Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 February 1878 — AGRICULTURAL and domestic. [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL and domestic.

AiMklttßJhrm. M. Cobnao recommends that, fa deiticiyftbe peaboetlh, the peas intended I for , soaring Le«’plunged* p after being shelled, into bailing wkte% «wl immeffiatelywifadraam. .ri <•. :> ' The says fait thewormrwhich injure potted plaateitey beigdt rifii of rby ottering : tfie -ptanta with water tt> Nhich has been added a tenth pnMlof- grated horseekestani. The worms must fiee.or die. I In preparing turkeys for market care should be exercised’ not to break or braise the tender skin of the young birds. W« notice in our city markets many specimens disfigured by contusions ®n either adb of the/ body, produced by holding the turkeys tightly between the knees, during the process of. picking, •ften causing a depreciation in value of from Ito 2 cents per pound compared -with those not similarly marked in appearance.—Germantoton Telegraph.

MxbwTNTEB, the proverbially lazy season for the farmer, is so only to the lazy farmer. The grand trouble with industrious people, no matter what their occupation, is that they always have too much to do. Industrious fanners need the hints of agricultural papers only as they may, lay before them the work which had beat be attended to. For the otherej the best advice is, shakeoff your laziness and go .to work. There are hundreds of things to be attended to and you know it! If yotl don’t, sell your farm and hire yourself out to those who do.— Rural New Yorker. Coloring cheese is often necessary to insure a fair price, for, while the improvement of the article is confined to its color, the prejudice of the purchaser is thus conciliated. Pure annatto alone should be used for this purpose, and a good recipe for cutting it is the following; Take four pounds of best annatto, two pounds concentrated potash, five ounces saltpeter, pound and a half salroda. and five gallons boiling water. Put ingredients in a tub and pour on the boiling water. Inclose annatto in a cloth, and as it dissolves squeeze it into the liquid. Two ounces of this liquid to 100 pounds of curds and proportionately.—Moore's Rural. Calves’ or sheeps’ lights and livers, which can always be obtained in the market-houses for a few cents apiece, are valuable to feed poultry, for two reasons. They are devoid of bones and they closely resemble insect diet. We advise the cooking ®f any sort of meat food always. These “harslets” (or those of swine) should be boiled, seasoned with salt and pepper, and fed, say twice a week, to fowls, where they can be had handily. For laying-hens, when confined in winter, this change of food from constant grain feeding is excellent. Where confined to small runs or loose cages, this meat, chopped up and mixed three times a week with their soft food, will help the younglings wonderfully.— Exchange.

For ordinary laterals, or side drains, I rarely find that the quantity of water to be conducted requires more than onefourth of a square foot as a section of the gravel in the bottom of the drain, or six inches of width and sixth of depth. I have, in my experiments, found that a gravel drain, formed of pebbles from the size of a kernel of wheat to that of a partridge’s egg, six inches by six inches, will convey, in a level ditch four feet in length, as much water as will flow through a section of two-inch drain-tile four feet in length, said pipe also to lie on a level bed. This rule may serve as a guide to the inexperienced. I have, however, used of similar gravel in main under-drains a cross section of ‘ one foot six inches each way. When shavings are convenient, I use them on the gravel, but, unless the soil returned on the gravel is a very friable alluvial or muck soil, no covering is required before the earth is returned. In case the veins break out of the bank higher than six inches above the ditch bottom, the depth of gravel should be increased so that it will receive the lateral water directly in the gravel instead of the soil overlaying it. The reasons are obvious. Until lately I have found more difficulty in maintaining intact the discharge ends of main gravel under-drains than I have where stones or tiles are need; but I am now able to make them equally as durable as with other material.— Cor. Exchange.