THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 THE GASTRONOMY COLLECTION OF 
 GEORGE HOLL 
 
 1000. 
 
 irewr 
 

HOME STUDIES. 
 
 BY 
 
 REBECCA A. UPTON. 
 
 " In every form of government the enduring element is in the cultivation of the 
 eoU." Quarterly Review, Vol. XLIV. No. II. Art. VIII. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 CROSBY, NICHOLS, AND COMPANY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND COMPANY. 
 
 1856. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the j-rar 1856, by 
 
 II. A. UPTON, 
 in tlic Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE : 
 
 STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY METCALP ANO COMPANY. 
 
TX.-us 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE present volume is made up from the gleanings of a 
 lifetime. "Whenever facts and every-day phenomena have 
 forced themselves on my attention, whether in books or ac- 
 tual experience, I have noted them down in a commonplace- 
 book. These gleanings have nothing but plain language and 
 practical usefulness to recommend them, verbal nicety and 
 literary ornament being no way suited to my purpose. 
 
 My principal objects have been to bring into the compass of 
 one small volume such information as may be useful to both 
 housekeeper and gardener, whether residing in village, coun- 
 try, or city, and to keep in mind through the whole work the 
 various fortunes of the American woman, whose life is often 
 partly spent in cities, partly on Western prairies, and partly 
 on Southern plantations, perhaps begun in affluence, to be 
 finally shorn of all but health, hands, and unfailing courage. 
 
 The receipts I have given I know to be good. Almost all 
 are original, that is, of family origin, not taken from books. 
 A few have been given me by friends. 
 
 If the work should have any influence, however small, on 
 the tendencies of the present day, not only to increase the 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 number of manual employments, but also to widen the hori- 
 zon of observation, for woman, I shall be happy. The imagi- 
 nations and feelings of women are sufficiently cultivated ; but 
 perhaps common sense is less so, because it finds less stimu- 
 lus for action in the present partial education and cramped 
 position of women. Novels, poetry, and excitement-meetings 
 may all be very well as occasional mental condiments, but 
 when offered as the only diet to the sex whose nervous con- 
 stitution is proverbially sensitive, it may lead the physician 
 and philanthropist to doubt whether these kinds of mental 
 dietetics do not produce much of that nervousness, insanity, 
 and hopeless hypochondriasis, which cause humanity to war 
 with itself both within and without. 
 
 E. A. UPTON. 
 
HOME STUDIES. 
 
 AC ATE R, n. An old English word. A provider, ca- 
 terer, or purchaser of provisions. An acater, to understand 
 his or her business, should know which meats and vegetable? 
 best consort with certain seasons ; how to choose young 
 chickens, by trying the flesh under the wing, seeing if the 
 breast-bone yields to the touch, if the scales on the leg be 
 smooth, and the spurs scarcely budded, and the claws tender 
 and short ; how to select healthy meats, by rejecting such as 
 show a yellow, diseased appearance in the fatty portions, or 
 a spotted, unequal surface, as if indifferently bled, or coarse, 
 loose fibre, indicating poor feed. A good acater should make 
 himself familiar with the most reliable brands for flour ; the 
 choicest varieties of apples for dessert, and also for culinary 
 preparations ; the difference between dry, unadulterated 
 sugar, and that which is the refuse of the sugar-factory, 
 between acid and fermenting molasses, and rich, wholesome 
 sirup. In short, a good acater and caterer should have good 
 sense, nice observation, be something of a chemist, and a 
 little of a Yankee. 
 
 ACCOMPANIMENT, n. That which* accompanies. 
 (Worcester.) This word seems to be principally devoted 
 to the musical and culinary arts. One axiom with the house- 
 keeper is never to have insipid meats accompanied with 
 1 
 
2 ACCOMPANIMENT. 
 
 insipid vegetables. Veal is, therefore, relieved by lemon, 
 horseradish, pungent salads, pickles, and piquant condiment?. 
 Young onions, cabbage salad, water-cresses, and lettuce, 
 owing to their bitter properties, are desirable accompani- 
 ments for veal. This acrimonious property should, however, 
 be mitigated, by soaking such vegetables, before cooking, 
 about half an hour in cold water. 
 
 A Boiled Leg of Mutton should be accompanied by mashed 
 turnips and caper sauce. 
 
 Roasted Mutton and Venison require currant or grape 
 
 Mutton stuffed and baked, or stewed, should have tomato 
 sauce. 
 
 Roasted Turkey is usually served accompanied by a slice 
 of boiled smoked tongue, celery, and cranberry jelly. Mush- 
 rooms and mushroom sauce are always desirable with roasted 
 poultry and game. 
 
 Boiled Turkey, with oyster sauce ; cauliflower, if in season. 
 
 Roasted Goose, with apple sauce and onions. 
 
 Roasted Chicken, with stewed tomatoes, summer-squash, 
 salsify fritters, and rice croquets. If out of season for sum- 
 mer-squash and salsify, rice croquets, onions, and tomatoes 
 are all desirable accompaniments. Tomatoes are easily 
 preserved in tin canisters, kept air-tight, through the win- 
 ter. Celery should, if possible, always be on the table with 
 roasted chicken ; asparagus, if in season. 
 
 Boiled Chicken, with egg sauce or oyster sauce, or parsley 
 sauce. A small bit of sweet, young pork boiled with it. 
 Asparagus, if in season. 
 
 Roast Beef, with macaroni, hominy, boiled rice, if in 
 winter, squasli ; tomatoes. 
 
 Boiled Beef, with carrots, cabbage, parsnips. 
 
 Roasted Duck and Game, with currant jelly, mushroom 
 sauce, and onions. 
 
ACCOUNT-BOOK. 3 
 
 Boiled Salt Codfish is accompanied with carrots, beets, 
 and onions, with egg sauce and melted pork gravy, com- 
 monly known as dip. 
 
 Tongues and Sounds are served with the same vegetables 
 and sauces. 
 
 Fried Fish are mostly served with crisped parsley. 
 
 Baked Fish, with anchovy sauce ; pickles and lemons 
 being always on the table. 
 
 Boiled Salmon, with caper sauce, egg sauce, and anchovy 
 sauce. 
 
 Potatoes and artichokes are served, in their various ways, 
 with most dishes, though with plain boiled dishes mashed 
 or fried potatoes would be an anomaly. They are simply 
 boiled whole for such dishes. 
 
 Of course, these are merely suggestions ; and offered prin- 
 cipally to the young housekeeper as inducements for her 
 to look for and adhere, whenever compatible, to palatable 
 affinities. 
 
 ACCOUNT-BOOK. A book containing accounts. Every 
 housekeeper will find herself repaid for her trouble if she 
 allow her register of personal and "household expenses to 
 expand into a kind of commonplace-book. For example, 
 if she live in the country, under the head of Animals, let her 
 register facts with regard to her poultry, cows, &c., reserving 
 several blank pages to be filled up as occasion may offer. 
 Under the head of Plants, reserving the blank pages as be- 
 fore, set down all reliable facts and observations with regard 
 to soil suitable to a certain class of plants, and the habits 
 of such plants as she may be cultivating; what class of 
 insects infest them, and by what means they are best de- 
 stroyed. If she be a mother, let her make an entry, under 
 the general head of Disease, of the rise, progress, and depart- 
 ure of different diseases, as experienced by her children. 
 
4 ACIDS. 
 
 In short, whenever any important fact offers itself, let it 
 be put down under some general head, making an index at 
 the end of the book of each head, and the number of the 
 page on which each subject is placed. This is the only safe 
 way of being sure of your facts. Medical men know this ; 
 and after listening to statements at college meetings, they 
 inquire of the speaker, Did you at the time make an entry 
 of these things in writing ? If the reply is in the negative, 
 they refuse to accept the matter, whatever it may be, as 
 reliable data. 
 
 ACIDS. Liquids and substances which have a sharp 
 taste, and the property of changing vegetable blues to red. 
 This word is now used by chemists for a substance which 
 has not these properties, but has the capability of combining 
 with, and neutralizing, alkalies, various earths, and metallic 
 oxides, and in these forms is called salts. 
 
 In most plants we find vegetable acids. 
 
 Tartaric Acid is discovered in grapes, tamarinds, white 
 mulberries, dandelions, &c., &c. 
 
 Citric Acid exists in lemons, oranges, whortleberry, the 
 onion, &c., &c. 
 
 Malic Acid is the only acid detected in the apple ; - it is 
 found also in the barberry and the plum, and some other 
 fruits. The gooseberry, currant, cherry, strawberry, rasp- 
 berry, admit it with citric acid. Combined with lime, it is 
 found in the houseleek and other plants ; with both lime and 
 potash, in spinach, rue, mignonette, and many other plants. 
 
 Benzoic Acid is in benzoin, the medicinal resin imported 
 from the East Indies ; also in the balsam which is extracted 
 from a South American tree called Tolu, in storax, in an 
 herb of the sage genus, called Clary, in chickpea, &c., &c. 
 
 Oxalic Acid is found in many common plants ; in wood- 
 sorrel, combined with potash ; united with lime, it is detected 
 
ACIDS. 5 
 
 in the root of the me.dicinal squills, common rhubarb, pars- 
 ley, fennel, &c., &c. 
 
 Prussic Acid exists, as is well known, in the kernel of the 
 bitter almond, in laurel leaves, peach leaves and blossoms, 
 &c., &c. 
 
 Gallic Acid is formed in the common nutgall, which is an 
 excrescence formed by the puncture of an insect upon an 
 Asiatic species of oak ; also in the bark of many trees, viz. 
 the oak, chestnut, beech, mountain-ash, sumach, birch, plum, 
 and many others. 
 
 Besides these vegetable acids, there are other acids ex- 
 tracted from the mineral kingdom, which are much used in 
 the arts. Among these is Sulphuric Acid, which is manufac- 
 tured by burning sulphur, which, combined with soda, forms 
 the well-known substance, Glauber salts. Sulphuric acid is 
 much used in the bleaching and dyeing processes. 
 
 Carbonic Acid is obtained from various substances, and is 
 now produced in a solid form. It exists in common air in 
 minute quantities ; in larger proportions it is poisonous. 
 
 Acids and oxygen combine with copper, and in this man- 
 ner poisonous matter is generated. Culinary vessels, if 
 made of this material, should be lined with tin. Copper- 
 bottomed ships are avoided by marine animals on account 
 of the poisonous properties contained in the metal. Bell- 
 metal is copper united with tin, and, for the reason above 
 assigned, is objectionable for culinary purposes, and, if used, 
 must be kept religiously cleaned. 
 
 Leaden vessels for milk have been known to produce in- 
 jurious effects. The air combining with the cream, the latter 
 furthers the oxidation of the lead, and carbonic acid being 
 attracted, a carbonate of lead (white lead) is created, which 
 throws a poisonous property into the milk. In the old 
 country, where extensive dairies have been kept, painter's 
 colic has been communicated to dairy-maids through the 
 1* 
 
6 ACID ACETIC. 
 
 agency of these leaden vessels. Zinc, tin, and iron-tinned 
 vessels are not open to these objections ; and porcelain- 
 lined vessels have now mostly superseded bell-metal pre- 
 serving-kettles. 
 
 Acids are still imperfectly known. The careful house- 
 wife knows that they are powerful agents, and to be used 
 with care. Fat, which retains its own in water, ether, and 
 alcohol, surrenders, by gradually decomposing, when strong 
 acids are applied to it. 
 
 ACID ACETIC, OR VINEGAR, it is well known, is 
 made mostly from beer, wine, or cider, by exposing these 
 liquids to the atmosphere. 
 
 A good vinegar for home consumption can be made by 
 mixing the weight of one part of strong brown sugar with 
 seven parts of water and a little yeast, putting the mixture 
 into a cask where the bung-hole shall be covered with a 
 bit of gauze or muslin, to keep out the insects. The cask 
 must be exposed to the sun and out-door atmosphere for 
 some weeks. 
 
 A good cider vinegar is made by putting one pound of 
 white sugar to a gallon of cider, and allowing it to ferment 
 four months. 
 
 French white-wine vinegar is much esteemed for domestic 
 purposes. 
 
 The Vinaigre d'Orleans is made from the red wine of the 
 Orleannais. Vinegars called Champagne vinegars are often 
 made from red wines. 
 
 The excise laws of England permit the use of free sul- 
 phuric acid to the amount of one part in one thousand, but it 
 is supposed that this amount is often increased. 
 
 Vinegar can be thoroughly purified by distillation, as we 
 find it in the transparent distilled vinegar of commerce, 
 though still united with water. 
 
ALCOHOL. 7 
 
 To make Aromatic or Cleansing Vinegar, gather a hand- 
 ful of lavender leaves and flowers, the same proportion of 
 sage leaves and flowers, hyssop, thyme, balm, wormwood, 
 and savory ; take a large handful of salt, and two cloves of 
 garlic or one small onion ; mix these ingredients together, 
 and pour over them a gallon of pure white-wine vinegar. 
 Subject this mixture to a gentle heat (keeping the vessel 
 in which you have put it closely covered) for three weeks. 
 Then squeeze the herbs over the liquor, strain it carefully, 
 and bottle it for the sick-chamber. It is a grateful relief for 
 sudden fainting-fits, and it is often beneficial in cases of 
 sprains and flesh-wounds. 
 
 Acetic acid, as observed above, is found in many plants 
 and in the sap of trees ; in almost all the plants it exists in 
 the form of salts, such as the acetate of lime or potassa. 
 
 ALABASTER, n. A carbonate of lime, also a compact 
 gypsum, from which beautiful ornaments are made. One 
 method of cleansing alabaster is to leave it in pure water 
 about ten minutes, and then rub it with a brush dipped in 
 dry, powdered plaster. Another mode, which the author 
 followed with great success, cleansing some exquisite Italian 
 statuettes by the process, is to take one pint of rain-water 
 mixed with two ounces of aquafortis, wash the alabaster with 
 this liquid, applied with a fine brush for about five minutes, 
 then rinse it carefully with rain-water, wipe it dry, and place 
 it in the sun for two or three hours. Care should be taken 
 to have the brush pass equally over the surface, so as to rest 
 equally on every part. The aquafortis should not be allowed 
 to touch the skin, as it burns and stains the flesh : it is a 
 heavy liquid, yellow in color, and contains thirty parts of 
 nitrogen and seventy of oxygen. 
 
 ALCOHOL, n. A liquid obtained by the distillation of 
 wine, beer, and other fermented spirits. 
 
8 ALCOHOL. 
 
 The wine or wash is subjected to a slow heat, and as the 
 spirit rises, it is easily collected in a worm surrounded by 
 cold water. Gin is thus procured through the distillation 
 of fermented barley or other grain ; rum, from molasses ; 
 brandy, from wine. None of these processes, however, elicit 
 pure alcohol, for the strongest brandy contains between forty 
 and fifty per cent of water. Impure alcohol can be im- 
 proved by repeated Distillations, and by mixing it with some 
 salt that has a strong attraction for water, like the salt of 
 tartar ; in this way it becomes more concentrated as it gradu- 
 ally parts with much of its water. 
 
 Alcohol at its greatest strength does not freeze, even in 
 the coldest weather. It is very volatile, boiling at 176 of 
 Fahrenheit, and in a vacuum, at 56. It unites with water. 
 It is combustible, burning with a white flame, without leaving 
 any residuum. 
 
 Alcohol is exceedingly useful, through its capability of 
 dissolving vegetable principles, so that such parts as contain 
 medicinal virtues can be disengaged and preserved by the 
 agency of alcohol. Such medicines are known technically 
 as tinctures. Science owes an incalculable debt to alcohol, 
 as through what are called by anatomists wet preparations, 
 that is, putting objects in a perfect state into alcohol, the 
 scientific world sees the vast collections of animal and vege- 
 table structure and growth preserved in a perfect state in 
 the museums and college halls of the civilized world. 
 
 Alcohol is used to keep venison warm, by serving it up on 
 metal plates, usually of block-tin, commonly called venison- 
 blazers, or chafing-dishes, which are hollow in the centre, 
 and filling them with the spirit, which is occasionally ignited, 
 at a small orifice placed on the side of the plate. Alcohol 
 is also much used in lamps placed under kettles, to keep 
 liquids, while on the table, at a proper temperature. 
 
 The spirits distilled from different fermented liquors. Sir 
 
ALIMENT. 9 
 
 Humphrey Davy says, differ in .their flavor, for peculiar 
 odorous matters or oils rise, in most cases, with the alcohol. 
 The spirit from malt has a taste similar to oil, brought 
 out by the distillation of vegetable substances. The purest 
 brandies have a peculiar oily matter, formed, it is supposed, 
 by the action of tartaric acid upon alcohol ; rum owes its 
 characteristic taste to a principle in the sugar-cane. 
 
 ALE. A liquor obtained from the infusion of malt 
 and hops by fermentation. The chief difference between 
 ale and beer lies in the lesser proportion of hops used 
 for ale. 
 
 There are a variety of ales brewed ; there is strong ale, 
 table ale, pale ale, and brown ale. Pale ale is made from 
 barley or malt but slightly dried, and is thought to be of a 
 more glutinous or viscid quality than brown ale, which is 
 made from malt which has been roasted or thoroughly 
 dried. 
 
 Ale is much lighter-colored, more brisk and sweet, than 
 beer ; neither has it the bitter taste of this last. 
 
 Porter is a kind of beer formerly called strong beer. 
 
 Beer or porter malt is dried at a higher temperature than 
 ale malt, and owes its deeper color, and also its bitter flavor, 
 to this circums'tance. 
 
 ALEWIVES, n. pi. An American fish, a little larger 
 than the Scotch herring. This fish is cured very nicely on 
 the South Shore, Massachusetts. It requires but little broil- 
 ing over lively coals. When cooked on both sides, take 
 the skins carefully off, and serve it without butter. This fish 
 is nicest when freshly cured. 
 
 ALIMENT, n. Nourishment ; food. 
 
 We take it, the great object of cookery is to prepare food 
 
10 ALIMENT. 
 
 that will at once combine the most nourishment with the 
 least unnecessary action of the stomach. Crude, hard sub- 
 stances thrown into the stomach tax it to its utmost limit, 
 "^if " there is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at 
 the flood, leads on to fortune," so also there is a crisis in the 
 cooking operations, which should be anxiously watched for 
 by all honest cooks and philanthropic, well-disposed persons. 
 That the dissolving and reducing powers of the stomach 
 have a limit, the frequent visits of disease too surely demon- 
 strate. "We would not advocate a fantastic regimen with 
 regard to diet; man's instinct, and his superior digestive 
 organs, suggest and authorize an extensive variety in the 
 matter of food ; we only wish to recommend care with re- 
 gard to the chemical properties of materials, and their care- 
 ful preparation for the human stomach. The elegance and 
 graceful lightness of French dishes is not often attained by 
 us : but let us abjure France's brandy sauces, and crude 
 sugar sauces, her cloying cordials, her raw oils ; and, on the 
 other hand, let us refuse to eat meat half cooked, and to 
 swallow soups that require the habits of a Hottentot prop- 
 erly to digest. Our climate and our politics are both highly 
 exciting, and therefore we should endeavor to propitiate so 
 powerful an agent as this same human stomach. The effects 
 of diet, both negative and positive, on the physical and men- 
 tal constitution of man, are known to be very considerable. 
 " Know thyself," is the sublime injunction often thrown in 
 people's faces. No one can obey in full ; but he can begin 
 by not despising the day of small things ; he may modify 
 his temper, correct his health, when he simply thought to 
 modify his food and correct some habits bearing upon the 
 use of stimulants and narcotics. Let the wise, however, be a 
 law unto themselves in these things. Franklin may be great 
 on a bowl of gruel ; my neighbor on the hill -has gorgeous 
 fancies on a bowl of coffee ; my friend who lives just below 
 
ALKANET. 11 
 
 builds up an harmonious physical and mental constitution on 
 venison, game, rich mutton, beef, and perfumed wines. 
 
 ALKALI. This word comes from an herb, called by 
 the Egyptians kali ; it is the same as glasswort, of which 
 there are several varieties. The Egyptians burned this 
 herb to ashes, boiled the ashes in water, and when the water 
 was completely evaporated the residuum was a white salt, 
 called by them salkali or alkali. 
 
 The ashes from forests, on the clearing up of land to bring 
 it under cultivation, yield a vast alkaline residuum, and after 
 these ashes have been subjected to boiling and evaporation 
 of its solution in iron pans or pots, they afford one principal - 
 alkali of commerce, known under the name of potash. The 
 common domestic ley, used for the manufacture of soft-soap, 
 is obtained by filtering water through wood-ashes. Hard- 
 soap is made with another alkali of commerce, known under 
 the name of soda; it is obtained through the combustion 
 of marine plants. Soda abounds in sea-plants, and that to 
 a greater extent than potash does in vegetables of inland 
 districts. The barilla of Spain, which is an impure car- 
 bonate of soda, imported from Spain and the Levant, is ex- 
 tracted from the Salsola saliva and vermiculata, and some 
 of these plants yield nearly twenty per cent of ashes, which 
 contain about two per cent of soda. (Johnson's Farmer's 
 Encyclopedia. External Nature as adapted to the Physical 
 Condition of Man, by John Kidd, M. D., F. R. S.) 
 
 Alkaline Salts are bodies formed by the union of alkalies 
 with acids. Combined with fatty substances, as already 
 mentioned, alkalies form soaps. 
 
 ALKANET (Lat. anchusa\. A species of bugloss. Its 
 root is of a deep-red color, as the plant reaches maturity in 
 autumn ; its root is also astringent. Alkanet chips, which 
 
12 ALMOND. 
 
 are sold by the druggists, are used for coloring : previous 
 to infusing them in any liquid you may wish to color, they 
 should be picked over, and then tied in a muslin bag. It 
 is a cheap, easily got at, and innoxious coloring. Confec- 
 tionary is often colored through the agency of this plant. 
 
 ALLSPICE, n. The dried, .immature berry of the 
 Myrtus pimenta ; called also Jamaica pepper. ( Worcester.) 
 
 This spice is not much used in any approved category of 
 culinary operations. Mixed with stronger spices, and chief- 
 ly to qualify their asperity, it is put into mangroves for 
 pickling. In common cakes, it sometimes gets leave to . 
 come in. 
 
 ALLSPICE-TREE, or Sweet-scented Strawberry, or 
 Calycanthus. 
 
 This delightful shrub is a native of North America. The 
 scent of its fragrant brown flowers is thought to resemble 
 the fruit of the strawberry. It thrives in almost any deep, 
 fresh soil, but loves a shady situation. The different species 
 are all varieties of the Calycanthus floridus, or the American 
 Allspice-tree ; it is also sometimes called Carolina Allspice. 
 All the varieties are propagated by layers, removing the 
 layers the third year. 
 
 ALMOND (Amygdalus, Rosacece). These ornamental 
 species of almond are very popular, on account of their 
 flowers. The dwarf (A. nana) is a low but beautiful shrub, 
 that bears in spring exquisite double pink flowers. A. com- 
 munis-plcno is the large flowering shrub. Its flowers are 
 nearly white. It bears also a good hard-shell, but small 
 almond. 
 
 There are several varieties of each of these species. The 
 dwarf almond is propagated by suckers, while other species 
 
ALMOND. 13 
 
 and varieties are grafted on the common plum-tree. The 
 common dwarf almond has several botanical soubriquets ; it 
 is known as Amygdalus pumila, Lin., frunus japonica, Pru- 
 nus Sinensis, and Cerasus ; but under any of these names, or 
 any other name, it smells as sweet. Mrs. Loudon remarks, 
 in her excellent book, " Gardening for Ladies," that where 
 the almond is cultivated for its flowers, a background of ever- 
 greens should support them, " as otherwise, from the flowers 
 being produced before the leaves, half their beauty will be 
 lost from the cold and naked appearance of the tree." 
 
 ALMOND (Amygdalus communis). The almond-tree is 
 a native of the North of Africa and the mountains of Asia. 
 Its cultivation was introduced into England as early as 1548. 
 Its resemblance to the peach-tree in both wood and leaf is 
 so like, that, joined to experiments which have been made in 
 cultivating the almond from seed, many botanists think the 
 peach an accidental variety, produced by culture on the 
 almond. 
 
 The almond requires similar soil and treatment to that 
 bestowed on the peach. It is often budded on thrifty plum 
 stocks. Though some ornamental varieties grow in New 
 England, our Northern regions refuse us the fruit. The 
 lamented and accomplished Downing * says, that " the com- 
 mon almond, the hard-shell sweet almond, and the bitter 
 almond, are hardy in the latitude of New York, and will bear 
 tolerable crops without care. The soft-shell sweet almond, 
 or ladies' almond, will not thrive well in the open garden as 
 a standard north of Philadelphia; but they succeed well 
 trained to a wall or on espalier rails, in a warm situation, 
 the branches being slightly protected in winter. There is 
 no apparent reason why the culture of the almond should 
 
 * Fruits and Fruit-trees of America. 
 2 
 
14 ALMOND. 
 
 not be pursued to a profitable extent in the warm and 
 favorable climate of some of the Southern States. Especially 
 in the valley of the Ohio and Tennessee it would be likely to 
 succeed admirably." 
 
 1. The long Hard-shell Almond is hardy, has a large nut. 
 Grows readily in the Middle and Western States. Its 
 flowers are large, highly ornamental, of a pale rose-color. 
 Ripens last of September and first of October. 
 
 2. Common Almond, sweet, is also hardy ; nuts hard, of 
 agreeable flavor, but inferior to the preceding. Flowers 
 precede the leaves. 
 
 3. The Soft-shell Sweet Almond, or Ladies' Thin-shell, 
 is the choicest variety for the dessert, and for confectionery. 
 It ripens early, and it is served up in a green or fresh state 
 at Parisian dinners about the middle of July. The blossoms 
 and leaves come out together ; the flower has a deeper red 
 than the varieties already mentioned. The shell is soft, 
 easily yielding to the pressure of the fingers ; the kernel 
 is sweet, and very agreeable. Mr. Downing has remarked, 
 " that on the plum stock, in a favorable aspect, this almond 
 succeeds, with a little care, in the Middle States." 
 
 4. Sultana Sweet Almond. A tender-shelled almond, of 
 pleasant quality. The fruit is smaller and the kernel 
 narrower than the soft-shelled almond, but of equally rich 
 flavor, and even thought to be the nicer by some. 
 
 5. Pistachio Sweet Almond. This variety is not much 
 known in America. The fruit resembles the pistachio in 
 size and shape ; the shell is not quite as tender as the soft- 
 shell almond. Of this variety Mr. Downing has observed, 
 that it " is scarcely known yet in this country, but is worth 
 further trial at the South." 
 
 6. Peach Almond. This variety is considered as rather 
 indifferent. It is a cross between the peach and the almond. 
 Its fruit is somewhat sweet, but not unfrequently a little bit- 
 
ALMOND. 15 
 
 ter, resembling, in short, the inferior kind of peaches. This 
 variety requires, to ripen perfectly, a Southern latitude. 
 
 7. The Bitter Almond. This species is distinguished for 
 its bitter kernel. It has two varieties, one with a hard and 
 one with a brittle shell. The leaves have a darker green 
 than most of the sweet-fruited discover, and are also longer ; 
 the blossoms are also large, and pale in color. 
 
 The kernel of the sweet almond has its familiar uses, in 
 the lady's boudoir, in the hands of the confectioner, and the 
 simple house cook. The bitter almond plays a part almost 
 as varied and busy, for besides lending aid to the cook 
 and confectioner, it also is an auxiliary of medicine, and, 
 gliding into the chemist's crucible, yields him one of the most 
 virulent of all poisons, prussic aoid. Both the sweet and 
 bitter almond afford an oil. Let us now proceed to see in 
 how many good things this valuable nut is found as a very 
 principal help and ingredient ; observing beforehand, that 
 the soft-shell sweet almond, or ladies' almond, is the favorite 
 nut for the table, and for fancy dishes for dessert. It is also 
 better economy to buy these when to be used for the last- 
 mentioned purposes, a pound of this variety yielding about 
 half a pound when shelled; of course the thicker-shelled 
 yield less. 
 
 ALMOND BLANCMANGE. 
 
 Take two ounces of isinglass and one quart of new milk, 
 blanch one half-pound of almonds, and pound them very 
 fine in a mortar, with a little rose-water, and stir them in 
 carefully. Strain it, and sweeten it to your taste. Let it be 
 milk-warm when you put it into your mould. 
 
 ALMOND CANDY. 
 
 Take two quarts of West India molasses, and stir into it 
 one pound of brown sugar ; put this molasses thus prepared 
 
16 ALMOND. 
 
 into a porcelain-lined kettle, and set it over a moderate fire, 
 and let it boil about three hours. Have ready three pounds 
 of blanched almonds, cut into large pieces, and just before 
 taking it up, stir in a piece of fresh butter about the size of a 
 hen's egg ; then put in the almonds. You may omit the 
 butter if you choose, hanging your faith on the oil of the 
 almonds. If you wish to have part of your candy light- 
 colored, separate some, and cut some of your almonds very 
 fine, and while it is yet warm pull the candy, (having previ- 
 ously floured or buttered your hands,) at arm's length, till it 
 is light yellow, or straw-color. Twist this, and cut it in 
 sticks. Butter flat pans for that which is not to be worked, 
 and pour the candy into them. 
 
 In making candy, be always careful not to have too hot a 
 fire, as molasses is easily burned. 
 
 ALMOND CAKE. 
 
 Take an ounce of shelled bitter almonds and an ounce of 
 shelled sweet almonds ; blanch them, and lay them on a dry 
 linen cloth in the sun. Take a pound of dry, hard loaf- 
 sugar, of the best quality, and powder it and sift it. Take 
 ten newly laid eggs, and break them on the sugar. Wipe 
 the almonds perfectly dry ; pound them in a stone or marble 
 mortar to a smooth paste, adding a little rose-water while 
 pounding them to prevent their oiling. Have ready seven 
 ounces of dried and sifted flour. 
 
 Beat the eggs and sugar till they are very light. Stir in 
 the almond very hard, and just before you put the cake into 
 the oven, stir in the flour quite lightly. Put this mixture 
 into thin-bottomed pans, that the heat may be on the bottom 
 of the pan rather than the top. The oven should be quick. 
 Butter your pans with good butter. 
 
 This cake is frequently iced. To do this, take the whites 
 of three eggs, and as much white powdered sugar as will 
 
ALMOND. 17 
 
 make a thick paste, about twenty-five spoonfuls if the eggs 
 are large. Flavor with a few drops of fresh lemon-juice. 
 Put it on the cake while it is warm (but not hot) from the 
 oven. 
 
 ALMOND CHEESECAKES. 
 
 There are a variety of ways of making these cakes. Some 
 persons beat eggs and stir them into boiling milk till it makes 
 a curd, and add sugar and cream and spice and almonds and 
 raisins to this curd ; and others make this curd with rennet, 
 adding such ingredients as are mentioned above. Another 
 good way is the following : 
 
 Take a quarter of a pound of blanched sweet almonds ; 
 let them cool ; pound them in rose-water in a marble or 
 stone mortar. Take the same quantity of sugar, and the 
 yolks of four eggs. Beat this mixture till it is very light. 
 Bake it in rich puff-paste. 
 
 ALMOND CREAM. 
 
 Weigh a pound of soft-shelled almonds in the shell ; 
 blanch them, and pound them with a little rose-water, which 
 indeed should always, when practicable, be used, as before 
 mentioned, as it prevents the almonds from oiling. Take a 
 quart of cream, and stir in half a pound of powdered loaf- 
 sugar. Freeze it. 
 
 ALMOND CUSTARD. 
 
 Take one pint of cream ; blanch and beat a quarter of a 
 pound of almonds with two spoonfuls of rose-water ; add the 
 yolks of four eggs ; sweeten to your . taste. You can boil 
 this in a porcelain kettle, stirring it one way over the fire, or 
 you can boil it in a tin custard-pail, or bake it in small china 
 custard-cups. 
 
 This custard is also nice frozen ; in which case it is put 
 into the freezer without being subjected to any heat. 
 
18 ALMOND. 
 
 ALMOND FLUMMERY. 
 
 Take two large calves' feet, and boil them in two quarts of 
 water till the meat falls in rags from the bones ; then strain 
 it off, and put to the clear jelly half a pint of thick cream ; 
 then take two ounces of sweet almonds and an ounce of bitter 
 almonds, blanched and well beaten together, and stir them 
 in. Put the ingredients thus prepared into a porcelain pre- 
 serving-kettle, and let it come to a boil ; then strain it off, 
 and when it is warm as milk, put it into cups or glasses. 
 
 ALMOND MACAROONS. 
 
 Take one pound of the best white powdered sugar, sift it ; 
 beat in a stone or marble mortar one pound of blanched 
 sweet almonds, adding a few drops of rose-water as you beat 
 them ; mix them into a paste with the whites of six eggs, 
 well beaten. Make them into forms, by taking a little of the 
 paste about the size of a cherry into the palm of your hand, 
 with a little flour. Butter some sheets of white paper, drop 
 the macaroons on it, leaving a little interval between each 
 for them to spread. Bake them quickly, strewing a little 
 white powdered sugar over them from a fine sieve just 
 before putting them into the oven. Try to have them a 
 delicate color. 
 
 ALMOND PASTE. 
 
 This is a grateful and cooling paste, highly recommended 
 for the hands. 
 
 Take six pounds of fresh almonds, blanch, and beat them 
 in a stone or marble mortar with a sufficient quantity of 
 rose-water, added gradually, to make a thick paste ; add to 
 this a pound of clear, fresh-strained honey, and mix the 
 whole thoroughly and smoothly. Put it in small china pots, 
 or wide-mouthed glass bottles, with a little rose-water on the 
 top of each bottle. Tie them closely. 
 
ALMOND. 19 
 
 ALMOND PUDDING. 
 
 Take one pound of sifted sugar, one half-pound of butter, 
 and work them together. Beat the yolks of twelve eggs ; 
 have ready one half-pound of blanched almonds, beaten 
 smoothly, with a few drops of rose-water, the strained juice 
 of three large fresh lemons, and the grate of one. Stir the 
 egg and the almonds into the butter gradually and alter- 
 nately, putting the lemon juice and peel in last. Bake in 
 a rich paste, in small pie-plates. 
 
 ALMOND SOUP. 
 
 This soup is made either from calves' feet, a knuckle or 
 breast of veal, a scrag of mutton, or cold fowl, and never 
 from any of the darker, heavier meats, as its principal beauty 
 is its delicate pearl-color. For the same reason none of the 
 darker spices are to be used, and the soup should be boiled 
 in a porcelain -lined kettle, and cooled, in its progressive steps, 
 in china or porcelain dishes. 
 
 If you make your soup of calves' feet, take four feet, 
 nicely scraped, but not skinned, and put them into your 
 kettle with a few blades of mace. Pour over them three 
 quarts of 'cold water. Cover the kettle, and put it over a 
 moderate fire, where it may boil slowly. When it comes to 
 a quick boil, throw in a little table-salt, and remove the 
 kettle to a position where it may simmer. Soups require in 
 their early stages a sufficient degree of heat to bring to the 
 surface the scum ; and as salt tends to throw this together, 
 it is well to put the salt in as soon as the soup boils. 
 
 Skim the soup, and let it be subjected to a steady simmer 
 till the meat has fallen in rags from the bone. Then strain 
 it into an earthen pan ; when it is cold, remove the fat from 
 the top, and return the stock to the kettle ; as soon as it is 
 melted, have ready three quarters of a pound of blanched 
 almonds, that have been pounded smoothly in a stone mor- 
 
20 ALMOND. 
 
 tar, with a few drops of rose-water added to them, from 
 time to time, during the process of pounding. Some are of 
 opinion, that a few bitter almonds added to the sweet improve 
 the flavor of the soup. Boil them a quarter of an hour in 
 the soup. 
 
 Boil a pint of cream a few minutes before taking up the 
 soup, and stir it in just before sending it to the table. 
 
 If you make your soup of mutton and veal, omit the cream 
 and mace, and cut up the peel of a lemon in thin slices, and 
 just before sending the soup to the table add a little of the 
 strained juice of the lemon. 
 
 Soups of an elaborate kind should be made early in the 
 morning, or partially prepared the day before. Veal, fish, 
 and vegetable soups are, however, best when freshly made. 
 
 Besides these numerous happy appearances, the almond is 
 with us again in the popular Antique Oil, used now so com- 
 monly for the hair. This oil is made of ftjual proportions 
 of the oil of sweet almonds and the best olive-oil, colored 
 with alkanet chips, tied in a muslin bag, scenting the mixed 
 oils with such perfumes as may be most grateful or desirable. 
 The oils, after being mixed, should stand for a few days in 
 some warm place to facilitate the coloring, and, by a gentle 
 infusion, have the scented essence thoroughly incorporated. 
 Do not, however, put in the essence till a short time before 
 bottling, as the heat would dissipate the perfume. Put it 
 into glass bottles, and cork it well, having previously passed 
 it through a strainer. 
 
 Almonds, blanched -and cut in large pieces, are often placed 
 on the top of sponge and other light cakes just before they 
 are sent to the oven. Almond icing is also put over this 
 class of cakes. As to almond tarts, colored with the juice 
 of spinach and less innocent matters, the less that is said of 
 them, the better for all parties concerned. 
 
ALTHEA FRUTEX. 21 
 
 ALOES. The medicinal juice is extracted from the 
 common aloes-tree, which has no relation to the costly tree 
 of the East, whose spicy virtues are alluded to by both 
 David and Solomon, nor yet to the American Aloe, or 
 Agave. 
 
 The American Aloe is of the Amaryllis tribe, but the true 
 Aloe of the Day-lily tribe. 
 
 The true Aloe is highly purgative, but the American Aloe 
 abounds in mild starchy properties; the American Aloe 
 sends up a gigantic flower-stem, from which issue branches 
 of cup-shaped flowers, but each plant flowers but once, while 
 the true Aloe flowers every year. 
 
 The drug is extracted from the pulp of the leaves of 
 several species. The Aloe Socotrina, so called from the 
 island of Socotra, is now hardly to be had ; that which is 
 sold for Socotrine being a mixture of Barbadoes and Cape 
 aloes. 
 
 Aloes is a very strong cathartic. As a veterinary medi- 
 cine it is often very efficacious ; but though a valuable horse 
 medicine, it is rarely given to other domestic animals. 
 Even to the horse it must be administered with care. For 
 purging a horse, the usual dose is from four to eight or ten 
 drachms ; but, except in certain diseases, more than eight 
 should never be given even to the strongest horse, and six 
 or seven drachms are a sufficient dose for a family horse. 
 
 It may be given in the solid or liquid state ; but the best 
 method of administering it is to powder it, and mix it up 
 with flour and water, or honey, or some simple, to a stiff 
 paste, and placing it at the root of the roof of the horse's 
 tongue, he swallows it without difficulty. (See Johnson's 
 Farmer's Encyclopaedia.) 
 
 ALTHEA FRUTEX, OR ROSE OF SHARON, is 
 
 a hardy shrub, growing very common in Virginia, and easily 
 
22 ALUM. 
 
 cultivated in most common garden soils. Some of the 
 varieties are very beautiful, and any are desirable for a 
 flower-garden. It can be propagated from seed, or by 
 cuttings and layers. Seeds are thought to produce the best 
 plants. 
 
 ALUM (Lat. Alumen). A mineral or earthy salt of an 
 acid taste. It is a sulphate of alumina, combined usually 
 with a sulphate of potash. ( Worcester.) 
 
 This mineral salt contains, according to chemical results, 
 in different proportions, sulphuric acid, alumina, potash, and 
 water. Its cleansing qualities often tend to dissipate inflam- 
 matory sores and ulcers which have already reached the crisis. 
 It is rendered milder by burning a bit on a shovel or iron 
 plate, and reducing it to a smooth powder. 
 
 Alum Lotion, or water impregnated with alum, is some- 
 times, among other minerals and earths, used by florists in 
 watering the Hydrangea, to change the pink flowers to blue. 
 It does not always succeed. (Mrs. Loudon's Gardening for 
 Ladies.) 
 
 Alum Whey is made by mixing half a pound of powdered 
 alum with one pint of milk. Strain, and sweeten it with 
 white sugar, and add a little nutmeg. It is efficacious some- 
 times in diarrhoea, and in cases of colic. 
 
 Alum is much used in dyeing processes. A good domes- 
 tic dye, for homely purposes, is made by boiling sugar-loaf 
 paper with vinegar in an iron vessel, and fixing the color 
 with alum. This liquid is carefully strained before any cloth 
 is boiled in it, and the cloth to be dyed should be wet. 
 
 Alum is sometimes put into rinsing-water in washing cali- 
 coes where green and yellow colors predominate. 
 
 A very little alum is frequently put into vinegar for pickles, 
 to harden them and improve their color. 
 
AMMONIAC. 23 
 
 ALYSSUM (Cruciferce). Lat. for Madwort. Herba- 
 ceous plants, both annual and perennial, chiefly natives of 
 Europe. Some varieties are grown on rock- work. The 
 Sweet Alyssum should be grown where bees are kept. 
 
 AMMONIA, OR VOLATILE ALKALI. This gaseous 
 substance consists of hydrogen and azote only. It acquired 
 its name from its being prepared in the East, from camels' 
 excrement, nigh a temple consecrated to Jupiter Ammon. 
 
 This alkali is very extensively diffused, and to its presence 
 in liquid manures and organic substances is mainly owing 
 their efficacy as manures. 
 
 In places overcharged with animal life, this gas exists to 
 an extent injurious to human life. 
 
 AMMONIAC, n. A gum-resin ; the name of two drugs, 
 gum ammoniac, a concrete juice brought from the East, and 
 sal ammoniac, a compound of muriatic acid and ammonia, 
 popularly called hartshorn. ( Worcester.) 
 
 Sal ammoniac is obtained by destructive distillation of 
 bones ; a process by which, on the application of heat, the 
 substance of the bone is dissolved into its simple elements, 
 from which new compounds are formed. Some of these 
 escape in the form of vapor or gas, while the fixed prin- 
 ciples remain in the retort. 
 
 The article used in smelling-bottles, and called salt of 
 hartshorn, and volatile salts, is a carbonate of ammonia ; it is 
 obtained from the horn of the hart, or from any kind of bone. 
 Spirit of hartshorn, called by the apothecaries liquid ammo- 
 nia, is frequently used to cleanse jewelry, applying it with a 
 soft, clean rag, and clearing and polishing it with other dry 
 rags and bits of silk. Stains are often removed by it from 
 silks, gloves, carpets, and worsted materials. As it is very 
 volatile, but a little should be exposed at one time to 
 the air. 
 
24 ANCHOVY. 
 
 A friend has vouched for the following recipe for the 
 cure of warts. Dissolve in an ounce vial, filled with soft 
 water, as much sal ammoniac as it will hold, and wash the 
 warts several times daily. This process persisted in will not 
 fail to remove these excrescences. 
 
 Water absorbs this gas instantaneously, and in great pro- 
 portions, taking up more than five hundred times its own 
 bulk ; and when water is so charged, we have the pungent 
 liquid already mentioned as called by the druggists liquid 
 ammonia, and known also as spirit of sal ammoniac, or 
 spirit of hartshorn. 
 
 In painting roses, or wherever bright carmine tints are 
 required, a few drops of liquid ammonia mixed with the 
 paint heighten the color. Indeed, the salts of ammonia, and 
 especially the muriate and carbonate, are substances of large 
 commercial traffic, and are much used in the arts and in 
 medicine. 
 
 Spirit of hartshorn, very much diluted, is sometimes used 
 for dressing the hair. 
 
 AMYLACEOUS, a. Applied to substances which contain 
 starchy properties. Arrowroot, tapioca, salop, and sago, all 
 have large proportions of fecula or starch. Light dishes for 
 dessert, and nutritious ones for invalids, are made from these 
 articles. See directions under their respective heads. 
 
 ANCHOVY. A little sea-fish, from which sauces are 
 made to accompany larger fish. Anchovies are known to be 
 fresh by the smell and fresh color of the fish. The red 
 color of anchovy liquor is given to it by artificial means, 
 often by cochineal, and consequently is not desirable. 
 
 ANCHOVY TOASTS. 
 
 Take slices of bread, and fry them in fresh butter ; have 
 ready some fresh anchovies, that have been boned, pounded 
 
ANNOTTO. 25 
 
 in a mortar, and the liquor pressed from them ; mix a little 
 butter with them, and spread them on the bread, putting 
 some whole bits of anchovy on top, or garnish with slices of 
 hard-boiled egg. Serve very hot. 
 
 ANCHOVY CATCHUP. 
 
 Take twenty-four anchovies, chop them, bone and all ; 
 put to them one handful of scraped horseradish, four blades 
 of mace, ten shallots or small onions, one quart of white 
 wine, one pint of water, one fresh lemon cut in slices, one 
 half-gill of anchovy liquor, one gill of claret, twelve cloves, 
 twelve peppercorns ; boil them together till reduced to a 
 quart. Strain and bottle it for use. Two teaspoonfuls will 
 flavor one pound of melted butter. 
 
 ANISE (Lat. Pimpinetta amsum). A kitchen herb ; a 
 species of apium or parsley. It has large aromatic seeds, 
 which are* used for flavoring soups. These seeds are dis- 
 tilled with brandy, sweetened with sugar, and filtered for 
 anisette liqueurs. 
 
 One pound of anise-seed yields by distillation two drachms 
 of oil. Dropped on a lump of loaf-sugar, from two to ten 
 drops, it is found to be stimulating, to expel wind and induce 
 perspiration. This oil is said to be poisonous to pigeons, if 
 rubbed on their bills or heads. 
 
 ANNOTTO (written also Annotta, Arnotto, and Aronetta). 
 Annotto is sometimes called Rocou. It is a soft substance 
 prepared from the seeds of the Bixa orellana, a shrub of 
 Tropical America, and used for dyeing. Combined with the 
 paste is a resin, so that some alkali, such as soft-soap or 
 weak ley, is used to facilitate the solution of the dye. 
 
 For dyeing a few yards of any material, a little of the 
 paste can be tied in a muslin bag ; and, having previously 
 
26 ANTHRACITE. 
 
 soaked the material in cold water, wring it out dry, and pull 
 it apart, and boil it in the ley with the coloring bag. 
 
 The nicer kinds of annotto are of a bright color, yield to 
 the pressure, and dissolve in water more readily than that 
 which is usually to be had of the druggists. ,The English 
 color their cheeses with the purer sorts of annotto. An 
 ounce is sufficient to color twenty cheeses of ten or twelve 
 pounds each. Cheeses are not so universally colored in 
 America. 
 
 ANTS. Mrs. Loudon remarks (Gardening for Ladies), 
 that " it has been found that the liquor discharged by ants is 
 very acid and acrid ; the idea presented itself that alkalies 
 would be disagreeable to them ; and experience proves this 
 so far to be the case, that a circle of chalk or lime laid round 
 any plant will effectually prevent the ants from touching it." 
 Similar measures and great cleanliness will keep them out 
 of closets. 
 
 ANTHRACITE. A hard mineral coal. Lehigh, Schuyl- 
 kill, and Rhode Island coal come under this head. It is 
 heavier, less black, and not so easily ignited as bituminous 
 coal ; it emits no smoke, and burns slowly w r ith a white flame, 
 but once excited to flame, and burned in large masses, it 
 throws out great heat, and is not so quickly exhausted as 
 bituminous coal. It is now used quite extensively in Ameri- 
 ca, both for domestic and other purposes. 
 
 In making fires for the grate, the best way is to lay a thin 
 foundation with hard coal, selecting the smaller pieces from 
 the scuttle ; put bright kitchen coals on this basis, seeing that 
 the coals are unmixed with ashes ; over these coals put some 
 pieces of charcoal, filling up the crevices with small bits of 
 anthracite ; when this has ignited, put on the last heap of 
 anthracite, the smaller lumps first, and set the blower firmly 
 
APPLE. 27 
 
 on. When forked flames strike up through the mass to the 
 surface, you may safely take the blower off. 
 
 The ashes from anthracite coal will make neither soap 
 nor ley. 
 
 ANTISEPTICS, n. Substances which prevent or check 
 putrefaction (Worcester). Some of the most powerful of 
 these preservative agents are alcohol, oils, acids, camphor, 
 charcoal, chlorine, tannin, resins, sugar, bitumen, and salts of 
 different kinds. 
 
 The mode by which they resist and retard decay has never 
 been fully explained. In some cases, as in leather, they 
 seem to combine with the material to be preserved, and 
 probably in other cases they absorb the decomposing gases 
 and agents. 
 
 Lumps of charcoal put about birds and meat will tend to 
 keep them sweet, but will hardly restore what is already 
 tainted. 
 
 For the preservation of vegetable and animal substances, 
 sugar, alcohol, salt, acetic acid or vinegar, and pyroligneous 
 acids are used ; but antiseptics for the preservation of sci- 
 entific specimens and labors are resinous and bituminous 
 varnishes, alum, alcohol, oil of turpentine, and corrosive 1 
 sublimate. 
 
 APPLE (Pyrus Malus). It is a curious fact, that all our 
 apples have originated from a species of crab which is native 
 to Europe, and not from our native crabs. The seeds of the 
 species brought by the European colonists to America have, 
 through the influences of culture, soil, and climate, succeeded 
 in giving us the finest apple in the world. Mr. Downing 
 has remarked, that the apple-tree is " most perfectly natural- 
 ized in America, and in the northern and middle portions of 
 the United States succeeds as well, or, as we believe, better 
 
28 APPLE. 
 
 than in any part of the world. The most celebrated apples 
 of Germany and the North of Europe are not superior to 
 many of the varieties originated here ; and the American 
 or Newtown Pippin is now pretty generally admitted to 
 be the finest apple in the world. No better proof of the 
 perfect adaptation of our soil and climate to this tree can 
 be desired, than the seemingly spontaneous production of 
 such varieties as this, the Baldwin, the Spitzenburg, or the 
 Snaar, all fruits of delicious flavor and great beauty of 
 appearance." 
 
 Though the apple will live in almost any soil and situation, 
 it thrives best in strong loamy soils, that are rather heavy 
 than light and sandy. Clayey loams, if well drained, are 
 favorable fruit soils. There are some exceptions to this soil ; 
 the Yellow Belle-Fleur is thought finer to be grown on a 
 sandy soil ; and, to quote the same excellent authority above 
 mentioned, " the Newtown Pippin will only arrive at per- 
 fection in a strong loam." But there are exceptions to all 
 rules ; and the distinguished author adds, " that calcareous 
 soils, of whatever texture, are better than soils of the same 
 quality where no limestone is present." 
 
 Sandy soils, whose subsoil is also of too sandy a character, 
 are improved by top-dressing and manures. Top-dressings 
 of clay and heavy bog-earth, river-mud, and similar matters, 
 are recommended by the best cultivators as more lasting 
 manures, and calculated to work up a firmer, better soil, than 
 the common stable-manures. 
 
 Every fruit garden, where the soil is not naturally good, 
 requires to be ploughed, or trenched two spades in depth ; 
 and it is better to do this one season beforehand, that is, 
 before setting out seedlings. 
 
 The apple-tree has many enemies in the insect world, that 
 the cultivator must constantly watch, and endeavor to over- 
 reach. 
 
APPLE. 29 
 
 The Apple-tree Borer is among the most mischievous of 
 these insects. In June it assumes the form of a medium- 
 sized beetle, flying about in the night, and in the clay resting 
 and feeding on the leaves of the trees ; in this month, and in 
 July and August, she begins to lay eggs upon the bark of 
 the tree, and almost always near the ground. Her progeny 
 are whitish fleshy grubs, which eat through the bark, and 
 remain there the first winter ; the following season it ascends 
 some twelve or fifteen inches into the tree, throwing out dust, 
 by which it is usually detected. The third year it leaves 
 the tree, assuming the beetle form (Saperdabivittati). After 
 it has once penetrated the tree, it must be destroyed by 
 piercing it with some bit of wire or sharp instrument, or by 
 applying the knife or chisel. We have seen them extracted 
 in a perfect state by a lady with a simple hair-pin. 
 
 The best of all modes for getting rid of these and other 
 insects are those which tend to keep the tree and soil, and 
 even the atmosphere, in an ungrateful, inhospitable attitude 
 towards them. 
 
 In June, small bonfires destroy the beetle which is the 
 future borer, by thousands. They should be placed in dif- 
 ferent parts of the orchard ; a few shavings or a little tow, 
 a pitch-pine knot, or a few handfuls of any dry, combustible 
 matter, will answer the purpose. In June also, the bark of 
 the tree should be scraped, and be bathed with various 
 washes. A wash made of soap-suds and whale-oil soap, in 
 the proportion of two pounds of the soap to fifteen gallons of 
 water, is known to be beneficial. It is frequently applied 
 with a syringe. 
 
 Water in which refuse tobacco-leaves, wormwood, and 
 burdock have been steeped, is also, if made into a strong de- 
 coction, efficacious. 
 
 A solution of potash, of about a pound to two gallons of 
 water, is used with advantage. 
 3* 
 
30 APPLE. 
 
 When lime is used, it should always be in solution with 
 something else, as it binds the bark of the tree, and prevents 
 the dews, air, and rains exerting their influence. 
 
 A little salt placed in a circle round the tree, if repeated 
 only in small quantities, is fatal to many insects, and, with 
 the precaution necessary for using so powerful an agent, not 
 injurious to the tree. Hen-manure, ashes, sulphur, soot, 
 snuff, and any strong-smelling substances, may be placed 
 round the tree. Fish oil and offal is disagreeable to many 
 insects. 
 
 Bottles, left uncorked, and half filled with, some sweet 
 preparation, and tied upon the branches of trees, are an ex- 
 cellent trap for winged insects which pierce the blossom and 
 the fruit. 
 
 Birds destroy great numbers of insects, and guns should 
 never be fired off in orchards and gardens. 
 
 Belts or bandages of canvas are tied round apple and 
 other trees, and covered with tar, mixed with train oil, to 
 keep it moist. These belts, if kept in a fresh state, will keep 
 the female of the cankerworm from ascending the tree to 
 lay her, eggs. Many persons apply the bandage in the 
 fall in October, and keep it on till late in the spring. 
 
 Old India-ruUber, subjected to great heat in an iron pot, 
 forms an excellent substance for smearing the bandages ; it 
 is highly adhesive, and, effectually resisting the atmosphere, 
 it seldom requires to be renewed. 
 
 Another practice which is much recommended by culti- 
 vators is to dig round the tree, and bury rock-weed that 
 has grown by the sea-shore, throwing the earth over the 
 weed, and treading it down lightly, or passing the roller 
 over it. 
 
