48 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[March, 1879. 



you want to make more. You may make a gallon 

 of sauce from one buncb, only every time you use it 

 you must let it stand a day \oBger. — Tweidy-Jlfe 

 Cent Dimien. 



Broiled Kidneys.— Mix together in a deep plate 

 the following ingredients, whieh will cost three 

 cents : One ounce of butter, half a level teaspoouful 

 of pepper, one teaspoouful each of mustard, and any 

 table sauce or vinegar, and as much cayenne as you 

 can take upon the point of a small pen-knife blade ; 

 toast half a loaf of stale bread (cost three cents), 

 cut in slices one inch thick ; wash, split and broil 

 one pound of pigs' or sheep's kidneys (cost ten cents 

 or less) ; while the kidneys are broiling dip the toast 

 in the lirst named seasonings, lay it on a hot dish, 

 and lay the kidneys on it a6"soou as they are broiled ; 

 seaeon them with salt and pepper, and serve them 

 hot with one quart of plain boiled potatoes (cost 

 three cents). The cost of the entire dinner will be 

 le«s than twenty cents.— Twaity-fivc Cent Dinners. 



Soup.— Take about four pounds of good lean meat, 

 and boil in about four quarts of water; pare about 

 six small onions, and the same quantity of celery, 

 cut in pieces an inch long ; one yellow turnip cut in 

 small pieces, and the same quantity of potatoes ; boil 

 in a separate saucepan until half done, as that rids 

 the vegetables of a part of the unpleasant smell ; 

 when the meat is tender remove it from the broth and 

 add the vegetables — not the water they were boiled 

 in ; then beat well one egg and one tablespoonful of 

 milk, thicken with prepared flour; drop in small 

 quantities to soak ; the soup is ready to be taken up, 

 as it must not boil more than five minutes, or it will 

 make it too thick ; if the meat is allowed to remain 

 in the soup after it is tender the soup will be full of 

 fragments of it. This soup is excellent, and as good 

 the next day. 



Poultry. 



Non-Hatching Eggs. 



In relation to the infertility of eggs during the 

 season of 1S77, the American Poultry Yard says : 



" Various causes have been assigned for this non- 

 fertility ; but the impotency of the male birds is the 

 fruitful one. Whei'e fowls have been kept artificially 

 — penned up in close quarters, without access to the 

 green fields or pastures — this ill luck has been espe- 

 cially noticeable, when the eggs laid by hens thus con- 

 fined have been used or sold for incubating purposes. 



"No matter how hardy and vigorous m.ay be the 

 natural constitution of the breed of fowls or how 

 sprightly and useful the cocks that are in use as breed- 

 ers may appear to be, these males cannot endure ab- 

 solute foutincineiit and prove really serviceable in the 

 brcediuir season, as a rule. 



"Tliey must have exercise, green food, a run 

 daily outside the house limits, and not be forced to 

 eat too much dry food, or go hungry. Give these 

 breeding birds plenty of good succulent food. Let 

 them have fresh air and plenty of exercise every day, 

 oven in winter time. And so you will find a large 

 proportion of the eggs will be impregnated, and will 

 hatch much more successfully in spring time." 



How to Manage Setters. 



Sear Sir : I think that much is to be gained by 

 regularity in the management of incubating hens. 

 Many folks allow the^ setters to remain upon the 

 nests as long as they please, come ofi' when so in- 

 clined, and return at their leisure. This is not the 

 best way, as I look at it, and I have worked long 

 and thonght much on this matter. 



If a hen is not taken oflf her nest daily she will 

 certainly befoul it. This helps to breed lice and 

 renders her uncomfortable. If left to herself to go 

 on and ofi", as she pleases, the chances are that she 

 will at some time allow more or less of her eggs to 

 chill, in extreme cold weather. I therefore deem it 

 always best to remove and replace her every morning, 

 and so keep her steady at her work. Some hens can 

 attend to themselves, and some don't know enough 

 to go in when it rains, hardly. They think they 

 must stick to their eggs as if the universe depended 

 on it. Give me regularity and system every time. — 

 N. K. Drake, in American Poultry Yard. 



female. If you speak of two fowls of one kind, you 

 would more properly call them " a couple," than " a 

 pun-."— Editor P oultry Ya rd.;\ 



The Best Kind of Eggs. 

 Eggs for hatching should be chosen of the fair aver- 

 age size, usually laid by the hen they are from, any un- 

 usually large or small being rejected. Some hens lay 

 extremely large eggs and others small ones. A fat hen 

 will always lay siriall eggs, which can only produce 

 small and weakly chickens. Absolute size in eggs is, 

 therefore, of butlittle importance. Round, short eggs 

 areusually the best to select ; very long eggs, especi- 

 ally if much pointed at the small end, almost always 

 breed birds with some awkwardness in style or car- 

 riage. Neither should rough-shelled eggs be chosen ; 

 they usually show some derangement of the organs, 

 and are often sterile.— /'on^^ci/ Yard. 



What and How to Feed. 



