Aurora of the Valley from Newbury, Vermont • 3

AURORA OF THE VALLE1 SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1871. 3 Agricultural Items. Dea. Samuel M. Hurlbert, of Shel New Hampshire Statistics.

The following table of the comparative statistics of New Hampshire possess unusual interest, and they will be found very A BALLAD. everything that grows, whether upon the tree or in the ground, is subject to misshape, to rust, smut, frost, rot, drouth, and other ills so familiar to farmers but the prospects were never better, and with favorable growing time and harvest time, the year of 1871 will prove one of great plenty. Wheat Production. Early Tomatoes. D.

A. Conipton of Hawley, writes to the American Institute Farmers' Club as follows: Do not forget to tell your agricultural friends that tomatoes on heavy soil may be obtained from four to five week earlier than usual by setting the plants on the tops of sharp hills. The hills should be about fifteen inches high and three feet in diameter at the base. Water the plants only when first set, and dust the plant and whole hill frequently with plaster. The tomato, coming from a hot and dry country, will endure a drouth that would being kept pure and sweet.

When the calf is large enough, turn it into the best pasture; but here again be careful to avoid a sudden change to grass, by keeping up a good supply of the other food, to be gradually diminished, as circumstances may dictate. It is better, however, to give calves some meal the whole season through and the following winter, if good animals are desired; and probably no outlay for such food pays better than that expended to keep such young animals in a constantly growing and fine condition, being the turning point, perhaps, between a fifty or a hundred or two hundred dollar animal. It is bad care, dirt, irregular feeding, and so forth, that spoils calves and gives any food a bad reputation. Country Gentleman. Intelligence of the Cow.

A writer says: That cows have memory, language, signs, and the means of enjoying pleasant association, or combining for aggressive purposes, has been recognized, but scarcely to the extent the subject merits. Travelling in Italy, many years ago, we visited some of the large dairy farms in the neighborhood of Fer-rara. Interspersed amongst much low-lying, unhealthy land, remarkable for the prevalence on it of very fatal forms of anthrax in the Summer season, are fine, undulating pasture lands, and the fields are of very great extent. happened to stop at a farm house one fine Autumn afternoon when the cows were about to be milked. A herd of over one hundred was grazing homewards.

The women took their positions with stool and pail close to the house, and as the cows approached names were called out which we thought were addressed to the milk-maids, Rosa, Flo-renza, Giulia, Sposa, and many other names which were noted by us at the time, were called out by the overseer or one of the women, and we were astonished to see cow after cow cease feeding or chewing the cud, and make direct sometimes at a trot for the woman that usually milked her. The practice, we found, was not confined to one farm; all the cows on each farm knew their respective names, and took up their position in the open space just as readily as the individual members of some large herds in this country, turning from the fields, take their places in the sheds. Spring House-Cleaning. Carpets that do not require to be taken up, should be loosened at the edge, and with a dustpan and brush, all the dust can be removed; if there are any traces of moths, wash the floor with strong turpentine or kerosene, putting the carpet down quickly, and lb i moths will have their quietus. The disagreeable odor will soon disappear if the windows are opened widely, and you can be certain that your carpets will not be ruined this summer.

This same burning fluid will drive out and keep away the moths from upholstered furniture. It can be put on with a cloth, and if pure will leave no stain, but brighten the colors. Before applying it, brush out the cushions with a hand-brush, and damp cloth, to remove all the dust. Straw mattings should be washed with a doth dampened in salt water. Take care not to wet it but little, for if the matter is soaked through it becomes brittle.

If Indian meal is sprinkled over it, or damp sand, and thon thoroughly swept out, it will also cleanse it finely. In washing windows, a narrow-bladed wooden knife, sharply pointed, will take out the dust that hardens in the corners of the sash. Dry whiting will polish windows nicely and we find weak black tea the best liquid to wash the glasses. For a few days before the cleaning is to take place, save all the tea-grounds. Then when needed, boil them in a tin pail with two quarts of water, and use the liquid on the windows.

