The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1889-11-15


to much. Grass needs sunlight to
make it nutritious. Stock fed on shad-
ed pasture must be grain fed besides,
or they will not thrive.
To fill up wet hole to make it dry
is usually very slow and unsatisfac-
tory business. After much labor has
been expended, the only result is to
make the wet place somewhat larger
than it was before. A stone or tile
drain sunk through the hole deep
enough not to be affected by frost, and
having a good outlet, will make the
wet spot the dryest and richest in the
field.
Many farmers who use the drill to
put in winter wheat SOW spring grain
broadcast. If the ground is freshly
plowed, the drill is pretty sure to put
the seed in too deeply. So, too, is
narrowing the seed in. The best use
OF the drill in spring is to put in grain
on fall-plowed land not previously
plowed in spring. It will leave much
of the seed on the surface, but an after
narrowing will cover it as deeply as is
necessary.
It is not known by all farmers that
sows may be bred four or five days
after dropping their young. If not
bred promptly then the SOW will not be
in heat again until after the pigs are
weaned again, six or eight weeks, as
the case may be. The loss of time
makes an important difference in the
value of the summer litter if one
be desired. If the breeding be
delayed so as to bring the pigs later
than August or September, the litter
will be scarcely worth the cost of
wintering.
The soft, silky hair of good COW
has a peculiar feel which practice
alone enables the expert buyer or
breeder to detect. There is also in the
best native COWS yellowish tinge
about the ears and around the bag,
suggestive of cream color. These are
the marks of some of the best butter
breeds. The earliest emigrants to this
country brought both from England
and Holland the best COWS they could
obtain, and those countries had in
those days as good COWS as any in the
orld.
Much less land is wasted in fence
corners than was formerly the case.
The crooked rail fence was a great
nuisance in very many ways. It was
harbor for weeds, especially since the
advent of mowers and reapers, and
most farm workers have forgotten the
use of the sythe. The loss of pasture
that this excessive amount of fencing
was designed to prevent is mere
trifle compared with the cost of saving
it. In most cases the fall feed is worth
more as a mulch to the ground for
winter than for the pasture it affords.
Household Hints.
Wash out common oil stains in cold
water.
Hang small bag of charcoal in the
barrel 10 purify the water.
Damp salt will remove the discolo-
ration of cups and saucers caused by
tea and careless washing.
Mildew can be removed by soaking
in buttermiik, or putting lemon juice
and salt upon it, and exposing it to
the hot sun.
Remove ink stains from silver-plated
ware by rubbing on a paste of chloride
of lime and water, then wash and
wipe dry.
To clear a stove of clinkers, put
handful of salt into it during a hot
fire. When cold remove the clinkers
with cold chisel.
A rubber atomizer, which costs
about two dollars, is an excellent arti-
Gle for spraying house plants or green
house plants affected by plant lice.
Take a quarter of yard of mos
quito netting, fold and refold it until
the required size, then tack it as you
would comfort, and you have good
dish cloth.
To purify the air in a newly painted
room, put several tubs of water in it,
and the water will absorb a great deal
of the smell. Milk will absorb more
than water.
If any housekeeper finds it impera~
tive to clean the windows on an icy
cold day, she can accomplish it safely
by using cloth dampened with alco-
hol, which never freezes.
To clean brass, use fine rotten-stone
and sweet oil. When the spots have
been removed, rub off all the oil with
clean piece of flannel and the dry
rotten-stone. Polish with chamois-
skin.
In case of burning the hand. which
often occurs when one is cooking, at
once spread thick covering of COM
mon baking soda over the injured part,
then tie a cloth over it. It gives