Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 July 1878 — AGRICULTURAL AnD DOMESTIC. [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL AnD DOMESTIC.

Around the Farm. Fowls like newly-cut grass; give them all they want of it. The clippings from a lawn mower are just the thing for them. When turkeys are two months old . they can successfully withstand the severest weather, if dry. In wet weather tney should be confined in a yard under ©over.

Lime han been used for apple orchards with great benefit at the rate of twenty bushels per acre. One who has tried for many years deems it very beneficial, as his trees have been very productive. Spbinkle rose bushes with a solution composed of a teaspoonful of Paris green in half a gallon of water, and they will not be troubled with any vermin. The wash will not hurt the roses or bushes. Apply with a fine sprinkler.— Sacramento Record-Union.

Thebe is no occupation which is so sure of a return for labor as agriculture. The risk of manufacturers and middlemen is three-fold that of farmers, but their enterpriFe is so great that they seldom succumb to pressure till it becomes crushing. Spruce butter-tubs are the best; white hemlock makes a sweet tub; acids from the oak color the butter and injure its appearance; white ash gives the butter a strong flavor if kept long, and increases the liability to mold; maple smells and cracks badly. Soak all tubs four to six days in brine before using.— Franklin County Times. The washing of stems and large branches of trees with a solution of car-bolic-acid soap dissolved in lukewarm water, and a portion of the fl >ur of sulphur mixed with it, is a good method for destroyi g the insects. The best time to do the washing is after the spring opens. It will then stick to the trees, and when the insects come out the poison kills them in their infant state ; and by that the foliage and fruits of the trees may be saved. Although an underground milk-house may not seem damp, and may be well ventilated, yet the presence of an adjoining ice-house Will certainly give rise to moldiness, and this will affabt the milk. To get rid of the trouble temporarily, close the milk house tightly, and burn four ounces of sulphur in it upon some live coals. Keep it closed for a few hours and then open and air it. To retnove the trouble permanently, the ice-house must be got nd of.— American Agriculturist. It is one of the advantages of keeping good stock that not only is more flesh gained for the quantity of food consumed, and a better quality of flesh produced, but,the waste in the shape of offal is greatly reduced. The shorthorn heifer Miriam, bred by Mr. J. Stratten, which was awarded first prize for the best female at the butchers’ show at Islington, England, last year,weighed alive 1,868 pounds. The dressed weight was 1,346 pounds, giving over 72 pounds dressed to the 100 pounds live weight. Perhaps there is np other animal than a very good short-horn that would dress so well, and an instance so well authenticated as this shows the value not only of the breed, but of good feeding as well. Losses in farming are readily incurred by letting the crowded weeds eat up the plant-food while the crops are starving; letting the tools rust and rot for want of proper shelter; keening poor breeds of stock that cost as much in care and food as good ones, but yield less produce, lay on less fat and bring less money from the butcher; sePing the best animals instead of improving the stock by breeding from them; selling coarse grains instead of feeding them with hay and straw, thus increasing the nutritive properties of these and the fertilizers on the farm ; neglecting a careful system of 11/bait-XOTX ixx ovopo, 4>lxe> -rrkioL all acknowledge, while many foolishly omit its practice; cultivating crops which a little calculation would show are unprofitable, owing to the nature of the soil, or the drain they make upon it, the cost of transportation to market or from other local causes ; neglect of drainage, fences, repairs and other permanent improvements ; inattention to barnyard manure, liquid and solid, and to the compost heap ; carelessness in keeping an exact account of receipts and expenses, and consequent ignorance of the crops that pay best, and of many means of retrenchment and economy; neglect to select, each fall, the best seeds from harvest crop for planting the next one ; neglect to take ano read a good agricultural paper, so as to get posted on current improvements and discoveries, as well as tokeep up with the times and acquainted with the markets. — Rural New Yorker.

About the House. Curbant Cake.—Two cups of fliur, one cup of sugar, one cup of butter, whites of two eggs, yelks of four eggs, and one-half pound currants. Currant Ice.—Boil down three pints of water and a pound and a half of sugar to one quart; skim, add two cups of currant-juice, and, when partly frozen, add the whites of five eggs. Scotch Oatmeal Po bridge.—Scotch oatmeal porridge is made with milk and water, in proportion of one part of the former to two of the latter. Allow two ounces of oatmeal to a pint and a half of milk and water, and boil half an hour. Cucumber Salad.—Peel and slice cucumbers; mix them with salt, and let them stand half an hour; mix two tableepoonfuls salad oil and the tame quantity of vinegar, and a teaspoonful of sugar, and one of pepper, for the dressing.

Tea Ice Cbeam. —Pour over four ta-ble-spoonfuls ot Old Hyson tea a pint of cream; scald in a custard kettle, or by placing the dish cont lining the cream in a kettle of boiling water; strain into a pint of cold cream, scald again, and when hot mix with it four eggs and three-quar-ters of a pound of sugar, well beaten together ; let it cool and freeze. To make good oatmeal cakes, work three parts of fine oatmeal and one part flour into a stiff paste with treacle (golden sirup), with the addition of a veiy small quantity of lard, and sufficient baking-powder to impart the desired lightness. Bake the paste in the form of small flat cakes much resembling the ordinary “ginger-nuts” of the bis-cuit-baker.

There is scarcely any ache to which children are subject so hard to bear and difficult to cure as the ear-ache; but there is a remedy never known to fail. Take a bit of cotton batting, put upon it a pinch of black pepper, gather it up and tie it, dip in sweet oil, and insert into the ear. Put a flannel bandage over the head to keep it warm. It will give immediate relief. Carrots.—This wholesome vegetable makes an appetizing dinner dish when prepared as follows: Wash, scrape, cut the carrots lengthwise and boil until very tender, which will take from an hour and a half to two hours. When done, slice the carrots very thin into a sauce-pan with one or two table-spoon-fuls of butter and a small cup of cream —if milk is used, thicken a very little with corn-starch, add pepper, salt and cook about ten minutes ; serve in a covered vegetable dish.