered carefully when ripe, and kept in a dry, cool
place, will keep sound a year, and will always ]M'ovc a good sulistitnte for
fruit for pics or sweetmeats. To use, peel oil' tlie skin, take out the pulp, cut
fine, and stew three or four hours, when- the substance will resemble stewed
green apples ; to which add sugar and lemon-juice, and it will nuxke })ies
that can not easily be told from those of apples."

Another cultivator says : " This melon attairfs a large size ; I have grown
specimens the past season, eighteen inches in length, wcigliing from 30 to
40 lbs. Tiiey are cylindrical in form; color, wlien ripe, a golden tint, very
solid, and ilesh close-grained; color of seeds, a, dark green or blue; ripens
in September, and will keej) sound and good, it is said, for two years, but
we liave not as yet tested their keeping qualities. They prove hardy and
of easy culture, and I consider this melon a valuable acquisition. We liave
tested the quality of them for pies, and find them very delicious. To pre-
pare one for cooking, peel and cut up tlie melon small, taking out the seeds
and soft ]julp. Put the pieces in a preserving kettle with just enough
water to keep them from burning, and stew over a tolerably brisk fire for
three or four liours, or until the whole is reduced to a soft, pulpy mass, fi-ee
from lumps, and thoroughly done. You have then a substance resembling
green apples stewed, and by adding a little sugar and lemon-juice to it, and
making it witli crust in the usual way, it is impossible to tell it from a fresh
apple-pie. If you desire a pie like j^umpkin or custard of the melons, stew
as above directed, but omit tlie lemons, and bring the pulpy mass to the
proper richness and consistency by the addition of sugar, milk, and eggs.
Little of either of these ingredients will be found necessary — only suflicieut
to give the melon color and flavor."

549. Squashes — Siimraer ajid Winter Varieties. — Tlie varieties of squashes
are so numerous, that almost every neighborhood has some favorite. The
most universal one is the Boston Marrow, and next the Hubbard squash ; the
last the best, but being a newer variety, has only become generally known
within a few years. They are both medium-sized, and are extremely rich
food for winter use, simply boiled and eaten as a table vegetable, as a
substitute for sweet potatoes, or for pies and other cookeries. The form of
the first is ovate, pointed, with thin, salmon-colored rind, and flesh of deep
orange color and fine-grained ; keeping all winter. Average weight, six
to eight pounds. The Ilubbard is a better substitute for sweet potatoes
than the other. It has a hard shell, and is an excellent kind to keep
through the winter. It grows about the same size as the Marrow, and is
immensely prolific. The Lima Cocoanut is a rariety much esteemed by
some as a winter squash ; it grows large, oblong, of a bluish color, very fine-
grained, and sweet. The Honolulu, a new variety, is said to excel all others
in productiveness, fine flavor, and good keeping qualities. A large, almost
white squash, wliich we have grown several years, we like full as well as
either of the above for pies, and it is more hardy, and sure to produce a
good crop in all situations. The flesh is sweet and rich, but not as fine-

Sec. 30.J

GARDEN CULINARY VEGETAHLES.

487

gi-ained as the otlieis, but it grows tliree or four times larger, witii a sinootli,
polislied skin, tlie color of white wax. In size of fruit and vines, it is more
like i)unipkiris than ordinary scjuashes. Among all new varieties, we should
not forget the old Crookneck. It is a squash of good eating and keeping
(piality, and not so delicate in its growth as some others. There ii als-. a
crook-necked summer squash, which is considered by those who liavo grown
it, the largest, the very best of all the summer varieties. It is early, pro-
ductive, and one of the kind called bush, or non-running sorts. Its color
is yellow, and has a warty skin, and hard shell when ripe. The Early
White, scolloped, a bush variety, wo liave grown with satisfaction as toil's
eating qualities, though we thought it a shy bearer. The hills for squashes
should be highly manured with well-rotted staiile manure or compost, l)ut
not with anything very putrescent, wliich will give ofl" ammonia and kill
the young plants, which are very tender. The seeds must not be planted
while there is any danger of frost, as a very slight degree of cold will kill
the vines while new. The use of salt in manure must be avoided with all
tlie cuntrhita family, but jdastcr may be used to great advantaL''- 1 't!i as a
fertilizer and bug preventive.

550. Esg;-Plaills. — These garden plants are not as much grown in Nu:iiurn
gardens as in ISouthcrn ones, because they can rarely be brought forward
early enough in the spring withovit the aid of artificial heat, as the young
[ilants arc very tender. If you have no hot-bcil, sow the seed as early as
possible in a sheltered, warm, dry situation, and [irotect the young plants
with hand-glasses or boxes, or some covering in cold nights, until they are
three or four inches high ; and when the weather has become steadily warm,
transplant them into very rich, mellow soil, setting the plants two and n
half feet a[iart. A fourth ounce of seed will produce more ]ilants thitii any
family wants. The earliest variety is called Long rnrple, and grow* a
plum-colored fruit of several pounds' weight, which those who arc accustonietl
to eating it, call delicious. There is a sort, called Large Oval I'urplo, that
grows larger than the above, and is perhajm jireferablo for geiund culture.
The early and late sorts may bo distinguished while growing by tlio »tct08.
The earliest grows smooth and the others j)riekly. There are two curts
jriown for eardcn ornament — one red and the other white — of ninch smaller
size than the sorts generally grown lor cooking.

551. Salad-Plaills—Lfdiiff.— Lett nee is the principal salad-plant cultivaJwl
among farmens, and so far as our observation extends, the poorest varieties
are most in use, and rarely made to produce 6enii-s<jli«l heads, meh n^ wo
often sec in the city market, almost large enough to bo mistaken for va\y
bagcs. The best sort for early spring use, sown in open ground, or for hot-
bed forcing, is the Karly Curled Silesia, because it makes a *■•

of yellowisli-green tender leaves, whi<-h are very g<i<Kl eating a* -
arc larcc enough to j-iek, aiul will al'terwartls form loouc licail*. Do not pull
up the'j-oung roots, but i>iek olf the leaves, or clip them from il ^*ith

a pair of scissors, and others will soou grow. The 1-Jirly 'K

:j

4:88

THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS.

[Chap. V.

esteemed one of the best varieties which form heads. Recollect that some
sorts of lettuce will not head, witli all your care, but the leaves may be made
more tender by tying tliem up, so that tiicy will grow blanciied. One of tiic
best sorts of non-heading lettuce is the Ice Cos, the leaves of which are
brittle, growing long, narrow, and dark-green, and of somewhat an icy ap-
pearance.

There are also four other sorts of Cos lettuce — the Paris Green, Paris
White, Florence or Golden, and Spotted Cos — each of wliicli you will
be told is best by the person who grows it, and no other. Tlie hardiest sort
is the Brown Dutch, which may be started in autumn, and slightly protected
so as to endure winter, and grow early in spring. It will form a loose head,
but is not generally grown for heads, but for the early young leaves ; tlie other
sorts being preferable to it for heading. One of the largest varieties is called
Large India ; it is less curled than tlie Silesia, and the leaves are whiter,
slightly edged with pink. This kind endures the summer heats well, and
forms large, round heads, which cut solid and crisp. There are several
other sorts, but what we have said of these is enough to show that there is a
great variety in this family of garden plants.

To grow good lettuce, the utmost care must be used in preparing tlio
ground. The soil should be made as fine as the seed, and as rich as good
garden mold can be. The seed should be sown every fortnight from Feb-
ruary to June, to get a succession of young plants. The ground must be
kept loose between the rows, and it pays well to water with guano in a weak
solution.

An ounce of lettuce seed will grow plants enough for half a dozen families.
It would require a bed about ten by twelve feet to sow an ounce of seed,
and it would produce some 5,000 plants.

552. Mustard is often grown for salad, the white or yellow seed variety
being very good for that purpose. It should be sown in the fall, or it may
be started in spring, in a hot-bed or warm southern exposure, in rows
six inches apart, and no matter how thick in the rows, as it is to
be cut when two inches high. The black seed kind is often sown for
greens, as well as to grow seed for use or sale. It ripens seed in July or
August.

553. Nasturtium. — This is another salad plant, when very young, though
generally grown for its fruit, which is used for pickling. The pods are
gathered before they ripen for this purpose, and some use the flower-buds,
esteeming them as good as capers. The orange-colored flowers are also used
for garnishing dishes. For salad, sow the dwarf variety early in spring, in
drills an inch deep, along borders of beds, so that what is not cut for salad
may grow for ornament.

55-t. Garden-CresSt — This is a favorite salad plant, and in this character
only the seminal plants are used. It is very liardy and prolific, and may
be sowed once a week, from the opening of the ground in spring until the
close of the season. Old rich garden soil is the most congenial to it, but

Sec. 30.]

GARDEN CULrSTARY VEGETAHLES.

489

any lands of fine texture will, if properly pulverized and cnricbcd witli
putrescent iiiiuiure, j)rodiicc a good crop.

Do not ijiistakc this for the plant more known as pcppcrgrass tlian it i»
as cress. The article we allude to grows annually from seed or froui roota,
forming compact bunches of twenty or thirty stalks, which grow a foot liigli,
and bear Buiooth succulent leaves and an upright stem full of seed-pods, some-
thing like turnip. It is very apt to seed itsell', and may become trouble-
some if care is not taken with it. It is so hardy that it keeps partially
green all winter, under a very slight covering, ;iud its greatest value is, that
it atl'ords something green very early in spring.

555. Hater-Cress {Sist/rnl/rium nasturtium) can be easily grown from
seeds or roots, wherever there is a stream or sjiring in the ground near the
bouse. It grows best in situations where the ruot.s are always in water, and
in winter the whole plant is overflowed, and it particularly delights in pure
water, clear and cold, such as runs in the little spring-brooks. If you Lap-
pen to have one that does not freeze, you may have water-cress at any timo
during winter. It is started by sowing the seeds or setting the plants in a
suitable spot for its growth. After it once gets fixed as a habitant of any
place, it requires no care in its cultivation.

556. Eudive, a plant of the chiccory species, is often cultivated for %
winter salad, though more used in stews and for garnishing tables, llio
Green Curled is the hardiest sort, growing beautifully curled leaves, dark-
green, which arc tender and crisp when young, and much esteemed as salad
by some persons, and are considered wholesome. Tiie French use the Unta-
vian Endive in stews and soups. It is a broad-leaf sort, which grows not
much curled. This, when very young, is eaten as salad, but is not as good as
either the Green or "White Curled. The seed is sown late in the spring, or eyeu
iniddlc of summer, for fall use, and the leaves are blanched for uto by tying
the outer leaves over the inner ones. An ounce of seed will sow a bed eight
by ten feet. '

557. Turnip-Sprouts, grown under a straw mukh, are blanched and tender,
and make a delicate, sweet salad, and may be had early iu the spring with

a little care.

