How the Alligator Does It.— The alliga¬ 
tor’s mode of obtaining a living is thus described: 
"“He is a lazy dog, and instead of hunting for 
something to eat he lets his victuals hunt for 
'him. That is, he lies with his mouth open, ap¬ 
parently dead, like the ’possum. Soon a bug 
crawls into it, then several gnats and a colony of 
mosquitoes. The alligator don’t close his mouth 
yet. He is waiting f >r a whole drove of things. 
He does his eating by wholesale. A little later a 
lizard will cool himself under the shade of the 
upper jaw. Then a few frogs will hop up to 
catch the mosquitoes. Then more mosquitoes 
and gnats light on the frogs. Finally a whole 
village of iusects and reptiles settle down for an 
afternoon pic-n c 4/ Then all at once there is an 
earthquake. The big jaw falls, the alligator 
slyly blinks oue eye, gulps down the menagerie, 
and opens his great trout door again for more 
visitors.” 
Experience shows that liberal manuring 
is the most economical. We can see in the past 
harvest where $5 more fertiliz-r per acre would 
have b ea twice that value in grain. There can 
fee no doubt that artificial manuring must be¬ 
come a part of our settled practice in the fnture, 
and making a few careful experiments will give 
valuable experience as to the use of these fertil¬ 
izers. 
Hens do better when allowed a free range 
outdoors, than when confined. Darwin says: “In 
Europe close confinement has marked effect on 
the fertility of the fowl; in France it has been 
found that with fowls allowed considerable free¬ 
dom, 20 per cent., only of their egg fail to hatch; 
with less freedom, 40 per cent., failed; and in 
close confinement, 60 per cent.,were not hatched 
Artificial hatching of eggs was practiced 
from time immemorial in China. India and 
Egypt. It is still practiced in the latter country 
where incubatois are in use, of a capacity of 
40,000 to 80,000 eggs. The country people fur¬ 
nish the eggs, receiving, at the expiration of 21 
days, 200 chickens for every 300 eggs. 
Work not a rod of land more than you can 
work well. Ic is easier and far more profitable 
to reap 60 bushels from one acre than 50 from 
two. Manure and proper cultivation will ena¬ 
ble you to do it. 
Fresh manure produces but little effect, 
when applied to crops, but when it is well rotted, 
it then contains much valuable, soluble matter, 
absorbable by plants. In fresh manure, the 
unost important constituent of its soluble portion 
is potash,, and contains but small proportions ol 
ammonia and phosphoric acid. Rotten manure, " 
on the contrary, yields to the solvent action of 
water large amounts of nitrogen and phosphoric 
acid.—American Cultivator. 
Prof. Atwater, who has been making 
many experiments with cotton seed meal food, 
and for dairy cows especially, fiuds that five 
pounds is as much as can be fed with safety, ow¬ 
ing to its abundance of the albuminoids. He 
finds that the gaeate^ milk effect was s< cured by 
a ration of 100 pounds corn meal, 80 pounds of 
bran, and 65 pounds of decorticated (huskless) 
cotton seed meal. 
To MAKE GOOD butter in winter it is essen¬ 
tial that the cream should not stand too long 
before being churned. The temperature of the 
cream when placed iu the churn should not be 
lower than60°, nor higher than 62°. Sixty de¬ 
crees, when the churn is warmed by hot water in 
the winter, or coolel in summer, is the proper 
temperature, and one that will be satisfactory. 
Every year the average yield of butter 
from Jersey cows is increasing. We hear of 
them nuw as giving as much as 16 pounds of but¬ 
ter a week. It seems impossible, and they not 
only do this, but the yield increases every year 
on the average. 
For CABBAGE WORMS, Professor Riley recom¬ 
mends hot water judiciously applied from a wat¬ 
ering pot. This must be doue with caution, and 
therefore, is liable in careless hands to do more 
harm than good. Professor Riley also advises, 
for the same purpose, applying repeatedly a so¬ 
lution whale oil soap and water, in proportion of 
of one pound of soap to six gallons of water. 
Pieces of board raised an inch above the surface 
of the ground, afford an opportunity of examin¬ 
ing and destroying once or twice each week the 
transforming larvse under them. 
Farmers in this country have experienced 
relief from grubs at the roots of cabbage by 
loosening the earth close to the roots with a hoe, 
and pouring about the plaut one fourth of a pint 
of soft soap and water two or three times during 
the season. The solution comists of one part 
soft soap to twelve parts water. Weaker suds 
poured on top, it is claimed by some gardeners 
will destroy the green worm. 
The tabulated statements published by 
the Country Gentleman during the last 12 years, 
8hbwing the results of public sales of Short-horn 
herds in the United States and Canada give a 
total for that period of 29,859 head and $8,268- 
576, an average of nearly $277 per head. Let’a 
all turn stock breeders. 
