Dr. Haller Nutt, owner of Winter Quarters Plantation in Newellton, Louisiana, before the Civil war, and builder of the famous Longwood in Natchez, Mississippi, originally compiled this "Book of Receipts, Prescriptions, Useful Rules, etc. for Plantation and Other Purposes."

Only a man of Haller Nutt's background could have created such a practical notebook for the planter of the mid-1800's. His medical training at the University of Louisville equipped him to set down prescriptions for the ills that might befall the plantation family and its slaves. His training in arts and sciences at the University of Kentucky, as well as the atmosphere of his researchist father's study, gave him the background to advise plantation owners on the art of measuring the height of a tree, computing the volume of a cistern, and planting a profitable crop of cotton.

It takes more than an educated intellectual, however, to advise other planters on how to "kill cock roaches, make a whitewash that will last a century, or cure an egg-sucking dog." All this Dr. Haller Nutt did in his useful book from which these excerpts were drawn.

For education, for astonishment, for amusement, we recommend these ante-bellum pages to you.



Skippers In Meat

Smoked with sassafras will prevern them - so also red pepper.








Cock Roaches
Mix up fly stone (cobalt) with molasses and place it where they are found.



To Kill Lice On Cattle,
Hogs & Horses

To kill lice on cattle, hogs, & horses - Wash them with the water in which Irish Potatoes have been boiled.



To Keep Varments from Corn

To prevent crows, birds, squirrels, coons, etc. from pulling up corn, or scratching up - soak it in salt petre before planting or what is still better in Glauber Salts - tarring it is also good preservation against racoons.



To Measure the Contents Of A
Cistern or any Other Cylinder

To measure the contents of a cistern: Square the diameter and multiply by decimals 7854, then by the altitude, then by 1728 & divide by 268-8/10 as in Article No. 4 - and your result is in gallons - or multiply half the diameter by half the circum- ference and then the altitude as before - or - multiply the whole diameter by the whole circum- ference, and divide by 1/4 others by altitude & 1728 & divide by 268-8/10.

Blue Wash for Walls

Two lbs. of blue vitriol - 1 pint of slack lime - small piece of glue, dissolve the glue & vitriol in boiling water, then mix with the lime to the consistence of white wash.


Brilliant Stucco White Wash

Brilliant stucco white wash used in the Presidents House at Washington City. Take clean lumps of well burnt lime - 5 or 6 quarts - Slack it in hot water in a tub, covered to keep in the steam. Pass the fluid thro' a fine seive - add one fourth pound whiting or burnt alum pulverized - one pound good sugar - 3 pints of rice flour made into a thin & well boiled paste - add one lb. of clean glue, dissolved by well soaking. Put into a small kettle which should again be put in a large one filled with water & placed over a slow fire. Add five gallons of hot water to the whole - put on with a painters brush - on the outside when warm - on inside when cold. Coloring matter may be added to give it any required shade.

To Trim Nails Into Hard Wood

To trim nails into hard wood - dip their end into a lump of lard or tallow.



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