Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 April 1886 — RURAL TOPICS. [ARTICLE]

RURAL TOPICS.

Some Practical Suggestions for Onr Agricultural Readers. Information of Yalne to the Farmer* Stock-Breeder, Housewife, and Kitchen-Maid. ■ i ? • --r 4 *.. . •. THE FARMER Horseradish. It is the earnest thing in the world to have horseradish. Plant a few roots in moist soil, and, like the poor, it will be always with yon. But to secure fine roots cultivation, manure and the removal or did stockeYefy spring are all essential. Don’t leave any largo roots for another year, as they will be worthless. 1 -—rr -i" ; Top Dressing Plowed Ground. Manure buried under a deep furrow cannot l>e as helpful to crops as that spread on the surface, where rains and cultivation can incorporate it with the soil It would be more commonly the practice to top dress corn ground if straw used as bedding for stock were chaffed so that it could be easily distributed. Finely cut straw will be more perfectly saturated with manure water, and will heat rapidly either in heaps or mixed with Burface soil. Corn stalks cut into pieces of an inch or less in length make excellent bedding after cattle have eaten what they will of the finer portions. With a manure spreader distributing it evenly over plowed ground there will be no more difficulty in cultivation than there would be if the manure were put under a deep furrow. Buying Hay On the Barm, It is a mark of good farming to have something to sell of everything the farm can produce. The best exception to this is hay, which can often be bought for less than its manurial value. Clover and grass seed Bhould be sown on all farming land as often as the rotation calls for reseeding. But it is sometimes better policy to plow under a growth of clover as manure and buy an equal guantitv of clover hay to make up the deficiency! One of the chief objections to the purchase of hay of any kind is the danger of introducing new weeds from seeds which the hay contain. The roadsides near any market where hay is largely sold are always lined with quack grass from seeds which fall from the passing loads. Salt on Grain Pields. In France salt is extensively used on fields sown to grain. It is known that it kills numerous insects, and it is believed that it improves the quality of the straw and grain. Salt is very cheap in this country, though it is rarely employed as a fertilizer. A wheat-raiser in Minnesota gives his experience in the use of it in the Country Gentleman as follows: “I have sowed salt for several vears with good results. Last year I sowed thirty tons on six hundred acres of wheat, which is an average of one’hundred pounds per acre. The land on which this was so.wn was deep, sandy loam, and the wheat was spring wheat, sown the first we£k of April. I sowed the salt about the Ist of June, when the wheat was from six to eight inches high. Among the marked results was a strong and vigorous growth of tile plant, causing tlie wheat to head a week earlier. The straw stands up straight and stiff and does not crinkle down, thereby enabling ns to cut the last one hundred acres as cloan as the firßt The wheat gives a plump, heavy berry, and yields from three to five bushels more per acre than if sowed without salt, and is uniformly of a better grade, last year testing sixty-three pounds per bushel. When I firet began to sow salt, I left strips across the field to test fho difference. These strips were very noticeable all summer, as the wheat did not grow nearly as tall and thick as where the salt was sowed’, and even after the wheat was cut I could see a difference in the stubble, the strips being crinkled and of not so bright color. These fields, when sowed to clover, yielded tremendous crops, which show the benefit of salt on grass lands. I have never tried it on oats, bus would not raise a crop of whoat without salt I purchase my salt in Milwaukee or Chicago. It is shipped in, bulk, and usually costs from #7 to $8 per ton, delivered. The mode of sowing salt is very simple. A box that will hold three bushels isplaced across the hind end of a wagon. The person who bows it is seated with his back to the driver, and bows it with both hands over the back end of, the wagon as it passes over the field, covering a strip thirty feet wide. Barm Notes. Feed your farm as well as yonr stock. It pays the same in both cases. The cow is a machine which mast be run to its full capacity to make certain profit Fakm animals should always have all the supply of the necessary mineral salt that they naturally require., A Massachusetts farmer during two yeara planted seed-corn from the seod-end and stemend separately. Both years the seed-end gave him a crop from twelve to fourteen days earlier than that from the stem-end. “Massachusetts farms,” predicts a prominent farmer there, “which were tilled with success by the Pilgrims and their immediate progeny are tending toward wildness, and may some day form a proper field for the new settler.” Worn-out Massachusetts.farms will scarcely entice new settlers until the fertile West becomes infertile—a long way off, evon with slipshod cultivation. With decent cultivation the West may feed an empire of 200,000,(K0 people. —Chicago Tribune. A wise observer says: “Farmers who have sold out good farms in the heart of the great grass and com belt of a central latitude, and * rushed off several hundred miles northward to engage in wheat-growing exchnavsly, in a climate of much greater severity than they were accustomed to. where the reign of winter begins early and hangs on late, are fast finding out that there is a dark as well as a bright side to the picture their imagination had painted.” There is truth in the above. The man having, a good grass farm in a geiiial climate is foolish to Beek a colder climate. A good grass country is always a good grain country. Added a gonial climate and the owner has strings to his bow, so to’speak.

