Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 February 1887 — HUSBANDRY AND HOUSEWIFERY. [ARTICLE]

HUSBANDRY AND HOUSEWIFERY.

Matters of Interest Relating to Farm and Household Management. i Information for the Plowman, Stock- • Yuan, Ppulterer, Nurserymen, and Housewife. THE FARMER. Peas in the Orchard. The pea crop -will grow better in the shade than any other grain, and many farmers arc learning that it is just what in needed to sow in their apple orchard. Let the pigs harvest the crop, and with thin and fa.leu apples a large amount of the , very best pork may be fationed. , „ Pulverizing Manure. The more fiuely puiver.zsd manure is the more effective it wih be. This leads mauy farmors to compost everything, finding that the smaller bulk after fermentation produces better effects than the whole applied in the green state. But in most cases this fermentation is , accompanied by losses of Valuable nitrogen by evaporation and of mineral plant food by leaching. Until the wastes from tho manure heap are better understood, and methods are taken to prevent them, the com. mini practice of drawing manures green from tho barnyard will be advisable for average farmerk 'ln the soil what is lost from tho manure by fermentation is retained for the use of future crops. The immediate effect may not bo as great as from rotton manure, but it is more lasting. Potato Culture. At a meeting of farmers in Eastern Massachusetts Mr. Edmund llersey read a paper on this subject. He stated that the results of his investigation were: 1. The shape of a potato caunot bo changed by the continued selection of any particular Turin of the seed planted. 2. Tha crop may be increased by selecting for seed healtuy, well-kept potatoes, and diminished by selecting for seed diseased and poorly kept potatoes. 3. Hard potatoes that have sprouted but little are better for seed than those that are soft or have long sprouts. 4. Long-continued planting of any variety gradually changes its character, often improving it during the first -twenty years after it comes from the seed. It then frequently begins to lose its good qualities and to become more susceptible to disease. 5. Largo crops are only obtainable on rich soils we.l prepared by being thoroughly pulverized. 6. Iu ordinary field culture the size of the potato should be sufficient to give the young plant a vigorous start Whole potatoes, or pieces weighing from one "to two ounces, are not too large. 7. Neither the size nor the form of the potato for seed is of so much consequence as its healthy condition or its vital powers. 8. No rules can be laid down in regard to the quantity of seed per acre, the amount of manure, or the particular method of cultivation that will apply to all farms. 9. One or a half-dozen experiments are not sufficient to establish any particular facts. It is only by numerous experiments covering a tong period of time and tried on different farms that it is safe to sett e down to any results as undeniable fact'. 19. While the successful cultivator may gather from Others much valuable inforffiatiou to assist him in his investigation, for the details, if he would produce large crops at the least possible cost, he must rely principally upon the practical experience he has obtained by working on his own farm. .

Bath-Rooms for Farmers. The most convenient bath-room I have ever seen ip a farmer’s house, says Mr#, Howard in HP exchange, was planned and located in the house "of Colonel M. j. Hogarty, a retired army officer whose homo is in Greeley, COL This bath-room adjoins the large kitchen, and is entered by a door near the cookatove or range. It is supplied with hot and cold water through pipes leading to it from the stove and force-pump. A large tank is fitted on or near the front of the stove, four or five feet high aud eight inches in diameter. The water this cylindrical tank is heated in pipes running v around the inside of the stove and outside ana above the coal-box. The tank Is fiiled with water through pipes leading from a forcepump situated in the pantry. The door leading to this pantry is at tharight of the stove,, aud that ot the to tho left. The pump not only supplies the pantry sink, but the stove and bath-tuh, also a marble basin in one corner of tno bath-room. A lookingglass, roller-towels, and plenty of short towels, brushes, and combs, and soap mako this little room a first-class toilet room for the family at all seasons. There is a faucet at the bottom of the tank, where water can be taken out at any time. If the farmers cannot afford a tank with hot and cold water p.pes leading to the room, they may be able to have a bath-room adjoining tho kitchen without these luxuries. Nearly every farmer has a stove with a reservoir, from which water can be taken at any time, and this, with a couple of pails of cold water added, will be sufficient for a good bath without much troubla It is a greater convenience to the house-mother to be able to give her little flock a bath at least onceaw6ek, and to be able to do this so near a warm fire during the cold weather is a great comfort to all concerned. THE STOCK-BREEDER. Effect