Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 May 1887 — DOMESTIC ECONOMY. [ARTICLE]

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

A Budget of Useful Information Upon Household and Agricultural Topics. Matters of Interest Relating to Farm, Orchard, Stable, Parlor, and Kitchen. THE FARMER. Sulky Plate*. The. sulky or riding plow, on which the plowman is carried around the field while the work is done, revolutionizes all the old ideas about plowing. It used to be thought that such plows were necessarily of heavier draught, and on hilly land probably they are. Ent with tolerably level surface a riding plow is really easier draught than one of the old-fashioned sort,- as its weight is sustained and drawn on wheels. Many who use it claim that the wheel plow is enough lighter draught to compensate for the weight of the driver or plowman. Still we do not often see sulky plows drawn by two horses, nor is it good economy to work with less than three good horses on any kind of plow.

Warmth of Drained >otl. The curious paradox is presented in under-draining land that freezes more deeply in winter, but sc soon as spring comes it rapidly grows warmer than land not drained. There are much greater extremes of temperature, and both heat and cold faybr the disintegration of the soil and the development of plant food. In welldrained land there is no surplus of water beyond what the soil will naturally retain, its freezing, therefore, does make the solid stratum of ice, and when it thaws the water percolating to the tiles is followed by air which in spring is always warmer than the soil. At night when the surface freezes the expansion of the soil expels the air, which is replaced on the morrow when the sun is shining brightly. Stagnant water in the soil prevents the circulation of air, and thus keeps down the temperature until the water is gradually dried out by the heat of summer. _ Aand Paint for Garden Structures. A correspondent of the London Garden writes: I observe that Mr. Peter Henderson recommends white-lead and sand as a substitute for ordinary paints. I have never used the mixture, but at one time we used a considerable quantity of what we termed sand paint. This was made with whitening and white-led in equal parts, with about a fourth of the whole of silver sand. Sufficient oil was added to render it workable, and this was laid on as thickly as possible. When it dried, it felt hard and gritty—almost like stone; and my experience is that it is the most durable and impervious to weather of any paint I have ever employed. About fifteen years ago we painted the end of a building with it, and I noticed the other day that, although no paint of any kind had been applied since, there is still a fair coat on the walls. Two or three coats of this sand paint would render boards quite impervious to weather influences for years. White-lead is apt to peel oft after a time, but this paint does not do so. It forms a solid body that nothing but the weather wear of many years can affect. Another way that we hay.e employed is to lay on the paint first, and then, before it commences to dry, sprinkle sand thickly over it. This gives it a rather rough, stone-like appearance, which in certain situations is desirable.

Making JI eat Cheaply. The time has passed when cheap meat production will be mainly due, as it has been, to cheap lands and food that costs little or nothing. It is likely that in a long series of years all kinds of meat will be dearer than they have been. If feeders gain it will be due less to natural advantfor which they are not responsible than to their own skill and good management. There is yet an immense deal to learn, as is shown at all fat-stock exhibitions. The animals that take the prizes as live stock do not have the largest proportion of good meat when dressed. In every case there is too much waste in the extra fat that has to be cut off and thrown away or converted to some secondary use. One fact is pretty plain in any estimate of the cost of making beef. The gain from. animals while going on is put on at least expense per pound, and contains the largest proportion of salable meat. In a close summary of the results of several livestock shows, it was found that the gain of an average 1-year-old animal cost 4.04 cents per pound. From birth up to 2 years old the gain cost 5.05 cents, while if feeding is continued up to 3 years old the entire gain from birth costs 7.40 cents per pound. It is certain that in the great majority of cases feeding is continued long after it ceased to pay. For all stock not intended for breeding the best feed should be given from birth up, and the animal never be allowed to get too poor to butcher. But while very young the best food is that •which promotes growth of frame rather than laying on of fat. A young animal thus fed will always have a due proportion of lean meat, sweet and juicy.