It takes off all dust and fly specks. If applied with a newspaper, and rubbed off with another paper, they will look far better than if cloth is used. If there are old feather beds, and no Bleam renovator at hand, put them out in the first heavy, drenching rain that falls. Let them become thoroughly wet, and turn the beds several times; then dry them in the sun, and when one side is perfectly dry, beat it with sticks to lighten up the feathers, and turn up the other side to dry; either placing boards under it, or putting the beds on the piazza roof, if one is at hand. To take out stains from either matress-es or feather beds, make a paste of soft soap and starch, and spread over the spots; when dry scrape it off with a knife, washing it with a damp sponge, as the paste falls off; if not clean, put on another paste.

This application, if repeated frequently, until all discolora-tions are gone, will purify any bedding. Scald your bedstead in the hottest soapsuds you can apply; if there aro traces of bugs apply kerosene with a small paint brush; it is a sure cure. Tenants of city houses often are annoyed by bugs, and cannot tell whence they come. Perhaps the borders of the wall paper might divulge their source, or the cornices ot their windows disclose their haunts. Again apply kerosene, and they will no longer trouble you.

Carbolic acid can be substituted, but its odor is, if anything, more disagreeable than that of coal oil. Papering and painting are the best done in cold weather, especially the latter, for the wood absorbs the oil of paint much more in warm weather, while in cold weather it hardens on the outside, making don, has a cow that dropped a calf, a few days since, which weighed at its birth one hundred and thirty jounds. The mother is living but the calf is dead. Thos. I.

Hodgkins of Bethel ten ewes which have brought him this season nineteen lambs, and eighteen of them are alive. The most satisfactory accounts come from the strawberry fields of New Jer sey and Delaware, by which it appears that hundreds of acres are now radiant with blossoms. There was never a bet ter promise of a large yield. An army of caterpillars is on the move through Southern Illinois, devour ing in its march, leaves, buds and everything of a succulent nature. Mathewson Nelson of Barton wintered a flock of seventy-six sheep, sixty-six of which have brought them nine ty lambs this spring.

Charles Morse of Lanscaster, N. has a sow which has brought him 136 pigs, of which he has sold $641 worth, and has killed four for his own use. The Michigan Agricultural College has 146 students, of whom eighty are freshmen. Of the new students, seventy-five per cent, are farmers's sons. The Massachusetts Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals is short of funds, and appeals to the public for support.

Deleware sends out promises of an abundant peach crop. Travellers through Missouri repre sent the growing wheat crop to be promising unusually well. The whole yearly income from the neat stock of the United States is estimated at no less than $600,000,000, in cluding beef, dairy, and labor of working oxen. The Omnibus. Small pieces of non-resinous wood may be perfectly seasoned by boiling four or five hours.

The boiling seems to take the sap out of the wood which shrinks nearly one-tenth in the process. The Rural New Yorker says the most efficient remedy for the onion grub is irrigation. If it is practicable to flood the garden affected by the grubs, it will almost totally annihilate them. After a copious shower of rain they disappear. A neat, clean garden is a pretty sight, yet it takes hours and days of devoted labor, careful tending and cultivating.

No slattern need expect success in this de partment. A successful gardener makes use of a compost made of one part hen manure, two parts ashes, one part plaster, and a small proportion of salt. This he applies to the drills at the rate of a handful for two feet. A correspondent of the Prairie Farm er says corn should never be planted when ground is cold. If the thermometer has ranged from 70 to 80 degrees for two days in succession, he thinks it safe to plant in dry ground; but when the thermometer stands below 60 degrees he thinks corn better out of than in the ground.

A successful potato grower in Maine recommends the following mixture to be applied in the hill at the rate ot about one-third of a gill each: a cask of lime slacked with water in which has been dissolved half a bushel of salt. To this add an equal quantity of ashes and a bushel of plaster. Mix thoroughly. This will make about five barrels and will be suf ficient for an acre. The Household- Dutch Cheese.

A corresponpent of the liural Yorker wants to know how Dutch Curds ure made" to which it replies: We suppose this inquiry is concerning the make of what is known as cottage cheese, in some sections called Dutch cheese or curds. It is the curd of sour milk drained from the whey, pressed into balls or moulded in small fancy shapes, and eaten when fresh, or soon after it is made. Some people are very fond of Dutch cheese or curds, and the process of manufacture is so simple and so well known, that we supposed every "good housewife" was well posted in regard to its making. The milk is allowed to sour and become loppering or thick, when it is gently heated, which faciliates the separation of the whey. The curds are then gathered up, salted, or otherwise to suit the taste, and pressed in small moulds, or formed with the hand into suitable shape, when it is ready for the table and may be used immediately.

