Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 December 1878 — HOME, FARM AND GARDEN. [ARTICLE]

HOME, FARM AND GARDEN.

—The following brevities are mostly taken from the agricultural column* of the lowa State Register: It is wisdom to go into farming gradually—not to jump into it. Kindness to stock, like good shelter, saves feed and adds flesh. No smoking should be allowed about barns—nor any other place. A lump of rock salt should always be where the cows can. have access to it. One farmer tells the secret of his success thus: “Though a farmer, I could never feel it was right for me to be a •mudsill.” A good pile of dry wood, cut right for the stove, and piled in some dry place, is a good thing to preserve the peace of the family. Now is the time. Scaly legs in fowls are caused by a parasitic mite which burrows under the skin of the shank and feet. They may be destroyed by applying a mixture of lard and kerosene oil. It is said that a small quantity of sassafras bark mixed with dried fruit will keep it free from worms for years. The bark is easily obtainable, and the experiment worth trying. Mix lightly one pound of Graham flour with a pint of thick, sweet cream; add salt, roll thin and bake as other pastry, and you will have a fine Graham pastry. Spread out on our wide prairies, hurried in business from spring to fall, if the farmer does not in winter cultivate the social affections by associations, he loses nearly all there is in life worth living for. Winter is the time for the limbs and muscles to rest, and for the activity of the brain and intellectual energies. If the farmer neglects these, he is forfeiting his best opportunities and interests.

When acid has been dropped on any article of clothing, apply liquid ammonia to kill the acid; then apply chloroform to restore the color. This process will prove effectual. Rats and mice will go into a trap much more readily if a small piece of looking-glass be put in any part of the trap where they can see themselves reflected. They mistake the reflection for another rat, and where others go they follow. Potatoes stored in cellars are in some cases rotting. To check or prevent this, keep the cellar as cool as possible without freezing. Then scatter quicklime over them. This is of -threefold benefit. It keeps them from rotting, makes the potatoes drier and better and disinfects the atmosphere, preserving the family from malarial fevers. H. W. Fyffe, of lowa City, gives this prescription for treatment of hogs: “ Take one peck of ashes, four pounds of salt, one pound of black antimony, seven pounds of copperas, one pound of sulphur, » quart (or one-eighth pound) of saltpeter; pound the ingredients fine and mix them well, and keep them constantly in a trough by itself. Each hog* will eat what he needs of the medicine from day to day. See that it is kept in a dry place from the rain and storms.