HINTS TO LABOURERS.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 97, 4 July 1843, Page 3

HINTS TO LABOURERS.

(From the Nelson Examiner.) “ 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 baconcr. 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 polland to mix with the boiled vegetables, and barleymeal 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 in .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 gardenground, 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, and 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, havihg 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. Such 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 ohce one of the most useful, valuable, and eveh 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 be6n 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 dibbed, 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 any 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 yard to remain vacant during the growing season; and, that this may never be, the cottager should have seed-beds 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 add to the comforts of the labouring population than to furnish them With plain instructions for some better nlodes of preparing their food, without any increase of expense. To use without Waste the food which Providence supplies for the wa’nts of man is indeed of the greatest importance to ! those who have but little to spend; and nothing to completely disarms the stings of poverty ris the means of rendering a scanty pittance capable' of producing a comfortable meal. If, therefore,- by teaching them a little of simple cookery, it can be occasionally so Changed as to make it som’ewhUt .more savoury at the same cost, there 6'an be little doubt that it would materially add to their comforts, and thus attach them Still m'ore to their homes. For although they consume far more animal food than the foreigh peasantry of Europe; they yet do not fare So Well; and th’at 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— 1 who describes herself 4 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 intended; 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 is 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 pro-

| curing cheap and excellent dinners from the shin' of beef, the bullock’s head and pluck. We cannot pass over the following; —

" 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 foiled 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 a 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 oat-meal, 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, or 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, howevier, be kept sweet for a long time by cutting off the head, fins, and tail, and laying'them in the bottom of ajar, sprinkled with pepp'er 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 v 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 traets 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 forml a portion of the contents) are sliced and fried in a little fat of any kind before being put into the soup. A common mistake in making soup, as well as in 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 Boup 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 bones even of fish should also be preserved, for, although quite bare of meat, yet if stewed down for several hours, they will yield a species of broth, which, along with pease or oatmeal,- will make good soup. A lot of bones may always he 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, in 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, and is reduced to less than a couple of quarts; then, having out the bones, put into the liquor a quantity of any vegetables you may have at hand—cut 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 for 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 hack into the water along 1 " 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 peppef 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, but cheaper. Thepease should, however, be always left to soak during the 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 wifi, however, have the effect.

“ Vegetable soup may also be made thus : Take the heart of a cabbage, or some cabbagesprouts, or spinach,, two or three turnips and carrots cut small, and a little bruised celeryseed, if you cannot get it in the root, and boil them in about three pints 1 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 bread, and let the whole boil together for a quarter of an hour.” (To be continued.) — o—: Ignorancd and Error. —lt is almost as difficult to make a man unlearn his errors as his knowledge. Mai-information is more hopeless than non-information, for error is always more busy than ignorance. Ignorance is a blank sheet on which we may write, but error is a scribbled one on which we must first erase. Ignorance is contented to stand still with her back to the truth, but en‘or is more presumptuous, and proceeds in the same direction. Ignorance has no ligh;, but error follows a false one. The consequence is, that error, when she retraces her foorsteps, has farther to go, before she can arrive at the truth, than ignorance. 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 as well as the accusation ; and remember that the malignity of enemies may place you in a similar predicament. I# 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 chicosy, upon which an import duty is imposed, and tne remaining half of other ingredients are injurious to health, and a fraud upon the revenue.