smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1871

IT would be difficult to give a specific
rule applicable to all cases for thinning out
fruit. Every orchardist, however, knows
hat it trees arc allowed to overbear, the
fruit will be proporionately small and far
more likely to bc dcformed and of inferior
quality. 1t is far better to- have a less
number of specimens and all large and
fine than many small ones, as the former
VIII usually measure as much as the latter,
and hring more in market Nearly all Of
the large fruits like apples and pears,
should be thinncd wh,n not more than
half grown; and where they are produced
in clusters. it is hctier to remove but one,
leaving the largest and most prominent
specimen. 1t is also well to notice the
difference in quantity upon the different
b'anch"s, and 80 thin that no more fruit
will remain on one side of the tree than
the other. This, Of course, cannot ALWAYS
be done, because cold winds or late frosts
may have blighted the blossoms upon one
side and not upon the other; but by using
a little forcthought, and making obecrva,
ton before commencing the operation, al
Year: 1871

TIE relative profit is much greater from
a small flock than a large one The grain
farmer, no matter how few his acres, can
make money by keeping few sheep.
There is always room for them some where,
and they consume and turn into money
food that otherwise would waste But b"
must be careful not to ovcrstock


10 illustrate, suppose the farmer cult
Yates only eighty acres, raising grain
chiefly. He Keeps few cows and the
necessary teams. One-fifth Of his farm is
in pasture, one fifth meadow; one planted,
one spring grain, and one wheat He
thinks he has as much stock as he can
proltably keep, but if he puts on one
sheep to every five acres, he will find their
products clear gain.


In the spring, early, they can run on the
sod which is to be plowed and one sheep
to each acre will not hurt the land yet
they will live we'll. After that they can
go into the pasture and will CLEAN after the
COWS to advantage. A run on the stubblcs
after harvest will not be felt where each
sheep has two acres, and in the fall there
is plenty Of feed. Through the whit, r
they can do we'll kept on what the other
stock would not consume, with the addi.
tion Of little grain


Probably the most profitable are some
Of the coarser woolcd, mutton breeds
Their lambs sell to the butchers for high
prices, and when fat the sheep fetch as
much as Il ycarling steer. Sixteen mutton
sheep well managed would produce year
ly income Of one hundred dollars, where
It none were kept, nothing would be real
ixed


The greatest drawback is liability to
loss by dogs and it is a disgrace to any
State to protect its ours So well that thew
cxpcl, to certain extent, the only animal
which can cheaper the meat and clothing
Of the peoplc--American Rural Home
Year: 1871

THE lime that is Stacked and the wood
ashes that is left, after firing the kiln, are
generally thrown to one side aud sold at
half the price Of pure burnt lime AS a
manure or fer ilizer for wheat it is almost as
good as guanO or other fertilizers now Of
fcred for sale. The above mixture of lime
and ashes contains large amount of solu
BILE salts, and the sulphates, phosphates
and carbonates and lime salts arc Just what
the wheat plants want to perfect straw and
grain. Experience has shown it plainly
where the refuse lime has been spread, as
the grain has come to maturity earlier,
growing stiff IN the straw, and yielding
large crops of we'll filled heads of the best
quality of grain. This can be seen mostly
On the farms of lime. burners, who haul
the mixture upon their land as it accumu-
lates at their kilns, and the great fertiiz-
ing effect of this manure can be seen, not
only upon their wheat, but on their grass
land. Grasses grow much more luxurious
and have much darker color, and the
clovers and other cultivated grasses grow
above and crowd out the ordinary grasses.
We have found that lime and ashes mixed
as top-dressing for clover or for corn,
was worth as much as plaster, if not more,
as it has always helped the corn to grow
faster and caused it to ear better, and gives
us much larger yield with less smut on
the stalks, than corn that had no ashes
and lime applied. Therefore we would
advise our farmer friends to apply lime
and ashes as a fertilizer for the cereals
Hosoto Make the Fttre Pay.
Year: 1871

Probably no one has written upon the
subject OF poultry raising, who has not
said that cleanliness is of vital importance


Cleanliness is godliness," TO mankind,
and the next thing to it in tho care of
chickens If under your pcrches you will
spread little straw or hay, you will find
it no trouble to clean out your hcn-house,
which should be done once q week in win
ter, but less frequently in summer, where
the house is perfectly dry and the chickens
1t is important to see that you invariably
feed them in clean places.


