ISO?.' 
AMinirCAX ACxIlICUL/rUKIS' 
C^oiupnrativo .Xulrilive Value oT 
l>Ifn‘rcnt Klii<l«< of Corn,—lu response to sovoral 
in.iuiries, we answer : That the mtritive value may proh- 
a!>ly be come at with conslder.ihle acenraoy, hy weiehinsr 
a carefully fn4>'tf<re<l, well shaken down bushel. This 
will not i;ive accumlely the fi'tenlncr value, which do- 
penils In a ijo )d de.?ree upon the amount of oil conUlned 
la the com, hut by no means wholly upm this. Differ¬ 
ent varieties vary greatly in the oil which they contain. 
The Den', com conUtins Generally less oil than the Flint, 
tile Flint less than the little Pop corn, 
of iaottin;;' CropM to ^larlcet. 
—It is estimated by an intelli^eat Iowa farmer, tlmt It 
costs fully eii^hty per cent, of the value of the wheat crop 
to :;et it to an Histem market, which always detennlnes 
the pisKlucer's price ; pork, per cent.; beef, 15 txw cent.; 
and wix)l, 4 p4*r cent. This is a pretty strone; ari^mucnt 
for raisin;' sheep, and klllin.:^ tlojs on the prairies. 
Shall >vo .llilkc ll«‘foi'o Calving;?— 
•• (;." writes: “ I liave a line heifer which has jnst 
drojtped hi-r Qrst calf. Her Ixt^ got very largo and felt 
haril some days beforehand, and I am still afraid that I 
am going to have trmiblo with it. A man who keeps 
many cows told mo I ought to luivo milked her when It 
first filled with milk. My uncle, last year, milked a cow 
a fortjiight b*-f )re calving, taking as much as a pailful a 
day. Is it the best way? Is there danger if it is neg¬ 
lected -It is not to be recommended a.s a general 
practice, if it can bo avoided, but if the bag swells and 
f.-els hot, by all means draw tho milk, and knead tho 
Img when empty, wa.shlng it with warm soap and water, 
and perhaps greasing it to prevent iufiammation or garget. 
l>uty on Iinport«'<l Itrcotlinic .Vni- 
mail.—The wise provision in our Revenue laws, ad¬ 
mitting breeding animals duty free, is fmstrated in a 
raeasiiis', by the very absurd, illiterate, and unjust decis¬ 
ion which decides that bircU arc not anlmal.s, and hence 
that fowls and poultry of all kinds imported for breeding 
purposes, are subject to pay duty. If birds aro not ani¬ 
mals. what are they? and what aro animals? Webster 
defines animal as “ an organized body, endowed with life, 
sensation, and power of voluntary motion," and that is 
the common acceptation. The humblest forms of ani¬ 
mals are distinguished from vegetables, by having dis¬ 
tinct mouths and stomachs. An oyster is an animal as 
truly as a man, and a bird as tmly as an ox. This matter 
ought at once to l)o tested in the Courts, if tho Treasury 
Department continues to beg tho question, and allow its 
employees in the Custom Ilonssis to interpret plain Eng¬ 
lish to suit themselves. It is fair to suppose that Con¬ 
gress meant animals when it used the word in an im¬ 
portant law—and that if our law-makers had intended 
to admit free qnadmpeds only, they would have said so. 
‘••Hi"’ Xhinesi”—?HoiiMtor 
Ivory Lord, of 8aco, Me., writes: “ Zero of Egypt de¬ 
sires to seo the ‘big things’ reported, so as to know 
liow to proceed this year in order to beat them. Well, 
try this, 0* : March 7lh, IfKil, Ricliard S. Rogers, of South 
Danvers, Mass., killed a hog months old, the live 
weight of which was 1,108 lbs., and dead weight 984 lbs. 
The last 10 months he was fed all tho Indian meal and 
milk he could cat. He could stand and walk to his last 
day, and of his own accord walked up an Inclined piano 
into a cart to be hauled to the butcher. Mr. Rogers esti¬ 
mated the cost of this huge gruuter at 2.5 cents per lb.; 
he received 8 cents p«-r lb. for him. This is tho greatest 
weight of a porker that lias ever come to my knowledge.” 
[In ls.3-2, December 21st, Renj. Rogers, Mansfield, Bur¬ 
lington County, N. J., killed a hog which weighed 1,011 
lbs” In 180.1, -V. H. Benham, McLean, Tompkins Coun¬ 
ty, X. Y., ha<l a hog which weighed 1,1.15 lbs., which was 
< xhibited in our office, and killed in New York, December 
19th, weighing, alive, 1,272 Ib.s., dressed, 1,174 lb.s.—Eo.] 
Iloi-wr-Riioirt"- at Valrw may t'ar 
better be Broken up than Permitted.— F. 
