64 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[April 



Plaster on Clover. 



Please inform me whether it will be beneficial 

 in eowiiiff clover seed in the sprina; on wheat, 

 to broadcast wood-ashes or jilaster, or the two mixed. 

 Or shall I wait until after the wheat is cut, and then 

 BOW the plaster and aehes on the young clover? I 

 wish a fertilizer to the wheat as well as the clover. 

 In what pro|iortion should the plaster and ashes be 

 used to the acre? — A. .S'., Jfaryland. 



[The common iiractice is to sow plaster on clover 

 in the spring:, the year after sowing the seed ; but if 

 It could have an additional dressing the year pre- 

 vious, as soon as the wheat is cut, tins would tend to 

 make a stronger growth in autumn. It would be 

 less advantageous to sow immediately after the sow- 

 ing of the clover seed, but the experiment is easily 

 tried. In some seasons, and on certain soils, it might 

 assist the growth of both wheat and clover, but gen- 

 erally the result would be light or impereeiitible. 

 Ashes are often useful, sometimes not ; and the only 

 way to determine this point is to try the experiment. 

 As both ashes and plaster must be sown dry, it will 

 make no ditierence whether they are mixed or sown 

 separate.] — Country Gcnl(ettuiu. 



Hollow Horn. 



If the horns of the animals are cold in the morning, 

 you may expect they have the horn ail. If the eyes 

 look dull and heavy, and the matter gathers in the 

 eyes, and the nose is dry and lloes not sweat, it is 

 another evidence of horn ail. If the hair is dry and 

 stands out straight, and the droppings are dry and 

 hard, it is a third indication. Take a common tea- 

 cup half full of good strong vinegar, put in a table- 

 spoonful each of line salt and black pepper, ground 

 fine, and let it soak. In the morning put a table- 

 spoonful in eadh ear of the animal atiected ; the next 

 morning repeat the dose. If the case is not a had 

 one, two applications will generally etfect a cure. As 

 soon as the natural warmth returns to the horns then 

 the cure is efl'ected. I would not recommend to bore 

 the horns nor cut them off till the above remedy has 

 been tried. In applying the medicine it will be neces- 

 sary for one person to hold the head and another to 

 apply the medicine. Be sure to hold the ear up, so 

 that the licpior will not run into the head. I have not 

 known a creature to die witli the horn ail, that has 

 been treated with this, for forty years. 



A Full Vocabulary. 



The r'. /S. Tuhaeco Jouniid publislics the following 

 list of ingenious phrases used to describe the many 

 qualities and peculiarities of leaf tobacco : 



Body, veins, texture, he.avy, thick, thin, fat, tough, 

 hairy, soft, hard, dry, wet, tine, common, spongy, 

 silky, fleshy, ledery, short, narrow, broad, long, 

 dark, light, brown, brownish, red, reddish, yellow, 

 green, fiery, shrinky, shrivelled, old, new, sweated, 

 heated, unsweated, mild, high-flavored, rank, dull, 

 glossy, shiny, spotted, sprinkled, dotted, sound, 

 rotten, touched, damaged, damaged on the butt, 

 damaged — per cent., over sweated, raw, lively, 

 white ash, gray ash, blue ash, spiderweb ash, bony, 

 bad, burniirg, funky, rim throwing, blistering, flacky, 

 coaling, wouldn't hold fire, pole liurned, frosted, 

 fishy. Salty, quality, lor export, working up, low, 

 high priced, siuibby, farnier'spacked, regularpacked, 

 mark-weight, re-weight, worm-eaten, cured, killed, 

 dead. 



Tree Mignonnette. 



This is by some supposed to he a distinct variety 

 from the common kind grown in the garden, but it is 

 not. The tree form is due to careful pruning and at- 

 tention, and there is no variety of mignonnette which 

 will assume a tree form without constant care. The 

 way to raise a "tree " nugnonnette is to sow the seed 

 as usual, and when the plants are about two inches 

 high, select one of the strongest, and jilant in a pot 

 or box bvitself,andkeepit well supported by astakc. 

 Every side branch that appears must be pinched olT, 

 but the leaves nuist be allowed to remain on the main 

 stem as they are needed for the health of the plant. 

 When the plant is about a foot or more in height, the 

 Bide shoots may be pernntted to grow, but they must 

 have their heads pinched otf occasionally to force 

 them to form a bushy top. It will take some mouths 

 to accomplish this, but it will make a beautiful 

 plant. — Country OentUman. 



What it will Do. 



If ameehanic or clerk saves 2% cents per day, from 

 the time he is twenty-one until he is thi-eescore and 

 ten, the aggregate, with interest, will amount to 

 g3,il00 ; and a daily saving of 27>i cents will reach 

 the important sura of ?29,l)00. A sixpence saved 

 daily will provide a fund of $7,0U0— sufficient to pur- 

 chase a good farm. There are few employees who 

 cannot save daily, by abstaining from the use of 

 cigars, tobacco, liquor, etc., twice or ten times the 

 amount of the six cent ineee. Every person should 

 provide for old age, and the man in business who can 

 lav by a dollar a day will eventually find himself 

 possessed of §100,000. 



