Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 May 1875 — USEFUL AND SUGGESTIVE. [ARTICLE]

USEFUL AND SUGGESTIVE.

—When a keg of molasses is bought draw of! a few quarts, else the fermentation produced by moving it will burst the cask. —The cutting point of a glazier’s diamond must he a natural one; an artificial point, however perfectly formed, will only scratch the glass, not cut it. —Straw-matting should be washed with a cloth dampened in salt water. Indian meal sprinkled over it and thoroughly swept out will also clean it finely. — Science and Health. —Lemon juice, used as a gargle, is saidby a French physician to be a specific against diphtheria and similar throat troubles, which he has successfully used for eighteen years. —To make glue for ready use use common whisky instead of water. Put both together in a bottle, cork tight and set it away for three or four days. It will then he fit for use without the application of heat. It will he found a useful and handy article in every household. —To make glue for resisting fire proceed as follows: Mix a handful of quicklime in four ounces of linseed oil; boil to a good thickness, then spread on plates in the shade and it will become exceedingly hard, hut may he easily dissolved over the fire and used as ordinaiy glue. It resists tire after having been used for gluing substances together. —A Clark County farmer tells one of our citizens that whilst the pestiferous po-tato-hug was annoying his neighbors last season they did not trouble him. He says he planted alternate rows of hemp and potatoes and not a hug was to be seen, hut in another place where he planted the potatoes without the hemp the hugs were numerous and destructive. He says hemp is a sure remedy, and recommends its use to farmers and gardeners. —Plattsburgh Lever. —Girders, angle-irons and other similar large masses of iron are often placed in exposed situations where damp air, steam and acid vapors have access. If the iron be put up in the rough it very speedily rusts, and under favorable conditions the corrosion soon reaches a dangerous point. Contractors generally agree to supply such irons painted in three coats of minium, which, if honestly done, would to a certain extent protect the metal; hut as a rule only one thin coat is applied and the slightest abrasion exposes the iron. A new and peculiar mode of treating iron is the following: The metal is heated until it touched with oil or tat it frizzles and then is plunged into a vat of mixed oil and grease. This mode of treating cast-iron is therefore far superior to any “ painting,” as the oleaginous matter actually penetrates the pores and prevents oxidation for a very long time, while it does not prevent painting if desirable afterward. —Trade Review.