National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1873-08-08
Farm, Garden and Household,
TRUE Way "a Water Trees.

~ "''S SituuiHR III PIuFN PfDUnu mr.
watered, the surface around about tn
body, for three or four feet in each di
rection, should be covered with mule
OF some sort, to retard evaporation.
VIII be labor lost to water trees on tn
lawn without exercising this prccaution
ms the water will disappear before
hundredth part Of il has reached tn,
roots. Straw, hay, lawn.grass, weeds
shavings or tan-bark will make IN ex
ceilent mulch. Spread the mulch tire,
or four inches deep, pour two or tire,
pailfuls of water around each tree, anc
the water will permeate the entire soil
keep it damp, and supply the moistur,
which the tree must have or die. II
the soil is in tllable condition, draw
the earth away from the tree to tn,
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 fai
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 GA all night aud day. When the
atmosphere is as dry and hot as the air
III huge lumber-kiln, it will have the
moisture in every tree and plant and
the moisture of our bodies, even, "ii
1T (the hot air. has to take it (the mois-
ture) out of the hide" Hence, we must
drink, and the 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 gardens in the highway,
which is bad horticulture in many re-
specis. If they would spread such grass
and 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 do Sn,
and save vast deal of manual labor
and tie crops would be heavier.
How TO Dress II Sheep.
1t may be of interest to some of our
country readers to learn how to dress n
sheep properly, because u 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, as 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
a Sh ,,n;rtn1 1, l.
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 the sheep Immediately and disem-
bowel it. All this ought to be the work
OF about one minute or two, or if it oc-
cupies five there will not be 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 be
killed by thrnsting sharp knife
through the neck, back of the wind-pipe,
without touching it, however, but cut
ling the arteries and soon as the knife
is inserted it should be twisted round
as 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
id.-Gcntlemdn's Waga.inc.
The Hay Crop.
There are farmers who believe it
good plan to sandwich old straw or old
hay between the rather green hay as it
is stored in barns. We have tried it
many times and find that it certainly
improves the old hay or straw to do so,
and does no harm to the new crop. 1t
Is, in some sense, n real benefit to the
new hay, because it absorbs tho surplus
moisture it may contain and prevents
incipient decomposition by heating
Where the hay crop is short, as it is in
many localities, and there are old straw
stacks left in good condition, it is not IA
bad practice by any means, if the farmer
has any apprehension that his forage is
going to be inadequate 60 meet the
wants of the stock he intends to winter
--Erchange.
Spiced Tomatoes.
To four pounds of large red tomatoes
take two pounds of good brown sugar, a
pint of cider vinegar, half an ounce of
cloves, and half an ounce of stick CHINA
i'ch' b'''W an h'Sttitl III IL 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 SIM ering slowly.
When the tomatoes are co return them
to the syrup, and finish cooking. Let
them become cold before ,utting them
into the jars. The syrup n ust be boiled
down until thick as n GLASSES, and
poured cold over the tomatoes. Tie
them down with bladder or waxed pa
per.
Letting Cider Remain In Pomace.
A correspondent says: To obtain
good cider the expressed juice must re-
main n short time with the pomace,
which has been crushed or bruised, not
cut, as is done by most patent cider
mills. The old mills bruised the apples.
the new ones cut them. We found fifty
years ago that with the advantage we
then had of the old-fashioned mill. it
was better to grind or crush the apples
and then let the pomace remain in The
trough at least ten or twelve hours. and
If the weather was cool, let it remain
twenty-four hours.
Tho Mn ~ Eooon,oi,;.,-