of Improved Breeds. An Illinois drover and butcher says that-twenty-five years ago it was very difficult to find yearling' steers that would weigh six hundred pounds, live weight. They were not considered fully ripe until four years old, and then fifteen hundred was considered an extreme weight The feeding now is no better thanllien, or at least not more costly. Solely by improved breeding it is found possible to produce yearlings that weigh one thousand pounds, three-year-olds heavier than the old four-year-olds, and full-grown steors weighing two thousand pounds or more. There is certainly no more Done and frame in tho improved stock, and it is consequently worth, more per pound to the^u teller. If it has taken more feed it has retul-Rd a larger proportion to the manure heap. Guernsey Cattle. We are sometimes asked to explain the difference between the Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney entile. We take it as evidence of the into res ’, taken in thoroughbred milk stock. The Guernseys are similar in build to the Jorseys, though larger and inclined to flesh, and hot stylish. Thoir color is usually a rich fawn, with much white; the muzzle and eyelids are buff; in fact, all the “points” are light, affording a strong contrast to the black points of a fashionably marked Jersey. The Guernsey is a.deep milker, producing the yellowest of' butter of superior quality. Some good judges, familiar with both breeds, place the Guernseys ahead of the Jerseys as buttermakers, while their size and capability of taking on fat, when they cease to bo useful for the dairy, render them a desirable breed. One farmer of our acquaintance, who has an excellent herd of both of these breeds, says that admixture of the cream from Guernsey milk with that from Jerseys gives the butter a deeper, richer color, and makes it bring a higher price than that of Jersey alone. The Guernseys being as a rule large milkers, consequently yield more butter, but the quality of that made exclusively from thoir milk is not quite equal, as it lacks something of its delicate flavor, to the best Jersey butter. This experience indicates that one or two good Guernsey cows in any herd, kept for butter, would probably improve its product as a marketable article. _ ’ Home of the Guernsey cows that we have seen are nearer the ideal cow than any we have met, their rich color, large, fine bodies, handsome proportions, fully developed ndders, and other “milk signs,” together with their rich and generous milk and butter yield, make then! a distinct and characteristic breed •of dairy eat tie. The Jerseys hold a justly deserved’prominence as butter producers, and it is safe' to predict that tKerr~ numbers will greatly increase. The recent numerous sales indicate an increase In their importation, notwithstanding the faet that some of our breeders are now breeding just as good Jerseys as can be found anywhere in the world. The rapid depletion of the herds of the “mother couutrv” under the annual culling out of 'JO,000 animals for exportation, renders this state of affairs inevitable It is a fact that the best Jerseys cows, both on the Island and in this

country, closely resemble the Guernseys in size aud general appearauce—a factwhich speaks strongly for tho Guernsey type as one to be regarded by breeders of dairy stock ofauy kind. — American Agriculturist. THE POULTERER. ; t ; Keeping Orade Fowls. Tho groat majority of fowls kept by farmers are grades, few having the courage - to stock W with U gh-price l thoroughbreds, or the lime and sk ill reqnirod to 'breed them pure wheu got. If rightly managed grade fowls will do as well as any, tut the Hook must be kept down by unsparing weeding out of all objectionable ppecimons, and every year the grado roosters must bo killed, and pure bred males of some kind purchased in thpir placo. It is this breeding from thoroughbred-males that is the greatest secret of success in grading fowls. With mixed blood on both sides of the E a rentage the offspring becomes not grades ut mongrels, and the flock soon runs out so as not to be worth keeping. Fattening Turkeys. The turkey is one of tho finest products of, the farm, aud one of the greatest luxuries iu the market The farmer should dp liis best in preparing his fiock for tho sham bios, 'lho main business now is to lay ou fat, and the birds should have, every night and morning, a full supply of nutritious aud Jattening food. Instinctively the turkey follows his feed, aud if the supply is abuudant at the farm-yard, he will not stroll far from homo. Boiled potatoes, mashed and mixed with meal, anil led moderately warm, is a very excel.eut feed, both to promote growth auil to fatton. If tho pigs can be robbed of a part of their milk, and if it be mixed with a part of the hot potatoes and meal, it will vory much improve tho dish. It is very desirable to supply tho place of insects with some kind of animal food, aud butchers’ scraps is one of the cheapest and most desirable i onus of food for poultry. Grain should be given at least once a nay With tho soft and warm iood. Nothing is better than sound' corn. Old corn should always