Fowls are as capricious as people about a
change of diet. They grow weary of corn
even, if fed continually. A better way is
to keep supply of corn and also Of wheat
screenings, ETC., and alternate the food.
And if poultry is your chief delight what
ever else you do, don't keep dog to sup
plant your fowls in your affections, and to
get all the bones and bits of meat which
your chickens so much need. And don't
be stngy about your scraps; cut off all the
scragey parts from your roasts, or legs of
veal or mutton and chop it, raw, for your
poultry; and observe what a concert you
will create in the chicken yard when you
feed it.


Don't forget the box of fresh, dry ashes
where they may have the fowl luxury of
busting themselves as often as they like !;
and also the fresh lime somewhere conve-
nicnt for them to supply shells for your
eggs, as we'll as to promote cleanliness and
and sweetness Of their premises. You
will not, of course, ask your chickens to
drink water which has stood twenty-four
hours, any more than you would drink
such yourself. But you will see that every
morning finds your watering places thor.
oughly cleaned, and filled with good fresh
water.


have been using preparation to i'm
prcgnate the water with iron and sulphur
both conductive to the health of poultry
which has been recommended by per
sons of large experience. Nis this: Pour
two quarts of boiling rain water on to \
half pound of sulphate of iron and half
ounce sulphuric acid. When the iron has
dissolved, bottle the preparation, and use
about a gill of it in each pail Of drinking
water.


When your hens are ready to come off
with brood of chicks, before cooping
them, take some kerosene oil and with a
swab thoroughly oil the feathers and flesh
of the fowl about the breast, legs and
wings. The oil is thus communicated to
the young chickens, and all are rid Of lice
most etfectually. By the same process
you can cause every fowl on your roost to
rise up and call you blessed" if they arc
troubled with this little poultry pest.
This spring I took a newly hatchcd chick
en-, which had come out few days in ad-
vance of the rest, and rolled it up in flan-
mel /; discovered louise ON it, put some
kerosene on the downy chick and when
next unrolled it, found over fifty lice
on the flannel Fact!


do not kno that have given very
valuable hints in all that have written
upon the subject, but do know that while
others have had fowls dying off promiscu
onsly, l have not had even one ON the
onc-third of which are now large enough
to broil have only lost FOUR Cor
| Prairie Fu7Wer
Year: 1871

equal distribution of the fruit over the
whole tree can be established. 1t is also a
good plan to 60 about the orchard once or
twice week and remove any specimens
Of fruit that have been stung by insects; !;
such fruit, however, should not be thrown
upon the ground, where the larva within
can come to maturity, hut should be either
given to hogs or otherwise cffcctually de-
stroyed. A little attention to such matters
would improve the quality of our fruit
and lessen the number of its insect focs.-
Ru2ul Ncw Yorker.
Year: 1871

THE difficulty of getting farm laborsrs
capable Of putting a good, durable, and


waterproof thatCh on q rick or building,


will, in all probability, disappear, if the
following method be adopted: Construct


sewing machine, with two motions,


and two needles sufficiently large to car
ry strong tarred yarn; and the needles


must be long enough to go through the


required thickness of thatch. The straw


is fed to themachine on an endless belt,
and the needles, working alternately
stitch the straw into heavy mating
This is rolled up, and applied to the roof,
or the rick, until it is covered. The
sheets of mating should overlap each
other as shingles do, and may be fast
ened to riCks or stacks with wooden pegs,
in the usual way. Fifteen hundred
square feet can be made in an hour, and
can be applied without the aid of any
skilled labor. If properly made and care
fully taken off the ricks, it can be used
for two or more seasons. This method
is simple, and, after the first cost for the
machine, is cheap. It is particularly ad-
vantageOus in use where straw is scarce,
as it wastes nothing. And the pOrtabiIi-
ty of the thatch in rolls is another re-
commentator, as thatching frequently
is wanted for haystacks at a distance
from the hOmestead.-Sci .Aueri-
can.
Year: 1871

