THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



i59 



home, for fiiUiue weather is not far off. The reason 

 is this: When the air is becoming charffed witli 

 electricity you will sec every cloud attracting all 

 lesser ones towards it, until it gathers into a shower ; 

 and on the contrary, when the fluid is passing off, or 

 diffusing itself, thou a large cloud will bo seen 

 breaking into pieces and dissolving. 



How to Make Beefsteak Tender. 

 The best and most thoroughly certain way to make 

 your beef tender is to stand in with the boy who 

 drives the butcher's wagon. I discovered this while 

 living next .door to a millionaire who dealt with the 

 meat man that supplied me. The boy driving the wagon 

 was corrnptible, like the steaks he served, and lo 

 cents or so would transfer the tenderness of the mil- 

 lionaire's 40-cents-a-pound porter house to my bundle 

 of 8 cent round. Then I would whet my appetite 

 listening to the millionaire's hired girl walloping the 

 other cut with rolling-pine, etc., as advised by Mrs- 

 Leslie. By changing butchers as often as the mil- 

 lionaire did I secured tender beef until my lease ex- 

 pired. Two weeks before this, however, the mllliop. 

 aire died with lockjaw, induced, the doctor said, by 

 attempts to chew tough meats. 



Live Stock. 



About Pigs. 

 The American Rural Koine says : Paralysis of the 

 hind quarter in pigs is sometimes caused by inflam- 

 mation of and consequent effusion upon the animal 

 marrow, causing pressure and los^ of nerve power. 

 Sensation and power of motion may often be re- 

 stored by the application of a mild irritant to the 

 loins. Turpentine or a thin paste of mustard rub- 

 bed upoin the loinslover the spine'generally leads to a 

 cure. It is brought on by cold and damp quarters, 

 or exposure to cold raius, and is more frequent on 

 young pigs than old ones. A chill will sometimes 

 produca it suddenly. The thoroughbred pig, in start- 

 ing a herd, is chiefly valuable in breeding to common 

 stock. By using a thorougbred boar upon common 

 sows, a half-blood is obtained that does very well for 

 breeding purposes, which can be further improved 

 by selecting the best sow pigs, feeding then liberal, 

 ly, and again getting a thoroughbred boar to use 

 with them. If this is practiced a year or two it will 

 produce pigs equal to pure blood. But grade or im- 

 pure males should never be used, as then tendency is 

 to run back to the scrub. The thoroughbred, if pur- 

 chased young, can be obtained for a small sum. He 

 can be used for one season and then sold.or castrated 

 and fed, when he will, of himself, almost or quite 

 pay for his original cost. Breeding in-and-iu in the 

 swine family won't answer. Always use new males. 



the foal has access lo her. Care must bo taken when 

 the little fellows are first left alone that they do not 

 cripple or injure themselves In their efforts to get out 

 and follow the dam, but they will soon learn to take 

 it quietly, and then there is no danger. 



Brittle Hoofs. 



Among causes which produce brittle hoofs In horses 

 and cattle the Xational Live Stock Journal mentions 

 the frequent standing in rottingdung heaps or in pools 

 of decomposing liquid manure. In the dung heap 

 there Is not only the moisture and steam soaking and 

 softening the hoof, but there is abundance of ammo- 

 nia gas, which Is.cspecially calculated to soften, dis- 

 solve and destroy the horn. Standing in such de- 

 composing organic matter Is still more injurious 

 when the animal is confined to a boxor stall, for here 

 the injurious effect of inactivity is added to the other 

 conditions. 



Calves. 

 Young calves will thrive well if kept in a shed 

 together and well fed. The shed may be littered 

 liberally, but it will be necessary to fsed them well. 

 Bran and oats, with a little corn, will be the best 

 food for them. Give one pint a day for those under 

 a year, and a quart or two dally for yearlings. 

 Costiveness in cold weather should be carefully 

 guarded against, and, if necessary, have a pint of 

 raw linseed oil, or a pint of linseed meal should be 

 given with the food as a remedy. Flaxseed ground 

 and mixed with corn or oats, ground or unground, is 

 a good appetizer afid keeps the calves in good condi- 

 tion. While on milk, whether sucking the cow or 

 on the pail, let it sullice for drink. No cold water in 

 cold weather. — Breeders' Lire Slodc Journal. 



Working Brood Mares. 

 Brood mares while suckling their foals may safely 

 be used for moderate work, but under such condi- 

 tions they must be generously fed, and care should 

 be exercised to prevent the foals from sucking while 

 the mares are overheated. It will usually be found 

 more convenient to leave the Coal in the stable while 

 working the mare ; and in such cases she should be 

 permated to stand until thoroughly cooled off before 



Poultry. 



keys last year. Large flocks of from 1,000 .to 15,000 

 are frequently met with, tended by women and chil- 

 dren. 



Tub application of sulphur sprinkled upon fowls, 

 while roosting or otherwise, with a pepper box, will 

 destroy vermin. Coal oil applied to their roosts In 

 small quantities will also kill parasites. Two or 

 three drops of whale oil, dropped occasionally on the 

 back of a hen, or any other bird, will kill lice. 



As soon as he has his poultry houses cleaned, Mr. 

 Kearn tells the Ohio Farmer, he takes the manure 

 and spreads it over his wheat field, or a poor spot In 

 his meadow, and you can take his word that a mau 

 with one eye can sec where he puts It. To put hen 

 manure in a box or barrel and keep it one year be- 

 fore It ie put to a crop, he thinks Is a wrong way. 



Large Flocks of Fowls. 