THE STOCK-BREEDER. Studying Pointt in Cnttle, Pro'. S. Shelton, of the Kansas Agricultural College, writing on the subject of breeding, divides the valuable points of cattle into two classes—those that are in themselves useful, and those that point to the possession of useful qualities—and asks: “Why do careful judges place such a high value upon touch—the texture of the skin?” In answer to this question he says: It, is of no value in itself, but indicates a long list of qualities that are indispensable. If the touch is hard and the skin hard.and inelastic look out for a hard feeder and an animal that is slow and late in maturing. So the flank is of little value in itself; it is a boiling piece of low market value. Yet the good judge knows that an animal with a long, deep flank will be a good feeder, with thick flesh and good constitution. The crop, again—the region just back of the shoulder—is generally ranked high, although it indicates nothing, but is itself a “ pnTt-af-In this connection it-jnaxJ>o remarked that the crops, if well developed, show constitutional vigor and aptitude to fatten. Upon the question, How can minor defects in—a- herd or individual animals be corrected? he says: The advice generally given to correct such defects is tq use a sire that is well de-" velbped in parts where th.. cows are defective.- Thera, arises this difficulty, however, in attempting to correct one"fault—we are quite likely to develop defects of another kind. The best way to employ males whose general character is good. Select as a sire an -animal that is well developed, not merely in the region where the cows are defective, but in all other points; thus you will correct the evil of which you complain and not fall into other errors. Feeding <- 'Very rarely is an animal worth raising that is stunted during the growing period of its life. The profits on raising stock are ■too small to allow of keeping and feeding young animals that have for any length of time flopped growing. A. mature animal may gel thin in cold weather, or on short

feed, and then fat up again when the conditions are made favorable to a gain, but a month or a week of lost time in the life of a growing animal can never be regained. If the growing period is passed without making the growth that is natural to the individual, that individual, whether it be a calf, a colt, a pig, chicken, or a child, must remain under-size through life. Recently, while,traveling, we met a boy from Nova Scotia, paid to be 16 years old, that was but twenty-four inches high and weighed but eight pounds. Such dwarfs may enjoy a fair degree of healthy but by no system of feeding can they be grown to the natural standard of the species. The bones,though small, are matured bones and cannot be made to enlarge. The Breeder's Journal has a paragraph on this subject which is full of truth regarding the feeding of young 'pips. It says: A stunted pig never fully regains what it has lost, The trouble is that the pig poorly fed has his digestion impaired, so that efforts to force him by subsequent high feeding only makes the matter worse. Overfeeding with pigs is a more common fault than is generally supposed. A young pig will always be stunted if fed with all the corn or corn-meal it can eat. The food is too concentrated, and after a few surfeits, the Btomach refuses to act, and the pig will never be thrifty afterward. Hence the common remark that some pigs are not worth as much at six months as they were at the age of six weeks. To keep a young pig thrifty its feed should be largely composed of wheat bran, middlings, and either grass or roots. — New England Farmer.

THE DAIRYMAN. Co-Operative Dairying. The dairy business is the only branch of farming in which the principle of co-oper-ative effort has been successfully employed. There is no question that factory products both of butter and cheese are superior in quality to the average of private manufacture. Making good butter and cheese is an art requiring skill, care, and cleanliness. In a large factory the product is important enough to pay for these, while in a small dairy they are considered often of too little consequence to be looked after. A Model Dairy. It was my privilege to visit the celebrated Darlington dairy, eighteen miles from Philadelphia. Messrs. Jesse and Jard Darlington were born to the butter business, their father having carried it on at the same place. They own 650 acres of rolling land, which yields grass and grain of good quality, keep 270 cows, whose milk is converted into butter, which sells at very high prices. The new milk is strained into tin cans, conveyed to the factory, and passed through “centrifugal separators,” which extract the cream from the milk—the cream runs out at one spout and the milk at another. Four separators are required, all running at the same time, to do the work. The separator in motion, with the milk running in, looks like the stones of a grist-mill whirling at a tremendous rate, the wheat going in from the hopper. Mr. Darlington done his best to make me comprehend the thing, and doubtless would have succeeded if he had been favored with a good subject to work upon. This muchT understand: The milk, falling on a cylinder revolving 7,000 times in a minute, is thrown off with great force, the milk going furthest because it is heaviest, and the lighter oily portions, falling short, are gathered up by themselves and passed into the cream tub made of tin and set in spring water, which remains at a temperature of fifty-two degrees to fifty-four degrees during summer and winter. Fortunately impurities are separated from the cream, and are gathered by themselves in a hard crust; as all milk has more or less of these, the centrifugal separator is in the line of exquisite nicety. The cream is left for three or four days standing in water (which passes through the building where the butter is made), this churned twice a week, put into pound packages, stamped, rolled up in paper, and sent to customers as fast as made; protected in hot weather by vessels having apartments containing ice. By close attention to all the details, Messrs. Darlington have orders for all the butter they make at prices which seem fabulous to people who think one way is about as good as another. They buy most of their hay, and are now receiving it from western New York, They decidedly prefer early-cut, well-cured, red clover hay, and are now paying sl7 per ton for it. It is cut, wet and mixed with corn-meal and twice the quantity of bran—each cow getting six quarts of the meal and bran at a feed if they eat it up clean; cows are well bedded in warm stables, and are turned out twice a day to drink, remaining out foi an hour or two. The milk from the separator goes in pipes to the hogyard, where I saw Chester whites that seemed to enjoy life.— -Correspondence Southern Home and Farm.