In cool weather, when milk does not readily thicken, the sour milk may be put in a suitable vessel set in hot water over the range. The milk is then stirred for a few minutes, when the whey will begin to separate, and it is removed, and another batch may be treated in the same manner. In summer some use large cans, having a spiggot near the bottom; the sour milk is placed in these cans, and allowed to stand in the sun to thicken. The heat of the sun will be sufficient to separate the whey, which may then be drawn off through the spiggot. The curds are then removed to a sink having a slatted bottom, over which a strainer cloth is placed.

The curds thrown upon this strainer cloth are soon drained of the whey, when it ia pressed into balls with the hand, or moulded into forms. Sometimes this kind of cheese is potted and left to decompose, and when it has acquired a strong, villainous smell, it is regarded as most delicious by those who have acquired a taste for eating it in this state. In some markets cottage or Dutch cheese finds a ready sale, and quite a profit is made by certain butter makers, in turning their sour milk into this suggestive 1870. I860. 2,367,034 Acres improved land, 2,289,072 unimp wood, 1,049,672 other unimp, 212,941 1,262,613 1,377,591 Value of farms, $80,667,722 $69,689,761 farming impl'mts, 3,450,204 2,683,012 Wages paid, 2,307,021 Not taken.

Number of horses, 39,829 41,101 mules asses, 136 15 milch cows, 80,706 94,880 working oxen, 40,324 51,510 other cattle, 92,441 118,072 sheep, 243,693 310,534 swine, 33,129 51,935 Value of live stock, $15,231,437 $10,924,627 Bushels of spring wheat, 189,381 oqq ock winter wheat, 4,369 rye, 49,761 128,247 Indian corn, 1,273,911 1,414,627 oats, 1,147,336 1,329,233 barley, 105,252 121,103 buckwheat, 100,152 89,9 Pounds of tobacco, 145,984 18,581 wool, 1,119,386 1,160,222 Bush, of peas and beans, 67,091 79,454 Irish potatoes, 4,500,263 4,137,543 sweet potatoes, 160 161 Value of orchard prodo'ts, $739,848 $557,934 Gallons of wine, 2,918 9,401 Value of produce market gardens, $121,512 Pounds of butter, 5,358,215 cheese, 861,107 Gallons of milk sold, 2,339,694 Tons of hay, 611,130 Bushels of clover seed, 5.80 grass seed, 1,824 Pounds of hops, 98,760 flax, 177 Bushels of flax seed, 6 $76,256 6,956,764 2,232,092 642,741 12,690 6,569 130,428 1,347 30 Pounds of maple sugar, 1,787,974 2,255,012 Gallons of molasses, 16,576 43,833 Pounds of wax. 2,619 4,936 honey, 56,913 125,142 Value of forest products, $1,746,925 home manf'cts, 229,935 $251,052 animals slaug'd, 3,712,766 3,787,500 Total Exclusive of cheese made in factories, for which the returns are not yet made. The Dairy- Milk Fever. The great safety lies in prevention. From three days to a month before the calving time longer with a large milker or a fleshy animal than with a small milker or a lean one stop all feed except dry hay if there is much milk in the bag, milk it half out three times a day, even two or three days before calving; if the bag is hot and hard rub it every hour with the hand wet with cool water.

After the calf is born, give the cow half a pail ful of warm water with a little bran or flour in it, not hot and not too much. Give absolutely nothing beyond this one drink, and now and then a little warm, pure water, for twenty-four hours. The great source of danger is in food given before or soon after calving. There is no safeguard like starvation and nothing will ao surely prevent fever. On the second day give a warm mash a pailful this time and about a quarter ration of hay.

The next day give a half ration. Until after the fourth day do not give even cool water to drink, nor so much hay as the cow would like, nor any other Jood xchat- ecer. The danger will now be passed, if the food is gradually increased in quantity and in richness. Another week of good feeding will bring the milk to its full flow. If the calf is removed at once, the cow should be milked from three to six times a day, according to the quantity of milk in her bag, until after the fourth day, and then gradually reduce to the regular milk-ings.

