Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 February 1891 — AGRICULTURAL TOPICS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AGRICULTURAL TOPICS.

A FEW SUGGESTIONS FOR OUR RURAL READERS. A Lot of Vau»bl« Information for the Farmer, the Housewife, the Ranchman, the Poulterer, and the KltchoniuaiiL THE FARM. Keep Them Sharp

HE easiest way to work hard on a farm, if such an expression is allowable Is to let the tools, grow dull, says S. O. G. in the Western Farmer. In the olden time when grass was cut with a scythe and grain with a cradle, the whetstone was carried to the field and kept where it could be constantly used, and the ringing of the stone oh the steel was continu ally

heard. One sees the effect very quickly of a dull moWer on the team.and hastens to the stone to sharpen it. The pul) is so much harder and the work goes on so much slower when the plow is dull, that no one would think of compelling a team to pull on it. The work Is so much more easily done in these cases that no one would for a moment think of letting tools grow dull. Yet some tools on a farm are never sharpened by a majority of farmers. How many farmers do you know who keep the hoe, the shovel, and the spade sharp? If the edge of these is not as thick as the thickness of a plate will allow, and made harder to enter the ground by having the edge turned up a little it is in most cases because the tool has not been used long enough to get the first edge off. All this is folly. There is no sense in wasting strength, no matter how much of it we possess, and there is no easier way to save strength than to spend a little of it in sharpening the farm tools. Use a dull hoe for a few minutes and then sharpen it and see how much more easily it works, and then resolve at once to keep it sharp and bright. Beside these one other tool on the farm is In the large majority of the cases “dull as a hoe.” How many cultivators have you seen that are sharp, not only on account of the greater ease to the horses, but because the work done is so much better. And so of every tool on the farm. Save the men, save the horses, and do good work easily by keeping them sharp, A dull implement is a sign of a dull brain. Keep them sharp. THE HOUSEHOLD, Pretty and Practical. Seme convenient place to put the odds and ends that will collect where work and play is going,on during the day is a great saving of steps to the busy housemother. A dainty, ribbon-trimmed basket is hardly suitable for the apple-core little Bess Is so anxious to dispose of, or the damp pasty papers left from Ned’s kite. The scrap-jar shown in the illustration is both ornamental and decidedly practical. A common four-gallon jar—one without handles if possible—is se-

lected and fitted with a round wooden cover. Several thicknesses of soft old newspaper is wrapped around the jar. The jar and lid are then covered smoothly with red felt. A strip of brown felt four inches wide, on which is embroidered a vine, is fastened around the jar near the center. The joining of this band is concealed by a bow of red and brown ribbons, the ends of which arc carried up over the e:lge and fastened inside the jar. If desired, a similar bow can be placed on the cover. This scrap jar should have the contents removed every morning, and all dust wiped out with a damp cloth.— Margaret Ryder, in Country Gentleman.

THE STOCK-RANCH. Stagger*. Staggers are the result of congestion of the .brain, due to overfeeding. Pigs are more often overfed than any other animal, and it is the source of nearly all the diseases to which they are subject. It affects the nerve centers in the brain and spinal cord. Give the pigs no feed at all for forty-eight hours, but only water; then begin feeding very lightly, and give the food in a shallow trough, so that it can be taken up only slowly. Sore Feet. Cattle are frequently troubled with sore feet from standing in filthy stables or miiddy yards. To prevent it keep the stable floor and yards dry and clean. Ib cure the feet wash them with Warm water and carbolic soap. Break all blisters and scabs and get a clean surface. Then apply carbolated vaseline or cosmoline mixed with enough acetate of copper (verdigris) to make the ointment green. Bandage the feet, passing a part of it through the deft. Keep the feet dry. Oats for Young Animal*. No kind of grain is so well adapted to feeding young stock of any kind as oats. Their li”-ge proportion of husk keeps them f.Wn cloying the stomach, even of stock that has too poor digestion for thriving on corn. Pigs will prefer the latter grain, if both are given together, but the pig is not the best judge of what is adapted to his needs. The oats should, however, be at least full weight to give the best results. Much of the Western oat erop is generally light, from ripening in dry, hot weather. The standard weight of oats in some Western States Is thirty pounds per bushel, and in others

