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General Adviser.

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Why should you want? Behold, the earth has roots!
Within this mile break forth an hundred springs:
The oaks bear mast, the brizes scarlet hips;
The bounteous huswife, Nature, on each bush

Lays her full mess before you. Want! why-want?-Shakspeare.

SATURDAY, MAY 22, 1824.

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ADDRESS.

IN commencing a new periodical work, a prefatory or introductory Address is decorous as well as necessary, and such addresses are generally the result of that long-winded and over-weaning exertion which their several editors think necessary to make, in order to impress the public with an idea of the weight of talent and of worth that is to follow. We think a periodical should speak for itself, and that its introductory address ought to be as short as possible-a polite bow, and a concise statement of its plan. We therefore respectfully take off our hat to the Public, and without further ceremony state, that the plan of THE ECONOMIST is this:-To lay down rules for economy, not only in matters concerning the interests of the pocket, but also those of the mind, from which emanate either happiness or misery. Economy, in our interpretation of the word, means the art of being comfortable and happy; and, therefore, the expenditure of time and the selection of pleasures shall form principles in our work.

Under these heads shall come the Art of House-keeping in every branchThe best Modes of employing Income-Directions for Fathers in the selection of Professions or Trades for their Children-Analysis of the Markets-Strictures upon Shops and Shopping-Domestic Medical Hints-Useful Receipts→→ Cookery-Carving-Pickling-Brewing-Distilling-House-taking, and the Laws between Landlords and Tenants-Gardening-Travelling-Agriculture -Public Abuses, &c. &c. and a regularly Weekly Article upon the Knavery of Dealers (as long as that knavery exists) under the head of ANNALS OF GULLING, with the intention of opening the eyes of the Public to the fraud and humbug which is, unhappily, now but too prevalent.

Although occasionally we may offer our readers a little amusement, yet our aim is to be USEFUL, and in the execution, THE ECONOMIST, we trust, will not rank inferior to the Mechanic's Magazine or Medical Adviser.

To carry this plan into effect, appropriate extracts and condensed excellencies from the most able and expensive works, as well as our own hearty exertions, shall be at the service of the Public, and our reward shall not be the least in their approbation. - Now let us proceed to business.

LONDON FISH-MARKET. THERE is not, in any city of Europe, a fish-market that is so badly situated as Billingsgate.

The ap

proaches are narrow and few, crowded with waggons, and covered with dirt. The market itself is not onesixth of the size which it ought to be, considering the extent of London; and it is placed at such a distance from the middle of the population of the metropolis, that one-fifth of the people cannot conveniently go to it to purchase their fish. This gives rise to fish-shops, which, from having high rents to pay, and long carriage for their commodities, are obliged to put at least 25 or 30 per cent upon fish more than the seller in the market can afford to sell. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Rouen, Bourdeaux, Lisbon, Naples, Florence,-all maritime cities,

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are better accommodated in this luxury; their fish-markets are spacious, clean, and centrically situated; people can all go to purchase their fish at the fountain-head, and the prices are therefore lower. But London-the great city of the day, has a fish-market more like a string of round pent-houses than a public civic establishment. Many places could be found along the banks of the Thames far better in point of situation than Billingsgate, a place which would be within a moderate distance of the inhabitants of London; and surely, as this is the age for speculation in money matters, a company could do nothing better for the improvement of London, as well as their own purses, than build a new and commodious Fish-Market.

MARKETING.

Rich and prudent persons generally obtain provisions and other articles of necessity cheaper than their poorer and less prudent neighbours, which they are enabled to do from several causes, the chief of which are, Knowledge of the wholesale price of the commodity.

Selection of market.

Quantity purchased, and time of purchasing.

Choice of article, &c. &c.

A few hints and practical remarks upon this subject will, we trust, be found useful.

To begin with the most important item of consumption,

Bread.-A baker, who pays ready money for his flour, and receives ready money from all his customers, can afford to sell a four-pound loaf of equal quality three halfpence or two-pence cheaper than the baker who takes and gives credit can; the first obtains the same description of flour from seven to ten shillings a sack cheaper than the latter; his customers fetch their bread from his shop, whereby he saves servants' wages; he has no bad debts to compel him to burthen the paying customers with what those may owe him who never pay. A few trials at different bakers and careful comparison of quality, will soon enable a purchaser to judge correctly, and to effect a considerable saving; in a family of six or seven persons, it will make a difference of from two to three pounds per annum.

