The Orchard

Ingredients

• twelve pounds of resin are to be beaten in a mortar
• three pounds of sulphur
• twelve ounces of resin in an iron pot
• three gallons of train oil
• two quarts of tar
• two ounces of kitchen-grease
• one square foot of wall
• four ounces of pitch
• one pound of salt
• four ounces of alum
• two ounces of pepper
• a piece of matting
• a piece of sound bark from any other tree
• an ounce of litharge to each pound of oil
• a bunch of grapes
• a piece of wood covered
• an ounce of litharge
• a piece of charcoal into the vent
• two black hamburgh grapes
• two you will find it cankered
• two knots
• two buds yield a bunch of grapes
• half from the city
• two coats of the following preparation are to be applied
• twelve pints of whale oil are to be added
• three coats
• four rolls of brimstone
• one person applies his ear to the centre of one end of the trunk
• one end of the trunk
• one inch either rotten
• two parts of coarse sand
• one part of lime-powder
• two parts of lime
• one half of the quantity usually employed
• one-fifth part on two sides by the superior row
• 45 degrees
• two doors
• three parts of this air-slaked lime
• two coats of this composition being necessary

Directions

1. 1117. _To prevent Blossom and Fruit-trees from being damaged by early Spring Frost._--If a rope (a hempen one, it is presumed) be introduced among the branches of a fruit-tree in blossom, and the end of it brought down, so as to terminate in a bucket of water; and, should a slight frost take place in the night-time, in that case the tree will not be affected by the frost; but a film of ice, of considerable thickness, will be formed on the surface of the bucket in which the rope's-end is immersed, although it has often happened that another bucket of water, placed beside it for the sake of experiment, has had no ice at all upon it.

2. 1118. _Chinese mode of propagating Fruit-trees._--The ingenious people of China have a common method of propagating several kinds of fruit-trees, which of late years has been practised with success in Bengal. The method is simply this:--They strip a ring of bark, about an inch in width, from a bearing branch, surround the place with a ball of fat earth, or loam, bound fast to the branch with a piece of matting: over this they suspend a pot or horn, with water, having a small hole in the bottom just sufficient to let the water drop, in order to keep the earth constantly moist. The branch throws new roots into the earth just above the place where the ring of bark was stripped off. The operation is performed in the spring, and the branch is sawed off and put into the ground at the fall of the leaf. The following year it will bear fruit.

3. 1119. _To improve Fruit-trees by attention to the Color of the Soil._--The color and also the quality of soils have an effect on the color and flavor of fruits--even on the color of many flowers. The effects of the color of soils on that of fruits, are most perceptible on the delicate kinds, such as grapes, peaches, &c.; but to a nice observer, it extends in a greater or less degree to all fruits. For instance, if two black Hamburgh grapes, made from the cuttings of the same plant, shall be planted, the one in a dry, hazelly loam, and the other in a moist, black earth, the fruit of the one will be brown, or of a grizzly color, and the other very dark red or black; and the grape will be more juicy, though better in flavor, than the other grown in a dryer soil.

4. 1120. _To increase the Growth in Trees._--It may be depended upon as a fact, that by occasionally washing the stems of trees, their growth will be greatly increased; for several recent experiments have proved, that all the ingredients of vegetation united, which are received from the roots, stem, branches, and leaves of a mossy and dirty tree, do not produce half the increase either in wood or fruit, that another gains whose stem is clean. It is clearly obvious, that proper nourishment cannot be received from rain, for the dirty stem will retain the moisture longer than when clean; and the moss and dirt will absorb the finest parts of the dew, and likewise act as a screen, by depriving the tree of that share of sun and air which it requires.