558. Okra.— Under the head of "History of Some Common Garden
Vegetables" wo have told the uses of this plant. ltd consumption has in-
creased so much in New York since its introduction a few years since, that
one market gardener of our acpmintance grew boven acres of it lust year

rxnches and pods, that for this latitude will, be a valuable impmvemcnt
over the large kind, which grows live or si.x feet long li'lH' «k™ ^.^^ »~
sometimes used as a substitute for collee. Itis doubtful whether ihej aro
as good as tho seeds of asparagus.

490

THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS.

[Chap. V.

Okra seed sliould not be planted till tlic ground has become ■warm in
spring, and may then be treated much like Indian-corn in all its cultivation,
and grOM's well in soil suitable for corn.

559. Tomatoes. — The rapidity -with Avhich this vegetable has been brought
into almost universal use is M'ell-nigh beyond belief. It is quite within the
memory' of middle-aged people tiiat it was grown only because its fruit was
ornamental, and b}' many supposed to be poisonous. Its common name in New
England was " Love Apple," though no one loved it. Now there are not
many families that do not esteem tomatoes as much as any garden vegetable,
and gardeners are constantly making eftorts to produce new varieties of im-
proved quality. Let 'no one suppose he has got the best sort until he has
tried several others. There is more difference in the quality and value for
food of tomatoes than there is in potatoes. We will name a few of the best
"We have grown a very large yellow tomato, which we prefer ovci all others,
because it is less acid, and the meat appears to have more of the food prin-
ciple in it than any of the red ones, unless it is one called Fejee Island
Tomato, which we think identical with one called " Perfected," and said to
have been introduced by C. Edwards Lester. It is a very large red sort,
and very good eating, and a little finer grained than one called the Large
Mammoth lied. The poorest tomato in existence is the one almost univer-
sally grown for the New York market. It is of medium size, smooth, round-
ish, with a tough skin, and sour, hard meat, frequently very JioUow, partially
filled with seeds and sour water, and being generally gathered in a green
slate, is no more fit to eat than the vines it grows upon. It is grown be-
cause it bears transportation better than the good sorts, and it Avill sell to
people who do not know how to appreciate a good tomato. As a general
rule, to select good sorts of tomatoes for cultivation for family use, choose
those which grow uneven-shaped rather than smooth, such as you can pull
apart without cutting, the lobes separating M-ith a glistening fracture. If you
wish to have some ripen earlier than the large sorts, you may choose a round,
smooth, medium size, called Early Apple Tomato. For pickles and pre-
serves there is a sort known as pear or fig tomatoes, being about the size and
shape of figs. There is a small yellow sort, grown for preserving, and so is
the sort which grows about the size of potato-balls, and as round and smooth.
A distinct variety, called "Winter Cherries (see 675), grows with a husk
about the size of large cherries, and is much liked by some to eat out of
hand. Care must be taken to prevent the different sorts of tomatoes from
mixing, else, if you have a choice kind, you will be apt to lose it, as the in-
clination is to run down rather than up the scale of improvement.

The cultivation is very simple. In warm latitudes they are self-propagat-
ing. In this latitude, where the family has no hot-bed, the seed should be
sown for early use in boxes oi; pots, in February and March. The seeds sown
in boxes, if kept in a warm room, in the light of a window, will grow healthy
plants, which, when two incJies high, may be pricked out and set single in
pots, and carefully nursed till all danger of frost is over, in some warm,

Sec. 80.] GARDEN CCI.INARY VEGETABLES. 491

sheltered situation, where they can grow out-doors. To hiuton the first
fruit, pineli off all shoots above the first foniu-d ones as soon as the tumutoci
are the size of cherries. Afterwards cut oil" im-st of tlio leaves, to let the
sun liavo its full force upon the fruit ; you will thus get a small crop several
weeks ahead of the ripening when i)lanted out at the ordinary time and k-fk
to tlie natural course of growth. To have really good tomatoes, lit to he
eaten in a raw state, which certainly is the most delicious form in which
they can be eaten, you must have a good sort, and grow them on good lainl,
and select the first fruit, and trim the vines so that tlio sun sliines npun it,
and let it become fully ripened before it is gathered. It should alwnvi
bo eaten wliile fresh to get its full value. Then it is both palatable and
wholesome.

If the seed be sown in May, in good rich soil, of a warm nature, witli a
sufficiency of old, well-rotted manure, there will rarely bo any dangi-r of
failure. When the vines begin to show leaves, they sliould be provided
witli a trellis, or tied to stakes fixed in the soil, to keep the fruit from being
injured by coming in contact with the dirt.

There is, however, a new sort lately introduce*!, called " Tomato th Layi^
in France, and with us, the I'liriglit or Tree-Tomato, that requires n'> mii>-
port. Its stem is two feet high or more, and so remarkably strong and stilf,
that they arc nearly Belf-supi)orting — a highly commendable <juality. It
liranches less than the common Great Red Tomato, is less leafy, iKh-s unt
want so much pinching, does not liear so freely, but its fruit is Iari:<r and
more regularly formed.

Medicinally, the tomato is in high repute. Dr. Dennfii, a pmu-.-.r ..i"
medicine of good standing, has pui.lished the following oj-inion of its good
qualities:

" 1. That the tomato is one of the most powerful deobstruenta of the JAi-
teria J/cflica, and that in all those aflcctions of the liver and otlior organ*,
where calomel is indicated, it is i)robably the most efl'eclivo and least harm-
ful remedial agent known in the i)rofession.

"2. That a chemical extract will bo obtained from it which will alto-
gether supersede the use of calomel in the cure of disease.

" 3. That he has successfully treated serious diarrhea with this article nlono.

" 4. That when used as an'artielo of diet, it is almost a. sovereign remedy
fo» dvspepsia or indigestion.

" 5. That persons removing from the Kast or North to the South or W «t,
should by all means make u^o of it as an aliment, as it would in tliat event
save them from the danger attendant upon tlu-se violent bilious attack* to
which almost all unaeclimated j.ersons are liable.

" C Tiiat the citizens in ordinary should make use of it either raw, cx-kcj,
or in the form of a catsup, with 'their daily f.Hxl, as it is the mo«t lualihy
article in the Materia Alinuninna.'"

Prof. Ilalinesquc, of France, says: Mt is everywhere decmc^l a very
licaltliy vegetable, and an invaluable article of food."

492 THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS. [CnAP. V.

Duiiglison says : " It may bo looked upon as one of the most ■\vliolesoiuo
and valuable esculents that belong to the vegetable kingdom."

A writer in the Far7ner''s Jictjister says : " It has been tried by several
persons with decided success. They were afflicted with chronic cough, the
primary cause of wiiich, in one case, was supposed to be a diseased liver; in
another, diseased lungs. It mitigates, and sometimes efi'ectually checks, a
fit of coughing."

The method most commonly adopted in preparing this fruit for daily use
is to cut them in slices, and serve with salt, pepper, and vinegar, as you do
cucumbers.

To stew tomatoes, remove them ripe from the vines, slice up, and put them
in a pot over the stove or fire, without M'ater. Stew them slowly, and when
done, put in a small piece of good butter, and eat them as you do apple-
sauce. Some add a little flour-bread, finely crumbed, or a couple of crackers
pulverized, to a quart of the stew.

560. RadisheSi — Almost every family grows radishes, but every one does
not grow them to perfection. The radish appears to have originated from
China, where it is still grown to much higher perfection than in any country
of its adoption, and is largely used as an article of food throughout the year,
one variety being grown especially for winter use. Although not a very
nourishing sort of food, it is a very palatable condiment, and very ac-
ceptable upon all tables in the spring season. The. tops are frequently
used when quite new as a salad, and the green seed-pods make nice small
pickles. To grow good radishes, your ground must be rich from manur-
ing in previous years, or by guano in solution, or superphosphate, while
the plants are growing, and not by fresh putrescent manures. Radishes are
only good when the gi'owth is rapid. To have this they must have a good
soil and frequent waterings, either naturally or artificially.

For early use, sow on mildly hot beds, or in boxes in-doors, and after-
ward in sheltered places, and water frequently, thinning out the weakest
plants. Put in a few seed every ten days, as long as you want to continue
the production, in drills ten inches apart, or with other seeds of slower
growth, to mark the rows. An ounce of seed will plant a bed ten feet
square. One of the best early sorts is known by the long name of Early
Short-tojii^ed Long Scarlet. It grows half out of ground, and very crisp.
The Olive-shaped radish, lately introduced from France, is an early and fa-
vorite sort. It resembles the scarlet turnip radish ; is rose-colored, oblong ;
top quite small, and if grown rapidly, is crisp and sweet. For our use, we
prefer turnip radishes to the long sorts. For winter use, the Spanish, or
Bhick radish, or a sort called Rose-colored China, is sown in the fall, and
leathered before freezing, and packed in sand in a dry cellar.

501. Rhubarb, or Pie-Plant.— This valuable garden vegetable is easily
grown, and afibrds the first thing in spring for pies and tarts. It is best to
get roots for a start, as it is not always true to the kind from seed.

Autumn is the best time to make a rhubarb or pie-i^lant bed, and the

Sec. 30.] GARDEN CULINARY VEGETABLES. 4)8

roots may \>q put in at any time when tlio weatlier will admit. Tl»o great
secret ofsiiceess is to get a deep, rich bed to begin witli. It can not be too
deep or too ricli. We would dig it five feet deep for family u»e, and fill one
foot witli cobble-stone, if we could, or with broken brick, timber, anil brusli,
so arrijnged as to give a good drainage. Then till up with eods, chip
manure, wood's mold, good soil, and v.ell-coniposted nianuro in a homo-
geneous nuiss, casting away the sul)Suil. Such a made bed will hut a» long
as its maker will, and if ten feet wide and twenty feet long, sc't with three
rows of roots, two feet ai)art in the row, it will furnish the largest family
with more than they can use, so that some of their indolent neighbors can
get a jiortion. Except when grown for market, we would not select the
largest variety of rhubarb. Seedling plants may be cut after the tirbt year
to a small extent. It is good to nndch the bed ftummor niicl winter. Scc<l
stalks must be kejit carefully cut away as fast as they appear, and the bed
must 1)0 licldy manured every fall.

