proportion to the farm. The manure pit was 
fitted, with a water-tight foundation. The 
liquid manure was poured over the solids from 
time to time, and the hogs were allowed free 
access to the pile. This manure pit is fairly 
considered to guard the life of the farm. The 
owner of a first-class farm was questioned as 
to his business methods and profits. He had 
kept a complete set of books. The farm of 
14*i acres was divided into 104 acres of plowed 
ground, IS acres of meadow, 15 acres of wood¬ 
land and nine acres devoted to fruits and gar¬ 
den. The products were wheat, rye. oats, 
potatoes, sugar beets, hay and garden produce 
and fruit, His total crop was valued at 
$3,942.47. The family consisted of nine per¬ 
sons. five of them over 14 years of age. The 
cost of producing a bushel of various crops 
was—wheat, 34 cents; rye, 67 cents; oats, 20 
cents, and potatoes If* cents, The yearly cost 
of living for the family of nine persons was 
figured at about $714. Food cost $300; soap, 
fuel. beer. etc.. $148; clothing, $119. and 
school expenses $145. Eggs, cheese, or other 
farm produce that could he readily sold, were 
rarely eaten, except on holidays. Coffee was 
considered to be very nutritious. The bill for 
sugar was but $2.85; for sirup $7.05, for tea 
$2.47, for coffee $14.16 and for salt $19.00. 
Adult farm hands were served five meals per 
day: two breakfasts; one at six and the other 
at 10; a dinner at 12, a first supper at four 
aud another at seven. Moat and vegetables 
are given at dinner, and milk, potatoes, coffee 
and bread aud butter at the other meals. 
Soups made of dried peas aud beans, mixed 
with bacon, are largely eaten. Green beaus 
preserved in salt, and cabbage are much es¬ 
teemed. About 2,1pounds of bread and one- 
third of a pound of pork, besides vegetables, 
are considered a fair ration. Germany is as 
great a country for potatoes as is Ireland. 
Labor grades from $71.50 to $35 per year, with 
board. Large White hogs are very popular, 
and graded Shropshire sheep arc well liked. 
On the farm mentioned 18 Holland cows were 
kept. Large cows a re lined because they can 
be turned into beef when they fail in milk. 
Six oxpu are fed for beef every year. About 
120 head of sheep are also kept. The Holland 
cows are considered the best aud most profit¬ 
able milkers. They are kept for the entire 
year in the stable. They are always fat 
enough for market. The barns arc kept at a 
nearly uniform temperature of 65“. The cows 
are never given very cold water. They arc 
largely fed upon “returns of malt”—about 
like our malt sprouts—green food aud grain. 
The ration for a cow weighing 1,100 pounds is 
reckoned at, Summer, 121 pounds of green 
clover; Fall, 110 pounds of sugar beets and 10 
pounds of dry hay, and Winter, 82 pounds of 
sugar beets and 16 pounds clover bay. To 
this arc added 11 pounds mixed bran and flax¬ 
seed meal. The expense of this ration is 
figured at 45 cents per day, which is just about 
covered by the milk. The other expenses of 
labor, rent, bedding, interest, etc., are figured 
at eight cents, aud it is thought that the i nunure 
more than pays for this, leaving the carcass 
of beef for extra profit. A species of silage 
is prepared by leveling off strips of ground 
that shed water, near the barn, about four 
feet wide and as long as may be desired. All 
the green food, including stubble beets and 
some other roots, which at thee lose of the fall 
season have not been consumed, are deposited 
on this ground in thin layers, pressing each 
layer as compactly as possible, with the feet, 
or otherwise, until the long heap is from three 
to four feet high, tapering from the bottom to 
a point at the top. It is then covered with 
clean straw, aud this with a layer of earth 
deep enough only to prevent freezing and to 
keep out the air as much as possible. Fer¬ 
mentation ceases very soon when the material 
is closely pressed and kept cool. These beds of 
silage are opened, when the food is wanted, 
at one end of the ridge, so as to expose only a 
small surface to the air. 
Pencils and Stove Polish. —Catalogue 
aud circular for Jos. Dixon Crucible Co., 
Jersey City, N. J.—The catalogue contains 
prices and descriptions of the celebrated 
“American Graphite” pencils and other arti¬ 
cles of stationary made by this concern, 
which, as set forth in the catalogue, literally 
created a new American industry. Dixon’s 
pencils are well known, and are said to have 
no superiors. They are used in the Govern¬ 
ment Departments at Washington, ami by 
numerous schools, colleges and public institu¬ 
tions. The circular refers to Dixon’s Stove 
Polish, and contains an alleged address on the 
subject by the renowned Brother Gardner at 
a meeting of the Lime Kiln Club. Dixon’s 
stove polish has been in the market for 58 
years, and having stood the test for all those 
years, the makers are warranted in their claim 
that it is the oldest, best, neatest and quick¬ 
est. The only change iu the polish is that 
instead of lowering the price or quality, they 
have doubled the size of the packages. Send 
rer one of the circulars, which contains Bro. 