 Always have a space immediately round the trees kept 
 perfectly free from weeds, so that insects can be more readily 
 discovered. 
 
APPLE. 31 
 
 GATHERING AND KEEPING THE APPLE. 
 
 Apples should be gathered in dry weather, and those 
 which are to be stored for winter use plucked by the hand. 
 Delay gathering the fruit till there is serious apprehension 
 of frost. The most approved way then is to place the fruit 
 immediately into tight, dry flour-barrels, packing it closely, 
 and heading it up quite full, to prevent bursting in rolling. 
 They are then placed in some shady exposure, some shed 
 open to the air, or under the trees, protected by boards 
 placed under and over the barrels, or at the north side of 
 the building, the barrels being similarly protected by boards 5 
 in such places they remain a few weeks, or till extreme 
 cold weather, when they are carefully transferred to a dry, 
 cool cellar, where air can be occasionally let in from the 
 outer atmosphere on days not too cold. 
 
 The barrels should be placed on their side, and kept 
 as dark as possible. The colder apples can be preserved 
 throughout the winter without reaching the freezing point, 
 the better for winter fruit. Packed in dry, close barrels, 
 apples will bear a frost nearly twelve degrees below freezing 
 temperature. 
 
 Before entering upon the uses of the apple, we would 
 advise every housekeeper to provide herself with a tin apple- 
 corer, a cheap and useful article for extracting the cores of 
 apples, and also with a tin apple-roaster, that can be put be- 
 fore the fire. 
 
 APPLE BATTER. 
 
 Take twelve juicy apples, slice them thin, and stir them 
 into a batter prepared thus. Take six eggs, beat them quite 
 light ; stir them, with flour enough to make a batter a little 
 thicker than pound cake, into a pint of rich milk ; stir them 
 in alternately with the fruit, and just before you put it into 
 the oven, stir in a little melted butter. Bake in a deep dish. 
 
32 APPLE. 
 
 Serve it with sugar, butter, and nutmeg, or with sugar and 
 cream. 
 
 ArpLE BUTTER. 
 
 This is often made and sold by the barrel. It is made 
 by slicing and paring sweet apples, and boiling them in new 
 cider till they have a smooth, thick consistency. 
 
 APPLES DRIED. 
 
 When small quantities are prepared, it is usual to pare, 
 quarter, and core them by hand, and dry them in the sun. 
 "Where they are intended for large market sales, they are 
 pared and quartered by machinery, and dried slowly in 
 ovens. Buy those which look clean. 
 
 In cooking dried apples they should be allowed to simmer 
 slowly some time before the sugar is added. Flavor dried 
 apple-sauce with a few drops of fresh lemon-juice and the 
 grate of the peel. Always pick over dried apples, and, if 
 necessary, wash them through one or two basins of water ; 
 but soaked too long, they are insipid, leathery, and unhealthy, 
 if the same water is not used to stew them in. 
 
 APPLE DUMPLING. 
 
 Take a quart of sifted flour and half a pound of sweet 
 lard or butter, and a salt-spoon of salt. Put to the flour 
 enough water to make a tender paste ; roll it out, and work 
 in the butter or lard as you would paste. Cut the paste into 
 circular bits, about the size of a small plate, and put a cup- 
 ful of sliced apples into each piece. Throw them into boil- 
 ing water, and boil them not quite half an hour. Serve 
 them with butter, sugar, and nutmeg, or a made sweet sauce. 
 
 APPLE JELLY. 
 
 Both the Scarlet and Yellow Siberian Crabs make an 
 agreeable jelly ; the Yellow Belle-Fleur is also a desirable 
 
APPLE. 33 
 
 fruit for this purpose. An over-ripe or mawkishly-sweet 
 apple is not suitable for jellies. Those which are tender, 
 juicy, and have a sub-acid taste, are best for the making 
 of jelly. 
 
 Wipe your apples, and cut from them the eye and stem ; 
 then slice them, and put them into a stone jar. Put the jar 
 into a pot of water, and let them boil till the apple is tender. 
 Take them out carefully, and put them into a deep flannel or 
 linen bag. To every pint of juice put a pound of powdered 
 white sugar ; let it dissolve ; put it into a porcelain-lined ket- 
 tle over the fire, and let it come to a boil. Pour it while 
 warm into small glasses, and tie them down with brandied 
 papers. 
 
 APPLE MARMALADE. 
 
 Take four pounds of sugar, put them into a preserving- 
 kettle, and throw on to it not quite a quart of water ; stir it 
 till dissolved ; put it over the fire ; as it boils up, throw in a 
 cupful of cold water. Have ready four pounds of sliced 
 apple. Choose for marmalade a nice dessert apple, of rather 
 acid flavor and fine-grained flesh. Let it boil quite slowly 
 till the apple breaks up, and can be stirred into a smooth, 
 even appearance ; afterward let it boil quickly, to increase 
 the evaporation of the liquid, and, just before taking it up, 
 add a few drops of lemon-juice. Put it into china or earthen 
 jars, and paste it or tie it down closely. 
 
 Apple marmalade is often put into moulds. If not to be 
 used immediately, it must be brandied, papered, and tied up 
 very closely, and kept in a cool, dry place. Wet the mould 
 in hot water before attempting to turn it out. 
 
 APPLES MERINGUED. 
 
 Select handsome Pippins or Greenings of the same size, 
 and, with the aid of the apple-corer, pare and core them 
 
34 APPLE. 
 
 whole. Put them into the oven with a little water, in a 
 deep earthen dish. Let them plump, but not break. Take 
 them out into a flat dish, and, when cold, fill the centre of 
 each apple with .jelly. Make an icing with the whites of 
 eggs thickened with powdered loaf-sugar, and flavored with 
 lemon-juice, and put it on to each apple in as handsome 
 a form as possible, wetting the knife you use with cold 
 water as you place it on. Sift a little white sugar over 
 them, and place them in a moderate oven, with the door 
 open ; allow them to remain there but a few seconds, as 
 the jelly might run out, and spoil the appearance of the 
 whole. 
 
 APPLE PANCAKES OR FRITTERS. 
 
 These are frequently made by adding a little more flour 
 than is given to a common pancake batter, and stirring in 
 slices of uncooked apple. The following is a little richer. 
 Take some of the finest-flavored dessert apples, pare them, 
 and cut them into thin slices, put them into a small dish, add 
 to them a little brandy, some white wine, a small grated 
 nutmeg, and cover them with powdered loaf-sugar ; let them 
 stand some hours. Prepare a batter, by taking half a pound 
 of sifted flour, a salt-spoon of salt, the yolks of three eggs 
 beaten very lightly, a little melted butter, and as much 
 water as will make a thin batter. Drain the apples, and 
 put them into the batter, one large spoonful of batter and 
 a .slice of apple for each fritter. Fry them quickly in hot 
 fat, drain them on a sieve, and put them into a warm dish, 
 sifting white sugar on to them, and glazing them as you lay 
 them in. 
 
 APPLE PIE. 
 
 Select some of the finest Pippins or Belle-Fleur apples, 
 pare and core and halve them ; sift a little powdered sugar 
 
APPLE. 35 
 
 over them. Have ready a rich sirup, made of four pounds 
 of loaf-sugar broken up, two pints of pure water and a wine- 
 glass of rose-water, and the white of an egg. Let the sugar 
 dissolve before you put the kettle over the fire, and reserve 
 a cup of the water to be put in at the first boil up, when it 
 is to be carefully skimmed ; at the second boiling, put in the 
 rose-water, and take off the kettle. Put it away to get cold 
 into a deep earthen dish. 
 
 Cover the bottom of a preserving-kettle with apples, and 
 pour enough sirup on to cover them, put a stick of cinna- 
 mon in, and boil them till tender and transparent, but do not 
 allow them to break. Take them out carefully, on a flat 
 dish, with their sirup, and proceed in the same way till you 
 have preserved your whole fruit. Save a little of the 
 sirup. 
 
 Make a rich pie-paste, and cover the bottom of the plate 
 intended for your pie with a thin piece of the paste ; put 
 your apple in, piling it up, so as to give a plumpness to 
 the pie. Cover with a rich paste, ornamenting the sides 
 with a paste-cutter. When the pies are baked, take a knife, 
 and carefully lift up the top paste ; if they have cooked dry, 
 take a small spoon, and put in some of the sirup you saved. 
 Bake the pie a very light color. 
 
 APPLE SAUCE. 
 
 Take twelve large, rich apples of an acid quality, pare 
 and core them, and put them into a porcelain-lined kettle or 
 saucepan with four or five spoonfuls of water. Boil them till 
 they are perfectly tender ; take them off, and stir in a small 
 piece of fresh butter, one pound of white powdered sugar, 
 and a little pounded orange-peel. Apple prepared in this 
 way, with the same quantity of sugar, a quarter of a pound 
 of melted butter, the juice of three lemons and the grate of 
 one, and the yolk of eight eggs, mixed well together, and a 
 
36 APPLES OP LOVE. 
 
 little sugar sifted from a fine sieve after it is all beaten 
 lightly and well mixed, and baked in a puff-paste, makes 
 a very nice pudding. 
 
 Apple sauce to be eaten with meat should have much less 
 sugar. 
 
 APPLE OR CAROLINA SNOWBALLS. 
 
 Take the core out of as many large Pippins as you may 
 wish to make snowballs, and fill the centres of the apples 
 with orange and lemon peel cut very fine ; put two spoonfuls 
 of rice in a cloth which will cover the apple, putting the rice 
 all around the apple. Tie the cloth, and boil them an hour. 
 Make a sweet, rich sauce of butter, wine, and loaf-sugar to 
 eat with them. 
 
 APPLE TEA OR WATER. 
 
 Slice large Pippins into thin bits, and cut a little of the 
 peel of a fresh lemon on to them, put them into a pitcher, 
 and pour over them some boiling water. Let it stand, cov- 
 ered closely, near the fire, for several hours. Pour it into 
 glasses, and sweeten it with loaf-sugar. It" is a grateful and 
 cooling drink for invalids. 
 
 APPLES BAKED. 
 
 Apples baked in a tin roaster, with a little West India 
 molasses or sugar-house sirup poured over them, and eaten 
 with cream or rich milk, are very nice. A rich-flavored, 
 sweet apple is to be preferred for this dish. 
 
 APPLES OF LOVE (Poma amoris, Tomato). This 
 vegetable has been for the last twenty years very generally 
 cultivated in America. It was introduced from France. 
 There are several varieties. For the culture of Tomato, see 
 Art of Gardening ; and for cooking, see receipts under the 
 respective heads. 
 
APRICOT. 37 
 
 APRICOT (Armeniaca vulgaris). This early fruit is 
 often nipped by frost, and if it escapes this blight its blos- 
 soms are pierced by insects. In Virginia I have seen farm- 
 ers keep the snow round the trunk of the tree as long as 
 possible, to retard premature blossoming. Nets are some- 
 times thrown over the tree, as a partial protection from the 
 attacks of flies and wasps. Flambeaus of tar and tow stuck 
 into the earth and ignited at night will destroy many of these 
 insects. 
 
 The apricot thrives best budded on the plum (July is the 
 most desirable month for budding it), being more healthy 
 than when growing from its own root ; and it can also adapt 
 itself to a stronger soil when so budded, which also leads to 
 healthy habits. 
 
 APRICOTS IN BRANDY 
 
 Gather apricots from the tree (if possible) not too ripe. 
 Rub them with a coarse towel. Prepare a sirup with loaf- 
 sugar of not more than half the weight of the apricots, and 
 water enough to dissolve it. After the sirup is prepared, 
 put the fruit in carefully, and let it simmer a few moments 
 only ; take the fruit out, and lay it on flat dishes to cool. 
 Boil and skim the sirup till it is quite thick and rich. Put 
 the apricots, when cold, into white earthen preserve-jars, 
 and pour over them equal quantities of the sirup and 
 French brandy. Tie the jars with bladder-skin, or paste 
 the paper on. 
 
 APRICOT ICE-CREAM. 
 
 Peel and stone the fruit, and pound it, with white sugar, 
 to a smooth mass. Beat it up lightly, or pass it through a 
 sieve. Add sweetened whipt-cream and a little melted isin- 
 glass. Beat the whole with a wooden spoon, over ice, till 
 the whole is intimately blended. Put it into the mould, and 
 freeze it. 
 
 4 
 
38 AROMATIC HERBS. 
 
 APRICOT JAM. 
 
 Peel and stone the apricots ; if they are dry, put them 
 into an earthen pan, and throw a very little boiling water 
 over them. Beat to a pulp, and take an equal quantity 
 of pounded or powdered loaf-sugar and fruit, and boil 
 them hard in the preserving kettle about twenty minutes. 
 You may blanch some of the kernels of the apricot, and put 
 them on the top of the jars before you lay the brandy-paper 
 over. Tie closely. This jam makes nice tarts. In making 
 it, be careful that it does not stick to the bottom of the kettle. 
 It must be stirred often. 
 
 APRICOT PRESERVE. 
 
 Choose apricots, for preserving, that are not overripe. 
 This fruit too ripe is insipid, mealy, and unfit to make a 
 handsome preserve. 
 
 Stone and pare the apricots, keeping them as whole as 
 possible ; lay them, hollow side up, on a large flat dish, sift 
 white powdered sugar over them, and keep them in a cool 
 place for the night. Put a pound of sugar to a pound of 
 fruit, and simmer them slowly till the fruit looks transparent. 
 Do not put too many at once into the preserving pan. Put 
 them into glass jars, and cover closely. You may blanch 
 some of the kernels, and flavor with them. Apricots are 
 sometimes preserved in apple jelly. 
 
 Where apricots are plenty, they are dried in the same 
 way as apples ; and a delicious liqueur is made from the 
 juice of the fruit. 
 
 AROMATIC POT AND SWEET HERBS. The 
 
 seeds for the most of the common herbs should be sown 
 early in spring, in drills about an inch deep, and two feet 
 apart, each kind by itself. As they grow, thin them out. 
 
AROMATIC HERBS. 39 
 
 Some of these herbs are annuals, dying after the first 
 year ; others are biennial, dying after perfecting their seed 
 in the second year ; others are perennial, bearing from the 
 same root for many years, and may be propagated by separ- 
 ating the root, or by suckers and cuttings. 
 
 Some hardy perennials, such as Balm (Melissa officinalis), 
 some of the Mint family (also perennials), such as Spear- 
 mint (Mentha viridis), Peppermint (Mentha piperita), Pen- 
 nyroyal Mint (M. pulegium), do not require a very rich 
 soil, but should have a well-drained or dry sub-soil. The 
 beds should be renewed after the fourth year. The mint 
 is a creeping herb that cannot be hoed ; and after the stalks 
 are cut, dig the sides of the beds, throw the earth up, and 
 spread it gently and smoothly on the bed, with a top-dressing 
 of very rotten dung. 
 
 I shall give a catalogue of such herbs as are commonly 
 cultivated and used for seasoning meats and soups, and of 
 those which are called in requisition when colds and slight 
 disorders disturb the household. 
 
 AROMATIC OR CULINARY HERBS. 
 
 Anise, Pimpinella anisum. 
 
 Basil, Sweet, Ocymum basilicum. 
 
 Burnet, Garden, Poterium Sanguisorba. 
 
 Caraway, Carum carui. 
 
 Marigold, Pot, Calendula officinalis. 
 
 Marjoram, Sweet, Origanum- Marj or ana. 
 
 Mint, Pennyroyal, Mentha pidegium. 
 
 Sage, Common, Salvia officinalis. 
 
 Savory, Summer, Satureja hortensis. 
 
 Savory, Winter, Satureja montana. 
 
 Spearmint, Meniha viridis. 
 
 Thyme, Common, Tliymus vulgaris. 
 
 Thyme, Lemon, Thymus Serpyllum. 
 
40 AROMATIC HERBS. 
 
 MEDICINAL HERBS. 
 
 Boneset, or Thorough wort, Eupatorium perfoliatum. 
 
 Balm, Melissa officinalis. 
 
 Catmint, Nepeta Cataria. 
 
 Chamomile, Anihemis nobilis. 
 
 Elecampane, Inula Helenium. 
 
 Horehound, Marrubium vulgare. 
 
 Horsemint, , Monarda punctata. 
 
 Hyssop, Hyssopus officinalis. 
 
 Lavender, Lavendula spica. 
 
 Lovage, Ligusticum Levisticum. 
 
 Mother wort, Leonurus cardiaca. 
 
 Poppy, Opium, Papaver somniferum. 
 
 Rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis. 
 
 Rue, Garden, Ruta graveolens. 
 
 Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare. 
 
 "Wormwood, Artemisia absinthium. 
 
 In the autumn, hardy perennials like the various Mints, 
 and such plants as Chamomile, Lovage, Horehound, and Pot 
 Marjoram, should be trimmed close to the ground. The 
 beds of such as are shrubby plants, and not creepers, should 
 be carefully dug, and the earth loosened around the roots of 
 the plants. 
 
 Tender plants must be potted and housed for the winter. 
 
 Of Sweet Basil, the two species generally cultivated are 
 annuals. The Sweet-scented or larger Basil (0. basilicum), 
 and the Dwarf Bush Basil (0. minimum). They like a 
 light, rich soil, exposed to the sun, after they have estab- 
 lished themselves ; but the younger plants require to be 
 sheltered. 
 
 Of Marjoram (Origanum) there are eight species, and 
 numerous varieties. The common Pot Marjoram has a 
 creeping root, and is of a high aromatic flavor. 
 
AROMATIC HERBS. 41 
 
 Sweet or Summer Marjoram, a favorite of the kitchen, is 
 propagated always by the seed, while the perennials can be 
 raised by the roots, or from slips and offsets, which should 
 be well watered till they have taken root. The soil should 
 be well pulverized, and, after cuttings have been taken, care- 
 fully stirred, and a top-dressing of light, well-prepared com- 
 post thrown on the top of the bed. 
 
 Summer Savory (Satureja hortensis), also in happy repu- 
 tation, is an annual. 
 
 Sage (Salvia officinalis). There are several varieties of 
 this herb. The common Garden Sage requires a light soil, 
 but if too much enriched it soon exhausts itself. It is culti- 
 vated by seed, and also by rooted offsets, and sometimes by 
 cuttings from the healthier shoots, which have thrown them- 
 selves out at the sides of the plant. Put the shoots deep into 
 the ground, leaving only the top leaves above the surface. 
 
 Thyme (yulgaris). This herb is propagated by seed and 
 rooted slips. The lemon-scented variety is a favorite. The 
 seed is never covered more than about half an inch below the 
 ground. It should be sown plentifully, and when they have 
 been up a few weeks, thinned out. It is called perennial, 
 but it hardly ever survives the rigor of a New England 
 winter. Too much water causes the roots to decay. The 
 soil should not be over rich, but very nicely pulverized. 
 The roots, when young, should be sheltered from the noon- 
 day sun ; afterwards they may be transplanted to a more 
 exposed situation. Thyme is a running herb, and conse- 
 quently cannot be hoed. When the stalks are cut, the weeds 
 should be carefully removed, and a little light soil and very 
 rotten manure thrown on the surface of the bed. 
 
 Medicinal herbs are not in such full reign as formerly. 
 The author well recollects hearing the Rev. Dr. Bentley 
 say that he drank sage tea for every bodily ailment, even 
 for a wounded foot. 
 4* 
 
42 AROMATIC HERBS. 
 
 Mineral medicines have superseded, in a great degree, the 
 use of herbs. 
 
 Wormwood is still used, mixed with rum, for allaying 
 feverish excitement incident to bruises and sprains. 
 
 The Oil of Rosemary is at present an ingredient in certain 
 lotions. 
 
 Poppy is yet in merited esteem. An infusion of white 
 poppy leaves for bathing weak eyes is often beneficial, and 
 poppy leaves laid on the top of poultices for healing purposes, 
 have a soothing effect. 
 
 Hyssop tea is used for infantine disorders, and joins with 
 Catmint in making a nourishing drink for infants. 
 
 Motherjkvort tea continues to be considered a harmless 
 tonic, and Thoroughwort a wholesome purgative, while 
 Chamomile plays an undisputed part in restoring tone to 
 a weak stomach. 
 
 Pennroyal is generally dried on the stalk, and hung up 
 in paper bags. It makes a soothing and agreeable tea. It 
 is much used as a defence against wood-ticks and fleas, 
 and is sometimes put round a horse's harness to keep the 
 flies off. 
 
 Tansy, though not able to come to amicable terms with 
 every stomach, is drunk by many as a tonic, and to extermi- 
 nate worms. Meat rubbed with tansy leaves is said to keep 
 off the visits of the flesh-fly. Many books give us receipts 
 for making tansy pudding, but I have never seen the person 
 who has eaten one, that is, to my knowledge. 
 
 Herbs are dried for winter use in an oven, quick and 
 thoroughly, taking care not to burn them ; take the leaves 
 from the stalks, pound and sift, and bottle them closely, or 
 put them into close-fitting tin boxes. 
 
 Vinegars are frequently flavored with herbs ; they make 
 a nice seasoning for some sauces, hashes, and ragouts. 
 
 Gather the leaves fresh on a dry, sunny day, and pick 
 
ARSENIC. 43 
 
 them carefully. Fill a stone jar with such herbs as you 
 prefer for flavoring, and pour some wine or cider vinegar 
 over them, and let them steep for nine or ten days ; then 
 strain, and bottle the liquid. 
 
 Wine extracts the virtues of herbs and roots in the same 
 manner as vinegar, and is prepared in the same manner. 
 Herb wines are often used for beef, and dishes made from 
 calf's head. 
 
 ARROWROOT. This farinaceous substance is taken 
 from the roots of certain plants. The Jamaica and Ber- 
 muda are considered as nice as any. Gruels and jellies 
 made from arrowroot are relished by invalids and children, 
 and are desirable occasionally for all, as a change from hear- 
 tier diet. Arrowroot does not require to be boiled, but it is 
 much healthier to be cooked. In using it either for gruel 
 or blancmange or puddings, you must first wet the arrowroot, 
 as you would starch, before adding to it the full quantity of 
 liquid. 
 
 ARROWROOT BLANCMANGE. 
 
 Mix in a little cold water two teaspoonfuls of arrowroot, 
 and pour over it a pint of boiling milk, sweetened and fla- 
 vored to your taste or present wants. Put the mixture 
 over the fire, and stir it constantly for two or three minutes. 
 You can turn it into a mould, and garnish with colored 
 jellies. 
 
 ARROWROOT GRUEL. 
 
 Mix a little arrowroot, not quite a table-spoonful, and pour 
 over it boiling water ; season it with a salt-spoon of salt (not 
 heaped), a little white sugar, and nutmeg. 
 
 ARSENIC, in a metallic state, is of a bluish-white color. 
 As an acid, it- is known as a sudden and virulent poison. 
 
44 ARTICHOKE. 
 
 Arsenic is frequently used in the manufacture of glass and 
 the nicer kinds of porcelain ; for this reason, it is not well to 
 set aside acids in cups and drinking-glasses, with an inten- 
 tion of using the liquid, as the alkali in the glass may be 
 sufficient, when brought in conjunction with acids, to hold 
 the arsenic in solution. Arsenic is used in the manufacture 
 of shot, and when shot is used to cleanse bottles, care should 
 be taken to throw them all out in the final rinsing. Many 
 paints have arsenic for their basis. 
 
 When arsenic has been swallowed, give large quantities 
 of sugar and water, and at the same time administer a gen- 
 erous dose of ipecacuanha, which may be repeated ; if the 
 latter cannot be had immediately, two or three spoonfuls of 
 made mustard, diluted in warm water, may induce vomiting. 
 Oil is never to be taken till the poison is entirely ejected. 
 After the patient has happily passed the crisis, some simple 
 matters, such as barley or rice water, milk, or flax-seed tea, 
 can be taken to quiet the stomach. 
 
 ARTICHOKE (Cynara). There are two varieties, the 
 oval green Cynara Scolymus, or French, and Cynara hor- 
 tensis, or Globe Artichoke. The latter is considered best 
 for common culture, the heads being larger, and producing 
 more eatable substance, and being without the strong, mawk- 
 ish, perfumed taste peculiar to the French, or oval green. 
 Both varieties may be cultivated from the seed or sucker 
 taken from large plants early in spring. It is perennial, but, 
 like everything else, it is the better for frequent renewals ; 
 a bed will, however, under favorable circumstances of soil 
 and climate, continue to produce heads five or six years. 
 They require a loose, light, and moist soil. The seed should 
 be sown about an inch deep, and at such distances as to 
 allow the earth, when the plants are up, to be lightened 
 around them. If a plant throws out a great many suck- 
 
ARTICHOKE, JERUSALEM. 45 
 
 ers, some should be removed, in order that the remain- 
 der may be more vigorous for transplanting. Transplant 
 them, in cloudy weather, to a rich, moist soil, and water 
 them frequently while rooting. For winter protection, the 
 roots must be covered with a light mould, close to their 
 leaves, and a little well-rotted manure thrown over them. 
 If the compost is too rich, it will cause them to decay. 
 
 Whon ripe, the scales expand. They should be cut before 
 the flower makes its appearance. Cut the stem always 
 close to the ground. 
 
 The Artichoke is not regarded as a very nourishing vege- 
 table ; but it is much esteemed by those who have acquired 
 a relish for it. When gathered, they should be thrown into 
 cold water, and be well washed, and then be put into fresh 
 cold water, and soaked for about an hour, before they are 
 cooked. Put them into boiling water, with a little salt, 
 and if fully grown boil them an hour and a half, or till they 
 are tender. Drain them, and serve them with melted butter, 
 pepper, and salt. In Europe, artichokes, when dried, are 
 baked with mushrooms in meat pies. 
 
 ARTICHOKE, JERUSALEM (Helianthus tuberosus). 
 This is a native of America, as indeed are all the plants of 
 the Sunflower genus. Professor Low (Elements of Practi- 
 cal Agriculture) says : " Although believed to be a native of 
 the warmer parts of America, it is one of the hardiest of our 
 cultivated plants, very productive, easily propagated, and 
 growing on the poorest soils. As compared with the tubers 
 of the potato, they are watery, and may be believed to be 
 inferior in nutritive properties. But the quantity is fre- 
 quently very large ; about five hundred bushels per acre, it 
 is said, having been produced without manure. The tubers 
 do not seem to have great fattening properties, but they are 
 eagerly eaten by animals." 
 
46 ART OF GARDENING. 
 
 They are cultivated in a similar manner to potatoes. If 
 the stems are pruned, the tubers will be improved. They 
 require to be placed three or four feet apart, in rows or drills, 
 to be occasionally hoed, and to be kept free of weeds. They 
 are also cooked with the same variety that the potato enjoys. 
 
 They are commonly boiled, scraped, carefully drained, 
 mashed, and a little cream and butter beaten into them, 
 seasoned with salt and pepper. 
 
 They are sometimes parboiled, and then placed in a pan 
 under roasting meat, and either sent to the table on the dish 
 with the meat, or served separately. They may be boiled 
 plain, and served with melted butter poured over them. 
 
 ART OF GARDENING. Mr. Roscoe, the elegant 
 author of the Lives of Lorenzo de Medicis and of Leo the 
 Tenth, speaking from personal experience, for he, like his* 
 father before him, had been an active laborer in agricultural 
 pursuits, has said : " If I were asked whom I consider to 
 be the happiest of the human race, I should answer, those 
 who cultivate the earth with their own hands." 
 
 As most houses in villages have vegetable gardens, we 
 shall give some brief hints upon the making and preserving 
 such gardens ; these suggestions have been gathered from 
 experience and the best authorities. 
 
 The largest produce with the smallest expense, is the 
 favorite axiom of the gardener, as of the larger agriculturist. 
 To attain this end, there should be a careful husbandry of 
 every kind of fertilizer ; chip-dust, bones, decayed or decay- 
 ing leaves, soot, dish and stale meat-pickle water, ashes, 
 liquid manures, should all be brought into requisition by the 
 careful housewife. 
 
 The soil of the garden should be light, well pulverized, 
 and kept hi good spirits by liquid manures. Weeds should 
 be carefully extirpated. One cannot always choose the 
 
ART OF GARDENING. 47 
 
 site. Mr. Forsyth says : " A garden, if possible, should be 
 on a gentle declivity towards the south, a little inclining to 
 the east, to receive the benefit of the morning sun." Low 
 bottom lands are subjected to blights, mildews, and frosts, 
 and, on the other hand, a too lofty situation is exposed to 
 merciless winds, that break the branches of trees and shrub- 
 bery, and scatter prematurely the blossoms of the orchard. 
 
 Having secured as good a situation as circumstances per- 
 mit, and made art supply original defects of situation, the 
 next step is to ascertain the nature of the soil. If it be very 
 wet, drains must be dug to carry off the superfluous water. 
 These drains must be made to draw into the main drain, 
 which can be laid under the principal walk of the garden. 
 In a small garden of an acre, one well-constructed drain will 
 generally be sufficient, if the soil be not deplorably wet. 
 
 A cold, stubborn, clayey soil requires to be lightened by 
 horse-manure, wood and coal ashes, sand, and chip-dust, in 
 order to become porous, and accessible to the outer atmos- 
 phere. 
 
 Dry and sandy soils require manures which will increase 
 their weight, and promote an adhesiveness favorable to the 
 retention of moisture. Cow-manure, river-mud, clay, fish- 
 offal, can be given to such soils with advantage. 
 
 Ground which retains moisture, and is neither very sandy 
 nor very clayey, which in drying does not bake in obstinate 
 sour cakes, has a good constitution for the produce of most 
 vegetables. 
 
 If your land is new, it will require two or three deep 
 ploughings before it can be worked. 
 
 The implements for a garden may easily be multiplied to 
 a useless excess. A skilful gardener brings his labor about 
 with comparatively few tools. 
 
 Two spades, of different forms, a hand hoe, a garden rake, 
 an asparagus fork, one or two drilling-machines for sowing 
 
48 ART OP GARDENING. 
 
 seed, a wheelbarrow, and, if convenient, a roller for paths 
 and to smooth beds just after the putting in of seed, will be 
 all that is requisite for a common kitchen garden; other 
 wants, as they arise, being readily supplied by an ingenious 
 person. Sieves for covering squashes from the heat of the 
 sun while young can be made of home manufacture ; a roller 
 can be supplied by boards laid on the ground, but neither 
 roller nor boards should be used while the ground is wet ; 
 and coal-ashes for walks make hard, clean paths, and tend 
 to keep off insects ; even the drilling may be done by hoes 
 or dibbles, after a line is stretched, and the distances marked 
 for the different rows. 
 
 I propose to make a few remarks upon the following 
 common garden vegetables ; viz. Common Bean (Faba vul- 
 garis), Common Beet (Beta vulgaris), Cabbage (Brassica 
 oleraced), Carrot (Daucus Carota), Celery (Apium grave- 
 olens), Cress (Lapidium sativum), Cucumber (Cucumis sa- 
 tivd), Chives (Allium Schcenoprasum), Horseradish (Coch- 
 learia Armor acid), Indian Corn (Zea Mays), Lettuce (Lac- 
 tuca saliva crispa), Melon (Cucumis Melo), Water-Melon 
 (Cucurbita Citrullus), Mustard (Sinapis), Onion (Allium 
 Cepa), Parsley (Apium Petroselinum), Parsnip (Pastinaca 
 sativa), Peas (Pisum sativuni), Pepper (Capsicum), Potato 
 (Solanum tuberosum). Pumpkin (Cucurbita Pepo), Radish 
 (Raphanus saliva). Rhubarb (Rheum), Salsify (Tragopogon 
 porrifolius), Common Spinach (Spinacia oleracea), Squash 
 (Cucurbita Melopepo), Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicuni), 
 Turnip (Brassica Rapa). 
 
 BEAN (Faba vulgaris). 
 
 There are great varieties of the Common Bean. The 
 English Garden Bean requires care in this country, as our 
 summers are apt to wilt and destroy the blossom. They 
 should be planted as early in the spring as possible, in drills 
 
ART OF GARDENING. 49 
 
 not quite two inches deep and three or four inches apart, 
 with an interval between the drills of three or four feet. 
 When a few inches high they should be hoed, and when 
 in full bloom the tops can be broken off, that the vigor of 
 the plant may be directed to filling out the pods. Some 
 of the varieties of the English Dwarf are known as Early 
 Mazagan, Broad Windsor, Sword Long Pod, Green Non- 
 pareil. 
 
 Kidney Dwarf Beans. These beans are from India, 
 South America, and warm climates, and require care and 
 a rich soil. They may be planted either in hills or drills. 
 The drills should be two or three feet apart, and the beans 
 some inches asunder. They should be carefully hoed as 
 they grow, and the earth be drawn about their stems from 
 time to time. 
 
 Among this family of beans are the delicious Cranberries ; 
 also the Refugee, or One Thousand for One, which is usually 
 planted in hills. 
 
 Some of the early varieties are Early Dun-colored Quaker, 
 Early Valentine, Early Mohawk, Early China Dwarf, Early 
 Yellow Six-weeks, Early Rob Roy, Early Black Dwarf. 
 The Early Mohawk is considered the . hardiest of these 
 varieties. 
 
 The Yellow, White, and Red Dwarf Cranberry, and the 
 Warrington or Marrow Bean, are all delicious table veg- 
 etables. . * 
 
 J3eans, Pole. These species are also planted in hills or 
 drills ; the same distances, as already mentioned above, being 
 preserved. Tall poles, ten feet high, are inserted in each 
 hill, or along the drills, and the beans planted around them. 
 In planting the Lima Bean, it is best to put not less than 
 seven or eight in each hill, as these species of beans are af- 
 fected by damp weather, and often rot in the ground. They 
 can afterwards be thinned, so as to leave but three or four 
 5 
 
50 ART OF GARDENING. 
 
 healthy plants in each hill. The Lima Bean also requires 
 richer soil than other running beans, and the hills should be 
 four feet from each other, on either side. Put the seeds 
 about half an inch under ground. 
 
 Among the varieties of Pole Beans are the Red and 
 White Pole Cranberry, the Large White Lima from South 
 America, and the Saba or Small Lima, London Horticul- 
 tural Speckled, White Dutch Runners, Scarlet Runners, 
 and Asparagus or Yard-Long. 
 
 BEET (Seta vulgaris). 
 
 Beets are biennials. The Mangel- Wurzel is cultivated 
 for cattle ; it takes its name from the German ; it is also 
 called Root of Scarcity. It is considered excellent for cows, 
 highly nutritious, inducing milk, without imparting a taint to 
 it, as turnips do. The highly blood-colored are much prized 
 for the table. 
 
 Beets are planted in drills, a foot apart, and not quite two 
 inches below the surface, and thinned out as soon as they 
 are strong, hoed, and kept clear of weeds. It is desirable to 
 have the earth in good order by previous tillage, and not to 
 be obliged to apply manure at the time of putting the beet- 
 seed in the ground. 
 
 One of the earliest varieties is the Early Blood Turnip- 
 rooted. 
 
 The French Sugar Beet, white, red, and yellow, is used 
 extensively in Europe for the manufacture of sugar. It is 
 an excellent variety for the table. The common Green, 
 Red, and White Beet are all desirable for the table. The 
 Early Spring are sometimes tough and stringy, from being 
 subjected to the changes of uncertain weather. Under favor- 
 able growth, the young plants that are pulled for thinning 
 are served with their tops on, and are sweet and tender. 
 
 For winter use they should be planted in July ; if too 
 
ART OF GARDENING. 51 
 
 long in the ground, they become coarse and corky for table 
 use. 
 
 The soil should be finely pulverized for beets, and, after 
 the beets are up, well stirred by frequent hoeings. 
 
 CABBAGE (Brassica oleraced). 
 
 The Cabbage, says Professor Low, commonly so called, is 
 Brassica oleracea. This species assumes a vast variety oi 
 form and character. The Wild Cabbage, from which the 
 greater number of the cultivated kinds are derived, is a little 
 plant growing upon our sea-coasts. Yet to this plant w< 
 certainly owe the greater part of the numerous varieties 
 cultivated in our gardens and fields. We cannot, indeed, be 
 assured of the origin of all the cultivated kinds ; besides the 
 variations produced by climate and art, all the species of 
 Brassica form hybrids with one another. 
 
 With us a variety of ways are made use of to bring forward 
 the Cabbage, according to the climate and soil. The early 
 kinds are raised in hot-beds, and transplanted into beds of 
 rich soil, covering them at night to protect them from frosts. 
 Plants of the early sorts may generally be raised from seed, 
 in most of the New England States, some time in April, 
 unless the season is quite backward. 
 
 Cabbages are attacked by various worms and insects, which 
 sometimes eat up whole rows. It is well on transplanting 
 them to keep a narrow watch on these depredators, and to 
 place a little circle of salt round each of the plants ; also 
 lirne, ashes, snuff, and pungent-smelling substances. 
 
 Among the early varieties are the Early Dutch, Sugar- 
 loaf, Early York, Early Heart-shaped, &c. 
 
 The Yorkshire, Drumhead, and American or Bergen Cab- 
 bage have large leaves, which form close, dense heads. 
 These require to be placed in drills several feet apart, with an 
 interval between the plants in the rows of two or three feet. 
 
 
52 ART OF GARDENING. 
 
 The seed of the Red Cabbage can be sown towards the 
 last of April or first of May in favorable seasons. This is a 
 desirable cabbage for pickling, and for winter salads. 
 
 The - seeds of the Savoy, a popular table variety, are 
 generally sown in New England in May, in a rich, well- 
 prepared soil. These plants, on being transplanted, will not 
 require to be placed so far apart as the larger kinds. 
 
 The richer and fresher the soil, the better for the Cabbage, 
 which also requires the ground to be deeply stirred while 
 growing, in the same manner as for turnips. 
 
 Cauliflower and Broccoli are both species of Cabbage. 
 Broccoli is not cultivated so universally with us as the Cauli- 
 flower ; it has, like the latter, large heads of seeds, only the 
 Broccoli has its seeds of different colors, purple, green, 
 brown, arid white. The white varieties are often mistaken 
 for Cauliflower. 
 
 Cauliflower requires to be protected from the extremes 
 of heat and cold. ,As the heads tend to maturity, the larger 
 leaves are broken over them to preserve their purity of 
 color and compactness of growth. Over two feet every way 
 should be given as space for the Cauliflower, and from time 
 to time the beds should be forked, to keep the earth between 
 the plants porous and open to the atmosphere. 
 
 CARROT (Daucus Carota). 
 
 The Carrot grows wild in Great Britain. It is an ex- 
 cellent vegetable for cows. The Carrot thrives best in rich 
 land, which has been subjected to previous tillage. It is 
 sown in drills not deeper than an inch, and the drills 
 about a foot apart. The Early Orange, the Long Orange, 
 and Altingham are the varieties usually selected for the 
 kitchen garden. 
 
 CELERY (Apium graveolens). 
 
 Celery, as is well known, is Smallage cultivated. The 
 
ART OF GARDENING. 53 
 
 seed is sown in cold beds ; when it is well up, the plants are 
 put into a bed of rich earth, and allowed to remain for a 
 few weeks, when they are transplanted into trenches. These 
 trenches should be made in the richest part of the garden, 
 and dug a little more than a foot deep, leaving the earth 
 thus taken out on either side of the trenches. Some rotten 
 manure is mixed in at the bottom of the trench, putting some 
 of the loamy earth from the sides with it. In the centre of 
 the trench place the plants, leaving five or six inches be- 
 tween each plant. They should be abundantly watered and 
 partially shaded for the first two or three weeks. They may 
 be hoed some time before they are earthed. The earthing 
 should be done in dry weather, otherwise it is apt to make 
 the celery grow rusty. Celery intended for winter is planted 
 later in the summer. 
 
 * CRESS (Lapidium sativum). 
 
 The Curled, or Peppergrass, is liked by many with Lettuce. 
 It is sown in little drills, quite thickly, and in ground free 
 from weeds. It is of easy cultivation. 
 
 CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativa). 
 
 The seed of the cucumber is put into hills of rich earth, 
 well-rotted manure being placed in each hill. Cucumbers 
 are sometimes raised in the squash bed. The hills should 
 be three or four feet apart. They require water in dry 
 weather, and to have the insects kept off from them. Char- 
 coal-dust, wood-ashes, and washes with such liquids as are 
 destructive to insects and not injurious to the young plants, 
 water in which burdock-leaves, soot, &c. have been steeped, 
 can be advantageously applied. Cucumbers should be always 
 plucked before they turn yellow, as otherwise they soon ex- 
 haust the vine. 
 
 5* 
 
 
54: ART OF GARDENING. 
 
 CHIVES (Allium Schcenoprasum). 
 
 A species of Onion, which is grown from the offshoots it 
 sends out from its roots. They are planted in rows about a 
 foot apart, and with an interval between the bulbs of three 
 or four inches. 
 
 HORSERADISH (Cochlearia Armoracia). 
 
 Horseradish may be planted, either in a bed or in drills, 
 from cuttings from the root or offshoots. Any tolerably 
 strong, moist soil will grow horseradish. If it is occasionally 
 hoed, it will be improved. 
 
 INDIAN CORN (Zea Mays). 
 
 Indian Corn is usually grown in hills several feet apart. 
 It requires good soil and warm weather. When about 
 seventeen inches high, it should be hoed deeply. ^A little 
 ashes scattered on each hill wilt tend to keep the insects off. 
 
 The best sorts for a kitchen garden are Early Button, 
 Tuscarora, Canadian, and Sweet or Sugar. 
 
 LETTUCE (Lactuca saliva crispa). 
 
 Lettuce is often sown in hot-beds. It requires the richest 
 soil, frequent hoeings, and an equal moisture. The varieties 
 are infinite. Royal Cape, Curled India, Dutch or Cabbage, 
 Large Green Curled, are all considered superior. 
 
 MELON (Cucumis Melo). 
 
 Early in May prepare, in rich, light soil, beds about six 
 feet apart every way, and at the corners of the bed dig 
 deeply, and put in well-rotted manure, and throw in fine 
 loamy earth, and mix it well with the manure. Into these 
 corners put seven or eight melon-seeds. If they all come up, 
 thin them, and bring the earth up round the plants. The 
 
ART OF GARDENING. 55 
 
 ground should be kept scrupulously clear of weeds. Pluck 
 off the first runner buds, to keep the vigor of the plants for 
 the fruit. Plant Melons by themselves, if you wish to "keep 
 the virtues of an individual kind, as the Melon mixes pollen 
 with all the Cucumber family. 
 
 The Striped Cucumber Bug (Galereuca vittata) and the 
 Cucumber Flea Beetle, a little black, skipping insect, are 
 the enemies of the Melon. Use diluted alkalies, soot, and 
 lime. Mr. Downing has recommended the - use of guano, 
 sprinkling the soil just beneath the plants as soon as they 
 conie up, the pungent smell ridding the plant of its destroy- 
 ers, and giving it a fine start in the early part of the season. 
 (Fruits and Fruit-trees of America.) 
 
 The culture of the Melon is easy, and of great productive- 
 ness, excepting in the most Northern States ; and the author 
 has eaten delicious melons grown at Bangor, Maine. 
 
 Bits of slate and blackened shingles placed under each 
 melon are said to improve the size and flavor of the fruit. 
 (Mr. Downing.) 
 
 The Green-fleshed Melon, in which class is found the 
 Citron and the Nutmeg, contains some of the- choicest and 
 most popular varieties. The oval, Yellow-fleshed, are in- 
 ferior in comparison to the round, Green-fleshed, above 
 mentioned. Mr. Downing has mentioned the Persian Mel- 
 on, of a thin skin and delicious flavor and honey-like flesh, 
 as a variety repaying the additional care of a hot-bed and 
 irrigation, or constant watering, and .careful mixture for the 
 making of soil. (Fruits and Fruit-trees of America.) 
 
 Melon-seed, if good, will sink in water ; if worthless, it will 
 float on the surface. 
 
 WATER-MELON (CucurUta Citrullus). 
 
 The Water-Melon is cultivated in the same manner as 
 the Melon, excepting the hills are placed eight feet apart, 
 instead of six. 
 
56 ART OF GARDENING. 
 
 MUSTARD (Sinapis), WHITE AND BLACK. 
 
 Sinapis alba, White Mustard, and Sinapis nigra. Black 
 Mustard, are both easily cultivated. They may be sown 
 early in spring. Sinapis nigra is that from which mustard 
 is usually manufactured. White Mustard is used for stuff- 
 ing mangoes, and both varieties for salads. 
 
 ONION (Allium Cepa). 
 
 Onions will not grow on wet and stubborn soils; they 
 require a rich bed, with strong but old manure well mixed 
 in it to the depth of a spade. The bed should have a sunny 
 exposure, and be prepared early in the spring. The seed is 
 sown in drills about an inch deep, with an interval between 
 the drills of twelve inches. As they come up, thin them out, 
 if too thick, till several inches is left between the bulbs. In 
 the early stages of their growth, they may be hoed ; but 
 after they have assumed the bulb, they must be weeded by 
 hand. 
 
 When onions are fully ripened, the tops begin to turn yel- 
 low and decay. 
 
 The seeds of onions are also sometimes sowed late in the 
 spring, and pulled up in the fall, and dried, and kept over 
 winter, and set out in the following spring, and cultivated in 
 the same manner as onions from the seed. 
 
 Among the approved varieties for the table are the White 
 Portugal, and Silver-skin, or Yellow Onion. 
 
 PARSLEY (Apium Petroselinum) . 
 
 There are several varieties, all easily cultivated. The 
 Common Parsley is the well-known pot-herb, and the curled 
 varieties form the familiar garnish that gives coolness and 
 brightness to many dishes. Sow the seed in drills about an 
 inch deep, and place the drills about a foot apart. Hoe fre- 
 quently to keep free from weeds. 
 
ART OF GARDENING. 57 
 
 The Large-rooted Parsley (Apium latifoliurri) is cultivat- 
 ed in the same manner with parsnips and carrots. If sown 
 thick, they should be thinned out as they come up. 
 
 Parsley can be kept through a large part of the winter, if 
 taken up and put in boxes, and kept in a good cellar, and 
 watered occasionally and exposed to the light. 
 
 Parsley is biennial, but it is well to sow it annually. 
 Eabbits are fed upon parsley. 
 
 PARSNIP (Pastinaca saliva). 
 
 Parsnips thrive best in a soil enriched by previous tillage. 
 No manure should be applied at the time of sowing seed. 
 As early as spring culture can be undertaken, the beds should 
 be dug deep, the seed sown in drills about an inch deep, and 
 an interval left between the drills of about fourteen inches. 
 Sow the seeds thickly, and when two or three inches high, 
 if they seem strong, thin them, so as to leave six or seven 
 inches between each plant. They require gentle hoeing 
 all through the summer, to keep off the weeds. In autumn 
 some can be taken up for winter use, and others left in the 
 ground till spring, as the frost sweetens and improves the 
 parsnip. 
 
 PEAS (Pisum sativum). 
 
 There are many varieties of the Garden Pea. The early 
 varieties can be put into the soil as soon as the ground can 
 be worked ; other sorts can be planted, at intervals of about 
 a fortnight, till the end of May. 
 
 All the varieties may be planted either in single or double 
 rows ; and all, even the dwarf varieties, should be supported 
 when two or three inches high, by fan-shaped sticks for the 
 tendrils to run upon. The drills have an interval between 
 them, which is determined by the kind of Pea planted ; the 
 space is generally from four to six feet apart. 
 
58 ART OP GARDENING. 
 
 The finest Marrowfat Peas grow very high, and require 
 long sticks. To save sticks, and to increase the yield, some 
 gardeners make two drills about three inches deep, and nine 
 inches apart, and drop the seed into both drills rather thick. 
 As the plants reach two or three inches in height, they 
 are hoed, and the earth brought up round the stems, and 
 when six or seven inches high they should be hoed again, 
 and a line of sticks placed between the rows, of a height 
 suitable to the variety of Pea. A few smaller sticks may 
 be put on the outside of the rows, as steps to lead to the main 
 centre sticks or poles. It is poor economy to use rotten and 
 brittle sticks. Rows are in such instances blown clown by 
 the wind, or by the first gathering of the vegetable. Some 
 people dip the ends of their sticks in tar or resinous prepa- 
 ration to keep them some seasons. 
 
 Peas will grow either on light or heavy soils, but thrive 
 best on light ones. If the ground is too rich, they run to 
 vine, but yield poorly. 
 
 PEPPER (Capsicum). 
 
 Of this family there are several varieties. They belong 
 to the East and West Indies, but are easily grown in all the 
 States with a little care. They are often brought forward 
 in the hot-bed, and on reaching the height of two or three 
 inches are transplanted into good rich beds, with a sunny 
 exposure, allowing sufficient space between each for a hand- 
 hoe to be worked, as they require to be kept free from 
 weeds. 
 
 Some of the pods of the different varieties are red, and 
 others yellow, on reaching maturity. They are gathered 
 green for pickling. 
 
 The Capsicum grossum, or Bell-shaped, is in warm cli- 
 mates perennial. It has a thick skin, and is pulpy and 
 delicate in texture. 
 
ART OF GARDENING. 59 
 
 When the pods are ripe they are cut, and hung in the 
 sun in a dry atmosphere. The seed is preserved in the pod 
 if it is effectually dried. When powdered it is used for pep- 
 per-tea, for the relief of violent colds and sore throats. 
 
 The variety Sweet Spanish is used as a salad. 
 
 POTATO (Solatium tuberosum). 
 
 The Potato is a native of America. Of the genus Sola- 
 rium, it belongs to the natural order Solanacece, or the Night- 
 shade tribe. Some of this family, it is well known, are poi- 
 sonous, as the Deadly Nightshade ; others have stimulating 
 and narcotic properties, and others afford us food. The 
 potato is said to eject some poisonous properties, on being 
 subjected to heat in the process of cooking, and, for this 
 reason, the practice of changing the water they are boiled in 
 is a commendable one. 
 
 Potatoes are mostly planted in drills, either whole or cut 
 into pieces, each piece having an eye. They are frequently 
 cut a week before they are planted, and spread on a dry 
 barn-floor to dry. They are planted five or six inches deep, 
 and seven or eight inches from each other, in drills about 
 thirty inches apart. They are hoed as soon as they are up, 
 and from time to time the earth is thrown up around the 
 plants. 
 
 Potatoes require a great deal of manure. Common stable 
 manure, bone-dust, and alkalies are all favorable, but lime 
 cannot be used with advantage. 
 
 PUMPKIN (CucurUta Pepo). 
 
 Pumpkin beds are prepared in a similar manner to 
 melon and cucumber beds, but the soil need not be so highly 
 prepared. 
 
 RADISH (Raphanus sativd). 
 
 Radishes do not love a wet, stubborn soil, and should 
 
60 ART OF GARDENING. 
 
 have beds carefully prepared early in the spring, and be 
 sown in a light loam with a sunny exposure. If the weather 
 is dry, they require watering, to swell the roots. They 
 should grow rapidly, or they are tough and stringy or corky. 
 Stir in strong manure into the beds, and keep wood-ashes, 
 tobacco-dust, and soot on the surface of the bed, to drive off 
 insects. The seed is put in drills about an inch deep and 
 a foot apart. 
 
 RHUBARB (Rheum). 
 
 This genus of plants contains several varieties. Rhapon- 
 ticum, or Common Rhubarb, is the kind commonly cultivated 
 for its stalks. Rheum undulatum is also cultivated in kitchen 
 gardens. 
 
 Palmatum, or Officinal Rhubarb, is the variety whose 
 root is so valuable for medicine. It is cultivated largely in 
 Turkey, and is a native of China and the East Indies. This 
 variety has never been much cultivated in America. 
 
 The Common Rhubarb requires a light, rich soil, and to 
 be dug to the depth of two spades. It is propagated by the 
 seed or by offshoots. In the spring the plants are brought 
 forward by having stable manure put around them, and 
 being covered by barrels or large tubs. It is much im- 
 proved by cultivation. 
 
 S AL s IF Y ( Tragopogon porrifolius) . 
 
 This plant, known also as the Vegetable Oyster, is much 
 cultivated in Virginia, and cooked there in a variety of ways. 
 
 The seed .should be sown early in spring, in good gar- 
 den earth, in drills an inch deep and about a foot apart. 
 The seeds ripen unequally, and therefore it is safer to sow 
 the seed rather generously. They may be thinned when 
 two or three inches high, so that a small hoe can be passed 
 between them, to keep the earth loose and light. 
 
ART OF GARDENING. 61 
 
 SPINACH (Spinacia oleracea). 
 
 This is a valuable vegetable for the kitchen garden, being 
 hardy in its habits and of a wholesome nature. It will only 
 flourish in rich soil, and if the ground is poor, strong manure 
 must be liberally thrown into the bed. It can be cultivated 
 in drills ; as soon as it is a few inches high, it must be 
 carefully hoed, and the practice continued t all through its 
 growth. 
 
 Spinach is regarded mostly as a spring vegetable, but it is 
 sometimes put into beds, in autumn, that have become empty 
 by the taking up of vegetables. 
 
 There are several varieties of spinach, the Savoy Spinach, 
 Broad-leaved Spinach, Holland, &c. A variety called New 
 Zealand Spinach, or Tetragona expansa, lasts into autumn. 
 It grows, if the season is favorable,- luxuriantly ; and is 
 planted in hills some feet apart, with but few seeds to a hill. 
 
 SQUASH (Gucurbita Melopepo). 
 
 Beds are prepared for the Squash in the same manner as 
 for melons and cucumbers. Those which are great runners 
 have an interval between them of six or nine feet, while the 
 bush varieties are planted three or four feet apart. 
 
 Early Summer Squashes are gathered while the outside 
 is sensitive to the pressure of the finger-nail. 
 
 Winter Squashes are kept out as long as possible, in order 
 to be hardier for winter keeping. On cold nights they are 
 covered with matting or old carpet, to protect them from the 
 frost. They should be thoroughly dried by the sun before 
 they are put up for winter. Care should be taken not to 
 bruise them ; and they should be kept on a dry floor or 
 shelf, in a room at an equal temperature, but never at the 
 freezing point. 
 
 Early Bush, Early Crook-neck, &c. are summer varieties. 
 Canada Crook-neck, Acorn Squash, are both nice varieties 
 6 
 
62 ART OF GARDENING. 
 
 for winter. There are other varieties of great merit. Plant 
 different varieties by themselves ; sown near cucumbers, 
 melons, or other squashes, the mixture of the pollen deterio- 
 rates the seed for the following season. 
 