Some of the sorts in highest repute are the Victoria, Linnipu-i, Iloyal Al-
bert, Scarlet Xonpareil, and ^lammoth. The largest sort is known as Ga-
boon's Seedling. It is better esteemed for wine-making than eating. Fif-
teen hundred gallons an aero liavc been made from this sort, grown njx>n
well-drained, rich, loamy laml in Wisconsin. The stalks are cut in lengths of
two or three inches, and ground and pressed in a cider-mill, one hundred
pounds of stalks yielding ten gallons of juice, which is mixed with an eipial
quantity of water, and about three and a half pounds of rctine<l sugar to
each gallon of the mixture. This, if treated like other small fruit wines,
gives a palatable beverage, salable, and very profitalde to the grower and
manufacturer.

5&2. Savory and Mrdiriiial Cardm Plants.— There is a variety of plants
which every farmer's family should grow in the garden, which are u.-, fid in
the kitchen, nursery, or sick chamber, a few of which wo will name.

Jluarliinmd. — This jilant ( .1/'</t(/^'|"«;« vul*jart)'\A called hoar on a>-count
of the white, downy growth upon the leaves and branches, which rc.semble«
hoar frost. The plant is in high repute as a remedy for colds and ccyighs.
It is not a native of America, but was intnxluced by the fin.t settlers as a
valuable medicinal plant, and from the garden it has spread to the rowl-
eide and fields in every favorable location, as it propagates readily from

the seed.

A "ood many other medicinal plants were introduced in the snmo way a*
hoarlfound by the New England inlgrims. Among them we may name
lavenihr, from which sjiirits of lavemler ami oil of spike are mwle, although
another plant (Z. splcn) gives the name. I'omt'nj is another of llio old-timo
medicines that our ancestors made nso of in eases of inllaniod throat and ii -
testines, and for etnollient poultices ami salves.

rqipermint and SjH-urmint are pretty well known and generally wtocmcd.
One, if not both, come from Euroi>e, and have been largely cullivati-.! in this
countrv for the oil which, when diluted, or "cut" with alcohol, forming

J

idi

THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS.

[Chap. V.

essence of peppermint, is esteenacd as a remedy for flatulence. Until the dis-
tillers of peppermint took to cheating by mixing oil of turpentine with their
prodncl, -which spoiled the trade, the growing of peppermint was a good
business in some of the New England States ; but since it has been so much
injured by fraud, it is not worth while for farmers to engage in its iield
culture at the present price of the oil, though it should be grown in gardens
for family use.

As a crop, this plant can be grown upon any moist, rich soil ; that which
will produce good corn will grow peppermint. The land should be plowed
deep, and it will be found advantageous to use the subsoil lifter, and the
crop must l>e cultivated while the plants are small to keep the weeds down,
and therefore should be planted in rows eighteen inches apart. Spring is
the best time to set out a new plantation by offshoots or subdivision of old
roots. The yield will be small the first year, and upon some land, after two
or three years, it gets so full of grass as to render it necessary to turn the
whole sod over and let the mint grow up again, which it will do, and the
process of turning under enriches the land. The mint is cut for distillation
when in blossom, and we think yields from fifteen to twenty pounds of oil
per acre.

Wormwood is another imported plant, and is a very hardy perennial.
Its leaves, bruised and wet with vinegar, are esteemed a valuable applica-
tion to sprains and bruises, and its bitter properties used to be esteemed as
a tonic.

Balm, Saffron, Hyssop^ Lavender, Fennel, Bene, and Moseviary are all use-
ful medicinal herbs to cultivate in gardens, and the following are grown
for various uses in cookery : Anise, Sweet Basil, Carraway, Coriander, Dill,
Fennel, Sweet Marjoram, Summer Savory, Thyme, and Sa^e. The last is
considered almost a necessity in some families, and is grown upon perennial
roots. It is better, we think, to plant seed every year, and not keep the roots
over two years. All of the above-named herbs are grown by gardeners near
cities to sell in market.

Parsley is another agreeable, savory herb, much used as a garnish of
meats on the table and seasoning of soups. It is easily grown in good gar-
den mold. It is sometimes planted as a fringe for beds or walks in the
garden. It is grown in some places for the roots, which are like small
carrots, to feed to cattle. An ounce of seed is enough for a row two hun-
dred feet long.

Peippers should always be gi'own in sufficient quantity for seasoning all
soups and stews, as such is far healthier than pepper that we import.

The Long Cayenne is a very pungent sort, and grows up dwarf-stalks.
The Cherry pepper is also a good dwarf sort. For pods to pickle green,
grow the squash pepper, which has a tomato-shaped pod, rather mild, and
very productive. The Sweet Mountain grows in a similar form, but much
larger. The Sweet Spanish is the mildest of all for pickling or to eat green
as a salad.

Sec. 30.]

GARDEN CULINARY VEGET.VBLES.

405

Peppers sliould be sown early in light, warm soil in a ecedbcd, aiiJ tran»-
pliiiited and iiiainircd with giuino water or hen-dung in solution.

563. Jciiisalem Artichokes.— This plant, tbo JldiatUhus tubero»u«, slioald
have a small corner in every garden, or sonicwhore convenient about the
farmery, as it affords very agreealde food early in the spring, when sonjc-
thing i,s longed for fresh from the earth. It is one of the best antiscorbutics
known. It also affords a great crop of good pig feed. One uiau in Ohio
estimates the yield at the rate of 1,7U0 bushels an acre. "\\'o recon>na-n<l
this plant as altogether preferable for cultivation over the Chineso yam,
Dioscorea lutaias, about which so much has been written and said. All
that is necessary to bo known about that plant we give iu the ne.xt par-
agraph.

504. The Chinese ram. — This new esculent has certainly been tested long
enough in this country to determine its true value for cultivation. That it
is palatable and nutritious, when j)roperly cooked, no one doubts. That it
would ever bo adopted as a substitute for the common potato (Solnnurn
tuberosum), or of the sweet potato {Convolvulus latataa), among those who
grow those roots as a sale crop, we have never believed, but have hoped that
it might prove a valuable addition to our family of food-i>roducing plants;
but as yet we have not the evidence that this will be the case.

The London Gardeners' Chronicle of September, 1S58, says of the Clii-
nese yam {Dioscorea batatas) that —

" Many excellent results were obtained last year in various parta of tlio
country, anil gardeners begin to understand the nature of this sti
duction, which, although ])rovideil for the food of man, naturally
the ground in such a way as to make it impossible for him to pull it up. it
is now, too, agreed that the quaUty of the root, when i)roiKTly cooked, U
excellent.

" When first introduced to Europe by the French, this esculent wn« re-
garded as a mere curiosity, and maltreated accordingly; but eventually
such information concerning it was obtained from M. de Montiguy, Krcm-h
consul at Shanghae, as led to its receiving the attcutiou due to a root which
might some day be found good to eat.

"The herbage of the Chinese yam is singularly like tliat of Tamu4 com-
munis, the common black bryony of this country, consisting of long, wi-ak,
angular, wiry, annual stems, covered witli heart-shaped thining leavi*. It
ordinarily begins to jnisli iU roots as soon as the ground tcD>l>cnHun<
rises to about 50 degrees, which, near L)iulon, c<.rn.,-]M.n.l» with t'
ning of May. Shortly afterward tho shooU api>ear an.l mhjh spi
the°surfuce,' not, however, with much vigor at first, nor, indeed, Ull Uic
month of August. The j-lant i.s evidently occuph.l f.-r somo wivk« m
making these true roots and preparing for tho singular dc\il..i.menl of that
false root, which is the yam itself— tho part to bo eaten. When U.e root*
and stems have attained tho necessary vigor, which wt-m* to bo when the
ground has become heated up to Gy degrees, or thereabout*, m Augu.t, thero

496 THE GARDEN AND ITS FKTJITS. [Chap. V.

appears among the roots a soft, fleshy horn, which directs itself perpendicu-
larly downward, and growing with considerable rapidity, soon becomes a
club-shaped body, the small end of which is near the surface of the ground.
Tliis manner of growth is exactly like that of the arrow-root plant {Marantu
arundhiacea), and continues until the end of October, when the yam is
completed, and under proper treatment will have attained the length of from
15 to 24 inches, weighing about one pound. In Franco, specimens have
been dug up weighing two and a half pounds, and measuring a yard in
length. In its perfect state it resembles a very long trumpet gourd or a
large parsnep, with the crown downward. The tail, which forms one third
of the length, is cut off and divided into inch lengths for propagation ; the
thicker part is eaten. In the course of its downward growth, the power of
development is so great that the thick end will force its way into hard clay,
and even bury stones or fragments of jjottery in its substance if its progress
is sufficiently ojiposed. All obstacles ought to be carefully removed.

The best results in the cultivation of this yam have been obtained where
tlio temperature was highest, and the first object of the gardener should be to
obtain all the heat the sun can give him in soil three feet deep.

The plant should be grown in ridges, made to run east and west, and rise
eighteen inches above the level, in earth trenched three feet deep. The yam
will not be worth growing in poor or worn-out land, nor among stones.

There is no doubt of one beneficial result from the attempt to cultivate
this root, if the above directions are complied with. If it does not jiroduce
a profitable crop of yams, it M'ill fit the ground most admirably for any other
crop ; and any man who has ever planted, grown, and gathered them, and
afterward planted any other crop upon the same ground, must be convinced
of the advantage of deep cultivation, since the yams can not be extracted
without digging two or three feet deep, which, even without manure, is a
most excellent preparation for beets, carrots, parsneps, or anytiiing else ever
grown upon the farm, orchards included.

.565. Sweet Potatoes. — The first step in the cultivation of sweet potatoes is
to know how to sprout them, as they are grown from sets, not from tubers
planted in the hill. J. W. Tenbrook, of Rockville, Ind., published the fol-
lowing directions, which we copy and apjjrove.

" Arrangements should be made early in the winter to have frames and
covers made and seed potatoes, manure, and all necessary material for the
hot-beds ready in due time.

" The potatoes should be kept in a warm, dry i-oom, until they are placed
in the hot-bed, which must be warm, as they will not bear a lower tempera-
ture than 40 degrees without injury.

" The location of the beds should be near a street or public road, on dry
ground, with a southern inclination, and convenient to pond or branch
water.

