Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1872-04-18
Farm, Garden and Household.

LICE ON ANIMALS. The best EXTERN
inator Of lice on any kind of animal says
the RurM NeW YORKER, is fine sand o.
road dust put on the back from tho heaG
to the tail.
WooLLY TASTE IN MUTTON. Rev. ID
Mills, HGmmonton, n. j., says this
flavor called woolly is owing to the alb
sorption of gases from the stomach and
intestines, consequent on the cooling Of
the carcass. II the sheep is cleaned
rapidly, it is prevented.
CoRN.-Com to replqnt should be
taken from the butt OF the ear. All oh
servant farmers know that they should
have late pollen for late issues of silk
that is produced by "late rains" which
" fills out" our corn crop. The corn
from the point OF the cob will do the job.
M1LK.-The easiest and best way to
keep milk from souring, is to scald and
wash perfectly clean all the pals and
pans used in milking and setting milk,
and to use tin ones. BY doing this, milk
may be kept sweet for twenty.four hours
at any time in the year in any clean, cool
cellar.
NARROWING WINTER WHEAT is o prac.
tico we would earnestly commend.
Many farmers are afraid that the harrow
will pull up the wheat, but such is not
the case. Ii the land is dry, a good,
heavy, fortYtoothed harrow will destroy
many weeds, break the crust, stir the
soil, and greatly benefit the wheat
The BEST CALvEs.-I have raised says
farmer, were fed on early-cut clover,
hay cut, wcttel, and sprinkled with q
handful Of coarse middlings or mill stuff
and some oil-cake meal to each feed
They also got the skinned milk until
six months old. Yearling colts should
have a quart of bruised oats per day--it
is well repaid.
BONES, HEN-MANURE, AND AsHEs.-A
correspondent asks the AgricultwiSt this
oft,repeated question whether it is in
furious to mix ashes with manures COS
tanning ammonia. 1t is, except when
the compost is to be used Immediately,
and then plaster Or fine dry earth should
be mixed if the materials are perfectly
dry, and kept so, very little ammonia
will then escape.
BoltED INDIAN PUDDING Into one
quart Of boiling milk stir as much In.
dian-meal as will make thick batter.
Add half pint OF beef-suet, chopped;
q teOcupful Of sugar, and q teaspoonful
Of salt. Mix well together, and then
proceed as with the four-pudding, only
boiling six hours instead of two. Dried
cherries or pears will answer rs well as
dried apples. Serve with circumstance
OATS, says the american AgricmtmiSt,
can be sown on q great range of soils,
from q black muck to the heaviest
clays. OF all the small grains they
will stand the greatest neglect, but
well repay good cultivation, They are
often sown on new plowed sod land,
and occasionally do well enough to induce
farmers to continue the practice, not.
withstanding the fact that nine cases out
of ten the result is anything but satisfac-
tory. Better plant corn Oh the sod land,
and SOW oats after the corn.
SUGAR BEETs. The culture of sugar
beets is rapidly spreading in the United
States. Not only is permanent mark
ct for them about to be established
in the beet sugar factories now springing
into existence, but they are found to be
excelIently adapted as food for stock.
Milch-cows, fattening oxen, sheep, and
hogs, all devour them readily and thrive
on them satisfactorily. The climate is
adapted to them, and in their culture no
methods OF implements other than those
needed for the ordinary culture of tur-
nips or rutabagas are required.
SMALL vs. LARGE FARMS. THE papers
generally, but more especially the South
ern papers, speak of the comparatively
prosperous state of small farmers IS
against those owning large farms. Small
farmers, generally frugally minded,
study small economics, ana, having their
business under their own control, thor
oughly understand their necessities, and
are mainly industrious and successful.
But large farmers, necessarily leaving
much work to hired men and dealing
with larger amounts of money, fail to
keep all the threads Of their web we'll in
hand, and some occasionally drop or be-
come tangled, while the small items OF
economy are overlooked. and the conse-
quence is, failure debt and borrowing
SURE CURE FOR NEURALG1A.-The Nor
walk Gazette says: "a friend OF ours
who suffered horrible pains from neural
gia, hearing of noted physician in
Germany who invariably cured that dis
case, crossed the ocean, and visited Ger
many for treatment. He was perma-
nently cured after short sojourn, and
the doctor freely gave him the simple
remedy used, which was nothing but n
poultice and tea made from our common
field thistle. The leaves are macarated
and used on the parts afflicted as u poul-
tice, while small quantity of the leaves
are boiled down to the proportion of n
quart to pint and small wineglass Of
the decoction drank before each meal.
Our friend says he has never known it
to fail of giving relief, while in almost
every case it has effected cure.
How TO CATCH s-One OF the
pests of the farmer is rats. To keep
them within endurable bounds is some.
what difficult task, for rat is as cum
ming as a fox, and as hard to catch but
there is such thing as working strategy
on it. A rat never digs hole unless it
has some projection to begin with, say
stone, a stick of wood, Or anything
else that makes an anJle with the ground;
cellar wall it likes best. II rat is
chased in cellar or other room, it will
run round by the wall, and is decidedly
averse to leaving it. From this habit
we have hint how to ontgeneral it.
The common steel trap is the best article
for the purpose. Stand box or barrel,
or other article, within four inches of
the wall, and in that open space set the
trap, without anything to hide it. The