Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

2 xwillh, r_ _- .■- ■Eke®' Apples always keep best when pro tected from currents of air, which change the temperature often. A uni form temperature is best. Hence they do better in barrels headed up than exposed on shelves or in tight boxes. Evergreen boughs are excellently adapted for covering newly planted strawberry beds, since they admit air and shield the plants from the sun and wind, which is all they require as the best conditions for wintering. Wheat bran is much richer in phos phoric acid than corn bran. Wheat contains in the whole grain 8.2 per cent, of phosphoric acid and corn only 5| per cent.; but nearly the whole of the phosphoric acid of the grain exists in the husk or bran. Thus wheat bran contains nearly 29 per cent, of this val uable substance. What percentage is in the bran of corn we have no means of ascertaining, but it is certainly less rich in phosphoric acid than wheat bran. A new kind of potato rot is reported to have appeared in Apolda, near Jena, Germany. The disease attacks the tuber at once, without apparently in juring the vines. The tuber is found covered with a kind of felt, of a pur plish color, which is the mycelium of a fungus. The tuber is not always pen etrated by this mycelium, but generally it is destroyed by a cancerous disease, the skin being covered by a number of black dots. The Alabama newspapers want the planters of the South to plant Peruvian cotton. It does not bloom until the second year after planting, but it con tinues to yield every year afterwards to the seventh year. The staple is coarser, but as long as the Sea Island and stronger. It commands more in the market than ordinary cotton. The only danger apprehended arises from the changes of the winter climate. It has already been introduced by the Agri cultural Bureau. A method of preserving green fod der, such as turnip tops, beet tops, or other succullent vegetables, has been in use for many years in Europe, by which this green fodder is kept in good condition for six or twelve months. A trench two or four feet deep is dug in a dry spot in the field, and the tops of the roots, carefully gathered when free from rain or dew, are thrown into it. They are very compactly pressed down, and when the pit is filled some straw is laid upon the fodder, and the earth is heaped over the whole. In this man ner this product, which is generally wasted in a great measure, is utilized. On an animal becoming choked with any hard substance that cannot pass the gullet,harsh measures should never be used until all others have failed. The practice of placing a block against the throat and endeavoring to break the obstruction with a mallet, as is sometimes practiced, is simply brutal. One of the simplest and at the same time most efficacious remedies is to give a half-pint of lard oil or melted lard, by drawing out the animal’s tongue, raising the head and adminis tering from a thick bottle. This lubri cates the gullet, sickens the stomach, relaxes the muscles of the throat, and in coughing the lodged substance will generally pass up or down. If the choking has existed so long that inflamation of the throat has en sued, resort must be had to probing. Any flexible rod, either whalebone, vul canized rubber, etc., with a sponge or soft substance affixed to the end, will answer. Introduce the soft end into the throat, holding the animal’s head up, and, the obstruction being reached, press it down firmly at any risk, for it is now a case of life or death. To relieve the inflammation, apply a slippery-elm poultice, keeping it in close contact with the throat by secur ing the folds in which it is placed by means of cords to the horns, keeping the animal on light, soft food, assisted with linseed tea. until the inflammation is subdued. The Weight of a Rale of Cot ton. —The cotton crop is estimated at so many bales, and this way of estimating produces the impression that the bale is some definite weight or quantity. This, however, is a mistake. In 1852 the av erage weight of cotton bales imported into< Liverpool was as follows: Mobile, 504 lbs.; New Orleans, 455 ; Upland, 390; Sea Island 333; Egypt. 