Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 October 1894 — DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

TOPICS OF INTEREST TO FARMER AND HOUSEWIFE. ' How to Have Pare Water for Domeatlc Purposes Horseshoe Without Nalla— General Farm and Household Noles. A Cheap Filter. Our illustration represents a device for filtering water which is within reach of every farmer. There is nothing patented or expensive about it, and it may be constructed by the merest tyro in mechanic The plan is to get two casks—as seen in the engraving—fill the one into which is inserted the spout, or inflow of water, about half full of alternate layers of gravel, charcoal, and pebbles—a layer of gravel first, next six inches of

charcoal, then pebbles, then charcoal again, then a few largerstones. From the bottom of this cask to the bottom of the next have a connection of thin gaspipe, which will rise In an elbow to about half way up the depth of the second cask. The cask is filled with gravel and charcoal, just the same as the first. Thus the water is conveyed from the first cask to about half way up the second cask, and as it falls by its own gravity, undergoes a second filteiing. At the bottom of this cask the water, twice filtered, is drawn off for u-e. Water from a pump, whether from a well, river or tank, may be as readily filtered in this manner as rainwater. Crate for Snipping Live Fowls. Express charges on live poultry being double rates, it is desirable to make the crate in which poultry is shipped as light as is consistent with strength. The illustration, from the Ameri an Agriculturist, shows what is perhaps the best framework for such a crate. An empty grocery box of requisite size may be sawed in the middle, makingjthe top and bottom of the crate, though if the box is at all high, some three or four inches only, of the top and of the bottom should he taken. The corner post of inch and a half pine should be well nailed to the box, and the sides and ends then covered with burlap or cotton cloth. The top may be of slats or of boards, as shown in the sketch. If of the latter, a hole should be cut both for ventilation and for convenience in handling. f-traw should be placed in the bottom, and plenty of oats or wheat scattered into it. If

the birds are to be shipped but a short distance, no water should be placed in the crate, but if sent a long wav a tin cup should be provided, and notice pasted on the outside that the fowls within are to be watered by the express messenger. If food is provided for a long journey it should be placed in some receptacle so that the birds w.ll not soil it before it is eaten. Do not crowd birds that are to be shipped a long distance. If they are to be on the way but twentyfour hours, or less, some little crowding will not injure them. Potato Bugs Love Sunshine. The potato beetle and larva have made their appearance in England. The London Agricultural Gazette prints a complaint of farmers that they cannot effectively spray with poisons to destroy the slugs, because the spraying only reaches the upper surface of the leaf, while the slug is a great part of the time under „he leaf out of reach of any application. This may be the fact in English climate, where on many summer days the under side of the leaf is often the dryest and most comfortable place the bug can find. In our American climate the bug finds plenty of sunshine and when feeding is always in it. If the larva retires to the underside of the leaf at night it does not then need to eat anything before morning sunshine tempts him to the surface agair. In England, beingso much on the under side of the leaf, necessity may force the larva to the habit of eating there. Hut in a climate thus damp and cool the potato bug will not rapidly increase if his insect enemies are encouraged, or at least not destroyed by poisons. Our Fertilizers. For different crops different fertilizers are made in factories As the great natural resources of prehistoric acid were overdrawn, the European agriculturist has utili.ed the finely ground slag of the basic steel process. The farmer depends no longer on his tarn ard, but purcrases his plant food in the most approved form, made in factories from the most unpromising sources of supply. The Atlantic Coast is patrolled by steamers whose occupation is the catching of menhaden or bony fish. After the oil is extracted from these fish, the farmer has a claim on what is left as a s urce of nitregen for bis cropy South American nitrate of soda is another source of nitrogen. The German mines supply him with potash, and the blending of all elements is effected in the fe tilizer factories, whose processes are gui ed by the most exact chemical analyses of their materials. ( Fighting; Peach Yellows. The orchardists of Connecticut secured from the last Legislature a bill for toe appointment of a commission of experts whose duty was to be the eradication of “the yellows,” that disease that has destroyed so many orchards. There are six Commissiun-

