1880.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



109 



Tomatoes. 



A common mietukc in tlie cultivation of this plant 

 Is to Imagino that it requires an enormous epaee to 

 perfect its <,'rowth in. Of course, if it is allowed to 

 waniicr at ite own sweet will, it will occupy a f^rcut 

 deal of ground. But this is not at all the best way to 

 get ripe fruit, thou(,'h any amount of leaves, stalks, 

 and yrccn tomatoes may lie produced by it. Plea.se 

 give the followinjj plan a fair trial ; Set. the plants In 

 rows two feet apart, and fifteen IneheB between the 

 plants in the row. 



When the first bunch of buds has fairly made its 

 appearance, nip otT the whole of the shoots i^rowinj; 

 between the stem and branches ; but allow the uuiin 

 stem to grow on until lour or, at most, live bunches 

 of buds are formed. Then, the plant bciui;-, proba- 

 bly, about three feet high, pinch off the main stem 

 about three inches from the liiehest bunch, and con- 

 tinue to uip off the shoots, as before, as fast as they 

 make their appearance ; just as in the culture of 

 tobacco. 



If this Is properly done, the greatest amount of 

 ripe fruit that the climate is capable of producinK 

 will be secured. Stakes, about four feet long, will 

 be required to tie the plants to. They should be 

 driven firmly into the ground and the stem should 

 not be too tightly bound. I have practiced this mode 

 of growing tomatoes for twelve years, and have 

 never failed to obtain an early crop of well-matured 

 fruit. Keep the ground well stirred and mulch 

 with half-rotted dung. Lots of liquid manure— 

 Cor. Jonrnal of Agriculture. 



Cultivating the Raspberry. 



After all said and done, there is no small fruit 50 

 certain In its crop and altogether so wholesome as 

 the raspberry. With any kind of decent attention 

 it will not disappoint the grower, no matter what 

 the variety may be. It is true that it should always 

 be pruned and laid down in November, ready for 

 taking up in the spring without anything more to do 

 with it than tying the stakes. These stakes may be 

 almost of any kind andean almost always be fur- 

 nished on the premises — such as pieces of boards 

 split off, bean-poles that have become too short by 

 tlie ends rotting off, and supports obtained from 

 pruned branches from trees. Do this and one is 

 sure of getting a good supply of fruit. When the 

 canes are done bearing cut them out ; and when 

 November comes prune the new wood and lay down 

 as before. — Gcrmuntowu Telegraph. 



Domestic Economy. 



Milk and Lime Water. 



Milk and lime water are now fiequently prescribed 

 by physicians in cases of dyspepsia and weakness of 

 the stomach, and in some eases are said to prove 

 very beneficial. Many persons who think good 

 bread and milk a great luxury, frequently hesitate 

 to eat it for the reason that the milk will not digest 

 readily; sourness of the stomach will often follow. 

 But experience proves, says the Journal of Materia 

 Medica, that lime water and milk are not only food 

 and medicine at an early period of life, but also at a 

 later, when, as in the case of infants, the functions 

 of digestion and assimilation are feeble and easily 

 perverted. A stomach taxed by gluttony, irritated 

 by improper food, inflamed by alcohol, enfeebled by 

 disease, or otherwise unfitted for its duties — as is 

 shown by the various symptoms attendant upon in- 

 digestiou, dyspepsia, diarrhoja, dysentery, and fever 

 — will resume its work, and do it energetically, on 

 au exclusive diet of bread and milk and lime water. 

 A goblet of cow's milk may have four tablcspoonfuls 

 of lime water added to it with good effect. The way 

 to make lime water is simply to procure a few lumps 

 of unslaked lime, put the lime in a stone jar, and 

 add water until the lime is slaked and of about the 

 consistence of thin cream ; the lime settles, leaving 

 the pure and clean lime water on the top. 



Summer Drinks. 

 A great deal of harm to health and many deaths 

 result, as everybody knows, from injudicious use of 

 cold liquids to quench thirst during our blazing sum- 

 mers. Persons exposed to the heat, especially those 

 hard at work, cannot, or will not, refrain from drink- 

 ing, for they feel the need of supplying the waste 

 from copious perspiration. What, then, shall they 

 drink ? Water seems, under the circumstances, to 

 be inadequate to the wants of the system. It passes 

 through the circulation to the skin as through a 

 sieve, and flows over the surface in streams. A big 

 drink of cold, or even cool, water on an empty 

 stomach is very dangerous ; it is liable to produce 

 sudden death. The danger may be avoided, it is 

 said, by putting farinaceous substances, particularly 

 oatmeal, into the water to be drank by laborers, the 

 proper proporlion being three or four ounces of meal 

 to a gallon of water. Why oatmeal should be bet- 

 ter than rye, millet, buckwheat or corumeal cannot 

 easily be determined, but those who have used oat- 

 meal, especially firemen, coal-heavers and the like, 

 say that it gives them greater endurance and in- 



creases their strength. This may be a more notion, 

 but the peculiar aroma of the oats may be so associ- 

 ated with an agreeable stimulation of the alimentary 

 mucous surface as to promote complete digestion. 