I think ten drops of tincture of aconite on a bit of bread given once a day until the milk flows regularly, would add very much to the security of the treatment. But the great cause of the fever kindness. We all have an insane idea that food is the great cureall, and your sham cow-doctor will pour the gruel through a horn into the stomach of a cow that is down with milk fever, when she is already bloated with the gases of her undigested food, and burning up with a fire to which his food is only additional fuel. What we want to do is to get the food out of the cow not to pour more in. Our ult has been in giving too much.

Until health is fully restored, and the cow raises a natural cud, the less she gets to eat the better she ought to have absolutely nothing. Have no fear of starvation. No cow falls with milk fever without food enough in her stomach and fat enough on her bones to carry her safely through any duration of the disease, and the great fear is that she has too much of both. I be-: lieve in high feeding in health, and high starving in all febrile disease. There is little or no danger with heifers calving for the first time, and the disease is less frequent in winter than in summer.

Food for Calves. The calf should have new milk from the cow for a few days, even after it is taken from her; and it would be better to buy milk for a time, than to change the food too suddenly. There are three kinds of food which may be gradually brought in. First, hay-tea, made from none but sweet, well-cured hay, which may be chopped up with a straw-cutter an inch or two long, placed in a large earthen or other good vessel, covered with boiling water, and a cover then placed upon the whole for an hour or two. The rich hay-tea thus made is mixed very gradually with the milk, that is with a very little the first day, rather more next, and so on, till in a few weeks the milk will be worked out While the milk is decreasing, add, and gradually increase a supply of meal, of which pea meal is excellent, but barley meal will do, until the calf, as it becomes two or three months old, may have a pint of meal or more at a feeding.

Another excellent ingredient is linseed meal, soaked in warm or hot wattr for a. time. A portion of 6kimmed milk, and afterwards some milk, may be added to the food. All these more or less mixed, or selected as may be convenient, may be employed, according to circumstances. But it must not be forgotten that no sudden changes are to be made every kind of food must be grad ually introduced.

Great care should also be taken to have the food given at regular times, in uniform quantities, so that the animal may not have too much or too little. Cleanliness should, be carefully observed in every thing, the feeding vessels Draw up the papers, lawyer, and make 'em good and stout For things at home are cross-ways, and Betsey and I are out. We who have worked together so long as man and wife Must pull in single harness the rest of our nat'ral life. "What is the matter say you I swan it's hard to tell Most of the years behind us we've passed by very well; I have no other woman she has no other man, Only we've lived together as long as we ever can. So I have talked with Betsey, and Betsey has talked with me Bo we've agreed together that we can't never agree Not that we've catched each other in any terrible crime We've been a gatherin' this for years, a little at a time.

There was a stock of temper we both had, for a start Although we ne'er suspected 'twould take us two apart I had my various failings, bred in the flesh and bone, And Betsey, like all good women, had a temper of her own. The first thing I remember whereon we disagreed Was somethin' concerning heaven a difference in our creed. NVe arg'ed the thing at breakfast we arg'ed the thing at tea, Arid the more we arg'ed the question, the more we didn't agree. And the next that I remember was when we lost a cow She had kicked thp tei, for certain the question was -iy How I my own opinion, and Betsey another had And when we were done a talkin', we both of us was mad. And the next that I remember, it started in a joke But full for a week it lasted, and neither of us spoke.

And the next was when I scolded because she broke a bowl And she said I was mean and stingy, and hadn't any soul. And so that bowl kept pourin' dissensions in our cup; And so that blamed cow-critter was always comin' up; And so that heaven we arg'ed no nearer to us got But it give us a taste of somethin' a thousand times as hot. And so the thing kept workin', and all the self-same way; Always somethin' to arg'e, and somethin' sharp to say. And down on us come the neighbors, a couple o' dozen strong, And lent their kindest service to help the thing along. And there has been days together and many a weary week We was both of us cross and spunky, and both too proud to speak.