K. l*h<eui.\, of Bloomington, Ill., writes : " Dist year our 
County Fair managers determined to do without horse- 
racing. The sporting people prophesied and threatened, 
but the result was ren/ m'wh the beet Fair, arul the beet re- 
ceif)te ever known in the Society’s history—and that too, 
in despite of some vciy nnfavorablc weather. I think wo 
shall hear no more in favor of connecting tho two in our 
Society-the issue has been made and victory won.” 
lor fljo “iiJapes in <’liioken«.” 
_.j i[ Mabl)ett writes: ” Take a four or eight ounce 
vial and till it with large grains of ictu-.at; then fill the 
vial with turi)entlne and let it stand, corked tightly. 
When yr)u s.x: any of your chicks begin to droop and 
gasp, catch them and give each one grain of the wheat. 
If in the morning, give another at night. If in the after¬ 
noon, give one the next morning. I have never found 
this to fail in my ‘ family.’ Handle them gently, and don't, 
for mercy's sake, put a featlier down tlieir wiudi)lpes.”-^ 
[The turpentine kills or paralyzes tho worms, which aro 
tho cause of gapes, and they aro coughed up.— Ed.] 
I'lirtor Sli-nvv.— This method 
of growing potatoes seems to answer well in some places 
and not in others. We have given the experience of 
those who have failed and those who have succeeded. 
The following from .T. Cass, .8acramento County, Cali¬ 
fornia, will interest those who live in a similar climate : 
“ For the la«t three years my potatoes have Invariably 
run to vines and set no potatoes. Last yeaF I tried tho 
covering with straw and I had splendid potatoes; tho 
ground kept moist all Summer, and we could get a mess 
any time by rooting in the straw with our hands. I 
planted as follows: Old ground that was in assorted 
vegetables tho year previous, was ploughed in, and 
h,alf potatoes, cut lengthwise, dropped 15 inches apart, 
in every third furrow, and put about 8 Inches of old 
wheat straw on tliem ; it seemed to check tho growth of 
vines and mado the potatoes set,” 
—We have frequent inquiries 
for this excellent breed, many of them from the West. 
Bt'rkshlres, Yorkshires or Seflons, and other pure breeds, 
arc also in more or less request. Breeders of valuable 
kinds of stock would do well to advertise. 
Cure Tor I..ice on Cattle.— Isaac Schau- 
ber, Saratoga County, N. Y'., says : “A feio applications 
of good cider vinegar along the back bone, on tho head, 
and other places where tho hce gather, will soon finish 
them.”-It will give them a check, which cleanliness 
and good keeping will make more or less permanent. It 
is, however, a safe and convenient application. 
I*Iji<stic Slntc Rooting;. —Wo arc con¬ 
stantly receiving inquiries in regard to this materi.nl. Tho 
fact is, we know very little about it. What we do know, 
is favorable. Tho claim of the venders, that it re-forms 
stone, is absurd ; but tho slate flour mingled with the gas 
tar remains suspended in it, and the tar is said not to sep¬ 
arate and run, as do most tar roofs, when they aro ex- 
I>osed to great heat of tho pun in smumer. 
O ver-Croppe«l I.nntl. —What is the best 
plan to recuperate land that is still rich, but from frequent 
cropping with wheat fails to bring remunerative crops? 
O. P. S.-The land wants a rotation of crops, and clover 
turned in the summer before wheat is sown. If theclo%’er 
does not grow stout enough, sow a little plaster early 
in tho spring The clover is a good manure for wheat. 
4\»mpiirative Value of Hay an<l 
otlicr Food.— According to experiments conducted 
in France and Germany, 100 lbs. of good hay is equal in 
alimentary value to 
400 lbs. 
of green clover, 1 45 
lbs. of wheat. 
275 “ 
green Indian com' 54 
barley. 
.174 " 
wheat straw. I 69 
oats. 
442 “ 
rye straw. 1 57 
Indian com. 
1!« “ 
oat straw. i 62 
(4 
sunflower seed. 
400 “ 
dried com stalks. 69 
44 
linseed cake. 
275 " 
carrots. il05 
44 
wheat bran. 
54 ” 
ryo. 1 83 
44 
dried oak leaves. 
Farmer's Fruit Calkc.— Contributed by 
Mrs. E. Smith. Plymouth Co., Ma.ss. Soak .1 cups of dried 
apples over night in warm water; chop (slightly) in the 
morning, and then simmer 2 hours in 2 cups of molasses. 
Add 2 eggs, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of sweet milk, cup 
of butter, 1!4 teaspoonfuls of soda, flour to make a rather 
thick batter; spice to suit the taste. Bake in a quick 
oven. Republished by request of a subscriber. 