5. A common scrubbing-brush and clean water is all that is necessary, only care must be observed not to injure the bark.

6. 1121. _To prevent Hares and Rabbits from Barking young Plantations._--Hares, rabbits, and rats, have a natural antipathy to tar; but tar, though fluid, contracts, when exposed to the sun and air for a time, a great dryness and a very binding quality; and if applied to trees in its natural state, will occasion them to be bark-bound. To remove this difficulty, tar is of so strong a savor, that a small quantity mixed with other things, in their nature open and loose, will give the whole mixture such a degree of its own taste and smell, as will prevent hares, &c., touching what it is applied to.

7. Take any quantity of tar, and six or seven times as much grease, stirring and mixing them well together; with this composition brush the stems of young trees, as high as hares, &c., can reach; and it will effectually prevent their being barked.

8. 1122. _Bad effects of Iron Nails, &c., on Fruit-trees, or mischievous effects of Iron Nails, in conjunction with Branches of Fruit-trees._--It often happens that some of the limbs of fruit-trees, trained against a wall, are blighted and die, while others remain in a healthy and flourishing state. This has been hitherto erroneously attributed to the effects of lightning; but, from closer observation, and from several experiments, it has been found to arise from the corroding effects of the rust of the nails and cramps with which trees in this situation are fastened. To avoid this inconvenience, therefore, it requires only to be careful in preventing the iron from coming in contact with the bark of the trees.

9. 1123. _To destroy Moss on Trees._--Remove it with a hard scrubbing-brush, in February and March, and wash the trees with cow-dung, urine, and soap-suds.

10. 1124. _Necessity of taking off superfluous Suckers from Shrubs._--Many flowering shrubs put out strong suckers from the root, such as lilacs, syringa, and some of the kinds of roses, which take greatly from the strength of the mother-plant; and which, if not wanted for the purpose of planting next season, should be twisted off, or otherwise destroyed.

11. 1125. _To cure the Disease in Apple-trees._--Brush off the white down, clear off the red stain underneath it, and anoint the places infected with a liquid mixture of train-oil and Scotch-snuff.

12. 1126. _To cure the Canker in Trees._--Cut them off to the quick, and apply a piece of sound bark from any other tree, and bind it on with a flannel roller. Cut off the canker, and a new shoot will grow strong, but in a year or two you will find it cankered.

13. 1127. _A method of curing Fruit-trees infected with an Easterly Blight._--Where valuable fruit-trees are infected with this blight, they may, with little trouble and expense be in a short time cured, by fumigating them with brimstone strewed on lighted charcoal; this effectually kills it; but the workman must observe to get to windward of the trees, as the fumes, both of brimstone and charcoal, are very offensive and pernicious.

14. Mr. Miller recommends washing and sprinkling the blighted trees from time to time, with common water, (that is, such as hath not had anything steeped in it,) and the sooner that is performed, (whenever we apprehend danger,) the better; and if the young and tender shoots seem to be much infected, wash them with a woollen cloth, so as to clear them, if possible, from all glutinous matter, that their respiration and perspiration may not be obstructed; and if some broad, flat pans, or tubs, are placed near the trees, it will keep their tender parts in a ductile state, and greatly help them; but whenever this operation of washing the trees is performed, it should be early in the day, that the moisture may be exhaled before the cold of the night comes on, especially if the nights are frosty; nor should it be done when the sun shines very hot upon the wall, which would be subject to scorch up the tender blossom.

15. 1128. _Experienced method of healing Wounds in Trees._--This method consists in making a varnish of common linseed oil, rendered very drying, by boiling it, for the space of an hour, with an ounce of litharge to each pound of oil, mixed with calcined bones, pulverized and sifted, to the consistence of an almost liquid paste. With this paste the wounds of trees are to be covered, by means of a brush, after the bark and other substance have been pared, so as to render the whole as smooth and even as possible. The varnish must be applied in dry weather, in order that it may attach itself properly.

16. 1129. _Composition for healing Wounds in Trees._--Take of dry, pounded chalk, _three_ measures; add of common vegetable tar, _one_ measure; mix them thoroughly, and boil them, with a low heat, till the composition becomes of the consistency of bees'-wax: it may be preserved for use, in this state, for any length of time. If chalk cannot conveniently be got, dry brick-dust may be substituted.

