into the house ; then lay the basement floors 
with pitch-pine flooring. Sometimes the 
basement or cellar floors are laid in whole or 
part with cement or dressed stone, in which 
case the red cedar sleepers can be dispensed 
with. 
The side or flank walls should be carried 
up of proper thickness, from IS inches to 3 
feet above the. roof, and the top coped with 
good stone coping, laid with cement. Lead 
flushing should also he inserted in the walls, 
from S to IS inches above the roof, and the 
roof covered with good shingles, slate, tin 
or copper. There are other kinds of roofing, 
such as composition, gravel, pitch &e. But 
I am not posted as to their merits. Good 
inquiries in the Rural New-Yorker a num¬ 
ber of times in regard to clearing sheep of 
ticks. If sheep raisers will only feed them 
I with salt and sulphur, a few times in the 
season, it will save all trouble of dipping the 
poor animals in tobacco.—A Lady Farmer. 
PACKING GRAPES 
ROOTS AND OIL CAKE FOR SHEEP 
the grape growers in reference to packing 
grapes for shipping to market. The manner 
of packing has much to do with the condi¬ 
tion in which they arrive in market, and the 
condition has much to d<> with the price 
obtained. 
In the first place grapes should never be 
gathered when wet with dew or rain. The 
best method that I have tried for 
gathering grapes is to take a sharp 
pair of shears Ip riming shears an¬ 
swer well) or a sharp knife with 
hooked blade; take hold of the 
hunch with one hand and cut the 
stem of the grapes with the knife 
y or shoal's held in the other hand, 
and take of! all green and decayed 
berries, then lay it carefully in a 
basket, then proceed to the next : 
iV when the basket is full, carry it to 
the place of packing, which should 
V be under roof ; the next operation 
is to pack them in boxes, which 
should be both light and strong ; 
r twelve by eighteen inches, and 
four or five inches deep, is a eon- 
i venient size and will hold from six- 
5k teen to twenty pounds if properly 
^ packed; to do this right, it will 
kV take some experience, 
El I would recommend that the box 
\| be set on a table of convenient 
bight, having the buck end of the 
box elevated three or four inches 
by placing something under it ; 
then commence at the cad next to 
y OU <a ,,q i a y the hunches In care- 
^-£ fully, pressing them together gent- 
lv, but not hard enough to break 
the berries. When the bottom of 
r the box is covered one layer deep, 
commence, at the front again, put 
*— in a second layer, placing the larger 
bunches in the low places and the 
smaller bunches on the high places; 
thus keeping them as level ns pos¬ 
sible. proceed in thiB manner until the box is 
full, being careful to have, the hox as lm el as 
possible when done. Cutting bunches to fill 
up cavities Is not a good practice, as largo 
buuches Bell best. 
When the box is full set it aside and pro¬ 
ceed to fill another and so on until all are full. 
The boxes thus filled should bo allowed to 
stand until the stems of the grapes arc wilted 
and become pliable, which will take from six 
to twenty-four hours ; then take aboard and 
cover the box, placing one hand under the 
box and the other on the cover ; then set the 
box on end holding the cover securely iti its 
place with one hand, then shake or jostle the 
grapes till they settle compactly together, 
which is easily accomplished after the stems 
are wilted ; this will cause a cavity at the 
Upper end of the box, which should be care¬ 
fully filled with grapes that have had stems 
wilted in order that they may pack closely. 
Great car e should be taken to avoid rub¬ 
bing the bloom off the grapes, us It injures 
their appearance, and it is thought they will 
not koep so well. Care should be taken to 
hide the stems of the last layer and have the 
berries look even or level on the top. Grapes 
should not be allowed to stand in the sun¬ 
shine after they arc gathered. Grapes packed 
STONE OR BRICK DWELLING, 
In building a fair-sized dwelling of stone or 
brick, the foundation must be substantial. 
In our Northern climate, for a house with a 
those countries, ana arc oicen aepu 
on soil they are not adapted to, 
and are not fed sufficiently. The 
wool from a Leicester sheep that, 
has been in the United States two 
years is generally harsher, leaner 
and worth much less than it would 
have been if the sheep had stayed 
in Canada or England. Now, this 
will not always bo so, for growers 
will yet learn that these large 
sheep need more to eat than the 
small .Merino, and their food should 
not consist of Indian corn, but 
they should have some roots, man¬ 
gel wurtzel and oil cake. W hen 
sheep are fed on corn, they are 
too hot and fervtsli, and the wool, 
becomes harsh and brittle, while 
a proper supply of roots and oil 
MANAGEMEN T OF LEICESTERS. ^0 
I wtsh to inquire of your sub¬ 
scribers how to manage the. keep¬ 
ing and rearing of coarse-wooled 
sheep. I mean Leicester. I procured 
11 head of these In the fall of 1869 and I have 
but 80 head at this date. I have several 
methods of handling them, but have not 
been successful—I mean, in raising lambs. 
They almost invariably have twins, but they 
seem to bo weak. Have tried various modes 
of feeding the ewes through the winter. 
Have fed them some grain ; then hay with¬ 
out grain ; but all to no purpose. I am well 
satisfied with the profits of tiie yield os to 
wool, and have always been successful at our 
county fair (Livingston Co., Mich.) ; have 
always taken the first premium ; but I des¬ 
pair of making it pay. 1 have thought that 
perhaps they need root-' in the winter, An\ 
information with regard to management and 
treatment will bo thankfully received. 