| era, who receive 85 a day for thelt services, which are rendered during July and August. This commission is empowered to go upon any man’s property and destroy all trees that ; show any symptoms of the disease. The penalty of opposing the work ranges fro m 830 to «100 fine, wiui or without imprisonment. This disease prevails, more in old than new orchards, but is contagious, aod when once it has gained a loothold, nothing but extirpation will destroy it. | Peach orchards thirty years ago were among the most profitable of the Connecticut farmer’s possessions. This disease destroyed more than three-fourths of them. The Colorof Animals. There is a connection between the I CJlor and character of animals. Al- : though much of the sub.ect is veiled in considerable obscurity, as a general rule it may be stated that vivid, conspicuous coloring a companies st:eiigth courage and often ferocity. The black or red hair and the ruddy skin indicates carb n or iron somewhat in excess, a sanguine temperament, rapidity of thought and action and courage frequently bordering on rashness In the brute creation it is rather character that has modified color in the course of the survival of the fittest. The timid animal, bird or fish possessing the most neutral coloring, lived longest and left most offsprings, and so gradually the conspicuous members of the family were eliminated. This neutral coloring as well as color that changes for protective purposes is the timidity, alerti ness of sense keenness of vision and scent and swiftness rather than strength of limb. A Nalless Shoe. The cut below shows a recently patented horseshoe which is held to the hoof by four clamps instead of the

cotomary nails This will prove a boon to horses with sensitive feet, this scheme permitting of the ready removal of the shoe and equally quick application. Barns and Lightning. The frequency with which barns are struck by lightning has set some long-headed person to thinking, and he has figured out that the buildings, being filled with newly-cut hay and grain, become generators of heat, the heat rises in a column several feet above the barn and attracts the lightning, which readily follows a column of moist or hot air. When the building is reached by the electric fluid, slivers fol.ow. The remedy suggested is to throw open the doors as much as possible and let the winds blow through, carrying off the unnatural heat and distributing It. This will not give perfect protection. Nothing yet discovered can do that. But it will prevent the intense heating, the accumulation of heat and vapor, and will consequently break up the danger column to a great extent, and probably reduce the liability by one-half.

White Clover for Pasture. White clover is to short and small to be available for hay making, but we know of no plant that makes s a better or more enduring pasture. Land that is once well seeded with white clover is nevei afterward entirely clear from it. Feeds form in the heads all through the season, and they have the faculty of lying in the ground without injury and growing whenever a favorable chance offers. The plant also spreads by trailing on the g ound and rooting from the joints, as a strawberry will do, whenever there is a soft and moist place to strike its roots into.—Ex. Barm Notes. Cut back the young raspberry canes when they are three feet high and they will have stronger branches than if cut back when full grown. Poultry that is to be used on the table, if continued and fed on corn and clean water a few days, will be found to have the flesh sweet, jucy, aod tender. Cattle should not be shipped directly from the pasture. The more rank and rapid the grass growth, the softer the stock. They should be fed some corn at the last. The Ohio Experiment Station says that the best of old varieties of strawberries are Warfield, Budach, Crescent, and Haverland, and no variety seems to have been found that is likely to supersede them. A thin horse added 100 pounds to his weight in a month when fed three pints of molasses on clover hay daily. There is danger of resultant indigestion, and care must be taken, but it will make horses sleek and fat.

M. A. Thayek says that berry vines, canes and fruit buds grown this season produce fruit next year and die. This year’s growth of plants and buds, then, practically decided the quantity and quality of fruit that may' be expected next year. For this reason the modest vigorous plants should be used in the beginning. Black knot on plum and cherry trees prevails wherever these trees are grown. It can be prevented if all fruit growers will work together to extirpate it Ohio has a law against it, which should prove beneficial. It is as much a matter of legislation as the destruction of thistles, against which many of the States have passed laws, making it an offense to allow them to grow.

The skim milld from one cow is estimated to be worth S2O a year, bo far as its actual proportion of nutrition - matter is concerned it is more valuab e than cream, because it contains the protein and mineral master. Its value on the farm depends on the use so watch it is applied. It should furnish sustenance for two pigs in a year if used in connection with clover and grain.

HOMEMADE FILTER

LIGHT POULTRY CRATE.

HOUSE SHOE WITHOUT NAILS.