Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 February 1869 — Agricultural and Domestic. [ARTICLE]

Agricultural and Domestic.

(From Ammu< i n ] Hot ibuf bet likmed" to vegetable growth, ami “each particular hair” to a plant, the skiiiabeihg the soil from which it ilenvea its mi! stance. A linir is a hollow tube containing hftWQlavit; Y an oil which gives it color. The only comlitiohs flSfelWry fin* its perfect and Iqx-uriant groivt h, is that t he aoi 1 lie good ami the growth of the crop be kept, unmolested by untoward (ircyinstances. If tlie evil is bad or lias boon deteriouted by disease, it must lie renovated before good crops can reasonbly be c.xj>ected; but you might as well e.\j>ect to improve the quality of faiid by „ J cartiiig stones upon it, as to renorate the scalp by the use of ’oils and pomatums. These compounds contain nothing to uourUh the bair while they obstruct the action of the skin, upon the henlthy condition of which, more thau anything else, a full luxurieiit growth of hair dejieuds. The loirst harmfjtl of oils, if any mast be resorted, to,.its fCfhtov ail diluted—wilk two parts alcohol and scented to suit.the taste: but even this fthould be sparingly used. A good healthy head of hair should supply its own oil. A preparation of alcohol ouc pint, pure glyceriu two ounces, and water one half pint, scented with rose geranium, lemon grass, or any other essential oil suitable for the purpose, is an adn ir able dressing forjthe hair, and one that exerts a healthful.. influence upon the skin. A solution of borax is better for cleansing the hair than the bicarbonate of potash in common use by hair dressers for the purpose. The latter may be used to advantage, however, in warm weather, when acidity "s apt to be generated by perspiretain. Either of these will be i * rarely required if the hair and scal|> ora Washed every morning in pili’e water, which is not only a great benefit to the hair, but the very best preventive of eoids id the liend. After such ablution the hair should be wiped nearly dry and then 1»,«* Mwitnrp. «G^d winds before the hair is well not advisable. JUtfother excellent detergefit forthg scalp is the white of egg. Two eggs will be sufficient for a cleansing of the hair, as ordinarily worn by men, but women who wear their hair as long as it will grow, will need four or more. The yolks should dse«*refdlly~removed, and the albuminous portion rubbed into the - roots of the hair very thoroughly for some time, when a thorough rinsing with water and drying with towels will leave the hair a beautiful luster and silky softness. Fine tooth; ecbppmbs are only to be toleratefl'tmder conditions which are happily rare in this country, and therefore unnecessary to mention. Brushing is good if not carried so far as to irritate the skin. * {trafting thk Cherry .-Few persons succeed in grafting the cherry, simply because they defer the operation until too late in the season. The scions should Ik> cut early in winter, but the present time will do; pack them in damp moss or pulverized charcoal, and then place them in a cool cellar until wanted for use. Select the strong, well-ripened one year old shoots for scions, as weak small wood is of little value. The cherry should be the first tree grafted in the spriug. Do ijot ,wa>t for the buds to swell l»ut insert the scions as soon as the frost is out of the ground, and if 4 «°ld snap should come after the trees are grafted, there will he little danger of injury. Excellent Horse Lina went.— -The American Stock Journal gives the following recipe: Take one pipt of alcohol, ||mM6 of caetolenoap, iounce ■fjgfe.mpWJ onnee of mlammoniac. Whep. these are of hrodaUOl^olnauaceoriganum, jounce of sassafras, and 2 ounces spiritiof h#rtshom., Bathe freely.

A v vnimK ,Ymartur IyptAy Corn.— Nrnv Jersey lends off with an average of 43 bushels [per acre; mo follows close with an average of 38; Kansas, 34; Massachusetts, 34; Maine, j&V, Michigan, 3i£ Illinois, 31. j In the Souther States the average declines rapidly—Louisij aua giving 17’per acre; Alaj Hama. 9; Georgia and South | Catalina, 0. We take this t*sitmate from a Western authority, for whose accuracy wc cannot vouch. The average for [ the whole country is 25. We plant three times too much surface, for, with proper ploughing and manuring, anv acre fit to l>e broken with a plough should be made to yield 75 bushels.

The Wheat Export.— Calij fornia now stands at the head j as a source of our wheat supply, 1 Minnesota second, and Wisconsin third. Ten years ago, Ohio gave a surplus of ten million bushels; now she requires several million bushels from Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan, ti> supply her home demand. Illinois will soon be importing wheat. Pennsylvania keeps up her wheat producing power as well as an)- State; her acreage has declined very little for twenty years. The farmers there use lime for clover, and sow wheat on the clover-sod. iTiik Profits on Si oak. —Few ! are aware of the marvelous i profits that have been made and 1 can be realized from sugar in | Louisiana and Florida. In St. j Landry Parish last year, twelve hands cose a planter about $3,500 in waiioH and meat. On 90 aci’es they made nearly 200 jliogsheads of sugar, and 275 barrels of molasses, which to--1 gether sold for over $30,000. j After deducting all expense*, 1 the planter’s net profit must | have been very large. —The ramie is of the thistle family, is propagated easily bv cuttings; requires comparatively little carq, is perennial, yields three or four crops a year at the rate of 3,000 pounds per acre, and is worth .£55 sterling per tun. The threads are longer and more silky than cotton, and mixed with cotton or woolen produces a beautiful fabric, and, alone, e enables the silks of Lyons. - -It is only within the last few years that man has’succeeded in niakiugpaperoutof wood, and even now the process is not practically a successful one. Yet the hornets—-those “natural paper makers from the be- | gining of time,” as Harris feI licitously called them—have I been making a kind of tough, 1 gray waterproof paper out of j wood every summer from the most remote nutiquity. i —A French chemist has invented a new w ay of preparing glass for mirrors. It is coated w ith an exceedingly thin coat of platinum, and becomes misteriously, not only a perfect mirror, but also remains so transparent that it may still be used'for windows. —The Xeic-England Fanner says that in the bauds of careful and patient persons, experi- ! ments the past year have satis- ! fied many that benes are an j j exceedingly valuable stimulent | of vegetable life and ought to lie preserved and prepared for use on the soil.