Mother's Down-Home Country Lore

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"You can find all the flats and pots you need to start your spring seedlings," writes June Fey of Baldwinsville, New York, "if you haunt your local cemeteries. The trash bins there are usually well stocked with good-as-new planting containers. All you have to do is take'em away!"

If your chicken wire fence tends to form big, yawning gaps at ground level between poles, Doc and Leah Hunter of Portland, Oregon suggest you cut yourself some forked tree branches (each with one arm of the "Y" 8 to 14 inches long and the other arm only 4 to 5 inches in length) ... then drive the longer arm of each of these stakes into the earth along the fence's base, catching the lowest wire on the barrier and pinning it securely to the ground. The reinforced structure will now [A] discourage your own critters from wiggling out of their enclosure, and—more important—[B] keep outside predators from sneaking in.

Sometimes it seems impossible to clean—really clean-burnt—on food from a pot or a pan. Bob and Terri Ladd of Stockton, California find—however—that they can loosen those last stubborn bits of charred dinner by boiling spinach leaves in 1/4" of water in the pot until the greens are mushy and the residue comes free.

It happens to most of us sooner or later The bale of hay you're bucking has one broken string, and there's no replacement in sight. Exasperating? You bet! But Steve Payne of Lecompte, Louisiana has the answer. Simply tie the broken string to the good one as shown and pull it tightly around the side of the bale. If you then pick it up from its "good" side, the repaired bundle of hay'll hold together long enough for you to get it where you want it.

When raising baby fowl of any kind, you might want to give the little cheepers a bit of extra mothering by setting a hot-water-filled glass jug under (or near) the brooder light. The glowing bulb will keep the water hot for hours, and the little biddies will appreciate the warmth radiating from their "substitute mother". Irene Stewart of Edmond, Oklahoma—the author of this hint—says that she also puts jars of warm water in the brooder's corners to keep the tiny hatchlings from crowding together and (possibly) suffocating there.

Watersoaked leather work boots that have dried hard and stiff can be made flexible again by giving them a good rub with a soft rag dipped in kerosene.

Let's hope you never get ringworm ... but in case you do (or know of someone who has), Joan Michael of Lyle, Minnesota recommends this old-time remedy: First, wash the afflicted area with soap and water, making sure to remove all old scabs. Then soak the butt end of a cigar (one that's been smoked as far down as possible) in hot water for a moment ... and rub the Infested skin with the sopping stogie. Repeat this procedure three times per day—using a new cigar butt each time—until the skin has healed.

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