Minor Farm Topics

Soiii loosened tvvo feet drop dries out ■ loss in summer thau soil onc toot dorp. llieh soil graws a tree largpr in onc year than a paor soil will iii tliree. Ufiderdrained boü is cooler in summa1 tlian soil nut under-drained, To fbomote thé growth of hogs in warm weather, slops made of shorts and bran should bc used; also of oats and rye. Neither cora nor any otlior carbonaceouss food slionld bo fcd to liogs in large quantitics in hot weathor, yet, if they aro permitted to feed on clover, corn in moderate qnantities will bo aa good as any other feed. A wiuteis in Scribncr's Magazine says the farmer of Holland, as though eager to recognize the all-important aid they derive from their cows, frequenüy cover them in summer with linen blankets, tied in place, to guard thera from the attacks of insects, and to shelter them froin tho frequent raw sea winds. It is usual, too, to set up in the pastare ñelds convenient scratching-poles agaiust which the cattle may rab their sides and necks with evident advantage. AcooitDiNö to the returns of tho Departaneni of Agriculture, the direct losses of shcep-owners by the ravages of dogs reach a million dollars annually in wool and mutton, and the indirect loss in the repression of sheep husbaudry, and the consequent waste of a large percentage of the grass erop, is still larger. Reporta from 500 counties, representing about one-fourth of the sheep of the United States, show a total of 79,285 sheep killed duriug 1874; and even these returns are not complete. In somo of the States the loss is from íour to eleven per cent. of the whcle value of the sheep kept. Sick AntmAís. - Nearly all sick ani mals become to by improper feeding in the first place. Ninc cases out of ten the digestión is wrong. Charcoal is the most effective and rapid corrective. It will cuve in n majority of cases, if erly adminiatered. An examplo of its use : The hired man came in with the intelligenee that one of the iinest cows was very sick, aud a kind neighbor proposed the usual drugs and poisons. The owner being ill and unable to examine the cow, Concluded that the trouble eame from over-eating, and ordered a teacupfnl of pulverized charcoal given in water. ]t was mixed, placed in a junk bottle, the head held upward, and the water and charcoal poured downwaril. Iu five minutes improvement was visible, and in an hour the animal was ia the pasture quietly eating grass. Auother instance of equal succoss occurred with a young hei f er wliich had bc-, come badly bloated by eating green applós after ii hard wind. The bloat was so severa that the sides were almost as i hard as a barrel. The old remody - saleratus - was tried for correctiug the j acidity, bnt the attempt to put it down I always caused couglñng, and did little good. ■ Half a teacupful of fresh powctered charcoal as given. In six hours all appearance of the bloat had gone, and , the heifer was well. - Live Slock Journal. Balky Hokses. - A correspondent gives some of his experience iu this lire, as follows : In 1855 I was forced to go ten miles behind a horse said to be "somewhat inclined to balk." He went on nobly for two miles, but about the iniddie of the fiist hill ] gtöpped, I remained quiet, and wondeted it' that was the iirst inclination to j balk. After a few minutes I said " go aloiifr, " and pulled gently on the reins. His ears went back and all four feet settlecil upon the mother carth. I had heard of turning balky horses arouud to start them, and so oomrnonced pulling on a rein to turn hini, aiwl said again " go along," and the Ix-ast titrncd willingly, and so I " Bwomg him round tho cii'cle," and faced up hill again, and ho went to the top and onward, until he again concluded to stop and reflect. I turned his i head homeward, and encii'eled his ! thoughts üfteen times in that ten miles, ! and I beat him at his own tricks, and I never struek the spirited animal a blow. i He was driven back by another person who had heard my story with some ridicule, and gSfld " he'd break that spirit in him or kill him." He, however, broke both thills, and led the, horse six miles, for go al)';:d of the man he would not. Spivited hemea seldom balk. Like spiritod woiiun, you cannot drive them, but you eau ".swing them round the circle," and tlms keep on life's journey together - i. e., after a fa.shion. About the House IiuoWN Bkkad. - Take 2 cups Kweet milk, 1 cup Bonr milk, 3 cups maal, 1 cup üour, 1 onp molasses, 1 teaspoonful soda. Bake two hours. Raisim Cake. - Tako 1 pup.flour, 2 1 cups cream, 1 cup butter, Jt eggs, 1 i pouud ot' raifeins, oloves, oinnamon, oanilii'd leniiw cut fine, 1 teaepoön of soda. Btir well. Molassks Sponge ('akh. -T:ke 1 cup Daólasses, 1 spoonfuï melted butter, 2 bgga b.'atcu very liglil, cup sveet milk, 1 teaspoonf ui cream tartax, teaH])oonful soda, U cupa nova, i littlo ginger, Hrs-riNc artiolos i sterf, ftfter they hftye boen thoroiLly oleaued, with unshickcil linie, wil] reveut fcbem i'roni nist. The coila of páano win.-s thns sprinklod iil keep froui lust taaaj Tf the ohimney glaea ol a lamp be cut wjtfi ft diamond ün klie conTeï sid-, it uill ticvi i oiaok, os the moisioii affoïds rooin fof sxpansioD prodtKd by the heat and the ghws, aftRT 1 is oom, retuinsto ta original sbape, with only b scratch visible whearethe uut is made.