be used for this purpose. The new corn keeps them too loose. In feeding, only so much corn should bo thrown out as the birds will oat up clean. Tako a little time to feed them, aud study aisthoiics as you watch the irridescent hues upon the glossy plumage. There is nothing more charming upon the farm in the whole circle of tlio yoar than a hundred or two of these richly bronzed turkeys feeding near a corn-crib. You can afford to enjoy the disappearance of corn while the turkeys are increasing in weight. Dreams of a full wallet at Thanksgiving and Christmas will not harm you as you look on this interesting (fight American .Agriculturist. —— THE BEE-KEEPER. Losses of Bees in Winter. Dr. James A. Minich, of Indianapolis, writes to the Bee Journal: Wo can scarcely pick up a bee paper that has not something to say ou this subject Wo hear it discussed ad infinitum at our conventions; aud of remedies to guard against winter loss there is no end. It is amusing to see how widely apiarists differ, and the variance of their opinions. I have listened patiently, and have faithfully read all the theories. Ido not object to any and all the pians that have been given from time to time; they are all good enough as far as they go. It is well to put chaff cushions, forest loaves, or any good absorbent in the upper story of the hive; or to pack straw or rawdust or chaff around the outsides of the hive; contract tho brood-chamber to five or six frames; make passageways through the combs, or place sticks on top for the same ■purpose, ana put them into a suitable cellar. All these cautionary measures are propor, and most of them necessary to success. The bees will generally winter well aud come out in the spring all right, and every bee-keeper feels as though he had solved the winter problem and is on the road to success, and even to fame, and he cries “Eureka! ” \ But sooner or later an epidemic comes and the bees die in spite of all the above plans and remedies, and a “Change comes o’er the spirit ot his dreams.” And again the discussion be-gins—-“too much pollen,” too much ventilation, or not enough; too much heat or too. much cold, or too damp; and more remedies are offered. Now, why is it that these epidemics will come every few years? In my opinion tho main reason has been overlooked. I have observed that overy epidemic among bees has been preceded by a drought the summer or fall previoas. I wish every apiarist to make a note of this. This was the case the

summer aud fall of 1880, and it was followed It was the caso’tlurtcon or fourteen years ago —I can not tell tho year—and the bees were almost annihilated the following winter in Central Indiana And in tho summer and fall of 1884 thore was sufficient drought at tho proper time to bring about the same result But how could it affect the bees? you ask. In two ways: 1. Itisa well-known fact that flowers will not bloom and honey will not flow in dry weather, and consequently the queeua cease to lay eggs, and breeding, stops. Now one can readily see that colonies will have to go into winter quarters with old June and July bees which were ready to die from old age and exhaustion; or perchance a few of them might linger a few weeks longer, and “one by one they pass away” in tho spring—“spring dwindling,” caused by old age. 2. Dry weather is conducive to the secretion of honey dew, or “bug juice,” and bees will gather it and store it away for the winter, which causes diarrhea among the bees and consequent death. Tho remedy: Taking the above to be facts the remedy is now plain enough; the winter problom is solved. When dry weather sets in, and the honey flow coases in August aud September, the bees should be fed regularly so as to stimulate lato breeding. This should be done regularly, or tlio queens will not have much confidence in the future outlook, and will stop laying. Honey dew should bo excluded in every way possible. It can bo detected as soon as" the bee-keeper sees it. Take it out and feed them bountifully on cane-sugar sirup. If you will be as careful in this respect as you are iu others, you will have no losses. Remember that your greatest trouble is causod by droughts, and that if your colonies can go into winter quarters with young bees, witli pure honey or sirup, cushions of chaff or leaves on top, pas-ages for tho bees to travel from comb to conib, and keeping them quiet and not bothering them at all in their long rest, you will see them all come out booming in the spring. No matter how severe the winter may be, they will survive and come out. all right on tho above conditions. THE FORESTER. Nut-Producing Trees. Persons interested in the production ot trees common to our forests will do well to plant those kinds that are valuable for several purposes. Shelter belts are wanted on all prair.e farms,-end the general practice is to plant those varieties of trees that can be obtained for the least money and troubla In many case 3 cottonwood] willows, and poplars are planted to break the force of the Wind» chiefly because they can be obtained near the place where they are wanted, can be bought at a low price, are quite certain to