Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1872-03-28
Farm. Garden and household.

Farm. GNrucH anu IsUuSonulus
FISH MANURE. your fish in
layers, with swamp muck or earth, until
rottod, then turn over once, and when
heated, once more; cart on to the land
and spread broadcast on grass, or pillow
in for corn, wheat, or roots. One cord
of fish to six or eight of muck will make
q rich manure, equal to the best stable
manure. Tt is excellent for all crops
Cultivate the corn Oh flat, and af-
ter the last cultivating, say in July,
mount horse, and with n broadcast
sowing machine SOW five quarts of clo-
yer seed per acre. If the ground has
been thoroughly cultivated, and is moist
and mellow, the clover will soon start
and if it should not, go over the field
again after the first rain, and SOW six
quarts of timothy seed per acre.
INDUCING A HEN TO S1r.-Vincent
Fraser says, Z" if any one will take lag.
ing hen--Brahma or Cochin to be pre-.
fcrred-and will place her in sitting.
box, only just large enough to hold her
nest into which have been previously
placed half dozen eggs, and will keep
her very warm, she will soon show q de-
sire to sit. Her food must be stimula.
ting, and should consist Of Indian corn,
raw liver chopped, buckwheat, hemp.
seed, and small portion of bread steep
ed in ale"
DRAINING. cost of draining de.
ponds good deal on the nature of the
land and the depth of the drains. In
sandy or mucky land ditch 2! feet deep
for tiles should be dug, with labor at
$3.50 per day, for Is cents rod; feet
deep, 90 cents rod. On heavier land,
nearly free from stones, a ditch q to 8
feet deep will cost % cents rod. A
good ditcher, at these prices, can make
two dollars a day. An unskillful man
that cuts the bitches unnecessarily wide,
and is fond of using the pick, might
work just as hard and not earn dollar a
day.
BLAcK-WA1NUr "STAN. TO impart
to common pine the color and appear
ance of black-walnut, the following
composition may be used: One quarter
of pound of asphaltum, one half a
pound Of common beeswax, to one gallon
of turpentine. If found too thin, add
beeswaX; if too light in color, add
asphaltum, though that must be done
with caution, as very little will make a
great difference in the shade, and black
walnut is not what its name implies, but
rather a rich dark brown Vanishing
is not essential, as the wax gives a good
gloss.
THE VALUE OF Coop STocK.-A far
mer in Tennessee writes the Department
Of Agriculture that he has lately sold
twenty head Of horses, at from $500 to
$3,3G6 a head, and adds eff all the
stock Of the country were the best Of its
kind, how much wealth would be added,
etc. 1t is precisely because all the stock
of the country is not of the best kind
that these high prices are obtained. 1t
is not in this direction that we are to
look for profit, but in the increased use
fulness of our stock. If all the COWS
were of the best kind, their money value
would be no higher than that Of our
present poor ones but how much more
profit there would be in their produce
-HsuFh and Home.
TO COVER STEEP BANK WITH GRASS,
A German method is: For each square
rod to be planted, take half pound of
lawn grass seed, and mix it intimately
and thoroughly with about six cubic feet
of good dry garden earth and loan. This
isplaced in atub, and toit liquid manure,
diluted with about two-thirds Of water,
is added and well stirred in, so as to
bring the whole to the consistency of
mortar. The slope is to be cleaned of
and made perfectly smooth, and then
well watered, after which the paste just
mentioned is to be applied with trowel,
and made as even and thin as possible.
Should it crack by exposure to the air, it
is to be again watered and smoothed up,
day by day, until the grass makes It's ap.
pearanoe, which will be in from eight to
fourteen days, and the whole declivity
will soon be covered by a close carpet OF
green.
The COST OF PooR STOCK. Probably
few farmers think of what it costs to
keep a poor COW or a land-pike hog.
They readily understand that good cow,
or a hog that will dress 200 lbs. at ten
months old, is profitable stock to keep,
but the fact that this gain is really the
amount of loss on tho poor stock, is rare
ly considered. IF cow yields 200 lbs.
Of butter in year, which brings $3.50,
and another yields Is lbs, which brings
$3.50, the loss on the poor COW is just
5000. The dairy business of this coun-
try is not on satisfactory footing by
any means, and solely on account OF the
multitude Of poor cows, which are kept
year after year. This is a matter which
should be looked after by the County
Agricultural Societies. Every one of
these associations should introduce i'm
proved stock, by means Of thoroughbred
male animals, into their localities, Tits
good work to elevate the ideas of farm
ers and to foster taste for improve
ments, but to the great majority of their
clients the possession of such stock, or
the use of it, is quite unattainable, on
account of want of the necessary means.
BY making this a special branch of their
operations, the usefulness Of these socie-
ties would be much increased, and their
Importance greatly enhanced. -Agricm-
tuviSt
IRON SuIp-BUI1DING.- ARTICLES Of asso-