Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 February 1891 — PRACTICAL POINTS, [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PRACTICAL POINTS,

WHICH CAN BE PUT TO VERY GOOD USE. Soino Excellent Information .for the Farmer, the Honaewlfe, the Poulterer, and the Ranchman—Agricultural Note*.

EVERY farmer who raises small grains for market shbu|d have a good fan-ning-mill. Clean v grain is always an \ item, whether to \ market or to sow \ again. It is true L#| that, many of the I seed drills, as now’ l / constructed, will I M) sow grain that j||z is some what, ;3r tlireshy, but.it must be remembered that in sowipr jug trash you are >r not sow ing wheat and when you intend sowing five

or six pecks of wheat to the acre, if very tlireshy, you are not sowing wheat, and in marketing grain, if it is well cleaned up. it will bring a better price in market. Often the better price received for one lot of grain will very nearly, if not quite, pay for the mill. During the winter, especially, a sled w ill be found very convenient for hauling manure and corn-fodder. One can be made at small expense, and will save considerable labor, it should be sufficiently strong to bear up a good load, and should be made so that the wagonbox can be fastened on it. Every farmer who raises oats for feed, needs, and can use profitably, a feedcutter. To feed sheaf or unthreshod oats uncut, is, to say the least, a very wateful practice. With a good feedcutter, running the oats thrftusrh this and then adding a small quantity of bran, you have one of the very best feeds there is and all waste is avoided, as the stock will cat all up clean. Get a size in proportion to the amount of stock you keep, and cut up all your sheaf oats at least. Clover hay and wheat or oat straw', equal parts, and a small quantity of good wheat bran will make a feed equal to timothy hay, and where clover and wheat is grown a very cheap food can be secured. Barbed wire has become so common that nearly every farmer needs a stretcher. They are so convenient both in building and repairing wire fences that they are almost indispensable. There are few farms but where a good hand cart will be found very convenient. There are so many things that can be hauled in them and save using the team that they can be made to pay well for their cost. In handling fruit, vegetables, wood, and often in keeping tlio stable clean, or in hauling a barrel of w ater, a hand cart will not only bo useful but economical. There will be found many ways of saving time in using them in preference to hitching up the team. They are cheap and very handy, or at least this is my experience. A post hole digger is another useful implement that costs but little and yet saves a considerable amount of hard work, especially at this season when the Soil is usually too dry to drive posts to an advantage. In some localities an auger can be used, in others the diggers. If you are building a fence but little work will be required to save the costs. Wisconsin A grleulturint. Substitute for a Cellar. Wherever there is a good well near a house it can readily be made to serve in

summer as a substitute for a cellar, and In some measure take the place of a refrigerator. Our illustration shows the general arrangement of such a well. Of course there must be sufficient space in the well for letting down a large tin pall, or some other suitable receptacle, and the sides must be securely walled or boarded up. By merely raising a board of the platform % sufficient opening for letting down a pail may be obtained, but a much better way Is to arrange a small windlass, provided with a catch to hold the suspended article at any height desired, as shown In the engraving. The Niver of the pail or bucket should be fit closely, to prevent the dripping of water Into it. When It becomes desirable to prevent ventilation a receptacle with perforated sides may be used to advantage. This plan of utilizing wells for the keeping of butter, milk, meat antkother provisions has been extensively adopffed during the past summer along the south shore of Long Island where Ice could not be obtained easily. It has proved so satisfactory that those who have availed themselves of this method of refrigeration will probably continue to do so even In seasons of a plentiful Ice supply.— American Agriculturlxt.

THE STOCK RANCH.

Raisins Cows for Profit. On the important question of raising cows for profit the Breeder's Gazette says: The Hon. James Wilson, of lowa, observed in a public address that “where men farm for dear life the cow is the foremost consideration.” Nothing could be more true, for wherever the farmer is harassed with debt, or wherever he is struggling to make good a start in life, it is the cow which comes to his assistance, paying off his mortgage in the one case and placing him upon the high road to fortune and independence upon the other. Her capacities for good are almost unlimited, and in no direction can the farmer so surely improve his condition as in developing and cultivating those capacities to highest degree. Those who keep cows, and as many of them as circumstances will permit, and take pains to have them good and of the