17. _Application._--After the broken or decayed limb has been sawed off, the whole of the _saw-cut_ must be very carefully pared away, and the rough edges of the bark, in particular must be made quite smooth; the doing of this properly is of great consequence; then lay on the above composition, hot, about the thickness of half-a-dollar, over the wounded place, and over the edges of the surrounding bark; it should be spread with a hot trowel.

18. 1130. _To prune Wall Fruit._--Cut off all fresh shoots, however fair they may appear to the eye, that will not, without much bending, be well placed to the wall; for if any branch happen to be twisted or bruised in the bending or turning (which you may not easily perceive), although it may grow and prosper for the present, yet it will decay in time, and the sap or gum will issue from that place.

19. 1131. _To prune Vines to Advantage._--In pruning vines, leave some new branches every year, and take away (if too many) some of the old, which will be of great advantage to the tree, and much increase the quantity of fruit.

20. When you trim your vine, leave two knots, and cut them off the next time; for, usually, the two buds yield a bunch of grapes. Vines, thus pruned, have been known to bear abundantly, whereas others that have been cut close to please the eye, have been almost barren of fruit.

21. 1132. _The most proper Times when Leaves of Trees ought to be collected for pharmaceutical and economical Purposes._--It is at that period when the plant is in full flower, that the leaves possess their full virtue. They drop off when their particular life has terminated.

22. 1133. _To promote the Growth of Forest-trees._--It is highly to be censured, the neglect of permitting ivy-twines, which grow to forest-trees, to remain attached to them. Their roots entering into the bark, rob the trees of much of their nourishment; they in a manner strangle their supporters, by impeding the circulation of their juices, and in time destroy the trees. They should be torn up by the roots, for, if any part of them adhere to the tree, they will spread, as they obtain nourishment by their adhering roots.

23. 1134. _White-washing the Trunks of Trees, recommended._--Being one day upon a visit (observes Mr. Northmore, who recommends this experiment) at my friend's near Yarmouth, in the Isle of Wight, I remarked that several of the trunks of trees in his orchard had been covered with whitewash; upon inquiring the reason, he replied, that he had done it with a view to keep off the hares, and other animals, and that it was attended not only with that good effect, but several others, for it made the rind smooth and compact, by closing up the cracks; it entirely destroyed the moss; and as the rains washed off the lime, it manured the roots. These several advantages, derived from so simple a practice, deserve to be more generally known. The white-wash is made in the usual manner with lime, and may be applied twice, or oftener, if necessary.

24. 1135. _To cure Wounds in Trees._--Wounds in trees are best cured by covering them with a coat of common lead paint without turpentine (for turpentine is poison to vegetation) in the sun, on a fine dry day.

25. 1136. _Trees for Shade, Nursery Trees, &c._--Forest Trees selected for shade should be of kinds not liable to be attacked by worms and insects. The rock or sugar maple is always remarkably free from worms, and it makes the most dense and beautiful shade of all our deciduous trees. This is becoming a very popular tree, and we hope to see it extensively propagated. There is no more risk in transplanting this than the elm, and the limbs are not liable to be broken by the winds and snow.

26. We believe it is generally admitted that transplanted trees succeed best when their early growth has been in soil similar to that for which they are destined to be placed permanently. If raised in such a soil, and transplanted to that which is thin and poor, they seem to receive a shock from which with difficulty they recover. As a gentleman once remarked, it is like feeding a calf with all the milk he will take till he is six months old, and then suddenly turning him off to live on a short pasture.

