16 
AMimiGA.'N AGEIOULTUEIST. 
[January. 
Hot Water for Cal>l>as'e Wormw.— 
Dr. Stone, Rutherford, N. J., informs us that he has 
applied water to his cabbages heated to the temperature 
recommended (160“ P.), and it badly blistered the leaves 
of his plants, and caused many of them to turn yellow. 
Probably a lower temperature will kill the worms. 
Oaiiiltrel or CJainiiion —W^liicU ?— 
Prom childhood up, we have heard and used the word 
“ gambrel,” to indicate the stick put through the hind 
legs of a hog to suspend it in dressing. Recently we 
saw written and heard the term ” gammon stick ” in¬ 
stead of gambrel. Turning to the Dictionary, we find: 
“ Gambkel, the hind leg of a horse,” and “'Gammon, 
noun, the leg of a hog smoked or pickled... .verb, to 
cure as bacon.” The “ gammon stick ” men seem to 
have in this case the lexicographers on their side. 
ReiKleriniS' I..ar«l. —Much lard is injured 
or spoiled by overheating and burning some portions; 
the smallest quantity scorched gives a bad flavor to the 
whole. A bucket of water in the rendering kettle pre¬ 
vents this, if the fire is kept from rising too high 
around the sides. The water is easily separated at the 
bottom if not slowly evaporated ofl' during the render¬ 
ing. Cutting the leaf, etc., fine with a sharp hatchet or 
cleaver facilitates the free extraction of the lard. 
Home Butcliei*ii»s'»— Some prefer to sell 
all their swine and buy what ‘‘hog products” they de¬ 
sire; but as a rule, it is preferable to kill what is needed 
at home, even when not necessary, as it is on a majority 
of farms perhaps. One then knows the healthfulness 
and quality of what he is eating, and with a little ex¬ 
perience and skill, farm slaughtering is more economi¬ 
cal. The introduction of pulleys and some other simple 
contrivances, enabling one or two men to handle and 
dress a considerable number of heavy hogs in a few 
hours, has, in reeent years, done away with the dread 
and much of the importance of ‘‘butchering day.” 
Putting' How II Porlc. — Mr. Stahl 
writes us thus: Pack closely in the barrel, first rubbing 
salt well into all exposed ends of hones, and sprinkle 
well between each layer, using no brine until forty- 
eight hours after, and then let the brine be strong 
enough to bear an egg. After six weeks take out the 
hams and bacon and hang in the smoke-house. When 
warm weather brings danger of flies, smoke a week 
with hickory chips, avoiding heating the air much. If 
■one has a dark, close smoke-house, as the writer has, the 
meat can hang in it all summer; otherwise pack in 
boxes, putting layers of sweet dry hay between. Long 
experience has convinced me that this method of 
packing is preferable to packing in dry salt or ashes. 
Sa.usag(e Making-.— The quality will de¬ 
pend largely upon the kind of meat or meats used. 
Cutting or grinding fine is desirable, running twice or 
more through the machine unless it be a better one 
than most of those in use. It does not pay to use 
^‘skins’’; to prepare the intestines thoroughly involves 
much labor, and they add nothing to the substance or 
flavor. For early use, press the meat into cakes with 
the hands, and pack the rest in earthen jars, to be made 
into cakes as w'anted for frying. For long keeping, into 
summer if desired, make into suitable,cakes and fry; 
pack in jars, and fill these with melted lard. The 
pieces can be taken out at any lime and simply warmed 
through; they will he as sweet and fresh as when first 
prepared. Don’t spoil sausage meat with spices or 
mint. Use salt and pepper moderately, leaving every one 
to apply these freely in eating, as individually desired. 
Tlie Howei" o±" Roots.— Instances are 
not rare in which roots, by their gradual increase in size, 
have lifted large rocks of several tons weight. Their 
force, though exerted through a slight space, is neverthe¬ 
less almost irresistible. In cities and villages, where the 
Ailanthus is planted as a shade-tree, its scattered seeds 
fall everywhere, and germinate where there is a little soil 
or dust. They often fall into areas, and the plants ap¬ 
pear in the cracks of pavements, or they lodge in a cavity 
of the foundation wall, and there soon produce a young 
tree, which, in a few years, will be several inches in di¬ 
ameter. We have noticed several instances in New York 
City in which the roots of these young trees had already 
thrown the underpinning of buildings visibly out of line, 
and we occasionally visita village in which the retaining 
wall to the terrace in front of a church is visibly disturbed 
from the same cause. All young trees, whether Ailanthus, 
elm, or others, springing up in such situations, should be 
removed while young, before they have caused mischief. 
I-iord Spencer on Irisli Hairyiiig;. 