most improved sorts, and maintain them in a manner favorable to their thrift, find that they are not only an agency to which a man can resort to save himself when misfortune presses and all else fails to bring relief, but that they are also a sure means of advancing the farmer's prosperity at every stage of his progress. But the cows seldom have a chance to show what they can do, and to what a degree they are capable of contributing to the fortunes of their ow ners. Upon a large number of farms they are not maintained in sufficient numbers to fully accomplished their mission, and on a vast majority they are of the common unimproved sorts to wdiose development, no efforts have been given, and w’hioh are incapable of realizing for their owners one-half the profit which could be secured from highly improved animals. And this is inexcusable in these days when the improved breeds are selling at such reasonable prices that every farmer can afford the means to replace Ills present inferior stock with that of better character, or at least secure crosses w ith which to grade up to a higher point the stock he already has. if the average cow in her present estate is worthy the good things said, of her, what words of praise would do her xuflielent honor If all the cows In the country were improved to the point where 1t has been demonstrated it is easy to bring them? 1.1 ve Stock Notes. To determine the profit on stock, do not forget to figure pasturage as having a value or share in theorginal cost. Dispose of the poorest stock you raise, always keeping the best for breeding purposes, thereby constantly improving the grades on your farm. If the stock you offer for sale Is always first-class, customers will soon come hunting you and you will find easy selfsale for all you care to raise. Young animals of all kinds are more easily stunted while being fed on milk, hence care should be used to supply them with a liberal quantity. By keeping the stock always in good condition, and ahvuys marketable, you can avail yourself of the best prices, and turn them off at the most advantageous time. It may require extra feed and care, but that expense wIU be more than covered by the higher price received. Corn is not a proper food for growing pigs, as it is both heating ami constipating, two tendencies which should be avoided with young stock, especially In summer time. Fieth and heat combined produce disease germs; it is therefore very neoosessary In summer to give all kinds of stock and poultry good, clean quarters, making free use of whitewash or carbolic acid to disinfect all buildings In which they are sheltered. The real value of sheep on a farm, Is not usually known; their ability to live on short pastures or stubble growths, constantly fertilizing the fields and clearing them of weeds, aside from furnishing a most convenient supply of fresh meat, makes their well-known value as wool producers a secondary matter

THE PIILTRT YARD.

Tunis Dust fur Chicken*. From an exchange we clip the following cure for gapes in chickens. It is surely a simple remedy and worthy of trial: The lime dust treatment Is the best of all cures for gapes In chickens. It is cheap, simple and effective. 1 put a whole brood of chickens In a peck measure with a bag over the top. A barrel partly filled wlthalr-slackhd lime, as dry as powder, was turned on Its side, and the lime was stirred with a stick until the whole barrel was filled with lime floating In the air. The chickens were put into this, with the bag over the mouth of the barrel. They were put Into the dust three times, not more than a minute each time. They should be kept In the measure all the time. We let one brood stay In too long and lost five out of seven. The windpipes of the dead chickens were found more than half filled with gape worms, which mado it more difficult for them Jto breathe. My little son, 7 years old, treats his chickens In this way successfully. The lime can be slacked with water and then allowed to dry so as to powder. A lot of lime thus prepared will last for years for this purpose. Poultry Note*. The sure wav to break a hen from egg-eating is to cut off her head. “John, did you find any eggs In the old hem's nest this morning? “No sir; if the hen laid any, she has mislaid them.” Chickens and hogs kept together, won’t work; you will find you have raised very dear pork. It don’t work to keep old and young stock together—keep them separate. To make lions lay well give them plenty of pure water. It is more necessary than food. Water enters largely Into the coinposltipn of an egg, and you therefore see the need of giving 'them plenty of It—pure and clean. Evebv person keeping poultry should keep an accurate account with Ills stock, placing all the expenditures incurred and the amount of receipts on the proper sides of the sheet. The losses should, of course, be charged to the expense account. An orchard that Is at the same time the poultry-yard, will produce 100 per cent, more fruit, of better quality, than one receiving the ordinary culture of the average farmer. The constant scratching about the roots, the gobbling up of all the insects, the constant droppings which the rains make soluble, and the continual supply, Is marked by a dark green verdure and a large, fair fruit; the large runs make the fouls healthier and the egg product greater. Some ducks of a fine breed at Norwich, Conn., had a way of diving and staying down. This led to an investigation. The water was drained off and a colony of seventeen snapping thirties found and made soup of. The ducks now come up again when they diVe.

THK HOUSEHOLD.

Wh»t Mother* Should Do. As the boys grow up, make companions of them; then they will not seek companionship elsewhere. Let the children make a noise sometimes; their happiness is as important as your nerves. Respect their little secrets; if they have concealments, worrying them will never make them tell, and patience will probably do their work. Allow them, as they grow older, to have opinions of their own; make them individuals and not mere echoes.* Remember that without physical health mental attainment is worthless; let them lead free, happy lives, which will strengthen both mind and body.

