The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1884-06-21
Making Hay.-The hay-making season being

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Making Hay.-The hay making season being
near at hand, we publish the following from the
Rural Record, believing its suggestions viii be of
value to some people: "There is still great diff
ference of opinion to the best method of making
hay so as to have it retain the largest amount Of
its nutritive qualities. When haying was done
entirely by hand work, while some would get the
hay in the same day it was cut, others would
make it at least three days; and while some
would spread it out very thin, that the sun might
shine every stalk, others, after the first day,
kept it in small heaps and let it make in the
shade; each contending that his way the
best.
s'Since the introduction of machinery, farmers
do not vary so much in their methods in fact
they can not, if they use the machines. Under
the old methods the mowers, most of them, we're
in the field early in the morning cutting the grass
when the dew was on, but now with the moving
machine the farmer finds it to his interest to wait
till the dew is of, when he rapidly cuts the grass
leaving it lying, not in compact but spread
over the land as even as it grew. From this
position it is repeatedly turned over by the tender
keeping it as much as possible in the air and
sunshine. Whether or not this be the best way
it is evidently the cheapest. Fine grass no doubt
can be cured in this way very well, but coarse
grass, if kept in the all the time, dries on the
out side so hard as to prevent the moisture from
escaping from the inside; that when it is pack
ed away in the barn it slowly makes its way out
until the outside is quite damp, thus causing the
hay to come out smoky. To prevent this it should
be heaped up in the field after having one days
sunshine and permitted to stand over one day,
when the moisture will come to the surface and
can be at once dried off,
ho uvoll do hv Eaa in
the sun and air all the time; by this method many
of the leaves are lost and the stalks do not dry
through. We have never found better method
to make clover hay than to open it to the sun six
or height hours and then rake up in heaps of
about thirty live pounds each when dry; let them
stand one day, then make them over in two or
three days MORE if the weather be good, it will be
in condition to get in, after turning the heaps
over to the sun for an hour. Glover made in this
way will be very fragrant, all the leaves being on
the stalks and the blossoms almost as perfect in
color as when growing"
The Speed of Thought.-There are great
many people who have noticed the remarkable
quickness of thought in dreaming, how long
story, with many details and extending over a
great period of time, will fash through the mind
in few minutes, but they seldom have any means
of even approximately measuring the quickness
with which they sometimes dream. There is now
going the rounds of the press story purporting
to tell the dream of railway engineer, which, if
true, affords a means of measurement, and the
story itself has every appearance of being a gen.
uine relation of experience. The engineer had
been without sleep and on duty for many hours,
and at last fell asleep on his post. Then he
dreamed quite an elaborate story of an accident
resulting from a confusion of train orders; how
he studied over the words of the dispatch, trying
to make out their meaning, and then how, his
train coming into collision with another, he was
thrown into the air and dropped back into his
sea. IN the cap with his hand on the throttle. At
that instant consciousness returned, and he found
that it was all a dream, and that although his
train was travelling at the rate of As miles an
hour, it had gone only $50 feet while the dream
was passing through his mind this distance being
fixed by the position of the train with respect to
to signal lights on the line. This is the interest
ing part of the story, for if these measurements
are approximately correct, the dream occupied
less than four seconds of time.
The Mosquito.-An exchange says: "Just
about this time of the year the mosquito
reaches maturity and is entitled to all rights
of American citizenship. Those who have made
a study of the bird tell us that it is born in the
month of April 1t spends its infancy preparing
for the battle of life. During the first month of
existence it lies in complete idleness, giving a
chance for its claws and singer to grow and for
copper lining to form over its stomach. During
the second month it INDUCES in athletic exercises
and in cutivating its voice. and at the end Of the
month it is able to fly in thirteen different direc-
tions at the same time and to sing like q lark
1t spends the third month testing its singer on
the railroad track, and when it is able to plunge
the instrument of torture into the iron spread it
INT riae of ir0n viii fha limo is
ready for active business. Its mode of attack is
a treacherous one. 1t hovers about the back Of
your neck until it gets everything in shape, then
1t darts around the corner and with a wild shrek
sinks its singer into your face, and although you
claw at it Immediately, it is gone, together with
gill of blood and big piece of your skim"
Mustard Plaster.-An old andqu eminent
physician says: GLOW many people are there who
really know how to make a mustard plaster? Not
one in hundred, at the most perhaps, and yet
mustard plasters are used in every family. The
ordinary way is to mix the mustard with water,
tempering it with a little flour, but such plaster
as that is simply abominable. Before it has half
done its work it begins to blister the patient, and
leaves him finally with a painful, fayed spot,
after having produced for less effect in bene-
fetal way than was intended. Now, q mustard
plaster should never make blister at all. If
blister is wanted there other plasters far bet
ter than mustard for the purpose. When you
make mustard plaster, then, use no water, but
mix the mustard with the white of an egg, and it
will draw perfectly but will not pro luce blister,
even upon the skin of an infant, no matter how
long it remains on the part"
The Time to Get Work.-There is no excuse
for anybody being idle. There is demand for
laborers. The farmer is now busy and is in
earnest in getting in his crops, and from all Sec
lions of the county there is demand for help.
Now is the time for many able bodied men who
may be out of employment to seek the rural dis
tricts and get work. Those who have performed
such faithful service street corner sentres dur
ing the long winter and early spring, can now be
spared for few months, and brief season in the
country will recuperate their health and give them
a new lease on life, so that with renewed energy
they can resume their corner street loafng, and
store box whiting in the fall.
The Time to Cut Fire Wood.-The Rural
World says: "0f green wood one third to one
half more of its weight is water, partly depend
ing upon the time of cutting. All kinds of wood
cut in January in the Northern and Western
States contain from Is to rs per cent. less water
than they do in spring. Experiments have shown
that 100 pounds of ashwood cut in January con-
same amount cut in April contained thirty-eight
pounds of water; 100 pounds of sycamore cut in
January contained thirty three pounds Of water,
and forty cut in April. White pine cut in Janu-
airy contained fifty two pounds; cut in April,
sixty-one pounds of water"
To Remove Greese Spots From Wall
Paper.-Housekeeper are frequently annoyed
by oil marks on papered walls against which
thoughtless persons have laid their heads. These
unsightIy spots may be removed by making
paste of cold water and pipe clay fullers earth,
and laying it on the surface without rubbing it
on, else the pattern of the paper will then likely
be injured. Leave the paste on all night. In the
morning it can be brushed off and the spot will
have disappeared, but renewal of the operation
may be necessary if the oil mark is old. The ex-
pertinent will belikely to result most satisfactorily
on plain papers, or that with the least number of