USA > Illinois > McHenry County > Biographical directory of the tax-payers and voters of McHenry County : containing also a map of the county, a condensed history of the state of Illinois, an historical sketch of the county, its towns and villages, an abstract of everyday laws of the state, a business directory, officers of societies, lodges and public officers, a department of general information for farmers, dairymen, etc., etc > Part 35
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There are hundreds of butter makers, we are aware, to whom the impor- tance of this single point cannot be too strongly urged, since they often consider many little things of this kind, in regard to dairy management, too insignificant to merit attention. But in butter making, the observance of little things is often the great secret of success.
There is no doubt that immense quantities of poor butter are made from the milk set in improper places. The kitchen pantry, the living room and the cellar
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used to store vegetables and other family supplies will impart peculiar taints to. the milk and cream, in such a degree as to be destructive to flavor, even though the butter in other respects be skillfully handled. Dairy rooms so situated as to catch the odor from the pig sty, the cess pool or other decomposing filth cannot be used for making good butter. There should be a freedom from filth and impurities of every description about the milk house, and the milk should be delivered by the milkers in an ante-room, or some point outside the milk room, and from thence conveyed to the place where it is to be set for cream. In this way the fumes and the litter from the stable may be kept from the milk room.
The causes of poor butter are various, the most important of which are lack of cleanliness, the want of proper dairy utensils, the need of a good dairy room or place for setting the milk, neglect in manipulating the cream at the right time, unskillful working, packing and storing the butter, and, finally, lack of knowledge in a part or whole of the processes required for making a prime article.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
CANNING FRUIT.
When fruit is heated in open vessels, and the air is full of delicious aroma, your fruit is fast losing its best quality. This is why it is best to fill the jars with fruit before cooking. Another reason why it is best to heat in jars, you avoid crushing, and the liquor is rich and clear. In canning peaches or pears, it is very satisfactory if you have retained the small or broken pieces for present consumption, and only filled your cans with large and shapely quarters. The same with grapes and berries. If you wish to realize the exquisite flavor of each fruit, do not spoil it with poor sugar. It is a good way to put what nice white sugar you wish to use through the day into the porcelain kettle in the morning, with a little water, and bring it to boil and skim it, and when your bottles or jars of fruit have been heated, fill up with the hot syrup. For lack of anything better, take a large copper wash boiler, place a piece of straw matting or two thicknesses of paper over the bottom, and then arrange the cans, as many as it ·will hold, and keep upright. You may need some twigs beneath and around them to keep all"firm and in place. Fill with warm water to the necks of the jars, cover them with lids and put on the boiler-cover to keep in the steam. Berries need but a few minutes of boiling heat. By this method, if you do leave them a trifle too long, they are not spoiled by being boiled to pieces. Green corn is very nice cooked with sliced ripe potatoes, two or three hours, slowly, on the back of the stove, and seasoned with sweet cream, salt and pepper when warmed for the table. Corn and tomatoes are better when cooked in the porcelain kettle, and should be canned and sealed up in bright tin cans.
THE VALUE OF A DUST BATH FOR ANIMALS.
The almost indispensable necessity of an ample supply of dust for animals in winter is understood by very few stock growers. All sorts of animals delight in a dust bath. Chickens that have easy and continual access to it will never be troubled with vermin, either in their houses or on their bodies. Cattle de- light to stand in a dusty road, scraping it up with their fore feet and flinging it over their backs. The cheapest and most effectual cure for lice on cattle is to
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scatter a quart of perfectly dry dust along the spine, from the horns to the tail. In winter, when they cannot get it, many animals become covered with vermin.
MEASURING GRAIN IN A BOX OR CRIB.
To get the cubical contents of any room, box, bin or crib, in feet, multiply the length, breadth and depth together. Each of these cubic feet contains 1,728 inches. A bushel contains 2.150 cubic inches. Divide 1.728 into 2.150, and we have 1,244. Divide the cubical contents in feet of any space by 1,244, and the quotient will be the number of bushels it will contain. For instance, a crib 20 feet square and 10 feet deep will contain 4.000 by 1,244, and we have 3,215 and a fraction, which is the number of bushels of shelled corn that the crib will hold. But, for all practical purposes, 1.244 is equal to 1.25, or one and a quarter, which is simply five quarters, and to divide by five quarters is to multiply by 4 and divide by 5, or which is the same as multiplying by 8 and dividing by 10, or cutting off one figure to the right. Hence, when the cubical contents in feet are known, multiply by 4 and divide by 5, or multiply by 8 and divide by 10, and we have the contents in bushels. If a barrel be 3 or 5 bushels, multiply by 3 or 5, as the case may be.
TO DESTROY STUMPS.