 TOMATO (Solanum Lycopersicum). 
 
 There are two species of the Tomato, the Red Tomato 
 and the Yellow. In each of these are found sub-varieties, 
 with differences of size and shape. 
 
 The large Red Squash-shaped is the most commonly 
 cultivated for the table and for catchups. The small Red 
 Cherry-shaped is used for pickling. 
 
 The yellow varieties differ principally in shape. The 
 small Cherry Yellow Tomato is a very pretty variety, and 
 makes a good common preserve. 
 
 Nothing is of easier culture in a warm climate than the 
 Tomato. In Virginia I have known a single plant to bear 
 over a bushel of rich, mellow fruit. 
 
 In Massachusetts and in Maine greater care is requisite to 
 perfect the fruit. Plants are sometimes brought forward in 
 a hot-bed, and often in a cold bed or open box in the house ; 
 the boxes being deep and well filled with rich earth, placed 
 in a sunny exposure, and kept of an equal moisture. The 
 seed must be put in sparsely, and not deeper than half an 
 inch. In transplanting, deep holes are dug, and strong 
 stable-manure placed in these holes with finely pulverized 
 earth, and the plants put in carefully, taking up as much 
 earth with them as possible. Each hill should be three or 
 four feet apart. They must be protected from the hot sun 
 in their early stages, by shingles forced into the ground so 
 as to shade them. They should be watered morning and 
 night till they set, and occasionally all through the season, 
 if the weather be dry. 
 
 As they grow, they need to be trimmed, in order that the 
 
ART OF GARDENING. 63 
 
 fruit may be exposed to the sun. They can be trained either 
 horizontally or to a pole. Care should be taken that the 
 fruit does not rot on the ground. Tomatoes are great ex- 
 hausters of the soil, and their beds should be changed from 
 year to year. 
 
 TURNIP (Brassica Eapd). 
 
 Turnips should be sown early in the spring for summer 
 use, and for winter vegetables a bed should be sown later. 
 If the first crop does not come to maturity early in summer, 
 they are stringy and worm-eaten. 
 
 Turnips are best grown upon land which has been pre- 
 viously manured. A light soil is desirable. Insects must 
 be fought off constantly, by lime, ashes, soot, and pungent 
 powders put on the surface of the bed. Sometimes whole 
 beds of turnips are cut off by insects. 
 
 For garden culture, turnip-seed is sown in drills about a 
 foot apart, and hoed between the rows as the plants grow. 
 
 The Swedish, or Ruta-Baga, which grows to an enormous 
 size, is very good for cows mixed with other food. 
 
 The table varieties are various. The small turnips are 
 sweeter than the larger kinds, which are more suitable for 
 extensive agricultural purposes. 
 
 Early White Dutch, Swan's Egg, Long Yellow French, 
 and many other varieties of white and purple rooted turnip, 
 are excellent for the table. 
 
 Garden-seed should seldom be put lower down than an 
 inch, unless where seed is necessarily sown late, when it 
 may be covered deeper, to protect the seed from being 
 scorched by the sun. 
 
 Though it has never been proved that plants throw out 
 " matters of an excrementitious nature injurious to the plant 
 from which they have been separated," yet it is known that 
 
64 ART OF GARDENING. 
 
 gome plants exhaust the fertility of land in a larger degree 
 than others, that certain kinds of food are taken by some 
 plants and rejected by others ; and for such reasons a rota- 
 tion of crops has always been an invariable maxim with the 
 farmer, and the small gardener finds it equally to his benefit 
 to change the situation of his beds. 
 
 Spinach, always requiring a rich soil, leaves the ground 
 in a good state for such vegetables as salsify, carrots, beets, 
 radishes, potatoes, &c. 
 
 Celery beds are excellent for cauliflowers, cabbages, and 
 all the Brassica tribe. 
 
 Potatoes leave the ground in a good state for artichokes, 
 for an asparagus bed, for lettuce and onion, situation and 
 subsoil being favorable. 
 
 Such plants as have luxuriant spreading heads are to be 
 followed by those which have but narrow leaves and sparse 
 outward growth. 
 
 Vegetables which require frequent deep hoeing prepare 
 the ground for plants which must remain stationary, such 
 as those herbs whose running roots would be bruised by the 
 hoe. 
 
 Transplanting is best done when the ground is wet and 
 the weather cloudy. If it is necessary to transplant when it 
 is dry, the ground should be dug deeply, and the plants left 
 in rich mud in the cellar till the cool of the evening, and then 
 set out in a rich compost, such as will retain moisture, and 
 be watered frequently till they have set or taken root. 
 
 Wood-ashes form a very valuable fertilizer to soils lack- 
 ing phosphates. Coal-ashes are often used to lighten stiff and 
 stubborn soils. Ashes from soap-boilers have been by many 
 cultivators much esteemed. As lime and chalk form the 
 principal portions of the ashes of soap-boilers, where a soil 
 is found deficient in these substances, they may generally 
 be applied with benefit. Ashes, as a manure, act power- 
 
ASPARAGUS. 65 
 
 fully and quickly, but add little permanent value to the 
 soil. 
 
 ASPARAGUS (Asparagus afficinalis). This desirable 
 and healthy spring vegetable may be raised by sowing the 
 seed in the fall or early spring. The seed should be fresh 
 and ripe, and put into rich soil, and covered about half an 
 inch deep. Hoe carefully when the plants are up, and 
 keep them free from weeds. After a careful cultivation, 
 some gardeners remove the plants when a year old from the 
 nursery bed ; oftener, they are not removed till two years 
 old. The bed they are to be finally put into should be 
 trenched a foot deep, and well-rotted manure be worked into 
 each trench several inches below the surface. Place the 
 plants upright along the trench, and fill in with earth as you 
 pass along, filling in carefully afterwards, drawing the earth 
 round each plant with a rake or hoe. Throw on the surface 
 some well-rotted manure. Sea-weed, if within reach, is an 
 excellent manure for asparagus beds, which require an 
 annual dressing. Old pickle brine may be put on in the 
 fall. The bed should be placed in a sunny exposure. 
 
 Asparagus should be carefully cut, so as not to wound the 
 coming buds ; a sharp knife should be used, and the shoots 
 cut a little below the surface of the ground. 
 
 Where you have a bed, cut asparagus just before you put 
 it into the pot. Tie it in small bundles. Throw a little salt 
 into boiling water ; no more water should be used than just 
 enough to cover the vegetable. If it boils too long, it will 
 lose color and flavor ; twenty minutes will generally find it 
 tender. Toast some slices of bread quite dry, pour some of 
 the water the asparagus was boiled in over it, and put a 
 piece of butter on each piece of bread ; lay the asparagus 
 on the toast, and put a piece of butter on the asparagus. 
 You may serve it with melted butter. 
 6* 
 
66 BAKED MEATS. 
 
 ATTICS. The upper rooms of a house should be kept 
 religiously clean. The cook generally sleeps there. Tur- 
 pentine round the corners of attic rooms is often sufficient to 
 keep ants off. Ants also dislike all alkalies. Never have 
 paper on the walls of attic rooms. 
 
 It is customary to reserve, in a large house, one room in 
 the attic for such groceries and household matters as are 
 improved by an occasional change into a dry atmosphere. 
 Cranberries are sometimes spread on a coarse sheet in such 
 a room. Loaf-sugar hung here keeps dry and hard. Cer- 
 tain wines are improved by an occasional visit here. Flower- 
 seeds are spread in a sunny exposure to ripen in this room. 
 
 Curtains should be so placed that they may be easily 
 taken down, else they will be a receptacle for insects. The 
 floor should be provided with small domestic mats, never 
 with heavy carpets. The floors can be easily washed up 
 once a week, if painted yellow or lead-color. Let the bed- 
 steads be often examined, and quicksilver beaten with the 
 white of an egg placed around suspicious crevices. Put it 
 on with a feather. Iron bedsteads are easily kept clean, 
 as, after removing the clothes, a little camphene poured on 
 to the bedstead, and ignited, effects a thorough purification. 
 
 BAKED MEATS. Meats dressed in the oven. ( Wor- 
 cester.) 
 
 Most good cooks object to the oven for the generality of 
 meats ; for though they lose less in actual weight by baking 
 than by any other process, they are thought not to improve 
 in piquancy and flavor. Some meats, all agree, make good 
 family dishes when put into the oven in deep baking dishes. 
 Veal, if not too rich, can be baked with less injury than most 
 meats. A leg of mutton stuffed with herb stuffing, with 
 slices of parboiled potatoes, artichokes, and bits of onion 
 dropped into the pan, makes a good dish. Tomatoes cut up 
 
BACON. 67 
 
 and baked with meats lend them flavor, and mitigate their 
 grossness. Vegetables should be sliced, and the solid roots 
 parboiled and put in when the meat is half done. 
 
 Meats baked in the oven of a modern range, where the 
 door is occasionally opened and the meat basted, bear a 
 nearer resemblance to roasts than meats prepared in a com- 
 mon stove. 
 
 Tongues and hams soaked for twenty-four hours, and the 
 water changed in the evening, are frequently taken out, and, 
 after being wiped, put into a coarse paste, and set into the 
 oven, and baked till tender. The paste is taken off before 
 they are sent to the table. 
 
 BACON. Pork that is young, not over ten or twelve 
 months, is best for family bacon. It should be well bled, 
 and carefully trimmed. 
 
 For fifty pounds of pork, I have frequently used the fol- 
 lowing receipt : Three and a half pints of salt, six ounces 
 of saltpetre, and three pounds of moist sugar ; rubbing in the 
 saltpetre, and, mixing the salt and sugar together, rubbing it 
 also in thoroughly. Allow it to remain in a deep wooden 
 trough or tub for six weeks, turning it every day, and bast- 
 ing it with the liquor formed by the sugar, salt, and salt- 
 petre. Take it out, dry it, and smoke it for three weeks. 
 
 Bay or Lisbon salt, or salt formed by the gradual action 
 of the winds and sun, is thought to impart a milder flavor to 
 meat than manufactured salt. 
 
 If you cure large quantities of pork, and your brine should 
 become offensive with blood and slime, do not attempt to boil 
 it over and skim and return it when cold, as is sometimes 
 done ; such pickle, diluted with water, can be used on a gar- 
 den. Make a fresh brine, and, after having scalded your 
 tub with a strong lye made of wood-ashes, and then with 
 hot water, wipe your bacon dry, removing all slime, and 
 
68 BALM. 
 
 cover with your fresh pickle, poured on cold. Keep your 
 bacon, while curing, under the brine by large weights or 
 heavy stones. 
 
 Saltpetre dries meat, and is not used in such large quan- 
 tities as formerly. I have known many good housewives 
 have their pork rubbed with half the salt intended to be 
 used, and covered for a few days, and save the remainder of 
 the salt to be rubbed in with the sugar and saltpetre. Mo- 
 lasses is sometimes used for bacon instead of sugar. 
 
 Hams are sometimes rubbed with salt for a day or two, 
 and put into a brine strongly impregnated with wine and 
 sweet herbs. This does very well for small hams, that are 
 intended for immediate family consumption. 
 
 Hams that are to be kept for some months, after being 
 dried and smoked, should be put into a coarse canvas bag 
 and whitewashed, and hung in some cool and dry place. 
 
 Bacon should be made only in the cool months. 
 
 If there is no place where you can send your bacon to be 
 smoked, you can smoke it (but of course imperfectly) by 
 taking out the end of an old cask, and filling the cask half 
 full of green sawdust, and branches of some odoriferous 
 trees, and bits of oak bark, and putting in some hot ashes 
 and bits of heated iron, and raising one part of the cask by 
 placing a small stone under it, so as to make a draft of air. 
 Put pieces of iron across, and hang the bacon over on pot- 
 hooks or pieces of coarse rope. Cover it. Be careful that 
 it merely smoulders and smokes, and does not ignite. 
 
 The sugar-cured bacon of Virginia, and especially the 
 hams, are justly entitled to their reputation. Their hogs 
 mostly run about, and feed on acorns. 
 
 BALM (Melissa officinalis). This herb mixed with 
 honey and vinegar, steeped and strained, is sometimes used 
 as a gargle for a sore and inflamed throat. It does not re- 
 
BARBERRY. 69 
 
 tain its strength when dried, and is mostly used green. See 
 Aromatic Herbs. 
 
 BALM OF GILEAD. The buds of the Balsam or 
 Balm of Gilead tree, gathered in spring and put into bottles 
 with pure Jamaica spirits, are considered healing for bruises 
 and cuts ; the same decoction, taken by the teaspoonful 
 (put into a glass of water) before a meal, once a day, is said 
 to afford relief when the system has become enervated by 
 local difficulties. 
 
 BANANA. The fruit of the West India Banana, if kept 
 on ice, and brought to the table, after being washed in cold 
 water, on grape-leaves, or a crimped napkin of undisputed 
 whiteness laid upon a glass dish, makes an occasional vari- 
 ety for dessert. Some people eat with it salt and pepper, 
 others prefer wine and sugar. 
 
 BANDBOX. This indispensable and much abused ar- 
 ticle has improved in modern times. It now appears in 
 wood, fitted up inside with a pasteboard form, which is se- 
 cured by a slide for the hat or bonnet to rest upon. None 
 others should be generally patronized. 
 
 BANTAM. See Fowls. 
 
 BARBERRY, OR BERBERRY. The Barberry grows 
 wild in America and Europe. It is easily cultivated. 
 Trained to the single stem, the fruit grows larger, as the 
 suckers are apt to render the fruit small, and the bush finally 
 barren. It is grown from seed, layers, or suckers. There 
 are several varieties. The Common Red grows large by cul- 
 tivation in a rich soil. There are varieties of the common 
 Barberry in Europe which bear pale yellow, white, and pur- 
 
70 BARBERRY. 
 
 pie fruit, and which have the same properties as the com- 
 mon Barberry, differing only in color. There is a variety 
 from Austria, called Sweet, but which is almost as acid as 
 our common Barberry. The Common Red has a variety 
 which is seedless, and consequently desirable for preserves 
 and jellies, but it does not appear to be a permanent variety, 
 as the plants frequently bear fruit with seeds, and the suck- 
 ers always; and it is said, that, in order to guard against 
 this degeneration, the sort should be propagated by layers 
 or cuttings. 
 
 The Black Sweet Magellan Barberry is an evergreen 
 from the Straits of Magellan, South America. It is rare, and 
 has borne no fruit in this country as yet ; but it is thought 
 it will prove hardy. It has yielded fruit in Edinburgh, said 
 to be handsome and excellent. 
 
 The Nepal is a variety from Nepal, India, where it bears 
 a purple fruit, which is there dried in the sun, like raisins, 
 and used like them at the dessert 
 
 The Mahonias, or Holly-leaved Berberries from Oregon, 
 are very handsome ornamental shrubs, with fine green 
 prickly leaves, and yellow flowers, but the fruit is of no 
 value. 
 
 I am indebted for most of the above information to Mr. 
 Downing's pleasing and valuable work, Fruit and Fruit- 
 trees of America. 
 
 There is a popular notion that the vicinity of Barberry 
 bushes is unfavorable to the growth of grain, but it is unsup- 
 ported by the weight of good evidence. 
 
 The tannin principle is in the bark of the Barberry, and 
 it dyes, combined with alum, a bright yellow. 
 
 BARBERRY JAM. 
 
 Pluck from the stem barberries that are quite ripe, mash 
 them, and mix with them not quite a pound of good, clean 
 
BARK, PERUVIAN. 71 
 
 brown sugar. Put the mixture into the preserving-kettle, 
 and let it boil slowly for about three quarters of an hour, 
 stirring and skimming it frequently ; then let it boil rapidly 
 for a quarter of an hour, taking care, by frequent stirrings, 
 that it does not adhere to the kettle. Put it warm into a 
 glass or china jar, and cover closely. 
 
 Barberry Jelly should be made of the stoneless variety, if 
 it can be procured ; make it in the same manner as you pre- 
 pare currant jelly. 
 
 BARBERRY PRESERVE. 
 
 Barberries are easily preserved by choosing some of the 
 fairest fruit, tying it in clusters to sticks, and boiling it in sirup. 
 I once undertook to extract the stones from Barberries for a 
 preserve. It was very delicious, and happily did good ser- 
 vice ; but as a general practice, it could only be recommended 
 to Turkish women, who are said to employ their listless days 
 in extracting seed from small fruits to be used in the manufac- 
 ture of their sugar pastes. Sweet apples are sometimes pre- 
 served with barberries, in molasses or sirup. It makes a 
 homely preserve much relished by children. 
 
 Hot water poured on preserved barberries, and allowed 
 to cool, makes a grateful beverage for invalids. 
 
 See under Pickles, for the manner of pickling barberries. 
 
 BARK, PERUVIAN, JESUIT'S BARK, CINCHONA, OR 
 QUINQUINA. This bark was tested by the Jesuits while 
 exploring South America. It is a valuable tonic, and a few 
 doses administered in small quantities in the powdered state 
 sometimes have a happy effect in cases of intermittent fever 
 or ague. It is a useful dentifrice, if moderately used, giving 
 hardness and a healthy tone to the gums, and imparting sweet- 
 ness to the breath. 
 
 A tincture of this bark is made by pouring on four ounces 
 
72 BARLEY. 
 
 of the bark two pints of purest alcohol ; let it stand ten days, 
 when it is to be carefully strained and bottled. It is an 
 excellent and safe medicine taken in such proportions as 
 circumstances authorize ; as a tonic and stomachic medicine, 
 a spoonful some hours before each meal is generally a good 
 rule. 
 
 A decoction is also made with red wine, which is some- 
 times given to children of weakly, rickety habits of constitu- 
 tion. It is given in the forenoon and after dinner. 
 
 Slight excoriations of the skin, induced by chafes, are fre- 
 quently relieved by this pulverized bark. 
 
 BARLEY (Lat. Hordeum) is an annual plant, but is 
 often sown in autumn, when it ripens later, and is called 
 Winter Barley. 
 
 Two-Rowed Barley (Hordeum distichum), or Common 
 Barley, is the species generally cultivated in the United 
 States. It is considered the most valuable, on account of its 
 full berry and its general freedom from smut ; it has numer- 
 ous minor varieties, distinguished for some differences in the 
 quality of the grain, for early or late ripening, or for more or 
 less productiveness, features brought out perhaps by differ- 
 ences in culture and climate. This grain, whose native home 
 is traced from Egypt and Syria, as far back as three thou- 
 sand years since, matures in favorable seasons on the Eastern 
 Continent as far north as seventy degrees. In warm lati- 
 tudes two crops are produced in a year. 
 
 In the United States, the yield of Barley varies from thirty 
 to fifty or more bushels per acre, weighing from forty-five to 
 fifty-five pounds per bushel. 
 
 Both in the United States and in Great Britain, this grain 
 is grown chiefly for malt, and for the manufacture of spirit- 
 uous liquors. In France it is used for corn-bread, while in 
 some warm climates it is given to horses, and is said to be 
 as good for this purpose as oats. 
 
BATHS. 73 
 
 Pot Barley, Pearl Barley, and French Barley are only- 
 barley freed from the husk by the mill, the distinction be- 
 tween them being the round, shot form of the Pearl Barley, 
 which is caused by the sides of the grain being clipped off at 
 the mill, leaving only the centre or heart. 
 
 We seldom export barley from this country, being con- 
 sumers rather than producers of the grain. The virtues of 
 barley for medicinal purposes are of great antiquity. Hip- 
 pocrates wrote a whole book on the merits of gruel made 
 of barley. Barley Water is a pleasant liquid to administer 
 medicine in. (Farmer's Encyclopaedia. Abstract of the Sev- 
 enth Census.) 
 
 BARLEY WATER. Take four large table-spoonfuls 
 of well-picked and washed Pearl Barley, and put it into a 
 porcelain-lined kettle, containing two quarts of boiling water. 
 Let it boil slowly till reduced to nearly one half the liquid. 
 Strain it and season it with salt, and, if the patient's condition 
 will admit of it, flavor it with white sugar and fresh lemon- 
 juice. It is a grateful drink to invalids. See Soups. 
 
 BASTING. A dripping. Different liquids and sub- 
 stances that are used as corroboratives in roasting meats. 
 
 BATHS. All nations, in every stage of society, have 
 indulged in the bath, from the savage tribes of North Amer- 
 ica to the magnificent Roman of eighteen centuries back; 
 nay, the savages imitated the refinements of bathing by throw- 
 ing into the waters of caverns heated stones, to produce the 
 vapor bath. 
 
 No positive rules can be laid down with regard to the 
 suitability of cold baths as a universal axiom. Feeble per- 
 sons cannot always venture upon them, but should rather in- 
 dulge in the tepid bath, which ranges from 60 to 97. 
 7 
 
74 BEANS. 
 
 The foot-bath is often rendered stimulant, in cases of sick- 
 ness from colds, by the addition of a little mustard, or a little 
 wood-ashes and salt. 
 
 Sea-bathing, at a distance from the sea-shore, may be arti- 
 ficially produced by dissolving bay-salt in fresh water. By 
 this means the properties of salt water will be acquired, with 
 the exception of sulphate of magnesia, which, however, is 
 found in salt water only in small proportions. Dissolve one 
 pound of bay-salt to each gallon of fresh water. 
 
 Cold baths, where they can be safely taken either directly 
 or by the compromise of the sponge, tend to invite a most 
 wholesome state of health and spirits, and to lessen the 
 liability of colds. Baths, especially cold baths, should never 
 be taken directly after meals. 
 
 BATTER. See Fritters and Paddings. 
 
 BAY-SALT. Salt made of sea-water by the action of 
 the winds and sun, and lodged in bays and similar gulfs. 
 Bay-salt is in large cubes, moderately white. St. Ubes salt 
 is considered very pure. (Farmer's Encyclopedia.) 
 
 BEANS. The Broad Beans (English Dwarfs), of which 
 the Magazan is a nice variety, should be gathered fully 
 grown, but young. Shell them just before you cook them. 
 Boil them rapidly in salted water till the skin will yield 
 to gentle pressure. A bit of ham is sometimes boiled with 
 them, but it injures the purity of their color. Make a 
 gravy of melted butter and pour over them. Parsley may 
 be boiled, chopped, and put into the butter. Do not allow 
 them to swim in butter, it looks gross, the gravy being 
 merely for seasoning. Many good cooks prefer bits of fresh 
 butter placed in the dish. 
 
BEANS. 75 
 
 LIMA BEANS. 
 
 Shell them while fresh, and boil them till tender in a full 
 kettle of water with a little salt. Drain them, and put bits 
 of butter over them. 
 
 These beans are often preserved in Virginia through the 
 winter, by packing them when ripe (towards the last of fall 
 if convenient) into clean jars or kegs. Take a dry day foi 
 the packing. Put a layer of beans in the pod into the keg 01 
 jar, and sprinkle salt over them, repeating the process till the 
 vessel or tub is filled. When to be cooked, the beans are 
 freshened by washing the pods, and then soaking them in 
 fresh water over night. Put them over the fire into cold 
 water and boil till tender. 
 
 SNAP BEANS. 
 
 Gather them when ' young, snap off the stalks, and pull 
 off the strings ; but do not break them, for if young they 
 are nicer whole. Put them with a little salt into boiling 
 water, and boil them for about fifteen minutes. Take them 
 up and drain them in a colander. Put them into a dish with 
 pieces of butter, or pour a little melted butter over them, or a 
 made brown gravy. If the beans are old, put a bit of saler- 
 atus in the water they are to be boiled in, and cut the beans, 
 and boil them rapidly. Do not let them float in butter or 
 gravy. 
 
 WINTER DISH OF BAKED BEANS. 
 
 This disli is generally considered too hearty for warm 
 weather. Pick the beans, wash them, and put them to soak 
 over night in a good deal of water. In the morning pour this 
 water off, and put them into a kettle of cold water and let them 
 simmer till quite tender. Take them up, and drain them 
 through a colander ; when thoroughly drained, put them into 
 a deep baking-pan with a large piece of scored salt-pork sunk 
 
76 BED-CLOTHES. 
 
 to the rind. Pour boiling water over them, and bake five or 
 six hours ; or if you have a good brick oven, keep them in 
 over night. This constant change of water which is recom- 
 mended has a tendency to diminish the flatulency of this 
 vegetable, which too often induces gripings. 
 
 BEDS. Modern practice eschews the luxurious feather 
 bed, and mattresses made of wool for winter use, and of horse- 
 hair for summer, are mostly considered desirable beds. But 
 though these materials largely supply the market, palm-leaf, 
 cut straw, cornstalks, and various mosses are often used for 
 filling mattresses. Springs are inserted in nicely made hair- 
 mattresses to give them elasticity. 
 
 A large bed, to be comfortable, requires about sixty pounds 
 of wool. If constantly used, it will need to be taken out 
 every two or three years, carded, and a few pounds of wool 
 added. Linen ticking is much nicer than cotton. Poland 
 starch put on wet, and dried in the sun, will remove oil spots, 
 and cleanse a ticking which may not need to be washed all 
 over. 
 
 Pillows and bolsters, whether filled with feathers, or stuffed 
 with hair, should be generously plumped, both for econ- 
 omy of wear and for comfort. Small pillows stuffed with 
 hops sometimes quiet nervous headache, and induce sleep. 
 Square pillows stuffed with horse-hair are prescribed for 
 persons afflicted with weak or disordered eyes. 
 
 BED-CLOTHES. Linen sheets, excepting for a New 
 England winter are much to be preferred. Russia sheeting 
 is very substantial in wear. Sheets should always be made 
 a little larger than the bed they are to cover ; pillow and 
 bolster cases should always fit easily. In covering pillows, 
 a case of strong thick muslin slipped on before the linen one 
 has a comfortable clad look. Pillow-cases are often made 
 
BEECH. 77 
 
 for buttons and trimmed with a frill, the square ones be- 
 ing trimmed on all the sides. 
 
 Blankets which are not in use should be kept closely- 
 folded in Russia sheeting, with bits of camphor, and put in 
 some cool, dark closet, or packed in camphor trunks, if such 
 are in the house. 
 
 It is well, where it is convenient, to have the outside quilt 
 correspond in quality and color with the carpet and curtains, 
 and the general furniture of the room. Where bed-curtains 
 are hung, they are generally of the same material as the 
 outside coverlet. 
 
 Stuffed coverlets, or poor man's blankets, as they are fre- 
 quently called, are made sometimes of soft lawn from dresses 
 that have been put aside, with a thin layer of all-wool wad- 
 ding, which comes now in sheets as cotton does. They are 
 inexpensive, and are often grateful to invalids when heavier 
 materials would be oppressive. I have seen a very nice 
 stuffed coverlet, made of a dozen large East India silk 
 pocket-handkerchiefs, each a yard square, filled with eider- 
 down ; both sides were alike, and the coverlet of a good size. 
 It was very light and very warm. Silk dresses, when laid 
 aside as dresses, make nice stuffed coverlets. 
 
 BEECH (Fagus sylvatica). This tree is one of the 
 handsomest of England's forest-trees. It is native to the 
 greater part of the North of Europe. The red and purple 
 are seedling varieties of Fagus sylvatica. 
 
 The Red Beech (Fagus ferruginea) decays when ex- 
 posed to the extremes of moisture and dryness. It does not 
 readily warp, and is much used for making tools, for which 
 its hardness and smooth grain recommend it. 
 
 Beech mast, or the nuts and seeds of this tree, yield on 
 pressure an oil equal to the best olive-oil, and which keeps 
 without acquiring a rancid taste longer than olive-oil. In 
 7* 
 
78 
 
 BEEF. 
 
 England, it was once much used in the place of butter. 
 Roasted, the nuts have often formed a substitute for coffee. 
 (Bigelow, Farmer's Encyclopaedia.) 
 
 BEEF. The virtues of our ever-to-be respected ances- 
 tors have always been largely attributed to the excellence of 
 their beef. It is related of an old blunt English command- 
 er, that at Cadiz he addressed his soldiers in these terms : 
 " What a shame will it be to you, Englishmen, who feed upon 
 good beef, to let those Spaniards beat you, that live upon 
 oranges and lemons." 
 
 By virtue of his extensive and constant experience, the 
 London butcher must be installed as a judge from whom the 
 wise will not appeal ; and his mode of cutting up a carcass 
 is, I believe, followed in the main features in our large cities. 
 The figure below represents the English mode of cutting up 
 a carcass of beef. 
 
 HIND QUARTER. 
 
 /, loin or sirloin. 
 
 r, rump. 
 
 a i, aitch-bone. 
 
 6, buttock or round. 
 
 h, hock. 
 
 /, thick flank. 
 
 </, thin flank. 
 
 s, shin. 
 
 FORE QUARTER. 
 
 f T) fore rib. 
 
 m r, middle rib. 
 
 c r, chuck rib. 
 
 n, neck, clod, and sticking. 
 
 b t, brisket. 
 
 I m, leg-of-mutton piece. 
 
 s, shin. 
 
BEEF. 79 
 
 The principal roasting-piece is /, the loin or sirloin ; r, the 
 rump, is the favorite steak-piece, while b, the buttock or 
 round, is very nice boiled, when corned, and is the piece 
 chosen par excellence for the popular dish, beef d la mode. 
 The flanks, (/, thick flank, and t f, thin flank) are also nice 
 for boiling, when corned ; A, the hock, and s, the shin, make 
 nice soups, and afford what is technically called stock, while 
 t, the tail, is used for ox-tail soup. These are the pieces in 
 the hind quarter. 
 
 In the fore quarter, fr, fore rib, m r, middle rib, c r, chuck 
 rib, are all roasting-pieces, but not of equal excellence. The 
 part of the shoulder-blade of the middle rib being removed, 
 the spareribs below make a good broil or roast, n, the neck, 
 is used fresh for soup, and the back end of the brisket, b t, is 
 boiled, corned, or stewed. I m, leg-of-mutton piece, is coarse, 
 but is as frequently stewed as boiled, s, the shin, is used for 
 the same purposes as the shin and hock of the hind quarter. 
 
 It will be observed that the most valuable pieces, the roast- 
 ing, are upon the upper part of the carcass ; and the inferior, 
 the boiling, occupy the lower part. Every beast, therefore, 
 that lays on beef on the upper parts of its body is more val- 
 uable to the butcher, than one that lays the same quantity of 
 flesh on its lower parts. (Stephens's Book of the Farm.) 
 
 There is no difference in price between heifer and ox beef, 
 both being equally well fed. The lean of ox-flesh has a 
 brighter red, and the fat not so clear a white as heifer-beef, 
 and it is generally thought a little richer than cow-beef. 
 Good beef should have a tender feel, .a bright red color in 
 the lean parts, and be white in the fatty portions. 
 
 A LA MODE BEEF. 
 
 Take a piece of the round of beef, eight or ten pounds, 
 cut out the bone, and tie your beef in a handsome round 
 shape ; with a small, sharp knife make incisions in the beef, 
 
80 BEEF. 
 
 cutting deeply inside, but have the cut on the outside small. 
 These holes are to be filled with the stuffing, which also is 
 partly reserved for the force-meat balls. Put your beef into 
 a large pot, so that it may lie flat, with water nearly sufficient 
 to cover it ; season with salt, pepper, cloves, and one onion, 
 a little sage, or any sweet herb you prefer. 
 
 Let the beef boil slowly for two hours, then add a pint of 
 red wine, a little tomato catchup, and then put in your balls, 
 and keep them in for twenty minutes. If the gravy boils 
 away, add a little water. 
 
 Force-meat balls for the above are made thus : Take a 
 loaf of baker's flour-bread, grate it, add an equal quantity of 
 beef-suet, chopped very fine ; season it highly with pepper, 
 clove, salt, nutmeg or mace, cayenne, and sweet-marjoram. 
 Wet the whole, after thorough mixing, with eggs. Roll them 
 into small balls. If you wish to fry some of the balls, take 
 but little butter, as the fat fries from them. 
 
 This dish warms up very nicely, especially if that which 
 is left be covered, and allowed to lie in its gravy. 
 
 BEEF, CORNED. 
 
 Beef that is to be corned should be thoroughly rubbed with 
 part of the salt intended for the pickle, covered closely, and 
 allowed to remain for three days ; it is well, where it is possi- 
 ble, to rub the salt in before the animal heat has " all gone 
 by," the passage of the bloody slime being facilitated by a 
 little animal heat. A mixture of rock or Liverpool and 
 Bay salt is nicest for curing meats. After the meat has 
 lain in the salt for three days, take it out and brush and 
 wipe it with a damp cloth. Pack the pieces closely into a 
 clean tub, and between each piece sprinkle salt, putting also 
 salt on the bottom of the tub, and laying the fleshy parts 
 downwards. Pour the pickle, prepared as below, when it is 
 quite cold, over the whole, taking care to have the meat 
 
BEEF. 81 
 
 kept covered with the pickle by great weights or stones, and 
 excluded from the air by a wooden cover, or boards nailed 
 closely together. 
 
 Pickle for Beef. 
 
 Take four gallons of water, to which add one pound and a 
 half of sugar, five ounces of saltpetre, and six pounds of salt. 
 Put the whole into a clean pot, and let it boil ; take off the 
 scum constantly as it rises, remove the pot from the fire 
 when the liquor looks clear, and when cold cover your meat 
 with it. 
 
 Another. 
 
 To six gallons of water, put six quarts of Liverpool and 
 Bay salt, three pounds of brown sugar, three ounces of salt- 
 petre, one ounce of pearlash, and one gallon of molasses. 
 Proceed as above. 
 
 A salted round of beef, containing seventeen or eighteen 
 pounds, requires to simmer slowly at least four hours. 
 Brisket, of nine or ten pounds, should be boiled slowly, or 
 simmered for three hours. 
 
 Where a round or rump of beef is to be cured alone, it is 
 frequently rubbed with mixed salts and spices, and basted 
 with the brine every day for five or six weeks ; and it may 
 be taken out and dried or boiled out of this" pickle. 
 
 TONGUES. 
 
 Tongues are cured in the same way. Bacon pickle, where 
 it has been nicely prepared, will cure tongues after the hams 
 have been removed. 
 
 Tongues salted and dried are steeped in a weak brine, 
 washed out, and rubbed with salt by the hand. Allow them 
 to remain twenty-four hours in the salt, then wipe with a 
 damp cloth, and rub again with salt and brown sugar. 
 Cover them with pickle for a fortnight ; take them out, wipe 
 them, rub them with bran, and make a hole through the root ; 
 
82 BEEF. 
 
 pass a twine through it, and hang them in a cool, dark place 
 after they have been smoked. Tongues, when fresh, require 
 two hours to boil ; but if salted and dried, they will take from 
 three to four hours, and will require to be soaked twenty- 
 four hours, and the water to be changed at night. Salted 
 meats must be put into a great deal of cold water when they 
 are to be cooked, and simmered, and never boiled hard. 
 For baked tongues, see Baked Meats. 
 
 BEEF, ROASTED. 
 
 The sirloin, rib-pieces, and in small families the piece that 
 is left from the rump after the steaks are cut off, are all 
 roasted. The fire should be got well going, with a substantial 
 constitution, before the meat is put down. Sometimes a 
 backlog of tan, or wet ashes, thrown in at the back of the 
 chimney, throws the heat in front. When the fire is to be 
 stirred, the meat should be drawn aside, to escape the smoke 
 and ashes. In the first stages of the roasting, place the tin- 
 kitchen or roaster at a distance from the fire, and baste fre- 
 quently with water, seasoned with a little salt. Meat should 
 get thoroughly heated through before it begins to brown. 
 Where beef is very fat, the dripping-pan may be emptied 
 once or twice, and still enough remain to make the gravy. 
 Beef dripping is very nice for frying potatoes and breakfast 
 cakes, when it has been nicely clarified. As the meat as- 
 sumes a rich brown, a little flour can be sifted over it from 
 the dredging-box, but the meat must remain long enough to 
 brown it. A sirloin weighing fifteen to eighteen pounds will 
 take four hours of roasting ; but ribs of the same weight will 
 be done in half an hour less. 
 
 BEEFSTEAKS. 
 
 Beef for steaks, though it does not require to be mellowed 
 by time so long as a large roasting-piece, eats tenderer for 
 being three or four days old. 
 
BEEF. 83 
 
 Rump steaks are preferred by many, but in New York 
 steaks from the sirloin or sparerib are thought richer and 
 more tender ; the bone is chopped away, and the fat par- 
 tially trimmed. Steaks should be cut of an even thickness, ' 
 and not quite an inch thick. Have a fire of clean, bright 
 coals, heat the gridiron, and rub the bars with a little suet ; 
 throw a very little salt over the coals, and do the steaks as 
 quickly as possible, turning them quickly. Have your dish 
 hot, and put pieces of fresh butter on the steak, with a little 
 salt. If the beef is prime, no water or catchup will be 
 required. Serve immediately wljile it is hot, and its rich 
 juices will be honor enough for it. Twelve or fourteen min- 
 utes will cook steaks of the above thickness. 
 
 BEEFSTEAK PIE. 
 
 Cut steaks quite thin, and flatten them, turn them over in 
 some mixed spices in which is a little pepper and salt, lay 
 them in the bottom of the baking-dish, and place bits of 
 boiled onion and fresh butter over them. (Omit the butter if 
 the beef is well mixed with fat.) Fill the dish a little more 
 than two thirds full, sprinkling onion between each layer of 
 meat. Pour over the whole a pint of boiling water, highly 
 seasoned with walnut catchup. Put the dish away to get 
 cool, then cover it round the lid with paste, and cover with 
 ornamented paste. It is well to have a centre ornament, 
 that, when the pie is baked, can be removed, and afford an 
 opportunity, should it have baked dry, of adding fresh hot 
 liquor before it goes to the table. Any pieces that have 
 been left from a roast or steak will make this pie. 
 
 BRISKET OF BEEF. 
 
 The Brisket of Beef may be boned and baked ; then it is 
 laid in a deep pan, seasoned with salt and mixed spices, wal- 
 nut or mushroom catchup, and a pint of port wine, and 
 dredged with flour. Bake three hours. Skim the fat off. 
 
84 BEEF. 
 
 It is also as frequently stewed. Boil it in just water 
 enough to cover it; when tender take out the bones, skim off 
 the fat from the liquor it was boiled in, and season with salt, 
 pepper, walnut catchup, and a little red wine ; thicken it with 
 browned flour stirred into melted butter. Flour is browned 
 by putting some over the fire in a flat dish, and stirring it till 
 it is brown and of an even color. The butter softens the 
 smoky taste that browned flour generally acquires. Pour 
 the gravy hot over the meat, and garnish with carrots cut in 
 thin slices and fried a delicate brown. 
 
 COLLARED BEEF. 
 
 Take the thin flank, rub it thoroughly with salt and a little 
 saltpetre, and let it drain over night. In the morning wash 
 it, cut out the gristle, and remove the outer and inner skin. 
 Pound a little clove very fine, mix with it salt, pepper, and 
 a little sugar, rub the mixture thoroughly in, and let it re- 
 main over a week in the pickle that will make, turning and 
 basting it every day. Take it out of the pickle and roll it 
 up as tight as possible ; bandage with strips of strong cloth, 
 and tie these with tape. Put it into cold water and let it 
 simmer for five or six hours. When done, place it between 
 boards, and press it with heavy weights until perfectly cold. 
 This is usually sliced cold ; the ends should be trimmed when- 
 ever sent to the table whole. 
 
 HASHED BEEF. 
 
 Hashes are generally made of cold meat. Cut away all 
 the gristle and the burnt pieces, and let the slices remain in 
 the juices of the meat. If you have no ready-made stock, 
 prepare a broth from the bones and outside pieces ; strain it 
 through a coarse sieve, and season it with some catchup, pep- 
 per, and salt ; heat it again, and stir the meat into it just be- 
 fore it is sent to the table, allowing it only time enough to 
 
BEEF. 85 
 
 heat through. Cut the meat into such pieces as suits con- 
 venience, either in mouth fuls or slices ; but they should not 
 be thick. Garnish with bread cut in the form of dice, and 
 fried in strained beef dripping, or with toasted bread soaked 
 in the broth. 
 
 BEEF HEART. 
 
 Cut the heart, and put it to soak in water, that the blood 
 may ooze out. Wipe it, and trim it, cutting the lobes out ; 
 make a stuffing of grated baker's bread, spices, and salt, wet 
 with eggs ; stuff the heart, and sew it up. Roast it with pa- 
 per over it. A large heart will take two hours and a half 
 to cook. 
 
 BEEF LIVER. 
 
 Be sure that it is fresh. Soak it in cold water a few 
 minutes. Take it out and wipe it dry. Fry out rashers 
 of salt-pork, and lay slices of the liver, cut three quarters of 
 an inch in thickness, in the frying-pan, and fry them slowly 
 till they are brown. Beef kidneys are served in this way, 
 excepting that butter is used instead of pork, and when they 
 are browned, a catchup sauce is poured over them hot. 
 
 MINCED BEEF. 
 
 Cut the beef very fine, and take potatoes enough to 
 make one third of the dish, mash them smoothly with a lit- 
 tle cream or melted butter, and stir them into the meat with 
 a little pepper and salt. Moisten the whole with beef gravy 
 or dripping, which has been nicely strained. Put it into a 
 small kettle, and let it brown. This dish is made from the 
 debris of roast meat. 
 
 Beef kidneys may be minced very fine, and seasoned 
 highly with pepper and salt, and fried brown in butter, 
 put in a hot dish, and a gravy seasoned with walnut catchup 
 poured over them. 
 
 8 
 
86 BEES. 
 
 PRESSED BEEF. 
 
 The brisket, flank, and thin part of the ribs are the pieces 
 which are pressed. Take out the bones, salt and season 
 the piece with such spices as you prefer, and let it lie about 
 a week closely covered. Boil it slowly till tender, take it 
 from the pot, and press it under heavy weights till cold. It 
 sends the juices through the beef, and by remaining pressed 
 till cold cuts in thin slices. 
 
 BEEF UDDER. 
 
 This is eaten in Virginia, either boiled fresh and cut in 
 slices when cold, and served with salt and mustard, or it is 
 salted for a day or two and eaten cold. It is sometimes 
 boiled, chopped fine, and used for stuffings. 
 
 BEES. These little creatures love thyme, mignonette, 
 alyssum, and honeysuckle. Hives should never be placed 
 in a roofed stand ; it heats the bees, and frequently induces 
 them to form on the outside of their hives. They should be 
 placed in a sheltered part of the garden, but with sufficient 
 space around them to allow the attacks of their depredators 
 to be seen and warded -off. If no water is near, place shal- 
 low pans near the hives with water and a little salt, and 
 have bits of stick float on the surface, to prevent the bees 
 drowning by slipping from the sides of the vessel. In the 
 early spring, and late in autumn, before you house them for 
 winter, they must be fed. For this purpose, put to a quart 
 of beer one pound of sugar, and boil it five minutes only. 
 
 Never destroy bees. They live only one year, and in 
 killing them, the young bees that would work in the spring 
 are lost. The year-old bees die in August, By smoking 
 the bees with tobacco while working upon a hive, they are 
 rendered harmless. Sticks in the hive are useless arid in- 
 convenient. 
 
BEER. 87 
 
 If stung, extract the sting, apply immediately sweet oil, 
 laudanum, or Goulard's extract, which is a preparation used 
 for inflammations, and so called from the inventor. (Farm- 
 er's Encyclopaedia.) 
 
 BEESWAX. This substance has been classed with veg- 
 etable matters ; but the experiments of Huber have shown 
 that it is produced by the bees themselves, and not gathered 
 by them directly from plants. When the honey is drained 
 from the wax, it can be purified for domestic uses by tying 
 it with something heavy in a bag, and putting the bag into 
 a pot of clear cold water. As the water heats, the wax will 
 be thrown to the surface. Skim it off, and place it in sau- 
 cers, and expose it to the light and air, and occasionally wet 
 it with water, till it is whitened or bleached. 
 
 Bayberry, Candleberry, or Myrtle wax (Myrica ceri- 
 fera) is a harder substance than beeswax, obtained from the 
 berries of the myrtle by boiling them in water. (Bigelow.) 
 
 BEER. Though beer is chiefly made of malt and hops, 
 there are some simple beverages in which only the latter is 
 used, and others in which a substitute for hops is found. 
 
 CHILDREN'S BEER. 
 
 To three spoonfuls of ginger pour a bucketful of boiling 
 water. Allow it to cool, then add to it one pint of good 
 yeast, and one pint of molasses. Cover it with a coarse 
 cloth, and let it stand in a cool place. Bottle in the even- 
 ing. 
 
 MOLASSES-BEER. 
 
 Put to six gallons of soft water six pints of West India 
 molasses and a handful of hops tied in a muslin bag, and 
 let it boil twenty minutes. When it has cooled, put to it a 
 pint of lively beer yeast. Cover the beer with a coarse cloth, 
 
88 BLACKBERRY. 
 
 and when it has done fermenting, pour it off into clean bot- 
 tles, and stop with good cork-wood corks. See Ale. 
 
 BEETS. Beets are boiled till tender, to be eaten with 
 salt cod-fish. Wash, and, without scraping, boil them whole. 
 They are used to ornament salads. They make, when boiled, 
 and put into vinegar, either sliced or whole, a cheap and 
 wholesome pickle. When quite small they may be boiled 
 with the leaves for greens. See under Art of Gardening. 
 
 BERGAMOT. The well-known oil or essence of berga- 
 mot, which is imported from the South of Europe, is extract- 
 ed from the rind of the fruit Citrus bergamia, which grows 
 on a moderate-sized tree that bears small white flowers, 
 and fruit of a pyriform shape and pale yellow color. The 
 rind is filled with oil-vesicles. (Farmer's Encyclopaedia.) 
 
 BIRD-PEPPER. A variety of Capsicum, sometimes 
 called Bird's-bill, or Long Red. It yields Cayenne pepper 
 when dried and pulverized. 
 
 BLACKBERRY. The Bramble is native to this coun- 
 try. The varieties esteemed for the table, and sometimes 
 cultivated, are, 
 
 High Bush (Rubus villosus). This bush grows four or 
 five feet high, produces white flowers, and its berries have a 
 spirited piquancy. 
 
 Low Bush (Rubus Canadensis), or Trailing Blackberry. 
 A trailing prickly shrub, throwing out, as the above, white 
 blossoms. The fruit is sweet, but has hardly so much spirit 
 as the first. 
 
 The soil should be well worked, and enriched with ashes, 
 leaves, and vegetable mould, besides other fertilizers, to 
 produce handsome fruit. Propagate by seed and by off- 
 
BLANCMANGE. 89 
 
 shoots at the root. Cut away old wood, and cultivate the 
 new. (Cole's American Fruit Book.) 
 
 Tli ere is a variety which yields white fruit, but it is rarely 
 seen. 
 
 BLACKBERRY CORDIAL. 
 
 Take fine, ripe fruit, rejecting, as you pick them over, 
 those of reddish hue ; squeeze these berries through a flan- 
 nel bag. To a quart of juice put one pound of best loaf- 
 sugar. Put it into a stone-jar and let it remain three days, 
 the first day stirring it frequently. On the fourth day strain 
 through a sieve, and to a quart of the juice add a quart of 
 brandy. Bottle for use. This is excellent for summer dis- 
 orders, if taken in moderate quantity, and repeated occasion- 
 ally. See Jelly. 
 
 BLACKING. Liquid or paste, for blacking and polishing 
 boots and shoes. 
 
 LIQUID BLACKING. 
 
 Wet four ounces of ivory -black with a table-spoonful of 
 sweet oil, mix it to a smooth paste, beat into it gradually 
 four spoonfuls of molasses ; add to this one half-pint of good 
 vinegar, one half-ounce of oil of vitriol, one ounce of laven- 
 der-water, mixing well as you proceed, and, lastly, the juice 
 of one lemon. 
 
 BLANCMANGE. One ounce of Russia isinglass is suf- 
 ficient for one quart of milk, but the other kinds will require 
 half an ounce more to each quart. Let the isinglass be 
 dissolved in as little water as possible, taking care that it 
 does'not burn, and that it is a transparent liquid ; stir it into 
 a quart of milk ; season it with rose-water and a stick of cin- 
 namon, and sweeten to your taste ; put it into a porcelain ket- 
 tle, and let it boil. Strain it through a flannel jelly-bag, and 
 8* 
 
90 BOILING. 
 
 put it into moulds. If you wish the coloring of corn, beat 
 the yolks of two eggs lightly, and stir them to one pint of 
 milk. 
 
 Blancmange appears in a vast variety. It may be made 
 of rice, swelled in hot water, and boiled in rich milk to a 
 mash ; it is often made of calves' feet stock, of sparkling gela- 
 tine, and many preparations of isinglass, and flavored with 
 vanilla, chocolate, or what you please. 
 
 Moulds should be left damp with cold water before putting 
 in the blancmange. A cloth dipped in hot water is some- 
 times laid over the bottom of the mould where there is any 
 difficulty about its turning out. See Almond Blancmange. 
 
 BOILING. Meat, whether fresh or salted, smoked or 
 dried, should always be put into cold water ; the only excep- 
 tions being with fowls and white meats, where the water may 
 have the chill taken off, and salted meat that does not require 
 to be much freshened. Dried meats and fish must be 
 soaked for several days before they are boiled. 
 
 The delicacy of meats, and their integrity of color, are 
 greatly preserved by the constant removal of the scum which 
 is thrown up in boiling. It is a good way when it makes 
 its strongest appearance to throw in a little cold water, and 
 bring it to a mass, and take the pot off and carefully remove 
 it ; if any adheres after the meat is boiled, dip a cloth in hot 
 water and wipe it off. Never pierce meat that is boiling 
 with a fork ; the juices escape. 
 
 Pot liquor, or the water in which meat has been boiled, is 
 useful for stock, especially that in which fresh lamb, mutton, 
 or poultry has been boiled. 
 
 Boil or simmer meat slowly, particularly after the scum 
 has risen generously. 
 
 Dried and salted meats require twice the time to cook that 
 fresh meat takes. 
 
BORAX. 91 
 
 Cabbage and greens are often cooked with corned beef. 
 Where the liquor is to be used afterward, such vegetables 
 may be boiled in a separate pot, and some of the pot liquor 
 of the meat may be transferred to the vessel they are boiled in. 
 
 Old hams should be soaked twelve hours before boiling 
 them, the water frequently changed, and when boiled, they 
 should be put into a large pot filled with water. 
 
 BONNY-CLABBER. In New England, milk soured 
 to this form is administered to poultry and to pigs ; in warmer 
 latitudes we have seen it served up, while fresh, with nut- 
 meg, sugar, and wine. Under such treatment, and placed in 
 delicate china, it makes a pretty dish, and eats well on a hot 
 day. 
 
 BOOK-MUSLIN. These muslins are popular for dresses, 
 because they do up nicely, and can be worn a few times be- 
 fore being washed. They should be of a good white, for 
 blue whites, whether for bonnets or dresses, are unbecoming 
 even to the young and lovely. 
 
 In washing this muslin, prepare a warm suds made of 
 white bar-soap, and squeeze it gently through two or three 
 of these suds, and rinse in pure water as many times ; lastly, 
 put it through a thin starch-water. Pick it carefully apart, 
 and hang it in the sun, over a dry white sheet. Take it in, 
 sprinkle it evenly, and fold it in a white towel, and let it. re- 
 main some hours in the clothes-basket. When you take it 
 out, clap it with your hands to clear-starch it, as it is techni- 
 cally called, and iron before it is too dry, on the wrong side. 
 
 BORAX. This salt is sometimes efficacious in correcting 
 cutaneous eruptions. Dissolve an ounce of borax in a quart 
 of water, and with a soft sponge bathe the face, night and 
 morning. 
 
92 BOX-WOOD. 
 
 The eruption induced by the working of a small insect 
 under the skin has been removed by rubbing the flour of 
 sulphur on the face with the finger, every morning, while the 
 face is still damp with the morning bath, and afterward dust- 
 ing it off with soft linen. 
 
 BOX- WOOD. The Box-tree (Buxus sempervirens) is 
 from the South of Europe. Its wood, of yellowish color and 
 compact, hard grain, is employed for musical wind-instru- 
 ments and mathematical instruments. Wood engravings are 
 also cut in this wood. The surface is planed with great care, 
 the design being drawn upon this smooth surface with a 
 black lead pencil. The pencillings are left in relief, gravers 
 or chisels of different sizes being employed to cut away the 
 spaces between the pencil-lines. The wood is cut across the 
 grain into pieces of the height of common types, to increase 
 the strength and durability of the engraving. These blocks 
 may be inserted in a page with common types, and printed 
 without extra expense. They are very durable, and can, 
 if required, be multiplied by the process of stereotyping. 
 (Bigelow.) 
 
 Wood-engraving owes its modern revival to ancient excel- 
 lence to Thomas Bewick. Cross-hatching, as practised by 
 Albert Durer and the old engravers, had fallen into disuse, 
 probably from the amount of time and labor required for its 
 execution, and was even forgotten when Bewick introduced 
 gradation of shade and variety of tints, consequently more 
 natural perspective, by leaving certain parts of his block 
 less prominent than such as were to produce the strongest 
 lines, taking care, however, that all the lines should give an 
 impression upon the paper which was to take picture. By 
 such means he attained the delicacy of gradation to be found 
 in copperplates. 
 
 The ease with which wood-engravings can be set in with 
 
BRAWN. 93 
 
 type, and the number of impressions that a block gives with- 
 out being recut, are among its advantages ; a good wood-cut 
 often yields fifty thousand impressions. (Pursuit of Knowl- 
 edge, Art. Bewick.) 
 
 BRANDY. Brandy is often obtained by the distillation 
 of wine ; at its greatest strength it contains between forty 
 and fifty per cent of water. The best brandies, says Davy, 
 seem to owe their flavor to a peculiar oily matter, formed 
 probably by the action of tartaric acid upon alcohol. The 
 Cogniac brandies contain prussic acid. ( Farmer's Encyclo- 
 paedia.) 
 
 BRASS. This metal consists of copper and zinc. There 
 are various ways of cleaning brass. A solution of oxalic acid 
 is frequently applied ; but from its being a ^virulent poison, 
 there is always an uneasiness experienced in having it used. 
 I have always found brass kept clean longest by being well 
 rubbed with rotten-stone wet with sweet oil, and then rubbed 
 with dry, pulverized rotten-stone. Whiting has merely a 
 temporary effect on brass. Bits of wash-leather and silk are 
 good for the final polishing. 
 
 BRAWN. This preparation is often sold in the market. 
 Many persons prefer to have it home-made. 
 
