y ' -1

PAPERS;

CONSISTING or

COMMUNICATIONS

:jHADE To THB

Massachusetts Society for promoting Agriculture.

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PUBLISHED BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE SOCIETY.

BOSTON :

PRINTED FOR YOUNG 4 MINNS, PRINTERS TO tAe STATE ^

By Greenougk i; Stebbim.

1806.

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CONTENTS.

page

LETT£!R on the Culture of Potatoes, hy Hon.

Timothy Pickering, Esq. 9

Account of the lSli\iA.w k^n Jamily - - - - 19

Account of Egyptian Millet, ^yN. Adams, - 26
Letter on the same Subject, by R. Webster, - 28
On planting Osiers and Willows, - - - - 30

On boiling Potatoes, --------32

On the Agriculture of the Netherlands, - - 34
On the Propriety of bruising Oats for Horses, 6\
On the use of Parsley, as Food for Horses and

Cattle, ^2

Food of Plants, - - ----„--- 53

Cider Press improved - ^ - - . - . S6
Experiment shewing the importance of selecting
the frst ripe Seeds, ^------68

On the Management of the Dairy, - - - ? 70
Account of the manner of making Cheese in Eng-
land, -----.80

Communication on the same Subject - - - 83
On the Management of Pigs, ----- 90

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OFFICERS qFJ'HE SOCIETY.

CHOSEN JUNE, 1805.

Hon. JOHN ADAMS, Esq. President.
JOSEPH RUSSELL, Esq. First Vice President,
AARON DEXTER, m. d. Second Vice President.
THOMAS L. WINTHROP, Esq. Treasurer.
Rev. JOHN T. KIRKLAND, d.d. Cor. Secretanj.
JOHN AVERY, Esq. Recording Secretary.
CHRISTOPHER GORE, -Esq.
THEODORE LYMAN, Esq.
JOHN WARREN, M.D. ^ ,

SAMUEL W. POMEROY ; Esq. ^ ^ rustees.

JOSIAH QUINCY, Esq.
DUDLEY A. TYNO ■ Esq.

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PREFACE.

_ THE communications and extracts in this ninth
puTDhcation of the Trustees are presumed worthy of
perusal, as calculated either to afford instruction, or
to gratify curiosity. Some of them are entitled to
particular attention.

/The first letter on the subject oi potatoes, coii-
tains a valuable addition to the history of experi-
ments on this species of culture, and in conjunc-
tion vvith the several documents respecting it in the
preceding numbers of the society's papers, will
serve to furnish ground for decisive conclusions upon
this important article of cultivation.

The pleasing account of the Millwards is print-
ed here to show " the uses of keeping a family to-
gether, of concentering its labours under the direc-
tion of its heads, of excluding strangers from it, of
employing the fragments of time, and of making
the most of a little."

The agriculture of the Netherlands, of which
some description is given, has long been considered
as conducted upon the best principles, evincing the
efficacy of culture to remedy defects of soil.

Such information on the growth and uses of the
Egyptian millet, as the Trustees have received from
very respectable sources, is inserted for the benefit
of any who may think this plant deserving of trial
and experiment.

The treatise on thejfood of plants may instruct
and entertain those, who are desirous of seeing the
appHcation of science to the purposes of art.

The letter on beans establishes the advantage of
selecting for seed, the first which appear on the
vines.

A model of the cider press described by Mr.
Dodge is lodged in the office of the Secretary of
the Commonwealth, for the inspection of gentle-
men, who wish to view it. A press of this kind,
though it appears to be new to Mr. D, has been
used for a long time in some parts of the State, and
particularly in this vicinity, and found very conve-
nient.

The papers on butter and cheese are republished
from the pamphlet issued by the Trustees, in 1793,
because they are valuable ; and because, though
once printed, so much time has elapsed, that they
will be new to most readers.

Since the last publication of the Trustees, a mu-
nificent provision has been made for the establish-
ment of a Professorship of Natural History and a
Botanic Garden at the University in Cambridge.
The Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for pro-
moting Agriculture, constitute a major part of the
Visitors of this institution. They hope to be able
to discharge this part of their trust, in such a man-
ner as to promote the interests of agriculture, as well
as of other arts, connected with the science of Na-
ture.

PREMIUMS

OFFERED BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE MASSA*
CHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING AGRI-
CULTURE.

Isi. TO the person who shall discover an effectual and cheap
method of destroying the Canker-worm, and give evidence
thereof, to the satisfaction of the trustees, on or before the 1st
day of October, 1807, a premium of o«e hundred doliars, or the
society's gold medal.

2d. And a premium of o)ie hundred dollars, or the society's
gold medal, to the person who shall, on or before the 1st day
of December, 1807, discover an effectual, and the cheapest
method of destroying the Slug-worm, and give evidence there-
of, to the satisfaction of the trustees.

3d. To the person who shall produce the largest quantity of
wool, meat, and tallow, from the smallest number of sheep, not
less than one score, raised on his own farm, a premium of
thirti/ dollars ; to be claimed on or before the 1st day of Au-
gust, 180 7.

Ath. To the person who shall invent a cheap method of rais-
ing water, for the purpose of irrigating land from rivers and
ponds from ten to twenty feet above the level of the same, and
give evidence thereof to the satisfaction of the trustees, on or
before January 1, 1808, one hundred dollars, or the society's
gold medal.

5th. To the person who shall present to this society the most
complete (being nearly complete) Hortus Siccus, exhibiting
distinct specimens of the greatest variety of grasses, in general
use, and specify, to the satisfaction of the trustees, their re-
spective qualities, productiveness and usefulness as food for
different kinds of animals, the gold medal, oxid. fifty dollars ;
to be claimed on or before the 1st of October, 1807.

Qth. To the person who shall produce, from seed, the best
growth of thrifty trees, not less than 600 in the whole, and in
the proportion of 2400 to the acre, of any of the following kinds
of forest trees, viz. oak, ash, elm, sugar maple, beech, black
or yellow birch, chesnut, walnut or hiccory, txiicnty five dollars ;
if all o{ Qzk,JiJty dollars. Claims to be made on or before the
1st of October, 1807.

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7^^. To the person who shall ascertain by accurate analy-
sis, the constituent parts of several fertile soils respectively,
and in like manner the parts of several poor soils, and thus
shall discover the defects of the latter ; and shall show by ac-
tual experiments, how the said defects may be remedied by
the addition of earths or other ingredients, which abound in
the country, and in a manner that may be practised by com-
mon farmers, yi/^j/ dollars. And if it shall appearto the satis-
faction of the trustees, that, upon an extensive practice, the
improvement of the poor soil would be more than equivaleat to
the expense of the improvement, the addition of one hundred
dollars. A minute description of the several soils, and all the
circumstances attending the processes, cultivation, and results,
will be required. Claims to be made on or before Novem-
ber J, 1807.

Sth. To the person who shall, by actual experiment, on a
qauntity not less than half a ton, shew the best method of cur-
ing clover hay with salt ; regard to be had to the quality of
the hay and the saving of labour, and the shortness of time
between cutting and packing it in the mow, the silver medal,
or thirty dollars ; and to the person who shall shew the next best
method, twenty dollars. Samples of the hay to be exhibited,
three months after it is cured, to a majority of the selectmen
or to the settled minister and justice of the peace in the vicin-
ity. Claims to be made on or before the last Friday of No-
vember, 1806.

Qth. It is required that the communications, for which the
foregoing premiums are oflPered, be accompanied with proper
certificates from the selectmen, magistrates, or clergymen of
the vicinity, or other vouchers, to the satisfaction of the trus-
tees ; that they be delivered in without names, or any intima-
tion to whom they belong; that they be severally marked
in such a manner as each claimant shall think fit; the claim-
ant sending also a paper, sealed up, having on the outside a
corresponding mark, and on the inside his name and address.

By Order of the Trustees,

JOHN AVERY, Secretary.

AGRICULTURE.

CULTURE OF POTATOES.

BEVERLY, OCTOBER 8, 1805.
DEAR SIR,

LAST spring, recurring to the report of
the committee of the London Board of Agricul-
ture, on the culture and use of potatoes, my atten-
tion was drawn to the communication of Dr. An-
derson, whose experiments on the management of
this vegetable, formerly published, appeared to have
been conducted with uncommon exactness. In
that communication, he recommends the planting
of sets (cuttings of potatoes) of not less than two
ounces in weight, as yielding, on the same ground,
at least double the crop that is produced from the
smallest cuttings, which, he says, some thrifty
managers are careful to employ. And in a note,
he adds. That an economy of this sort had been re-
commended in the newspapers ; to wit, " to cut off
thin slices from the surface of the potatoe, with an
eye in each, to be employed as sets, and the nu-
cleus in the heart to be kept for food. It is (says
he) scarcely possible to devise a direction that
would with greater certainty insure a deficient
crop ; unless it be another practice that has been
recommended, from the same quarter, with equal
strenuousness, that of planting sprouts ivithout any
bulbs at all" But in the same report is published a
letter to Samuel Hayes, Esq. from Thomas King,
Esq. written in consequence of his having read the
Rev. Dr. Maunsell^s treatise on propagating pota-
toes, by planting the spi^outs alone ; from which let-

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10

ter a very different conclusion may he formed. Mr.
King, (whose letter is dated in 1794) says, that a*
bout two and twenty years before, he had raised very-
fine potatoes from the sprouts : and that " few years
had since passed in which he had not planted, more
or less, sprouts.'' He mentions another gentleman
doing the same ; and that the labourers, who had
laughed at his folly, could not, on taking up the pro-
duce, distinguish the drills planted with sprouts^
from those planted with potatoes : they were all re-
markably good." " 1 have (says Mr. King) plant-
ed potatoes^ and the sprouts of potatoes, on the
S€i7n^ dcuj^ and always observed the sprouts to come
up about three weeks sooner than the potatoes.

Mr. KiNG^s letter, written with intelligence and
candour, to a friend to whom he appeals as a wit-
ness of sonle of the facts, left no room to doubt the
correctness of his statement ; and as he had, for up-
wards of thirty years, been employed in making ex-
periments on the culture of potatoes, and in Ireland
too, of all countries the most noted for their cul-
ture, I suspected Dr. Anderson^s remark on the
planting oisprouts^ was the confident expression of
an opinion, without an experiment. 1 was hence in-
duced to make one for myself, though on a very
small scale. The result has proved so satisfactory,
that I shall certainly, in future years, plant all the
good sprouts my potatoes sliall afford.

THE EXPERIMENT.

' On the 20th of last May, in my garden (in that
part a sandy loam) was dug, about ten inches deep,
a vacant strip, nearly six feet wide, and seventy
two feet lonor. In this were formed, with a hoe,
two drills, about four inches deep, and two feet a-
part ; and in each drill was strowed a usual quan-
tity of stable manure. This strip I divided into
three parts, each twenty four feet long. In one

11

drill of that length I planted potatoes and common
cuttings of potatoes (the sort a reddish purple) a-
bout six inches apart ; and in the drill beside it, of
the same length, I planted potatoes and cuttings of
a white (or pale yellow) sort, which was wont to
yield a larger crop than the purple. In the next
twenty four feet, I planted Ijoth drills with sprouts
of the purple potatoe ; and in the remaining twen-
ty four feet, I planted both drills with the sprouts of
the white, or pale yellow, potatoe. The sprouts of
both sorts were about three inches long.

Contrary to Mr. King's, the shoots from my
sprouts appeared above ground about two weeks
later than those from the potatoes and cuttings ;
and were (and for a long time continued) so slen-
der and feeble, that I despaired of any produce wor-
thy of notice. The ground being light and clean,
they required, and received, but very little hoeing ;
just enough to destroy the few weeds, which sprung
up among them. However, in the latter part of
summer, the stems from the sprouts throve well,
and at length became, though less numerous, yet
nearly as luxuriant as those of the potatoes and cut-
tings : all continued green until this day, when I
took them up ; the frost of last night having killed
the leaves and small branches of the stems, The sev-
eral products were as follow :

lbs. oz.
No. 1. Sprouts of the white sort produced

150 potatoes, weighing -----41 8
35 do. small, 1 12

Total, from 16 square yards, or about half—

a rod of ground ----,--43 4«
No. 2. Sprouts of the purple sort, whole pro-
duce from 16 square yards of ground - 33
No. 3. Whole potatoes and cuttings, of the
white sort, growing on 8 square yards of
ground, total - - - - - - -<0^'46

n

No. 4. Whole potatoes and cuttings, of the
purple sort, growing on 8 square yards
of ground, total --,--.. ^6 lbs.

The 150 potatoes of No. 1. were all marketable,
weighing, on an average, nearly four and a half
ounces ; twelve of the largest weighed nine pounds.
They were generally more fair and handsome, than
any others of the sort, raised either in the field or
garden.

The potatoes of No. 2, were fair and well sized,
but with a greater proportion of small ones, than
No. 1.

The products of the whole potatoes, in No. 3,
and No. 4, were generally rather smaller than those
from the cuttings.

It was manifest, from the long spaces between
the shoots growing from the sprouts, that many of
the latter had perished. Had they been planted
nearer together, so as to have sent up as numerous
stems as the potatoes and cuttings, I doubt not the
products would have been as great : though proba-
bly they were fairer, and individually bigger, by
having more room to grow in.

In handling the two sorts of potatoes, I was in-
clined to think the purple were specifically heavier,
than the white : and desirous of knowing the weight
of a bushel of potatoes ; I filled a half bushel meas-
ure with the white, heaping them up as usual, and
found their weight to be thirty three pounds. The
same measure of the purple, also weighed exactly
thirty three pounds. So I consider the weight of a
bushel of potatoes to be sixty six pounds.
^ On these data^ then, it will be found,

That No. 1, produced at the rate of 1971

No. 2, \5\ I bushels

No. 3, 421 fan acre.

No. 4, 238 J

13

I have been induced to give you these details, •
on account of the greatly diminished crops of po-
tatoes of the present year, occasioned by the severi-
ty of the drought ; being satisfied that sprouts^ as
far as attainable, may, the next spring, prove an ef-
ficient substitute for potatoe sets. Mr. King says,
*' Sprouts are fit for planting at any time after they
acquire roots sufficient to support themselves, inde-
pendent of the mother potatoes ; which they gener-
ally do when about three inches long : and as the
[fibrous] roots increase in number and strength,
those parts of the shoots between the first set of
roots and the potatoes shrink and dry up ; and, as I
conceive, no more nourishment is received from the
potatoe by that channel. My happening to observe
this, gave me the first idea of planting sprouts."

One caution in setting sprouts may be useful ;
to plant them as soon as possible after separating
them from the potatoes : for, like all other tender,
succulent shoots, they wither very soon after being
separated from the parent stock. The want of due
attention to this point, probably caused many, which
I planted, entirely to perish.

I have had boiled some of the white potatoes
produced from the sprouts : they prove equal to any
of the sort grown in the common way. Seeing,
then, that the produce of sprouts is in favour equals
and, when having more room, superior in size^ and
fairer in form^ than the product of the potatoes
themselves ; what room is there to doubt of the
sprouts being, upon the whole, at least egual, for
seed, to potatoes, or their cuttings ; provided so-
many sprouts be planted as will produce an equal
number of shoots or stems ? Mr. King, indeed, says,
*' he is confident" [and it will be recollected that
he says this after about twenty years' experience]
" that sprouts will produce as good, if not better
crops, than potatoe sets, and more seldom fail of

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X

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growing." An abundant growth of stems, in num-
ber as well as size, seems, generally, to indicate the
size and number of potatoes at their roots. Whole
potatoes have many eyes ; and the cuttings com-
monly two or more : hence, partly, their greater
number of stems than appeared from the sprouts in
my experiment : and hence the propriety of plant-
ing more sprouts than cuttings ; whether the plant-
ing be in hills, as in New England, or in drills (con-
tinued rows) as in the middle States, and in Great
Britain and Ireland.

It would seem that Dr. Maunsell recommend-
ed setting the sprouts upright ; which would render
their planting much more tedious and expensive.
Mr. King says, " he always found the sprouts to
answer when laid horizontally, covering them as po-
tatoe sets are covered." In my experiment, they
were so laid and covered.

