HINTS TO LABOURERS.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 66, 10 June 1843, Page 264

HINTS TO LABOURERS.

{Concluded from page 260.] The advantages to be derived from the more frequent use of rice and oatmeal are thus stated : — " Rice is very little used by the poor of this country, or even by the middle classes of society, and it is inconceivable how much they would gain in comfort by its more general employment, for it contains a great deal of nourishment, and is perhaps the cheapest food that can be put upon the table. It forms the only subsistence of millions of our fellow-creatures in the Indies, who never taste anything more substantial, and yet live long and healthfully, and we cannot too strongly recommend it to the cottager. " It may be dressed in various ways with advantage : first premising that, in whatever way it may be cooked, it should always be well washed, and allowed to simmer for a long time by the side of the fire in an earthen vessel, so as to allow it to imbibe the liquor in which it is boiled ; or it may be left in the liquor over night until it becomes soddened. For instance, take a pound of rice, and, if you have any of the liquor in which meat has been boiled, put it into just as much as will cover it, for, if you put in more, the rice will not absorb it. You must also take care to occasion* ally stir it, and add a little more of the liquor to keep the rice covered. When the grains are becoming swollen, add three or four onions, and, if you have such a thing in your garden as the loveapple, or tomata, take also as many of these, leaving them all to stew until tender, and until the liquor has been entirely absorbed ; then mix them all together, and season the mess with pepper and salt, stirring into it a piece of butter. " If broth cannot be had, it may be dressed with plain water, and will be found a substantial and pleasant supper, if a small quantity of hog's lard, or minced fat of bacon, be stewed along with the rice; and, when done, if a little strong cheese is grated over the mess, it will be greatly improved. " Or as thus: — Cut a quarter of a pound of bacon into pieces with a few onions, thyme, parsley, and peppercorns, boiled in two quarts of water, and, when it boils, put in a pound of clean whole rice, and set the pot byihe side of the fire. The rice will swell, and thus imbibing all the water, will become quite soft. It will then weigh nearly five pounds, which is more than thffamily can consume at one meal, though eaten without either bread or potato." " Oatmeal is a frequent diet of the Scotch and Irish peasantry, as well as of many of the gentry, among whom it is known as porridge, crowdy, and stirabout. The preparation is simply to put a handful at a time gradually into a pot of warm water, and a little salt, simmering it over the fire, and keeping it stirred with the other hand, until it becomes as thick as a pudding; or, hi about ten minutes' time. It,Wy then be eaten with a little treacle, or with a piece of butter put into the centre ; but the better way is to eat it with cold milk, taking a spoonful of the stirabout with a mouthful of the milk ; for, if boiled in milk, it is not near so good. Fine meal does not answer the purpose, and the coarse-ground " Scotch oatmeal" is the best Now, about half a-pound of this, along with three pints of milk, will make a substantial and a very wholesome breakfast or supper for the family. It is indeed a hearty food, and the cottager who seeks to support his wife and children both frugally and healthfully should never be without it " No instruction is necessary for the making of pies and puddings, whether of fruit or meat; but we may just remark that a meat pudding (when a labourer can afford it) is one pf the most substantial and savoury dishes that can be brought to a hungry man's table ; and that if, instead of putting pie-crust over the meat, you cover it with mashed potatoes, and put it either into the oven, or bake it by the side of the fire, it will answer quite as well as paste. In Cornwall, there is a common practice among those cottagers who bake at home of making little pasties for the dinners of those who may be working at a distance in the fields. They will last the whole week, and are made of any kind of meat or fruit, rolled up in a paste made of flour and suet or lard. A couple of ounces of bacon aad half a-pound of raw potatoes, both thinly sliced and slightly seasoned, will be found sufficieut for the meal. The pasty can be carried in the man's pocket. " Indeed, an excellent dish, in the manner of a pie, may be made out of a pound of any kind of iat meat and a quarter of a pound of rice: as thus — stew the rice until quite soft, then drain it dry, and put it, with a couple of sliced onions, under the meat, seasoning the whole with a little pepper and salt, and over this place three or four pounds of sliced potatoes instead of pie-crust." Potatoes are not overlooked ; and although some writers have decried the use of this vegetable, general opinion has long proclaimed them as being of the fii;st importance to the cottager and labourer. " Potatoes will ever be the peasant's standard vegetable ; for, if of & w mealy quality, they contain more nutriment than any other root, and } three to four pounds are equal hi point of nourishment to a pound of the bestwheaten bread, besides having the great advantage of better filling the stomach ; but, if of a soapy, waxy kind, they are not only deficient in nutriment, but actually unwholesome. " Potatoes may be made into cakes, and baked in a few minutes over the fire upon a flat iron plate, having short legs, upon which it is supported, and commonly known among the Irish peasantry as a * griddle.' It is simply done by mashing the boiled potatoes into flour with the rolling-pin, and binding them together either with a small quantity of milk or a little fat, and flavouring them with a little salt, then rolling the paite out iuto cakes of a quarter of an inch thick, placing them upon the hot griddle, and turning them when done ou one side. Or they may be made in the same manner, though more like bread, by pouring upon the mashed potatoes a moderate quantity of batter, made either of wheaten flour or oatmeal and milk, mixing it thoroughly with the paite, and pricking the cakes with a fork to render them light." To conclude our extracts, we cannot do better than quote the two following paragraphs ;

