Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 July 1878 — AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC. [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC.

Around the Farm. Be shy of patent, high-priced Implements of all kinds. Many farmers in Indiana have planted from four to six acres each in artichokes for hogs. If farmers would dress their land better they would soon be able to dress their families better. Everybody should keep this important truth fully engraven on his mind—a poor tool or a poor team is always dear at any price, and is one of the sure signs of mismanagement and poverty of soul. Men who have farmed for eighty f ears almost universally testify that they earned more of the business in the last forty than in the first forty of their lives. And yet many think it is easy to learn farming. “ Look where you will on the farm, whether a.t its fruit gardens, grains, or animals, we shall find that whatever reaches the highest fitness for its destined purpose is beautiful; and whatever fails of fitness is simplv ugly.”— IKcfsA. President Wilder, of the American Pomological Society, says he should never use tar oi any kind as protection against mice without first wrapping the stem of the tree in cloth or other material to keep the tar from contact with the bark. Cases frequently occur where a man who is too lazy to farm quits and becomes a very successful preacher. But it never occurs where he is too indolent to preach that he ever becomes a successful farmer. That rule will not work both ways.

Those who are using up their farms by constant cropping should study the fate of those republics that once gemmed the shores of the Mediterranean, whose very names are almost forgotten. Their fate can be summed up in a few words. Their lands were worn out by bad farming.— Des Moines Register. Salt in the Garden.—ls cabbages de not head properly, a pinch of salt to each head will be beneficial, or, better, give them a slight watering at night with weak brine—say one table-spoonful of salt to one gallon of water. This may be repeated later in the season. A single watering with quite weak brine is also excellent for watermelons, about the time the fruit is setting.— Spring field Union. A /well-known horticultural editor says the objection against watering when the sun shines on the plants is a purely theoretical one, and appears only in the writings of those who have but little actual experience. Nevertheless, the evening is the proper time for watering when the best results in the conservation of moisture are expected. Actual experience has taught that plants wilting from the effect of heat should be shaded as well as watered. Experience has also taught that superficial waterings do but little good. The water given should reach the roots of the plants. The great objection to watering under a hot sun is that the exhalation is so strong that much of the water given is quickly evaporated. —Prairie Farmer. Periods pF Gestation in Domestic Animals.—With the larger animals the periods vary materially. Age appears to h%ve some influence, old animals usually going longer than young ones. The popular notion that males are carried longer in the womb than females is not borne out by our observations. In the case of mares the variation is greatest, and with cows next, decreasing as we descend the scale of sizes and periods. The longest and shortest periods of gestation and incubation given in the annexed table are of rare occurrence:

A verage. Known Limits. A nimals. Days. Days. Mare34o 320 to 419 C0w275 245 to 320 Ewels4 144 to 161 50w122 101 to 123 Goatls6 150 to 163 Bitch 64 55 to 67 Cat 5!) 47 to , 56 Rabbit 28 20 to 35 Turkey 39 26 to 32 Hen2l 18 to 24 Swan 35 35 to 42 Goose 30 28 to 34 Duck 28 24 to 30 Pea hen 28 27 to 29 Pigeon 16 15 to 17 —Excho <js.

About the House. Washing Fluid.—Half a pound of sal soda, qu liter of a pound borax dissolved in cue gallon of hot soft water; let it settle; pour off in bottles; one gill of this mixture with a pint of soft soap, or half a bar of soap dissolved in hot water, is enough for a washing. Strawberry Shortcake (Sweet). — Two cupfuls of flour, one cupful of sugar, , one cupful of sweet milk, one egg, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, two table-spoonfuls of melted butter! bake in jelly pans in two or three cakes, as desired.

Johnny Cake.—Take a pint of sour milk, break an egg into it, stir in a spoonful or two of flour and add Indian meal enough to make a thick batter; put in a teaspoonful of salt, stir it five minutes, then add a heaping teaspoonful of soda dissolved in hot water; bake in a pan or on a griddle.

Paint for Floors.—There is but one paint suitable for floors, and that is French ocher. First, if the boards have shrunk, clean out the joints well, and, with a small brush, give a heavy coat of boiled linseed oil; then putty up solid. Now paint the whole floor with a mixture of much oil and little ocher for the first coat; after it is well dried, give two more coats of much ocher and little oil; finally, finish with a coat of firstrate copal varnish. Ohio Farmer. ’

To Renovate Black Merino. —Rip the dress apart; then soak the goods iu warm soap-suds two hours; dissolve one ounce of extract of logwood in a bowl of warm water, add sufficient warm water to cover the goods, which is to be taken from the suds without wringing; let the dress stand in the logwood-water all night; in the morning rinse in several waters without wringing in the last water; add one pint of sweet milk; iron while damp; it will look like new.

Mutton Stew.—Take three pounds of breast or neck of mutton, cut in pieces, put in a stew-pan with just enough water to cover, adding a pinch of salt; let it stew gently for one hour, skim off all the fat; peel and slice six potatoes and four onions, then sprinkle and put all the ingredients into another stew-pan in layers, first, a layer of vegetables, then one of meat, and sprinkle seasoning of pepper and salt and savory between each layer; cover closely, and let the whole stew very slowly for one hour, shaking it frequently to prevent its burning. This is a good dish for a family dinner, and is easily made.

Plaster of Paris as a Cement.—lt is a good plan to keep a box of plaster of paris in the house. Be sure and set it where no water can be spilled upon it. If the burner of a lamp becomes loosened, mix up a little with water and put around the glass top of the lamp, then put the brass on. The whole operation should be performed as quickly as possible, for the plaster hardens almost instantly. A board or some dish you will not wish to use again will be the best thing to mix the plaster on, as it is almost impossible to use it after it sets. Where there are cracks, or large, unsightly nail-holes in the wall, plaster of paris may be used to fill them up.— Springfield Union.