1878.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



79 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



Things Useful to Know. 

 A tumbler usually hokls nl>out - - - 

 A teacup " " " - - 



A wine frlass " " " - - - 



A tatilospoon " " " - - 



A liessert " ' 



A teaspoon " ' 



Weight of a 

 Wheat ----- 



Kye - 



Oats ------ 



Barlcj' ----- 



Corn in the car - - 

 Coru, shelled - - 



Cloverseed 

 Timothy Seed 

 Blue (irass Seed 

 Flaxseed - - - 

 White Beans - 



10 ounces. 

 " 

 " - . - 2 " 



" . . - !<; " 



% " 



1 drachm, or fiO drops. 



Bushel in Pounds. 



Irish Potatoes - - - 60 

 Sweet I'otaloes - - 60 

 Dried Apples - - - 24 

 Onions - . ... .57 

 Turnips - - . . - .5,') 

 Cornmeal - - . - 48 



Bran 20 



Salt - .W 



Coal, (Ohio) - . - RO 

 " (Penn'a) - - 7i 



- 60 



- 511 



- H-J 



- 47 



- 70 



- .51-, 

 . 60 



- 44 



- 45 



- 56 



- 60 



Household Hints. 



Han? pictures with copper or silver wire. 



Better untidy rooms than ill-cookcd food. 



Eat Oraham puddin<; and milk for breakfast. 



Mend coal scuttles with flour paste and Canton 

 flannel. 



A cement of ashes and salt will stop cracks in a 

 stove. 



Wicks must be changed frequently to Insure a 

 good light. 



Bonnets with strings a.-e worn, even by very young 

 ladies. 



Don't use good sheets to Iron upon, taking a fresh 

 one every week . 



Pour cold tea, that otherwise would be thrown 

 away, into the vinegar barrel. 



A cup of water in the oven, while baking, will 

 prevent meats, bread, etc., from burning. 



Potato Salad. 

 Potato salad is a regular dish at the German restau- 

 rants, and Americans who become acquainted with 

 it are not slow to adoi)t it. We find it very accepta- 

 ble at lunch; and in warm weather, with a cold 

 meat dinner, all the family prefer it to hot potatoes 

 in any form. There is no regular rule for making it ; 

 the needed articles are cold boiled potatoes, chives 

 (or a small onion), parsley, salt, pepper, vinegar 

 and oil. Slice the potatoes thin ; chop the chives (or 

 onion) and parsley flne. Put a layer of sliced pota- 

 toes in a dish ; sprinkle on chives, parsley, salt and 

 pepper; pour over vinegar and oil enough thoroutrhly 

 to moisten the whole ; lay on another layer of pota- 

 toes, and so on. It is better to make it an hour or 

 two before serviner, and carefully turn once or twice, 

 or stir in such a manner as not to bj*eak the slices. 



Flat Irons. 

 In damp weather flat irons, unless kept on the 

 stove, are apt to gather moisture, get rough, and 

 sometimes rusty ; and it is not well to keep them hot 

 all the time, for a good many reasons — they are 

 liable to get knocked off and broken, and after a 

 while do not retain the heat as well, and they arc in 

 the. way. If you occasionally rub the smooth sur- 

 faces with a bit of beeswax, and then rub on a piece 

 of cloth they will alwa3's keep bright and smooth. 

 If they do ever happen to get wet, asd .'io rust, lay a 

 little fine salt upon a smooth board and rub them 

 over it quickly while hot. 



Renovating Black Silk. 

 Do not iron black silk. Peel two potatoes, slice 

 them thin, pour one pint of boiling water on them, 

 and let them stand four hours. Wlien ready for im- 

 mediate use, put about a quarter of a tcacupful of 

 alcohol into the liquor. Sponge the silk well on the 

 worn side, rubbing the shiny spots with care ; and 

 then roll it tightly around a thick pole. This renews 

 its freshness, and cleans it well. 



How to Banish Rats. 



Rats may be banished by covering the floor near 

 the rat hole with a thin layer of moist caustic potash. 

 When the rats walk on this it makes their feet sore; 

 these they lick with their tongues, which makes 

 their mouth sore, and the result is that they not only 

 shun this locality, but appear to tell all the neighbor- 

 ing rats about it, and eventually the bouse is entirely 

 abandoned of them. 



Hard waters are rendered very soft and pure, 

 rivaling distilled water, by merely boiling a two- 

 ounce phial, say in a kettleful of water. The carbo- 

 nate of lime and any impurities will be found 

 adhering to the vial. The water boils very much 

 quicker at the same lime. 



When the eyes become inflamed from any cause 

 do not rub them at all — such irritation is dangerous — 

 but bathe them in tepid milk ; keep the bowels open 

 by some gentle medicine, and eUt little meat. The 

 eyes are very sensitive to the state of the stomach. 

