Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 December 1879 — USEFUL AND SUGGESTIVE. [ARTICLE]

USEFUL AND SUGGESTIVE.

Dmmuorr animals have different appetites, and the habits of each animal should be studied, so as to adapt the feed to each in such a way as to promote the most vigorous growth and health of each. Give the little otes xll the pure milk they want to drink. I lis much better than puddings, pies aid cakes. Do not deprive children of mis excellent food, even though the dairyman’s weekly bill should be larger than the cigar-maker's or the wine-merchant’s.—Xonsmo Jtepuhtsnm. The Germantown Telegraph says that pumpkins, for pies and such, can easily be kept all winter without decaying u kept in a cool, dry place. On one or two occasions the editor kept one or two over to discover how long they would keep, and found them in good condition in'August, but that was about the bnd of their time.

Swink. —Swine that are fattening will do better with soaked com than with Com steeped in water for twelve hours has been found more economical to feed than when ground into meal. The animals are sooner filled, the food digests better, and, consequently, the feeding is finished more expeditiously, and feed—which is money—is saved.—American Agriculturist. Latticed shelves in a frame, some six inches apart, that can be shoved in and out like a drawer, in a cellarthat is not cold enough to freeze, and yet nearly so, is the best place to keep apples through the winter. A layer of time three or four inches thick at the bottom will dry the atmosphere and help preserve the apples sound. So says the Germantown Telegraph. Ivies are among the most attractive of room plants, and easy to manage. It will improve their condition greatly to go over them once a week with a sponge or soft cloth, and wash the dust from the leaves. The operation takes much less time than one would suppose, and it allows the scale insect, the worst enemy of the ivy, to be seen on its first appearance and removed by the use of an old tooth-brush. * Poultry. —Vermin are the greatest pest to fowls. They are worse in the winter than at other times, because the fowls are confined more closely, and have not opportunities to free themselves. Lice may be destroyed by whitewashing the house and roosts with lime-wash mixed with carbolic acid. Fleas may be destroyed by thoroughly greasing the roosts. Clean straw should be supplied to the nests, and glass nesteggs provided for early layers. A glass-covered coop will be useful for an early sitting hen and a young brood of chickens. Horses. —No animal should be permitted to fall off in condition at this season. It is difficult to restore an animal when all the food and vitality are required to resist cold and the hardships of a stormy winter. Horses that are not at work still require good and sufficient food, and warm shelter. Exposure to a storm may throw the whole system out of order, and do mischief that months of effort may not repair. Prevention is the better plan. Good hay, with a few ears of corn, and an occasional warm bran mash, will keep horses in condition, but good daily grooming must never be forgotten.— American Agriculturist.