

1864:. 



THE ILLINOIS FAKMEK. 



145 



SuRROirNDiNGS OF HoME. — ^Iii passing through the 

 country, the eye quickly takes in the surrouTidings, 

 and the mind as quickly approveB or repels them. 

 Farms and direllings, like men and faces, hare 

 their language which is read at a glance. 



We often see a large, expensively reared dwell- 

 ing, glowing in its unrivalled white, and no sur- 

 roundings to give it an air of home comfort. If a 

 tree has been put out in the yjnd, ii is stunted or 

 broken down ; shrubbery ditto. The orchard is 

 but a collection of ill-kept, i)l-lo<>king trees, chok- 

 ed with suckers and browsed by the cattle. A few 

 unkempt currant brush may possibly appear in the 

 garden. A rough grape trellis stands among the 

 weeds, but the vine has never been able to reach 

 it with a single tendril. A few stools of raspber- 

 ries, never pruned with the knife, tenaciously cling 

 to the Bward by the fence. And through the fierce 

 Bummer's heats or keen winter's cold, there is not 

 a tree to cast a shadow or to break the biHSt. 



Again we see a low, unpretending home — some- 

 times logs — surrounded with fruit trees of various 

 kinds, and sheltered by a grove, atid a rustic frame 

 by the door, woven over with vines or climbing ro- 

 ses. The very heart warms while we take in such 

 surroundmgs, and away through the bleak winter 

 fields we see the days of spring on the march, with 

 the music of bird and waters and their banners of 

 leaf and bloom, soon to "go into camp" by the 

 pleasant home, and the fruit trees and shrubs to 

 bend under the wealth of blossom promise. As 

 our friend Dunlap says, ''it is just as easy to Iwe on 

 a farm as to stai/ on one " — Wis. Chief. 



Well, Bro. Brown, that house is on the road just 



miles from town. Last autumn he invested 



five dollars with a tree peddler, but he thinks the 

 trees are all dead and that our climate is not adap- 

 ted to fruit growing. \ ? r 



The other home you mention is on the same 

 road, about a mile beyond. You h;ive done it uo 

 more than justice — the family live there. 



Neat's Foot OiL 



"H. K." in Co. Gent, of March Slst, asks, "what 

 is Neat's Foot Oil, and how is it made? " 



Neat's Foot Oil was originally made by boiling 

 cattle's feet and legs and separating th<' oil fr m 

 the mass, by skimming it from the surfac« of the 

 water. It is now more extensively made, or, what 

 is essentially the same thing, by separating the oil 

 from beef tallow, by pressing, as lard oil is separa- 

 ted from lard. 



Nearly forty years ago, Samuel Judd, then a 

 great oil merchant of New York City, advertised 

 large quantities of Neat's Foot Oil. It was then a 

 surprise to those not f tmiliar with the treatment 

 of tallow, where Mr. Judd obtained so much Neat's 

 Foot Oil. It is now extensively manufactured in 

 the oil and candle f ictories in most large cities. * 



Messrs. Editors — I notice on page 208, an in- 

 quiry from H. K. about " Neat's Foot OiL" In 

 answer — it is manufactured from cattle's feet. 

 The skin and sinews are taken off, leaving the shin 

 bone and hoof. They are then closely packed in 

 tanks, and slowly boiled, either with the aid of 

 steam or over a fire. Steam is best, as tbey can 



be boiled more steadily. In making good oil great 

 attention is given not to boil too hard, as it thick' 

 ens and wastes by mixture with the water, and will 

 not easily separate after. w. d. h. 



-<••- 



Things in Wisconsin. — The Government may 

 want men but the people want butter. Gold " SOi" 

 and the butter mounting after it. Butter is the 

 universal cry ; butter, butter, butter ! 



Ohuked be the man who invented the use of but- 

 ter. Hain't fit to eat. Never liked it. WoaM 

 nut have the vile htufi'in the house. Won't allow 

 the children to touch it. Never c»mW bear it. The 

 man would insult us who'd offer us enough to lubii- 

 cate a crust. In the language of the psalmist, 



This world is all a fleeting shuw. 



In city or in town, 

 For people bold their batter low 



At thirty cents per pound ! 



A word about the weather is in order. " Whit 

 weather ;"" have }0u sowed any wheat?" These 

 and similar expressions are current coin between 

 the men of the soil. And they indicate an interest 

 which pervades all classes How deeply and 

 broadly does the work of the plow underlie the 

 vast superstructure of a nation's prosperity ! From 

 the seed time springs the hope of all. From the 

 harvest field the healthful current of a nation's 

 life. The gamblers of Wall street may play with 

 their gold, but the men of the burii'shi d share and 

 1)1 de, stand pioudly between them and the Father 

 who giv th bread. The furrow unturned, the fire 

 would go out on the forge, the hamnier ceasi' to 

 ring on the anvil ; the spindle cease its hum ; com- 

 nieice fml its sails and the s^hip rot at the wharf; 

 dnst gather on the ledger and gri ss g' ow where 

 the Bulls and Bears toy with the weal of their 

 country in its hour of peril. 



'* Will it ever conje g>>od weather?" Let vg 

 hope. We have the promise of seed time and har- 

 vest. The almanacs atmource spring. The birds 

 have so understood it. Men of Wondrous faith 

 have made gardens. Hay is short and butter 

 almost ceasi-d to be in many localities. For winter 

 at this late day to linger in the lap of spring, is 

 improper in the extreme. Our "C ty fathers" 

 have regulatf'd the rum traffic; can they not legn- 

 late the wehth<r? The weather is evidently "out 

 of health ;" eannot our stoutbacked Republicans do 

 something for it ? 



Well, well, we borrow no trouble about the 

 weather. It has our permission to take its own 

 course ! That spring is comming, we believe. For 

 ten days, the tir.-t pale wild flowers have been 

 awaiting a ray from the sun. And manv a bud, 

 too, is watching a chance to toss a soft green 

 pennon to the winds. — Wis. Chief. 



Hoven in Cattle. 



This disease is usualy brought on by cattle being 

 removed from confinement and winter feeding to 

 the luxuriance of the clover field. In the atticle 

 on Veterinary Science in the new Encyclopaedia 

 Britaitnica, the oils of linseed and turpentine are 

 stated to be nearly a specific. For a large animal 

 take linseed oil raw, one pound ; oil of turpentine, 

 from one to three ounces ; laudanum from one to 

 two— and after mixing, administer the whole at • 

 dose. 



II I iiiAlf^iiia'ii 



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