THE POULTERER. Managing for t'ggx. In relation to failures in the care of fowls, the Dakota Farmer says: "When the poultryman has made his preparations and begun his operations, he is often disappointed at not receiving a fair return in eggs for the attention and care bestowed. The majority of failures arise with those who have given the fowls all they can eat, and, with a liberal supply of ground oyster-shells, ground bone, gravel, fresh water, and green food, no eggs reward the persevering poultryman. The cause of failure is that the hens are overfed. It is always a mistake to.keep food before them, and, though a variety should be given, care must be exercised not to feed a full meal except nt night. If the food is so given that the hens will not be satisfied with the quantity thej- have received they will hunt for more, and keep busily at work. This avoids idleness and prevents them from pulling feathers or becoming too fat. In the morning the soft food may be given, but it is best not to give quite enough rather than a full allowance. Then scatter a few grains in cut straw, dirt, or litter, and let them get to work scratching. At night give a full meal. By keeping the hens warm, busy, and in moderate condition they will laywell. Poultry Purivjraphs, Do NOT make the mistake of choosing nothing but the largest fowls for sitters. for this purpose, if they are not deficient in feathers. There i, less danger of hens leaving their eggs if they are always set in the. evening. They are much more apt to “stock.” Be very careful about disturbing them for the first two-orttaee days. Many poultry raisers 'fall intothe too common error of using for breeding stock ordinary or even poor fowls. *Not one can ever hope to produce anything bnt very ordinary or inferior stock from sneh a method. Use only the best forbreeding. The result will be none too good then. A Man having ears, nose, fingers, and toes all frozen would not be expected, by an ordinary community to continue his usefulness for -someconsiderable time. Those who are now suffering from lack of thoughtfulness in not providing comfortable -winter shelter for their fowls must not eicept those that aie badly frost bitten to continue the laying process as if nothing had happened. The best mopth in the year for bringing out chickens in the Northern States is April, and next,o in point of desirability,

come March and May. Very little should be done in that line in June, and nothing whatever during July. During the last week in August, and from then on to the 20th of September, a few chickens—pullets fqr laying the next season during the time when the other fowls are moulting —may be raised with profit. Tobacco, in its raw state,’ or previous to sweatening in bulk, is very powerful in its effect, and will certainly drive vermin from the hen’s nest. The whole leaves may be thoroughly dried so as to crumble easily, and put. in the nest of the sitting hen as a lining under the eggs. With this precaution she will not be driven from her nest by vermin before the time of hatching arrives. Tobacco is often erroneously supposed to be difficult te cultivate, but it is really as easily raised ns corn or potatoes. A few plants only will give the poulterer plenty of leaves for use in his fowl-house.

THE HOUSEKEEPER. How One. Woman Keeps Servants. She pays them liberally and promptly, recognizing the fact, true the world Over, that the employer who beats down wages always suffers from the inferior quality of work done, and from lack of interest on the part of the employed. Having a practical knowledge of the business of housekeeping, she cannot be deceived, and knows how to direct the work properly; and, while insisting kindly, but firmly, that it shall be properly performed, she never fails to give a word of praise for all that merits her approval. She never meddles with her servants’particular ways of doing work, so long as good results are produced. She doesn’t think it necessary to substitute her way for everybody else’s way. She never lowers herself by scolding. Her servants are respectful to her because she is respectful to them. No familiarity is tolerated or attempted. The private domestic life of the family is never intruded upon. They have their own apartments, eat by themselves, and prefer to do so. And yet the mistress is not unmindful of their physical and mental well-being. She has fitted up a comfortable bedroom, with a good spring bed and toilet necessities, and adjoining, a cosey little sitting-room, with a stove, table, rocking chairs, etc., where they can rest aS women need to. And several times a week they are invited to the family sitting-room for half an hour in the evening, where she teaches them to read English, they being Scandinavians. She realizes that, as human beings, they have desires for social companionship, and allows them to have a reasonable amount of company. She allows them as many church privileges as possible, and gives them a street-car fare once or twice a week. She takes a kindly personal interest in them, helping them to select their clothing and get it made neatly. “Too much trouble to take for servants,” is it? Well, perhaps it is; and yet she contrives to do it in the intervals of a busy life. She says that it isn’t a quarter the trouble that it would be to change servants every six weeks. Those girls love her, and look up to her, and work faithfully for her,' and couldn’t be driven away from her.— Minneapolis Tribune.

