The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1878-08-10
RURAL ECONOMY.
SeasonabIe Notes.


APPLES and pears will keep and colol
better and bring higher price if pickec
a few days before they are quite ripe.
MANURE from a fattening cow is SUI
perior to that of milk COW. There is
deficiency of the phosphates in the milk
cows droppings.
IT is asserted that tomatoes as food fol
cows improve both the quantity and the
quality of the milk, and give the cream
and butter rich golden color.
ToP-DREssING moving fields as soon a:
possible after the hay is removed is at.
tended with excellent results. The
stubble and roots are protected from ex.
cessiye drying by the hot sun, and the
grass is stimulated to a vigorous growth.
MILK PAINT for fences or barns is
made by mixing water lime with skim
milk to a proper consistency to apply
with a brush. 1t will adhere well to
wood whether smooth or rough, to brick,
mortar or stone, where oil has been pre-
viously used.
For some sorts of vegetables, as let
tuce, cress, radishes and Others, the Chi
nese system of keeping the soil continu-
ously wet is the best that can be adopted.
1t produces a crispiness IN the vegeta-
bles that is obtained only when there has
been no check in the growth.
FARMERS should be advised not to try
to economic by moving too close. An
old farmer of our acquaintance used to
say that he thought " it was better to
leave the lower Joint for the old brindle
cow than to save it for her," and we Won
der that all sensible farmers do not take
his advance.
FRUITS gathered in the afternoon are
less acrid than when gathered in the
morning, because fruits are ripened by
the conversion of the acid they contain
into sugar, AMI, since this requires the
aid of light and heat, the intervening
hours between morning and afternoon
produce the difference in their ripeness.
COOP authority asserts that one pound
of beans will support life in action as
long as four pounds of rice. Two pounds
of beans will help to do more muscular
work than three pounds of wheat. The
reason why beans require stronger pow
ers of digestion than wheat is that they
contain casein instead of gluten.
In oxen the stomach weighs 81 ounces
for every 100 pounds of live weight; in
sheep it weighs 80 ounces; in pigs IA
ounces, while in man only six ounces.
These facts are important, as showing
the greater necessity for concentrated
food III some cases than in others. The
human race requires a mixed diet of
meat and vegetables.
To render timber fire proof: Saturate
it as far as may se with strong aqueous
solutions of sodium tungstate (crude),
silicate, water glass, or sulphate; am
monium sulphate has also been used.
Wood thus preserved is not ignited by
sparks or transient contract of flame.
Unaltered woody fiber can not, however,
be rendered, by these or other simple
means, incombustible.
THE Philadelphia Farm Journal goes
for a man who cuts frewood in harvest
time, but advises the good wife to stick
to cobs, chips, old broom handles, pals,
ETC., until the last sheaf of corn is in the
barn. Come west, young man, where
coal is mined from under soil whose
surface, tickled With hoe, laughs with
golden crops. If not, cut your fuel
when the snow fies.-Eg.
The washing of stems and large
branches of trees with a solution of car
bolic acid, soap dissolved n lukewarm
water, and portion of the -four Of sui
phur mixed with it, is good method
for destroying the insects. The best time
to DO the washing is after the spring
opens. 1t will then stick to the trees,
and when the insects come out the poison
kills them in their infant state; and by
that the foliage and fruits of the trees
may be saved.
THE most etfectual way to get rid of
rats is 20 poison them, for which pur-
pose a preparation of PHOSPHORUS, spread
on small cubes of bread, is very effectual,
though nothing can be gotten in this
line which is not dangerous to other
beings. Small bits of cork fried in lard
is also a "sure pop" while corn meal
and plaster, mixed dry and in equal
parts, will get very heavy on their
stomachs, and, ere long, cause a cessation
of breathing. But all these things are
alike destructive to dogs, cats or poultry,
and you run great risk if you have any
young folks running around; you may
be sorry all your life that you ever used
poison for rats. A trained ferret to drive
them from their leads, with good terriers
or shepherd dogs to catch them when
they run out, will soon clean them up.
A few farmers or fanciers could buy,
own and use a trained ferret in partner
hip, and thus rid themselves of rats
tfeetually.-Amerjca'a Poultry Journal.