THE STOCK-BREEDER Working Boreeg Without drain. Mr. T. B. Terry, a successful fanner in Northern Ohio, Works his horses on a feed of grass cut and well cured, without grain. It is very possible that his success by this method is largely due to the quality of the hay. It is grown on a very Tien soil, and besides being out when young, has a higher nutritive value than that which has a precarious struggle for existence on poor soiL This fact is well understood where grass is pastured, as stock always seek the richest points in the field, and eat them close before the less nutritious herbage is touched. _ ■ Early Fattening of Bogg. 80 long as pigs will get their living by running in an orchard, with only a little thin swill as drink, many farmers thunk this the best method of keeping them. Later on they will stuff twenty to fifty bushels of good corn down these hogs at enormous waste to make them fat A small pail of this .fed now would keep the pigs in thrifty condition, and the fattening after would be done with much greater profit Corn, however, is not the .best food for pigß while they are growing. If peas are grown in the orchard apd the pigs turned on the stubble after the bulk of the crop is off, the pigs will thrive, the apple trees and'the apple crop will be benefited, and the jpeas will probably pay better under the shade of a bearing orchard than any other crop that can be grown there. Relative Value of Feeding Stuff)t. Cotton-cake, by itself, has rather a tendency to bind animals, but when mixed With maize much of this is prevented, and if a few roots can be spared in addition there is not the slightest fear Of any harm being done in this way. Beaste fed on a mixture of these two handle and have the same bloom on them as when fed on linseed cake. What the effect or, lambs would be has not been proved. Possibly it might not be so good, ind until it has been experimentally proved it would be advisable not to use it on a large flock at once, as food which ie easily assimilated is of the greatest' importance to their young and easily disarranged stomachs. But, however it may be on

very young animals, for feeding older stock it is quite espial to linseed, and, as before stated, the. expense is #lO to #ls per top less. Throughout the winter linseed has been sold for ill! per ton dearer than the price of other seeds guaranteed. Care moat be taken that the deteriorated cotton-cako is sweet and pure and free from the hard, compressed knots so frequent in badly made cakes; and also before it is given to animals that it is very finely broken. The, bad results obtained, -from its use are nearly all owing to its having been given to the animals in large nieoes, which their stomachs are totally unfitted to digest No lump should be given which would not pass through a threequarter inch sieve, and it would be better if it .were coarsely ground. The maize should be finely grittlod when given with chaff, but not ground into a fine meat On grass it is best coarsely grittled to prevent its blowing away. Farmers are do in the habit of giving their beasts linseed cake that with many the idea of feeding an animal is only associated with it; and, as atoodln itself, n ls iinequaled by any other, but other foods can be mixed to be more economical Linseed cake made its reputation in those good old days, which seem so long past, when 41 rices were such that the close steering of the present did not seem so necessary, and when a farmor could afford to be satisfied with whatever - profit he got.from any particular thing, as he knew the wholo would give him a good return; and the reputation it then gained clings to it, and in buying it now, compared with the other foods mentioned, >33 is paid for its feeding properties and 322 for its reputation.— London Agricultural Gazette.