—Ill a speech at an Agricultural Show at Limerick, Lord 
Spencer said, that during the past ten years domestic 
animals had increased somewhat, and poultry aggregated 
nearly two million head. He thought also, that the con¬ 
dition of the poorer class of the people had, improved; at 
the same time, there was enormous room iu the country 
for still greater improvement of them, their agriculture, 
and live stock breeding. Strenuous efforts have been made, 
and quite successfully, to increase the dairy products, 
and better the quality of them, especially iu butter. 
Travelling schools to go about the country have been 
established for teaching an improved system of dairying, 
and to show their benefit, the city of Cork market alone 
the past year had paid the farmers about fifty thousand 
dollars more for butter than had previously been the case. 
It is a great satisfaction to us to learn the above, and we 
hope other and still greater blessings may be in store 
for this heretofore unhappy country, and make it as 
nature designed it, one of the most productive and for¬ 
tunate of the earth. 
Liinie for Blasting'. —^Every one who has 
slowly added water to a lump of quick-lime, to slake it, 
has noticed that in combining with'water, the lime swells 
up, and becomes much larger than before. This ex¬ 
pansion of quick-lime, when in contact with water, is a 
force exercised through a short distance, but, like the 
[expansion of water in freezing, is almost irresistible. 
This force has lately been used in the coal-mines of Eng¬ 
land, to throw down the coal. To prepare quick-lime 
for use in blasting, it is first reduced to powder, and 
then forced into cartridges or cylinders by means of a 
hydraulic press. A mold two inches across and seven 
inches long, is filled with powdered lime, and compressed 
by a hydraulic press of forty-ton power into a solid mass 
about four inches long. 'When these cylinders, or car¬ 
tridges, have lengthwise grooves cut in them to admit 
water, they are ready for use. Holes are drilled as for 
blasting with powder, a cylinder of compressed lime is 
placed in each, and tamped. A tube is provided for in 
the tamping, and water, by means of a force pump, is 
forced through the tube, and brought in contact with the 
lime cartridge. In slaking, the swelling of the lime 
throws down the coal without any smoke or the libera¬ 
tion of unwholesome gases, and there is no loss of time 
in getting rid of these. This method of blasting will 
no doubt find a wider application than for coal-mines. 
Sylvan and Northern Hares.—Eabhits, 
BY DB. Q. A. STOOKWBLL. 
In the eastern half the United States, two species of 
Hares, aside from the Swamp and Water varieties, are 
noteworthy, viz., Zepus sylvaUcus, which ranges from 
Central Michigan and Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico; 
and Lejiiis Americanus, found in the mountain ranges of 
Virginia and Pennsylvania, and becoming more abun¬ 
dant northward until it encroaches upon the domain of 
the Arctic species, Zepus Glacialis. Though both may 
become unmitigated nuisances, under certain conditions, 
yet, within proper bounds, both are desii-able, afibrding 
happy sport in autumn and winter for youthful trappers 
and ambitious gunners. Properly prepared, they supply 
delicious and nourishing food for the table. 
Americans arc not over exact in using zoological terms, 
and quite generally call a thrush a “robin,” a grouse a 
“ partridge ” or “ pheasant,” a colin a “ quail,” a stag or 
wapitt an “ elk,” an elk a “ moose,” a hare a “ rabbit,” 
etc.—The Rabbit is not found in North or South America, 
save iu a domesticated form. All natives are true hares. 
— That “All rabbits are hares, but all hares are not rab¬ 
bits,” is true. While both belong to the Zejtoridez family, 
there is a marked specific dissimilarity. The hare has 
fur on the soles of its feet, and hairs growing within its 
mouth; its young, or “leverets,” are born perfect iu 
form, amply clothed with fur, have good eyesight, 
and are ai)le at once to care for themselves iu a measure. 
Hares live in forms (a rude nest of grass or leaves) in de¬ 
pressions or hiding places on the ground, never burrow¬ 
ing beneath it. — The Rabbit, on the contrary, is always 
a burrower, warmth and concealment being essential for 
rearing their young, born, as they are, imperfectly devel¬ 
oped, helpless, and requiring, during their infancy, care¬ 
ful nursing and a warm bed of fur plucked from the ma¬ 
ternal breast. Rabbits iiave- no hairs iu the mouth or on 
the soles of tlie feet, the latter being defended by pads. 