And I have been thinkin' and thinkin', the whole of the winter and fall. If I can't live kind with a woman, why, then I won't at all. And so I have talked with Betsey, and Betsey has talked with me And we have agreed together that we can't never agree; And what is hers shall be hers, and what is mine shall be mine And I'll put it in the agreement, and take it to her to sign. Write on the paper, lawyer the very first paragraph Of all the farm and live stock, that she shall have her half, For she has help to earn it, through many a weary day, And it's nothin more than justice that Betsey has her pay. Give her the house and homestead a man can thrive and roam, But women are skeery critters, unless they have a home.

And I have always determined, and never failed to say, That Betsey never should want a home, if I was taken away. There is a little hard money that's drawin' tol'rable pay: A couple of hundred dollars laid by for a rainy day Safe in the hands of good men, and easy to get at Put in an other clause, there, and give her half of that. Yes, 1 see you smile, sir, at my givin' her so much Yes, divorce is cheap, sir, but I take no stock in such. True and fair I married her, when she was blithe and young And Betsey was al'ays good to me, except with her tongue. Once, when I was young as you, and not so smart, perhaps, For me she mittened a lawyer, and several other chaps; And all of 'em was flustered, and fairly taken down, And I for a time was counted the luckiest man in town.

Once when I had a fever I won't forget it soon I was hot as a basted turkey and crazy as a loon Never an hour went by me when she was out of sight; She nursed me true and tender, and stuck to me day and night. And if ever a house was tidy, and ever a kitchen clean, Her house and kitchen was tidy as any I had ever seen, And I don't complain of Betsey or any of her acts, Exceptin' when we've quarrelled and told each other facts So draw up the paper, lawyer, and I'll go homo tonight, And read the agreement to her, and see if it's all right; And then in the mornin' I'll sell to a tradin' man I know And kiss the child that was left to us, and out in the world I'll go. And one thing put in the paper, the first to me didn't occur That when I am dead at last she bring me back to her; And lay me under the maples I planted years ago, When she and I was happy before we quarrelled so. And when she dies, I wish that she would be laid by me And lyin' together in silence, perhaps we will agree And if ever we meet in heaven I wouldn't think it queer, If we loved each other the better because we hive quarrelled here. W.

M. Carleton. The Crops. The Cincinnati Gazette of 29th says of the weather and the prospects of crops: The Spring has been unsually favorable for field work. The weather in March and April was such that farmers were able to prepare the ground and get in po tatoes and small grain, and now corn planting, which is often delayed until late in May, is nearly done.

Corn was planted early last year, and this saved the crop, which was well forward before the drouth set in. The progress this season is still better. Up to Monday the weather was very dry, and there was much complaint, but Tuesday a steady, warm, soakin rain fell, which made ail things right, and this was followed yesterday by a warm sun, with occasional showers. This rain also stopped the croaking about the hay crop. And now it may be said that the foundations have been well laid for large crops, and everything in the farming line looks iavorable.

The prospects, indeed, could not be better. These remarks, however, do not in elude fruit. The forward weather, which has been bo favorable to field crops, fore ed the fruit ahead of time about three weeks. It was consequently damaged seriously by the heavy frost of Saturday night. The destruction, however, was not bo great as at first supposed, and the indications now are that we shall have a moderate crop.

But for the frost, the yield would have been enormous. Of course, we cannot yet calculate safe ly upon a large yield of any crop, because The St. Louis Democrat says The belt of wheat production is surely, steadily shifting, and, it may as well be accepted first as last, that long before the close of the present century, Texas, the empire Western State, will be the greatest wheat-producer in the Union. Emigration is now pouring into her vast boundaries, attracted by dreams of the independence said to be assured to proprietors of cattle but the cattle business will not suffice to employ a tithe of the thousands of new comers who will seek the great lone-star State as a permanent abiding-place in the next decade. Thousands upon thousands will raise wheat, and the local press of the State are now actively urging its more general cultivation.

Why should the finest wheat-soil on earth be so exclusively devoted to grazing and cotton as to compel us to buy all our bread of the is the question now persistently asked by every Texas paper we pick up. And the answer to this question will be an immense increase in the production of wheat there, in the introduction of mills, The wheat line is slowly shifting to the west and south of the site occupied by this city, and the greater part of the wheat sent to market in the future from this area must surely come to St. Louis." Renovating Old Fields. A correspondent ot the Maine Farmer says when iarmers lack a supply of dressing, they can greatly improve their runout fields by adopting a method which he has practiced with very good success: "In the fall take your most run-out field and turn it over nicely about eight inches deep. The following spring, as soon as it gets warm and dry enough to work, give it a thorough harrowing, the more the better.