THE DAIRYMAN. Butter-Making on the J^ann. Any farmer’s wife who lias a clean room where the temperature may be kept at about 50 degrees in winter may make as good butter as the best, provided the cows are kept in clean stables aud well provided with proper food and plenty of water. The butter will sell at the highest prices of the whole year. It is simply a question of perfect cleanliness from the time the milk is taken from the cow until it is packed ready for market. A temperature of 50 degrees will insure the perfect ripening of the cream if it is well stirred every time more is added. When ready for the ehurn it should be warmed to a temperature of 02 degrees by placing the jar in a pan of hot water and stirring the cream until the temperature is oorrect. The time of churning should occupy half an hour. When the butter is formed into granules, stop churning, draw off the buttermilk, and return to tlie churn what butter comes away with the buttermilk. Then wash in the chuttirflrßt with clear cold water, and then with Brine. Then work lightly, adding half an ounce of salt to each pound of butter. Before it $ ready for market, or after it has stood in. a (tool place twelve hours, rework by pressing, never with a drawing motion, and pack in suitable vessels. If the butter is to be colored—and it should be in winter to give it a delicate yellow tint, some degrees lighter than many persons foolishly suppose necessary—it must be done by mixing the butter color in the cream. Mix the proper quantity of color in a little milk, and add to the cream with stirring until the proper color is assumed A little experience will enable this to be done correctly. Do not mix the color after the cream is in the chum, it is apt to stain the wood, causing the butter to become streaked —Ch icago Tribune. Dairy Notes. Thebe is probably no root more poorly adapted to making good milk or butter than potatoes. They should be fed sparingly, and with a good ration of corn meal, or the milk will be thin and the butter of poor quality. One of the most successful of Illinois dairymen. says the Germantown Telegraph, keeps one Hundred cows, but never raises a pound of hay. He feeds his cattle com fodder, cut when in blossom, bound and set up until cured, or till winter, when it is removed to the bam. He gets seven tons of this dry fodder to the acre, and claims it is worth as much as the best hay. An Ohio dairyman, who plainly shows the possession of a clear head as well as prophetic tire, says that, winter dairying will never be overdone. With warm, well-lighted, clean stables, he continues, plenty of early cut and well-cured grass’, supplemented with the contents of a good silo and .a well-filled root cellar, the comfort, health, and profit of the cows should bo no more problematical in winter than in summer. The .Mural New- Yorker thinks that dairymen might do well to pay more attention to the vast market to be found’in Brazil and the South American republics. Comparatively little butter or cheese is made there, owing to the heat and the natural indolence of the people, yet large quantities are consumed. Butter is shipped in tins or in glass vessels. Most of the trade has been monopolized in years past by Franco and Denmark, butter from the latter country being said to lie particularly well suited for shipment to the hot countries, owing to the peculiar method of manufacture and the great care taken in all the minor details of the business. It seems as if our American dairymen ought to control this trade, which his been estimated to be worth 812,000,001! annually. If butter can bo successfully made in the Southern States it can surely be snipped across the Gulf at a cost much below the freight from Europe. Mexico, too, offers an inviting field for the sale of dairy goods and fine cattle. The trade will increase with great rapidity when it is firmly established. Will it not pay to tako greater pains to enter these markets?

