im.i 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



63 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



Preserving Fence Posts. 



The JonnutI of Forestry pives some e.xcellent in- 

 etriictions on this subject. It is important that the 

 poets be very thoroushly seasoned before external 

 paints are applied, otlierwise tlie moisture will be 

 confined and increase the decay. It is tlicrcl'ore ini- 

 portant to season the posts as rapidly as practicable 

 after they arc cut, in an exposed windy place. Coat- 

 ine them then with coal tar is especially recom- 

 mended. The acid in the tar is to t)e destroyed with 

 fresh quicklinu', and the lar thoroughly boiled to 

 evaporate all the water. Apply it to the posts while 

 hot. The recommendalion of that journal to char 

 the posts we cannot endorse, as the charred part will 

 be made weaker, and will not exclude water from 

 the inside. A thick coat of well-applied gas-tar 

 would be far better. But bakini; the wood so as to 

 turn it sliirhtly brown, would not render it weaker, 

 and would {rive it some of the durable properties of 

 charcoal ; and if the coal tar is then applied, the 

 preparation will be nearly perfect. It must be re- 

 membered that coal tar does not do well on wood 

 above ground, exposed to the sun and weather. A 

 copious application of crude petroleum is the thing 

 for such exposed surfaces. 



Which is Richest, Morning's or Evening's 



Milk? 

 This sulijcct has now been put to the test of chemi- 

 cal analysis, and the result is that the evening's milk 

 is found to be the richer. Professor Boedeker analyzed 

 the milk of a healthy cow at ditfcrent periods of the 

 day. The Professor found that the solids of the 

 evening's milk (1:5 per cent.) exceeded those of the 

 morning's milk (10 per cent.), while the water con- 

 tained in the fluid was diminished from 89 per cent. 

 to S6 percent. The fatty matter gradually increases 

 as the day progresses. In the morning it amounts to 

 ■ "% P^f cent., at noon .3'^ per cent., and in the eve- 

 ning 5:^^ per cent. The practical importance of this 

 discovery is at once apparent ; it develops the fact 

 that while 10 oz. of morning's milk will yield but \i 

 01. of butter, about double the quantity can be ob- 

 tained from the evening's milk. The casein is also 

 increased in the evening'.-^ milk from l^Vo to *i% per 

 cent., but the albumen is diminished from ■t4-100ths 

 per cent, to Kl-lUOths per cent. Sugar is least abun- 

 dant at midnight {i'^ per cent.) and most plentiful 

 at noon (4Ji per cent.) The percentage of the salt 

 undergoes almost no change at any time of the day. — 

 Canada Globe. 



Profitable Butter Making. 



Charles C. Knight, of Northampton, Berks county, 

 writes to the Doyleslown Jiitelligencer the following 

 results of the production of his dairy for the year 

 1877 : " I did not keep any account of calves. We 

 raised one, and the others I kept until they were five 

 and six weeks old, and then sold them to the 

 butchers. Mine is a dairy of twelve cows, one being 

 two years old, with her first calf. The record of 

 butter made per month is as follows : January, .58 

 pounds; February, 90 pounds; March, 2i;0 pounds; 

 ■April, '222 pounds ; May, 280 pounds ; June, o.W 

 pounds; July, '26.5 pounds; August, S50 pounds; 

 September, '..95 pounds ; October, 287 pounds ; No- 

 vember, ^23 pounds ; December, 158 pounds. There 

 is no account of butter kept at home lor the use of a 

 large family, making a total for the year of 2,817 

 pounds sold, and averaging about 235 pounds per 

 cow, making a total income of $1,230. .50; average 

 per cow, $102.. 50 for the butter. IThe cows are mixed 

 Alderney and Durham. Friend Woodward states 

 that if he could have sold his calves lor §.50, then his 

 cows would be a long way ahead, but now 1 think 

 he is not so far ahead, though I will admit that my 

 cows had good care." 