as low as twenty-eight pounds. The usual Extern standard for oats is thirtytwo pounds per bushel. Live Stock Notes. A quiet, gentle horse is best for the farm. In feeding dairy cows it is possible to over-feed, and fully as bad as to feed too little. Good carriage horses are always in demand and bring good prices in any market. To prevent cows from kicking, buckle a strap around both hind legs just above the knees. f Many farmers fall to derive the benefit they should from sheep because of improper feeding. If colts were handled very young, much ot the difficulty iu breaking would be done away with. A good rule in mixed farming is to keep sufficient stock to consume all the products of the farm. In producing beef, milk or butter, it is very important to have plenty of grass for summer feed and good meadows for winter hay. Animals with vicious habits or tendencies should never be used for breeding purposes, as they transmit to their offspring their bad qualities. The noticeable improvements in farm stock is due, not only to the good care and keeping, but also to careful selection and matings of breeding animals. For some reasons sheep arc preferable to hogs in the orchard, but a prominent objection is that they sometimes acquire the habit of gnawing the trees. With proper provision of warmth and shelter, and a good store of ensilage and hay, winter dairying can frequently be made more profitable than summer; labor is then cheaper and butter higher. It is often a loss to allow cows to range over a large space of short pasture to satisfy their appetites, and would bo an actual saving to keep them up and feed them when pastures get too short. A correspondent describes the ideal farm horse, as one of good size, well gaited, and able to walk three and a half to four miles, or trot about eight miles, per hour; of gentle disposition and yet sufficient life to do his work without urging, and possessing intelligence tor training to the various uses required. THE DAIRY Finn Point* In Butter-Making. A correspondent of the Ohio Farmer offers some points on the subject of making butter of the finest quality: Is flavor in butter a natural or an artificial result? The early dairy writers credit flavor to the presence of butyrine oil, always present In butter, but lately it has come to be more largely thought by scientists that it is caused by the aromatic oils of vegetation. This may be illustrated by feeding one cow on oatmeal, fine hay, etc., and another cow on poor hay, onions, cabbages, and other vegetables that have distinct volatile oils, not digestible. (Some foods may not show in the milk, for the reason that they possess no indigestible matter, or distinct flavor.) The flavor of our best pasture grasses goes into circulation, and their presence is of groat value, and we therefore put May and June grass butter at the front for fine flavor. In winter we need hay cut in blossom, for then the grass flavors are most abundant and the curing of the hay only partially destroys them. The natural flavor of butter is one thing, and the demands of many customers arc another. Sour, sweet, ripe, or bitter cream; salt, . sugar, and all other influences are artificial, and are made more or less prominent by the skill of the butter-maker. Now and then wo find a person who likes the salt and buttermilk flavor. Many assert that ripening cream by bringing it in contact with the air is not a different kind of acidity; but they are as different for a time, as tho acid of .chese cured soured In whey, and tho same curd dipped sweet, and allowed to take acidity in warm air. The great authority on dairying says that “ripening cream fast moulds flavor, while the slower lactic acid souring of cream is not only detrimental, but is the beginning of decay.” It is a grqat wonder to many why centrifuge butter well made keeps so well. I don’t know, but if any one will examine the coating of a machine after it has “thrown out” a few thousand pounds of milk and notice the offensive slime there deposited, the matter may in part be explained in theory. This “sineary substance” must remain in the cream in ordinary processes of making, and must lend its influence to the Jbutter. Water is a solvent of it. and washing butter helps remove it. 1 hazard a guess that “ropy” milk may possibly be caused by a superabundance of this offensive substance. “Tainted milk” is also in dispute and the causes for it. It may be defective food, foul water, a feverish or diseased condition of the cow, or a contamination of all these, and things not dreamed of as yet in our philosophy. I notice some experiments made at the East about this avicosity, or “stfoklness,” Inßnilk. Cream that was bard to “come,” when thinned with water, several times its bulk, and thoroughly mixed and allowed to rise again, when skimmed and churned, cankp readily. Some of our own scientists now “think” they can fortell the quantity and keeping value of butter by determining the vieosity of the milk; the less there is the better the butter; but they do not tell the ordinary butter maker how to find this out. All butter makers can wash the buttermilk with weak brine. This will remove one great cause of rancidity in butter—putrefying buttermilk.