" The best material for a hot-bed is fresh horse-stable manure that has not
been rotted ; and if mixed with one fourth to one half its bulk of either

bec. so.] garden culinary vegetables. 497

sawdust, fresh leaves, tan-bark, or straw, the lieat would bo iiioru mild and
durable, and less liable to scald the )><)tatocs.

"About the iirst or second week of April, in tliis latitude, haul tho
materials for the bed, and mix them together in a ridge wiiero tlio In-d u to
be made, and as soon as it is hot, shake it thoroughly, mixing the cold and
hot, wet and dry portions together, forming a bed on the toj) of the ground,
running cast and west, which, when settled witli the fork — not trampled —
should be fourteen inches high, more or less, as tliere is n greater or less pro-
portion of manure used, and six inches wider ou all sides than the frame to
be placed over it.

"Ilot-bed frames should bo made of two-inch oak plank, framed togetlur
at the ends with keys, so as to be easily taken apart and btored when not in u-c.
They sliould not be over twenty feet in length, nor exceed four in width. Tho
front, or south side, should be eight inches high; tho north, from eight to
twent}-, according to the slope of the gmund on which the bed stands, as tho
top of the frame should have a pitch of eight to twelve inches to receive t!i
heat of the sun, and to shed off the rain freely. Temporary beds are maiic
by setting slabs or plank on edge, and filling in the manure; but such
beds are ditHctilt to cover, and if used, the potatoes should not bo laid withiu
six inches of the sides. [Sec 598.]

'• Cover the boda five inches deep with tho mellow earth, on which set !!■•
frames and proceed to lay the potatoes two inches apart, with tho t<ip end
of tiio potato toward the planks, and inurethem to the open air. (Jlass-
covered hot-beds cause tho plants to spring up tender and weak, and such
plants do not grow, when set out in the hill, like those raised in oj.en licd*.

"The best covers arc made of strong oiled muslin, tacked on lath, so that
they can be rolled up conveniently. These covers will admit the light, shed
ofi" the rain, and bo cheaper in the end than other covering, and sufKciently
warm except in extremely cold weather, wlien straw or some warm covering
should be thrown over them. Trampled straw, or maU made of ryo Btruw,
answer in the absence of better covering.

"The beds sliould be watered in the evening with a •uitablo watcring-jwj,
to keep the earth in a good growing condition. If spring or well water ii
used, it should stand in the sun or be warmed before using. AlU-r the plauu
are up, they should, if the weather i^ warm, be kept tolerably moi»f, to en-
courage the growth of good strung ro .ts, and light, wann showcn* w..uld Ih»
better than watering, but cold and heavy rains must be guarded a^'iun-t, a*
they would 6o;ik into the beds and ruin them.

"Ditches should be formed around the beds, and tho earth thrown up to
keep the water from running under and chilling them.

•• When the plants arc three inches high, and well rooted, they aro n-ad/
to pull which is performe.1 bv taking h..ld of tho plant* with the thumb
and forefinger of one hami, while the potato is held tirmly m it- place w.th
the other. Careless drawing, by inexperienced iH..r.onN IrciucnUy d«ln.y»
half tho prcfita of their bods.

498

THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS.

[Chap. V.

" Wlien plants are to be sent a distance, they should be set in shallow
boxes, with their roots in wet earth or moss, but they must not be packed in
wet weather, nor have their leaves wet, or they will rot immediately.
Plants may be taken ofl" the beds and preserved in a cave or cellar for a
week or more, with their roots packed in damp moss or earth, if not packed
too close.

" If by bedding too early, or crowding, the plants should grow long and
slender, they niay be cut down to two or three inches in length ; but this
should be avoided by giving plenty of room and air, and by working the
earth in among the roots with the fingers as it is lifted up by the plants, and
settling it by watering."

Tlie best ground to grow a crop of sweet potatoes upon is sand, enriched
with very well-rotted manure, leaf-mold, fine compost, guano, or superphos-
phate. Tlie hills are rounded up like mounds, a foot or more high. All
who live upon sandy land, south of latitude 41 degrees, can grow a few
sweet potatoes in the garden, if not as a field crop. They are best preserved
by packing in cut straw, in barrels, set in a stove-heated room, where the
thermometer never will sink below 40 degrees, and rarely rise above 60 de-
grees. See 438.

5G6. Hot Water for Seeds> — ^There are many seeds which may be greatly
quickened in their vegetating powers by the use of hot water. Onion-seed,
for instance, may be made to sprout upon the instant by pouring boiling
water upon it. You need not fear killing it. Put some in a saucer, and
pour on water from a tea-kettle, and after a half minute pour it off again,
and you may see the sprouts shooting out the next minute ; and if then
planted, while hot and moist, in pulverulent earth, closely packed upon
them, you will get theiu forward two or three weeks earlier. The same ef-
fect will be produced upon all black, hard-shelled seed, such as onion,
asparagus, sunflower, water-melon, apple, and many others. Locust-seed
should be thoroughly scalded in boiling-hot lye, or several repetitions of hot
water.

567. Cranberries in the Garden> — Cranberries have been so long looked
upon as wild plants of swamps, that it is difficult for people to realize that
they can be grown in gardens as well as strawberries, which are naturally a
wild field growth.

Cranberries do naturally grow in swamps, but they may be made to grow
artificially in good loamy garden soil, or that which is naturally a little
mucky, such as is the most suitable for potatoes, if deeply' worked. The
best soil, however, for cranberries, is almost pure sand, with water naturally
standing, or percolating through it, within less than two feet of the surface.
A bed occupying one rod and two fifths, in the garden of Charles B. Phelps,
Colebrook, Conn., planted in June, 1857, yielded three bushels in 1860.
The vines were taken from a natural bed, and set in small tufts, one foot
apart in the rows, which were two feet apart, and these were kept clear of
weeds until the whole ground became matted with vines. The bed then

Sec. 80.] GARDEN CULINARY VEGETABLES. 499

will continue longer in bearing than any bed of etrawbeiries, witliout en-
riching the soil.

The cranberry is a semi-aquatic slender evergreen, content to occupv that
part of a farm which is too low and too wet to bo used for any other pur-
pose, and is satisfied to feed on water, and the slightly alluvial di-|Hx.it<i
aflbrded by the adjacent highlands, and does not, like some overgrown
annual plants, make heavy drafts upon the soil.

For Held culture of cranlierries, all that we have said here will be almo«t
equally applicable, but tlie 6ul)jcct is treated more at largo in No. 7w.

5C8. Kumbor of Trees, Plants, or Rows to an Acre.— The following Ublca
will aid any one in determining liuw many trees or plants he can grow
upon one acre, which contains 43,5C0 superficial feet :

No. of Tect apart. Ko. of rianti. .Ho. at reel *p«rt * So. of PUbu.

1 4:{.&G0

IJ 19,300

2 10,890

2i G.869

8' 4,840

4 2,7a

5 1.742

C 1,210

9 Mi

12 M2

15 1«

18 U4

21 98

24 76

27 M

80 48

The following table shows the number of rows, of different widths, in a
square acre, and number of plants an acre contains :

No. of feet apart. No. of rows. . PlanU to a row ,

12ln. uparL 1& In. at*art. lb In. apart. }4 iti. ajiart.

2 10-5 2;!,0.'>0 17,t<4U 14,700 II (rji

21 85 17,8..0 14.>0 11900 ».92i

3 .... 70 14,700 11,7150 9,800 T.SSO

8J 60 12,r,00 10.080 8,400 e.MO

4" 62 10.920 8.7.'3C 7.280 6.4«0

41 4i; O.fiCO 7.728 0,440 AJM

6 ... 42 8.820 7,0.16 6,880 4.410

51 88 7,980 0,884 6.820 8.W0

C 35 7..1.'>0 6.880 4.900 «,«7*

7 30 6.800 6.040 4.S0O..J 1.1(0

8 •. 26 5,4<;0 4,368.. 8.640 t,7B0

9 23 4.8.10 8.864 8.220 1416

10 21 4,410 8,528 2,940 J,J06

It is a common practice to measure an aero thirteen rods each way ; that
gives an excess of nine rods. At the South, it U common to measure scvcnly
yards each way for an acre, which is an excess of 540 yanls. In calculating
the number of plants per acre, set four feet ai)art— for instance, cabbag».«»—
it is common to Siiy ten thousand per acre. Tiiis allows nearly nine hundred
missing plants. In garden work lliese rules will always l>e useful.

500

THE GARDEIf AND ITS FRUITS.

[CnAP. V.

SECTION XXXI.-THE FLOWER-GARDEN-VARIETIES AND CULTIVA-
TION OF FLOWERS.

-in ST, let us talk a little about the moral
influence of flower culture. We are just as
well satisfied of the beneficial moral cflfects of
flower cultivation, as we are that the efiects of their
beauty upon the senses of nearly all beholders is
pleasing. A mother who loves flowers is apt to infuse
the same feeling into her children. A love of flowers is
a love of the beautiful ; a love of the beautiful Is a love
of the good ; and so step by step the child walks in the
pleasant paths of love, till its mind becomes thoroughly
imbued with all the sentiments of moral goodness. There
is no spot on the farm that grows such a " paying crop"
as the little parterre near the dwelling, devoted to the
cultivation of flowers. If It does not pay In golden coin,
it does in all that makes life worth staying here for. What golden hours
of joy are spent by the family in the flower-garden ! What blessed influ-
ences such hours have upon the character of chlldr£n ! If you doubt the
moral influence of flowers, look about you, and study the character of those
who cultivate them in contrast with those who do not. We have long since
SL'ttled the question of the beneficial influences of flowers upon all families,
r.ud therefore devote a little space to give, upon this subject, some very use-
ful information.

569. Suitable Soil for a Flower-Garden. — Upon the subject of soil, we
copy from the catalogue of Benjamin Jv. Bliss, of Springfield, Mass., one of
the most successful cultivators and sellers of flower-seeds In the United
States, the following sensible observations :

"The soil best adapted to flowering-plants generally Is a light friable
loam, containing a moderate amount of vegetable matter, and sufiicicnt
sand to render it porous; but as it rarely happens that the amateur has
much choice of soil, it is fortunate that most of them will succeed in any
liiit such as Is of an extremely dry, sandy, or calcareous nature, or of a stilf,
heavy, retentive character. In the former, the plants are sure to be starved,
and in the latter, if they ever fairly take root, there Is generally an undue
development of the foliage at the expense of the flowers. In soils of this
description much may be done by thoroughly breaking iip the superficial
crust, or, as it is technically termed, ' trenching' it at least one spade deep,
digging in sharp sand or road-scrapings, and if the operation be performed
in autumn, so that the loosened soil Is thoroughly exposed during the winter
to the disintegrating influences of frost and other atmospheric agencies, the
advantage will be greatly increased.

