INTERESTING AND USEFUL INFORMATION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1757, 3 February 1888, Page 3

INTERESTING AND USEFUL INFORMATION.

HOW TO COOK OLD FjWIS A writer in the "ix Z F*rm r " in an artlole entitled *' how to cci k an old hen," says that the bird ehoud be etewed gently for four hours, then left in the water until it Is cooled down aud on the following day roasted in the ordinary manner. By this means fowls considered of no use are rendered of value for the table. A RECEIPT FOR PEAR MARMALADE Pe^l and cat some pears and macerate them twenty -four hours, with threequarters of a pound of white sugar to every pound of fruit. 801l them an hour at most, adding tbe juice and thin yellow peel of lemons to taete. The lemon peel should be cut very small, and be out from fresh lemons. 7HB OALIFORKIAW TBIBTLE At a meeting of the W»tt*ki Oounty Council the other day Mr Thompson said the Oalifornlan thistle had been growing at Kakanui for the last 16 years, there , being about 20 acres on Teschmaker's quite solid,, also an island in the Kakanui covered with It; When sinking afwell the roots were found to a depth of 10ft. ▲ MARKET FOR NEW ZEALAND MUTTON. Tne " Wanjtanui Herald " states that Mr Gerse has received a letter from a brother la Antwerp, in whioh the writer mentions the existence of two stores, one In Antwerp and the other in Oatend,. for the sale of New Zealand mutton. He had on several ooo*sions had samples from both these store*, and he describes the meat as being " vory good," though on one occasion a quarter that he got was rather fat. Tbe price at whioh the meat Is sold there is about 7 1 per lb for legs and 6& 1 for shoulders. A RABBIT D SEASB, The London correspondent of the " O ago Daily Tim^s " says that a gentleman restdent at Wianipej; has informed 'he Agent-General that a destructive epidemic ha3 attacked the rabbits In Ouiada, killing them by thousands. The caU'6 is not known. He wrote asking if assistance could be given him in sending out diseased specimens for examination. Sir Frauds replied certainly not— his objeot being to prevent, n >t to facilitate the introduction of any disease into the colocy, — but if the gentleman chose to empl y % competent expert to determine the oaose of death he would help to defray the txpen3e. Sir Francis has written out to his Government strongly disapproving of M Pasteur's remedy. ADVA TAG E OF DAT.R* FACTORIES. Tt.e f il)o*lag (sjys the " Hawera Star") »ho»s the advantage of selliag milk versus selliog butter, and Is of Itnportaaca to dairy fa r me;B residing. in the vicinity of a dairy factory, Mr 0 Masliu, who is a supplier to Mr Ohew Obong'a da'ry faoto y at Eltham, in seven days sold 57>b and kept for private use 10 b i i butter — total 67ib, at 41 per lb, £1 2* 4d ; and for a liK*|p?rlod «old 239gala 6b of milk at 2* 1 per gallon — £2 10*, and hud returned 207u:al* 9 b of skim milk at £i per gallon , —8a 9d, leaving a balanoe of £2 Is 3d ' obtained for milk agalnet £1 2< 41 obtained for better ; which leaves a balance of 18s lid in favor of supplying the factory, and also saving a vast amount < f labor which heretofore counted as hothine in the production of butter. And a first class article v,f unifoim quality is turned out, which is bound to sell if there is any market for batter whatever ; for who would have bad butter when go d la obtainable at a reasonable figure 1 It may bo exp-c ed that the manufacture of butter by tho old-fashioned way will, hi f >re many year?, be a thing of the past so far as commercial purposes are concerned. Underground rifle ranges are the late t suggestion in London. Experiments were recently made in some wine vaults 200yds long. At 100yds one of the experimenters fired ten shots in 723e0, and made a soore of 48 out of a possible 50— pretty good for i gaslight. Tbe proposal to establish several ranges, nevertheless, says the " Globe," is rather startling. The dangers of tho streets are quite sufficient already, without the chanoe of having a Martini-Henry bullet popping up under one's feet.