 Take the head and feet of a hog that have been nicely 
 cleaned; have the head cut apart and the ears taken off 
 and cut. Put the whole into a pot and boil them till they 
 are quite tender and fall from the bones. Take the meat 
 out into a large deep dish ; cut it with a sharp knife till it is 
 quite fine, removing every bone and gristly piece. Season 
 this mince highly with salt, pepper, and a little finely pounded 
 clove and pulverized sweet herbs, mixing all well together. 
 Tie the mince in a large, thick cloth, and hang it with a dish 
 
94 BREAD. 
 
 under it near the kitchen fire, and let it drain. When it has 
 done dripping, set it away in a cool place, but not where it 
 will freeze. This is sliced cold, and eaten with mustard. It 
 will keep, if the cloth is kept around it, several weeks. 
 
 When the water is cold that the meat has been boiled in, 
 skim the liquor ; top-fat nicely clarified being useful to fry 
 griddle-cakes or vegetables. The remainder of the liquor is 
 nice in a veal or pork pot-pie. 
 
 BREAD. Stir into a quart of water which has been 
 made a little warm, a cup of yeast, and sifted flour enough 
 to make a batter tolerably thick. Let it rise. In summer, 
 if yeast and flour are good, it will rise in about six hours ; in 
 winter, though covered near the fire, it will take nearly 
 twice the time. When the batter has risen, have ready 
 half a pound of sifted meal, which has boiled with a little 
 salt and a pint of water for over an hour ; stir into the meal 
 a piece of butter the size of a goose's egg ; mix it into the 
 batter, with flour enough to make it stiff, and beat it with 
 a strong spoon for a long time very hard. Let it stand 
 five hours, or less time if it rises well. Knead it well, 
 and bake. 
 
 Yeast for the above may be made thus : Two quarts of 
 water, one handful of hops ; pare a potato and boil it dry ; 
 stir into two cups of sifted flour a very little cold water; 
 strain your hop-water on to the flour, stirring it all the while ; 
 mash the potato very fine, and add it to the flour ; one spoon- 
 ful of clean sugar may be put to it, and when cool enough 
 add a little yeast to make it rise. 
 
 MILK YEAST BREAD. 
 
 One pint of new milk, one pint of boiling water ; stir in 
 flour enough to make a thick batter. Set this to rise in a 
 place where it will be kept quite warm. As soon as it is 
 
BRITANNIA. 95 
 
 well risen, mix this batter into dough for bread. Shape it 
 into rolls or loaves as you please, and let it rise for twenty 
 minutes, and then bake it. 
 
 WHEAT BREAD. 
 
 One quart of unsifted wheat-meal, one pint and a half of 
 water, made a little warmer than rain-water, a salt-spoon 
 of salt, half a teacupful of molasses, one gill of yeast, two 
 teaspoonfuls of saleratus, and one cup of rich milk. Knead 
 it well, and add a little sifted meal to make it of proper 
 consistency, being careful, however, not to have it by any 
 means stiff. 
 
 It is well to get new wheat, as it bakes better. Bake 
 seasonably, or this mixture will become tart. It is nice 
 baked in muffin-rings on a buttered tin sheet in a quick 
 oven. 
 
 The best flour is always cheapest, both as regards health 
 and actual measurement. Yeast should be made often, and 
 the yeast-jug kept sweet by being scalded each time before 
 fresh yeast is put in. Brewer's yeast is much stronger than 
 home-made yeast, and a large spoonful is sufficient for one 
 quart of flour. If dough is thought to have become acid, a 
 little saleratus must be kneaded in ; but as little saleratus 
 should be used as possible in making bread. 
 
 BREWIS. Pour milk over crusts of bread, and let 
 them soak for a few minutes ; boil them in the milk for 
 twenty minutes. Stir in, just before you take it up, a small 
 piece of butter. 
 
 BRITANNIA. There being both lead and copper in 
 this metal, when used for teapots it should be nicely scalded, 
 wiped dry, and the cover left open on being set away in the 
 
96 BROILING. 
 
 closet. The outside is cleansed with a paste made of rotten- 
 stone and oil, applied with a flannel rag, washed off with a 
 suds made of white soap, then wiped dry, and polished with 
 whiting, applied with wash-leather or soft- linen. 
 
 BROCCOLI. This vegetable is cooked much in the 
 same way as cauliflower. See Cauliflower. 
 
 BROILING. The fire should be burned down into 
 clear coals, free from smoke, when the delicate task of broil- 
 ing is undertaken. Before the gridiron goes over, sprinkle 
 a little salt on the coals. Beef-steaks are generally cut 
 three quarters of an inch thick. In broiling it is necessary 
 to keep turning the steak that the juices may remain in. 
 Steak-tongs are convenient for turning ; where a fork is 
 used, it should be placed in the fatty portions to turn the 
 meat. Remove the meat when the fat catches till the blaze 
 is out. 
 
 The gridiron, %both on the upper and lower side, should 
 be kept scrupulously clean. Before a steak is put on, the 
 gridiron should be heated for about five minutes, or till 
 quite hot, and rubbed with beef-suet for meat, and with 
 chalk when fish is to be broiled. It is well to have one 
 gridiron for meat and poultry, and another for fish. Double 
 gridirons are kept closed till the steak is done. A beef- 
 steak three quarters of an inch thick takes from twelve to 
 fifteen minutes to cook. Sprinkle a little pepper and salt 
 over as you put it down. When done, have the dish hot 
 you put it into, but not so hot as to dry the gravy. Put 
 bits of butter into the dish. The best of beef-steak requires 
 no catchup. 
 
 Kidneys when broiled should be skewered, to prevent their 
 turning with heat, as must also chickens and pigeons, and 
 be taken off occasionally and rubbed with butter tied in 
 
BUCKWHEAT. 97 
 
 a muslin bag, and when dished, sprinkled with salt and 
 pepper. 
 
 Veal and lamb cutlets should be cut half an inch thick, 
 and may be dipped in egg and bread-crumbs. 
 
 Mutton-chops are broiled much as beef-steaks, excepting 
 that mushroom sauce is often used. 
 
 Pork -steaks are not cut so thick as beef or mutton, and 
 they take longer time in cooking, and require a hot fire. 
 They may, previously to going on to the gridiron, be rubbed 
 with pulverized sage, pepper, and salt. 
 
 BUCKTHORN (Rhamnus catharticus). The shrub used 
 for hedge-rows. The juice of the unripe berries yields the 
 color known as sap-green, used principally in water-colors. 
 
 BUCKWHEAT. This plant, says Professor Low, be- 
 longs to a family, the PoJygonece or Dock tribe, which is 
 known to farmers as affording a class of common weeds. 
 
 Of the genus Polygonum there are two species cultivated 
 in Europe for their seeds : 
 
 1. Common Buckwheat, Polygonum Fagopyrum. 
 
 2. Tartarian Buckwheat, Polygonum tataricum. 
 
 The first is the species commonly cultivated. The latter 
 is of larger growth, and is said to be more hardy ; but it 
 is less productive of seeds than the Common Buckwheat. 
 A third species is cultivated in China and Chinese Tartary, 
 Notch-seeded Buckwheat, Polygonum emarginatum, which 
 resembles the Common Buckwheat in its habit of growth. 
 All these species are annual. 
 
 Common Buckwheat bears white flowers, tinged with red. 
 Its stem is full of knots, and rises to the height of two feet 
 or more. The plant is of rapid growth, continues to flower 
 long, and bears at the same time flowers and ripened seeds. 
 (Elements of Agriculture.) 
 9 
 
98 BUCKWHEAT. 
 
 On account of an increasing demand for this grain, it is 
 much more cultivated in the United States than formerly. 
 In some of the Western States the yield per acre has been 
 stated as reaching twenty-five, thirty, and even fifty bushels. 
 In New England it is often cultivated successfully. It grows 
 best on the lighter soils. Birds are apt to attack Buck- 
 wheat, and the young plants are sometimes injured by frost. 
 The seeds of the Buckwheat are given to horses, to hogs, 
 and to poultry. 
 
 In the United States its use as a breadstuff is almost 
 entirely limited to cakes. 
 
 BUCKWHEAT CAKES. 
 
 Take a quart of warm water, (milk, if to be had, is better,) 
 put a little salt to it, and stir irt enough buckwheat flour to 
 make a thin batter. After it is smoothly mixed, add six 
 table-spoonfuls of home yeast, or half this quantity of brew- 
 er's yeast. Set this batter where it will be kept a little 
 warm over night In the morning stir in about a salt- 
 spoonful of soda or saleratus, and a large spoonful of sirup 
 or molasses. Put them ip just before the griddle is ready 
 for the batter. The molasses is thought to make the cakes 
 fry a delicate brown, and to crisp the edges. 
 
 The griddle should be merely greased enough to keep the 
 cakes from sticking ; a bit of white rag is sometimes tied 
 on a fork, and from time to time wet with a little lard, or 
 the griddle may be rubbed with a piece of salt pork. Buck- 
 wheat cakes should be made very thin, and served in the 
 course of the meal, from time to time, hot from the griddle. 
 
 These cakes are sometimes mixed without yeast, where 
 they are wanted before the batter could rise. In such cases 
 you dissolve in warm water a teaspoonful of carbonate of 
 soda, and stir it in the batter ; then dissolve in warm water 
 a teaspoonful of tartaric acid, and stir this in also. You 
 
BUDDING. 99 
 
 may use a quart of warm water or milk to make the cakes 
 by this receipt. 
 
 BUDDING. The practice of inserting buds into trees 
 is a more common way of grafting than any other method 
 adopted in the United States. Its chief advantages are the 
 rapidity with which it can be performed, the length of time 
 in which it can safely be undertaken, and the harmlessness of 
 the trial, which, if the budding fails, can be repeated on the 
 same stock without any detriment. 
 
 Budding is particularly preferred for stone fruit, such 
 as Peaches and Apricots, which are more easily budded 
 than grafted. The operation is performed from the first of 
 July to the middle of September, when the bark of the stock 
 slips up or separates readily from the wood, and the buds 
 of the current year's growth are' a little plump, and the 
 young wood is growing healthily. A budding-knife is used. 
 This knife is about four and a half inches long, has a round 
 blade, and an ivory handle finished at the end with a thin, 
 rounded edge, called the haft. This knife must be kept 
 very sharp. A substitute for the knife is sometimes found 
 by cutting a piece of hard wood into a thin taper form. 
 
 Previous to budding, what is technically called a stick of 
 buds is selected, that is, taking a cutting from a healthy tree, 
 clipping off imperfect buds at the lower end, and such as 
 may be young and immature at the upper end, leaving 
 firm, healthy single buds, double buds being fruit-buds. 
 Trim off the leaves, but not too closely, for the footstalks 
 are convenient in handling the buds. Have pieces of soft 
 matting or yarn ready to tie round the buds. Bass matting, 
 soaked in water till flexible, is often used. 
 
 Shield or T budding is the method generally practised. 
 This consists in making a cut through the bark with your 
 budding-knife an inch or an inch and a half long, and at 
 
100 BUDDING. 
 
 the top of this making a cross cut, so that the incisions form 
 a T. Now cut very carefully from your stick of buds a 
 smooth, thin bit of wood and bark containing a bud. In- 
 sert this bud to the bottom of the incision, under the bark. 
 If on being pushed gently, as directed, the bud projects 
 above the horizontal slit, trim it carefully to make it fit. 
 Bandage it carefully with soft matting, leaving only the bud 
 and the footstalk of the leaf exposed to the light. 
 
 If the bud takes, in about two weeks there will be a 
 plumpness that will indicate the union of the bud with the 
 stock ; if it has, however, failed, provided the bark peels 
 readily, a fresh trial may be made. In about a fortnight, 
 if the operation have been perfected, the bandage may be 
 loosened, and if the stock has swelled much, it may be 
 removed entirely, though, where the budding is performed 
 late in the season, the bandage is sometimes left on for the 
 winter. 
 
 In the following spring, the buds having swollen, the stock 
 is headed down with a sloping back within two or three 
 inches of the bud, and the shoots of the stock, or " rob- 
 bers," as they are styled, must be removed from time to 
 time. (Downing's Fruits and Fruit-trees of America.) 
 
 The same excellent authority from whom we take the 
 above also remarks, that, to secure the upright growth of 
 the bud, and to prevent its being broken by the winds, it is 
 tied when a few inches long to that portion of the stock left 
 for the purpose, removing this support in midsummer when 
 the shoot appears strong, and cutting away the superfluous 
 portion of the stock, which will be rapidly covered with 
 young bark after being thus smoothly trimmed. 
 
 Mr. Knights's mode of tying with two distinct bandages is 
 also recommended by Mr. Downing, one covering the part 
 below the bud, and the other the portion above it. In this 
 case, Mr. Downing has said, " the lower bandage is removed 
 
BUNNS. 101 
 
 as soon as the bud has taken, and the upper left for two or 
 three weeks longer. This, by arresting the upward sap, 
 completes the union of the upper portion or bud, (which in 
 % Plums frequently dies, while the lower part is united,) and 
 secures success." 
 
 BUFFALO-BEERY, OR SHEPHERDIA. This shrub, 
 with its beautiful silvery leaves, bears a small berry, which 
 makes a good preserve. The trees are male and female, and 
 are set in pairs from six to ten or fifteen feet apart. (Cole's 
 American Fruit Book.) 
 
 BUNNS. These cakes are thought to have the sanction 
 of antiquity, being named from a kind of sweet, light cake 
 offered to the gods, and called Bonn. Leaving such investi- 
 gations to the curious, we would only remark that the term 
 Cross-bunns is said to owe its origin to the habit which once 
 prevailed in England, of marking this cake, when baked on 
 Good Friday, with the sacred symbol of the Cross. 
 
 Common bunns are made of a light, sweetened dough, 
 risen by yeast and warm milk. After it is risen, a little 
 melted butter and warm milk is added, the dough is dusted 
 with flour, and allowed to rise for half an hour, when it is 
 shaped into small cakes, put on to buttered tins, and allowed 
 to rise for another half-hour. Glaze them with white of egg 
 and put them into a quick oven. You may, if you please, 
 stir well-cleaned Zante currants into the dough. 
 . The following receipt is a very good one for making these 
 cakes : 
 
 Three quarters of a pound of flour, one quarter of a pound 
 of butter, beaten to a light creamy consistency, one quarter 
 of a pound of white sifted sugar, one half-pint of new milk, 
 one wineglass of fresh yeast, three eggs beaten very lightly, 
 one teaspoonful of powdered mace, cinnamon, and nutmeg 
 9* 
 
102 BURNS. 
 
 mixed together, one .wineglass of brandy, wine, and rose- 
 water stirred together. 
 
 Stir the spice into the butter, then add the flour and 
 sugar, stirring them in alternately with the well-beaten eggs. 
 Add the wineglass of brandy, wine, and rose-water, and last- 
 ly, stir in the half-pint of milk, to be followed immediately 
 by the wineglass of fresh yeast. When risen, bake in but- 
 tered tins, moulding the dough into the bunn form, and glaz- 
 ing with sugar and white of egg. 
 
 BURNS. To keep the air from the burn or scald, cover 
 immediately with cotton-batting, and then pour over the cot- 
 ton sweet olive-oil. If the accident is serious, administer a 
 gentle cathartic, and keep the diet low, unless there is weak- 
 ness and sinking, when wine and a teaspoonful of tincture of 
 Peruvian bark may be given from time to time. 
 
 Spirits of turpentine is sometimes applied, but it is too 
 powerful a stimulant for most persons. I have known of 
 flour being put over the skin of a child who had received a 
 severe scald. It is light and excludes the air. 
 
 For cooling applications, pounded ice put in a flat bag of 
 thin oil-silk or tied in a bladder, and lime-water mixed with 
 the same quantity of linseed-oil, are exceedingly grateful, the 
 latter being put on with a very soft sponge or linen rag, 
 bathing the affected skin gently, without rubbing. Where 
 the weight of it can be supported, a fine Indian-meal poultice 
 can be made, with hyson tea thrown over it, pouring on hot 
 water enough to moisten and soften the leaves. Renew the 
 poultice when dry by a fresh one prepared in the same way. 
 
 Vinegar will sometimes relieve the pain of a burn t and a 
 solution of sugar of lead applied with a soft sponge or rag to 
 the injured parts is sometimes beneficial. 
 
 BUTTER. This substance is made by churning cream 
 
BUTTER. 103 
 
 alone, or by churning the milk and cream together. Taking 
 it for granted that the milk-dishes are kept religiously clean, 
 and scalded as soon as the milk is removed with boiling water, 
 that the milk is taken from a healthy, well-fed cow, and is 
 not impregnated with garlic or turnip flavor, we proceed at 
 once to the operation of making butter. 
 
 Cream makes the richest butter, though of course the 
 larger quantity is obtained when the milk is also used. Milk 
 may be skimmed after standing undisturbed in the milk-room 
 twenty-four, and in cool weather thirty hours. Put it in a 
 stone vessel until a sufficient quantity of cream is collected 
 to churn. Milk-pans should be of tin, the enamel of earthen- 
 ware often containing poisonous matters, whose properties are 
 disengaged by the acid of milk. 
 
 Many experiments have been instituted, particularly in 
 England and Scotland, by both practical and learned socie- 
 ties and individuals, to demonstrate the desirable temperature 
 of cream to bring butter of the best quality and greatest 
 quantity. Accepting the results of these experiments, we 
 find that butter produced from cream at a low temperature 
 is superior both in quality and quantity ; that, put into the 
 churn at 52, it may be raised to 60 before the operation is 
 finished, but on no account can, with impunity, exceed 65 ; 
 and that 60 is the desirable mean, while if it be under 50 
 the labor will be increased without any proportional benefit 
 being reaped. 
 
 When the butter has gathered, put it into cold water, and 
 beat it with the hand or a wooden butter-spaddle until the 
 buttermilk is entirely out, and the water freshly poured over 
 comes off colorless. When the buttermilk is thus worked 
 out, take half the salt you intend to use for your butter, and 
 work it in with your hand, keeping your hand cool by dip- 
 ping it in*ice-water or very cold water. Salt should be thor- 
 oughly incorporated as soon as the butter is relieved of but- 
 
104 CABBAGE. 
 
 termilk, andean be best worked in by the hand. Let it stand 
 covered closely for twenty-four hours, then work in your in- 
 gredients for final seasoning. For many years I have used 
 one ounce of the following mixture for every pound of butter, 
 taking half of the salt out, and applying it as above. Two 
 ounces of the purest salt (Bay salt is best), one ounce of 
 loaf-sugar, a little less than three quarters of an ounce of 
 saltpetre, pounded very fine, and worked in with the hand. 
 Summer butter requires more salt than butter made late in 
 autumn. The firkin in which butter is to be packed should 
 be of sweet wood, or unglazed stone-ware may be used. Lay 
 salt basted in thin muslin over the butter after it is packed 
 down very hard. 
 
 I shall conclude my remarks on this important subject by 
 quoting the following from Johnson's Farmer's Encyclopaedia 
 on the manner of making butter in Devonshire, England : 
 " In Devonshire the method of making is peculiar to the 
 county. The milk is placed in tin or earthen pans (each 
 holding about eleven or twelve quarts), and placed on an 
 iron plate over a small furnace. The milk is not boiled, but 
 heated until a thick scum arises to the surface ; if, when a 
 small portion of this is removed, bubbles appear, the milk is 
 removed, and suffered to cool. The thick part is then taken 
 off the surface, and this is the clouted cream of Devonshire, 
 which is known all over England. By a gentle agitation 
 this clouted cream is speedily converted into butter." 
 
 CABBAGE. This vegetable requires a great deal of 
 washing and soaking, for in its close leaves are often con- 
 cealed insects which have assumed the color of the leaves 
 they feed on. Put salt in the water it is soaked in, and let 
 the cabbage remain soaking some hours before cooking. 
 When it goes into the pot, drain this water off, and fill up 
 with fresh water in which is a little salt and a small piece of 
 
CAKE. 105 
 
 soda. Skim it well, and when about half cooked pour off 
 the water, take the cabbage out, and put it in cold water. If 
 corned beef or pork is being boiled, fill the pot half full of the 
 pot-liquor, return the cabbage, and fill up with water. Boil 
 till tender. If there is no pot-liquor, or there is an objection 
 to its use, fill the pot with cold water ; when the cabbage is 
 tender, take it out, drain and press it well, but do not break, 
 and put bits of fresh butter on it. 
 
 Cabbages, like onions and water-cresses, have a bitter 
 property, which is subdued by soaking in large quantities of 
 water, and boiling with the same liberal measure of liquid. 
 
 Red cabbage is used for pickling, and for winter salads. 
 
 STEWED CABBAGE. 
 
 Cabbage which is left from dinner can be cut in slices, 
 simmered in a little milk and water, drained, put into a ket- 
 tle with a little butter or suet, clarified drippings, pepper and 
 salt, heated, and browned, care being used that it does not 
 burn. Stir into a fc pint of hot water a little piece of fresh 
 butter, well mixed with a tablespoonful of flour and a little 
 cream if you have it, and pour the mixture over the cabbage. 
 Let it simmer tea minutes and serve hot. 
 
 CAKE. For superior kinds of cake, the best of every- 
 thing must be used, the flour sifted, the sugar pounded or 
 rolled fine and sifted also, and the butter have the salt washed 
 from it in cold water and be pressed dry. Nutmeg is al- 
 ways lighter grated, but other spices must be pounded fine. 
 
 A hickory spatula should be used for working the butter 
 and sugar to a creamy consistency, though in cold weather 
 many nice cooks use the hand. Beat the eggs when every 
 other preparation has been made. Rods or egg-whisks are 
 considered preferable to anything else for beating eggs. 
 Break each egg in a saucer by itself. 
 
106 CAKE. 
 
 The following receipt was given to me by a relative of 
 the Washington family, Mrs. T. L. of Washington city, who 
 told me it was a favorite cake of the General, and made 
 generally once a week in his family. 
 
 WASHINGTON CAKE. 
 
 One pound of flour, one pound of sugar, one half-pound of 
 butter, one half-pint of cream, five eggs, one glass of brandy, 
 a little mace, one teaspoonful of pearlash dissolved in cream, 
 to be added when the other ingredients are well mixed. 
 Bake in small tins. 
 
 Take first your butter and cream it, then add your sugar, 
 then your well-beaten eggs, your flour next, then your pearl- 
 ash. Do not fill your pans too full, as it will rise very 
 much. 
 
 WEDDING CAKE. 
 
 Four and a half pounds of flour, four and a half pounds 
 of butter, four and a half pounds of sugar, one and a half 
 pounds of stoned box-raisins, one and a half pounds of citron, 
 six and a half pounds of currants, twenty-two eggs ; one 
 half-ounce of mace, one half-ounce of cloves, one half-ounce 
 of cinnamon ; one gill of wine, one half-gill of brandy, one 
 half-gill of rose-water, one and a half teaspoonfuls of salera- 
 tus, one table-spoonful of molasses. 
 
 POUND CAKE. 
 
 Beat a pound of sugar and one of butter together to a 
 cream, adding gradually to it, while beating, the strained juice 
 of a lemon. Beat seven eggs, the yolks and whites sepa- 
 rately, to a froth, and add them, then take a handful from a 
 pound of sifted flour and stir in the remainder of the pound ; 
 add the grate of two nutmegs, or sift in a blade or two of 
 pounded mace. 
 
CAKE 107 
 
 Pound cake is best baked in pans which have a tube in 
 the centre, or small tin pans. Butter the pans well. If the 
 pan is large, the cake will take three or four hours of un- 
 broken but moderate heat. 
 
 SPONGE CAKE. 
 
 Ten eggs, the weight of ten eggs in sugar, the weight of 
 six eggs in flour, the grate and the strained juice of one 
 lemon. Break the eggs over the sifted sugar, beat them till 
 it is quite light, and rises in the pan ; beat the flavoring 
 in, and just before it goes to the oven stir in very gently the 
 sifted flour. Have the pan buttered. Tin pans with divis- 
 ions of oblong squares are the nicest for sponge cake. Bake 
 quickly in a brisk oven. 
 
 JELLY CAKE. 
 
 These cakes may be made of rich cup-cake, but the nicer 
 kinds are made much as pound cake, only more eggs are 
 used. 
 
 Work into a pound of fresh butter the same quantity of 
 sifted sugar, the grate of a nutmeg, and a tablespoonful of 
 rose-water. Beat twelve eggs very lightly, and once stir them 
 into the butter and sugar, a little at a time, with a pound of 
 sifted flour. Butter flat tin plates or dinner-plates, and pour 
 enough batter in to cover the bottom. Bake in a moderate 
 oven without turning. When they come from the oven, take 
 them out, and let them cool, but before they are cold, spread 
 gooseberry jam, or some piquant fruit preserve, between each 
 cake. You may make pies of them, that is, put only two 
 cakes together, or you may pile them up, and trim the edges 
 and ice it as one large cake. 
 
 COMPOSITION CAKE. 
 Three quarters of a pound of fresh butter, and one pound 
 
108 CAKE. 
 
 of sifted sugar, one pound and three quarters of flour, one 
 table-spoonful of pearlash, five eggs, one glass of wine, one 
 of brandy, one pound of stoned raisins, one nutmeg, a small 
 spoonful of sifted mace and cinnamon mixed. Beat the but- 
 ter and sugar together with the spice, then add the well- 
 beaten eggs ; take out a little of the flour to dust on the rai- 
 sins, then stir in the remainder, add the wine and brandy 
 and the smoothly ground pearlash ; add then the raisins 
 dusted with flour. Bake in buttered tin pans. See Almond 
 Cake. 
 
 SuGAR-GlNGERBREAD. 
 
 Five eggs, one and a quarter pounds of sugar, three quar- 
 ters of a pound of butter, two pounds of flour, two table- 
 spoonfuls, of even fulness, of ginger, one teaspoonful of pearl- 
 ash or soda. 
 
 Wash the butter and press it dry, sift the sugar and work 
 them together ; when well mixed, beat the eggs till light, and 
 stir them in with the flour. Dissolve the soda in a cup of 
 cream or wine, and add it. Flour your paste-board, and 
 lay the gingerbread on it. Divide it into two pieces, rolling 
 each piece out in turn. Flour two large tin sheets, and lay 
 the rolled pieces on, trimming the edges, and with a knife 
 dipped in flour mark the surface through the centre length- 
 wise and then across into bars. This cake should be worked 
 with the hand. You may dissolve the soda, if more con- 
 venient, in a cup of warm milk, instead of cream ; this last, 
 if over rich, will make the cake too short. 
 
 MOLASSES-GlNGERBREAD. 
 
 Dissolve in a pint of molasses a cup of butter, putting over 
 the butter two table-spoonfuls of sifted ginger. Let it get 
 warm near the fire. Put into two cupfuls of sour milk two 
 teaspoonfuls of soda. Beat four eggs till light. 
 
CALICO. 109 
 
 Take the molasses up, and stir in the milk and eggs, and 
 flour enough to make a thin batter, of the consistency of 
 pound cake. Bake in tin pans immediately. 
 
 CALICO. Fast colors in calicoes are thickened with 
 gum or calcined starch, while fugitive colors are thickened 
 with gum tragacanth. which leaves the cloth in a softer state 
 than gum Senegal, the goods being sometimes sent to market 
 without being washed. (Bigelow.) 
 
 Calicoes, if possible, should only be washed on a dry day, 
 and always by themselves, in suds prepared with ox-gall soap, 
 or of hard soap, with a table-spoonful of ox-gall added. Soap 
 should only be applied through the agency of the suds. 
 Wash quickly from these prepared suds into another pre- 
 pared in the same way, having both waters only milk-warm. 
 Rinse out the soap in pure water, then quickly pass them 
 into a second rinsing water, into which has been put a hand- 
 ful of salt, or, what is better, a few drops of oil of vitriol, to 
 set and brighten the colors, and some weak starch-water; 
 and if there is no blueing in the starch, pass the indigo-bag 
 once or twice rapidly through the water. Do not allow them 
 to remain in any of the waters. Wring them out, and hang 
 them on the wrong side in a shady place. Calicoes should 
 never be frozen; it injures their colors. Dry them in the 
 house, if necessary, to avoid such an accident. 
 
 Water in which potatoes have been sliced and boiled is 
 often strained and saved for the purpose of making suds for 
 calicoes. 
 
 Rice-water, and wheat-bran water, strained from these 
 substances, is often successfully used. 
 
 Dark and mourning calicoes are washed in the same man- 
 ner, that is, with warm soap-suds and ox-gall ; but the starch 
 is prepared with colored water, sometimes with coffee, to avoid 
 the whitened look that starch sometimes gives dark calicoes. 
 10 
 
110 CANDLES. 
 
 Alum in small quantities is sometimes put into rinsing- 
 water where the colors of the calico are mostly green ; where 
 they are red, pink, and green, vinegar or pyroligneous acid 
 may be used. Strong vinegar or too much oil of vitriol is 
 injurious. 
 
 Ox-gall put into a bottle with a little salt, and closely cov- 
 ered, will keep several months. 
 
 Calicoes should be ironed the same day, if possible, that 
 they are washed, to prevent {he colors from running. Do 
 not use a very hot iron, and press them as far as possible on 
 the wrong side. 
 
 CAMPHORATED SPIRIT. Break gum camphor in- 
 to bits, till you have half filled a bottle, then pour in alcohol. 
 A few drops poured into a wineglass of water sometimes re- 
 lieve faintness. If for external application, you may fill the 
 bottle with the best olive-oil, or Jamaica rum or whiskey. 
 
 CANDLES. Home-made candles are composed of ox- 
 tallow and mutton-suet, either employed separately, or in 
 equal parts. Tallow being more fusible than wax or sper- 
 maceti, candles made of this material require larger sticks. 
 The cotton wicking is purchased in large balls. It is well, 
 in making candles, to boil in vinegar as much wicking as 
 will be used, taking care to dry it thoroughly. It prevents 
 the emission of odor while the candle is burning. 
 
 When the fat is rendered, strain it close to the fire, and 
 pour it while it is hot into the moulds, which should be pre- 
 viously prepared, with wicking secured at one end with 
 small wooden pegs, and at the other fastened with loops 
 through which are slipped bits of coarse iron wire. The 
 pegs should be, with the wicking, so placed as to prevent 
 the escape of the grease. , Have the wicks placed exactly 
 in the centre of each tube, and fastened tightly on to the 
 
CARPETS. Ill 
 
 wire. Pat them oat doors where they will cool and become 
 firm. Do not pull them too early, and before attempting 
 the drawing of them, dip the mould in warm water, and draw 
 slowly. Put them in a cold place, and do not use them for 
 some nights. They burn more economically if allowed to 
 harden. 
 
 The shavings of spermaceti candles should be saved for 
 the laundry ; they give a polish to starch used for linen, and 
 are nice to rub the iron over to prevent the starch from 
 sticking. 
 
 Cut-glass candle-receivers, put on top of the candlestick 
 for the candle to pass through, are pretty and useful articles, 
 as they save wax from passing on to the furniture. 
 
 CARPETS. Where the figure of a carpet is small, the 
 two webs of which it is composed are more closely interwo- 
 ven ; and besides, as a mere matter of taste, large figures are 
 fast being resigned to steamboat upholstery. Colors are 
 chosen with reference to their harmonious toning, to borrow 
 an artist's phrase, with the rest of the furniture ; thus, if the 
 chairs, papering, and sofas of a room are green, it is desirable 
 that the ground-work of the carpet should be of the same 
 color, relieved by some small figure. "White should be 
 avoided, as it soon looks soiled. 
 
 Wilton carpets, though extremely elegant, are miserable 
 to wear, a large part of the material following the broom on 
 the first sweeping. Turkey rarpets, which are made in one 
 square piece without seam, are rarely used now in the United 
 States. They are swept with little success, and are so 
 heavy that it requires half a score of men to shake one. 
 
 The Tournay, Brussels, and Saxony, among expensive 
 carpets, are the most useful. 
 
 The striped Venetian carpets (used almost entirely for 
 stairs and halls), the Kidderminster, and Imperial carpets 
 are double-sided, and may be put down either side up. 
 
110 CANDLES. 
 
 Alum in small quantities is sometimes put into rinsing- 
 water where the colors of the calico are mostly green ; where 
 they are red, pink, and green, vinegar or pyroligneous acid 
 may be used. Strong vinegar or too much oil of vitriol is 
 injurious. 
 
 Ox-gall put into a bottle Avith a little salt, and closely cov- 
 ered, will keep several months. 
 
 Calicoes should be ironed the same day, if possible, that 
 they are washed, to prevent the colors from running. Do 
 not use a very hot iron, and press them as far as possible on 
 the wrong side. 
 
 CAMPHORATED SPIRIT. Break gum camphor in- 
 to bits, till you have half filled a bottle, then pour in alcohol. 
 A few drops poured into a wineglass of water sometimes re- 
 lieve faintness. If for external application, you may fill the 
 bottle with the best olive-oil, or Jamaica rum or whiskey. 
 
 CANDLES. Home-made candles are composed of ox- 
 tallow and mutton-suet, either employed separately, or in 
 equal parts. Tallow being more fusible than wax or sper- 
 maceti, candles made of this material require larger sticks. 
 The cotton wicking is purchased in large balls. It is well, 
 in making candles, to boil in vinegar as much wicking as 
 will be used, taking care to dry it thoroughly. It prevents 
 the emission of odor while the candle is burning. 
 
 When the fat is rendered, strain it close to the fire, and 
 pour it while it is hot into the moulds, which should be pre- 
 viously prepared, with wicking secured at one end with 
 small wooden pegs, and at the other fastened with loops 
 through which are slipped bits of coarse iron wire. The 
 pegs should be, with the wicking, so placed as to prevent 
 the escape of the grease. Have the wicks placed exactly 
 in the centre of each tube, and fastened tightly on to the 
 
CARPETS. Ill 
 
 wire. Put them out doors where they will cool and become 
 firm. Do not pull them too early, and before attempting 
 the drawing of them, dip the mould in warm water, and draw 
 slowly. Put them in a cold place, and do not use them for 
 some nights. They burn more economically if allowed to 
 harden. 
 
 The shavings of spermaceti candles should be saved for 
 the laundry ; they give a polish to starch used for linen, and 
 are nice to rub the iron over to prevent the starch from 
 sticking. 
 
 Cut-glass candle-receivers, put on top of the candlestick 
 for the candle to pass through, are pretty and useful articles, 
 as they save wax from passing on to the furniture. 
 
 CARPETS. Where the figure of a carpet is small, the 
 two webs of which it is composed are more closely interwo- 
 ven ; and besides, as a mere matter of taste, large figures are 
 fast being resigned to steamboat upholstery. Colors are 
 chosen with reference to their harmonious toning, to borrow 
 an artist's phrase, with the rest of the furniture ; thus, if the 
 chairs, papering, and sofas of a room are green, it is desirable 
 that the ground-work of the carpet should be of the same 
 color, relieved by some small figure. White should be 
 avoided, as it soon looks soiled. 
 
 Wilton carpets, though extremely elegant, are miserable 
 to wear, a large part of the material following the broom on 
 the first sweeping. Turkey carpets, which are made in one 
 square piece without seam, are rarely used now in the United 
 States. They are swept with little success, and are so 
 heavy that it requires half a score of men to shake one. 
 
 The Tournay, Brussels, and Saxony, among expensive 
 carpets, are the most useful. 
 
 The striped Venetian carpets (used almost entirely for 
 stairs and halls), the Kidderminster, and Imperial carpets 
 are double-sided, and may be put down either side up. 
 
112 CARPETS. 
 
 In making carpets, the strongest packthread is used, with 
 stout carpet-needles. The two edges are brought together, so 
 as to match the pattern, in every instance, exactly, and the 
 stitches are taken on the wrong side. In some of the heavier 
 carpets the stay-stitch is used, which consists in taking up one 
 side at a time alternately, so that the seam may lie flat ; and 
 where both sides are taken at once, the needle is passed first 
 toward the workwoman, and then pointed for the following 
 stitch from her. If it gets fulled or puckered, it should be 
 picked out and re-sewed. The selvages should only meet, and 
 not be lapped, and the stitches should not be drawn tight. 
 
 Carpet binding is not so much used as formerly. The car- 
 pet now, after being stretched, is turned down and tacked with 
 carpet tacks, with bits of soft leather attached to each tack. 
 
 Printed carpets, of woollen materials, are used chiefly for 
 druggets, to save more expensive carpets, and for dining- 
 rooms. 
 
 Oil-cloth carpets where they can be afforded, are exceed- 
 ingly convenient for kitchen floors. 
 
 Carpets are best cleaned by being thoroughly shaken, the 
 floors they were taken from washed very nicely, and when 
 dry, the carpet returned to them, and then, after being tacked 
 down and swept, to " make assurance double sure," scrubbed 
 with a stiff brush and suds prepared with hard soap and ox- 
 gall, renewing the suds frequently, rinsing in the same man- 
 ner in clear water, in which has been dropped a little oil of vit- 
 riol to fix and brighten the colors, and lastly, wiped dry with 
 clean towels. The windows of the rooms where carpets are 
 so cleansed should be left open, till all dampness has left the 
 apartments. This is a good time to rub the edges of the 
 carpet with camphene, putting it on with a rag or sponge ; 
 the odor soon escapes, and the eggs of moths are effectually 
 killed by the process. 
 
 The great objection to American carpeting is, that the 
 colors are not fast ; otherwise, they wear well. 
 
CARVING. 113 
 
 CARROTS. This root, (the especial ally of the dairy,) 
 when prepared for the table, is washed, scraped, and boiled in 
 salt and water till tender. They should be cut in narrow 
 strips lengthwise. They are nice, browned in butter or sweet 
 fat, and thus sometimes garnish beef-stews. Boiled plain, 
 they are served with boiled meats. A carrot cooked inside 
 of a duck will mitigate the fishy, oily taste that is often over- 
 strong in wild sea-ducks. The carrot is always removed be- 
 fore the dish goes to table. 
 
 I 
 
 CARVING. The principal points in carving are to 
 serve all as nearly as possible alike, in order to do this, 
 one must know the delicate morceaitx of every dish, and 
 to leave the dish, especially if it be a large roasting-piece, 
 so that its reappearance may be respectable. 
 
 It is a great assistance to the carver to have the meat 
 or fowls properly prepared and trussed. The bones of the 
 loin of mutton should always be neatly sawed, if not by the 
 butcher, then by the cook's meat-handsaw. She should 
 do as much for the breasts of mutton and veal, and ribs of 
 lamb. 
 
 In carving the sirloin of beef, give each person a bit of 
 fat, and throw over the joint, and cut off a piece of the ten- 
 der-loin, and put a little gravy from the dish on the whole. 
 A sirloin is cut at either end, or in the middle. 
 
 Boiled beef and hams, and cold meats generally, are to be 
 cut very thin, and the outside piece of boiled salted meats is 
 laid aside. 
 
 Roast stuffed veal is cut in thin horizontal slices, and 
 each guest served to stuffing, gravy, and a bit of boiled 
 ham. 
 
 In carving roasted breast of veal, if a bone is liked, 
 give with it a piece of the breast, and a bit of sweet- 
 bread. 
 
 10* 
 
114 CASHMERE. 
 
 Mutton and pork are cut thicker than other meats. A leg 
 of mutton is generally brought toward the carver, by taking 
 the fork in the left hand, and putting a prong through the 
 knuckle bone, and cutting slices upward. 
 
 A goose is carved in long thin breast slices, taking in as 
 much as possible the length of the fowl. Many persons have 
 a little wine gravy poured hot over the slices before they 
 are served. Where the goose is stuffed, help to a bit of the 
 stuffing also. After the slices are off, proceed to disjoint the 
 members, and cut the thigh, which is a delicate bit, from the 
 leg, and the fleshy part from the wings. Unless the party is 
 large, the breast-slices will meet demands. The choice bits 
 of fowls, whether boiled or roasted, are the side-bones, the 
 slices from the breast, wish-bone or merry-thought, the 
 wings, and, of a fat, tender-boiled fowl, the thighs. 
 
 The delicate- task of separating joints is best learned by 
 practice, and by putting one's self under the guidance of 
 friends whose taste and judgment may be relied upon. In 
 large dinner-parties, the lady or gentleman is now-a-days 
 mostly relieved from the laborious duty of carving by the 
 waiter, who, after the dishes have been placed on the table, 
 removes them to the side-table. 
 
 In helping to salmon, give a slice of the thick, and one 
 of the thinner part of the fish, covering with the sauce pro- 
 vided, whether this be caper, egg, or anchovy. Have slices 
 of lemon in a plate by themselves. 
 
 CASHMERE. The finest shawls of this name are those 
 from the looms of Cashmere, and they are made of the fine 
 down of the goats that live on the table-land of Thibet. 
 When not in use, these shawls, like the camel's-hair shawls, 
 should be wrapped in linen, with camphor sprinkled in the 
 folds, and kept in a cool, dark closet, or in camphor or cedar 
 trunks. 
 
CATCHUP. 115 
 
 CATCHUP. The most indispensable of these prepara- 
 tions are Mushroom, Walnut, and Tomato Catchup. 
 
 Mushrooms should only be gathered by some one acquaint- 
 ed with this peculiar family. The wholesome ones have, a 
 pleasant odor, a round form, tender edge and middle, and 
 when young a salmon color on the under part, which, as they 
 mature, turns to a dark brown, the upper part and stalk be- 
 ing of a pearlish white. But as sad accidents often occur 
 from the use of poisonous mushrooms, no one should attempt 
 to gather this edible fungus without competent knowledge. 
 One fact with regard to the mushroom is, that the wholesome 
 kinds grow openly in pastures, and those that are found in 
 woods and damp swampy places are not good. 
 
 It is said that poisonous mushrooms turn silver black, 
 and onions that are boiled with them. Another test is to 
 sprinkle a little salt on the inner spongy side, and examine 
 them a little while after; if the action of the salt has impart- 
 ed a yellow color, they are to be rejected ; but if black, they 
 are wholesome. 
 
 MUSHROOM CATCHUP. 
 
 Gather the large, juicy, flap-mushrooms, that are too ripe 
 for pickling or stewing. Remove all decayed matter and 
 foreign substances, and put the mushrooms into an earthern 
 jar, with a little salt sprinkled over each layer. Cover and 
 leave them near the fire for twenty-four hours. Strain off 
 the liquor into a porcelain-lined kettle, or clean saucepan. 
 Let it boil over a good fire for half an hour, than add to 
 every quart of liquor two teaspoonfuls of black peppercorns, 
 one teaspoonful of allspice, three small slices of fresh ginger, 
 a few blades of mace, three or four cloves, and a sprinkle of 
 Cayenne pepper. Let it simmer till reduced one half. Take 
 it off and cover it. When sufficiently cool, fill small glass 
 bottles quite full. Dip off the liquid without disturbing the 
 
116 CATCHUP. 
 
 sediment, which can be saved for soups, or fish-sauces, or 
 put into a linen bag for the top of the pickle-pot. Cork 
 closely with fresh cork-wood, and lay the bottles on their 
 sides in a dry, cool closet. 
 
 TOMATO CATCHUP. 
 
 Take a peck of tomatoes that are fully ripe, on a dry day 
 in August, or early in September. Pick the stems from 
 them, and wipe \vith a clean towel dipped in warm water. 
 Put them into the kettle with salt between each layer, but 
 without water. As they boil, skim and stir them frequently 
 for an hour, strain them through a colander, then through a 
 coarse sieve. To the strained liquid, put six or seven small 
 chopped onions, one or two blades of mace, a table-spoonful of 
 whole black pepper. Boil it an hour and a half, adding, if 
 necessary, a little more salt. Fill, when cool, small bottles 
 quite full, and cork closely. 
 
 If tomato catchup is preferred thinner, you may slice 
 your tomatoes, and squeeze them through a linen bag, and 
 pound your spices. Take one or two onions to a peck 
 of tomatoes, chopping the onions very fine, and add a very 
 little Cayenne. Keep the bottles on their sides in a cool 
 closet. 
 
 WALNUT CATCHUP. 
 
 Gather the walnuts while they are green and tender 
 enough to be pierced with a coarse needle. Probe them 
 with a bodkin, or crush them with a wooden mallet, and put 
 them into a pan and cover them with a pickle made of a 
 little soft water and a handful of table-salt. Let them re- 
 main four or five days, rnashing and turning them every day 
 with a wooden spoon. Have ready on the fifth day a 
 liquid composed of soft pure water and mild vinegar, bring it 
 to boiling heat, and to every dozen walnuts pour a quart 
 
CAYENNE. 117 
 
 of this boiling liquid. Mash the walnuts, and take the 
 liquor off with a wooden spoon, and press the rinds in a bag. 
 Boil the walnut liquor gently for an hour, skimming it 
 well. Take it off, and to each quart of liquor put an ounce 
 of pounded allspice and black pepper mixed, a teaspoonful 
 of pounded cloves, and the same of mace, and the grate of 
 one nutmeg. Put the liquor to the fire, cover closely, and 
 let it boil three quarters of an hour, when bottle as directed 
 above. 
 
 CAULIFLOWER. These delicate vegetables, before be- 
 ing cooked, should have the coarse outside leaves removed, 
 as also the coarser part of the stalk. Put them in a pan of 
 cold water, sprinkling salt over them to draw out all insects, 
 and allow them to remain soaking some hours. Examine 
 them well. Boil them in a steamer with milk and water, 
 putting in the large heads some minutes before the small 
 ones. Boil them slowly for twenty minutes, or till tender, 
 but do not allow them to break to pieces. Do not keep the 
 cover close. Eat them with fresh butter and salt, or you 
 may rub a little flour into three large spoonfuls of good 
 butter, melt it slowly, and pour it (after the cauliflowers have 
 been well drained from moisture) over the vegetables just 
 before you send them to the table. 
 
 Broccoli may be prepared in the same way. 
 
 CAYENNE. This is made from the East and West In- 
 dian Capsicums, which with care are easily grown in almost 
 all the States. When the pods are quite ripe and red, slit 
 them open, and sift a little dried flour over them. Dry them 
 on tin sheets in an oven. When dry, pound them in a stone 
 mortar with a little flour till perfectly powdered. 
 
 Chillies or Guinea peppers are sometimes used for Cay- 
 enne. This pepper is often dangerously adulterated with red- 
 lead, and other vile compounds. 
 
118 CEMENTS. 
 
 CELERY. This vegetable, beside its uses as an accom- 
 paniment to white fowls and for salads, is often dressed as 
 asparagus, boiled, cut into pieces of six or seven inches, 
 and served on buttered toast. It is also cut in small pieces 
 and stewed in butter, and a little pepper and salt added, 
 and cream sauce poured over it just before it is sent to the 
 table. Celery and celery seed make a nice flavoring for 
 light soups. 
 
 CEMENTS. The substances * which form the uniting 
 medium between bricks and stones in building are called 
 cements. The best calcareous cements are those which are 
 equally mixed, and of good consistence, and are manufac- 
 tured of pure lime, freed from carbonic acid by recent slack- 
 ing, and sand which is fresh (as salt is apt to deliquesce, and 
 weaken the strength of the cement), and whose angles are 
 sharp, not worn by the action of tides and water. 
 
 The proportion of sand and lime is different in various 
 cements, but that of sand always exceeds the lime, and the 
 more sand the lime can receive, and retain at the same time 
 the required plasticity, the better for the cement, as it solidi- 
 fies sooner, when the well worked and beaten lime and 
 water is subdivided, and well taken up with clean sharp 
 sand. The purer the lime, and the more it is worked and 
 beaten, the greater its capacity for receiving sand. 
 
 Common mortar is made of pure lime, in the state of fine 
 powder, good sand free from clay, and a little pure water. 
 It is customary to have the sand partly coarse, and the usual 
 proportions are three parts of fine and four parts of coarser 
 sand, and one part of quicklime, recently slacked with pure 
 water, to reduce the whole to a thick paste. 
 
 Water, hydraulic, or Roman cements are those which 
 resist the action of water, hardening under it, and solidify 
 very soon after being mixed. They are formed of various 
 substances. 
 
CEMENTS. 119 
 
 The artificial quays and islands built by the Romans for 
 the purpose of erecting villas in the Bay of Baiaj, a spot of 
 fashionable resort for the wealthy, were constructed of a 
 peculiar earth, called by the Romans pulvis puteolanus, and 
 now known under the name of Puzzolana. It is a porous, 
 friable mineral, of volcanic origin and various color. On 
 being reduced to a powder, and incorporated thoroughly with 
 lime, either with or without sand, it forms a mass of firm, 
 solid substance, that, not only in the air, but immersed in 
 water, concretes to stony hardness. 
 
 Cements are also formed of other substances. Some of 
 the ores of manganese form water cements ; and baked clay 
 reduced to powder, and the common greenstone calcined and 
 pulverized, make with lime tolerable hydraulic cements. 
 
 Some limestones, when calcined and mixed with simple 
 sand and water, form water cements, and usually in con- 
 sequence of these stones containing a certain portion of 
 argillaceous earth united with lime. 
 
 Various parts of the United States afford very good 
 hydraulic cements. 
 
 Different theories have been broached to account for sub- 
 stances hardening under water ; the most probable appears 
 to be, that the attraction for water in certain argillaceous 
 earths causes them to quickly absorb the superabundance of 
 moisture from the lime, and thus hasten its solidification ; 
 which explanation receives collateral aid in the fact, that 
 burnt clays, which, properly managed, afford hydraulic ce- 
 ments, cease to do so if the burning has been continued till 
 vitrification has ensued. (Bigelow's Useful Arts.) 
 
 COMMON CEMENT FOR BROKEN VESSELS. 
 
 Put to half a pint of boiling milk the same quantity of 
 vinegar. Take out the curd, and when the whey is only 
 milk-warm beat into it the whites of five fresh eggs. Beat 
 
120 CHARCOAL. 
 
 it thoroughly, and sift into this mixture enough quicklime to 
 make a stiff paste. If the materials are good, and well in- 
 corporated, the above is a cheap and useful cement. 
 
 CEMENT FOR BOTTLES. 
 
 Mix equal portions of pounded resin and beeswax, and 
 add one fourth of their weight of mutton or beef suet. Let 
 it melt slowly over the fire, and stir in brick-dust, Spanish 
 whiting, or some basis that has the desired color. Put it 
 warm over the bottles or jars to be sealed ; or well-corked 
 bottles may be dipped in the cement. 
 
 Cements are frequently made of resin, beeswax, and the 
 powdered substance of a like nature with the article to be 
 repaired. Pound the resin, and stir it into the melted wax, 
 and then make the whole of proper consistency with pow- 
 dered alabaster or glass or china, as the case in hand may 
 require. 
 
 CHARCOAL. This substance, as observed when speak- 
 ing of antiseptics, is often placed around meat and game to 
 keep them from taint. Water filtered through coarse sand 
 and a bed of charcoal is often relieved of deleterious sub- 
 stances. 
 
 Charcoal is almost indispensable in igniting anthracite 
 coal, when used in parlor-grates. It is also useful in small 
 portable furnaces for preserving; but when these are used, 
 there should be a current of fresh air to carry off the 
 fumes of the charcoal, which, as is well known, are fatal 
 to human life. 
 
 Vessels and tubs in which meats, and substances whose 
 absorbed juices might induce putrefaction, are kept, are often 
 charred by burning shavings in them, the charcoal thus 
 induced keeping them sweet. 
 
CHEESE. 121 
 
 CHARLOTTE DE RUSSE. One pint of sweet cream, 
 the yolks of eight eggs, one pound of loaf-sugar sifted fine, 
 and one pint of unskimmed milk. 
 
 Boil the milk with a vanilla bean or a few pounded bitter 
 almonds. Take it off, and strain it ; when cool, stir in the 
 cream and the eggs, both of which should be well beaten. 
 ,Put the whole over the fire, and stir it till thick ; and have 
 ready a jelly made of an ounce of the best isinglass, or Cox's 
 sparkling gelatine, or the same quantity made from calves' 
 feet. When the custard and jelly are both cool, but not 
 hard, mix them together. Have a fresh sponge or almond 
 cake baked in an oval tin mould, from which cut out very 
 neatly the centre, leaving the bottom and sides on to the 
 depth of an inch ; fill up with the prepared custard, and set 
 the ice over. The whites of the eggs may be used for an 
 icing to the top of, the cake. 
 
 Charlotte Russe is frequently made by placing ladies' 
 fingers or Savoy biscuits in a mould close together at the 
 bottom and sides, and filling up the mould with custard and 
 isinglass jelly, and setting it on ice till turned out for the 
 table. You may place the cakes so as to form a rosette. 
 
 CHEESE. The quality and flavor of cheese depend 
 upon the richness of the milk and the amount of cream used 
 in the manufacture of it. Cheese of a good quality melts at 
 a moderate heat, while poor cheese, being deficient in the oil 
 of cream, dries and curls up. 
 
 A Parmesan cheese is made from the milk of not less 
 than fifty cows, and as one farm rarely contains pasture for 
 such a number, the farmers or metayers of a district club 
 together. 
 
 Stilton cheese is the cream cheese of England. Cream 
 cheese is not subjected to such heavy pressure as milk 
 cheese, but, when the curd has set, is placed in a sieve to 
 11 
 
122 CHEESE. 
 
 drain slowly, and, after being gently pressed, is put into a 
 wooden hoop, and afterwards dried on boards with cloth 
 binders, which are tightened as the cheese hardens. Cream 
 cheese requires frequent turning. 
 
 Some dairywomen mix tfye cream of one milking, with 
 the rennet, into the new milk they are to make their cheese 
 from. 
 
 The best season for cheese-making is while the cows 
 are feeding on pasture, winter cheese being of an inferior 
 quality, and made with more difficulty than during warm 
 weather. 
 
 Annotto is used for coloring cheese, particularly in Eng- 
 land. (See Annotto.) Mr. Coleman attributed the poor rep- 
 utation our cheese enjoyed abroad to its sharp, acid taste, its 
 deficiency in rich color, and its lacking a firm rind. As 
 these defects may originate partly from the preparation of 
 the rennet and the manner of salting, I have taken great 
 pains to consult some of the best English authorities, and to 
 examine personally into the management of dairies at home. 
 Among others, I am indebted to Professor Low's Elements 
 of Agriculture and Johnson's Farmer's Encyclopaedia, books 
 which I heartily wish were in the hands of every farmer in 
 the United States ; for though all matters discussed in them 
 are not applicable to this country, they are full of general 
 agricultural knowledge. 
 
