The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-05-02


tree to which it may be applied. Be
sure not to make mistake in purchas-
ing the chemicals. The next best label
is, in our opinion, the old one used by
lurserymen as long as we can remem-
berthe vine strip painted white, writ
ten out with lead pencil, and fastened
with copper wire.
The chestnut as an article of food
may claim place, not equal to that of
the haricot certainly, but still an impor-
tant place amongst the substitutes for
potatoes. The roasted chestnut is well
known in England, but in France and
other countries it is an important article
of consumption. There are two kinds
of chestnuts in general use, the wild
variety known in France as the chat
aigne des bois, and the great cultivated
nut called marion. The former are
small, but very cheap, while the latter
are large and highly nutritive. The
sale of roasted chestnuts in Paris is
enormous, and is principally carried on
by Savoyards, who come from their
mountains for several months to roast
and sell what are amusingly called by
the Parisians winter swallows. But the
chestnut enters regularly into the
French cuisine; it is used to make stuff
fng for turkey, and from it is made a
puree, named after the great Condo,
who was famous gourmet as we'll as 8
general, which is eaten with many dish
es in place of mashed potatoes, and is
much liked by those who relish a GER
tain amount of sweetness in such pre-
parations. Boiled chestnuts are also
Io41. o+c
seurs adding q little butter to them
when cut open, but utterly repudiating
salt with them. In Corsica they form a
large part of the food of the country,
and in the south of France and in Spain
they are largely consumed. The chest
nut certainly ranks among the most
wholesome and nutritious fruits, and
deserves more consideration than it re-
ceives in English houses.-FOOd Jour-
nal.
How TO SELECT CHICKENS FOR THE
TABLE.-A dry-picked fowl is better
than scalded one. A spring chicken
should never be scalded; it is spoiled
thereby. Young chickens are called
broilers-the hens until they are about
ten months, or until they begin to lay !;
the roosters until they are six or eight
months old, according to breed. As
soon as a young hen has laid, the open
ing under the rump is redder and more
open than before. The fat of the best
chickens has pale, yellowish hue, the
flesh is white, and the feet are smooth
and soft. The cock is known by its
smooth and short spurs A stiff rump
is a sign of freshness. When not fresh
the part Immediately under the rump
has dark, blush appearance. Another
way of ascertaIning if a chicken is
young is by pressing the rear end of the
breast-bone inward if it bends easily,
the chicken is young. The legs and
feet of old chickens are rough to the
touch. Every edible bird, domestic or
wild, when young has the lower part OF
the legs, the feet, and even the under
part of the feet, soft, which parts are
invariably rough to the touch when the
bird is old. Capons are easily known
by the long feathers on their necks, etha
are left on as a kind of certificate of
identity. They are much more plump
and fat than other fowls; the breast,
especially, is very large and thick. The
comb, which is cut when the bind is al
tered, turns pale and looks faded. The
but their spurs are shorter and rather
soft, and their claws long. Birds called
slips are often sold to the uninitiated
for capons. Although they are good
fowls, still they are very inferior to ca
pOns. It is more difficult to select fowls
when in a frozen state, but with a little
experience, and the above explanations,
it will be found comparatively easy.
As a general guide, inferior poultry,
even when frozen, is Shiny to the touch,
and much more SO when partly or Who'll
ly thawed.-Pierre Blot.
ASPARAGUS GRowING.-Once started,
asparagus gives its yield for number
of years in succession if properly taken
care Of the essentials being good plants
at the outset, plenty of fertilizing ma
terial. of which common salt is one, an
important item; soil of deep filth,
and labor enough expended to keep
down the weeds and secure a fine sur
face. The seed-bed should be in land
of rich texture originally, and should
be MANFRED with about one-quarter of a
cord of firmly rotted manure to the
square rod, plOwed in; about one-half
as much more should then be spread
upon the surface and intimately mingled
Herewith. The asparagus seed should
be mingled with portion, say one
fourth, its own weight of some more
quickly growing seed like that of the
radish. The seed is sown in the beds
in rows about II inches apart. The
radish seeds sprout first, and the young
radishes coming to the top indicate the
rows so that the spaces between may be
weeded out some time before the aspa-
ragus makes its appearance. Surface
filth with a fine steel rake will then
keep the bed in order until fall. About
five pounds of seed will fill ten square
rods of seed-bed, and this area will
supply plants enough to start an acre
of ground the following year. Land
for asparagus-growing should be rich
and deep and of a lOamy character.
That enriched by the wash of higher
lands or from the highways is said to be
the best. The best preparation is that
of deep autumn blowing, with from 60
to 100 loads of well rotted manure fur
rowed under In the spring the same
quantity of the same fertilizer. should
be again applied and plowed under, a
subsOil pillow following the other to a
depth of five or six inches below the
inverted soil. In the ground thus made
ready the plants are set in rows three
and One-half feet apart and one loot
apart in the rows. The colossal should
be two or three times as far apart in the
rows. Horse cultivators will keep the
spaces clear of weeds, if aided by some
hand work and a judicious surface
dressing of common salt. It is laid
down by a practical grower, from whom
much of the directions here given are
derived, that the profit of asparagus cul-
tivation are in direct ratio to the guam
tity of manure used over and above
what is commonly considered sufficient.
N. Y. EVe1ai1l0 Mail.
"The Honesty of Princes"
"The friendship of princes" has pro-
verbally bad character but, if the
story which it is said Mr. Gregory will