NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3397, 23 April 1919, Page 35

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Quettioni tor reply in coming ls»u« to b« » Mirci not l»t«r than SATTJBDAY night. Qu*itioni will HOT b« zcpiiod to through 4a« po»t.

Subsceibeb asks for a recipe for salting butter for winter -use.—Salt should be added to the butter while it is in granular form, and should be distributed as evenly as poss/i'blo throughout the whole mass. The butter should then be worked until the whole is incorporated, after which it should be allowed; to "stand for two or three hours until the salt/ has dissolved, when it should be slightly' reworked until the colour is quite even. The quantity of 'salt used may be from |oz to loz to the pound, the latter for- preference when it is intended to keep the butter over the winter months. Thoroughly clean jars with tight lids are found most suitable for keeping the butter in the ordinary dairy, and; failing these, a well-seasoned white pine box lined wjith ' parchment paper should be used.' Care should be exercised to exclude the air as far as possible. As an additional preventive from deterioration loz of butter preservative to every 101 b of butter could be added along with the salt. Another method is to dry the salt thoroughly before the fire, and pound it as finely. as possible. Spread a layer of it at the bottom of the jar, then press and beat the butter down with a wooden rammer. Cover the top with a thick layer of salt, so that when converted into brine it shall completely protect tho butter. Fisherman asks how to smoke fish. Strip the fish and wash well, taking great car© to get all the blood out. It may be boned or not. Small fish are often boned, but it is a matter of choice. The fish is then put into a pickle of salt and water. The pickle should be of such a strength that an egg will float on the surface. Small fish usually take from 20 minutes to half, an hour, large fish about an hour. Ling is given about two hours in the pickle. The fish is then hung up until it is ahout three parts dry, when it is ready to be put into the smoke-house. Two barrels —one sunk 'into the ground, the other placed on top with holes in the top to let the smoke out —make an efficient amateur smoke-house. The bottom barrel requires an opening, of course, to serve as a door. In Dunedin it is customary to smoke with shavings and sawdust, but wood is used in tho north and serves the purpose equally well. To keep smoked fish they must bo left longer in the pickle, and be quite dry bsfore smoking. Oil is not •used for this purpose. After smoking, when quite cold, they may bo packed in a bcx. J. C. —The following is a description of the wattle-bark process of tanning. The same principles apply to birch-bark:—Nail the skins out >:n a shady place, stretching them most at the fore part, so that they may dry nearly square. On no account dry them in the sun or before a fire. "When dry soak in water for two days, but take out and replace them several times while in soak. After two> days scrape off all fat and flesh from the pelt with a blunt knife. A tanner's fleshing board is concave, but an amateur will find a slab split from the outside to answer his purpose fairly well. When the skin is fleshed, pull out as squarely as possible. Make ' a decoction of wattle-bark about the colour of a weak cup gf tea, place the fleshed -skins therein, lifting them in and out say three times the first day, at the end of which time it will be found that the pelts have absorbed the tan liquor, and left only dirty water. Add some stronger tan liquor, and leave the skins for two days more, lifting them in and t,ut occasion all j'. On the fourth day .add some very strong liquor, leaving the skins in for not less than eight days, at tho end of which time wash them thoroughly and stretch them square again. When dry soften them by rubbing with the.hands or wl'.th a bath-brick, on the flesh side. The fur is bc-st cleaned by tumbling the skins about in sawdust. T. E., Longbush, asks for a recipe for hop beer. To 10 gallons of rain water add Jib of hops and Alb of bruised (not giound) ginger; let it come to the boil, stirring occasionally. Mark the time it commences to boil, and when 20 minutes

have- elapsed sdd 9lb of sugar (light brown); stir till dissolved, and immediately take up without its boiling again. (It is in the long boiling of hops that all their delicate aroma escapes, while all the bitterness is brought out; boiling the sugar causes muddiness.) Strain finto an open wooden, vessel, and leave until milkwarrn, then add a quart of yeast, and cover it with a thick woollen cloth and let it work for .24 hours. In the meantime loz of tartaric acid and loz of brewers' isinglass should be soaked in a quart of cold water, and at the end of the 24 hours should be added to the beer to clear it. It will be ready to bottle the next day; and will be fit to drink in two days, but is much nicer if left for a week. The bottles should be washed at least _ a day before, and left upside down to drain, and any corks ■• inside them should be extracted ; they must be perfectly dry before being used. The corks should be soaked in some of the hop beer and left with a weight on them, until wanted. The hrew- '•'' ing tub should be used for no other purpose, but should be kept filled with water from one brewing till another. If isinglass used by brewers cannot readily be obtained, save up the eggshells used a week before for custards, puddings, and cakes, and take the whites and shells of two fresh eggs, beat thern all together, and add with the ounce of acid. Tie the corks down trightly, and when the beer is put away throw a damp blanket over and around the- bottles to ensure a cool and pleasant drink. Inquirer, Waikoka.—You should apply to an expert who has made a special study of the questions you submit. The average motor expert could give you an off-hand reply, but that would not be of much value to you. LAW QUERIES. [Answered by a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand. Letters and Telegrams must be addressed to "LEX," c/o Editor, Otago Witness, Dunedin.] Justice.—(l) The whole of the rates, taxes, and other outgoings (except land tax) must be taken into account before you receive half the profits. (2) An unnaturalized alien can, of course, be brought before the court on a criminal charge or as defendant in an action. Doubter.—Unless there is a direction in a man's will to erect a tombstone, the executor is not entitled to pay out of the assets of the estate the cast of a tombstone or other memorial. Stella.—-If a beneficial interest in any property passes to or accrues by survivorship ,to any person on the death of the deceased, the value of such interest forms part of the estate of the deceased and is dutiable accordingly. Farmer asks: "(1) A second mortgage on a form is due next month. Can the mortgage be called up without the consent of the Supreme Court? (2) Where a person becomes surety for a mortgagor under a first • mortgage, can the surety claim to be relieved of his responsibility if the term of the mortgage is past?" Answers: (1) No. (2) It would depend entirely on the form and nature of the security .that has been granted. Constant Reader— Not less than 14 clear days before any election the returning officer shall give public notice- thereof, and shall in such notice appoint a place within the district, and a day n4)b less than five nor more than 10 days (exclusive of the day of election) before the day "of election for the nomination of candidates. Hokitika..—No mining privilege is liable to forfeiture or be deemed to ho or to have been abandoned by operation of law, at any time after the holder thereof has been accepted for service in the present war, whether as a member of the Expeditionary Force or not, and before the expiration of six months after the termination of such service. Sqtjaee Deal.—The landlord can only obtain an order for th© recovery of the possession of the dwelling house on one or more of the following grounds:—(l) That the tenant has failed to take reasonable care of the premises; (2) that he has committed waste; (3) that he has been guilty of conduct which is a nuisance or annoyance to adjoining or neighbouring occupiers; (4) that the premises are reasonably required by the landlord for his own purposes; (5) that an agreement for sale of the premises has been dtuly entered into; (6) any other ground that _ may be deemed sufficient by the court making the order. Ruapura.—(l) As the man dees not reside in his house, he cannot vote. (2) The sister cannot vote. (3) The Governor, by Order-in-Council, may make appointments for control of domains. (4) The subscribers to the hall will require to appoint neiv trustees if it is thought desirable. (5) The mortgagor must pay the interest on the due dates prescribed! by the mortgage, whether a notice is sent to him or not.