Next sow on three bushels of oats to the acre, then give it another good harrowing, then sow on a liberal quantity of clover and herdsgrass, and then give it a good rolling and your work is done, unless you choose to spread on plaster or ashes, which will greatly benefit both oats and grass. Mow it two or three years after, then turn it over again. Be sure and not mow it more than three years. When you turn it over the second time you will find a fine, rich, mellow soil, caused by the rotting of the turf, then you can either plant it or go through the same process of sowing oats and seeding it down to grass. Thus one will be enabled greatly to improve his farm, with but a small outlay.

Chestnut Trees. A friend calls attention to the expedi ency of cultivating the chestnut- tree in the Connecticut Valley. lie says: Many waste patches of side hills might be adorned and made beautiful, and at a trifling expense, by setting out this beautiful and useful tree. It is a rapid grower; and at six years from the time of transplanting, it commences to bear nuts. In a few years an important source of profit might be created in its timber.

As our forests and timber lands are beginning to be depleted, would it not be wise tor farmers to think of this?" He thinks that if the experiment were tried its benefits would amply repay for all labor; and secure the approbation of those who come after them. The spring is a good time to transplant the young trees. Carrot Culture. Carrots are decidedly the best root for stock that a farmer can raise, except the sugar beet for cattle, the long orange by far the best. If fed daily through the winter, stock will keep thrifty and smooth as when fed on good, green pastures.

The proper way to cultivate is to select a deep rich soil, plow deep, and as early as the season will admit, say when the land is dry enough to thoroughly pulverize by this time most of the foul seeds have sprouted and are growing. After plowing, harrow and pulverize sufficient to re ceive onion seeds. Let it lie in this condition until weeds come, then harrow or cultivate thorough ly, which will destroy all weeds sprouted. Then sow your carrots in drills eighteen inches apart, all foul seeds near the sur face having been destroyed, and before a second crop of weeds start, the carrots will be up. Work often and thoroughly with hoe and cultivator; thin out so as to leave them eight inches apart.

On good soil and a favorable season, a crop of at least from rive to six hundred bushels may be expected. I consider them cheaper fodder than corn, and nothing is better lor slock, ex cept the sugar beet, which should be rais ed the same way. If plenty of sugar beets or carrots are lou tu milcn cows in win ter, you need have no lear when you send your butter to the inquiry, ''Is it lard or butter liural World. Insects on Trees. A correspondent of the Maine Farmer eays sulphur introduced in small quanti ties into the circulating sap, by boring with a gimlet and inserting small pieces of brimstone, has been lo-und effectual to prevent the deposit of eggs by the moth in the blossom, probably by changing the odor and thereby causing the insect to regard the apple tree so guarded by dis guise, as unfitted for food for its young a thing better done by sowing four quarts of plaster into a common sized tree, when the tree is just beginning to bloom, and when the dew is on, so as to cause the gypsum to stick to the blossoms This sulphate of lime is odious to the ap ple moth, and drives it away.

The odor of the currant bush and gooseberry may also be disguised by some wash, not in jurious to it, applied just before it comes into bloom, and its fruit saved. prove fatal to less hardy plants. What it needs most is heat, and this is secured by planting on steep hills on which the sun's rays strike less obliquely than on fiat surfaces. Land should not be over-rich for the tomato, very fertile soils producing too great a growth of vine. The vines should be pinched in, and the blossoms removed after the first settings have attained the size of marbles but in any case the vines should be permitted to fall directly on the ground, that the fruit may have the full benefit of the heat of the sun and the warmth refracted from the earth.

By saving the first well-formed ripe tomato for several successive years, a variety may be obtained that for earliness will be far superior to the original stock." Egg Plant. Among the things mentioned by Mr. Quinn on which Money in the Garden" is realized by those who have a market for vegtables, is the Egg Plant. It is not raised to a great extent, as the demand is limited. He says it is a tender annual, must be started early in the hot-bed, and is more difficult to start in the spring than any kind of vegetable he grows.

