STANDARD BOOKS.
ROPP'S CALCULATOR AND DIARY.
Practical Arithmetic made Easy, Simple, and Convenient for all, by this unique and wonderful work. Is worth its weight in gold to everyone not quick in figures. Contains nearly 100,000 Business Calculations, Simple and Practicable Rules and Original Methods—the CREAM of this great and useful science—which makes it possible and EASY for any one, even a child, to make CORRECT and instantaneous computations in Grain, Stock, Hay, Coal, Cotton, Merchandise. Interest, Percentage, Profit and Loss, Wages, Measurement of Lumber, Logs, Cisterns, Tanks, Granaries, Wagon-beds, Corn-cribs, Cordwood, Hay-stacks, Lands, Carpenters', Plasterers', and Masons' work, besides THOUSANDS of other practical problems which come up every day in the year. Will prove of GREAT BENEFIT, almost a necessity, in the hands of every Farmer, Mechanic, and Tradesman.
It is neatly printed, elegantly bound, accompanied by a Renewable Diary, Silicate Slate, Perpetual Calendar, and Valuable Pocket-Book, all combined, for the price of a COMMON diary.
| Fine English Cloth | $ .50 |
| Fine English Cloth, with flap | .75 |
| Fine Roan Leather, with flap | 1.00 |
Sent postpaid to any address on receipt of price.
Address PRAIRIE FARMER PUB. CO.,
Chicago Ill.
How to Paint
A new work by a Practical Painter, designed for the use of Tradesmen, Mechanics, Merchants, Farmers, and as a guide to Professional Painters. Containing a Plain, Common-Sense Statement of the methods employed by Painters to produce satisfactory results in Plain and Fancy Painting of every description, including Formulas for Mixing Paint in Oil or Water, Tools required, etc. This is just the book needed by any person having anything to paint and makes
"EVERY MAN HIS OWN PAINTER."
Full directions for using White Lead Lamp Black — Ivory Black — Prussian Blue — Ultramarine — Green — Yellow — Brown — Vermillion — Lake — Carmine — Whiting — Glue — Asphaltum — Pumice Stone, and Spirits of Turpentine — Oils — Varnishes — Furniture Varnish — Milk Paint — Preparing Calcimine.
Paint for Outbuildings
— Whitewash — Paste for Paper Hanging — Hanging Paper — Graining in Oak, Maple, Mahogany, Rosewood, Black Walnut — Staining — Gilding — Bronzing — Transferring — Decalcomania — Making Rustic Pictures — Painting Flower-Stand — Mahogany Polish — Rosewood Polish — Varnishing Furniture — Waxing Furniture — Cleaning Paint —
Paint for Farming Tools
for Machinery, and for Household Fixtures
To Paint a Farm Wagon
—to Re-Varnish a Carriage— to make Plaster Casts. The work is neatly printed, with illustrations wherever they can serve to make the subject plainer, and it will save many times its cost yearly. Every family should possess a copy. Price, by mail, postpaid, $1. Forwarded free to any sender of two subscribers to this paper at $2 each. Address
PRAIRIE FARMER PUBLISHING CO. Chicago.
STANDARD WORKS.
By PETER HENDERSON
Gardening for Profit,
A WELL-KNOWN WORK ON
Market and Family Gardening
Gardening FOR Pleasure
A guide to the amateur in the Fruit, Vegetable, and Flower Garden, with full directions for the Green-House, Conservatory, and Window Garden.
PRACTICAL FLORICULTURE,
A guide to successful Propagation and Cultivation of Florists' Plants.
Price, $1.50 Each, by Mail, Postpaid.
Address
PRAIRIE FARMER PUBLISHING CO., Chicago.
TALKS ON MANURES
By JOSEPH HARRIS, M. S.
Author of "Walks and Talks on the Farm," "Farm Crops," "Harris on the Pig," etc.
While we have no lack of treatises upon artificial fertilizers, there is no work in which the main stay of the farm—the manure made upon the farm is treated so satisfactorily or thoroughly as in this volume. Starting with the question,
"WHAT IS MANURE?"
the author, well known on both sides of the water by his writings, runs through in sufficient detail every source of manure on the farm, discussing the methods of making rich manure; the proper keeping and applying it, and especially the
USES OF MANURE,
and the effects of different artificial fertilizers, as compared with farm-yard manure, upon different crops. In this he makes free use of the striking series of experiments instituted years ago, and still continued, by Lawes and Gilbert, of Rothamsted, England. The
REMARKABLE TABLES
in which the results of these experiments are given, are here for the first time made accessible to the American farmer. In fact, there is scarcely any point relating to fertilizing the soil, including suitable manures for special crops, that is not treated, and while the teachings are founded upon the most elaborate scientific researches, they are so far divested of the technical language of science as to commend themselves to farmers as eminently "practical." It is not often that the results of scientific investigations are presented in a manner so thoroughly popular. 12mo. Price, postpaid, $1.50.