Some one, not long ago, started the idea that sulphuric acid would totally destroy stumps. An auger hole was to be bored in the top, filled with sulphuric acid, and plugged. In a day or two the stump would be eaten up, even to the very roots. The experiment was tried and failed, only a portion of the stump, at the top, being affected. The following method is recommended by the Scien- tific American : In the autumn, bore a hole one to two inches in diameter, ac- cording to the girth of the stump, vertically in the center of the latter, and about eighteen inches deep. Put into it from one to two ounces saltpeter ; fill the whole with water and plug up close. In the ensuing spring take out the plug and pour in about one-half gill of kerosene oil and ignite it. The stump will smoulder away without blazing to the very extremity of the roots, leaving nothing but ashes.
HOUSEHOLD MEASURES.
As all families are not provided with scales and weights, referring to ingre- dients in general use by every housewife, the following information may be use- ful : Wheat flour, 1 pound is 1 quart ; Indian meal, 1 pound 2 ounces is 1 quart ; butter, when soft, 1 pound 1 ounce is 1 quart; loaf sugar, broken, 1 pound is 1 quart ; white sugar, powdered, 1 pound 1 ounce is 1 quart ; best brown sugar, 1 pound 2 ounces is 1 quart ; eggs, average size, 10 eggs are 1 pound ; 16 large tablespoonfuls are } pint, 8 are 1 gill, 4, ¿ gill, etc.
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CEMENT FOR CRACKED HOOFS.
Mr. Defay has discovered a preparation by means of which sand cracks or fractures in hoof or horn may be durably cemented up. Even pieces of iron can be securely joined together by its means. The only precaution necessary for its successful application is the careful removal of all grease by spirits of sal ammonia, sulphide of carbon or ether. Mr. Defay makes no secret of its composition, which is as follows: Take one part of coarsely powdered gum- ammoniacum and two parts gutta-percha, in pieces the size of a hazel nut. Put them in a tin-lined vessel over a slow fire, and stir constantly until thoroughly mixed. Before the thick, resinous mass gets cold, mold it into sticks like seal- ing wax. The cement will keep for years, and when required for use it is only necessary to cut off a sufficient quantity and re-melt it immediately before ap- plication .- English Live Stock Journal.
TO CURE AND KEEP PORK.
To have pork keep well for a long time, it is not only necessary to have good, sweet, wholesome pork to begin with, a clean, tight barrel, plenty of pure, clean, coarse salt, and a cool place for keeping it when packed. Pork will keep a year and longer, if it is first cut in pieces of uniform width, and the pieces, containing the most lean, separated from the rest, as it contains more blood to discolor the brine ; besides, it takes brine more readily and will soon become as hard as old salt beef. Then procure a tight, clean oak barrel ; scatter salt over the bottom to the depth of about one-half an inch, then, having cut the pork in strips of nearly uniform width, pack them on edge, with the rind next to the barrel, and follow round until the bottom is covered by a layer of strips so even and solid that no single piece can raise without bringing up the whole layer. Then fill up the interstices with salt, and spread it a half inch thick over the top layer ; then pack another layer in the same way till the cask is full, or the pork all packed. On the top layer place enough clean, flat stones to keep it from floating after the brine is added. The brine may be added at once, or left a day or two, without the weather be too warm, then it should be added at once, as soon as the meat is cool. Old brine is as good as new, if it is perfectly sweet, but no better.
THE CLASSIFICATION OF HIDES.
At the National Convention of Tanners and Dealers in Hides and Leather, held in Philadelphia in October, the following rules for the classification of hides were unanimously adopted, and will therefore control the action of the whole trade, until otherwise ordered :
1. All hides having one or more grubs shall be thrown out and classed as damaged.
Y
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2. All hides and skins cut and scored on the flesh shall be thrown out and classed as damaged.
3. All hides for currying purposes, having one or more brands, shall be thrown out and classed as No. 2 hides.
4. All hides sold for sole leather, having more than one brand, shall be thrown out and classed as No. 2 hides.
5. All harness hides, visibly damaged by hook or horn marks on the grain, shall be classed as No. 2 harness hides.
6. In the vocabulary of this trade, one letter, figure or mark constitutes a brand on a hide, and cattle raisers, in their own interest, are requested to make their brands of one letter or mark as small as possible, and so located upon and down the leg, as to produce the least possible injury to the hide.
7. The above rules concerning cuts, scores, grubs and brands shall be applied to all transactions in dried hides, as well as to those that are fresh or salted ; also to imported as, well as to domestic hides.
8. All calfskins shall have the sinews taken out, or proper tare allowed for the same ; the minimum weight of untrimmed skins shall be 8 pounds, and the maximum weight shall be 15 pounds-this classification to be applied strictly to calfskins, with no application to long hair summer kips, which shall not be considered calfskins. Trimmed calfskins, with heads off, shall be 1} pounds less weight ; veal kips shall be classed as plump; milk calfskins, 15 to 25 pounds, in the season, shall be classed as short hair kip.
9. A green trimmed hide is a hide clear of horns, bones of all kinds, flesh, sinews, blood, manure or other offal.
10. Green salted hides shall be considered in good merchantable condition, when the same are fully cured or preserved with salt, and well cured of their · animal juices, and free from all salt and superfluous wet in the hair or on the flesh, or so made by proper tare, when bought and sold.