I have said above, that an abundant gj-ozoth of
stems seemed to indicate a like grozvth of potatoes
at their roots : at the moment of making this re-
mark, it occurred to me, that, as far as one instance
would go, I could immediately test its correctness.
I had taken up two detached hills of potatoes,
which proved to be the same white kind mentioned
in the experiment, and their stems lay on the
ground. Their product of potatoes exceeded any
1 had ever before witnessed, being (with a few of
the same sort from two or three stems which grew
within a foot of one of the hills) a full half bushel
by measure, and consequently weighing about
thirty three pounds. I now measured the length
of theirstems, and weighed them. They averaged
five feet in length, and weighed thirty three pounds.
They were green and full of sap, the frost having
killed only their leaves. Yet I have no dOubt that
these potatoes and stems all proceeded from two or
three potatoes or cuttings ; but the first shoots sent

15

forth such numerous and long branches, as increas-
ed them to the weight mentioned. They grew oa
a deep, rich soil, in a low part of my garden, where
it was too wet to till in the spring ; so, at a con-
venient season some manure was spread over it, and
ploughed in, the spot being reserved for cabbages.
The two or three potatoes or cuttings had probably
been scattered there with the manure ; and the
shoots having thus accidently sprung up, were suf-
fered to grow. They were hoed two or three times,
but so little earth had been drawn up about the
stems, that the tops of the hills did not rise two
inches above the common level of the adjacent
ground. Indeed, at the taking up, I found several
of the potatoes without a covering; whence they
had acquired the green colour, which always ap-
pears in potatoes so exposed. The plants ought to
have been so much earthed up, as to cover all the
potatoes : for when exposed to the sun and air, they
acquire, with their green colour, a very ill flavour,
and perhaps a noxious quality.

The abundance of stems, in this instance, with
the corresponding mass of potatoes, not only corrob-
orate the observation above expressed, but tend,
together with the potatoes and their stems in my ex-
peiiment, to confirm an opinion 1 have long enter-
tained, that neither Indian corn nor potatoes are
the better for hilling ; except in respect to the lat-
ter, drawing up so much earth, (if the mode of
planting the sets, and their disposition, or manner of
growing should render it necessary) as shall insure
a covering to the bulbs, at their full growth. Dr.
Anderson says, " an opinion is very generally en-
tertained, that when the stems [of potatoes] are
laid down in the earth, they send out bulbs from
these stems, in great abundance. I can say fhe
continues] from experiments very carefully con-

16

ducted, that I have not found this to be the case in
the smallest degree ; but that la3nng down the stems
and covering them, [meaning, doubtless, covering
them entirely] with earth, dimmished the produce/*
And on the subject of mowing the stems as fodder
for cattle, he says, " My experiments prove, in the
most decisive manner, that the farther growth of
the potatoe (the bulb) is entirely stopped, the mo-
ment that the stem is cut over." Hence it may be
inferred, that any operation by which a considerable
portion of the stems shall be shut up from light and
aii\ will proportionably diminish the crop. Yet in
the improved mode of culture proposed by Dr. An-
derson, he directs, that at each horse-hoeing,
(which he would repeat every fortnight, the weath-
er permitting) the earth be raised up a little higher
upon the plants than before ; and at the last hoe-
ing, he says, "the earth should be raised as high
up to the stems as possible.^' But he assigns his
reasons : " In this way, the [fibrous] roots have a
deep bed of mellow, friable earth to range in on
both sides, which is in no danger of being drenched
xi)ith too much moisture^ (the most destructive ene-
my of the potatoe) and the bulbs have full room to
swell, in a light, spongy bed at top." J3ut our com-
mon misfortune is, to have too little moisture : we,
therefore, ought to provide for our potatoes a differ-
ent bed ; which, while sufficiently" light and spon-
gy" shall best insure an adequate supply of moist-
ure. The means are, I believe, deep tillage^ a rich
manure at bottom, the coarsest manure, penetrable
by the potatoe shoots at top, keeping the ground
clean from weeds, and, instead of high hills or
ridges, leaving, at the last operation of the plough
and hoe, the surface of the ground nearly level.

If this communication shall appear to you to
merit the attention of the trustees of the Agricul-

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17

tural Society, you will have the goodness to lay it
before them.

I am, my dear Sir, very truly yours,

TIMOTHY PICKERING.

Hon. George Cabot, Esq.

P. S. Thinking, since my letter was concluded,
that the difference in the time of their coming up,
between Mr. King's sprouts and mine, may present
some difficulty, I offer the following solution.

If you have noticed the sprouting of potatoes, as
the warmth of the spring advances, you wilt recol-
lect that at the base of each sprout are thrown out
many roots, which, like the spread hand grasping a
ball, embrace the body of the potatoe. These
roots continue to extend themselves (multiplying at
the same time, by numerous ramifications) in search
of food ; while the sprouts grow rapidly in length.
Doubtless, these fibrous roots may derive some nour-
ishment from the moist air, in which they thus veg-
etate : but the chief resource of roots and sprouts
must' be the mother potatoe, to'which they still ad-
here by the short necks between the roots and the
body of the potatoe. Now when these sprouts are
separated from the potatoe, it is the short neck of
each which breaks, and the roots naturally remain
attached to their respective sprouts. Then if these
sprouts are planted in the earth, they will be in the
condition of any other transplanted vegetable ; a
cabbage plant, for instance. This, from the loss of
its numberless fibrous roots, which, in the ordinary
mode of drawing from the seed bed, are nearly all
stripped off, receives a check ; and does not recov-
er, and sensibly grow, until, after many days, fresh
fibres begin to shoot from the principal broken
roots ; Just so it must be with the newly planted
potatoe sprout. Violently torn from the maternal
c

18

breast, its growth is stopped ; and will not be re-
newed, until its roots take hold of the mother earth,
and there, extending and multiplying, gather new
food to foster the sprout. Then the latter begins
tq rise, and at length appears a stem above ground.

Now to the best of my recollection, the potatoes
and cuttings used in my experiment, had sprouts
upon them, more or less advanced, at the time they
were planted ; and therefore were in condition to
continue growing from the moment the earth receiv-
ed them ; and, consequently, must soon have ap-
peared above ground : and such was the fact.

Why, then, did Mr. King's not come up so soon
by three weeks, as his mere sprouts ? I answer : be-
cause his cuttings, when planted, had no sprouts
upon them, but eyes only ; which are long in push-
ing up into stems. I am warranted in this answer,
by facts stated, (though for other purposes) by Mr.
King himself. " Dr. Maunsell says there is no
use in having the sets of potatoes cut, and let to lie
any time before they are planted. I, (says Mr.
King) am of a different opinion ; because I am
convinced a set will not sprout, until the cut be
healed ; and therefore, if the cutting be performed
long enough before the setting [planting] to allow
time for the cut to heal or dry, so much time will
be gained by the planter." This demonstrates that
he cut his sets before they had sprouted. And as
healing and drying the sets mean the same thing,
he must, consequently, after cutting, spread them
to the drying air, and thus effectually prevent their
sprouting, until committed to the earth. If suffered
to lie in a heap, he says they are apt to heat^ and
produce curled stalks, and a bad crop,

I will trouble you with but one more observation.
I presume the stems which proceed from planted
sprouts, are merely a continuance, or extension, of
their previous growth ; which, therefore, Dr. Macn-

&

19

SELL might think an ej^ecf position might faciUtate :
but Mr. King's long experience, (with which my
single trial agrees) proves this not to be necessary .v
And the natural tendency of the shoots of other
plants, might, beforehand, have led to the same
conclusion. If, for instance, a pea vine, rising a
foot or more in height, finds no bush or twig to lay
hold on, it reclines, or falls to the ground : but im-
mediately its end turns upward, and continuing to
grow, rises into the air ; resting its elbow on the
ground. So in the case of the potatoe sprout,
which, while attached to its parent potatoe, and
this remains unmoved, always takes an erect posi-
tion ; upon being planted horizontally^ its end, as
soon as its growing is renewed, turns upward, and
rises into a stem. T. P.

Ext7^act J'rotn an account of a cottager's cultivation,
in Shropshire, in England ; by Sir William
PuLTNEY, Bart. ; taken from the l^th report of
the Society for bettering the condition, and in-
creasing the comforts of the Poor ; dated May,
1805.

Within two miles and a half of Shrewsbury,
a cottager, whose name is Richard Millavard,,
has a house, and adjoining to it, a garden and land ;
making about one acre and one sixteenth of an acre,
including the garden. He is a collier; and the
management of the ground is in a great measure
left to his wife. The soil was a thin covering of
about three or four inches of strong loam, over a
clay impregnated with iron, and considered as the
worst soil. They pay three shillings sterling of
yearly rent for the house and land. It was leased
to them 38 years ago for three lives, one of which
is dead.

20

The wife has managed the ground in a particular
manner, for thirteen years, with potatoes and wheat,
chiefly by her own labour ; and in a way which has
yielded good crops, fully equal or rather superior to
the produce of the neighbouring farms, and with
little or no expense.

The potatoe and wheat land (exclusive of the
garden) contains sixty four digging poles of land,
(eight yards square to the pole, seventy five of
which make an acre) and is divided into two parts.
One of the divisions she plants alternately with po-
tatoes, and the other is sown with wheat. On the
wheat stubble, she plants potatoes in ?^ozas ; and
sows wheat on the potatoe ground. She puts dung
in the bottom of the rows where she plants the po-
tatoes ; but uses wo dirng for the wheat. And she
has repeated this succession for nearly the thirteen
years ; but vi^ith better success and more economy
during the last six or seven j'ears.

She provides manure, by keeping a pig, and by
collecting all the manure she can from her house,
and by mixing with it the scrapings of the roads,
&c. She forms it into a heap and turns it, before
she puts it on her ground for potatoes.

The ground is dug for potatoes in the month of
March and April, to the depth of about nine inches.
(This digging would cost six pence per pole, if hir-
ed.) After putting in the dung, the potatoes are
planted in rows, about twelve or fourteen inches dis-
tant. The sets are placed about four or five inches
apart in the rows.

When the potatoes come above grouiul, the iveeds
are destroyed by the hoe ; and the earth laid up on
both sides to the shoots. And this is repeated from
time to time, as the season requires. Hand weed-
ing is also used when necessary.

In the month of October, when the potatoes are
ripe, she takes off all the stalks (or haulm) of the

21

potatoe ; which she secures, to produce manure by
means of her pig. She now goes over the whole
with a rake, and takes off all weeds ; and before
taking up the potatoes, she sows her wheat on as
much of the ground as she can clear of potatoes
that day. They are taken up with a three pronged
fork ; in which her husband assists ; and by the
same operation, the wheat is covered deep. She
leaves it quite rough ; and the frost mellows the
earth ; and by the earth falling down, it adds much
strength and vigour to the wheat plants in spring.
Her crops of wheat have been of late always good ;.
and even this year (which in this country has not
been favourable for the wheat- crop,) she has thrash-
ed out fifteen M'inchester bushels from thirty four
poles ; though part of her wheat has suffered by the
mildew. The straw of her wheat she carefully
preserves for liticr to her pig, and to increase her
manure. When her potatoes are gathered, she sep-
arates the best for use, then a proper quantity for
seed, and the small potatoes are given to her pig.

She has sixteen poles for her garden ; upon
which she plants peas, beans, and a part with cab-
bages ; but has early potatoes and turnips the same
year on the same ground. She sells her early pota-
toes, and peas and cabbages, and boils the turnips
for her pig.

The only other expense of feeding her pig, is two
or three bushels of peas ; and when fit to kill, it
weighs about three hundred pounds. She buys it
at tlie age of four or five months, about the month
of February; and it is killed about the month of
January in the following year.

When she first began this method of alternate
crops, and for several years after, she depended on
the neighbouring farmers for ploughing the land
and harrowing, both for the potatoes and wheat ;
but as the farmers naturally delayed to work for

52

her, till their own work was chiefly over, her land
was not ploughed in proper season. She has been
for the last six years independent of the farmer.

She is careful to sozv no more land at a timc^ than
she can clear of potatoes that day.

OBSERVATIONS BY THE SAME WRITER.

This mode of culture ptoves, that potatoes and
wheat can be produced alternately upon the same
land,ybr a long course of years^ provided that a
small quantity of manui-e be every year used for
the potatoes, and it shews that a cottager may pro-
cure food from a small portion of laud, by his own
labour, without any expense.

Both wheat and potatoes have been reckoned ex-
hausting crops ; but this mode of culture shews,
that great crops of both may be long alternately pro-
duced ; which may probably be imputed to the cul-
ture by the spade and hoe, to the manuring every
second year for potatoes, to the careful destroying
of weeds, to the planting and sowing in the proper
season, and to the preventing the earth from being
too loose, (by the mode of sowing the wheat before
the potatoes are taken up.)

An experienced farmer is of opinion, that the
same culture and succession of crops, will answer
on almost any land, if properly drained and skilfully
managed ; for that although strong land does not
answer well for potatoes, nor very hght land for
wheat ; yet that cultivation and manure, (and par-
ticularly the manure of hme) will soon render
strong land, when drained, more loose ; and will
make light land more firm, especially if cultivated
with the spade and hoe. April 5, I8O0.

23

Remarks on the English Accounts of the cultivation
employed by the MiLhW ARDjamily ; by a member
of the Kennebec Agricultural Society.
From the above English accounts it appears,
that the same soil is laboured and manured every
other year, to make it produce an exhausting crop
every year ; for the potatoe crop only is assisted,
and this crop occupies the same ground only once
in two years. Perhaps this is the only instance in
common farming, of the cares of one year answer-
ing for two crops of such different natures, sown
and reaped at such distant periods, one after the
other.

The clay bottom, bad as it was from its mixture
with iron, nevertheless evidently served to retain
both manure and rain water ; but at the same time,
as it w^as very near the surface, it rendered the soil
liable to suffer from dry weather. We must there-
fore carry our inquiry farther, if we wish to see all
the causes of these sinsfular effects.

The ground, then we may perceive, by being left
rough when the potatoes were dug, formed little
hills for covering the seed from cold during the win-
ter ; as also little holes, which drained away the
water from the surface, but retained it to settle
down into the earth, there to be ready for use in
the summer ; while the frost and rain made the
surface level again in the spring. The frost also,
with rain produced great change of place in the par-
ticles of the soil, during the winter and spring ; and
the rough surface of the soil presented a great ex-
tent to be exposed to the beneficial influence of the
air ; especially as this surface was perpetually chang-
ing. The different depths of covering left to the
seed, seems to have provided an assortment of
wheat plants differently rooted, so as to leave one
or other of them capable of meeting all the chances
of weather ; and consequently, so as to furnish at

24

proper intervals, at least one plant suited to the na-
ture of the season.

The perishing of some of the seed, from want of
covering, or from ravages of birds, &:c. was of little
consequence ; as experience must have taught the
MiLLWARDS how mucli seed was, on the average,
necessary for their land, under every circumstance.
It was with a view to save their seed from birds
and other enemies, that no more seed was sown in
a day, than answered to the potatoes to be dug in
that day.

It is unfortunate that we hear nothing of the qiian-
tliif of potatoes raised by our cottagers. We may
presume, as this crop had particular favour shewn
to it, that it was at least in proportion to the crop
of wheat.

The potatoes were in the ground about six
months ; for the English climate, during the grow-
ing season, is less forcing than that of America.
Many in the United States do not allow more than
four months for the growth of their potatoes ; some
allow only three. But a potatoc, like an apple,
may look large, and not be ripe ; for both the apple
and potatoe ripen after they have got to their full
size. Want of ripeness is a great defect in a pota-
toe ; and probably injures both its keeping and its
fitness for seed.

The MiLLWARDS consumed their best potatoes,
and reserved only their second best for seed. Here
seems to have been an error. By using the best
for seed, the whole crop would soon have improv-
ed. In good cultivation, the whole crop becomes
tolerably even ; especially if the planting has been
early, and the earthing of the potatoe has not been
too frequent. The weeding of the potatoe, it must
be obseri'ed, is distinct from the earthing of it.

The Enghsh commonly plant their potatoes in
rows. Perhaps such rows would admit of a simple

25

instrument, managed by a man and boy, to pass
along between them, for the purpose of weeding
and earthing.

It will be observed, that the Millwards are
not said to have had any instrument or machine,
bfeyond a spade, a hoe, a three pronged fork, and a
wheelbarrow ; the rest was, in general, accomplish-
ed by hands and fingers ; by eyes and diligence ;
if we add a rake, a sickle, a flail, and a pitchfork,
still the cost will not be much. This was another
way of rendering themselves independent of their
neighbours, as well as of capital and of expense.