For several weeks past We have heard
rumors aflOat about the ghOstly visits of
a spectre in human shape, whose terri
BILE proportions and awful looks have ap-
palled the hearts and curdled the blood
of the persons who have met this ghost
ly parsonage perambulating in his IA
VOrite' 'haunts, about q mile east of town,
near the site of the old saw mill adioin-
ing the Brock farm.


For the benefit of the believers in su-
pernatural appearance, we will give
what we have cleaned in an interview
with that oracle, the oldest inhabitant.'
in relation to traditions of the place.


About forty years ago there lived near


the spot an old man by the name of
Jacob StritchoOf, a peculiar sort of char
acter, who sought the solitude of the
woods, and assiduOusly summed the So
ciety of his fellow men. He managed
to pick up q precariOus subsistence, and
spent his time in wandering among the
adjacent hills, and especially in this To-
cality, with his wand, in search Of hid
den treasures, which he claimed were
buried there, as the fact had been made
known to him by the appearance Of a
ghost, who answers the description OF
the one about which we are writing
Ole. .StritchOOf seemed to have made sew
eral other persons, as credulOus as him
self, believe the story Of hidden wealth,
and they became so infatuated in the
belief that they dug immense holes in
various places in their fruitless efforts
to find it. These holes are still to be
seen, and one, of remarkable size is call
ed 'StritchOof's Hole and although slow
ly filling up by the action of the ele-
ments, will long remain monument to
their ignorance and superstition. Since
the time of StritchOOf up to the present
day other persons have claimed, at va
riOus periods during the intervening
years, to have met this wonderful ghost,
who is represented to be in the shape of
a giant, about eight feet in height, and
built in proportion. He is invariably ac-
cOmpanied by dog as large as a year
ling calf, and is as black as night, and
carries with him a gun with q calibre as
big as stOvepipe. The wonderful part
Of the story is that this one, unlike 9TH
er ghosts, does not cOnfine itself to night
ly visits, but may be seen during the
brOadestl daylight wandering up and
down among the hills and wales. Par
ties, some of whom are men of un-
questionable truth and veracity, assert
that this spectre has been seen often
within the past month, and by his ac-
tiOns seemed to indicate that he wished
them to dig at particular spots. Sever
al persons who are impressed with the
idea that there is something in it, have
been accommodating with pick and shovel
but as yet their labors have been unre-
Warded.-H -H5tliS6OrOHgh Gazette.
Year: 1871

WILLIAM and Mary Hewitt had once,
as they relate, vision of an army Off
er receiving a death-Wound in action
They inserted in the London Times o
notice of their vision. At the same time
the wife of an officer in the Enniskillen
Dragons had, in London, the same Wis
sion. She saw her husband meet his
death as he led his company in battle.
She compared notes with the HOWitts,
and both visions were found to agree
The next ship from India brought the
first news of the SepOy mutiny; the next
bulletin from army headquarters an
nounced the death of the young Iieuten-
ant. All the circumstances tailed eX-
actly and minutely with the visions, it
is said, and give the tale as I found it.