27. Large trees may be as successfully planted as small ones. The mode and result of an experiment made by Messrs. Pomeroy and Dutton, of Utica, are thus given: Those gentlemen transplanted trees, comprising maples, elm, beech, &c., some thirty feet in height, which were transplanted without being shorn of any of their branches. The process of removal was as follows:--In the fall, before the frost, a trench was dug around the trees selected, from ten to fifteen feet in diameter, and the roots severed. In the winter when the ground had become solid from freezing, the trees were pulled out by the aid of oxen and levers, with the mass of earth firmly attached to the roots. They were then transported erect on a strong sled, built for the purpose, and set out.

28. These trees grew in open land, a mile and a half from the city. They put on their foliage last spring, as if wholly unconscious that they were not still in their native soil, and the enterprising gentlemen who undertook this unusual course, are rewarded with shade trees which by the old practice it would have required twenty years to produce.

29. Summer pruning is sometimes necessary in order to give form and proper direction to nursery trees, and standard trees may need thinning, in order to expose the fruit to light and air; but in pruning trees thoroughly, particularly if large limbs are to be cut off, it is best to defer the business till the last of July, August, or the former part of September.

30. Late in summer and early in autumn, the bark does not peel as it does early in the summer, when it often starts from the tree which is injured by going into trees and stepping on limbs with hard shoes. The sap will ooze out of some trees early in summer, which not only injures them generally, but it often causes the wounded part to decay.

31. But in late pruning, the wood, when the branch is cut off, becomes sound and well seasoned; and though it may not heal over so readily as when cut early in summer or spring, it remains in a healthy state.

32. 1137. _To preserve Wood in Damp Situations._--Two coats of the following preparation are to be applied, after which the wood is subject to no deterioration whatever from humidity. Twelve pounds of resin are to be beaten in a mortar, to which three pounds of sulphur and twelve pints of whale oil are to be added. This mixture is to be melted over the fire, and stirred during the operation. Ochre, reduced to an impalpable powder, by triturating it with oil, may then be combined in the proportion necessary to give either a lighter or a darker color to the material. The first coat should be put on lightly, having been previously heated; the second may be applied in two or three days, and a third after an equal interval, if from the peculiar dampness of the situation it should be judged expedient.

33. _Remark._--It is highly probable (though the experiment has not been tried) that this composition would be improved by adding a small portion of the liquid leather, which is now commonly sold in London, being the refuse of the purification of fish oil by tar.

34. Where the work will bear the expense, and is not exposed to a heat of more than 130 degrees of Fahrenheit, the best composition is the following: Equal parts of turpentine (the fluid resin, not the essential oil), bees'-wax, black resin and maltha, or coal tar, boiled together till they cease to rise--that is, till the white cream or scum proceeding from the separation of the essential oil disappears. Apply it warm with a turpentine brush--two or three coats, to cover the cracks or pores left by the brush. This lute was first proposed by Chaptal, without the addition of the coal tar, which is a great improvement. A piece of wood covered with three coats of it, and immersed for two years in water, was found to be quite dry on cutting off the lute.

35. Take care not to allow water to fall into the pan, as it would make the hot materials explode. If the composition catch fire, put on the cover directly, and remove the pan for an instant from the fire.

36. 1138. _Cause and Prevention of the Dry Rot._--The cause of the dry rot in wood is moisture; and to prevent well-dried timber from decaying above or under ground, is done by charring it well.

37. 1139. _Cure for the Dry Rot in Timber, so as to make it indestructible by Water._--Melt twelve ounces of resin in an iron pot; add three gallons of train oil, and three or four rolls of brimstone; and when the brimstone and resin are melted and become thin, add as much Spanish brown, or red and yellow ochre, or any other color required, first ground fine with the same oil, as will give the whole a shade of the depth preferred; then lay it on with a brush as hot and thin as possible; some time after the first coat is dried, give it a second. This preparation will preserve planks for ages, and keep the weather from driving through brick work.

38. 1140. _Method of trying the Goodness of Timber for Ship-building, used in the Arsenal at Vienna._--One person applies his ear to the centre of one end of the trunk, while another, with a key, hits the other end with a gentle stroke. If the tree be sound and good, the stroke will be distinctly heard at the other end, though the tree should be a hundred feet or more in length.

