THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



47 



imporlaiit papers all together where you can lay 

 your hand on tliem at once, in case of tin. . 



Keep an old blanket and sheet on purpose for 

 ironing, and on no account suffer any other to be 

 used. "Have plenty of holders always made that 

 your towels may not be burned out in such service. 

 Keep a coarse broom for the cellar stairs, wood- 

 shed, yard, &c. No good housekeeper allows' her 

 carpet broom to be used for such things. 



There should always be a lieavy stone on the top 

 of your pork, to keep it down. This stone is an 

 excellent place to keep a bit of fresh meat in the 

 gunnner when you are afraid of its spoiling. 



Have all tllte good bits of vegetables and meat 

 collected after dinner, and minced before they are 

 set away ; tliat they may be in readiness to make 

 a little savory mince meat for supper, or breakfast. 

 Vials, which have been used for medicine, should 

 be put into cold ashes and water, boiled, and suf- 

 fered to cool before they are rinsed. 



If you live in the city, where it is always easy 

 to procure provisions, be careful and not buy too 

 much for your daily wants, while the weather is 

 warm. 



Never leave out your clothes-line over niglit ; 

 and see that your clothes-pins are all gathered into 

 a basket. 



Have plenty of crash towels in the kitchen; nev- 

 er lot your white napkins be used there. 



Soap your dirtiest clothes, and soak them in soft 

 water over night. 



Use hard soap to wash your clotlies, and soft to 

 wash your floors. Soft soap is so slippery, tliat it 

 wastes a good deal in washing clothes. 



Instead of covering up your glasses and pictures 

 with muslin, cover the frames only witli cheap, 

 yellow cambric, neatly put on, and is near the col- 

 or of the gilt as you can procure it. This looks 

 better ; leaves the glasses open for use, and the 

 pictures for ornament; and is an ett'ectual barrier 

 to dust.as well as Hies. It can easily be re-colored 

 with satfron tea, when it is faded. 



It is easy to have a supply of horse-radish all 

 winter. Have a quantity grated, while the root is 

 in perfection, put it in bottles, till it with strong 

 vinegar, and keep it corked tight. 



It is tliought to be a preventative to the unheal- 

 thy mtlueiiee of cucuiubcrs to cut tlie slices very 

 tliiii, and drop eaeli one into cold water as you cut 

 it. A few minutes in the water takes out a large 

 portion of tiie slimy matter, so injurious to health. 

 They should be eaten with high seasoning. 



Wliere sweet oil is much used, it is more econo- 

 mical to buy it by the bottle than by the flask. A 

 bottle holds more than twee as much as aflask,and 

 it is never double the price. 



If you wish to have free-stone hearths dark, 

 wash them with soap, and wipe them with a wet 

 cloth ; some, people rub m lainp-oil,once in awhile, 

 and wash the hearth faithfully afterwards. This 

 does very well in a large, dirty family; for the 

 hearth looks very clean, and is not liable to show 

 grease spots. But if you wish .to preserve the^ 

 beauty of a free-stone hearth, buy a quantity of 

 free-stone powder of the stone cutter, and rub on 

 a portion of it wet, after you have washed your 

 hearth in hot water. "When it is dry, brush it oif, 

 and it will look like new stone. Bricks can be kept 

 clean with redding stirred up in water, and put on 

 with a brush. Pulverized clay mixed with redding 

 makes a pretty rose color. Some think it is less 

 likely to come off, if mi.xed with skim milk in- 

 stead of water. But black lead is far handsomer 

 than any thing else for this purpose. It looks very 

 well mixed wTth water, like redding; but it gives 

 it a glossy a]q)L'ar,ince to boil the lead in soft soap, 

 with a rilt!(> water to keep it from burning. It 

 should be put on with a brush, in the same manner 

 as redding ; it looks nice" for a long time when done 

 m this way. 



Keep a bag for all odd pieces of tape and strings; 

 they will come in lise. iCeep a bag or box, for old 

 buttons, so that you, may knoW v/here to go when 

 you want one. 



Run the heels of stockings faithfully ; and mend 

 thin places as well as holes ; ' a stitch in time saves 

 nine.' 



Toke-root boiled in water and mixed with a good 

 quantity of molasses, set about the kitchen, the 

 pantry, &c. in large deep plates, will kill cockroa- 

 ches in great numbers, and finally rid the house, of 

 them. The Indians say that Poke-root boiled into 

 a soft poultice i.= the cure for tlie bite of a snake. 

 I have heard of a fine horse saved by it. 



A little salt sprinkled in starch while it is boiling, 

 tends to prevent it from sticking ; it is likewise 

 good to s'.ir it with a clean spermaieeti candle. 