Seo. 31.]

THE FLOWER-GARnES.

501

" In soil of an opposite cliaractcr, ?'. <•., sandj or calcareous, tlic remedv
will obviously consist in the addition of loam, in conjunction with dccari'd
leaves or old rotten manure ; or where expense is no object, tlic surface mar
be entirely removed to the depth of eijrht or ten inches, and its place sui>-
plied with the best loamy compost at hand. The use of strong crude manure
of an animal nature sliould be avoided. In ordinarily good soil an annual
light dressing of leaf-mold, decayed turf, or thoroughly rotten nmnnre, in
quantities jiroportioiicd to the re<iuirements «{ the soil, dug to the depth of
a few inches, will be all that is requisite. These should be applied in s]iring,
only just previous to sowing the seeds, or much of the benefit resulting from
tlicir application will be lost, though a single digging may be advuntngi-<jiis!v
given in autumn. In preparing tiie beds, care must be taken that they are
60 arranged that the ground may bo a little elevated in the middle, that tho
water may run off and the jdants show to a better advantage.

" It is particularly re(iuisite that seeds should not be hovm too deep,
whence arises most of the failures of inexperienced gardeners. Tlic depth
at which seeds are sown will vary with their size ; large sei'd*, such as thoto
of the Lupins, Sweet Pea, or Marvel of Peru, may be three quarters of an
inch deep; other varieties from an eighth to a half-inch deep, according to
the size or nature of the seed. Some that are very small require to Ihj sown
on the actual surface, a sligiit pressure being then sufficient to imbed them to
a proper depth. For the majority of the seeds a very thin covering sutlices ;
if sowed too deep, they are longer in germinating, and the small ones are
liable to decay. It sometimes insures a more even distriliution of very hniall
seeds, such as those of Campanula, Digitalis, etc., if tluy are intimately
mixed before sowing with a little fine, dry soil, the mixture U-ing sown in
the same way as the seeds. "Woolly seeds, which adhere to each other, like
the Globe Amaranthus, etc., should be rubbed with a little fine sand, which
will generally sej-arate thorn. In all cases, the more thinly the see^ls aro
strewn the better; when too thickly sown, tho seedlings become elon-
gated and sickly, an evil which no subsequent thinning out will entirely

remedy.

"If the soil be dry and the weather sunny, it will \>c necessary to water
the seeds slightly from a very fine r..^e watering-l>ot. Rain-water in ynk-r-
able. In the absence of rain, this application must be re|Mfated every day
or two, for it is important to observe that, when onco tho »*-i-»l» Imve bej;un
to swell, thev are i.eculiarlv susceptible to injury from drouth, and will »|kkhI-
ily perish unless the soil be maintained in a moist condition; to a neglect
of this important precaution, many failures arc solely altribut.il.le. On tho
other hand, an excess of moisture previous to germination will often rau»o
the seed to decav, especially in cold seasons; early in tho .pnng, Ihercforo,
the water-pot must bo used with judgn.ent, and never lato in tho day. wbco

frosts threaten." . i « i «., 1

AVe have found the practice of warming water in tho .un or by nnvb«l ,
very much preferablo to tho use of cold water. As it rv^imrv. iho very fio«*t

502

THE GARDEN AND ITS FRIHTS.

[Chap. V.

preparation of soil, we recommend all who sow the most delicate flower-
seeds to sift the earth throiiirh a sieve fine enough for corn-meal.

570. How to Make a FIowcr-Bed. — The following extract, from a paper
read before the Farmers' Chib, tells how the author made a flower-bed upon
a very hard, rough spot .

" I do not expect to tell a professed gardener, nor an amateur who already
knows how, anything new ; but I wish to tell some who do not know, how
to make a flower-bed. At least I will toll how I make one, and leave it to
others to follow suit or not, just as they can afford. I received, May 10th, a
package of choice flower-seeds, and a dozen bulbs of Gladiolus. As the old
flower-beds had already been appropriated, new ones must be made; and as
there is always a right place relative to the house and other things, the right
place in the present instance fell in a very bad place — on a spot of sod just
beneath the window that gives light to my writing-desk and book-case.
Here I marked out the forms of my beds in shapes to suit the ground, and
not like any diagram laid down in the books. I first took out a spading, as
deep as I could drive the spading-fork, breaking up the turf and the remains
of a mortar-bed left last autumn by the masons. This first spading and the
loose earth left I threw one side, and the next spade-deep the other side.
Then I took out another spade-deep and carted it away, and all the stones, and
that not a few, and then broke up another course still deeper, and then threw
back the second spading, and then the first, forking it all over loose and
mellow. Xext I put in a heavy charge of rich manure, and over that
garden-mold and leaf-mold, mixing all up and raking fine. Next I put a
coat of sand, and then rich garden-mold, old rotted sods, and leaf-mold,
mixed and sifted. Now the bed was ready for the seeds, and after being
marked off to suit the fancy of her who does the planting, they were covered
by sifting earth over them, and watered. It is true this was a laborious job,
but once done, it is done forever. Here is a bed of earth, rich and mellow
as an ash-heap, more than thirty inches deep, with a subsoil of coarse sand,
gravel, and decayed granite rock, tliat gives good drainage. It will require
only an annual dressing of compost, and a light forking and raking, to keep
it in order to produce the most lovely ornament that ever added beauty to a
farm-house — a beautiful bed of flowers. Early this spring — almost as soon
as the snow was away — there came, first the little crocuses, and these were
followed by the hyacinths, and tulips, and dielytra spectabilis — beauty
upon beauty, enough to pay richly for all the labor of making a flower-
bed.

" "What man with a head a whit better than a pumpkin or a cabbage-head
would devote his whole soul to food vegetables, and refuse his family the
gratification and cheap happiness of a flower-bed ?

" "What woman with a soul above soft-soap and scrubbing-brushes, that
would live in a country home and not insist upon 'woman's right' to have
a flower-bed — ah ! to have her house surrounded with flowers, blooming from
spring till snow comes again ?"

Seo. 31.] THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 503

571. Cultivation of Hardy Annuals.— IlarJy annuals arc those plants tliat

flower and ripen tlieir fruits aiid perisli in one season, hut many of tlu-in
may Tic sown in autinnn to flower early tlio next year. Hardy annuiilsi
f;iow without artifieial heat, and come to perfection in the open grounds;
hut what arc known as half hardy plants need ])U5hinfT a little, except in
very favorable localities. Tender and small Beeded varieties sometimeti fail,
not on account of the had growinjj jiroperties of the seeds, but solely from
bad uianagcment. Delicate seeds, like the Calceolaria, or Cliinese primrose,
must not be sown in the open ground. One ])arty complained tiiat honio
fine 6ecds failed to grow which were sown from one to two inches deep-
literally buried. The most inexperienced in gardening matters can sow sweet
peas, hut it requires a practiced hand to look after such delicate seeds aa
Calceolaria, Cineraria, Fuchsia, and such like.

Many persons think that when they make a hole in the soil with n trowel,
and throw in such small seed as Mignonette, that it should bo sure to grow ;
and if it docs not, they lay the blame U])on the seed, when in nine cases out
of ten tlie fault is in sowing too deep. The proper depth for planting ll.wcr
seeds is hut little more than their diameter, thongli Lupino and Sweet IVus
may be jilantcd one inch deep ; but such small soinU as Portulaca and Mi.j-
nonettc require to be sown almost upon the surface of the soil. Some wt-d
are difi^icult to germinate. Cypress seed require to bo soaked in warm wa-
ter about one hour. The seeds of the Globe Amaranthu* are covend with
a thick woolly substance, which greath' retards germination, and if planted
without soaking, few, if any, will come up. 'Hie most convenient mcilwxl
of sowing annuals is to take a round-pointed stick, with which draw a circle
six or eight inches in diameter, and from an eighth of an inch to an inch
deep, according to the size of the seed to be sown, jdacing a label with the
name in the center. Tiio labels ought to be live or six inches long, paint,-<l
white, and marked with a lead pencil before the paint gets dry ; in tlii« war
the name will last a long time. Larkspurs, and many of the lianly nmuials
when sown late in autumn, lie dormant all winter, thereby making mu.li
stronger jilants, and flowering earlier than tlu>so sown in spring. Tl.o
dwarf Rocket Larkspurs, when sown on tho edges of the Uirdcrs, prwscnt a
beautiful sight with their various colors ; tho sectl rcpiirea to be sown in
October, and protected i.y a sliglit covering of straw during winter, rhlox
Prummondii are of all shades and colors; they delight in a mo>,t and
shaded situation ; seed sown one eighth of an inch deep m May, bU-.u. from

June until October. ,. , . i i.

572 Mst of Cholff Annnals.-Tl.o following choice li.t of hardy annuaU

was made by Thomas Cavanach, a practical. M-uMhle Horicu tnn.t .n Bnjok.

lyn, N. Y. It is worthy of tho attenUoa of all who doa.rv to bcaul.fy ihcr

"' W''V. /-.>M, or nine I^. (7ro.v.-Sc.l sown in Mar. bloonu
in July ; likes a rich soil and moist situation ; su.tab e for v^-;*-

Ahralia U,nbeUaia.-\ very pretty annual, with long tradmg tom^

501 THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS. [Chap. V.

bearing beautiful lilac and Avliite flowers ; very fragrant suitable for vases ;
seed may be sown early in April, flowering in June.

Aster Chincnsis, or China Aster. — This beautiful annual comprises over
twenty-five different varieties. Truffaiit's, for general cultivation, is tlie best,
on aecoiint of the beauty of its flowers and variety of their colors ; seeds
sown in the ojien ground in May, in rich soil. All single or semi-double
flowers should be pulled up and thrown away.

C'alliojjsis, or Coreopsis. — This is a very showy annual — fourteen different
varieties ; flowers, bright yellow, mottled with a rich velvety crimson,
highl}' ornamental ; seed may be sown in October or early in Ajsril ; easily
transplanted.