245 ; Bra zil. 182. A “ Manual of Commerce," published in 1855, gives the weight of a bale of cotton from 100 to 509 lbs. the heaviest being from Alabama and Lou isiana. and the lightest from Brazil. In 1790, a "bale of American cotton was 200 llts In 1>24 it averaged 200 lbs.; and in 18 ’5. it was 319 lbs. In Lowell, in 1831, the average bale was 301 lbs. -wfS®® fiEOHGIA Jf Gift In these days the bale of American cotton is understood to be 450 lbs., and when the crop is stated, bales of that weight are intended. But it would seem to be de sirable, on account of uniformity in bales, to state the crops in hundred weights or tons. _ The Farmer and Gardner describes the following plan for keeping Early Rose potatoes for spring planting : Dig the potatoes when ripe, in June, and spread them on a platform under the shade of a tree. During a rain, they are covered with bagging. potatoes are planted early in August, and are ready to harvest by the first of Novem ber. This second crop should be planted on land that had been well manured in the spring, but no manure is used at the time of planting. Whole, medium sized tubers are used. The ground is kept level and well mulched with straw or litter. The potatoes raised in this manner keep well until late in the spring. _ Mr. John Dey, in a discussion on Root Culture, by a Wisconsin Farmer’s Club, said: “The Swede turnip is a good root for sheep, hogs and young cattle. Cows fed on them will keep in good heart, but they are not as good for miik as the carrot or beet. It will pay well to raise them. If we do not wi to feed them, we can sell them ; they usually bring 40 or 50 cents per bushel. |ielb antr forest. The Repository says that scientific men attribute the excessive effects of the late famine in Persia, in a great meas ure, to the wholesale destruction of trees in that country. Man destroys the trees, the absence of trees brings drought, droughts, diminishing the producing power of the ground, finally destroy it entirely, consequently the population dwindles. Spain is cited as an example: it had once forty million of people, and was fertile and prosper ous, now it has only sixteen millions of people, and is not half under cultiva tion. Persia was once powerful; it is now almost a wilderness, and its popu lation of two millions is suffering from famine, casused by a three years’ drought. It behooves us, then, before it is too late, to look after our trees. . The blue gum, for shade and lum ber, is extensively cultivated in Cali fornia. Its growth is rapid. It is the 1 lue gum w of Victoria and Tasmania. It grows on low, moist lands. The leaves are shaped like the blade of a sickle, slightly tinged and veined with red. It attains a height of 400 feet, furnishing a first-class wood. Ship builders get keels of this timber 120 feet long ; besides this, they use it ex tensively for planking and many other parts of the ship, and it is considered to be generally superior to Aieerican rock elm. A test of strength has been made between some blue gum, English oak, and Indian teak. The blue gum carried 14 lbs. more weight than the oak, and 17 lbs. 4 oz more than teak, upon the square inch. Concerning the enriching and im provement of light soils, a writer in the Canada Farmer says : All green succulent plants contain saccharine and mucilaginous matter, with woody fibre, and readily ferment. They should, therefore, if intended for manure, be us d as soon as possible af ter death. Hence the grand principle of turning in green crops. They must not, however, be plowed under too deep, lest fermentation be prevented by com pression and exclusion of air. As was mentioned above, such crops should be turned under when in flower, or at the commencement of flowering, for it is then that they contain the largest quantity of easily soluble matter. What crop is most suitable for the purpose mentioned above ? It has been found that clover possesses the valuable property of withstanding a dry soil, and in consequence will succeed where cereals would fail. It also reaches per fection at a height which permits it to be turned in, and in consequence pos sesses a great advantage. As to the proper variety, the common red suc ceeds perhaps as well as any ; for we must look chiefly to the amount of material likely to be produced. The roots of clover also possesses a peculiar advantage in the manner in which they bind the soil together, thus in creasing its firmness and affording a basis for successive crops of mure ex haustive character. By giving the soil a fibrous consistency it increases its retentive powers with respect to moist ure. The improvement of sandy soil, mechanically, can (be accomplished bv means of the roller. Without this im plement no farmer can successfully till a light farm. Compactness 'is one of the qualities which is deficient in such a farm,and in consequence the moisture escapes too rapidly from the soil and the seed is "not sufficiently protected by the firm envelopment of earth neces sary to its successful gern i lation. The use of the roller supplies thisquality.and moreover gives to the ground a greater capability to resist the wearing action of violent rains. Probably the oldest timber in the world which has been subjected to the use of man is that which is found in the ancient temples of Egypt. It is found in connection with stone work, which is known to be at least four thou sand years old. This wood, and the only wood used in the construction of the