Fire and Water-proof Wasli.—“ A. 
S. K.,” of Fitchburg, Mass., sends us the following recipe, 
of which ho says ; " For roofs of houses, banis and other 
buildings, or for brick-work, this preparation is une¬ 
qualed.” Dry-slako common stone lime in a close vessel, 
and when cool, pass eight quarts through a fine sieve; 
add to it one quart of fine salt, and two gallons pure wa¬ 
ter. Boil and skim. Then, to every four gallons of this 
mixture, add one and a quarter pomids of alum, three- 
fourths of a pound copperas, half a pound potash, and 
five quarts fine beach sand. The wash will now admit 
any coloring matter that may be desired, and may be ap¬ 
plied with a paint or whitewash brush in the same man- 
nerlis oil paints. He adds: “ It looks better than any 
other kind of paint, will stop leaks in roofs, prevent moss 
from growing, and, when laid upon brick-work, will ren¬ 
der it impenetrable to rain or moisture.” [The ” Chem¬ 
istry” of this wash is not quite obvious, but as really 
good washes for out-door work are rare, wo give it 
publicity on our correspondent’s authority.] 
Housekeepers with Small Children and 
Smaller Help. 
A lady correspondent at the West, puts tho fol¬ 
lowing question: 
In your reply to the Southern lady who had de- 
tennined to do her own work—after speaking of 
the arranged kitchen—vou add: ‘Fitted out with 
these appliances, a woman in good health and 
vithout small children, can often do her own work 
with less worry without a servant than with 
one.’ Now, here let mo ask: What would a 
woman do with very few of these appliances, and 
six or eight small children—say under ten years old ? 
In those essays I have met with a good many 
things that coincide with my experience, my think- 
^■'38, plannings, and doings—and yet when I have 
read them through, I have felt as though there 
was something wanting. A wish came up that 
some one who had six or eight small children to 
care for and do for, in addition to her other duties, 
would write on the subject. 
It seemed to me I might learn many a lesson. I 
wisli to make my system of housekeeping as good 
as I can under my present circumstances. 
But for want of such a paper, I intend to male* 
the most of those published.” 
As the woman with eight small children is likely 
to be busy for some time, we will answer for her, 
fyr this case demands immediate consideration. 
Eight small children and no help! It is a hard 
««se, and requii-es considerable philosophy, and 
some piety, to get along with it smoothly. Do not 
deepair. Tour case might be worse in two partic¬ 
ulars ; you might have no children at all, and you 
might have more. We know of a woman w'ho has 
twenty-five, all comely and doing well. The sad¬ 
dest people we know of are childless husbands 
and wives, and the most cheerless homes are those 
where there is no cradle to rock, and no playthings 
to put up when evening comes. Better a dozen 
tliau none. You need the education which will 
come of training them to thrifty and virtuous hab¬ 
its. Do not doubt for a moment that they will 
live, grow up, and be useful and happy, and that 
they will all rise uj) and call you blessed. The kind 
Providence that has given them being, has a work 
for them to do, and will in some way provide for 
their training. Do not loorrj/. Worry kills a great 
man}' more people than work. There niust neces¬ 
sarily be a tlifferent standard of attainment in such 
a home, from that which prevails where money and 
servants are plenty. There can not be so many or 
so fine dresses, playthings, books and amusements. 
They can not be kept in such absolute cleanliness 
and order, as if each child had a nurse, and a gov¬ 
erness devoted her whole time to their education. 
If you do the best you can under the circumstances, 
duty is discharged—a matter of thanksgiving. 
Look at the Sunny (Side.-There is such a side in 
every lot in life. Most children grow up in hornet 
where there are no servants, and turn out passably 
well. Men and women of the highest culture and 
social position, more often than otherwise, began 
life in this condition, and the early habits of self 
help and industry there formed, determined their 
characters and success. To be born in affluence is 
generally a calamity. The children of the rich aro 
most appropriately objects of compassion. What 
shall be done for such, to make them useful and 
happy, is a much more difficult problem to solve 
thau tho proper training of the children of the poor. 
The men who make our laws and mould public 
opinion, as a rule, grow up under the necessity of 
labor. Their mothers filled the offices of nurse, 
cook, and laundress in their homes, and to this day 
it is the honest conviction of tliese distinguished 
men, that their mothers were tho best women and 
the most savory cooks in the world. 
Cultivate Self-Help in your Mothers 
sometimes err in excessive tenderness and devotion. 
Children love occupation and will have it. Tho 
passion for dressing dolls may ns well be turned to 
dressiii'' something more substantial. A little girl 
can soon learn to dress and wash herself, and then 
10 perform the^e offices for her younger brothers 
and sisters. Play should never be forestalled, but 