11. Any watered hide, or one which has any material put upon it except salt, for strictly curing purposes, shall not be considered in a merchantable con- dition, and all sales of hides made in such condition shall be considered fraud- ulent, unless the condition be made known to the purchaser previous to the sale.
12. Hides cut at the throat shall be classed unmerchantable, provided the gash extends more than one-fourth across the hide.
A GOOD WASH FOR ROOSTS,
To be applied once or twice a week, will be found in kerosene or crude petro- leum. This should be applied with a coarse sponge or common paint brush, in the early day time, so that it will soak into the perches or dry off, compara- tively, before the fowls go to roost. This effectually destroys the lice upon the perches and the strong fumes that remain after application for a. time aid in driving vermin from the bodies of the fowls during the night. Care should be
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taken in not using this powerful agent too generously. But if judiciously ap- plied to roosts, and to the insides and bottoms of laying boxes, its advantages will quickly be realized by those who have never tried this experiment to rid their fowls of the annoyance of this hen-house pest. which so rapidly generates in the interior of poultry buildings, especially in our warmer months.
CAKED BAGS IN COWS.
A correspondent in the Cincinnati Gazette says, for caked bags in cows, get ten cents' worth of dry iodine ; fill a cup with good fresh lard and stir in the iodine till it is thoroughly mixed; let it stand for a day or night ; stir it again and rub it in with the hand frequently, and a cure is certain. Whoever employs the violent remedies should understand that they may do more than is desired. Iodine affects the secretions powerfully, and causes the absorption of tumors and abnormal growths ; may it not also cause a decrease in the secretion of milk ? We have found that persistent rubbing and kneading was better than anything else. If the bag be very tender, as it often is, gives a teaspoonful of tincture of arnica in water, and rub the same diluted with twice as much water upon the bag, to take out the soreness.
SMALL HOGS.
Some sensible breeder of swine writes: "There is not one single advantage to be claimed in large hogs. There never was a monster hog which did not make the man who raised him pay for every pound he weighed. They don't furnish an ounce of meat gratis, but charge full price for every atom of their carcass. When slaughtered, it takes a long time to get one cool to the marrow bone, and when the hams are put in salt it is troublesome to finish them to the center. Four hundred pounds' live weight is as large as hogs should be, in order to make good bacon. Beyond this size, there is a loss somewhere- either the feeder, the butcher or consumer is beaten, and as a general thing every one who has anything to do with the big hog will find, if he observes closely, that they are not so profitable as the smooth, little hog of only 350 pounds' weight. Small head, with little, upright ears, and legs and feet delicate to perfection, are marks which indicate the greatest amount of flesh for any given amount of food consumed, and more rapidly draw the attention of the butcher. .
CRIBBING IN HORSES.
Cribbing is caused, in the first place, by some foreign substance being . pressed between the teeth, or by the front teeth growing too close together, thus causing pain. The horse, to avoid this, instinctively pulls at any hard substance, thus spreading the points of the teeth, and by that means affording temporary relief. To remedy this fault, it is only necessary to saw between
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the teeth with a very thin saw ; this relieves the teeth of all side pressure, and effectually ends the trouble. The gulping of wind and the gurgling in the throat are effects that will cease with the removal of the cause.
TO KEEP EGGS.
A Canada farmer tells us how he does it : " I take a tub of any size and put a layer of conmon salt about an inch deep in the bottom. Then grease the eggs with butter and place them in the salt with the small end down, so that they will not touch the wood of the tub nor each other; then fill the vacancies with salt and cover them again about an inch deep, as before; then place an- other layer of eggs, then salt alternately, till the tub is filled, then cover the top with salt and put them where they will not freeze. I have kept eggs in this manner from September till April, as good as fresh eggs. The grease on the shell keeps the salt from penetrating, thereby keeping the eggs fresh, while the saving qualities of the salt keep them from becoming putrid. This recipe is both cheap and good, as the salt can be fed to cattle afterward."
As persistent and profitable producers of eggs, hens which are a cross between a game-cock and a black Spanish hen are strongly recommended by an English breeder. He says they are small and black, but they yield average-sized eggs, never desire to set, and seldom cease to lay even for a day, except at molting- time.
ESTABLISHED 1841.
THE PRAIRIE FARMER FOR 1877.
The Most Reliable and Popular Farm, Orchard and Fireside Journal of the Northwest !
FOR TOWN AND COUNTRY, FOR OLD AND YOUNG.
Recognized Authority throughout the United States and Canadas upon matters of
General Agriculture, Horticulture, Floriculture, Stock Raising, Veterinary, Poultry and Bees.
PRAIRIE FARMER CO., 118 MONROE STREET.
HI. C. PERKINS & CO., MACHINE SHOP, REAPER AND MOWER REPAIRING WORKS,
No. 125 West Randolph St., Corner Desplaines,
CHICAGO, -
ILLINOIS.
All kinds of Reapers, Mowers, Threshing Machines and Farm Machinery Repaired on short notice and at Reasonable Rates.
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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 977.322B52 C001 BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF THE TAXPAYERS
3 0112 025387173
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