 The meal appears to fill the blood vessels without 

 increasing the cutaneous exhalations. Workmen 

 who have tried acid, saccharine or alcoholic drinks 

 as asui)Btilute for the oatuieal drinks have invariably 

 expressed unsatisfactory results. Water with oat- 

 meal seems to be by all odds the most wholesome 

 and desirable summer drink for manual laborers. 



How to Cure Toothache. 



Some months ago an English tourist, lingering in 

 a country church-yard, was present at a funeral, and 

 oViserved among the grouj) of mourners a young 

 man who particularly attracted attention by his 

 swollen face and the utter dejection of his appear- 

 ance. "Here, at least, is one true mourner," thought 

 the Englislnnan. While this thought was passing 

 through his mind the supposed mourner took up a 

 skull which lay on the top of a heap of dry mold and 

 crumbled bones. He raised it to his lips, and, with 

 his own teeth, extracted a tooth from it. Horror 

 filled the stranger as he watched this proceeding and 

 saw him throw the skull carelessly away, while 

 he wrapped the tooth in paper and put it in his 

 pocket. "Can you tell me why he did that?" 

 asked our tourist of an old man who stood beside 

 him during the funeral ceremony. " Ay, surely, 

 your honor, the poor boy was very bad wi' the 

 toothache, an' it's allowed to be a cure if you draw a 

 tooth frae a skull wi' your ain teetli. He'll sew the 

 tooth in his clothes an' wear it as long as he lives." 

 " You don't tell me so! Do you think the remedy 

 will be effectual ?" " It's like enough, sir," replied 

 the old man, showing where a tooth was sewed in 

 the lining of his owu waistcoat. "It's five years 

 .•*iuce I pulled that anc the same way, an' I never 

 had a touch o' the toothache siuce." — All the Year 

 Bound. 



The Home. 



A dark house is always unhealthy, always an ill- 

 aired house. Want of light stops growth aud pro- 

 motes scrofula, tickets, etc., among the children. 

 People lose their health in a dark house, aud if 

 they get 111 they cannot get well again in it. 



Dr. Edwards, of Paris, says the action of light 

 tends to develop the different parts of the body iu 

 that just proportion which characterizes the species, 

 and that in warm climates the exposure of the whole 

 surface of the body to the action of the light will be 

 very favorable to the regular conformation of the 

 body. Humboldt confirms this in the account of 

 his voyage to the equiuoctial regions. He says, 

 " Both men and women (whose bodies are con- 

 stantly inured to the effect of light) are very muscu- 

 lar, and possess fleshy and rounded forms. It is 

 needless to add that I have not seen among this peo- 

 ple a single case of natural deformity." 



Odds and Ends. 

 I have been frequently struck myself by the 

 amount of ingenuity and clever contrivance which I 

 have seen displayed in housekeeping, where the in- 

 come was small, but the most was made of it. Little 

 odds and ends that a wasteful cook would have 

 thrown away reappeared iu delicate and tempting 

 forms as breakfast dishes or entrees. Joints were 

 not sent to table cold aud ungarnished over and 

 over again, till one was tired of the sight of them, 

 but allowed to rest in the larder for a day or two 

 after their first appearance, and then served up with 

 such delicious supplements of salad and other vege- 

 tables that the obnoxious "cold meat" acquired 

 merits which it had never seemed to possess before. 

 In far larger and richer establishments, on the con- 

 trary, I have sometimes been reminded of the lady 

 who had a pig killed one Saturday, and for the whole 

 ensuing week entertained her guests ou pork alone, 

 because it saved trouble. — The Queen. 



A Great Waste. 



It is the practice of many dairy farmers to kill the 

 calves at a very early age, long before they can be or, 

 should be of any use as food. This is a source of 

 loss which, take the country through, is something 

 enormous. An animal already grown to the weight 

 uf sixty or eighty pounds, and which might, through 

 a few weeks of proper feeding, be made to yield a 

 large amount of food. Is killed, and all that Is saved 

 is the skin ! There are cases when it is the best 

 economy to get rid of the calves as soon as they 

 come, but these are exceptional, and In the ordinary 

 dairy of a farm practicing mixed husbandry, there 

 is seldom, if ever, a call for such au untimely and 

 unprofitable removal of the calves. It will pay well 

 in many cases to grow the calves until they are six 

 months old, aud thus produce an animal weighing 

 .500 pounds, and of the best quality, commanding a 

 ready sale in the markets. 



Consumption Cured. 

 A correspondent of an English medical journal 

 furnishes the following recipe as a cure for consump- 



tion : Put a dozen whole lemons in cold water and 

 boil until soft (not too soft,) roll and equ<eze until 

 the juice Is all extracted, sweeten the juice enough 

 to be piilatable, then drink. Use as many as a 

 dozen a day. Should they cause pain or looseness of 

 the bowels, lessen the quantity, and use five or six a 

 day until better, then begin and use a dozen again. 

