The Portland daily press., 1880-12-01
AGRICULTURAL.
How to Keep Fowls Healthy.

Lue drl0oT OtuU, NOW 4oih SiIys coiu
1.-The reason why eight or ten fowls about
the house of the met anic, the gardener or
the laborer are more profitable is because of
better feeding and less crowding, better
sanitary conditions of yard and roost. Ex-
tent of grassy range for fowls Is more i'm
portant thau provided food, for here they
obtain not only air and food, but also insect
food. which is the essential nitrogenous
element necessary for egg production.
Equally important to extensive grass rang
are clean and airy roosting houses or sheds.
The houses should have doors ON the ground
to be left open in the summer. and at least
two side-slat ventilators should be provided.
Running water is a most desirable and easy
means Of wafer supply. With this water
supply, without care or labor the food sup
ply may be equally convenient and labor
sAvi,g. Drive four stakes into the ground
90 a. TO leave them two ieet above the sur
face and fix inches apart, and upon these
nail two boards so as to make table large
enough to permit the fowls a footing around
q nail keg in the center, covered by wide
board and wsighted by q large fat stone.
This keg may be filled with corn or
cracked corn, and having three or tour au-
ger holes near the bottom it is self-feeding.
What runs out Is lodged upon the table; it
10 kept clea and dry and secure from rats
and other vermin. This is a cheap, simple
and labor-saving manner of keeping fowls,
and 1t will be found most profitable plan.
This grass range may be small pasture or
q large cow-yard.
Fowls should never be allowed in barns,
stables or carriage houses. Their houses
should be fumigated by burning half a
pound Of sulphur every ring and fall,
while the fowls are out for the day, and
should be well aired before roosting time.
fnxxl lc
should be allowed to roost in one house
bu. two or more houses may be erected in
the pasture or range, provided it is large
enough. In this case the feeding may be
the same, only barrel may be used instead
Of keg to save trouble.
The largest liberty and the most generous
feedi z, with an observance of cleanliness,
will secure the best yield Of eggs and the
largest number Of healthful fowls. This is
the way to secure the largest profits OF the
poultry yard"
Green and Dry Wood.
Nothing can be more provoking to wo-
man than to have to burn green or wet
wood, and nothi' G in. our opinion goes So
far to convict the farmer Of shiftlessness as
to eglect furnishing an abundance of good,
dry wood. Some farmers contend that
there is saving mixing green wood with
dry, because they s.y that it lasts longer;
but the reason for this Is that the sap from
the green wood has to be evaporated before
1t will burn, aud this evaporation of sap alb
serbs the heat from the dry wood, SO that a
certain amount of dry wood has to be burned
In order to consume the green. This may
bs classed of the wastes upon the farm.
It 10 very unpleasant for the farmers wife
to have to 90 to the wood pile and bring IT,
wet wood, or have to dig it out of snow
bank, which is not unfrequently the case.
A shed might be CO structed at a slight ex-
pense In which the farmer could not only
store his wood after it was cut but also be-
fore cutting, and large enough so that he or
his hired man might work in it on s.ormy
days. In such shed the whole of the wood
might be cut without interfering with any
regular work. All that would be necessary
would be to have years stock in advance;
dry wood could then always be had and easy
Of access, cutting of another great waste on
the farm. 1t Is q wise old adage which says:
''Take care of the cents and the dollars will
take care Of themselves" 1t is taking care
Of the cents every day upon the farm which
lays up the dollars at the end of the year.
American Cultivator.
A Famous OLD Plan for Curing Meat.
As the season has arrived when curing
ulc6t - Al OIu0Is Wo IcpuoloLy 40 VI oiu,
our famous recipe for curing beef, pork.
mutton, hams, ETC., as follows: To one gal
lon Of water, take one and one-half pounds
pounds Of salt, one-half pound of sugar, one
half oance Of saltpetre, one-haf ounce of
potash. In this ratio the ickle can be in
creased torany quantity desired. Let these
bs boiled together until all the dirt from the
sugar rises to the top and is skinned off.
Then pour it into tub to cool, and when
cold, pour 1t over your beef or pork. The
meat must be we'll covered with pickle and
should not be put down for at least two
days after killing, durirg which time it
should be slightly sprinkled with powdered
saitpetre, which removes all the surface
blood, etc. leaving the meat fresh and clean.
Some omit boiling the pickle, and find it to
answer veil, though the operation Of boil
ing puri6es the pickle, by throwing off the
dirt al s avs to be found in salt and sugar. If
this recipe 10 strictly followed, it wi re-
qui only single trial to prove Its superb
ority yer he com non way. or most ways
of putting down meat and will not soon be
abandoned for any other. The meat is u :
sur, assed for sweetness, delicacy of fresh
ness and color.-G ,rmantown Telegraph.
Top Dressing Orchards.
This operation should never be performed
unless really needed. A young orchard,
already growing quite fast enough, will. not
need manure. There are very few, how
ever, that are too luxuriant. Many are not
enough 90. The owner of an orchard ought
TO know its exact condition and what it
really needs. He may now ascertain easily,
one-year shoots bare and visible. Gu
through the orchard and measure how long
these shoots are. If not over foot, the
ground needs top-dressing. If three feet
long. you may omit the stimulus. We have
never seen an orchard IN grass that grew
fast enough. We have scarcely ever seen
Q cultivated one that grew too fast. Au-
tumn or early wi ter is the best time to
apply the manure. Bearing trees are re-
markably improved by 1t, and the fruit is
nearly always fner. Even a few loads to
the acre, spread over the whole surface, ex-
erts . decided be eft. The error of apply
trunks should be avoided.-Country Gen
0eman.
0lsanings.
While We are proud of our vast exports of
wheat AMI corn, of beef and pork, and of
this immense overplRs Of food crops In the
United States, there is a reflection that we
we shall do we'll to ponder and examine.
Every bushel of cereal every pound OF meat,
0v0fy CuuCo. VI CuCCoC, CNCiy W Attty "a
raw food product we export is so much gone
from the soil Of the country and gone for
ever. It Is so much drawn out of our re-
sources Of production and transferred across
ehe ocean, We do not feel the depletion
row. We do not see the waste directly. We
cannot realize the loss while our virgin soils
rsmsin, but there is loss just the same.
Sooner or later we shall see, feel
and realize 1t. The time may come
when the United States will be as dep n
dent for her food on foreign soils as En-
gland, Ireland, Scotia d, Fra ce and Ger
many now is. The time may come when
ships shall seek our shore with cargoes of
hreadstuffs and meat from some unculti-
vateA shore. How much better would it be
4 ins cad Of seeking = market across the
dangerous deep, our home industries of
Mae aud quarry, mill and shop, could be
increased 80 that our vast crops could oe
marketed at home among our workmen and
citizens sent abroad Instead of the foods
now exported.
The porgy, fish formerly very plenty on
our coast has for the past two years been
unknown. The demands made upon the
former countless shoals has proved to be
larger ths the supply. Whole fleets of
ste smers were employed in their capture,
and hundreds Of men, hundreds of thous-
ands of dollars of capital is Invested In :he