THE OR CH ARDIST. Trees Too Closely Planted. It is very rare in a large orchard to uniformly'productive in all parts. There ml something more than the difference in productiveness of various kinds to account for this. Usually trees on tlie outside will be most prolific, partly because the fruit has more sunliglit and air, aud partly from the fact that the apple-tree roots have a free range into adjoining fields. In a closely planted orchard troe roots interlock long before the branches touch. Probably most of our apple orchards would be more productive if every alternate tree each way were removed. The quincunx "“form of sotting trees, putting a fifth tree in the center of every square, appears very well on paper, but befoire apple troos reach bearing age this fifth tree is more an incumbrance than a profit Possibly heavy manuring might make trees planted thus productive, but we would prefer that the heavy manuring be applied to a smaller number of trees occupying the same ground. , - -* l -*— Should Orchards Be Cultivated? This is evidently one of those questions that admit of a variable answer. In other words, a practice which may be the best for one orchard may not be so for* another, because the conditions are far from being uniform. To keep the ground in an orchard.constantly under cultivation, and producing’ crops winch are removed annually, will soon exhaust the fertility of the richest soil, unless some kind of fertilizer is returned to make good the amount taken away. The frequent stirring of the soil, breaking up, disintegrating and pulverizing, are beneficial operations, for, bv keeping the surface open and loose,, we aid Ihe admission of air and moisture, both of which-contain per-" tain elements which are absorbed by the roots and go far toward making up the bulk of all cultivated plants. But, as a rale, orchardista do not think that they can afford to plow, harrow, and keep down noxious weeds in the orchard for,.no other purpose than to benefit tlie trees and improve tho quantity aud quality of the fruit; consequently, when they plow, it must be for the purpose of sowing or planting, and tbe orchard is kept constantly occupied with some annual farm crop, or seeded down to clover or grass. To sow grain of any kind in an orchar j, except on very moist soils, or in a humid climate, seldom fails to chock tbe growth of trees, because tbe growing grain will take the moisture from the soil at the very t.me the trees need it most Agriculturist. — - Preserved Bruit. < 2 -- a-uita are first prepared for presorVmg by being pricked several times with a fork or large needle, to allow the .sugar to penetrate more freely. As you do them, throw them into a tub of cold Vjier. This prevents them from turning l lack at the places where they have been punctured; when all are done put them into a very clean and bright copper preserving pan, cover with water and simmer gently until they are soft enough so that “a pigmy straw will pierce them;” then take them out with a perforated skimmer and throw into a tub of cold water; when all are blanched take them from- the water and lay them on hair or cone sieves to drain; when

• 1 ■ J drained pack them in layers three or four deep in earthen or stoneware pans or tureens; then pour over them a thin, scalding hpt bvtup that is at the degree of the small thread and just sufficient to float the fruit; cover and set them aside until next day; then drain off the syrup - , add more syrup or sugar to it and boil it to the large throaff: put in the fruit anti -.When it gives a boil or two remove and return it to the tureen, cover and set aside till next day; ■ repeat ttiese operations for five successive days, increasing the syrup a degree in strength each day until it has attained the degree of the large pearl; the sugar must'not exceed this degree or it will crystallize., l Put into dry earthen pans, cover and keep in a cool, dry place for use.

THE POULTERER ' Poultry Hints. -H***;— A crooked broast-bone is not a natural deformity in any breed, but is caused by the bird on ft polo before bone in sufficiently fprmed to boar its weight, or, in other words, by the fowProostmg too young. A bird with crooked breast-bone will not transmit it Poultry-raising, like any other bneiness, is a trade to learn, aud if one is. adapted to it or has a liking for it, he will succeed All beginners are advised to start with a few birds, increasing the number as they learn how to handle them. What every one wants is to produce eggs when they bring the highest prices, and also poultry for market when it is not plenty. A place near a city is naturally the hest, as one can readily secure customers that will pay good prices for fresh eggs and nioely dressed chickens. Both Plymouth Bocks and Wyandottes are hardy breeds. Wyandottes mature the quickest, because as a rule they are not as large as Plymouth Rocks. The latter breed will weigh more at eight weeks old We cannot say which would lay the greater number of oggs in a year, as the Wyandottes have not been tried or bred as extensively as Plymouth Bocks. The cause of young chicks " getting so weak in the legs as to hardly be able to walk is often that they are kept on a board floor too much. They should be allowed to go on the ground after being forty-eight hours old There is no recipe for peeking eggs so as to keep them a year and have them like fresh eggs. Bucn a method would make a fortune for anybody. There is no rule to feed and care for hens that are confined to make them lay the year around The better care you give them the better returns. There is nothing so fruitful of disease and death among voting chickens as damp, unclean quarters. Oftentimos dampness is found under brood coops, caused by the coopremaining upon one place all day. All brdpUHjips.should be removed just before sundown t 6 ground that has had the full effects of the drying sun and wind throughout the day. In rainy weather a dry board should take tlie place of the damp ground Young chickens show the effocts of dampness in several wava The brood mav only appear at first slightly indisposed, tiie chicks less active,. finally'becoming lifeless and dying from no apparent cause. In other instances the chick is noticed to drag its body as if constantly under great pressure. Indigestion and inflammation are the active causes of distress, the chicks growing rapidly weak and soon dying. The least evidence of dampness is manifested in acute catarrh, or more commonly in rheumatism of the feet and legs. The chick is found suddenly crippled and its toes drawn up in a night In all cases of poultry ailments, prevention is the be.it and cheapest doctor. In the case of chickens suffering from rheumatism, the feet and legs should be placed, or rather held, in warm water for ten minutes at a time. The legs must be dried thoroughly, and the chick kept indoors, or upon perfectly dry ground, until restored to health. Ducks often die from greedily eating all kinds of insects without stopping to kill them, thus disarranging their digestive organs. Ducks should be confined in small yards while young, say three or four weeks old, giving water only enough to drink. Ducks require more animal food than chickens. They relish fish. Young turkeys should be fed on curd aud chopped greens the first two or three weeks. They require a range and will not thrive in confinement. Both turkeys and ducks shouldbe kept out of the rain and dampness until they are several weeks old. A characteristic of our domestic turkey is that when young, and until it “shoots the red,” it is the most delicate bird we have,. but when grown it is able to bear the rigors of our winters extremely well —Poultry Monthly.

