Vestry

“ Aye! they have everything for the comfort of their stomachs: biscuit, rye bread, beer, butter, smoked meat, yea, all, dried fish, cheese, mustard seed, salt, beans, peas, barley, vinegar, oil, tallow, wood, and coal. We, we have just been forbidden to take the cattle of any so-ever, be he citizen, abbot, or gentleman. We eat herrings and drink small beer. ”

“ Wine and oil had become the most important products of the soil, and vineyards and olive orchards were found wherever climate and other conditions were favorable. Cattle and swine were raised in countless numbers, the former more for draft purposes and the products of the dairy than for beef. Sheep were kept for the wool, and woolen garments were worn by the rich and poor alike. ”

“ As food for cattle, however, the French agricultural writers state it to be excellent. It is much relished by horses, dairy cows, and pigs; store horned-stock also eat it when seasoned with a little salt, and appear to enjoy it amazingly when permitted to pull up the roots from the soil. The green tops are also given to sheep and cattle, and, it is stated, are readily eaten by those animals. ”

“ We soon found ourselves among the leafless vineyards, and in trotting past the houses, saw the grapes pressed in large tubs, and barrels filled with their juice, and under the bare trellises, preparations for next year's harvest. One can hardly imagine anything more picturesque looking than one of those tall fine looking young peasants ploughing underneath these bowers with their strong grey oxen, or as in that beautiful picture of Robert's, resting his cattle while he leans on the pole between them. ”

“ The herd, which before breakfast had been driven north to the river meadows, was returning to feed upon the young crops, and was dangerously near the river edge of the wheat. The cattle were grazing as they advanced, the cows leading and the beef cattle bringing up the rear. And when the foremost animals saw the youngest brother cantering toward them with the pack, they only hurried forward the faster so as to get a taste of the forbidden grain before they were compelled to turn tail. ”

“ In this Extensive Country it can never be doubted but what most sorts of Grain, Fruit, roots, etc. of every kind would flourish here were they once brought hither, planted and Cultivated by the hands of Industry; and here are Provender for more Cattle, at all seasons of the Year, than ever can be brought into the Country. ”

“ Usually a herd of cattle along—steers for the plough, young bullocks to supply beef for consumption on the journey, milch kine to give comfort to the children and colour to the tea and coffee—among them an old bull or two, to propagate the species on reaching the projected settlement. ”

“ A brief sketch of the principal breeds of American cattle, as well as of the grades or the common stock of the country, will aid the farmer, perhaps, in making an intelligent selection with reference to the special object of pursuit, whether it be the dairy, the production of beef, or the raising of cattle for work. ”

“ No tea, no coffee, no variety of rolls, but solid and substantial viands,—the priestly ham, the knightly sirloin, the noble baron of beef, the princely venison pasty; while silver flagons, saved with difficulty from the claws of the Covenanters, now mantled, some with ale, some with mead, and some with generous wine of various qualities and descriptions. ”

“ The women look after the calves, make tea in the open air, or prepare milk in various ways; the men, mounted on fiery horses, armed with a long pole, gallop about, guiding to the best pastures the great herds of cattle which undulate over the surrounding country like waves of the sea. ”

“ THE MAKING OF WINE—FERMENTATION. The must, as we have already seen, is the juice of the grape, which has been squeezed out by the grape-mill or from the wine-press. The murk, or pomace as it is called in America, on the contrary, is the mass of grape skins, stalks, &c., left behind in the press. A clear apprehension of these two terms is required in order that no confusion may arise. The fermenting-vat is the cask in which what is called the strong, stormy, or tumultuous fermentation takes place. ”

“ Both the people and their cattle eat fish, and drink rain- and well-water, and the flesh of the cattle tastes of fish. In making their dwellings, they mostly use the bones of whales, and oyster-shells, the ribs serving for beams and props, and the jaw-bones for doorways; the vertebræ they use for mortars, in which they pound their sun-dried fish, and of this, with the mixture of a little corn, they make bread, for, though they have no iron, they have mills. ”

