Its Effect Agricultural And Domestic

A montli before the bombardoient ot Fort Fisher began, Míe celebra ted powder explosión ocaurred which was intended to blow dosvn this solid earthwork, a mile in extent, with forty-feet traverses every few yards. lts ridicuious failure is well remembered. That night after the explosión of the powdership some pickets on the beaoh were oapturod and carried on board the Admiral's ship. Among them wns a very eolemn-looking follow, who sat silently and sadly chewing tobáceo. As there was intense curioeity among the offleers of the fleet to know the result of the remarkable experiment, one of them asked the solemn-looking "reb" if he waa in the fort when the powder-ship exploded, to which he replied in the affirmative, but without exhibiting the least interest in the matter; whereupon the officers gathered around him and began to ask questions. "You say you were inside the fort?' " Yaas, I was thar." " What -was the effect of the explosión?" " Mighty bad, sir - powerfnl bad !" ' ' Well, what was it ? Speak out. " "Why, stranger, hit waked up pretty nigh every man in the fort !" IJeacon PitjKins said to himself: "Falstaff aska ' What's honor?' As though it was hard to teil. But let my wife sit behind another woman in church, and she'll teil what's on her in less than two minutes," aples ana pears wui Keep anu coior better and bring a higherprice if pickled a few days before they are quite ripe. Míndke from a fattening cow ís supeiior to that of a railk cow. There is a defloiency of the phosphates in tho milk cows' droppings. Fob some sorts of vegetables, as lettuoe, cress, radishes and others, the Chinese system of keeping the soil continuously wet is the best that can be adopted. It produces a crispness ia the vegetables that is obtained only when there has been no check in the growth. Farmers should be advised not to try to economize by mowing too close. An old farmer of our acquaintance used to say that he thonght "it was better to leave the lower joint for the old brindle cow than to save it for her ;" and we wonder that all sensible farmers do not heed this advice. Frtjits gathered in the afternoon aro less acrid than when gathered in the mornicg, because fruits are ripened by the conversión of the acid they contain into sugar, and, since this requires the aid of light and heat, the intervening hours between morning and afternoon produce the difference in their ripeness. It is computed that in the year 1875 there were 10,000,000 cows kept for dairy purposes in this country, which, at $45 per head, were worth 450,000,000. The land needed for their support represents $900,000,000 more, and the capital invested in teams, dairy implements, etc., $100,000,000, making a grand total of $1,450,000,000 invested in this single industry. To rbndeb timber flre-proof : Satúrate it as far as may be with strong aqueous solutions of sodiuin tungstate (crude), silicate (water glass) or sulphate ; ammonium sulphate has also been used. Wood thus preserved is not ignited by sparks, or transient contact with name. Unaltered woody fiber cannot, however, be rendered, by these or other simple means, incombustible. The Philadelphia Farm Journal goes for a man who cuts firewood in harvest time, but advises the good wife to stick to cobs, chips, old broom-handles, bucketd, etc., until the last sheaf of oats is in the barn. Come " Weet, young man," where coal is mined from under a soil whose surface, tickled with a hoe, laughs with golden crops. If not, cut your fuel when the snow flies. To extermínate red ants on the lawn, the best thing is cyanide of poassium, about one ounce to a pint of water. Trace the ants to their nests and then pour the cyanide in. It will not hurt the grass, but rather help it. As it is a most deadly poison, no more should be bought than will be used up at once, or if more is procured it should be kept in a corked bottle and plainly labeled. - Toronto Globe. The washing of sterns and large branches of trees with a solution of carbolic acid soap dissolved in lukewarm water, and a portion of the flour of snlplmr mixed with it, is a good method for destroying the insects. The best time to do the washing is after the spring opens. It will then stick to the trees, and when the insects come out the poieon kills them in their infant state, and by that the foliage and fruits of the trees may be saved. Soaving Wheat. - Experiments at different depths favor, in ordinary soils, one or two inches. Samples of pure seed sown one-half inch in depth came up in eleven days, seven-eighths of the seed germmating; that sowed one inch in depth came up in twelve days, and all germinated; two inches deep, seveneighths of it came up in eighteen days; three inches deep, three-quarters of it came up in twenty days; four inches showed a growth of one-half, that came up in twenty-one days; five inches, only one-half grew and came up in twentytwo days, while that planted six inches deep came up in twenty-three days, but only one-third germinated. - Practical Farmer. To Kill Wild Oats. - There is probr bly no plant that a thorough summe allow will not kill in time. By perseverance the ground may be totally freed from vegetation of all kinds. But thero are some plañís the growth of which is actually encouraged by partial summerfallows, badly conducted. A simmerfallow, to be effeetive, must kill every sprouting root or seed while it is in its eariy, tender stages by constant plowing.' harrowing and culti vating. Biennial roots must be harrowed out, and those that possess great vitality must be picked off and removed from the land. Such a summer-fallow is costly, and it is almost equally effeetive to grow a succession of hoed crops, such as corn, potatoes or roots alternated with crops of quick and close growth, such as peas, buckwheat, flax or dover. To grow fall wheat upon foul land is only to perpetúate the weeds. - American Agricullurist. About the House. The Western Mural says that ripe tomatoes can be kept fresh a year by inimersing them, with the sterns on, in brine composed of a teacupful of salt to a gallon of water. Enamel cloth can be kept fresh for years by using proper care. If water fall upon it, it should be quickly wiped off with a woolen cloth, and grease spots should be removed with soap and water. Ou cloths can be easily and quickly spoiled by cleaning them with hot water, and not wiping them properly. They should be washod with lukewarm water, and wiped perfectly dry with a soft flannel. The following wash will renovate gilt frames : Take suffleient flour of sulphur to give a golden tinge to about a pint and a half of water, and in this boil four or five bruised onions, or garlic; strain off the liquiJ, and with it, when cold, wash with a soft brush any gilding which requites restoring. Tp make Scotch shortbread, nib together into a stifï, short paste two pounds flour, one pound butter and six ounces loaf sugar; make it into square cakes, about a half inch thick, pinch them all along the edge at the top, over the whole surface of the cakes sprinkle soms white comfits, put the cakes on tins so as to touch each other on their edges, and bake in a slow oven. Ceeam Beer. - Two ounces of tartaric acid, two pounds of white sugar, the juice of half a lemon; boil five minutes, and, when nearly cold, add the whites of three egga well beaten, one-half cup of flour, one-half cup of wintergreen essence. Take a table-spoonful of this sirup to a tumblerful of water, then add one-half teaspoonful of saleratus and drink at once. Apple Dumplinos - Quarter and core one apple for each dumpling; then put the parts together, with sngar in the middle; surround each apple with piecrust; if you wish to bake them, put them on a pan like biscuits, and set them in the oven. If boiled, tie each in a separate cloth, and boil for half an hour. Serve, both baked and boiled, with liquid sauce. Lioht Bbeab. - Two quarts of ttour, one teaspoonful of Balt, half a tea-enp of yeast, one egg, well beaten, one pint of water. Sift the flour and divide it into three parts. Mix one-third in the batter, one-third in the jar to riso in, and pour the other third over the batter. Let it stand two hours, and then work it well, addiug a small piece of lard before bakiug. The Minnesota farmers have been obliged to go back to the old-fashioiud rain eradle to ent their tangled wheat,