The Sylvan Hake is usually called the “ Gray Rab¬ 
bit,” probably from its similarity in color and size to the 
W'ild rabbit of the Old World {Zepus Cunniculus). As its 
specific name. Sylvan, implies, it is properly an inliabi- 
tant of the forest, but it is very susceptible to the bene¬ 
fits of civilization, and spreads northward with the de¬ 
struction of evergreen forests and the advance of hus¬ 
bandry. It takes especially to open scrub, to borders of 
cultivated fields, loiig grass by the sides of ditclies and 
fences, hedge rows, slashings, rocky pastures, and de¬ 
serted clearings—sometimes it resides in farmyards, 
hiding under barns, haystacks, wood piles, brush heaps, 
open stone walls, stump fences, etc. It clings to any 
residence once chosen, hence is often and unexpect¬ 
edly found in the heart of large towns or even in the 
midst of new cities of rapid growth, where abundant 
shrubbery supplies them with needed concealment. 
It is not gregarious; two are seldom seen together ex¬ 
cept for play. Tiiough several may associate in the same 
noigliborhood, or same frame, for mutual protection and 
concealment, each pursues its own way. They are noc¬ 
turnal in habit—restless, and constantly afoot after sun¬ 
set in pleasant weather, but often move about mornings 
and evenings, and even at raid-day when it is warm and 
cloudy. On warm, moonlight nights, a dozen or more 
are often seen romping, playing games, on a pleasant 
hillside or grassy knoll, frolicsome as kittens, rolling, 
tumbling, leaping over each other’s backs. They will 
cover an astonishing amount of ground in a niglit, but 
always witliin a limited area, treading the same ground 
over and over. The innumerable footprints on a light 
snow, of even two or throe of them, convey the idea that 
there were scores of them. Their persistent adherence 
to the same patlis or runways makes them an easy prey 
to trap and snare. In' cold, stormy weather, they lay up 
for a day or two, crouched in their pens, often covered 
with snow so closely that one not knowing their habits 
might walk near them for hours without starting one. 
As indicated by their long ears, their sense of hearing 
is very acute; the slightest unaccustomed sound sends 
them to an erect position, ready to spring away in an in¬ 
stant. Their vision is imperfect, especially for objects 
in front; the backward inclination of their eyeballs 
would alone show that their province is to flee from foes 
rather than to contend with them.—A fleeing hare is 
always a pretty sight, its long, graceful bounds, covering 
eight to fourteen feet, outstripping most dogs for a short 
distance, but lacking in staying power. . Their peculiar 
mode of progress is due to the extraordinary develop¬ 
ment of their hind limbs and the arrangement of the 
muscles on the back. The forelegs are short, slender, 
mere pegs to help support the body when at rest. At 
each leap the hind legs straddle widely, overlap the fore¬ 
legs on the ground, the latter being quickly lifted out of 
the way for another spring. I was much amused at a 
novice who on first seeing a hare’s track said, “The 
blamed thing is running backward, or else its feet are 
set wrong.” The leaps of some hares are so instantane¬ 
ous that they ajjpear much like a rubber hall skimming 
and rebounding over the ground instead of leaping. 
The foes of the hare are many—hawks, owls, polecats, 
weasels, minks; snakes, dogs, and wild and domestic 
cats. When attacked, it yields passively to its fate. 
Speed and strategy are its sole defence, and in these it 
lacks little. No fox is shrewder than an old buck hare, 
who, when pursued, doubles and twists, now turning 
aside to let the foe pass on, and then taking the back 
track, it passes leisurely through form after form of his 
species to break and confuse the scent. Sometimes when 
closely pursued he will bolt another hare, take posses¬ 
sion of his form, trusting the dog will pursue the fleeing 
one, guided by his eye rather than his scent. Again, he 
will take to a hollow tree, and force himself up a yard or 
more, like a chimney sweep. A young hare usually 
seeks a burrow or a hollow log at the outset, and ordi¬ 
narily becomes an easy prey. The doe, however, will 
fight like a little fury to defend her leverets, though 
never for her own safety. In defence of her young she 
has been known to attack and defeat a good-sized black 
or rattlesnake, leaping over and stamping him with her 
powerful legs until he was killed or ingloriously fled. 
The snake vainly strikes his fangs against her thick 
mantle of hair. The males fight among themselves for 
possession of the females, making a great fuss by stamp¬ 
ing on the ground and leaping at one another, though 
seldom with more dire results than sheer exhaustion. 
When wounded, suddenly seized, or frightened, the 
hare utters a quick, clear, sharp, wailing sound, like 
qne-a-a-a 1 que-a-a-a 1 strikingly like a very young infant. 
When quite near a place where hares are playing or fight¬ 
ing, one may hear a low, peculiar purring sound. They 
also stamp the ground violently with their hind feet, 
producing the peculiar sound known as “ drumming.” 
The Sylvan hare (or gray rabbit) is very prolific, rear- 
