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THE RURAL WEW-YORKER. 
Somfstir Ctonomi!. 
\- J 
CONDUCTED 3Y EMILY MAPLE 
SIFTINGS FROM THE KITCHEN FIRE. 
ANNIE L. JACK. 
“ We women grow old before our time,” said 
a neighbor lately whose husband thinks a large 
dairy and no help a necessity in farm life. I 
thought of the cold and fatigue that must be ex¬ 
perienced in t his Bevere climate, where women do 
the milking, and have to reach the barn through 
drift and Litter blast at this season of the year, 
and did not wonder at the weary look and hag¬ 
gard face of my neighbor. What, is harder 
than the life of a poor struggling farmer’s wife? 
Paint the picture as bright as fancy can, say it 
is health, aud plenty, and peace, I cannot dis¬ 
cover it to be so, unless the farmer is forehanded, 
c:m sympathize with,and helpBhis wife ,in spite of 
hereelj. for often it is a woman’s own fault if she 
is overtasked. 
She “ can work away,” and thinks the money 
earned will help to buy Janie a piano, or Borne 
other equally foolish purchase not worthy her 
self-sacrifice, when it wt : re better employed in 
procuring for her own use all the labor-saving 
plans and helps within reach. If wo were more 
interested in ourselves, we could manage better, 
but there is so much to do and to consider, and 1 
would suggest to every farmer's wife, when she 
can visit any large city, to study the stores where 
hardware and house furnishings are kept, aud 
get a practical knowledge how she can save her 
strength. The money invested in these things, 
will be more used aud give greater satisfaction, 
than if spent iu some needlesB finery. Another 
great waste of time and labor, is the constant, 
never-to-cease, need our family imagine they 
feel for pie as a dessert. While I do not Lold, 
as many do, that this article as dessert must be 
unwholesome or indigestible, I am sure it can 
often be dispensed with. If our children were 
taught to eat fruit in its stead, the - eye and pal¬ 
ate might alike be tempted, for nothing is more 
ornamental than a pretty dish of glass or any 
other suitable ware, filled with the fruits iu their 
Beason. The pie or any other delicaoy would be 
better appreciated if not considered a necessity, 
and a woman's labor in preparing dessert greatly 
lessened. But our good housewife will say with 
pride; “My husband will not be satisfied with 
an apple or a hunch of grapes, a pear or a saucer 
of strawberries.” I think he would, my dear 
“ economist,” if your pride will only allow him 
to know it is a glad aud great relief to your din¬ 
ner-burdened heart. 
SYSTEM IN TABLE-SETTING, 
Housekeepers would many times be spared 
the annoyance of missing needed articles, after 
being seated at the table, if they would pursue 
some system in its arrangement. 
By way of explanation, when the cloth is laid, 
place upon the table the napkins, and if a child 
sits at table, its bib. Then the knives, forks, 
carving knife and fork, table-spoons, and tea¬ 
spoons. Next the plates, seeing that each is in 
its proper place and the number sufficient, then 
all dishes used in drinking, not forgetting the 
small children’s. After the same method all re¬ 
quired seasoning, such as cream, milk, sugar, 
pepper, salt, or if castors are used see that each 
bottle is properly filled, and thus proceed through 
each division. One soon becomes accustomed to 
system in thiB department, omissions are rare 
and the work is more easily and quickly done. 
Mas. H. L. Jones. 
Egg Soup. 
Beat up an egg iu a teacup, add salt, pepper, 
and pour over it boiling water to cook it a little; 
butter may be added if desired, also toasted 
bread or crackers. A variety of harmless dishes 
to suit the capricious appetite of an invalid is 
sometimes difficult to obtain. 
Loretta E. K. Turner. 
— ««»-■- 
DOMESTIC RECIPES. 
Lemon Jelly. 
Orate two fresh lemons ; add three eggs ; but¬ 
ter the size of an egg and two cups of sugar ; set 
into a kettle of boiling water and cook until it 
thickens, stirring constantly. 
Hop Yeast, 
Take six potatoes and eight good sized hops, 
and boil in three quarts of water, tying the hops 
in a bag ; into a stone jar put one cup of flour, 
one cup white Bugar, and one-half cup of salt; 
Btir all together with a little of the boiling water 
the patatoes are cooking in ; when tbo potatoes 
are done take the hops out and pour the rest of 
the water into the jar, leaving the potatoes 
whole ; they must not be mashed but left in the 
yeast until it is used up, and then thrown away. 
Let tbe potato water cool before adding the 
yeast; set iu a warm place to rise; when the 
yeast has risen, take out a pint and keep by itself 
to start tbe next with. To sponge the bread, 
take two quarts of new milk and scald—not boil; 
sot away until nearly cool, then stir in some 
flour and add one pint of yeast. This makes 
four loaves. 
