The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1874-10-29
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.


grow in clump, and pinch these off as
soon as they gain height of five or six
feet Cut in the laterals at eighteen
inches. Cut out the old fruiting canes
of raspberries as soon as they have fin-
ished bearing, and apply dressing of
manure, forking IL in well between the
rows.
BELLS AND Docs. = A farmer of
Broome county, New York, writes to the
New York Times: put bells on sheep
to keep dogs of. / have tried it thirty
years, and never lost one. My neighbors
all around me have lost sheep frequently.
They did not use bells. ! use one bell
for ten sheep. have so much faith in
bells that think the law should not pay
a man for his sheep if he had no bells on
them" This is correct. Bells on few
wethers will keep of dogs, and even wild
animals.
ToP-DREssINa GRASS LAND. - The
Massachusetts Ploughman considers fall
the best time for top-dressing grass lands,
but thinks that If any one has manure to
spare, Just as the grass is starting into
growth it will not be wasted, If applied
then, but the grass will grow up around
it, giving it shade, keeping it moist, and
preventing loss by evaporation. 1t is
now too late to apply it for the first crop,
but if fine manure be evenly spread over
the surface, as soon as the first crop is
removed, it would be great help to the
aftermath.
CAUTIONS IN VISITING THE SICK
Do not visit the sick when you are ia
tigued, or when in a state OF perspira-
tiOn, or with the stomach empty-for in
such conditions you are liable to take
the infection. When the disease is very
contagious, take the side of the patient
which is near the window. Do not enter
the room early in the morning, before it
has been aired; and when you come
away take some food, change your cloth
ing Immediately, and expose the latter
to the air for some days. Tobacco smoke
is preventive of malaria.
HORSES" says an exchange, that are
kept in the stable during the summer,
should be given daily the luxury Of
roll on the earth. Rolling is the means
given by nature for the animal to rid
itself of vermin and skin diseases, and
tends to make it healthy. Some owners
object to allowing horse to roll on the
bare earth because it gets dirt in the
hair, and makes extra work to keep the
animal clean, but the extra work pays
if rightly understood. We allow our
horse to roll in the dirt when he is not
moist with perspiratiOn, but do not allow
him to stand an hour or two with his
coat full of dust before cleaning him."
SOMEBODY ingeniously calculates that
-, onI <xo I'm ars,,or fuantu oraa
of corn a farmer must travel at least
alone. 81 have" he says, ga twenty
acre field, forty by eighty rods To break
this up would take 100 miles; narrowing
it about 40 miles; furrowing out, 80
miles; planting, As miles, if with
planter, and if dropped and then COW
cred, 80 miles; and for each blowing
of two burrows in row, 80 miles, or,
five plowings, $50 miles. Thus you
will see it takes about eight or nine
hundred miles of travel to raise twenty
acres of corn, not counting going to and
returning from the field. Besides there
is always some replanting, thinning,
rolling, etc."
FRUIT IN TIN CANs.-The Boston
Journal of Chemistry says: "The i'm
preston prevails among those who use
freely fruit which is put up in tin cans,
that they are injured thereby, and this
impression, in many instances, is cor
rect. We have long contended that all
preserved fruits and vegetables should
be stored in glass, and that no metal of
any kind should be brought in contact
with them. All fruits contain more or
less vegetable acids, and others that are
highly corrosive are often formed by fer
mentation, and the metallic vessels are
considerably acted upon. Tin cans are
held together by solder, an alloy into
which lead enters largely. This metal is
easily corroded by Vegetable acids, and
poisonous salt formed. Undoubtedly,
many persons are greatly injured by eat
ing tomatoes, peaches, etc., which have
been placed in tin cans, and we advise
our friends to use only glass jars"
ECONOMY IN KEEPING SHEEP.-The
economy of keeping few sheep on every
farm devoted to mixed husbandry is
apparent to any one giving the subject
careful consideration. AS scavengers
they will, on many farms, pay hand
some interest on their first cost-not
taking into account their yield of fleece
and lambs Much of the straw and
stalks about the barn-yard, the growth in
fence corners and other out-ofthe-way
places, will be kept clean and slightly by
a few sheep, with very little trouble and
no expense to their owner. As regards
vegetation, the sheep may be said to be
omnivorous-th goat is its only peer
and very few of the most troublesome
L. 81 NIT bota nd 20
short and persistent clipping. In clear
ing out and subduing timber pastures
they are invaluable. If turned in when
the young shoots are still young and
succulent, nothing within their reach
will escape them. They can be turned
into the stubble-field after harvest, and
not only thus save every stray head of
grain, but leave the field clear of weeds
and in the best possible condition for the
pillow. With equally good results they
can be herded through field of standing
corn after the growth of grass and weeds
is we'll under way. This is especially
advantageous where the very common
course is pursued of sowing wheat in the
standing corn. True, now and then a
broken or bent stalk falls prey blu.
the advantage of air and sunlight to the
too long shaded ground, will be found to
compensate, many fold, for these slight
losses. In short, sheep can not be omitted
from the farm economy without a loss to
the farmer who thus overlooks their
merits.
Household Helps.
TOAST WITHOUT BUTTER.-Thicken |
milk with -four and stir in well-beaten
egg, mix well before putting in the
foasfad broad IL Ia hotter tho m buttar