112 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Fes., 1899. 
To all agriculturists the toad renders conspicuous service, but the 
gardeners and greenhouse owners may make this animal of especial value, 
Every gardener should aim to keep a colony of toads among his growing crops, 
and the practice of collecting and transferring them to the gardens is a com- 
mendable one. While the sense of locality is strong in the toad, and it will 
often return over considerable distances to its original haunts, yet it may be 
induced to remain in new quarters if there is a sufficient food supply. Many 
farmers provide toads with artificial shelters, made by digging shallow holes 
in the ground and partially covering them with a bit of board or flat stone, 
In such places toads will often remain for many days, sallying forth at night 
to seek food. 
The enemies of the toad are hawks, owls, and, worst of all, small boys, 
who stone’and kill many of them. Dr. C. F. Hodge states that he found 200 
dead or wounded toads in a single day on the shore of a small pond on the 
grounds of Clark University. he loud ery of the toad at spawning time 
readily betrays its presence, and small boys, and sometimes those of a larger 
growth, gravitate towards the pools as naturally as do the toads themselves, 
There haye been excellent laws enacted to protect insectivorous birds. Why 
should there not be as stringent legislation against the destruction of toads P— 
Hachange. 
HOUSEHOLD HINTS. 
USEFUL KNOWLEDGE FOR THE KITCHEN. 
One teaspoonful equals 1 dram. 
Two tablespoonfuls equal 1 oz. 
One common-sized wineglassful equais 4 gill. 
An ordinary size teacup holds 4 fluid oz., or 1 gill. 
Ten common-sized eggs weigh 1 lb. 
One tablespoonful soft butter weighs 1 oz. 
One quart sifted flour, well heaped, weighs 1 1b. 
One pint best-grade brown sugar weighs 18 oz. 
Two level teacups granulated sugar weigh 1 lb. 
Two tablespoonfuls of pulverised sugar, or flour, weigh 1 oz. 
Two teacupfuls soft butter, well packed, weigh 1 Ib. 
One and one-third pints pulverised sugar weigh 1 Ib. 
One generous pint of liquid, or one pint of chopped meat, packed solidly, 
weighs 1 lb. 
A common-sized tumbler holds about 4 pint. 
CURING GOAT SKINS. 
To cure a goat’s skin, trim it on the flesh side with a sharp knife, and then | 
well brush with a solution of 24 lb. of alum and 1 1b. of common salt in 1 
gallon of warm water; the skin should be treated two or three times with this 
solution on successive days. Now sprinkle bran all over the skin, brush out, 
and nail the skin to a board and dry it. As a preservative against insects, the 
flesh side may be treated with a mixture of arsenic and black prepared previous 
to drying. 
TANNING SKINS. 
Tue Harmer and Grazier gives the following as a good recipe for tanning 
skins :—Hach kind of skin requires some special treatment; that is, all skins 
cannot be tanned in the same manner. But the general principle is to trim 
off the useless parts of the skin and remove all fat from the inside, then soak 
. 
