HINTS TO LABOURERS.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 65, 3 June 1843, Page 260

HINTS TO LABOURERS.

We closed our notice last week of the valuable pamphlet on cottage gardening, by an extract on the cultivation of the potato, and we resume it by quoting some excellent remarks on the advantages which a labourer derives by cultivating a small garden : — " It is to be observed that 20 poles of good ground, well cultivated, will yield a greater quantity of vegetables than can be economically used by a labourer, his wife, and three or four children ; in which case the overplus must either be sold or employed in fattening a porker and a baconer. This, with such a garden, a labourer may safely attempt to do, provided he has the conveniences of a sty, an enclosed yard, hog tubs, bins, &c, and provided also he has a little ready money to buy his pigs, bran and pollard to mix with the boiled vegetables, and barley-meal to fatten off with. A pig-sty and a garden assist each other greatly ; and, at the same time, a cock and two hens, of -a good breed, may be kept for their eggs — a pleasant addition to the household fare. " There are many labourers happily placed im such circumstances, who are well to do, and it would be a public as well as a private good were all so circumstanced. But this is rather to be wished for and aimed at than expected. It is, however, a most obvious truth, and universally admitted, that every day-labourer, whether a cottager or only a lodger in a cottage, should have the privilege of renting a piece of garden-ground, to raise his own vegetables, and thereby improving his condition. " Such allotment should not be less than 10 poles of good soil, which he can cultivate without encroaching much on his employer's time, aud with great advantage to himself and his family. The management and results would be in accordance with the proportions already given, or, in other terms, one-half of the whole for potatoes, two-sixths for cabbage, one-sixth for parsnips, one-sixth for carrots, one-sixth for onions, and one-sixth for sundries, as before mentioned. Of course, the crops might be expected to be only one-half of those already stated as arising from a garden twice the size. " A labourer, having even this piece of ground, may manage to fatten a pig of from six to eight or ten score, especially if he can buy a spayed sow which has had but one or two litters of pigs. Suck an animal fattens much faster than any other description of pig stock, and, with well-supplied hog tubs, with kitchen washings and boiled vegetables, thickened with brewers' grains, pollard, and barley meal — the mass being allowed to ferment before using it — will be found an excellent fattening food. The silly custom of throwing down raw potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and cabbage leaves to the pig is great waste, half their nutritious qualities being thereby lost. " A cottager so situated, having bacon in his rack and vegetables in store or in his garden, and to which he might add baking his own bread and brewing his own beer in a small way, would soon feel himself a happy and show himself a contented being — at once one of the most useful, valuable, and even most respectable members of society. Advancing our resident rural population into such circumstances is an object of the first importance, and worthy of the attention of every patriot and of every agricultural society. " It is pleasing to see how much cottage gardening has been advanced in those places where societies exist who offer and award prizes for the best specimens of cottagers' productions ; and it is to be regretted that there are so few competitors, owing entirely to the want of gardens among that useful class of men." We conclude our extracts from " Cottage Gardening " by the following excellent general rules : — " First. Never work the soil, either by spade or hoe, if heavy and drenched with rain, for if moved in that state it naturally settles down too closely together again, and remains in the worst condition for encouraging the spread of roots. Soil cannot be too dry for working, and moving it in dry weather causes it to attract moisture from the air. " Second. Always sow in time and upon freshly stirred soil, and while it is loose and moderately moist. Some seeds, as the common bean and onion, affect a warm bed to strike root in, and consequently the first are best dabbed, and the last trodden into the soil. " Third. Always plant in newly-digged ground, unless the surface be already occupied with a crop shortly to be cleared off, in which case strong plants of a succeeding crop may be profitably introduced. " Fourth. Destroy weeds before they come into flower; and when auy kind of earth or rank •herbage of grass or weeds is collected for the compost heap, see that the whole is well fermented, and turned once or twice to kill the seeds of weeds, or promote their germination before the compost is used in the garden. " Fifth. Never allow a single square yatd to kmain vacant during the growing season ; and, that this may never be, the cottager shook! have seedbeds of lettuce, and particularly cabbage, or some one or other of the cabbage tribe, to supply wants for both regular and irregular cropping/ The treatise on " Cottage Economy and Cookery " is perhaps more valuable than the one on gardening, and in order that our readers may see that this little work is entitled to respect, we will give them the account of the manner in which it was got up :—: — " On directing their attention to improvement in the condition of our peasantry, it occurred to many members of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, that few objects would tend more to »dd to the comforts of the labouring population than to furnish them with plain instructions for some better modes of preparing their food, without any increase of expense. To use without waste the food which Providence supplies for the wants of man is indeed of the greatest importance to those who have but little to spend ; and nothing so completely disarms the stings of poverty as the means of rendering a scanty pittance capable of producing a comfortable meaL If, therefore, by teaching them a littlt of simple cookery, it can be