THE HOUSEKEEPER. Ornamented Mirrors. Handsome mirrors are a great addition to a room, as every woman knows. TEat they are usually very expensive is known, too, by every one who has a slender purse. Let me tell you how to have one that will be both handsome and inexpensive. Get a good glass of the size you wish, beveled if you can afford it. You will be suprised to see how much cheaper they are when unframed. Then have your carpenter make a plain pine wood frame for it, quite broad. Cover this with plush of any color you like, on which you have embroidered a spray of woodbine, .clematis, or some other graceful flower or vine. Or you can embroider an appropriate motto in quaint old Roman letters m gold or.flosses: Be to my virtues ever kind ; Be to my faults a little blind. Or you can quote tno phrase from “Richard HI.:” That I may see my shadow as I pass. A bow of satin ribbon in one corner will add much to the attractiveness of the frame, also. i'< ■■■;■, ■■■ ■ Old Conifoi'ts. No one will quarrel with me,-1 think, when I call a blanket a comfort. Few things are so desirable for bed covering, either for warmth or lightnoss. The housewife who is the happy possessor of a pair of thick, fine,, soft, handsome blankets may- be well excused if she smooths and pats them with a good deal of satisfaction and pride. But even good things will wear out, and we must sometimes turn our eyes from the piles of pew, desirable, almost poetic, blankets in our great dry goods houses to the piles in our own homes, old (though still desirable), and very prosy-to mqsfcoflris' pair of blankets” lias a generous sort of sound' about it, and few could be persuaded to cut a new pair in two. There, are many ways of taking care of new ones' that I presume most people know of, and of which I shall not speak, because my theme is old comforts. When blankets begin to wear out, to grow thin in little,spotthe bjst plan is to darn them with yarn the color of the blanket, just as one Would darn a thin place in a stocking. I hold mine up between myself and the light, put a pin in every spot that shows thin, and then darn baek and forth where I find the pins, after I have seated myself comfortably m a low rocker. Or this is very desirable work for little girls, and they can easily l>e taught to do it nicely. I can' assure you that the “blanket bee” held the other riioruing by three little girls and myself was quite a charming sight, and opened tne way for much cosy, domestic chat Double blankets are hard to handle, either to mend or wash. Adesirable way is to cut them in two when they begin to wear thin. By this time the bindings at the ends are worn out Rebind with whits silesia, cut into bias strips, and stitched on aftsr your machine has been adjusted for a long stitch. One word more, although it hardly seems necessary: Blankets should always be washed or put in order during the long summer, so as to be quite ready when cold weather comes. It is such a satisfaction to hand down thoroughly prepared blankets when John says, “I must have more covers on my bed. I nearly froze last night when it changed” There is another old comfort that I very much wish to speak about: old cotton or linen cloth. All housekeepers know the - value of this for cleaning purposes, and how much later is saved by carefully washing and puttinginto a large drawer, box or basket dll old cloths of every description. I shall not dwell npbn this. What is not so well known, is the need hospitals have for old cotton .or linen. New does not compare with old ini its value to a hospital One can readily understand this after a moment’s thought of the cuts and bruises, the broken bones and other troubles that require bandaging. I have never gone to any hospital with a bundle of old cloth that it was not received with strongly expressed appreciation. Therefore, good friends of those in need, use your colored rags for cleaning, as far as von can, saving the white ootton or linen to heal the ills of your wounded brethren and the perplexed brains of their nurses. Think no piece too small to pnt in your collection-box, pro-

Tided it is old and soft and dean, and I am sure von will feel that yon have dispensed a larga slice of comfort, with only the expenditure of a littls thought and trouble. —Juniata Stafford , in Good Housekeeping. X

