G.
Gad fly. Cows and oxen are often so distressed by the darts of the gad fly, that they rush into the water for refuge till night approaches. The only remedy is to wash the backs of the cattle in the spring with strong tobacco-water, which would greatly prevent the generating of these vermin. When sheep are struck with the fly, the way is to clip off the wool, to rub the parts affected with powdered lime or wood ashes, and afterwards to anoint them with currier's oil, which will heal the wounds, and secure the animals from future attack. Or dissolve half an ounce of corrosive sublimate in two quarts of soft water, and add a quarter of a pint of spirits of turpentine. Cut off the wool as far as it is infected, pour a few drops of the mixture in a circle round the maggots produced by the flies, and afterwards rub a little of it among them, and the maggots will immediately be destroyed.
GAME. Game ought not to be thrown away even after it has been kept a long time, for when it seems to be spoiled it may often be made fit for eating, by carefully cleaning and washing it with vinegar and water. If there is danger of birds not keeping, the best way is to crop and draw them. Pick them clean, wash them in two or three waters, and rub them with salt. Plunge them into a kettle of boiling water one by one, and draw them up and down by the legs, that the water may pass through them. Let them remain in the water five or six minutes, and then hang them up in a cool place. When drained, season the insides well with pepper and salt, and wash them before they are roasted. The most delicate birds, even grouse, may thus be preserved. Those that live by suction cannot be done this way, as they are never drawn; and perhaps the heat might make them worse, as the water could not pass through them; but they will bear a high flavour. Lumps of charcoal put about birds and meat will preserve them from taint, and restore what is spoiling.
GAME SAUCE. Wash and pare a head of celery, cut it into thin slices, boil it gently till it becomes tender; then add a little beaten mace, pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Thicken it with flour and butter, boil it up, pour some of it in the dish, and some in a boat. Lemon pickle or lemon juice may be added to it.
GAMMON. Take off the rind of the ham and gammon, and soak it in water; cover the fat part with writing paper, roast, and baste it with canary. When done, sprinkle it over with crumbs of bread and parsley. Serve it with brown gravy, after it is well browned, and garnish it with raspings of bread.
GARDEN HEDGES. A well trained hawthorn fence is the strongest, but as it is apt to get thin and full of gaps at the bottom, the barberry is to be preferred, especially on high banks with a light soil. It may be raised from the berries as easily as hawthorn, and will grow faster, if the suckers be planted early. The barberry puts up numerous suckers from the roots; it will therefore always grow close at the bottom, and make an impenetrable fence. In trimming any kind of close hedge, care should be taken to slope the sides, and make it pointed at the top: otherwise, the bottom being shaded by the upper part, will make it grow thin and full of gaps. The sides of a young hedge may be trimmed, to make it bush the better; but it should not be topped till it has arrived at a full yard in height, though a few of the points may be taken off. The bottom of hawthorn hedges may be conveniently thickened, by putting in some plants of common sweet briar, or barberry.
GARDEN RHUBARB. To cultivate the common garden rhubarb, it should not only have a depth of good soil, but it should be watered in dry weather, and well covered with straw or dung in the winter season. It will then become solid when taken out of the ground; and if cut into large slices, and hung up in a warm kitchen, it will soon be fit for use. The plants may be taken up when the leaves are decayed, either in spring or in autumn, while the weather is dry; and when the roots are cleared from dirt, without washing, they should be dried in the sun for a few days before they are hung up. The better way would be to wrap them up separately in whited brown paper, and dry them on the hob of a common stove. Lemon and orange peel will dry remarkably well in the same manner.
GARGLES. Common gargles may be made of figs boiled in milk and water, with a little sal-ammoniac; or sage-tea, with honey and vinegar mixed together. A sore throat may be gargled with it two or three times a day.
GEESE. The rearing of this species of poultry incurs but little expense, as they chiefly support themselves on commons or in lanes, where they can get at water. The largest are esteemed the best, as also are the white and the grey: the pied and dark coloured are not so good. Thirty days are generally the time that the goose sets, but in warm weather she will sometimes hatch sooner. Give them plenty of food, such as scalded bran and light oats. As soon as the goslings are hatched, keep them housed for eight or ten days, and feed them with barley meal, bran, and curds. Green geese should begin to fatten at six or seven weeks old, and be fed as above. Stubble geese require no fattening, if they have the run of good fields and pasture.—If geese are bought at market, for the purpose of cooking, be careful to see that they are fresh and young. If fresh, the feet will be pliable: if stale, dry and stiff. The bill and feet of a young one will be yellow, and there will be but few hairs upon them: if old, they will be red. Green geese, not more than three or four months old, should be scalded: a stubble goose should be picked dry.
GEORGE PUDDING. Boil very tender a handful of whole rice in a small quantity of milk, with a large piece of lemon peel. Let it drain; then mix with it a dozen apples, boiled to a pulp as dry as possible. Add a glass of white wine, the yolks of five eggs, two ounces of orange and citron cut thin, and sweeten it with sugar. Line a mould or bason with a very good paste, beat the five whites of the eggs to a very strong froth, and mix it with the other ingredients. Fill the mould, and bake it of a fine brown colour. Serve it bottom upwards with the following sauce: two glasses of wine, a spoonful of sugar, the yolks of two eggs, and a piece of sugar the size of a walnut. Simmer without boiling, and pour to and from the saucepan till the sauce is of a proper thickness, and then put it in the dish.