The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1877-06-16
FARM AND FIREsIDE.


INDOOR GARDENING. - As regards
plants, says the Scientific american, unless
the basket be large. or stand (Which, by
the way, can be made of soap box,
lined with zinc and mounted on feet) we
do not believe in any large variety of
plants in a single receptacle. 1t is
nonsense to mix exotics with wild ferns
and grasses, because the nature of the
soil that suits one is not beneficial to the
other; and very often the warm, uniform
temperature necessary for delicate plants
is fatal to the more hardy varieties from
the woods and pastures. Fill basket
entirely with English ivy or smilax, and
a luxuriant growth can be obtained,
particularly if too many shoots be not
set in. City florists aim to cram as much
as possible into their baskets, and are
totally regardless whether the broad
leaves of the begonias shade the stems
and roots of the more delicate creeping
vines. In first setting in the plants,
however, place them for a few days in a
cold room until new shoots appear. Re
member also that plants, and especially
ivy, will not grow without light, par
ticularly in the house. Thereis another
fact that amateur house gardeners forget,
and that is that the roots of a plant
need plenty Of air; and hence pretty
pots of painted china or majolica ware
mil - 10 ntof, ho ~ fnr
their reception. If such vessels be used,
the common earthenware pot must be
set inside of them, with plenty of inter-
mediate space between; while care
should be taken that the higher edges of
the outer pot do not shade the base of
the plant. Weak vegetation may be re-
iuvenated with little ammonia, but it
must be used with care, as too much
kills. About two drops in teacupfus of
water, given once week, we have found
to be plenty for good sized plant,
particularly if the earth around the
roots be kept loose and not allowed to
pack hard.
BLAIN IN SHEEP.-This is disease
of the tongue ard its connections, at
tended with inability to feed; number
of vesicles appear on the side of the
tongue, and discharge of saliva from
the mouth, which sometimes becomes
bloody and offensive. Troublesome
ulcers are sometimes formed, and
these symptoms are occasionally attended
with swelling of the head and throat
which interfere with free respiration
There is little doubt that the disease is
infectious, whether it appears as an cpl
demic or not; and, therefore, the affected
sheep should be Immediately separated
from the rest of the flock. The vesiclei
should be lanced, and after being wei
cleansed with warm water, may b.
washed with a solution of water but i
the discharge is in any way offensive, the
mouth should be washed with lotion
composed of one drachm of chloI lie 0
lime dissolved in a pint of warm water
The sheep should be fed ON boiled foot
or Cruel, and if it will not eat, it SHOULD
be drenched with about a quart o
Cruel two or three times daily, in which
should be mixed, if the animal is weak
a drachm of powdered ginger and tw'
drachms OF powdered gentian.
ARTIFICIAL MOTHERS. There Offer
occurs in the raising of chickens a cas-
where the hen weans her brood too early
or, by disease or accident, they are de
prived OF her shadowing wing ano
genial warmth. We may sometimes be
able to repair this loss by dividing then
among other broods; but such attempt,
are often attended with risks we do NOT
care to encounter, hen step-mothers MOI
being proverbial for amiability. The
best substitute is the artificial mother
which consists of board twelve o
thirteen inches square, sufficient for on
brood, to which is tackled loosely piec
of long wooded sheep skin. 1t should b
four inches high in front and two inche
at the back side. Or, a still bette
arrangement is to suspend the mother
four inches from the ground or floor
leaving the two sides to be curtaine'
with flannel for ingress and egress, Will
two inclined planes, slanting from tn
center (which is within two inches c
the sheep skin), afford opportunity 70
the "crowding" of the larger chick
without the consequent smothering Q
the smaller ones, as may be the cas-
when the frst-named plan is adopted
Small holes for ventilation Should b
made in the sheltering-top, and sulphu
sprinkled among the wool to prevent tn
collection of vermin.