MOTHERS' DOWN-HOME COUNTRY LORE

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A little behavioral psychology applied by Wendy Parsons of Endeavour, Saskatchewan is keeping her cow from kicking over the milk pail. It seems that if you tie a rope—very tightly!—around a balky cow's middle just in front of her udder, the cow will lose a great deal of the interest she had in kicking. (It gets uncomfortable real quick.) Then, as ole Bossy starts to lose her bad habit, you can gradually put the rope on looser and looser at milking time. Eventually, if she's got any memory at all, you'll be able to just lay the rope across her back (as a gentle reminder) and she still won't kick you or the bucket!

Paul Houston of Allons, Tennessee has been intrigued by the various ways MOTHER's staffers have used old refrigerators, and he's come up with a few unusual applications of his own.

Seems the worn-out coolers make ideal wormbeds for Paul's worm farm . . . both the inner and outer cabinets. (The outer shells should have all the gook and insulating material thoroughly cleaned away, of course, as the fiberglass strands, etc., would probably kill any worms that came in contact with them.) Paul also mixes up worm bedding (before putting his little wigglers into the mix) in another recycled fridge . . . and—after closing off a few holes in its cabinet—he's found yet another of the old "cold chests" an ideal container to soak his worms' peat moss in.

Then too, Paul has found that reclaimed reefers are ideal storage cabinets for power tools and paint. Just screw 3/4" X 1" cleats as desired to the inside walls and cut shelves the approximate size from 518" plywood sheeting. And, by adding a scrap piece of one-inch water pipe for a hanger rod, the big shells become sturdy shop closets that are ideal for rain gear, dirty clothes, and the like.

Whether for economic or ecological reasons you can't—or don't want to—use steel wool to scrub your pots, try this tip from Lois L. Oswald of Saxonburg, Pennsylvania.

Get a short length of small, rough old steel chain and fasten the ends into a circle. Then just wrap a few strips of cloth around the chain and you've got a scrubber that'll pretty well last forever.

Sand or pebbles also make good scrubbers and can be found (and disposed of) anywhere. Just drop the sand or stones in the bottom of the pan, add a bit of water, and scrub away.

And if you don't want to try chains, pebbles, or sand . . . hang onto those plastic mesh onion bags! Bundle 'em up in the kitchen and use the little scrubbers to do just that . . . scrub your pots and pans. But Gayl Washington of Deposit, New York doesn't even stop there in her recycling of these empty onion holders.

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