temple, is in the form of this, holding the end of one stone to another in its upper surface. When two blocks were laid in place, then it appears that an ex cavation about an inch deep was made in each block, into which an hour glass shaped tie was driven. It is therefore very difficult to force any stone from its position. The ‘ties appear to have been the tamarisk, or chittim wood of which the ark was constructed, a sacred tree in ancient Egypt, and now very rarely found in the valley of the Nile. Those dovetailed ties are just as sound now as on the day of their insertion. President Wileer, in an address before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society said: “ I would rather be the man who shall originate a luscious fruit, suited to cultivation throughout our land, of which successive genera tions shall partake, long after I shall be consigned to the bosom of mother earth, than to wear the crown of the proudest conqueror who has ever tri umphed over his fellow men.” A company has been recently organ ized who have selected one hundred and sixty acres to commence work on, near Anaheim, Los Angelos County, Florida. Oranges, lemons, citrons, limes, olives, figs and nuts of every variety will be grown in large quantities. The soil is a light sandy loam, mellow as ashes easily irrigated, and beautifully sit uated. Whether spring or autumn is the best time for planting fruit trees, is a vexing question. How it best may be done is of most importance. Many think the question of expense settled by the cost of the trees, yet every man who does not spend double, triple or quadruple the cost of the trees in plant ing them, is making a great mistake. Nothing that is worth doing at all is worth doing so well as planting fruit trees. Wherever a tree is to be planted the soil should be enriched to the depth of at least two feet, and not less than six feet across. This preparation should precede planting at least a month No raw manure, or other sub stance liable to ferment while decompo sing, should come in contact with the roots. Don’t hesitate to postpone planting one or two years, in order to make thorough preparation. This is the way to get fruit quickly. Apple tress properly planted often bear in four years, and pear trees in six ; and they never die prematurely, as do thou sands planted in the slovenly fashion that prevails. The scarcity of trees, for a few years past, has stimulated propagation to an extent that we fear will lead to low prices, and this, in its turn, to excessive and careless planting in the future, as in the past. Let us respect the feelings of our children’s - children, and in their interest as well as our own, “turn over a new leaf ” in the matter of planting ft-uit trees. The Country Gentleman says : “It would be interesting to classify or com pare certain varieties in the different kind or species of fruit. For example, the seckle among pears, the green gage among plums, the Delaware among grapes, etc., resemble each other for their excellent flavor, small size and moderate growth. The Rostiezer may be termed the seckle of Summer, and Dana’s Hovey the seckle of Winter. Wilson’s Albany among strawberries, the Bartlett among pears, the Baldwin among app’es, the Concord among grapes, and the early Richmond cher ries are distinguished fortheir reliabil ity and productiveness, connected in most instances with moderate quality —to which may Im? added the Ben Davis apples at the West, and the Rhode Island greening at the East. Those which are remarkable for their excellence, without regard to vigor or growth, fairness of appearance, or pro ductiveness, would include the Dyer and Melon apple, the Triomphe de Grand, and Burr’s New Pine straw berries, George IV. and Bergen’s yellow peaches, Hilling’s Superb and Golden Drop plums, and Knight’s Early Black and Reine Hortense cherries, and the Rebecca and Allen’s Hybrid grapes. Such lists might be increased and extended with interest, and would afford valuable information to novices. Useful Ijinfs. Artificial Coral.—To two drams of vermillion add one ounce of resin, and melt them together. Have ready the brandies and twigs peeled and dried, and paint them over with this mixture while hot. The twigs being covered, hold them over a gentle fire; turn them round until they are perfectly smooth. U hite coral may also be made with white lead, and black with lampblack mixed with resin. Loss by Cooking.—The loss of weight in cooking is greater than many persons suppose. Flour gains in weight about one-sixth in passing into bread. But meats, of all kinds, lose both substance and weight. Nine pounds ten ounces of mutton, roasted, is reduced to six pounds twelve ounces, and the weight of the cooked meat was only four pounds thir teen ounce.