Balsam, or Lady's Slipper. — A well-known tender annual. The ca-
melia-flowered contains twelve varieties, of all shades and colors, variously
striped and mottled. Seed sown in the open ground in the hitter part of
May. To have them early, seed should be sown in pots in the house in
April, and transplanted to the garden when four inches high. Plant singly,
pulling up all semi-double or single flowers.

Cuphea Platy centra. — A very pretty annual or green-house perennial,
with scarlet and purple flowers, suitable for vases; flowering all summer,
and in winter, if taken up in autumn and kept in the house ; sown in pots
in the liouse in April. Plants may be procured from any florist for a trifle.

Cypress Vine. — A splendid running vine, delicate foliage, bright crimson
flowers, of a star shape ; Alba, pure white. Seed sown in the latter part
of May ; likes a rich soil. A very ornamental pyramid may be made by
setting a straight pole in the ground six or eight feet high, surrounded by a
hoop three or four feet in diameter, fastened to the ground with three pegs ;
run strings from the top of the pole to the lioop. Sow the seed outside of
the hoop. It may also be trained over arches or vases.

Lathyrus Odoratus, or Sweet Pea. — One of the prettiest and most fragrant
of the popular annuals which ornament the flower-garden. The sweet pea
grows four or five feet high in rich soil. The plants should be tied to a stake
or an old tree. Sow the seed in April ; flowers in July.

Ageratum Mexicanum. — A half hardy annual, with light blue flowers.
Seed sown in May ; flowers in July, blooming profusely until killed by the
frost.

Alyssum Maritimum, or Sweet Alyssum. — This is a hardy annual, growing
one foot high; flowers white; very fragrant. Seed may be sown in autumn
or early in spring.

Cacalia, or Scarlet Tassel Flower. — A. very pretty annual, with scarlet
and orange tassel-shaped flowers. Seed sown first of May ; blooms from
July until October.

Fschscholtzia California, or California Gold Flower. — Flowers bright
yellow, very showy. This, with slight protection during winter, will flower
the second season ; blooms from June until October.

Clarkia Elegans. — A hardy annual, very showy. Seed sown in Septem-

Seo. 31.^ THE FLOWER-OARDEK. 505

1

ber flowers much better than when sown in spring. For spring sowing,
plant early in April, in poor soil.

IliraliHn Jalapa — commonly called Fonro'clock, from its liabit of
opening its flowers about that time in the afternoon. MirabilU is a I-atin
word for wonderful. Tlie roots of this plant, when dried, fonn the principal
constituent of the jalap of druggists. It is generally considered an annual ;
it has a largo tuberous root which, if taken up in (October, and stored in a
dry cellar, will flower the second season. Seed sown in April ; flowers
in June.

Scahiosa, or Ifoinminy Bride. — A variety of colors, from a jet black to a
deep lilac. Seed sown in May; blooms in the latter part of June.

Zinnia Eleyans. — One of the most showy annuals in cultivation ; flowers,
brilliant scarlet, white, orange, and light purple. The new doulilc-flfnveri'<l
Zinniai'orms a beautiful addition to this class of annual flowers. The flower*
resemble the double French marigold ; they will bear transplantiug. Seed
sown in May ; blooms in July.

Ciintonia EU'gans. — A beautiful, tender annual, covered with dcop-bluo
flowers ; grows about six inches high. Seed sown in May, in light, rich soil ;
blooms in July and August.

Ovinjj/tnna Globosa, or Globe AmaranthuK. — Five diflFercnt colors; tho
seeds arc rather difficult to vegetate; they require to bo soaked in wann
water. Tlie flowers, if gathered and kept in a dry place, will retain their
color for several years. Seed sown in ilay.

Mignonette is one of the sweetest of the annuals. Thousands of pots of it
are sold annually in the markets of Paris and London. It has l>ccn found
growing upon the walls of ruins near Pari^, springing from every crcvico
where the seed could germinate, and scenting tlie air with its fragrance.
Tlie mignonette is of very easy culture ; in rich soil it grows luxuriantly, but
with poor flowers, that have little or no fragrance ; but in poor soil tho flow-
ers will bo large and very fragrant. When once the seeds are planted, it
will retain possession of the soil, springing up year after year. Sci.I .-...wn
in May almost upon the surface of the soil.

Among the curious aimuals is the Mimosa, or Fyn»itivf Plant. Seed
sown in the open ground in May, in rich soil. Tl»is singular plant, at Ui«
slightest touch, closes its leaves.

" Weak with nice iicnuc tli'- clia»t.' inimnu •tan'U,
Krum encli rurfc touch wUbilraw* licr l.-i>Jfr li««d»."

MeseinlryantJumum, or Ice Plant.— T\\\i curious plant has thick leave-*.
which have the api>carnncc of being covered with ice; very ornamoutal for
vases. Seed sown in Mav.

Loasa Acanthifolia.—A running vine, covered with curious yellow flow-
crs; the stem an<l leaves are cvercl with hairs or Mnall l.ri»tle*, wluch,
upon being touched, leave u stinging sc-nsatloii biniilar to uelllcfc S«od

sown in May. .

Coix iMc/tryma, or Job's Tairt.—X kind of on.aiucDtal graw. ll u caUoi}

506 THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS. [Chap. V.

Job's tears on account of its shining, pearly seed, which, by a considerable
stretch of the imagination, may be likened to a falling tear. Seed sown in
May half an inch deep.

The Avena, or Animated Oat, is a curiosity. "When the seeds have fallen
off, their strong beard is so sensitive to tlie various changes of the atmo-
sphere, that they are continually in motion, like some insect crawling on the
ground. Seed sown in April.

Anagallis., or Pimpernel. — A dwarf-trailing plant, with blue and pink
flowers. The anagallis has been termed tlie Poor Man's Barometer. Kot
the pimpernel alone closes its flowers when exposed to damp air, but many
other plants are equally sensitive. Stellaria Media, or Chickweed, and many
others, shut their flowers upon the approach of rain.

Another gardener gives the following list as a choice selection for a small
garden :

Ahjssum Maritiimtm — Sweet Alyssum. — A very desirable dwarf annual,
with small, white, honey-scented flowers in great profusion, blooms for a
long time.

Asters. — Showy, hardy annuals. The fine German and French asters aro
certainly among the finest flowers wo have.

Balsams. — The camelia-flowered balsams are most beautiful, and very
desirable.

Cucalia, or Tassel Flower.

Calliopsis, or Coreopsis. — Very showy and rich.

Candytuft. — A large quantity should be grown of this plant for bouqitats.

Clarlcia.

Eschscholtzia. — Very showy and handsome.

Everlasting Flower. — Fine for winter bouquets.

Four-o' clocks. — A well-known plant, desirable in large gardens.

Glohe Amaranthus. — Excellent for winter bouquets.

Jacohea, or Senecio. — Very pretty.

Marigold. — The dwarf varieties are pretty.

Mignonette. — Sow plenty of this for bouquets,

Nasturtiums. — The dwarf varieties much resemble Tom Thumb gera-
niums, and are very desirable.

JVemophila, or Love Grove. — Plants with very small but pretty flowers.
Dwarf.

Petunias. — Among the very best plants ; of easy culture, and flowering
profusely tlie whole season.

Phlox Drummondii. — The very best annual ; of long duration in bloom,
rich in color, excellent for bouquets ; unequaled in all respects, in my esti-
mation.

Poppies. — Very showy, and great variety.
' Portulaca. — One of the best annuals.

Scabiosa, or Mourning Bride. — Showy.

Stocks, — Many annual varieties are cultivated, and are very desirable.

Sweet Sultan. — Quite pretty.

Whitlavia. — A very beautiful blue flowering annual.

Zinnia. — Very showy, free flowering plants.

573. Uardy Flowering Herbaceous Plants. — The following list gives a good

S20. 81.] Tire FLOTTER-GARDEX.

807

assortment of some of tl.o most desirable hardy flowering planU, Bomc of
whicli orrow and bloom in beauty every year witl, almost no care Of
course the list can be -reatly extended, or selections can bo ma.lo from this
and others to suit each tiiste. To many who do not know what to select,
these lists will be useful guides. We will briefly notice some of the most
desirable sorts.

Achillea rtm-mica.—Oi the double-flowering variety, dwarf, continuM in
bloom a long tunc, good for bouquets, flowers small, of a pure white.

./lco?i2<c.— Monkshood, mostly with blue flowers; various liights.

Althca 7?o«co;.— Hollyhock, double varieties, very beautiful, all color* •
six or seven feet high. *

Anemone Japonica.—JnYiaaesc Wind-flower, purplish rcrj flowers, double;

about two feet in hight.

Uaptlfila Austral is. —Y-AsQ Indigo, fine blue flowers ; two to thrc-e ti-ti
high.

CamjMinula. — Bell-flower, many varieties, with white and blue flowers;
various liights, all pretty.

Delp/iiniinn. — Larkspur, one of the best herbaceous plants, with fine blue
or white flowers. D.formosum and tjrandljlorum are the best.

Dictaiinnus Fmxinwlla, or Gas plant.

Dielytra, or Dicentra Spedabilis. — The very finest herbaceous plant.

Funkia, or Day lily, many varieties; all desirable.

Iris, or fleur de lis (^flower de luce).

Lychnis Chalcedonica. — The double variety has splendid scarlet flowers.

Phloxes. — A splendid class of j^lants, all beautiful, without any exception.

Pyreihrum. — Feverfew, double white flowers, very neat and jirctty.

Spirca. — Meadow Sweet, many varieties, all desirable.

Tradescatitia. — Spiderwort, with white, blue, or red flowers, very pretty.
Valerian. — A tall-growing plant, with fragrant white flowers.

Viola Odorata. — Sweet Violet, very fragrant.

Chrysanthemxim. — Much improved of late years, and in several yarioties,
is one of the most desirable of hardy flowering plants, and is very much
loved wherever known. It is one of the very last to flower and cheer us
with its many-headed blossoms for the last three months of the de|>arting
year, when most other plants have gone their way. Then, again, it is one
of the very best window plants. It not only flourishes, but luxuriate* in-
doors, if properly cared for. As floral oruamcnts for the green-houi,o ntnl
conservatory, they arc unsurpassed.

To got early flowers from ehrysanthemnm w^od-plants, you
seed early in April in pots in the house, and transplant, or el-
a very nicely prepared warm bed in May. Uo careful to thin out, to m to
give ample room tor t!n' ]ilaiit-t to branch out.

