384 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 8, 1364. 



was by the loss of his looks. The animal will not attempt a 

 fence until the eyelashes have grown again. Of this we are 

 informed by Samuel Thorne, the great breeder of Duchess 

 County, who assured us that he had tested it upon a pair of 

 very breachy oxen. As it was of great value to him he hopes 

 it will be tried by others." — (Canada Farmer.) 



EAISIN& THE CALF— A HINT TO THE CRUSTY. 

 " Isn't she a beauty, father? Only see what a handsome 

 little head she's got, and how fat she is. I don't believe 

 there's another calf in the town that can beat her." 



"That's just what I think, Nathan," replied the farmer, 

 without raising his eyes from his axe-grinding. " She'll do 

 to kill by Saturday. Joel Smith wants part of her. "We 

 might as well sell the whole, for the head and pluck will be 

 as much as we shall want this hot weather." 



" Don't have her killed, father. Why can't we raise a 

 calf as well as other people ? Ford said when he was getting 

 the hay yesterday that it was a shame to have all of old 

 Brindle's calves killed, for she was the best breed of cows 

 anywhere about. You know what a pailful of milk she gave all 

 last summer, and that you got the premium on her butter." 

 " Well, I know all that, boy, but she would cost more than 

 a hundred dollars before she would bring a cent. If any- 

 body is fool enough to raise them when they can buy them 

 all ready for milk at 20 dols., to 30 dols., let them do it. I'm 

 too old for such calculations." 



" Perhaps it is so, but I can't bear to have her killed. If 

 you will let her live I will take all the care of her, and raise 

 a bed of carrots for her to eat next winter. Why, she shan't 

 trouble you." 



" Tour mother wants the milk right away, to make all the 

 butter she can this month, and if we keep the calf she must 

 have it two or three weeks longer. Then, what will you do 

 with her this summer ?" 



" Oh, let her go in the pasture with the cows. She can 

 eat a little clover now ; I fed her with some yesterday. Ford 

 said she would eat almost anything in a little while." 



" It would make pretty work to have her run with her 

 mother ; she'd take all her milk each day." 



Here Nathan was at a loss for another plea, when he 

 happened to think of the little orchard, and proposed to put 

 her in there. But his father told him she would eat the 

 sour apples that fell off and spoil her teeth. He thought he 

 could put Bossy in her pen at night, and get up early enough 

 in the morning to pick up the apples. Several other objec- 

 tions were raised and met with the same boy-earnestness, 

 when his father told him to go to his work and he would see 

 about it. This "see about it" gave the boy some encourage- 

 ment. He thought it would be a good plan to get his 

 mother on his side. When he went into the house he found 

 her so busy in soap-making that all he could get from her 

 was, " Just as your father thinks best about it ; I shall want 

 the rennet, for I am going to make cheese in dog-days. The 

 butter isn't worth much that's made then." Here was some- 

 thing new for Nathan, who did not know what rennet was 

 for, or where it came from. When his mother told him it 

 was the calf's stomach, he thought it would be an easy matter 

 to get one of some of the neighbours'who never made cheese. 

 A few mornings after this conversation, farmer Gaines asked 

 his wife what she thought of letting Nathan raise the calf. 

 Her reply was, " You know best about it, father. I should 

 like to have the boy gratified, if it don't give you too much 

 trouble." What an excellent lesson this reply was to all 

 dictatorial, unthinking wives, whose opinion must rule, or 

 threre will be a drizzle or storm within and without. 



Nathan heard and said nothing about Bossy for a week, 

 expecting every day that she would have her throat cut, 

 loving her all the more with the fear of losing her. In the 

 meantime the farmer had been resolving the subject in his 

 mind, and came to the conclusion that if keeping the calf 

 would make an early riser of his boy it would be worth while 

 to try it, for the summer at least, when he thought he would 

 get enough of taking care of her, and be glad to have her 

 sold in the fall to the drovers. No farmer could have been 

 more pleased with a present of the best Devon or Ayrshire 

 cow, or seen from her a better prospect of wealth, than did 

 Nathan Gaines when his father told him he might keep the 



calf, if he would take good care of her, and raise all the roots 

 she wanted for next winter. All this he promised to do, 

 and anything else that was desired. Never had he so high 

 an opinion of his father before. This unexpected favour 

 made obedience a very easy matter. Every morning Nathan 

 was up bright and early to take care of his calf and look after 

 his carrot-bed, so as to be ready for any other work. Bossy 

 soon became so much of a pet with the family that she 

 never went hungry. Even the farmer, who feared so much 

 the cost of raising her, seemed to enjoy giving her an extra 

 bite as he went to feed his horses, and often Nathan found 

 bits of bread and other morsels from the table, which she 

 liked very much. When autumn came the calf had done so 

 well there was no danger of her being sold. Every one who 

 saw her said she was the largest and best one of the season. 