Omelet. 
Allow one egg for each person ; beat two min¬ 
utes ; add salt size of a pea and one tablespoon¬ 
ful of milk for each egg ; heat well together and 
turn into a hot, well-buttered frying-pan, cover 
aud cook slowly until nearly all is thick ; serve 
immediately. 
Oream Pudding. 
Six eggs, six ounoes of sugar ; one cup of 
flour ; stir well and add one cup of sweet milk : 
salt to taste; then add one quart sweet cream and 
bake forty minutes ; flavor with lemon. 
Tart Orust. 
One cup of lard ; one tablespoon ful sugar ; 
four tablespoonsfula water ; the whites of two 
eggs beaten to a froth ; a pinch of salt and flour 
to roll. 
Cookies, 
One cup of butter—cold, rubbed into the 
flour; one cup of sugar; four even cups of Jour; 
two eggs ; two-thirds of a teaspoon ful of soda. 
Marble Cake. 
White Part. —T wo cups of white sugar ; oue ; 
cup of butter ; one cup of sour cream, the whites 
of eight eggs, two teaspoonsfuls of eream-of- 
tartar and one of soda ; three and a-half cups of 
flour. 
Black Part —Two cups of brown sugar; one 
cup of molasses ; one cup of butter ; one of 
sour cream ; five cups of flour ; two tablespoons- 
ful cinnamon ; one each of cloves, nutmeg and 
allspice ; yelks of eight eggs; one teaspoonful , 
of soda ;.put in alternate layers of each. 
A Farmer’s Wire. 
No cold weather to speak of, but rain, mud, and 
slush iu abundance. Business dull, and wages 
extremely low. Wheat looks well so far, and 
there is an immense quantity sowed in Michigan 
this year. s. e. o. 
Brooks, Me., Jan. 23. 
The winter here is characterized by its sudden 
changes. A severe snow, then a rain storm. 
Neither sledding nor wheeling. Stock doing 
well. j. w. l. 
m i 
DIMON STOCK FARM PAPERS. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
JOHN DIMON. 
No. I.—Ayrshire Cattle. 
In choosing for my subject Ayrshires, I feel 
that I am treating a subjeot not as well under¬ 
stood by the avorago farmer and dairyman as 
it should be. Having myself, for upwards of 
fifteen years, been a breeder and dealer of this 
most useful animal in the daily, and having 
made them a epeoial study, owned aud bred some 
animals as fine as I ever saw anywhere, I think 
I should understand my subject. Presuming 
this to be the case, I will give the readers of the 
Rural my idea of 
A MODEL AYRSHIRE COW. 
She should be of medium size, weighing, in 
good milking condition, not to Ax coed 1,000 lbs., 
or less than 700 lbs., live weight—about 800 lbs. 
I prefer. She should be dark-red and white, 
brown and white, or brindle and white in color, 
having more of the dark color than of the white. 
I prefer her to he two-thirds red-brown or brin¬ 
dle to one-third white. She should be beauti¬ 
fully spotted or mottled, and present a nice con¬ 
trast of oolors; the head small, fine and clean ; 
the face long and narrow at the muzzle, with a 
sprightly, yet generally mild expression; eje 
small, smart and lively; horns short, fine, curved 
upward and slightly inward, and set wide apart 
at the roots ; neck rather long and quite thin ; 
body tapering from bind to fore-quarters, or 
what we call “ wedge shape,” the fore-quarters 
being much the lighter ; back straight and nar¬ 
row, but wide across tbo hips; boue fine; tail 
long, with very fine hone and good switch; hair 
very fine and soft; udder capacious, extending 
well forward; teats of fully medium size, Bet 
regularly and wide apart; milk-veins prominent 
and well developed ; legs rather short and well 
shapen, very smooth and clean. On the whole, 
Bhe must bo so put together as to he handsome 
—bo handsome as to attract the attention of the 
most casual observer. When you see a cow fill¬ 
ing the above description, you will see not only 
an Ayrshire but a good dairy cow. 