Rats and Harness. 



It is stated on good authority that a teaspoon of 

 Cayenne pepper mixed in a quart of oil and rubbing 

 the harness with the oil, will etlectually protect it 

 against the gnawing of rats. It is also said that an 

 ounce of aloes to one gallon of oil will attord the 

 same protection. Our remedy heretofore has been, 

 and we have never known it to fail, to hang the har- 

 ness up so that no rats cau molest it. But as some 

 people are careless in this respect the reil pejiper and 

 the aloes and oil remedy had better be adopteil. A 

 friend at our elbow says carbonic acid is a sure 

 remedy. 



*• 



How a Water-Pipe May be Cleaned. 



A correspondent of Forreitt ajid Streajn telle of a 

 novel method employed to cleanse a two-inch water- 

 pipe which had become choked up with mud. A 

 string was passed through a hole punched in the 

 tail of a email eel which was straightway put into 

 the pipe. An occasional jerk reminded the eel that 

 it was incumbent on him to advance, which he did, 

 arriving at the lower end of the pipe » ith the string. 

 A bunch of rags was lied to the string, and thus the 

 pipe wa» cleauted. 



Household Receipts. 



SrRAMni.En Eggs. — Six eggs, one colTee cup of 

 milk, one teaspoonful of butter, one teaspoonful ol' 

 Hour, and salt. Beat the eggs very light, rub the 

 butter and Hour together, add this to the milk alter 

 it has been placed on the stove and become a little 

 warm, salt to taste, add the eggs and cook until the 

 whites are cooked, then serve while hot, or with 

 toast . 



Blanc-Manoe. — Set on one quart of rich cream 

 with five ounces of fine white sugar and a few drops 

 of extract of vanilla or any other llavoring preferred. 

 Whip it to a stilf froth. After soaking one ounce of 

 isinglass or gelatine in one pint of cold water, for a 

 half hour, let it simmer on embers until perfectly 

 dissolved, stirring from time to time to prevent the 

 gelatine (rom sticking to the bottom of the sicwpaii 

 and burning. When lukewarm pour the cream sUnvly 

 in, beating it all the time, until etilf enough to drop 

 from a spoon, then put in molds previously dipped 

 in cold water. 



CuANiiKRiiY wiNi!, taken internally and applied 

 externally, is announced as a cure for scr-oftila. To 

 make the wine take the ripe berries, mash them in a 

 mortar to a fine pulp, put it in a stone jar, and add 

 one quart of water to two quajts of berries ; stir it 

 well ; set away and let it stand a week ; then strain 

 it through cotton, and you have a bcautil'ul wine, 

 which, with a little sugar, makes a wholesome 

 drink, at once cooling and palatable. It does not 

 ferment. 



Appi.K Cake. — Two cups of etewed dried apples 

 boiled in two cups of molasses. Drain oil the mo- 

 lasses (for the cake) from tlie apples; add two eggs, 

 two teaspoons of soda, four cups of flour, one cup ol 

 butter, one cup of eour milk. Spice of all kinds. 

 Then add the apple (which was drained as above). 

 The app'es should be soaked the night before stew- 

 ng for the cake. 



Choice Cookies. — Two eggs, two cupfuls white 

 sugar, one cupful butter, one-third cupful sweet 

 milk, two teaspoonfuls cream tartar, one teaspoonful 

 soda, one-half nutmeg. 



Cream Ckackehs. — One pint of cream, six eggs, 

 a little salt, flour enough to form a stiff dough . Beat 

 the eggs very light, mix all the ingredients together, 

 and pound the dough half an hour. Koll out thin, 

 cut into any fancy shape, and bake in a moderate oven. 