39. 1141. _To season and render Green Timber immediately fit for use._--After the timber has been cut down from the stock, take off, immediately, both the outer bark and also the inner rind, clean to the wood; cut it up to the different purposes for which it may be wanted, whether scantlings for roofings, joists, planks, deals, or the like. After preparing them for their proper use, steep them in lime-water a few days, or pay them over with a little of the lime, along with the water. The hotter it is used after the lime is slaked, so much the better. Lime-water is made by slaking the lime-shells in water. This will answer equally well for round trees. The author of this method says, he has been, for a great number of years past, used to take down and repair both ancient and modern buildings, in which a good deal of Scots fir had been used, but he never found one inch either rotten or worm-eaten, where it was in the least connected with lime, and kept dry; on the contrary, he found it more hard and firm than when first used.

40. 1142. _Artificial Stone Floors and Coverings for Houses, as made in some parts of Russia._--The floors and coverings of houses, in some parts of South Russia, are made in the following manner:--For a floor, let the ground be made even, and some stones of any shape be put on, and, with a heavy wooden rammer, force or beat the stones into the ground, continuing to beat the floor till it become quite even, and incapable of receiving any farther impression. Then run lime, immediately after it has been slaked, through a fine sieve, as expeditiously as possible, because exposure to the air weakens the lime. Mix two parts of coarse sand, or washed gravel, (for there must be no earth in it,) with one part of lime-powder, and wet them with bullocks' blood; so little moist, however, as merely to prevent the lime from blowing away in powder; in short, the less moist, the better. Spread it on the floor, and, without a moment's loss of time, let several men be ready, with large beetles, to beat the mixture, which will become more and more moist by the excessive beating requisite. Then put on it some of the dry sand and lime, mixed, and beat it till like a stone. If required to be very fine, take for the next layer finely-sifted lime, with about a tenth part of rye-flour, and a little ox-blood; beat it till it becomes a very stiff mortar, and then smooth it with a trowel. The next day, again smooth it with a trowel; and so continue to do, daily, till it be entirely dry. When it is quite dry and hard, rub it over with fresh ox-blood, taking off all which it will not imbibe. No wet will penetrate this composition, which, however, after some time, is often painted with oil-colors. The whole floor appears as a single stone, and nothing will affect it. The drier it is used, the better, provided that, with much beating, it becomes like a very stiff mortar, and evidently forms a compact body. On flat tops of houses, the beetle, or rammers' ends, must be smaller, to prevent the reboundin

41. 1143. _To cure Damp Walls._--Boil two quarts of tar, with two ounces of kitchen-grease, for a quarter of an hour, in an iron pot. Add some of this tar to a mixture of slaked lime and powdered glass, which have passed through a flour-sieve, and been completely dried over the fire in an iron pot, in the proportion of two parts of lime and one of glass, till the mixture becomes of the consistence of thin plaster. The cement must be used immediately after being mixed, and therefore it is proper not to mix more of it than will coat one square foot of wall, since it quickly becomes too hard for use; and care must be taken to prevent any moisture from mixing with the cement. For a wall merely damp, a coating one-eighth of an inch thick is sufficient; but if the wall is wet, there must be a second coat. Plaster made of lime, hair, and plaster of Paris, may afterwards be laid on as a cement. The cement above described will unite the parts of Portland stone or marble, so as to make them as durable as they were prior to the fracture.

42. 1144. _To increase the Durability of Tiles for covering Buildings._--The following composition has been found to be of extraordinary durability, as a glazing or varnish for tiles. No sort of weather, even for a considerable length of time, has had any effect upon it. It prevents that absorption of water, by which common tiles are rendered liable to crumble into dust, hinders the shivering of tiles, and gives to red bricks a soft lustre, by which their appearance is much improved.