occasionally so changed as to make it somewhat more savoury at the same cost, there can be little doubt thttt it would materially add to their comforts, and thus attach them still more to their homes. For although they consume far more animal food than the foreign peasantry of Europe, they yet do not fare so well ; and that solely by their different mode of preparing their victuals. " The Society therefore offered a premium, in the course of last year, ' for the best directions to enable labourers to prepare wholesome, nutritive, and palatable food, in the most economical and easy manner ;' not with any intention to lessen its quantity, but to point out some simple means of rendering it occasionally more pleasant to the palate, and withal more digestible and healthful. Numerous essays were accordingly presented to the council, and, after careful examination, that written by a female — who describes herself 'as having, during a long life, passed it in a village some miles distant from London, where she has brought up a large family, with due attention to economy, and with constant opportunities of witnessing the modes of life of her poorer neighbours ' — was entitled to the prize,, Some of the other essays, however, containing hints which were thought worthy of attention, portions of them have been made use of in the following account, with the consent of the authors. It will be gratifying to find that these and similar instructions have the effect «in tended; but their success must depend in a great measure on the habits of the poor themselves : contentment will give a flavour to the poorest fare, and plenty goes hand-in-hand with frugality." It v difficult to extract from a work of this character, because all is useful, and in a condensed form. We must, however, omit much that is serviceable, and we regret that we cannot find room for some capital instructions for procuring cheap and excellent dinners from the shin of beef, the bullock's head, heart, flank, midcalf, and sheep's head and pluck. We cannot pass over the following : — " Of plain roasting and boiling nothing need be said, as every married woman must be supposed to understand those common modes of cookery ; but there is, perhaps, no dish in the summer appears more frequently upon the poor man's table than bacon and cabbage >• which, although boiled in the same pot, are put in separately. But it will be found a great improvement if, instead of that, a hole be cut in the heart of the cabbage, and a quarter or half a pound of fat bacon is thrust into it as a plug. The head of the cabbage should then be tied over, so as to confine the leaves, and the cabbage boiled in a napkin, to prevent all escape of fat, which will thus be imparted to the vegetable, and render it so much, more mellow and savoury, that any housewife who tries it will never dress it in any other way. Bacon is also frequently fried with potatoes or chopped cabbage, and forms at savoury meal for the family supper ; but half the quantity of bacon, if stewed for a couple of hours with different kinds of vegetables, in a moderate quantity of water thickened with a handful of oatmeal, would be equally palatable and go much farther." What follows may serve as a hint for the treatment of the snapper and baracuta, which are often sold very cheap : — " Fresh fish, except upon our coasts, or when a glut of mackerel, pilchards, at herrings is brought to market, is out of the reach of the poor; but the latter, when salted, make a good relish to potatoes either fried or boiled. When fresh, they may, however, be kept sweet for a long time by cutting off the head, fins, and taii, and laying them in the ! bottom of a jar, sprinkled with pepper and salt, with alternate layers of sliced onions, until the jar is full: then pour in vinegar and send it to be baked,— or they may be eaten cold, as a relish, with potatoes." There is no part of domestic cookery which the wife of a labourer so little understands as the manufacture of soups ; and we feel assured that a little attention to the following extracts will enable her greatly to increase the comfort of her family's board without any increase of expense : — " Cheap soups add greatly to the comfort of a family, and it would be well if the housewife would pay attention to the few simple and economical modes of preparing them and vegetables, as stated here and in other tracts on the same subject, — to which may be added this observation— that, in whatever way they are made, the flavour will always be greatly improved if the onions (which should always form a portion of the contents) are sliced and fried in a little fat of any kiad before being put into the soup. A common mistake in making soup, as well as ia boiling meat, is to boil it much too fast, and for too short a time. The pot, in fact (and an earthen pot is both the cleanest and the best), ought to be almost always kept merely simmering by the fire, and the smallest fire is large enough, if the soup be allowed to remain near it long enough. " The liquor in which any meat is boiled should always be saved for the making of soup, and the bone* even^of fish should also be preserved, for, although quite bare of meat, yet if stewed down for several hoars, they will yield a species of broth, which, along with pease or oatmeal, will make good soup. A lot of bones may always be got from the butcher for a few pence, and they are never scraped so clean as not to have some scraps of meat adhering to them. Put them into an iron pot — a digester, if you have one — large enough to hold a gallon ; and, ia winter, when the cottage is never without a fire, fill the pot with water, letting it boil for three or four hours, until it tastes something like strong broth r and is Teduced to less than a couple of quarts; then, having taken out the bones, put into the liquor a quantity of any vegetables you nay have at hand — oat small, and not forgetting the onion — and let them stew until they are tender; when nearly done, throw in a few crusts of bread, and it will be found a capital dish of soup. This done, the bones are to be again boiled in the same manner, but for a longer time, and the broth may be made the next day into a stew with rice. Nor is this all, for the bones, if again boiled for a still longer time, will once more yield a nourishing broth, which may be made into

