The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1877-04-05
USEFUL ANB SUGGESTIVE.

AsHEs.-Do not allow ashes of anv
kind to be wasted. 1t will pay to haul
leached ashes several miles, when one has
his own team and laborer at fair wages.
Coal ashes, when spread around berry
bushes of any sort, or around grape vines,
will aid materially in producing large and
fair fruit.-GGrdener's Monthly.
IMPROvEMENTs.-LO about the prem.
ises for opportunities to make improve.
ments. If everything has been done to
your liking, ali right. But in most in
stances one can discover in what respect
several Improvements can he made.
Would it not improve your surroundings
to grade up with mellow dirt some Of the
low places about the house and barn and
to put out q few more shade trees?
STAINS on marble can usually be re-
moved by q mixture of one ounce of soda,
q piece of stone lime the size of walnut,
quarter of q pound of whiting, and the
same amount of soft soap. Boil these
together ten or fifteen minutes, and then
put the mixture on the marble while hot.
Leave this on twenty-four hours, then
wash off with clean warm water, and pol
ish, first with soft flannel and then with
chamOis Standardization Union.
LAwNs-As soon in the growing season
as the ground is sufficiently dry to admit
of its being worked without injury to its
fertility, make new lawns and repair old
ones. A mellow and rich surface gener-
ously seeded is all that is requisite to pro-
duce dense growth of grass. If the sur
face is uneven, it is sometimes more
economical to fill the deprcssions with
rich dirt, and sow seed in the bare places,
than to spade or pillow the plot and reseed
where there is tough sod.
TIMBER.-If trees were cut down last
autumn, or during the winter, do not al
low the logs to remain unsawn or not split
until warm weather. To render tough
boards or plank or other pieces he placed
in water where they will soak through and
through. If allowed to soak a month all
the better. Then remove the lumber and
"stick it up" properly, and good timber
will be hard and tough and worms will
never work in it.-Erchnnge.
MANY complain that birds strip the
buds off their gooseberry bushes. Never
prune until the bushes are bursting into
leaf, and you will always have heavy
crops. 1t is good practice to get work
as forward as possible during the winter,
but some discretion should be exercised
as to the right and wrong subjects to
be dealt with, or more harm than good
may ensue. As regards keeping birds
from destroying buds the best remedy is
powder and shot. All kinds of guards,
except close netting, are useless.-Horti-
cultural Exchange.
DUCKs.-If one is located near pond
of water he can raise hundred ducks at
small expense. To prevent laying the
eggs in water, or dropping them where
they are liable to be lost, Keep the ducks
confined in spacious yard until after
they have laid, or until the after part
of the day. Ducks are SO fond of re-
naming in the water that they will often
drop their eggs in deep pond or in the
running brook. After duck has laid
given number of eggs, and wants to set,
let her be tethered at the margin of the
water until she will not return to her
nest. After a few days, if fed gener-
ously, she will commence laying more
eggs.
KINDJ.INa WOOD is always in demand.
No one need fear that more will be pre-
pared than can be consumed in an eco
nomical manner. Hence, cut every old
hoop into short pieces and split up every
piece of worthless board aud pile them
up neatly beneath some shelter. Never
allow old boxes, old tubs, old barrels that
are ever ready to tumble down, nor other
rubbish, to accumulate in the cellar, at.
tic or barn. Reduce all such useless arti.
cles to kindling wood, and thus keep the
premises clear of old things that will
never subserve better purpose than fuel.
Wood cut and split fine and properly
dried is often more convenient and eco.
nomical in hot weather than coal, espe.
cially when one needs but little fre.-N
Y. Herald.