Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 September 1877 — AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC. [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC.

Around the Fam. ? A fast walk is one of the most desirable qualities in a horse. Agricultural societies should remember this in making up their lists of prizes. Fowls wilth canker or roup will communicate the disease to all the rest of the flock if allowed to use the same drinking-vessel.— Poultry Record. A little sulphur or dry carbolate of lime sprinkled in the nests of setting hens will keep off the lice. Either the sulphur or carbolate, mixed with dry dust dr finely-rifted ashes, makes a capital duet bath for hens and little chicks. —Germantown Telegraph. ’ To prevent trees from splitting, the Toronto Globe says: “Select a small limb from each fork and clear them of leaves and branches. Then bring the split up together, twine the two small limbs together and secure them. The limbs will grow together in time, and keep the split from opening.” Concrete walls do not give satisfaction. There are so many conditions, such as expanding, contracting, etc., that cannot be exactly determined, that they are very apt to settle out of perpendicular, or cfack, or in some way fail to make a perfect job. Stone and brick are more reliable.— Rural Home.

Suel Foster furnishes facts in relation to the superior advantages of using stocks of the Siberian crab for grafting apples. Some Western nurserymen plant the seeds of the crab for this purpose, and their young trees are doing better than on common apple seedlings, where the severe winters often destroy the tenderer roots. This practice would, of course, not be desirable where common-apple stocks prove sufficiently hardy and endure the winter. — Prairie Farmer. h. gentleman writing to the Planter and Farmer gives the following remedy for a choking cow. We suppose it will act as well with other animals; it will be well to remeffiber.it He says that it has never failed in any instance, and has been tried by him and others hundreds of times. The remedy is to take a tablespoonful of saltpeter, open the animal’s mouth, and throw it well back upon the tongue; let the animal go, and it will either go up or down in a very few minutes.—Kentucky Live Stock Record. Here is a valuable table, containing the number of pounds in a bushel of the different articles named: Pounds. \ Pounds. Branl2' Barley4B Blue grassl4! Flax seed 66 Shorts... 18jRye66 Dried apples .25 Shelled corns 6 Oats32' Onions 67 Dried peaches33| Wheat6o Hemp seed44,Clover seed6o Timothy seed4s Mineral coal7o Castor beans46jSalt7s It is well enough known that an animal with a quiet temperament grows and thrives much better than one that is easily excited, shy or wild. In the latter the waste of material is considerably larger, the equilibrium between the organic processes is easily disturbed, and the animal, therefore, more predisposed to disease. Every fanner knows that a horse, for instance, vhich is quiet and docile needs less food, keeps better, is able to do more work, and is usually also healthier, than one that is always restless, easily excited or wild. Still, spirit and strength must not be mistaken for an excitable temperament. An animal may be spirited and be very docile and quiet.— Chicago Tribune. An orchard of Northern Spy apples contains about four acres, and is a hog and sheep pasture. It is well seeded in grass, yields a great deal of pasture, and is the first orchard that we have seen this year with anything like a crop of apples. Two years ago we saw it, and it was heavily loaded with apples. Last year Mr. H. said it bore a light crop, and this year about two-thirds of the trees, we should think, are fairly filled with apples, some of them loaded. In addition to the droppings of the sheep and swiue, a little manure is scattered over the surface annually. The branches show a fair annual growth of wood, and the foliage is dark and luxuriant. This orchard would seem to afford one evidence that plowing is not essential to the growth oi wood or production of fruit.— Rural Home.

About the House. To Tell Good Eggs.—Put them m water; if the butts turn up, they are not fresh. Tiiis is an infallible rule to distinguish a good egg from a bad one. To Stop Cracks in a Stove. —Wood ashes and common salt, made compact with water, will stop the cracks of a stove, and prevent the smoke from escaping. — Economist. Good Use for Soap-Suds.—Save your washing suds for the garden; if it is poured ov#r the roots of the plum trees, it will kill the curculio; if turned at the roots of geraniums, roses, etc., it will enhance their beauty tenfold. The Healing Power of Charcoal. — Charcoal has been discovered to be a sure cure for burns. On laying a small piece of cold charcoal ou the bum the pain subsides immediately ; and if the charcoal is held on for some time the wound is healed. Western Farm Journal. Chili Sauce.—Eighteen ripe tomatoes, two onions, two green peppers, two tea spoonfuls of salt, one teacup of sugar, two and one-half teacups of vinegar, one teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon. Chop and mix, boil slowly, and put into glass cans. This makes an excellent sauce for meat.— Cor. Household. To Keep the Hair in Crimp.—Ladies who have difficulty in making their hair remain crimped will find the following of use: Let five cents’ worth of gum arabic be dissolved in a very little hot water and left to stand over night in enough alcohol to make it thin; then bottle. The hair should be wet with the mixture beforeßeing crimped.—Springfield Union. Rules for the Sick-Room. —(1.) Bring in fresh flowers or something new every day; even the commonest green thing is better than nothing. (2.) Don’t talk about anything unpleasant. Talk about something that will lead the patient’s thoughts away from his aches and pains, and leave him in a cheerful and restful state of mind. (3.) Follow the doctor’s directions implicitly. (4.) Never ask a sick person what he wants to eat. If he asks for anything that will not injure him, get it if you can. Never bring him much at a time. A little bit in a dainty dish will sometimes tempt the appetite when a large quantity would cause nausea. (5.) Expect sick persons to be unreasonable. They will fret and complain, no matter what happens, and must be borne with patiently.—Housekeeper.