The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1874-07-10
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.

application of hot alum water. In VIII
destroy red and black ants, cockroach-
es, spiders, chinch bugs and all the
myriads of crawling pests which infest
our houses during the heated term.
Take two pounds of alum and dissolve
il in three or four quarts OF boiling wa
ter let il stand on the stove until the
alum is all melted then apply with
brush while nearly boiling hot, to every
Joint and crevice in your closet, bed
steads, pantry shelves, and the like.
Brush the crevices in the floor OF the
mop-boards, if you suspect that they
harbor vermin.
LONG FURRows-A German agricult-
ural journal prints plea for long fur
rows. The turning of the plow and the
commencing of new furrow require
more eXertion in the plowman and the
team than continued work on a straight
line /; and how great may be the loss OF
time from frequent Interruptions In
short turns may be shown in the follow
ing calculations Ia field go feet long,
five and half hours out of ten are used
in redirecting the pillow; with a length
of 575 feet, four hours are sufficient for
the purposes and when the pillow can
proceed without interruption for 800
feet, only one and half hours of the
daily working time are consumed.-Ru-
raj Register.
CosT OF CRoPs- A Delaware county
Ohio correspondent of the RlTaL NcU
Yorker estimates the cost of growing
the different crops on land worth sixty
dollars an acre to be-corn, so bushel
per acre, 20 cents per bushel 60 bush
els per acre, % cents; 40 bushels per
acre, 81 TO 30 cents 30 bushelsper acre,
81 TO 40 cents. Wheat, average cost,
one dollar per bushel. Oats, at least 30
cents at 30 bushels per acre. Potatoes,
at 100 bushels per acre, 20 cents These
estimates include manure, blowing,
narrowing, drilling, planting, thorough,
good cultivation; and the stalks and
straw of corn and grain to pay for husk-
ing or threshing, and five dollars per
acre for interest and taxes on land.
WASTE LANDS. The reclamation of
land and utilizing it, thus making waste
places productive, is one of the ecOpOm-
lcal modes farmer has of reducing the
proportion of his taxes to production.
Thousands of acres of most productive
lands lie idle and taxes are paid on them
III almost every State, the net product
resulting from the reclamation of which
wouldpay the entire taxes of the farmer.
Often the best lands on the farm are
thus wasted-worse than wasted-for
the want of little vim and enterprise
on the part of the owner. 1t should be
a rule with all farmers not to own an
acre of ground that does not pay him
profit (either by production or appre-
citation in value) on its assessed valua-
ton. No business man can afford to
keep such land if he has active profta-
BILE use for his capital.
HOUSEHOLD MEASURES. AS all fami-
lies are not provided with scales and
weights, referring to ingredients in gen
eral use by every housewife, the follow
ing information may be useful
Wheat flour, one pound is one quart.
Indian meal, one pound two ounces is
one quart.
Butter, when soft, one pound one
ounce is one quart.
Loaf-sugar, broken, one pound is one
quart.
White sugar, powdered, one pound
one ounce is one quart.
Best brown sugar, one pound two
ounces is one quart.
Eggs, average size, ten eggs are one
pound.
Sixteen large tablespoonfuls are half
pint, eight are gill, four half gill,
etc.
WET PASTURES writer in the Lon
don FieId relates his experience in re-
claiming wet pastures. He has found
shallow draining the most advantageous,
and that the tile may be safely laid
either nearer the surface or further
apart than in draining arabic land.
Having tried lime and barn-yard ma
nure as top dressings after drainage, he
was led TO substitute bone-dusc, and
found it much more beneficial than
either or both of the former. On a
thin, light soil, 200 pounds of bones
produced fine, rich, thick heritage, in
place OF the coarse grasses and sedges
that grew previous TO the draining. On
heavier clay the quantity of bones was
increased with good effect. An outlay
of $40 per acre in bones, he found was
returned in very short period, while |
the benefit was still apparent after the
expiration OF twenty years.
LEARNING FARMING.-The New York |
World says Again and again-and |
especially at this season of the year-do |
young men ask advice of agricultural |
editors as to the best way to learn farm
ing. The answer in all cases is simple |
and brief: Go TO work on the best |
farm and under the direction of the best
farmer you can find who will accept |
your services. There is other way-no
schools nor system of study that will so
quickly make farmer of young man
but he should not neglect to study.
Every agency that he can employ to
give him better insight into the scien-
tific features of husbandry should be
employed even when his bones ache with
labor of the day, his mind may work
and two hours daily given to wise read
ing or study will enable him to accu-
mulate vast amount of theoretical as
well as practical information from the
recorded experience of others.
T-WoRMs. The New York Times
says: We have succeeded in greatly
reducing the number of this pest by
inf !