pea-soup ; and, when thus done with, may either be sold to the crushers, or pounded by yourself and used as manure for your garden. " It is not, however, always that broth can be had ; but, even in that case, it must not be supposed that soup cannot be made without either broth or meat, for it has been tried according to the following receipt tor pea-soup, both by the lady who sent it to the Society, as well as by the compiler of these essays, and has, in both instances, been found excellent:— To three quarts of boiling water add a pint of pease, and let them boil till tender, then mash them together so as to form a paste, and put them back into the water along with a quantity of carrots, turnips, celery if you have any, all cut into dice, with some sliced onions, and fry the whole in the dripping-pan, keeping them well floured while frying, to prevent their burning. After this, let the soup simmer gently for a couple of hours, and, if too thin, thicken it with a handful of oatmeal, season it with pepper and salt and a little dried mint, and it will serve for a family of four during two days. Split pease are commonly used, yet whole pease (if " boilers ") are not only quite as good, out cheaper. The pease should, however, be always left to soak during me night, and the next day made into soup with soft water ; for, if hard water be used, the pease will not become tender nor mix into that smooth consistence which is necessary to make it good. If soft water cannot be had, a small piece of soda put into the water will, however, have the effect " Vegetable soup may also be made thus : — Take the heart of a cabbage, or some cabbage-sprouts, or spinach, two or three turnips and carrots cut small, and a little bruised celery-seed, if you cannot get it in the root, and boil them in about three pints or two quarts of water for an hour. When done enough, slice three good-sized onions and fry them till well browned ; put them into the soup with some crusts of biead, and let the whole boil together for a quarter of an hour." [To be continued.]

Phormium Tenax.— The most important of the spontaneous productioos of New Zealand, because it offers the most ample scope for the employment of capital, is the flax plant, which grows in all parts of the northern island in great abundance. The quality of the New Zealand flax, its strength of fibre and durability, are proved by the preference given to it by nautical men over any other material used in the manufacture of whale lines and running rigging, as also by the durability of the native mats and fishing nets. Its fibre has been found to sustain a greater weight than is sustained by an equal bulk of Russian 'hemp ; and it is a fact not generally known, that, in France, it is converted, by peculiar processes, into tissues, resembling fine cambric, and also into textures imitative of silk. It is therefore adapted for a most extensive range of consumption, not only by its intrinsic merits as a material, but also by its great cheapness, for it can be sold in the English market at the low price of 3sd. or 4d. per pound. A quantity of it has been sold in Leeds for the purpose of manufacture, but it does not appear that the French processes have as yet been equalled in England. It is impossible to take up a New Zealand mat of the finer sort without being struck by its silky gloss, its soft and pliant texture, and its strength, which would defy the efforts of several men to tear it asunder. This article, then, seems calculated to form a close commercial tie between New Zealand and the general markets of Europe. Skill and experience in the preparation and packing of the New Zealand hemp have not yet been acquired ; and much of it that has been sent to England has been more or less damaged, from not being sufficiently dried before shipment ; nor has the best season for cutting it been ascertained. The process of tanning has been proposed with a view to remedy its only defect, which is a liability to break in the knot. On the whole, the phormhtm tenax presents a fertile subject for the consideration of the ingenious, the industrious, and the speculative. — From Jameson's New Zealand. It is estimated that twenty-eight million pounds of genuine coffee are consumed yearly in the United Kingdom; and not less than eighteen million pounds more of vegetable matter are sold under the name of coffee. About half of these eighteen million pounds of pretended coffee are composed of chicory, upon which an import duty is imposed, and the remaining half of other ingredients are injurious to health, and a fraud upon the revenue. Bread and Milk tor Children. — Never allow milk to boil — it loses most of its nutritious 'quality by so doing. Place it in the oven, or warm it in a saucepan — the former is best. Let it be lukewarm. The bread may be soaked in the basin by a little hot water, with a plate over to steam it previous to pouring the milk in. — Dr. Hodgkin. Never condemn your neighbour unheard, however many the accusations which may be preferred against him ; every story has two ways of being told, and justice requires that you should hear the defence «s well as the accusation ; and remember that the malignity of enemies may place you in a similar predicament.