THE NURSE. Needing the Babies. In po detail of nursery routine is a “knack" more serviceable than in feeding. This is especially true during the first days of wean-ing-timo,’ when the mother’s anxiety over a refusal even to taste the novel food in the novel way is apt to be at the moat distressing point What often passes for distaste, or even lack of appetite, may be only a momentary whim, easily overcome by a little judicious persuasion, perhaps under cover of some little ruse, or a temporary diversion of the attention, during which the feeding may be acomplished in a mechanical way. An attempt to force a child to eat against his will, even when obviously in need of nourishment, may da more than fail of its purpose; it may provoke a rebellious spirit ana create an aversion, not only to the particular food administered, but to any otner that may be offered, which would, under other circumstances, be entirely acceptable to the fastidious litde one. This repeated refusal adds anxiety to anxiety, the fact being overlooked that it is abnormal, and might easily have been averted. Moreover, we cannot tell to what extent our own feelings at such a time react, in spite of ourselves, on the baby: but react they Often do, and only add complication to our troubles. ■ Milk for Babies. To be a perfect food for infants, milk must be of the very best quality. Tniß statement is not meant to convey the impression that it must be very, rich in cream or any one of its other parts; but that it should be in as sweet, pure, perfect condition as possible. Cow’s milk, as it averages, when the milk of several cows is mixed together, is rich enough in fats and other constituents, and often needs diluting. An excess of cream impairs rather than improves it for this class of consumers. An excess would be about as objectionable as a deficiency. It is important that it should come from a cow in good health, and fed op sweet and wholesome food; for the quality and whqiesomene3B of milk will vary with the character of the food from which it is made. To produce the hest milk for infants, the animals giving it should neither be overfed nor underfed. One extreme wonld be as unfortunate as the other. Milk becomes vitiated when its secretion is over-stimulated. In part, at least, milk is derived from decomposition of tissue; and when this goes on actively, fragments of tissues break away without being perfectly dissolved, and may be seen suspended in the milk. The fragments that are small enough to pass through au ordinary strainer remain in the milk, and by their rapid decomposition affect its flavor and quality. For infants’ use, milk from cows giving rather a moderate quantity is preferred to that from cows producing utiusnally large yields. When milk becomes irregular from extremes in feeding, it is greatly improved by filtering it through a sack of pulverized charcoal. Filtering it through filter paper will help it very much, but charcoal is better. The filter will catch all the objectionable solids, and the absorbent capacity of the charcoal will take up all the prominent odors, aud tlie milk will come out with a decidedly new and delicious flavor, and much improved in a sanitary point of view. One who has not tried it will be astonished at the quantity of offensive matter that will soon collect in the charcoal—Glasgow Herald. ~ THE COOK. Cookery for Plain People. Soups contain a great deal of nourishment. They also impart a relish and appetite for what is to follow. They can be made both good and expensive,-as will be seen: Tomatoes are 12 cents a quart can. Take half a can, or one pint of-fresh tomatoes tcost 6 centsj; add one quart of water; boil five minutes, or enough to dissolve the large pieces; then stir in one-half teaspoonful of carbonate of soda; add one cup of milk (cost 2 cents) and one cup of fine bread crumbs (cost 1 cent), butter half the size of an egg (cost 2 cents) and a pinch of salt and pepper. You lfave a soup that has cost not over 10 or 12 cents, and a larger quantity than two would probably require. Another good plain soup is pea-soup. Split peas are. ten cents a quart, bacon sixteen cents a pound (do not buy a second quality of bacon). Of the first you require half a pint (three cents), of the second one-quarter pound (four cents); total cost, seven cents; yet the soup will be found very good and the making simple enough. Wasli tne peas