The manure was new for the potatoes, and old
and mellow for the wheat ; that is, it was by turns,
in a state to be suitable to each. The soft nature
of the straw and stubble, and of the roots of the
wheat, and also of the potatoe stalks, added to that
of the weeds, made manure of an excellent quality
for yielding to the swelling of the potatoes. The
weeds, it will be remembered, vt-ere weeded up be-
fore they seeded. As the chief means of renewing
the weeds was from the scraping of the roads, the
effects of winds, or the act of some animal, the
wheat had a chance of being comparatively clean.

In short, accident seems to have suggested, and
practice to have confirmed the system of the Mill-
WAB.DS ; and such advantages naturally belong to
those who labour for themselves, and who know ev-
ery foot of their own territory, and the issue of eve-
ry thing done upon it. The uses of keeping a fam-
ily together, of concentering its labours under the
direction of its heads, of excluding strangers from
it, of employing the fragments of time, and of mak-
ing the most of a little, are too evident to be insist-
ed upon. Let the example then be imitated, with
such changes as may suit the American climate ;
but let the labour of the field, as much as possible,

D

26

be spared to the female, who, if a good house wife
and mother, will have much to do within doors.

A Member of the Kennebec Agricultural Socief//.

EGYPTIAN MILLET.

PORTSMOUTH, (N. H.J DEC. 2, 1805.

DEAR SIR,

In compliance with your request, I have made
inquiry of the several gentlemen in this neighbour-
hood, who have cultivated the new species of grain,
which is here generally called Jerusalem wheat, re-
specting its history, culture, and properties, the re-
sult of which is :

That two years last spring a few seeds of a singu-
lar kind of grain, which were found in a crate of
ware, at Exeter, were sown in a garden there ; the
novel appearance of which, in the fall of the year, at-
tracted the attention of many, and among others, of
a Mr. Goss, of Greenland, who, thinking it necessary
to give it some name, called it Otaheite corn ; he
procured some of the seed, and sowed it the next
year on his farm, and there Col. Walker and his
son saw it. The son had seen a description of
grain, called Jerusalem wheat, cultivated in Ireland,
published in the Dubhn Magazine, by the Agricul-
tural Society there, which was republished in one of
our papers, and concluded this to be the same spe-
ciesof grain. Col. Walker procured of Mr. Goss a
small quantity of the grain, and distributed it to
several gentlemen of this town, who raised it in
their gardens. Col. Walker, on the twentieth of
May, sowed one and a half ji 11 in drills two feet a-
part, but set the seed in the drills as thick as he
would any small seeds ; the inconvenience of which

27

he discovered soon after it came up ; but he suffered
it to grow notwithstanding : the soil was high, dry,
and gravelly, and some butchers, without Col.
Walker's knowledge, had buried a quantity of
blood there the year before, which burnt up the
grain at one end of the drills, extending nearly one
quarter the length of them ; he hoed it twice to kill
the weeds ; the stalks grew about six feet high, the
produce which was gathered on the tenth day of
October, amounts to one and a half bushel.

Col. Moses Woodward obtained about half a jijl
of seed, and sowed two rows of it in a field, on the
eighteenth day of April ; the rows were eighteen
inches apart, and he dibbled the seed at six inches
distance, but the seed rotted in the ground. Ou
the fourteenth of May, he planted in holes three
feet by two and a half feet asunder, three hundred
sixty holes in all, placing five kernels, at suitable
distance, in each hole. The ground was stiff, hard
and cold clay, covered with about two inches of
soil near a wall, and was broke up the same spring
to destroy the sord, was not manured, and was ho-
ed twice to destroy the weeds, but was not hilled,
as in raising Indian corn. About three seeds from
each hole came up, and produced generally three
stalks apiece, which grew about six or seven feet
high ; the grain is formed in a head on the top of
the stalk : he gathered on this piece twelve hun-
dred heads, which, on an average, contained one
jill of seed. On the third of June, he planted the
remainder of his seed ; but being injured by the
drought, it did not come to maturity. Col. Wood-
ward thinks the time of planting Indian corn, is the
proper time of sowing it, and that it should be dib-
bled six inches apart, in drills three feet wide.
The stalks and leaves make excellent fodder for
horses and cattle, but the value of the grain yet
remains uncertain. Those who pretend to have

28

seen it abroad, call it by different names, and de-
scribe it differently. The stalk and leaves bear a
near resemblance to Indian corn, and I believe it
will be classed in that genus, rather than be ac-
counted any species of vv^heat. In the description
of the Jerusalem wheat, the grains are said to be
large and round ; these are flat like the kernel of
Indian corn. Mr. CAZEAux,the French commissa-
ry here, shewed some of this grain to an Irish gen-
tleman, who called it the greater or larger millet,
and said it was common in Ireland.

One gentleman in this town has been so curious
as to count the grains in one head, and found it to
contain twenty five hundred and fifty four. If
three of these heads are produced from one kernel,
the increase is very great.

We have procured a small quantity of it to be
ground and bolted, and have made it into bread of
different kinds, but all of them prove very ordina-
ry. Yeast, or leaven, does not produce any fer-
mentation in it ; but when made into a batter and
baked in thin cakes, it is palatable while warm.

I have the pleasure of sending you some of the
flour, and a small quantity of the grain for seed.
If it will not answer for bread, it may be valuable
for other purposes.

1 am, very respectfully, ^

your most obedient servant,^

NATHANIEL ADAMS.

Hon. Dudley A. Tyng.

BOSTON, NOVEMBER 12, 1805.
DEAR SIR,

Last year I obtained a head of Egyptian
millet, (Holcus Dura) weighing five ounces, the
grain of which weighed tour ounces. This was

%

•

S9

planted in April, in the manner of Indian corn, five
grains in a hill, making three hundred and eighty
nine hills. From these, seventeen hundred and
two heads were cut on the first of October, and
about fifty were broken off by the wind early in the
season. The whole produce was seven bushels of
fair, clean, and plump grain. Comparing it with
the same number of hills of Indian corn, the pro-
duct was rather better, but the millet does not
spread so far, and might have been doubled on the
same quantity of land ; and two rows, planted in
drills eight inches apart, with room for a horse
plough between the rows, proved that this would
have been a better method of planting, than in hills
nearly four feet apart.

When Indian corn began to be injured by the
drought, the millet grew more rapidly, and not a
head was blasted. Some that was near a brook, on
cold, wet land, was not ripe, till late in October ;
that on warm loam, was the fullest, and largest,
and early ripe ; that on warm gravel, earlier still,
but not so large. One row I manured with plas-
ter of Paris in the hills, which was only one foot
high, when the other was three ; a spoonful of plas-
ter was then put round each stalk, and in three
Weeks, it equalled the other in height.

It is the opinion of some farmers, that half an
acre of good land will produce, with less expense,
as much of this grain, as an acre will of barley, oats,
or rye.

I send you a few heads, and will add some of the
flour, when I get it from the mill, and any of your
friends that are disposed to try it, may have as much
of the seed as they will plant.

I am, sir, your humble servant,

R. WEBSTER,
' Dr. Aaron Dexter.

30

FROM THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, (SCOTLAND.)

ON PLANTING OSIERS AND WILLOWS.

If you please to lay before the publick, the fol-
lowing method of planting willows in the fens of
Cambridgeshire, you will probably render essential
service to many of your readers.

In the fens, many holts, (as they are provincially
called) or plantations of osiers, are raised, which
beautify the country, keep the stock warm in the
winter, and provide much useful wood for baskets,
cradles, and all kinds of wicker work, and also for
cribs for cattle to eat straw or hay out of, and to
make stows or hurdles to fence in stacks, part lands,
&c. &c. ; or they make hedges that will last four
years well ; and if alllowed to grow five years, ma-
ny of them would make good fork shafts for hay or
corn.

These holts, or plantations of osiers, are com-
monly made in the middle of the land, in the north
and east corners, and sometimes at any end, side,
or place, that appears most easy, or in any respect
the most desirable.

The situation and size of these holts vary exceed-
ingly : sometimes they are made, in the middle of
lands, from ten to sixty yards square ; and in others,
in the sides or ends, of from one yard wide to ten,
and from ten to one hundred yards long.

The mode of planting is very simple ; first to dig
the land from six to twelve inches deep, and then
to prick down cuttings of four years growth and
eighteen inches long, at about three feet distance
from each other. The soil should be moor or clay,
or any that is low and wet : if drowned half the
year, it will be but little the worse.

These holts or osier plantations, must be fenced
round either with dikes, which is most common,

31

or with hedges, as is most convenient. The proper
season for making them, (though they seldom fail
of growing at any time) is from the fall of the leaf,
till very late in the spring, and the sets are very
cheap. Such plantations are cut annually for bas-
kets, skeps, scuttles, cradles, and all kinds of wicker
work ; but M^hen the osiers are kept for sets, or to
make hedging wood, or for stows or hurdles, they
are cut only once in four years.

Our mode of planting red or white willows will
likely be acceptable ; therefore a few words shall be
given on that subject.

Now when wood is growing scarce and dear in
Britain, and likely to become more and more so,
gentlemen of landed property should cause manj'^
red and white willows to be planted on their es-
tates ; and it answers well for tenants that have
long leases to make such plantations, as they turn
out a profitable concern. Indeed, in all leases, my
opinion is, that the tenants should be taken bound
to raise a given number of young willow trees. Ev-
en tenants at rack rent should not be excepted,
because the measure would produce important ad-
vantages to the country.

Either the red or white willows will grow well,
as may be seen in all the fen parishes. They will
prosper on afi kinds of fen, moor or moss, or wet or
low lands ; on any kind of clay, loam, or mixed
soils ; but should never be planted on any high,
dry, or burning lands.

These willows are always planted of cuttings or
boughs, commonly of four years growth ; the sets
have frequently the tops cut off, and are left about
eight feet long ; but, before planting, they should
have the thick end put in water three or four weeks,
which makes them grow the better. When the
planting season arrives, holes are dug about two feet
deep, and at nine or ten feet distance ; the sets are

32

then put in, and the holes filled up with earth.
After the sets are planted, if the weather be very
dry, they should be watered sometimes during the
first year of their growth. Such plantations should
be either fenced in, or stock kept from them for a
few years, till they are covered with a coarse, thick
bark, that stock will not eat. Those which were
topped before planting, should be cut every four
years, when they will produce many sets to plant
fresh fields, or valuable wood for other purposes.

But it is a most excellent plan not to cut the
tops off the sets when they are planted, but to let
them grow for timber, and only cut the side boughs
off every four years for sets, &;c. These willows
will grow, in most situations, more rapidly, I be-
lieve, than any other wood, and to a prodigious
large size, even as larsfe as oaks or elms. The wood
is very tough and durable, when kept dry or pamt-
ed, and is valuable for buildings, and other pur-
poses. It is a proverb in the fens, that " a willow
will buy a horse, before an oak will buy a saddle."

I am yours, &c.

A Cambridge Agriculturalist,

FROM THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, (SCOTLAND.)

Observations on the best and most economical Method
of Boiling Potatoes.

Sir,

In your supplement, a receipt is given for
boiling potatoes, which I have formerly seen ; and
it was then said to be recommended by Count
Rum FORD. Admitting it to have been recom-
mended by that celebrated economist, 1 must af-
firm, that the receipt is calculated not only to boil,
but, at the same time, to spoil the potatoes, cooked

33

in the mode therein recommended, when they are
in the smallest degree of an inferior quality : partic-
ularly by putting in cold water from time to time,
to lessen the heat of the water in the pot, and boil-
ing them with their skins on.

The fact is, that to render potatoes mealy, they
must he boiled in the most expeditious manner possi-
ble : and for accomplishing this, I give you the re-
ceipt followed by my own good wife at home. Po-
tatoes of last year's growth are generally of an indif-
ferent quality ; but any attentive housewife who
tries both methods, can then judge which deserves
the preference.

1^^, Pick out the quantity to be used as nearly
of an equal size as possible, let them be well wash-
ed, and the skins scraped off, as is done with car-
rots, taking out the eyes, and any earth that re-
mains about them, with the point of a knife ; when
the potatoes are large, they may cut into two, three,
or four pieces ; throw them one by one, as they are
done, into clean water, and rinse them well about,
before they are put into the goblet.

2<//y, Put the scraped potatoes into a goblet that
has a tight, well fitted cover, with as much clean
water as will barely cover them ; throw in a little
salt ; fit on the cover as closely as possible, for keep-*
ing in the steam, and increasing the heat, and place
the goblet on the hotest part of a hot fire^ in order
that it may boil as rapidly as possible. Whenever
the potatoes are enough boiled, they must be taken
off the fire, otherwise they will immediately begin
to absorb the water (to the detriment of their mealy
quality ;) which being poured off, the goblet is a-
gain put upon the fire, with the cover off, to dry up
the moisture ; they are then taken out with a spoon,
and put upon a dish for serving up to table.

Potatoes, boiled in this manner, will be found per-
fectly clean, more mealy than when dressed with

E

34

the skins on ; besides, when they come to table in
this last mentioned state, it is certainly a very dis-
agreeable operation, taking off the skins, by soiling
the fingers, dirtying the table cloth, confusing the"
plates, and taking up the time and attention of the
eaters, when they ought to be better employed.
The mode here recommended, is also more econom-
ical ; for if part of the potatoes should fall down into
meal, it is found perfectly clean, and fit for being
made into a pudding ; but when the skins are left
on, the mealy part being attached to them, is en-
tirely lost, or only fit to be given to swine or poultry.
I am your old friend, E .

On the Agriculture of the Netherlands. By the
Abbe Mann. Extracted J'rom the 5th volume
o/HuNTER^s Georgical Essays.

The characteristick features of the Belgick peas-
ants are, industrij^ great economif., and a strong attach-
ment to the methods and customs of their prede-
cessors.

Few people are more attached to their customs
and practices, than the Belgick peasants. They
seldom change their methods of agriculture, being
persuaded that their forefathers were as wise and
knowing as themselves, and that what they did, is
the best themselves can do.

As to the methods of agriculture, or the nature of
crops, the government of the Low Countries takes
no cognizance of them, but leaves every one to do
what he thinks best ; and certainly, private interest
and the love of gain, are the best stimulants on this
head, and seldom fail to excite each one to cultivate
his ground in the manner, and with the produc-
tions, which he fmds most profitable. Experience
thereon is his only rule and guide.

35

The most universal land measure in the Low
Countries, is the 'hunder^ or bonier. In Brabant
and Hainault, it contains four hundred square perch-
es or roods, of twenty feet long ; so that the square
rood contains four hundred square feet, and the
bunder, one hundred and sixty thousand. The
rood varies in different parts, as does also the foot,
which, in general, is less than the English one. On
an average, the bunder may be reckoned three En-
glish acres. In Flanders, land is usually measured
by what is called a ghemet^ a measure containing
three hundred square roods ; the rood being in some
places twelve, in others fifteen Flemish feet long :
but, in some parts of this province, a bunder or bo-
nier is in use, containing four hundred square roods,
as in Brabant and Hainault ; but the rood varies in
different cantons, from ten to twenty feet in length.
The bonier contains four journals of land.

In the rest of this essay, I shall treat briefly of
the methods of agriculture, in different parts of
Flanders, Brabant, and Hainault, distinguishing
them according to the different nature of the soil,
and confining myself to such practices as are gene-
rally established in each. As the difference of cli-
mate is insensible within these limits, I shall prefer
the order which results from the soil, to that of lo-
cality, as the practices of husbandry, in an extent of
flat country, not exceeding one hundred miles any
way, are determined in a great measure, by the soil
alone.

The different soils I shall speak of, are the fol-
lowing :

1. The sandy heath of the Campine of Brabant.

2. The parts of Brabant contiguous to the Cam-
pine.

3. The strong clayey soil of Walloon Brabant,
and the northern parts of Hainault.

36

4. The soil of the middle region of Brabant, be-
ing a mixture of sand and loam.

5. The hght, sandy soil about Bruges.

6. The rich loam of the districts of Ghent, Cour-
tray, and Maritime Flanders.

7. The artificial soil of the Pays de Waes.

The Campine of Brabant.