The Xenia Torchlight has the follow
ing news from Yellow Springs:


1t is said that party of students in
tend visiting the haunted house, which
is situated South of this village on the
Xenia road, and staying there through
the night to watch for the ghost that dis
turbs the quietude of that locality. As
the story runs, this house, which, by the
way, is two story frame of antiquated
style and architecture, and now very
much dilapidated, many years ago was
used asa tavern where the weary travel
er, through the then almost unbrOken
wilderness, could tarry and refresh him
self. One night a Wayfarer, who had
the appearance of great wealth, was
seen to stop for the night at this house
and never to emerge from it, and rumOr
says foul murder was committed for
gold, and as the spirit of ManIius rose
from the waves of the Tiber to greet the
headless shade shade of Pompey as it
stalked from the Egyptian shore, so does
the ghost of this murdered man stalk
forth at midnight's hour to greet the
unWelcOme intruder on his domains
The clanking of chains and whizzing of
missiles through the air can be distinct
ly. heard in the old house when the ghost
is about and these noises cannot be ac-
counted for, unless a superstitious view is
taken. 1t is hoped that this band of
students will ferret out the long sought
mystery,
Year: 1871

There resides in Thirty-ffth street
a gentleman named Michel Hardin.
and he is fortunate enough TO possess
not only q beautiful wife, but pretty
little daughter, scarcely three years Of
age. The ehild's name is Mamie, and
from her playful, happy nature, and


rare beauty, she has been g faYOrite


with all who have been 50 fortunate
as to enjoy her parents acquaintance
and her own childish friendship
Among the ehild's playmates was a


fayorite cat, and the young ladyis


homestead Of her own beneath an


adjoining building, deserted the little


fragment Of the genus homo and took
M her exclusive residence among
those Of her own " kit and kim Not
knowing thai the cat was about to
I become the maternal relative of
number of young ThOmases or Tab
bies, the child was almost heart
/ broken at her sudden desertion, and
| for days it searched the parental do


main without ceasing for its play
mate. On Monday evening last the


child heard mewing under the build
I ing, where the feline family had


taken refuge, and pereeiving q small
I aperture leading thereto, she crowded
her little body into it. Once in, she
could not extricate herself, not know
Z ing enough TO carefully back out, and


remained in the narrow hole till Tues


day morning. In the meantime, the
l father and mother having missed the
little one, were in agony OF grief, and
engaged in a wild search for the lost


one. Suspicious parties circulated sto-
ries 10 the effect that the child had
been stolen, and some even went so
far as 70 designate the child-stealer.


Two or three said they had seen the
ehildin possession Of a suspected party.


In the meantime, while friends were


making search, the mother wandered
about, crying for her lost darling and


moaning piteously. Suddenly her
quick ear detected the feeble voice OF
the little one calling, and following
the sound, the child was rescued, after
an absence of thirteen hours. She


was quite exhAused, and over her the
cat was standing guard, purring and
occasionally lashing her tail against
her sides, as a group Of bright-eyed
rats peered forth near by, or scam
pered past in the distance.-N Y
Herald.
Year: 1871

To the youth who is Just entering
the may-Jime Of his existence; when
the world smiles loyeingly and flow
ers bud and blossom IN prismatic
brightness when airy mist-elouds
fioat before their vision redolent with
romantic sweetness, and this earth
appears like one vast flower -garcen,
filling the air with their beauty and
frRgranee-time has taught but few
lessons and even these few are tossed
earelessly aside, unheeded.


But TO those more advanced in life
and its experiences. to the middle aged
and the aged, are taught lessons new
er 70 be forgotten.


The human mind is not unlike s
large volume filed with blank leaves,
and Is the days roll onward these
] blanks are filled with useful lessons
from which nlueh may be CLEANED (;
I though many times mingled with the
I dim shades OF reality, they help TO
develope the soul and teach the great
law OF use. AS the years come and
90 we early find that life is a strange
/ commingling of good and evil, of
I beauty and defOrmity, frcm which we
Z too often shrink in holy horror, eX-
claiming mentally-"sIand aside, /
/ am hOlier than thOu.n


Receive the good and reject the bad.
I Say TO the Out-csst and the inebriate,
ego and sin no more, y for some time
/ in the mystic future s nsme may be
twined with these two, that will cause
a bitter shudder; for all are liable TO


be led into temptation; none are
perfect, none too good to err"