As to the milking capacities of those cows, I 
am fully satisfied, by long experience, that, as a 
breed, they will yield more milk, for the amount 
of food consumed, than any other breed; and 
for a milk dairy they stand at the head of the 
list of all breeds. Their milk is also exceedingly 
rich in caseine; hence they are exceedingly valu¬ 
able for the cheese dairy. And for all growing 
animals, there is uo oow's milk equal to that of 
the Ayrshire, as it ia more rich in hone and mus¬ 
cle-forming material than that of any other. I 
am often asked the question as to what brood of 
cow is the best for 
The Ayrshire cow, “ Flora Temple 3d,” has 
proven herself a very remarkable animal. Her 
milk yield for four mouths, in 1874, averaged 
25% qts.; greatest yield, 30% qts.; least yield, 
20% qts. She has not only proven herself a re¬ 
markable cow by the quantity ol’ her milk yield, 
hut by her capability of giving milk almost con¬ 
stantly, and under such circumstances as would 
oxolude 099 cows out of every 1,000 from giving 
milk at all. For instauce, she dropped her last 
calf in the spring of 1875, aud gave milk until 
near the spring of 1876 ; she then went dry two 
months (her owner supposing her to be with 
calf). Not proving to be with calf, she was milk¬ 
ed again (after having gone dry two months), 
and yielded, that season, 14 qts. per day, and 
was again dried in the spring of 1877, ami wont 
dry three months. Once more, not proving to 
be with calf, she was milked again in the sum¬ 
mer of 1877, and ia now giving a. good, fair daily 
yield of milk. I went to see her Dec. 22d, nit. 
She is owned in Providence, R. I. I could give 
you many other astonishing facts of the yield of 
this breed of cows; but doubt if any of the 
many readers of the Rural ever hoard of a cow 
quite as remarkable as “ Flora Temple 3d.” 
I am frequently asked the question : 
“WHAT IS A 0D0D AYRSHIRE QDW WORTH?” 
I consider them worth all the way from 8100 
to 8500, much depending on them breeding, 
style, beauty and milk-producing capacities. I 
should never care to own one worth less than 
the former price, and it is the bight of my am¬ 
bition to breed and sell a cow for the latter sum. 
I intend to do it yet, and have my customer feel 
proud of his purchase. I believe there are cows 
of this breed whioh would be cheap at that sum. 
For the cheese-dairy districts of Ayrshire, Scot¬ 
land, there is no breed of cattle that, for the 
amount of food consumed, can begin to compote 
with them; and they are held in such high esti¬ 
mation that, at a recent fair and cattle show, 
the entries of thorough-bred Ayrshire cattle were 
478 ; of all other breeds, 31 animals. This exhi¬ 
bition was the 42d Annual Spring Show of the 
Ayrshire Agricultural Associatiou. My own ex¬ 
perience in breeding and keeping these cattle 
proves them to he both hardy and thrifty, and 
much more easily kept in good condition than 
most other breeds. They stand our long, cold 
New England winters as well as any, aud better 
than many other breeds. 
The only objection to this breed of dairy cows, 
here, seems to be that many of the imported ani¬ 
mals have too short teats. The apparent cause 
of this is tliat in Scotland, where women and 
girls do all the milking, cows of this kind seem 
to be preferred; but* hero, in New England, 
where hard-fisted and large-handed farmers do 
the milking, these fine teats become a serious 
objection, and one whioh our breeders will en¬ 
deavor to obviate. I am breeding for good teats 
as well as for good escntchoons and milk-veins. 
My rule for breeding this most valuable dairy 
animal is, breed for constitution, milk and beauty. 
i’utnam, conn. 
— ♦ ♦ ♦- 
REMEDIES FOR VERMIN ON CATTLE. 
COOKERY FOR THE SICK. 
Water Gruel. 
Into a quart of boiling water stir two table- 
spoonfuls of Indian meal, previously wet with a 
little cold water ; add salt and boil at least one- 
balf hour. When served, pour a spoonful of 
thick, sweet cream over each saucer ful, but do 
not stir into the gruel. 
r Rice' Gruel. 1 
Iuto one pint and a half of water put a large 
spoonful of unground rice and lot boil until soft; 
strain; add one pint of new milk; and boil 
again for a few minutes. If ground rice is used, 
mix a spoonful of it with a little cold water and 
stir into tbe water; boil for five or six minutes 
stirring constantly; season with salt and if the 
patient cm bear it a piece of bntter the size of a 
walnut; some season with sugar and nutmeg. 
Raw Custard. 
For diseases of the stomach when very delicate 
food is required, this custard is excellent. Beat 
up an egg with sugar to taste; add a cup of 
milk aud whatever flavoring liked. 
Tapioca. 
This is also very harmless. Soak in cold 
water for two or three hours; cook slowly; 
serve with cream, sugar and flavoring. 
Cortland Co., N. Y„ Jan. 22 . 
TnE weather in tliis locality up to the present 
date, has been very mild most of the time. The 
old saying, “awinter's fog will freeze a dog,” 
has not proved true, this winter at least. I 
have not heard of any dog being frozen yet. We 
have had, the past season, abundant crops of 
grain and grass ; the fruit crop was a fair one. 
and of good quality; our crops, taken as a 
whole, have bountifully rewarded the labors of 
the husbandman. This ia a great dairy County, 
and every farmer has more or less cows. We 
have excellent springs of water, and all the best 
dairymen use coolers for their milk. While some 
of my brother farmers hereabouts travel in the 
old ruts, others aro more progressive, and find 
dairying, with modern improvements, very prof¬ 
itable. I find those men that pay close attention 
to all the details of butter making, save all tbe 
manure, keep all the cows they can keep well, 
and only just bo many—are the men that do not 
say anything about “ hard times.,’ 
Charles Fairbanks. 