The Japanese method of cooking rice is to pouron 

 just enough water to i)revent the rice from burning 

 at the bottom of the pot, which has a close-fitting 

 cover, and with a moderate fire, the rice is steamed 

 rather than boiled until it is nearly done; then the 

 cover is taken off, the surplus steam and moisture 

 allowed to escape, and the rice turns out a mass of 

 snow-white kernels, each separate from the other, 

 and as much superior to the soggy mass we usually 

 get in the United States as a fine mealy potato is 

 superior to the water-soaked article. 



To Cleanse Woodwork Around Doors. — 

 Take a pail of hot water, throw in two tablespoons- 

 ful of pulverized borax ; use a good coarse house- 

 cloth — an old coarse towel does splendidly — and 

 wash the painting; do not use a brush ; when wash- 

 ing: places that are extra yellow or stained, soap the 

 cloth, then sprinkle it with dry powdered borax, and 

 rub the places well, using plenty of rinsing water; 

 by washing the woodwork in this way you will not 

 remove the paint, and the borax will soften and 

 make the hand white, a fact well worth knowing. 

 The uses of borax in domestic economy are numer- 

 ous ; and one of the most valuable in its employment 

 to aid the detergent properties of soap. 



To Purify a Sink. — In hot weather it is impossi- 

 ble to prevent sinks from beeoming foul, unless some 

 chemical is u.sed. One pound of copperas dissolved 

 in four gallons of water, poured over a sink three or 

 four times, will completely destroy the offensive 

 odor. As a disinfecting agent, to scatter around the 

 premises affected with an unpleasant odor, nothing 

 is better than a mixture of four parts of fine char 

 coal, by weight. All sorts of glass vessels and other 

 utensils may be eU'ectually purified from ollensive 

 smells by rinsing them with charcoal powder, after 

 the grosser impurities have been scoured off with 

 sand and soaj). 



How to Keep Bacon Hams. — Place them in some 

 dry place until the outside becomes thoroughly dry ; 

 then put them into a stout paper sack, tie them up 

 tight, and bury them in ashes, the deeper the better. 

 The meat will keep sweet for an indefinite time. 

 Some bury their bacon in oats, grain, salt, bran, etc., 

 but ashes are far the best. 



For curing ua.ms, a good authority, recommends 

 the following receipt : One cup of molasses ; one cup 

 of fine salt ; about a teaspoonful of saltpetre 

 pounded fine ; cloves, allspice, cinnamon to suit 

 taste. Mix well together; place the ham in a 

 wooden bowl or other dish and rub the mixture over 

 the surface, repeating the process once a day for a 

 month. Then smoke it for a lew hours only. 



Salt for Bedbugs. — To get rid of bedbugs, wash 

 the room and the furniture of the room they fre- 

 quent with salt water, filling the cracks with salt, 

 and you may look in vain for them. Salt seems 

 inimical to bedbugs, and they will not trail through 

 it. I think it prelerable to all ointments, and the 

 buyer requires uo cerlillcate ae to its genuinenvst. 



LIVE STOCK. 



Lancaster County Beef. 



About four or five weeks since we transferred troja 

 the Lancaster Kxaiui'ier, to our agricullural column, 

 an article on the above subject, which lias excited a 

 good deal of Intereet among our farmers, as they arc 

 now giving more attention, as is done In Lancaster 

 county, to the feeding of cattle, than heretofore. 

 One of these farmers is so much Interested on the 

 subject as to ilesire adilitional Information, and haa 

 re(juested us to ask the editor of the Kramiiier, who 

 contributed the first article, the following questions, 

 answers to which will, doubtless, be as useful to the 

 readers of that paper as our own : 



How is corn led — whether chopped cob and all, 

 or shelled ? 



Is oats or millstuff mixed with the corn or not! 



How often a day are the cattle fed) The great 

 troulile is to get them to eat a suflficlcnt quantity 

 without surfeit. 



Is anything fed to stimulate the appetite I 



At what age arc cattle the best feeders? — Hagert- 

 toit'n Mail. 