 The utensils required for making cheese are a large tub, 
 in which the milk is coagulated, and the curd broken ; the 
 cheese-knife or wooden spatula with one or more blades 
 for cutting the curd to facilitate the separation of the whey ; 
 wooden spoons for taking off the whey ; sieves, or another 
 wooden vessel perforated with holes, for further expressing 
 the whey ; small circular vats, in which the cheese is placed 
 to be compressed ; and, finally, the cheese-press. This last 
 is made from different models, and acts upon the curd by the 
 
CHEESE. 123 
 
 continued pressure of a weight. The rennet, which is used 
 to coagulate the milk, is the fourth stomach of a calf. When 
 no rennet is found of sufficient strength to curdle the milk, 
 various plants have been used for the purpose ; in England 
 the Yellow Ladies' Bedstraw (Galium verum) has been sub- 
 stituted, and in Spain the Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus). 
 A strong infusion is made in the evening of the down of the 
 Cardoon, and in the morning it is ready for use. Half a pint 
 of the infusion is sufficient to produce coagulation in fourteen 
 gallons of new milk. 
 
 The substance of the rennet is increased by feeding the 
 calf largely with milk some hours before slaughtering. In 
 taking the stomach from the newly killed calf, only foreign 
 substances should be removed; the chyme and coagulated 
 milk, of which it chiefly consists, should be undisturbed. 
 A few handfuls of salt are to be put into the stomach and all 
 around it, and then, after being rolled up, it should be hung 
 near the fire to dry ; and if 'hung up a year or more before 
 it is used, its quality is improved. It is the gastric juice of 
 this rennet which produces coagulation. 
 
 Says Professor Low : " When the rennet is prepared for 
 use, it is cut into small pieces, and put into a jar with a 
 handful or two of salt. Water which has been previously 
 boiled and cooled again is then poured upon it, and allowed 
 to remain for two or three days. It is then drawn off, and 
 sometimes a second infusion is made, but with a smaller 
 quantity of water ; this also remains a few days, and being 
 withdrawn, the two liquors are mixed together, strained 
 through a cloth, and put into bottles, to be used when re- 
 quired. The quantity of this rennet to be used is to be 
 regulated by the strength of the infusion ; it should be only 
 enough to have the milk curdled in an hour. If a sufficient 
 quantity of new milk is procured at one milking to make a 
 cheese, it is used as soon as it can be strained ; but if not 
 
124 CHEESE. 
 
 enough to make a cheese, it is put into milk-vessels till enough 
 is obtained. When the cheese is to be made, the cream is 
 skimmed off, and part of the milk is taken and heated over 
 the fire to that degree, that, on being returned to the mass, 
 will raise it to about 90. The cream which was removed 
 is either thoroughly mixed with the heated milk, or it is 
 added to the general mass, after the heated milk has been re- 
 turned. While yet warm, a quantity of rennet is mixed 
 with it, and coagulation soon takes place. The curd being 
 formed, it is cut with a wooden spoon, or cheese-knife, to 
 allow the whey to escape, and the curd is subjected to gentle 
 pressure, while the whey is removed with a wooden spoon. 
 It is now lifted by one of the mentioned articles (spatula or 
 spoon) into a sieve, or vat with holes, where it is repeatedly 
 cut, pressed by the hand, and broken, until it no longer gives 
 out any serous matter. Finally, after being cut very small by 
 the cheese-knife, and a quantity of salt, in the proportion of 
 about half an ounce to a pound of cheese, being mixed with 
 it, it is wrapped in a piece of cloth, put into a small wooden 
 vessel, with circular holes at the side and bottom, and placed 
 in the cheese-press ; but frequently the salt is not applied un- 
 til the cheese has been compressed." 
 
 The time which is allowed for the cheese to remain in 
 press, is regulated by the richness of the cheese, and the 
 amount of previous manipulation which has been bestowed, 
 very rich cheese requiring comparatively but little pressure. 
 
 " But," says Professor Low, " in ordinary cases, the 
 cheese, being wrapped in a cloth, and put into its vat, with a 
 board above it to fit the vat, remains in the press from one 
 to two hours. It is then taken out, wrapped in fresh cloth, 
 and replaced in the cheese-vat ; and then the salt, if it has 
 not been previously applied, is rubbed over the surface. It 
 may then be taken out every five or six hours, the cloth be- 
 ing changed, and the salting repeated. After being pressed 
 
CHEESE. 125 
 
 in this manner for two or three days, the operation will be 
 complete. The cheese may then be kept in a warm place 
 for some time to dry, and ultimately placed in the store-room 
 for preservation." 
 
 In some of the English districts, the dairy-women, on tak- 
 ing the cheese out of the press, put it in a vessel with hot 
 whey, where it remains, an hour or two to harden the rind, 
 when it is wiped dry, cooled, and returned to the vat, which 
 has been previously wiped dry, to be pressed again. If the 
 cheese has been made in the morning, which is the usual 
 time, it is again taken out of the vat, and a fresh dry cloth 
 is wrapped around it, and the cheese is turned and replaced ; 
 what was formerly the upper becoming now the under side. 
 For two days it is turned in the vat, and put into clean 
 cloths twice each day, when it is finally removed. The 
 salting is now undertaken. The cheese is carried to the 
 salting-house and placed in the vat in a tub, which is partly 
 filled with brine. Here the cheese remains for several days, 
 being regularly turned at least once every day. The vat is 
 then removed and the cheese placed on the salting-bench, 
 where it remains for eight or ten days, salt being daily 
 rubbed over the whole cheese. If the cheese is of large size, 
 it is common to secure it with a wooden hoop or fillet of 
 cloth, to prevent cracks and rents. When supposed to be 
 sufficiently salted, it is washed in warm water or whey, and, 
 when well dried with a cloth, put on the drying-bench, where 
 it remains a week or ten days before it is finally deposited 
 in the cheese-chamber. 
 
 The management of this cheese-room is regulated by the 
 weather and the judgment of the dairy-woman. If the air 
 be moist and close, fresh air is admitted, but if cold and dry, 
 the room is kept closed. In about ten days, or according to 
 the space of time between the washings, the cheeses arc 
 cleaned by being washed and scraped. 
 11* 
 
126 CHERRY. 
 
 A decoction of saffron is sometimes put into milk to give 
 cheese a little color ; it is used in the Parmesan cheese. 
 
 The mould or vat in which cheese is formed is made 
 of thick staves, generally of white or American oak, and 
 secured with two strong iron hoops, to withstand the neces- 
 sary pressure. It is perforated with many small holes in the 
 bottom and sides, to let the whey escape from the curd. 
 This vat is sometimes called chessel. 
 
 Cheese-cloths should be strong, and of open texture ; every 
 time they are removed from the vat, they should be wrung 
 out of boiling water, and dried in the sun or before the fire ; 
 if this is not done, it is sufficient cause for inducing " a sharp 
 acid taste " in cheese. 
 
 CHERRY (Cerasus vulgaris). The Cherry is of Asiat- 
 ic origin ; the Roman Lucullus, returning from Pontus after 
 a victorious campaign, brought it from Cerasus, a town in 
 that province, in the year 69 B. C. 
 
 It is a tree of rapid growth, and the varieties of the Black 
 and Heart-shaped Cherries grow to forty or fifty feet in 
 height ; the Acid or Red Cherry does not spread so vigor- 
 ously, but is of slower growth, lower, and more bushy in its 
 developments. 
 
 It is a strange fact, that we have not cultivated our native 
 Cherries to any great extent, but have directly imported the 
 rich Cherries of France, England, and Holland, which seem 
 not altogether suited to our climate, for they decay at the 
 season of ripening, and those which reach maturity lose their 
 fine fleshy firmness a few hours after being plucked. 
 
 The wild Virginia Cherry yields a wood hardly inferior to 
 mahogany, and I have seen bedsteads of elegant polish and 
 color made from this material. 
 
 Though the Cherry will grow in almost any soil, that which 
 is deep and mellow, but not damp, is the best suited to it ; 
 
CHERRY. 127 
 
 in wet positions it soon grows sickly and decays. To pro- 
 tect it from spring frosts, it is well to plant it in places where 
 premature budding will not be induced, on the north sides 
 of hills, or elevated, cool locations, rather than deep, warm 
 valleys. The finest varieties are obtained by budding on 
 seedlings of the common Mazard Cherry. (See Budding?) 
 As a standard tree, which is the usual mode of cultivating 
 the Cherry in the United States, this tree requires but little 
 cultivation, beyond an occasional administering of manure to 
 old trees, and a very little pruning in midsummer where 
 a dead or cross-branch interferes with the general health 
 of the tree, and an occasional washing with soft-soap suds, 
 where the bark shows a tendency to become hard. Pruning 
 is very apt to induce gum and decay, and should be under- 
 taken only when absolutely necessary. 
 
 Mr. Downing has divided Cherries into four classes, viz. : 
 
 1. Heart Cherries; the common Mazard and Black be- 
 ing taken as types of this division. 
 
 2. Bigarrean Cherries. Those which are tender and 
 crackling, as compared with the melting, tender flesh of the 
 first class. 
 
 3. Duke Cherries. The May Duke is the type of this 
 class. These are excellent varieties, succeeding well in al- 
 most all soils and climates, and invaluable both for the des- 
 sert and for cooking. 
 
 4. Morello Cherries. The common Kentish or Pie Cher- 
 ry, and the Morello, are well known varieties of this class. 
 
 Where cherries are used for dessert, they should be put 
 into a refrigerator or ice-house, or placed in a vessel which 
 should be immersed in cold water, that the fruit may retain 
 firmness, and be cold. 
 
 The gum of the Cherry is said to have been instrumental 
 in saving a besieged army cut off from supplies. Its prop- 
 erties resemble those of gum-arabic. 
 
128 CHICKEN. 
 
 Some of the most celebrated cordials and liqueurs of Eu- 
 rope are made from the Cherry. Common Cherry Cordial 
 is made in the same manner as Raspberry Cordial. (See 
 Cordials.} 
 
 The Kirschwasser of Germany is the distilled liquor of the 
 common Black Hazard or Jean, the stones being ground, 
 broken, and fermented with the pulp. Ratifia cordial of 
 Grenoble is prepared from this fruit. 
 
 Maraschino, the far-famed liquor of Italy, is distilled from 
 a small Jean or Mazzard, to which is added, in the process 
 of fermentation, honey, the leaves, and kernels of the fruit. 
 
 DRIED CHERRIES. 
 
 Stone the fruit. Morello, Kentish, or Early Richmond are 
 nice for this purpose. Sprinkle a little powdered sugar over 
 them, and spread them on flat dishes for the night. In the 
 morning pour off very gently what sirup may have been 
 made, and weigh the fruit. Make a rich sirup, taking for a 
 pound of fruit the same weight of sugar, wetting the sugar 
 with the cherry juice, and water enough merely to dissolve 
 it. Let it come to a boil, when put the fruit in and scald it, 
 dip it out gently, and allow the sirup to boil for fifteen 
 minutes, skimming constantly all the time. Spread the cher- 
 ries in tin pans, and place them in a very moderate oven ; add 
 the sirup to them gradually, and keep turning them till dry, 
 for several days. Put them, when cool, in glass jars, and 
 cover closely. 
 
 CHICKEN. It is well to allow chickens to hang a day 
 or two before cooking them, else they are apt to be tough 
 and stringy ; but they should be drawn on being killed, the 
 flavor of undrawn birds being admired only by the few. 
 Avoid breaking the gall-bladder, and singe them without 
 breaking the skin or discoloring them. Do not wash them 
 till just before they are to be cooked. 
 
CHICKEN. 129 
 
 Spring chickens are roasted like fowls. Twenty minutes 
 will roast a chicken. See Fowls. 
 
 Capons are roasted and boiled in the same manner as 
 turkeys ; they are best when nine or ten months old ; when 
 older they may be stewed with butter and vegetables, and 
 eaten with tongue, or boiled for broth or sauces. 
 
 BOILED CHICKEN. 
 
 Put chickens on in plenty of water, from which the chill 
 has been taken. Chickens with a white skin are nicest for 
 boiling ; before going on, let them be nicely trussed, putting 
 the gizzards and livers under the wings. Have ready a 
 small bit of salt pork which has been boiling three quarters 
 of an hour ; put it in with the chickens. Boil the chickens 
 very slowly for about ten minutes, but keep them covered in 
 hot water for about half an hour. Before you send them to 
 the table, drain them near the fire. Serve with egg-sauce, 
 and garnish with sprigs of parsley. 
 
 The water in which chickens are boiled can be used for 
 soup, by adding vegetables and straining. 
 
 CURRIED CHICKEN. 
 
 Disjoint the chicken and cut the breast up. Chop a small 
 onion, and put it into a saucepan with a piece of butter as 
 large as a table-spoonful. Stir them well, sift in two tea- 
 spoonfuls of curry-powder and add a few spoonfuls of broth. 
 Lay in the chickens ; when it boils, cover it, and allow it to 
 stew very gently for half an hour ; if it gets dry, add a little 
 cream, broth, or water. Season with salt. Boil some rice 
 in another saucepan, and serve it in a separate dish. 
 
 FRICASSEE OF CHICKENS. 
 
 Cut up a chicken into seven or eight handsome pieces, and 
 put them in a stewpan, with the gizzard and liver, and cover 
 
130 CHILBLAINS. 
 
 with water a little warm j throw in a salt-spoonful of salt, a 
 little pepper, one or two cloves, and a blade of mace ; boil till 
 tender. Take out the pieces and strain the liquor, thicken 
 a piece of butter with a little flour, stir it into the liquor with 
 a few onions chopped very fine. Put the liquor over the 
 fire with the chicken, let it simmer, skimming it for twenty 
 minutes. Stir into a teacup of cream the yolks of two eggs. 
 Pile the chicken up on a dish, stir rapidly the cream into 
 the stock in the sauce, let it heat, but not boil, and pour it 
 hot over the dish of chicken. 
 
 CHICCORY,OR SUCCORY (Cichorium Intylus). The 
 wild P^ndive. The cultivated variety is somewhat used in 
 England as a forage plant, but it is said to impart a bad 
 taste to the milk. The root, which contains a bitter, is sub- 
 stituted occasionally for hops in brewing beer. In Europe 
 the dried root is roasted and used instead of coffee, and the 
 excise laws of England allow it to be mixed with coffee. In 
 an exceedingly clever article in a recent London Quarterly, 
 (Food and its Adulteration,) chiccory is spoken of as an in- 
 sipid root containing neither nourishing nor refreshing quali- 
 ties, and possessing no nitrogenized principle, while strong 
 doubts seem to be entertained whether it is not positively in- 
 jurious to the nervous system. The same Reviewer remarks 
 that Professor Beer, a celebrated oculist of Vienna, forbids 
 the use of it to his patients, considering it to be the cause of 
 amaurotic blindness. 
 
 CHILBLAINS. Oil-skin socks, worn night and day, are 
 often of great service in this exceedingly troublesome com- 
 plaint. If the skin has not broken, various embrocations 
 may be used with advantage. Spirits of turpentine, or equal 
 parts of vinegar and spirits of wine, or diluted muriatic acid, 
 may be applied ; but if the skin is exceedingly sensitive and 
 
CHOCOLATE. 131 
 
 broken, mild poultices must be served. If fungous granula- 
 tions appear, they may be touched with some mild caustic. 
 
 Carefully avoid going near the fire or furnace, as great 
 heat causes the weak vessels to distend, and sometimes leads 
 to ulceration. 
 
 CHOCOLATE. A preparation made of the seeds or 
 nuts of the cocoa-tree. (Worcester.) These preparations 
 are varied by French and Italian flavorings. 
 
 Common chocolate comes usually in small squares of the 
 weight of an ounce. In preparing the beverage, you scrape or 
 grate the chocolate with a common grater kept for the pur- 
 pose. Put the scraped chocolate over the fire in a saucepan, 
 with cold water, regulating the quantity of water by the 
 strength you wish the infusion to have. If you wish it rich, 
 put to two squares or ounces a gill of water. Stir it slowly 
 with a wooden spoon, until it thickens, when it should be 
 stirred quickly, and a pint of boiling milk added, a little at a 
 time. Chocolate should be served hot. Sugar may be put 
 in on the table. 
 
 Chocolate after the Italian method is made in a chocolate- 
 pot of peculiar construction, which contains a utensil which 
 answers the purpose of a wooden spatula, and the handle of 
 which passes up through the lid. Put into the pot two 
 ounces of scraped chocolate, and pour over it, gradually, a 
 pint of boiling milk, fasten the lid on with the wooden dasher 
 enclosed, and agitate the handle constantly, that the choco- 
 late, when hot, may present a frothy appearance. 
 
 French chocolate frequently comes flavored with vanilla, 
 and sweetened. It is less oily than common chocolate. If 
 it comes as a powder, dissolve it gradually in boiled milk, and 
 serve hot. A teaspoonful and a half of powdered chocolate 
 is the French recipe. 
 
 Cocoa is imported in bags. The nut is roasted or dried in 
 
132 COCA. 
 
 a moderate oven, and cracked in a mortar. It requires to be 
 well boiled, allowing a pint of water to each ounce of cocoa. 
 Pour off the liquid, and stir into it boiling milk. 
 
 Cracked cocoa is simply the shell and nut together, and is 
 prepared as the above. Baker's prepared cocoa is much 
 approved. 
 
 Shells of cocoa are soaked, and then boiled in the same 
 water. They require to be well boiled. Put a large gill to 
 a quart of water ; after being soaked over night, and thor- 
 oughly boiled, strain off the liquor, and put milk to it and 
 heat it again. 
 
 CHOWDER. Cut a quarter of a pound of fat salt-pork 
 into slices, and try it out in the pot you make the chowder in. 
 Take a haddock that has been nicely cleaned, and cut it across 
 into bits about an inch and a half wide. Take out the rashers 
 of pork and put in a layer of fish, pepper it well, and dust in 
 flour on it, then another layer of fish, seasoning it in the same 
 manner. Pour over cold water till the fish is a little more 
 than covered. Put it on to boil. Shred an onion or two 
 very fine, and throw it into the pot. Ten minutes before you 
 take it up, put in half a bottle of claret or port wine, and let 
 it boil up. Try a little in a cup, and if not of the consistency 
 of cream, mix a little flour in a cup with water, and pour it 
 in. Dip in cold water half a dozen crackers, split them, and 
 five minutes before you serve the chowder, put them into the 
 pot. About half an hour after it begins to boil, the chowder 
 will be cooked. Serve in a deep dish, garnishing the sides 
 with the brown rashers of pork. 
 
 COCA (Erythroxylon coca). A pernicious narcotic of 
 Peru. The dried leaf is chewed, but the forlorn victim who 
 is its slave is punished with terrible imaginations, often fan- 
 cying himself guilty of frightful crimes. 
 
COFFEE. 133 
 
 COCHINEAL (Coccus Cacti). Dried insects brought 
 originally from Mexico. But the production of this insect 
 is being largely extended. They feed upon the leaves of 
 several species of cactus, and are thought to owe their color- 
 ing matter to this food. The most beautiful of all the reds, 
 carmine, is derived from this insect. Though the natural 
 color of cochineal is crimson, yet on dissolving it in water, 
 and adding bitartrate of potassa, it yields a rich scarlet 
 dye. 
 
 Cochineal, according to Pelletier and Caventon, is com- 
 posed of, 1. Carminium, which is the name given to the 
 coloring matter. 2. A peculiar animal matter. 3. A fatty 
 substance. 4. Salts of lime and potassa. 
 
 The preparation of the finest varieties of carmine is kept 
 secret by the manufacturers, but is supposed to depend much 
 upon the delicacy of the manipulations. The ordinary pro- 
 cess is to dissolve it in water, to which alum, carbonate of 
 soda, or oxide of tin is added. 
 
 A pound of cochineal is composed of about 70,000 insects. 
 (Bigelow.) 
 
 COFFEE (Coffea AraUca). The coffee-plant, of Ori- 
 ental origin, being a native of Abyssinia and the adjoining 
 countries, is now grown very extensively in the West Indies, 
 and in South America. But the Mocha and Java Govern- 
 ment are regarded as the best varieties. 
 
 The coffee-bean, though introduced from Abyssinia into 
 Arabia as late as the beginning of the fifteenth century, and 
 England's first coffee-house being opened no earlier than 1652, 
 is computed to be consumed, at the present time, at the rate of 
 six hundred millions of pounds annually, among one hundred 
 millions of people. Coffee, like tea, is the better for being 
 old. The principle in coffee, known under the name of ca- 
 feine, is mellowed by age. Coffee, drunk at full strength, is 
 12 
 
134 CORDIALS. 
 
 an antidote for an over-dose of laudanum. Roasted coffee 
 is said to be a great purifier of the atmosphere. 
 
 Coffee should be roasted equally, and of rich dark brown 
 color, stirring it constantly with a wooden spatula. On be- 
 ing ground, that which is not infused should be kept closely 
 covered in a tin pail that fits neatly. 
 
 M. Soyer's manner of making coffee is to stir the grounds 
 in a stewpan till quite hot, when to two ounces of coffee he 
 pours over a pint of boiling water ; then he covers it closely 
 with a cloth for five minutes, after which he passes it through 
 a cloth, then warms again, and serves hot. I have tried this 
 method and found it excellent ; but to servants, and for daily 
 practice, it cannot be recommended. 
 
 French breakfast coffee has an equal portion of boiling 
 milk added to the made and drawn-off coffee, which should 
 be warmed together and served hot. 
 
 The following is a good way of preparing coffee : 
 
 Put in your coffee-pot three ounces of ground coffee, with a 
 bit of fish-skin that has been previously washed (it need not 
 be larger than a cent), or a little egg may be used (one egg 
 should last three mornings) ; pour over it a quart of boiling 
 water. Let it boil not longer than five minutes, then take it 
 off to settle, and clear the spout of the coffee-pot by pouring 
 out a little coffee and returning it ; then put in a spoonful or 
 two of cold water to facilitate the settling. 
 
 The same coffee-grounds can have another quart of boiling 
 water poured on them, and be boiled five minutes, and yield 
 a very good beverage. 
 
 CORDIALS. These drinks are made from cherries, 
 peaches, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, apricots, etc. 
 
 STRAWBERRY CORDIAL. 
 Let the fruit be fair and perfectly ripe, and to every 
 
CORN, INDIAN. 135 
 
 quart of fruit, sift over a pound of the purest loaf-sugar. 
 Let it stand twenty-four hours in a deep pan, when strain 
 the liquor from the fruit, and to every large spoonful of 
 juice put a table-spoonful of purest brandy. Put it in small 
 bottles in a cool place. 
 
 RASPBERRY CORDIAL. 
 
 Squeeze your raspberries through a flannel bag, and to 
 every quart of juice add one pound of loaf-sugar. Put it 
 with the sugar into a stone jar, and stir it together frequently 
 the first day, then allow it to stand for three days, when 
 strain through a sieve. To each quart of juice thus prepared, 
 add one quart of brandy. Bottle for use. 
 
 PEACH CORDIAL. 
 
 Take peaches that are juicy and perfectly ripe. Slice 
 them, crack the stones, and put the kernels in. Add a pound 
 of loaf-sugar to a pound of fruit. Set it near the fire, and 
 dip off the juice from time to time, pressing it towards the 
 last with a spoon. When the juice is entirely expressed, 
 put it in a preserving-kettle, let it come to a boil, and skim 
 it thoroughly. Let it cool, and then add a quart of brandy 
 to each quart of peach sirup. 
 
 (See Blackberry.) 
 
 CORN, INDIAN (Zea Mays). Green corn should be 
 put into boiling water, and cooked about twenty minutes ; if 
 boiled too long, it becomes hard. 
 
 But dishes made of Indian meal can scarcely be cooked 
 too much. Mush requires two hours of steady boiling, and 
 puddings made of corn-meal require, whether boiled or 
 baked, five or six hours of cooking. 
 
 Corn, if ground too fine, is flat and insipid. Exported 
 corn should be kiln-dried. 
 
136 CRANBERRY. 
 
 Hominy is mostly prepared from the white corn of the 
 South ; when coarse it is merely hulled and crushed, but fine 
 hominy is ground. 
 
 Succotash consists of beans boiled till tender, and mixed 
 with boiled corn cut from the cob. Season with fresh butter 
 and salt. 
 
 PAUL STILLMAN'S CORN BREAD. 
 
 Mix with four cups of corn meal one cup of wheat flour ; 
 put in a cup of hot water one teaspoonful of carbonate of 
 soda, or by weight one drachm, with which thoroughly wet 
 the meal ; two or three eggs are an improvement ; then mix 
 in a little water one half of the same measure, or an equal 
 weight, of muriatic acid, and stir it thoroughly with the mass. 
 Spread in a tin pie-pan, and bake immediately in a quick 
 oven. In this recipe, observes Mr. Stillman, the carbonate 
 of soda and muriatic acid combine, and, forming muriate of 
 soda (common salt), give out carbonic-acid gas to inflate or 
 raise the bread. The salt formed in raising the bread is no 
 more than should be used were it added before its combina- 
 tion, and entirely avoids the common objection, where salera- 
 tus is used, of having potash in the bread. 
 
 CRANBERRY. This useful berry is, among condiments, 
 the very sheet-anchor of the New England housewife. 
 
 The wild Cranberry of New England (Oxy coccus macro- 
 carpus} is larger and finer than the European Cranberry 
 (0. pulastris), and it is largely exported. 
 
 It grows mostly in mossy wet land, yet beds are easily 
 prepared in moist or peaty soils, and if thoroughly decayed 
 manure is added, the berries will be larger and finer than the 
 wild ones. Mr. Downing has said, that a square of the size of 
 twenty feet, planted in this way, will yield three or four bush- 
 els annually, quite sufficient for a family. Plants taken 
 
CREAMS. 137 
 
 up like squares of sod or turf, and planted two or three feet 
 apart, quickly cover beds. Land otherwise useless is often 
 drained and turned to profitable account, by cultivating this 
 fruit; and as its value increases yearly, it cannot otherwise 
 than repay the little trouble of making beds. The best cran- 
 berries sell some seasons at twelve dollars a barrel. 
 
 Cranberries are sometimes kept in cold water. They 
 may be frozen without injury, but should not be exposed to 
 extremes of heat and cold. 
 
 CRANBERRY SAUCE. 
 
 Having picked and washed your cranberries, put them 
 into a kettle with a little water. Simmer them gently for 
 half an hour. Stir in powdered sugar and let it simmer 
 twenty minutes, stirring it frequently. When cool, pour it 
 into an earthen jar, and cover. 
 
 CRANBERRY-SAUCE JELLY. 
 
 Add to two quarts of picked cranberries one quart of 
 pounded loaf-sugar, and one half-pint of water; let it boil 
 three quarters of an hour. Dip it off into moulds. 
 
 CREAMS. Creams may be put into moulds and frozen, 
 or they may be frozen like ice-cream, or served plain in a 
 large glass dish. If moulded, a little dissolved isinglass is 
 added to the ingredients, but only for shapes, as egg eats bet- 
 ter. Creams made too rich will not freeze ; if deficient in 
 richness, they will not set in a firm mass. 
 
 Creams differ chiefly in the flavoring ingredients, which 
 may be of chocolate, lemon, vanilla, almond, pistachio, or 
 other matters, fruit jellies often being used. 
 
 Creams poured over some light cakes, placed in a glass 
 dish, and set on ice till eaten, make a delicate dessert 
 dish. 
 
 12* 
 
138 CROQUETTES. 
 
 VANILLA CREAM. 
 
 Put a vanilla bean into a pint of rich milk, and let it boil 
 till thoroughly flavored. In another saucepan put the yolks 
 of six well-beaten eggs, to which has been added, gradually, 
 six large table-spoonfuls of sifted loaf-sugar. Beat it well. 
 Take the bean from the milk, which strain into a pint of 
 fresh cream. Warm the egg over the fire, stirring constant- 
 ly, and not allowing it to boil ; but when a little thick, take it 
 off, strain it through a coarse silk sieve, and stir it rapidly 
 into the cream and milk. Pour it into a large glass dish, or 
 into cups or glasses. See Almond Cream. 
 
 CROQUETTES. These cakes may be made of the re- 
 mains of white fowl, veal sweetbread, delicate fish, rice, or 
 macaroni. 
 
 MEAT CROQUETTES. 
 
 Chop the lean parts of the fowl or veal, and moisten them 
 with butter and flour mixed smoothly, and a little onion, 
 chopped very fine ; put the whole with a little pepper and 
 salt in a stewpan over the fire. If not suffciently moist, add 
 a little boiled cream or white broth, or sauce that may have 
 been left from the meal before. Stir it well, and as it begins 
 to warm, stir in rapidly the yolks of two or three eggs. Let 
 it remain about three minutes longer, stirring it all the time, 
 when take it out and let it cool. Divide it into pieces, which 
 roll out into small bolster forms, and rub each piece into 
 grated bread. Fry them a bright brown color, and drain 
 them well. Serve them hot. 
 
 CROQUETTES OF RICE. 
 
 Put two large cups of well-washed rice into boiling milk, 
 a little more than enough to cover the rice. Let it simmer 
 slowly until tender, when add a small piece of fresh butter, 
 
CURRANTS. 139 
 
 some sugar which, previous to pounding, has been rubbed 
 with the rind of a lemon, and the yolks of five eggs. Let it 
 thicken, but do not allow it to boil. Stir it well together. 
 Take it off, and when cool roll it into small bolster forms. 
 Dip each one into some well-beaten egg, and fry them in a 
 rice-basket of open wire-work, which should be placed in a 
 stewpan. Fry them a very light brown, drain them, and 
 sift white sugar over them. Put them on a white napkin in 
 sending them to the table. 
 
 CUCUMBER ( Cucumis sativus). This cooling vegetable, 
 though well known to the Romans, was regarded in England 
 no longer ago than during the reign of Charles II. as little 
 less than poisonous. Since then French genius has culti- 
 vated it into thousand shapes ; but as it requires French prac- 
 tice to stuff and stew cucumbers, we forbear giving receipts 
 for this mode of serving. 
 
 When sliced, they should be soaked some time before 
 dinner in plenty of cold water ; then drained, and seasoned 
 with salt, pepper, and vinegar. Set the dish into a larger 
 one, containing bits of ice. See Pickles. 
 
 CURRANTS. Red and White (Ribes rulyrum). Black 
 Currants (R. nigrum). The Currant is a native of Britain 
 and the North of Europe, and consequently hardy. It is the 
 practice now to grow this fruit in the tree form. Plant slips 
 or cuttings (never suckers), in the autumn or early spring, in 
 such parts of the garden as will most facilitate their rooting. 
 In order to ward against suckers being produced, cut off the 
 eyes or buds of the cutting as far up as you intend shall be 
 buried in the soil. 
 
 When the plants are transplanted to their final resting- 
 place, care should be taken to train them from one main 
 stem, and every winter superfluous wood should be thinned 
 
140 CURRANTS. 
 
 out. Where large fruit is coveted, nip off the growing 
 shoots in the middle of June, when the fruit is about half 
 grown, and the vigor of the plant spends itself on the grow- 
 ing fruit. Plants six or eight years old should be removed 
 for younger ones. 
 
 The present splendid garden sorts of Currants come from 
 Holland, and the Red and White Dutch varieties have thrown 
 out of esteem the common garden sorts, wherever the first 
 can be obtained. 
 
 BLACK CURRANTS (R. nigrum). 
 
 The Black Naples is much superior to the common Eng- 
 lish Black Currant. It has the peculiarity of blossoming ear- 
 lier than the common kinds, while it produces its fruit later. 
 
 ORNAMENTAL VARIETIES. 
 
 The Missouri Currant (Ribes aureum), with yellow fra- 
 grant blossoms, is a well-known variety, and owes its pres- 
 ent cultivation to Captains Lewis and Clarke, who, in May, 
 1804, were sent by Congress to explore the regions of the 
 Rocky Mountains, and to discover the source of the Oregon 
 River. It has a variety called the Large-Fruited Missouri 
 Currant. 
 
 The Red Flowering Currant (R. sanguineum) bears 
 clusters of light-crimson blossoms in early spring. The flow- 
 ers are large and showy, but this Currant is not hardy enougli 
 to survive New England winters. It will not thrive north 
 of New York. It has several varieties which display white 
 and pale pink flpwers. 
 
 Though I have spoken of the tree-training for this fruit, I 
 must not omit to remark that many excellent cultivators pre- 
 fer the bush form. Among others, we have the authority of 
 Mr. S. W. Cole (American Fruit Book) against tree-train- 
 ing, and my own experience coincides with his. 
 
CURRY. 141 
 
 CURRANT WINE. 
 
 Pick your fruit on a dry day, and make your wine on the 
 same day you gather it. Take the currants from the stems, 
 bruise and press them, and strain the juice from them. To 
 every gallon of currant juice add two gallons of pure soft 
 water, and three pounds of the best loaf-sugar. Mix well 
 till the sugar is dissolved. Put the whole into a keg, and 
 let it ferment twelve or fourteen days, covering the bung- 
 hole with coarse muslin. The keg or cask should be filled 
 so that impurities may escape at the bung. At the expira- 
 tion of the twelfth or fourteenth day, beat up the whites of 
 five or six eggs, and stir them into the cask. Put in the 
 bung lightly at first, a little firmer on the second day, and on 
 the third, secure it well, and cover with bottle cement. Let 
 it stand five or six months, when rack it off, and, if not per- 
 fectly clear, it may be refined with isinglass, milk, or the 
 addition of more white of egg. See Jellies. 
 
 CURRY. This powder is dealt in largely commercially, 
 but it is frequently shamefully adulterated by the mixture of 
 red-lead, and other substances, if not as poisonous, equally 
 uncalled for. Besides, the packages which are purchased 
 are not suitable for all dishes. From these considerations 
 many persons buy the different substances which make curry- 
 powder, dry and powder them, and, keeping them carefully 
 from the air, mix them as they need the curry, and in such 
 proportions as the dish may require. 
 
 The principal ingredients in this powder are turmeric, 
 ginger, cayenne, mustard, and pepper, softened by some aro- 
 matic spice ; cinnamon, coriander, and cardamon seed being 
 generally used. Turmeric is disagreeable to many persons ; 
 it is the root of the Curcuma longa, a native of * the East 
 Indies. 
 
142 CUTLERY. 
 
 Curry-powder, where it is mixed in any quantity to keep, 
 is usually in the following proportions : To an ounce each 
 of black pepper, mustard, and ginger, one half-ounce only 
 of cayenne, and three ounces of turmeric, with a quarter of 
 an ounce of cinnamon and a quarter of an ounce of cumin, 
 three ounces of coriander seed, and half an ounce of carda- 
 mon seed. Each ingredient should be thoroughly dried, re- 
 duced to a powder, carefully sifted, well mixed, and closely 
 stoppered in a clean bottle and kept in a dry place. 
 
 CUSTARD. Break off about an inch and a half from a 
 vanilla bean, put it in a quart of milk, and let it boil in a 
 porcelain-lined kettle, or in a tin pudding-pail set into hot 
 water. Take it off and remove the bit of bean. When the 
 milk has cooled, stir in ten well-beaten eggs, and one even 
 cup of loaf-sugar. , Strain the whole through a coarse sieve, 
 and pour it into a tin pudding-pail, which set into a pot of 
 boiling water, and let it boil for fifteen minutes. Take it out 
 in china cups and grate nutmeg over each cup, or, if you 
 please, mount them with whipped cream. 
 
 If you boil the milk in a porcelain-lined kettle, cover it 
 when you put it over the fire, and have the kettle well rubbed 
 before putting the milk in, as milk is, without care, very 
 easily scorched and burnt. 
 
 CUTLERY. Steel should be kept as dry as possible, yet 
 dry furnace-heat often splits the handles. 
 
 To remove rust, rub the knives well with mutton-suet or 
 fowl's grease, and let it remain a day or two, when rub dry 
 with unslacked lime finely powdered, or with emery, applied 
 either with a cork or soft wood. 
 
 Clean cutlery with powdered Bristol brick on a board, 
 rubbing with a cork wet occasionally in a vessel of soft water. 
 Wipe dry with wash-leather, and clear with a clean knife- 
 cloth. 
 
DAIRY-COW. 143 
 
 "Wash knives in warm, but not hot suds, and if a knife- 
 washer is not used, have the knives placed in a mug, not 
 deep enough to reach the handles. Servants will be careless 
 about these matters. 
 
 Covering with caoutchouc-varnish has been tested as a 
 protection for polished steel, but it is too expensive for com- 
 mon purposes. Knives that are not in common use may be 
 heated and rubbed with mutton-suet or fowl's grease, heated 
 again, and, while hot, rubbed with white wax, and polished 
 with soft leather, wrapped separately in brown paper, and 
 put away in a dry place. 
 
 CIMLINS. Gather these summer squashes while they 
 are tender enough readily to yield to the pressure of the 
 nail. Peel, and having divided them, and taken out the seed, 
 boil them rapidly till tender. Drain them well, and with a 
 wooden spoon pass them through a colander. Put the pulp 
 into a ( stewpan with a piece of butter, a gill of cream, a little 
 white pepper and salt. Stir constantly till the squash is dry. 
 Serve in a hot dish. 
 
 DAIRY-COW. The domestic Ox (Bos taurus) has been 
 so long a servant to man, that from what parent stock he 
 has been derived is mere matter of conjecture. Like the 
 dog, he adapts himself to all circumstances. " Where food is 
 scanty," says Professor Low, " he scarcely exceeds the di- 
 mensions of the deer ; but where it is abundant, he reaches 
 to enormous size. He is found from the equator almost to 
 the limits of vegetable life, and is everywhere subservient to 
 the wants and convenience of the human race." 
 
 The breeds of British cattle are very numerous, Great 
 Britain, as the author above quoted remarks, being remarka- 
 ble for the excellence and number of her sheep and oxen, 
 and owing no little part of her opulence to this cause. 
 
144 DAIRY-COW. 
 
 The breed most cultivated for the dairy in the British 
 Islands is the Ayrshire Breed, derived from the county of 
 Ayr, but found in many of the dairy districts of Scotland 
 and of Ireland. "As now cultivated and improved," says 
 Professor Low, " it is well defined in its characters. The in- 
 dividuals are of medium size, of various colors, and have 
 short horns. Their limbs are delicate, their foreheads nar- 
 row, their shoulders thin, and their fore-quarters light. This is 
 a form which is valued in the female, as indicating a disposi- 
 tion to secrete milk ; but it does not correspond with the form 
 of an animal which indicates a tendency to grow to great size, 
 and fatten readily." These cows do not enjoy in the richest 
 dairy districts of England all the reputation they possess in 
 their own country; but the breed has been much improved 
 within the last fifty years. 
 
 The Short-horned Durham Breed has been extensively 
 imported into the United States ; it is considered as combin- 
 ing a larger number of valuable properties than any of the 
 large breeds. 
 
 The Alderney Breed have short crumpled horns, are of 
 small size, and ungraceful forms. They are from the Nor- 
 man Islands of the British Channel. The Island of Jersey 
 has the palm for the superiority of her race. The inhab- 
 itants, whose riches they are, guard the purity of the breed 
 by interdicting the importation of foreign animals. These 
 animals are not strong, and require a temperate climate ; but 
 the milk of the female is excellent in color and quality. 
 Professor Low says of this breed: "Considerable numbers 
 of the cows are imported into the southern counties of Eng- 
 land, where they are kept for the luxury of the opulent, or 
 partially employed in the regular dairies, to give richness to 
 the milk." 
 
 The North Devon Breed of England are admirable for 
 active labor, and the milk of the female is rich, and under 
 favorable circumstances abundant. 
 
DAIRY-COW. 145 
 
 Cows require a high, well-ventilated stable, clean litter, 
 good water, daily currying, and to be foddered three times 
 every day while enclosed. 
 
 In winter, when they are stalled, the food of cows should 
 be as varied as possible. Ruta-bagas and turnips may be 
 mixed with potatoes, parsnips with pumpkins and squashes, 
 cabbages with corn-meal ; indeed, both cabbages and tur- 
 nips should be qualified with potatoes or meal, as they 
 otherwise impart an ill flavor or watery properties to 
 milk. Vegetables should always be cut, and a part of their 
 food during the winter should be boiled or steamed, and 
 have occasionally about two ounces of salt mixed with it. 
 Sweet apples boiled in water, and mixed with coarse bran 
 or Indian meal, may be given, where apples are plenty, with 
 advantage. Carrots give the finest color and flavor to milk, 
 and consequently to butter. 
 
 After the cow has eaten her carrots or turnips, or what- 
 ever fodder she may have given her, a little oat-straw or 
 hay should be thrown into her crib. This should be done 
 after each meal. Keep the stable scrupulously clean. 
 
 The cow carries her young about forty weeks. The calf 
 is quietly removed on being born, before the cow recognizes 
 her, as separation always distresses her. The cow is then 
 milked, and some meal-gruel given her. The first milk of 
 the cow is fit only for the stomach of the calf. 
 
 If you wish to economize your milk, and the calf is in- 
 tended for veal, the usual practice is to allow her but one 
 teat (if the cow is a generous milker) for the first few days, 
 and to give the calf meal and porridge. Still it is poor 
 economy to stint the calf, and she should be fed three times 
 a day regularly, and at the same hours. When the calf is 
 four weeks old, she requires, almost all the cow's milk, or 
 the last drawn from several cows. A little chalk is some- 
 times given to them in their cribs, and about half an ounce 
 13 
 
146 DYES. 
 
 of salt is also daily administered. Calves are considered 
 good veal in five, six, and ten weeks. Calves require a 
 good deal of attention. The straw under their feet should 
 be often replaced by fresh litter, they should be kept per- 
 fectly dry, and fresh air should circulate in the stable where 
 they are confined. 
 
 Corn-stalks, husks of bean, and dry pea-pods, and similar 
 matters that are dry, clean, and not too harsh, should be hus- 
 banded for littering stables. 
 
 Cow's teats should be frequently sponged in warm soft 
 water, and if in spring they become hard, rub them with 
 goose-fat, as this grease has the property of resisting evap- 
 oration for a long time. Melt, or render it, as you do mut- 
 ton-suet or lard, and keep it in a jar covered with blad- 
 der. (Low's Elements of Agriculture. Stephens's Book of 
 the Farm.) 
 
 DIARRHCEA. If the complaint is obstinate, dissolve in 
 a teacup of vinegar as much salt as you can. Take one 
 table-spoonful of this vinegar 'so prepared, and pour on it 
 one cup of boiling water. Drink one table-spoonful of 
 this every two hours ; if the disease is mild, however, three 
 times a day will be sufficient. Two spoonfuls, following the 
 directions exactly, may be taken at a dose, where the com- 
 plaint is violent. Follow the directions carefully. See 
 Blackberry Cordial. 
 
 DUCKS. See FOWLS. 
 
 DYES. Dyeing substances have been classed by Dr. Ban- 
 croft into substantive colors, which unite readily with the ma- 
 terial to be dyed, and adjective colors, which require a third 
 agent that must have an affinity for both color and stuff to be 
 dyed. These agents which thus fix the color are called mor- 
 
DYES. 147 
 
 dants. It is frequently difficult to say which is the color 
 and which the mordant. 
 
 Among substances employed as mordants are included 
 numerous oxides and salts ; the principal are the acetate of 
 alumina, the sulphate or acetate of iron, and the muriate of 
 tin. The material to be dyed is first impregnated with the 
 mordant, before being dipped in the solution of the coloring- 
 matter. Mordants, besides fixing the color, often brighten 
 the tint. 
 
 Substances used for dyeing are exceedingly numerous ; 
 the mineral, animal, and vegetable kingdoms all pay tribute 
 to this exquisite art. 
 
 BLUE DYES. 
 
 The Indigo of commerce is the chief blue dye. The best 
 kind is the Indigofera tinctoria. The green parts of the 
 plant are cut before flowering, put into large vats with water, 
 when fermentation takes place, and the indigo settles into 
 powdery, pulpy matter ; its color is at first green, but by ex- 
 posure to air it absorbs oxygen, and assumes a blue color. 
 This plant is cultivated only in warm climates. 
 
 Indigo is also found in Woad, Isatis tinctoria, and some 
 other vegetables. "Woad, before the introduction of Indigo- 
 fera, was very extensively cultivated in the North of Europe. 
 The coloring-matter of this plant also is obtained from the 
 leaves ; the processes for obtaining it are generally less artifi- 
 cial than those used for the indigo-plant. 
 
 Indigo is capable of distillation or sublimation by a mod- 
 crate heat, and, on being burnt, emits a fine purple smoke. 
 Indigo is insoluble in water and alcohol, and alkalies have 
 only partial effect on it ; it is rendered soluble by being put 
 into the dyer's vat with various deoxidizing agents, where, 
 after the fermentation has continued some time, the surface of 
 the liquor will be blue, and that not offered to the atmos- 
 
148 DTE 3. 
 
 phere green ; but substances dipped into this deoxidized in- 
 digo, though at first they show a green color, become blue 
 when exposed to the air. 
 
 Indigo, it is well known, may be dissolved in sulphuric 
 acid without changing color. Blues dyed with this solution 
 are known as Saxon-blues ; they are less permanent than 
 those derived from the green liquor. 
 
 Indigo requires no mordant or basis to assist its combina- 
 tion with cloth. 
 
 In calico-printing, indigo is ground with some deoxidizing 
 agent, wet with starch or gum to proper consistency, and 
 applied to the blocks which form the pattern ; the calico then 
 receives alternate baths of lime-water and a solution of sul- 
 phate of iron, until the indigo is sufficiently dissolved to give 
 a fixed color. 
 
 RED DYES. 
 
 Most of the substances used as red dyes require mordants 
 before they can be fixed on cloth. Logwood, safflower, archil, 
 Brazil-wood, cochineal, and madder, are substances largely 
 employed for red dyes, and are all adjective colors. 
 
 Logwood is the wood of the Hcematoxylon Campeachianum, 
 which is found in Tropical America. A decoction of logwood 
 yields a fine red, with a violet or purple tint, which, if not 
 arrested by some agent, becomes in time yellowish, and final- 
 ly subsides into black. The violet color may be fixed by 
 alum, and a blue may be obtained by verdigris. But it is 
 for blacks that logwood is principally valued ; it imparts to 
 them great softness and depth of tone. 
 
 Safflower is obtained from the leaves of the Carthamus 
 iinclorius. The coloring matter has little permanency. It 
 is familiarly known as a pink dye, spread on saucers. " The 
 fine rose-color of safflower," says Dr. Bancroft, " extracted 
 by crystallized soda, and precipitated by citric acid, and then 
 slowly dried in the shade, being afterwards finely ground 
 
DYES. 149 
 
 with the purest talc, produces the beautiful paint by which 
 ladies give to their cheeks the bloom of youth and health, 
 and which the French distinguish from carmine by the name 
 of rouge vegetale" 
 
 The dye from safflower is of two kinds, yellow and red ; 
 the first is separated by maceration in running water, the re- 
 maining is the exquisite red, the rouge vegetate. The plant 
 is cultivated in various parts of Europe, but it is principally 
 from Egypt and the Levant that the commercial supplies 
 are realized. The flowers of this plant are not the only use* 
 ful part of it ; while they assist the dyer and painter, the 
 seeds contain an oil used alike in medicine and painting. 
 Safflower is sometimes called Bastard Saffron. 
 
 Archil is a dye obtained from the Lichen roccefla, found 
 chiefly in the Canary Islands. The Dutch litmus or turnsol, 
 a blue pigment, is made of the red coloring substance of this 
 lichen and an alkali ; on the application of an acid, the color- 
 ing matter is disengaged, and the red tint is restored. Lit- 
 mus is thus used as a dye, and employed by the chemist to 
 test the presence of a free acid. 
 
 Brazil-wood is the heart of the Ccesalpinia echinata, a 
 tree of Brazil. It yields, with solutions of alumina and tin, 
 brilliant red tints, which, however, are deficient in durability. 
 Acids turn the infusion yellow before the application of alum, 
 which, added, brings it red again, affording a precipitate 
 which is employed as an inferior sort of carmine ; the addi- 
 tion of an alkali facilitates the precipitation. 
 
 Cochineal has already been mentioned. Red morocco 
 owes its exquisite color to the dye obtained from cochineal, 
 though a similar color was formerly produced in Southern 
 Europe and Asia by the use of Kermes, a dye derived from 
 the insect Coccus ilicis, and also from lac, a gum which 
 exudes from the Ficus Indica and other trees. Goat-skins 
 form the basis of red morocco. 
 13* 
 
150 DYES. 
 
 In 1 030 it was discovered in Holland that the oxide of tin 
 had the power of exalting the scarlet color of cochineal, and 
 soon after one of the celebrated MM. Gobelins, at Paris, 
 availed themselves of the discovery in their famed tapestries. 
 The nitrate or nitromuriate of tin produces the natural color 
 of cochineal-crimson, which is changed to scarlet by the 
 tartar employed in the process. Cochineal is soluble in 
 water, and is fixed on cloth by means of alumina or the 
 oxide of tin. 
 
 Madder, the root of the Rutia tinctorum, is one of the 
 most valuable drugs used for dyeing. The plant is much 
 cultivated in Europe, and particularly in Holland. It tinges 
 with red the bones of the animals that feed on it. Madder 
 produces, by the medium of different mordants, every shade 
 of red, purple, and black. 
 
 Smyrna Madder is the root of the Riibia peregrina, and 
 the dye obtained from it is principally used for dyeing the 
 Turkey red on cotton, with the adjuncts of oil, galls, alum, 
 and some blood (which appears to exalt the color), and sub- 
 stances which, in passing through the alimentary canal of 
 sheep, have imbibed and retained some of the gastric fluids ; 
 the manufacture of Turkey cotton being a complicated process. 
 
 YELLOW DYES. 
 
 The yellow dyes in most common use are the quercitron- 
 bark, weld, fustic, saffron, turmeric, and hickory. 
 
 Quercitron-bark, the most valuable of the yellow dyes, was 
 discovered by Dr. Bancroft, to whom the English govern- 
 ment, with its accustomed liberality, granted the right of 
 disposal for a number of years. This dye is an extract 
 from the bark of the Quercus tinctoria, or common black 
 oak of the United States. Like most of the yellow dyes, 
 it is an adjective color. With a basis of alumina, the de- 
 coction presents a bright yellow dye ; with the oxide of tin, a 
 
DYES. 151 
 
 variety of tints is afforded, from a pale lemon to deep orange. 
 The oxide of iron gives a drab color. 
 
 Weld, Reseda Luteola, is of the Resedacese or Mignonette 
 family. It is the most easy of cultivation of any of the dye- 
 plarits. It is generally biennial, and pulled up in the second 
 year of its growth, while in flower, before it goes to seed. 
 The roots are dried by being set upright four together. When 
 they are dry, which will be in about a week, they are put 
 into larger bundles for sale. When stacked in the dry state, 
 it will keep for years; but when extracted from the stalk, 
 it should be used, as it soon ferments and becomes worth- 
 less. 
 
 Fustic is the wood of a tree native to the West Indies, the 
 Mbrus tinctoria. It affords, with alum, a less bright, but 
 more permanent, yellow than the preceding yellow dyes. It 
 assists also in producing green and drab colors. 
 
 Saffron Crocus ( Crocus sativus) is a plant " cultivated 
 from bulbs. The dye produced is from the stigma and style 
 of the plant. The yellow dye is very fugitive ; by the addi- 
 tion of sulphuric acid, a blue is obtained, and then lilac, and 
 on the application of nitric acid it assumes a green tint. 
 
 Turmeric is the root already mentioned in the article Cur- 
 ry. It is a native of the East Indies, the Curcuma lonya. 
 Curcuma paper is that which is stained with a decoction of 
 the dye, and is used by chemists to detect a free alkali, the 
 presence of which it betrays by a brown stain. 
 
 A yellow dye is obtained from several species of Ameri- 
 can Walnut or Hickory, particularly from the Juglans or 
 Carya alba, the bark, leaves, and rinds all yielding a dye 
 similar to Quercitron, but less in quantity. 
 
 Annotto, Bixa Orellana, a shrub of Tropical America, has 
 already been mentioned. 
 
 French berries, Rhamnus tinctoria, yield a lively but fu- 
 gitive yellow. 
 
152 DYES. 
 
 BLACK DYES. 
 
 These are of the same ingredients as writing-ink ; the black 
 dye, therefore, usually contains oxide of iron, tannin, and 
 gallic acid ; logwood and the acetate of copper imparting, 
 when added, a blue shade. As the immediate application of 
 the black dye would, through quantity, be apt to injure the 
 cloth, the best black woollen cloths are first dyed red witli 
 madder, and blue with indigo. Frequently ordinary wool- 
 lens receive for the first dye logwood only, with a salt of cop- 
 per ; but a black is obtained which always turns brown and 
 rusty-colored in wear. 
 
 Black silks have generally a decoction of galls applied 
 first ; the galls, being more attracted by the silks than the 
 iron, are therefore the true mordant. After this the silk is 
 subjected to alternate baths of sulphate of iron and a decoc- 
 tion of logwood, repeated till a deep black appears. Cotton 
 has usually the iron applied first. 
 
 Black vats, with iron and various vegetable matters, are 
 frequently kept for an immense length of time unemptied, as 
 it is believed they improve by age. 
 
 The Red maple (Acer rubrum) of the United States, ap- 
 plied with the sulphate or acetate of iron, gives, as discovered 
 by Dr. Bancroft, a more perfect black than any of the com- 
 mon vegetable dyes. With alum it yields a permanent cin- 
 namon-color, both upon cotton and wool. The bark and 
 leaves are both used. 
 
 The common Nutgall, as is well known, is an excres- 
 cence produced by the puncture of an insect, a species of 
 cynips, upon an Asiatic species of oak ( Quercus infectoria). 
 Besides tannin and gallic acid, Dr. Bancroft has detected a 
 coloring matter. With an aluminous basis, galls yield a 
 fawn or light cinnamon color. 
 
 The bark of Butternut (Juglans cathartica) gives to cot- 
 
EGGS. 153 
 
 ton, with an aluminous basis, a permanent brown, and com- 
 municates the same to wool, without any mordant. 
 
 " By the dexterous combination of the four leading colors," 
 says Dr. Bigelow in his Useful Arts, " blue, red, yellow, and 
 black, all other shades of color may be produced. Thus green 
 is communicated by forming a' blue ground with indigo, and 
 then adding a yellow by means of quercitron-bark. One of 
 the latest improvements in the art of dyeing consists in the 
 employment of colors derived from the mineral kingdom. 
 Prussian blue, orpiment, chromate of lead, and other min- 
 eral compounds, have, by appropriate processes, been made 
 to communicate their colors to different stuffs. An abstract 
 of the processes is given in Ure's Notes to Berthollet on 
 Dyeing." 
 
