The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1875-07-29
CURIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC.


RICE ia now coming into use for brew
ing purposes. The beer produced from
it is said to be superior in color ana
flavor.
Ar Middletown, Delaware, an immenfe
peach refrigerator is to be built, ca,
pable Of holding 100000 baskets OF
fruit, which the protector guarantees 10
keep by a peculiar freezing process ior
six months.
IN n of the French departments
there is a "society for the protection OF
birds useful TO the farmer" All nests
found are reported to the society and
protected by it. In the past year the
society protected PA nests, from which
came 90i birds.
THERE are two million bee.hiYes IN
the United States. Every hive yields,
on an average, a little over twenty
pounds Of honey. The average price at
which honey is sold is 26 cents a pound'
so that, after paying their W board,
our bees present us with a revenue OF
over So. 800, 600.
IT IL stated now that the secret force
which the Kelly motor operates by is
| nothing more nor less than carbonlc
acid. The water is enormously charged
| with il, and then it is liberated, by a
simple process, in such quantities and
strength as the operator may desire.
s. that, after all, the basis OF the whole
business is nothing but tremendously
| strong soda water.
AN old lady in New York particularly
desired that a certain cushion on when
she sat il church should be buried with
her, and as there was a difficulty abont
getting it into her coffin it was luckily
proposed to cut it, when several thou
sand dollars in greenbacks came TO
light. The old lady was clearly re-
solved that, if she did bring nothing In
to the world, she would at all events,
az far as possible, take something out
of it.
GuYs and rifles may easily be cleaned
from lead by the following: If a muzzle-
loader, stop up the nipple or communi-
cation hole with q little wax, OF II a
breech. loader insert o cork in the breech
rather tightly next pour some quick
silver into the barrel, and put another
cork in the muzzle, then proceed to roll
it up and down the barrel, shaking II
about for n few minutes. The mercury
and lead will form and amalgam, and
leave the barrel as clean and free from
lead as the first day it came out OF the
shop. The same quicksilver can be
used repeatedly by straining it through
wash.leather for the lead will be left
behind in the leather, and the quick
silver will be again fit for use.
THE French utilize chicken feathers
in the following way, which il pro
%nOunced u decided improvement on the
old method The plume portion OF the
feathers are cut from the stem by means
of ordinary hand scissors. These are
placed in quantities in a course bag,
which, when full, is closed and sub
jected to a thorough kneading with the
hands. At the end OF five minutes the
feathers disaggregated are felted to-
gether, forming n down almost homo
geneous and Of great lightness. 1t is
said to be lighter than natural elder
down, because the latter contains the
ribs of the feathers, which gives extra
weight. About one and six tenths troy
ounces can be obtained from n pullet,
and it sells in Paris for about two dol
lars a pound.
A FARMER boy in Ohio, observing a
small flock of quail in Lis fathers corn,
field, resolved to watch their motions.
They pursued n very regular course IN
their foraRing, commencing on n side
Of the field, taking about five rows, and
following them uniformly to the oppo'
ate end, returning in the same manner
over the next five rows. They cOntin.
ned in this course until they had ex-
plored the greater portion of the field.
The lad, suspicious that they were pull
ing up the corn, fired into the flock,
killing but one of them, and he pro
ceeded to examine the ground. In the
whole space over which t ley had tray
eled, he found but one stalk of corn dis.
turbed. This was nearly scratched out
of the ground, but the ground still ad-
hered to it. In the craw of this quail he
found one cut-wolm, twenty one striped
vine, bugs, and one hundred chinch-
bugs, but not II single grain of corn.