43. Over a weak fire heat a bottle of linseed oil, with an ounce of litharge, and a small portion of minium, till such time as a feather, used in stirring it, shall be burnt to the degree of being easily rubbed to powder between the fingers. Then take off the varnish, let it cool, clarify it from any impurities which may have fallen to the bottom, and heat it again. Having, in the mean time, melted from three to four ounces of pitch, mix this with the warm varnish. The specific gravity of the pitch hinders it from mingling thoroughly with the varnish, though it even remain so long upon the fire as to be evaporated to considerable thickness. It is not till the varnish be cooled, nearly to the consistency of common syrup, that this effect takes place in the requisite degree. If it be too thick, let hot varnish be added, to bring it to the proper consistency; if it be too thin, add melted pitch. Next, put in as much brick-dust as the mixture can receive, without being made too thick for convenient use. The finer the brick-dust, and the easier it is to be moved with the point of a pencil, so much the fitter will it be to fill up the chinks and unevenness of the bricks, and, as it were, to incorporate itself with their substance. Prepare the brick-dust in the following manner:--Take a certain number of pieces of good brick, beat them into dust, and sift the dust in a hair-sieve. Then, to improve its fineness, rub it on a stone with water, dry it, and mix it with the varnish in the necessary proportion. If the brick-dust be naturally of too dark a color, a portion of some that is brighter may be added, to make the color clear.

44. It is to be laid on the tiles in the same manner in which oil-colors in general are put upon the substances on which they are applied. The composition must be heated from time to time, when it is to be used.

45. 1145. _Economical Method of employing Tiles for the Roofs of Houses._--A French architect (M. Castala) has invented a new method of employing tiles for the roofs of houses, so as to save one half of the quantity usually employed for that purpose. The tiles are made of a square instead of an oblong form; and the hook that fastens them is at one of the angles, so that, when fastened to the laths, they hang down _diagonally_, and every tile is covered one-fifth part on two sides by the superior row.

46. 1146. _To improve Chimney Fire-places, and increase the Heat, by a proper attention to the Setting of Stoves, Grates, &c._--The best materials for setting stoves or grates are fire-stone and common bricks and mortar. Both materials are fortunately very cheap. When bricks are used, they should be covered with a thin coating of plaster, which, when it is dry, should be white-washed. The fire-stone should likewise be white-washed when that is used; and every part of the fire-place, which is not exposed to being soiled and made black by the smoke, should be kept as white and clear as possible. As _white_ reflects more heat, as well as more light, than any other color, it ought always to be preferred for the inside of a chimney fire-place; and _black_, which reflects neither light nor heat, should be more avoided.

47. 1147. _To cure Smoky Chimneys._--Put on the top of the chimney a box, in each of whose sides is a door hanging on hinges, and kept open by a thin iron rod running from one to the other, and fastened by a ring in each end to a staple. When there is no wind, these doors are at rest, and each forms an angle of 45 degrees, which is decreased on the windward side in proportion to the force of the wind, and increased in the same ratio on the leeward side. If the wind be very strong, the door opposed to the wind becomes close, while the opposite one is opened as wide as it can be. If the wind strikes the corner of the box, it shuts two doors and opens their opposites. This scheme has been tried with success in a chimney which always filled the room with smoke, but which, since adopted, has never smoked the room at all. The expense is trifling, and the apparatus simple.

48. 1148. _A Preparation to preserve Wood from catching Fire, and to preserve it from Decay._--A member of the Royal Academy at Stockholm says, in the memoirs of that academy, "Having been within these few years to visit the alum mines of Loswers, in the province of Calmar, I took notice of some attempts made to burn the old staves of tubs and pails that had been used for the alum works. For this purpose they were thrown into the furnace, but those pieces of wood which had been penetrated by the alum did not burn, though they remained for a long time in the fire, where they only became red; however, at last they were consumed by the intenseness of the heat, but they emitted no flame."

49. He concludes, from this experiment, that wood, or timber, for the purpose of building, may be secured against the action of fire, by letting it remain for some time in water, wherein vitriol, alum, or any other salt has been dissolved, which contains no inflammable parts.