It is well known that the Campine of Brabant,
which is the northern part of that province, consist-
ed originally of sand covered with heath, interspers-
ed with lakes and extensive marshes, and here and
there, with woods of fir. Tradition supposes it to
have been once a part of the sea. To this day,
where cultivation has not extended, the soil of itself
produces nothing but heath and fir. The sand is
of the most barren and harsh kind, nor can it be
rendered fertile, but by continued manuring. As
the property of this ground may be acquired for a
trifle, many have been the attempts of private per-
sons to bring tracts of it into cultivation : every
means have been tried for that purpose, and gov-
ernment has given every possible encouragement
to it. But I have not heard of any one, however
considerable might be his fortune, that has succeed-
ed in it, and many have been ruined by the project.
What is cultivated in the Campine, is owing to the
religious houses established in it, especially to the
two great abbeys of Tongerloo and Everbode.
Their uninterrupted duration for five or six hun-
dred years past, and their indefatigable industry,
have conquered these barren, harsh sands, and ren-
dered many parts of them highly productive. The
method they follow is simple and uniform ; they
never undertake to cultivate more of this barren
soil at a time, than they have sufficient manure for ;
seldom more than five or six bunders in a year ;

37

and when it is brought by labour and manuring in-
to a state capable of producing sufficient for a fam-
ily to live on, it is let out to farmers on easy terms,
after having built them comfortable habitations.
By these means, many extensive tracts of the Cam-
pine are well cultivated, and covered with villages,
well built houses, and churches. The abbey of
Tongerloo alone, furnishes about seventy of its
members as curates to these parishes, all of whom
owe their existence to that original stock. I may
add here, and that from the undoubted testimony
of the historians of the Low Countries, that the
cultivation of the greatest part of these rich prov-
inces, took its rise from the selfsame means, eight
hundred or a thousand years back, when they were
in a manner, one continued forest.

A Campine farm of twenty bunders is stocked
with two or three horses, seven or eight cows, some
oxen, and is cultivated with coleseed, clover, rye,
oats, and little or no wheat. It is hardly necessary
to add, that potatoes, turnips, and carrots, are culti-
vated, not only in the Campine, but throughout all
the Low Countries. But the culture of spergule,
( tilcine spergida major J is more peculiar to the
north of Brabant, though not confined to that tract
alone. It serves the cows for autumn food, and the
butter of this season is called spergule butter, of
which the Campine furnishes a great quantit}, es-
pecially to Brussels, where it is employed for the
use of the kitchen, as being both cheaper and more
profitable than any other for that purpose. This
plant is sown where corn has been reaped, after the
ground has been lightly ploughed. Cows are teth-
ered on it in October, and a space allowed to each
one, proportionable to the quantity of food which
is proper for her. This pasture lasts till the frosts
come on.

38

As spergule gives but little straw, and conse-
quently little manure, the farmers supply the want
thereof, in the following manner. The peat or sods
which are cut from the heath, are placed in the
stables and cow stalls, as litter for the cattle. The
ground under them is dug to a certain depth, so as
to admit a considerable quantity of these peat sods,
and fresh ones are added, as the feet of the cattle
tread them down into less compass. These com-
pose so many beds of manure, thoroughly impreg-
nated with the urine and dung of the cattle. This
litter is renewed at proper tunes, and that which is
removed from the stables and cow stalls is laid up
in heaps, till it be carried into the fields where it is
to be spread. This mixture produces a compost of
excellent quality for fertilizing ground, where corn
is to be sown. By these means a far greater quan-
tity of manure is produced from the peat, than
could be had by burning it, as is done in some
parts. In the Campineof Brabant, the main object
which the farmers have in view, is to obtain a great
quantity of manure, without which, all attempts to
cultivate that barren soil are in vain.

Besides butter, the Campine furnishes the rest of
Brabant, and Brussels particularly, with great quan-
tities of fat fowl ; the markets are constantly sup-
plied with them, and they are preferred to any oth-
er of the same kind. They are not less sought for
and esteemed in South Holland.

The parts of Brabant contiguous to the Campine.

There are no great farms in these parts, and hard-
ly any such thing as tenants ; each farmer is a pro-
prietor ; and as he cultivates his own ground, it is
clear that he will do all he can to render it fertile,
without impoverishing it : far different in this re-
spect from the tenant, who only seeks his own tern-

39

porary interest, by forcing the soil, during his lease;
if he has no assurance of renewing it, indifferent
how much he may impoverish the land for the fu-
ture.

There are many meadows in these districts, which
give regularly two crops of hay, one at midsummer,
the other towards the end of August. It is not ob-
served, that frequent mowing impoverishes those
meadows whose soil is deep and fat. If others of
inferior soil appear spent, the custom is to sow them
for three succeeding yeai-s with oats, and the last
thereof mixing clover with the oats ; by this means,
they become excellent meadows anew.

In proportion as the ground rises from the mead-
ows, it diminishes in goodness, becoming at last a
rough, brown sand, mixed with pebbles ; and under
this is a stratum of compact clay, through which
water filtrates with difficulty. Such ground as this,
gives small crops of rye, but it is excellent for black
or turkey wheat, (bled Sarrazin.J

The productions of this part of the country are,
wheat, rye, barley, oats, and turkey wheat ; and as
food for cattle, spergule, clover, turnips, and pota-
toes. They cultivate also rape, coleseed, and flax,
chiefly for their oils ; and also tobacco. I shall add
a few observations on some of these.

The good corn land of this canton never lie^
fallow ; the only rest that is given it, is to let it lie
a year in the clover that was sown on it with the
corn the preceding year ; and then it returns again
to corn, which is produced in its former abundance.
It has been observed, likewise, that the best crops
are produced when the corn is sown thin.

Turkey wheat, made into paste, and fried with
fat bacon, is the ordinary food of the peasants of
these parts, and also of the Campine. It serves
them likewise for fatting their fowl ; of which, as
was said above of the Cainpine, they feed great

40

quantities for the markets of the rest of Brabant and
of Holland.

Great quantities ofspergule are likewise cultivat-
ed in this district. It is sown immediately after the
corn is reaped. This plant is excellent in the lat-
ter season for cows : it is wholesome, and increases
the quantity and the goodness of their milk ; and
the butter made from it is fatter, and keeps better,
than that made from grass in May and June. Sper-
gule serves likewise for manure, in light soils, on
account of its succulent and fat nature ; being
ploughed down while it is still green, it serves as a
partial amendment for sowing wheat on the ground.

Clover is sown along with rye, barley, oats, wheat,
and even with flax. Clover seed is a great branch
of commerce in this country. When they do not
choose to let the clover grow up for seed, it is cut
at least three times in a year. After the last cut,
the plant is ploughed under,' and makes a good ma-
nure ; and with a little dung added to it, wheat or
rye are profitably sown on the ground.

Turnips and carrots are sown indifferently with
any sort of corn ; insomuch that in autumn, after
the corn is reaped, the fields appear covered with
them ; and it is observed, that those which grow
in this manner, are better than those planted in gar-
dens, and are an excellent and healthy food for
both men and cattle.

Potatoes are here likewise of great use for both.
Their culture serves to amend ground newly brok-
en up, by dividing and lightening its too compact
parts, and rendering it thereby proper for sowing
rye on the following year.

Coleseed (colza) and rape require a strong soil,
and rather dry. Flax exhausts the ground, and is
detrimental to the culture of corn on it. Tobacco
produces a still worse effect of the same kind.

"41

It has been found of great use in this part of the
country, to divide the land into small fields, enclos-
ed with ditches and quickset hedges, which shelter
the vegetation from the dry winds and frosts of the
spring ; nor are they less useful in long droughts,
for the same reason. The ditches are receptacles
for the water, which runs off in rainy seasons, and
contribute also to the growth of the hedges, which
are cut for faggots every five or six years. Oak,
beech, birch, poplar, hazel, &c. are planted for these
hedges, the growth of which is kept down by fre-
quent cutting.

WaUoo7i Brabant^ and Northern parts of Hainault.

The soil I shall speak of under this head, is in
general a cold, compact clay, almost impenetra-
ble to rain, and in droughts hard and full of cracks.
In ploughing, the furrows are made from eight to
twelve feet in distance. Lime and marl are found
to be the best manures for this ground, which is
manured one year in three. Long experience has
shown, that the earth, after ploughing, must not be
too much broken ; for if it be, the rain forms it in-
to an even compact mass, which afterwards dries
and hardens, so as to become like one of the barn
floors of the country ; whereas, when the earth is
left in clods, these crumble away insensibly during
winter and spring, and thereby cover gradually the
roots and young stalks of the corn.

Culture of Wheat. The ground whereon wheat
is to be sown, is completely dunged, and ploughed
five times ; the first time in November, the second
in March or April, the third at midsummer, at which
time the dung is spread on it, the fourth in August,
the fifth and last in September. Four raziers,
weighing one hundred pounds each, are usually
sown on a bunder, which gives in its turn, fifty ra-

F

42

ziers, when the crop is good. When hme is used
for manure, four waggon loads are usually laid on a
bunder.

Rye. This is sown on land that has been dung-
ed and sown with wheat the foregoing year. Two
ploughings suffice. The sowing is begun about the
twentieth of September, if the weather permits ;
and in the spring, clover is sown on it. The crop
is usually ripe in July.

MeteiL Wheat and rye sown together are call-
ed meteil. This mixture is sown, like rye, on a
ground that has borne wheat the preceding year,
and which has been ploughed in the same manner.
The sowing and reaping time of meteil are a little
later than those of the rye.

Oats. They are sown preferably on land which
has borne clover ; and in this case one ploughing
suffices.

Clover. Clover is sown along with wheat and
rye ; twenty pounds of seed are used for a bunder.
An artificial meadow of clover, remains good for
two years ; but in the spring of the second year,
forty tubs (cuvelles) of ashes, each weighing about
sixty pounds, are spread on a bunder: but this
quantity varies according to the season, and the na-
ture of the ground.

Potatoes and Carrots., are great articles of culti-
vation in these parts, and used for both men and
cattle ; but the methods have nothing peculiar.

Turmjjs, are sown on a well dunged ground,
about the middle of July : and before the end of
September, if the season be favourable, they are fit
to be given to the cattle, who feed partly on them,
as long as they remain good.

Horsebeans, Peas, Vetches. All these are culti-
vated in these parts of the Low Countries, without
any material ditference in the manner, from what is
practised elsewhere.

43

Cokat, or Coleseed. It is sown about the mid-
dle of July, and the young plants are transplanted
about the end of September. This is done with a
narrow spade, sunk into the ground, and moved
with the hand forwards and backwards, which sim-
ple motion makes a sufficient opening to receive
the plant : a boy or girl follows the labourer with
plants, and, putting one of them into each hole,
treads against it to close it up. If the plantation is
done with the plough, the plants are placed at regu-
lar distances in the furrow, and are covered with the
earth turned up by the succeeding furrow. Some
time after the coleseed is planted, the foot of the
stalks are covered by means of a common spade, or
hoe, with the earth near it, which furnishes nourish-
ment for the plants during winter, by the crumbling
of these little clods of earth over the roots. The
coleseed is reaped about midsummer, or later, ac-
cording as the season is more or less advanced: it
is left on the field for ten or twelve days after it is
cut, and then thrashed on a kind of sail cloth, spread
on the ground for that purpose, and the seed carri-
ed in sacks to the farm. When the crop is good,
a bunder produces about forty raziers, of eighty
pounds weight each. It is to be observed, that the
ground whereon coleseed is to be planted, must be
dunged, and twice ploughed, the same year it is
put in use.

Flax. The land for sowing flax, must be care-
fully cleaned from bad weeds, and well dunged.
Some farmers, for the sake of getting better crops
of flax, sow it on clover ground, which they dung
towards the end of September, and plough after-
wards. One hundred and eighty pounds of seed
are sown on a bunder as soon as spring comes on.
When the flax is about four inches high, it is care-
fidly weeded, without which precaution the weeds
would stifle the plants ; and this is repeated, as often

44

as the weeds get head anew. Whfen the crop is
good, a bunder yields about four hundred pounds
weight of flax. The flax of this part of the coun-
try, is much inferior in quahty, to that produced
about Courtrav and Menin.

In these parts of the Low Countries, the farms
are usually much greater than in Flanders, and in
the middle region of Brabant, where the land is
richer. In Hainauit, all farms of above seventy
bunders have been divided ; but this has not extend-
ed to Walloon Brabant, where there are still many
great farms,

A farm of seventy bunders* is usually distrib-
uted as follows ; ten bunders of meadow, ten of
wheat, twelve of rye, three of winter barley, one of
spring barley, eight of oats, four of horeebeans, peas,
and vetches, and eight of clover ; which together,
make fifty six bunders in cultivation, the other four-
teen lying fallow, in all seventy bundei-s. For cul-
tivating such a farm, eight horses are necessary:
and it is stocked with sixteen cows, twelve oxen,
and a flock of two hundred sheep ; besides hogs
and fowls in proportion.

The Middle Region of Brabcmf.

The land is here a mixture of sand and loam,
which make an excellent light soil, but not so rich
as that of Flanders, though preferable perhaps for
corn. The usual productions of this part of the
country are wheat, rye, oats, barley, beans, peas,
vetches, clover, turnips, carrots, and potatoes. No
ground here lies fallow : the farms are seldom ex-
tensive : forty bunders may be taken for an average.
The distribution of a farm of this size, is usually into
about six bunders of meadow, and thirty four of
arable land.

* About two hundred and ten English acres.

45

These last are manured almost yearly, with from
twelve to sixteen waggon loads of manure to each
bunder, those in clover excepted. On these it is
usual to spread, in March, turf ashes brought in
boats from Holland. From eighty to one hundred
tubs of about sixty pounds Aveight each are employ-
ed for a bunder, one third of which is kept to be
spread after the first cut. Many of the Flemish
farmers make great use of these ashes, which being'
highly impregnated with salts, enrich the land so as
to render it capable of producing excellent crops of
wheat, without any other manure, except turning
under the clover it was sown with the preceding
year.

In most farm yards, a deep ditch is dug near the
cow house, into which the urine of the cattle runs,
and a sufficient quantity is gathered, for spreading
over two or three bunders, which proves an excel-
lent manure.

The arable part of such a farm as I am speaking
of, is distributed as follows : five bunders of wheat,
five of rye, two of meteil, two of barley, four of oats,
two of beans, peas, and vetches, five of clover, four
of turnips, carrots, and potatoes, and five of cole-
seed ; in all, thirty four bunders ; the other six
being meadow.

The following rotation is used in the culture of
these parts. The ground being well manured, the
first year coleseed is planted ; the second year it is
sown with wheat ; and the third with rye, without
dunging. From two to three raziers of wheat, of
eighty pounds each, are usually sown on a bunder,
and when the crop is good, it yields from thirty to
forty raziers of the same weight.

Some farmers spread turf ashes on the ground
where they have sown turnips and carrots, as well
as on that sown with clover, &c. and then pass the
harrow over it.

46

In a favourable year, a journal (a quarter of a
bunder) of land well manured, will produce from
fifty to sixty sacks of potatoes.

Those that feed sheep in the districts where no
land lies fallow, feed them as well as their other cat-
tle, with corn, beans, peas, vetches, turnips, and
other roots.

Agriculture of Flanders ; andjirst hi the environs of

Bruges.

The quality of the soil varies greatly in different
parts of the district of Bruges, although the main
constituent of it be every where a light sand. In
many parts, continual manuring and cultivation
have rendered it extremely rich ; in some spots, for
want of these, it is less so ; but a more extensive
population would soon bring them into the same
state as the rest.

There are many large farms in this part of the
country, belonging in general to the rich abbeys ;
those of lay proprietors are for the most part less ;
and those of which the farmers themselves are pro-
prietors, are still smaller. The culture in these
cantons is regulated as follows :

A ghemet, or measure of land, is manured the
first year with dung, or, near Bruges, with a boat
load of street dirt from that city ; it is then sown
with flax ; the second year wheat is sown on it ;
the third year, rye ; the fourth year it is again
slightly manured, and sown with oats, or turkey
wheat, and sometimes with clover, turnips, carrots,
parsnips, or potatoes.

Clover is sown along with oats, and only lasts a
year ; it is afterwards ploughed, manured, and sown
with wheat and flax.

Broom is sometimes sown as an amendment for
bad land, and pulled up at the end of the second

47

year during winter. The ground is then dunged,
ploughed, and cultivated with later crops, sown in
the spring.

Turnips, carrots, parsnips, and potatoes, supply
in these parts the want of meadows, and great care
is taken to preserve them during winter, for food for
their cattle. Turnips, carrots, and parsnips are laid
in the earth, in round heaps, of eight or ten feet in
diameter at the bottom, and five or six feet high ;
when the first layer is placed, it is covered with
long straw ; and so on alternately to the top. These
heaps are opened in the winter or spring, according
as the farmer has need of them for feeding his
horses and cows ; they are given likewise to early
lambs, when young grass is wanting.