 The poultry man of the Country Gentleman says : 

 "There are those who believe that the poultry busi- 

 ness pays alone, and no doubt it does; but much de- 

 pends on the breed. My experience has always 

 been on a farm, and there I do know It ie an Impor- 

 tant branch, and brings in a large profit. The far. 

 raer can make a pound of chicken meat easier than 

 he can make a pound of beef, and the price per 

 pound averages higher. Fowls should be colonized 

 to be thoroughly profitable. There should be no 

 more than 25 In a place. Where herded together In 

 large numbers the weaker ones suffer and are un- 

 profitable from being crowded. The stronger birds 

 consume the larger proportion of the food, running 

 over and soiling the remainder, so that It comes in 

 an unpalatable state to the weaker ones of the flock. 

 Five hundred hens, even of the smaller breeds, would 

 require a run of from 15 to 20 acres at the lowest 

 calculation ; but 500 hens in one flock could never be 

 profltable. They should be kept in small, separate 

 flocks. They arc thus easier tended ; the sick or 

 ailing ones can be nursed, and the weaklier members 

 have their share. 



" The cost of a house to accommodate .50 hens of 

 the small, laying breeds would be somewhere about 

 P5 or $40, according to the tastes or ideas of the 

 builder. Much depends on breed. Where a large 

 number of hens are to be'kept, separate houses or 

 apartments should be erected, with separate runs or 

 yards attached. The larger the number of fowls 

 congregated together the greater the liability to 

 disease. Hence the necessity of keeping the quarters 

 thoroughly cleaned and in purity. This requires 

 care and labor. Withoutjhealth there can be no 

 profit, and the food is expended iu vain. A bushel 

 of any kind of grain (corn being the staple) is 

 allowed to a fowl for a year. A single bird of any 

 breed will consume that quantity during the year, 

 and more will be required by the larger breeds. If 

 one hen requires a bushel of corn, 500 fowls would 

 take 500 bushels." 



Poultry Notes 



Fowls seldom tire of milk. They may eat loo much 

 grain or meat for health, but milk iu any form is 

 palatable and healthy. 



Probably (iO per cent, of the chickens hatched 

 die before they are two months old, or are destroyed 

 by animals or carried off by hawks. Chickens have 

 many enemies as well as friends and admirers. 



The Poultry \7orld says : To utilize the feathers 

 of ducks, chickens and turkeys generally thrown 

 aside as refuse, trim the plume from the stump, en- 

 close them in a tight bag, rub the whole as if washing 

 clothes, and you will secure a perfectly uniform and 

 light down, excellent for quilling coverlets and not a 

 few other purposes. 



Turkey raising is carried on ex tenttraly in Tehama 

 county, Cal. One man in addition lo raising and 

 tending a largo flock of sheep, raised nearly 700 tur- 



LlTERARY AND PERSONAL. 



The Dentai'IIONE Quautehly— Published by 

 the "American Dentaphone Company," Cincinnati, 

 Ohio. Volume 1, No. 5, (a large 8 page quarto) of 

 this imposing publication has reached our table, ac- 

 companied by a perfect avalanche of 8 vo. circulars, 

 cards, posters, programmes, aunuuelallone, &c., and 

 hundreds of testimonials, all laudatory of the Denta- 

 phone. Never since we have been able lo read the 

 English language— nearly sixty years— have we seen 

 and read a stronger array of testimonials in support 

 of any Instrument, principle or thing, than these now 

 before us ; nor any claims more boldly and confi- 

 dently asserted. It looks, " for all the world," as If 

 the leading object was to build up a profitable busi- 

 ness in the manufacture of Dentaphone, rather than 

 to afford any certain and permanent benefit lo the 

 deaf. We are far from an intentional prejudgment 

 of the case; but on the gurface It has that look, to 

 m, at the present time. We do not arraign the In- 

 tegrity of the testifiers— although for the matter of 

 that, the testimony of an honest and disinterested 

 yeoman or peasant, would have as much weight with 

 UB as the same number of generals, judges, reverends, 

 doctors, or professionals and officials of any kind 

 whatsoever — but we are constrained to believe that 

 many of them are made on a too slight experience, 

 and on insufficient data. Twenty years ago, we testi- 

 fied in behalf of a nostrum, after about ten days ex- 

 perience, which we subsequently found to be worth- 

 less, BO far as it related to us individually, but that 

 certificate is used to this day, although we have not 

 tasted the nostrum for nineteen years, and have 

 little or no confidence in it. 



We admit the theory of the Dentaphone, or prin- 

 ciples analogous lo It, and have often had practical 

 demonstrations of it, but whether by nervous or 

 osseous'communication between the natural teeth 

 and the brain, or the ears, we do not now pretend to 

 say; (and also lo some extent where the teeth are 

 artificial) but some of these tcetimonials read like 

 that of the man who lestlUed to the superior qualities 

 of a gun, which would hit an object "just as well 

 where It was'nt as where it was." 



For instance, that a deaf man by the aid of a 

 dentaphone can hear and understand wliatte spoken 

 to him in an ordinary tone of voice, by a peTson forty 

 yards distant, while others who are of sound hearing 

 could not understand what was said at a distance of 

 only ticenty yards, may well challenge our credulity. 



But, admitting that time should confirm all that 

 these people, after a day, or a week,or a month's ex- 

 perience, testify to,— what then i It would require 

 the dexterity of an expert prestidigiator, or a Swiss 

 Bell-Rlnger, to manipulate a Dentaphone in a social 

 circle, at a family table, or during secular occupa- 

 tion. It would be of little accouut with those com- 

 pelled to labor from six to six with their hands ; 

 and, at the meal, the only time and place where 

 laboring families meet together, and where social In- 

 tercourse is almost as essential to health and good 

 cheer as the food that Is provided, it seems to ue It 

 would be altogether Impracticable. 



We deem Its highest, and perhaps Its only use 

 would be at the church. In the lecture room, the 

 concert, the opera, or the theatre — which would 