 Avoid the glare of strong light. 



LIVE STOCK. 



Percentage of Cream and Butter. 



In sjicakinL' of the percentage of cream from a 

 given quantity of milk an exchange says : "There 

 is no necessary relationship between the percentage 

 of the cream and butter produ<-llon of the milk, and 

 experiments have proved that of two milks one wilh 

 the smalli'sl (piantity of cream, as inilicati'd by the 

 percentage glass, yielded the most liultcr. In'dei-d, 

 the per cent, of cream Indicated by the narrow cream 

 guage is a fallacious guide. There is only one way 

 at present known to test the butler ipiality of milk, 

 and this is the making' of bulli'r from a known quan- 

 tity of milk. It may be satisfactory to claim forty 

 per cent, of cream fiom milk, but it is useful ; The 

 quantity of cream a milk will yield is of importance 

 to the seller of cream. It does not indicate the but- 

 ter yield of a cow. Per cent, nf cream and per cent, 

 of butter are two entirely ditferent nuitlcrs when 

 used to exi)ressthe ricliness of a cow's milk. A quart 

 of milk which throws up four per cent, of cream 

 may make more butter than a (piart of milk which 

 throws up ten per cent, of cream. It is jiroliable that 

 the percentage glass may give indication of tlie 

 quality of the butter from a cow, and tell something 

 of the churnini; quality of the cream, but it dois not 

 and can not tell the butter richness of the milk." 



To Relieve Choked Cattle. 



" I used to be a Cheshire (England) dairyman, 

 and had a stock of nearly one hundred cattle, 

 (irowing many acres of turnips, choking of the cows 

 was very frequent, and the simple remedy was a 

 stick of hanl wood at)ouf a foot: long and an inch 

 and a half square, put in the mouth as a bridle bit — 

 a string from each end tied to each horn to keeji in 

 place. Placing tlie stick instantly releases the im- 

 prisoned foul air from the distended stomach, and 

 prevents more swelling. Whatever root 6ti<'ks in the 

 throat will in time soften and go down, and no bad 

 etfects can follow unless force is used. Until this 

 summer I had never seen a case of bloating from 

 eating grass or clover. In June my next neighbor 

 had a case and asked my assistance. I placctl the 

 stick and she was relieved in a few minutes. The 

 same day my cows (through a board being down in 

 my neighbor's fence) got into clover, ttc, before I 

 knew it one had died. Numbers wi-re looking on 

 while she was strugi;ling and living, bul knew no 

 remedy. To-day another neighlwr bail a similar 

 case, and eflected a cure by the moans described." 



Hints for Horse Owners, 



If a colt is never allowed to get an advantage, it 

 will never know that it possesses a power that man 

 cannot control; and i( made familiar with strange 

 objects, it will not be skittish and nervous. If a 

 horse is made accustomed, from his early days, to 

 have objects hit him on the heels, back and hips, he 

 will pay no attention to the giving out of a harness, 

 or of wagons ruiniing acrainst him at an luicxpected 

 moment. We once saw an aged lad} drive a high- 

 spirited horse, attached to a carriage down a steep 

 hill, with no hold-back straps upon the harness : 

 and she assured us that there was no danger, for her 

 son accustomed liis horses to all kinds of usage and 

 sights, that commonly drive the animal inio a frenzy 

 of fear and excitement. A gun can be lired from the 

 back of a horse, an umbrella held over bis head, a 

 buft'alo robe thrown over his neck, a railroad engine 

 pass close by, his heels be bumped with sticks, and 

 the animal take it all as a natural condition of tilings, 

 if only taught by careful management that he will 

 not be injured thereby. 



Exterminating Lice. 



Dr. W. .T. B. Kingsley, of Oneida county. New 

 York, uses aloes to kill lice on all animals and gives 

 the following directions for its use : 



Fill a large common pepper box with the powder 

 and Bprinkie thoroughly inio the hair, on the neck. 

 bacK, sides and rump of the creature infested, and 

 rub it thoroughly through the hair and on the skin 

 with the ends of the lingers. Leave It undistured for 

 a week ; then card and curry thoroughly, and apply 

 as before, and so continue, at Intervals of a week, 

 until there is not a living parasite. 



Heaves. 

 Dr. Horn, the distinguislied vcrterlnary surgeon, 

 in replying to an inquiry relative to a mare all'ected 

 with this disease, says: "Give no clover, hay or 

 musty feed of any kind ; dampen all her food ; feed 

 no corn excepting ground, and dampened ; then 

 about one-third only. Keep a tub of lime water for 

 her drink; put a iiicce of quick lime as large as a 

 lemon to each pailful. This will be about a proper 

 quantity. She may refuse to drink at first, but will 

 soon drink freely of the water." 



