1863.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
53 
place, and bends and breaks many of tliem. 
Such trees often show that they are injured, 
by throwing up suckers. A better way is to 
work the soil in among the roots with the 
hands, and perhaps apply a little water to 
wash it in, when the work is about half done. 
THE M( DreiEi »m 
Good Feet Warmers. 
The best feet warmers are: frequent applications 
of water and a coarse towel, dry woolen socks, thick 
boots, and exercise. These will usually keep the 
feet of an active person comfortable in any but the 
most excessively cold weather. Sometimes, how¬ 
ever, it is necessary to take a long ride when the 
thermometer marks a temperature near zero, dur¬ 
ing which brisk circulation of the blood can not be 
kept up by exercise, and without some additional 
precaution, the feet are liable to great discomfort. 
If the socks be dry and the feet be well warmedbe- 
fore setting out, the heat may be retained for a 
long time by wearing heavy woolen socks or moc¬ 
casins over the shoes. These can be made of extra 
stout yarn, or more cheaply and easily by sewing- 
together properly shaped pieces of thick blanket. 
Moocasins of buffalo skin, with the hair inward, are 
admirable protectors of the feet in traveling. Occa¬ 
sionally, owing to feeble health, the circulation of 
blood is too sluggish to generate a comfortable de¬ 
gree of heat in the system, and persons suffer from 
cold, whatever the amount of clothing worn. The 
extremities, particularly, feel the want of a full sup¬ 
ply of natural animal heat. In such cases heat must 
be derived from external sources. Vessels of hot 
water, heated blocks of hard wood, bricks, etc., are 
commonly used to keep the feet warm. A better 
article for this purpose than either of the above 
named, is a block of soap-stone, which retains heat 
for a very long time. Enclosing it in a convenient 
woolen bag will keep it warm considerably longer 
than if it be left exposed. A correspondent of the 
Agriculturist, (E. S. Osborn, Suffolk Co., N. V.,) who 
has tried this material for several years, has found 
it so good that she thinks it would be an excellent 
charity to furnish such blocks in large numbers to 
the poor in cities. Perhaps it might abate some 
suffering, provided enough fuel to heat the blocks 
with, were supplied at the same time. 
Slipping Down—“Creepers.” 
The number of bruises, broken limbs, sprained 
joints and other casualties resulting from slipping 
down on ice-covered ground, if carefully summed 
up, would amount to hundreds of thousands every 
year. Suppose that among the twenty-five million 
inhabitants of the colder States and British Prov¬ 
inces, only one person in a hundred should fall down 
so as to receive injury. This would amount to 
250 , 000 —quite an army even in latter days. Old 
persons who are not agile, and whose bones are 
brittle, and least likely to unite quickly if broken, 
are most apt to suffer. We have known of sev¬ 
eral such cases of veiy serious injury. There are 
several contrivances to prevent slipping, two of the 
simplest of which are represented in the accompany¬ 
ing engravings, that are somewhat old, but not gen¬ 
erally in use. Pig. 1, is a piece of flat iron, split 
twice at each corner with the sharp points turned 
down, and the middle pieces turned up and punch¬ 
ed with holes for straps. Fig. 2, shows the method 
of attaching it to the boot or shoo just forward of 
the heel. Any blacksmith can readily make them, 
or they may even be made at homo. The length of 
the points is to be proportioned to the bight of the 
heel; the points will need to project scarcely more 
than % inch below the heel. The'housewife will of 
eourse see that these heel 
pieces or “ creepers ” are b* 
left behind at the door. 
Fig. 3, represents a form 
usually sold at the hard¬ 
ware stores for about 25 
cents per pair. They are of cast iron, and are fast¬ 
ened on, or loosened, by turning the screw (A) at 
the heel. The points ( B ) are turned inward so as 
to catch into the leather, and hold them on firmly. 
Fig. 3. 
Potatoes in the Bins, 
INTERESTING FACTS FOR “SPROUTERS” TO THINK OF. 
If the family supply of potatoes has been stored 
in a moderately warm place, they will soon need at¬ 
tention. They must be looked over and the 
sprouts rubbed off—or ‘sprouted’ as it is termed. A 
dark, cool and dry place is best. The cooler they 
are kept without freezing, the less likely they will 
be to start. Rubbing off the sprouts is good in¬ 
door work for stormy weather, but as it is rather 
dirty and monotonous, it is not a job that is much 
relished. Persons do not generally like any work, 
however easy, provided it is merely mechanical, 
and offers no employment for mind as well as the 
hands. Let us see if there is not something inter¬ 
esting in sprouting potatoes. Many of the potatoes 
will be found to have a bit of stem attached—the 
remains of an under-ground stem, of which the 
potato is the enlarged end. It is the channel 
through which the potato received all its nourish¬ 
ment, and grew to such rotund proportions, but 
like many who have grown fat and prosperous, it 
seems to have forgotten the means by which it be¬ 
came so, and instead of giving back any of the rich 
stores it has received through it,, the over-fed 
potato leaves the little stem to perish. The new 
sprouts all start from the eyes -of the potato, 
which are much more numerous and closer to¬ 
gether as we go from the stem end. These potato 
eyes are arranged in a peculiar manner. If we start 
with an eye near the stem end it will be found that 
the eye next above it is placed a little to the right, 
the next a little to the right of that, and so on, 
thus forming a regular spiral. The arrangement is 
best seen in the longer varieties. The sprouts 
start first from the end farthest from the stem, and 
if these are allowed to grow, many of the others 
will not start at all. The potato having once made 
up its mind to grow, is not to be easily thwarted, 
and if all the sprouts are rubbed off, the operation 
very often has to be repeated a second or third time. 