—-just one half of the weight before roasting. Beef does not lo e weight in like proportion. Much waste may be prevented by care, but a large portion of food is wasted in any process of preparation for the table. Eggs alone come back to you with full weight, and if t the first cost is not too high, are a convenient, nutritious and cheap article of food. How to Cook Corned Beef.—The Boston Journal of Chemistry says: The rule has a Hibernian sound. Don’t boil it, for corned beef should never be boiled. It should only simmer, being placed on a part of the range or stove where this process may go on uninterruptedly from four to six hours, according to the size of the piece. If it is to be served, let the meat remain in the liquor until cold. Though meat can be made tender by letting it remain in the liquor until the next day, and then bring it to the boil ing point just before serving. To Remove Iron-Rust or Tomato Stains from Linen or Cotton Cloth. Wet the spot with cold water and place the cloth in the sunshine. Then mix equal quantities of cream-tartar and ta ble salt, and sprinkle the mixture upon it until the dampness has absorbed a great deal, then lay on enough to hide the spot. Wet the spot with cold water every half hour, and if the stain is then seen, cover it again with the cream-tar tar and salt. Keep it in the sunshine, and continue these applications till the stain is gone. If recently contracted, two or three applications will remove it. A correspondent of the AmeWccn Ag riculturist a says that lard maybe kept perfectly sweet and free from any strong or rancid odor, for any length of time, by putting into each kettle while render ing a handful red or slippery elm bark. Treated thus it has a sweet and not un pleasant smell in the hottest weather, even when kept in a cellar. This is a very old plan, the knowledge of which, if we mistake not, was derived from the Indians, who kept their deer fat in this way. We have never tried it, but have been assured of its utility by others. Only the ii s‘de bark is i s?d. The following is a useful cement to fasten objects of wood to others of metal, glass, stone, etc. Good cabinet makers’ glue is warmed up with water to the con sistency necessary to connect wooden ob jects ; then add enough sifted ashes to bring it to the thickness of a varnish. The cement should be applied to the sur face of the objects to be united when warm, and then they should be pressed together tightly. After cooling and drying the surfaces are so strongly united as to require great force to separate them. Grinding stones fastened on wood, and handles to painter’s stones for grinding colors, have been used for more than a year without exhibiting any ap pearance of fracture. Ijorst. lT" -J I - Can’t some genius invent a kind of stable floor that can be kept clean with out too much labor, and not ruin the feet of the horses standing on it ? A horse which we kept in the stable last winter, came out in the spring so lame that he could not strike a trot and his limbs seemed weak and tender, al though we could find ho sore or tender spot, nor were his limbs swollen. We enclosed a small plot of grass, and turned him out, cutting grass for him. In one week from the time we turned him out he could trot off quite lively, and now he is nearly recovered. He seemed to be lame in every foot, and especially in his hind feet, and we have no doubt that standing idle upon a plank floor, caused his hoofs to become dry, hard and contracted, so that they pressed upon the tender frog. A correspondent of the Massachu setts Ploughman recommends the fol lowing remedy for white hairs on horses, which appear on spots galled by the saddle or harness : “ Take a piece of lard larye enough to give the place a thorough greasing; rub the same with the hand until it becomes hot, repeating the operation three or four times, and the white hairs will soon come out and hairs of a natural color will take their place. I have tried this on several horses and I never knew it to fail.” Che pairn. In the management of dairy cows, these general principles are suggested by Waring : 'l. The cow should be constantly kept in a thrifty, healthy condition, and with a voracious appetite. The great end of her life, the production of milk, cannot accomplish unless she is comfortable and cheerful, and unless she consumes the largest amount of food that is possible for her to take into her stomach without injury to her health. 2. The character of the food should conform to the end desired to attain. If for milk to be sold,'to stimulate the production of quantity, and inciden tally, to induce the drinking of a large amount of water; while for making butter, the food should be less watery in its character, and much richer in quality. . 3. Pregnant animals, in addition to the demand which the secretion of milk makes upon their digestive organs, require a certain quantity of food, and food of the most nutritious character, for the development of the foetus. 