PRAIRIE FARMER PUBLISHING CO. Chicago.
HOUSE PLANS FOR EVERYBODY.
By S. B. REED, Architect.
One of the most popular Architectural books ever issued, giving a wide range of design from a dwelling costing $250 up to $8,000, and adapted to farm, village, and town residences. It gives an
Estimate of the Quantity of Every Article Used
in the construction, and probable cost of constructing any one of the buildings presented. Profusely illustrated. Price, postpaid, $1.50. Address
PRAIRIE FARMER PUBLISHING CO., Chicago
NOW Is the time to Subscribe for The Prairie Farmer. Price only $2.00 per year. It is worth double the money.
For nothing lovelier can be found
In woman than to study household good.—Milton.
CHRISTIAN CHARITY.
O stay not thine hand when the winter's wind rude
Blows cold through the dwellings of want and despair,
To ask if misfortune has come to the good,
Or if folly has wrought the sad wreck that is there.
When the Savior of men raised His finger to heal,
Did He ask if the sufferer was Gentile or Jew?
When thousands were fed with a bountiful meal,
Was it given alone to the faithful and true?
If the heart-stricken wanderer asks thee for bread,
In suffering he bows to necessity's laws;
When the wife moans in sickness, the children unfed,
The cup must be bitter, O ask not the cause.
Then scan not too closely the frailties of those
Whose bosoms may bless on a cold winter's day:
And give to the wretched who tells thee his woes,
And from him that would borrow, O turn not away!
—Dr. Reynell Coates.
Will give the readers of The Prairie Farmer the favor of telling us all about making sandwiches. How thick should they be when complete? Best made of bread or biscuit? and if chicken or ham, how prepared? Please don't say shred the meat and sprinkle in salt, pepper, and mustard, but tell us how to shred the meat. Do you chop it, and how fine? and how much seasoning to a given quantity? or do cooks always guess at it?
Mrs. C. H.
—Will not some of our lady readers tell us how they make sandwiches. The question is an important one for city as well as country, where so many thousands of "lunches" have to be prepared daily.—[Ed.
A correspondent writes the lady readers of The Prairie Farmer concerning a new line of work, which we hope many of them may find profitable:
Much has been written regarding proper and remunerative employment for women. Silk culture, poultry raising, and various other themes have been thoroughly ventilated, and the result has no doubt been very beneficial; but there are many ladies who have no opportunity to raise silk worms, or follow any business of that kind. To that class I wish to open what to me was an entirely new field.
Some three months ago an uncle of mine from Albany, N. Y., was visiting at our house, and we were talking of plated ware, which he is engaged in manufacturing, and to gratify my curiosity he made a plating machine and replated our knives, forks, spoons and caster. It only cost $4, and it did the work perfectly. Some of our neighbors saw what we had plated, and wanted me to do some plating for them. Since then I have worked twenty-two days, clearing in that time $94.34. At almost every house I got from $2 to $3 worth of plating to do, and such work is most all profit. This business is as nice for ladies as it is for gentlemen, being all indoor work, and any one can do it. My brother, although he worked two days longer than I did, only made $91.50. I am getting up a collection of curiosities, and to any of your readers that will send me a specimen I will send them full directions for making and using a plating machine like mine that will plate gold, silver and nickel. Send small pieces of stones, ores, shells, wood, leaves of trees, plants, etc. Anything small will do. What I want to get is as many different specimens from as many different places all over the country as I can. Address
Miss M. F. Cassey.
Oberlin, Ohio.
The Night Cap.