Denmark, Tuscola Co., Mich., Jan. 21. 
The country hereabouts has been settled only 
about thirty years, and does not propose to take 
a back seat in comparison with many of the older 
settled districts. It ia a rich farming country, 
and products a good yield of all kinds of grain 
and vegetables. Most kinds of fruit, do well ex¬ 
cept peaches; the winters are too cold for them; 
the trees die out in a few years. By the way, 
this is the best of all the winters I ever saw hero. 
A FAMILY COW. 
My answer is: If you want milk for your chil¬ 
dren, there is nothing like the Ayrshire. I am 
often aBkod how much milk a good Ayrshire 
should give. This depends very much on cir¬ 
cumstances. While our soil and climate, and 
especially that of New England, fall far short of 
the moist olimate aud more productive soil of 
the west of Scotland—the original homo of the 
Ayrshire—I am happy to be able to show you 
that even hero, iu our own Bterilo New England, 
cows of this breed have given quite satisfactory 
results. I will instance a few cases only : 
The imported cow “Jean Armour” in 1862 
gave an averago’of 49 lbs. 3 oz. of milk per day, 
for 114 days, commencing Juuo Is*. The great¬ 
est yield in one day was 58 lbs., and the smallest 
yield was 43 lbs. For the month of July she 
gave an average of 51 lbs. 13 oz. per day. Her 
milk for three days in July yielded C lbs 8 02 . of 
butter. The imported cow “ Corslet,” imported 
and owned by the same gentleman (Mr. JI H. 
Pkteus). gave, from May 2d to Sept. 1st. an avei- 
ago of 46 lbs. per day, or in 122 dnys, 5 612 lbs. 
This same cow, “ Corslet," afterwards gave her 
last owner, E. D. Fearoe of Rhode I-land, 28 
quarts strained milk per day. The cow “ Ayr¬ 
shire Lass,” when 11 yrs. old (in 1861), calving 
April 1st, gave, June 10th, 74 lbs.; Aug. 1st, 66 
Jbs ; Aug. 31st, 55 lbs.; total for the month of 
August, 1,902 lbs.; and for tbe first 16 days in 
Sept., same year, she gave 848 lbs. The above 
statement of the yield of “ Ayrshire Lass ” was 
sworn to by her then owner, James Brodie of 
Jefferson Co., N. Y., before the N. Y. State Agri¬ 
cultural Society. 
Some one makes an inquiry, iu the Rural, for 
a remedy for lice on oattle. Many years ago 
mine were troubled exceedingly. Thoy were cov¬ 
ered with lice. I used a groat many remedies— 
washed them iu tobacco water, which was disa¬ 
greeable to apply, and did not do its work effec¬ 
tually. Oil and groaso were also used, but not 
with satisfactory results. Mercurial ointment 
was effectual, hut was dangerous, as I lost one 
or two animals by its use. About this lime by 
the purchase of some animals, a fresh impor¬ 
tation was made of blue lice, and something had 
to be done forth with. I saw in some paper that 
ground plaster would kill them. We dusted it on 
the backs of the cattle and it killed about the 
whole of the pests. Tbo plaster must be grouud 
very fine, and be dry, or it will not destroy them. 
It is weli to dry it in a pan, on tbe stove, before 
applying it. 
When animals have boon badly infested, lice 
will live a long time in the barn, and find their 
way on to any cattle which may be kept 
there. We wb.tewashed the iuride of the cattle 
stalls and after a time got the barn clean. 
We had animals afterwards which we had pur¬ 
chased which were troubled witn vermin. We 
treated Item with carbolic suds. We bought the 
carbolic crystals which may be Lad at almost any 
drug store, and which bbould not cost more than 
eight or ten cents per ounce. Oue pound of 
common bar soap should be put in a dish with 
some water and melted down ; then add one 
ounoe of crystals, stirring well. This, when 
cold, makes a strong soap—cheaper aud better 
than we are able to buy. A strong suds made 
with it ia sure death to all insects which infest 
our domestic animals, aud is sarc aud pleasant 
to use. It is also a good remedy for ail skin 
diseases, and a good application to cleause any 
wound or sore. A wash of the suds will benefit 
any animal which is hide-bound or out of condi¬ 
tion ; it is a cheap, useful, aud effectual remedy 
for many things, and should be kept ou every 
