The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1873-08-11
Farm, Garden and Household.


body, for three or four feet in eaolr d.
rcctiOn, should be covered with mulch
Of some sort, to retard evaporation. It
will be labor lost 10 water trees on the
lawn without exercising thisprecaution,
rs the water will disappear before q
hundredth part Of it has reached the
roets. Straw, hay, lawn.grass, weeds,
shavings or tan.bark will make m ex.
cellent mulch. Spread the mulch three
or four inches deep, pour two or three
pailtuls OF water around each tree, and
the water will permente the entire soil,
keep it damp, and supply the moisture
which the tree must have or die. II
the soil is in tillable condition, draw
the earth away from the tree to the
depth of one or two inches, pour in two
or three pals Of water, and return the
mellow earth, which will keep the sur.
face from baking. Yet mulch is far
preferable TO the latter mode.
When the soil appears nearly dry To
the touch, the roots cannot possibly de.
rive the needed supply Of water to keep
the leaves and branches from injury
during the rapid evaporation which is
going on all night and day. When the
atmosphere is rs dry and hot us the air
in a huge lumber.kiln, it will have the
moisture in every tree and plant and
the moisture Of our bodies, even, "if
1t (the hot air) has 10 take it (the mois.
ture) out Of the hide" Hence, we must
drink, andthe roots of the trees and
plants must be supplied with water or
they wither and die.
A great many persons scatter the
grass from their lawns and the weeds
from their garleus in the highway,
which is bad horticulture In many re-.
spec,s. II they would spread such grass
aud weeds around their growing flowers
or around any garden vegetable, the
mulch would save the labor Of carrying
many hogsheads Of water to supply the
plants with the necessary moisture, and
covering would keep the weeds down,
and savea vast deal of manual labor,
and the crops would be heavier.
How to Dress n Sheep.
1t may be OF interest to some q our
country readers to learn how to dress n
sheep properly, because a great deal Of
flavor depends on how this operation is
performed. We give directions how to
avoid this i'll flavor, which arises from
the absorption by the meat Of the gases
from the intestines, which, rs the out.
side OF the carcass cools, cannot escape,
and are, therefore, absorbed by the
flesh. There is simple remedy. As
soon MS the animal is dead, let the hide
be slit up from the brisket to the tail,
and to the knees, by quick motion Of
sharp pointed knife inserted beneath
the skin. Strip the skin from the belly
and the ribs and legs, so that it will be
out OF the way OF the intestines. Then
open tho sheep Immediately and disem.
bowel 1t, All this ought to be the work
OF about one minute or two, or il it oc.
cupies five there will not DO sufficient
time for the carcass TO cool sufficiently
to cause any unpleasant taste. Then
proceed to strip the skin from the back
of the carcass. A sheep should he
killed by thrusting sharp knife
through the neck, back OF the wind.pipc,
without touching it, however, but cut.
ling the arteries /; and soon rs the knife
Is inserted it should be twisted round
rs If make round hole; there will
then be no mistake made in cutting the
arteries, and the death Of the animal
will be comparatively painless and rap.
DISCRETIONARY Magazine.
The Hay Crop.
There arc farmers who believe II q
good plan to sandwich old straw or old
hay between the rather green hay rs it
is stored in barns. We have tried 1t
many times and find that it certainly
improves the old hay or straw to do so,
md does no harm to the new crop. 1t
is, in some sense, real benefit to the
new hay, because it RbsOrbs the surplus
moisture il may contain and prevents
incipient decomposition by heating.
Where the hay crop is short, rs it is In
many localities, and there are old straw.
stacks left in good condition, II is not
bad practice by any means, il the farmer
has any apprehension that his forage is
going to DO inadequate 70 meet the
wants Of the stock he intends TO winter.
Exchange.
spIetd Tomatoes.
To four pounds OF large red tomatoes
take two pounds of good brown sugar, n
pint Of cider vinegar, half M ounce Of
cloves, mud half nm ounce OF stick CHINA
mon. Stew all together in preserving
kettle, over slow fire, until the tOma-
toes are nearly cooked. Take them out
and put them on dishes to cool, letting
the syrup go on simmering slowly
When the tomatoesa are cold return them
TO the syrup, and finish cooking. Let
them become cold before putting them
into the jars. The syrup must be boiled
down until thick AS molasses, aud
poured cold over the tomatoes. Tie
them down with bladder or waxed pa.
per.
Letting Cider Remain In PomRcs.
A correspondent says: To obtain
good cider the expressed Juice must re.
main short time with the pomace,
which has been crushed or bruised, not
cut, us is done by most patent cider
mills. The old mills bruised the apples,
the new ones cut them. We found fifty
years ngo that with the advantage we
then had OF the old.iashioned mills 1t
was better to grind or crush the apples
and then lot the pomRce remain in the
trough at least ten or twelve hours, and
II the weather was cool, let 1t remain
twenty.iour hours.