SUNFI.OWIR SEED FOR POULTRY.— TO PRESERVE FRESH MEAT 
161 
fairies’ Pepartment. 
SUNFLOWER SEEiTfOR POULTRY. 
BY MRS. KIRKLAND. 
In a certain garden not very well kept, it so hap¬ 
pened that a great number of sunflowers sprang up; 
and as weeds were not lacking in the rich soil, the 
intruders escaped notice, until they grew so stout that 
it seemed a pity to pull them up, especially as there 
were few pretty things to supply their places. Tall 
hollyhocks there were, and four o’clocks, and here 
and there a yellow lily; while rhubarb run to seed, 
and stray heads of asparagus, spoke of neglect and 
indifference in the owner. Melon vines were allowed 
to straggle across the paths, and not a few great, star¬ 
ing, yellow pumpkin blossoms mingled with the 
signs of choice fruits, threatening utter destruction to 
melons of all kinds, by the intermingling of improper 
farina. But nobody thought of these things. “ The 
garden ” is too often a despised part of the thriving 
farm; and both be®ity and comfort are unnecessarily 
sacrificed, from the mistaken idea that the time spent 
in gardening is wasted, or has at best only the reward 
of “ pleasing the women folks.” 
Harvest time came, and now all idea of introducing 
any reform in the garden was out of the question. 
The melons, as they ripened, proved very much like 
squashes. The weeds all went comfortably to seed, 
and lived to see an infant crop begin to sprout up, green 
and tender, about their tough old stems, even before 
the frost had had time to despoil the parent heads of 
their branches. Some borders of stone crop with 
which certain beds, the objects of female care, had 
been ornamented, had expanded into wide banks of 
shaded green velvet—the only beautiful result of ne- 
g’ect in a garden. The girls had become quite dis¬ 
couraged, seeing the work get so far ahead of them 
for want of some aid from strong arms. 
"Fanny L-sat in the window which overlooked 
this wilderness of weeds, gazing musingly, and with 
no slight touch of sadness, at the ruin which had en¬ 
veloped the scene of her pleasant" spring dreams. 
She saw whole broods of fowls scratching and half 
burying themselves in the midst of her pretty jon¬ 
quils and other early bulbs ; and she had not the heart 
to go and drive them away; for, as girls in the coun¬ 
try often say, “ where’s the use ?” if father or bro¬ 
thers will not secure either the garden or the fowls 
so as to keep them apart. 
Presently she observed a great commotion among 
the sunflowers. These staring luminaries had grown 
very variously, some tall and mast-like, others stunt¬ 
ed and slender, with small and poor heads. But 
these less favored specimens seemed more agitated 
than their more lofty brethren ; and upon closer scru¬ 
tiny Fanny observed that a detachment from the fowl 
army were attacking the sunflowers in the most 
energetic manner, springing up at them, to the very 
extent of their ability, and nipping them so shrewdly 
that the great black heads were fain to bow at each 
fresh attack. 
After noticing this new warfare several times, it 
struck our young gardener that there must be some¬ 
thing very attractive in the food for which the chick¬ 
ens were willing to work so hard ; and she determin¬ 
ed to make a little experiment as to the value of it. 
So without saying anything of her intentions, she 
decapitated all the sunflowers which had been too 
high for the fowls to reach, using for their stubborn 
necks her brother’s little hatchet; and when she had 
deposited them in certain empty barrels in the barn, 
she contrived to have a portion of the fowls shut up, 
and fed them every day with a good portion of the 
sunflower seed, in addition to the coarse food which 
they shared with the rest, and a pan of water daily. 
The very first time a dish of fowls was wanted for 
dinner, Fanny sacrificed a pair of her stock, and she 
was delighted to hear her father ask, “ Why, wife ! 
what fowls are these ? We never had anything like 
’em before ! Where did you get ’em ? Their flesh 
is.as tender and juicy as can be, and they are as fat 
as butter !’* 
Fanny now told her little story, and as she had 
noticed an exa«ft proportion between the size and 
richness of the seed and the quality of the soil in 
which the plants happened to stand, her father was 
induced the next year to manure a patch purposely 
for sunflowers, and to cultivate them with express 
reference to the improvement of his fowls. 
Since that time this provision has not been neglect¬ 
ed ; and although some of the neighbors refuse to 
believe that sunflower seeds can make any difference 
in the juiciness of “ chicken meat,” yet they cannot 
deny that Mr. L-’s fowls are the best—far the 
best in the neighborhood; and Fanny’s observation 
of an apparently trifling fact has brought many a dol¬ 
lar to her father’s pocket, to say nothing of providing 
a home-bred delicacy for the table. 
Now, Mr. Editor, I have recounted Fanny’s ex¬ 
periment in all simplicity; wishing to know from 
some of your numerous and practical correspondents, 
whether they have ever made a similar one with like 
results—since we must not think that one fact makes 
a theory, any more than one swallow a summer. 
To Preserve Fresh Meat. —As hot weather is 
approaching, it is important to those who are so situ¬ 
ated that they cannot always procure: fresh meat when 
wanted, to know how to preserve it. The ordinary 
method of putting it in an ice-house, down the well, 
and other cool places, keeps it but a short time ; but 
in this suggested by the National Gazette, it may be 
kept sweet for years : 
“ For household purposes the most convenient way 
will be to provide a number of earthenware jars, 
with ground covers and a small hole in each cover, 
like that in a tea pot, which may be stopped easily 
The meat may be first partly boiled and deprived of 
its bones, and be then put, with part of the liquor, 
into the jars, which must be set in a pan of v/arm 
water and gradually brought to a boil. When the 
steam is rising from the jars the covers must be put 
on them and fixed down air-tight, the steam generat¬ 
ed in the meantime being suffered to escape from the 
lids. Finally, the pan must be removed from the 
fire, the holes in the lids stopped with small corks, 
and these corks waxed over to make them more im¬ 
penetrable. It may also be a good precaution to run 
a little melted wax round the edge of each cover, to 
obviate the leakage due to any imperfec ion of the 
surfaces in contact. Meat might also be preserved 
by repeatedly dipping it in melted fat, the same as 
they do candles, till it had a protecting coat of tallow 
which the air could not penetrate. Vegetables may 
be preserved in jars as above, as well as meat.” 