 By the time you have used five or six dozen you will 

 begin to gainj strength, and have an appetite. Of 

 course as you gel better you need not use so many. 

 Follow these directions, and we know that you will 

 never regret it if tlnrels any help for you. Only 

 keej) it up faithlully. We kuow of two cases where 

 both patients were given up by the physicians, and 

 were in the last stages of consumption, yet Ijotli 

 were cured by using lemons according to the direc- 

 tions wc have stated. One lady iu particular wan 

 bedridden and very low, had tried everything that 

 money could procure, but all in vain, when, to please 

 a friend, slie finally was persuaded to use the lemons. 

 She began to use them In February, aud iu April she 

 weighed 140 pounds. She is a well woman to-day 

 and likely to live as long as any of us. 



Household Recipes. 



To Pkesekve C'.iKPEPH. — Carpels should be 

 shaken often. The dirt that collects under them 

 grinds out the threads. But do not sweep them 

 oftencr than is absolutely necessary. Take a brush 

 and dusting-pan and remove the dirt in this way, and 

 your carpets will wear enough longer to pay for your 

 labor. 



To Keep Bhead Moist. — Have the dough stiff 

 when It is set for the last rising. The larger propor- 

 tion of Hour to that of moisture in the dough the 

 longer it will keep moist. After the bread is baked 

 and cold put it in a tin box or an earthen jar with 

 close cover and keep it covered tightly. Bread thus 

 made and kept cot)l, and always from the air, will 

 last aud be moist for a week. 



OvsTEK I'lE. — One pint and a half of oysters is 

 sullieient for a pie for a family of three. Line a 

 deep quart dish with a crust half an inch thick, put 

 in a layer of liroad crumbs, add the oysters, bits of 

 pcp|K-r, a little mace, pepper aud salt, and liquor 

 strained from the oyster enough to half fill the dish; 

 and another layer of crumbs and cover all with a 

 crust ; make an iucision in top ; bake au hour, brown 

 it gradually and serve hot. 



Soap- — Three and a half pounds of grease, four 

 gallons of cistern water, one box of concentrated 

 lye. After the lye is dissolved boil two hours and a 

 half. 



To Tell Good Eogs.— If you desire to be certain 

 that your eggs are good and fresh put them In 

 water — if the butts turn up they are not fresh . This 

 is an infallible rule to distinguish a good egg from a 

 one. 



Mahlborougu Phdoino. — Stew a few apples 

 and strain them, add a teacup of butter, a teacup of 

 sugar, a teacup of cream, the juice of two lemoDS 

 with the best part of the grated rind, a little mace 

 and lour eggs beaten lightly, and to be baked In a 

 rich paste. 



Water Filtek. — Filter in the following manner : 

 Make a mattress of charcoal broken in small bits to 

 fit a large common llower pot — put it iu bottom of 

 the pot, with a mattress of sand over it, each about 

 five inches thick ; hang this pot on a faucet, with a 

 vessel under it to receive the water. 



Lemon Ginoek Cakes. — Quarter pound of but- 

 ter, one-half pound of sugar, three eggs, one small 

 cup of milk, the same quantity of molasses, three 

 and a (juarter pounds of fiour, ieaspoouful of ginger, 

 one of cinnamon, one tablespoonful of saleratus dis- 

 solved in the milk, the rind of two lemons and the 

 juice of one. Bake iu a quick oven. 



ScHiSLiu. — Caucasian dish, giveu to the writer by 

 Alexandre Dumas pere) — Cut the fillet of mutton 

 into pieces the size of a walnut ; cover the pieces 

 with vinegar, chopped onions, salt and pepper for 

 twenty-four hours, then put the pieces ou a skewer 

 (silver if you '.lave) and eook on hot coals, turning 

 all the time ; serve with hot butler and a little curry. 



Fish Fkitteus. — Take the remains of a fish 

 which has been served the preceding day ; remove 

 all the bones, and mince fine ; add equal quantities 

 of bread crumbs and mashed potatoes : stir in two 

 beaten ejrgs; season with pepper and salt; add 

 enough cream to make the mass of a proper con- 

 sistency to mold into little balls, and fry them In 

 boiling lard. 



Indian Meal Podding. — One pint of Indian 

 meal cooked, one quart of milk, half acup of butter, 

 one pint of molasses, four eggs, with a little cinna- 

 mon or nutmeg ;.boil the milk, stir in gradually the 

 meal, mix all together and let it stand two hours, 

 add the egge when the pudding U ready to put in 

 the oven ; let it bake two hours. 



To Clean Paint. — Housekeepers will find the 

 following receipt for cleaning paint useful : To a 

 pound of soap and half a pound of pulverized pumice 

 stone add au equal quantity of pearlash, and mix 



