The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-09-03
Farm, Garden and Household.
An Ice House for Five Dollars,

feet square in tho clear, and six feet
high. The walls are formed of old
refuse timbers thrown closely together,
with no regard to form or comeliness.
The roof is made of hemlock boards.
The entire cost of the building did not
exceed five dollars, and, practically con-
sidered, it is success not ambitious
of containing tbirty-fve loads of ice,
but simply FIVE loads. Two years this
little, unpretentious house has been
used for ice, and never yet dis
honored draft upon its crystal de-
posit. About six inches of sawdust
was spread upon the ground floor, and
in packing,a space of about nine inches
was left between the ice and the walls
of the building for sawdust, and about
nine inches OF sawdust was spread upon
the top OF the ice, and the thing was
fixed. The three main principles OBJ
served here will always insure supply
of ice, viz: good ventilation, good
drainage, and plenty Of sawdust. With
these rules adhered to, corner of any
old pen-shed will prove quite efficient
in preserving ice.
Household Hints.
STEw1NG CHICKENS. two fine
chickens ; take them up in large dish {;
cut them up, and separate all the Joint.
bones one from another. Then take
out the breast-bone, add little OF the
water they were stewed in, blade of
mace and a pinch of salt. Cover close
iy with another dish, and put them in
to stew until the fowls are tender.
Serve lot in the same dish."
CURE FOR CRoUP.-When the symp-
toms appear, Immediately fold a towel,
dip it in cold water, and apply it TO til 8
child's breast and throat then wrap a
blanket closely around him. Or, bathe
che feet well in warm water, at the same
time rubbing the throat and breast with
mutton tallow or goose-grease then
envelope in warm blanket. Either of
these modes will check the disease till
the arrival of physician, and in many
cases will of themseles effect cure.
BUNs.-Three cups of milk, one cup
OF yeast, one cup of sugar, and -four to
make it sponge let it rise over night.
then add another cup of sugar and one
of butter mold them into small bis
cults.
Salt rs IN Aid TO Manure,
About five o'clock one fine summers
morning, / noticed that where the salt
had been sown the previous day, every
grain of salt had attached to itself the
dew, and formed on the surface a wet
spot about the size of sixpence, the
ground being generally very dry. On
our light lands it consolidates them
and makes them specially firm and ac-
ceptable to the wheat plant, whose
straw will stand firm and erect, although
four and half to five feet long. 1t is
also unfavorable to certain weeds by
this consideration. 1t prevents the
ravages of the wire worm. IT is
especially favorable to saline plants,
suclI as mangolds, whose ashes contain
fifty per cent. of salt. 1 never SOW
guano, except mixed with it's own
weight of salt. Like everything else,
it has. am sorry to say, greatly risen
IN price. L observe that all crops seem
to thrive we'll on land near salt water,
especially where the land is drained.
Care OF Hogs.
The Colonial Farmer says: ga
practical breeder gives the following
advice, which, in the main, we think
sound, for those whose herds are not toe
large and who are engaged in mixed
husbandry. To handle hogs to the best
advantage, pasture is needed of green
grasses clover, blue grass and timothy
and it is best if there is no running
water or stock ponds in the lot. Hogs
do better where there are no branches
or stock ponds to wallow in. In place
thereof, have good we'll water pumped
for them. Have troughs made, and
nail strips across eight inches apart, to
keep the hogs from lying down in the
water, and let the hogs be put on floors,
to keep them from digging up wallow-
ing holes. If any feed be given, it
should be soaked in swill barrels for II
hours before feeding-no longer-and
fed to them as drink.
Everlasting Fence Posts.
I discovered, many years ago, that
wood could be made to last longer than
iron in the ground, but thought the
process so simple and inexpensive that
it was not worth while making any stir
about it. would as soon have poplar,
Eastwood, or quaking asp as any other
kind of timber for fence posts after
having been set seven years, which
were as sound when taken out as when
they were first put in the ground.
Time and weather seem to have no effect
on them. The posts can be prepared
for less than two cents apiece. This is
the recipe: Take boiled linseed oil
and stir it in pulverized charcoal to the
consistency of paint. Put a coat OF
this over the timber, and there is not q
man that will live to see it rot.
Soiling Cows.
1t will certainly pay to iudiciously
soil COWS on a small farm. There is nc
other way by which so much milk can
be produced on a given number OF
acres. When you have put your land
in proper condition COW can be kept
upon one-half acre for summer, and one
acre for winter. Even better than this
has been done. Starting this late, pre-
pare the ground well, and SOW one
eighth of an acre of oats thickly for
each COW as early as you can two or
three weeks after SOW the same amount
of land to oats for later cutting. Then
prepare the ground and SOW one-fourth
of an acre of corn for each COW. This
will probably leave surplus for win
ter feeding.