4. The stock should be so fed that the manure heap be made as rich as is consistent with profitable feeding. JJoidtrg. illr The benefit which fowls derive from eating charcoal is acknowledged. The method of putting it before them is, however, not well understood. Pounded charcoal is not in the shape in -which fowls usually find their food, and con sequently is not very enticing to them. I have found that corn burnt on the cob, and the refuse—which consists almost entirely of the grains reduced to charcoal, and still retaining their per fect shape—placed before them, is greedily eaten by them, with a marked improvement in their health, as is shown by the brighter color of their combs, and their sooner producing a greater average of eggs to the flock than before.—/S'. R. Mason, in the Poul try World. forts- The statistics of imports of dutiable articles for the fiscal year of 1873, as com pared with those of 1872, are interesting reading. For instance, in 1872, we im ported living animals to the amount of 83,465,554; in 1873, only $3,327,953 worth ; but why import living animals at all ? Our exports of living animals in 1873 amounted to $2,555,914 —a bal ance of trade against us on this account of $742,039. Os barlev, we imported in 1872, $3,403,607, and‘in 1873, $2,962,- 981—a decrease~of $440,320. Os course we exported no barley these years, which we should have done instead of importing it. What is the need of im porting barley and growing corn, which is a drug on the market at ten or fif teen cents per bushel ? Hadn’t farm ers better sow more barley and plant less corn? Then again, in 1872, we imported $2,317,172 worth of rice; in 1873, $2,304,661. Why not export rice instead ? We can at least supply ourselves with the article. Is not this a suggestive hint, Southern planters? Then think of ’importing wheat into this country ? Who would have be lieved it ; and yet the figures show that in 1872 we imported $2,188,689 worth, and in 1873 $2,538,275 —the aggregate of two years’ importations being $4,- 726,964. But this is not so bad as it might be, for in 1872 we exported $38,- 915,060 worth of wheat, and in 1873, $51,452,254 —a total in two years of $90,367,314. But why import wheat at all ? Os course we suppose it came from Canada, and because of high transportation, it was cheaper to im port it than bring it from the West. In 1872 we imported of cotton and cotton manufactures, $25,307,447, and in 1873, $35,201,317 —an aggregate in two years of $60,508,764. But we exported in 1872 of the same $182,988,925, and in 1873, $230,190,595, or a total of $413,- 179,520. But why import over sixty and half millions of dollars worth of a fibre, manufactured or otherwise, that we can grow and manufacture ourselves ? Again, we imported of flax and its manufactures, in 1872, $22,- 620,243, and in 1873, $21,566,652, an aggregate in two years of $44,186,295. But we can grow flax and manufacture it I We need just such a diversion from corn growing to make us happy. We did not export any flax, arid yet we might have done so ! Scarlet Fever—A Simple Rem edy.—Robert Christie, of the Potrero, suggests a remedy for the scarlet fever, which he avers has invariably proved successful. It is very simple and lies within the reach of those whose limited means preclude them from employing the services of a physician. It is this: Take an onion and cut it in half; cut out a portion of the centre, and into the cavity put a spoonful of saffron ; put the pieces together, then wrap them up in a cloth and bake them in an oven until the onion is cooked so the juice will run freely ; squeeze out all the juice, and give the patient a teaspoonful, at the same time rubbing the chest and throat with goose grease or rancid bacon, if > there is any cough or soreness in the throat. In a short time the fever will break out in an eruption all over the body. All that is then necessary is to keep the patient warm and protected from draught, and the recovery is cer tain. Mr. Christie s ivs he has beenem- i ploying this remedy for many years, and never knew it to fail when ‘proper care was taken of the patient after its appli cation. One family, in which there were five children down with the dis ease at one time recently, used this simple remedy upon his teHingjthem of it, and every one of the little ones recovered in a short time. — San Francisco Chroni cle. Receipe for making farmers’ boys love to stay at home in the evenings : 1. Treat them as partners with you. Give them to understand that they are interested in the success of the farm ing operations as much as you are your self. 2. Converse freely with them. Get their opinions, and give them yours. If at all prudent, make use of their plans, and when you think your own best, explain to them why you do not adopt theirs. Don’t keep them alto gether in the dark with reference to your plans for the future. 