50. To this experiment it may be added, that wood, which has been impregnated with water, wherein vitriol has been dissolved, is very fit for resisting putrefaction, especially if afterwards it is brushed over with tar, or some kind of paint; in order to this, the wood must be rubbed with very warm vitriol water, and afterwards left to dry, before it is painted or tarred. Wood prepared in this manner will for a long time resist the injuries of the air, and be preserved in cellars and other low moist places. It is to be observed, that if a solution of vitriol is poured on such parts of timber where a sort of champignons are formed by moisture, and rubbed off, none will ever grow there again.

51. By boiling, for some hours, the spokes of wheels in vitriol water, they are not subject to rottenness in the parts where they enter the stocks. After boiling them in this manner, they are dried as perfectly as possible, and then, in the accustomed way, painted with oil color.

52. 1149. _Cheap and excellent Composition for preserving Weather Boarding, Paling, and all other Works liable to be injured by the Weather._--Well burnt lime will soon become slaked by exposure in the open air, or even if confined in a situation not remarkably dry, so as to crumble of itself into powder. This is called air-slaked lime, in contradistinction to that which is slaked in the usual way, by being mixed with water. For the purpose of making the present composition to preserve all sorts of wood-work exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather, take three parts of this air-slaked lime, two of wood-ashes, and one of fine sand; pass them through a fine sieve, and add as much linseed-oil to the composition as will bring it to a proper consistence for working with a painter's brush. As particular care must be taken to mix it perfectly, it should be ground on a stone slab with a proper muller, in the same manner as painters grind their white-lead, &c.; but where these conveniences are not at hand, the ingredients may be mixed in a large pan, and well beat up with a wooden spatula. Two coats of this composition being necessary, the first may be rather thin; but the second should be as thick as it can conveniently be worked. This most excellent composition for preserving wood, when exposed to the injuries of the weather, is highly preferable to the customary method of laying on tar and ochre.

53. 1150. _To make durable Barn-floors._--A durable barn-floor may be made of well-burnt polished brick on edge, placed in the herring-bone form, on a pavement of stone three inches and a half in thickness; or oaken plank two inches and a half in thickness; or even of well-tempered indurated loam, of a proper substance, not less than eight inches, and laid upon dry materials or bottom. Any of them will make a durable barn-floor, provided it is kept free from wet, wagon-wheels, and horses' feet. The best threshing-floor for small farms of 150 acres is made of sound plank. In large farms (say 300 acres and upwards) the threshing machine should supersede the flail.

54. 1151. _The Virtues of Poplar Wood for the Flooring of Granaries._--The Lombard poplar is recommended as a timber adapted for flooring granaries, which is said to prevent the destruction of corn by weevils and insects. Poplar wood will not easily take fire.

55. 1152. _Improved Ventilators for Rooms._--Different methods are adopted for ventilating, or changing the air of rooms.--Thus:

56. Mr. Tid admitted fresh air into a room by taking out the middle upper sash pane of glass, and fixing in its place a frame box, with a round hole in its middle, about six or seven inches diameter, in which hole is fixed, behind each other, a set of sails, of very thin, broad copper plates, which spread over and cover the circular hole, so as to make the air, which enters the room, and turning round these sails, to spread round in thin sheets sideway, and so not to incommode persons by blowing directly upon them, as it would do if it were not hindered by the sails. This well-known contrivance has generally been employed in public buildings, but is very disagreeable in good rooms; instead, of it, therefore, the late Mr. Whitehurst substituted another, which was, to open a small square or rectangular hole, in the party wall of the room, in the upper part, near the ceiling, at a corner or part distant from the fire; before it he placed a thin piece of metal, or pasteboard, &c., attached to the wall in its lower part, just before the hole, but declining from it upwards, so as to give the air that enters by the hole a direction upwards against the ceiling, along which it sweeps, and disperses itself through the room, without blowing in a current against any person. This method is very useful to cure smoky chimneys, by thus admitting, conveniently, fresh air. A picture, placed before the hole, prevents the sight of it from disfiguring the room.

