286 USEFUL HINTS 



People ought to know that the very best thing they can 

 do is to eat apples just before retiring for the night. Per- 

 sons uninitiated in the mysteries of the fruit are liable to 

 throw up their hands in horror at the visions of dys- 

 pepsia which such a suggestion may summon up, but 

 harm can seldom come by the slow eating of ripe and 

 juicy apples before going to bed. The apple is excel- 

 lent brain food because it has more phosphoric acid in 

 easily digested shape than any other fruit. 



The first step in determining the freshness of an egg 

 is to know that the hen that laid it was not mated while 

 the egg was in the oviduct ; to be sure about this, separate 

 from laying hens all male birds at the close of breeding 

 season. Each egg should be candled. In candling, a 

 fresh egg appears unclouded, almost translucent; if in- 

 cubation has begun, a dark spot is visible. A rotten egg 

 appears dark colored. A settled egg is one in which the 

 yoke appears attached to one side of the shell. With in- 

 terested observation one may become expert in selecting 

 fresh eggs in a short time. 



Wean pigs when eight to ten weeks old. After wean- 

 ing, feed the following ration : Soaked corn, two parts ; 

 barley, two parts; middlings, two parts; meat meal, one- 

 half part, and roots in liberal quantities. When the 

 weather becomes cold feed dry corn and barley. Make 

 a thick slop of middlings, meat meal and water, but use 

 milk instead of water if you have it. The farmers of 

 the United States have not yet appreciated the value 

 of roots, such as mangels and sugar beets. Next year 

 try an acre; you will grow more afterwards. For pigs 

 they should be cut up with a pulper. The chief value 

 of roots lies in their succulence. They are a substitute 

 for grass. 