Gardner’s speech and pictures of the members 
of the Lime Kiln Club. 
P. J.*Bkrckmans. Augusta. Ga.—A cata¬ 
logue of fruit and ornamental trees. We find 
that grafted trees of the Japan Chestnut are 
offered at 50 cents each. Mr. B. says he has 
grown this tree for three years, and some of 
the trees “are bearing fruit.” He says the 
burrs contain at times as many as five large 
nuts, and that the quality is similar to our 
native chestnuts. The catalogue also offers 
Simon’s Plum: also Kelsey’s, Botan and other 
new Japan plums. 
Bloomington Nursery, Bloomingtou. HI. 
—A wholesale catalogue of trees. plauts i 
shrubs, roses, bulbs, etc. Particular attention 
is called to their large stock and low prices of 
certain apples, cherries, pears, small fruits 
aud ornamental trees. 
H. S. Anderson, Union Springs, N. Y.— 
Circular of the new plum Shipper’s Pride. 
This plum has ruauy good qualities. 
Thomas G. Zane.—I llustrated catalogue of 
strawberries and other fruits. 
Queer Experiments.— Prof. A. E. Blount, 
of the Colorado Ag. College, has made some 
queer experiments according to several of 
the local journals. It seems that in one of 
his reports respecting the fattening of pigs, 
the aggregate weight of five pigs is given as 
498 pounds. “The rumor has it,” says a 
writer iu the Live Stock Record, “that the 
pigs were guessed off: another that one was 
weighed and the others sized up with that 
one.” The pigs were put in a pen and fed on 
corn alone and water for three months—S4 
days. During that time they gained 790 
pounds, having consumed 1875 pounds of com 
or 22.32 pounds a day. The gain of the pigs 
per day was 9.4 pounds. In answer to a criti¬ 
cism Prof. Blount replies that in his report 
“corn and water” should have read “corn and 
slops.” But in this report he wrote “corn and 
water alone" as if to emphasize the fact that 
only corn had been fed. The pigs would have 
fattened on the slops alone and, as the Live 
Stock Record says, the experimenter who 
could innocently lose sight of such, an impor¬ 
tant factor in his work is uot one in whose ex¬ 
periments the public could place confidence; 
while if the omission to mention the slops 
was intentional, the offense becomes inexcusa¬ 
ble. What Prof. Blount means by three 
months or 84 days is not explained. 
Another journal—the Denver Tribune-Re¬ 
publican—alludes to his reports of experiments 
in cattle feeding as practically worthless as 
the age of the steers, details as to the hours 
of feeding, whether soiled or pastured,etc. are 
all omitted. 
We have before now felt obliged to call at¬ 
tention to several matters which Prof. Blount 
should explain. One Is that Blount’s Prolific 
Corn, which, in reply to our inquiry, lie in¬ 
formed us was the “result of science and cul¬ 
tivation,” is really the Tennessee Prolific, 
aud another is that several heads of wheats 
which he sent us as his “hybrids” were found 
to be old va rieties. 
Soap from Wool Grease. —French chem¬ 
ists arc sail! to have solved the problem of the 
utilization of the heretofore waste grease from 
scoured wools by using it to make soap. The 
fat having beeu heated to the melting point, 
absorbs certain compounds of sulphur, to the 
extent of retaining in a fixed state 1(H) times 
its volume of sulphnreted hydrogen. When 
the fat is allowed to cool it is found to be soap. 
The combination of substances destroys the 
unpleasant odor of each, the mixture being 
fine and homogeneous, Iu the report, of Con¬ 
sul Williams, at Rouen, giving these particu¬ 
lars, it is stated that manufactured soap of 
this kind has already become a commercial 
product in France. It is not toilet, soap, lmt 
so cheap that it is likely to displace soaps 
based on soda for many important uses, “par¬ 
ticularly in vine culture and horticulture as a 
defense against the insects that prey upon 
plants.” 
The Diffusion Process of Sugak-ma king. 
—Last year the Department of Agriculture 
began to experiment in a small way at Jdtta- 
wa, Kan., with the diffusion sugar-making 
process as applied to sorghum enne. Instead 
of crushing the cauo ns in the sugar-cane pro¬ 
cess, it was shaved off in minute slices and the 
sucrose, or sugar-yielding sap, extracted by 
streams of water. The results obtained were 
so encouraging that the field of operations was 
removed to Fort Scott this year, and with a 
largely increased plant, experiments are now 
iu progress on a scale of some magnitude. 