It IS the opinion of an intelligent dairyman that 

 there is a dillcrence of two quarts of milk a day be- 

 tween a cow comlortably housed and the same one 

 exposed to the cold for half the day, as we see them. 



POULTRY. 



Hens That Eat Eggs. 

 The best way to break hens of eirg eating Is to 

 break their necks and restock with binlg that have 

 not acquired the habit. Fowls that are expert In 

 egg eating flrsl attack the shell wllli their bill. If It 

 is a thin shell a few slrokes will break II, and the rest 

 is an easy job. If, however, the shell Is a thick one 

 they generally fail to break it with llieir beaks ; they 

 then begin to seralch In the nest, and with their feet 

 throw the egg against I he hard side of the box until 

 it is broken. First of all, make liens lay hard shelled 

 eggs, so hard that they cannot be readily broken by 

 a hen's bill. This can be done by feeding freely with 

 slacked lime, ground or broken bones, oyster sheila, 

 etc. To prevent breaking against the sides of the 

 box the nests should be high and lined u|Kin the 

 sides with cushions fllled with hay or other soft 

 material. Their only ehanee Ihen is that they may 

 throw two eggs forcibly against each other. To 

 prevent this take the nest egg away and gather the 

 eggs several times a day. It is a good plan lo leave 

 a few china eggs near the nest for them lo work at, 

 which win make their bills so sore that they will 

 strike the real eggs with less force. 



Leghorn Fowls. 

 My experience Is in favor of the whites. I have 

 bred them for breeding, exhibition and laying pur- 

 poses, anil find the whites give the largest profit In 

 every case. It is Impossible to breed as many 

 standard birds as to color of the brown variety. 

 There is always more or less dissatisfaction, especially 

 when eggs are sold. The breeder Is blamed many 

 times through Ignorance, yet the dissatisfaction Is 

 the same. In all my sales of whites I never have 

 had any complainis made, and I can eerlainly sell off 

 stock closer for exhibilion and '.ireeiiing purposes. I 

 find them as hartly, early in maturing, and they 

 lay better and larger eggs and more of them in a 

 given time. On a whole, I think the browns have 

 been overrated and the whites neglected. 



Cooked Meat for Fowls. 



Fowls, as well as dogs, become quarrelsome If fed 

 on raw meat. Besides, cooking makes it more 

 nutritious. When raw, it is rather harsh and crude, 

 compared witli the niilil, natural diet of wiirins and 

 grubs, which are for the most part soft, and easily 

 dissolved by digestion. 



Occasionally, for variety, a little meat may be 

 given raw. Fish, when iilenty, Is more conveniently 

 given boiled, because in lliat state the fowls easily 

 pick every morsel from the bones, and no mincing is 

 requireil. Chandlers' scraps have the advantage of 

 being already cooked, and on that account, as well 

 as many others, they are excellent. — Tkc J'oullry 

 Workl. 



Charcoal for Poultry. 



The benefit which fowls derive from eating char- 

 coal is, I believe, acknowledged. The methoil of 

 putting it hdiire them is, however, not well under- 

 slood. I'uiiii'led charcoal is not in the shape In which 

 fowls usually find llieir food, and eiuisequently is not 

 very enticing lo lliein. 1 have found that corn burnt 

 on the cob, and the refuse— which consists almost 

 entirely of the grains reduced to charcoal, and still 

 retaining their perfect shape — placed before them, is 

 greedily ealcii by them, wilh a marked Improvement 

 in their health, as Is shown by the brighter color of 

 their combs, and their sooner prmluelng a greater 

 average of eggs to the flock than before. — S. litifut 

 Maxon in the Voultry World, 



A $.02 Rooster. 

 That famous S.")ll,UOO cow which was so much 

 talked about in this country a few years ago has 

 found a rival in jKiint of proportionate pecuniary 

 worth in a ?.'>0J rhickcn. The ICiiijlUh Atiricullural 

 G«^<7^c says that a gamecock was recently sold for 

 the above excessive price, and suggests that In the 

 future Ihe raising of such ehiekens would prove a 

 very lucrative source of income. The same journal, 

 we notice, says that over 8i:!,000,()00 worth of eggs 

 were ini|jorted Into England in 1^76, and yet the 

 su|iply was short of the demand. Here is an opening 

 for poultry men and wider field for Inventors of egg- 

 piescrving processes and egg-carrying devices. 



Tarred Paper for Poultry Houses. 



A corrcs|K)ndent of the Poultrtj World says : I 

 read your reconnnendation to use tarred paper ^s a 

 prevenlive of lice In the last number of your maga- 

 zine, and your request to those interested lo report. 

 I have lined my buildings throughout with It for two 

 years, putthig it between every piece of board or 

 timber, and even into my nests, and, so far, have not 

 seen a louse alKjut. I had a house overrun with lice 

 two years ago, but upon lining it with tarred papefi 

 they disappeared and have not been seen since. 