There are several varieties, but he prefers the New York Improved. He says that near New York the plants my be set in the open air about the 20th of May. Here they should be transplanted a week or more later. Mr. Quinn savs: They require a deep, rich soil, well worked.

We set the plant three feet apart each way, and sprinkle some superphosphate or some finely-ground bone immediately around the roots at the time or planting. Each plant is taken from the bed with a square of earth around the roots. The afternoon before transplant ing, the plants are copiously watered, so that the soil will adhere to the roots. Then, with a long-bladed knife to cut through on either side, each plant is removed without disturbing the roots. The plants are placed on a wheelbarrow, and taken where they are to be set out.

It is important to use all this care, for, unless all the conditions are just right, Egg Plants are very tardy in starting, and with the market- gardener this is a matter of dollars and cents. When they first come into market they usually bring two dollars per dozen; later, the price goes down to seventy-five cents or one dollar a dozen. The ground should be hoed frequently, kept loose and free from weeds. Plants that grow to full size will average from seven to nine eggs to a plant, of the New York Two or three dozen plants will give an abundance of eggs for a family of six or eight persons." Lameness in Swine. Sometimes their legs become crooked, or "bow-legged," as it is called, before any lameness appears.

Finally the lameness appear, perhaps first in one hind leg, then it will change into the other, having the appearance of rheumatism. At last both will be lame. Growing worse from day to day, it will soon be reluctant about travelling or standing, and finally, if not remedied, will refuse to stand, If forced to get upon his feet, he will manifest extreme pain. The appetite gradually fails from the first. Ot course different cases vary somewhat in symptoms and in intensity.

The difficulty is a weakness in the bone structure of the Jimbs; and is caused usually by either lack of necessary exercise or by overfeeding. Fall pigs are more liable to attacks of this kind than early spring pigs. As the cold weather of win ter comes on, the pigs are usually furnish ed with close quarters, are supplied with a liberal quantity of straw for a bed. To avoid the biting cold and the searching winds, they crawl into their bed of straw, frequently out of sight, remaining there nearly all the time, emerging only to hastily eat their meals. When so quiet, their food tends to produce fat more than to promote the growth of the limbs and the frame.

Deprived of the necessary exercise, their limbs grow weak, or rather do not strengthen with the growth of body, and finally entirely fail. The remedy suggests itself exercise. Any measure that will induce exercise will remove the difficulty if not too far advanced. I have cured cases that were so bad that the pig would not stand upon his feet unless forc ed to do so, and then made to walk by se vere application of the whip. The music on the occasion was not very naludious, but apparently was the best the pig could make both in tone and volume, tiiiil in severe cases the best remedy is the butch er's knife, for the growth is so dwarftd before a cure is effected, that its value will be hardly as much as when dressed on the first appearance of lameness.

When the lameness is caused by over feeding, the superabundance of fat is more than the strength of the legs will bear, and gradually they fail. Whether the lameness be caused by lack of exercise or by over-feeding, the old saying holds good in this as in many other difficulties inci dent to dumb animals, "An ounce of pre venlion is worth more than a pound of cure." There has been a remarkable uni formity in the size of the Early Rose po tatoes. This we think has been the result principally of iight seeding induced by high prices. Here is a hint for farmers to think ot, Washing "Wool. The reports going the rounds of the industrial and technolgical papers that bisulphide of carbon is successfully used, in Belgium and elsewhere, to free wool of its grease, are totally erroneous.

The facts of the case are, that the French chemist, Claudet, founded, in 1858, at Elbeuf, an establishment for freeing wool from fat by this process. It was found, however, that the action was so powerful, and that the wool was so entirely deprived of all oily substances, that it became brittle, and could not withstand the operation of machine spinning, the fibres breaking continually. After eighteen months lhe concern broke up. Moi-sur Company founded, in 1865, in the same place, a stock company for washing wool with benzine, with a capital of francs. The fat and oil thus extracted from the wool was separated by distillation from the benzine, which could of course be used repeatedly, while the oil was sold to soap makers and tanners.