57. 1153. _Approved Method of removing Bees._--Set the hive where there is only a glimmering light; turn it up; the queen first makes her appearance; once in possession of her, you are master of all the rest; put her into an empty hive, whither she will be followed by the other bees.

58. 1154. _Useful Method of preserving Bees._--Instead of destroying whole swarms in their hives, to get the honey when the hives are full, they clear them out into a fresh hive, while they take the combs out of the old one; and they prevent their perishing in winter by putting a great quantity of honey into a very wide earthen vessel, covering its surface with paper, exactly fitted on, and pricked full of holes with a large pin; this being pressed by the weight of the bees, keeps a fresh supply continually arising. Their most fatal destruction by severe cold they prevent, by taking as many large tubs as they have hives, and knocking out the heads, they set the other end in the ground, laying a bed of dry earth or chopped hay in it, of six inches deep; over this they place the head knocked out, and then make a small wooden trough for the passage of the bees; this is transfixed through a hole cut through each side of the tub, at such a height as to lay on the false bottom, on which is placed the covered dish of honey for the food of the bees, leaving a proper space over this, covered with strong matting; they then fill up the tub with more dry earth, or chopped hay, heaping it up in the form of a cone, to keep out the rain, and wreathing it over with straw on account of the warmth.

59. 1155. _Sir Ashton Lever's method of preserving Birds, Beasts, Fishes, &c._--BEASTS. Large beasts should be carefully skinned, with the horns, skull, jaws, tail, and feet, left entire; the skins may then either be put into a vessel of spirit, or else rubbed well in the inside with the mixture of salt, alum, and pepper, hereafter mentioned, and hung to dry. Small beasts may be put into a cask of rum, or any other spirit.

60. BIRDS. Large birds may be treated as large beasts, but must not be put in spirits. Small birds may be preserved in the following manner:--Take out the entrails, open a passage to the brain, which should be scooped out through the mouth; introduce into the cavities of the skull, and the whole body, some of the mixture of salt, alum, and pepper, putting some through the gullet and whole length of the neck; then hang the bird in a cool, airy place--first by the feet, that the body may be impregnated by the salts, and afterwards by a thread through the under mandible of the bill, till it appears to be sweet; then hang it in the sun, or near a fire: after it is well dried, clean out what remains loose of the mixture, and fill the cavity of the body with wool, oakum, or any soft substance, and pack it smooth in paper.

61. FISHES, &C. Large fishes should be opened in the belly, the entrails taken out, and the inside well rubbed with pepper, and stuffed with oakum. Small fishes put in spirit, as well as reptiles and insects, except butterflies and moths; and any insects of fine colors, should be pinned down in a box prepared for that purpose, with their wings expanded.

62. 1156. _Birds that have been Shot._--When fresh-killed, observe to put tow into the mouth, and upon any wound they may have received, to prevent the feathers being soiled; and then wrap it smooth, at full-length, in paper, and pack it close in a box. If it be sent from a great distance, the entrails should be extracted, and the cavity filled with tow dipped in rum or other spirit. The following mixture is proper for the preservation of animals:--One pound of salt, four ounces of alum, and two ounces of pepper, powdered together.

63. 1157. _To preserve Game in Hot Weather._--Game or poultry may be preserved for a long time, by tying a string tight round the neck, so as to exclude the air, and by putting a piece of charcoal into the vent.

64. 1158. _Russian method of preserving Fish._--When the Russians desire to keep fish perfectly fresh, to be carried a long journey in a hot climate, they dip them into hot bees'-wax, which acts like an air-tight covering. In this way they are taken to Malta, even sweet in summer.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

Counts 5 of 7 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Wood	not in our table	0
Whale	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.