and a closer attention to the advice they contain would convey to thousands of wretched hovels pleasures that are rarely found in palaces, and substitute plenty for wantt — " Close economy is the very life and existence, of a poor man's comforts. Without it, he will run in arrear with every one with whom he deals — starvation will stare him in the face— the wretchedness of his wife and children will drive him in despair to the beer-shop — and that, finally, as a drunkard, a pilferer, and a poacher, to the workhouse. Whereas, if, on the Saturday night, he finds that, by good management, he has made both ends meet, without running into debt, he will have the heartfelt satisfaction of providing bread for his children, and perhaps for a worn out parent, who fed him while he was yet more helpless—he will shun the profligate associates of the pot-house — he will cling to his humble home, and look forward with satisfaction to his evening meal — his family will be happy, and himself respected in his station — and if, at the close of the week, he can lay by a sixpence, he will, by pursuing the same plan, acquire habits of careful industry, which will at length surely render him to a certain degree independent. It can, however, only be done by his having |in hand at least a week's wages to the fore, so as to enable his wife to buy everything for ready money, without having a score at the chandler's shop. He should, therefore, pinch and screw the family, even in the commonest necessaries, until he gets it, for, if in debt to the shopkeeper, he will pay for everything at the highest price, and of the worst quality. " the foregoing instructions are chiefly addressed to the housewife ; for, if it be the husband's business to bring home money, it is hers to see that none of his earnings go foolishly out of it. To attach a man to his home, it is necessary that home should have attractions, and, if his wife is a slattern, everything will go wrong ; but, if she be industrious, thrifty, and good-tempered, cleanly in her person and her cottage, all will then go right. She will forego tea and gossip — she will put every thing in the neatest order— her little fire trimmed and her hearth swept up for the reception of her husband on his return from labour. Whatever may have been her cares during the day, she will meet him with the smile of welcome : the family meal will close the night in social enjoyment, and he will find as cheerful and as happy a home as if he were the lord of the manor."

EXTRAORDINARY SCIENTIFIC ENTERPRISE. Tl^e expedition of M. de Castelnau to the central regibnsof South America, under the sanction of the. .French Government, being decided upon, it mayife»interesting and useful to give some idea of this vast undertaking. It embraces nothing less than an exploring journey across this continent at its greatest width, from Rio Janeiro to Lima, a line of no less than 1,000 leagues, one half of which has never yet been visited by any European. The return is to be made along the Maranon or Amazon river, and the interior of Guiana. This wide tour will excite public curiosity in the highest degree, as it embraces a country of fabulous history, but told with so many circumstances and incidents as almost to create in some minds a doubt as to whether it was fabulous. Our traveller will have to cross the country of the warlike Amazons, in whose existence La Condamine, the great astronomer and traveller, whb*visited the Maranon in the middle of the last century, believed. He will also have to visit the empire of the Grand Wapiti, who plays so great a part in the thousand Spanish chronicles, and also*4he mysterious Eldorado, in search of which so many brave men, including Sir W. Raleigh, faced appalling difficulties and dangers. Independently of these imaginary, or, at best, apocryphal objects, the scientific explorer will have an ample field for the exertion of his talents and observation. The study of the monuments of the imperial race of Incas, whose civilization was the wonder of far remote ages, and whose history is still a closed book, seems likely to be exposed to us, with the migrations of the earlier ages. To these add the fixing of the magnetic equator, the study of the beneficial products of these regions, particularly that invaluable medicine-bark ; observations on the various races of men, on the brute animals and plants, and the atmospheric phenomena of these wild regions. These subjects must all attract the attention and researches of M. de Castelnau, who is qualified for his great task by having passed five years hi the least known parts of North America among the red men of the desert, and by his numerous works on natural history. This great enterprise was planned under the auspices of the late Duke of Orleans, and is now adopted and patronised by the Duke de Nemours, anxious to accomplish the views and wishes of his august brother. — Galignan?* Messenger. Antidote fob Arsenic. — Dr. Pereira states, in the hut. edition of hi» " Elements of Materia Medica," that out of thirty-four cases in which the bydrated sesquioxide-of iron was given, it proved successful hi twenty-nine. Postage.-— A uniform rate of postage, equal to twopence English per letter, has been established throughout the Austrian dominions, and is now in operation.