THE PULETKY-YAKO. Cro**-Bred Fowl*. Mr. G. M. T. Johnson, very properly believes that crossing breeds is often beneficial as adding size and vitality to' the progency, where only results in eggs and meat are desired, and in Practical Poultry Keeper says: A fowl is often called for with the size of the Light Brahmas, and laying qualities of the White Leghorns. A cross between these breeds will produce a white fowl not quite so large as the Brahmas, and more like the Leghorns for laying. A Black Spanish cock with White Leghorn hens will produce an excellent laying fowl. The cockerels from this cross will be marked solid white, with flesh-colored legs. The pullets will be white, with now and then a black feather; the legs blue. A cross between Plymouth Boek and White Leghorn produces a salty blue fowl. Cockerels have flesh-colored legs; pullets have blue legs. They somewhat resemble the Andalusian fowls. I do

not consider them equal to either the Plymouth Rocks or White Leghorns. A cross of Plymouth Rock and Partridge Cochin very much resembles the Plymouth Rock. It has bright yellow legs; some chicks have clean legs, and some feathered logs; a good-sized fowL A Rrown Leghorn and Silver Spangled Hamburg show color of the Hamburg. It much resembles the Golden Spangled Hamburg, An excellent variety for eggs, and more hardy than the Hamburgs, pure. These are crosses which have come under my own eye. It is interesting to see how the blood of one fowl will manifest itself in one way, and the blood of another in quite a different way. When two markings or characteristics clash, the weaker must give way to the stronger, unless they are about equally .strong. The Dorking varities crossed with others, never forget to put on the fifth toe, showing that is a characteristic from many generations back. Ih the cross between the Black Spanish and White Leghorn, I was surprised io see how the black feathering had to aiye way to the white, but tho Spanish held on to the blue legs—never a yellow leg. In bringing new blood into any yard, the chicks want to be watched carefully, to see in what way the particular cross manifests itself. If to the detriment of the parent stock, it will not pay to let it go anv further.

THE KITCHEN Doughnata. Two cups of sugar, four cups of butter milk, four tablespoonfuls of thick, sour cream, two teaspoonfuls of soda, and flour to roll. Feather Cake. One egg, one cup of sugar, one tablespoonful of butter, one-half cup of milk, one and one-half cups of flour, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar and one-half teaspoonful of soda. * Turnip Pastry. 801 l thoroughly one-half dozen turnips, inash them up, adding a teaspoon ful of cream and seasoning ’With salt and pepper. Put paste around this mixture, like a dumpling^and bake or steam. Cocoanut Cakes. Scarcely half a pound of loaf sugar to a large cocoanut grated; put into a preserving pan till the sugar melts. Form into cakes; put on white paper. They should bo well baked In'a very cool oven, and when cooked ought to bo very pure white. Cream Cake. One cup of sugar, one-half cup of butter, three-fourths cup of milk, two' eggs, beaten separately, one and one-half cups of flour, one and three-quarter teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Bako In throe layers. Cream for filling: One-half pint of milk, one teaspoonful of corn starch, one egg, one teaspoonful of vanilla, sweeten to taste. Heat milk to sealing, in which cook the corn starch stirred smooth in a little cold milk, add the eggs last, flavor and spread when cold. J ally Trine. Cut up Into inch cubes enough sponge cake to make layers on tho bottom of a shallow dish. Soak one-half package gelatine one-half hour in one-half pint cold water, then add one-half pint of boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add onehalf pint sherry or other good wine, sweeten to taste and flavor to suit. When It "begins to thicken, pour It over the cake, and sot In refrigerator to harden. Serve with nutmeg and with cream sauce. Rhode island Johnny Cake. Put one pint of white table meal Into a bowl, and add gradually one pint boiling water. The meal must be moist, without being wet. While tho meal is warm, add two ounces butter, one tablespoonful sugar, one teaspoonfu) of salt. Now add one pint of cold milk, the yolks of three eggs, well-beaten. Stir In onehalf pint flour, and then the well-beaten whites, with one heaping teaspoonful of baking powder. When thoroughly mixed, bake at once on hot griddie. Ribbon Cake. One-half cup butter, one cup of milk or water, two of sugar, three of flour, three eggs, one tcaspoonful cream tartar. one-half of soda; beat well. Take one-third of the mixture and one-half cup flour, one egg, one large spoon of butter; beat well, then add one cup raisins, stoned and chopped, one cup currants, one-half nutmeg, one teaspoonful cinnamon, one-half teaspoonful mace, and spice to taste. Put the dark in the middle; bake in jelly cake tins. If desired soft frosting may be used between layers, or jelly, just as you prefer. This Is not an expensive cake and will be found very good.

SCRAP JAR.