Livingston Co., Mich. C. W. Leonard. 
DINNTB3R TABLE DECORATIONS-(See T*age 239). 
ent and three stories high. I would heavy 3heet, tin, if properly soldered togeth- 
the. stone foundation for the outside er, and well bracketed to the roof boards, and 
from two to three feet below the base- the head of each bracket covered with solder, 
floors, according to soil, climate and makes a good roof ; and if well painted, and 
b of walls, laying the first foot in when necessary repainted, will last ft long 
from 3‘ > to feet broad, with large time ntul be perfectly tight. The tin at the 
laid crossways In the trenches, without sides of the roof should turn up along the 
t or mortar at the bottom, so that the flank walls to near the lead flushing, and the 
which settles around the foundation, flushing turned down over the tin ; and the 
|rain through and along the bottom of same finish must he around the chimneys ; 
inches t.o the main drains, and pass olf then all will he perfectly tight. Sometimes 
;hn building to avoid stagnant, water, the side or flank walls are only carried up 
lay tho next foot in flight not quite so from 8 to Vi inches above the roof, and the 
with good, strong cement, and so on up | tin run up and under the coping, or over the 
basement floors. Above this carry up wall without the coping. But all should be 
ills of sufficient thickness to correspond , well done, so that the water will run oil free- 
the weight and fbiish of tho building. I ly. A flat roof should have a pitch of about, 
le outside walls must bo laid in good one inch tothe foot. A shingle or slate roof 
it, until about 18 inches above the sur- about six inches to the toot, 
f the ground, to prevent, absorption of For n quite large and costly building, the 
lire. The outside foundation walls from foundation must bo still heavier, and tho 
ottom to the surface of the ground, roof should be covered with copper, and put 
1 be laid up battering on the. outside to on somewhat differently, which would coat, 
heaving by frost. The’front and rear much more, and he altogether better and 
havine many doors and windows in more durable. Good gutters with proper 
W., is informed, except during the coupling 
season. Tho coupling season varies with 
different flock-masters. Some like very early 
lambs; others desire the lauiba dropped after 
warm weather ha : . come in spring. The 
period of gestation with owes is about 152 
days. Knowing this the shepherd can regu¬ 
late the time when the lambs shall bo chop¬ 
ped. A single ram to ?5 or 100 sheep should 
be taken from the flock at night, during the 
coupling season and well fed. it is not wise 
nor at all a good practice to allow two rams 
in the same flock. If two rams are to he 
used, the flock should be divided. 
Remedy for Stretchc* in Sheep.— The fol¬ 
lowing is said to be an infallible remedy for 
this disease which, it is asserted, is caused by 
costiveness brought on by long use of dry 
food and want of salt:—To one pint, of milk 
add five or six tablespoon fills of ashes ; set 
over the tire asd gently warm. Dose—four 
to six tablespoonfuls once in half an hour, 
until you hear a rumbling or looseness in the 
bowels. As soon as the costiveness is re¬ 
moved the sheep will recover gradually, but 
VINEYARD NOTES 
Grape* in Illinois (iffecled by tfie Winter. 
G. Drew, Bunker Hill, Macoupin Co., Ill., 
writes the Prairie Farmer ;—The following 
grapes have proved hardy in this section : 
Janesville, Concord, Ives seedling, Hartford, 
Miller, Telegraph, also a few buds on North 
Virginia; Rogers’ Nos. 3, 23 and S3 would 
have been better to cut them and start again 
for another year. The following are killed 
to the ground;—Croton, Creveling, Dela¬ 
ware, Diana, Eurnelan, Herbemont, Iona, 
Lenoir, Lydia, Louisiana, ltulanda, Martha, 
Maxatawny, Othello, Rogers’ Nos. 1, 4, 19, 
pi, 15, 28, 41 and 44, Salem, Sonesqua, Isa¬ 
bella, Catawba, Mead Seedling. The Eurnelan 
has been killed for the past three winters 
i except where It has been covered with earth. 
I Should like to hear from others what grapes 
; have proved hardy with them this winter. 
Limit* of the Seuppernonft. —Samuel Miller, 
I of Bluffton. Mo., says the Scuppemong grape 
cannot be grown north of the upper line of 
| North Carolina. 
Ice-House and Milk Room-Combined.— 
Will some one give a plan of an ice-house 
and milk-room combined, and description of 
the same in tho columns of the Rural New- 
Yorker. 1 ■ .. having such a 
building in successful operation would let us 
know something about it.— a. u. c. r>. 
We have other Inquiries for the best kind 
of an ice house—a plain, economical one that 
will keep ice the longest time, aud how built. 
We have already given directions for build¬ 
ing such, but shall be glad to receive the ex¬ 
perience of our readers. 
drains. Cement tile drains, if properly made 
and well laid, will last a life time and do 
good service. 
The basement floors should be laid on red 
cedar sleepers, and the ground between them 
dug out, and filled in with rubble of brick¬ 
bats and small stones, and grouted two or 
three times over with good strong grout, 
until the whole is perfectly tight and solid, 
even with the top of the sleepers. This will 
keep rats, mice aud other vermin from getting 