 See Bancroft on Permanent Color ; Professor Low's Ele- 
 ments of Agriculture, Art. Plants cultivated for Dyes ; 
 Bigelow's Useful Arts ; and an interesting article in Quar- 
 terly Review (English), entitled Dr. Bancroft on Permanent 
 Colors, Art. XIV., 1814. 
 
 EGGS. Various ways are recommended for preserving 
 eggs. One way is to pack them in a keg, and then pour 
 over them lime-water, which should be prepared thus : 
 Take a gallon of soft water, throw in a handful of clean salt, 
 and a quart-bowlful of unslacked lime ; when it is cold, pour 
 it carefully over the packed eggs. 
 
 Eggs may also be rubbed with fresh butter, or dipped in 
 liquid mutton-suet or beef-suet. In eithef case they are no 
 longer capable of being hatched. Where a few only are to 
 be preserved, they may be smeared with some sweet butter 
 or fat, hung in a net, and daily turned upside down. 
 
 Three minutes is the usual rule for boiling eggs of the 
 average size. Eggs should not be cooked till eight or ten 
 
154 EGG-PLANT. 
 
 hours after being laid, as previous to this time the white of 
 the egg presents a thin, milky appearance on being boiled. 
 
 DROPPED EGG. 
 
 Have the water boiling, drop the egg in without breaking 
 the yolk ; have ready slices of buttered toast, and when the 
 egg has set, remove it with the egg-slice to the top of the 
 toast, taking care again not to break the yolk. This is the 
 lightest form of cooking eggs, and therefore best suited to 
 invalids. 
 
 OMELETTES. 
 
 These preparations, to be successful, require practice, and 
 an omelette or small frying-pan. 
 
 Break five eggs in a dish, season with a little salt, a dust 
 of pepper, half a tea-spoonful of boiled chopped parsley, the 
 same quantity of young onion, also chopped very fine, and 
 beat all well together. 
 
 Melt in the frying-pan two ounces of butter, and pour the 
 egg in. Stir it, but when it shows signs of hardening, begin 
 to shape it with the spoon, and by tipping the pan up so that 
 the egg may occupy only a small part of the pan. When a 
 very delicate brown is supposed to be attained, turn it upon 
 a dish, with the browned side top. Omelettes should not be 
 overdone. They may be varied to almost any amount. Del- 
 icate vegetables, such as boiled cauliflower, or herbs, or boiled 
 chopped ham, may be beaten into the egg. Omelettes should 
 be served hot. 
 
 POACHED EGG. 
 
 Beat six eggs Veil, put them in a stewpan with about 
 three ounces of butter. Stir them constantly for three min- 
 utes. Serve on hot buttered toast. 
 
 EGG-PLANT (Solanum Melongena). Of this delicate 
 plant there are two varieties, the white and purple. The 
 
FAT. 155 
 
 last is for the table, the white being more ornamental, but 
 rarely used. 
 
 Select young fruit that has just reached maturity. Par- 
 boil them, and drain off the water. When cool, slice them 
 about an inch thick, and fry them in batter made of egg, 
 milk, and flour, or dip each slice in egg, and then in grated 
 bread-crumbs that are seasoned with salt and pepper. Fry 
 them a delicate brown. They are much used at the South, 
 where they are thought to resemble soft crabs in taste. 
 
 EIDER-DOWN. The down of the Eider-duck, called 
 also the Gothland duck. This duck is found principally in 
 Iceland, in the Hebrides, Shetland, and Orkney Islands, 
 though it is found as far south as the Fame Isles off the 
 coast of Northumberland, and in the rocky islets beyond Port- 
 land in America. The down, so highly esteemed for bed- 
 quilts, is collected from the nests of the birds. When the 
 nest is stripped for the first time, the female again supplies 
 it from her breast ; but a second robbery brings the male to 
 her rescue, who then furnishes the nest with down from his 
 breast. 
 
 FAT. According as this part of animal flesh differs in 
 different animals, its name varies ; in the horse and bear it 
 is called grease, in the ox and sheep, tallow, fat, suet ; and 
 in the hog, hog's lard. 
 
 The characters which indicate a disposition in the ox and 
 other domesticated animals to secrete fat, are fineness of 
 the bones, the largeness of the body as compared with the 
 smallness of the extremities, limbs, head, and neck, the 
 broadness of the chest, the roundness of the body, and the 
 soft, elastic touch of the skin. This form is not the same that 
 is looked for in the female ox as showing a disposition to se- 
 crete milk, where, as it has been remarked, the limbs should 
 
156 FIG. 
 
 be delicate, the forehead narrow, the shoulders thin, and the 
 fore-quarters light. (Low's Elements of Agriculture.) 
 
 FIG. The fig is one of the oldest fruits known. In the 
 United States it is generally cultivated in the shrub form, so 
 that it can be easily protected during the winter. It is prop- 
 agated by cuttings, which are taken off early in the spring, 
 and planted in the light soil of a hot-bed. On being removed, 
 they should be placed in a mellow, calcareous soil, and the 
 compost should be corrected with marl or mild lime ; they 
 may-be transplanted the same season. Mr. Downing recom- 
 mends root-pruning for the fig as cultivated in the United 
 States. " Short-jointed wood, and only moderate vigor of 
 growth, are," he remarks, " well-known accompaniments of 
 fruitfulness in this tree ; and there is no means by which 
 firm, well-ripened, short-jointed wood is so easily obtained, 
 as by an annual pruning of the roots, cutting off all that 
 project more than half the length of the branches." Root- 
 pruning on the fig is performed early in November. 
 
 In foreign culture the fig is frequently subjected, while the 
 fruit is maturing, to a singular custom. To assist it in ripening 
 the fruit, it is punctured before it reaches maturity with a 
 hollow straw that has b^en dipped in olive-oil, a single drop 
 of oil being passed near the eye into each fig. Mr. Down- 
 ing observed the custom sc far as to touch the ends of 
 the fig with the finger dipped in oil, and thought the fruit 
 ripened more speedily and swelled to a larger size for the 
 practice. 
 
 South of Virginia the fig needs no covering of soil, or 
 straw, or branches of evergreens, during the winter, but 
 grows easily as a standard tree. 
 
 Where figs are not perfectly fresh, they may be put into 
 an oven of very moderate heat, and plumped, and then 
 rubbed with a coarse towel. 
 
FISH. 157 
 
 FISH. The Pythagoreans are said to have abstained 
 from fish, out of respect to their taciturnity. Moderns, how- 
 ever, with an inquisitiveness that annihilates reverence, have 
 found out that some, if not all fish, have a weakness for colors ; 
 that perch can be decoyed into drum-nets by daffodils, or 
 any bright-yellow flowers. It is also said, that by rubbing 
 your hands with assafoetida, fish will allow themselves to be 
 taken from the water, as readily as by the exquisite artificial 
 flies of the hook-ahd-line fisherman. 
 
 All Greeks not having equal forbearance with the follow- 
 ers of Pythagoras, we find the Thunny, which is to the South 
 of Europe what the Mackerel is to the North, in great favor 
 as an article of food among the early Greeks. 
 
 From the Romans, the famous pickle, Garum or Garus, 
 has come down to us ; it derived its name from a crustaceous 
 animal so called, from which it was sometimes made ; but 
 Pliny says a fish called Scomber, which some think may 
 have been our mackerel, was also employed to make this 
 pickle, and remarks further, that Apicius used the liver of 
 the mullet for this purpose. 
 
 The classification of fish according to some natural and 
 clearly defined orders has been acknowledged by the acutest 
 intellects to be extremely difficult ; for the successful perform- 
 ance of the task, the great Cuvier found himself not prepared, 
 and it is to our illustrious citizen, M. Agassiz, that this ex- 
 tensive branch of natural history owes a debt, which should 
 be discharged in the immediate gratitude of the present gen- 
 eration, and the accumulated admiration of succeeding ones. 
 Long as America can appreciate genius may such names be 
 gathered under her stars and stripes. 
 
 Fishes are naturally long-lived. Their age has been de- 
 monstrated by fastening a ring, with the date inscribed, to the 
 gill-covers. One of the most celebrated fish-stories is that 
 of the pike of Frederic the Second. This monarch had a 
 14 
 
158 FISH. 
 
 ring so fastened to a pike, with the date, 1487, and the king's 
 order, appended, and the fish thrown into his pond, near 
 his castle of Kaiserslautern. The pike was taken in 1754, 
 when it had consequently attained the age of two hundred 
 and sixty-seven years. It weighed three hundred and fifty 
 pounds, and was nineteen feet long. 
 
 The senses of smell and hearing have no external avenue 
 in fishes, but the former is said to be the most acute of all 
 their senses. In their natural element their motions exceed 
 in swiftness and duration the flight of birds, the shark being 
 swifter and more untiring than the eagle, and the herring 
 and salmon more rapid than the swallow. Generally the 
 eye of the ffsh is unprotected with eyelids, being made to 
 resist the water, as the terrestrial animal is to live in air. 
 
 I shall proceed to give a short account of some of the most 
 important edible fish. By a benevolent Providence those 
 classes which constitute the most wholesome xfood for man 
 are the most numerous. 
 
 The Herring lives in the Arctic seas of Europe, Asia, 
 and America, migrating southward, at different seasons of 
 the year, in vast shoals, to obtain food and deposit their 
 spawn. These shoals, which are led by the largest and 
 strongest, and divided into bands as they proceed, which visit 
 different islands and countries, are followed by larger fish, 
 which devour them, and by flocks of gulls and marine birds, 
 whose noise and numbers announce the approach of the fish. 
 These migrations are said to take place at three different 
 times. The first, when the ice begins to melt, to the end of 
 June ; then comes the summer migration ; the autumn one fol- 
 lows, lasting till the midst of September. They deposit their 
 spawn where stones and marine plants are found. The 
 millions of these fish that are annually taken by English, 
 Dutch, and American seamen, by the Norwegians and other 
 European nations, are hardly to be computed. Against 
 
FISH. 159 
 
 these annual drains, and the constant attacks of larger fish, 
 is provided the fecundity of the herring, the spawn of each 
 female containing from thirty to forty thousand eggs. 
 
 Who first salted herrings cannot be decided, some authori- 
 ties giving the honor of the invention to William Deukelzoon, 
 a fisherman of Dutch Flanders, who lived in the end of the 
 fourteenth century, others bestowing it upon William Benck- 
 els or Benkelings of Biervliet, over whose grave the Em- 
 peror Charles the Fifth is reported to have eaten a her- 
 ring, in token of his appreciation of the importance of the 
 invention. The smoking of herring was first undertaken at 
 Dieppe in Normandy. 
 
 Hardly less valuable is the Codfish. It is found between 
 the fortieth and sixtieth degrees of north latitude, both in 
 the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, making its home on the 
 great shallows and sand-banks, of which the most celebrat- 
 ed is the great bank of Newfoundland. Towards the end 
 of winter or the beginning of spring, the codfish seeks the 
 coast to deposit its spawn. The codfish, with fewer enemies, 
 is still more productive than the herring, more than nine 
 millions of eggs having been discovered in a codfish of the 
 middle size. 
 
 The Haddock belongs to the codfish genus. This fish as- 
 sembles in vast shoals during the winter months, in every 
 part of the Northern Ocean, forming banks sometimes twenty- 
 four miles long by three broad, and bending their course 
 generally southward, proceeding beyond the limits of the cod 
 and the herring ; but it has been remarked that they neither 
 enter the Baltic nor the Mediterranean. 
 
 The Hake is also an inferior species of the codfish genus ; 
 it is known also under the name of Stock-fish, and " Poor 
 John." 
 
 The Mackerel is another tribe of migratory fish. It frequents 
 the Arctic, Antarctic, and Mediterranean Seas, as well as the 
 
162 FISH. 
 
 He says, " Take live eels, throw them into the fire, and as 
 they are twisting about on all sides, lay hold of them with 
 a towel in your hand, and skin them." Life ceases when 
 the back part of the skull, the seat of the spinal marrow, is 
 pierced. 
 
 Though most fishes die soon after leaving the water, and 
 exhibit little muscular irritability after death, yet those gen- 
 era which make an approach to a ganglionic system, such as 
 the carp and cod kind, generally are found to be partial ex- 
 ceptions to these laws. Fishmongers have availed them- 
 selves of these deviations to introduce the fashion of crimp- 
 ing, or stimulating the fish into motion by transverse incis- 
 ions. The vitality of the carp is very great ; they may be 
 placed in nets, and kept and fed thus for a long time in a 
 damp cellar, and the heart of a carp has been known to leap 
 about four hours after dismemberment from the body. 
 
 Herring are seldom cured in a private family, but persons 
 living near the sea-shore may easily take the pickle left 
 from their winter stock of meat, and throw the herring in 
 alive. They should remain at least twenty-four hours, and 
 then be packed in a close barrel or half-barrel, with a layer 
 of salt at the bottom and between each successive layer of 
 fish, and an occasional sprinkling of saltpetre. Be liberal 
 with the salt. If they do not make brine enough, pour 
 pickle over them in a few weeks after they are packed. If 
 not kept covered with brine, they will become rusty. 
 
 In cooking them, take them from the brine, and let them 
 soak for an hour or two, take them from the water, scale 
 them, and pull off the gills, when the entrails will follow. 
 Wash them and let them dry. They will require but a few 
 minutes to broil. 
 
 The legal measure for fish is for each tierce to contain 
 three hundred pounds ; each barrel, two hundred pounds ; 
 each half-barrel, one hundred pounds ; each quarter-barrel, 
 
FISH. 163 
 
 fifty pounds ; and each tenth or kid, twenty pounds. The 
 legal measure of salt is at the rate of thirty-five pounds for 
 every two hundred pounds of fish ; and it is further provided, 
 that each cask shall be filled up with clear, strong pickle, 
 and that the species called Magdalen Herring shall be desig- 
 nated on the outside of the cask which holds the same. 
 See Alewives. 
 
 BAKED COD. 
 
 * 
 Clean the cod nicely inside and out, flour it, and cut thin 
 
 slices of pork, which secure to the fish at equal distances 
 with silver skewers. Make a stuffing for the belly of grated 
 bread, beef-suet, sweet marjoram, thyme, pepper, salt, and, if 
 you have it, one anchovy. Make an anchovy-sauce for it, or 
 serve with drawn butter. Mackerel may be dressed in the 
 same way. 
 
 BOILED COD. 
 
 Cod boiled and served with oyster-sauce is also a favorite 
 dish. It should be boiled in a fish-kettle, with a strainer. 
 Let the water be salted, and it should boil hard when the 
 fish is put in. Let it simmer, covered, for about half an 
 hour. You may crimp cod to be boiled if you please. Pour 
 the oyster-sauce over the fish before it goes to the table. 
 
 SALT COD. 
 
 Brush it with a brush kept for the purpose, and then put 
 into water, and let it soak over night. Pour the water off, 
 and put the fish into the fish-kettle, with a good deal of water. 
 Let it come almost to a boil, when remove it to the corner of 
 the fire, and keep it covered till you wish to serve. Put it 
 upon a dish with a drainer, and serve with egg-sauce in a 
 boat. 
 
 BOILED SALMON. 
 This fish may be boiled whole, or the head and shoulders 
 
164 FISH. 
 
 of a large, thick salmon will make a handsome dish. Scale 
 and clean the fish without cutting it open far. If it is boiled 
 whole, put it into boiling water, in which has been thrown a 
 handful of salt. Boiling water is thought to harden the fish. 
 Put it to boil in a large fish-kettle, with a strainer. If it is 
 put into cold water, it will not be done under an hour, and if 
 it weigh ten pounds, an hour's gentle simmering will hardly 
 be too much. Fish underdone is unwholesome, and looks 
 uninviting. When done, lift the strainer, and rest it across 
 the kettle, that the fish may drain. Heat the dish (which 
 should have a strainer), and heat also a white napkin, and 
 place it in the dish, turn the salmon on gently, without break- 
 ing it, and have it sent to the table hot. Serve caper-sauce 
 or anchovy -sauce in a boat. 
 
 SALMON CUTLETS. 
 
 Cut the salmon open, remove the bone, and cut the fillets 
 about three inches deep. Lay them to dry in the folds of a 
 clean, coarse cloth. They may be broiled or fried. If fried, 
 put a few rashers of pork in the pan, or, if expense is not to 
 be considered, use sweet olive-oil. Serve hot, with pepper 
 and salt sprinkled over each cutlet. 
 
 Haddock is good, boiled or baked, but on account of its 
 firmness and lightness is generally chowdered. S,ee Chowder. 
 
 Salmon, cod, or halibut, after being scaled and cleaned, 
 may be cut into handsome pieces, and smoked over the em- 
 bers of a kitchen fire, rubbing a little salt over each bit, and 
 be broiled for breakfast. See Broiling. 
 
 Tautog, or black-fish, may be baked with forcemeat stuffing 
 for the belly. Proceed as for baked cod, but baste even 
 more frequently. Wine, water, and walnut or mushroom 
 catchup make a good baste for the tautog. 
 
 All small and delicate fish, like smelts, perch, trout, etc., 
 should, after being well dried, be washed with beaten egg, 
 
FISH. 165 
 
 and dipped in grated bread-crumbs or Indian meal, and fried 
 in hot lard. 
 
 Small sturgeons are considered nicest for the table, and 
 tbe tail-piece or the piece next the tail is to be preferred ; 
 but whether baked or boiled, a rich sauce should be pre- 
 pared, as the sturgeon is a dry fish. The skin should, for 
 these dishes, be nicely scraped, and in sturgeon cutlets or 
 steaks, the skin should be removed. 
 
 SHELL-FISH. 
 
 Shell-fish cannot always be taken upon delicate stomachs, 
 yet where they sit easily, and are relished, they are said to 
 neutralize acidity in the stomach more readily and complete- 
 ly than any other animal food. 
 
 The order Molluscans afford a great variety of food to 
 man. Here are found the common clam, mussel, cockle, peri- 
 winkle, and a species of the snail genus, much relished by 
 the Romans, and to this day fattened and eaten by the 
 French, and by them called the Escargot ; here, too, is the 
 Escallop, whose shells are often used for skimming milk; 
 and last, but not least, here is found the Oyster, which, as an 
 article of food, has always been in request. 
 
 Among the Crustaceans we have the crab, the lobster, the 
 cray-fish, or thorny lobster, much valued by the French, 
 and called by them Langouste, but which is but an inferior 
 kind of lobster, prawns, shrimps, and fresh- water cray-fish. 
 
 Here, as the most convenient place, I shall also briefly 
 mention the few animals among the class of Reptiles that 
 yield food to man, the turtle, terrapin, and frog. 
 
 OYSTERS. 
 
 The oyster is found on the coasts of Europe, America, 
 Asia, and Africa. They seldom leave the rocks or substances 
 upon which they fasten themselves. " Like other Molluscans," 
 
166 PISH. 
 
 says the learned Kirby, " they are hermaphrodites, and are 
 stated by Poll, the great luminary of conchology, to contain 
 1,200,000 eggs, so that a single oyster might give birth to 
 12,000 barrels ! ! " This is the only shell-fish, as the same 
 author remarks, that man has made certain pits or beds for ; 
 , such beds are placed where salt water may have -access to 
 them at high tide. 
 
 Oysters are considered by gourmands as a whetter to the ap- 
 petite, and a few taken before dinner, with a little lemon-juice 
 squeezed over each, are said to stimulate a languid appetite. 
 
 June, July, and August are forbidden months for oysters 
 and clams. Small oysters are generally considered the 
 nicest-flavored. 
 
 In cooking all shell-fish, great care is necessary, for if they 
 are overdone, or smothered in foreign substances, they not only 
 lose their individual piquancy, but are less easily digested. 
 
 Escalloped or Scalloped Oysters. 
 
 The shell of the escallop is sometimes used for the oyster ; 
 if not to be easily procured, use shallow dishes for oysters 
 thus served. Wash the oysters in their liquor, remove them 
 carefully one by one, strain the liquor to get rid of bits of 
 shell, return the oysters to their liquor, and put them to scald 
 in a stewpan. When heated, remove them, and fill your 
 shells or dish with oysters, sprinkle them with bread-crumbs, 
 a little pounded mace, clove, and slices of butter ; heat the 
 liquor again, and work a small piece of butter into a little 
 flour, drop it into the liquor with a dust of cayenne pepper, 
 put it to the oysters, and bake them a light brown. 
 
 Fried Oysters. 
 
 Wash the oysters from their liquor, dry them in a cloth. 
 Beat two eggs, and grate into another dish a nice loaf of 
 baker's bread. Wash each oyster in the egg, and roll them 
 
FISH. 167 
 
 up and down in the bread. Fry them in hot lard or clarified 
 butter. When they are of a delicate brown, put them into a 
 warm dish, with pieces of butter between them, and a little 
 fresh lemon-juice. 
 
 Roasted Oysters. 
 
 Just before they are to be served, put them unopened on a 
 gridiron, which place over a moderate fire. When the shell 
 opens, they are cooked. Be careful to keep the liquor in the 
 shells. Serve on coarse trays with napkins. 
 
 Stewed Oysters. 
 
 Wash the oysters from their liquor ; allow the latter to set- 
 tle, then strain it carefully, and add to it some whole pepper, 
 a blade or two of mace, and three cloves, and set it over a 
 moderate fire in a clean block-tin sauce-pan ; mix a little 
 flour into a piece of butter, stir it into the liquor, cover the 
 pan, and when the liquor begins to heat, put the oysters in, 
 and let them simmer very gently about five minutes. Have 
 your dish hot, and covered with slices of bread that have 
 been dried, toasted, and well buttered, and pour the oysters 
 over them. Only rich, juicy oysters will stew to advantage. 
 
 MUSSELS, CLAMS, ETC. 
 
 Mussels, Clams, Escallops, etc. may be cooked in the same 
 variety as the oyster, only they require more care, because 
 there are coarse parts to be removed ; they must be always 
 trimmed of the beard, and tough unwholesome parts. See 
 Soups, Sauces, etc. 
 
 LOBSTERS AND CRABS. 
 
 The best are heavy. They have when fresh an agreeable 
 fresh smell ; the tail of the lobster is stiff, and when pulled 
 springs back ; the claws of the crab will have the same elas- 
 ticity; if stale, they will be flabby, and the eyes will look 
 
168 FISH. 
 
 dead. Fish, however, is almost invariably presented in the 
 United States in a fresh and wholesome state. 
 
 The male lobster has the tail narrower, the upper fins stiffer, 
 and the whole body smaller, than the hen-lobster ; its meat is 
 considered the richer, but the female is sometimes preferred 
 for ornamental dishes, on account of the spawn and coral. 
 They are generally bought already boiled, being thrown by 
 fishermen, as soon as caught, into boiling water, and boiled 
 from thirty to fifty minutes, according to their size ; boiled 
 too long, they become tough ; if not long enough, the spawn 
 will not have an agreeable color. On being taken from the 
 water, they are wiped with a damp cloth rubbed over with 
 butter or sweet olive-oil, which is wiped off afterward. 
 
 Lobster and Crab served Cold. 
 
 Take off the claws and crack them at the joints, lay the 
 body and tail open neatly with a sharp knife, removing the 
 dark vein, and what is vulgarly known as the lady, and then 
 dispose the eatable portions neatly on the dish. Serve in a 
 salad bowl the following sauce. Rub the hard-boiled yolks 
 of three eggs and the spawn of the lobster together to a 
 paste, add a salt-spoonful of salt, a little cayenne, two large 
 spoonfuls of sweet olive-oil, a teaspoonful of made mustard, 
 three table-spoonfuls of good cider vinegar, and a teaspoon- 
 ful of anchovy-sauce. The same sauce will serve for plain 
 boiled crabs. 
 
 Crabs in the Shell. 
 
 Take the meat from the claws and body, mince it very 
 fine, and season it with salt, white pepper, and a little pounded 
 mace. Have the shell nicely cleaned, and sprinkle bread- 
 crumbs into it with pieces of butter, put the meat of two 
 crabs into the shell, and bake in a moderate oven. 
 
 Lobster and crab, as also shrimps and prawns, may have 
 
FISH. 169 
 
 their meat cut into bits, or minced and stewed in -white or 
 brown gravy, seasoning with pepper and salt, and be served 
 on toasted bread. 
 
 The tail and claws are favorite parts in the lobster. 
 
 TURTLE. 
 
 The larger part of the turtles used in the United States 
 are taken off the Florida coast. The turtle should be kept 
 in water till to be killed, then taken out, suspended by the 
 hind fins, and the head taken off with a knife. Allow it to 
 bleed several hours ; then take it down, cut off the fins at the 
 joint, and throw them into scalding water ; next remove the 
 under shell or callipee, and put it into another vessel with 
 scalding water ; remove the entrails, taking care not to break 
 the gall-bag, and throw the entrails and gall away. The en- 
 trails of the turtle are not now used. Remove with a knife 
 the lungs, kidneys, heart, and liver, and throw them into cold 
 water, the liver in a vessel by itself. Put the eggs also, if 
 there be any, into a basin of cold water. 
 
 Remove the fins and callipee from the hot water, and skin 
 them first, and cut the meat of the callipee into pieces three 
 or four inches square, breaking the shell, and removing the 
 whole of the meat. The callipash, or meat of the upper shell, 
 may be cut smaller, and the green fat into quite small square 
 pieces. Wash and wipe out the upper shell. 
 
 Having washed every part of it, take the coarser pieces 
 and the bone, and put them, with a piece of ham, a knuckle 
 of veal, or eight calves' feet, into a large pot of water. Put in 
 two or three onions chopped fine, a little cayenne pepper, and a 
 table-spoonful of sweet marjoram and summer savory. Let 
 it simmer slowly four or five hours, strain it, and have the 
 pot washed and wiped out. Lay in it some of the reserved 
 delicate pieces, and the liver cut up, and some of the green 
 fat, some forcemeat balls, made of veal, bread-crumbs, and 
 15 
 
170 FISH. 
 
 the usual spices, with a little grated lemon-peel and beaten 
 egg ; also the eggs of the turtle, and hard-boiled yolks of eggs. 
 Let the forcemeat-balls and egg-balls be small. Pour the 
 strained soup over the whole, and let it simmer slowly an 
 hour. When it has thus boiled, cut up a lemon or two in 
 slices, removing the seed, and put them into the pot with a 
 pint of Madeira; let it simmer fifteen or twenty minutes, 
 when put it into the tureen. 
 
 While the soup is being made, let the finer pieces of the 
 turtle be stewing gently in a little broth, or brown gravy, 
 seasoned with salt, cayenne, and a little finely pulverized 
 sweet marjoram and summer savory. Make a rich paste, and 
 line the back shell with the paste, ornamenting the edge with 
 the same. After the turtle has stewed gently for an hour (add- 
 ing a very little more broth, if it gets too dry), knead a little 
 flour into a pound of butter, and stir into it, with the green 
 fat, some grated lemon-peel ; let it simmer another hour, take 
 it up, stir in three or four well-beaten yolks of eggs, and a 
 pint of Madeira wine ; let it simmer about a quarter of an 
 hour longer, then take it off, and when cool put it into the 
 shell. Set the shell, propped up at the sides with bricks or 
 stones, into a moderate oven, and let it bake a rich brown. 
 Let it go to the table in the shell on a large dish, at the same 
 time as the soup. Have lemons sliced, and pickles served in 
 small pickle-dishes at the sides of the table. In a turtle pas- 
 try the meat is stewed in a similar manner, and the whole 
 of the top is covered with pastry ornamented by the pastry- 
 cutter. 
 
 TERRAPIN. 
 
 These, like the lobster, are thrown alive into boiling water. 
 Let them remain till the outer shell and toe-nails can be re- 
 moved. Wash them in warm water, and boil them, with a 
 little salt to the water, till the fleshy part of the leg is tender. 
 They should be now removed to a dish, the second shell 
 
 
FLANNEL. 171 
 
 taken off, and the sand-bag and the gall carefully removed, 
 and the spongy part be also cut off. After having cut up the 
 meat into small pieces, season it with salt, cayenne, and 
 black pepper, and the yolk of two eggs to a terrapin, and 
 knead a little flour into a piece of butter ; let them stew gen- 
 tly for a few minutes, then add a gill of madeira or sherry 
 for every terrapin, and a little browned flour rubbed into a 
 bit of butter ; let it remain a few minutes longer in a sauce- 
 pan, then put it hot into the dish over slices of dried toasted 
 bread. 
 
 FROG. 
 
 Grenouilles frites, or fried frogs, is a dish which is 
 sometimes served in New England. The hind-quarters of 
 the frog only are used ; soak them, after washing them in 
 warm water, in cold vinegar, with a little salt ; let them re- 
 main an hour in the salt and vinegar, then throw them in 
 scalding water, remove the skin without tearing the flesh, 
 wipe them dry, and fry them with parsley chopped fine, in 
 clarified butter or sweet olive-oil ; when fried a delicate color, 
 sprinkle a little pepper and salt over them, and garnish the 
 dish with crisped parsley. Frogs are also sometimes stewed 
 in the saucepan, with butter, wine, a little flour, and, just be- 
 fore they are removed from the fire, the beaten yolks of two 
 or three eggs, and the dish garnished with finely chopped 
 crisped parsley. 
 
 FLANNEL. This material, being of animal origin, re- 
 quires, especially when worn next the skin, frequent wash- 
 ings. Flannel should be thoroughly wet in cold, soft water, 
 and wrung out, and then washed in warm suds made of hard 
 soap. Renew the suds so long as they look discolored. The 
 last suds need not be so strong of soap as the previous ones, 
 but all should be hot. Wring flannels dry, and shake them 
 well. Press them well with a warm iron, on the wrong 
 side, before they are quite dry. 
 
172 FLOWEBS. 
 
 FLOWERS. We have no reason to believe that either 
 Greeks or Romans cultivated flowers so far as to set apart 
 ground for their cultivation. Modern Europe was first in- 
 cited by the example of the East to this charming occupa- 
 tion. Turkey, Persia, and China had long cherished flowers 
 before the same taste had passed through Constantinople, 
 Italy, Germany, and Holland, and from this last into Eng- 
 land. Flora, as if in revenge at this tardy homage from the 
 best part of the world, yielded to the humor of Puck, and 
 from 1 634 to 1 637 set Commerce off in a mad frolic, and 
 made the Dutchman pay for the music. During the space 
 alluded to, a single root of a fashionable species of tulip 
 would have bought a handsome farm, and have stocked it 
 with cattle, grain, furniture, and provisions. 
 
 Flowers are cultivated with an eye to effect, or to botani- 
 cal arrangement ; where the last is sought, all the species 
 of a genus are kept together, though colors must be con- 
 fused ; where effect merely is looked for, plants whose season 
 for flowering is the same, and whose colors contrast, such as 
 blue and yellow, red and green, orange and purple, are se- 
 lected. Where, however, colors do not form agreeable con- 
 trasts, they may be softened by the interposition of white 
 flowers, or dark-colored ones that approach black. So also 
 where flowers are intended for vases or pots, and whose back- 
 ground is to be the blue sky, purple and blue flowers should 
 be avoided, and orange and red flowers chosen. 
 
 It is much to be wished that jardinieres (though the au- 
 thor has found these in the parlors of Bangor, Me., filled 
 with choicest camellias), and baskets of flowers suspended 
 from ceilings and windows, would take the place of expensive 
 upholstery ; even the first violets of spring, and the autumn 
 leaves and the blue fringed gentian of .autumn, the trophies 
 of pleasant walks, placed about a room, give it a freshness 
 and cheerfulness that is always felt, if not acknowledged. 
 
FLOWERS. 173 
 
 The limits of this book forbid my entering far into this 
 tempting field; I shall therefore offer only a few hints, as 
 they occur to me. 
 
 In watering tender plants, care should be taken to have 
 the water of similar temperature as the plants to be watered, 
 and to avoid throwing the water directly on the collar or 
 neck of the plant. Indeed, the soil is better to be kept dry for 
 an inch or two around such plants, for moisture on the collar 
 frequently leads to disease in delicate plants. The collar or 
 neck, called sometimes the heart of the plant, is the point of 
 union for the ascending stem and branches, and the descend- 
 ing roots, and any injury done to this part of the plant leads 
 to disease or death. If lime-water is used to keep off insects, 
 the water should merely be made a little milky in color. 
 
 Decayed leaves, that have been swept together in the fall, 
 and kept in a heap, and turned over once a month, form in 
 about a year the vegetable mould, which is the best manure 
 for flowering plants. 
 
 Annuals or plants which live but one summer are, when 
 hardy, sown directly into the garden-soil, pressing the 
 ground with a spade or saucer, sprinkling the seed thinly, 
 and covering them merely with fine earth ; but the ten- 
 derer kinds are frequently matured in pots, and put into 
 the garden to flower, the first pot being very small, the next 
 one a little larger ; and when the roots have stuck to the ex- 
 tremities of the ball of earth contained in the second pot, 
 which can be ascertained by gently coaxing it into the hand, 
 it should be shifted into one a little larger, and so on till the 
 flower-buds begin to shoot, when it may at once be placed in 
 the garden, or, if kept in the house, be no more shifted. 
 Fill the pots up with light, rich mould, and see that coarse 
 bits of crock or similar matter form a good drainage to each 
 pot. Balsams and Cock's-combs that have been brought for- 
 ward in a healthy manner may be occasionally watered with 
 15* 
 
174 FLOWERS. 
 
 liquid manure ; but this should not be applied to tender grow- 
 ing annuals. 
 
 In transplanting, keep the ball of earth round the plant, 
 and water it well for the first few days, till the ground is set. 
 Perhaps no garden-flower has more increased in size and 
 beauty of color, through cultivation, than the Pansy. The 
 origin of most of the pansies now in cultivation is from the 
 small European violet, Viola tricolor, hybridized by some 
 other species. They may be grown from the seed, or by di- 
 viding the root. They require in warm weather constant 
 watering, but the soil where they are placed should be well 
 drained. Cultivators seem always to delight in bringing for- 
 eign plants home, rather than in improving home productions. 
 The small white violet of our woods, pretty and exquisitely 
 fragrant, has never been cultivated, and in England it is said 
 that our mullein-plant is a conspicuous ornament of conser- 
 vatories. 
 
 Biennials are plants that show no flower till the second 
 year, and then, after ripening their seed, die. I have been 
 told that annuals may sometimes be made biennial by keep- 
 ing the buds back with thumb-pruning, and sowing the seed 
 late. Wallflowers, Canterbury-bells, Snapdragons, Bromp- 
 ton Stocks, Hollyhocks, are biennials, though, excepting the 
 Brompton Stocks, these frequently last three or four years 
 from the first setting out. 
 
 Florists' flowers are such as attain great size and glowing 
 colors by excessive painstaking in the culture, and they are 
 expected to hybridize freely, or to vary much from seed. 
 Florists have a certain coxcombry among themselves, and 
 may be seen criticising and throwing away flowers for some 
 alleged defects in form or color, unnoticed, because unknown, 
 to vulgar eyes ; thus, if the Dahlia shows any green in the 
 centre, it is worthless ; if in the Auricula or Polyanthus the 
 style projects beyond the stamens, such are called pin-eyed, 
 
FOWLS. 175 
 
 and are of no value. The flowers which have been most 
 successfully pampered by florists are the Hyacinth, the Tulip, 
 the Dahlia, the Auricula, the Polyanthus, the Carnation, the 
 Pink, the Ranunculus, the Anemone, the Geraniums or Pe- 
 largoniums, the Pansies, the Calceolarias, and the Chrysan- 
 themums. 
 
 We have seen that flowers lend their aid to the dyer, and 
 that fomentations are often made of the flowers and leaves 
 of plants. Colchicum, a bulbous-rooted plant, the flower of 
 which resembles the Crocus, affords a medicine used for 
 rheumatism and the gout; but as in large quantities it is 
 poisonous, the extract should never be taken without medi- 
 cal advice. 
 
 For those who wish to pursue the science of Botany, the 
 works of Professor Gray of Cambridge, and Professor Tor- 
 rey of New York, will be of valuable assistance, while the 
 amateur gardener, whose time is limited, will find present 
 help in Mrs. Loudoun's " Companion to the Flower Gar- 
 den," adapted by Downing to the wants of this country. 
 
 FOWLS. The domestic fowls reared for food are com- 
 monly divided into, 
 
 1. Gallinaceae, the Cock kind, comprehending the Common 
 Cock, the Turkey, the Guinea-fowl, the Peacock, and the 
 Pigeon. 
 
 2. Palmipedes, the Web-footed kinds, comprehending the 
 Duck, the Goose, and the Swan. 
 
 The Swan and the Peacock are now only reared for their 
 beauty, and not for economical purposes. 
 
 The Domestic Cock (Phasianus gallus) is, among the gal- 
 linaceous fowls, the first in importance. The origin of this 
 valuable bird is unknown, though the Jungle-fowl of India is 
 supposed to be the original breed; but it adapts itself to every 
 climate except the polar. The differences in this tribe are 
 
176 FOWLS. 
 
 principally shown in their plumage : one breed has a tuft of 
 feathers on the head ; the little Bantam has his legs covered 
 with feathers ; the Rumplets have no tail ; the Friesland 
 Hen has the feathers on her body recurved ; another breed, 
 called the Silk-hens, instead of feathers, are dressed in a kind 
 of silken hair. Some of these breeds are more curious than 
 useful. The Friesland or Frizzled Hen, as it is commonly 
 called on account of the appearance of its ruffled plumage, 
 and which does not love a cold climate, and the little Ban- 
 tam, feathered to the toe, are valued mostly for their beauty, 
 though they are delicate eating. 
 
 The approved varieties of fowls are numerous. The 
 Dorking Fowls of England, so called from a town in Surrey, 
 near which they were raised, are among the most popular. 
 When of pure breed, they have five claws on each foot, are 
 large in the body, their color is white, and they are generous 
 layers. 
 
 The Poland Fowls are regarded as equally valuable with 
 the Dorking, but they are less inclined to set than those of any 
 other breed. " Their color," says Professor Low, " is black, 
 their heads flat, and surmounted with a crown of feathers." 
 They are good layers. 
 
 Among the larger breeds we find the Great Malay Fowl, 
 and the Chittagong breed, which is held now to be a distinct 
 breed from the Great Malay, and to possess more desirable 
 points, having a more capacious body, more delicate flesh, 
 and maturing earlier than the Malay variety. The Chinese 
 fowls, consisting of the Cochin China breed and the Shang- 
 hae fowls, have been successfully crossed with the common 
 domestic breeds. 
 
 The hatching period is twenty-one days ; during this period, 
 the hen should have food and fresh water placed near her. 
 She inclines to eat but little during this time, and when she 
 has perfected her brood, she should be well fed on scalded 
 meal, boiled rice, and similar substances. 
 
FOWLS. 177 
 
 The moulting period succeeds to the labors of prolific lay- 
 ing and incubation. It lasts from one to three months, during 
 which time the female generally ceases to lay, or does so 
 rarely, and seems languid and depressed. 
 
 A hen is old at four years, and in her fifth year should 
 make way for younger birds. A cock should never exceed 
 three years ; if well fed, and of good breed, he matures at 
 three months. 
 
 To have a desirable breed of fowls, the finest-formed hen 
 should be chosen (or a thoroughly matured pullet) for breed- 
 ing purposes, and the cock changed yearly, so as to avoid 
 what is called " in and in " breeding. If pullets are used, 
 they should be well matured ; otherwise the breed will be 
 small, tender, and consequently difficult to raise. 
 
 Fowls, when confined, should have a building placed above 
 ground, that may be easily ventilated. Their floor should 
 be covered with wood ,or coal ashes, and the interior of their 
 building should be white-washed two or three times every 
 year, and cleaned once a week. Avoid too much glass, 
 which gives an unnatural heat, and creates distempers. 
 Keep them dry, supply them with fresh water daily, and a 
 variety in their food. When cooped and unable to procure 
 insects, supply them with animal food, and feed them three 
 times a day. A little cayenne-pepper mixed with Indian- 
 meal dough may be given to them occasionally during the 
 winter season. Gravel should be within thei ? r reach, and 
 oyster-shells, or similar substances, pounded fine, should be 
 scattered about the coop. 
 
 In selecting eggs for hatching, take those of medium .size, 
 that you believe have been rendered productive ; the large 
 egg of corresponding size at both ends, contains double yolks, 
 which, instead of bringing twin chickens, produce morisjrosi- 
 ties. It is said that the position of the air-cell, discovered 
 by holding the egg between the light of a candle and your 
 
178 FOWLS. 
 
 eye, indicates the sex of the bird; if on one side, it will be fe- 
 male ; if in the exact apex, a male. 
 
 Do not attempt to turn the eggs ; the hen can do this best 
 herself. It is poor economy to place too many eggs under 
 one hen, though of course a large hen can cover more than 
 a smaller bird ; but the large brood often get trodden on by 
 the mother, and they are less healthy and vigorous, on ac- 
 count of being half starved during incubation. 
 
 Yellow or brownish colored eggs are mostly produced by 
 hens of Southern breed, and the white alabaster egg, by 
 Northern breeds. There is a superstition among many farm- 
 er-wives, with regard to the number of eggs for hatching ; 
 they always choose an odd number, nine and thirteen being 
 more desirable than eight or twelve. 
 
 The young chickens must be kept perfectly free from cold 
 or moisture, and fed for the first few days on rice boiled dry, 
 or Indian meal boiled and given not too moist. Water 
 should be placed in shallow plates. They should be kept 
 from the damp grass. 
 
 BOILED FOWL. 
 
 Put it into water that the chill has been taken off from, 
 after having trussed the fowl handsomely, and add to the 
 water a small piece of pork, that has been previously put into 
 cold water and boiled in a saucepan for half an hour ; skim 
 the water, and add it to the pot with the pork. Let the fowl 
 simmer, if it be large, an hour and a half. Make an egg 
 sauce, which serve in a boat. 
 
 Boiled fowls are sometimes filled, after being trussed, in 
 the crop and body with oysters. In this case the oysters are 
 kept in by tying twine round, and placing the fowl in a jar, 
 which is put into a kettle of water, where it is boiled hard 
 for an hour and a half. Make a sauce, in a saucepan, of the 
 gravy which will be found in the jar, by kneading a little 
 
FOWLS. 179 
 
 flour into a lump of butter, chopping a few oysters, and when 
 it begins to heat, adding half a cup of cream, and the beaten 
 yolk of two eggs. Stir it, and remove when it comes to a 
 boil. Serve in a boat. 
 
 ROAST FOWL. 
 
 Having dressed and trussed them, place them before a 
 good fire, with a little salt put to a pan of water, or if you 
 have a tin-kitchen, put the salted water directly into the 
 bottom of it. Baste with this \vater till the fowls begin to 
 brown, when baste "with fresh butter. Make the gravy by 
 boiling the necks, gizzards, hearts, and liver; remove the 
 first, and chop the giblets fine ; thicken with browned flour, 
 rubbed into a piece of butter. Serve in a boat. 
 
 The Turkey (Meleagris gallo-pavo) was found in America 
 by the Spaniards. In his wild state this bird is black in 
 plumage, variegated with bronze and glossy green, and the 
 extremities of his quills are tipped with white. 
 
 While young they are exceedingly tender, and if not 
 properly cared for die off rapidly. The turkey-hen lays from 
 twelve to twenty eggs ; she seeks" out-of-the-way places to lay, 
 and must be watched, her egg removed daily, and a porcelain 
 one substituted. 
 
 When the turkey-hen desires to set, she must be cooped 
 if she evinces restlessness, and her eggs be placed under her. 
 The turkey sets on her eggs thirty days. When the young 
 are pipped or born, they must never be handled, but be kept 
 dry and warm, and be fed on bread-crumbs soaked in milk, 
 or scalded meal, and boiled rice. Separate the hen from 
 her young, otherwise she will devour their food. The 
 turkey is a close setter, and should be supplied with fresh 
 food and water ; but after her young are hatched, she is apt 
 to take them to great distances, without measuring their 
 ability to keep pace with herself; for this reason, it is better 
 
180 FOWLS. 
 
 to keep the mother cooped till her little ones have estab- 
 lished their strength. The common hen often has the eggs 
 of the turkey and duck given her to bring out. Turkeys 
 roost very high, and require large perches for their talons to 
 grasp. If cooped, their house should be well ventilated. 
 The practice of cramming turkeys is mostly gone by ; they 
 fatten readily when cooped, and fed frequently on fresh food. 
 They like meal made into a thick paste, corn, boiled potatoes 
 mixed with meal, buckwheat, boiled beans, rice, and milk 
 curd ; also wheat and barley. Fifteen pounds is a good 
 weight for a turkey, but they are sometimes, by high feeding, 
 brought to twenty and thirty pounds. 
 
 BOILED TURKEY. 
 
 Put the turkey into a kettle of water, from which the chill 
 has been taken. Cover it close, and put it over the fire ; 
 when the scum begins to rise, skim it. Simmer slowly for 
 half an hour, then take it off, and keep it covered close in 
 the hot water ; if of middling size, the confined steam will 
 cook it enough in half an hour, and keep the skin whole, ten- 
 der, and white. Put it over the fire again, just before it is 
 to be sent to the table. Serve with oyster-sauce in a boat. 
 You may, if you choose, stuff the craw, after trussing it, with 
 bread-crumbs, chopped oyster, a little mace and salt moist- 
 ened with egg, serving up the turkey, and proceeding pre- 
 cisely as above directed. 
 
 ROAST TURKEY. 
 
 Roast turkeys as you do fowls ; but a forcemeat stuffing is 
 always made for the craw, and previous to trussing, the 
 breast-bone is broken, and the sinews drawn from the legs. 
 
 The Pintado or Guinea-fowl (Numida meleagris) is, as its 
 name indicates, a native of Africa. It is reared in Virginia, 
 where its strange cry is thought to keep off birds of prey. 
 
FOWLS. 181 
 
 It is shy, and loves to wander in the woods. It lays a 
 brown-shelled egg, smaller, but richer, than the egg of the 
 common hen. She endeavors to secrete her eggs till she 
 hatches her brood. Her eggs are sometimes given to the 
 common hen to hatch. Her little ones are tender, and there- 
 fore early spring is not so favorable for rearing them as a 
 more advanced period in the season. Twenty-eight days is 
 the period of incubation with the Guinea-hen, but it is better 
 to have the eggs hatched by the common gallinaceous fowl, 
 as the male of the Guinea-hen, like the pheasant, has a pro- 
 pensity to destroy the eggs of the female. 
 
 The flesh of this fowl is delicate, if taken before it is tough 
 and old ; then it is not desirable, even for the pot. It is 
 roasted like the common fowl. 
 
 The Common Pigeon (Columba livia), on account of its 
 gentleness and trustfulness, is a great favorite ; but, says Pro- 
 fessor Low, ' l nothing beyond the gratification of luxury can be 
 derived from the cultivation of the domestic pigeon for food. 
 In vain has it been asserted, that pigeons do not feed upon 
 green corn, cannot dig into the. earth with their bills, do little 
 harm to the cultivated crops, and consume only the seeds of 
 injurious plants. The experience of farmers shows that the 
 damage done by these creatures to our various crops of 
 wheat, pease, and beans is very great ; and certainly the 
 waste is in no degree compensated for by the quantity which 
 the animals afford of human food." 
 
 Wild pigeons, however, form indifferent food when com- 
 pared with the flesh of the well-fed domestic pigeon. 
 
 The common pigeon domesticated, begins generally to 
 breed at nine months, pairing and breeding monthly, the fe- 
 male laying two eggs, which ordinarily are male and female. 
 One pair generally affords the breeder nine pairs annually, 
 for four years. Their coops should be airy, and kept with 
 great neatness. There are various breeds of pigeons, which 
 16 
 
182 FOWLS. 
 
 are valuable to the bird-fancier, as flowers are to florists, for 
 certain monstrosities and deviations from the usual laws of 
 nature. Thus the English Pouter, that swells his crop to a 
 fearful distention, and the Fantail, that makes his tail-feathers 
 adorn his head like a halo, is of exceeding value to \hz fan- 
 cier of birds. 
 
 Domestic pigeons are nice broiled, roasted, or even boiled 
 plain and served with butter-sauce in a boat, but wild pig- 
 eons are only eatable, potted or braised. Young squabs of 
 the tame pigeon, when drawn, and the craw extracted, and 
 washed through several waters, may be cut open in the 
 back, skewered and broiled quickly, and sent to the table 
 with a little pepper and a bit of butter put to each squab. 
 See Game. 
 
 Among the web-footed domestic fowls, the Duck holds a 
 conspicuous place. The Wild Duck or Mallard (Anas bos- 
 chas) is the original of our common duck ; in its wild state it 
 pairs, in its domesticated condition becomes polygamous, but 
 retains some of its shyness, for the female lays away from the 
 house, and secretes her eggs. While hatching, she should 
 not be disturbed ; but when her young are out, and she will 
 no longer be induced to keep them in the nest, she must be 
 watched, and not allowed to keep her little brood out long, as 
 the heat and the night dews cannot be endured by them with 
 impunity. The duck brings out her young in a month, when 
 she should be well fed, and have a flat dish given her with 
 water for her little ones, renewing the water frequently, and 
 giving the ducklings meal paste, or boiled rice. If the eggs 
 of the duck are given to the common fowl, the brood of 
 ducklings must be looked to, for, disregarding the call of the 
 hen, they will otherwise remain too long in the water, get 
 chilled through, and die. As ducks are gross feeders, eating 
 animal and vegetable substances of all kinds, before being 
 killed for the table their food should for some weeks be 
 selected for them. 
 
FOWLS. 183 
 
 The Muscovy Duck or Musk Duck (Anas moschata) is a 
 native of South America. He is larger than the common 
 duck, a huge feeder, and cannibalish in his habits, the au- 
 thor having seen the Musk Drake swallow small chicks. 
 This duck is very prolific, and fattens readily, but the flesh 
 is not superior to the common well-fed duck. It is a hand- 
 some bird and a valuable variety. Ducks are favored by 
 gardeners, as they eat caterpillars and insects, and do no 
 harm to vegetables that have got fairly started. Celery and 
 parsley is sometimes sown round the ponds of ducks. Wild 
 celery is said to give the exquisite flavor to the wild Canvas- 
 back Duck. 
 
 DUCK EOASTED. 
 
 The ducks being picked, drawn, and singed, stuff the body 
 with potatoes boiled and mashed smoothly ; moisten with 
 cream, and season with pepper, a little onion chopped very 
 fine, and salt ; put them down to a good fire, with water in 
 the pan of the roaster season the water with a little salt, 
 and baste them with this liquid ; if fat, they will require no 
 butter. Make the gravy with the chopped giblets that have 
 been boiled tender, the water from the pan seasoned with two 
 table-spoonfuls of mushroom catchup, and thickened with a 
 little browned flour. Serve hot. Have lemons in side-dishes, 
 cut in two. Half an hour before a good fire will cook ducks. 
 
 The Domestic Goose is the Wild Goose (Anas anser) do- 
 mesticated. In marshy districts it is reared without trouble. 
 The female sits on her nest when hatching from twenty- 
 seven to thirty days, covering eleven, and sometimes fifteen 
 eggs. Kept with ordinary care, regularly but not grossly 
 fed, the female lays a hundred eggs annually. The careful 
 hen sometimes has the eggs of the goose, as well as duck's 
 and turkey's eggs, given to her to hatch, though she cannot 
 cover more than six ; but as the goose is valuable, and her 
 
184 FOWLS. 
 
 eggs but little used in the kitchen, the assistance of the hen 
 is often desirable, especially as the goose generally inclines 
 to hatch but once a year. Besides grasses and herbs, geese 
 like corn, and indeed most farinaceous substances and edible 
 roots, such as turnips, potatoes, carrots, and the refuse of the 
 garden, such as cabbage-leaves, lettuce, and similar food. 
 
 Goslings are tender for the first few weeks, and should be 
 fed, for some days after they are hatched, on meal paste, or 
 boiled rice, or bread soaked in milk, if convenient, if not, in 
 water, and kept cooped ; and when they begin to go out, it 
 should not be till the dew is off the ground, and they should 
 be driven gently home before the sun is down. 
 
 The cruel practice of plucking feathers from the goose 
 while the bird is alive, used to be indulged in as often as five 
 times a year, but is now discontinued. 
 
 One gander is generally allowed to five geese. When 
 confined, they should have roomy coops or cribs ; space 
 enough to flap their wings and to get out of the noonday 
 sun ; they should have their floor fresh littered with clean 
 straw, be fed frequently, and have a trough of well-supplied 
 pure water. 
 
 A green goose is a goose four or six weeks old. It makes 
 a very nice dish. 
 
 ROAST GOOSE. 
 
 If old it should be kept a few days, and parboiled before 
 roasting ; but otherwise, by no means, as it dries the flesh. 
 When drawn, singed, and dried with a cloth, after thorough 
 washing, make a stuffing for the body thus : Take four or five 
 onions, and the liver that has been parboiled in the saucepan, 
 mince them in the chopping tray, add to them an equal quan- 
 tity of mashed potatoes, a bit of butter, and two beaten eggs ; 
 season with salt, pepper, and pulverized sage. If the gravy 
 is made of the water in the pan and the drippings of the 
 
FRITTERS AND PANCAKES. 185 
 
 bird, skim it carefully before thickening with browned flour. 
 Many prefer a gravy made of hot claret wine, poured upon 
 the goose by the carver. The stuffings for geese are various ; 
 the French use boiled rice, and chestnuts, with the liver, 
 sometimes frying them in sweet lard before stuffing the 
 goose with them. 
 
 Green geese are roasted in the same way, only less highly 
 seasoned with onion, sage, and pepper, and bread-crumbs are 
 substituted instead of potatoes for the stuffing. Serve apple- 
 sauce or gooseberry-sauce with goose. An hour and a half 
 before a good fire should be given to a large goose, but a 
 green goose is generally cooked in an hour. 
 
 FRITTERS AND PANCAKES. In preparing these 
 articles, which may be varied to an almost endless extent, 
 you should make your frying-pan hot, then rub it with a but- 
 tered cloth, or put a little beef-dripping in the pan, and wipe 
 it out ; then put in your piece of butter, lard, or clarified beef- 
 fat, and when it froths, have ready your ladle of batter, toss 
 the pan round, and run a knife round the edges of the cake, 
 turning it when it. is a light brown. As the fat boils away, 
 take the pan off, wipe it out, and proceed as at first. Re- 
 move fritters from the frying-pan with a perforated skimmer, 
 and drain them well. 
 