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joints may, with a little attention, be easily judged of; thus, beef is now quoted at from three to four shillings and four-pence per stone of 8 lb., or from 44d. to 6 d. per lb. according to quality, and by the quarter of the bullock. As not one-fourth of the meat sent to market is of the first quality, the mean or middle price will be fully sufficient for an average: thus, if a butcher buy two quarters of beef, a fore or hind quarter, at 3s. 8d. per stone, or 5d. per lb., and sells the sir-loin and ribs for 8d., the buttock and short ribs for 6d., the flank and brisket for 51d., the clods and stickings for 3d., the shin and leg for 3s., he will make a good profit, and not more than the preceding retail prices should be paid for beef when the wholesale prices are proportionate. Mutton is from 3s. to 4s. per stone, or from 44d to 6d. per lb. by the carcase (sinking the offal); at these prices, a leg of mutton may be sold at 44d., shoulders at 4d., loins at 7d., or in clods 9d., breasts 5d., necks at 5d. of the best description, and fom to 14d. per lb. less, according to quality. Lamb is from 4s. to 6s. per stone, by the carcase, and may be sold by the quarter by the retail butcher at from 6 d. to 10d. per lb. according to quality: from Easter to Whitsuntide butchers sell the quarters with the feet attached, which renders lamb an extravagant luxury-at all events unfit for general use in a large family with limited means; and if purchased at all, great caution should be used, as many young sheep are sold for lambs (technically called Dan), very much inferior to either lamb or mutton.

Veal is much the same price as mutton; very superior quality is worth 4s. 8d. per stone, or 7d. per lb. wholesale. The loin and the fillet being the most free from bone, fetch a larger proportionate price, and at the above rates would be charged 10d. but this is the very finest in the per lb.: market; good veal may be bought for much less-some parts for half the price.

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Pork-no meat varies so much in price as this dainty food; it is now from 2s. 8d. to 5s. per stone, or from 4d. to 64d., and no meat (beef excepted)

more profitable, so much of it being adapted for salting; legs and loins fetch the best prices, and, according to quality, may be sold from 5d. to 8d. per lb.; there is much difference in the quality of pork, of which, and the means of judging of this and other meat, we shall treat in another Number.

Steaks, chops, and small dressings, are always unprofitable; they are subject to increased price, increased labour, increased fuel, and increased waste; occasionally, indeed, persons of slender means may purchase small pieces, cut from prime pieces, cheap ; but too frequently they are mixed up with cuttings from the coarsest parts, such as the shin and legs.

Sausages are unprofitable food; for instance, beef sausages are now sold at 6d. per lb.; they are not unfrequently made of bad and unwholesome meat, and if made of good meat, of the coarsest parts of clods, stickings, shins, and legs, worth at the present prices (sinking the bone) 3d. per lb.; three-quarters of a pound of meat will, with crumbs of bread, and herbs mixed with water, make a pound of sausages; thus, in fact, 6d. is paid per lb. for an article (supposing it genuine) only intrinsically worth 2d. Those made of pork are liable to the same objections, increased indeed by the greater profit their larger price yields: as an inducement to the unprincipled manufacturer, to use unfit materials, we could, and probably will, a "tale unfold."

DIRECTIONS TO MAKE WHITE BREAD.

Put a bushel of fine flour into a dough-trough. Take nine quarts of warm water, and mix it with a quart of yeast; put it to the flour, and stir it well with your hands till it is tough; let it lie till it rises as high as it can, which will be in about an hour and a quarter. Watch it when it rises, and do not let it remain too long, or it will fall; then make up the dough with eight quarts more of warm water, and one pound of salt; work it up with your hands, cover it with a coarse cloth, and flannel over the cloth; by the time the oven is heated, the dough will be ready. Make the

loaves about four pounds each, or any size you like; clean the oven, put in the loaves, and bake them two hours and a half in summer; the water must be luke-warm, in winter a little warmer, and in frosty weather as warm as you can bear your hand in it, but not so hot as to scald the yeast. Make the loaves a quarter of an hour before they are put into the oven: some prefer baking bread in tins made for the purpose. Bricks are made by making the loaves long instead of round, and cutting them in several places along the sides with a knife before they are put in the oven; small families may reduce the quantity.

HOUSEHOLD BREAD

Is made the same way as the white bread, only it is a mixture of rye and wheat-flour; the proportion is generally two pecks of wheat to one of rye, but some prefer half rye; bread made of half rye will keep moist and good a week or ten days, and is excellent for bilious or costive habits. This sort of dough should be made very stiff.