In a late letter to the August Constitution Jas. R. Randall discourses thus pleasantly of the efficiency of the night cap in producing sleep:
About 9 o'clock at night we boarded the sleeping coach for Washington. Just before retiring for the night my mind, somehow or other, reverted to an editorial article recently published in the New York Times, half serious, half earnest, concerning the latest theory of an English physician as to the prepotent cause of insomnia and nervous disorders generally. It may be remembered that to the abandonment of the night cap of our grandfathers (the cotton or flannel article, not the alcoholic) was attributed the modern tendency of sleeplessness that make even a philosopher like Herbert Spencer more or less of a crank. What I wanted, and wanted as the fellow did his pistol in Texas, was first-class slumber, just such unmitigated repose as occasionally comes to a highly organized baby, unvexed by colic or pure cussedness. I began to think that perhaps that British doctor was right, and that, if it were possible, I would return to the neglected custom of my ancestors. Just at that moment I plunged my hand into my coat pocket and pulled out a silk smoking-cap—a pretty thing, wrought for me long ago by the dainty, delicate, deft fingers of one who now rests in the graveyard at Augusta. This cap was the very thing. I placed it reverently upon my head, with an act of faith, and lay down. The result was magical. Never since I was a boy can I remember to have experienced so perfect and delicious a repose. Not a dream rippled the surface of my calm brain, and I awakened hours afterward with a sense of satisfaction that must be a foretaste of heaven itself. An incipient headache had vanished. Powers of mind that had been dulled were restored to animation and keenness. Not a trace of irascibility remained; but in its place came trooping the sweet angels that Father Faber says continually hover over the good-humored man. I declare that the metamorphosis was so complete that I almost needed an introduction to my new self. And this prodigy was created by one grand, complete and unusual slumber, when wearing a nightcap! Subsequent experiments have been relatively successful; so I am getting to be an enthusiast on the subject. Some folks say that it is a delusion, a mere freak of the imagination. Be it so. If a nightcap can extinguish my imagination at bed-time, thank God for the discovery! My good old mother tells me that when I was a little fellow she used to tie a nightcap under my chin, and that I was a famous sleeper in those times. She is a firm believer in the efficacy. Likely enough if a man eats pickled pig's feet at midnight or drinks unlimited whisky, even a silk or cotton nightcap may not consign him to the arms of Morpheus; but it may work wonders for a sober person who is cursed with the pestilent habit of conjuring up all manner or odd fancies when his head touches the pillow, instead of dismissing the workmen who hammer on the forges of the brain. The majority of the men will rather suffer nocturnal horrors than be laughed at for wearing nightcaps; just as the majority of women will prefer to wear shoes that are instruments of disease and torture rather than have their feet shod comfortably and sensibly. I have a clear idea as to which is the course of wisdom and which the alternative of folly. But this is a diversion which you, readers, may smile at or not as the whim seizes you.
How to Treat a Boy.
Get hold of the boy's heart. Yonder locomotive comes like a whirlwind down the track, and a regiment of armed men might seek to arrest it in vain. It would crush them, and plunge unheeding on. But there is a little lever in the mechanism that at the pressure of a man's hand will slacken its speed, and in a moment bring it panting and still, like a whipped spaniel, at your feet. By the same little lever the vast steamer is guided hither and yonder upon the sea, in spite of the adverse winds or current. That sensitive and responsive spot by which a boy's life is controlled is his heart. With your grasp gently and firmly on that helm, you may pilot him whither you will. Never doubt that he has a heart. Bad and willful boys very often have the tenderest hearts hidden somewhere beneath incrustations of sin or behind barricades of pride. And it is your business to get at that heart, keep hold of it by sympathy, confiding in him, manifestly working only for his good by little indirect kindnesses to his mother or sister, or even his pet dog. See him at his home, or invite him into yours. Provide him some little pleasures, set him at some little service of trust for you; love him; love him practically. Anyway and every way rule him through his heart.
"Etiquette now admits of a second plate of soup." That is all right, but if a man's appetite will not admit of a second plate of soup, etiquette is nothing to him. And if he has the appetite, he will have the soup, etiquette or no etiquette.
Rand, Avery, & Co., Boston, announce a new story—a thrilling and powerful tale—involving the pregnant question of Mormonism. The book will be amply illustrated and sold by subscription. The publishers say that in their opinion this book will serve a purpose not unlike Uncle Tom's Cabin (of which, by the way, four hundred thousand copies—eight hundred thousand volumes—were issued in this country, every one of which bore their imprint). It will hasten the day for the uprising of an indignant nation, and their verdict will be as in the case of slavery—this disgrace must cease—the Mormon must go!
Pamphlets, Etc., Received.
Honey, as Food and Medicine. Presented by J. L. Harris, 697 W. Lake St., Chicago. This little work contains many valuable recipes showing how honey can be made useful medicinally and as an appetizer. For housekeepers in the country who have bees it will be found especially useful.
Spring catalogue and price list of the Eclectic Small Fruit Nursery. O. B. Galusha, Morris, Ill.
New State Fair Grounds: Statement by the executive committee, together with the rejoinder of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture to the Franklin County Society's reply. This pamphlet will be interesting to the farmers of that State.
Landreth's Companion for the Garden and Farm, Philadelphia, Pa. Price 10 cents. This book is, as usual, handsomely gotten up, and is truly a "companion." The prettily colored cover is but an index to the many colored pages within. It also contains many interesting plates showing the manner and extent of work carried on by this enterprising firm. The book is replete with valuable information.