The opposition, however, of a class of workmen who lost by this improvement, was so powerful, that the establishment wound up, after scarcely a year's existence, and was sold at auction tor one-fifth of its original cost. Then another establishment was founded, in Verviers, Belgium, which again attempted to use bi-sulphide of carbon, for the same purpose; but as this has since failed, no other attempt has been made, ei ther in France or Belgium. The Currant Worm. We are in formed by Dr. E.

Worcester, of Waltham that the currant worm, so destruct ive to a favorite fruit, mav be fullv and almost immediately destroyed by the use of carbolate of lime. The doctor tried the powder in many instances during the past summer, and found that while it was fully as effective as hellebore, it was less disagreeable, less costly, and perfectly safe. The method of using it is to sprin kle it over the vines as soon as the worm makes its appearance, bringing it well in contact with the leaves, and soon the in sect is destroyed. It will need but two or three applications, and the work is done. In this way for a few cents large quantities of currant bushes may be saved and the fruit allowed to mature, and no danger whatever incurred.

Neither the foliage nor the fruit is in any way injur ed by the carbolate of lime. It will be well for our readers to remember this when the fruit season returns. Roots. It is time to sow carrot, mangel and other seed, if a root crop is de sired. After years of experience we do not hesitate to advise every farmer to grow roots for horses and neat stock, We believe roots form a very agreeable change for the animals, and are highly relished by them, while they help to make milk and fat too, if the latter is desired.

We know that it is easy to raise a good crop of any of the roots that are usually raised for horses and cows but we greatly prefer carrots for horses, and mangels for cows, and we raise more of these, too, than of turnips. We sow the white carrot because we get a much larg er crop of this variety thau we can of the Yellow varieties. We sow the red mangel wurzel, and if the season is favorable, we secure good results. The manure is ploughed in, the land laked over, and the seed sown with a machine, We sow carrots about twenty inches apart, and than we can run a small cultivator between the rows if desirable. The same distance will do for mangels, though if the land is very rich and the crop is likely to be large, two leetis near.enougn, he plants in the row under such circum stances, should be at least a foot apart Brother farmer, raise more roots.

a coat which will protect the wood instead of soaking into it. In papering walls be sure to remove all the old paper and paste, and scrape them perfectly smooth. Dampen the old paper with cloths wet in saleratus water, and it will come off easily; lill the cracks with plaster ot Paris; and if there are any traces of bugs wash the wall all over with a weak solu-tion of carbolic acid and water; this will purify the air and destroy all mould and vermin. The best paste is made out of rye flour, with two ounces of glue dissolved in each quart of paste; half an ounce of powdered borax will make the paste better. People now, generally, understand how very dangerous it is to paper a wall over old paper and paste.

Many deaths have arisen from this cause; the air of many sleeping-rooms has thus been poisoned. In some old houses three or four layers of paper have been found upon the walls of the rooms, and their inmates have died, and the doctors could not tell whence came the disease. Making Soap. Hickory ashes are best for soap making, but those from sound beech, maple, or almost any kind of hard wood, save oak, will answer well. A common barrel set upon an inclined platform makes a very good leach, but I much prefer one made of boards set in a trough in shape, for the strength of the ashes is better obtained, and it may be taken to pieces when not in use, and laid up.

First, in the bottom of the leach put a few sticks; over these spread a piece of carpet or woolen cloth, which is much better than 6traw; put on a few inches of ashes, and from four to eight quarts of lime; fill with ashes, moistened, and tamp down well, tamp the firmest in the center. It is difficult to obtain the full strength of ashes in a barrel without removing them after a day's leaching, and mixing them up and replacing. The top should be' first thrown off, and new ashes added to make up the proper quantity. Use boiling water for second leaching. Take about four gallons of lye, and boil up thoroughly with this twelve lbs.

of clear grease, then add the lye as it is obtained, keeping a slow fire and stirring often, until you have a barrel of oap. After boiling the grease and four gallons of lye together, it may bo put in a barrel and the lye added there, which will form good eoap if frequently stirred, but the heating process is the best when weather and time will permit the work to bo done. -Ohio Farmer. The editor of the Maine Farmer is informed of the successful administering of the fluid extract of ergot to cows for the removal of the afterbirth. A dose of three-quarters of an ounce mixed with half a pint of water had the desired effect immediately..