240 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



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Pomesttc (Etononrg. 



LARD LAMPS. -IMPROVEMENT IN MAKING. 



BY A FARMER'S WIFE. 



Messrs. Editors : — Can you inform me where 

 the lard lamps are manufactured ? (I mean britan- 

 nia lamps (a) — those made of tin are liable to leak if 

 set too near the fire, or from turning in hot grease.) 

 My husband purchased one of a pedlar some five 

 years ago, merely for the purpose of testing its 

 value. We were very much pleased with it, but 

 have never been able to purchase another. 



I have experimented a little with my lamp, and 

 find it consumes less grease than a common mould 

 candle, while it gives more light than two. It burns 

 with a clear steady light, and if the grease is clean, 

 and the wick properly trimmed, it will require no 

 more attention during the evening. Tallow, or any 

 kind of house greasa properly clarified, will burn 

 equally as well as lard. I wish also to suggest a 

 little improvement in their construction. Instead of 

 removing the top when the lamp is to be filled, which 

 with the utmost care is apt to disarrange the wick, 

 there should be a tube on one side, rising as high as 

 the top, to be secured with a screw cover. 



I have heard some object to the lard lamp on ac- 

 count of the trouble of fitting and putting in wicks; 

 but I have never heard these objections from persons 

 who were ever obliged to make candles, clean candle 

 sticks, or find their own lights. With clean grease 

 a wick will last a month. I once burned one every 

 evening for seven weeks, and I consider it less trouble 

 to fill a lamp, (with a lamp filler, and no person who 

 owns a lamp should bo without one,) than to take 

 care of a pair of candlesticks, and snuff candles. 

 Candles are necessary when a light is required only 

 for a short time, as in the morning; but if a light is 

 wanted during the night, by picking down the wick 

 of the lamp it will consume but a small quantity of 

 grease, and require no snuffing. They should be 

 manufactured from the best of britannia, as that 

 article requires very little polishing to keep it looking 

 as well as new. Onondaga Hill, JV*. Y., Aug., 1849. 



(a) Mr. J. Kedzie, 11 State-st., Rochester, has 

 a few Britannia Lard Lamps for sale. They are (or 

 were formerly) manufactured at Auburn, N. Y. 



How to Render Cloth, Silk, fa-c, Water- 

 Proof. — Take one pound, each, of common alum 

 (sulphate of ahunica,) and sugar of lead (acetate of 

 lead,) and dissolve them in six quarts of boiling wa- 

 ter, well mixed by stirring. When cold, the top por- 

 tion of the mixture should be poured off for use, as the 

 sediment consists of sulphates of lead, potash, fcc. 

 Any article of dress, no matter how slight the fabric, 

 if well saturated with this liquid, and allowed to dry 

 Blowly, will bear the action of boiling water, and not 

 permit it to pass through it. 



To Preserve Clothes. — As clothes, when laid 

 up for a time, acquire an unpleasant odor, which re- 

 quires considerable exposure to the atmospheric air 

 to remove, it can be prevented by laying lumps of re- 

 cently made charcoal between the folds of garments; 

 and even when the odor is already fixed, the charcoal 

 will absorb it. 



To Clean Knives. — Charcoal, ground to powder, 

 is one of the best things ever used for this purpose. 



llctcrinai'ji Department. 



Warts, Wens and Tumors on Animals. — Mix 



tar and salt, and apply them; continue the practice, 

 renewing the application frequently, until a cine is 

 effected. 



As a remedy for wens, some cast the animal and 

 cut Cut the wen, then fill the cavity with powdered 

 rosin and salt, well mixed; and carefully bring the 

 skin back to its place and sew it up. Or wash the 

 wen often, and for a long time, with warm vinegar, 

 saturated with common salt. We have known large 

 wens cured by warm salt water alone. Or put a 

 hair seton through those that are not sitfasts, or a 

 wolf on the jaw, when they appear to be ripe, and 

 wash them daily in soft soap. 



For warts, cut them open, and apply blue vitriol, 

 (sulphate of copper,) in powder. A physician was 

 induced to try this, (and it was attended with excel- 

 lent success,) from learning that a boy had many 

 warts cured on his hands from sorting brass nails, 

 from the influence of the copper in the brass. — 

 Neither the cutting or the application is painful. Or 

 apply to warts raw grated carrots, mixed with salt. 

 Warts are sometimes cured by the application ol 

 rits of turpentine, or lunar caustic. — Cole's Veteri- 

 narian. 



To Cure a Biting Horse. — Biting is a bad and 

 dangerous habit. It is said that the bite of a h ■ 

 that is not mad will sometimes produce madness. 

 The following is regarded as an effectual remi ; 

 but it is to cure a savage habit. A horeo woul I 

 ter burn himself than bite people repeatedly. Roast 

 or bake a piece of meat, and present it hot as he at- 

 tempts to bite. Be cautious lest he bite a piece of 

 live flesh instead of hot meat. — lb. 



Gestation. — The time that animals go wft h J 

 is called their period of gestation ; and this, as is 

 well known, differs materially among the several 

 kinds domesticated by man. Thus, the period of 

 gestation in the mare is about 330 days-, that of the 

 cow 280 days ; that of the sheep 154 days ; and 

 that of the hog 114 days. A most extensive series 

 of experiments on the period of gestation has been 

 made at the governmental farms of France, andjon 

 the farm of Lord Spencer in England. From these 

 it appears that in the case of the mare and the cow, 

 very great deviations from the average time occur- 

 red, amounting in the extreme to nearly two months. 

 In the case of the sheep and swine, the deviation was 

 less, but still considerable. The times stated above 

 are the average of the whole ; and will probably be 

 found as nearly correct a guide for the breeder of 

 these animals as the circumstances will admit. — 

 Gaylord. 



The Time for Taking Sheep from the Pas- 

 tures. — This must depend on the stale of 1 1 1* • v.. a- 

 ther and food. Severe frosts destroy much of the 

 nutriment in the grasses, and they soon after i 

 to afford adequate nourishment. Long exposure to 

 cold storms, with such food to sustain them, will ra- 

 pidly reduce their condition. The only safe rule is 

 to transfer them to their winter quarters the firsl 

 they cease to thrive abroad. — Allen's Dom. Jlnimals. 



For Costiveness or loss of appetite, sulpher is a 

 good remedy, given in a light mess, for swine. 