Supplemental Report of the Department of Agriculture of Georgia, for the year 1883, Circular No. 49, new series. Shows the yield of the leading crops of the State as compared with 1882; the average yield per acre, and other matters of interest to the farmers of Georgia.
Descriptive Catalogue of C. A. Hiles & Co.'s saws and ice tools, 234 South Water street, Chicago.
Descriptive catalogue and price list of H. F. Dernell & Co.'s ice tools, Athens, N. Y.
A. E. Spaulding's annual descriptive catalogue and price list of flower seeds, plants, and tools, Ainsworth, Iowa.
Report No. 3 of the Department of Agriculture, Division and Statistics, December, 1883, Washington. This report is full of very useful statistical information.
Foreign Press Opinions of Madame Marcella Sembrich in Mr. Henry E. Abbey's Grand Italian Opera Company. These opinions are very flattering, and if true, the Madame deserves to be well patronized.
Chicago Medical Times, edited by W. H. Davis, M.D. $2.00 per annum, 25 cents a single copy.
Special Report No. 3 of the Department of Agriculture, miscellaneous, Washington. This report is given up to the discussion of Mississippi, its climate, soil, productions, and agricultural capabilities. By A. B. Hurt, Special Agent.
The American Naturalist for January contains the usual number of well-written articles, and is finely illustrated. This magazine is devoted to the natural sciences in the broadest sense of that term.
The Silver Dollar: The original standard of payment of the United States of America, and its enemies. By Henry Carey Baird, Philadelphia, Pa., 810 Walnut Street.
The twenty-first and twenty-second quarterly report of the Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture, 1883. Harrisburg, Pa.
The Storrs & Harrison Co.'s Catalogue (No. 2) for 1884. Painesville, Ohio. This catalogue is fully illustrated with cuts of flowers and vegetables of almost every known description, so that the purchaser can see just what he is buying before sending order.
Ohio Crop Report, December, 1883. With analyses and valuations of fertilizers, meteorological reports, etc.
Compiled Correspondence.
Kane Co., Ill., Jan. 21.—Cold weather continues. On eight days of this month the thermometer has been below zero. It has been above the freezing point only on one morning, the 13th. Sleighing is good, except on some of the graveled roads. Cattle are in good condition. The horse distemper prevails in some localities among colts. Hay is plenty. A few fat hogs were sold last week. One farmer, in Kaneville, sold 80 hogs, averaging 443 pounds each, at $6.10 per cwt. There are but very few fat hogs left. The cold, dry weather has improved the condition of corn in the cribs. Coarse feed is scarce. Considerable corn has been shipped here from Kansas. Bran and middlings are coming in from Minneapolis, and sell at $15 and and $17 per ton. Cheese factory dividends for November from $1.50 to $1.60 per cwt. Large quantities of milk are daily shipped into Chicago from this county.
J. P. B.
I see that you request items in regard to the cold wave that swept over our country during the first week in this month. There is no doubt the cold was as intense over the country generally as it has been known for many years, or perhaps ever before, but so far as I can learn the damage to fruit trees, etc., is very slight. On the morning of the 16th of December we had our first snow, but the weather was quite pleasant to the end of the year, with occasionally slight freezing, but thermometer never down to zero.
The result of this favorable weather was the thorough ripening up of the wood of all fruit and ornamental trees, so that when on the 5th of the present month the mercury ran down to 26 degrees below zero, and in some parts of the country far below that even, the damage was very slight. The writer has been extensively engaged in cutting scions, and knows whereof he speaks. I have also examined some peach trees and find the wood slightly discolored but not dead. I did not thoroughly examine the fruit buds of the peach, but suppose, of course, they are all killed. Had this intense cold weather occurred early in December, there is no doubt but the damage would have been immense.
There has been a great loss of potatoes in cellars and pits, as most people had worked themselves into the belief that we were to have a mild winter, and had not prepared their cellars to resist cold at the rate of 30 degrees below zero. The result is that thousands of bushels of potatoes are frozen and ruined, and although the largest crop of potatoes was raised last year that ever was raised in the United States, yet potatoes will be high priced before planting time.
H. A. Terry.
Crescent City, Ia., Jan. 19.
Seed Corn Famine.
Probably nineteen farmers in twenty must buy seed corn for next spring's planting, on account of the failure of the '83 crop to ripen. We must look sharp to the seeds we buy, that they are better than our own, as many unreliable parties will offer inferior stocks, to take advantage of the demand. We suggest that every corn grower should send to Hiram Sibley & Co., the reliable seedsmen at Rochester, N. Y., and Chicago, Ill., for their catalogue and seed-corn circulars. This house makes a specialty of seed-corn and we believe that they will do what they say they will.