1861. 



THE ILLmOIS FARMER. 



TT 



squirrel the gopher, which is an error. It 

 is certainly very singular that they are not 

 found in that part of the country, while he- 

 Jow that point they are on hoth sides of the 

 Mississippi. Ed. 



«o» 



The Plantain and Yellow Dock. 



Tuscola, Douglas county Ills. 



Editor Illinois Farmkr— Z)ear Sir: I notice 

 in the January numVier thai y^ur correspondent 

 complauss of the plantain, the yard plantain, I 

 presume. 



Well, we bad a hearty laugh at Mr. John R.'b 

 efftrt to destroy it by exactly the process which 

 is most calculated to make it spread, and give it 

 a chance for a more thrifty growth. 



Now, permit me to inform you and your read- 

 ers, if you do not know, that the yard plantain 

 18 one of the most valuible plants in our country. 

 There is no better cure for a poison or snake bite, 

 or the sting of insects, on either man or beasf 

 If a person is bitten or stung, take of the plant- 

 ain, put it in a linen rag, and rub and pound un- 

 til wtU bruised, then pour on a little water atd 

 ring out two or three spoonsful of juice and drink, 

 alone or with milk, and bind some bruised kaves 

 on the wound. 



If taken in time, the bite or sting will affect 

 but little. For a good dog snake bitten, take of 

 the plantain and boil in sweet milk, and give it to 

 drink, and for other animals, mix it with their 

 food, or any other way that they will eat it. 

 There is nothing better ; but this is not all, ii 

 has many other valuable properties. With the 

 plantain boiled in sweet milk, the mother cures 

 the flux in a few hours. 



But if John R , or anybody else, has too many 

 of these plants, and wants to git rid of them, 

 let him not mow them oflF above the ground, for 

 that only kills the grass, and lets the plantain 

 spread itself and grow f i&ter. 



The best, and, I believe, the only effectual way 

 to destr y it in a lawn or yard, is to to dig it up 

 and mellow the ground and set in heavy shading 

 grass, 



The yellow dock is also very useful sometimes, 



but too much of a pest to keep much on a farm. 



Let it grow on the side of the road. It will also 



die among heavy grass. 



Very truly yours, 



Wm. L. P1.0SE. 



Herkimer County Dairies. 



The editor of the Genesee Farmer spent a few 

 days among the celebrated cheese-makers of Her- 

 kimer county, N. Y., and writes of what he saw. 

 Hear him : 



" We had supposed that the excellence of Her- 

 kimer cheese was due, in a good degree, to the 

 excellence of the natural pasturage; but while 

 this is doubtless true, to some extent, the pas- 

 tures generally were by no means of unusual 

 excellence. In old pastures there is a great va- 

 riety of grasses, and this is one rea.^on of the r 

 superiority, and it would be well to take lessons 

 from nature, in the formation of p^stnie . 



" Those acquainted with the Eoglis'j method 

 of making cheese, will see in what respect the 

 two processes difl^er. In Cheshire the whey is re- 

 moved by pressing down a flat bottomed pan gent- 

 ly on the curd in the cheese tub, and allowing it 

 to fill. When the curd is thus partially freed 

 from the whey, it is again gently broken and al- 

 lowed to settle and separate, and the whey is 

 baled out slowly, the curd being placed on one 

 side of the tub, which is slightly raised, and a 

 board is placed on the curd, wi h heavy weights 

 on top to press out the whey. The curd is then 

 cut into pieces six or eight inches square, and 

 again pressed with heavier weights. When as 

 much as possible is removed in this way, the 

 curd is placed in a vat and gently broken. It is 

 then put under the press, and a slight pressure 

 applied at first, is slightly increased, tili no more 

 whey can be pressed out. To facilirate the flow 

 of the whey, ihe cheese is pierced with skewers. 

 This prelin'inary pressing occupies four or five 

 hours The cheese is then t ken out of the 

 press, broken up again very fine, salted, put in 

 the vat again, and pressed under a heavy press 

 for three or four days — clean and dry eloths be- 

 ing put around the cheese as the old ones become 

 wet." 



We think a great deal is due the rich grass's 

 of the soft water districts in the making 

 cheese. Yet our western people should pay more 

 attention to this subject. Will not some of our 

 reaners give us an article on this subject. 



Ed. 



An Irish lover remarked that it is a great 



pleasure to be alone, especially when your "swate- 

 he^rt is wid ye." ' 



Stock Items. 



Sheep in Saxokt — Saxony, which is not larger 

 than Rhode Island, keeps 3,500,000 sbet'p ; Ohio, 

 several times larger, keeps about the same num- 

 ber. 



PiiEC0CiTT IN Heifees. — The Village Record 

 of Westchester, Pa., says D. B. Hinmans own an 

 Alderney heifer, which produced (win calves at 

 the age of thirteen months and twenty days. 



New Wat to Kill Lice on Cattle. — Mr. Al- 

 vord, whq^ writes for the Country Gentleman, has 

 a novel mode of killing lice on cattle. He has a 

 little instrument which is filled with tobacco ; 

 this is set on fire, and the smoke is conducted by 

 a pipe into close contact with the body of the an- 

 imal.' Of course smoke poisons them and they 

 die. 



