1861. 



THE ILLESTOIS FAEMEE. 



313 



Salt and its Offices. 



Some modern agricultural writers have doubt- 

 ed the necessity of giving animals salt. The fol- 

 lowing remarks as to the effect of salt upon health , 

 by Prof. Jamps F. Johnson, of Scotland, may be 

 relished by those who still put salt iniheir own 

 puddings, and allow their cattle a little now and 

 then : 



The wild buffalo frequents the salt licks of 

 Northwestern America ; the wild animals in the 

 central parts of Southern Africa are a sure prey 

 to the hunter, who conceals himself behind a salt 

 spring; and our domestic cattle run peacefully 

 to the hand that offers them, a taste of this deli- 

 cious luxury. From time immemorial it has been 

 known that, without salt man would miserably 

 perisb ; and among horrible punishments, e-itail- 

 ing certain denih, that of feeding culprits on 

 saltless food en<:ender8; but no ancient or un- 

 chemical moilern could explain how much suffer- 

 ing aro.'-e. Now we know why the animal craves 

 salt ; why it suffers discomfort, and why ulti- 

 mately falls into disease if salt is for a time with- 

 held. Upwards of half the saline matter of the 

 blood (57 per cent.) consists of common salt, and 

 as this is partly discharged every day through 

 the skin and he kidneys, the necessities of con- 

 tinued supplies of it to the healthy body becomes 

 sufiBciently obvious. The bile also contains soda 

 aa a special and indispensable constituent, and 

 so do all the cartileges of the body. Stint the 

 supply of salt, therefore, and neither will the 

 bile be able properly to assist the digestion, nor 

 the cartileges to be built up again as fast as they 



naturally waste. 



— — -«•» 



The Poor and the coming Winter. — In 

 view of the ntar approach of w'nter, and the 

 scarcity of employment, one of our exchanges 

 gives the following advice : 



Let evf-ry man, woman and child save now; 

 let them even pinch themselves and families 

 now to prepare for dat ker times ahead. The 

 winter is rapidly advancing, when the want of 

 warm clotsiing, comfortable fires, unbroken 

 shoes, and a host of other necessaries, will be 

 severely felt, if unprovided for now. Every 

 shilling now squandered in dissipation or un- 

 necessarily wasted, robs your family of some 

 comfort. Every hour of idleness, when work 

 may be obtained is a crime. Look to it, men 

 with wives and little ones, that when the hour 

 of gloom and distress shall arrive, you .shall 

 have saved, even though it be but a few dollars, 

 for that time oi need. He who neglects this 

 plain duty is worse than unwise — he is wicked. 



— The following is a copy of a will left by a 

 man who chose to be his own lawyer: "This is 

 the last will and testament of me, John Thomas, 

 I give all my things to my relations, to be divid- 

 ed among them the best way then can. N. B. 

 — If anybody kicks up a row, or makes any 

 fuss, he isn't to have anything. Signed by me, 

 John Thomas." 



The Feuit Chop. — The supply of peaches this 

 season is remarkably small ; nearly all we have 

 come from Delaware. The price yesterday was 

 about $1 12J a basket, which is an indefinite 

 moa«ure, supposed to be barely five eighths of a 

 bushel, which would make the price §1 80 a 

 bushel. This is less than haif the price of last 

 year, and shows that people are not disposed to 

 indulge in luxuries so freely now as then. We 

 are assured that the peach season will be a very 

 short one. We talked with an old pach grower 

 yesterday, from Monmouth ccunty, N. J., and he 

 assured ua that county could do nothing this year 

 to prolong the season, and we are s-ure that the 

 north part of that State will not help the matter 

 any. Last year we had a large quaiaity of peaches 

 from Central New York. We shall have none 

 from there this year, and in fict do no't know of 

 any place that will furnish any alter the Dela- 

 ware crop is exhausted. 



Apples and pears in the drouth atflicted region 

 are shrivelled, and falling fr^ m the trees in such 

 numbers that the crop will be materially {.ffected. 



Blackberries have proved q ite a failure. The 

 New Rocbelle variety are generally about equal 

 in size to the old fashioned sort, in a good sea- 

 sun, while the latter are not worth packing — in 

 many places, vines and fruit have both dried up. 

 Raspberries too have proved an equal failure, 

 and a friend from the Whnrtleb' riy region told 

 us yesterday that the fruit whs drying upon the 

 bushes before getting rip.'. 



If there is any fruit outside of the drouth-af- 

 fected region around this city, we advise those 

 who have it to send it hither — N. Y. Tribune. 



The Farmer's Wife. — Is there any position a 

 mother can covet for her daughter m r*- glorious 

 than to be the wi'e ef an ti'Tie>^t. indep 'ndent 

 farmer in a country like th - ? To be the wife 

 of one who is looked up to hy his ne-ghbors as 

 one whose example may be ^^^fely fllowed — one 

 whose farm is noted far and near a- a model of 

 perfection of cultivation. To be the mistress of 

 a mansion all her own that .••he may b(' t'le envy 

 of every- passer by because it is neat and com- 

 fortable, a sweet lovely cottHcre at home To be 

 the angel that flirts through the garden bidding 

 flowers bloom, and twinnitig rests and honey 

 suckles around the bed room, or sweetening their 

 fragrance with her sweetest smi es. or spreading 

 the snowy cloth beneath the o'd ^ak at the door 

 to welcome her husband as he returns from toil, 

 or even tripping the cradle with her fc-*! as she 

 piles the dishes with her h ind or busily moves 

 the needle, at the same time humming a joyous 

 song of praise that she is a happy ami fmdly be- 

 loved wife of an American tarmtr — one of the 

 true noblemen of this country — one that should 

 by right rank as the pride a d glory of America. 

 — Exchange. 



~* — ♦- 



CoEN Pudding. — One dozen ears of corn, ca 

 or grated, half a dozen eggs, one pint of milk 

 quarter pound of butter, witii pepper and salt to 

 suit , bake half an hour. — Field holes. 



