Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 August 1878 — AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC. [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC.

Around the Farm. Give the poultry shade. Tomatoes are good for chicks. Steam cultivation is .rapidly extending in England. Onions, finely chopped and mixed with Indian meal, are highly commended by the Farming Mirror for fowls, once or twice a week at least. They are said to prevent and cure the gapes, and many other diseases to which fowls are subject. Asparagus beds are very often neglected after catting is done. But they should be kept free from weeds, and a strong growth, upon which their next year’s value depends, be insured by liberal top-dressings of manure. An application of liquid manure and salt at this time would prove of great service to beds which are not fairly vigorous. Dr. Btubtevant says: “ One of the best results which could happen to our talking agriculturists would be to sweep from existence the idea that cheap results can be of otherthanof cheap value. The true results are always costly of time and of thought. Let the agricultural thinker receive recognition in accordance as his thought is based on facts.” M. de VhjLEfin employs refuse tan —chestnut—for cattle bedding; he places first on the pavement a layer ten inches thick of powdered peat, and over this half the quantity of tan ; he places the fresh materials under the fore feet of the cattle; as the bedding becomes soiled, a fresh quantity is'raked to receive the urine, etc. The compost is mixed with other farmyard manure, watered with urine, and turned over once in three months.— Paris letter to New England Farmer. A correspondent of a foreign exchange says that the only reliable means of ridding the hen-roost and pigeon-loft of vermin is a preparation of sulphur and carbon, technically known as sulphuret of carbon. A bottle containing the eolation will last several days, and the cost of it is small. Put two ounces of the sulphuret of carbon in a bottle open at the mouth, and hang it by a string in the hen house. At the end of eight days the bottle should be refilled. This remedy is said to bo infallible.— Exchange. An experienced farmer says: “The only plan I can suggest to the man who has not been brought up a practical farmer is to be in the yard before his men go to work in the morning. Put every man to his intended work quietly and agreeably. See that every horse is placed to the right implement, and every implement in its right place, so as to do the best and greatest amount of cultivation with the fewest men and horses. Be on the farm as much as possible, and see that two men don’t get a job that one can do.” I have seen bloated cattle quickly relieved by the insertion in the month of a straw rope as could be got in, and tied over the head; and in one case where we had several bloated at pne time on olover, one steer was down, and we thought too near dead to wait for the “ rope,” so we stuok a common butcher knife in his pouch. He lay well over on his side with his four legs sticking out like sticks. He was swollen large, but the knife was followed by gas, like escaping steam, and it made the boys laugh to see him jump and run.— Cor. New York Tribune. Difference of climate has a good deal to do with thrashing and selling grain at harvest and immediately after. In England more than half tho grain of all varieties remains in the straw unthrashed till tho next spring. Oats are never put in barns at harvest; they are stacked, very neatly and carefully thatched by a professional laboring tuatcher. Wheat, barley, beans and peas also are chiefly put into ricks and thatched, remaining till, stack by stack, they are required to be thrashed for the straw quite as much as for the grain, excepting where capital is short. The safest way to get rid of rats is to have a nimble little terrier on the premises, for they will soon destroy many rats, and will make the others so wary that they will seldom care to risk their lives. When the rats have extra fine harbors, which old buildings always afford, it may sometimes be necessary to get the services of a well-trained ferret, which will drive them from their retreats, when the terriers will quickly finish them as fast as they make their appearance. The Scotch, the Skye and black-and-tan terriers are all good ratters, naturally, though in point of beauty aud cleanliness about the house, the black-and-tan is undoubtedly ahead. Good specimens can be bought at fair prices from prominent breeders.— D. L. Evans, Jr.

About the House. To Renovate Black Dress Goods and Silk. —Dissolve one-half ounce of pulverized camphor and an ounce of borax in a quart of boiling water. Resuscitating. —To bring a chilled or wet chick or young turkey to renewed life, hold it over a smudge or smoke from a wood fire. This remedy will resuscitate a chick when so far gone as to appear lifeless. White Cake. —One and one-half cups of sugar, one cup of butter, one cup of milk, three eggs, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, one-half teaspoonful of soda, three and a half cups of flour, nutmeg or lemon, or neither. Repotting.— The best time for repotting plants is from the latter part of July until the middle of September, according to the kind of plants; some require earlier potting than others. They do not need changing oftener than twice a year. Good caudles may be made tbus: Melt together ten ounces of mutton tallow, a quarter of an ounce of camphor, four ounces of beeswax, and two of alum; and then run it into molds or dip the candles. These candles will furnish a beautiful light. Breakfast Rolls Without Soda.— Two eggs, one and a half cupfuls of milk, a tea spoonful of salt and flonr enough to make a thick batter. These must be baked in an iron gem-pan, or they will be a complete failure. A quick oven is desirable. To Restore Color. —When color on a fabric has been accidentally or otherwise destroyed by acid, ammonia is applied to neutralize tho acid, after which an application of chloroform will, in almost all cases, restore the original color. The application of ammonia is common, but that of chloroform is but littje known. Currant Wine.— To a quart of juice add three quarts of watei 1 and four pounds of sugar, brown or white. Another.—Two quarts of juice and two of water, to which add four pounds of white sugar. Mix all, and put it in a nice keg, where it had better remain a year, though it is very good to use iu sic months. Centennial Mead. —Mix one quart of boiling water, two and a quarter pounds brown sugar, two ounces of tartaric acid, and one-half pint of molasses. When cool add one-half ounce of any flavoring extract. Two fingers of this sirup in a glass of ice water makes a refreshing summer drink. Serve each glass with one-quarter teaspoonful of bi-carbonate of soda.