The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1873-09-18
Farm, Garden and Household.
Joseph Harris on weeds,


growing in the Deacon's wheat ore
weeds. He does not want them there
If you have six plants of corn in q hill
where you only want four. two of them
are weeds. A dead weed is not weed
a growing, weed pumps up water out of
the ground. The weeds in nm aero of
the Deacon's clover pump up more wa
yer III day than all his animals drink
IN n month. Weeds propagate faster
than rats. 1 have got more rats than
the Deacon, but the Deacon beats me
on the weeds. The boys shoot the rats
Yesterday they shot two and scared
away dozen. Next year they will come
back again. The Deacon kills hund-
red of his weeds and buries n thousand,
Next spring they will come up by the
million. You can't get rid of weeds
unless you kill them. If you do not
Kill them they will kill you. They are
worse than foot-rot in sheep. They
spread faster than caterpillars on cur
rant bushes, or the canker-worms on
apple trees. Some of the orchards in
this neighborhood look rs though they
had been sprinkled over with kerosene
and set fire to. The worms have eaten
OIL every leaf. Some farmers keeb off
the insects by putting tar bands round
the trunks of the trees in spring: some
don't. They think it is no use fighting
the worms. Some farmers think it is of
no use killing the weeds. 1t is natural
Tor the soil to produce weeds. They say
you can't kill them. The Deacon does
not say weeds can't be killed, but he
does not try to kill them. He hoes his
corn. L don't hoe my corn. 1 hoe the
weeds. would kill the weeds if there
was no corn. [ am not sure that the
Deacon would. The Deacon never sum-
mer fallows. He never fall fallows. He
never tries to make the weeds grow. He
tries to smother them ND for a few
months. He does not kill the roots.
ne does not make the weed seeds grow
ana then Kill the young plants. The
weeds on his farm are getting worse and
worse. Ny farm used to be worse than
ms; now some of it is cleaner than his.
am lighting the weeds. He let's them
grow, and is waiting for something to
turn up. There are thousands of far
mers doing the same thing. The weeds
cost us more than all our State, national
and local taxes; more than all our
SCHOOLS, churches, and newspapers.
Lhey are moreeXpensivet than children's
poots and ladies' bonnets. They are as
bad rs cigars and fast horses, The
horse may break his neck, and YOU will
get rid of him; but the weeds Will stick
tighter than q mortgage, and run ND
faster than compound interest on n orn.
Gerry bill. They are like bad habits.
You must not tamper with them. No
halfway measures will answer The
OnIV tn 4
stop, The onl ly way To- kill weeds is to
XII them. L hope the old gentleman
Will be pleased with my composition. /"
l hope when he visits this neighbor-
MOOD again he will find fewer weeds.
Land worth $3.50 per acre ought to pro.
duce something better than thistles,
red-root, quack-grass and chess.
How TO Mix Things.
A lady asks some general information
as to the way of putting things together
in cake-making. Good hossekeepers
see that they have everything ready be-
fore they begin-four, sugar, butter,
eggs, milk, and spices all on the table,
so that they have to take no extra steps
to get these after they have begun their
baking; then they put all the dry
thinSs together first, ana gradually add
the wet ones. In the white cake, about
which our correspondent speaks. she
ought first to have mixed together her
sugar and butter, then add her -four
and corn-starch, then her milk (from
which she should have saved sufficient
to dissolve her soda and cream of tar
tar, which is ways the very last top
hnlsh), then her eggs and favoring
we hope parentheses won't confuse
anybody, but it is really imperative to
put IN the soda and cream of tartar
after everything else, and just before
putting the cake into q hot oven. A
cool oven Will ruin the most carefully
mixed cake. Custards are troublesome
things to make, and require practiced
hand. In the chocolate custard. the
way is to pour the beaten yolks of eggs
gradually on the corn starch. stirring
till the mass is perfectly smooth and
consistent, then add the sugar and
then the hot milk, which must be pour
ed on slowly. The process of stirring
should not be stopped till the custard
is done, unless one is provided with .
boiler on the principle of the farina
kettle.
When the recipe given is too large
Tor small family, it is easy to make
only half or quarter, taking care to
nave all the proportions equal.
Nails.
Every farmer who has had occasion to
drive a nail into seasoned oak posts
knows its liability to bend and break.
Ii the point be moistened in the mouth
1T will usually drive more kindly. Oil
is still better, but then it is inconveni.
ent to dip each nail separately into it.
Another point observed is that boards
become loose eventually from the rust
ing. OF the nails, which, communicating
10 the wood, causes not only an enlarge
ment OF the naii-hole, but the wearing
away of the nail ITSELF rendering the
fence or the building shaly or insecure.
This may be prevented by heating any
rough grease until it smokes and then
pouring it over the nails to be used.
The grease will penetrate the pores
of the iron, and cause the nails to last,
without rHsting, an indefinite period.
Besides this no trouble will then be ex-
perienced in driving them into the
hardest wood. The reason is that the
coating of grease prevents contact by
air, and consequently oxidation. Oxy-
gen is the great destroyer of iron, and
moisture is the inducing cause. Any
thing which is preserved from contact
with the air is preserved indefinitely,
and If it is kept dry the effect is meas
ureably the same. Paint upon build
lngs prevents the contract of air and