Bear in mind that you are largely responsible for your character, and have patlence-With faidts and failings. 4 Talk hopefully to your chilren of life and its possibilities; you have no right to depress them because you have suffered. Teach boys And girls the actual, facts of life as soon as they are old enough to understand them, and give them the sense of responsibility without saddening them. Find out what their special tastes are and develope them, instead of spending time, money and patience in forcing them into studios that are repugnant to them. As long as it is possible, kiss them good night, after they are in bed; they do like it so, and it keeps them very clow. If you have lost a child, remember that for the one that is gone there is no more to do: for those remaining, everything; hide your grief for t heir sake*. Impress upon them from early infancy that actions have results, and that they cannot escape consequences even by being sorry when they have acted wrongly. As your daughters grow up, teach them at least the true merits of housekeeping and cookery: they will thank you for it in later life a great deal more than for accomplishments. Try and sympathize with girlish flights of fancy, even if they seem absurd to you; by so doing you will retain your lutluenee over your daughters and not teach them to seek sympathy elsewhere. Remember that, although they are all your children, each one has an individual character and that tastes and qualities vary indefinitely. Cultivate them separately, and not as if you were turning them out by machinery. Encourage them to take good walking exercise. Young ladies in this country are rarely good walkers. They can dance all night, but are tired out if they walk a mile. Girls ought to be able to walk as easily as boys. Half the nervous diseases which afflict young ladles would disappear if the habit of regular exersises was encouraged. Keep up a high standard of principles; your children will be your keenest judges In the future. Do bo honest with them in small things as well as In great. If you cannot tel! them what they wish to know, say so rather than deceive them. Reprove your children for tale-bear-ing; a child taught to carry reports from the kitchen to the parlor Is detestable. Send the youngster to bed early; decide upon the proper time and adhere to It.' Remember that visitors praise the children as much to please you as because they deserve It, and that their presence is oftener than not an infliction.

Hint* to Housekeeper*.

Sai.t will remove the stain caused by eggs from silver. It must be applied dry. Whiting and benzine mixed to a paste will remove grease spots from marble. Plaster of Paris figures may be mode to look like alabaster by dipping them in a strong solution of alum water. A pretty bangle-board is made in the shape of a crescent. It Is covered with pale blue satin and has a design of daises painted on it. Tiie color of most fabrics, when It has been destroyed by an add, may be restored by dipping In ammonia and then applying chloroform. Tins Is the way furs are cleaned In that land of furs, Russlu: Rye Hour Is placed In a pot and heated upon a stove, with constant stirring as long as the hand can bear the heat. The flower Is then spread over the fur and rubbed into it. After this the fur Is brushed with a very dean brush, or, better, is gently beaten until all the flour Is removed. The fur thus treated resumes its natural lustre and appears as if absolutely new. In an Intelligent treatment of different fabrics a large part of the art of washing consists. . Fine laces, for example, must be treated by themselves. Very line lace may be cleansed and whitened by folding It smoothly, and sewing it into a clean linen bag. It is then immersed for twelve hoprs in pure olive oil. A little fine soap is shaven into water, and the lace put Into this and boiled for fifteen minutes. It must be well rinsed, dipped into starch water, and taken from the bag and.stretehed and pinned to dry.

Agricultural Note*.

Australia exported 10,000,000 rabbits last year. A shipment of 0,032 sacks of oil-cake was made to Antwerp. Italy is enforcing laws which practically prohibit American patent medicines. The largest steamer shipment of Florida oranges for the season, 13.830 boxes. The rise in the price of meat in Germany has increased the general consumption of horse flesh. The Cincinnati packing of hogs for last week was 025,000, against 475,000 the same week last year. Large qnanties of salmon have recently been shipped to France and black bass will soon be sent to England. F. O. Umhach, of Athens, Ga., has recently invented an improved harrow which is attached to an ordinary plow stock. An English railway company was fined £IOO and costs for transporting tlnrtvsix pigs by means of which swine fever was spread. A cargo of 2,500 bales of cotton from Alexandria. Egypt, said to be the largest cargo ever received, arrived last week. Jt was valued at $350,000. A Shetland pony at Cincinnati made a mile in 5:49 % and was presented to the man making the best guess as to his time. The guess was 5:49*4. Two Belgians were arrested at Paterson, N. J., for manufacturing sausages from dead horses. The sausages were said to be entirely for export. A Connecticut creamery shows in its aunual report 210,870 pounds of butter made during the year. Average gross sales per pound, 27.87 cents: average net sales, 24.00 cents. An English coffee-house keeper was I fined £lO and costs for selling oleomargarine. This was his second conviction for a similar offense, the same penalty having been inflicted upon his previous conviction. —Rural New Yorker. A rattle-headed Frenchman advises Americans to import a pigmy owl found in that country for the purpose of exterminating the English sparrows. He shows as little wisdop on the subject as did the man who imported the sparrows. . Extinguishing a lamp is like a small supper— u a email blow-out.

A WELL CELLAR.