574. Bulbous FlowrrlDK I'lants.— Tlio earlit>t flowers of tlio garden como
from bulbs planted in autumn. In a weilpreparo*! boti, nicely »hcllenHl
with a coat of leaves, the crocu«c4 begin to bloom almost m toon M llto

508 THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS. [Chap. V.

covering is removed, after the frost is out of the ground. All tender bulbs
and perennials under a coating of leaves will keep sound till spring. It is
necessary to lay brush or something else over the leaves, to hinder their
blowing away by the winds. Leaves make the best kind of covering for all
tender tilings. Frost rarely penetrates through a thick coating of them, as
niaj' be seen during our most severe weather; by removing a bed of leaves
the ground will be found unfrozen.

There is no sight more striking to the eye than the effect produced in early
spring, when delicate snowdrops and the modest, many-colored crocuses
enamel the lawn, or make the garden lovely with their stainless purity, and
with the brilliancy of their colors. Coming, as they do, before the swallow,
tliese firstlings of the season have a special claim to the popular regard.
They are the harbingers of buds and blossoms, of leafy trees and unbound
waters, of sunshine and of singing birds, and when their tender green spears
begin to push themselves through the soil, we know that nature is awaken-
ing from her winter slumbers, and that more genial weather is at hand.
These little pilgrims that come to us with glad tidings, and that put on for
our delight the gayest robes, and silently, yet eloquently, assure us that we
are entering upon a new cycle of soft sunshine, and bland airs, and fragrant
odors, deserve to be more cherished than they usually are by all country-
women. Of all the flowers that bloom, those that come to us earliest are
entitled to receive the most cordial welcome, and it is for this that we appeal
in behalf of the more general culture of bulbous flowers.

We appeal to all farmers' wives and daughters for a more general cultiva-
tion of flower gardens and parterres around the house, because we believe
in their humanizing influences ; in the lessons they teach, and the sympa-
thies to which they appeal. We believe every family who has ground
should cultivate Hyacinths, Tulips, Jonquils, Crocus, Crown Imperials,
Iris, Snowdrops, Polyanthus, Narcissus, Double Narcissus, Lilies, Gladio-
lus, and Dahlias. To these add Peonies, Dielytra {Dicentra) Spectahilis,
and many other hardy herbaceous plants, such as Hollyhocks and the
Phloxes, Yucca jllamcntosa, etc.

Of all the bulbous flowering plants, the gladiolus takes the lead, accord-
ing to our fancy. The varieties of G. gandavensis are numerous, robust,
stately, with beautiful taper leaves of bright green, and long racemes of ex-
quisitely beautiful lilj'-shaped flowers, comprising every variety of shade
of colors, which can be kept up by timely planting from July to October in
the open air ; and then, before hard frosts come, if stalks with undeveloped
buds are cut and set in water in the house, they Avill continue to bloom some
time longer. The bulbs must be taken up for winter, and need about the
same protection as onions.

Several bulbs, hyacinths in particular, may be grown in any room where
water M'ill not freeze, in glasses adapted to the purpose, so that the bulb
rests in the mouth of the glass, and sends its roots down into the water.
Park-colored glasses are preferable to white glass. The water should not

Sec. 31.]

THE FLOWER-GARDEX.

509

be allowed to rise more than to touch tlie bottom of the bulb ; othcnvigo
they will rot. When first put in glasses, they sliould be stored away in a
dark, cool place, till the roots are about an inch lung. If the root* do nut
grow vigorously, give two or three drops of iiartshoru in each frcbli supply
of water, and put in the glass a small lump of charcoal. Tlie water sliould
be changed every fortnight, or three wocks at fartliest; but to do tliis the
])lant must not be taken out, but the glass held iiorizontally, and tlie water
poured off. Soft or rain-water should always bo used. By this mode of
treatment, and not keeping them in too warm or close a place, they will
bloom beautifully. ,

They may also be grown in the house in pots, in the open light and air.
The bottom of the pot should have plenty of broken tiles in it to allow of
perfect drainage, and be frequently, but moderately, supplied witli water.
Do not stand the pots in saucers of water.

575. The Hollyhock is a fine flower to grow in clnmps about a lawn, and
may be made perennial by not allowing the stalks to ripen seeds. As tlary
have been great improvements made in tliese flowers, wc annex the names
that twowLlozen fine sorts arc known by among seedsmen.

570. Select List of Hollyhocks.— 1. Anak (Bircham). — Crimson ; flowers of
a fine form and full.

2. Black Prince (Gibbon). — Flowers large and very double ; black.

3. Brennus (Bircham). — Light crimson ; a fine, showy variety.

4. Charles Baron (Chaterj. — Flowers very largo and full; color pink,
shaded with salmon.

5. Beauttj of Chestnut (Paul).— Flowers of a very fine form ; spike .ong,
and beautifully furnished with flowers of a beautiful bright rosy red; a very

fine varictv-

0. Char/es Turner (Black).— Spike very close ; flowers of fine form, largo,
and of good substance ; color deep crimson ; extra fine.

7. Co/iimiinder-in-Chi,/ (Haron).— Flowers large and showy; dark-rod.

S. Fva (Koake). — Flowers large, 6haj>e very fine ; color peach.

y. A'itij)eror (Roake).— Form quite first-rate ; color a beautiful pink ; ono
of the finest.

10. Felicia (Bircham).— Flowers and spiko of excellent form aud sub-
stance ; color amethyst ; extra. - „ . ,

11. General Bern (Veitch).— Spiko very fine, flowere full size: color

bright rod. ,. . , , » i .i

12. //on. Mrs. Ashley (Roake).— !• lowers mcdium-sizcd, of great deptli,

and very double ; color a delicate peach.

13. Lilac Model (Chater).— Flowers medium-sized, full, and of good sub-

U. Mrs. Foster (Turner).— A noblo spiko ; flowers large, of first-rato form ;

color beautiful light rose. . ., „ ,• i i .

15. Miss Parsons ( I'ai-sons).— Spiko full; flowera medium and cloM,

color ])inki.sh salmon ; fine. i . i i i

l(i. J%n«/;t i/w."/ft (Baron).— Flowers very large; guard petals broad,

but not unite substance enough; very showy.

17. Manjaret Ann O''l«ek).-Si.iko very fine; flower* good form, very
compact ; cplor bright rose.

510 THE GARDEN AND ITS FRITITS. [Chap. V.

18. Model of Perfection (Baron). — Many Letter models at the present
day ; color creamy ■white.

19. Susannah (Veitch). — Flowers medium-sized and moderately smooth ;
color creamy white.

20. Pyramid (Parsons). — Flower medium-sized ; spike close and good ;
color butf.

21. Poupre de Tyre (Bircham). — A noble spike ; flowers large and free ;
color rich dark-purple ; a first-rate variety.

22. Penelope (Bircham). — A very showy and beautiful variety ; color fine
rose.

23. Walden Gem (Chatcr). — Spike very fine; flowers large and of fine
form ; color deep crimson.

24. Minnie Gray (Loring). — Size medium, form good ; color white.

As these have all been produced by planting seeds, and saving none but
the finest flowering plants, we recommend a continuance of the practice by
all who grow hollyhocks.

577. The Verbena is an almost indispensable plant in lawns, it is so pretty
to fill up cut figures in the sward. The name, verbena, is an unmeaning
one, being derived from the Latin herha, which means any low, spreading
plant. This plant has been very long in cultivation, and it M-as used in
ancient times in some of the sacred ceremonies, the altars and priests' heads
being wreathed with verbenas. Celsus speaks of the use of verbenas as a
febrifuge in sickness, but it is doubtful whether it was the same plant known
now by this name. The verbena is indigenous in the country of Buenos
Ayres, and was taken from there to England in 1825, and to this country
ten years later, by Eobert Buist, of Philadelphia. Now it is known every-
where and is everywhere a favorite, as its cultivation is simple, and its low-
creeping habit and pretty flowers will keep it in favor until some new rival
comes to take its place. It flourishes best in sandy, rich loam, in garden-
beds, and blooms from midsummer till late in autumn, and if potted, cou-
tmues in bloom through the winter. Verbenas do not require frequent
watering ; they will grow upon very dry ground, and wet in excess mildews
and injures them. For pots, take half-and-half leaf-mold and good loam,
and add sand enough to give a preponderance of sand in the whole mixture.
As it is naturally a running plant, it must be cultivated in that way, and
not, as we have seen it, with stiff", upright stems. Nothing is more easy
than producing new varieties of colors in verbenas. We have only to grow
seedlings and select the best and cast away the remainder. All colors, ex-
cept light-blue and yellow, have been obtained. The following are the
names of a few of the latest new varieties, with their characteristics an-
nexed :

Giant of Battles. — Flower and truss large, habit good, foliage large ; color
dark-scarlet, with purplish eye ; a new imported variety.

Dred. — Flower medium, habit weak, a good bloomer, but of a dull, pur-
plish, lake color ; pretty for variety.

Admiral Dundas. — Foliage and habit good ; color velvety scarlet ; fine.

Celestial. — A strong, rapidly growing variety, the leaves often two inches

Sec. 31.] THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 511

across; truss large, elongated, forming a fine bead ; color pink, with darker
eye ; desirable for its size and color.

Mrs. Abbott.— llahit and foliage good, truss small; color very dark,
velvety purple, liglit eye; fine.

Eve7iing Star. — Color dark-crimson, with well-defined whiiioh-pink eye ;
growth small; a decided novelty, and a very striking flower.

Ilosij Gem. — A lovely verbena, foliage and llower of medium size; color
rosy lake, with light eye ; extra tine.

For an ordinary purpose, however, somo that have been long in use, that
can be bought for a tenth or a hundredth part of the price of these new
sorts, might give equal satisfaction, for the varieties have been so multiplied
that it is difficult to tell which are tlie favorites.

578. Flowers Grown as a Farm Crop.— Tiierc are many persons in France
Avho grow llowers as an exclusive crop. It is their sole dependence. " The
growing of flowers, for the production of fine essential oils and for medicinal
purposes, is confined mainly to tiie southern portion of the department of
Var, lying on the Mediterranean, adjoining the late Italian, but tiow Frencli,
province of Xicc. There arc extensive factories in Nisnies, Montpelicr,
Nice, and in Algeria, but the great center of this brancli of industry is tlio
town of Grassc, lying some few miles inland, and its sea-port, Cannes, the
winter residence of Lord Urougham.

