Agricultural And Domestic

Around the Farm. The indications of good health in fowls are a florid color of the comba, bright eyes, freo from moisture, dry nostrils, and brigbt, glossy plumage. Mr. Donaid G. Mitcheil thinks "the time is sliortly comirg, if it be not already come, whcn Americans will not look so scornfully as in the past npon 3 or 4 per cent. of revenue from landholders" or from productivo farms. A writer in the Poultry World argües that there is no foundation for the theory that one breed of domestic fowls is more tender end juicy than another ; any fowl badly i'ed or cared for is, necessarily, poor, " stingy" and unpalatable, but, other hings equal, no difference can be discovered in the taste of Ihe flesh of the various breeds. A oorrespondent of the Oanadian Entomologist has been experimenting with a view to induce chickens to eat potato-bugs. He first mixed both larvs and beetle with the food offered the chickens, but they refused to touch them. Áfter a few days, by keeping the insects in their food consfcantly, they began eating the beetles, and soon appeared to relish them aboui as well as the corn. After this the chickens ate them from the vines, and só reduced them in numbeis that they did no material daraage. Mr. Cleveland thinks there can be no more mistaken and foolish economy thsn shallow draining, which, in his opinión, is simply the abandonment of the chief advantages which can accrue to the soil from drainage. No person whose experience has been suffleient to give weight to his opinión will admit that a less depth than three f eet is worthy of consideration in ftny case, and in clay soils, or loams haviflg a clay sub-soil, the advantages of a greater depth are so obvious and important that it may be 88Ú1 - speaking cemparatively - that Dr man can afford to lay his tiles at a less depth than four i eet. It is a little odd that in this country, where every facility exists, so few ducks and geese are raised. These are proverbially the most hardy and long-lived of all our poultry. In places where cholera, croup, etc. , sweep off the fowls and turkeys, geese and ducks, which are not subject to these diseases, should be tried. In densely-popuiated Great Britain and even in Belgium. where one would suppose there was little room, more geese are raised to the square mile than in the United States. In the interior ducks and geese can be raised abotit as profitably as other kinds of poultry, and, where diseases prevail, more profltably. - fJxchange. A method in practice among the best butter makers in England for rendering butter flrm and solid during hotweather is as follows: Carbonate of soda and alum are used for the purpose, made into powder. For twenty pounds of butter one teaspoonful of carbonate of soda and one teaspoonful of powdered. alum are mingled together at the time of churning, and put into the oream. The effect of this powder is to make the butter come firm and solid, and to give it a clean, sweet flavor. It does not enter into the butter, but its action is upon the cream, and it passes off with the buttermilk. The ingredients of the powder should not be mingled together until required to be used, or at the time the cream is in the chura ready for churning. - Dairyman. The farmers will thank ex-Gov. Seymour, of New York, for his suggestion that Government include cheese among the rations for the army. Gov. Seymour is a farmer himself, and has for years taken a deep interest in the manufacture and sale of that staple. No doubt the army, now composed of 25,000 men, would welcome cheese as a portion of its edibles; and it is to be wondered at that this nutritive md healtby article has not before found ïtself among the rations of the men who constitute the strong arm of the law. The army of the United States would require of cheese as a ration about 50,000 pounde per week, or at the rate of 2,510,000 pounds annually. This amount of cheese consumed in each year would add eonsiderably to the demand for good cheese, and at the same time cultívate a more extensive taste for the article, which at the present time is used oiy to a limited extent in this country. - American Cultivator. Mr. M. B. Prince asks whether thorough cultivation is any protection against insects. All insects which infest tUe soil itself, or which bore the roots of plants beneath the soil, are wonderfully fond of s quiet life; Ihey cannot stand a constant disturbance of their haunts, and wil! leave for quieter places. On the other hand, vigorous plants of all kinds are produced by very frequent cultivation, and are able to repel insects beciuse they are vigorous. In the same way, a vigorous, heaithy animal never becomes lousy or sickly, br cause it is only weakness which invites the enemy. Therefore, frequent cultivation kills two birds with one stone. Mr. P. will, probably, never again apply unrotted manure to his land, unless he wants to perpetúate some pet variety of weed, of whieh he may accidentally have lost the seed. He should at once mulch his small fruitbushes heavily, after a thorough hoeing and loosening of the soil for two feet, at least, around each one. - Uur al New Yorker. About the House. Old Potatoes. - Peel and boil in salted water, and take up as soon as done, that they may remain whole ; have ready some rolled crackers and a beaten egg ; dip the potajes into the egg and then into the crackers, and fry in boiling lard. To Make Silver Platb Bbight.- Silver-plate jewelry and door plates can be beautifully cleaned and made to look like new by dipping a soft cloth or chamois skin in a weak preparation of ammonia water and rubbing the iirticles with it. To Whiten Poroelain Saucepans. - Have the pans half fllled with hot water, throw in a table-spoonful of powdered borax and let it boil. If this does not remove all of the stains, soap a cloth, sprinkle on plenty of powdered borax. Scout it well. Eaisin Pie.- One cup of raisius, chopped fine ; one cup of sugar ; two eggs ; one cup of vinegar ; one cup of sirup; one cup of water ; one-half cup of flour ; one teaspoonful of cloves ; the same of cinnamon and soda ; butter size of an egg; two cruats. Tabts. - Make a stiff dough of two cups of Grahain flour and one of grated coccanut, with cold water, kneading well. Add a cupful of boiled lice. Mix those nightly, and roll thin ; bake in gem pans, watching caref ully. Fill with grape or berry sauce just before they are to be eaten. Olaret Pudding Sauoe for the Above.- Let one pint of claret, a little stick of cinnamon, rind of half a small lemon, eight ounoes of sugar, and three table-spoonf uls of well-washed currants come to a boil, then add a very little corn starch thinned with water to give a proper consistency to the sauce. Sago Wine Pudding. - One quart of California rhine wine and one pint of water ; three pints of milk can be used instead of the wine ; add to the wiuc or milk three ounces of butter ; let it come to a boil, then add four table-spoonfuls of sago ; let it cook for flve minutes, continually stirring ; in a different dish mix four ounces of sugar with the yelks of three or four eggs ; beat the w hites to a stiff froth ; all to be well ttixed ; bake in a moderate oyen for one Uour and a half.