Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1867-05-10
AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

To DRIVE RATS AwAY.-An Iowa farmer
states that being troubled with rats, he
caught one, and poured kerosene oil on it,
then let 1T go. The result was the rats all
leit Tor parts unknown, and have not been
heard from since Theexperimenti is worth
trial.
A WRITER in New York EceniRg Post
thinks the city fathers have made mistake
In introducing English sparrows into the
park lie says they arc grainfccding bird,
and once domesticated they will spread in
To the country and prove a pest To the
farmers.
n CORRESPONDENT of the American
Agriculturist, after trying ferrets for some
years, comes To the conclusion that cats are
the best rat catchers. He keeps his cat in
the barn, always feeding her there. For
some unexplained reason, he seems TO attach
Importance To having black cat.
a CORRESPONDENT of the Country Gen
tleman recommends boring an inch or half
inch hole, say six inches deep, i'm the end
of posts To be set in the ground and fill it
with crude petroleum, and when the wood
has absorbed one filling, to fill again and
plug 1T up, when the post may be set in the
ground.
-h-NOi othfs run
writer sends to Providence paper the
following prescription for hydrophobia,
which cannot do harm: Eat the green
shoots of asparagus raw sleep and perspira-
iont will be induced, and the disease can
thus be cured in any stage of canine mad
| ness A man in Athens, Greece, was cured
by this remedy after the paroxysms had
commenced
Mr.. LYMAN b. SANFORD writes to the
New York Farmers Club that, while in
Canada lately, he paid an English farmer
ten dollars for a secret remedy for the dis
ease In cows of abortion, which was simply
to feed with salt for each one about a tea
spoonful of bone, pounded or ground to
dust. AS result, in diary of 33 cows he
had lost none, while his neighbours flocks
were rs badly afflicted as ever.
HORSES FEET Many ofthe diseases in
cidcnt To horses leet are caused by injury
received i'm standing on hard floor An
earth floor is the best for a stable, but it
should have good drainage to prevent mud
When horses have been driven through
muddy roads, they should not be allowed
to stand all night without a thorough wash
ing of the feet and .fetiocks, and rubbing
dry.
SHEEP SHEARING BY WIND.-The Bea-
yer Dam (Wis.) Citizen says 4" A man YVES
I'm town short time ago with patent
strengthening machine, which worked just
like reaper or mower, and would NOW a
swath of wool an inch and a. half wide
The motion was got by means of little
wind engine in the handle, which is TO be
driven by a force pump or bellows forcing
wind into it through flexible tube Bea-
yer Dam ingenuity is on the sheep shear
| track also, and well sixpence she will,
come out ahead The days ofold fashioned,
tough, hard work strengthening are num-
bered. 1t can be did by machinery, and
never so much as scratch the hide Well
report progress" in due time
RAISING COLTs.-Never expect to have
good horse il you cram your colt ;
it cannot be done. The old adage in Yer
mont, "a ragged colt makes the best
horse" means everything. Your colt
then, should run with its dam until it has
reached that condition of the stomach
which will enable it to digest solid food
Then take your colt and let it have album
| dance of free, cold air to begin with, ard
in addition TO that, avoid the feeding of
| grain until it is three years old, as you
would avoid feeding brandy and water to
your children when they are little. 1t is
astonishing how many nice colts are ruined
| by the excessive use of stimulating grain
food in their infancy, so to speak. Let
your colt mature slowly, its bone grow
properly, its digestive functions be proper
ly organized, its flesh in the proper condi-
tion-never fat, horse fat is the poorest
fat in the world-keep it upon the best
hay in winter, and good sweet pasture in
the summer, and you will make the posi-
bic horse of that colt.-Dr. LOring in
Massachusetts, Agriculturist.