A few potatoes sliced and boilinir water poured 

 over' th"m makes an excellent pieparation for 

 cl»ansing and stiffening old rusty black silk. 

 Green tea is excellent to restore rusty silk 



should be boiled in iron, nearly a cup full to three 

 quarts. The silk should not be wrung, and should 

 be ironed damp. 



Lime pulverized sifted through coarse muslin, 

 and stirred up tolerably thick-in. white of egg makes 

 a strong cement for glass and china. Plas.ter of 

 Pans is still better ; particularly for mending brok- 

 en imao-es of the same material. It should be stir- 

 red up by the spoonful, as it is wanted. 



A bit of isinglass dissolved in gin, is said to make 

 strong cement for' broken glass, china, and sea- 

 shcUs. . . .- , 



The Lemon Syrup, u.iually sold at fifty cents a 

 bottle, may be made much cheaper. Those who 

 use a great quantity of it will find it worth their 

 while to make it. Take about a jiound of Hava- 

 na sugar, boil it in water down to a quart ; drop in 

 the white of an egg to clarify it; strain it; and one 

 quarter of an oz. of Tartaric acid, if you do not 

 find it sour enough, after it has stood two or three 

 days, and shaken freely, add more of the acid. A 

 few drops of the Oil of Lemon improves it. 



If you wish to clarify Sugar and water you are 

 about to boil, it is well to stir in the white of one 

 egg, while cold ; if put in after it boils, the egg is 

 apt to get hardened before it can do any good. 



Those wligare fond of soda powders will do well 

 to inquire at the apothecaries for the suitable acid 

 and alkali, and buy them by the ounce, or the 

 pound, according to the size of their families. Ex- 

 perience soon teaches the right proportions ; and 

 sweetened with a little sugar, or lemon syrup, it is 

 quite as good as what one gives five times as much 

 for, done up in papers. The case is the same with. 

 Rochi'lle powders. — Mrs. ChUds. 



IMPROVEMENT. 



I.N WHAT SHALL WE IMPKOVK.' As We liave 



begun another year and are already thinking a- 

 bout making preparations for another ugriculturn( 

 campaign, we are led to inquire in what shall we 

 improve; and at this thought sulijects innumera- 

 ble are presented to our consideratiom Ask the 

 best scientific and practical farmers in the country, 

 those who have long excelled, in what (/icy can im- 

 prove, and they will say that they consider almost 

 every department iu agriculture, and all the vari- 

 ous branches of economy connected with it, as sus- 

 ceptible of great improvements ; that still they have 

 subjects new and interesting, on which they wish 

 to learn by experiments, observations and reading, 

 ill order to get more information, which will enable 

 them to conduct their affairs to better advantage; and 

 this want of information, which they feel is not ow- 

 ing to a want of intelligence, but to their becoming 

 so°cnlightened as to see their need of more knowl- 

 edge, while others feel not their deficiency, bee.ause 

 they have never yet dreamed of thase subjecis, 

 which their brethren more advanced feel anxious 

 to investigate. 



Now if our best farmers canimprove, is there not 

 much room for others to follow on and learn from 

 their examples, and by various other methods that 

 may present themselves. Every branch may be 

 improved from the most trivial to the greatest, from 

 the feeding of fowls or setting them on eggs 

 that will produce the desired gender in the ott'- 

 spring, to tiiose important subjects that seem des- 

 tined°to make a revolution in our trade and add 

 millions and tens of millions annually to the wealth 

 of the n.ation by new sources of industry, without 

 impeding our usual progress in other branches. 

 We will°naine a tew of the most important subjects 

 for improvement that claim our attention. 



Bcr.t Sugar.— IC beet sugar is not a subject to 

 which we ought to give our att.'ntion, sugrfr beet 

 surely is, for "though we are not acqudnted with 

 the niethod of making sugar from, beets, we can 

 sultivale the beet for stock, for which it is very 

 valuable, and with this business it is necessary that 

 we should become acquainted before beets can be 

 raised suliicicntly cheap for making sugar. But 

 iuw know much about raising beets to advantage 

 on a large scale. We musl learn the best kind of 

 soil, the'best and most easy modes of culture, the 

 right kind of manure, and" the best machinery for 

 sowing seeds, weeding, &.c. &c. before we can 

 raise the beets, and all this we may practice to ad- 

 vantaH-e as we can give the crop to our stock with 

 profit." A.") beet sugar is made in abundance, and 

 w-ith profit in other countries, our peojile, who are 

 equal to any other in the world for ingenuity, will 

 soon learn them out, and we have no doubt that 

 ere king vast ouantities will be made in the north- 

 ern States. On this subject fanners need all the 

 information that can be obtained, that they niay 

 know in what manner and how fast they may with 

 propriety proceed in this business. 