live after tliev are transplanted, and Will make a very quick growth. At but little more trouble and cost a shelter-belt may be formed that will be valuable for other purposes than breaking the force of our violent winds. We ciu substitute for the cottonwood, willow, and poplar the butternut, black walnut, hickory, aud beech. To this list of nut-producing trees you can add the white oak, ana for portions of the country where the climate iB suited for their growth the pec&u and chestnut All these trees are stately, hardy, strong, and longlived. Once established," they will continue to Sow for centuries. None of them are likely be overturned or broken by the strongest winds. Their somewhat slow growth while they are young constitues toe only to them. : They form excellent shelter-belts. They are highly ornamental, and after they are of a size to sustain barbed-wire will be excellent substitutes for cedar posts in forming a fence. The branches which are removed in pruning will make good fueL As soon as they are of ah age and size to produce nuts they will be constant sources or pleasure and profit Edible nute take a high rank among toe luxuries, and they may be produced on every farm almost without eost or troubla Few things add more to the comfort of toe home during the, winter than a supply of nuts. If more are produced than are wanted for home consumption they oan be retwlily sold to' farmers who have no nut trees and to village peopla During several jears there has been a Large demand for nuts for planting in toe far Western States and Territories. There has

been even a considerable demand for them to send to England and some countries on the continent of Europe. A Missouri fanner states that for a series of years he has derived more money from tho safe of nuts that grew on a forty-acre tract of native hickory and WStnut treos tha» from the corn produced on tho same number of acres. The former oost nothing but for harvesting, while the latter requires the labor of a man and team during the entire season. All the nut-producing trees mentioned furnish exotllent timber aud very valuable fuel If it is necessary to cut down a tree at any stage of its growth becauao it e'ands to close to others or lias received an injury, its wood becomes valuable for timber or fuel. Nutproducing trees are as desirable for planting in grovos or along the sides of roads as for forming shelter bolts. Of late the black walnut has received much attention at the hands of tree planters, but the claims of the butternut or white walnut have genorallv been overlooked The like is true in relation to the hickory, which is one of tho most beautiful as woll as one of the most useful of our native trees. The beoch has been neglected and the impression has been created that it would not thrive on prairie soils. It is a very valuable tree, and thore is good reason for believing that it will grow on any land that produces oaks. Beech nuts are very easily obtained, and they germinate almost as easily as grains of corn. The trees present a very fine appearance, whether growing by themselves or with trees that have drooping branches, with which they inako a very striking contrast Chicago Times. THE COOK. To Prevent a Soggy Undercrust. If tho bottom crust of fruit-pies, or any other juicy kind, is rubbed over with a beaten egg it will not be soggy. Cookies. One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three eggs, two tablespoonfuls each of baking-pow-der aud boiling water, aud flour enough to knead as soft as can be rolled out * tTohnnycake. Two-thirds of a teaspoonful of soda, three tablespoonfuls of sugar, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, one egg, one teacup of sweet milk, six tablespoonfuls of Indian meal, three tablespoonfuls of flour, aud a little salt Fried Parsnips. Scrape and leave in ice-cold water for an hour, then cook lia’f an libur in hot, saltoil wafer, wipe, slice lengthwise, dip in melted butter, then in flour seasoned with salt and pepper and fry in boiling dipping. Drain free of fat and dish. Cracker Pudding. One egg, three tablespoonfuls of sugar, one pint of milk, two or three milk crackers rolled, nutmeg and a pinch of salt Bake about three-quarters of an hour. Run the handle of a spoon down the center of the pudding; if it does not look milky it is dona Tapioca Cream. Soak ono-half Cup of pearl tapioca in water over night, put a quart of milk iu a sauce-pan to heat, beat tho yelks of three eggs and twothirds cup of sugar with the tapioca. When the milk is hot stir in and boil two minutes, stirring constant y. .Set on the ice, and just before serving stir in the whites of three eggs beaten stiff, and season with lemon and vanilla. Scalloped Potatoes. - Cut up cold-boiled potatoes until you" have about a quart Put in a pan a generous cup of milk, one teaspoonful of flour and one tablespoonful of flour. Set on the stovo and let it thicken, then put a layer of potatoes in a pudding dish, season with salt and pepper, and pour on a little of the gravy, Coutinlie until all is used. Cover the top with rolled cracker crumbs and bits of butter. Bake twenty minutes.