“ Remembering that cattle were still valued for draught rather than for milk or beef, we cannot imagine that farmers would be ready to set aside their red or their black cattle for either the red-and-white or the white. ”

“ Below, in the quiet fields, the cattle are standing, knee-deep in water, beneath the spreading branches of the kindly alder. They have no energy to eat, but munch, sleepily, the all-satisfying cud, and, with gentle if expressionless eyes, look out afar for evening and the milkmaid. ”

“ He studied the works of the best writers on botany and agriculture; and applied his knowledge by following up all the ramifications of the vegetable kingdom, and studied their external signs, that distinguish the different sorts, and ascertained their qualities and productiveness.
In France, they have few fences, and the cattle of a neighborhood are driven to the grazing ground, and herded together, and, in turn, members of each or several families, (the younger portion,) are put to watch that the cattle do not stray out of bounds. ”

“ When grain harvest is over, the vineyards are to be gleaned, and the women are to do most of the work of picking the ripe, luscious branches of grapes, filling the huge baskets and carrying them to the place where the fruit is to be spread out to be dried. In fifteen or twenty days the grapes have become raisins, and they are again taken up and piled away, ready for the market. Wine and molasses are also made from grapes, the work being largely the task of the women. ”

“ They all live on venison, and are further supported on a great abundance of milk, and on many kinds of herbs, and on whatever birds they can catch by fowling. And we have seen a great many of them wholly ignorant of the use of either corn or wine. ”

“ Mixing the wine produces results similar to those caused by mixing the fruit, and it may be done by the wine maker as well as by the merchant. As they come from the vat, wines manifest the qualities and defects communicated by the vintage, and which are varied by a multitude of circumstances, such as the nature of the soil, varieties of grapes, temperature of the season, and the like. ”

“ Besides keeping both horse and cow, we have marketed from this little farm, in berries, vegetables, butter, eggs, poultry, and one fat hog, weighing, dressed, over three hundred pounds, four hundred and sixty-eight dollars’ worth of the above produce, keeping enough for our own use, and salting down one barrel of pork. ”

“ Again, we must have some regard to the Pasture where our Cows feed; those that feed in rank Grass have more watery parts in their Milk than those Cows which feed on short Grass: and sometimes, as I have observed before, in my other Works, the Cows feed upon Crow Garlick, or the Alliaria, or Sauce alone, or Jack in the Hedge, or Goose-grass, or Clivers, or Rennet Wort, and their Milk will either be ill tasted, or else turn or curd of itself, altho' the Cow has had a due time after Calving ”

“ While, also, the practical cook may find copious receipts in English cookery books for the boiling of turbot, cod-fish, john-dorey, and salmon, in the English and Dutch fashion, the sturgeon cutlets of the French, and their filets and béchamels of fish should be also introduced to English favour and attention from French cookery books. Our barons of beef, our noble sirloins, our exquisite haunches, saddles, legs, and loins of Southdown mutton, our noble rounds of boiled beef, and those haunches of British venison, the envy and admiration of the world, are worthy of the highest praise. ”

“ It would be interesting to take up each separate breed of cattle and trace its source, giving credit to the men who improved and developed it, and the date of each importation; but the limitations of this article forbid anything more than brief mention of the more prominent breeds, and many which possess great merit cannot be even mentioned. The improved cattle of the United States may be grouped under three heads—beef, dairy, and general purpose. ”

“ On one side was the greatest variety of cattle, the most beautiful of their kinds, grazing in fields whose verdure equalled that of the finest turf, nor were they destitute of their ornaments, only the woodbines and jessamine, and such flowers as might have tempted the inhabitants of these pastures to crop them, were defended with roses and sweetbriars, whose thorns preserved them from all attacks. ”

“ To the farmer turnips are, in various particulars, a most valuable crop. They afford a profitable intervening crop with corn. Both the tops and roots are eaten by sheep. Horses and cattle may be advantageously fed upon the roots during winter; but the milk of cows receives an unpleasant flavour from them. ”

