1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARI^IER. 



41 



protpotion ,«lionlcl remunerate the other class. A 

 sinull boiiiiiy would bring out every boy in trow- 

 sers, with atrap. Traps, guns, and dogs — for dogs 

 arc not extinct, tax notwitlistanding — would soon 

 make room for beans in the l)ack fiehls. 

 New Hampshire, Oct. 28, 1867. A Sufferer. 



BRrSSELS SPROUTS. 



Since we wrote you in October concerning this 

 delicious vegetable, and when we despaired of hav- 

 ing mu( Ii success with them, we have met with 

 better luck than we expected. We took off the 

 upper leaves near the top, and at each joint the 

 little heads came out plentifully, so that our table 

 has been pretty well supplied with them, and in 

 much greater abundance than we expected. The 

 cows seem to prcl'er the leaves to the cabbage. 

 We did not plant our seeds till rather late, but the 

 plants arc hardy, and stand the frosts which we 

 have j'ct had, as well as the cabbage. They may 

 not l)e very profitable fur marketing, but we think 

 they are hardy enough for our climate, and easily 

 cultivated, and we cannot see why every one who 

 has a garden, and wishes for all varieties of vege- 

 tables for his own use, should not have them in 

 abundance. Tli;y are very delicate and tender for 

 cooking, quite a relinementto the taste on the best 

 of c.ibhages; Init true to their nature, like the 

 cabbiigc, you cannot cook tlieni without having it 

 known "all over the house" wliat is in the pot, by 

 the odor they emit. We hope to indulge in a mess 

 or two more this reason from our expei intent, and 

 we are encouraged to have all we want antithcr 

 season. Inquirer. 



Maasachusetts, Nov., 1867. 



TO KILL RATS. 



Roast fresh meat on a fork, keeping hands off, 

 to prevent scenting it with your own effluvia, and 

 while hot cut into pieces of the size of a walnut, 

 still using your f^irk, — then cut small gashes in 

 each piece, and itut in one-third or one-half of a 

 grain of strychniue to each piece and leave it 

 where rats can get it, — and place water within a few 

 feet of the poisoned meat. r. 



Vermont, Nov., 1867. 



Remarks. — We cannot publish the above with- 

 out a word of caution about using this most dan- 

 gerous of all poisons. We have heard of a person 

 being thrown into fearful spasms by picking his 

 teeth with a pen-knife that he had used in putting 

 strychnine into meat, as advised by our correspon- 

 dent. Ti-y cats, instead of poison. 



OKRA. 



Can anything he done with this vegetable in this 

 clinia:e? A. year or two since we saw a tine plot 

 of the okra in full bearing on the Hudson river in 

 New York, and were regaled with its soft velvety 

 taste. It seemed to us then as if a soup was good 

 for nothing without it. We tried to raise it this 

 year. Our plants started pretty well, Ijut came to 

 nothing. We did not raise a single (lod. Whether 

 we planted too late, as we are inclined to think, or 

 whether our climate is too cold for them, we can- 

 not tell; but somebody has experimented with 

 tlieni licre enough to tell, we presume, and we 

 should like to hear about it. Inquirer. 



October, )S67. 



receipt for curing hams. 



The readers of the Farmer may cure their 

 hams nicely by the use of the following: — 



Pack the hams, shank end downward, giving 

 each piece a slight sprinkling of salt, and then 



pour over thrm when cMd a brine made of 7 lbs. 

 salt, coarse Western or Canada, dissolved in water 

 and thoroughly skimmed before boiling, to each 

 100 lbs. of meat. The hams should remain wholly 

 covered in this brine from 4 to 6 weeks, or until 

 properly salted for cooking, then removed and 

 dried and smoked. Having used this recipe for 

 some years, I recommend it to, all desiring a sim- 

 ple, cheap mode of curing hams so as to make 

 them tender, sweet and juicy, without the use of 

 saltpetre, sugar, or other ingredients. Try it. 

 Essex, Vt., Nov. 20, 1867. s. G. B. 



GERANIUMS. 



There are but few more ornamental plants than 

 geraniums and they cm be easily raised and in 

 great variety. You can propagate them by cut- 

 tings, bur ^re have had good luck with the old plants. 

 Last fall we took up our plants, which had grown 

 to a good size, the old scarlet variety, shook oflf 

 the dirt and hung them u]i in tlie cellar. In the 

 spring we set them out, trimming off the ends. 

 They soon began to grow, maturing a large, thick, 

 round hend, and continued to flower during the 

 summer and until it was time io take thtm up to 

 avoid fall frosts. They are now in our cellar as 

 fresh as ever, and we expect good service from 

 them another year. To keep geraniums in flower 

 all the seasnn, as soon as each flower begins to fade, 

 cut it off, and its place will be supplied with others 

 as long as the season lasts. Inquirer. 



Massachusetts, Nov. 4, 1867. 



jersey herd book. 

 Is there a Jersey Herd-book ? If there is, where 

 is it kept } A. p. "w. 



Cincin7iati, Ohio, Nov. 11, 1867. 



Remarks. — A pamphlet edition at $1 per copy 

 was published some time since by John Brooks, 

 Esq., of Princeton, Mass. A new and enlarged 

 edition is to be published next May. 



TO KEEP cider SWEET. 



A few days after it is made, or when worked to 

 suit the taste, put two quarts of horse radish roots 

 pounded fine, into each barrel of 31 gallons — 

 using this proportion of roots for a less or greater 

 quantity of cider. b. 



Essex, Vt., Nov. 20, 1867. 



AGRICULTURAL ITEMS. 



— An Illinois correspondent of the Country Gen- 

 tleman calls sorghnxa. syiup "disagreeable stuflF," 

 at best. 



— Last year corn was selling at Clarksville, Ga., 

 at ^2 per bushel ; it is now worth only forty cents. 

 Other crops in about the same proportiofi. 



— The easiest and most effectual plan to protect 

 trees from mice is to bank up the earth around the 

 trunk a foot or so high. 



— In the Department of the Loire, a French girl 

 won the prize for ploughing against six able-bodied 

 young men. 



— Much is wrong when three-fourths of the but- 

 ter in market brings ten cents a pound less than 

 the other fourth. 



— For cracked and sore hands caused by expo- 

 sure to cold and wet weather take two ounces of 

 sweet or olive oil ; warm it over a slow fire ; add 