DIRECTIONS TO MAKE LEAVENED BREAD.

Save two pounds of dough from the last baking, cover it with flour, and keep it in a little flour-barrel; the night before you intend to bake, put the dough or leaven into a peck of flour, and work them well together with warm water; let it lie in a dry wooden vessel in a warm place, covered with a linen cloth, and a blanket over the cloth; if the dough is kept warm, it will be sufficiently fermented by the next morning to mix with two or three bushels of flour. Work it up with warm water, and a pound of salt to each bushel. When well worked, and thoroughly mixed with all the flour, let it be covered with the linen and blanket till it rises; then knead it well, and work it up into loaves and bricks; make the loaves broad, and not so thick and high as for yeast bread; bake them as before directed; the more leaven there is put to the flour the lighter the bread will be,

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YEAST.

In Long Island, says Mr. Cobbett, they make yeast cakes. A parcel of those cakes is made once a year: that is often enough; and, when you bake, you take one of these cakes (or more, according to the bulk of the batch), and with it raise your bread.

The materials for a good batch of cakes are as follow:-3 ounces of good fresh hops; 3 pounds of ryeflour; 7 pounds of Indian corn-meal; and 1 gallon of water. Rub the hops, so as to separate them. Put them into the water, which is to be boiling at the time; let them boil half an hour; then strain the liquor through a fine sieve into an earthen vessel. While the liquor is hot, put in the rye-flour, stirring the liquor well and quickly as the rye-flour goes into it. The day after, when it is working, put in the Indian meal, stirring it well as it goes in. Before the Indian meal be all in, the mess will be very stiff; and it will, in fact, be dough, very much of the consistence of the dough that bread is made of. Take this dough, and knead it well, as you would for pie-crust. Roll it out with a rolling-pin, as you roll out piecrust, to the thickness of about the third of an inch. When you have it (or a part at a time) rolled out, cut it up into cakes with a tumbler-glass turned upside down, or with something else that will answer the same purpose. Take a clean board (a tin may be better), and put the cakes to dry in the sun; turn them every day; let them receive no wet, and they will become as hard as ship-biscuit; put them into a bag, or box, and keep them in a place perfectly free from damp. When you bake, take two cakes, of the thickness above mentioned, and about three inches in diameter; put them into hot water over night, having cracked them first; let the vessel containing them stand near the fire-place all night; they will dissolve by the morning, and then you use them in setting your sponge (as it is called) precisely as you would use the yeast of beer.

There are two things which may be considered by the reader as obstacles. FIRST, where are we to get the In

dian meal? Indian meal is used merely because it is of a less adhesive nature than that of wheat; while peameal, or even barley-meal, would do just as well. But, SECOND, to dry the cakes to make them (and quickly too, mind) as hard as ship-biscuit (which is much harder than the timber of Scotch firs or Canada firs); and to do this in the sun (for it must not be fire), where are we, in this climate, to get the sun? In 1816 we could not; for that year melons rotted in the glazed frames, and never ripened; but in every nine summers out of ten, we have, in June, in July, or in August, a fortnight of hot sun; and that is enough. Nature has not given us a peach climate; but we get peaches. The cakes, when put in the sun, may have a glass-sash, or a hand-light put over them; this would make their birth hotter than that of the hottest open-air situation in America. In short, to a farmer's wife, or any good housewife, all the little difficulties to the attainment of such an object, would appear as nothing. The will only is required; and if there be not that, it is useless to think of the attempt.

DELIGHTFUL COLD CREAM.

Melt half a pound of hog's lard in a basin over steam, take it off the fire, and add three quarters of a pint of rose-water, and half a gill of oil of almonds; stir up the whole with great care till of a proper consistency.

AN EXCELLENT RECEIPT FOR LIP

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SALVE.

Put into a gallipot or small jar, two ounces of white wax, half an ounce of spermaceti, and a quarter of a pint of oil of sweet almonds; tie it down close, and put it into a small saucepan, with as much water in it as will come nearly to the top of the gallipot, but not high enough to boil over it; let it boil till the wax is all melted, then put in one penny-worth of alkanit root, tied up in a bit of rag; tie it down, and put it again into the saucepan, and let it boil till it is of proper colour; it is best to take a little out first to cool, as it looks much paler when cold; when it is as

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