 OYSTER FRITTERS. 
 
 Take a pint of rich milk, stir into it alternately an ounce 
 of melted butter, and six well-beaten eggs, and flour enough 
 to make a thick batter. Wash the oysters from their liquor, 
 and dry them on a cloth ; to each ladleful of batter, put an 
 oyster, and fry them quickly a rich brown color. 
 
 SALSIFY AND CORN FRITTERS. 
 
 The flavor of oyster is thought to be found in salsify, and 
 in green corn grated from the cob. Prepare salsify fritters 
 16* 
 
186 FRYING. 
 
 by cutting the roots in thin pieces and boiling them in milk 
 and water ; when soft, mash them smoothly, removing stringy 
 bits ; stir the salsify into a batter made with a pint of milk, 
 two eggs, and flour enough to make it stiff. Fry them in fat 
 of salt-pork, or in butter. Where corn is used, it should be 
 young and tender. 
 
 VICTORIA FRITTERS. 
 
 Take a loaf of baker's bread, slice it into pieces an inch 
 thick, cut each slice in the centre, trimming off the crust, and 
 place the bread on a flat dish. Take a quart of rich milk, 
 a salt-spoonful of salt, eight beaten eggs, stir the whole to- 
 gether, strain it, and pour it. over the bread several hours 
 before dinner, that the bread may be equally moistened. 
 Fry in hot butter a delicate brown, and eat with a sweet 
 wine-sauce. 
 
 PANCAKES. 
 
 These may be made of rice-flour, boiled in milk till it is 
 thick. To three ounces of rice-flour, put a quart of rich 
 milk, and when cool, stir in four beaten eggs, and sifted flour 
 enough to make the batter a little stiff. Drain them as you 
 fry them, and sift sugar over each cake. Send them to the 
 table hot. 
 
 Indian meal boiled as above directed, and, when cold, 
 mixed in the following proportions, to a quart of the sifted 
 meal, five beaten eggs, a table-spoonful of melted butter, and 
 sifted flour enough to make a thick batter, may be fried 
 either as fritters or pancakes. Boiled rice, or fine hominy 
 that has been left from dinner, mixed with flour, milk, eggs, 
 and a little salt, makes good breakfast fritters. 
 
 FRYING. Whatever fat is used for frying should be 
 sweet, the frying-pan should be a little thick at the bottom, 
 
FUEL. 187 
 
 the fire not too fierce, free from smoke, and capable of keep- 
 ing up a sustained heat. Always have the pan gradually 
 heated with a little fat, and wiped out before the fat for fry- 
 ing is added ; ascertain the heat of the fat by dipping the tip 
 of a fish-tail in, or by throwing in a bit of bread ; if they 
 quickly crisp, the fat is ready. Fat that has been used for 
 meat may, if strained from the sediment, be used again for 
 fish. Wire-framed baskets that fit the frying-pan, rising 
 about half an inch from it, are now much used for frying. 
 Sweet olive-oil, butter, lard, top-fat (the skimming of pots in 
 which meat has been boiled), and drippings of roast meat, 
 may all, with proper attention to sweetness and their free- 
 dom from foreign substances, be used for frying. Butter is 
 improved by clarifying, as then the watery and milky prop- 
 erties which cause it to scorch and burn are removed. But- 
 ter is desirable for sweet things, such as fritters, though sweet 
 lard, or good-olive oil, if it can be afforded, is nearly as good ; 
 the kidney-fat of beef, cut into pieces, melted, and strained, 
 should be saved for frying. Olive-oil can only be used once, 
 and is therefore every way expensive. It is best to have 
 the pan filled to three or four inches deep with fat ; then the 
 materials fry all over quickly ; whereas if only a little is put 
 in, it is more apt to scorch, and the substances cooking ab- 
 sorb too much of the fat. What fat is not used should be 
 strained while hot into an earthen jar, and covered closely 
 from the air and dust as soon as it cools. Never put any- 
 thing into the frying-pan till the fat is hot enough to cook it 
 all over briskly. 
 
 FUEL. Fuel is chiefly valuable according to its weight, 
 its power of burning without leaving much incombustible 
 matter, and its freedom from watery fluid. Green wood and 
 wet coal should never be burned on the principle of econo- 
 my ; such materials absorb the heat to convert their moisture 
 into steam. 
 
188 FURS. 
 
 The Lehigh and all anthracite coals, being destitute of 
 the volatile matter contained in bituminous coals, are more 
 difficult to ignite than these ; therefore to bring them to the 
 high temperature necessary for combustion requires the aid 
 of the lighter woods and charcoal. Housekeepers who use 
 furnaces to warm their houses require from seventy to nine- 
 ty bushels of charcoal, the quantity varying with the size of 
 the house to be warmed. 
 
 Charcoal, made newly from the heavier kinds of wood, as 
 oak and walnut, is a powerful, and, for many culinary pro- 
 cesses, an economical sort of fuel. 
 
 Wood dried under cover is more free from decomposition 
 than that dried in the open air. 
 
 Hickory or walnut is the best of our native trees for fuel, 
 and commands, consequently, the highest price ; beech, ma- 
 ple, yellow birch, all the species of oak, and locust, form good 
 fuels. Chestnut is unsafe as a fuel, on account of its snap- 
 ping, and throwing its coals to the extremity of a room. 
 White ash, though capable of burning well, is used principally 
 for the arts, for oars, carriages, the handles of instruments, 
 &c. Black birch is also a compact wood, but valuable prin- 
 cipally for furniture, for screws, and implements requiring 
 strength. 
 
 FURS. These articles, like the precious jewels, vary in 
 value as regulated by fashion. Ermine and sable, and the 
 court fur minever, which is said to be more becoming than 
 ermine, have, however, long held the ascendency. The va- 
 rieties of sable are Russian, Hudson's Bay, and Canadian ; 
 ermine and minever are Russian furs ; the curling chinchil- 
 la^ used mostly for children and misses, is from Peru. Stone- 
 martin, whose varying brown constantly discloses, in the ac- 
 cess of every breeze, the downy white of its under surface, 
 the mink, a sort of plebeian sable, the silver-gray fox of 
 
GAME. 189 
 
 Oregon, and the blue fox, are all American furs, as are also 
 the several species of lynx, the durable yellow and black fitz, 
 and the gray-squirrel furs. 
 
 In putting away furs, they should be well shaken, and put 
 into a close box, either with leaf-tobacco, crude camphor, 
 black pepper, or cayenne, and sewed up in Russian sheeting, 
 or the cover pasted on with flour-paste (taking coarse paper), 
 and the box be put into a clean, cool, dark closet. 
 
 GAME. Good wild game finds ready sale in the mar- 
 kets of the United States, and the large cities are plentifully 
 supplied by the contributions of the West, the Canadas, and 
 Europe. 
 
 Venison ranks among choice game where salmon does 
 with the fish tribe. The haunch and the saddle of venison 
 are roasted, while the shoulder and breast pieces are stewed, 
 or used for pies. In roasting, the hard skin should be re- 
 moved ; then rub the piece all over with a little table-salt, 
 butter thick sheets of coarse white paper, and cover. It re- 
 quires constant attention, as it should be turned and basted 
 frequently. When nearly cooked, take off the paper, and 
 baste with claret wine, butter, and a sprinkling of flour. 
 
 Venison eaten with blazers should be underdone ; a haunch 
 of medium size iscooked in one hour and a half, but for hot 
 plates should be cooked from two to three hours. Currant- 
 jelly is an indispensable accompaniment of venison, and is 
 often used instead of wine for the gravy. Venison eats best 
 when it is freshly killed ; when it is old, it is hard, black-look- 
 ing, with the rich juices gone out of it. 
 
 Venison steak should be seasoned with pepper and salt, 
 dipped in butter or olive-oil, and rubbed into bread-crumbs, 
 and cooked quickly on a heated gridiron that has been rubbed 
 with beef-suet. If the venison is not fat, make a gravy of 
 wine, flour, and butter, or of currant- wine. Serve hot. 
 
190 GAME. 
 
 The Hare of America is common in many parts of the 
 Union ; in summer its fur is brown and ash-colored, in winter 
 it is white, and much longer than in summer. It breeds sev- 
 eral times during the year, and in the Southern States during 
 the winter months, and has sometimes a litter of six. It is 
 not so highly esteemed here as in the old country. It is 
 taken in the same manner as the gray rabbit, by springes, 
 traps, nets, and also by the gun. If hares and rabbits are 
 young, the ears are easily slit, and the jaw-bone easily 
 broken. Excepting when used for soup, hares and rabbits 
 are not opened, weather allowing, for several days. After 
 hanging for some days, it is paunched and skinned, the heart 
 and liver removed and scalded. They should be well bled 
 and washed through several waters, trussed, and if young 
 they may be roasted, but not without a rich stuffing, made 
 of grated bread-crumbs, beef-suet, a small chopped onion, the 
 liver, if perfectly good, a little grated lemon-peel, the whole 
 moistened with egg and a table-spoonful of claret. Put this 
 stuffing into the belly, and sew it up. Baste with butter. 
 Make the gravy with the drippings of the pan, cream, and 
 the yolk of a beaten egg, and a very little flour. An hour 
 and a half or two hours will roast a hare or rabbit, which 
 should be cooked gradually. When old they are braised or 
 stewed slowly with herbs, wine, water, chopped onion, thick- 
 ened with butter and flour. 
 
 Woodcock is the favorite bird of gourmands, if one judges 
 by their market value, as they frequently bring one dollar 
 per brace. They are to be had from the 1st of July to the 
 1st of December. The practice of not drawing these birds 
 is more honored in the breach than the observance. 
 
 Partridges and Pheasants are marketable from September 
 to the 5th of January, when their after sale is illegal, on ac- 
 count of the food of these birds consisting, while the snow is 
 on the ground, of wild laurel-berries, which renders their 
 flesh poisonous. 
 
GAME. 191 
 
 Quails are plenty in the fall and winter months, when they 
 are tracked on the snow. They abound in the Western 
 States ; they are sold by the dozen, generally bringing one 
 dollar per dozen. 
 
 Grouse and Prairie-Hens are trapped at the West in great 
 numbers during the winter, and in the New York market 
 are to be had at one dollar, and frequently fifty cents, per pair. 
 
 Plover and Snipe. This tribe, containing six or eight 
 varieties, is sold by the dozen. In Europe plovers' eggs are 
 served in the nest of the bird ; the fine blue speckled eggs are 
 cooked, and left again in the nest, which is sent to the table 
 precisely as the winged architect constructed it, a pictur- 
 esque ornament. It is not an edible nest, like the nests of the 
 Java Swallow, called Salangane, and by some naturalists the 
 Esculent Swallow, though the nest, which is thought to be 
 made of the spawn of fish, is only eaten ; the viscous sub- 
 stance is collected by this swallow from the rocks, or gathered 
 from the surface of the sea. The gelatinous matter of these 
 nests, somewhat resembling isinglass, is by the Chinese dis- 
 solved in chicken or mutton-broth, and travellers, among 
 others our distinguished countryman, Bayard Taylor, have 
 acknowledged their title to rank as a delicacy. 
 
 The Virginia Rail, who builds her nest of sedgy materials 
 near the sea-shore, or in quagmires, when used for the table, 
 should, like most aquatic birds, have a sliced carrot or onion 
 introduced after the bird is drawn, to remove a strong taste 
 induced by the diet and situation of such birds. 
 
 The Cedar or Carolina Rice-bird, sold by the dozen, makes 
 a very delicious pie. 
 
 The Wild Pigeon requires to be braised, or stewed slowly 
 with savory adjuncts ; thus potted, it is very nice ; but it 
 never affords such a variety of dishes as the tame pigeon, the 
 young or squabs of the last being delicious, either broiled or 
 served in a pie. 
 
192 GAME. 
 
 Grouse are generally trussed with the head under the wing ; 
 when roasted, they must be generously basted, and not over- 
 done. Toasted bread buttered is laid in the dripping-pan, 
 upon which they may be served \vith plain butter-sauce. 
 Roasted rare, that is, before a quick fire in twenty minutes, a 
 wine sauce is often made for them. 
 
 Partridges and Pheasants require constant basting when 
 roasted, and should have a gravy, and may be, if liked, served 
 on rich buttered toast. 
 
 Woodcocks^ Quails, Snipes, or Plovers may be roasted, and 
 served on toast, with gravy made of the drippings, a piece of 
 floured butter, and equal proportions of wine and currant 
 jelly boiled together, and sent to the table hot in a boat. 
 These small birds may be stuffed with mashed boiled chest- 
 nuts, laid in a deep dish with slices of ham tied over them, 
 and baked in a Dutch oven. Remove the ham when they 
 are sent to the table. 
 
 Game that is to be kept some days should not be washed, 
 as the wetting facilitates decomposition. 
 
 Wild Ducks. Canvas-back ducks of the Susquehannah 
 and Potomac Rivers are fat in the latter part of November, 
 and all through December, and are in the market till late in 
 the spring. They feed on wild celery. They bring one, 
 three, and five dollars per brace. Red-head ducks, of similar 
 habits to the canvas-back, are nearly as nice eating. 
 
 There is a great variety of sea ducks and of river ducks. 
 Brant is considered the nicest for eating, of the salt-water 
 ducks. ' In May they are fattest, and the choice duck of the 
 season ; they may be had in the New York market, in the 
 spring and fall, from Long Island, and are sometimes intro- 
 duced in the winter from the South. It is of a delicate 
 build, and not able to stand the rigors of a Northern 
 climate. 
 
 The Mallard frequents lakes and rivers. The Widgeon, 
 
GAME. 193 
 
 the Black Duck, and the Broad-bill frequent rivers and the 
 sea-shore, in the latitude of the Middle States, and are in 
 the markets of the Atlantic cities from fall till late in spring. 
 
 The Virginia Gray Duck, which is largely exported from 
 that State, is a choice duck for the table. They are sold 
 sometimes for fifty cents per pair. 
 
 The Blue and Green Tail Duck has also a high reputation. 
 
 Canvas-back ducks are trussed, wiped out with a clean 
 cloth, but not washed, roasted rare for about twenty minutes 
 or half an hour before a good fire. Currant-jelly should al- 
 ways be on the table to mix with the gravy of such as fancy 
 it, and heaters provided for each plate. 
 
 Where sea-ducks are tough and fishy, they must be stuffed 
 in the body with sliced carrot, and parboiled for twenty min- 
 utes, then relieved of the carrot and roasted, basting with 
 fresh butter, and serving with celery, wine, or hot. currant- 
 jelly sauce. Wild ducks may be nicely trussed, and laid in 
 a pan with butter and a small onion in the body of each, 
 laying pieces of butter in the pan, with a bunch of celery or 
 sweet herbs, a little pepper, and salt. Let them stew slowly, 
 covering the pan ; when done, strain the liquor found in the 
 pan, and pour it hot over the ducks. Garnish with sliced 
 lemon. 
 
 Ducks before going to the pot or spit should be wiped 
 dry, and the river ducks should be rubbed on the inside with 
 pepper and salt, excepting the canvas-back, which should be 
 left to its generous juices as far as possible. 
 
 Wild geese are cooked rare, like ducks, and to the made 
 gravy is added a glass of port or claret, and a little finely 
 chopped onion. Where the wild duck or goose is rank and 
 oily, the dripping-pan should be skimmed, and the seasoning 
 to the gravies should be more pungent; a little cayenne, 
 onion, and made mustard may be used in exceeding nice 
 quantities with advantage. 
 17 
 
194 GOOSEBERRIES. 
 
 Wild turkey may be stuffed with oysters, and served with 
 oyster-sauce, or if the turkey be fat and rich, the made gravy 
 of the pan may be seasoned with mushroom catchup ; or better 
 yet, the small button mushrooms, stewed in butter, cream, 
 and seasoned with a little salt and pepper, may be poured 
 hot over the turkey, the made gravy being served in a boat. 
 If the turkey be tough, it should be boiled half an hour in 
 water seasoned with salt, and a bunch of celery or sweet 
 herbs, and be well basted in roasting. 
 
 Since steam plays with such vivacity between the old 
 and new country, we exchange with our cousins of England 
 the exquisite Canvas-back, and take their Pheasants and 
 Scotch Grouse. 
 
 GOOSEBERRIES. The native varieties are little cul- 
 tivated ; our garden sorts are from the North of England. 
 Gooseberry plants are raised from cuttings. The strongest 
 and healthiest shoots of the current year are selected, (cutting 
 off the buds that would go under the ground,) and put about 
 six inches under the surface of a rich, deep soil ; the earth 
 should be pressed closely round the slips, and when they 
 have rooted, in about a year's time, they should be trans- 
 planted into a rich soil. Cuttings may be set out early in 
 spring or fall. 
 
 Gooseberry plants require to be well manured every year, 
 digging in a heavy top-dressing on bearing plants ; they also 
 require close pruning. Lime, sulphur, wood-ashes, mixed 
 into the top soil, are good to operate against mildew, to which 
 disease these plants (especially inferior sorts) are liable ; a cool 
 situation, such as an open border, is also advisable for them, 
 for the same purpose. Should the soil be dry, it must be 
 mulched or covered under the surface with straw and litter. 
 
 If you would train as trees, no suckers must be allowed to 
 grow. Many cultivators prefer the gooseberry and currant 
 
GRAFTING. 195 
 
 to grow as bushes. Prune when the plant is out of bearing 
 in spring or fall, cutting the tops ; and when in bearing, some 
 of the fruit may be removed if very heavy, and some vigor- 
 ous shoots thumb-pruned to perfect the remaining fruit. . 
 
 Cuttings may be struck every season. The best garden 
 varieties will only pay for the care and expense of annual 
 cultivation. There are almost endless varieties of the red, 
 yellow, green, and white gooseberries. The following sorts 
 are taken from Downing's Fruit and Fruit Trees, as styled 
 by him : 
 
 Selections of sorts for a very small garden. Red : Red 
 Warrington, Keen's Seedling, Crown Bob. Yellow : Early 
 Sulphur, Yellow Ball. White: Woodward's Whitesmith, 
 Early White, Taylor's Bright Venus, White Honey. Green : 
 Pitmaston Green Gage, Green Walnut, Parkinson's Laurel. 
 
 GOOSEBERRY SAUCE. 
 
 Take fruit just ripe, pick off the tops and stems, and 
 weigh an equal quantity of sugar to the fruit, dividing the 
 sugar into two equal portions. Make a sirup of one portion, 
 and put the gooseberries into it, over the fire ; let them re- 
 main till they are transparent, then remove them, and make 
 a sirup of the reserved sugar, adding to it the sirup of the 
 gooseberries, gently dipping it off; let it boil till thick and 
 rich, and then pour it over the fruit. The fruit, by this pro- 
 cess, will be less tough, and keep its flavor better than if 
 cooked longer. 
 
 GRAFTING. (Bohemian method.) It is well known 
 that desirable sorts of fruit and their varieties are not easily 
 raised by seeds or cuttings, and that various modes of graft- 
 ing (the French practise over fifty modes) have always been 
 practised by gardeners for the purpose of continuing and im- 
 proving choice varieties. The following method, accepted 
 
196 GRAPES. 
 
 by French gardeners, has lately appeared : Take a healthy 
 slip from an apple-tree, or the tree you wish to increase, and 
 insert it into a potato and plant it, leaving about two inches 
 of the slip visible. The slip is said to take root, arid grow 
 vigorously into a fruit-bearing tree. 
 
 The season for grafting trees is in the spring, when the 
 sap is in motion ; the cherry and plum are first ready for the 
 process, the pear and apple being some weeks later. A mild, 
 showery atmosphere facilitates all the processes of grafting. 
 
 GRAPES. Passing by foreign grapes, as too wide a sub- 
 ject for my limits, I shall confine myself to a few remarks 
 upon our native grape, which is found growing wild in most 
 of the States. The varieties of native grapes best known 
 are the Isabella and the Catawba ; both of these are hardy, 
 and grow rapidly in a bright, sunny, open exposure, though 
 they ripen with difficulty in Maine, New Hampshire, and 
 Vermont. The Isabella, being two or three weeks earlier 
 than the Catawba, is the variety chosen usually for garden 
 culture in the Eastern States. 
 
 The Catawba, a native of Virginia, found in the region of 
 the river whose name it bears, is cultivated extensively at 
 the West, for wines ; it is not so sweet as the Isabella, but 
 has a more racy, vinous flavor. The Isabella is a native of 
 South Carolina. 
 
 The garden culture of native grapes and their numerous 
 varieties is found by most persons so exceedingly easy, that 
 it is wonderful that every home whose premises command a 
 sunny, open exposure, does not keep a vine. 
 
 Mr. Downing recommends, when the upright mode or 
 the spur mode of training is pursued, that the first sea- 
 son's growth of a newly planted vine be cut back to two buds 
 the ensuing fall or spring. " These two buds," he remarks, 
 " are allowed to form two upright shoots the next summer, 
 
GRAPES. 197 
 
 which, at the end of the season, are brought down to a hori- 
 zontal position, and fastened each way to the lower horizon- 
 tal rails of the trellis, being shortened at the distance of three 
 or four feet from the root, or as far each side as the plant 
 is wished to extend. The next season, upright shoots are 
 allowed to grow one foot apart, and these, as soon as they 
 reach the top of the trellis, are also stopped. The next year, 
 the trellis being filled with the vines, a set of lateral shoots 
 will be produced from the upright leaders, with from one to 
 three bunches upon each, which will be the first crop. The 
 vine is now perfect, and, in the spur mode of pruning, it is 
 only necessary at the close of every season, that is, at the 
 autumnal or winter pruning, to cut back these lateral shoots 
 or fruit spurs to within an inch of the upright shoot from 
 which they spring, and a new lateral producing fruit will an- 
 nually supply its place, to be again cut out at the winter 
 pruning." If vines are not kept back by pruning, they "soon 
 exhaust their vigor in the first few years. Old vines, whose 
 fruit has diminished in size and flavor, may be cut down to 
 the lower shoots of the trellis. The authority just quoted 
 has remarked, that his experience was that six or eight feet 
 was the distance at which to plant the native grapes. " As- 
 suming," he says, " the trellis to be eight feet high, then each 
 vine will extend either way three or four feet, covering a 
 space eight feet square. In this form, the roots and branches 
 extending but a short distance, they may be kept in high 
 vigor, and a state of constant productiveness, for a great 
 length of time." 
 
 Prune grapes a month before vegetation commences, or in 
 mild latitudes prune the vines in November. 
 
 The native grapes, though growing in most soils, do best 
 
 in soils which are rather strong and rich. The ground round 
 
 the growing plants should be kept free from weeds and 
 
 stirred lightly on the top, and deeper out of the reach of the 
 
 17* 
 
198 HOGS. 
 
 roots. The usual fertilizers are good for the grape, if not 
 applied till fermentation has taken place. Vegetable mould, 
 ashes, and bone manure are all excellent. 
 
 The grape-vine is easily propagated by layers (bending 
 branches of the previous or current year's growth down at 
 any time before midsummer, and covering with earth), or by 
 cuttings, which the annual trimmings abundantly afford. 
 
 Grapes may be kept many months by being packed in 
 substances that have been dried by heat, and kept in a cool, 
 dry room. Mr. Cole says, in his Fruit Book, he has pre- 
 served grapes in excellent condition for several months, ." by 
 laying them into small baskets on paper, four to eight quarts 
 in each, covering them with paper, cotton, or a cloth, and 
 hanging them up in a well-aired, dry room." 
 
 HAMS. Those which are bought generally require to 
 be soaked twelve hours, changing the water, frequently, and 
 to be thoroughly scraped and cleaned before going to the pot. 
 Cover the ham with water, and give a quarter of an hour's 
 boiling to each pound ; then take it out of the pot, skin it, 
 sift grated bread over it, and put it into the oven, and let it 
 bake another quarter of an hour to each pound. Gourmands 
 boil their hams in hock. See Bacon 
 
 HOGS. These animals have been of immense assistance 
 to the settlers of our Western country. 
 
 The hog is not a native of America, but was introduced 
 here by the Spaniards. 
 
 The common hog adapts himself to all climates, and almost 
 all food. These dispositions and habits, together with his 
 fecundity, and the readiness with which his flesh receives 
 salt, makes him alike valuable to the daily laborer and the 
 wholesale dealer. 
 
 In a state of nature, the wild hog (Sus aper) feeds on 
 
HOGS. 199 
 
 plants and roots, seeks moist and shady retreats, and pierces 
 the earth with his snout for food, which his acute smell in- 
 dicates to him. 
 
 Like other domesticated animals, the hog has been sub- 
 jected to careful training, to improve his valuable properties. 
 We have introduced into this country quite extensively the 
 Berkshire hog, which is an improved English breed, very 
 superior for pork and bacon. This hog is of the ancient stock 
 of England, crossed with the blood of the Eastern hog, and 
 principally by the varieties styled Chinese hogs, which have 
 been largely imported into the old country. This Chinese 
 mixture, while it diminished the size of the old English 
 stock, improved the properties of form, and the disposition to 
 fatten. 
 
 The desirable features in the hog's form, indicative of a 
 tendency to secrete fat, are similar to those of other live 
 stock ; a broad and deep chest, ribs rounded or arched, neck 
 short, head and limbs small, soft bristles, skin soft and elastic. 
 (Low's Practical Agriculture.) 
 
 The female goes with her young one hundred and twelve 
 days. 
 
 Hogs love moist and succulent food; clover and other 
 green food, the refuse of the garden, and the gleanings of 
 the table, may be given to them, though for final fattening 
 they require farinaceous, or other nourishing food. Sour 
 fruit should not be offered to them, unless mixed with sac- 
 charine substances. They should be fed three times a day, 
 have clean troughs and clean beds, and it is of great advan- 
 tage to animals of single stomachs, like the hog, to have their 
 food boiled or steamed, especially when they have not access 
 to forests for exercise. Coarse meal, or bran steamed or 
 boiled, is good food for the hog ; pease and beans partially 
 cooked can be given occasionally. 
 
 Virginia bacon is thought to owe its sweetness and flavor 
 
200 HEDGES. 
 
 to the privilege the hogs enjoy in that State, of running in 
 the woods in the autumn, and gathering acorns and green 
 food. 
 
 When intended for pork, pigs are at the best age at six 
 or eight months ; but for bacon they must be brought to a full 
 size, which can only be done in ten or twelve months. For 
 bacon, the larger breeds of hogs are generally reared ; for 
 pork, the smaller varieties are selected. 
 
 HEDGES. These fences are beginning to be used ex- 
 tensively in some parts of the United States, both as a nat- 
 ural defence against encroachments, and as ornaments to 
 wire-fences of small gardens. In England, the application of 
 hedges for public roads and private enclosures is so exten- 
 sive, that the linear extent has been supposed to be many 
 times the circumference of the whole earth. 
 
 Hedges for mere ornament and shade are made of Ribes 
 sanguined, or Flowering Currant, of Tree Box, of Ivy and 
 other hardy climbers, of some species of the Buckthorn, and 
 of Arbor Vitas ; of this last there are some very fine exam- 
 ples in Jefferson County, Virginia. 
 
 Hedges to exclude cattle and trespassers are made of the 
 common English Hawthorn (Cratcegus Oxyacantha) , and 
 different species of North American thorns of the same genus. 
 Among the numerous varieties of American Thorns is the 
 Cockspur Hawthorn (Cratcegus Crus-galli)-, this and its varie- 
 ties have fine glossy leaves of dark green. C. Pyracantha has 
 pure white flowers and brilliant red berries, which are abun- 
 dant enough to have given it the name in France of Buis- 
 son ardent, or the Burning Bush ; it grows well in many 
 parts of America, but perhaps is not native. It produces its 
 white blossoms after its third year, annually, in June, when 
 the American Hawthorn ( Cratcegus coccinea) is in bloom. 
 
 It is best to choose for a hedge that kind of Hawthorn 
 
INK. 201 
 
 that takes most kindly to the neighboring soil of the grounds 
 to be enclosed. 
 
 " In Great Britain," writes Timothy Pickering, " hedge 
 fences are generally accompanied by ditch and bank ; prin- 
 cipally (I presume) because the ditch and bank, aided by a 
 slight railing, make an immediate fence ; and because in flat 
 grounds ditches serve for drains. But in America, where 
 wood is yet sufficient in quantity for complete fences, while 
 the hedges are growing, and where, too, we are subject to 
 heavier rains, which cause destructive gullies, doubtless Mr. 
 Main's plan of plain hedging, without ditch and bank, is most 
 eligible. A ditch is an artificial gully, which in sloping grounds 
 every considerable rain must mischievously increase." 
 
 This distinguished man was among the first in this coun- 
 try to set out the Locust-tree (Robinia Pseudacacia] as a 
 hedge. From the rapidity of its growth, its bearing the 
 shears, and the tendency of the stems to interlace with one 
 another, it makes a good hedge. If the seeds of Locust are 
 sown, it should be when frosts are over, and in rows far 
 enough apart to admit the hoe. When two years old, they 
 are generally fit to set out. 
 
 All the species of Cratregus or Hawthorn grow best in dry 
 soils. " The seeds of the common Hawthorn often lie," says 
 Mrs. Loudoun, "two years in the ground before they ger- 
 minate, if not prepared before sowing by being suffered to 
 lie for several months in what is called a rot-heep, and 
 which is often turned over during that time, to prevent the 
 seeds from having their vital powers destroyed by the heat 
 generated by fermentation. The finer kinds of thorns are 
 generally grafted or budded on seedlings of the common 
 Hawthorn." 
 
 INK. The best inks are such as are made of the nut- 
 gall and sulphate of iron, and gum-arabic. Other substances 
 
202 JELLIES. 
 
 are often added, such as logwood, sulphate of copper, and 
 sugar. Dr. Bancroft's receipt, for proportions, is twelve oun- 
 ces of galls, to be boiled with six of logwood, in five quarts of 
 soft water, for two hours, the decoction to be strained, and 
 made up one gallon, to which five ounces of sulphate of iron, 
 five of gum-arabic, and two of muscovado sugar, are to be 
 added. A simpler mode has the authority of a celebrated 
 chemist ; it is to infuse three ounces of galls, one of logwood, 
 one of sulphate of iron, and one of gum-arabic, in a quart of 
 cold water for a week, adding four grains of corrosive subli- 
 mate to prevent mouldiness. An extraction of the soluble 
 parts of the galls may be more economically attained by the 
 repeated affusion of fresh portions of the water, than by 
 steeping them in the whole at once. A single drop of oil of 
 lavender prevents ink from moulding. Put one drop to a 
 pint. (Quarterly Review, No. 21, Art. XIV.) 
 
 INDIAN MEAL. This article should not be bought in 
 large quantities for family use ; it should be kept in a cool 
 closet, and many housekeepers place in the centre of their 
 meal chest or tub a large clean stone ; it tends to prevent 
 fermentation, and to keep the meal cool. 
 
 INDIAN BREAD. 
 
 Boil a cupful of sifted meal in a little water and salt till 
 nearly dry, stirring often ; let it cool, then add five eggs well 
 beaten, and enough rich milk to make a thin batter. Bake 
 in a quick oven, in small tins. Butter the tins. 
 
 * JELLIES. Almost all fruit-jellies are made by adding 
 a pound of sugar to a pint of strained juice of fruit ; yet if 
 the best white loaf-sugar is used, and the fruit is just ripe, 
 and gathered when the weather is dry, and the extracted 
 juice is reduced by boiling, a pound of sugar to a quart will 
 
LAMB. 203 
 
 make lighter and clearer jellies. The exceptions are cran- 
 berry, gooseberry, and blackberry, which all require a pound 
 of sugar to a pint of juice. 
 
 "We shall give one receipt, which may answer for several. 
 
 CURRANT JELLY. 
 
 Strip currants that are just ripe into a stone jar, cover the 
 jar, and set it into a kettle of warm water ; let it boil one 
 hour over a moderate fire. Pass a linen or flannel jelly- 
 bag through hot water, wring it dry, and pour the currant 
 juice into the bag, secured to the table with a dish under it. 
 Do not squeeze the bag. When the juice has escaped the 
 bag, measure it, and against each quart of the juice weigh one 
 pound of the best quality of white sugar. Put the juice 
 without the sugar into a porcelain kettle, and let it boil up 
 once. Take it off and put in the sugar, which should be 
 crushed to a powder, and add it gradually while the juice is 
 hot. Put the jelly into tumblers, cover with thin paper, cut 
 to the glass, and paste white paper on the outside to exclude 
 the air. Keep it in a dry, cool place. 
 
 Jellies that are mawkishly sweet are flavored with a little 
 lemon-juice. 
 
 Black-currant jelly would be very close and thick, if a 
 little water were not added to the fruit when it is put into 
 the jar to boil. 
 
 Where inferior sugar is used, it should be put in with the 
 fruit, and carefully skimmed. Jellies require to be boiled 
 longer when the sugar is indifferent. 
 
 LAMB. This delicate meat should have the kidney fresh 
 and fat, the quarters thick, and in the fore-quarter the vein 
 of the neck should be, if fresh, blue. 
 
 The leg may be boiled or roasted. When boiled, let it sim- 
 
204 LARD. 
 
 mer slowly. If small, that is, weighing about four pounds, 
 three quarters of an hour will cook it. Shoulder of iamb 
 may have the bone removed, the vacancy stuffed with force- 
 meat, and be baked in an oven, or braised in a Dutch oven. 
 The leg is sometimes prepared in this manner. 
 
 Breast of lamb has the chine-bone chopped off. Notch the 
 breast well, and either roast it, or stew it with gravy and 
 a sprinkling of sweet herbs and mixed spices; finish by 
 browning it in ah even. Serve it with green peas or as- 
 paragus. 
 
 Lamb cutlets are taken from the neck. Trim them, flatten 
 them with a small mallet or the back of the knife, season 
 them with pepper and salt, egg and bread-crumb them, beat 
 them gently, dip them into a Ijjtle clarified butter, and give 
 them another dressing with egg and grated bread-crumbs. 
 Fry them a delicate brown, using clarified butter, or sweet 
 olive-oil. Lamb cutlets may be simply seasoned and broiled 
 plainly. 
 
 Lamb chops are cut from the loin, taking off the flap, 
 cutting the chops not quite an inch in thickness. The loin 
 can have about eight chops taken from it, three of which 
 should have a bit of kidney to them. Heat the gridiron, 
 rub a little beef-suet on it, place two or three of the chops 
 on it, and place them over clear coals, free from smoke. As 
 the chops warm, season with salt and pepper. Broil them 
 a light brown, and serve hot with bits of butter placed be- 
 tween each chop. 
 
 LARD. This is extracted from the leaf or inner fat of 
 a newly slaughtered pig or hog. After trimming the skin 
 and fibrous parts off, it may be cut into pieces and placed 
 over a moderate fire, with a little water, say a large cupful ; 
 as it heats, the water evaporates. Stir it frequently ; dip off 
 the fat as it melts, and strain it into clean stone jars. When 
 
MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. 205 
 
 cool, cover the jars closely, and keep them in a cool, dry 
 place. The first dippings will be whiter lard than the last. 
 
 This leaf-fat may be converted into lard by. another pro- 
 cess. Fill a jar with the fat broken into pieces, and set the 
 jar into a pot of boiling water ; as the fat melts, strain it, and 
 proceed as already directed. 
 
 LEMON SIRUP. Squeeze the juice from fresh lemons, 
 strain it, and to every pint of juice add a pound of the best 
 double-refined loaf-sugar. Crush the sugar with a rolling- 
 pin, and stir it gradually into the strained juice. Put the 
 whole into a preserving-kettle, over a moderate fire. As it 
 heats, skim it ; when it comes to a boil, take it off the fire, 
 pour it into a large china bowl, and in twenty-four hours 
 bottle it in fresh sweet bottles. You may, if you please, add 
 one table-spoonful of pure French brandy to each bottle. 
 Cork closely, and keep the sirup in a cool, dry closet. 
 
 MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. The labors of sci- 
 entific men and the authority of governments have always 
 been directed towards discovering and enacting one common 
 weight and measure. Laws were enacted in England to 
 this effect as early as Edgar ; afterwards, as if they had not 
 been effectual, the Magna Charta, cap. 25, declares : " One 
 measure of wine shall be throughout our realm, and one 
 measure of ale, and one measure of corn, that is to say, the 
 quarter of London. And it shall be of weights as it is of 
 measures." Our mother, England, from whom we have 
 gathered our highest instincts of law and equity, and whose 
 generous milk can never be out of us, has since been con- 
 stantly engaged in endeavoring to make weights and meas- 
 ures uniform throughout her dominions. 
 
 To enter into the origin or follow the variations of stand- 
 ards for weights and measures, either as created and regu- 
 18 
 
206 MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. 
 
 lated by political economy or scientific deductions, would be 
 to exceed our limits, either of capacity or space. The origin 
 of the standards appears often to have been accidental ; thus 
 " Henry I. ordered the length of his arm to be the criterion 
 of the yard measure ; and 51 Henry III. declares 32 grains 
 of wheat dry, taken out of the midst of the ear, to be the 
 standard weight of the twentieth part of an ounce." " It is 
 with this subject," says a writer in the Quarterly Review al- 
 ready quoted, " as with laws and manners : constant attempts 
 at improvement appear necessary even to prevent deteriora- 
 tion. Experience shows that few matters have a greater 
 tendency to grow worse, or more obstinately resist correc- 
 tion, than common usages in weights and measures." 
 
 I have collected the following tables of measures and 
 weights, as likely to be valuable to many of my readers ; the 
 first table, calculated by James M. Garnet, Esq., of Essex 
 County, Va., was first published in Mr. Ruffin's Farmer's 
 Register ; the second is taken from the Agricultural Journal 
 of New York. 
 
 GARNET'S TABLE. 
 
 A box 24 inches by 16 inches square, and 22 inches deep, 
 will contain a barrel, or 10,752 cubic inches. 
 
 A box 24 inches by 16 inches square, and 11 inches deep, 
 will contain a half- barrel, or 5,376 cubic inches. 
 
 A box 1 6 inches by 1 6.8 inches square, and 8 inches deep, 
 will contain a bushel, or 2,150.4 cubic inches. 
 
 A box 12 inches by 11.2 inches square, and 8 inches 
 deep, will contain half a bushel, or 1,075 cubic inches. 
 
 A box 8 inches by 8.4 inches square, and 8 inches deep, 
 will contain one peck, or 537.6 cubic inches. 
 
 A box 8 inches by 8 inches square, and 4.2 inches deep, 
 will contain one half-peck, or 268.8 cubic inches. 
 
 A box 7 inches by 4 inches square, and 4.8 inches deep, 
 will contain a half-gallon, or 131.4 cubic inches. 
 
MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. 207 
 
 A box 4 inches by 4 inches square, and 4.2 inches deep, 
 will contain one quart, or 67.2 cubic inches. 
 
 These measures come within a small fraction of a cubic 
 inch of being accurate, and are as absolutely perfect as 
 any measures of capacity for common use have ever been 
 made. 
 
 Table of the Numbev of Pounds of various Articles to a Bushel. 
 
 Of Wheat, sixty pounds. 
 
 Of Shelled Corn, fifty-six pounds. 
 
 Of Corn on the cob, seventy-five pounds. 
 
 Of Rye, fifty-six pounds. 
 
 Of Oats, thirty-two pounds. 
 
 Of Barley, forty-eight pounds. 
 
 Of Middling, forty-five pounds. 
 
 Of Bran, twelve pounds. 
 
 Of Shorts, eighteen pounds. 
 
 Of Clover-seed, sixty pounds. 
 
 Of Timothy-seed, fifty-six pounds. 
 
 Of Hemp-seed, forty-four pounds. 
 
 Of Blue-grass-seed, fourteen pounds. 
 
 Of Castor-beans, forty-six pounds. 
 
 Of Dried Peaches, thirty-three pounds. 
 
 Of Dried Apples, twenty-five pounds. 
 
 Of Onions, fifty-seven pounds. 
 
 Of Salt, fifty pounds. - 
 
 Of Mineral Coal, seventy pounds. 
 
 MEASURING GRAIN IN BULK. 
 
 To reduce solid feet to bushels, multiply the number of 
 solid feet by 45, and divide the product by 56 : the quotient 
 will be the number of bushels. 
 
 Reason. As one Bushel contains 2,150.4 inches, one solid 
 foot is of a bushel. 
 
208 PARSNIPS. 
 
 Example. How many bushels in a box or crib 8 feet 
 long, 4 feet wide, and 2 feet deep? Multiply the length by 
 the width and depth, and the product by 45, which, divided 
 by 56, gives 2 If, the number of bushels which the box 
 contains. (New York Tribune.) 
 
 MUTTON. This meat is procured from the outer isl- 
 ands of Maine, of excellent flavor. Mutton made from a 
 five-year-old wether is nicest for the table, and if made 
 from a sheep under three years it is flabby and vapid, not 
 matured in its rich juices. A leg of mutton may be hung 
 about a week or ten days before it is cooked. In color, rich 
 mutton is of a clear, darkish red. 
 
 When a leg is boiled, it is generally liked underdone, and 
 then some slices can be sent to the kitchen for a broil, if any 
 guest prefer it so served. Mashed turnips and caper-sauce 
 are served with a boiled leg of mutton. 
 
 The leg and many other pieces of the sheep may be 
 roasted or stuffed with forcemeat and baked, adding to the 
 gravy a little port or claret wine. Mutton to be roasted 
 may be kept longer than that to be boiled; it should be 
 trimmed of all strong, musty bits, and well wiped with pep- 
 per and salt before going to the fire. See Lamb. 
 
 ONIONS. These vegetables should be skinned and 
 soaked half an hour in cold water before they are cooked, 
 and when half cooked the water should be poured from them 
 and renewed by fresh cold water. Onions boiled in milk 
 lose much of their bitter taste. Rareripes or onions from 
 the bulb are sold in bunches of two and a half pounds ; on- 
 ions from the seed, in bunches of three and a half pounds. 
 
 PARSNIPS. Wash and scrape them well ; if old, they 
 will take nearly an hour's boiling, but by probing it can be 
 ascertained when they are tender; divide those which are 
 
PEACH. 209 
 
 large. If milk is plenty, boil them in milk and water. 
 They are served with boiled dishes, simply boiled ; with roasts 
 they are sliced and fried in sweet lard or butter, but must 
 first be boiled. They are sweetest in spring, after being 
 wintered in the ground. 
 
 PASTRY. To one pound and a quarter of flour add a 
 quarter of a pound of nice lard, rubbing it well into your 
 flour ; add water till it is stiff enough to put on your paste- 
 board, allowing it still to be as soft as it can be worked. 
 Sift flour over your board, and lay the paste on. Have 
 ready a pound of butter, from which the salt and buttermilk 
 have been worked and pressed out ; put the butter in pieces 
 all over your paste, dust over a little flour, fold up your paste, 
 and roll it out. Again put bits of butter all over the surface 
 of the paste, then flour and roll it in as before, and proceed 
 in this way till your butter is all worked into the paste. 
 
 PEACH (Amygdalus Persica). This fruit is said to be 
 grown in larger quantities in the United States than in any 
 other country in the world ; it is principally, however, in the 
 Middle, Western, and Southern States that it is success- 
 fully cultivated. In the Eastern States it is raised only with 
 great care, and constantly deteriorates in quality. The 
 health and duration of peach-orchards depend upon the 
 care with which the seed has been selected, which, to pro- 
 duce healthy seedlings, should be taken from districts Tvhere 
 the Yellows is not prevalent, upon the nature of the soil, and 
 the care with which over-luxuriance is checked by pruning 
 the extremities of the trees. 
 
 " The very best soil," says Downing, " for the peach, is a 
 
 rich, deep sandy loam ; next to this, a strong, mellow loam ; 
 
 then a light, thin, sandy soil ; and the poorest is a heavy, 
 
 compact clay soil. In ordinary cases, the duration of peach- 
 
 18* 
 
210 PEACH. 
 
 orchards in the light, sandy soil is rarely more than three 
 years in a bearing state. In a stronger soil, with a proper 
 attention to the shortening system of pruning, it may be pro- 
 longed to twenty or more years." 
 
 Where soil is thin and light, the peach-orchard receives 
 top-dressing, and the sod should not be allowed to become 
 hard and stubborn; strong soils may be opened by the 
 plough, and kept under culture with advantage to the trees. 
 The space allowed between peach-trees in orchards varies 
 from sixteen to twenty-five feet, the greater space being 
 given to warm climates and rich soils. 
 
 A peach-stone planted in autumn vegetates the following 
 spring, and may be budded in August or September ; in two 
 years more it gives a small crop of fruit, and the next sea- 
 son, if not too luxuriant in growth, yields to the cultivator a 
 generous crop. 
 
 For preserving the peach whole, select the large October 
 Clingstones ; pare them and weigh to them an equal weight 
 of sugar. Crush the sugar with a rolling-pin, and sprinkle 
 it over the peaches ; after they have stood a few hours in 
 the sugar, put them in the preserving-pan with a little water. 
 Scald them, and remove them carefully with a perforated 
 ladle to a flat dish. Boil and skim the sirup, put the fruit 
 with some blanched kernels again to the sirup, and preserve 
 the peaches very slowly till transparent. 
 
 Peach Marmalade is made of the Yellow Freestone. Pare 
 and stone them, and put one pound of good brown sugar to 
 every two pounds of fruit. Put it over the fire without wa- 
 ter if the fruit is juicy ; stir it frequently, and let it boil till 
 it becomes transparent. It is very nice for pies. 
 
 BRANDIED PEACHES. 
 
 The large, white peach, just ripe, is taken for this pur- 
 pose. Place them in lye to remove the down ; let the lye be 
 
PEAR. 211 
 
 
 
 weak and cold. Take them out and rub the woolly down 
 off with a coarse crash towel. Have a rich clarified sirup 
 prepared, and pour it scalding hot over the peaches ; fill up 
 the jar with pure French brandy. When cool, cover closely. 
 If you use glass jars, pour the scalding sirup over the fruit 
 in a stone vessel. 
 
 PEAR (Pyrus communis, L.). The pear-tree is not a 
 native of America, but has been introduced from Europe. 
 " The seeds," says Downing, " should be sown precisely like 
 those of the apple, in broad drills, and the treatment of the 
 stocks, when planted in the rows for budding, is quite simi- 
 lar. Budding is almost universally preferred by us for 
 propagating the pear, and this tree takes so readily that 
 very few failures can happen to an experienced hand." See 
 Budding. 
 
 Seedlings are considered the best stocks for pears. Seed- 
 lings of plebeian birth, but strong and healthy, are to be pre- 
 ferred to a seedling from a pampered variety. To get seed- 
 ling stocks, clean the seed as soon as the fruit is matured, 
 and sow it in deep rich soil ; if you have no such soil, trench 
 about two feet deep, and fill up with compost corrected by 
 ashes. A healthy seedling of two years' growth is fit for 
 budding. 
 
 The dwarf tree pear is the pear grafted on some slow- 
 growing hardy stock. The Quince is usually preferred ; some 
 large pears are said to be improved in habit and flavor by 
 being grafted on this stock ; Downing instances the Duchess 
 of Angouleme as so improved. The dwarf tree is generally 
 short-lived ; its advantages are in the brief time requisite to 
 bring fruit to the cultivator, and its economy and nattiness 
 for a small garden. Though we find the pear-tree in a great 
 variety of soils, yet a damp soil induces disease, and a soil 
 too rich and deep tends to create a rank, unripened luxuri- 
 
212 PEAK. 
 
 ance. The pear-tree requires but little pruning. In exten- 
 sive orchards in warm latitudes, the pear-tree is sometimes 
 planted thirty feet distant each way ; in fruit gardens, where 
 the heads are occasionally pruned, twenty feet is often con- 
 sidered sufficient. Pear-trees whose first vigor has gone by 
 require every autumn a moderate top-dressing of manure, 
 instead of violent enriching, which induces disease. 
 
 The pear is attacked by an insect, Scolytus pyri, whose rav- 
 ages produce the disease called the insect blight ; the leaves 
 become dry and brownish black, and the wood becomes dry 
 and hard. Remedy : Cut off the diseased branches as soon 
 as the disease is noticed, some inches below the withered, 
 blighted symptoms of disease, and burn the branches. 
 
 THE FROZEN-SAP BLIGHT. 
 
 This is a more serious disease than the former, the dis- 
 eased sap spreading infection over the whole tree. It is in- 
 duced generally in soils that are over-rich, and force second 
 growths in the same season, whose wood is unripened for 
 winter ; varieties of the pear which mature early are not so 
 liable to feel this disease as the later growing sorts. Culti- 
 vators have found that the means of warding off the visits of 
 this disease are to select a rich but well drained or dry soil, 
 to cultivate such varieties as mature their wood early, to 
 avoid severe summer pruning and prune in winter or early 
 spring, to reject cold soils and situations as not favorable for 
 speedy growth and maturing of wood, and to abstain from sum- 
 mer manuring, as calculated to over-stimulate and bring on a 
 second growth of branches. Cut off the affected parts some 
 distance below the diseased wood ; if it spreads, cut again. 
 Burn the branches as you cut them. 
 
 Most varieties of pear have the fruit more highly flavored 
 by ripening it in the house ; gather it when it parts readily 
 from the stalk, and has assumed its double color ; spread the 
 
PICKLES. 213 
 
 fruit on floors or shelves. Winter dessert pears are allowed 
 to remain till there is danger from frost. 
 
 The varieties of pears are too extensive to be mentioned 
 in a work like the present : every year adds to them. " Des- 
 sert pears," says Downing, " should have a melting, soft text- 
 ure, and a sugary, aromatic juice. Kitchen pears, for baking 
 or stewing, should be large, with firm and crisp flesh, mod- 
 erately juicy." 
 
 Perry, the fermented juice of the pear, is prepared much 
 the same way as cider ; it makes a milder and probably more 
 wholesome drink. A pleasant vinegar is made from it. 
 The large pound pear is gently stewed, after being pared till 
 soft, in a weak sirup made of brown sugar. 
 
 Some pf the varieties of winter pears are usually chosen 
 for preserves and marmalade. Owing to the sweetness of the 
 pear, an equal weight of sugar is not taken for the preserve, 
 and a little preserved ginger-root or lemon-juice is added to 
 the sirup of the pear. 
 
 PEAS. Green peas should be put into boiling water 
 with a little salt, and some of the less sweet varieties are im- 
 proved by a piece of sugar. Leave the pot uncovered, and 
 boil rapidly. Twenty minutes will cook them if young. 
 Drain them, and put bits of fresh butter in the dish and on 
 top of the peas. 
 
 PEPPER. Piper nigrum is a plant which" grows in India. 
 This shrub produces common pepper, the unripe berries be- 
 ing the common black pepper*; the matured seed, or berries 
 deprived of their epidermis, is the white pepper of commerce. 
 
 PICKLES. These articles are prepared by greening 
 them with salt and water, and then steaming them in spiced 
 vinegar, or the salt is used, to give some articles firmness. 
 
214 PICKLES. 
 
 Many housekeepers do not boil their vinegar because it loses 
 strength by it, but pour it on to their pickles scalding hot. 
 Put pickles in stone jars or glass vessels, never in glazed 
 dishes. Pickles are made yellow by being taken from the 
 brine, wiped, and exposed on a cloth to the action of the 
 sun, and turned frequently; if they become white after the 
 first day, they should be put with some turmeric powder into 
 cold vinegar, and afterwards into spiced vinegar. 
 
 To pickle cucumbers, beans, and gherkins, put them in 
 salt and water, changing the water every other day; let them 
 remain nine days, drain them, and put scalding vinegar over 
 them. Use good wine or cider vinegar for pickles. 
 
 To pickle onions, take the small button-onions, bury them 
 in salt six days, then skin and trim them with a sharp knife; 
 throw boiling water over them three times, allowing them to 
 cool each time in the water. After the third scalding put them 
 in a glass jar, and fill it up with white French brandy, put on 
 cold. Put a little salad-oil on the top of the jar, and cover 
 closely with a bit of bladder over the cork, or use bottle ce- 
 ment. 
 
 Mangoes are made either of the muskmelon or cantelope. 
 Make a slit with a sharp, knife, remove the seeds, and fill 
 them, after they have been kept in a strong brine of salt and 
 water for nine days, pouring it over hot the first day. Rinse 
 and dry the melons with a cloth, and stuff them with mustard- 
 seed, pepper-corns, mace, cloves, one small onion and a gher- 
 kin to each, a bit of cinnamon and scraped horseradish, filling 
 till they are plumped, and tie each with coarse twine. Make 
 a bag of linen cloth and fill it with ginger-root, cloves, mace, 
 and such spices as you please, and lay it over the mangoes 
 after they are laid in the jar. When the strength of the 
 spices is spent, refill the bag with French spice. Cover closely. 
 
 To pickle cherries, take them when they are just ripe but 
 while the flesh is firm, trim the stems, put a layer in a jar, 
 
PIG. 215 
 
 and sprinkle a little powdered loaf-sugar over them. Pro- 
 ceed till the jar is two thirds full, then pour over pale white 
 vinegar, and put a large spoonful of x salad-oil on top. Bar- 
 berries in bunches, and peaches not over ripe, may be pickled 
 in a similar manner ; only these require to be steeped, and the 
 sugar may be boiled in the vinegar and the sirup be poured 
 over a little hot. 
 
 To pickle cauliflowers, take the fairest blooms and steep 
 them in scalding brine for a few minutes, drain them, and, 
 pulling them into branches, put them into glass jars and pour 
 cold vinegar over them. 
 
 To pickle the Black Walnut (Juglans nigrd), and the 
 Butternut (J. cinered)^ gather the nuts when they may be 
 easily pierced with a coarse needle ; in New England this 
 is towards the last of June. Put them into salt and water, 
 and shift them every other day for twenty days. Take 
 them out, drain them dry, turning them to expose them to 
 the air. Put them into jars. Boil in vinegar cloves, horse- 
 radish, and onions, and pour over them boiling hot. Tie 
 up a little bag of ginger and put it on top of each jar. Tie 
 down close with leather or bladder to exclude the air. In 
 three months they will be fit for use. 
 