THE FAMILY DOCTOR. The Cold-Air Cure. The benefits of cool air are not universally appreciated. A good many people are afraid of it, especially at-aight, shuttfog themselves in close bedrooms, where tlieir systems are poisoned and their constitutions-gfhdualiy undermined by breathing the bad air. And even hot or warm air that is pure, air in a room that has ventilation as well as heat, is debilitating where breathed all night The evidence that pulmonary complain W%re inevitably and exclusively caused by foul Indoor air, and cured by pure, especially by cold, Sure, out-door air, can grow convincing to a egroe almost afflictive to a philanthropist, who most often feels like a travolerißSiSing his companions groping in the gloom of a subterranean labyrinth, and refusing to follow the clew that has led him back to the sunshine of the upper world. The remedial influence of fresh’ air is so much increased by a low temperature that “colds” are, in fact, far more curable in midwinter than in midsummer. -. ' . I was shot through the lungs in Mexico, and have ever since been susceptible to the contagion of a “catarrh factory,” as a friend of mine calls the unventilated schoolrooms and meeting-houses of our country towns. In warm woather I avoid such man-traps as I would the pit of a gas well, but in winter I risk their infection in the assurance that its influence can be counteracted by an extra dose of ice air. On returning from a crowded lecture hall, a stifling sickroom, a stuffy omnibus, etc., I remove my bed to the draught side of the house and open a window to the full capacity of its mechanism, taking care to go to sleep facing the draught I have often aw r akeued in the morning wrth my ha ; r grizzled with hoar frost, but without the slightest vestige of the catarrh which had announced its approach the night before. Gold is an antiseptic and a powerful digestive stimulant; and I here record tbo prediction that the hospitals of the future will be icehouses. Dyspepsia, catarrh, and fevers of all kindß can be frozen out of the system. Not by letting the patient shiver in a snowbank, but by giving nim au extra allowance of warm bedciothing, with tha additional luxury of breathing ice-cold air, which, under such circumstances, becomes as preferable to hot miasma as cold spring water to warm ditch water. I have also found that the best brainwork con bo done in a cold room, and that stove-heat has a tendency to stultify like a narcotic beverage. Warm wraps make fires tolerably dispensable. With regard to diet, whore it is limited to natural food there is no danger of eatiug too much. Where stimulants and highly seasoned foods are eaten, it is a different matter. A man with a natural appetite may eat his plain, wholesome food without fear of overstepping the proper limits. But the man with au unnatural appetite, the one who stimulates aud lives high, is always overstepping them, aud is never satisfied. A child instinctively turns with disgust from the gory carcasses of a slaughter-house; but who ever heard of a youngster shuddering at sight of a honeycomb, or a nost full of eggs? I can rarely eat meat of any kind without paying the penalty in a feeling of the gaßtric distress, followed by a more or Jess distinct nausea and troubled dreams. But tho closest observation haß never enabled me to notice such symptoms as an after-effect of an omelet or a piece of bread and butter. _ The sweltering noon is not a favorable time for repletion, nor is the early morning, when the energies of the system snonld not be unduly monopolized by the work ot digestion. A hearty breakfast handicaps a worker for the rest of the forenoon. Of all toe wretched slaves of conventional abuses the most to be pitied are those who have to bolt their dinners m a minimum of time and hasten hack to their drudgery, and often to a temperature that must tempt them to barter a week of their lives for one hour of undisturbed sleep. A light breakfast and late dinner surprisingly ease tbo burden of the hottest working day. I never take a noon-day lunch, and in special exigencies a sort of instinct has often prompted me to dispense with my regular breakfast, too, and go to work after chewing up a fraction of a hard ,crust or a couple- of dried prunes. Early rising, carried to extremes, impairs the vitality. I would as soon rob a child of its food or its clothing as to deprive it of sleep in the morning hours when digestion is finished and dreams become sweet For orphans, as I know from 'Experience, dreamland excursions are often for years the best rbfuge from toe realities of Christian civilization.—2>r. Oswald, in the Herald qf Health.