“ These plants, in addition to other cultivated grasses, will furnish an unfailing succession of succulent and tender fodder; while the addition of a little Indian, linseed, or cotton-seed meal will be found economical.
In the vicinity of large towns and cities, where the object is too often to feed for the largest quantity, without reference to quality, an article known as distillers’ swill, or still-slop, is extensively used. ”

“ Two men were detailed to hold the round-up compactly, Dell volunteered to watch the cut (the beeves selected) , leaving the other three to cut out the marketable cattle which would make up the shipment. A short hour's work followed, resulting in eighty-odd beeves being selected. Flesh, age, and the brand governed each selection, and when cut into a class by themselves, the mettle of the pasture was reflected in every beef. ”

“ When your Ale is tunned into a Vessel that will hold eight or nine Gallons, and that hath done working, ready to be stopped up, then take a Pound and half of Raisins of the Sun stoned and cut in pieces, and two great Oranges, Meat and Rind, and sliced thin, with the Rind of one Limon, and a few Cloves, one Ounce of Coriander seeds bruised, put all these in a Bag, and hang them in the Vessel, and stop it up close ”

“ Opposite the otters’ tank is the cow house, holding forty cows, the little dairy at the side being much frequented during summer, when as many as a thousand glasses of milk are sold in a day. Close by the dairy is a picturesque enclosure of lawn and rockwork, inhabited by a herd of over twenty black buck of all ages. ”

“ The Heifers bring Calves at eighteen or twenty Months old, which makes such a wonderful Increase, that many of our Planters, from very mean Beginnings, have rais'd themselves, and are now Masters of hundreds of fat Beeves, and other Cattle.
Veal.
The Veal is very good and white, so is the Milk very pleasant and rich, there being, at present, considerable Quantities of Butter and Cheese made, that is very good, not only serving our own Necessities, but we send out a great deal among our Neighbours. ”

“ Beef intended for delivery at this post must arrive here with sufficient flesh to withstand the rigors of our winter. When possible to secure them, we prefer Northern wintered cattle, but if they are not available, and we are compelled to receive Southern ones, they must be of the first quality in conformation and flesh. It now becomes my duty to say to you that your beeves are rough, have been over-driven, are tender-footed and otherwise abused, and, having in view the best interests of the service, with the concurrence of my associates, I decline them. ”

“ If there is a considerable quantity of fruit some mechanical means, such as ordinary grain fan mills, are used to clean it. After cleaning, the fruit is hauled or shipped to the winery. In wineries with modern equipment there are blowers which thoroughly clean the fruit. ”

“ Inquiring for the largest vine proprietor we were directed to an open porte-cochère, and on entering the large court encountered half-a-dozen labouring men engaged in various farm occupations. Addressing one whom we took to be the foreman, he referred us to a wiry little old man, in shirt-sleeves and sabots, absorbed in the refreshing pursuit of turning over a big heap of rich manure with a fork. ”

“ A nutty flavour is produced by bitter almonds; fictitious Port wine is flavoured with a tincture drawn from the seeds of raisins, and the ingredients employed to form the bouquet of high-flavoured wines, are sweet brier, orris-root, clary, cherry-laurel-water, and elder flowers. The flavouring ingredients used by manufacturers, may all be purchased by those dealers in wine who are initiated in the mysteries of the trade. ”

“ The young twigs of the vine, when dried, cut into small pieces, and moistened with water, afford a wholesome food for cattle and horses. The leaves and tendrils have an astringent taste, which it is probable they would impart to British made wines, and thus render them somewhat similar to foreign wines. ”

“ Braised Fillets of Venison. Put four fillets of venison in an earthen jar, with half a pint of oil, a little salt, pepper, and nutmeg, for four hours; drain them and put them in a saucepan on the fire, with two cloves, two pepper-corns, two bay-leaves, two branches of thyme, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a sliced onion. Moisten with an equal quantity of consommé (stock, Art. 1) and white [123] wine, so as to almost cover your fillets. Simmer gently for an hour and a half; drain them, and serve with a sauce piquante (Art. 86) . ”