Potatoes are kept in deep holes dug in sandy
ground, where they are seldom hurt by ordinary
frosts, and keep good till far on in the spring.

In this tract of country, there are many little
woods of oak, elm, beech, alder, and here and there,
fir of the maritime kind. Great quantities of wil-
lows are planted, and some are let grow up into
trees, out of which are made windlasses for the
boats and barges of the country : these sell dearer
than oak.

Lands on the Rivers Lys and Scheldt^ from Menin
and Courtraij^ to Ghent and Dendermonde, and
also of Maritime Flanders.

The soil on the flat banks of the Lys and the
Scheldt, is reckoned among the best in Flanders : it
is, in general, a rich, sandy, moist loam, become al-
most black with a long and uninterrupted cultiva-
tion. Hardly any great farms are found here ; those
of from sixty to eighty ghemets are counted the
greatest, and they are generally less, as the land is
richer.

48

In the lai-gest of these farms, there are seldom
more than three or four horses, and ten or twelve
cows. The farmer employs from twenty to thirty
waggon loads of duiig for three ghemets of land,
and only fifteen or sixteen loads, if it be street dirt,
from the great towns, or turf ashes brought by water
from Holland.

These lands produce grain of every sort in great
abundance, as also every kind of esculent roots,
which are given to the cattle in winter, along with
their hay. The meadows along the rivers, and in
other parts of this rich and moist soil, are superiorly
good, and the clover is the most luxuriant I ever
saw. It is usual to spread, in the spring, sixty sacks
of turf ashes on three ghemets of clover sown the
preceding year, which proves an excellent manure
to it.

A great branch of culture in these parts, and par-
ticularly in the districts of Courtray and Menin, is
that of flax, of which they produce an immense
quantity^ and of the finest kind. The expense of
this culture is great, the labour bestowed on it in
weeding, is almost uninterrupted, and the damage
it does to the soil in exhausting its vegetable juices
is beyond measure ; but in return, a good crop will
almost buy the ground. To recover the soil after a
crop of flax, clover and spergule are sown on it, and
turned down for manure.

The plough used for this fine light soil, has a lit-
tle wheel and an immoveable sower : one horse
serves to draw it, or two at most, in the strongest of
this ground.

Lands uncultivated, and fields lying fallow, are
here unknown. There are few woods in this part
of the country : but all the fields are enclosed with
hedges, and thick set with trees, insomuch that the
whole face of the country, seen from any little
height, seems one continued wood.

49

The agriculture in Maritime Flanders is much
the same with that now spoken of, as the soils of
each bear a great resemblance ; only that near the
sea is more moist, the meadows are more exten-
sive, and little or no flax or spergule are there culti-
vated. If there be any material difference between
these soils, it consists in the greaterquantity of ma-
rine substances, which enter into the composition of
the soil of Maritime Flanders, than of that in the
inner part of the country, and these add to it an ad-
ditional degree of fertility.

The castlery of Furns, and the environs of Dix-
mude, abound more in excellent meadows than any
other part of the Low Countries : the number of
horned cattle fed there is immense, as is also the
quantity of butter produced and sold, chiefly at Dix-
mude market : and it is of the best quality, both
for richness and keeping.

The Pays de Waes.

The land of Waes is the district lying on the
north side of the Scheldt, between Ghent and Ant-
werp ; it is a perfect flat, and is reckoned the rich-
est part of Flanders. The original soil was pure
sand, and its present state of fertility, is owing to
the great number of its industrious inhabitants, who
cukivate a few acres round their dwellings, of
which, for the most part, they are proprietors. The
natural meadows are rich, and the great number of
cows, which the inhabitants keep, furnish manure
in great abundance : but they are not content with
this alone ; great quantities of turf ashes are brought
thither from Holland, as also a great part of the
street dirt and dung from Brussels, Antwerp, and
Ghent, besides what is had from the many rich and
populous towns and villages, with which this district
is covered.

50

The farms being so very small, few horses are
kept in the land ofWaes; the ground is chiefly
worked with the spade and hoe, which the extreme
hghtness of the soil renders easy. If a plough be
used, it is of the most simple kind, without wheels,
and drawn by one horse. All these contribute to-
gether to give a richness and fertility to the soil of
this tract, which surpasses almost what can be im-
agined. No spot lies uncultivated.

The common method of culture is as follows :
a bunder of land is manured, once in seven years,
with from forty to fifty cart loads of dung and town
dirt. The first year it is sown with hemp ; the sec-
ond, with flax ; the third, with wheat ; the fourth
and fifth, with rye ; the sixth, with oats ; and the
seventh with clover, turkey wheat, turnips, or car-
rots. Fallow ground is unknown here.

Spergule is sometimes sown about mid August,
on land that has borne wheat ; and in October, the
cows are put into it. The spergule which they culti-
vate for seed, is sown in March, and reaped in June.

It is to be observed, that the riches of the land
of Waes consist chiefly in the culture of flax and
hemp ; the other crops being in general for their
own use, and for home consumption, which indeed
is very considerable, on account of the jgjreat popu-
lation of this district. The produce of their flax
and hemp is so considerable, that in a good year,
they are reckoned to amount almost to the value of
the ground.

The agriculture of the land of Waes, passes, in-
disputably, for the most complete and perfect in all
the Netherlands.

« I

51

FROM THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, (SCOTLAND.)

On the Froprietij of bruising Oats zvith a Machine^
for such Horses as do not grind them sufficienthj
with their Teeth.

Sir,

Having some time ago heard the above
subject discussed in a society of respectable farmers^,
I was rather surprised to find much difference of
opinion, on a question which might have been so
easily decided by experiment.

It was contended by some, that oats vegetated on
a dunghill, after passing whole through the stom-
ach of a horse. And, on the other hand, it was
stated, that although whole oats were to be found
in horse dung, they had parted with their farinace-
ous and nutritive properties in their passage through
the horse, and were become either empty husks,
or contained only an insignificant portion of mucil-
age, without any power of vegetation ; and that the
oats growing on dunghills, were such as had fallen
from the horses' mouths while feeding.

I beg leave to state, that I accidentally noticed a
large quantity of whole oats in some dung just pass-
ed from a horse, and, upon examining them, they
appeared to be quite sound : I thereupon had the
dung mixed with mould in a garden pot, and, in
about a fortnight, the oats began to vegetate very
freely, and are at this time two or three inches above
ground.

It is not convenient to me to follow up this ex-
periment, and I therefore confine my statement to
saying, that oats have vegetated after passing through
one ofmij horses.

This fact must have been repeatedly ascertained ;
but as it is by no means generally received, you
may think it worth while to take further notice of

52

it ; and since it is connected with very important
considerations in the branch of agriculture, relative
to feeding, it cannot be too frequently impressed on
your readers.

From the above, I am induced to suggest the
utility of bruising all grain that is to be given to
horses, so as the full benefit of the nutritive matter
therein contained may be procured.

I am yours, &c. T. N. P,

FROM THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, (SCOTLAND.)

On the Use of Farsleij as Food for Horses and

Cattle,
Sir,

As 3'our magazine is solely devoted to the
purposes of agriculture, every fact, and every ex-
periment that tends to enlarge our knowledge, and
to promote the ends of that great national concern,
ought to have a place in it. I am induced, from
this motive, to lay before you an experiment upon
a small scale, which 1 never heard had been made
before, but which may in time become of great pub-
lick utility, if it shall be found, upon farther trial,
to succeed as well as in the case to which I allude.
You may fully depend on the truth of the "fact it-
self. -

A friend of mine having occasion to observe the
partiality of black cattle for the common garden
parsley, and their preference of it, when growing,
to almost any other green food, took it in his head
to try hovy it would succeed in a field that he was
going to sow down for pasture. He accordingly
sowed two or three ridges with parsley seed, and
the rest of the field with clover and rye grass. As
soon as the field was ready for pasture, he led his
cattle into it, and it was perfectly evident that they

53

preferred that part which was sown with the pars-
ley, to any, other part of the field, insomuch that
they never touched the rest, while there was a
single blade of parsley to be had. Horses were
equally fond of it. He had not an opportunity
to try sheep upon it ; but the probability is, that
they would, if possible, have been fonder of it, and
thriven better, than any of the other two. This,
therefore, seems worth v of a farther trial. We
know that black cattle, sheep, horses, and indeed
every other animal, always prefer that food (when
they have it in their power to make a choice) that
is most agreeable to them, and most conducive to
their health. We know also that parsley is a most
wholesome vegetable for the human species. It is
a powerful antiseptick. If w^e were to reason from
analogy, we should suppose that its beneficial prop-
erties should extend to the animal creation in gen-
eral. As it is a perennial plant, it will answer well
for fields that are to be laid down for pasture for a
considerable while. Sheep, in particular, being of a
tender and delicate constitution, and especially sub-
ject to bowel complaints, its antiseptick quality may
be of great use to correct these. The difficulty
may be at first to get the seed in any considerable
quantity ; but that may soon be remedied, if the
experiment be thought worth while. I would sup-
pose that the ground upon which it is sown must
be good, in good condition, and clean, otherwise it
will not have a fair trial.

AGRICOLA.

FOOD OF PLANTS.

The following account of the probable food of
plants, is taken from a late celebrated English work.
Its principal object is directed to the mixture of

I ^

54

different earths, and the use of animal and vegetable
matter as manures to support the new plant, and the
advantages that arise from the use of these articles, in
a crude state, that in their decomposition or putre-
faction, the surrounding earth may be impregnated
with those volatile parts that commonly evaporate
and are lost in the air ; as is easily discovered by the
offensive smell, which never ought be suffered to
escape, and is attended with a loss of the most val-
uable parts of the collection, but which is complete-
ly preserved when scattered over a large surface,
mixed and covered with the earth in small portions.

" Plants, after they have germinated, do not re-
main stationary, but are continually increasing in
size. A tree, for instance, every season adds con-
siderably to its former bulk. The root sends forth
new shoots, and the old ones become larger and
thicker. The same increment takes place in the
branches and the trunk. When we examine this
increase more minutely, we find that a new layer
of wood, or rather of alburnum, has been added to
the tree in every part, and this addition is made
just under the bark. We find too, that a layer of
alburnum has assumed the appearance of perfect
wood. Besides this addition of vegetable fibre, a
great number of leaves have been produced ; and
the tree puts forth flowers, and forms seeds.

" It is evident from all this, that a great deal of
new matter is continually making its appearance in
plants. Hence, since it would be absurd to sup-
pose that they create new matter, it must follow
that they receive it by some channel or other.
Plants, then, require food as well as animals. Now,
what is this food, and whence do they derive it ?
These questions can only be answered by an atten-
tive survey of the substances which are contained
in vegetables, and an examination of those sub-
stances, which are necessary for their vegetation.

55

If we could succeed completely, it would throw a
great deal of light upon the nature of soils and of
manures, and on some of the most important ques-
tions in agriculture.

" In the first place, it is certain that plants will not
vegetate without water; for whenever they are de-
prived of it, they wither and die. Hence the well
known use of rains and dews, and the artificial wa-
tering of ground. Water, then, is at least an essen-
tial part of the food of plants. But many plants
grow in pure water; and therefore it may be ques-
tioned whether water is not the only food of plants.

" This opinion was adopted very long ago, and
numerous experiments have been made in order to
demonstrate it. Indeed, it was the general opinion
of the seventeenth century ; and some of the most
successful improvers of the physiology of plants, in
the eighteenth century have embraced it. The
most zealous advocates of it were, A'ax Helmont,
Boyle, Bonnet, Duhamel, and Tillet.

" Van Helmont planted a willow, which weigh-
ed five pounds, in an earthen vessel filled with soil,
previously dried in an oven, and moistened with
rain water. This vessel he sunk into the earth,
and he watered his willow sometimes with rain, and
sometimes with distilled water. After five years, it
weighed one hundred and sixty nine pounds and
one quarter, and the earth in which it was planted,
when again dried, was found to have lost only two
ounces of its original weight. Here, it has been
said, was an increase of one hundred and sixty four
pounds, and yet the only food of the willow was
pure water ; therefore it follows, that pure water is
sufficient to afford nourishment to plants. The in-
sufficiency of this experiment to decide the ques-
tion, was first pointed out by Bergman, in 1773-
He shewed, from the experiments of Margraff,
that the rain water employed by Van Helmont^

contained in it as much earth as could exist in the
willow at the end of five years. For according to
the experiments of Margraff, one pound of
rain water contains one grain of earth. The
growth of the willow therefore, by no means proves,
that the earth, plants contain, has been formed out
of water. Besides, as Mr. Kirwan has remarked,*
the earthen vessel must have often absorbed moist-
ure, from the surrounding earth, impregnated with
whatever substance, that earth contained ; for un-
glazcd, earthen vessels, as Hales and Tillet have
shewn, :|: readily transmit moisture. Hence it is ev-
ident, that no conclusion whatever can be drawn
from this experiment ; for all the substances which
the willow contained, except water, may have been
derived from the rain water, the earth in the pot,
and the moisture imbibed from the surrounding soil.

" The experiments of Duhamel and Tillet are
equally inconclusive ; so that it is impossible from
them to decide the question. Whether water be the
sole nourishment of plants or not ? We owe the
solution of this difficulty to the experiments of
Mr. Hassexfratz.

" He analyzed the bulbous roots of hyacinths, in
order to discover the quantity of water, carbon, and
hydrogen, which they contained ; and by repeating
the analysis on a number of bulbs, he discovered
how much of these ingredients was contained hi a
given weight of the bulb. He analyzed also kid-
ney beans and cress seeds in the same inanner.
Then he made a number of each of these vegetate
in pure water, taking the precaution to weigh them
beforehand, in order to ascertain the precise quan-
tity of carbon, which they contained. The plants
being then placed, some within doors, and others in
the open air, grew and flowered, but produced no

* Vide Irish Translation.
:+ Ann. de Chem,

seed. He afterwards dried them, collecting with
care all their leaves and every other part which had
dropped off during the course of the vegetation.
On submitting each plant to a chemical analysis,
he found that the quantity of carbon, which it con-
tained, was somewhat less than the quantity which
existed in the bulb, or the seed from which the
plant had sprung.

" Hence it follows irresistibly, that plants grow-
ing in pure water do not receive any increase of
carbon ; that the water merely serves as a vehicle
for the carbonaceous matter already present, and dif-
fuses it through the plant. Water, therefore, is not
the sole food of plants ; for all plants, during vege-
tation, receive an increase of carbonaceous matter,
without which they cannot produce perfect seeds,
nor even continue to vegetate beyond a certain
time ; and that time seems to be limited bj' the
quantity of carbonaceous matter, contained in the
bulb, or the seed from which they grow. ForDu-
iiAMEL found, that an oak which he had raised by
water from an acorn, made less and less progress ev-
ery year. We see, too, that those bulbous roots,
such as hyacinths, tulips, Ike. which are made to
grow in water, unless they be planted in the earth
every other year, refuse at last to flower, and even to
vegetate ; especially if they produce new bulbous
roots annually, and the old ones decay.

" So far, indeed, is water from being the sole
food of plants, that, in general, only a certain pro-
portion of it is serviceable, too much being equally
prejudicial to them as too little. Some plants, it is
true, grow constantly in water, and will not vegetate
in any other situation ; but the rest are entirely de-
stroyed when kept immersed in that fluid beyond a
certain time. Most plants require a certain degree
of moisture, in order to vegetate well. This is one
reason why different soils are required for different

H

58

plants. Rice, for instance, requires a very wet soil :
were we to sow it in the ground on which wheat
grows kixuriously, it would not succeed ; and wheat,
on the contrary, would rot in the rice ground.

" We should, therefore, in choosing a soil proper
for the plants which we mean to raise, consider the
quantity of moisture which is best adapted for them,
and choose our soil accordingly. Now, the dryness
or moisture of a soil depends upon two things ; the
nature and proportions of the earths which compose
it, and the quantity of rain which falls upon it. Ev-
ery soil contains at least three earths, silica,* hme,
and alumina, -j" and also sometimes magnesia. The
silica is always in the state of sand. Now soils re-
tain moisture longer or shorter according to the pro-
portions of these earths. Those which contain the
greatest quantity of sand, retain it the shortest, and
those which contain the greatest quantity of alumi-
na, retain it longest. The first is a dry, the second
a wet soil. Lime and magnesia are intermediate
between these two extremes : they render a sandy
soil more retentive of moisture, and diminish the
wetness of a clayey soil. It is evident, therefore,
that, by mixing together proper proportions of these
four earths, we may form a soil of any degree of
dryness and moisture that we please.

