The Opelousas courier., 1886-02-27
Farm and Garden Notes. "r--

most d1VlSlDtc plant IN Cne SdIutH. G1aSL1
separate branchlet may be removed with
its modicum of root, and every bit will
form a plant.
Butter tubs should be thoroughly
cleaned and then soaked in brine before
packing down butter in them, which will
materially assist in preventing the butter
from being tainted.
Winter is the season for making man
ure. The best precautions should be
made for carefully preserving it. A good
way to preserve it in the West is to haul
it on to stiff soils at once.
A few statistics may be of service. An
ordinary barrel contains 4 1-2 solid feet;
a bushel contains a trif1e over 1 IA solid
feet; a solid foot of water weighs SO 1-2
pounds; an acre contains 43, $50 square
feet.
Do not cover the lawn all over with
stable manure, which is to remain there
all winter an offense to the eye, the nos
! trils and the feet. There is nothing more
disgusting than this turning a lawn into
a BARNARD. and there is no necessity for
it.
Pumpkins should, it is stated, be
broken open and the seeds taken out be-
fore feeding them to cattle or hogs. The
seeds act as a diuretic, and animals
should never be allowed to eat them, ex-
cept for the purpose of stimulating the
kidneys.
In sowing grass seed DO not be saving
with the seed. It is a great deal better
to sow too much than too little, as by the
former method the sod will soon right
itself. but when too little seed is sown
there will never be a good sod until re-
/ seeded.
A Colorado paper says that "the COW
may be queen, the horse king, and the
sheep away up in royal honors, but it is
an indisputable fact that the hog, under
the impetus of alfalfa and pea food, is
approaching dangerously near the
throne.n
Regarding the manurial value of
freshly fallen tree leaves it has been as
| certained through the researches of Pro-
fessor Emmerling, DR.. Loges and Herr
Emes, that beech, oak, and birch leaves
contain only two to 2.3 per cent. of utllL
zible matter, plane up to four, and popu-
lar and willow five to 81 per
Take one-half ounce of camphor, dis
solve in one pound of melted lard; take
off the scum and mix in as much fine
black lead as will give it an iron color.
Clean the machinery, and smear with the
mixture. After twenty-four hours rub
clean with soft linen cloth. 1t will keep
clean for months under ordinary circum-
stances.
SPrune in winter for wood and in sum-
mer for fruit But do not prune too
much. Just enough to let in sufficient
light and air to give the leaves their fair
quota is right. A good rule is, when you
see a limb interfering with another, out
with it, whatever the time of year. When
the sap is in full flow wounds will heal
over quickest.
The best remedy against the girdling
of trees by rabbits is to coat the bark
with some substance offensive to them,
one of the best being a thick wash made
of cow manure and water, with enough
water-slacked lime to make the mixture
of d dull white color or greenish grey.
The mixture may be applied with an old
broom or brush.
Everyone who has fowls should pro-
vide a dustpan. Fine road dust, coal
ashes, sand, pulyerized loan, or ven
clay, are all very good, and with a sprink-
ling of powdered sulphur constitute as
good a bath as can be desired. This
should be placed in a sunny exposure of
the room, and kept dry and clean so that
the fowls may enjoy its benefits when
they choose.
A little salt is essential to the we'll
animals. It is more often given in ex-
cess to COWS to make them drink hearth
", and thus increase the flow of milk.
But this attempt to make milk from
water, even through the COW, defeats its
own end. In the effort to get rid of the
excess of salt the animal scours, its di-
gestion is interfered with and the flow Of
milk is decreased. But a due proportion
of water, especially if warm, mixed with
nutritious food, will increase the flow of
milk without reaction.
When a stump is burned piling around
it some sods which will become heated
throughout changes them to a valuable
manure. In some parts of England it is
a common practice to gather sods from
waste places, which after thoroughly dry
inc are burned and the ashes and eharred
earth spread on cultivated fields. 1t is
suspected that the burning over of newly
cleared lands in the early settlement of
our country was one chief cause of their
great productiveness. Certainly newly
cleared lands now, when the wood is
carefully taken away and sold are not so
productive as virgin soil used to be.
Recipes.
BEEF OR VEAL STEw.-Cut two
pounds of cold or raw meat into small
pieces and put into just enough cold
water to cover; add one pint canned or
fresh tomato, and one onion chopped
fine, with salt and pepper to the taste.
Mix a lump of butter the size of a wal
nut with a very little flour, just enough
to make a nice gravy, and pour over slices
of evenly Drowned toast.
Pres FEET.-Wrap each foot in a cot
ton bandage, wound about it two or
three times, and cord it with Irvine.
When all the feet are ready plunge them
in boiling water, and boil them for four
hours. Let them remain in the bandages
until they are needed to fry, boil or
pickle. The skin will hold together
while cooking, and when eaten they will
be tender and delicate as possible.
WAFFLEs.-One quart -four. one-half
tablespoonful salt, one teaspoonful sugar,
two teaspoonfuls baking powder, one