Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1878 — AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC. [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC.

Aroond the F»rm. The indications of good health in fowls axe a florid color of the combs, blight eyes, free from moisture, dry nostrils, and bright, glossy plumage. Mb. Donald G. Mitchbdl thinks “ the time is shortly coming, if it be not i already come, when Americans will not, look so scornfully as in the past upon or 4 per cent, of revenue from landholders” or from productive farms. A whiter in the Poultry Wovid argues that there is no foundation£or the theory that one breed 61 domestic fowls is more tender and juicy thgfi another ; any fowl badly fed or pared for is, necessarily, poor, “ stingy" - and unpalatable, but, other things equal, no difference can be discovered in the taste of the flesh of the various breeds. A correspondent of the Canadian Entomologist has been experimenting with a view to induce chickens to eat potato-bugs. He first mixed both larvae and beetle with the food offered the chickens, but they refused to touch them. After a few days, by keeping the insects in their food constantly, they began eating the beetles, and soon appeared to relish them about as well as the com. After this the chickens ate them from the vines, and so reduced them in numbers that they did no material damage. Mb. Cleveland thinks there can be no more mistaken and foolish economy than shallow draining, which, in his opinion, is simply the abandonment of the chief advantages which can accrue to the soil from, drainage. No person whose experience has been sufficient to give weight to his opinion will admit that a less depth than three feet is worthy of consideration in any case, and in clay soils, or loams having a clay 6ub-soil, the advantages of a greater depth are so obvious and important that it may be said—speaking cemparatively —that no man can afford to lay his tiles at a less depth than four feet. It is a little odd that in this country, where every facility exists, so few docks and geese are raised. These are proverbially the most hardy and long-lived of all our poultry. In places where cholera, croup, etc., sweep off the fowls and turkeys, geese and duoks, which are not subject to these diseases, should be tried. In densely-populated Great Britain and even in Belgium,-where one would suppose there was little room, more geese are raised to the square mile than in the United States. In the interior ducks and geese can be raised about as profitably as other kinds of poultry, and, where diseases prevail, more profitably.— Exchange. A method in practice among the best butter makers in England for rendering butter firm and solid during hot weather is as follows: Carbonate of soda and ilum are used for the purpose, made into powder. For twenty pounds of butter one teaspoonful of carbonate of soda and one teaspoonful of powdered alum are mingled together at the time of churning, and put into the cream. The effect of this powder is to make the butter come firm and solid, and to give it a clean, sweet flavor. It does not enter into the butter, but its action is upon the cream, and it passes off with the buttermilk. The ingredients of the powder should not be mingled together until required to be used, or at the time the cream is in the churn ready for churning. — Dairyman. The farmers will thank ex-Gov. Seymour, of New York, for his suggestion, that Government include cheese among the rations for the army. Gov. Seymour is a farmer himself, and has for years taken a deep interest in the manufacture and sale of that staple. No doubt the army, now composed of 25,000 men, would welcome cheese as a portion of its edibles; and it is to be wondered at that this nutritive and healthy article has not before found itself among the rations of the men who constitute the strong arm of the law. The army of the United States would require of. cheese as a ration about 50,000 pounds per week, or at the rate of 2,540,000 pounds annually. This amount of cheese consumed in each year would add considerably to the demand for good cheese, and 'it the same time cultivate a more extensive taste for the article, which at the present time is used only to a limited extent in this country.— American Cultivator.

Mr. M. B. Prince asks whether thorough cultivation is any protection against insects. All insects which infest the soil itself, or which bore the roots of plants beneath the soil, are wonderfully fond of a quiet life; they cannot stand a constant disturbance of their haunts, and will leave for quieter places. On the other hand, vigorous plants of all kinds are produced by very frequent cultivation, and are able to repel insects because they are vigorous. In the same way, a vigorous, healthy animal never becomes lousy or sickly, because it is only weakness which invites the enemy. Therefore, frequent cultivation kills two birds with one stone. Mr. P. will, probably, never again apply unrotted manure to his land, unless he wants to perpetuate some pet variety of weed, of which he may accidentally have lost the seed. He should at once mulch his small fruitbushes heavily, after a thorough hoeing and loosening of the soil for two feet, at least, around each one. —Rural New Yorker. About the House. Old Potatoes.— Peel and boil in salted water, and take up as soon as done, that they may remain whole; have ready some rolled crackers and a beaten egg; dip the potatoes into the egg and then into the crackers, and fry in boiling lard. To Make Plate Bright.— Silver-plate jewelry and door plates can be beautifully cleaned and made to look 'ike new by dipping a soft cloth or chamois skin in a weak preparation of ammoiiia water and rubbing the articles with it. Patti Yeal. —Take a knuckle of veal and cover with water, boil two hours. Take out the meat, chop coarsely, strain the liquor, season with salt, pepper and sage, pour over the meat, and let it cool in a jelly mold. Tomato Pudding. —Slice thin good Graham bread or gems, place in a bak-ing-dish with an abundance of sliced tomatoes, arranging in alternate layers; cover close, and bake an hour. Serve with sweet sauce.

To Whiten Porcelain Saucepans.— Have the pans half filled with hot water, throw in a table-spoonful of powdered borax ana let it boil. If this does not remove all of the stains, soap a cloth, sprinkle on plenty of powdered borax. Scour it well. Raisin Pie. —One cup of raisins, chopped fine ; one cup of sugar ; two eggs ; one cup of vinegar ; one cup of sirup; one cup of water ; one-half cup of flour; one teaspoonful of cloves; the same of cinnamon and soda ; butter size of an egg; two crusts. Tarts.— Make a Btiff dough of two cups of Graham flour and one of grated cocoanut, with cold water, kneading well. Add a cupful of boiled lice. Mix those nightly, and roll thin; bake in gem pans, watching carefully. Fill with grape or berry sauce just before they are to be eaten. Claret Pudding Sauce for the Above.— Let one pint of claret, a little stick of cinnamon, rind of half a small lemon, eight ounces of sugar, and three table-spoonfuls of well-washed currants come to a boil, then add a very little com starch thinned with watsr to give a proper consistency to the sauce. Sago Wine Pudding. —One quart of California rhine wine and one pint of

water; jfhree pints of milk can be used instead'of the wine ; add to the wine or milkjthree ounces of butter ; let it come to ftiboil, then add four table-spoonfuls of f&go; let it cook for five minutes, continually stirring; in a different dish HJfx four ounces of sugar with the yelks /of three or four eggs; beat the whites to 'a stiff froth ; all to be well mixed; bake in a moderate oven for one hour and a half.