Hay-Making in Norway. 



Of this a correspondent thus writes : " The way 

 they make hay in Norway will be new to your farmer 

 readers. The grass is hung up on poles to dry, and 

 I have never seen such bright colored hay in my life. 

 It is almost as bright a green as when growing. In 

 some fields you see strings of fences, a few rods long, 

 which begin and end nowhere. These Hues of fence 

 are about as wide apart as a New England farmer 

 makes his winrows. On these fences the grass is 

 hung till the wind and sun can cure it. The sun does 

 not burn it. That is one way, and perhaps the most 

 common. The other way is to plant po.stsin the fields, 

 twelve feet or so apart, and in these posts insert pegs 

 about one loot asunder. On these pegs poles are laid, 

 and on them the grass is hung just as we used to dry 

 paper at the mills down East, forty years ago. The 

 result is hay that any farmer would be proud of. 



Everlasting Fence Post. 



I discovered many years ago that wood could he 

 made to last longer than iron in the ground, hut 

 thought the process so simple and inexpensive that it 

 was not worth while making any stirabout it. I would 

 as soon liave poplar, basswood, or quaking ash, as 

 any other kind of timber for fence posts. I have 

 taken out basswood posts, after having been set seven 

 years, that were as sound when taken up as when 

 they were first put in the ground. Time and weather 

 seemed to have no efleet on them. The posts can 

 be prepared for less than two cents apiece. For the 

 benefit of others, I will give the recipe : Take boiled 

 linseed oil and stir it in pulverized charcoal to the 

 consistency of paint. Put a coat of this over the 

 timber, and there is not a man that will live to see it 

 rot. 



Controlling Bulls. 



Without a ring a bull is unmanageable, unless there 

 is some contrivance which can hobble his action, and 

 I know of none such. Were one obliged to incur tlie 

 trouble of forwarding a full grown bull, unused to be 

 handled, what would be the best aids to provide ? I 

 think to provide a strong head-stall or halter, having 

 rings, with a rope wound round the base of the horns, 

 and its two very long ends passing through the head 

 stall rings, and then allowed to trail on the ground 

 behind one on either side, would be advisable head- 

 gear; and what besides? The herdman's staflTshould 

 not be of the ordinary form, i. e., opening with a 

 snap ; but it should have a screw passed through 

 both sides of the loop at the top, so as to prevent the 

 possibility of the snap opening and allowing the ring 

 to escape the grasp of the staft'. — A. B., in Lomloii 

 Field. 



Eastern and Western Wheat. 



Eastern grown wheat has some advantage of west- 

 ern grown in quality. In grinding ifp a mixture of 

 western and eastern wheat adds considerably to the 

 value of the (lour. A much larger quantity than 

 usual was shipped this year to Ohio on account of 

 the western wheat being rather below the average in 

 quality. The wheat of New England, and, indeed, 

 the Eastern States down to Delaware and Maryland ; 

 on the other hand, is above the general average in 

 quality. Climate has not only much to do with the 

 quality of these articles, but the little variations we 

 find from season to season has a considerable iullu- 

 euce also. 



How to Make an Omelet. 



The proper way to make an omelet is to take three 

 teaspoonfulsof niilk for each egg, and a pinch of salt 

 to each one also. Beat the eggs lightly for three or 

 four minutes, and pour them info a hot pan in which 

 a [liece of butter the size of a walnut has been melted 

 a moment liefore. Tlie mass will begin to bubble and 

 rise in flakes immediately, and the bottom must be 

 lifted incessantly with a clean knife so that the softer 

 parts run in. An omelet should be cooked about 

 three or four minutes, and made in this way will melt 

 in the nioutli. If a little parsley and some well-boiled 

 onion, cut into small pieces, be added, it is much im- 

 proved. — Bertha, Clullenham, in GcrmantowH Tel, 



Cooking by Cold. 



The Scientific American says : Quite recently a 

 Hungarian chemist, Dr. von Sawicezwsky, it appears, 

 has investigated all the various ways suggested for 

 preserving meat, (by ehenucals, cooking by heat, and 

 hermetically sealing, etc.) and has found points of 

 objection to all, has attempted the preparation of tlie 

 material by subjecting it in a perfectly fresh state to 

 a temperature (if o.>o below zero, Fah., and sealing 

 it afterwards in tins. The results obtained have been 

 highly 8atisfact<n-y ; the meat on being removed from 

 the cans ap;)ears, in point of smell andcolor, as fresh 

 as if just taken from the butchers' stall. An exten- 

 sive factory is being erected in Hungary for its 

 mauufacture 



Brittle Hoofs. 