4
there is a germ in every soul and help
TO brighten the sad and lonely hearted,
those whom time hath dealt too harsh


ly with. Some times we murmer that
he hath handled as roughly-that our
fellows have been unjust, and the


world is cold and cruel, when II we


examine closely we will find the cause


within. What were life worth if il
teaches nothing, or TO its lessons We


lend no listning ear. Is it a blank,


a nonentity, and are Ue mortals


thrown into existence to struggle for


day, a week, a year, and then sink


into oblivion and be as if we never


had been2 All nature answers in a


million voices, ,sweetel than an angels


chanting anthem, no.


Then have an object in life, and live


to accomplish something, that the


world, when you have passed away,


may be the better for your having
lived in il. Plough through misfor-
! tune, poverty, and suffering. and list


en- to the teaching hand Of time CLEAN


ing therefrom al the good and reject
ing the evil. What though the way


may be thorny and unillumed, keep


your eye on the silver star that is


tWinkling in the distance and beck


oning you onward and upward where


a reward awaits the truly good.


MERCTA BoYNTON LANE.
Year: 1871

orphans shall be performed in a man
ner that will worthily express the
affection and gratitude with which
these wards Of the State must ever be
regarded by a just and patriotic COM
munity. 1, therefore, respectfully
recommend that the legislation deem
ed necessary by the BOardand Officers
in charge Of the institution he enacted
as promptly as practible.


THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.


The report OF the Geological sur
vey, to be laid before you, exhibits
the encouraging progress Of that
work. The future growth Of Ohio IN
wealth and population, will depend
largely on the development OF the
mining and manufacturing resources
Of the State. Heretofore, our increase
In capital and numbers has oeen
chiefly due to agriculture. important
as that great interest viii always De
in'Ohio, the recent census shows that
We may not reasonably anticipate, in
future, rapid growth in population or
wealth, from agriculture alone. With
out calling in question the great and
immediate benefit to accrue to -agri-
culture from the geological seryey, it
is yet true that the tendency Of its
exhibition Of our vast mineral wealth,
is to encourage the employment OF
labor and capital in mining and manu-
featuring enterprises. Let the work
be continued and sustained by ample
appropriations.


CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.





Its necessary that the General As
sembly, at its present session, should
adopt the requisite legislation to carry
into effect the following requirement
Of the Constitution Sec. 3, Article
l6, Of the Constitution provides that
''at the general election to be held in
the year one thousand eight hundred
and seventy-One, and each twentieth
year thereafter, the question, shall
there be q Convention to revise, alter,
or amend, the Constitution % shall
be submitted to the State. and in case
a majority of all the electors voting
at such election shall beside in favor
of such a Convention, the General
Assembly, at its next session, shall
provide by law for the election of
delegates and the assembling Of such
Convention


In conclusion, 1 feel warrented in
Congratulsting you on the favorable
Judgment of your constituents upon
your action on the important subjects
which were considered at your last
session, and in expressing a confident
hope that wat remains to be done
will, under Providence, be 50 wisely
ordered that the true interests Of all
the people Of the State will be greatly
and permanently advanced.


r. r. HAYES.


January s, 1871.
Year: 1871

Ayoung woman in Jeffersonville,
Indiana, while out walking with a
young man who had been loving her
not wisely but too numerOnsly, met a
minister, when she turned to the
young man, pulled q revolver, and
gave him his choice to marry her
right there or be perforated, adding
that If the minister refused to per-
form the ceremony she would shoot
him. The nuptial knot wasted. No
cards.
Year: 1871

An ambitious amateur once put up
the Lady Of Lyons as a eOmDli-
mentary testimonial to himself. At
the end Of the first act he addressed
the audience as follows: "Ladies and
gentlemen, with your kind permis-
sion will I conclude the evenings en-
tertainment by singing i would not
die in spring time, IS find the part
Of Claude a little too hefty for me, I"