" But whatever be the nature of the soil, its mois-
ture must depend, in general, upon the quantity of
rain which falls. If no rain at all fell, a soil, how-
ever retentive of moisture it be, must remain dry ;
and if rain were very frequently falling, the soil
must be open indeed, if it be not constantly wet.
The proportion of the different earths in a soil,
therefore, must depend upon the quantity of rain
which falls. In a rainy country, the soil ought to
be open ; in a dry country, it ought to be retentive

♦Flint. t Clay.

59

of moisture. In the first, there ought to be a great-
er proportion of sand ; in the second, of clay.

" Almost all plants grow in the earth, and every
soil contains at least silica, lime, alumina, and often
magnesia. The use of these earths is to administer
the proper quantity of water to the vegetables, which
grow in the soil. But as all plants contain earths as
a part of their ingredients, is it not probable that
earths also serve as food for plants ? It has not yet
indeed been shewn, that those plants which vege-
tate in pure water, do not contain the usual quanti-
ty of earth : but as earths are absolutely necessary
for the perfect vegetation of plants, as they are con-
tained in all plants, and' are even found in their
juices, we can scarcely doubt that they are actually
imbibed, though only in small quantities. Mr.
Tennant has ascertained, that magnesia, when un-
combined with carbonic acid gas, is injurious to
corn, when employed as a manure ; and that lime
which contains a mixture of magnesia, likewise in-
jures corn.* This important fact demonstrates, that
earths are not mere vehicles for conveying water to
])lants. The same conclusion follows irresistibly
from the experiments of Saussure, junior. That
philosopher analyzed the following plants, growing
in a granitic and in a calcareous soil, namely, pinus
abies, pinus larix, rhododendron ferrugineum, vac-
cinium myrtillus, junniperus communis. The re-
sult was, that the plants which grew in the granitic
soil contained most water ; the proportion of char-
coal was nearly the same in both ; but the propor-
tion of earths corresponded nearly with the nature
of the soil. The plants which grew in the granitic
soil, contained a considerable proportion of silica and
metallic oxides ; those which grew in the calcare-
ous, little or none of these bodies, but a greater pro-
portion of calcareous earth than the granitic plants.

* Phil. Trans. 1799. British.

66

" All plants contain, likewise, various salme sub-
stances ; and if we analyze the most fertile soils, and
the richest manures, we never find them destitute
of these substances. Hence it is probable, that dif-
ferent salts enter as ingredients into the food of
plants. It is probable, also, that every plant ab-
sorbs particular kinds of salts. Thus sea plants
yield soda by analysis, while inland plants furnish
potass. The potass contained in plants, has indeed
been supposed to be the produce of vegetation ;
but this has not been proved in a satisfactory man-
ner. We find potass in the very juices of plants,
even more abundantly than in the veg-etable fibres
themselves. But this subject is still buried in ob-
scurity ; and indeed, it is extremely difficult to make
decisive experiments, on account of the very small
quantity of potass, which most plants contain.

*' The phosphorus, too, and the iron, and other
metals which are found iji plants, are, no doubt, ab-
sorbed by them as a part of their food. We may
suppose also, that the sulphuric and muriatic acids,
and perhaps even the nitric acid, when foimd in
plants, are imbibed by them along with the rest of
their aliment.

" Nothing is at present known concerning those
saline substances, which form an essential part of
the food of plants, though it has been long remark-
ed, that certain salts are useful as manures.

" Water, then, and earths, and perhaps also salts,
form a part of the food of plants ; but plants contain
carbon, which cannot be derived from any of these
substances ; consequently, some siibstance or other
besides, which contains carbon, must constitute a
part of the food of plants. Mr. Gtoeert mixed to-
gether the four earths, silica, alumina, lime, magne-
sia, in proper proportions, to constitute a fertile soil;
and after moistening them with water, planted sev-
eral vegetables in them ; but none of his plants grew

6%

well, till he moistened his artificial soil with water
from a dunghill.* Now it is certain, from the exper-
iments of Hassenfratz, that this water contains
carbon ; for when evaporated, it constantly leaves
behind it a residuum of charcoal.| We know like-
wise, from a great variety of experiments, that all
fertile soils contain a considerable quantity of car-
bonaceous matter ; for all of them, when exposed to
heat, are susceptible of partial combustion, during
which a quantity of carbonic acid gas escapes.
Thus FouRCROY and Hassenfratz found that
nine thousand two hundred and sixteen parts of
fertile soil, contained three hundred and five parts of
carbon, besides two hundi-ed and seventy parts of
oil ; which, from the analysis of Lavoisier, we may
suppose to contain about two hundred and twenty
parts of carbon. It follows, therefore, from the ex-
periments of these chemists,:{: that nine thousand
two hundred and sixteen parts of soil, contain five
hundred and twenty five parts of carbon. But these
nine thousand two hundred and sixteen parts of
soil, contained eight hundred and six parts of roots
of vegetables, which were excluded from the analy-
sis ; consequently a fertile soil contains (exclusive
of the roots of vegetables) about one sixteenth of its
weight of carbon.

" But the carbon must exist in the soil in a par-
ticular state of combination, otherwise it does not
answer as food for plants : for instance, powdered
pitcoal, mixed with earths, is not found to act, at
least immediately, as a manure ; yet pitcoal contains
a very great quantity of carbon. Farther, it appears
from the experiments of Mr. Hassenfratz, that
substances employed as manures, produce effects
in times proportioned to their degree of putrefacr
tion ; those substances which are most putrid,

* Encyc. -f An. de Chem.

1 Vid, Encyc. mett. Physiol, veg.

62

producing- the most speedy effects, and of course
soonest losing their efficacy. Having manured two
pieces of the same kind of soil, the one with a mix-
ture of dung and straw highly putrefied, the other
with the same mixture newly made, and the straw
almost fresh, he observed that, during the first year,
the plants which grew on the land manured with
the putrefied dung, produced a much better crop
than the other : but the second year, (no new dung
being added) the ground which had been manured
with unputrefied dung, produced the best crop ; the
same thing took place the third year, after wiiich,
both seemed to be equally exhausted.* Here it is
evident, that the putrefied dung acted soonest, and
soonest exhausted. It follows from this, that car-
bon only acts as a manure when in a particular state
of combination ; and this state, whatever it may be,
is evidently produced by putrefaction. Another ex-
periment of the same chemist renders this truth still
more evident. He allowed shavings of wood to re-
main for about ten months in a moist place, till they
began to putrefy, and then spread them over a piece
of ground by way of manure. The first two years
this piece of ground produced nothing more than
others which had not been manured at all ; the
third year it was be.tter, the fourth year it was still
better, the fifth year it reached its maximum of fer-
tility ; after which it declined constantly till the
ninth, when it was quite exhausted. f Here the
effect of the manure evidently depended upon its
progress in putrefaction.

" The particular state into which carbon must be
reduced before it be fit for the food of plants, is not
known exactly, the different combinations of carbon
having been, in a great measure, overlooked. And
yet it is evident, that it is only by an accurate ex-

* Annal. de Cheni. ch. xiv.
t Ann. Chem.

65

amination of these combinations, and a thorough
analysis of manures, in order to discover what par-
ticular combinations of carbon exist in them, and in
what the most efficacious manures differ from the
rest, that we can expect to throw complete light
upon the nature and use of manures, which is one
of the most important subjects to which the farmer
can direct his attention. We know, from the ex-
periments of Mr. Hassenfratz, that all those ma-
nures which act with efficacy and celerity, contain
carbon in such a state of combination, that it is so-
luble in water ; and that the efficacy of the manure
is proportional to the quantity of carbon so soluble.
He found that all efficacious manures gave a brown
colour to water ; and that the water so coloured,
when evaporated, left a residuum, which consisted
in a great measure of carbon. He observed, too,
that the soil which gives the deepest colour to wa-
ter, or which contains the greatest quantity of car-
bon soluble in water, is, other things being the same,
the most fertile.

" This is not, however, to be understood without
limitation, for it is well known, that if we employ
excessive quantities of manure, we injure vegeta-
tion, instead of promoting it. This is the reason
that plants will not, as Mr. Duhamel found by
experiment, vegetate in saturated solutions of
dung.* One of the combinations of carbon which
is soluble in water, and with which we are best ac-
quainted, is carbonic acid gas. It has been suppos-
ed by many philosophers, particularly by Mr. Sen-
NEBiER, that this gas, dissolved in water, supplies
plants with a great part of their carbon. But Mr.
Hassenfratz, on making the experiment, found
that the plants which he raised in water, impreg-
nated with carbonic acid gas, differed in no respect
from those which grew in pure water, and did nor

* Ann. de Chem.

m

Contain a particle of carbon, which had not existed
m the seeds, from which they sprung :* this exper-
iment proves, that carbonic acid gas, dissolved in
water, does not serve as food for plants. It appears,
however, from the experiments of Ruckert, that
when plants growing in soil are watered daily, with
water impregnated with carbonic acid gas, they
vegetate faster than when this watering is omitted.
He planted two beans in pots of equal dimensions,
filled with garden mould. One of these was wa-
tered almost daily with distilled water, the other
with water, every ounce of which was impregnated
with half a cubic inch of carbonic acid gas. Both
were placed in the open air, but in a situation where
they were secure from rain. The bean treated
with the water impregnated with carbonic acid gas,
appeared above ground nine days before the other,
and produced twenty five beans ; whereas the oth-
er produced only fifteen. The same experiment
was tried on other plants with equal success. f
This shews us that carbonic acid gas is somehow or
other useful to plants, when they vegetate in
mould ; but it gives us no information about its
mode of acting. Some soils, we know, are capable
of decomposing it ; for some soils contain the green
oxide of iron : andGADOLiN has proved, that such
.soils have the property of decomposing carbonic
•acid gas.:}: Indeed almost all soils contain iron,
either in the state of the brown or the green oxide;
and Beaume has shewn that oils convert the brown
oxide of iron into the green. § Now dung contains
a quantity of oily substance ; and this is the case al-
so with rich soils. One use of manures, therefore,
may be, to reduce the broAvn oxide of iron to the
green, that it may be capable of decomposing carbo-
nic acid gas ; and the carbon, thus precipited, may

* Ann. de Chem. t Crell's Annals, 1788.

X Annal de Chem. § Kirwaii Irish Trans.

65

enter into some new combination, in which state it
may serve as food for plants. But it is more prob-
able, that the carbonic acid enters the plant com-
bined with some other body, and that its decompo-
sition takes place within the plant itself.

"Ingenhousz observed long ago, that soils have
the property of absorbing oxygen from the atmos-
phere.* This observation has been lately confirmed
by Humbolt; and upon repeating the experiment,
I found that new turned up soils does absorb oxy-
gen from the air, giving out at the same time a por-
tion of carbonic acid gas. It can scarcely be doubt-
ed, that this absorption has an influence on vegeta-
tion, especially as watering plants with weak solu-
tions of oxy-muriatic acid, accelerates vegetation.
But we know too little of the subject at present to
be able to specify, precisely, what that influence is.

" Such is the present state of our knowledge, re-
specting the food of plants, as far as it is supplied by
the soil in which they vegetate. It is probable
that it is imbibed by the extremities of the roots
only ; for Duhamel observed, that the portion of
the soil which is soonest exhausted, is precisely that
part in which the greatest number of the extremi-
ties of roots lies. This shews us the reason why
tlje roots of plants are continually increasing in
length. By this means they are enabled, in some
measure, to go in quest of nourishment. The ex-
tremities of the roots seem to have a peculiar struc-
ture, adapted for the imbibing of moisture. If we
cut oft" the extremity of a root, it never increases
any more in length ; therefore its use as a root has
been in a great measure destroyed. But its sides
send out fibres, which act the part of roots, and im-
bibe food by their extremity. Nay, in some cases,
wheA the extremity of a root is cut oif, the whole
decays, and a new one is formed in its place. This.

* Journ. de Phy.
I

66

as Dr. Bell informs us, is the case with the hya-
cinth.*

The extremities of the roots contain no visible
opening. Hence we may conclude, that the food
which they imbibe, whatever it may be, must be
in a state of solution ; while the absolute necessity
of water, renders it probable that water is the sol-
vent. And, in fact, the carbon in all active ma-
nures, is in such a state of combination, that it is
soluble in water.

" All the salts which vi^e can suppose to make a
part of the food of plants, are more or less soluble in
water. This is the case also with lime, whether it
be pure, or in the state of a salt ; magnesia and al-
umina may be rendered so by means of carbonic
acid gas ; and Bergman, Macie, andKLAPROxH,
have shewn, that even sihca may be dissolved in
water. We can see, therefore, in general, though
we have no precise notions of the very combina-
tions which are immediately imbibed by plants,
that all the substances which form essential parts of
that food may be dissolved in water.'

yj

CIDER PRESS.

NEWCASTLEJMAINEJ JAN. 6, I806.

Believing that the Massachusetts Agricultu-
ral Society wish to encourage every useful improve-
ment, I have taken the liberty to forward to you for
their inspection, a pattern of a cider press, on a new
construction, which 1 have formed, and which ap-
pears to answer a valuable purpose. I am sensible
that every thing is not new to others, which is so to
ourselves ; but as I have never seen any thing of
the kind, I am led to conclude, that if any thing like

* Monch. Mem.

67

it has been known to others, they have not suffi-
ciently felt the importance of communicating their
knowledge for the good of the publick. With a
view to have the improvement fairly tried, and the
publick generally benefited by it, 1 would request
you to present the pattern, and description accom-
panying it, to the Trustees of the Massachusetts Ag-
ricultural Society. Should they approve of it, they
will take such measures to bring it into more gene-
ral use, as they may think proper.

With sentiments of high esteem, may it please
your Excellency, I would subscribe myself, your
very humble servant,

PAUL DODGE,
His Excellency Governor Strong.

A new, clean, and easy Method to make Cider.

The apples, after being ground, are put into a
curb or vat, and levelled with a shovel ; then cover-
ed with a plank, and blocked up as usual. It may
be pressed with a long beam or short cider screw,
but hay screws are best. The cider may be pressed
in two hours. Two men and a boy may make
twenty barrels in one day. As no straw is used, it
may be made in cold weather, if the pumice does
not freeze.

The girts must be four feet eight inches inside,
four inches and an half square, made of the best of
timber, with hinges and bolts in proportion. The
slats, three feet 3 inches long, one inch and a quar-
ter thick, three inches wide, and half an inch apart.
The eye bolts may be drawn with an iron bar with
ease, and any quarter of the vat taken off, to take
out the pumice.* A curb of this size will hold

* See tUe pattern, which is in the Secretary's Office, at the New State
House.

pumice enough to make ten barrels of cider. *I
have made cider in this new way two years, and
find it is done with half the usual labour, and the
cider clear. The above can be attested by many.

PAUL DODGE.

Nezi) Castle, Dec. 3, 1805.

Experiment, showing the Importance of selecting
the first ripe Seeds, communicated to the Trustees
of the Agricultural Society, by James Freeman.
Sept. 1, 1805.

To ascertain whether the ripening ofseedscanbe
forwarded, by sowing those which are the earliest
ripe, I have made experiments, all of which have
been successful, on several different sorts. It will
be sufficient to mention one only.

In the year 1801, I planted the case knife bean.
The pods first formed, which are commonly those
nearest the root, were reserved ; and when about
the quantity of a peck was fully ripe, they were
gathered on the same day. The largest and fairest
of the seeds were planted the next year, and the
first formed pods reserved as before. The same
method has been pursued without any variation,
till the present year : by means of which, whilst the
bean has not degenerated in its quality, the ripening
of the seeds has been forwarded twenty six days ;
as will appear from the following

TABLE.

Plantetl.

Gathered.

No. days

ISOl, May 20,

Sept. 9.

112

1802, May 11,

Aug. 21,

102

1803, May 10,

Aug. 8,

90

1801, May 8,

Aug. 4,

88

1805, May 6,

July 31,

86

Cf9

The first column denotes the time of planting the
seeds ; the second, that of gathering the seeds,
which were first ripe ; and the tliird, the number of
days which elapsed between the time of planting
and the time of gathering.

As in the second and following years I anticipated
the time of planting the seeds (by which means
fourteen days have been gained, in addition to the
twenty six noted above) to determine what effect
later planting would produce, by giving the seeds
more advantage from the heat of summer, in the
years 1804 and 1805, I put into the ground a quan-
tity of seed, about a week later than that which was
first planted. The event which took place, is ex-

hibited in the following

TABLE.