 PIG, TO ROAST. Take a pig four or five weeks old, 
 well cleaned and washed, truss his feet and skewer them, tie 
 them down flat ; take next some slices of bread, butter and 
 sift pulverized sage over them, put them in the body of the 
 pig, and sew him up. Put your pig on the spit, have a brisk 
 fire with about a pint of salt and water in the dripping-pan ; 
 make a swab and swab it to prevent its burning ; when quite 
 brown, butter freely. Have from the pan where the pig is 
 roasted a full pint of gravy, take the harslet, previously boiled, 
 chop it fine with the brains from the head, adding part of the 
 bread which was in the pig after cutting him for the table, 
 
216 ELUM. 
 
 and put all these to the gravy ; if you find the gravy not rich 
 enough, add a piece of butter. Divide the pig down the 
 back, after having separated the head. Put it on the dish 
 feet outward, the brown skin of course upwards, and the 
 head on either side ; or put it on separate dishes half and 
 half, placing them at opposite ends of the table. Before re- 
 moving the pig from the spit, expose it on each side to the 
 cold air that it may crisp. A pig of the above age takes 
 about two hours before a good fire. It must be attended to 
 constantly, or it will get scorched. 
 
 PLUM (Prunus domestica, L.). The plum of our gar- 
 dens is from the southern parts of Europe, or from Asia, but 
 it has become thoroughly naturalized; the wild native plums, 
 of which there are two or three distinct species, have never 
 been much cultivated. The plum-tree is hardy, and requires 
 little pruning, excepting to cut off diseased branches, and to 
 thin off a crowded top. Pruning is always undertaken before 
 midsummer, to prevent the flow of sap. 
 
 The plum is easily propagated by sowing the seeds of any 
 hardy variety, excepting the damsons, which are rather un- 
 certain, and budding the seedlings when about two years old 
 with desirable varieties. Soils charged with heavy clay are 
 favorable for the plum. The muck from salt-water marshes is 
 excellent manure for this fruit-tree, and common salt is also 
 much approved of; it is applied to the surface of the soil un- 
 der each matured healthy tree, early in spring, in proportions 
 regulated by the size and constitution of the tree ; some cul- 
 tivators put half a peck of coarse salt to large bearing trees, 
 sprinkling the surface as far as the branches extend. Salt 
 is excellent for the plum-tree, both as a fertilizer and as a 
 preventive to the attacks of the curculio, or plum-weevil 
 (Rhynchcenus Nenuphar), an insect whose ravages sometimes 
 entirely destroy the hopes of the cultivator of the smooth- 
 
PLUM. 217 
 
 skinned stone-fruits. Punctured by this insect, the fruit falls 
 when only partially ripe to the ground. The best remedy 
 is said to be a hard, heavy soil, unpropitious for the workings 
 or life of the insect or its larvae. The next is to destroy all 
 the punctured plums as they fall, to jar the tree with a mal- 
 let swathed in cloth, and catch the plums on a spread cloth, 
 destroying the fruit, and to allow fowls to run in the orchard. 
 Keep the earth around plum-trees free from weeds, so that 
 insects may be more readily discovered, and the smoother 
 and harder it is kept the better. 
 
 The Knots, Black Wart, or Black Gum, is only to be de- 
 stroyed by cutting off the infected branches and burning them. 
 This disease is thought to be the work of an insect, but noth- 
 ing has ever been demonstrated with regard to the cause or 
 causes. 
 
 To preserve Plums, select handsome fruit, not too ripe, 
 and of a fine flavor ; mawkishly sweet fruit makes an indif- 
 ferent preserve. Pare and divide them to remove the stone, 
 keeping them as whole as possible. Weigh to their weight 
 an equal quantity of the best loaf-sugar. Crack the stones, 
 and blanch the kernels. Lay the fruit hollow upwards in flat 
 dishes, and sift \vhite sugar over them. Let them stand over 
 night. In the morning cover the bottom of the kettle with 
 the fruit, putting to them a little water ; let them simmer very 
 slowly, and spread them after they have simmered a few min- 
 utes, as before, on flat dishes. Make the sirup of the weighed 
 sugar flavored with the kernels of the plum-stones. Put the 
 plums . in glass jars, and when the sirup is only warm pour 
 it over the plums. The sirup should be clear and thick. 
 When cool, cover with brandied papers, and white paper 
 turned over and pasted down. Plums after being first sim- 
 mered are sometimes preserved in apple jelly. 
 
 The best prunes are exported from France, and are made 
 near Tours of the St. Catherine plum, and the Prune d'Agen; 
 19 
 
218 PRESERVES. 
 
 the Provence plums and other kinds are also used ; these last 
 are called in England French plums. See Downing. 
 
 PORK, TO CUT UP. Take off the head of the hog just 
 below the ears, cut him open right up and down the back, 
 and take the leaf-fat out for the lard ; then take a strip from 
 the pig's belly about one eighth of a yard in width, this is 
 not so nice as the leaf, and is not usually mixed with prime 
 lard. Turn the hog and cut out his legs and shoulders, then 
 cut out the spareribs and chine-bones, leaving the fat as thick 
 as possible for salting ; that is, cut very little fat pork out with 
 the spareribs and chine bones. Cut the remainder of the pork 
 in strips the length of the carcass and an eighth of a yard 
 in width, and bend them so as to pack them for salting in the 
 barrel. 
 
 The fat round the intestines of pork is usually tried out for 
 soap and similar uses. 
 
 POTATOES, TO BOIL. Have your potatoes about the 
 same size by dividing the larger ones. Cover them only 
 with water, and sprinkle a little salt between each layer of 
 potatoes. Put them in cold water and allow them to simmer 
 slowly. Prove them to see if they are done ; if they receive 
 the fork easily, pour off all the water, and leave the kettle 
 uncovered, and near enough to the fire to evaporate the moist- 
 ure of the potatoes, but not to scorch them. 
 
 POULTRY, TO PLUCK. Turkeys and chickens, after 
 being bled to death by sticking or making an incision in the 
 neck, should be put into scalding, but not boiling-hot water, 
 and be stripped of their feathers. Geese and ducks may be 
 put to water that is nearly of a boiling heat, and then steamed 
 in a thick cloth that the down may be easily removed. 
 
 PRESERVES. Where fruit is to be kept for months 
 
PUDDINGS. 219 
 
 by being preserved in sugar, it is the best economy to pro- 
 cure the double-refined loaf-sugar; then nothing is lost by 
 clarifying and separation of scum when making the sirup, 
 though when the fruit is added, the crude acids that float to 
 the surface should be removed. Let the sugar be always 
 dissolved in the water before going over the fire. Parboil 
 and skim most fruits in a weak sirup, and then cool them be- 
 fore putting them into the rich sirup made of sugar in equal 
 weight with the fruit. All fruits should simmer gently till soft 
 and transparent, and a kettle be kept for the single purpose 
 of preserving them ; the porcelain-lined kettles are desirable. 
 Select fruit for preserving that is just ripe, and very fair. 
 Most stone-fruit should have the stone taken out to keep 
 well. See receipts under respective heads. 
 
 To preserve Ginger Root, soak the quantity you wish to 
 preserve two days in warm water, then scrape it, and slice it 
 rather thin ; make a sirup of the sugar after weighing it an 
 equal weight of the root ; take a little of the sirup, dilute it 
 with water, boil the root in it till it is tender, then skim out 
 the root, add the remainder of the sirup, and boil and skim 
 the sirup till it is thick and quite clear ; pour it over the gin- 
 ger when cold. 
 
 PUDDINGS. As the intelligent housekeeper varies 
 these dishes to her fancy or convenience, we shall not give 
 large space to them. 
 
 All boiled puddings should have room left them in the 
 cloth to swell, else they will be hard ; they should be tied in 
 such a manner as not to admit the water, or they will be 
 water-soaked ; they should be often turned in the pot to pre- 
 vent berries or raisins from settling ; a plate should be put 
 into the bottom of the pot, that the pudding may not get 
 scorched. Before the pudding is put into the cloth, this last 
 should be wrung out of hot water, be well shaken, and then 
 
220 PUDDINGS. 
 
 be dredged inside with flour. The cloth, if washed out in hot 
 lye instead of soap and water, will be sweeter, and free of 
 the soapy taste that cooks sometimes permit to adhere to 
 these things. Russia sheeting makes good pudding-cloths. 
 
 FARMER'S PUDDING. 
 
 To one cup and a half of cold water, put a large teaspoon- 
 ful of salt, one cup of molasses, one full cup of beef-suet, one 
 full cup of raisins, flour enough to make it stiff. Tie it in a 
 pudding-cloth, giving it room to swell ; when the water boils, 
 put in your pudding, putting in a coarse plate to prevent 
 the pudding from burning before it rises. Three hours 
 will cook it. Be careful not to allow the water to stop 
 boiling. 
 
 SQUASH PUDDING. 
 
 One gill of squash, one gill of milk, one egg, one ounce of 
 butter ; rose-water, sugar, and spice to your taste. 
 
 MARLBOROUGH PUDDING. 
 
 Six table-spoonfuls of apple after, it is stewed and strained 
 through a sieve. Six eggs, six ounces of sugar, six ounces of 
 butter, the juice and grated peel of a lemon, a small blade of 
 mace pounded, a table-spoonful of rose-water ; melt the but- 
 ter and stir it in just before you put the pudding into the 
 oven. Both the Marlborough and Squash puddings are 
 baked in paste. 
 
 THANKSGIVING PLUM-PUDDING. 
 
 One loaf and a quarter of baker's bread grated and sift- 
 ed without the crusts, one pound and a half of stoned rai- 
 sins, six ounces of butter. Butter the dish and cover with 
 bread ; then a layer of raisins and small lumps of butter al- 
 ternately until your dish is two thirds full. Then pour over 
 the following custard : to nine gills of milk add ten eggs, 
 
QUINCE. 221 
 
 one half-pound of sugar, beating the sugar and eggs together, 
 one glass of wine, one half-glass of rose-water, one glass of 
 brandy, one teaspoonful of saleratus dissolved in milk, two 
 nutmegs, and a little salt. Two hours will bake it, and 
 if the directions are followed, it is a delicious pudding. 
 
 Sauce for the Same. 
 
 To one half-gill of wine, and the same of rose-water, half a 
 pound of loaf-sugar, and a lump of butter as large as a good- 
 sized egg. Put it over a moderate fire, and stir it for fif- 
 teen minutes ; when it has boiled up well, grate half a 
 nutmeg into the sauce-boat, and pour the sauce in. 
 
 QUINCE (Cydonia vulgaris). This tree is a native of 
 Europe. Its reputation commenced in the city of Cydon, 
 in Crete or Candia, whence its botanical name. 
 
 The Quince may be grown either as a bush or a tree. It 
 may be propagated from seed, layers, or cuttings ; but the seed 
 is uncertain, the seedlings sometimes being the apple-shaped 
 and as often the pear-shaped variety, though taken from the 
 first, and vice versa. Cuttings, shaded and planted early in 
 spring, root readily, and most cultivators recommend this 
 mode of securing a good variety. The approved sorts may 
 also be budded on common seedling Quince stocks, or on the 
 common Thorn. We have seen that the Pear is dwarfed on 
 Quince stocks. The Quince should have a deep, rich soil, 
 and an annual top-dressing of manure, to have the fruit in 
 perfection. It requires but little pruning ; to be relieved of 
 crowded or unhealthy branches is here its only need. It 
 has visits from the Borer ; but this and other insects must be 
 watched and destroyed, as directed for the Apple-tree. 
 
 There are three very distinct varieties of the Quince that 
 are especially useful. The Apple-shaped Quince or Orange 
 Quince. Fruit of the size of the largest apple, skin smooth, 
 19* 
 
222 QUINCE. 
 
 color fine golden. The most popular fruit for preserving, as 
 it cooks tender, and the trees bear abundant crops. There 
 are inferior varieties of this species. 
 
 The Pear-shaped Quince or Oblong Quince, formed like a 
 pear, ripens a fortnight later than the Apple Quince. Flesh 
 is rather tough, and makes an inferior preserve when com- 
 pared to the above, both in color and tenderness. It has an 
 aromatic flavor, and affords a good jelly. 
 
 The Portugal Quince has a healthy growth, with a leaf 
 larger and broader than the more common varieties. Its 
 healthy habits make it a favorite with many gardeners for 
 stocks on which to engraft or bud the Pear. The fruit is of 
 the largest size, oblong ; but the color of the skin is not so 
 deep an orange as that of the other kinds. 
 
 The Portugal Quince yields a scanty crop, and is styled 
 by cultivators a shy bearer, and is not consequently so gen- 
 erally cultivated as the Apple Quince ; its fruit is milder 
 than that of other quinces, cooks more tenderly, and assumes 
 when cooked a purplish-crimson color. 
 
 The Musk Quince bears fruit of only half the size of the 
 common sorts. It is highly scented, but owing to its size is 
 little cultivated for market. 
 
 Besides these useful varieties, there are ornamental varie- 
 ties from Japan and China. They are exceedingly pretty 
 and well-known garden shrubs. 
 
 The Japan Quince (Cydonia Japonica) has small dark- 
 green leaves, and clusters of brilliant scarlet blossoms. Fruit 
 useless. 
 
 The Blush Japan is very like the above, excepting that 
 the flowers are white and blush. 
 
 The Chinese Quince ( Cydonia Sinensis) has oval leaves, 
 glossy surface, small, red blossom, with a delicate odor. The 
 leaves red-tinted in autumn. The fruit ripens late; it is 
 a large oval, and is said to make an agreeable preserve. 
 
 Quince-trees are set about ten feet apart. 
 
QUINCE. 223 
 
 To PRESERVE QUINCES. 
 
 Rub the quinces hard with a clean coarse cloth, scald them 
 till you can pass a fork through them, then peel them and 
 cut them in quarters ; remove all the hard substance which 
 is found in the centre of the fruit after the core is taken out 
 (for this spoils the quince if left in). Then take the sirup 
 which has been previously prepared thus: To every pound 
 of sugar one half-pint of water, and in proportion to four 
 pounds of sugar the white of one egg, put them together 
 cold, and when dissolved put it over a moderate fire to sim- 
 mer gently ; do not touch it while simmering, but when it 
 begins to rise, have ready to pour upon it half a teacup of 
 cold water ; when it swells up the second time, put in another 
 half-teacup of cold water ; but when it rises the third time, 
 take it off gently from the fire, and sit it by to cool twenty 
 minutes ; then skim it and pour it off, wash the kettle clean, 
 cover the bottom with the quince, pour over just sirup enough 
 to cover them, and let them simmer gently till the sirup be- 
 comes a jelly. Keep the kettle covered (except wljen you 
 are removing the white, which will rise, and must be taken 
 off), and if the Apple Quince is used, the fruit will be perfect- 
 ly white and well done ; take the quarters out on a dish, and 
 when the sirup is cool, put them together in glasses. 
 
 Another Way. 
 
 Select the fairest fruit of the Apple-shaped or Portugal va- 
 rieties, wipe them and peel and core them ; as you divide 
 them in halves and quarters, sprinkle loaf-sugar over them ; 
 weigh against the fruit the best loaf-sugar, pound for pound, 
 and put this sugar aside to make the sirup, as above directed. 
 Put the fruit into the bottom of the preserving-kettle and 
 just cover it with water ; let it simmer gently, when remove 
 it to a flat dish and sift white sugar over it, and put the dish 
 into an oven almost spent, leaving the door open ; do so till 
 
224: RABBIT. 
 
 the whole amount has been in the oven about fifteen or 
 twenty minutes ; then take it all out, and set it on one side in 
 a dry closet, covering it. Make the sirup, and the following 
 day preserve the quince till the sirup jellies. Add the wa- 
 ter, strained, that the fruit was partially cooked in, to the 
 sirup, letting it simmer with it. The fruit thus preserved 
 will have a high flavor, and be a rich, purplish red. 
 
 Jelly may be made of the parings and the cores of the 
 quince, though, where the fruit is plenty, the whole quince is 
 washed, wiped, and sliced through without paring, and the 
 kettle filled, and the fruit just covered with water ; when the 
 fruit is tender, the whole is passed through a flannel jelly-bag. 
 To each pint of juice a pound of loaf-sugar pounded is added. 
 Boil about twenty minutes. If the fruit and sugar are both 
 of best quality, and the water is merely enough to cover the 
 quince, less sugar may be used to bring a good jelly ; but 
 great care is requisite in this last case, whereas the full pro- 
 portions yield a jelly without trouble. 
 
 RABBIT. We have, besides our wild rabbit (Lepus 
 Americanus), the European rabbit, which has been largely 
 imported. Our rabbit is distinguished from the European 
 rabbit (Lepus cuniculus) by its hind legs being nearly ten 
 inches long, and its change of color, in the summer being 
 covered with brown and ash-colored fur, which in winter be- 
 comes white and increases in length ; it is frequently styled 
 the American Hare. There is also the Siberian rabbit 
 (Lepus tolai). 
 
 Where the tame rabbit is reared for profit, the variety se- 
 lected for breeding should be of the larger kinds. " Those 
 termed," says Professor Low, " the French and Turkish rab- 
 bits, are much esteemed. The rabbit selected for breeding, 
 we are informed by the breeders of them, should be wide in 
 
RASPBERRY. 225 
 
 the loin, and short-legged. In the management of the rab- 
 bit, the utmost attention must be paid to ventilation, cleanli- 
 ness, and food. The animals are most conveniently kept in 
 boxes, or compartments termed hutches, one above the other 
 round the room. Each hutch intended for the does should 
 have two divisions, one for feeding and the other for sleep- 
 ing. Those are single which are intended for the use of the 
 weaned rabbits, or for the bucks, which are always removed 
 from the female. There should be little troughs in the 
 hutches for the food, which consists of corn, hay, roots, and 
 green plants, or any farinaceous substance. Boiled potatoes 
 are an excellent food for the rabbit, as for every kind of her- 
 bivorous animal. The female, when the time of parturition 
 approaches, makes her nest, for which hay is to be furnished 
 her. She bites it with her teeth into the requisite size. 
 She generally produces from five to ten young. At the end 
 of six weeks the male is again admitted to her, and the young 
 ones weaned, or she is allowed to suckle them for two weeks 
 more. They are either sold from the teat when they are ex- 
 tremely delicate, or they are kept on for a certain period 
 and fattened. Good and nourishing food is to be supplied to 
 them, and three months' feeding is generally considered ne- 
 cessary to fatten them properly." 
 
 The rearing of the domestic rabbit, on account of the pro- 
 lificness of the animal, its wholesome flesh, and the little ex- 
 pense attending its keeping, appears to be worthy of more 
 attention than it has received. 
 
 The doe carries her young about thirty days : if she be 
 weak after parturition, some warm drink is given to her, 
 such as milk and water, or beer caudle. Green food, such 
 as clover, should not be given wet, as it produces disease ; it 
 should also be varied with oats and similar substances. 
 
 RASPBERRY (Rulus Idaus). This shrub, it is well 
 
226 RASPBERRY. 
 
 known, repays careful culture. It is propagated by suckers 
 or offshoots, seed being used only for obtaining new varieties. 
 Two or three suckers are generally put together to form a 
 group or stool; plant the suckers in rows about three, or, if 
 convenient, five feet apart, and the stools about three or four 
 feet apart, in the rows. Let the soil be deep and rich, rather 
 moist than dry. Keep them free from weeds. Prune when 
 the crop is off, by cutting away old wood and feeble suckers, 
 and trim back about a foot of the remaining shoots, and give 
 each hill a light top-dressing of vegetable mould, and a little 
 salt or sea-weed may be worked in with other fertilizers. 
 The foreign varieties require to be treated in the fall like 
 climbing roses : round each hill put straw and sea-weed, and, 
 bending the branches gently over, cover them for the winter 
 with evergreen boughs. In spring the bushes are trained, or 
 simply tied to stakes or rails, so as to be exposed to the sun. 
 Late fruit is obtained by cutting down some of the stools to 
 within a short distance of the ground. 
 
 A plantation of raspberries is considered to be in perfec- 
 tion at the third year, and to be exhausted in five or six 
 years, when a new one should be laid out on another piece 
 of ground. 
 
 The common American Red Raspberry is a native of the 
 Eastern and Middle States. It is valued for cordials. (See 
 Cordials.) 
 
 The American Black, or Thimbleberry, is stewed for a 
 common preserve. 
 
 The American White is similar to the Thimbleberry, ex- 
 cepting in the color of its. fruit, which is of a pale yellow or 
 white. 
 
 The most desirable foreign varieties (though these things 
 are constantly progressive) are the True or New Red Ant- 
 werp (the common Red Antwerp being inferior) ; the Yel- 
 low Antwerp, a large light-colored raspberry; the Fran- 
 
SALADS. 227 
 
 conia, a variety imported from France by S. G. Perkins, 
 Esq. of Boston ; the Fastolff Raspberry, an English variety 
 of great reputation ; and some others of good reputation. 
 
 The Ohio Everbearing is a native of Ohio ; it is like the 
 American Black Raspberry, excepting that it bears late in 
 the season, even to November in favorable seasons. 
 
 A wine is made from the raspberry in the same manner as 
 from the currant. Raspberry-jam may be made by weighing 
 an equal quantity of sugar to the fruit, and boiling them to- 
 gether. A very nice way of preserving this fruit is found 
 in the following receipt. 
 
 RASPBERRY-JAM. 
 
 One pint of currant-jelly, one quart of raspberries ; ex- 
 amine the fruit well to remove all insects, bruise the fruit 
 and jelly together, and set over a slow fire, keeping it stir- 
 ring with a silver spoon all the time till it boils. Allow it 
 to boil five or six minutes. Pour it into your glasses warm, 
 papering them as you do currant-jelly. It will keep for two 
 or three years, and have the full flavor of the raspberry. 
 
 SALADS. These dishes should never be fully prepared 
 till just before they make their appearance on the table, so 
 that the vegetables or herbs may be crisp and light ; and 
 where meats are used, as lobster and chicken, the dressing 
 should be poured on at the last moment, otherwise the mus- 
 tard toughens the meat, and gives the whole dish a flabby, 
 spent look. 
 
 CHICKEN SALAD. 
 
 Boil a hen-chicken or fowl that has a white skin till ten- 
 der. When cold, cut the meat from the bones into pieces 
 about an inch in size. Take a bunch of celery (or two if 
 small), have it nicely cleaned, and keep in cold water till just 
 before it is cut up. Prepare the dressing thus : Take five 
 
228 SAUCES. 
 
 eggs and boil them hard for ten minutes, mash the yolks 
 with a wooden spoon very smoothly, mix with them a salt- 
 spoonful of salt, one table-spoonful of mild mustard (half of 
 this if very sharp), three table-spoonfuls of sweet olive-oil, 
 one small teaspoonful of India soy or Worcester-sauce, three 
 table-spoonfuls of vinegar. Beat the whole together. Cut 
 the celery into bits of half an inch, mix it well with the 
 chicken, and then shape the whole with the wooden spoon, 
 and garnish with the green leaves of the celery, and slices of 
 cold, hard-boiled eggs. Have the whole lie lightly, so that 
 the dressing when poured on may settle all over the salad. 
 Serve with a boxwood spoon and fork. 
 
 SAUCES. These matters are best made for the most 
 part in the bain-marie or double kettle, the outside compart- 
 ment being filled with hot water ; especially should the bain- 
 marie be used for butter, egg, and cream sauces. 
 
 MELTED BUTTER. 
 
 Mix in half a gill of water smoothly two teaspoonfuls of 
 flour and a little salt; take a quarter of a pound of butter, 
 and work out all buttermilk. Put the water and flour to 
 the fire, and when it comes to a boil, stir in the butter till it 
 is melted, then remove it from the fire. Make melted butter 
 just as it is wanted. This sauce may be flavored with vari- 
 ous essences, herbs, capers, or what you please. For fish, 
 stir in a teaspoonful of anchovy-sauce. 
 
 FISH SAUCE. 
 
 Rub a teaspoonful of flour into a quarter of a pound of 
 butter ; when well kneaded, put it into your pan with a table- 
 spoonful of water. Take the boiled liver of your fish, and 
 bruise it very fine, put to it a little cayenne pepper, and a 
 table-spoonful of tarragon vinegar. Just as the butter, which 
 
SAUCES. 
 
 should be constantly shaken, begins to boil, add the liver 
 with its vinegar, and remove the sauce from the fire. 
 Serve in a boat, or over the fish. Vinegar may be flavored 
 with tarragon by gathering the leaves of the herb in July 
 or August, and filling a bottle half-full of tarragon leaves, and 
 filling up with vinegar. 
 
 RUSSIAN SAUCE FOR COLD MEATS. 
 
 Four table-spoonfuls of grated horseradish (grate it with 
 a fine grater), two spoonfuls of made mustard, one salt-spoon- 
 ful of salt, the same quantity of pounded loaf-sugar, and vine- 
 gar enough to cover the ingredients. Keep it closely bot- 
 tled, and it will keep for some months. 
 
 EGG SAUCE. 
 
 Melt your butter thick, and chop fine two or three eggs 
 that have been boiled ten minutes. Put the chopped egg 
 into the boat, and pour the melted butter over them. This 
 is eaten with boiled chicken or boiled fish. 
 
 OYSTER SAUCE FOR A BOILED COD. 
 
 Strain the oysters from their liquor, wash them out in cold 
 water, and drain them dry. Pour the liquor from its sedi- 
 ment, and put it over the fire ; to a pint of liquor put one 
 glass of claret, the juice of half a lemon, a blade of mace, and 
 a little butter thickened with a teaspoonful of flour ; let it al- 
 most boil, then add half a pound of butter, and let it melt, 
 shaking it well ; lastly add, after taking out the mace, a dozen 
 and a half of oysters ; let them scald, but not boil. Put the 
 sauce into a boat. 
 
 GAME SAUCE. 
 
 Grate half of a baker's loaf of bread (cutting off the 
 crusts) ; add to it a little salt and grated nutmeg, half a gill of 
 20 
 
230 SEA-KALE. 
 
 claret, and the juice of two oranges ; when your fowls are half 
 roasted, put the above over the fire with a quarter of a pound 
 of butter, into which you have kneaded two teaspoonfuls of 
 flour; shake it while it melts, then put it under your fowls 
 with the gravy in the pan. 
 
 Celery makes a good sauce for game, when cut in bits and 
 boiled till tender, adding a little cream, a bit of butter rolled 
 in flour, and seasoning with pounded mace and a very little 
 nutmeg. Celery is so abundant in flavor that but little spice 
 should ever be used with it. 
 
 Venison sauce is usually made by adding to the gravy cur- 
 rant-jelly and a glass of red or white wine ; or the jelly may 
 be served in small glass dishes, as venison is always eaten 
 over chafing or hot-water dishes. 
 
 SAUSAGES. Hon. L. J 's Parisian receipt is as 
 
 follows : Three ounces of sage, two and a half of cloves, two 
 and a half of pepper, eight of salt, and three nutmegs, to 
 twenty-five pounds of meat, which should be one half fat and 
 one half lean. This is a very nice receipt for sausages, and 
 was given to me by a gentleman who resided several years 
 in Paris, and there procured it. It is unnecessary to say 
 that the sage and spices should be pulverized, and well 
 pounded and thoroughly incorporated with the finely chop- 
 ped meat. It may be cooked either in balls or skins. 
 
 SEA-KALE. (Choumarin. Orambe maritima.) This 
 plant is grown, cooked, and served (excepting the toast) very 
 much as asparagus. 
 
 It should be gathered before it is matured, for then it is 
 tough and stringy. Soak it in salt and water, and then put 
 in some fresh water with a little salt ; let the pot be filled 
 with water, and let the kale boil quickly for fifteen or twenty 
 
SOUPS. 231 
 
 minutes. Drain it very thoroughly, and serve with butter- 
 sauce, or bits of butter laid under and over it. This vegeta- 
 ble requires to be freshly gathered when it goes to the pot. 
 Keep the pot while boiling, for the most part, uncovered. 
 
 SOAP FOR WASHING. Two pounds of hard soap, 
 four quarts of rain-water ; let it dissolve ; add one quarter of 
 a pound of saleratus ; let it almost boil, then add one tea- 
 spoonful of tartaric acid, one teaspoonful of arrowroot ; let it 
 all boil twenty minutes. Pour it out into a baking-pan ; let 
 it stand all day and over night, then slice it, and put it in 
 the oven to dry. This soap makes flannels look handsomely. 
 
 OX-GALL SOAP. 
 
 Take one quart of ox-gall, and slice into it two pounds of 
 best yellow soap (Alexander Dickinson's Extra No. 1, man- 
 ufactured at Cambridge, Mass., is the kind I have used). Set 
 it on the range and let it simmer until the soap is dissolved 
 or melted ; add a large spoonful of table-salt, and pour it into 
 flat pans ; cut it into bars when cold, and dry it ; it will be- 
 come very hard and keep for years. A very little of it will 
 wash nice prints, de laines, &c., and it is excellent to wash 
 or scour woollen table-cloths, piano-covers, &c. 
 
 SOUPS. I have given some rules for soups when speak- 
 ing of almond soup and turtle soup ; here, therefore, I shall 
 give but a few receipts for these preparations. To offer re- 
 ceipts for shank soups, or mutton broths, to American house- 
 keepers, would be to expose myself to the rebuke given by 
 Judge Marshall to the counsellor who was proceeding to lay 
 out his mental wares much as Sydney Smith says a French- 
 man does of whom you have imprudently asked information 
 upon some point, when the mild Judge finally interrupted the 
 everlasting drone of commonplace with, " Mr. , there are 
 
232 SOUPS. 
 
 some things with which the Court should be supposed to be 
 acquainted." 
 
 CLAM SOUP. 
 
 Brown a quarter of a pound of butter and thicken it with 
 flour, then pour in as much water as you judge sufficient for 
 your soup, put in a piece of veal or small leg of lamb, and 
 one pint of clam-liquor, a finely chopped onion, a little thyme, 
 pounded pepper, cloves, and mace, but no salt, as the clam- 
 liquor will answer for that ; add a gill of wine, Madeira or 
 sherry ; a yam boiled in it is a great improvement ; let it boil 
 three hours, when take not less than fifty clams, trim them 
 and cut them in small pieces, and throw them in the soup 
 half an hour before you dish. The Yam (Dioscorea sativa) 
 is extensively grown in the West Indies ; its root is farina- 
 ceous, and it is both roasted and boiled, or served in soups 
 when it can be procured, where its presence is thought to be 
 much desired. 
 
 MOCK-TURTLE SOUP. 
 
 Boil the well-cleaned calf's head and feet in water just 
 sufficient to cover them ; skim it well, and allow it to boil till 
 the meat can be easily cut from the bones. Take out all the 
 bones and cut the meat in small pieces and strain the liquor 
 over it ; add to it one quarter of an ounce of ground pepper, 
 one quarter of an ounce of pounded clove, some pulverized 
 sweet herbs ; put it again in a clean kettle over the fire, and 
 let it simmer, but not boil. About half an hour before you 
 take the soup up, put in forcemeat balls ; have the balls the 
 size of large English walnuts ; reserve some of the forcemeat 
 balls to fry brown in butter ; at the same time have ready a 
 bottle of claret or port wine, and pour it into the kettle. 
 Boil twelve eggs ten minutes, and when the soup is to be 
 sent in, cut the eggs in two pieces and garnish the sides of the 
 dish with them and slices of lemon. Have some of the force- 
 
STRAWBERRY. 233 
 
 meat balls served hot on small oval dishes. These should 
 be fried a delicate brown. 
 
 Forcemeat for the above : Take a loaf of baker's flour- 
 bread, and grate it; add an equal quantity of beef-suet, 
 chopped very fine ; season highly with pepper, clove, salt, nut- 
 meg or mace, cayenne, sweet-marjoram, and wet the whole 
 with eggs till they may be rolled in balls. Those which you 
 fry will require but little butter, as the fat fries from them. 
 
 OYSTER SOUP. 
 
 To fifty oysters, one pint of water, one pint and a half of 
 milk, to be mixed with the liquor. Wash the oysters from 
 their liquor, and strain the last or pour it from its sediment ; 
 then add the water, and half a spoonful of ground mace, a 
 salt-spoonful of salt, half a salt-spoonful of ground clove ; let 
 it come to a boil ; strain it through a cloth, then add the milk 
 and the oysters, and let it come once more to a boil. Take 
 one large spoonful of flour mixed smoothly like mustard, stir it 
 in, and take off the pot ; put in a piece of butter ; brown three 
 thin slices of bread well dried in the oven previous to toasting, 
 cut them in small square pieces and lay them in the dish, and 
 pour the soup over them. 
 
 STRAWBERRY. (Fragaria.) Select for this valu- 
 able plant a deep loamy soil, that will allow of free culture ; 
 for though an herbaceous plant, the roots of many varieties if 
 encouraged will penetrate to the depth of two feet in one 
 season ; hence the ground should be ploughed and thoroughly 
 pulverized to the depth of a foot or more, then spread on a 
 few inches of well-decomposed stable-manure, and harrow in, 
 making the ground level ; mark it off by a line in alternate 
 rows of three feet by eighteen inches. Choose strong young 
 plants, taking them up carefully in order that the roots may 
 be entire, and set them in the rows, eighteen or twelve inches 
 20* 
 
234 STRAWBERRY. 
 
 asunder. In its wild state, the strawberry blossom is perfect ; 
 but culture has altered the habits of most of the varieties, 
 though the European Wood and Alpine Strawberries still, un- 
 der every cultivation, retain their primitive habits, giving from 
 every blossom perfect fruit. Barren plants are those which 
 have flowers in an imperfect state, deficient either in stamens 
 or pistils ; imperfectly provided with pistils, they are styled 
 male plants ; deficient in stamens, female plants. But the 
 term is a convenient rather than a correct one, as the or- 
 gans are not absent, but only imperfectly matured. 
 
 In view of- this habit of the cultivated Strawberry, the plants 
 are set out in the proportion of one staminate to fifteen or 
 twenty pistillates, either in alternate rows or in close proxim- 
 ity. The pistillate flowers produce the fruit, but the pollen 
 of the staminate has previously fertilized them. Cultivators 
 watch the growth and bearing habits of their plants, and those 
 which are barren are not allowed to usurp the bed, but are 
 kept trimmed of runners. Stakes may be put in near the 
 fruitful plants, and runners be selected from good bearers for 
 new beds. 
 
 Early in the spring is the best time for setting out plants, 
 varying of course according to the season and the latitude. 
 Care should be taken to keep the ground free from weeds 
 through the summer, and at the approach of winter the beds 
 should be covered two or three inches deep with coarse lit- 
 ter, vegetable mould, and earth from the woods. This light 
 dressing need not be disturbed in the spring, as the plants 
 will find their way through and grow vigorously. 
 
 VARIETIES. 
 
 These are very numerous, many having been introduced 
 from abroad. Our native Wood Strawberry, called abroad 
 Virginia Scarlet, has given us the varieties called Scarlet 
 Strawberries; the Pine or Surinam Strawberry, the sorts 
 
STRAWBERRY. 235 
 
 called Pines ; the Wood Strawberry of Europe, the class 
 called "Woods and Alpines ; the Hautbois are from Bohemia, 
 the Chili Strawberries from South America; and besides 
 these sorts there are green, white, and black Strawberries. 
 For all practical purposes one or two best varieties should 
 be chosen, the early and later bearers. 
 
 Early Virginia is an early bearer, yielding early in June 
 till towards the last of the month. It is a bright scarlet, 
 very juicy, and a general favorite. 
 
 Hovey's Seedling comes into bearing as the Virginia Early 
 goes out, and continues into July. As is well known, it was 
 raised in 1833 by Messrs. Hovey, in their garden at Cam- 
 bridge. It has more than any other variety raised the char- 
 acter of the Strawberry. It is easily hulled, yields abun- 
 dantly, and the vines are very vigorous. It is cultivated not 
 only in New England, but the farmers of Virginia hold it 
 their choicest variety. 
 
 Among the Pine' Strawberries, Poss's Phoenix, when culti- 
 vated on a rich, deep loam, bears a high reputation, and a 
 heavy crop of fruit. It grows in clusters, the berries flattened 
 at the top ; it has a rich, fine flavor, and a colour of dark pur- 
 plish-red. In the extreme Eastern States it is an uncertain 
 bearer. 
 
 Alpine and Wood Strawberries have varieties which are 
 popular, owing to their continuing in bearing till late in the 
 season, and to their flavor, which is fragrant and sweet. The 
 Bush Alpines are distinguished for being without runners ; 
 they are propagated by dividing the roots. They make a 
 good border. 
 
 The Hautbois Strawberries have a variety called Prolific 
 Hautbois, which bears abundantly. Its flowers are always 
 perfect, rising above the leaves ; the fruit is dark-colored, of 
 a rich, musky flavor, ripening rather early. The vines some* 
 times bear a second crop. This variety does not mix, 
 
236 TOMATO. 
 
 PRESERVED STRAWBERRIES. 
 
 Take the largest and best garden strawberries that are not 
 over-ripe ; weigh against each pound of fruit a pound of the 
 best loaf-sugar; set it aside for the sirup. Sprinkle the fruit 
 with a little powdered white sugar ; make the sirup with the 
 weighed sugar ; set it one side to cool. Put the strawberries 
 over the fire in a bain-marie, with the sirup which they have 
 made of the powdered sugar ; let them be scalded and then 
 taken off and cooled. When cold, put them in the prepared 
 sirup ; let them simmer slowly till they look clear, take them 
 out gently into glasses. Boil and skim the sirup, and when 
 cold put it over the fruit. The sooner strawberries are pre- 
 served after being gathered, the better. (See Cordials.) 
 
 SWEETBREADS. Veal sweetbreads should be cooked 
 while they are fresh ; they spoil easily, and then are entirely 
 lost. Trim them, taking out the gristle, and keep them in 
 cold water till they are to be cooked. When to be cooked, 
 split them open, and put them in boiling water; boil them 
 ten minutes, and then take them off and put them in a pan 
 of cold water. This treatment renders them white and firm. 
 They are now ready to be fricasseed, in the same manner as 
 chickens cut up are, or to be fried in butter, or minced for 
 omelets or croquettes. 
 
 TOMATO, BAKED. Take tomatoes that are just ripe, 
 remove the skins by pouring hot water over them, but in 
 peeling keep them as whole as possible. Put into a baking- 
 dish grated bread and bits of butter, then a layer of tomatoes 
 seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little powdered sugar, a 
 bit of butter in the centre of each tomato ; cover with bread- 
 crumbs as before, then another layer of tomatoes seasoned and 
 finished with grated bread. Tomatoes take a good deal of 
 butter if cooked, and require several hours of slow simmering. 
 This is a very nice receipt. 
 

 TRUFFLE. 237 
 
 TONGUES. See under Beef. 
 
 TRUFFLE. (Tuber cibarium.) This vegetable has 
 never been grown in this country, but in France artificial 
 beds have been constructed with a view to produce these 
 luxuries. They grow always several inches below the sur- 
 face of the ground, so that, in making artificial beds, great 
 care is- taken to mark the rows where the truffles are plant- 
 ed. To construct these beds, the best garden-soil is taken, 
 trenched two feet deep, and the stones carefully removed ; to 
 this soil is added, in proportions of one tenth, well-powdered 
 snail-shells, two parts of well-pulverized clayey soil, and one 
 part of oak saw-dust, or, which is better, vegetable mould 
 formed from decayed oak or beech leaves, to seven parts of 
 good garden-soil. A southern or warm aspect is to be avoid- 
 ed. The bed should be soaked a day or two, then rows 
 made half a foot in depth, and perfect healthy truffles 
 planted six inches apart. The bed should in dry weather be 
 kept moist. 
 
 In Europe dogs are trained to hunt for truffles, discover- 
 ing them by their scent. Epicures regard them as above all 
 price, and near large cities their cultivation would no doubt 
 amply repay the trouble and expense of preparing a bed. 
 These vegetables grow in clusters. 
 
 They are used in cooking precisely as the mushroom, but 
 before cooking they are soaked in warm water for three or 
 four hours ; then they require hard brushing with a hair- 
 brush kept for such purposes, to have all the earth removed 
 from them ; if peeled, they do not look so handsomely, but 
 taste better. They are frequently gently simmered with a 
 nice seasoning of sweet herbs, spices, a little rich broth, and 
 two or three glasses of sherry, and when tender, baked, after 
 being taken from the stewpan, for about twenty minutes in a 
 moderate oven, then placed in a dish with mashed potatoes for 
 
238 VEAL. 
 
 a border, and the gravy they were simmered in, reduced (by 
 boiling, and a teaspoonful of arrowroot mixed smoothly in 
 a cup with a spoonful of water like mustard) to a jelly, 
 is poured over them hot, just before they are sent to the 
 table. 
 
 TURNIPS. Among the sorts used for the table, the 
 Long Yellow French is a favorite. In boiling them, pare off 
 the rind, and equalize their size by cutting the larger ones ; put 
 them into a pot filled with water. They should be carefully 
 drained, and can be served whole, or mashed with a wooden 
 spoon, and passed through a colander. When mashed, re- 
 turn them to the stewpan with a piece of butter, a little salt, 
 cayenne, and, if convenient, a spoonful or two of cream ; beat 
 the whole together, and put the turnip into a dish, marking 
 the surface in diamonds. 
 
 Some boiled dishes, such as leg of mutton or lamb, are 
 sometimes served over a puree of turnip ; that is, turnip 
 mashed and nicely seasoned with fresh butter, salt, and 
 pepper. 
 
 VEAL. The desirable features for this meat are fatness 
 and whiteness, which when conspicuous show that the calf 
 was well fed on rich milk, and judiciously bled. Veal 
 should be fresh ; never even in winter should it be more than 
 three or four days old. The meat of the bull-calf is closer in 
 grain, and more red in color, than the cow-calf. To retard 
 change, remove the pipe that runs through the chine of a 
 loin of veal. 
 
 In the fore-quarter are the neck, shoulder, and breast ; in 
 the hind-quarter, the knuckle, leg, fillet, and loin. 
 
 Veal requires to be cooked a good deal, and to be served 
 with piquant sauces. 
 
 The leg with the fillet attached to it, the loin, the breast, 
 
VEAL. 239 
 
 and the shoulder, are generally roasted. The leg and breast 
 are stuffed and roasted. The breast is also frequently 
 roasted, with bits of thin slices of sweet salt-pork skewered 
 to it. 
 
 Braising is a nice process for many pieces of veal. Brais- 
 ing is merely stewing slowly in a little broth or water, not 
 enough to cover the meat, adding high seasonings, and keep- 
 ing the stewpan closely covered. Skewers may be laid in 
 the bottom of the stewpan, to prevent the meat from stick- 
 ing. 
 
 FORCEMEAT FOR A FILLET. 
 
 After the knuckle is sawed off) and the bone taken out of 
 the centre of the fillet, fill the space left with the following 
 stuffing: Chop up half a pound of salt pork very fine, mix 
 with it the same quantity of grated bread-crumbs, one quar- 
 ter of a nutmeg, two blades of pounded mace, one teaspoonful 
 of sweet-marjoram, the same of summer-savory, a little white 
 pepper, and bind the whole together with three eggs. 
 
 Just before the fillet is sent to the table, put into half a gill 
 of boiling-hot water the strained juice of a lemon, and three 
 table-spoonfuls of Harvey's sauce, and rjour it over the meat. 
 You may fry some of the stuffing in small balls, and garnish 
 the dish alternately with lemon sliced, and the balls nicely 
 browned in butter. 
 
 A large fillet, weighing fourteen or fifteen pounds, will 
 take three hours roasting, a smaller one, two. Baste it with 
 butter, and have a pint of water in the dripping-pan for the 
 gravy, which thicken with a little flour dredged in lightly, 
 and add a gill of wine and Harvey's sauce mixed together. 
 Serve the made gravy in a boat. 
 
 CALF'S HEAD AND FEET. 
 Wash them well in lukewarm water, sprinkle pounded 
 

 240 VEAL. 
 
 rosin over them, and put them in boiling water, and draw 
 them quickly out. The rosin adheres to the hair, which is 
 thus readily scraped off. Soak them in cold water to give 
 firmness and whiteness. 
 
 Calf s head may be boiled plain, in just water enough to 
 cover it, after taking out the eyes, and sawing the bone down 
 through the middle of the head, or it may be stewed with 
 savory lierbs and spice, or used for mock-turtle. (See Sovps.) 
 
 The feet are nice fricasseed, boiling them first till the 
 large bones can be pulled out, then flavoring the water they 
 were boiled in with the juice of a lemon, a gill of wine, a 
 large piece of butter with three spoonfuls of flour rubbed 
 into it ; let it stew slowly for about twenty minutes, then add 
 three well-beaten eggs, and a cupful of cream that has been 
 previously boiled with a little salt. Shake the stewpan, but 
 do not allow it to boil, putting the egg and cream in just be- 
 fore it goes to the table. 
 
 CALF'S-FOOT JELLY. 
 
 To four large, well-cleaned legs put four quarts of water ; 
 let it simmer slowly till reduced to two quarts ; when the meat 
 is tender and leaves the bones, take off the kettle, and strain 
 the whole through a colander. Let the jelly cool in the 
 same room gradually ; when cold remove with a silver spoon 
 all the top-fat ; put the jelly into your preserving-kettle, leav- 
 ing the sediment at the bottom of the dish. Put to the jelly 
 in the kettle the beaten whites and shells of six eggs, the 
 strained juice of three large lemons, the thinly pared rind 
 of one of the lemons, one pound and a half of the best loaf- 
 sugar, crushed with a rolling-pin, one pint of white wine, a 
 large nutmeg, a teaspoonful of ground cinnamon. Allow it 
 to melt gradually, and do not stir it after it has melted ; as the 
 scum accumulates on one side, take it off. Have ready two 
 straining-bags made of cotton or linen, sewed on small wood- 
 
WATCHES. 241 
 
 en hoops ; into one bag put a large teaspoonful of brown 
 sugar if you wish a deep color to the jelly, which is to be 
 poured upon it. Do not squeeze the bags, it will make the 
 jelly muddy. "When the jelly is in, cover the aperture of 
 the bags. Should it not run clear, return it to the bag. 
 When the jelly has passed through the bags, let it remain in 
 the same room till it becomes solid. "When cool, fill up 
 glasses with a spoonful from one dish, and from the other al- 
 ternately, or, if you choose, keep them in separate glasses. 
 Calf s-foot jelly looks best broken up in glasses. 
 
 A light-colored jelly is made from the feet of hogs, and 
 the exquisite amber-colored jelly often seen at the shops is 
 prepared from the feet of sheep. 
 
 Where these jellies are designed for moulds, several bits 
 
 of isinglass are put in to boil with the feet. 
 
 * 
 
 WATCHES. Women's watches are so proverbially out 
 of order, that nautical men have framed a proverb which 
 says, " A ship, like a lady's watch, is always out of repair." 
 
 We have selected the following rules of Edward Geafton's 
 as useful for those who carry watches. 
 
 Wind your watch as nearly as possible at the same time 
 every day. 
 
 Be careful that your key is in a good condition, as there 
 is much danger of injuring the machine when the key is 
 worn or cracked; there are more mainsprings and chains 
 broken through a jerk in winding than from any other cause, 
 which injury sooner or later will be the result if the key is 
 in bad order. 
 
 As all metals contract by cold and expand by heat, it 
 must be manifest that to keep the watch as constantly as 
 possible at one temperature is a necessary piece of atten- 
 tion. 
 
 Keep the watch as nearly as possible in one position, 
 21 
 
242 WINE. 
 
 that is, if it hangs by day, let it hang by night against some- 
 thing that is soft. 
 
 The hands of a pocket chronometer or duplex watch should 
 never be set backwards ; in other watches this is a matter of 
 no consequence. 
 
 The glass should never be opened in watches that set and 
 regulate at the back. 
 
 One or two directions it is of vital importance that you 
 bear in mind. 
 
 On regulating a watch, should it be going fast, move the 
 regulator a trifle towards the slow, and if going slow, do the 
 reverse ; you cannot move the regulator too gently or slight- 
 ly at a time, and the only inconvenience that can arise is, 
 that you may have to perform the duty more than once. On 
 the contrary, if you move the regulator too much at a time, 
 you will be as far, if not farther than ever, from attaining 
 your object ; so that you may repeat the movements until 
 quite tired and disappointed, stoutly blaming the watch- 
 maker while the fault is entirely your own. 
 
 Again, you cannot be too careful in respect of the nature 
 of the watch-pocket ; see that it be made of some material 
 that is soft and pliant, such as wash-leather, which is the best, 
 and also that there be no flue or nap that may be torn off 
 when taking the watch out of the pocket. 
 
 Cleanliness, too, is as needful here as in the case of the 
 key before winding ; for if there be dust or dirt in either in- 
 stance, it will, you may rely upon it, work its way into the 
 watch as well as wear away the engine turning of the case. 
 
 WINE. ( Vinum.) Beside the juice of the vine, we find 
 many fruits and plants have always been subjected to the 
 processes of fermentation as far back as the memory of man 
 runneth, in order to produce the liquor called wine. As 
 processes are discovered for preserving fruit and vegetables 
 
WINE. 243 
 
 in their native spirit without loss of bulk or flavor, as healthy 
 mental excitements become generally diffused, and motives 
 for self-control increase in a secure ratio, we shall, we confi- 
 dently hope, find this instinct of man dying out. Taking 
 things as they now are, we shall make a few general remarks 
 upon wines. 
 
 It is only by a moderate use of wine that persons can ever 
 become good tasters. A wine-merchant in extensive busi- 
 ness once remarked to the author that he never swallowed 
 his wines when judging of their relative merits, knowing that 
 if he did he should soon lose his nicety of taste. The osten- 
 tation which induces people to produce several varieties of 
 wine at one dinner merits, therefore, censure for more rea- 
 sons than one ; after one or two glasses, the nerves of the 
 stomach are over-stimulated. 
 
 Port-wine, on account of the imperfectly combined alcohol 
 always present in it, is more injurious to stomach and un- 
 derstanding than Sherry, even when this is of like strength 
 with the Port. Claret and Rhenish are the most innocent. 
 Champagne produces but a temporary excitement, followed 
 by no after consequences of serious derangement, unlike in 
 these respects the wines of Oporto, which, abounding in as- 
 tringent qualities and uncombined brandy, are pernicious in 
 their effects as a daily drink, even when accompanied with 
 great exercise. The Spanish wines, which include the Sher- 
 ries, are strong, heady wines,*which should be diluted with 
 water, excepting when ordered as medicine. Madeira dilut- 
 ed is said to be a good wine for the dyspeptic, provided there 
 is no disposition to hypochondriasis or melancholy. The 
 Bordeaux wines, the best light wines of the Rhine and the 
 Moselle, are, for daily use, the least injurious of all wines ; 
 they are said to have the little alcohol they contain wholly 
 combined. They contain tartaric acid, and thus tend to di- 
 minish obesity. Sweet wines disorder the stomach, and their 
 
244 WINE. 
 
 free use induces intoxication and subsequent suffering as great 
 as that brought on by stronger wines. 
 
 Wine kept in casks should be closely stopped, set in a 
 place where the temperature will be equal, and where it will 
 not be subjected to agitation, which induces precipitated sub- 
 stances to mix again with the wine. 
 
 To prevent wine, on putting it into a new cask, from com- 
 bining with the properties of the wood, and acquiring a taste 
 of the cask, the inside of the cask or hogshead should be 
 charred. 
 
 While old Rhenish wines kept in the barrel are said to 
 lose one half of their original alcohol, wines put in bottles 
 not corked, but tied over with bladder, increase in strength, 
 that membrane giving passage to water, but not to spirit. 
 Wines, though they part with their strength, improve in other 
 qualities by being kept in casks. 
 
 Travellers complain loudly of the adulteration of wine in 
 Italy, and find it possible to obtain good wine only from the 
 proprietors. Red wine is there often adulterated with sul- 
 phate of zinc, and the white with the acetate of lead, both 
 virulent poisons, often combined in these wines in such quan- 
 tities as to induce violent deaths. 
 
 The processes for wine-making, with slight modifications, 
 are the same, whatever fruit or plant is employed. In the 
 best wine countries, the grape-vine is grown only three or 
 four feet high, and the bunches nearest the soil, provided 
 they do not touch, are always considered the richest. 
 
 The strength of wines of the same country and grape 
 vary. Grapes grown in a light, dry soil, with a southern ex- 
 posure, yield wine highly charged with alcohol, while grapes 
 of the same species, cultivated in a strong, damp soil, with a 
 different aspect, give a wine weak in alcohol. Though the 
 strength of wine is regulated by alcohol, its quality and its 
 price are decided by its odor and taste ; alcohol furnishes 
 
WORMS, SLUGS, ETC. 245 
 
 body and strength, but mellowness and perfume are charac- 
 teristics mostly sought for in dinner wines. (See Chaptal 
 and Johnson's Encyclopaedia.) 
 
 Among home-made wines, Gooseberry wine is thought 
 most to resemble Champagne. 
 
 CHAMPAGNE WINE OP GOOSEBERRIES. 
 
 Gather on a dry day one bushel of the best cultivated 
 gooseberries, just before they turn to ripen. Bruise them 
 very thoroughly ; then pour upon them three gallons of 
 scalding water, and put them into an open headed cask that 
 has been previously charred. Cover the cask with a blanket ; 
 stir them daily two or three times for four days ; press them, 
 and to every gallon of the juice put three pounds of loaf or 
 good white Havana sugar powdered ; let it dissolve. After 
 it has fermented for twelve or fourteen days, being filled 
 daily so that the impurities may run over, put the bung on 
 lightly, gradually making it firmer, till at the third day it is 
 driven in perfectly air-tight. Let it stand in the same tem- 
 perature without being stirred till December, when, on a 
 clear, dry day, it should be racked off, and have one eighth of 
 the best brandy added to it. It may now be again left till 
 June, when, if not found bright and clear, it may be refined 
 by the beaten whites of six eggs. Bottle it in fresh bottles 
 with new corks, and after corking them dip the neck of the 
 bottle in bottle-cement. 
 
 WORMS, SLUGS, &c. These frequently destroy the 
 appearance of garden walks, and some of the slug and snail 
 kind infest plants. To destroy them, water the soil with 
 salt and water, putting not more than two pounds of salt to 
 four gallons of water. Slices of turnips scattered over beds 
 of plants will gather slugs and snails, which thus, on the fol- 
 lowing morning, may be removed and destroyed. 
 
246 WORMS, SLUGS, ETC. 
 
 Rats and mice, it is said, may be driven from fields and 
 barns by the presence of the common mullein plant, and also 
 of garlic bulbs, if laid round in small stacks, while the oil of 
 rhodium and oil of anise-seed, if rubbed on meat, will attract 
 rats unfailingly to a trap. 
 
 Tansy leaves, as also elder and walnut leaves, either in 
 their actual state or as a decoction, will keep flies from 
 animals and meat. 
 
 THE END.