Rensselaer Union, Volume 2, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 April 1870 — USEFUL AND SUGGESTIVE. [ARTICLE]

USEFUL AND SUGGESTIVE.

“ Sweet are the ueee of advenity,** but a very little goeg a good way. Sorrow can never wholly fill the heart that is occupied with others’ welfare. Constant melancholy ii rebellion. Potatoes fob Breakfast.—Take the mashed potatoes left from dinner the day before, mix them smooth with a little hot milk and butter, put them by spoonfhlls into an iron biscuit-pan previously heated, and brown them in a hot oven. They are Very light and nice. To Remove Old Iron Mould.—lt is recommended that the part stained should be reinoistened with ink, and this removed by the use of muriatic acid diluted with five or six times its weight of water, when it will be found that the old and new stain will be removed simultaneously. To raise hickory trees, plow the ground and plant the hickory nutfl in rows five feet apart. Sow the nuts thfckly at first, and thin them out as they become crowded. Plant in autumn, and fresh nuts, for those too well dried will not grow. Cultivate the trees for two or three years, or until they begin to shade the ground. Shoulder of Mutton.—A shoulder of mutton, weighing about six pounds, requires one hour and a half to roast; if stuffed, a quarter of an hour longer. Before cooking it, takd out the bone, and fill the space with a dressing of bread crumbs, pepper, salt, parsley, sweet marjoram, one egg, anil a small piece of butter mixed together.

Polish for Patent Leather Goods Take half apound of molasses or sugar’ one ounce of gum arable, and two pounds of ivory black ; boil them well together, then let the vessel stand until quite cooled, and the contents are settled; after which, bottle off. This is an excellent reviver, and may be used as a blacking in the ordinary way, no brushes for polishing being rerequired.—Scientific American. An exchange says that a great economy In the manufacture of bread is secured by the following proc< ss : Gluten to the amount of ten or twelve per cent, is extracted by boiling water from bran, and the flour is kneaded with this infusion, whereby from twenty to thirty percent, more bread is obtained. The bread, of course, is not so white as that of first quality, but is much more nutritious. Bleeding from the nose is always regarded as an unwelcome event, yet, in the opinion of Dr. Hall, it always is beneficial, preventing headache or more serious illness, and sometimes arresting apoplexy and sudden death. Therefore it should not be immediately arrested. When the nose threatens to bleed excessively, it can sometimes be arrested by putting the feet in hot water,-or by applying a mustard plaster between the shoulders. Balt as a Manure.—A subscriber of the Maine Parmer, a most careful and exemplary farmer, purchased last spring a large quantity of damaged salt for dressing. It was .applied to grain and root crops at the rate of ten bushels to the acre, being spread broadcast after the grain was sowed, and harrowed in. Its beneficial effects were quite marked, especially upon a crop of peas, although the gentleman says he believes himself that he used a larger quantity than was necessary. The Castor Bean.—The California Farmer says: Thus far, all who have raised the Castor Bean—who have given i| proper care and attention —have made it a very profitable crop. It should be borne in mind that the large bean doesnot open freely; the small Illinois bean opens withqpt trouble and is easily gathered. There is a market now for all that can be raised, and there should be no delay in planting. If there were one thousand acres planted now, in addition to all that has been planted, there is a ready market for the crop. A Cellar Well.—A writer in Hearth and Home says: “ 1 dug the well in my cellar in the usual way until a good supply of water was reached; then stoned it up about three feet, making a good reservoir ; then inserted a IJ4 inch galvanized .iron pipe, placed some flat stones over the well, and filled in even with the cellar-

bottom with dirt. The pipe leads directly to the sink, where a good, iron pump is attached. The advantages are, pure water, absolutely free from insects or vermin and all surface rubbish, and a saving of the expense of stoning up to the surface. I am very much pleased with the plan.” How Much Salt is Enough—ln England it is ascertained by experience that sheep require half a pound a week, which is twenty eight pounds, or half a custom house bushel per annum; cows require a bushel and a half per annum; young cattle, a bushel; draught horses and draught cattle a bushel; colts and young cattle, from three pecks to a bushel each per annum. also customary to use, in curing a ton of hay, ten or fifteen pounds of salt. Never fill kerosene lamps after dark, but always in day time. Never allow a lamp to be placed on a mantle-piece, whether the room has a grate or stove fire, as the heat of the same will cause the oil to be more inflammable, and more liable to explode when lighted. It is a common practice in factories to have their lamps hung on wire from the ceiling; they should be removed when not in use, as the heat of the stove ascends towards the ceiling, the effect being the same as in the second suggestion. Do not allow the wick to get baked or crusty; trim it frequently. For diptheria in fowls, take half an ounce of tincture of myrrh, one drachm powdered borax, one drachm powdered chlorate of potash; dissolve the borax and chlorate of potash in three and a half ounces of hot water, and when cold, put in a vial, and add the tincture of myrrh ; apply this solution plentifully, with a feather or camel’s hair brush, three or four times a day, to the mouth and throat, and rub the outside sores with some cooling ointment. Anointment made from white wax one part, lard four parts, is very good ; but much better is some medicated salve, such as many keep by them for burns, scalds, sores, etc.— Exchange.

How to Secure Good Oats for Seed. —A correspondent of the Country Gentleman says : “ Place your oats in a heap on the middle of the threshing floor, on the end that the wind blows to. Get you a milking stool and a small scoop—your wife’s flour scoop will do—and throw the oats, with a light turn of the wrist, to the other eml of the floor, against a gentle wind. A little practice will soon enable you to throw it in a halt circle, and at the same distance. Sweep off now and then if you have much, —the utmost circle of seed, the light oats for feed, and the weed seed to burn. You will now have seed oats worthy to sow, withoijj. buying at $5 per bushel. I have seen oats grown in Sweden until I was years old, but I never saw a heavy scrop where the seed was not selected as above.” Manure and Cut-Worms.—Farmers and gardeners fuller moi* or Jess every spring from the depredations •of cutworms upon theij young plants, cabbages, tomatoes, beets, corn, and, in fact, scarcely any thing of the kind, is left undisturbed by the common gray cut-worm. We will not attempt to offer a preventive, but-will suggest that those who practice manuring in the hill suffer a greater loss than those who apply their fertilizers broadcast. This applies, however, only to coarse manure taken from the barnyard or compost-heap. These pests of the farm work m ainly pt early spring when

the earth is cold and wet, and if there is a dry and loose spot they are sure to collect In it, and if thia should happen to be around a hill of corn or cabbage-plant, so much the better for the worms. We have tried applying manure from tha barn-yard around young raspberry-plants set out in spring, and almost without exception they have been destroyed by cut-worms, while others not manured in this manner have in a great measure escaped. The best method of destroying cut worms that we have ever tried is to catch and kill them, which may be readily done very early in the morning.— Hearth and Iloihe.