Planted.

1804, May 14,

1805, May 13,

Gathered.

Aug. 8,
Aug. 6,

N.days.

86
86

As very little time has been gained in the present
and in the preceding year, 1 suppose I have now
reached, or nearly reached, the neplus ultra. I de^
lay not, therefore, to communicate to the Trustees of
the Agricultural Society, the result of an experi-
ment, which confirms the important truth, taught
in various parts of their useful publications,* That^
to ensure an early and good crop^ the seeds re-
served for future sowing should be those^ which
are the first ripe^ and lohich are^ in other respects^
the most perfect.

* See particularly, Publications of Agr. Soc. for 1799, p. 2S, and for
1801, p. 15, 17,18.

70

Oh the Management of the Dairi^^ particidarhj with
7'espect to the making and ciirmg of Butter. By
J. Anderson, l.l. d. f.r.s. <^c\

Extracted from the sixth article in the fifth volume of the Letters and Pa-
pers of the Bath AgricuUural Society.

When a dairy is established, the undertaker
ought to be fully acquainted with every circumstance
respecting the manufacture both of butter and cheese ;
here it is only proposed to treat of the manufacture
of butter. The first thing is to choose cows of a pro-
per sort ; among this class of animals, it is found by
experience, that some kinds give milk of a thicker
consistence and richer quahty than others. In judg-
ing of the value of a cow, it ought rather to be the
quantity and the quality of the cream produced from
the milk in a given time, than the quantity of the
milk itself; this is a circumstance of more importance
than is generally imagined. The small cows of the
Alderney breed afford tlie richest milk hitherto
known ; but individual cows in every country, may
be found, by a careful selection, that afford much
richer milk than others ; these, therefore, ought to
be searched for with care, and their breed reared
with attention, as being peculiarly valuable. In
comparing the milk of two cows, to judge of their
respective qualities, particular attention must be
paid to the time that has elapsed since their calving.
To make the cows give abundance of milk, and of
a good quality, they must at all times have plenty
of food. Grass is the best food yet known for this
purpose, and that kind which springs up spontane-
ously on rich dry soils, is the best of all. If the
cows are so much incommoded by the heat, as to
be prevented from eating through the day, they
ought to be taken into cool shades for protection ;
where, after allowing them a proper time to rumi-
nate, they should be supplied with abundance of

71

greeii food, fresh cut for the purpose, and given them
by hand, frequently, fresh and in small quantities, so
as to induce them to eat it with pleasure.

Cows, if abundantly fed, should be milked three
times a day, during the whole of the summer sea-
son, in the morning early, at noon, and in the even-
ing, just before night fall. If cows are milked only
twice in twenty four hours, while they have abun-
dance of succulent food, they will yield a much
smaller quantity of milk in the same time, than if
they be milked three times. Some attentive ob-
servers I have met with, think a cow in these cir-
cumstances, will give nearly as much milk at each
time, if milked three times, as if they were milked
only twice. In the choice of persons for milking
the cows, great caution should be employed, for if
all the milk be not thoroughly drawn from a cow
when she is milked, a diminution of the quantity
gradually takes place, and in a short time the cow
becomes dry. In the management of a dairy, the
following peculiarities respecting milk, ought very
particularly to be attended to ; some of them are,
no doubt, known in part to attentive housewives,
but they have never been considered of so much
importance as they deserve.

Aphorism i.
Of the milk that is drawnfrom any cow at one time^
that which comes off at the Jirst is alwaijs thinner^
and of a much voorse (juaUtij, than that which comes
afterwards, and the richness goes on., continuallif in-
creasing to the very last drop that can be drawnfrom
the udder at that time.

Few persons are ignorant that milk, which is tak-
en from the cow last of all at milking, which in this
country is called stroaki?igs, (here s trippings J is
richer than the rest of the milk ; but fewer still are
aware of the greatness of the disproportion between

72

the quality of the first and the last drawn milk from
the same cow at one milking: from several accurate
and important experiments, it appears, that the per-
son who, by bad milking of his cows, loses but half a
pint of the last milk that might be obtained, loses in
fact, about as much cream as would be afforded by
six or eight pints at the beginning, and loses besides,
that part of the cream, which alone can give rich-
ness and high flavour to his butter.

Aphorism ii.

If milk be put in a dish, and alloioed to stand till
it throws up cream, that portion which rises first to
the surjacc, is richer in qualitij and greater in quan-
tit If, than what rises in a second equal portion oj^ time,
and the cream that rises in the second interval of
time, is greater in quantitij and richer in qiialitif,
than what rises in a third equal space of time, and
so on, the cream decreases in quantitij, and declines
in qualitij contimudlij, as long as anij rises to the
surface.

Aphorism hi.

Thick milk alwaijs thro-ws up a smaller projjortion
of the cream it actuallij contains to the surface, than
milk that is thinner, but that cream is of a richer
qualitij ; and if ivater be added to that thick milk, it
will afford a consider ablij greater quantity of cream
than it would have done, if allo'wed to remain pure ;
but its qualitij is at the same time greatlij debased.

Aphorism iv.

Milk, which is put into a bucket or other proper
vessel, and carried in it to antj considerable distance^
so as to be much agitated, and in part cooled before
it be put into the milk pans to settle for cream, never
throws up so much nor so j'ich cream, as if the same
milk had been put into the milk jmns, directly after
it was milked.

In this case, it is believed that the loss of cream
will be in proportion to the time that has elapsed,

73

and the agitation it has sustained, after having been
drawn from the cow.

From the above facts, the following corollaries
seem to be clearly deducible.

1 . It is of importance, that the cows should be
always milked as near the dairy as possible, and it
must be of great advantage in a dairy farm, to have
the principal grass fields as near the dairy as possible.

2. The practice of putting the milk of all the
cows of a large dairy into one vessel, as it is milked,
there to remain till the whole milking be finished,
before any part of it be put into milk pans, seems to
be highly injudicious, not only on account of the
loss that is sustained by agitation and cooling, but
also, as it prevents the owner of the dairy from dis-
tinguishing the good from the bad cows milk ; a
better practice, therefore, would be, to have the milk
drawn from each cow separately, put into the cream-
ing pans as soon as it is milked, without being mix-
ed with any other. Thus would the careful farmer
be able, on all occasions, to observe the particular
quality of each individual cow's milk, as well as its
quantity, and to know with precision, which of his
cows it was his interest to dispose of, and which he
ought to keep and breed from.

3. If it be intended to make butter of a, veryjirte
qualitif^ it would be advisable in all cases, to keep
the milk, that is first drawn, separate from that
which comes last, as it is obvious, that if this be not
done, the quality of the butter will be greatly de-
based, without much augmenting its quantity. It
is also obvious, that the quality of the butter will be
improved in proportion to the smallness of the pro-
portion of the last drawn milk that is retained ; so
that those who wish to be singularly nice in this re-
spect, will only retain a very small proportion of
the last drawn milk.

K

74

4. If the qualitff of the butter be tHe chief object
attended to, it will be necessary not only to separate
the first from the last drawn milk, but also to take
nothing but the cream that is first separated from
the best milk, as it is this first rising cream alone,
that is of the prime quality : the remainder of the
milk which will be still sweet, may be eithei- em-
ployed for the purpose of making sweet milk cheeses,
or it may be allowed to stand, to throw up cream
for making butter of an inferior quality.

5. From the above tacts we learn, that butter of
the very best possible quality can only be obtained
from a dairy of considerable extent when judicious-
ly managed. ■ >. u-a-.}

6. From these premises, we are' led to draw a
conclusion, different from the opinion that i^ com-
monly entertained on this subject, viz. that it
seems probable that the very best butter can only be
with economy made in those dairies, where the
manufacture of cheese is the principal object.

As but few persons would be willing to purchase
the venj best butter at a price to indemnify the
farmer for his trouble, I am satisfied from experi-
ence and attentive observ^ation, that if in general
about the first drawn halfoi the milk be separated
at each milking, and the remainder only be set up
for producing cream, and if that milk be allowed to
stand to throw up the whole of its cream, even till
it begins sensibly to taste sourish, and if that cream
be afterwards carefully managed, the butter thus
obtained, will be of a quality greatly superior to
what can usually be obtained at market, and its
quantity not considerably less than if the whole of
the milk had been treated alike.

No dairy can be managed with profit, unless a
place properly adapted for keeping the milk, and for
carrying on the different operations of the dairy, be

75

first jirovided.* The necessary requisites of a good
milk house are, that it be cool in summer, and
warm in the winter, so as to preserve a temperature
nearly the same, throughout the whole year, and
that it be dry, so as to admit of being kept clean and
sweet at all times.

From the trials I have made, I have reason to be-
lieve, that when the heat is from fifty to fifty five de-
grees on Farenheit's thermometer, the separation of
the cream from the milk, which is the most impor-
tant operation of the dairy, goes forward with the
greatest regularity. When the heat exceeds sixty
degrees, the operations become difficult and dan-
gerous, and when it falls below the fortieth degree,
they can scarcely be carried forward with aut/ de-
gree of economy, or propriety.

In winter, should the cold become too great, it
might be occasionally dispelled, by placing a barrel
full of hot water closely bunged up, upon the table,
to remain till cooled. This I prefer to any kind of
chaffing dish with burning embers.

The utensils of the dairy must in general be made
of wood. As the acid of milk readily dissolves lead,
with which the common earthen vessels are glazed,
such vessels should be banished from the dairy.

The creaming dishes (for so I call the vessels in
which the milk is placed for throwing up the cream)
when properly cleaned, sweet, and cooi, are to be fill-
ed with the milk as soon after it is drawn from the
cow as possible, having been first strained carefully
through a close strainer.

These dishes should never exceed three inches
in depth, whatever be their other dimensions. As
soon as they are filled, they are to be placed on the
shelves in the milk house, perfectly undisturbed,

* The author here gives a very particular description of the best contrived
icillc house, or dairy. Vide Bath papers.

76

^11 it be judged expedient to separate the cream
from them.

In a moderately warm temperature of the air, if
very fine butter be intended, it should not be al-
lowed to stand more than six or eight hours ; for
ordinary good butter, it may safely stand ten or
twelve, or more.

It is of great importance to the success of the
dairy, that the sliimming be well performed, for if
any part of the cream be left, the quantitif of the
butter will be diminished ; and if any part of the
milk be taken, its quality will be debased.*

When the cream is obtained, it ought immedi-
ately to be p.ut into a vessel by itself, there to be
kept till a proper quantity be collected for being
made into butter. And no vessel can be better a-
dapted to that purpose, than a firm neat made
wooden barrel, in size proportioned to the dairy,
open at one end, with a lid exactly fitted to close it.
In the under part of this vessel, close to the bottom,
should be placed a cock and spigot, for drawing off
any thin serous part of the milk that may chance to
be there genemted ; for if this is allowed to remain,
it injures the cream, and greatly diminishes the
richness of the quality of the butter ; the inside of
the opening should be covered with a bit of gauze
netting, to keep back the cream while the serum is
allowed to pass, and the barrel should be inclined a
little forward, to allow the whole to run off.

The separation of butter from cream, only takes
place after the cream has attained a certain degree
of acidity. The judicious farmer will therefore al-
low his cream to remain in the vessel until it has
acquired that proper degree of acidity that fits it for
being made into butter with great ease, by a very

* The cream should be separated from the edges of the dish, by means of
an ivory bladed knife, then carefully draTvn towards one siie by a skimming
dish, and then taken off with great nicety.

/

77

moderate degree of agitation, and by which process
only, very fine butter ever can be obtained. How
^long cream may be thus kept in our climate, with-
out rendering the butter made from it of a bad qual-
ity, I cannot say ; but it may be kept good for a
much longer time than is generally suspected, even
a great many weeks. It is certain that cream which
has been kept three or four days in summer, is in
an excellent condition for being made into butter;
from three days to seven, may in general be found
to be the best time for keeping cream before churn-
ing.

1 prefer the old fashioned upright cliurn^ having
a long handle, with a foot to it perforated with
holes, as it admits of being better cleaned, and of
having the butter more easily separated from the
niilk than any others.

Where the cream has been duly prepared, the
process of butter making is very easy ; there is
however more nicety required, than most persons
seem to be aware of ; a few hastij^ irregular strokes^
may render the butterof scarcely any value, which,
but for this circumstance, would have been of the
finest quality. The butter when made, must be
immediately separated from the milk, and being put
into a clean dish, the inside of which, if of wood,
should be w^ell rubbed with common salt. The
butter should be pressed and worked with a flat
wooden ladle, having a short handle, so as to force
out all the milk that was lodged in the cavities of
the mass. The beating up of the butter by the,
hand is an indelicate and barbarous practice. If
the milk be not entirely taken away, the butter will
infallibly spoil in a short time, and if it be much
■washed, it will become tough and gluey. Some
persons employ cold water in this operation ; but
this practice is not only useless, but also pernicious,
because the quality of the butter is thus debased in

/

78 f

an astonishing manner. In every part of the fore-
going process it is of the utmost importance, that
the vessels and every thing else about the dairy, be
kept perfectly sweet and clean.

Wooden vessels are the most proper for contain-
ing salted butter. Oak is the best wood for the
bottom and staves. Broad split hoops are to be pre*
ferred to all others.

Iron hoops should be rejected, as the rust of them
will in time sink through the wood, and injure the
colour of the butter. To season a new vessel for
the reception of salted butter, requires gi^at care :
it should be filled frequentltj with scalding water,
allowing it to remain till it slowly cools. After the
butter has been cleaned from the milk, as before
directed, it is ready for being salted. Let the ves-
sel be rendered as clean and as sweet as possible,
and be rubbed all over in the inside with common
salt ; and let a little melted butter be run into the
cavity between the bottom and the sides at their
joining, so as to fill it, and make it every where flush
with the bottom and sides : it is then fit to receive
the butter. Common salt is almost the only sub-
stance hitherto employed for preserving butter. I
have found by experience that the following com-
position is in many respects preferable to it, as it
not only preserves the butter more effectually from
any taint of rancidity, but makes it look better and
taste sweeter and more marrowy, than if the same
butter had been cured with common salt alone.
The composition is as follows :

Take of sugar one part, of nitre (salt petre) one
part, and of the best Spanish great salt, two parts ;
beat the whole into a fine powder, mix them well
together, and put them by for use.

Of this composition, one ounce should be put
to every sixteen ounces of butter : mix this salt
thoroughly with the butter, as soon as it has been

79

freed from the milk, and put it, without loss of time^
into the vessel prepared to receive it, pressing it so
close as to have no air holes, or any kind of cavities
wkhin it ; smooth the surface, and if you expect it
will be more than two days before you add more,
covet it close up with a piece of clean linen, and
over tb at apiece of fine linen that has been dipped
in melted butter, that is exactly fitted to the edges
of the vessel all roiind, so as to exclude the air as
much as possible, without the assistance of any wa-
tery brinie. When more butter is to be added, re-
move the coverings, and let the butter be applied
close above the former, pressing it down, and smooth-
ing it as before, and so on till the vessel is full.
When full, lei the two covers bespread over it with
the greatest cave, and let a little melted butter be
poured all round the edges, so as to fill up every
cranny, and effectually exclude the air. A little
salt may then be strewed over the whole, and the
cover firmly fixed down, to remain closely shut till
opened for use. If this be carefully done, the but-
ter may be kept perfectly sound in this climate for
many years.*

It must be remarked that butter cured in this
manner, does not taste well till it has stood at least
a fortnight after being salted. After that period is
elapsed, it eats with a rich marrowy taste that no
other butter ever acquires. Butter thus cured, will
go well to the East or West Indies.

Butter, in its natural state, contains a considera-
ble proportion of mucous matter, which is more
highly putrescible than the pure oily parts of the
butter. When it is intended to be exposed to the

* The Epping butter is called the best in England. The farmers make
use of a very innocent colouring matter for their winter and early spring but-
ter, which is the juice of carrots. They take clean and fresh carrots, and
grate them fine, and squeeze out the juice through a coarse cloth, and mix it
with their cream. This gives their butter as fine an appearance as the be;?t
June butter, without communicating any taste or flavour.