If we examine a potato eye closely, several lit¬ 
tle spots will be observed; each of these are buds 
from which sprouts may spring. If one or more 
of these starts and are allowed to grow, the rest 
finally perish; but if the first sprouts are removed 
then the reserved forces are called up, and a new 
crop of sprouts appear; and this is repeated again 
and again until the last one of the supply of super¬ 
numerary buds is entirely exhausted. 
The potato looks like a stupid thing, but it seems 
to show a kind of instinct. The sprouts in the bin 
or barrel, far away from the earth, throw out roots 
which go traveling off in search of sustenance—as 
if knowing that the supply for the young plant, 
contained in the potato, could not last long. 
Inside of the potato curious chemical changes 
are going on. The starch which is put there to 
supply food for sprouts or young plants, under¬ 
goes a transformation. It has to be moved in 
order to aid the young growth, and as it is not 
soluble in cold water, it is changed so that it can 
pass to where it is needed. It is partly converted 
into sugar, as may be seen from the sweet taste 
poorly kept potatoes have in the spring. We 
have not said all that the occupation of sprout¬ 
ing potatoes suggests—but enough we trust to show 
the readers of the American Agriculturist that there 
is much to learn about common and every day 
things, which apparently possess little of interest. 
To Prevent “ Chapped Hands.” 
The writer was formerly much troubled with 
chapped and cracked hands, so much so as to con¬ 
stantly feel uncomfortable. Latterly, I have been 
entirely free from this source of trouble, and, ex¬ 
cept when obliged to handle frozen substances, I no 
more think of wearing gloves or mittens on my 
hands, than I do of covering my face. This good re¬ 
sult I attribute wholly to a hint given in my Amer¬ 
ican Agriculturist a few years ago, which I would 
like to have repeated for the benefit of others. It 
was in effect as follows : The cuticle or scarf skin 
is designed as a handprotective covering, and when 
sound, it serves this purpose admirably. Pure wa¬ 
ter does not affect the cuticle; but add a little soap 
or other alkali to the water, and it at once attacks 
the cuticle and will in a' short time dissolve it off. 
I now avoid the use of soap as much as possible, 
using a brush to remove most kinds of soiling. 
When soap is absolutely required to remove oily or 
greasy matters, I keep it on the hands as little time 
as may be, and rinse off the last vestige thoroughly, 
leaving none to corrode and crack the outer skin. 
Generally, I dip the hands in water in which a few 
drops of vinegar have been poured; this neutral¬ 
izes the alkali of the soap. Wife does the same on 
washing day when the hands must be put into soap 
suds. I formerly applied vinegar to the face after 
shaving, but now use a little cheap Cologne water, 
or common whiskey, which removes the alkali, 
and keeps the whiskers black—not faded as when 
nothing was used after the lather. Farmer. 
■ -- - 
A Short Chapter on Bonnets. 
The Fashion in 1860. The present Style. 
What Next? 
About Illuminating' or Coal Oils. 
Perhaps no household topic is of more general in¬ 
terest than that of the oils, to which we are so much 
indebted for the comfort and cheerfulness of our 
homes. A few years has brought a great revolution 
in our domestic economy, which is nowhere more 
strikingly seen than in our methods of illumination. 
Whale oil gave way to the dangerous campheneand 
burning fluid, and these were in turn superseded by 
coal and mineral oils. The whales are left com¬ 
paratively unmolested, it being much easier to catch 
a few tons of coal than it is to capture one of those 
monsters. Turpentine, from which camphene and 
burning fluid are manufactured, is so scarce, that 
were these articles in general use, the demand could 
not be supplied. Happily the facility with which 
better illuminating oils can be procured from coal, 
and the wonderful discovery of the oil wells, have 
given us a better and cheaper light. Our readers 
are well aware that there are two kinds of mineral 
coal; the hard or anthracite, and the soft or bitu¬ 
minous. The latter, which is the land most known 
at the West, burns with a flame, and is the kind 
used in making the oils and the gas for lighting 
cities. If bituminous coal be heated in a closed iron 
vessel, shaped like a bottle, the portion which 
would have burned with a flame, had the coal been 
on the open fire, will be driven off as a gas, and may 
be lighted at the mouth of the bottle. In gas mak¬ 
ing, the coal is thus heated, and the gas, after being 
properly purified, is carried by pipes a long way 