The readiness with which fowls will eat the various 

 garden vegetables depends on habit or education, if 

 we may use so pretentious a word. In winter chop 

 up carrots, turnips, beets, mangolds, or cheap seed- 

 ling apples, if the latter can be afforded ; and to 

 teach fowls to eat these, thoroughly mix with meal 

 till appetite is acquired, when they may be given 

 alone, and alternately raw and cooked. Boiled 

 potatoes and raw cabbages will generally be eaten 

 without previous training, and this fact indicates 

 that they are the best vegetable food for winter.— 

 Poultry Yard. 



Degeneracy in Fowls. 



"Subscriber," at Darham, Conn., is informed that 

 fowls or turkeys are best bred by a change of mates, 

 at least as often as every other year. It is quite as 

 well to change the cocks every spring, to prevent de- 

 generacy in the blood. Breeding continually from 

 the same parentage will, in a few years, "run out " 

 the stock, so that its best points and characteristics 

 will almost certainly disappear ; and, at the best, the 

 progeny from the same line bred in-and-in for a few 

 generations successively, will deteriorate very largely. 

 —Poultry Yard. 



Poultry should not be plucked too soon after 

 killing. If feathers are pulled out while the blood 

 is still fluid, th8 vesicle at the root of each feather 

 becomes engorged and the skin spotted. Don't feed 

 before killing ; a fowl killed while digestion is going 

 on will hardly keep a week. 



LITERARY AND PERSONAL. 



Questions. 



Dear Sir: Will you please answer the following 

 questions through the Yard: 



1. How to stop my hens from dropping soft- 

 shelled eggs from the roosts at night. I have found 

 more than one egg of this kind in my nests during 

 the past year, and my hens (White Leghorns) get 

 plenty of lime, etc., to form egg shells ; 2. When a 

 person speaks of a pair of anything, does he always 

 mean male or female, unless otherwise stated ?— /. 

 T. G.,Easton, Pa. 



[Reply.— 1st. Our correspondent says his hens 

 have " plenty of lime, etc." They should have a 

 gravel run, a gravel floor to their house, or plenty of 

 gravel in some shape (as well as lime), at all times. 

 If they have range, when fowls can be out of deors, 

 they will do belter still. See our olt-repeated re- 

 marks about exercise ; 2. A "pair" is a male and 



The Ferns of North America. — By Professor 

 Daniel C. Eaton, of Yale College, beautifully illus- 

 trated with colored plates by Mr. James H. Emerton. 

 Published by S. E.Cassino, naturalist agency, Salem, 

 Mass. We have just received the 12th and 13th 

 parts of this beautiful quarto (on the Ferns of North 

 America,) containing 6 full page plates, with 43 

 figures, amply illustrating the difterent parts of this 

 most interesting family of plants. If ever there was 

 a work published adapted to the convenience of those 

 in middle life or advanced in years — when the facul- 

 ties of vision are beginning to fail— it is to be found 

 in this publication, even if the ferns themselves were 

 not one of the most interesting of botanical studies, 

 and the subjects easy of access', conveniently manipu- 

 lated, and showy in an herbarium. The qu.ality of 

 the paper, the type, the printing, the engraving and 

 coloring are the best that the present pei-iod can 

 command, and are very superior. Price, jfl.OO per 

 part, postage paid, and will be completed in not less 

 than '10 numbers, and not more than 2+, payable on 

 delivery, at intervals of about two months. As tills 

 work, when completed, will contain about 7.5 full 

 page plates, about .500 figures, and illustrate all the 

 known ferns in North America, down to the present 

 time, we consider it cheap— I'eri/ cheajy. 



The American Poultry Yard.— A weekly illus- 

 trated journal, devoted specially to the interests of 

 fowl breeders, fanciers, farmers, markets and 

 dealers. A. H. Stoddard, publisher, Hartford, 

 Conn.; §1.50 a year; single number, four cents. 

 This is a remarkably cheap and well-executed 16 by 

 22 folio of 4 pages, with all the novelties in chicken- 

 dom illustrated weekly, as they successively are de- 

 veloped. Its contributions are all brief, terse and 

 practically to the point, and, doubtless, on that ac- 

 count, it is preferabl • to most readers to the Poultry 



World, by the same publisher. The relation these 

 two journals occupy to each other is very similar to 

 that of day-book and ledger. In an emergency one 

 might dispense with the ledger and run his business 

 with dav-book alone ; but as soon as his circum- 

 stances warranted it, be certainly would patronize 

 both. Although seemingly occupying this relation 

 to the lloi-i(<, it does not occupy the same ground 

 practically. It contains more oi' the familiar weekly 

 gossip than its contemporary, and less of its standard 

 poultry literature. There is not a contribution, an 

 advertisement, an anecdote, an inquiry and reply 

 that does not in some way relate to "chicken 

 fixens " and their feathered co-relatives. We hope it 

 may have a large vacancy to fill. 