■ Household,r . . ■ Kid shoes may be kept soft and free from cracks by rubbing them once a week with a little pure glycering or castor-oil. A piece of zinc placed on the coals of a hot stove will clean out the stove pipe. The vapor produced carries off the soot by chemical decomposition. Do you take advantage of the more practical labor-saving devices in doing your work? Improvement here should be thought of before getting farther into this new year. In ventilating a room open the windows at top and bottom. The fresh air rushes in one way while the foul air makes its exit the other; thus you let in a friend and expel an enemy. A damp cloth enveloping the broom-head will be found desirable in removing the dust from a carpet in a room where there may be many small articles to catch the dirt raised by an ordinary sweeping. The old wash-boiler need not be cast aside when leakage beyond repair sets in. This is the time it should have the dints straightened out and be scoured up to use for keeping bowls and glasses of jelly and marmalade from the mice.

To clean kid gloves rub them with very slightly damped crumbs of bread. Or scrape French chalk upon them while on the hands and wash them in a basin containing diluted spirits of ammonia. Some gloves can be cleaned with milk, with rice pulp, or with turpentine. '" ’ :. The broom, instead of standing in a corner when not in use, ought to be hung up. A strong twisted or braided string put through a small hole in the handle will do it. Wet the broom in boiling hot suds every wash-day; if treated in this way it will keep its shape, and wear much longer. The best way of checking the bleeding from the nose is to apply cold water to the neck and face. Hold a sponge saturated with cold water to the nostrils, or if this does not succeed, dissolve a little alum in ft basin of water, and inject or snuff this up the nostrils. Hold the head back and do not attempt to blow the nose. Sometimes the lamp-wick obstinately refuses to be turned up in an orderly manner. It will seem firmly wedged at one side, while the other runs up in a point, causing weariness and vexation of spirit. To overcome this depravity, take a new wick, draw out a single thread near the selvage, and the wiM< will be found tractable when introduced into the burner. The cogs will take it up properly, and it will appear in good form and give an even tiame when lighted.

THE KITCHEN. Cooking Recipes. Fried Parsnips.—Scrape and leave in cold water for an hour, then cook half an hour in hot salted water, wipe, slice lengthwise, dip in melted butter, then in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, and fry in boiling dripping. Drain free of fat and dish. Fried Apples.—Make a batter of two eggs, a pinch of salt, aeup of milk and six tablespoonfuls of flour. Slice, pare and core tart apples as thin as Saratoga potatoes. Dip them a spoonful at a time in the batter and fry—Eat with powdered sugar and cream or a liquid sauce. Tapioca Pudding.—Wash four large tablespoonfuls of tapioca and let it soak for an hour in a little warm water; strain through a sieve and mix with the beaten -yolks-of four and the whites of two eggs, a quart of milk, half a teaspoonful of grated nutmeg; sweeten with sugar and bake in a dish an hour. —— ; Sago Pudding.—Boil five tablespoonfuls of sago, well picked and washed, in one quart of milk till quite soft with a slick of cinnamon; stir in one teacup of: butter and two of white sugar; when cold add six eggs well beaten and nutmeg to taste. Mix all Well together and bake in a buttered dish three-quarters of an hour. Potato Lemon Pudding.—Three o.tfnces of potatoes, the grated rind and juice of two fine lemons, three ounces of white sugar, two ounces of butter; grate off the lemon peel with lumps of sugar, beat them and add to the other ingredients: boil the potatoes and peel 4hem, mixing all together with the lemon juice and tw beaten eggs; bake it slightly.