.S'i'/A;.— This is a hew business in the country ; but 

 It few have attended to it, and that few have done but 



little, yet what has been done is sufficient to show 

 that it will be profitable in the families of farmers, 

 and that a knowledge of it is no more difficult to 

 obtain than that of the usual concerns of domestic 

 and rural economy ; and those who have attended 

 to silk raising have by experience acquired valua- 

 ble information that others can cheaply obtain 

 through the medium of books and papers. Every 

 farmer should give attention to this subject, learn 

 the method of raising tree.< and managing silk 

 worms, ai»d then consider whether he is properly 

 situated to pursue it to advantage. This will be- 

 come a great business, and there is no danger of its 

 beino- overdone, for 2li iiiillions of dollars w'irth are 

 now need'-d to supply the United States, and the 

 demand will increase as the business progresses, 

 and finally, like cotton, it v/ill be maiiufactured for 

 exportation. 



Imphmcnts. — (xreat improvements have been 

 made within a fev/ years in implements of hus- 

 bandry, from the most simple and small to the most 

 complicated and important ; but these have not 

 generally been introduced among our farmers. By 

 these improved implements larmcrs may, in many 

 kinds of work, save from one-fourth to one-half, 

 and sometimes three-fourths of their labor. The 

 simple, pronged hoe saves one-fourth the labor in 

 digging potatoes, and in some other operations. 

 Improvements in ploughs save one half the ex- 

 pense in wear, a great deal of labor in the draft, -.nd 

 much is gained in the superiority of the work. By 

 a horse rake hay may be gathered on smooth 

 ground, as fast as five or six men. The cultivator 

 's as good to a farmer during the hoeing season 

 as a good hand, and it will cost only about as much 

 as he will have to pay for a week's labor, and it 

 will answer for other purpo.ses and last several 

 years. With a good corn-sheller, a fiirmcr can 

 shell corn enough to load his horse, v/liile his "bet- 

 ter half is prcjiaring his breakfast; this would be 

 a good day's w.nk, in the usual way. 'With good 

 seed sowers and corn planters, seeds may be sow- 

 ed and planted with less than one-fourth the labor 

 required in the common method. This subject 

 might be continued to great length but we only 

 name a few articles to show how much the farmer 

 may save by improved implements. 



Rrdnimhig luin lauds. — Low lands that produce 

 nothing but weeds and bushes, may be reclaimed 

 at a moderate expense, and made to produce abun- 

 dant crops of giod English grasses. These lands 

 are enriched by the Vegetable substances that have 

 been accumnl.ating for ages, and rich by surface 

 soil from the high lands, and when properly re- 

 claimed they are the most productive m grasses of 

 any among us. In season of drought they yield large 

 crops when high lands generally fail. 



Renovating lands. — Old lands that appear to be 

 worn out and worthless, can be so renovated that 

 in few years the crops will pay all the expenses 

 and the land will be in a fertile state. Many a field 

 that once afforded but a scanty supply of herbag^ 

 for the grasshopper, has been 90 improved at a small 

 expen..e that it has yielded large crops of grain and 

 grass. 



Routs for ■'it.ock. — By raising roots for stock our 

 lands can gens! ally be improved, and a large quan- 

 tity of food produced from a small space, and by 

 feedinir stock with roots in winter arc kept in a 

 healthy state. The land is improved not only by 

 the root Crop being more ameliorating than grain ; 

 Irut'yielding a far greater amount of food, the fann- 

 er is enabled to keep more stock and of course lie 

 will have more mannre for his land. A good crop 

 of roots is usually worth four or five times as luucli 

 for stock as a Crop of.grainfrom the same land, and 

 cattle kept on green succulent food in. winter, are 

 in a more healthy and growing; condition than 

 when fed on dry fodder and grain ; and cows fed 

 with rosts will give as much ipilk as in summer, 

 other circumstances being equally favorable. 



We have remarked on only a few subjects, hun- 

 dreds of others claim our attention, and among 

 thein there aresome of impel tance with those wc 

 have naihed. ' The improven>ents ^le have men- 

 tioned as practical in the agricultural interest, do 

 not exist merely in theory, a matter of speculation 

 only, but they exist in the practice of our best farm- 

 ei-s; their accounts in these improvements prove to 

 'a demt'iistration the great j-rofits arising from them: 

 and after a few years we find a balance in their favor, 

 to which is added a handsome sum annually. Every 

 prudent farmer will see the importance of availing 

 himself of every opportunity ef gaining informa- 

 tion that will er^able him to manage his .affairs in 

 the most judicious manner. He will read, reflect, 

 observe, praclic", and improve. — Yankee Farmer. 



Temperance, open air, easy labor, simple diet and 

 tpr, are good lor a man all his life. 



pure 