Washington Departmental Review. — A com- 

 pendium history of Governmental operations (en- 

 tered according to an act of Congress) . Terms, ?1.00 

 per annum ; single copies 10 cents. This is an ex- 

 cellently well-gotten up quarto of Ifi pages. No. 1, 

 Vol. 1, for January, a copy of which has reached our 

 table. Published by Walter J. Brooks, in the office 

 of the Librarian of Congress. We append the con- 

 tents of the number, from which its peculiar scope 

 may be judged. Advertisements (only one page), 

 Agriculture Department ; Congress ; Department of 

 Justice ; Editorial ; Executive ; Interior Depart- 

 ment ; Navy, State, Postofflce ; Secret Service Di- 

 vision ; Treasury Department; War, &e. There is 

 a very large amount of Governmental statistics in 

 these pages, besides what is being done by Congress 

 and the difterent departments. Nothing at all about 

 Congressional and departmental discu.ssions on doing 

 and "undoing, but what has actually been done and 

 undone. This is an entirely new journal, and now, 

 since it has made a beginning, we may well wonder 

 why such an enterprise was not begun twenty-five or 

 fifty years ago. The work is of great value to those 

 who take an interest in the Government. 



Wallace's Monthly comes to us this month 

 brim full of good, wholesome reading. "The Sire 

 of Justin .Morgan," " The Guernsey Cow," "Origin 

 of the Morgan Horse," "Thoughts on Breeding," 

 "Polled Cattle," with a finely illustrated article 

 upon an Oregon Breeding Stable, are among its most 

 interesting papers. The leailing article, "The 

 Percheron of Paris and of the Prairies," by the 

 editor, is full of practical common sense. In the 

 editorial department, Mr. Wallace continues his 

 discussion, " Do we need any more Running Blood 

 in the Trotter?" Mr. L. S. Hardin, the editor of the 

 cattle department, has an article entitled, "A Cow 

 Test." Published by John H. Wallace, 212 Broad- 

 way, N. Y., at $3.00 per year. 



Landreth's Rural Register and Almanac 

 I'OK 1879. — Published annually for gratuitous distri- 

 bution ; containing also David Landreth & Sons' 

 Price List of Garden Seeds for 1879. This is the 

 thirty-third year of the publication of this excellent 

 little work, and the present year it is increased in 

 size to a royal octavo in form, and otherwise much 

 improved. It is hardly necessary to say that the 

 Landreths are the proprietors of the celebrated 

 Bloomingdale seed farm, and the present issue gives 

 a full page bird's eye view of the central portion of 

 said fan'n, including the buildings thereon. The 

 work contains 64 pages of choice reading matter, in- 

 cluding the covers, and is embellished with 69 illus- 

 trations of choice garden and field vegetables. 



The Horse. — " A Treatise on the Horse and His 

 Diseases," by Dr. B. J. Kendall, of Enosburgh Falls, 

 Vermont, is a book that every owner of a horse 

 should have, and no breeder of horses can afibrd to 

 do without. It has thirty-five engravings, illustrating 

 positions assumed by sick horses, and gives treat- 

 ment of dis'<asi-s in such plain and comprehensive 

 language as to lie readily understood by anyone of 

 ordinary intelliirence. The price is only 25 cents, 

 but we 'would not exchange it for any book on the 

 horse an~l his diseases that we have ever seen, and 

 we have read some hooks of the kind that cost $10. 

 It contains a large number of recipes, anyone of 

 which is worth double the price of the work. The 

 book may be had of the author as above. 



A Reliahle Firm. — In another column of The 

 Farmer can be found the advertisement of Messrs. 

 Ellwanger & Barry, Mt. Hope Nurseries, Rochester, 

 N. Y. They are a reliable firm to deal with, and as 

 we have had a knowledge of the firm for many years 

 we have no hesitancy in recommending them to our 

 readers, and we feel sure that any representation 

 made by them will be found to be correct. In these 

 days, when tree arjcnts are continually boring our 

 farmers, we take pleasure in recommending a firm 

 whom we know to be honest and reliable dealers. 



J. J. H. Gregory's Seed Catalogue.— Mr. 

 Gregory is one of the very few seedsmen who com- 

 bines the business of seed raiser and seed dealer. 

 We presume this fact has a good deal to do with his 

 seed warrants ; for unless a man grew largely of the 

 seed he sells and hence i-noics all about them, he 

 will hardly venture to warrant their freshness and 

 purity ; and what is ol» more importance to the pur- 

 chaser, stand by it in every case, as Mr. Gregory has 

 the reputation of doing. 



New Music— The following new music has been 

 received from Geo. D. Newhall & Co., 62 West 

 Fourth street, Cincinnati, Ohio, and recommends 

 itself to all lovers of good music. Blossom's Reward 

 Polka; Farewell; Innovation. Persons wishing some- 

 thing unusually attractive should send for it, and 

 surely be pleased. 



A New Book. — Loring, publisher, Boston, has 

 issued a new work entitled, " How we Saved the Old 

 Ftirm, and How it Became a New Farm." It is 

 written by " A Young Farmer," and the price of It 

 is fifty cenlTs. It is a very entertaining work, and is 

 well worth a perusal. 



Report upon the condition of crops and live stock, 

 January, lb79. Department of Agriculture No. 10 

 of special series, 21 pp. octavo. 



I 