Mouday last a telegram was received from 
Professor Wile 3 r , the Chemist of the Depart¬ 
ment, who is in charge of the works, announc¬ 
ing the complete success of the experiments. 
The telegram states that sirup has been ob¬ 
tained from the sorghum cane of light color, 
good flavor and crystallizing well. There was 
complete extraction of sucrose in six of the 
cells of the battery. In the process now used 
in the South there is a loss of nearly 50 per 
cent, of the saccharine matter contained in 
the cauo. while the experiments at Port Scott 
show an absolute extraction of all the sugar.. 
Time to Wean Colts.— As a rule colts are 
weaned too late in the season. They should 
have time to learu to eat heartily of other 
foods before cold weather, says the National 
Stockman. A colt foaled in May should be 
weaned in September, which will allow both 
it and its dam to go into winter-quarters in 
better shape than if weaning is postponed un¬ 
til October or November. If t he mare is kept, 
breeding, aud has not anything else to do but 
to breed aud nurse her colts, she will get along 
if the colt is not weaned until December; but 
the colt will not do so well if put. upon fodder 
and hay all of a sudden at that time of year. 
The young thing should be taught to eat be¬ 
fore it is weaned, 
Buy Bran Early. —The time bran car be 
bought cheapest is at the opening of the mar¬ 
ket for new crop wheat, as millers at that 
time are anxious to economize room. Bran is 
bulky in proportion to its weight, and for this 
reason many farmers have not the proper 
room to store it. But the thoughtful feeder 
will supply the necessary storage room aud 
buy early, so as to save a considerable sum in 
buyiug ton, five-ton or car-load lots. 
Cattle tn Brazil.— Referring to the cattle 
of Brazil, the Live-Stock Journal, London, 
says that Rio Grande do Sul is one of the 
most southern provinces of Brazil. The 
country is wholly agricultural, and the prin¬ 
cipal product eugrossiug attention is cattle 
This industry is assuming large dimensions, 
as about 800,000 head are slaughtered yearly 
foi export. It is estimated that there are 
about 9,000,000 head of cattle iu the province, 
and the practice is to slaughter oxen at about 
four years old, arid cows at 14 or 15 years. 
Tt.e Brazilians iu Rio Grande have little idea 
of early maturity, though they Study economy 
of production. Iu fact, the owners pay little 
or no attention to their herds, and thecattli 
have to forage for their food. Cattle-breed¬ 
ing, as understood iu England, is unknown, 
and vast herds wauder about at their own 
sweet will, unattended, unprotected, and posi¬ 
tively uneared for. 
What an Egg will Do.—For burns and 
scalds nothiug is more soothing than the 
white of an egg, which may lie poured over 
the wouud. It is softer as a varnish for a 
burn than collodion, and being always at hand 
can be applied. It is also more cooling than 
the sweet oil and cotton which was formerly 
supposed to be the surest application to allay 
smarting pain. It is the contact with the 
air which gives the extreme discomfort ex¬ 
perienced from the ordinary accident of this 
kiuil, and any tiling that excludes the air aud 
prevents inflammation is the thing to be at 
once applied. The egg is considered one of 
the best of remedies for dysentery. Beaten 
up slightly, with or without sugar, and swal¬ 
lowed at a gulp, it tends, by its emollient 
qualities, to lesson tho inflammation of the 
stomach aud intestines, and by forming a 
transient coating on these organs, to enable 
nature to resume her healthf ul sway over a 
diseased body. Two, or at most three eggs 
per day would be all that is required in or¬ 
dinary cases; and since egg is not merely 
medicine, but food as well, tho lighter tho 
diet otherwise and the quieter the patient 
is kept, the more certain aud rapid the re¬ 
covery. 
WORTH NOTING. 
William Falconer, having tried many 
kinds of muskmelous on the sandy soil of his 
island home, thinks that the Hackensack, all 
things considered, is the very best. 
Waldo F. Brown says, in the Weekly 
Press, that the heaviest yield of wheat ever 
grown iu Ohio—over (30 bushels to the acre on 
u 10-acre field—was grown where a crop of 
clover wus burned off because it was too 
heavy to tie turned under. 
When Sir J. B. Lawes, comments the above 
Journal, is not willing to report on an experi¬ 
ment because it- has been running only' 27 
years, it is time for Americans to wait at least 
one season before condemning or extolling a 
breed, a fruit or a method in farm practice... 
