SCRAPS. 



93 



SCRAPS. 



Origin of Feeding with Oil-Cakes.— The 

 nutritive properties of oil-cake, which now 

 forms sncli a prominent ingredient in the fatten- 

 ing diet of our finest slieep and oxen, and which 

 till about 150 years ago was used as a manure 

 on corn lands only, are said to have been dis- 

 covered in the following singular manner: A 

 farmer residing in the neighborhood of Chester, 

 having been tempted by a favorable fair to pur- 

 chase 40 more sheep than he could conveniently 

 pasture through the winter, prevailed upon a 

 neighboring tanner who also rented a little 

 farm, to lake them as out-door ^vinte^ boarders. 

 The sheep were accordingly sent, and turned 

 into a ten-acre field, and when they had fed it 

 down, thence into a twenty-acre piece, which 

 the tanner had just dressed, by way of experi- 

 ment, with oil-cake. In this piece the sheep 

 lay about two mouths withoat having been seen 

 by the fanner or the tanner. The animals were 

 found to have eaten the manure, and had got 

 very fat. Hence the origin of feeding on oil- 

 cakes. [British Fanners' Almanac. 



A New Kind of Cheese. — An esteemed 

 friend, in whose recipes we have great confi- 

 dence, has kindly furnished us With the follow- 

 ing for making cheese : Boil good white pota- 

 toes, and when cold, peel and mash them till not 

 a lump remains. To five pounds thus prepard. 

 add a pint and a half of so^/r milk, and as much 

 salt as may be deemed necessary to season the 

 mass. Having worked it well let it be carfully 

 covered from two to four days, according to the 

 Btate of the weather ; then work again, make 

 the cheeses the size you like, and then dry them 

 in the shade. After they have become suffi- 

 ciently dry, place them in pots or pans, and let 

 them remain a fortnight or more. In this way 

 cheese of a most excellent quality may be made, 

 and, what is of no small consequence, it can be 

 kept for j-ears without the slightest deteriora- 

 tion from the efiects of ago, provided it be kept 

 dry. A friend who has had the pleasure of eat- 

 ing cheese prepared in this manner, speaks of 

 it in high terms. [Maine Farmer. 



HftPs. — The most ancient known account of 

 the cultivation of hops has been discovered in 

 France. Among the records of that Kingdom 

 there is a patent of donation so far back as the 

 reign of King Pepin, in which mention is made 

 of " hnmolaria:," which doubtless meant the 

 hop-garden ; and in 822, we find that the Ab- 

 bot of Corby exonerated the millers within his 

 district from all service regarding hops. From 

 about that period the culture of this plant spread 

 over Germany, and was even introduced into 

 Sweden ; but it is remarkable that so late as the 

 13th century, it was unknown in Italy, which 

 we presume could scarcely have bcea'the case 

 had it been in use among "the Romans. 



[ British FaiTners' Almanac. 



Flax. — A crop of flax cxhau.st.i the soil, as, 

 being pulled, it leaves no stubble and roots to 

 convey to the land the carbonic acid gas in the 

 atmosphere ; but if the steep-water and fibre 

 were returned to the land, it miirht be convert- 

 ed into an ameliorating crop. [Brit. Farm. Aim. 

 {189J 



Cattle Sale. — The following sale of Short- 

 Horn cattle was made at Chilicothe on the 29th 

 June, by Mr. Geo. Renick : 



Cows. 



Donna Maria $95 



LadyPaley 87 



Poppy B2 



Red Rose HI 



Ro'=e of Sharon 97 



Evening Star 120 



Virginia HO 



Scioto 110 



Maria 52 



Thames 1 20 



Miss .Marsliall 125 



Sandusky 60 



Duchess 81 50, 36, 30, 31, 43. 



Paint 73 ' 



Laura 43 



Lily 45 



Flora 125 



Daisy 40 



Blossom 54 



Srippo 90 



Blanch 100 



Blink 90 



Heifers, thru years old. 



Bloom $45 



Josephine 71 



Lucy 80 



Twin 52 



Mate > 35 



Lady 80 



Dairy 55 



Venus 53 



Beauty 75 



Ten yearling heifers 

 sold for the following 

 prices : $36, 41. 31, 30, 32, 



Bulls. 

 Prince Charles, three 



years old 105 



Albion, do 60 



Farmer, two years old 30 



Red Rover, one yr old 46 



Five bull-calves sold 



for $36, 54, 59, 54, 30. 



The foregoing animals were all thorough- 

 bred, and most of them of highly improved pedi- 

 gree. A number of grade cows, heifers, and 

 calves, were included in the sale, and brought 

 satisfactory prices. 



The number of bidders present was respect- 

 able, though not as great as we expected to 

 have seen, nor were the prices at which the cat- 

 tle sold generallj- as high as we supposed slock 

 of such pedigrees would bring ; though much 

 allowance must be made for the times. We 

 believe Mr. Renick is not at all disappointed 

 wnth the result of the sale. He offered his whole 

 herd, only reserving the right of six bids. He 

 only bought five animals, and there were none 

 bid in for him. though a number were bought 

 by relations of his name, who are also amateurs 

 of fine cattle. 



Lime is Planting Trees. — In setting, we 

 usually put a small quantity of lime in the hole 

 — about half a peck to a tree — mixing it thor- 

 oughly with the mould, in order that it may be 

 easily accessible to the roots, vvhich ramify in 

 eveiy direction in quest of food. An English 

 j)ublication says that an extensive plantation of 

 trees has been formed within a few years, with- 

 out the loss of a single tree, and has been effect- 

 ed simply by putting a small quantity of lime in 

 the hole before depositing the tree. Four bush- 

 els are said to be amply sufficient for an acre. 

 The effect of the lime is " to push on the growth 

 of the plant in the first precarious state." There 

 seems to have existed, at first, an apprehension 

 that liming the tree would force it on prema- 

 turely, but this apprehension experience has 

 demonstrated to have been perfectly groundless. 



NuiiiTSoiL. The business of collecting 



urine and nightsoil employs an immense num- 

 ber of persons in China, who place tubs in every 

 house in cities for receiving the urine of the in- 

 mates, which vessels are removed daily with as 

 much care as our farmers remove the litter from 

 the stables. 