80

heat of warm climates, it ought to be freed from
that mucilage before it be cured and packed up»
To do this, let it be put into a vessel of a proper
shape, which should be immersed in another con-
taining water. Let the water be gradually heateq
till the butter be thoroughly melted : let it continue
in that state for some time, and allow it to Settle :
the mucous part will fall to the bottom, and the
pure oil swim at top. When it cools, it becomes
opaque and paler than the original butter, and' of a
firmer consistence. When this refined butter is
become a httle stiiF, and while it is still somewhat
soft, the pure part should be separated /rom the
dregs, and then salted and packed up, in the same
way as is before directed.

Those who wish to see the subject more fully
treated, are referred to the original.

/

/

An Account of the manner of making Cheese^ in

JEngland.

By Mr. Twamlkv.

In this second great object of the dairy, the
same precaution as with regard to the butter, is ne-
cessary, viz. The cows ought not to be driven vio-
lently before milking, and every utensil must be
kept equally clean.

The most common defects of cheese are, its
appearing, when cut, full of small holes, called eyes ;
its puffing up, cracking, and pouring out a quantity
of thin whey ; becoming afterwards rotten and full
of maggots in those places where the whey appear-
ed. All these difficulties proceed from a substance
called slip curd, a kind of half coagulum, incapable
of a thorough union with the true curd, and which,
when broken into small bits, produces eyes, but if

81 "

in larger pieces, occasions those rents and cracks in
the cheese aheady mentioned ; for though this kind
of curd retains its coagulated nature for some time,
it always, sooner or later, dissolves into a serous li-
quor. This kind of curd may be produced by using
the milk too hot, by bad runnet, or by not allowing
the curd a proper time to form. The first may be
remedied by the use of cold water. The second, by
good runnet, a knowledge of which can only be ac-
quired by long practice. The only rule that can be
given for its preparation is, to take out the stomach
of a calf, rinse it in cold water, and rub it well with
salt and dry it. It may be used immediately on
drying, though it is considered best after it is a year
old. 'The best method of making the runnet is, to
take one gallon of pure spring water, and boil it ;
then make it into brine with clean salt, sufficiently
strong to bear an egg ; let it cool to about blood
heat. Two of the skins (or what are commonly
in this country called runnet bags) must be put into
the brine, either cut in pieces, or whole, as is most
convenient ; they must steep twenty four hours ;
after which, it is fit for use. About a tea cup of a
middling size, of the liquor, will be sufficient for the
milk often cows.

In making cheese, supposing the runnet of a good
quality, the following particulars must be observed.

1 . The proper degree of heat : this ought to be
what is called milk warm, which is considerably be-
low the warmth of milk taken from the cow. If too
hot, it may be reduced by cold water, without any
injury to the cheese.

2. The time allowed for the runnet to take effect :
this ought never to be less than one hour and a
half. I-

3. After having the curd firmly formed at the
bottom of the tub, the whey must be taken away,
and the curd must stand to drain one quarter of an

L

82

hour. If any pieces of slip curd are found swim-
ming in the whe}^ they should be poured off with
it, rather than be admitted into the cheese. Some
dairy women allow their curd to stand two hours,
to obtain a firmness that will require no breaking ;
but the best method is to break it thoroughly, for
the cheese is less apt to be hard.

4. The best method to prevent cheese from heav-
ing, is to avoid making the v'^^acet too strong, to
take care that it be very clean, and u'jr no means the
least tainted, to be certain the curd is fully formed,
which is known by the blue colour of the whey, and
by no means to stir it till the air has had time to
escape.

5* The best method to prevent the cracking of
cheeses, is to salt them in the milk, or after the
cheese is formed, which may be done with much
more certainty than in the curd, which is a bad
method.

6. Dry cracks in cheese are frequently produced
by keeping curd from one meal to another, by which
means the first becomes too dry and hard, ever,
without great attention, to mix intimately with the
second.

7. Curdly, or what is commonly called wrinkle
coated cheese, is always caused by sour milk.
Cheese made of cold milk is apt to be hard and fly
before the knife. If the weatlier is cold, cheese
should be kept warm, particularly when first made.

8. Slip coat, or soft cheese, is made entirely of
slip curd, and will dissolve into a kind of creamy
liquor, which is sufficient proof of the nature of this
kind of curd, as already mentioned. It is generally
computed, that as much milk is required to make
one poumihof butter, as two pounds of cheese.

It is remarked by dealers in cheese, as well as
other persons, that much the greatest part of the
people that eat cheese, have no idea how it is pro-

83

duced. They finding the best cheese of a yellow
colour, naturally conclude that cheese of a pale col-
our must be made of inferior or skimmed milk,
whereas the colour is artificial. The principal in-
gredient used for colouring cheese is the best Span^
ish annatto (or what is commonly called in this
country, otter) which gives cheese the beautiful col-
our of the best spring butter, without injuring the
taste or quality in any degree. The best method
of using it is, to take a piece and dip it into a bowl
of milk, and wash off from the piece sufficient to
give the milk a deep colour. Then mix the col-
oured milk with the milk prepared for the cheese,
before either runnet or salt is put in. If enough
annatto has been used, the whole milk will have a
pale orange colour, which will be much increased
*fter the cheese is made.

To the Corresponding Secretary of the Massachu"
setts Agricultural Society.

SIR, *

The following observations were drawn up at
the request of a gentleman, for his own use. If the
Agricultural Society should think that the contents
afford any useful hints, I shall be gratified with hav-
ing contributed something towards the improvement
of one branch of that art, which is the most inde^
pendent, and one of the most honourable pursuits
of man.

I do not send it to you from an opinion that I have
the best information upon the subject, but that, by
a communication of each one's experience, improve-
ment goes forward with rapidity.
I am. Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

ALEXIS.

84
To Mr.

SIR,

Agreeably to your request, I have col«
lected the following observations upon the method
of making cheese. They are what arose during an
experience of but two years. The intention was to
have reduced this useful part of rural economy to a
regular system, which in this country is left to the
operation of chance. This sheet contains byt little
originality in the principles of this art ; they were
taken from treatises written in England. If any
merit is due, it is for the attention with which these
observations were pursued to ascertain the essential
parts of these treatises. This art appears so simple,
that every country woman would be offended at be-
ing thought ignorant of it ; yet a few rules may be
collected that require _to be observed with almost a
chymical exactness. They know that runnet will
make a curd : a piece is therefore cut off at hazard,
and thrown into the milk. If too small a piece is
put in, the curd comes very imperfectly, producing
what is called slip curd. This is very soft, and the
curd thus made, is what is most frequently sold for
cream cheese. In breaking up the curd, or press-
ing, this is chiefly squeezed out. That which re-
mains is one cause of eyes in cheese. The fattest
part of the milk is most difficult to coagulate, and
it is found, that adding more runnet will not perfect
the curd, when in this state ; the cheese is of course
impoverished, when the curd comes imperfectly.
But the most frequent error is putting too much
runnet, which inevitably gives the cheese a strong
pungent taste and smell. It occasions that puffing
in cheese which is called hove cheese, and being
pierced with a knife, will emit a very fetid smell.
It is a degree of putrefaction arising from a fermenta-
tion, caused by the runnet ; a sufficient evidence

i

>

85

that the cheese can never be good, and is invariably
full of eyes. Another cause of bad cheese is bad
runnet ; and whoever has seen many of our country
kitchens, will wonder that they ever have good
cheese, owing to the very filthy manner of keeping
the skins, being either impregnated with smoke, or
tainted with flies, and exposed to every disagreea-
ble effluvia that may surround it. To obviate these
difficulties, the following is the manner that the
runn^was prepared in my dairy. Take the skin,
or^nnet bag, as soon as the calf is killed ; let it be
carefully cleaned by hand without touching water ;
let it then be put into a brine, so strong that it will
dissolve no more salt ; of this brine, three pints will
suffice for a skin ; let it be steeped in it thirty six
hours, or thereabouts ; it may then be taken out of
the liquor, put into clean bottles, and corked ; it
will keep a year, perhaps longer ; the skin may then
be drawn over a bow, salted and dried as usual ; in
two or three months, if your liquor should fail you,
it may be steeped again. It is said to acquire new
strength, but not so much as at first ; perhaps the
virtue is not wholly extracted by the first steeping,
and that it will not yield it all to three pints of wa-
ter. This second operation, will, however, answer
as good a purpose as the first, using two or three
skins instead of one. Let one general observation
be made, that throughout the whole business of dai-
rying, the greatest attention must be paid to the
cleanhness and sweetness of the vessels used, and
in the dairy room ; and, in some instances, it may
not be unnecessary to recommend it to the dairy
woman in her own person. In cheese of one meai^
the milk should be kept as near as possible to its
natural heat, till the runnet is put in. I find three
tea spoons full to a gallon of milk, to be the average
quantity required to coagulate it ; but this liquor
should always be tried, to ascertain its strength.

86

The object is to find the smallest quantity that will
bring the curd properly, as more than that will in-
jure the cheese. You will perceive that it is con-
venient to make a large quantity of this liquor at a
time, or making it at different times in the spring,
when you begin to make cheese, which is seldom
till all the calves are killed, let it be mixed and then
tried, after which there is no trouble with the
runnet ; and you may be certain that whatever oth-
er defect the cheese may have, it will not ben^trong
or hove ; this is solely owing to the too great qujga-
tity, or bad quality of the runnet. My cheese tub
being made of the same diameter at the top and
bottom, 1 found its contents in gallons, and made a
guaging rod, marking on the depth of the tub, and
then subdividing that depth, by the number of gal-
lons the tub contained. By putting the rod into the
tub, was readily seen the gallons of milk in it. The
tub itself might be thus graduated ; when you
would make servants follow rules, it is necessary
that they should be attended with as little trouble
as possible. Having put in the runnet, the milk
should not be suffered to cool too soon, as the curd
should be sensibly warm when broke up and put into
a hoop, otherwise, the cheese will be in flakes when
cut, the curd not uniting when cold. The curd
must not be disturbed in the tub, till it cleaves from
the sides and begins to settle. It may then be cut
through chequerwise, and suffered to settle still
more ; with a proper temperature of air, it will be-
gin to settle in half an hour from the time of set-
tling the milk ; cold weather retards it, and may de-
feat it ; if the curd is too long in coming, the cream
begins to rise and is lost to the cheese ; it should
therefore be guarded against. There rises upon the
whey, when the curd settles, a thin skim, which
should be carefullv removed before the curd is tak-
en out, lest it should mix with the curd. As it is

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87

of a more fixed nature than the whey, it wilVnot all
squeeze out, nor will it blend with the curdvand
where a particle remains, there will be an eye. 'Khe
curd being well drained of the whey, by breaking it
up fine by hand, is to be salted. This is an impor- \
tant part, and of which I am not so well informed
as I wish to be* The success of experiments with
salt can only be determined by the taste, and this
cannot always be done, when the cheese is sold.
Salt differs greatly in strength and quality, as is well
known to fishermen, and packers of beef. In Ire-
land, the beef is first strongly rubbed with blond
salt, which is mild and penetrating. It is then pass-
ed to another hand, who uses a mixture of blond
and bay salt, which is harsh and drying, hardening
the provisions. From this consideration of the dif-
ferent effects of salt, it may be concluded that bay
salt is not adapted to cheese. I also took bay salt,
and dissolved it, and then boiled it down ; the ob-
jectionable parts fly off; and the more violent the
ebullition, the finer will be the grain, which indi-
cates its strength, the large grain being the strong-
est. I liked the salt thus obtained, the grain being
as fine as well ground meal. Some of my best
cheeses were made with this salt, and the quantity
used was one tea cup heaped, to six gallons of
milk. This proportion is liable to error, as milk will /

yield more or less curd, according to the season or
quality of the grass ; and let it be remembered that
cows should never be drovehard, especially just be-
fore milking. If the common blond salt is used, it
should be reduced finer by pounding, that it may
more intimately blend with the curd. The curd be-
ing prepared for the press, it appears to me proper
that every heterogeneous substance should immedi-
ately be pressed out. For this purpose, my first
press was powerful, being a lever eight feet long,
one end fixed by a pin between two stumps set in

as

a bench ; neaiv these stumps was placed the cheese j
: the other enc)' of the lever was loaded with about
two hundred weight of stones ; at the other end of
tlie bench were fixed two stumps, higher than those
first mentioned, which are about six inches higher
under the lever than the cheese hoops; the other
stumps /have a cross piece on the top to rest another
lever^hich is hooked to the end of the firstilj^raise
it. T/ne cheese being tended as usual in tEis pre*ss,
whe;'e it remained twenty four hours, was iRoved to
another bench cdntaining four divisions, being-fflph
separate p/es^s, of no more Wfeight than was nn-
mediately laid upon them, about two hundred
wei2:ht. The cheese when taken from the first
/ press, was put nito press at one end of this second
bench, and remained in each twenty four hours,
moving along every day, till arrived at the other
/ end. 1 suppose three days pressing on this second
/ bench, sufficient for a cheese of twenty five pounds.
It was then carried to the cheese room. Screw
presses are objectionable, as the pressure does not
follow the cheese as it settles. My farm house
was fortunately shaded by trees ; but the better to
guard against the sun, I had Venetian shades made
for the windows, of clapboards painted green, which
were cheap and handsome. I also had made slen-
der frames, over which catgut was stretched, of a
texture fine enough to prevent the entrance of flies.
When the windows were opened, these frames were
put in. The cheese room should be exposed on
every side except the south, and one or more win-
dows in each side. Attention is much required to
regulate the temperature of the air ; strong wind
admitted, will dry the cheese too fast, and make it
crack ; to prevent this, it is customary with us, to
rub the cheese with butter ; in England, they wash
it with the new whey, and no butter is used ; this
last method I did not try. In hot sultry weather,

J

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89

cheese will spread. This should be prevenb^ k^
bandages of tow cloth, or by puttings, them tnto
cheese hoops. The expense of this exttaordii.^^
number of hoops is not great : one cheese sav^
will pay for ten hoops, and they last many yearl
Thej will seldom spread after they have been made
a'"mdhth. In wet weather, it is advisable to burn a
little charcoal in the chimney of thje cheese room*
The quantity of green cheese obtained from milk
was from twenty y^reg pounds .to twenty five
pounds, from twenty gallons. lliave got twent\^
seven and, three quarters from eighteen gallons.
They seldom lost in drying mc/e than two and a
half pounds, in a cheese of tyenty five pounds
weighed green from the press. /if it is required to
have the cheese of a Gloucester colour, take Span-
ish anatto, rub a lump in a sauir with milk, a little
experience will teach the quafttity necessary for a
cheese ; then mix it with the ycst of the milk, when
it is set for cheese. One ou/ce will colour four or
five hundred pounds, and it/s bought of the apoth-
ecaries. It is perfectly innijent, and I thought the
cheese coloured with it, wi higher flavoured ; this
might have been owing toither causes. To have
a good dairy, it must be a/particular business, and
not attended only at convAient intervals from other
work, as a secondary objjtt, nor should a drop of
cream be taken from mil appropriated for cheese.
This must be inviolaly observed. I think that
large cheeses generally /ove better than small ones ;
and for this reason shojM "^ot wish to make a cheese
less than twenty five punds. But if the number
of cows is not sufficint to make a cheese of one
meal, the old milk sl/uld be very well mixed with
the cream that has yen, and then put into a large
brass kettle to war/ over coals free from smoke,
the milk being freo^ntly stirred to prevent the bot-
tom of the milk fr/i becoming too hot before the

r

^0

^op y' sufficiently warmed, which will be the case

^it/ut attention. It should be brought as near as

ible to its natural heat. To save trouble, our

Linen heat a part very hot, then mix it with the

(id; but I have no doubt that this injures the

:heese. Putting the milk into deep vessels^ and

covering them in a damp situation, will prev^ the

cream from rising so much as it otherwise would.

"Th

<: '

^

MANAGEMENT OF PIGS.

I.

The importance of the following experiment
with respect to the treatment of hogs, copied from
a late London new '.paper, has induced a member of
the Society for prcmoting Agriculture, to request
that It may be publshed in their next collection,
for the attention of lie American farmer.

" The following erperiment was lately made by
a gentleman of NorfiV Six pigs of the Norfolk
breed, and of nearly %qual weight, were put to
keeping at the same t ne, and treated the same as
to food and litter for alljut seven weeks. Three of
them were left to shift'or themselves as to cleanli-
ness ; the other three ere kept as clean as possi-
ble by a man employed j»r the purpose, with a cur-
rycomb and brush. Th last consumed in seven
weeks fewer peas by ^/iv>. bushels, than the other
three, yet they weighed lore when killed by two
stone 2indJour pounds, upc an average, or six stone
twelve pounds upon the wole.^'

H -^