Not only has the article above referred to attracted 

 attention abroad, but to many of our own citizens 

 the magnitude of the value and number of beeves 

 fed in this county was a new revelation. The feed- 

 ing of the present season exceeds that of any previ- 

 ous year by several thousand head. We shall answer 

 the questions asked by the Mail, as beet we may, In 

 the hope that the information will be of Intereet not 

 only to our friends in Maryland, but ae well to our 

 readers nearer home. 



Corn is not fed, cob and all, by any of our farmera 

 most extensively engaged in jireparing prime cattle 

 for Philadelphia and New York markets. 



Chopped shelled corn mixed with oats ormilletufT, 

 in the proportion of one bushel of the latter to three 

 of the former, and thoroughly wet up with warm 

 water, is given. To make a variety of food for the 

 cattle the dry corn, unmixed, Is occasionally fed, 

 which plan is found useful in stimulating the appe- 

 tite and obviates the necessity for any artificial 

 stimulants. 



The general practice Is to feed three times a day, 

 at regular intervals — say at R A. M., 12 M. and 6 

 P. M. When cattle are first tied up lour quarts are 

 given at each feeding, with hay and corn fodder 

 (luring tlie night and between meals. The quantity Is 

 increased from four quarts to eight during the six or 

 eight months required for fattening. The greatest 

 care is taken not to give an overdose of feed, as It 

 will frequently cive cattle a backset from which they 

 will not recover for a week or ten days. Water is 

 usually given but once a day now, the moisture In 

 the chopped feed being taken into consideration. 

 Many of those who feed the largest number have in- 

 troduced water into their barne, and after they have 

 tied their cattle up in the fall never turn them out til! 

 they are sold. Before stabling it is very desirable to 

 pasture for a few weeks, giving the cattle once or 

 twice a day a few quarts of Ijran and chojiped corn, 

 and salt to lick. This rests them after a long drive 

 or ride in the cars, and gives them a good start for 

 the strong feeding that awaits fhem. 



The best age for fattening is from four to five 

 years, though some three-year olds turnout very well. 



Fattening a Calf. 

 Mr. Editor : My principal object in this article is 

 to show the farmers and others that they can raise or 

 even vean their calves without giving them the new 

 milk fresh from the cow. The best food to fatten a 

 calf witlioiU whole milk is oil-meal, molasses and 

 ekim-milk for the first two weeks, after which a 

 little oat or barley meal may be used. A calf can 

 be made to weigh on • hundred and twenty to one 

 hundred and forty poun^ls at four weeks old, never 

 having had any new milk after the cow's milk was 

 good. The oil-meal should be scalded and aUowed 

 to form a thick mucilage ijcfore being mixed with 

 the skimmed milk. Tlie molasses may be added 

 directly to the milk, and the whcde nniy be given 

 blood-warm. The proper quantity for a young calf 

 Is a tablcspoonful of oil-meal, the same of molasses, 

 divided iito three parts for one day's feed, added to 

 the milk. After the first week it may be gradually 

 increased, and at the commencement of the third 

 week a spoonful of oil-meal and molasses may be 

 given to each feed ; a quart of boiling water being 

 turned on to the meal over night, and also In the 

 morning to form a mucilage, and a spoonful of oat 

 or barley meal may be added, but this should be 

 cooked. At present prices, the whole feed will not 

 cost more than one dollar for five weeks, and an 

 early calf of the weight mentioned will bring from 

 ten to twelve dollars. I raised one late in the season 

 two years ago, by the above method, that cost lees 

 than one dollar for feed, aside from the skimmed 

 milk, that brought nearly ten dollars. Should they 

 have scours, give them a tea made by boiling corn- 

 cobs In water and add to the milk. 



I saw this article sonic years ago in some paper 



and cut it out and pasted it in a book, and having 



I tried it I send it to the ficrmaiilown J'clegrnph, and 



I may Ite readers be benefited as well. — Mr$, W, H. 0,, 



I Yalet County, jV, Y, 