"It would be impossible to state, even approximately, the product of the
flower-fields of tliis interesting region. Tliere are no lei^s than sixty factories
in Grassc, giving employment, in tiic various departments of field and in-door
labor, to 5,000 persons. Many man\ifacturers grow their own flowers, otliers
buy them in the open market daily, and still others are supplied by con-
tracts. The latter system prevails among the leading houses. Contracts
are made at a fixed i)ricc for a term of years for the total product of a farm,
at rates varying from S to 10 cents per kilu'^ramme (^2] lbs.) of rose leavi-;,
up to $1 for tuberose leaves, end even higher rates for violet leaves, which
last are mainly grown at Nice. The average prices are about as follows :

Rose leaves 8 to 1 0 cents tlic kilogramme.

.I.s.samine 40 to 60 •'

Oiauge 40 " "

ActicU 00 to 80 ccnU the Ulogiamme.

Tul^roM 100

Violet 80 to 1 30

" These are the leading garden flowers used in Grassc ; only small quanti-
ties of the jonquil, narcissus, mignonette, etc., are cultivated. A great
breadth of hind is devoted to lavender, rosemary, thyme, and other medic-

loflsos:

inal plants, wliieli are sold at much lower rates tiiati the above.

" The preparation of all these i>lant8 divides itself mainly into four c
essential oils, distilled waters, i>omade8 and oils, and dried flowers, mo
great bulk of essential oils produced consists of lavender, rosemary, »ajp«,
thyme, spikenard, and others of a tercbinthine nature; the mi»st vuluablo
oils produced in any quantity arc those of Ncroli and IVtits (Jrains. llio
former is the result i.f the distillation of orange-flower water fron^i tho imjIuU
of the flowers of the IJigarade, or bitter orange (the sweet or Tortugul or-
anrrc yielding an inferior j.roduet), and the hitter is obtaiucU frv.m tho grwii

512 THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS. [Chap. V.

leaves of the same tree. The price of Neroli varies, with the seasons, from
$30 to $45 the pound, and of Pctits Grains from $8 to $12. These two oils
are extensively used in the composition of Cologne water, and in combina-
tion with bergamot, give it its distinctive character. The orange-flower
water is consumed in immense quantities in France, in the ' cau sucree,' so
universally drank in the hot season. This, by the way, is the only shape in
which a Frenchman will drink water at all. The Bigarade orange-tree re-
quires ten years to mature and twenty to obtain perfection, and yields an
average of seventeen pounds of flowers per annum.

" Eose water is also distilled in large quantities. A result of its distillation
is an exceedingly small quantity of otto of rose of the very highest quality ;
it appears in small supernatant grains or drops, which are carefully skimmed
ofl" and rectified. It is superior to the famous Kizanlik, or Turkish otto,
and congeals, at ordinary temperatures, in beautiful, transparent crystals.
The ' Rose de Mai,' or double May rose, is the one universally grown.

" Another very costly article, of which less than one ounce had been pro-
duced in 1855, is the essential oil of jessamine. Up to that period its exist-
ence in the plant was stoutly denied by the distillers, although to what other
principle the fine odor of the plant was due, they failed to prove. In that
year an Algerian chemist obtained a minute quantity, which cost him, as
we were informed, at the rate of 17,000 francs the kilogramme, or $90 the
ounce. It has, since then, been produced at a cheaper rate, but still toe
dear for commercial purposes. The wild Arabian jessamine is grafted on
the cultivated plant of tiie same species, acclimated, and bears for many
years, if not winter killed, yielding 90 to 150 lbs. of flowers per thousand
plants. It is closely trimmed in spring, and deeply covered in winter. The
caterpillar is its most formidable enemy.

" A most important branch, and one in which great rivalry exists, is the
preparation of perfumed pomades and otto, which have a two-fold use : first,
as bases for the finer kind of pomatums and hair oils ; and next, as a me-
dium for obtaining spirituous extracts for the toilet, such as Lubin's well-
known extracts for the handkerchief. Their preparation is the most in-
teresting and curious feature of the Grasse establishments, and merits a word
of description. For the oils, the inodorous virgin olive oil is used, expressed
from olives just before their maturity.

" The pomade ' body,' which is prepared in winter, is composed of one
part of beef suet and two parts of leaf lard, thoroughly hashed, washed in
several waters, and among the best manufacturers it is washed several times
in rose water to deprive it of all unpleasant odor, and then carefully melted
and stored away in huge tin cans in airj', cool vaults, for use in the sea-
son of flowers. The busy operations of the year commence with the rose
season.

" There are two processes for impregnating the pomade body and the oils
with the floral odors — one by infusion, the other by ' enfleurage.' The
first is employed for the strong, less volatile odors of the rose, orange, and

Ssa 81.]

THE FLOWER-GARDEX.

513

acacia ; tlie latter for the sensitive, otliereal i)orfuinc8 of the jesgainine, tulxv
rose, jonquil, ami all tlio'biilbous trihc, which will not endure tho applica-
tion of even a moderate degree of heat.

" And first, by infusion ; about 100 kilogrammes of the pomade body are
put into a tin-plaiiisiied copper water-batli, molted at a low temperature, a!:d
charged, at daybreak, witii a ci'rtain tpiantity of the freshly gathered tlow-
ers, which are stirred constantly during the day and night, tiio mass l>cing
kept only warm enough to maiiituim a semi-flfiid state. AlxMit midnight it
is removed from the fire, put into strong l)ag8 made of fi^h-cord, and 6ul>-
jccted to heavy pressure in large, perforated, vertical iron cylindcre, stand-
ing on marble bod-plates, which are gently warmed to prevent the eongf-
hition of the exuding mass. Xext morning fresh leaves are added, antl tho
process repeated daily until the desired strcngtii of ]>erfumo is obtained,
when the pomade is put into cylindrical tin boxes and sealed np for i.hii>-
ment. The oils are treated in like manner, but are filtered instead of pre.--e.|.

"In preparing the oils, coarse, heavy, Pi)ongy cotton cloths, made es|HH"ially
for this purpose at Marseilles, arc saturated with oil and spread upon the
netted frames ; flowers arc tiien strewn thickly ui)on them, and they are
jiiled np in like manner as tho pomades. When sufticiently charge«l with
odor, the oil is expressed from the cloths by j^owerful levers.

" Many hundred-weight of flowers and herbs are dried aniuially, and are
v.'iriously used in tho healing art, and iti tiie composition of scent-bag»,
cachous, fuming pastils for the sick chamber, and kindred compound'* <>f tho
perfumer's art.

"The Parmezan, or double violet, is grown under the shade of trei-s, ami
yields a delicate and delightful perfume. It was the favorite t>d<'r of tiie
Athenians under Pericles, and is now tjio fashionable scent of tho Parisian
lean monile.

"The flower farms receive the highest culture; tindcr-ilraining i* not
practiced, but great attention is paid to irrigation. Some fields have a ctitn-
pletc network of irrigating tubes substantially laid in cement. A constant
warfare is waged upon insects, eacli plunt having, a* witli us, its pet l«>rer,
o-rub, or bug, and ' eternal vigilance is the price' of succeiw. The lieat in
summer is intense, though tempered by the sea breeze, and tho winter i» ni
times as rigorous as in Wa.-hingtun or Kichmoml.

" Labor costs, per day, 35 to 40 cents for nudes, and 15 cent* for femiil.-<."

There is no other reason than that contained in the last sentence why flower
farms can not be estal)lishcd iu this country as well as Franco. Tito que*-
tion rests entirely upon the cost of labor.

.'579. Soil for Flowrrs— Compost for I'otllue— Prolfctius from lu>rrt>. -All
flowers ro.p.iro a deep, rieh. well-draine.l soil, and that should bo annually

fertilized with a line compost, in which w I's earth or leaf-mold j.r.Mo,,,-

inatcs. The following directions of a practical pnnlener, though g.v.u
mostlv in reference to potting plants, will bo fonn.l n»oful, tho wmo w.l
being good for flower-beds, particularly for an annual drcwing.

514:

THE GARDEN AND ITS FRUITS.

[Chap. V.

" To have suitable compost for plants, the different soils should be mixed
for some time before they are wanted. In making composts, the following
soils should be obtained : First, soil and turf from an old pasture ; second,
decomposed horse or cow manure ; third, peat soil or leaf mold from the
woods ; fourth, white sand ; tifth, coarse sand or gravel ; sixth, charcoal and
broken pots. The charcoal and broken pots are for drainage. A suitable
compost for fuchsias, roses, and geraniums consists of one part white sand,
one of leaf-mold, and one of decomposed manure and turf-mold. These
sliould be well mixed together and sifted before using. A compost for cac-
tus is made of sand, leaf, and turf-mold, with a good drainage of charcoal
and broken pots. All bulbous roots require a very rich soil composed of
equal parts of sea sand, rotten cow manure, peat soil, and good turf-mold.

" In taking plants out of pots, all that is necessary is to put the hand on
' top of the dirt and then turn the pot bottom up, and hit a gentle rap, and
the ball of earth will slip out. Most people water plants too little. Two or
three times a week is necessary, or oftener in a dry stove room.

" To grow flowers in the greatest perfection, gardeners often cover them
and take great pains to preserve them free from contact of insects or the
pollen of other flowers.

" The thing of most importance in potting is suitable soil. Many persons
imagine that all that is requisite is earth, be it good or bad. "\Ve have seen
plants potted in common street manure, the owners laboring under the im-
pression that it was the very best kind because it was black.

" Unsuitable soil and large pots generally given to small, weak plants for
the purpose of causing them to grow, is, in nine cases out of ten, the cause
of their death.

" Giving small pots to weak plants encourages the growth of the roots
toward the side of the pot in search of air and moisture. In potting plants,
glazed pots should never be used, as they prevent the evaporation of all im-
purities through the sides of the pot.

" Of all the insects which infest house plants, the green fly, red spider,
and mealy bug are the most difficult to get rid of. They are easily de-
stroyed in the green-house by tobacco smoke. For parlor plants, take a
pail of soft water, invert the plant over the pail, cover the surface of the pot
with a piece of paper to prevent the soil from falling out, and brush the
leaves downward with a dust brush, dipping the plant in the water several
times. The mealy bug may be found in the axils of the leaves of orange-
trees, camelias, passion flowers, and various other plants. They look like
small specks of cotton, and are only to be got rid of by picking them oft'.
If plants should happen to get frozen, they should be syringed with cold
water and screened from the rays of the sun. Thus plants are frequently
saved that would otherwise be destroyed."

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