 Farmer Gaines thought his boy had done enough more work 

 to pay for all she ate, and if it took a ton of hay to keep her 

 through the winter, he had no idea of having her sold. 

 Nathan's interest in the calf never flagged, neither did he 

 allow her to be any trouble to his father. We will pass over 

 three years of her life, when we find young Brindle giving 

 as much milk as her mother, and will soon take her place in 

 the barn, for old Brindle's cow-life is almost over, and she 

 will in a year or two be consigned to the beef-barrel. 



Farmer Gaines has never regretted that the calf s life was 

 spared, for he has a better cow than he could find elsewhere ; 

 and by gratifying Nathan in this act the boy had formed 

 habits of carefulness and industry which will be worth a for- 

 tune to him. No father loses anything by giving the boys 

 reasonable indulgence, even if the cost is not always repaid 

 in cash. — (Ohio Farmer.) 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Silver-pencilled Hamburgh Cock's Tail [R. W.).~ It should be "white 

 with a black tip to each feather. A black tail would be a disqualification. 

 Any approach to it is therefore a defect. 



Washing Fowls (Fancier). — As a rule it is only the outer feather that is 

 dirty, therefore it is only that which requires washing. Wash with soap 

 and water, then put the bird in a basket partly filled with hay or soft straw, 

 and let it stand before a fire till dry. 



Dr. Cumming and Virgil. — I noticed in your Journal of last week that 

 " A Constant Reader " had called your attention to Dr. Cumming's saying 

 in his lecture on bees that " Virgil has given an account of bees in one of his 

 Eclogues," which should be " Georgics." In justice to Dr. Cumming, I beg 

 to say that the mistake was my own, in inadvertently transcribing Eclogues, 

 instead of Georgics, in the report, for which I beg to apologise. — Eaton Cliff. 



Tomato Sauce.— Break the tomatoes into an earthen pan or jar, bruise, 

 and sprinkle with a handful of salt, and let them stand twenty-lour hours; 

 then stir them up, and put them into an oven closely covered, and let them 

 simmer very gently for about two hours; then work them through a sieve 

 till the seeds are left quite dry. Add some spice according to taste, and a 

 root of garlic chopped fine, and a teaspoonful of dry sweet herbs to every 

 quart of tomato. Put into the oven again, and let the whole simmer till it 

 attains the th ckness required. The spice stated in the recipe is a quarter 

 of an ounce of cloves, a quarter of an ounce of mace, half an ounce of all- 

 spice, and one ounce of ginger, cut in slices, to each quart of tomato. If 

 you prefer it you can substitute Cayenne pepper for ginger. 



Tomato Sauce to keep through the winter. — Put a peck of tomatoes', sis 

 large onions, one or two capsicums, and sis shallots, into an earthen crock, 

 and place it in an oven, when the bread is taken out ; leave them until quite 

 soft ; then, when cold, pass them through a fine hair sieve. Add pepper and 

 salt, and boil the puree until sufficiently thick, about the thickness cf very 

 thick cream. When cool, bottle for use in wide-mouthed bottles, covering 

 the corks with sealing-wax or resin. If at any time it appears to ferment 

 boil it again, adding a little more pepper and salt. 



"A Gardener's Wife" can recommend the following recipe for making 

 tomato sauce, to which horseradish can be added if the recipe is liked :— When 

 quite ripe take off the stalks and wipe the fruit quite dry, put into a slow 

 oven or srew-pan till soft, then put through a hair sieve to separate seeds 

 from pulp. To every pound of pulp add one pint of gooseberry vinegar, 

 twenty large shallots, half an ounce of garlic, half an ounce of capsicum, 

 half an ounce of ground white pepper, and 2 ounces of salt. Boil the whole 

 until the shallots and garlic are soft, rub through the sieve again, and give 

 another boil. If too thick, add more vinegar ; bottle when cold. If goose- 

 berry vinegar cannot be had common will do. 



LONDON MARKETS.— Novembeb 7. 

 POULTRY. 



There is a good average supply of poultry, and a very bad demand; 

 prices are consequently low. Partridges, as usual, are becoming scarce, 

 but the supply of Pheasants is large. 





s. 



2 



2 



d. s. 



6 to 3 

 „ 2 

 6 „ 1 

 „ 6 

 „ 2 

 „ 2 



d. 

 

 3 

 9 

 6 

 3 

 3 





s. d. s. d 

 2 to 2 6 







1 9 „ 2 





1 

 6 





2 „ 2 6 

 8 „ 9 





2 

 2 



Rabbits 



1 4 „ 1 5 

 S ,. 9 