Horses or mules' hoofs are often rendered brittle by 

 causing them to stand on the heated manure or filth 

 in the stables, and sometimes by chronic " founder " 

 or fever in the feet. If the first cause is suspected, it 

 should be stopped at once; if the latter is the cause, 

 it should be remedied by giving the horse some cool- 

 ing medicine, placing the hoofs in a bath of water so 

 hot that it cannot be borne by the hand, and then 

 smearing them with glycerine. The remedy may 

 need to be repeated for some time, until all heat or 

 fever is removed, when the glycerine dressing should 

 be continued until the new growth of horn replaces 

 the old one. — Auierica/i Agriculturist. 



It is stated that corn loses one-fifth and wheat one- 

 fourteenth by drying. From the estimate made, it 

 seems that it would be more profitable for the farmer 

 to sell unshelled corn in the fall at 75 cents than to 

 keep it until spring and sell it at $il, and that wheat 

 at SI. 3.5 in December is equal to S1..50 the succeeding 

 June. In eases of potatoes — taking those that rot 

 and otherwise lost — together with shrinkage, there is 

 little doubt that between October and June the loss of 

 the owner who holds them is not less than 33 i)er 

 cent. 



A CURIOUS statement has been made and published 

 in a French paper in regard to hens. It reckons the 

 number of hens in France at -10,(100,000, valued at 

 §20,000,000. Of these about one-tifth are killed an- 

 nually for the market. There is an annual net pro- 

 duction of SO, 000,000 chickens, which in market yield 

 $24,000,000. The extra value to be added for capons, 

 fattened hens, and the like, at .$2,0;)0,000 The pro- 

 duction of eggs per pen, worth 848,000,003. In all it 

 is reckoned that the value of hens, chickens and eggs 

 sold in the markets of France, is ^S0,000,001). 



For kitchen and pantry floors there is nothing bet- 

 ter than a coat of hard paint ; the cracks should be 

 filled with putty before it is applied, and the paint al- 

 lowed to dry at least to Weeks before using. Then it 

 is easily kept clean by washing (not scrubbing) with 

 milk and water ; soap should never be allowed to 

 touch it. " Red lead and yellow oeher I prefer for 

 coloring ; the former makes a hard paint that wears 

 well." — ^Scientific American. 



A FRUITFUL source of malaria is found in the 

 earth adjoining ponds which are dammed for manu- 

 manvfaeturing or other purposes. The soil in the 

 vicinity, through the water being raised above its 

 previous level, becomes soaked, and hence damp and 

 very dangerous to health. — Scientific American. 



In washing calicoes in which the colors are not fast, 

 be careful not to boil them ; but wash in the usual 

 way with soap, and rinse in hard water. For dark- 

 eolin-cd goods add a little salt to the water ; for light, 

 a little vinegar. 



Yeast Dumplings: Take light bread dough, 

 shorten it a little, put salt in Ijoiling water, then form 

 the dough in small dumplings, drop them in the 

 water and boil 20 minutes. 



Omelet : Beat the yolk and whites of 1 eggs 

 together with 2 tablcspooufuls of milk ; add salt and 

 pepper; fry in hot butter and lanl ; eat while hot. 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



Mentor in the Granges and Homes of P.i 

 TRONS OF Husbandry. By Kev. A. B. Grosu, first 

 Chaplain of the National Grange. 



This is a handsome Royal 12 mo. of 47S pages, 

 something, in style, siie, and quality, like the "Odd- 

 Fellows Improved Manual," by the same clever au- 

 thor, whose name andliteraryreputatiou alone would 

 be a sulHcient guarantee to us of the intrinsic value 

 of the work without having seen it. Its object is to 

 explain the origin, aims and government of the Or- 

 der, answer objections, advise candidates, teach the 

 lessons of each degree, duties of oflieers ami mem- 

 bers, and aid Patrons to be better members of fami- 

 lies, of the Order, and of society. Embellished with 

 a portrait of the author, and a large number of excel- 

 lent engravings of the emblems, symbols, and otticial 

 insignia, this work has received, very justly, the 

 commendations of the highest oHicial functionaries 

 of the Order, and ought to be in the hands of every 

 Patron of Husbandry in the Union. Not to know this 

 work, by tho.se for whom it is designed, must inevita- 

 bly argue themselves unknowing and unknown. We 

 do not see how any intelligent or progressive Patron 

 can deny himself the privilege of daily perusing its 

 golden-freighted columns, unless he " loves darkness 

 rather than light." Indeed, its domestic and social 

 instructions can never be limited to the " pent up 

 Utica " of the Grange, but are equally applicable to 

 the " vast unbounded continent " of human society, 

 wherever the spark of civilization has lighted up and 

 burns. Its moral ethics are such as have received 

 the stamp of approbation among the wise and good 

 of all ages, and therefore we have no hesitation in 

 recommending it to all cultivators of the soil ,at least, 

 and especially " to the household of its faith." Pub- 

 lished by Clark & Mavnaud, No. 5 Barclay street, 

 New York, at §2 per copy, and sold exclusively by 

 agents. 