The Orchard and Garden says the trailing 
habit of the Lucretia Dewberry is of no ad¬ 
vantage iu the climate of New Jersey, but 
proves to be so in all localities with a climate 
too severe for the upright blackberry varie¬ 
ties. The fruit is very large, luscious and 
produced in great abundance. But the grow¬ 
er should apply a light mulch around the. 
plants, if h<- wishes to keep tho berries from 
getting soiled and gritty... 
For early celery it is now time to “bank 
up.” The later celery should be “handled,” 
that is, the stems should be supported by the 
soil and so strengthened. Instead of banking 
up, we are trying the simple experiment of 
placing and supporting a board on either side. 
Sow spinach no\v.. 
Dn. Beckwith, of tho N. Y, Ex. Station, 
fin,Is the Alaska Pea no better or earlier than 
several other first-earlies planted near it. 
Some people feed carp ns they do chickens. 
A writer iu the Farm and Fireside says that 
when he wishes to see tho fish or let a neigh¬ 
bor see them he gives them sheaf oats. When 
ho wishes merely to feed them he gives them 
thrashed oats or shelled corn. Anything that 
a porker will eat is food l’or carp. 
The Mass. Ag. College is certainly worthy 
of the support of every farmer, as Our Country 
Home tells us. Pres. Godell is a good and 
efficient man; Major Alford, the Professor of 
Agriculture, is as good a man as we know of. 
He is good and true; Prof. Fernuld, Professor 
of Entomology and History, comes from the 
Maine Ag. College where he was much respect¬ 
ed. Prof. Goessmann is one of our best chem¬ 
ists. The college is well equipped. Apply to 
Pres. H. H. Godell (Amherst, Mass.) for any 
needed information. ... 
An ingenious name, adruggest informs us, 
lias been giveu to a proprietary anthelmintic, 
viz., the Early Bird. 
Here are two conundrums propounded and 
answered by a friend: 
1st. A man met three beggars. To one he 
gave 10 cents, to the second five cents, to the 
third man 10 cents. What time was it? 
Ans.—A quarter to three. 
2nd. Mr. Andrew Little had a beautiful 
daughter. She fell in love with his coachman. 
When Mr. Little discovered it he was very 
angry aud pursued the coachman. What 
time was it? 
Ans.—A little after one. 
Kill off the old hens and the young roost¬ 
ers. 
A thorough koroseuiug of the hen houses 
now will pay. T twill cost less aud be more 
effective iu killing lice chau a coat of white¬ 
wash....... 
AS soon as tho leaves ebauge color is a good 
time to transplant. 
It is gratifying to see how widespread the 
practice is becoming of sowing rye for early 
feeding iu the Spring, says the New England 
Farmer In the West the best dairy farmers 
sow fields of it every 3 ’car. 
D. H. Thing says that there is a farmer’s 
daughter iu his school district who lias mowed 
all her father’s grass t he past, season, raked the 
hay, kept school to the satisfaction of the dis¬ 
trict, plays the piano skilfully and makes as 
nice biscuit as any of the mothers. 
The new tree Coretdipbyllum Japonicum 
loses its leaves early at the Rural Grounds. 
We doubt if it will ever prove a great success 
as an ornamental tree.... 
Try Kelsey’s Japan Plum. 
MR. P. J. Beuukm ans says that the Japan 
plums are as distinct from our native varieties 
as is the LeGonte Pear from tho Bartlett. Tho 
trees resemble somewhat our vigorous variet¬ 
ies of the Chickasaw type, but tho foliage is 
larger and quite distinct. They are hardy as 
far North as where tho Wild Goose succeeds, 
aud for our Southern States they open a new 
era in plum culture. 
In tho late report of the Ohio State Horti¬ 
cultural Society, A. S, Cutter asks if forestry 
means anything to us personally? Yos, very 
much, is the reply. If any farmer has within 
his premises an aero or two, or u half dozen 
acres of land poorer thau the rest., that laud 
will recuperate under timber cultivation as it 
will with no other available treatment, Land 
that is growing trees loses no strength, but 
continually gains in nil the essential elements 
of the soil, ami these few poorest acres will be¬ 
come to bis children double the value, acre for 
acre, of all his farm besides... 
Dn. Holmes says that men remind him of 
pears in their way of coming to maturity'. 
Some are ripe at 20, like human Jargonelles, 
aud must lie made the most of for their day is 
soon over. Some come into their perfect con¬ 
dition late, like tho autumn kinds, and they 
last better than the summer fruit. And some 
that, like Winter Nelis, have been hard and 
uninviting until all the rest have had their 
season, get their glow nnd perfume long after 
the frost and snow have done their worst with 
the orchards. Beware of rash criticisms; the 
rough aud astringent fruit, you condemn may 
be an autumn ora winter pear, and that which 
you picked up beneath the same bough in Au- 