and swell them over night in cold water. ‘ln the morning put them in a kettle with a close-fitting cover, with the water in which they have soaked and one quart more, and the quarter pound of bacon cut in three or four pieces; add one good teaspoonful of salt, or more, to the taste; remove tne froth that rises when the soup begins to boil and keep closely covered; cook slowly for several hours, stirring occasionally, till the peas are dissolved, adding a little more boiling water to keep up the quantity if it boils away. At dinner time take out the ha on and strain the soup if any peas remain undissolved. It will be quite thick and well-flavored. Even on a limited income beef, should be the principal meat, for'it is the moHt wholesome; other kinds make an agreeable change. Use pork sparing y, though’ it*is cheap; beef can be made equaliv choap by choosing suitable pieces and cooking them well. Take a thick slice @f meat from the round, such as you can buy at the market for 10 cents per pound, with no bone and little fat Get the butcher to split it almost open for you, so you have one large, thin steak. No matter how tough, it will be tender as porterhouse steak" when ready for the table, and quite as toothsome. Lay the r meat out smoothly and wipe it dry, but dp not wet it Take a‘coffeecupful of fine broad crumbs, a little salt and pepper, a little powdered thyme or other sweot herb, and just ’ enough milk to moisten to a stiff dressing. Mix well and Spread over the meat Roll it up carefully and tie up with twine, wound to secure it well, especially the ends. Nqw, in the bottom of vour kettle fry some fat salt pork till crisp and brown, one quarter pound ent in thin slices (cost three cents). Into the fat that has fried out from this pork put the rolled meat, brown it on all sides, turning - ' it till it is a rich color all over, then put in half a pint of tester and sprinkle over a little salt. Keep closely covered, adding a little water if it cooks away too much. If one likeß the flavor of onion add jjtho half of a small one, chopped fine. When ready to serve unwind the string carefully to presevve the shape. Lay it on a platter with the gravy poured over it Cut tlie meat in i nlic ’.H through the rod as jelly roll is cut by the bakers. The toughest meat is made tender and nutritious when cooked in this way, aud is equally nice warmed over next (lay. Boiled corned beef is a gooddisb, but usually poorly cooked, and it is not in reality so inexpensive a meat as supposed. Haft its nutriment is apt to be lost in boiling, which should he very slow and continue for several hours, till the bone comes out easily. It is hotter economy, howeger, to hnv the corned round at fourteen cents a pound than the rump piece at twelve, for the fatter has so much bone. Put corned beef in cold water to boil It takes ont the excess of salt, while putting it into hot water makes it hard and tough. Keep it closely covered while' boiling to prevent th r ‘ loss of- nutriment in steam. Cook slowly till the bones wj.ll fall ont, pack the meat in a deep dish, mixing well together the lean and satin proportion. Next let the liquor get cold and remove the fat that rises, which may be used as dripping for frying; then boil down this broth till there is fust enough when poured over the meat to fill the spaces between the ’pieces. Lay over the. whole a fiat cover that will fit the' dish, put on a heavy weight, and allow to Btand till cold. Any piece of corned beef is tender and juicy if treated in this way* The boiled liquor eaves tlie most nutntions portion, which is u-ually thrown away. The gelatine of the condensed gravy, when cold, -forms a solid mass with the meat, which may be cut up in slices, for serving. Plain corned bo3f shonld always be put away covered in its own juice. It then keeps soft aud a good color, otherwise it soon becomes dark, dry, and tasteless. Parsnips, turnips, and bjets all go well with beef. Cut parsnips into inch lengths, boil till soft, peel and mash them, add a bit of butter, salt, and pepper, make into small, round cakes and fry brown in beef drippings, or cut them in three or four pieces, lengthwise, parboil, and then fry them brown and crisp. —C Beets, boiled till done, the skin slipped ofi in cold water, served plain or sliced in vinegar, are gaod. —Katherine Armstrong, in Nets York World.