3. Don’t require them to stay at home in the evenings all the time. When there is any meeting or enter tainment from which they might re ceive benefit, be sure to let them go. 4. Provide them with plenty of good books and papers; especially referring to agriculture. Let them be well posted in their own business —farming. 5. Never scold them because they don’t do their work or attend to the business of the farm as well as you do. Encourage them. 6. Give them a holiday now and then, They look for it, and need it; and it will be better for you them to let them have it. 7. A little rational amusement now and then, such as croquet,*, cricket, a sail, and a swim, will give variety, health and contentment. The St. Louis Democrat says that in the vast grazing districts of Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, there is a bitter feud going on between the growers of sheep and the growers of cattle. The cattle men cannot abide the sheep men, and the sheep men are equally hostile to the cattle men, though their flocks and herds get along quite comfortably to gether. It has been declared that West ern Texas and Colorado shall be made all one thing or all the other, and as the sheep interest is much the lightest just now, it is suffering a good deal. Only a short time ago, two men in Southern Colorado made a dash at a drove of 2,000 sheep which were quietly feeding on the plains; a stampede was effected, the sheep were scattered for several miles around the country, one hundred head were shot dead, and nearly one hundred more wounded. Mr. William Crosier, proprietor of the “ Beacon Farm ” on Long Island, has been visited, and the reporter shows that Mr. Crosier gets seventy cents per pound in the. city of New York, for all the butter he can make the year round. Allowing each cow to produce 365 pounds per annum, she earns $255 50, besides bringing a calf worth, the moment it is dropped, from SSO to SIOO. Some are worth over $150; for recollect that every cow in his herd is either pure Jersey or pure Ayrshire, and that each animal is among the best of its kind. Taking the cows at an average of $250 each, and cutting down the butter products, if one pleases, to only S2OO, it will be seen that the keeping up of such a herd is a highly profitable investment. I say nothing as to the value of the skimmed milk and the butter milk; but as calves are brought up after the first month on the former, and as the latter is fed to choice Berkshire pigs, that sell for a high price, these pass as no small items on the account of profits. “ Daisy Eyebright,” in a recent number of the Country Gentleman, pleasantly dis courses in the following style concerning her treatment of rats and mice; “ We cleaned our premises of these detes table vermin by making a whitewash yellow with copperas, and covering the stonesand rafters of the cellar with a thick coating of it. In every crevice where a rat might tread, we put crystals of the copperas, and scat tered the same in the corners on the flour. The result was a perfect stampede of rats and mice, and two full-grown cats could not possibly devour all they had killed; so the neighbor’s cats were invited to the feast. The routed rats had taken refuge in the woodshed, but here the dauntless cats gave them no peace—so at last a small remnant of them departed to neighboring cellars, whe:e rats were more welcome than with us. Since that time not a footfall of either rat or mouse has been heard about the house. Every spring a coat of the yellow wash is given to the cellar as a purifier as well as a rat exter minator, and no typhoid dysentery or fever attacks the family. Many persons deliber ately attract all the rats in the neighborhood by leaving fruits and vegetables uncovered in the cellar; and sometimes even the soap scraps arc left open for their regalement. Cover up everything eatable in cellar and pantry, and you will soon starve them out. These precautions, joined to the services of a good cat, will prove as 'good a rat extermi nator as the chemist can provide. We never would allow rats to be poisoned in our dwelling, they are so liable to die in the walls and produce much annoyance, During the coming spring there will hundreds of families from Sussex, Surry, Kent, Devonshire, and other local ities in Old England, emigrating to Virginia. These settlers are generally people of no inconsiderable means, who prefer having lands’of their own in Vir ginia, purchased at reasonable rates and yielding good profits, to leasing lands in England at twenty-five dollars per acre per annum. In the county of Amelia a number of English famdies have found homes, under the auspices of M. M. Blacker, Esq.